<commit_before>+++
image_alt = "Horizon Zero Dawn (day)"
image_url = "/assets/images/nanoglyphs/012-virtual-worlds/horizon-zero-dawn-day@2x.jpg"
published_at = 2020-04-03T00:52:13Z
title = "Virtual Worlds"
+++

T plus four weeks into isolation. It's been an experience. I've been one of the lucky ones so far, getting away mostly with some vitamin D deficiency and minor eye strain caused from going from staring at e-screens just the normal amount of too much, to staring at them around-the-clock-and-then-some. Here's to hoping that yours hasn't been catastrophic.

As usual, this is _Nanoglyph_, an experimental newsletter about software and gaming-in-place. If that's not your thing, warp whistle back the real world with a [one-click unsubscribe](%unsubscribe_url%).

---

A side effect of my brave new commute-free bar-free travel-free existence is over the last couple weeks I've found myself with more free time than ever before in my adult life. Some of that windfall's been used well (daily runs, morning and evening calisthenics, excavated my guitar from the thick layer of dust that's been accumulating since roughly the Paleozoic), some of it not-so-well, and some of it in the middle. You might ask, what's a "middle" activity? There's one in particular I had in mind: video games.

The last decade's seen gaming enter the mainstream after spending a long time cast in common wisdom as the favored hobby of social misfits and basement dwellers, but despite some progress, it's still a long shot from being considered a virtuous pursuit. Some of that's history, and some of it's from the continued existence of dark elements -- multiplayer games like MMOs eat every waking moment of an enthusiastic player's existence to the detriment of all else, micro transactions is the ancient act of profiteering refined to perfection with 21st century technology, and loot boxes seem to be designed to enable underage gambling.

But enjoyed the right way, video games are some of the most transportive media produced by humanity today. Photorealistic graphics take players to vibrant alien worlds of impossible vistas and unspeakable wonder. Stories are richer and more expansive than their counterparts in film or TV because there's more opportunity to explore. Writing and acting in top games might fall a little short of the very best that Hollywood has to offer, but if so ... not by much. A notch above the last season of _Game of Thrones_ anyway.

I'm as much of a fan of a great TV series or movies as the next person, but often come away from that sort of passive consumption experiences feeling like a vegetable. Best case scenario, I viewed something complicated and cerebral with rapt attention throughout. More often, I'm watching at about half attention, with the other half on a second screen like a laptop or smartphone (and I'm [not alone](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/88-of-americans-use-a-second-screen-while-watching-tv-why/)). But a video game is different. There's no choice except to be 100% engaged, and often in a way that's stimulating the mind. And I'm not just talking about _Myst_ -- even outside of puzzle games, you're optimizing an equipment load out, understanding a skill system, or deciphering the attack patterns of a final boss.

---

Over the years, I've adopted a certain discipline to time spent on games to maximize enjoyment and minimize waste. I only play the handful of top rated games -- that means less time wasted on bad ones, and even a few games are good for 100s of hours of entertainment. I don't play multiplayer -- the gameplay dynamics required to create a working online ecosystem make grinding (playing long hours to build skill or generate in-game resources) an inherent property, and the trade off's not worth it for me. I'm a casual gamer through and through -- thrown into a _DOOM_ deathmatch, I'd be put to rest by your run-of-the-mill six year old. I'm okay with that.

With that out of the way, here's a couple recommendations from the last couple years. As usual, skip ahead a few sections for more technical content.

## A most wholesome dystopia (#wholesome-dystopia)

[_Horizon Zero Dawn_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Zero_Dawn) (also pictured at the top) is easily one my favorite games of all time. You play as Aloy, a young huntress brought up as an outsider in a tribe of hunter-gatherers. The greater world is a dangerous place as it's overrun by robot dinosaurs, and as wacky as that sounds -- it works.

