Design: Anthropology and the Great Wall

Not having an internet connection at my flat has led me back to reading books … and I’ve been having a great time. Such a strange feeling to be reading a book, and after 30 minutes you’re still reading the same topic (not being distracted by some interesting hyper-link that would normally take me off on an off-topic rabbit trail).

The two books that happened to catch my recent attention have nothing to do with game design, but never-the-less my mind keeps twisting the things I read into ‘ooh that would be cool in a game’.

Follow up:

The first is a book about the Great Wall of China, and is written by John Man. He has a definite ‘pro-Mongolian’ agenda, but he is honest about that from the beginning. He briefly covers the details of Chinese and Mongolian histories individually, and in detail describes the current state of the Great Wall and debunks the popular myths about the wall.

I’ve learned a great deal (had my myths debunked) … and developed an appreciation for a history I never really knew anything about. Now I’m ready to make a 10th century Mongol video game. :)

The other book has more to do with my Master’s project (Using Genetic Algorithms to create personality in minor NPCs). Its a bit ridiculous, because it is a text book about the prehistory of humans (everything until about 4000 BC). I found it for about £4 at a local store, and while flipping through the pages found that I couldn’t put it down … so I bought it. I only make it through 5-10 pages a day, but even so, I’ve put a big dent in it… and I’m already up to 40,000 years ago. :)

That book is called something like, “The History of Man” and was written by a variety of experts in Anthropology and was published with-in the last 5 years. The editor claims that this is the first book on the topic that is not written from the perspective of a single researcher … and instead represents a comprehensive and unbiased account of what we know (and what we don’t know) about the prehistory of humans.

Its actually far more interesting than it sounds… and for the price of a Venti Mocha at Starbucks, how could I pass it up?

Finally, I should mention that I’m also reading the classic Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. Its totally unrelated to game making … and its the first fiction book I’ve read in a while that isn’t Cthulhu related (Cthulhu books are my guilty pleasure). As for Anna Karenina, I’m flying through it as well… but the story is fairly troubling. I’m hoping for a happy ending, but at this point I’m not sure if thats possible. Poor Levin (so far, he’s my favorite).