Michelle Mucker

Archinet has a lengthy article on Second Life Architecture...

Architecture's Second Life

Visit me in my Second Life

I finally joined the matrix. Of world-class wanna-be's. Second Life has been around since 2003, but it still isn't cool enough for me. Hopefully, I will not get sucked into this alternate reality (which actually happens to be a lot like real life except maybe a little LESS interesting...) And soon, I will be able to afford to buy new clothes. Maybe at the American Apparel HQ... NOT.

My mother and I have been playing Zelda (Twilight Princess) on the Wii for the last two months. We both like the game, but for different reasons:
I love becoming a wolf; she hates it.
I love killing spiders; she loves freeing monkeys.
I love the epic science-fiction action; she longs for the days of animal herding and being an example to the young children in link's village.

By definition, ergodic means: "of or pertaining to the condition that, in an interval of sufficient duration, a system will return to states that are closely similar to previous ones: the assumption of such a condition underlies statistical methods used in modern dynamics and atomic theory." (source: www.dictionary.com)

According to Aarseth:

"In ergodic literature, nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text. If ergodic literature is to make sense as a concept, there must also be nonergodic literature, where the effort to traverse the text is trivial, with no extranoematic responsibilities placed on the reader except (for example) eye movement and the periodic or arbitrary turning of pages.

"A reader, however strongly engaged in the unfolding of a narrative, is powerless.

"The cybertext reader, on the other hand... is not a reader. The cybertext puts its would-be reader at risk: the risk of rejection. The effort and energy demanded by the cybertext of its reader raise the stakes of interpretation to those of intervention. Trying to know a cybertext is an investment of personal improvisation that can result in either intimacy or failure."

By definition, Zelda is ergodic. The point of the game is to restore the universe (game-world) to its original state. This game is much like the Cybertexts Aarseth describes. Without completing objective A, the player cannot complete objective B. In rare cases, the player is able to complete a series of objectives in whichever order he pleases, but he must still complete a pre-designated series of objectives before he is able to move on to the next level.

In this situation, the player is part of a pre-determined narrative. He does, however, feel as if he has choices, for he does, but they are limited and do not create alternate outcomes. His options are contained within in a limited system.

VIEW FROM ROOM 2 INTO ROOM 1 VIA WINDOW

SUNSET AND STEPS

VIEW OF ROOM 1 AS PERCHED ON WINDOW "SILL" OF ROOM 2

VIEW OF ROOM 2 FROM INSIDE DUNGEON

CLOSE UP OF STEPS AND CHANGE IN GRADE

THE DUNGEON

CLOSE UP OF SPIDER AND SWORD UNDER LIGHT

For my Architectural Theory class, I will be writing a 10-page thesis on Virtual Architecture. I have a presentation already prepared on the topic that I will revamp for our class and I will include the main points.
The thesis at this point is:
Virtual Architecture: An Emerging Educational and Experimental Medium
I will study the theory and experimentation of Greg Lynn and LOL Architects, and present student and professional work, along with some work of my own.
I have posted previous blogs on Second Life Architecture and Virtual Suburbia's blog. I am also using Metropolis (an architectural periodical) and I.D. magazine articles.

SMG or Super Mario Galaxy, came out last Tuesday. Of course, I pre-ordered it AND waited in line for it for 15 minutes at my local GameStop. I have been playing it and forgoing all other responsibilities ever since. I'm seriously thinking about asking my mother to hide it somewhere or take it to work until Thanksgiving break.
I think the only cuter, more addicting and adorable game will be Spore. Can't wait till that comes out... hopefully after I graduate.







Graphics and Controls
So why is this game so great? Well it stars Mario - everybody's favorite Italian plumber. As we all know the graphics on the Wii are nowhere near as sophisticated as those on the XBOX 360 or PS3, but SMG is one of the first Wii games to fully and successfully utilize the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. For example, by rotating or twisting the Nunchuk, Mario can climb up vines! He can also spin like Link! He flies through three-dimensional space (much like Super Mario World 64) and the use of the two controllers is actually intuitive. More consistency between games would be nice. The B-trigger and A-action are similar to other games like Red Steel, Zelda, and Resident Evil but I often catch myself firing with B when A is required! If B is the trigger, let it always be the trigger!

Swimming underwater is much more evolved thus difficult than it was in SMW 64. In 64, swimming underwater made me very queasy. I think I may have even been afraid... but in SMG, you can see everything at every depth from dry land. There are no dark spots or surprises, although the color changes semi-realistically (loses color) the deeper you go. Mario can dive with the Z button (which is also used for crouching and stomping) and he has a lot more air. He can stay underwater much longer than he could in 64. There are lots of air bubbles and coins so staying underwater for an entire level is no longer a drag. Unfortunately, the controls are still not completely intuitive for swimming.

The graphics are not the greatest, but they are some of the best on Wii: much more crisp and more cohesive than games like Wii Sports/Play, Super Mario Party 8 or Super Paper Mario though, naturally, not as realistic as those in Red Steel or Splinter Cell. The graphic experience is one of overkill: there are so many brightly colored, cutely rendered, sparkling objects begging for interaction that playing the game can be dizzying.



New Powerups
*Red Mushroom - Increases max health from 3 to 6.
*Bee Suit - Mario takes flight! He loses his suit in water and can climb on honeycombs and walk on flowers. Not as cool as the feather/cape from Super Mario World SNES but way cuter!
*Ghost Mario - He becomes invisible. He can walk through walls but he can't walk into the light. I haven't gotten this far in the game.
*Flower-power makes a comeback.





Other Cool Additions
*For extra stars, you can beat a world after you have attained the first 3 stars in a 4 minute countdown mode. I have yet to attain this, either. 4 minutes is pretty short!
*Mario can roll, jump and squash enemies on a huge ball. Controls are easy to master.
*Mario goes ray-surfing on a giant sea-ray. Controls are difficult to master.






The bottom-line? It's like crack. Try it. It's great. But it's really difficult to kick.