Make Cycle 2: Sucked into the Game

(Make Cycle 2 is below)
For my second make cycle I decided to write a short story.  At this point (For the picture) it is still in it's beginning stages, and I have yet to really look at it for editing, so it's far from completion.  In it I am combining my one pager ideas on Star Wars, Video games, Hollywood and science, and The Evolution of technology.  Typing this, I only have five paragraphs, all of which are extremely short, and only exist due to dialogue.  For me this make outlines some of the issues that can arise with technology, and where it can go in the future, especially gaming technology, which is always changing, but not always improving.  So I guess this short story is a take on some of my favorite pastimes and where I see science taking it in the near or far off future.

 

The main idea of the short story is to raise questions about where science is going, and what people could possibly use it for in the future.  In modern life we already have issues with hackers, and it's especially a problem among gamers in online universes, so essentially how could it end up further along the years?  The process of creating this make cycle was an idea that popped up when I was going back over the one pagers.  In the past I've enjoyed stories that took place in a game world, so this short story seemed a pretty good idea.  It covers all the one pagers for the most parts, some more than others.  It takes Hollywood's exaggeration of science, video games, well I'm pretty sure we can piece that one together, Star War's look at the future of science, and the evolution of technology is kind of shown in the story with how the video game world works.  Most of the process of making was just me sitting at the computer, listening to music as I typed it up, and of course editing it later. Though for others, my process started with me thinking about the one pagers, and flicking through youtube for music.  My music is a mix between soundtracks from all kinds of movies.  Some media that influenced me a lot were the Sword Art Online, and Ready Player One.  Both of these pieces of imagination brought to mind what could happen in the video game world.  In Sword Art Online they are stuck in the video game, and Ready Player One actually brings video game culture to forefront of the story, daily life playing and happening around the video game world. Sorry to pull the horrible ending, it was already getting too long, and hey, maybe I can extend it in the future.

Sword Art Online:

Ready Player One:

Some Soundtracks to check out: (What I listened to when writing this as well as similar soundtracks)

-Sword Art Online Soundtrack

-Halo 4 Soundtrack

-Two Steps From Hell soundtrack

-Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack

All copyrighted material is not mine, Ready Player One written by Ernest Cline, Sword Art Online story created by Reki Kawahara, and Individual soundtracks owned by respective companies.

Here's the Actual Make:

“Sucked into the Game”

                The room was dark, the only light being emitted was aimed at one of the four walls.  Loud bursts of gunfire echoed bright flashes of light, the only occupant staring at the violent expanse before him in delight.

                “Take that you alien scum!”  His fingers darted over the keys of the controller in his hand with a crazed obsession.

                “Michael.  There’s a band of aliens coming from the east entrance.”  Another boy’s face flashed onto the right hand portion of the wall.

                “Alright, Benjy.  Keep it calm.  Why don’t circle around the north entrance, and we hit them from both sides?”

                “Fine by me. But my score is higher than yours.  Don’t act so mighty.”  For effect, Benjy flashed his Gamerscore under his picture, the high stats number highlighted just for Michael.

                “Whatever man.  Are you going to do it, or what?”  Michael let loose a string of moves, his character blasting, and punching the approaching aliens.

                “I’m already moving.  These tunnels are crazy long.  What do you think happened to our teammates?”  An icon popped up on the screen, Benjy’s dot moving slowly on the map.

                “Ditched at the beginning of the match.  A whole bunch of pussies.”

                “Man!  Couldn’t they have at least stayed to see how it would go?”

                “Probably went to watch the news.  Because that’s as close as they’re going to get to this action.”  Michael pumped his fist as he got a head shot on a tall alien, the opponent crashing to the floor with a ‘bang’.  “I am so catching up to that score of yours.”

                “You’re so unfair.  Can’t you at least save me something to shoot at?”  Benjy’s character ran out of the tunnel, assassinating one of Michael’s enemy from behind.

                “Why?  You’re doing just fine.”  The last alien went down, and Benjy playfully did a punch at Michael’s character, Michael’s health rating plummeting slightly at the contact.  “That was uncalled for Benjy.  You aren’t being a sore loser, are you?”

                “You’re lucky you’re a nice person outside of the video game world.”  Michael shrugged, the action unseen by his friend.  Their conversation ended as a box appeared in front of them, both of their characters inching away out of habit.

                “What is that?”  Michael was the first to step closer, still just far enough for it not to have an effect on the object.

