What is Project Planet Postmoderna, Virtual World?
Update: July 27th, 2012
1 World, 2 continents, 9 historical sub-worlds and space; all, on the very first habitable planet to be discovered since interstellar travel was made possible.
Project Planet Postmoderna is a free-to-play sci-fi game and organic virtual world designed with an extensible tree of sub-worlds based on historical content married with historical fiction and sub-plots that could be used to learn about history in an entertaining way. These integrated educational components (8-9 sub-worlds/instances) are based on historical fact, myth and lore. It is based on the fictional work, The Advent: Children of Arla.
After interstellar space-travel was made possibly, many worlds were discovered but not that would be habitable to human beings without large amounts of resources spent on self-contained habitats or outposts. Postmoderna is the very first habitable planet to be discovered and when hope of ever discovering one was close to being lost.
Overall planet development and growth is based on the activities of the overall player base. If more players farm, then agriculture develops; if more build objects and equipment, engineering develops. Just like in a real world.
The world utilizes an integrated “2-way economy model” in which, everything can be bought and sold for real money. Players can deposit into their accounts and withdraw after they sell goods for value within the world.
It is set against the backdrop of exploration, discovery and colonization of a newly discovered alien planet–the first habitable one since long-distance space exploration was made possible and feasible. The fate of the colony is tied directly to both the efforts of individual users as well as the community as a whole.
The world of Planet Postmoderna is a fictitious sci-fi based world that was created by a super race to lure humankind there for the next step in their evolution. This sci-fi story line will take players from planetary settlement to exploration and discovery of the self-contained instanced sub-worlds that ares an important part of the gameplay mechanic. Each of these sub-worlds has their own historical fiction sub-plot.
An alien species, The Zilthay, are “planet builders” and designed the planet and these virtual sub-worlds in order for man to learn from that history and use the preserved DNA of long lost species to rebuild what has been lost. If mankind is unsuccessful in accomplishing several needed feats, its own future is uncertain.
Players will be part of the settlement and development of this new world and eek out a life in the New Old West of this newly discovered Earth-like planet with recycled technology and what is sparingly delivered by the governing corporation, New Worlds Corporation (NWC). NWC former CEO and pilot of The Black Venture, discovered the planet by pure chance on he and his crew’s way to one NWC’s mining outposts. The planet was seen on the other side of a “space tear,” a visible rip in space.
Settlement continues on the planet but technology is greatly hampered by the energy-draining effects of the planet’s native minerals, crystals that absorb energy by day and emit them at night or during violent discharge storms. Until the Zilthay Technology is later unlocked through this immersive and ever-developing story line, players are hampered by the challenges of a new lifestyle, on a planet billions of light years from Earth.
This virtual world/MMORPG-styled Sci-fi Game is designed with an integrated realistic economic model in which players can build, buy, sell and trade virtual goods for real-world equivalent currency. The other planet-side sub-worlds (virtual worlds within a virtual world) are based on various times and civilizations from Earth’s history. The first one associated with the demo is based on the Mayan/Aztec eras.
We believe the landscape of entertainment is ever changing. If we can create a world that does both–entertain and educate, it will have that much more application and be that much more engaging.
Who is behind Project Planet Postmoderna?
A talented Project Planet Postmoderna team of volunteers has been involved in this pre-production since early 2008. They come from all over the world and all walks of life with experiences and skill sets that range from 3D modeling and animation, writing, film, programming and coding to marketing and sales. The team is crafting each piece of Planet Postmoderna from scratch for the prototype. They drive the project in a way that just being part of it is an educational experience.
Why is called Planet Postmoderna?
According to French Sociologist, Jean Baudrillard, in a postmodern society there are no originals, only copies–or what he calls “simulacra.” You might think, for example, about painting or sculpture, where there is an original work (by Van Gogh, for instance), and there might also be thousands of copies, but the original is the one with the highest value (particularly monetary value). Contrast that with CDs, DVDs, or music recordings, where there is no “original,” as in painting–no recording that is hung on a wall, or kept in a vault; rather, there are only copies, by the millions, that are all the same, and all sold for (approximately) the same amount of money. Another version of Baudrillard’s “simulacrum” would be the concept of virtual reality, a reality created by simulation, for which there is no original. This is particularly evident in computer games/simulations–think of Sim City, Sim Ant, etc.
The planet is comprised of many instanced representations of times in Earth’s History. Virtual Worlds within a Virtual World. The irony in the story is that this world of many worlds is discovered by a corporation that built its entire fortune on the development of virtual worlds.
Why become as settler on Planet Postmoderna?
Project Planet Postmoderna is an educational and virtual world that combines a sci-fi futuristic and old west environment with portals to instanced worlds based on historical fact, myth and folklore. The sci-fi story and the base virtual world create the platform for the educational portals to launch users on amazing journeys testing both their skills and knowledge. It is through these journeys that users from around the world can collaborate and utilize what they learn through their virtual experiences. The project components work in unison to provide an interactive and immersive environment that encompasses and engages the user community.
Expanded Info
Players will initially arrive on the planet at the first POI Base Camp via pods. This initial POI is where the storyline’s, New World Corporation, first survey team arrived and set up their camp and base of operations. From Base Camp, players will be able to purchase any equipment they need and/or apply for a job (with either players or NPCs) in order to begin the process of earning income in order to to be able to get their start. We want to nurture a working and learning culture on Postmoderna. Players working for other players and possibly NPCs and setting out to hunt or mine or engage in learning quests is what we want each player to do in order to begin their new life as a settler on Planet Postmoderna.
As the virtual world and the economy develops, players will see the world technologies evolve. The combined efforts of all the players will cause the various technology trees to grow and expand, making new technologies and models available.
Players will be open to explore areas such as the Zilthai Temple Q (nearest instance POI) and beyond (based on their skill level). Temple Q (named after the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl) is the gateway to the first Instanced world. This “world within Postmoderna” is based on Aztec and Mayan history, architecture, culture and myth. It creates not only an exciting side area for players to explore but is also an educational experience in which the completion of learning quests may possibly be applied as learning credit at participating schools. The latter example would incorporate tests in order to get school credit. The participating schools will be able to use these worlds as an additional tool for teaching their classes a subject that most students are not always excited about, History.
Throughout the available landscape will be everything that each player will need and use to farm resources and manufacture items that will be used to build this world into a thriving community within the virtual universe. Hard work, knowledge of the planet and proper skilling and cooperation among players will be a must. Existing technologies from Earth will take awhile for New Worlds Corporation to deliver supplies and machinery to the planet in order to make life any easier. In addition, most offworld technologies are eventually rendered useless on Postmoderna because of the damping effects of the planets mysterious minerals. Initial colonists will indeed need to work hard on this planet.
The payoff for this work by early settlers will be great as they forge their new lives on this brave new world and what players see in the initial phases of the world will be different from what they see a year or two after launch. Players will have much incentive to work together and toward advancing the planet. As time goes on the use of the proper use of skills will advance the planet’s technology base and make mid-level and higher-level blueprints available to further advance the world. Lost technologies (native blueprints) can be looted or uncovered at POIs such as the Zilthai Temple, Crystal Canyon and the POIs in the unexplored areas and other world Instances beyond (eg the Aztec and Mayan Instance). There will be much to do, learn and experience for everyone.
