The Box
The Box is an idea for a game. I can almost guarantee it will never be made, but I decided that it would be worthwhile at least giving a rough idea of it, because I believe it to be rather original
The Box is the name of the environment you play in. It is a 10 miles one every side (in other words a 103 area inside the box with about 3 miles of this being the depth of the soil on the bottom of the box, giving roughly 7 mile height and ten on all other sides) and apparently made of metal with pipes and other such industrial objects randomly sprouting from the walls, forming small ledges and walkways. It has day and night cycles with no apparent source (ie there is no sun). Inside this box you, as the player, are god. You control all aspects of what happens within the box and can create and destroy as you see fit. Below is a brief description of what this entails.
The elements
In the Box you can create and destroy matter, using a simple menu with sliding tabs to pick things such as molecular stability (which will determine things such as the durability of the specific element, its melting and freezing points, usefulness as building material and the like) as well as color, specific properties (such as if its poisonous or radioactive, and its abundance) and ease of separation from other elements. After its creation the element can either be automatically planted into the soil in accordance to its abundance level or placed where ever you wish manually.
To destroy the elements you can either use a simple point and click of choosing a specific cursor size (along with other variables like "destroy only this element" or "destroy all but this element") and clicking to delete chunks of the landscape. Or you can use a menu to equally delete from the entire box (ie you can say you wish for 30% of x element to be deleted and it will delete it from the box as a whole rather then from a single area)
Weather.
All variety of weather is present in the Box, from rain to meteors (how this works is covered later in the "additional properties of the box" section) as well as natural disasters such as Box quakes, tornadoes, fires, electrical storms, and floods. In the center of the bottom of the box is a massive drain, to which all rivers lead (this is not to say lakes don't exist, but is merely a way to let excess water drain) and is mirrored on the roof of the box with a drain through which the water vapor to form clouds is released. Either of these drains can be plugged though, at the users wish (with obvious flooding or drought of course). All weather will run automatically on a quasi random cycle, with things like rain occurring regularly and things like Box quakes occurring rarely. Other weather specific effects like tornados will only occur naturally under the right conditions, such as during storms.
All weather can be used by the player too if they so wish, with varying degrees of control. I.e. with tornadoes the player can pick the start point but from there the tornado will run its own course, same as a player will pick the epicenter and magnitude of a Box quake.
The Flora
Plants will be a naturally occurring thing in the Box, and will spread and grow and mutate without the players input. Though if the player wishes he can introduce new plants or wipe out others. New plants are created using a combination of sliders for certain attributes, (longevity of life, chances that the plants seeds will grow, resistance to cold and heat as well as drought or flood, and toxicity from harmless to deadly) and use a Procedurally generated system to mold and form the shape of the adult plant. They can also choose its behavior (ie where its most likely to grow and how, such as growing vine like or tree like) From there the game can either introduce it via a air spreading from the top drain or let the player manually spread it.
The fauna
Animals in the world will be created and evolve to suit the changes of the environment (ie if the player's decisions result in regular floods the world then the animals will most likely become amphibious etc) They will interact regularly with the environment and prey predator relationships will appear as they take different evolutionary paths. In the end, they will be adapted to almost any environment, including those created by the people of the Box. As their bodies evolve so will their minds and governing AI's ( through use of evolutionary systems) and given the right circumstances they could even gain sentience.
Animals are created by the player in a two step process. The first is to be given a group of sliders and boxes to check. These will determine the animals characteristics and attributes (mammal, reptile insect etc reproductive time, diet, resistance to hunger and thirst as well as physical trauma, speed, necessary sleep, nocturnal or not, how good their hearing/sight/sense of smell is, etc) and then from this data a basic form will be generated (ie a fast creature will have either long legs or a slender, muscular body.) and from there the user can do such things as pick the colors or details. The sliders will have limits and will change to adapt to the position of the other sliders (ie a fast creature will have a small slider for physical strength and vice versa)
The creatures can from there be introduced either naturally (as a mutation to the existent strains of life) or unnaturally as being dropped in pods from the upper drain.
Also in this category are viruses and other germs, created in a similar way of sliders (with things like lethality, effectiveness on particular animals or plants, reproductive rate, resistance to drugs etc) and they will be introduced exclusively through the top drain (note that it will be impossible to directly observe these germs, only their effects.)
The People.