                “We better leave that.  We’re on the internet, Michael.  It could be a virus.  You remember those hackers that hack into the video game.”

                “And when has that happened to us?”  He could hear Benjy muttering unintelligible curses through the microphone.  “I’m just going to open it.  You can step back more if you want to.”  One last curse was mumbled, and Benjy stepped closer to the box, his character’s weapon aimed at the object.

                “If I get another freaking virus in the system, my dad’s going to murder me.”

                “Just tell him it was my fault.”  They opened the box, and moved back, staring at its empty inside for a moment, neither wanting to say anything.

                “I almost peed my pants over this?”  Michael snorted, trying to hold in his laughter as his character kicked the box, the object spinning in place.

                “That was fun.  Want to do a team game?” 

                “I don’t know.  That seriously messed with my brain.”  Michael stopped the laughter that had hit him so hard, staring down as the box as it lit up.  Without warning his screen went black, a light beeping repeating overtop of Benjy’s voice.

                “What?”

                “You got me another freaking virus!  I’m screwed!  Screwed, I tell ya.”  Michael could hear Benjy shaking a few of his gadgets even over the beeping. 

                “Benjy.  Look at that.”  The carnage stopped, Michael staring, dazed, at the small light that appeared on the screen.

                “I can’t take this.”  An icon popped on the screen, the words ‘Quitting is not permitted’ flashed in large red letters.  “Just let me out!”  Michael tried to exit the game as well, but the same pop up met him, his character taking form on the screen. 

                “Welcome to Legacy.”  Around his character, the setting slowly faded into existence, a dark sky looming overhead, and a forest taking root all over the place.  The voice that had spoken before began again, listing out general information of the world they had stepped into.  “Your goal is to make it to the inside of Mount Renegan.  Home and sanctuary of the gamer’s alliance.” 

                “Gamer’s Alliance?  What is she talking about?”  He tapped the map icon on the upper left hand of his screen, but all it currently showed was the forest.

                “Computer.  Where are we?”  Benjy’s question only served to make the system repeat itself entirely.

                “Give it up, Benjy.  Let’s just head over to Mount whatcha-ma-call it.   If we do that it might just let us go back.”

                “I don’t want to.  Let them have our personal information.  This is screwed up.”

                “And what if your parents find out their information is now on the internet?”  Benjy fell silent, and followed Michael’s character.  The terrain of the game was a reflection of one of the old forests that used to exist on Earth Michael noticed.  Each tree was unique, its limbs twisting off in every direction.  The sky up above was hardly visible, even though it was late fall, and all the leaves had fallen.  There was a low beep as something popped up on their maps, a small dot quickly advancing on their position.  Michael’s character reached for the gun he always carried, but his fingers grasped at air.

                “I don’t have my weapons, Michael!”

                “I don’t either.”  Michael looked at their surroundings, and pulled Benjy’s character with his behind a cropping of bushes and trees.  It wouldn’t last long, but at least it would give them some time to figure something out.  They waited a few long seconds before a figure ran at their last position and stopped, a long sword held at the ready.  It took Michael a few seconds to realize who it was standing in front of them.  “Jason?”  The character in front of them looked around at the surroundings and then saw them, stepping closer, its old video game styled armor glinting in the cold lighting.

                “Michael and Benjy.  Man, I haven’t seen the two of you in forever!”

                “Where have you been?”  Jason put his sword back into its sheath, and motioned for them to follow him.

                “Stuck here.  My parents found me in the gaming room, and I had to explain it to them.  But what happened was that I was able to hack the hacker.” 

                “Hack the hacker?”  Benjy’s confusion was obvious.

                “I was playing that new game, and got to the level where you’re on this volcano world.  Came this close to winning, it was amazing.”  He made a gesture with his fingers, indicating how close, and continued his story.  “And then this game boss came out of nowhere.  I knew he didn’t belong there, so I fought him.  I even began a system clean-up for the game.  That was when it wouldn’t let me out.  And then I ended up here.  People pop into this place every now and then.”

                “Is there any way out?”  Jason nodded, and pointed due north toward a large mountain.

                “That’s Mount Renegan.”

                “So why are you still here?”

                “I haven’t stayed in here this entire time.  I keep coming back to try to destroy it.  It’s getting there, but I still have a long way to go.”

                “I guess that makes sense.”  Michael looked again at the large mountain and let out a sigh.  “Who brought us here anyway?”

