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The Arcade

Understanding the game better

added 11 months ago AP BM

Andrew went back to his homework, selecting the same option and time warped to shortly after 9 where his mom interrupted him saying its bedtime. The completion bar on his homework said it was almost finished. "I'm nearly done mom, can I finish this before I go to bed?"

Mom bot cocked her head in confusion. "But, you've spent all evening working on homework, is everything okay?"
"Yeah mom, just trying to make sure I got everything right."
"Alright then, but try to hurry up, a growing boy needs his sleep, and you should have started earlier if it was going to take you this long."

Finally finishing by 9:30 you put the book away and went to the bathroom completing "Bedtime Routine" which included brushing your teeth, washing your face, going to the bathroom, returning to your room, undressing, putting the clothes in the hamper, and going to bed until woken or rested.

Accepting the option, everything blurred, then went to black, the menu popped up showing the time at 12:00:01 and summarizing that he gained intelligence due to his activities today. Clicking okay, the next day began with an alarm going off. A status indicator appeared showing he was weary due to 50 less minutes of sleep than needed and as he reached for the alarm he had the option to simply turn it off, perform the Wake Up Morning Routine, or perform the Snooze Routine. He chose Wake Up Morning Routine and when things unblurred he was in the kitchen, dressed, and the weary indicator had faded but a red blinking hunger indicator was flashing. It was now 6:18.

Going to the fridge he was offered a "have cereal" and "frozen waffles" subroutine, or to simply review available contents, he chose frozen waffles and he was suddenly sitting at the table with plain waffles, a syrup bottle, and jam sitting in front of him. reaching for the syrup he got a menu for light, moderate, heavy, and "measure with your heart" making him chuckle, which he selected.

Grabbing the fork, like yesterday the menu option appeared for how much he wanted to eat, seeing the angrily flashing hunger icon, one plate wasn't enough last night, so he selected until he was full. The world blurred and returned to focus, plate empty, hunger indicator gone. Andrew picked up his plate and a menu appeared offering for him to place dishes in the sink, place dishes into the dishwasher, or to place dishes into dishwasher and clean up after himself.

Andrew selected the obviously 'correct' answer and after yet another blur-unblur scene the dishes, syrup, and jam were gone and the countertop was damp, freshly wiped down, and it was now 6:50. He walked to the bathroom and upon picking up his toothbrush chose to brush his teeth thoroughly and realizing he had a bathroom meter, used the toilet, opting for the fulfill needs 1 & 2 option.

During the blur sequence he heard his mother warn him that he needed to go to catch the bus and he cringed as he saw another moment pass by as time continued to jump forward. Once back in control he ran for his bookbag with his magic book that represented his homework and ran to the front door.

Upon reaching it, he was given the option of going to the bus stop as well as run away, and play hooky each option expanded to countless options of where to go instead and after staring at the options in shock for a moment Andrew backed out and selected to go to the bus stop. The world blurred more intensely all becoming a single color, then the color shifted to grayish green and unblurred to show him at a school bus stop. Andrew looked around finding it eerily familiar. After a moment he heard the sounds of the bus coming from up the street and it soon appeared. The door opened and as he reached for the railing a menu appeared offering for him to try to finish homework on the bus (grayed out), study notes, converse with friends (grayed out), make new friends, bully people, converse with bus driver.

Andrew was intrigued by the effects of bullying people or conversing with the bus driver. Either would probably lower his social standing but each might unlock a different game resource later... possibly while losing access to something else in the process. Maybe the name of the game is a clue, Andrew pondered. Maybe making "bad life choices" removes options to make good ones and forces you to progress certain ways in the game? Afraid of limiting his options 10 minutes into the game he selected study.

Everything blurred and unblurred, there was a mannequin in front of him and a menu. Dennis is trying to be friendly with you, how do you wish to continue? Polite, Rude, Ignore. Selecting polite opened submenu options, "Sorry I can't talk I need to study.", "I am trying to study, did you need something?", stop studying and fully engage in conversation.

Andrew cringed. Leveling his intelligence stats is important but so are social stats, and NPC's tend to be important in role playing games, and being on the bus, he probably 'lives' close and will be a recurring character. "Stop studying and fully engage" Andrew said, annoyed he had to make the choice.