The Box's people will begin their existence at about what we would call cave men on our evolutionary scale. They will be specifically late ice age to early Sumerian (ie. They are physically and mentally the same as us but not capable of as high a thought because they are mostly ignorant to the world. ) They will start life approximately 1000 years after the creation of the environment in the Box (see "additional properties of the box") as a small cluster of men, women and children which are lowered through the top drain in pods and dropped into the world in a random area. From there they shall begin to live and spread, adapting to the environment and the place of their "birth" (ie those born near the bottom drain will most likely invent fishing as a main source of food, while those in a forest will learn to hunt etc.) . They will evolve and develop tools and building techniques, farming and metal working and religion. They will spread from their origin to all sides of the Box and then as room becomes limited and technology more advanced they will begin to spread up the walls of the Box, first using the natural outcroppings of pipes and metal to build on, wooden bridges spreading from one suspended colony to another, then begin drilling and anchoring into the box itself. As they learn metal working and chemistry they will begin to mine the elements, both the natural and those you created. They will continue to develop and grow both in culture and in body. Although they start as normal humans they can change drastically as they evolve to fit their surroundings, especially those that live their lives one the sides or top of the box. What may begin as just a over all trend toward people being taller or skinnier could end in angelic wings or multiple arms.
(note: you can edit the humans like you would any other creature and add these things straight out, but unlike the creatures you can only introduce these changes through the natural introduction. In other words a mother just has a mutant baby. Chances are that it will be killed if you're in the more ancient times or medically made "normal" like we do nowadays. Though you could always just introduce hundreds at once... But even then, based of course on the current procedurally generated thought patterns of the humans, they will either start an interspecies war, attempt to change ALL the new people or the old type will die out completely if less suited to the environment then the new. However, introduce one that bares attributes the people find divine (ie like angelic wings for us) and they may worship him)
As they evolve other sub groups will become available to change, which are : weapons, technology, medicine, buildings and transportation.
Weapons, buildings and transportation will all be created in the same ways as animals, with sliders that determine the specific attributes then using procedural generation to create the object. They will however be introduced into the world by implanting the idea into one of the people. Whether or not it actually gets made depends on that specific persons place in that world. Implanting it into a scientist is a better idea then into a homeless man. Buildings will be special in that they can be designed for all sides of the Box, including the top, and can have specific functions, such as windmills that will hang over the top drain and generate energy as it pumps in water vapor.
Technology
Tech develops naturally as humans explore and grow, but it is possible to implant the ideas for it into humanity. What kind of technology can be implanted depends on the society's development and location (ie you can input the idea of how to make fire into the head of a early man, but not the idea of a sky scraper just like you can't put the idea of a hydroelectric generator into the mind of a man In a desert environment. )
Mankind can also go to war will each other if some sort of circumstance permits. In the early times this will be more raiding and looting of parties of primitive man. But as the society expands and eventually becomes one massive group, the battles will become more of massive urban conflicts that could even end up splitting the city in two as the sides divide further. The physiology, weapons and culture of the society will determine its fighting style. For example in a battle between people living on the sides of the Box and on the bottom, the ones on the sides might use long range rifles or drop bombs while the ground will fire artillery and climb up to engage in close combat.
Also one major event later will be the advent of tech greater then we have today, as man kind begins to gain the same powers you as the player have. They can engineer animals for farming, food or war, use magnetic accelerator cannons, generate matter, fusion power and the like. However as the tech increases the likely hood of massive destruction does too. A malfunction with a matter generator or fusion core could nearly wipe mankind out, meaning the few survivors on the edges of the city would have to rebuild.
The Box would have no true end, meaning that life could continue to exist and adapt till it reached either extinction or perfection.
Additional Properties of The Box
Before the introduction of man, the player can opt to either create the environment of the box from scratch or to let it be procedurally generated on its own. It will always create a livable environment, however some will be much harsher then others, such as frozen tundra or deserts or high mountains.
The Box's walls are approximately half a mile thick, but it is possible to drill through them. The Box automatically regenerates any damaged area not in use (ie damage from an explosion will heal but a man made tunnel won't as long as its still in use) Outside the Box is an unknown and dangerous place. Upon breaching the wall of the Box nearly anything can happen; massive tentacles could shoot through and crush buildings, strange sentient beings could walk in and either befriend the humans or start a war, bizarre energies could warp the first humans to breach the wall into anything from horrible Cthulhian beasts to psychic demigods.
Meteors will very rarely impact the box and smash though into the world inside. In such cases the hole will seal immediately but the actual meteor will remain. In the small environment of the Box the impact of a meteor is a epochal event, and will almost always spur change. In early man it can do anything from unite or divide tribes, increase exploration and want to see the world beyond the box, start new religions or end old ones. In a more technological society the meteor could be analyzed and found to have whole new types of matter, which could bring about technological revolutions, begin wars over the rare minerals of the meteor, bring about new inventions or even in worse case scenario, impact something like a Nuclear plant and cause a massive catastrophe
I have so far just barely brushed the surface of what can happen in the Box, but for the sake of people reading I'll end here and let any further questions be asked of me. Thanks to those who read and let me know your opinion.
