Facade: Faking Real Life

I want to start out with a candid confession: I was not particularly entertained by this game, Facebook discussion about it with Margaret afterward did give me a few chuckles I have to admit, but in general I wanted out of that apartment as soon as possible. End of story.

Well, maybe not end of story, because I then began reading Expressive Processing and started to think a little more about the details behind the game. First of all, the work behind the game is stunning. A game that when I asked my boyfriend to download it for me on his computer (mine might implode if I attempted such a feat) he laughed heartily. The program though has a pretty impressive range of responses based on what you type. It recognizes far more commands and comments then Galatea and is able to work out some semblance of response even when it clearly does not understand.

I learned that these responses are cleverly designed because of a series of beats. I never had a term for them before, but of course I realized that the characters need to have a series of goals to complete, it would be necessary to keep them on track. However, the planning and programing involved in reaction to the series of responses is interesting. If I agree with Grace first then Trip, overall response is different from what I would do in reverse while still remaining on track with the beats is more complex than I orginally had considered.

Expressive Processing is a term I think fits well when I expreienced Facade. There are always parameters set by the author, even if the program varies in response somewhat. For instance, the female reaction in Facade is very different than the male reaction. The man, when confronted or upset gets volotile and angry. The woman in a similar situation becomes weepy and exasperated. This happened for me almost every time. This must fall within some sort of parameter. Trip was also the only one, in my experiences, to physically interact with the scenery. They both looked at pictures and discussed sculptures, but Trip initiated the making of drinks and always answered the door. Homosexual flirtations were only acceptable in a female with female context, not two men. These observances point out authorship that formed particular identities for the characters and shaped the conclusions. This also relates to the idea of interactions being politicized (like the example of September 12). It isn’t as servere a political overtone, but it exists all the same.

I loved reading about the SimCity effect. I was among the many who was intrigued by watching my city grow and perhaps mercilessly allowing it fail. It failed because of my choices, not because of the game. While playing, I never thought about the relationship I had with the rules of the world, but looking back, I understand the response of the eleven year old girl, “That’s how the game works.” I knew the basics of what response the computer would have to various actions but didn’t give much thought to the fact that I was aware of programming. It’s a lot more complex than games I’ve played that preceeded it. In Super Mario, for instance, I could be sure of the paths my enemies would take and every movement the world projected. A lover of Mario, I hate to say that the predictability revealed more the The Eliza Effect, simplicity being revealed by attempts at masking it. The outcomes don’t rely on as many variables, you jump on the turtle and it is beaten, or you don’t and it gets you, you push the shell against these blocks, they will break in exactly the same order no matter how many times you try.

The Sims do rely on more variables, but there’s one thing you can be certain of, if you remove all doors and windows from the room they’re in, they all do the same thing. if you take away the ladder in the swimming pool while they’re in it, it doesn’t matter what personality they have, they’re doomed.