Week 1: reading response
Week 2: reading response
Week 3: reading response
Week 4: reading response
Week 5: reading response
Week 6: reading response
Week 7: reading response
Week 8: reading response
Week 9: reading response
For this week's reading response, I would like to reflect on several design principles from the book:

4.4 Local Independence + Global Coordination
4.6 Use the Computer as an Agent of Transformation
4.10 Programmability: Both a Blessing and a Curse

Principle 4.4: Local Independence + Global Coordination

This combination makes me think of the phenomenon called emergence in large language models and sciences such as physics and sociology. The term "emergence" is defined as a macro-phenomenon caused by the interaction between micro-substances. In large language models, it is shown that a significant number of non-linear layers and the scale of data will give rise to features, such as chains of thought. In physics, the physical properties of sub-atomic particles create atoms; atoms and neutrons form chemical properties; and chemicals form organic molecules that eventually create biological structures. In sociology, Kevin Kelly, a famous writer, observed the effect of swarming created from a herd of organisms. This could be demonstrated as the spontaneous entrainment in a live house or the grouped decision process for a horde of people playing Pong (Out of Control, Chapter 2: Hive Mind). In our game design, we also need to consider how we can use a simple rule to create an organic macro-eco system. One simple algorithm that we might use in game design could be the evolutionary algorithm. In my opinion, this type of algorithm might enable independent local game elements to ultimately achieve stable global coordination.

Principle 4.6: Use the Computer as an Agent of Transformation

One of the most important features that make computers powerful is their ability to perform all types of matrix transformations. Everything in our physical world is a matrix transformation, including musical phenomena. In the auditory domain, we have to perform a wavelet transform in our cochlea to perceive different bands from a time-series signal; in the vision domain, the projection of a 3D object to a 2D plane also requires some sort of transformation. Actually, the visualization process of any data in game design is also a transform, sometimes linear and sometimes non-linear.

Principle 4.10: Programmability is Both a Blessing and a Curse

In my understanding, programmability is equivalent to the ability to quantitatively model an ideal or existing phenomenon. The curse of programmability stems exactly from the downside of quantization. In the world of quantitative anthropology or sociology, many individuals' unique stories are often oversimplified to a numeric data point. The over-introduction of numericity and the optimization of such numeric parameters in the game might make the game solely an "optimization game," such as many games made by Tencent in mainland China. Though these optimization games with robust numeric systems can make players addicted, the players might lose the ability to experience the sublime during the gaming experience. So, programmability is both a blessing and a curse.