The Box is an idea for a game. I can almost guarantee it will never be made, but I decided that it would be worthwhile at least giving a rough idea of it, because I believe it to be rather original
The Box is the name of the environment you play in. It is a 10 miles one every side (in other words a 103 area inside the box with about 3 miles of this being the depth of the soil on the bottom of the box, giving roughly 7 mile height and ten on all other sides) and apparently made of metal with pipes and other such industrial objects randomly sprouting from the walls, forming small ledges and walkways. It has day and night cycles with no apparent source (ie there is no sun). Inside this box you, as the player, are god. You control all aspects of what happens within the box and can create and destroy as you see fit. Below is a brief description of what this entails.
The elements
In the Box you can create and destroy matter, using a simple menu with sliding tabs to pick things such as molecular stability (which will determine things such as the durability of the specific element, its melting and freezing points, usefulness as building material and the like) as well as color, specific properties (such as if its poisonous or radioactive, and its abundance) and ease of separation from other elements. After its creation the element can either be automatically planted into the soil in accordance to its abundance level or placed where ever you wish manually.
To destroy the elements you can either use a simple point and click of choosing a specific cursor size (along with other variables like "destroy only this element" or "destroy all but this element") and clicking to delete chunks of the landscape. Or you can use a menu to equally delete from the entire box (ie you can say you wish for 30% of x element to be deleted and it will delete it from the box as a whole rather then from a single area)
Weather.
All variety of weather is present in the Box, from rain to meteors (how this works is covered later in the "additional properties of the box" section) as well as natural disasters such as Box quakes, tornadoes, fires, electrical storms, and floods. In the center of the bottom of the box is a massive drain, to which all rivers lead (this is not to say lakes don't exist, but is merely a way to let excess water drain) and is mirrored on the roof of the box with a drain through which the water vapor to form clouds is released. Either of these drains can be plugged though, at the users wish (with obvious flooding or drought of course). All weather will run automatically on a quasi random cycle, with things like rain occurring regularly and things like Box quakes occurring rarely. Other weather specific effects like tornados will only occur naturally under the right conditions, such as during storms.
All weather can be used by the player too if they so wish, with varying degrees of control. I.e. with tornadoes the player can pick the start point but from there the tornado will run its own course, same as a player will pick the epicenter and magnitude of a Box quake.
The Flora
Plants will be a naturally occurring thing in the Box, and will spread and grow and mutate without the players input. Though if the player wishes he can introduce new plants or wipe out others. New plants are created using a combination of sliders for certain attributes, (longevity of life, chances that the plants seeds will grow, resistance to cold and heat as well as drought or flood, and toxicity from harmless to deadly) and use a Procedurally generated system to mold and form the shape of the adult plant. They can also choose its behavior (ie where its most likely to grow and how, such as growing vine like or tree like) From there the game can either introduce it via a air spreading from the top drain or let the player manually spread it.
The fauna
Animals in the world will be created and evolve to suit the changes of the environment (ie if the player's decisions result in regular floods the world then the animals will most likely become amphibious etc) They will interact regularly with the environment and prey predator relationships will appear as they take different evolutionary paths. In the end, they will be adapted to almost any environment, including those created by the people of the Box. As their bodies evolve so will their minds and governing AI's ( through use of evolutionary systems) and given the right circumstances they could even gain sentience.
Animals are created by the player in a two step process. The first is to be given a group of sliders and boxes to check. These will determine the animals characteristics and attributes (mammal, reptile insect etc reproductive time, diet, resistance to hunger and thirst as well as physical trauma, speed, necessary sleep, nocturnal or not, how good their hearing/sight/sense of smell is, etc) and then from this data a basic form will be generated (ie a fast creature will have either long legs or a slender, muscular body.) and from there the user can do such things as pick the colors or details. The sliders will have limits and will change to adapt to the position of the other sliders (ie a fast creature will have a small slider for physical strength and vice versa)
The creatures can from there be introduced either naturally (as a mutation to the existent strains of life) or unnaturally as being dropped in pods from the upper drain.
Also in this category are viruses and other germs, created in a similar way of sliders (with things like lethality, effectiveness on particular animals or plants, reproductive rate, resistance to drugs etc) and they will be introduced exclusively through the top drain (note that it will be impossible to directly observe these germs, only their effects.)
The People.
