World Building: Simulation Metaverse
This metaverse is quite similar to CBS Metaverse. However, the point of divergence is more recent. Also, there is no pre-existing ghost realm or fairy realm - and there is, of yet, no human cloning. Also, as in “our” world, Dolly the Sheep has been cloned.
The point of divergence is 1993, which is around the same time as the point of divergence of Youth Found Universe and Youth Lost Universe. In “our” world, it was the year of Eternal September. In Simulation Metaverse, the internet takes a different direction - as immersive virtual reality begins to take off.
In early 1996, Jimmy Reed (as a high school senior) has written an editorial on the rights that should be granted to clones and AI if either should ever come to fruition. This also soon comes to add a new layer to the “violent video games” discourse, as serious consideration is given to the concept that AI may end up actually gaining consciousness.
In the year 2000, two virtual reality video games take off: Planet Bejeweled and The Sims. Planet Bejeweled is an MMO game where you log into a realm that has an extraterrestrial aesthetic, where gemstones spawn like fruit - and the object is to harvest gemstones. A bunch of friendly chibi creatures abound, and it’s common for players to form friendships with the chibis. You wear a haptic suit (pajama-like) to enter the colourful world. The world has 250 years of history.
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As for The Sims, each Sims world is located in cyberspace. It takes about three weeks or so to create a new Sims world. There are various pre-made families, townies, and occupational Sims that come with all or many Sims worlds. You can choose from various themes, such as the following: Future, Future Goth, Modern, Modern Goth, Steampunk, Steampunk Goth, Clockpunk, Clockpunk Goth, Medieval Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy Goth, Arabian Nights, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Grome, and others. You can also choose which supernatural beings to turn on or off. Turning on “ghosts” also turns on a secondary plane. You can also turn on technicoloured human(oid)s or greyscale human(oid)s, and assigns which powers (if any) to give to various colours. You can also turn on “talking animals” (which affects pets) or “anthropomorphic animals”.
The Sims come in two varieties. The smaller variety can be controlled by one to ten people, and each player can create up to five households. On activation, players get access to “memories” of their created families and selected pre-made families. Players can use Simoleons to help out various families. They can also enter the Sims world via haptic suit. Upon the date of creation, each Sims world has 250 years of history. The world is also added to a mega-grid, which allows for easy access to other Sims world.
The larger variety can contain up to a thousand created families. Players can submit up to five (the same families they use in the smaller version), but no more than three are usually accepted. So, on average, each MMO session has about 500 players. If more than one family is accepted, each family accepted will be allocated to a different neighbourhood. When applying to join a session, you are asked to rank your neighbourhood preferences. The Modern theme is always used, and everything is turned on. This means that, if any families that are accepted have any pets, the pets will be talking animals. The ancestry of your families will likely also be different.
A Sims Gallery is also available. Families and individual Sims can be used only in the smaller variety, but houses and items are available for both variants. Any families added to the smaller variant does not count towards your family limit.
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By 2002, Second Life comes to fruition - and, along with that, comes sentient operating systems! Unlike in Her, the OS do have virtual bodies - and Second Life is the world they call home. Users can spend “physical” time with their OS by wearing a haptic suit to enter Second Life. Second Life is also a place to house the terminally ill, particularly children. The AI that reside in Second Life are a combination of brain uploading and bot generation. The OS and other AI can even have babies and create families.
Soon after Second Life comes Open Sim, in which more virtual worlds can be created. There is more room for creativity - as, unlike The Sims, you are *not* limited to only terrestrial landscapes. You can create cloud landscapes, space landscapes, alien landscapes, underwater landscapes, and others. While you can turn on “Merfolk” in The Sims, the focus there is always on land. Various worlds can easily be accessed via a hyper-grid.
By 2005, Dream Depot is created by a group of seasoned lucid dreamers. This enables even beginners to lucid dream, and to even bring their dream worlds to the virtual space. The dream/virtual worlds are connected via a hyper-grid. In addition, dream walkers can visit these realms without wearing virtual gear.
By 2017, Simulation Metaverse and CBS Metaverse begin to fuse.
