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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Writing Ideas - Writing Science Fiction, part 92 more Probability Entertainment

31 October 2013, Writing Ideas - Writing Science Fiction, part 92 more Probability Entertainment




The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.



We don't usually think about the world being governed by probability.  Now probability is very different than luck.  A wise person maximizes probability--you do it unconsciously.  For example, if you want to get a certain job, you go to school, you study for it, you learn everything you can about it, you maximize the chance you will be able to compete for that job.  If you don't get it the first try, you try again until you achieve your goal.  All this is based in probability.  In a roleplaying game and indeed in any computer game, the game simulates real life through probability.  For example, in a tank fighting game.  You must aim the gun at the target.  Their is an inherent probability based on distance that the gun will hit the target.  The better the aim, the higher the probability.  The closer, the higher the probability.  The lower the wind, the higher the probability.  The gamer doesn't see all the math the computer does to calculate the probability of a hit.  The gamer aims and pulls the trigger.  The result is a hit or not.  There is much more to these computations.  The second problem is penetration.  If the round hits, depending on where and how it hits, there is a greater or lesser probability of penetration.  Finally, the results of the penetration.  Depending on where the round penetrated and how it struck the tank affects the last result.  The point is that for every shot, the computer game software makes these computations and determines the results of the event.  This is true of every game and every event.  The world is all about probability, and games simulate this probability through math.  The next part of this is chaos theory.

The real world is based in probability--more tomorrow.



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