The Box's people will begin their existence at about what we would call cave men on our evolutionary scale. They will be specifically late ice age to early Sumerian (ie. They are physically and mentally the same as us but not capable of as high a thought because they are mostly ignorant to the world. ) They will start life approximately 1000 years after the creation of the environment in the Box (see "additional properties of the box") as a small cluster of men, women and children which are lowered through the top drain in pods and dropped into the world in a random area. From there they shall begin to live and spread, adapting to the environment and the place of their "birth" (ie those born near the bottom drain will most likely invent fishing as a main source of food, while those in a forest will learn to hunt etc.) . They will evolve and develop tools and building techniques, farming and metal working and religion. They will spread from their origin to all sides of the Box and then as room becomes limited and technology more advanced they will begin to spread up the walls of the Box, first using the natural outcroppings of pipes and metal to build on, wooden bridges spreading from one suspended colony to another, then begin drilling and anchoring into the box itself. As they learn metal working and chemistry they will begin to mine the elements, both the natural and those you created. They will continue to develop and grow both in culture and in body. Although they start as normal humans they can change drastically as they evolve to fit their surroundings, especially those that live their lives one the sides or top of the box. What may begin as just a over all trend toward people being taller or skinnier could end in angelic wings or multiple arms.
(note: you can edit the humans like you would any other creature and add these things straight out, but unlike the creatures you can only introduce these changes through the natural introduction. In other words a mother just has a mutant baby. Chances are that it will be killed if you're in the more ancient times or medically made "normal" like we do nowadays. Though you could always just introduce hundreds at once... But even then, based of course on the current procedurally generated thought patterns of the humans, they will either start an interspecies war, attempt to change ALL the new people or the old type will die out completely if less suited to the environment then the new. However, introduce one that bares attributes the people find divine (ie like angelic wings for us) and they may worship him)
As they evolve other sub groups will become available to change, which are : weapons, technology, medicine, buildings and transportation.
Weapons, buildings and transportation will all be created in the same ways as animals, with sliders that determine the specific attributes then using procedural generation to create the object. They will however be introduced into the world by implanting the idea into one of the people. Whether or not it actually gets made depends on that specific persons place in that world. Implanting it into a scientist is a better idea then into a homeless man. Buildings will be special in that they can be designed for all sides of the Box, including the top, and can have specific functions, such as windmills that will hang over the top drain and generate energy as it pumps in water vapor.
Technology
Tech develops naturally as humans explore and grow, but it is possible to implant the ideas for it into humanity. What kind of technology can be implanted depends on the society's development and location (ie you can input the idea of how to make fire into the head of a early man, but not the idea of a sky scraper just like you can't put the idea of a hydroelectric generator into the mind of a man In a desert environment. )
Mankind can also go to war will each other if some sort of circumstance permits. In the early times this will be more raiding and looting of parties of primitive man. But as the society expands and eventually becomes one massive group, the battles will become more of massive urban conflicts that could even end up splitting the city in two as the sides divide further. The physiology, weapons and culture of the society will determine its fighting style. For example in a battle between people living on the sides of the Box and on the bottom, the ones on the sides might use long range rifles or drop bombs while the ground will fire artillery and climb up to engage in close combat.
Also one major event later will be the advent of tech greater then we have today, as man kind begins to gain the same powers you as the player have. They can engineer animals for farming, food or war, use magnetic accelerator cannons, generate matter, fusion power and the like. However as the tech increases the likely hood of massive destruction does too. A malfunction with a matter generator or fusion core could nearly wipe mankind out, meaning the few survivors on the edges of the city would have to rebuild.
The Box would have no true end, meaning that life could continue to exist and adapt till it reached either extinction or perfection.
Additional Properties of The Box
Before the introduction of man, the player can opt to either create the environment of the box from scratch or to let it be procedurally generated on its own. It will always create a livable environment, however some will be much harsher then others, such as frozen tundra or deserts or high mountains.
The Box's walls are approximately half a mile thick, but it is possible to drill through them. The Box automatically regenerates any damaged area not in use (ie damage from an explosion will heal but a man made tunnel won't as long as its still in use) Outside the Box is an unknown and dangerous place. Upon breaching the wall of the Box nearly anything can happen; massive tentacles could shoot through and crush buildings, strange sentient beings could walk in and either befriend the humans or start a war, bizarre energies could warp the first humans to breach the wall into anything from horrible Cthulhian beasts to psychic demigods.
Meteors will very rarely impact the box and smash though into the world inside. In such cases the hole will seal immediately but the actual meteor will remain. In the small environment of the Box the impact of a meteor is a epochal event, and will almost always spur change. In early man it can do anything from unite or divide tribes, increase exploration and want to see the world beyond the box, start new religions or end old ones. In a more technological society the meteor could be analyzed and found to have whole new types of matter, which could bring about technological revolutions, begin wars over the rare minerals of the meteor, bring about new inventions or even in worse case scenario, impact something like a Nuclear plant and cause a massive catastrophe
I have so far just barely brushed the surface of what can happen in the Box, but for the sake of people reading I'll end here and let any further questions be asked of me. Thanks to those who read and let me know your opinion.
I think my life would suffer as a result of this game.