"Relationship Status: Dennis Evans: Unknown>Acquaintance" appeared onscreen, under that "Progression tree unlocked! Social Goals setting unlocked!" Andrew was intrigued about what this social system held, and rather than clicking continue he clicked on the social goal option. A popup menu appeared explaining that he can set his relationship goals with this NPC which will determine future interaction options and will automatically choose how to engage in passing interactions. "None (end relationship), Acquaintance (maintain relationship), work to become friends, work to become friends with benefits (grayed out), work to become best friends, work to become brothers, work to become life partners (asexual) (grayed out), work to become lovers-monogamous (grayed out), work to become lovers-polyamorous (grayed out)"

Andrew being an only child in real life always thought it would be cool to have a bond with someone so strong that your life is their life without the added complexities of romance thrown in. Accepting the option of Brother, and clicking continue, the world blurred and Andrew blinked as the world solidified around him. He was no longer on the bus, but in a brightly lit hallway lined with lockers. A faint echo of chatter filled the air.

"Alright, Andrew," he muttered to himself, "Let's get to class."

He glanced around, searching for a clue on where to go. Suddenly, the familiar blue glow of the HUD flickered, offering a new menu option: "Navigate to next class - English" the submenu appeared, sleep, goof off, pay attention, listen attentively and take notes.

Recognizing the benefit of good grades, Andrew quickly selected "English (listen attentively and take notes)." A soothing green line appeared on the floor, snaking its way down the hallway. He followed it diligently, the chatter growing louder as he approached a classroom door labeled "Ms. Johnson - English"

The world blurred once more, then refocused with Andrew sitting at a desk. A stern-looking woman with a bun stood at the front of the room, droning on about Shakespearean sonnets. Before him his notebook was open, the notes appeared magically on the page, saving him the tedious task of writing everything down.

This was too good to be true, Andrew thought. He felt a pang of guilt for letting the system do all the work, but the allure of perfect notes was overwhelming. He glanced around the room – other students (all androgenous mannequins) seemed to be taking notes as well, though he couldn't tell if it was a true representation of their academic focus or a programming cop-out like not having skins for them in the first place.

The menu popped up, "The teacher said something you didn't understand, Ask about it, Continue listening attentively, Note it and look it up later (adds homework time)." Considering last nights homework already took him past his bedtime, and he wants to max his stats, he opted to ask the teacher. A moment later he was prompted to answer a question he supposedly knew the answer to and opted to let someone else answer unless nobody speaks up.

The rest of his classes were the same with the same options being selected. Lunch gave him the option like other meals prepared for him, to be picky, but eating till full or opting for a second plate showed an additional cost, so he opted to just finish the plate. Gym class was much like his others which allowed similar engagement options but gave him new options to engage with the mannequins such as encourage, mock weakness, spark friendly competition, and spark serious competition. Wanting to boost his physical and social stats he chose to "Give it his all" and each time the options arose, he chose encourage.

Finishing school he chose to attack homework on the bus and the next thing he saw was his house. Going inside he went back to completing his homework pleased to see he was already half way done. As the world came back into focus he put his book away and then Mom called dinner.

He set the table and after sitting down his hunger icon was again blinking an angry red so this time he opted to eat until full reasoning that his gym class activities have something to do with this. After dinner and clean up he seemed to have free time for the first time in the game... he explored the house and went to the family computer thinking he may find an in game help menu to figure out how to max his abilities.

Instead he was offered to "research", "goof off", or "take action". Selecting research, he was presented with "Deeply study school topics", "Search area of interest", and "Self-Help." All these options seemed like wonderful ways to game the system, as much as he wanted to search all the areas of interest, browsing through the endless topics of the internet didn't seem as focused as the Self-Help menu promised to be.

The Self-Help menu described itself as ways to modify the game to better suit your play style, the options that immediately caught his attention were in regards to personal automation and display options. Things like setting goals, prioritizing conflicting items, and waiting. For display options he could choose not to show all the grayed out items for simplicity or to show all options, even if the AI determines a zero percent chance of that option being chosen.

He selected all the automation options as well as the display options and noticed that time sped by representing him taking half an hour to learn each of the new skills. "Goal notebook unlocked! Prioritization options unlocked! Wait ability unlocked!" He went up to his mother mannequin and engaged her in conversation to see the new display options.