![Horizon Zero Dawn -- Aloy looking out on the Aurora Borealis](/assets/images/nanoglyphs/012-virtual-worlds/horizon-zero-dawn-night-3@2x.jpg)

The combat is some of the best ever developed for a console [1]. It centers around a bow and arrow, and the mechanics of such -- a slight delay in drawing, aiming for (destructible) weak spots on your opponents combined with a subtle bullet time effect strike a perfect compromise between challenge, satisfaction, and fun.<commit_msg>And one more word even<commit_after>+++
image_alt = "Horizon Zero Dawn (day)"
image_url = "/assets/images/nanoglyphs/012-virtual-worlds/horizon-zero-dawn-day@2x.jpg"
published_at = 2020-04-03T00:52:13Z
title = "Virtual Worlds"
+++

T plus four weeks into isolation. It's been an experience. I've been one of the lucky ones so far, getting away mostly with some vitamin D deficiency and minor eye strain caused from going from staring at e-screens just the normal amount of too much, to staring at them around-the-clock-and-then-some. Here's to hoping that yours hasn't been catastrophic.

As usual, this is _Nanoglyph_, an experimental newsletter about software and gaming-in-place. If that's not your thing, warp whistle back the real world with a [one-click unsubscribe](%unsubscribe_url%).

---

A side effect of my brave new commute-free bar-free travel-free existence is over the last couple weeks I've found myself with more free time than ever before in my adult life. Some of that windfall's been used well (daily runs, morning and evening calisthenics, excavated my guitar from the thick layer of dust that's been accumulating since roughly the Paleozoic), some of it not-so-well, and some of it in the middle. You might reasonably ask, what's a "middle" activity? There's one in particular I had in mind: video games.

The last decade's seen gaming enter the mainstream after spending a long time cast in common wisdom as the favored hobby of social misfits and basement dwellers, but despite some progress, it's still a long shot from being considered a virtuous pursuit. Some of that's history, and some of it's from the continued existence of dark elements -- multiplayer games like MMOs eat every waking moment of an enthusiastic player's existence to the detriment of all else, micro transactions is the ancient act of profiteering refined to perfection with 21st century technology, and loot boxes seem to be designed to enable underage gambling.

But enjoyed the right way, video games are some of the most transportive media produced by humanity today. Photorealistic graphics take players to vibrant alien worlds of impossible vistas and unspeakable wonder. Stories are richer and more expansive than their counterparts in film or TV because there's more opportunity to explore. Writing and acting in top games might fall a little short of the very best that Hollywood has to offer, but if so ... not by much. A notch above the last season of _Game of Thrones_ anyway.

I'm as much of a fan of a great TV series or movies as the next person, but often come away from that sort of passive consumption experiences feeling like a vegetable. Best case scenario, I viewed something complicated and cerebral with rapt attention throughout. More often, I'm watching at about half attention, with the other half on a second screen like a laptop or smartphone (and I'm [not alone](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/88-of-americans-use-a-second-screen-while-watching-tv-why/)). But a video game is different. There's no choice except to be 100% engaged, and often in a way that's stimulating the mind. And I'm not just talking about _Myst_ -- even outside of puzzle games, you're optimizing an equipment load out, understanding a skill system, or deciphering the attack patterns of a final boss.

---

Over the years, I've adopted a certain discipline to time spent on games to maximize enjoyment and minimize waste. I only play the handful of top rated games -- that means less time wasted on bad ones, and even a few games are good for 100s of hours of entertainment. I don't play multiplayer -- the gameplay dynamics required to create a working online ecosystem make grinding (playing long hours to build skill or generate in-game resources) an inherent property, and the trade off's not worth it for me. I'm a casual gamer through and through -- thrown into a _DOOM_ deathmatch, I'd be put to rest by your run-of-the-mill six year old. I'm okay with that.

With that out of the way, here's a couple recommendations from the last couple years. As usual, skip ahead a few sections for more technical content.

## A most wholesome dystopia (#wholesome-dystopia)

[_Horizon Zero Dawn_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_Zero_Dawn) (also pictured at the top) is easily one my favorite games of all time. You play as Aloy, a young huntress brought up as an outsider in a tribe of hunter-gatherers. The greater world is a dangerous place as it's overrun by robot dinosaurs, and as wacky as that sounds -- it works.

![Horizon Zero Dawn -- Aloy looking out on the Aurora Borealis](/assets/images/nanoglyphs/012-virtual-worlds/horizon-zero-dawn-night-3@2x.jpg)

The combat is some of the best ever developed for a console [1]. It centers around a bow and arrow, and the mechanics of such -- a slight delay in drawing, aiming for (destructible) weak spots on your opponents combined with a subtle bullet time effect strike a perfect compromise between challenge, satisfaction, and fun.
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