Hi,

I am Tomaz Simnovec or in some circles/airwaves S51LI. My educational background is in physics but I tend to use it more for complex mathematical things in video games for example. Video games are great because you can look at them as simulators for things that would normally be almost impossible. "...hey kid...do you want to see centrally planned macroeconomics models in play?" or "you really think we can't compare character power levels which is the result of stats distribution? (turns out it is just multidimensinal vector comparison)". 

On the other hand a wholesome project needs more than cheap mathematical tricks. It also needs a strong visual side (in my opinion a mix of old - frame by frame animation in combination with the new - particle systems and custom shaders) and a damn good story (Oto Norcic wrote a great overview of the history of macroeconomst that just waited to be "reinterpreted" in a more satiral tone). The next two paragraphs explain the rest of the story of how Vice, the Godot game came to be (but in a collective voice):

The group CON.q.TENT was formed around 2022 with the ambition of discussing various ongoing topics in the world. Such topics were usually in the domain of philosophy - mainly Accelerationism, theory of macroeconomics all influenced by local history of space exploration, rocket design, prose, chess.   There were ambitions early on to convey the ideas that were brought up during the meetings to the wider audience with the ambition of getting feedback and further insight into the topics that were being discussed withing the group. Because we were genuinely interested into what people had to say while also trying to make the discussion easy to enter we decided to create a video game.  A player would enter the first person shooter type game (much similar to Id’s Wolfenstein3D) and explore the ideas mentioned previously. The game does not strive to be an experience worth replaying but more a scenic journey into the ”space of ideas”. This space however is abstract (perhaps esoteric) and draws inspiration from both Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and the writings of the CCRU (Cybernetic Culture Research Unit) all while keeping a rather romantic tone, as seen in the works of Milan Vidmar’s chess books (particularly those regarding beginners). With this vision in mind the first level of the game was realised and presented to the public as a live playable demo experience accompanied by a concert of Homoplasticus. Although the first level proved to be visually interesting and effective at world building, the game needed a gameplay shift into a fully 3D environment and a reduction in terms of the story elements. While the macroeconic ideas of the past still form a pillar for environment design, the philosophical ideas shifted more heavily to Descartes and his Meditations. This shift towards "doubt" as opposed to dialogue is strengthened visually by the use of a mix of 2D and 3D techniques creating a menacing island that is the second level.

I would kindly ask you to check out the a short youtube video of the live event of the Vice game (the event was part of the BIG SEE week of design in Ljubljana. One of the biggest events in design in eastern and southern EU). The link is in the portfolio.

Tomaz Simnovec (con.q.tent)

http://tomazs51li.eu/