I was watching the Matrix Reloaded last night, while playing a game of Dwarf Fortress & also surfing the web during long periods letting my fortress do it's thing.
Then I came across Toady's most recent update about vegetation, leaf cloud falling patterns, and acorns. At the same time the movie came to the scene where Neo meets Agent Smith(s) in the park. Some crows fly around, the wind picks up, and then the fight scene starts.
Meanwhile, in my fort I look down and see a brown "-" flying over my ramparts. A couple of dworfs are sparring next to their barracks during the height of winter, and think to myself, "Oh, look at that sparrow flying over the fortifications." I can almost picture the cold flakes of snow as they blanket the ground, the frozen banks of the river, and the frosted breath coming from the mouths my sparring dworfs.
Couple of things hit me then.
1) I have no idea how Toady does all of this, but what he does is simply amazing. There is so much going on in this game. I can't even comprehend how he keeps track of all the game's programming, but the level of detail and interaction is astounding.
2) This game is quickly/has/will become a simulator for real life. Not in all of life's complexities mind you, but certainly a very interesting microversion of what happens in our world. I would almost think of it as a very primitive version of the Matrix. Has anyone else ever thought along these lines?
3) My imagination is clearly in overdrive most of the time, so it is what it is. However I cannot ever imagine this game going over to full graphical support, because of that very same imagination, pairing with the ASCII graphics, is what brings the world to distinct life for me.
Time for another cup of coffee...
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Topic: Is Toady making a Matrix-like construct? (Read 3523 times)