"Yes dear?"
The menu came up and paused time, options to ask about her day, learn the recipe from dinner, ask about relationship with dad seemed like standard options but beyond that were horrible things like seduce, assault, rape, and murder which earnestly horrified Andrew... he didn't want those options to be displayed in case he accidentally selected them and instantly ruined his play through. Quickly jumping out of the menu he ran back to the computer and reset his display options to normal and decided to look for his goal notebook instead.

He went to his bookbag, being the first place he thought of to access a notebook and sure enough, a bright green notebook with 'GOALS' written in gold lettering appeared. In it he found a new interface to which he set school as his goal and was able to set his engagement strategy including answering questions, bus activities, and homework completion. He also set up a goal for his friendship with Dennis to be sincere and earnest. Finally he set a goal to advance physically, though wasn't sure how well he would be able to do that with just a standard gym class. Accepting his options, he was given the option to interrupt goals if new options arose or ignore things that would interfere with his goals and he chose to allow interruptions.

Exiting the menu he realized that time didn't stop for that menu and it was 8:56. Almost bedtime. Recalling the weariness indicator this morning showing he missed almost an hour of sleep, he went to the bathroom and activated his bedtime routine.

As midnight hit he was again given a summary showing his advancements for the day including intelligence, social, and physical, it also showed he gained planning skills and that more options unlocked. Continuing, the menu showed a graphic that said, "due to your advancement, activating immersion level 2... enabling character skins... NPC voices... due to your advancement, activating immersion level 3... future goal options unlocked... role options unlocked... romance options unlocked... time advancement limit increased from 3 hours [excluding sleep] to 5 days (Use With Care)"

Awaking to his alarm his morning routine began and he selected cereal for breakfast, finishing breakfast he was given the option to add clean up from breakfast as part of his morning routine hinting at the advancement of the habit system. He accepted finding himself with his shoes and bookbag in front of the door. He selected the option to go to school and as things blurred text was displayed "Achieved Friendship with Dennis, New menu option: nutritionally conscious meal, Achieved Acquaintance with (Coach) Mr. Peterson, New interactions: basic workout." Blinking, Andrew was suddenly staring at his textbook, which displayed "homework complete". Looking around, he was at the table, time showing 4:30.

Andrew smiled, "Hmm, repeatedly studying the next chapters seems to be letting me finish more homework at school giving me more time to focus on my other skills." Going back to the computer he returned to the Self-Help menu to see if any more options unlocked with his advancements overnight. Timer implementation and Sub-goals were all options that he could take on and learn, rapid habit formation, goal-review and analysis were new but greyed out. Timer implementation took 5 minutes to learn the concept, Sub-goals took another 30, but learning them unlocked the other two which he immediately went back for. Goal review only got halfway finished before he was interrupted for dinner.

At dinner he was shocked to see his parents looked like his real parents, outside the game, the voices somehow now mimicked the cadence and tone of them as well. "Right, the skin upgrade." he muttered to himself trying to get past the uncanny valley.

He finished afterwards, and rapid habit formation was only 3/4ths complete when he was interrupted to go to bed at 9... He wanted to finish but doesn't want to deal with weariness the next day...

Andrew then started a conversation with his mom, navigating through the menu he found the option to request a timer. She replied that she doesn't have one but can pick one up for him, with that done, he activated the bedtime routine, saw that he acquired new skills and stat points, wake up routine with a weariness indicator, picked a nutritionally conscious meal, finished his morning routine, and again activated school mode.

This time he found out that he started socializing with Dennis at lunch and got to see what Dennis looked like as a person instead of a robot. Gym class gave him a "Sour Emotions: Funk" indicator when he was honest with the coach that he didn't perform the basic workout routine he had learned the day before. He apparently got chewed out.

Finishing that, he was at his house again with completed homework, and it was 5:15. He went to the computer irritated to find that he was only 2/3rds of the way completed with the 'course' realizing that he loses knowledge on incomplete tasks. He managed to finish the course in time for dinner.

