SD2 Second Project

These are the ideas for the second project. Send me an email for your first and second choice. Joseph@Laiacona.org. Write a high concept for your first choice and bring it in. Save the digital version for later use.

Terraforming : The way of the future! Why would I want to do a Sim about Terraforming? First of all, I proposed the original idea and there is something to be said for personal bias. With that being said, there is a variety of reasons as to why a Terraforming simulation would be extremely beneficial. Let’s face it, the earth cannot sustain itself much longer (we’re talking long term here) and like any good science fiction novel/movie, terraforming is the way of the future. It will be vital to human life as our population expands and resources decline. But what is terraforming and how do we go about doing it? That is exactly the goal that the simulator. It would enlighten people about Terraforming, the process of making planets hospitable – like earth. More importantly, it would explain and demonstrate the process without the massive expenses and time requirements. Although it hasn’t actually been completed in real life, tons of research has been done on the subject matter. We would obviously create a very simple example of Terraforming or expand upon a single aspect, for example: air purification – oxygen/nitrogen levels.

Animal Raising I would like to do the animal raising simulation because I feel that it is a simulation that I can make use of later. When I say later I mean in another project that I may have the opportunity to work on. Adding that much in-depth emersion to the game, in doing so no I can faster find out what works and what may not work possibly build on later if needed. Essential for experience is the reason behind me wanting to do this one. With the game I was thinking of allowing the player to select an animal then once they have the animal would have their own base stats. When you then start the game you the player will be able to train your pet how you want, take care of it, and various other facets that involve taking care of pets. Almost like a Tamagotchi or a Digimon hand held game. Where you do the same and are allowed to fight or play with other players pets. It’s also great when playing to do a little at a time just to help pass the time. This is why I thought that it would be a good idea for me to do the animal raising or animal training simulator.

TAXIDERMY: THE RATIONALE

A taxidermy simulation could potentially be a unique and fulfilling simulation. Very few people know about taxidermy or the steps it takes to perform this ancient art. Removing animal organs and stuffing the body may not appeal to very many people, but taxidermy has existed for hundreds of years. Making a simulation about taxidermy could open many people’s eyes to an art form that most find disgusting and unappealing. Very few know that the modern practice of taxidermy incorporates several crafts, such as carpentry, woodworking, tanning, molding and casting; it also requires artistic talent, including the art of sculpture, painting and drawing. In a deer head mount, for example, the only natural parts of the animal used are the antlers and the skin. All of the other organs and tissues are recreated with man-made materials. Creating a simulation that shows these elaborate and delicate steps could be a wonderful learning tool in helping to explain the process and the art as a whole.

Communism Simulation. -Or- Robot Communism I think a communism simulation would be a good idea because it would be a chance to figure out how to make communism actually work for once. Even though I do not ideologically support communism, it should work very well as a system. The whole problem with communism is people. People cannot stand being equal, they always want to be better than the next person at something somehow, and communism is about universal equality. I think that a simulation that tries to create a form of communism that actually works would be a fascinating endeavor. One of the ways to try and create a working communist society would be to become ruthless and try and smother any attempts to change the status quo of equality. Another way would be a little less realistic, but still a serious games approach of systematically replacing people with robots. Ideally the game would be executed as sort of a real time simulation like Sim City, but you are managing both your society and your people. You have to control your borders to prevent bad ideas from coming to your country by use of propaganda, a strict police force, and possibly communist robots.

TErraforming : rationale

I honestly feel that terraforming is actually the best idea. Think of it – The ability to not only change the atmosphere of a planet, but the surface of the planet itself. (From Wikipedia) – “According to Minil Rathod & Ravi Shetty The terraforming (literally, "Earth-shaping") of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable by humans.” But does it actually have to be habitable? The idea of this is similar to that of the game “Spore”, only this time you are making your own planet, and what can happen to it based on many things: how far away from the sun is it, what is its orbit, what elements and minerals make up the planet, etc. What if you could have a “Pluto”-sized planet that is made up of nothing but methane and a small little island made of iron ore? Look at the planet Neptune – (according to Wikipedia), it is composed of hydrogen and helium in its atmosphere, and frozen forms of water, ammonia, and methane on the surface. Also, since it’s so far away from the sun, there is little to no light. Now, imagine that being in Earth’s orbit. (Swap places with Earth, essentially) What would change? That’s what makes terraforming fun. Yes, there is a lot of science to be had in a simulation. But it is educational, it can be done, and it can be fun.

