BigWorld: Part 1
This is the story of how we attempted to build the ultimate sandbox.
Spoiler: Though our aspirations were noble and we were backed by enormous talent and grit, we failed to get it off the ground. Maybe though, the story isn’t finished…
Credits
Ordinarily I would strive to give credit to my colleagues at the end of an article, but because this was such an intensely collaborative project with so many brilliant people contributing it, I chose to credit those involved first so you wouldn’t get the impression that this was somehow all my work and thinking.
Think of this like one of those old movies that rolls credits at the top.
Leadership & Management
Philip Rosedale
Ryan Downe-Karpf
Irena Heiberger
Ashleigh Harris
Maia Hansen
Jess Nunn
Bridie Saccocio
Creative Team
Alan Zimmerman
Jasmine Cano
Emily Iwankovitsch
Development Team
Seth Alves
Ken Cooke
Luis Cuenca
Sam Gateau
Zach Fox
Christopher Horvath
Joy Scharmen
Roxanne Skelly
Rebecca Stankus
Howard Stearns
Advisors
Leigh Alexander
Jeremy Bailenson
Courtney Cogburn
Peter Diamandis
Thomas Dolby
Adam Gazzaley
Jane McGonigal
Tony Parisi
Ken Perlin
Douglas Rushkoff
Marc Ruxin
Lauren Selig
Stephen Wolfram
Brianna Wu
Part 1
Formation
There is an ongoing series of test convulsions which throw various types of materials out into space,
collapsing back unsuccessfully over a short period onto a primitive planetary core to be destroyed, while the Titans float in space, listening and watching and talking. The Titans are able to fly around, can hear each other, and can make changes to the world, knowing that those changes will likely be destroyed in the next test event or alteration of the underlying laws of physics that uproot the tectonic plates, burn the atmosphere, or drain the oceans.
A critical point will be reached, where the world is deemed livable, and the Titans will be able to make now-permanent alterations to the gross features of the world - terraform, biomes, geology - setting contours that will outlive them.
What is it?
A new world with laws of physics and an economy
Everyone gets a fair share of the resources and can build
People can contribute resources to make world bigger
What does it enable?
Explore and have adventures
Be part of something bigger that yourself by helping create a new world
Make meaningful connections with other people
How does it work?
A persistent simulation of an organic ecosystem
Contribution to the simulation earns the contributor credits
Making changes to the world costs the editor credits
The rules of the world
THE WORLD
The world is a vast globe composed of energy and material.
Some material and energy are contained in lifeforms, but most is inert and diffuse.
In the first age, it is composed of coarse chunks, but will become more and more finely resolved in subsequent ages.
ENERGY
The energy from the star Bigworld orbits and other stars in the sky is diffused over the lit surface evenly (more or less).
Much less energy reaches the surface at night than in the daytime.
The energy that reaches the surface is absorbed, to greater or lesser extent, as determined by the material composition where it intersects.
Some materials absorb more energy than others.
In general, lighter materials absorb more and reflect less.
AVATARS AND OTHER LIFEFORMS
Avatars (in the first age) are single-celled organisms.
They are alive and can die.
They contain and can collect or dispense energy.
They contain and can collect or dispense material.
Every interaction they have in the world affects the world in some way. They are never static.
They can move, speak, hear, see, sleep, reproduce, and deform themselves and the landscape.
MATTER
Bigworld will have land to walk upon and oceans to swim in.
Land will be composed of at least one clay-like material, but possible several kinds of material.
Land can be manipulated and sculpted by users in ways that persist not indefinitely but for long durations.
Natural forces can also shape the landforms. These may be akin to but not literally modeled after weathering, erosion, metamorphosis, liquifaction, tectonics, vulcanism, etc.
In order for an equilibrium of diverse landforms to be maintained, natural forces will have to be both constructive and dissipative in some ways.
INTERACTING WITH MATTER
Avatars move along the ground and leave tracks or subtle marks where they traverse.
Avatars can modify the landscape by either “carving” (collecting material to make marks), “smoothing” (displacing material to erase marks) or “depositing” (placing displaced material to make marks).
Some kinds of marks on the ground initiate special dynamics (magic).
INTERACTING WITH ENERGY
All avatars and lifeforms need energy to stay alive.
Energy can be collected, stored, exhausted, and dispensed.
All activity has an energy debit or credit associated with it.
Sketches from Bigworld
As part of the exercise of ideation about what BigWorld might become, I drew a series of cartoons that captured vignettes and stories which could provoke conversation. This series was concerned with extrapolating the Rules of the World into more concrete gameplay terms.
“A World is a reality you can believe in: one that promises to bring about habitable structure from the potential of chaos, and aim toward a future transformative enough to metabolize the pain and pleasure of its dysfunction.”