                “It took some time.  But I found out it was a hacker in the old Japanese sector.  He’s pretty good.  Come on.”    He led them through the woods, a trek that lasted a few hours, before they ended up on the outskirts of the woods, a makeshift village greeting them.  Ramshackle houses, and shops lined the sides of a dirt road, players watching their arrival with guarded looks.

                “Jason.  Who are these people?”  Jason lightly hit Michael, to keep him from staring at the people, and kept his own gaze on the dirt road they were walking on.

                “Players that can’t leave.  Their information is now linked to this game world because of the hacker.  If they leave, they lose everything.”

To be Continued…..

The Evolution of Technology

     Within the last decades our market has been flooded with technology that is constantly being replaced by its new superior.  For many this is what technology is all about, but for others it creates a question of what this rapid evolution of science is doing to us.  Is it only about being up to date, or has the unpredictable evolution created a breed of consumers that buy only for the sake of the next new thing?  In this context, science is what is increasingly pushing out new phones, mp3s, laptops, and cameras, whether it is the science that makes these devices smaller, or what gives them their faster processing speeds.  To do science, is to create these pieces of technology, or design them, and those that do these jobs are the creators, large companies like Samsung, Apple, Toshiba, and Dell.  The only elements that would be missing from this technological expansion would be the advancements or upgrades that still have not come out on the market.

 A truth that is assumed in this constantly changing market is that the consumer will buy almost anything if it is the “next biggest” thing.  This assumption by the large companies creates instances where they try to sell the same technology that they had already put on the market.  It creates a good payday for the company but puts the consumer in a difficult position as they try to be informed and smart about their purchasing.

            The major issue that I find with this evolution is what it does to consumers, and how companies play off of it, breeding horror shows like Black Friday.  While it may be up to the consumer to partake in these events, companies make it hard to avoid that feeling of wanting to replace your old-tech with their bombardment of commercials, flyers, and other consumers.

Some Images from: http://www.fotolia.com/id/42502368, and http://www.knavickas.com/?p=116.

Fourth one pager, and my phone is up there.  I actually got asked once if a person could see it.  I feel like my phone is now a museum piece, should I be proud of that, or should I take that as a sign?

Hollywood and Science

     Hollywood and Science is probably one of the least likely partnerships for many movie viewers.  While they can occasionally get aspects right, they tend to live more off of exaggeration than reality, but in the context of science fiction, directors give a glimpse of the future that we all wonder about.  For Hollywood, science is the future and what it holds in store for all of us.  Directors try to give an image of what it means to do science in these cinematic pieces by showing us the production process of the technology/science, or giving us a scientist to hook the creations upon.  This establishes some of the background information for the actual storyline, and makes the audience whole heartedly follow what is happening.  Typically the screenwriter, producer, and director get to name what the science in the story actually is.  In some movies the elements of science can be almost non-existent, but in others like “I Robot”, the uses, creation, and future of science is almost laid out for the viewer to appreciate. 

 For audiences of Hollywood, a truth that can assumed here is that most of what these movies promote as science will never be fully accurate.  Hollywood and its films will never be known for one hundred percent accuracy, because they will generally want to work some angle, and reality doesn’t always fit their agendas.  This is represented by some of their past attempts at portraying actual events like those of historical significance, which historians find are fatally skewed or flawed.  Sometimes in their attempt to show elements of science, Hollywood finds itself pointing fingers at certain individuals, and not trying to find the full story of the event that had happened.  This breeds an under-informed public, who tends to believe all that Hollywood feeds them.

Even with Hollywood’s flaws, they still manage to entertain our fancies, and promote our Era of scientific evolution.  This helps raise some of the modern issues that don’t always make it to the general public, and inspire the future science thinkers.  The only thing audiences should be wary of is the question of, what is actually true, in relation to science.  So, is Hollywood only exaggerations, or is there some form of a truth that we can take from their skewed opinions?

Images property of Columbia Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM Studios, and Warner Brothers.

Third English assignment, called a one pager, and why not Hollywood?  I love movies, until they are made from books where the director completely ignores the book's important parts.  Hope that never happens to me.