Dinner started with pop up that he was eligible to make a habit to set the table before meals but needs a timer. Starting the meal he was now given the option to eat as nutritionally balanced as possible based on his knowledge and upon finishing he was now eligible to automatically load the dishwasher once a meal completes and unload the dishwasher if clean as part of the load process.

He went back to his goals notebook and elaborated on physical goals making sub-goals to learn workout routines, learn about staying healthy while working out, and to actually work out to the best of his ability. He also set a new goal to be in bed by 9, with a sub goal to stop other activities after 8:45 and start his bedtime routine. Finally he set the goal of eating as nutritionally balanced and as much as he needs with each meal.

Satisfied for now he exited the menu...

Time began to fly by, it showed he was researching nutrition, macronutrients, micronutrients, bodyweight exercises, doing exercises, sleeping, then the day summary happened. He saw a few messages for what he had for breakfast, then school had started. "Habit Acquired: Note taker, Always taking notes when you learn helps you to retain more, study faster, and find answers faster. Habit Acquired: Organized notes! You've taken so many notes that you developed a system! Everything that can benefit from notes is automatically faster."

He saw indicators for social interactions with Dennis, then Coach Peterson, then homework complete, then more research, then working out, then food, "Timer Acquired! Efficiency enhanced", more research, and before he knew it the day summary popped up again... then there was a bully interaction he opted not to react to. Another day passed with its own slew of things that happened, and another, and another "Due to your advancement, activating immersion level 4... Time advancement limit increased from 5 days to 1 month (Use With Care).

Andrew's heart fluttered. Text filled the screen, he lost track of skills, statuses, and habits being acquired. Days flew by in the blink of an eye. Interactions had become habits and he gained several more acquaintances, the fast forwarding finally stopped "Goal acquisition stopped due to goal being reached: advance physically"

Looking at the date, 20 days had passed, he had apparently just finished a workout, and it was 5pm. Going to the mirror he looked a modest amount leaner, and a tiny bit buffer. His goal was physical advancement, but what that meant wasn't specific, and he had physically advanced though was far from the Adonis he imagined turning his avatar into.

Andrew knew it was just a simulation but could practically feel the tiredness of his muscles looking at the pink glow of his flushed reflection and watching the sweat drip down his character's face. "Specific and measurable results." Came to mind as something he learned from chemistry class but when he thought about the context he saw the impassioned older gentlemen from the simulation instead of the young 20 something year old who teaches at his school. 'Strange,' Andrew thought, 'classes have all been fast forwarded since robots started to look like people, why would I think I know what the character looks like or said?'

He wanted to edit his goals, but with how much time had passed, and consequently the points he racked up... he had a sneaking suspicion. Going to the computer he found a slew of new automation techniques available to learn including unlocking a calendar, setting schedules with dynamic start and end times, dynamic sub-goal setting, and auto schedule modification. He was pleased to see the tiers of prerequisites checked off which told him he was progressing well.

He wanted to at least see his goals before warping time more, he opened his goal planner and saw 'advance physically' fade away. A line appeared and a large number of suggested goals appeared that he could immediately accept, the program had been watching how he interacted with the game and tailored these results to how he was playing. Several were focused on working out in specific ways or a certain duration each day, others had end goals of gaining so much weight or attaining a certain physique or build type. Things that would surely take months if not years to accomplish. One goal was focused on unlocking game automation capabilities as they become available. and several others were tied to social interactions.

The dynamic sub goal systems gave him a setting to allow the system to pick milestones that lead up to goals, allowing less specific goals to be made, and still have a somewhat direct path followed. For example a goal of befriending someone could automatically generate a sub-goal of sitting at their lunch table to find topics of mutual interest, rather than stopping them between classes to talk because the goal is friendship not irritating them.

The purpose of the game finally clicked, the goal automation was the game, he could zip through the boring, albeit important, stuff, allowing him to keep focused on the important things. He can drop out of fast forward to experience and interact with different life stages choosing different courses of action, then fast forwarding to the next milestone of interest!

He can now fast forward a month at a time but his prior limit expanded while he was fast forwarding, so he may want to word at least one of his goals to be within a set timeframe, because blasting through a whole year or more without reevaluating his goals seems unwise.

He knows he wants to garner the power of automation options when available, but beyond that, what goals does Andrew set, and how long does he let them run? The game shows his character as age 14.3.


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