Terraforming As hospitable land becomes more and more scarce the need for terraforming becomes more and more essential. The problem is that terraforming is often expensive, time demanding and requires large amounts of resources. The need to carefully plan and think ahead is an absolute necessity. This is especially true when once terraforming begins it is very difficult if not impossible to alter the project. This makes forethought, predictive modeling and simulations vastly less expensive and invasive on the environment then beginning construction at the onset. This is a simulation that has a lot of potential as well as great value and use. This simulation also seems to offer a reasonable amount of complexity while being able to maintain an easy-to-use and simple interface. This project also seems to support collaborative group efforts by having a diverse range of variables, challenges and other features. More-so, simple art work could potentially be introduced into this product especially if it is built in the Visual Studio or even flash. Cumulatively this simulation represents a broad range of choices for the designers, players and a lot of potential and opportunities for both to explore and play in a manner that the other choices do not have.

COMMUNISM My main reason for choosing Communism as the subject matter for a simulation is mainly out of curiosity. For a long time, the western world has viewed communism as an evil and oppressive form of government. But obviously, many people around world, at one time or another, chose to live under communism and quite a few still choose to live under it today. If it so evil, then why did so many people choose to live under it to begin with? What made it so appealing to them and so repulsive to the west? Communism, like any form of government, got it start because a large group of people at some point thought it was a good idea. And like with countless forms of government in the past, it was dropped when it became oppressive, inefficient or broke. The purpose of this simulation would be to strip communism down to its basic principles, learn how it works when it is implemented, learn what doesn’t work well and try to find a way to make it work without having it become oppressive, inefficient or broke. Basically, keep the people happy under protection and glory of the hammer and sickle or whatever communist symbol of your choosing.

Grammar Sim I feel that the Building a good sentence simulation would be best to make. I believe that everyone needs good grammar skills, even those who speak the knowledge in question natively. I myself don't quite understand what is called "the 8 parts of speech" and would be able to learn about this concept while I am making it. I myself and whomever I work with on this project will be able to instantly gain from making this program. With English already being difficult to learn and master for native speakers, this program would be good for people who aren’t native speakers. I plan to have multiple difficulty levels based on how fluent you are. The main language for this program is English, but in later revisions of the program I plan to add in support for other languages. I plan to start off with other languages that use the Latin alphabet, such as Spanish and French; and then expand into languages that use other characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Russian. There would be basic and fluent levels for each language, and at the basic level you would be able to learn words in the language a bit, similar to Rosetta Stone. In the future I would want to have this added on as a part of Rosetta Stone.

Terraforming Simulation Rational Terraforming, as defined by dictionary.com is “to transform (a landscape) on another planet into one having the characteristics of landscapes on Earth.” Although the ideas and processes behind terraforming haven’t ever been put into practice on a global scale, the concepts are concrete enough to be tested. In fact, its hypothetical nature makes terraforming a perfect candidate for a simulation, allowing some of its contents to be tested without any costly expenditures. The nature of terraforming lends itself to a simulation quite naturally, and, if done correctly can even be an enjoyable, game-like experience (much like a Sim City game). Furthermore, it is a very scalable topic which makes it even more appropriate for consideration. The size and scope of the simulation can be adjusted to fulfill the most basic assignment or the most in-depth, accurate, real world product demands. Terraforming is appropriate for this class and assignment because it also requires a formidable amount of research and thought. The processes behind terraforming are quite complicated and interrelated; a fundamental understanding of these processes are required to begin to construct a meaningful simulation. Given the nature of this assignment, and the intentions and goals of this class, a terraforming simulation isn’t just the best choice; it’s the only choice.

Terraforming Terraforming is something that I am truly interested in learning about. Terraforming (literally, “Earth-shaping”) of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable by humans. Certain movies and books delve into terraforming such as Dune and Total Recall, but what I would like to know is the consequences of committing to the act of terraforming. If there is already life on the planet that we, as humans, are terraforming, how will we affect it? How will it affect us on Earth? There are several factors in this equation. How many resources must be allocated to the action of terraforming? In what state will that leave Earth after resource allocation? What if terraforming is ultimately a fool’s errand and we have already lost so much to the effort? In what state would the planet be in if the mission is failed or an unreachable goal. I want to know what goes into the planning of terraforming, how it will affect the planet we are terraforming, how it will affect our planet, and what are the positive and negative results from terraforming.

Building a PC. I think that there are many people out there that would like to know how to build their own PC but cannot and therefore turn to either big box stores or online retail to purchase one. I think that if someone would just sit down with them and walk them through that they would feel more comfortable to go out and buy the necessary parts to build their own PC. I think that this would also be ideal for people who go to said big box stores and then complain that they just overpaid for their new computer that will become obsolete in the next 6 months. On top of which they get compelled to purchase extended warranty plans for these devices that only further increase their overall cost of the machine and that the end consumer may never need to use. I think that there is a certain enjoyment that they would feel of getting a chance to create something that they will more likely be using on a daily basis. I think that many people are able to see themselves as enthusiasts in today’s society for something that is very valuable and used for a wide variety of things in our lives. Giving them the opportunity will give them the empowerment that will help bridge the digital divide.