An Atlas Shrugged video game?

Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago to Entertainment
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In this month's issue of Reason Magazine, the cover story deals with America's addiction to video games, including more adults than ever. The most intriguing item in the story was about how an economics professor had been hired by a video game company, and the former economics professor illustrated how these multiplayer gaming environments are outstanding models of microsocieties. As several of us are talking about putting together a physical Atlantis, perhaps we could simulate the Gulch as a video game as a "dry run" before actually building Atlantis. Moreover, could you imagine the number of teenagers who would line up to watch Who is John Galt? if the video game were released just before the movie?

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  • Posted by $ puzzlelady 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I like the idea a lot, Solver. And it wouldn't have to be that all circles end up smaller until the Universe's heat death. Circles could sometimes connect and create new circles. Like the human immune system, some circles could act to isolate, dissolve or incapacitate the criminal or harmful elements.

    If circles symbolize ideas or value systems, they would not necessarily have to be destroyed along with their hosts; they could just change through persuasion or modification. I suspect, though, that most game players would prefer action and story games to elegant abstracts.

    I have designed several tabletop boardgames with a theme of "Trade" rather than capturing or exploiting. They use non-predatory concepts that are still quite challenging. Maybe such an idea could be worked into your game.

    In the game of Life, there are certain configurations that end in a dynamic balance, not in rigor mortis. An open-ended game that allows for dynamic change without dead-ends could be a fine paradigm.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Some of them take a few brain cells to rub together to think of answer, or where to go next. It can be really HARD!
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    It would promote Objectivism rather than denigrate it? Just a guess...

    (or at least give it an... objective treatment)
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  • Posted by Solver 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    From the looters deck of cards,
    “You took the last of a farmer's seed corn and distributed it equally and fairly to the people. Gain 10 favor points”
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  • Posted by Solver 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    “You have been very productive and paid a boatload of income tax. Ragnar Danneskjold hands you a bar of gold.”
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    The problem with a board game is that Objectivism hasn't yet appealed to a large enough audience that finding enough players in a small enough proximity would be challenging. I can't get anyone in my family to play any board games anymore.
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  • Posted by $ iamfrankblanco 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I would think the people who would be interested in Atlas Shrugged would be more analytical and thus tend to be just as inclined toward board games, if not more so.
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  • Posted by Solver 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    The card from the deck says,
    "Go to Atlantis. Go directly to Atlantis. Do not pass Starnesville. Do not collect fiat money."
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    A board game would be nice, but board games aren't going to attract attention like the latest video game craze.
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  • Posted by FlukeMan2 11 years ago
    Has anyone here played Democracy 3? I've found that applying Objectivist principles in small measures over time produced great results. What have you found?

    If you don't know what Democracy 3 is, then go to http://www.positech.co.uk/democracy3/ right now and check it out.

    Just in case you still haven't clicked on the link.
    "Have you ever wanted to be president? or prime-minister? Convinced you could do a better job of running the country? Let's face it, you could hardly do a worse job than our current political leaders. Crime, Unemployment, National Debt, Terrorism, Climate Change...Have you got the answers to the problems that face western industrialized nations? Here is your chance to find out..."

    Perhaps all we need is a Mod on Democracy 3 that would teach Objectivist principles.
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  • Posted by FlukeMan2 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I'd like to point out that BioShock 2 is the same thing, but is instead critical of altruism. The third game in the series, BioShock Infinite, is critical of both the Tea Party and the liberals. The truly defining feature of BioShock is it's opposition to extremism.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    If we're not going to do something specific to AS, then how is what we are talking about going to be different than Bioshock?
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I like the idea, Owlsrayne, but it would be nice to market such a game along with the movie. I realize that time is short.
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  • Posted by Owlsrayne 11 years ago
    To avoid copyright infringement you could say the game is based on Atlas Shrugged, Plato's Republic, and other Philosophies ancient and new. The game is to show how grow an intellectual, and economic freedom driven society! You can build the game using a combination of rules designating a combination of Philosophies to build your society. Then when you as a player runs into a dead end of failure, the game would be programmed to go back to prior to failure and will have a pop-up giving the player a list of recommendations to try without giving away Ayn Rand's ideas. Also, incorporate pop-up routing to give the player is leading the society in the correct direction of Atlantis.
    I'm not a programmer but just throwing out some logical thoughts about such a game.
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  • Posted by FlukeMan2 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Good point. The copyrighted parts of Atlas Shrugged aren't the only ways to teach Objectivist principles. I love the Bioshock games. I wanted to start a discussion about them alone.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    *only* if it uses content or references to Atlas Shrugged itself. As with Bioshock, a game dealing with the themes of Objectivism dealt with in AS should be fair use.
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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    No, I haven't heard about Steam's Greenlight program? I plan on trying a kickstarter campaign once I have a simpler game or two out there, so I can demonstrate my ability to produce, and so I can spend my time developing and not earning a living. (thus far, this weekend I've spent working on an MD5 3D model importer in Android, texture mapping a 3D penguin, refining the model of a hero character, plus studied various tutorials on 3D modeling, music sequencing, and video editing).

    I recommend starting with RealMyst, as it adds an age not in the original (I haven't played it, but I've seen walkthrough videos of it), then Riven, Myst III: Exile, Myst IV Revelation, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (and its expansions), and Myst V: End of Ages, in that order, and then visit Myst Online: Uru.

    Yes, most MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online (Role Playing) Games, for those who don't know) are boringly without story. 4Story is probably the worst offender. Mostly they fill you up with quests like, "Go kill x number of y critters and bring me back z number of trophies" :yawn:

    That's why I recommended the Myst/Uru format for such a game. While there is a storyline quest, you can do it solo or with others.
    A hybrid between an open world, where you explore and trade and engage in craft skills, and an adventure style with a set of story-driven quests that help the players explore the tenets of Objectivism. A difficult balance, but I think ultimately doable.
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