The Science of Video Games

      

      Over the last decades the world of video games has both gradually, and rapidly changed from that small section in a store to aisles of competitors, and vast arrays of genres.  Beyond the general scheme of putting the games together, there is more science to these virtual realities than consumers would ever care to think about.  From the beginning of a game there are several standards that are placed before us; new world technology, fast paced music, and the settings themselves.  In the context of video games, science is the world that you’re transported to, albeit the racing, fighting, or strategy world that you choose.  In these worlds you are doing more than simply playing, you’re studying how it works, and how to use the environment to your advantage.  To do science here you’re either the creator who sits for hours programming, or the player who studies their worlds without end.  The creator is the boss of these worlds, and he gets to choose what is important to the game title.  While most elements of science can be found in these series, some aspects are hidden from the viewer, how the world came together, and sometimes the players never know about all the research that is behind one simple point in the game, like a map in a world.  This is what generally leads to people believing that video games are all made up, and purely imagination.

  A truth that is assumed and shown throughout the creation, and the playing of these games is that anything can be accomplished, or done in these worlds.  Players can be their best, they can reach their goals, and can even create something that they could not otherwise have in real life.  These truths are shown by the abilities given to the gamer, through additional material, the gaming experience has allowed players to set different difficulties, and let them tweak the actual world itself.  These abilities though, have occasionally brewed inner turmoil with some players modifying it past the limits the creators set, and some even going as far as hacking the system, so that they are virtually unstoppable against other players.   

  Video games give much more than a fun time in the modern world, they give viewer access to an escape, real world information, and allow the player to feel emotions they may or may not get to feel in real life.  In all they give some a chance to vent, accomplish, and overall a sense of enjoyment.  They bring to families together, and they can even teach, breaching the beliefs that they can’t be any more than a small time amusement.  How can Science be important when connected with Video Games?  Video games have become a reachable part of science    in modern culture, and continues to inspire the next generation,  subsequently pushing the boundaries of what is thought to be possible.

Images property of Bungie, Capcom, 343 Industries, and Turn 10 studios.

This was an assignment I did for my English paper, and of course I was a total nerd, and did it on some of my favorite video games.  Got to say that I am disappointed that the xbox one is coming out, and I can't get it.  My video gamer brain is going to cry when Halo 5 and Forza 5 come out.  By the way, did they plan that?  I mean seriously, both are at 5 at the same time.  A little suspicious.  :) 

When do we have too much power?

When do we have too much power?

A science Narrative of the Star Wars Saga

            For many Star Wars is primarily a classic example of good old science fiction, but even categorized under the classification of fiction, there are many scientific issues raised in its high tech storyline.  Science in this epic Saga can mean a number of things, from the technology used in ships, and weapons, to the creation, or saving of a life.  These different examples are shown through the use of scenes that take a sweeping panoramic view of a battle, or in the case of the creation of life, Obi Wan’s inspection of the clones on the planet of Kamino.  Most of the technology presented in these cases is not always shown being created, in fact the only times we see the people “doing” science is when a robotic hand is being attached to someone, or where we see the different stages of the clones during their “growth”.  The main characters only use the technology in their wars, never raising a question about where it all came from.

            The people in charge of doing the science, and naming it, are mainly the writers, producers, and directors of the films, and the Star Wars universe.  They dictate what happens in the story, and how they affect the storyline, and its characters.  There are no visible missing elements of science in these movies, the writers covering everything from the medical points, to the destructive ones as well.  What is missing is the people who create the technology, and medicine, they are absent throughout the series, technology seeming to just appear at times.

  

       

   One of the truths assumed in the Saga is that science is not one sided, there are usually both pros and cons to technology, medicine, and the creation of life.  This truth has been assumed by many for centuries, and the series brings it up rather impressively, by introducing it through their characters and storyline, never outright claiming their standing on the issue.  By never saying directly where they stand, they also have not singled anyone out for the issues presented.  The problems can be linked to pieces of history, but whatever could be extracted would only be someone else’s opinions, not                                                   those of George Lucas.

  

 The issue for me that was presented is of what can be done with clones.  In the movies it is said that they will “obey every order”, and for me that sounds like a risky negative to grapple with. Considering clones cannot think for themselves, and are what consequently bring down the Republic, it just seemed a bad idea from the start.  Overall, Star Wars becomes much more than just fiction, bringing issues of the present into a far off galaxy.

  

         

Images and names property of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox.  All I own are my opinions and ideas.



This was done as an assignment, connecting Star Wars to the world of science, and simultaneously connecting Science Fiction as well.  Hope you guys like it.  For more effect, here is a video link (youtube), that clarifies the ordeal with the clones.
  Begun the Clone War has video