Then a fellow game developer wrote this beautiful article about the game: https://nonzerosum.games/victoriasmitharticle.html and that only served to encourage me to elevate the game to the level of her words.
About a year in it started looking like an actual game... bear in mind I learned to code on this project—and it was in Objective-C and then Swift at this stage! People kept saying "Why aren't you using Unity?" #GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday
The NEUTROPIA design kept evolving...
Next the "Neuts" of Neutropia needed to feel industrial and utilitarian.
The game is all about emotional contagion—the core mechanic: positives build each other up, negatives drag each other down, and in the end the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
NEUTROPIA began with a cute #dragon as the player—much to the disappointment of my daughter, that changed.
About 2016 I introduced disco mode, and mood walls and... somewhere the dragon got lost... I realised if the message of the game is that we can all make a difference by being a positive influence on those around us, then a magical dragon rescuing us all doesn't really make sense.
Are you worried AI will learn to be monsters from their ultra-flawed parents? [us]
This series might help you "process" these feelings—and might change your perception of just what humanity is made of.
"Let's work together, to make everything worse" — Moloch.
I turned Rock Paper Scissors into a non-zero-sum puzzle game. This may or may not be a sensible thing to do with one’s time.
The Ultimatum Game tests how much we're willing to punish unfairness at a cost to ourselves...
“The trouble emerges when too many people free ride.”
Public goods, unions, vaccination, climate, and a classroom game where the kids understood the commons faster than most adults seem to.
Let’s collaborate! https://nonzerosum.games/collaborativecorner.html
Hey! I have a favour to ask...
I've just released the Polymaths podcast series over on Spotify (so go check it out) and noticed that although I have thousands of followers here, I only have 198 followers on the podcast!
If you're interested in non-zero-sum ideas to make the world a better place, please consider following the podcast on whatever platform you use.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2b6K5n6aqerP0STwTWh5uw?si=wqaY91gLSbmo5N-d3aXGGA
Enjoy and share if you do—it doesn't make me money, just gets the message out.
A special guest episode from software engineer and Aristotle scholar Andrew Tane Glen (also my best mate), voiced by the man himself, introducing the Super-Defector!
#Cooperation #Evolution #History #Philosophy #Anthropology
https://open.spotify.com/episode/39lei249kVSqbPpSSjLXSr?si=DbJqy4m3SJqJpS1NeDbT2g
We all want world peace—and that is generally a function of maintaining international relations. So this week’s post aims squarely at... Dr Evil?
https://nonzerosum.games/internationalrelations.html
#GeoPolitics #Conflict #Tariffs #Liberalism #Realpolitik #WorldPeace #Kant #ThomasPaine #ThomasHobbes
I care about poverty, mainly alleviating it, through charity, better taxes and support.
When I discovered this one piece of research it changed my whole approach to understanding poverty.
In our newest episode "Why People in Poverty make Poor Decisions" I explore this research which points to a simple solution. Listen or read at:
For those of you who are new to the site, I've created a "Fun-Zone" with all the funnest, funniest, shortest and most accessible posts in one place.
Come have a play!
https://nonzerosum.games/map-funzone.html #Games #Simulations #EasyReading #Learning #Introduction #Relax #Explore #Play #Interactive #Sims
Kinda rambling, but interesting, I think https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/non-zero-sum-james/id1810797958?i=1000722164272
An antidote to toxic masculinity?
https://nonzerosum.games/masculinity.html
#Masculinity #Feminism #MRAs #WomensRights #MensRights #Gender #Courage