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A whole new world...

Tron was an influential movie for me as a child. It helped to humanize computers and, much like The Wizard, made gaming cool (notice a tinge of sarcasm there).
The world, in part created by Syd Mead, was a vision to behold. It had a clear simple futuristic style, that lead itself to some beautiful images. One part of that world inspired me to think about my world. The little bit:

bit-1.jpg bit-2.jpg bit-3.jpg
The bit was a simple creature which showed it's emotions and responses with a simple yes or no and changing shape and color. This made me wonder, what if a whole world was created with similar creatures. Shape, color, and sound would change according to emotion and communication.
Then there could also be different styles according to the general culture of these creatures. If the were more warlike then their style would be more angular and sharp. The more peaceful would be rounder and softer. Music would change accordingly and emotions would mix with color. In many ways this would be a form of synthesia, and would require that type of ability (to link emotions to colors, shapes, and sounds).

The concept has been roaming about my head for some time now, as a game. I couldn't really figure out the gameplay but thought the world would be visually interesting. I have the impression there will be some conficts in the design of the world, due to the ever changing emotions of these creatures but it could be simplified by creating two distinct cultures of these creatures and then expanding from there if there is time.

Comments

Take a look at Karl Sim's work
You can read about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Sims

His home page (including movie files) here: http://www.genarts.com/karl/

His evolution studies are striking for the seeming "emotion" displayed by his creatures evolving from simple rules.

..and, Thomas Ray's work, done at the Santa Fe Institute, called Tierra:
http://www.his.atr.jp/~ray/tierra/index.html
There's a good video documentary about it, I might be able to get ahold of a copy.

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