The Importance of Architecture in Video Games and Virtual Worlds. ‘Architecture’ is the art of designing buildings, or the style of a building with regard to a specific period, place, or culture.
In his famous treatise, De architectura, the famous Roman Architect Vitruvius defined a good building as one that is durable, useful and beautiful (firmitas, utilitas, venustas). 2,000 years later, in the realm of video games and virtual worlds, these same principles are as applicable as ever. Vitruvius broke it down like this: “All these must be built with due reference to durability, convenience, and beauty. If I may be so bold as to translate these words of wisdom to video games as such: I managed to digress (and perhaps even insult) before I’ve even started, but the point is – architecture matters.
Agents. An agent is an animate entity that is capable of doing something on purpose.
That definition is broad enough to include humans and other animals, the subjects of verbs that express actions, and the computerized robots and softbots. But it depends on other words whose meanings are just as problematical: animate, capable, doing, and purpose. The task of defining those words raises questions that involve almost every other aspect of ontology.
Animate. Literally, an animate entity is one that has an anima or soul. Psychology of Agents Linguistically, an agent is an animate being that can perform some action, and an action is an event that is initiated or carried out by some animate being. The word animate comes from the Latin anima, which means breath or soul. We must inquire for each kind of living thing, what is its psyche; what is that of a plant, and what is that of a human or a beast. Competence Levels Avoiding. The behavior of the lower levels depends primarily on immediate inputs. Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies. 100 Principles for Designing Logos and Building Brands. The Jargon File. New Programming Jargon. Stack Overflow – like most online communities I've studied – naturally trends toward increased strictness over time.
It's primarily a defense mechanism, an immune system of the sort a child develops after first entering school or daycare and being exposed to the wide, wide world of everyday sneezes and coughs with the occasional meningitis outbreak. It isn't always a pleasant process, but it is, unfortunately, a necessary one if you want to survive. Consider this question from two years ago: New programming jargon you coined?
What programming terms have you coined that have taken off in your own circles (i.e. have heard others repeat it)? Is this even a question, really? Three hundred and eighty six! A question that invites 386 different "answers" isn't a question at all. I won't bore you with the entire history, our so-called "war on fun", and the trouble with popularity. In terms of programmer culture, though, there is precedent in the form of The Jargon File. The Perils of JavaSchools. By Joel Spolsky Thursday, December 29, 2005 Lazy kids.
Whatever happened to hard work? A sure sign of my descent into senility is bitchin' and moanin' about "kids these days," and how they won't or can't do anything hard any more. “You were lucky. When I was a kid, I learned to program on punched cards. When I started interviewing programmers in 1991, I would generally let them use any language they wanted to solve the coding problems I gave them. 99% of the time, they chose C. Nowadays, they tend to choose Java.
Now, don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with Java as an implementation language. Wait a minute, I want to modify that statement. Instead what I'd like to claim is that Java is not, generally, a hard enough programming language that it can be used to discriminate between great programmers and mediocre programmers. You used to start out in college with a course in data structures, with linked lists and hash tables and whatnot, with extensive use of pointers. Pixel.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Critticall home page. Why you should learn to lucid dream. If you’ve never experienced it then you may find it hard to understand what lucid dreaming is all about.
In fact you may be thoroughly sceptical and dismiss the whole thing as silly nonsense. But I can tell you from personal experience that lucid dreams are very real and something that many millions of people regularly enjoy. Note: Due to the huge amount of interest that this post has generated I am now seriously considering writing a book on the subject, and I would welcome input from anyone with an interest. If you have any anecdotes, suggestions, dreams or anything else you’d like to share with me for possible inclusion in the book, please email me. Your contribution can be anonymous and you may change any and all names/characters as you wish. Lucid dreaming is when you experience full consciousness while dreaming. You may also have another question on your mind, along the lines of “What’s the big deal with being conscious while dreaming, anyway?” Experiencing a lucid dream.