Garrett Rodrigue

World Ideation

Aside from game development, one subject that has intrigued me throughout the years is the subject of mathematics. Academically, this was always my favorite subject. I enjoyed the material to the point where I found a job in which I tutor high school and college students in various math subjects, but predominantly calculus. I find it difficult to explain why I have such an interest in mastering mathematical logic. The more I dive into the subject, the more I realize that there is no limit (or is there) to what the subject can explain and represent.

Which brings me to this world idea. At first I thought about creating the world of calculus. There is no doubt that this world contains enough material to build something for the scope of this class. At the same time, calculus by itself seems limiting. The reason being, the understanding of calculus requires the knowledge of prerequisite subjects, such as arithmetic, algebra, trig, and so forth. Thus, this world needs to encompass these prerequisites and illustrate them as building blocks for higher mathematics.

There are various possibilities in the way the world could be constructed. One is a tower where the lower levels of the tower represent the introductory mathematical subjects. The medium levels are the subjects that require the knowledge of the lower subjects. High levels are supported by everything underneath and so forth. Another possibility is a continent system where various levels of mathematical evolution can be seen as one journeys from one direction to another. Let’s say that evolution spread from east to west. The eastern continents would represent the lower subjects and would appear as less developed. As knowledge spread west, the islands and continents would appear more advanced.

With the world being that of mathematics, it needs a population. The populace would be that of people, where mathematical greats (like Pythagoras) would be featured in their corresponding area. These great people would be the leaders of their areas. Their contribution to mathematics could hopefully be visually evident. It could even be as easy as spelling out their theorem, etc.

This world will not be just a historical representation. Culture is a large part of any society. Building culture usually requires populace interaction. Fictional plays, movies, and such can be created to display the interaction of these great people. The play might represent how one great person’s solution to a proof may have inspired another great person to solve the seemingly impossible. These media creations will be fictional though based on historical truth. Keep in mind that great mathematicians came from all different parts of the globe so the content of these medias can explain ancestry.

Beyond making a world that is content-wise correct, I want people to understand what they are looking at. For many, math is intimidating. I want to dissolve this fear as much as possible. What I would like in the end is for someone to look at the world and say, “I’m not a math person, but this is very interesting”, and then they begin to play with the world. For those who have an inkling for this subject matter, all the better.