Chapter 67 13.1 Electronic Godhead

God Also Crazy 2 is a well-made computer game, one of those games where the player is the god.In other words, in this game, you play the role of a god, to be precise, one of the sons of Zeus.Through the window of the computer screen, you are condescendingly watching a continent, and the little people on the continent are running around farming, building houses or just strolling around.With a gleaming blue hand (God's hand), you can reach down to this continent and transform it.You can gradually smooth out the mountains, or you can gradually carve out the valleys.In either case, all you have to do is level the land for humans to farm.And for you, besides causing a series of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes, your only direct influence on the people in your world is the hand of geography.

Good land makes happy people.You can watch them flourish and go about their business.First they would build farmhouses; then, when the population increased, they would build red-tiled-roofed mansions, and finally, if all went well, complex walled cities, whitewashed with whitewash, Glittering in the Mediterranean sun.And the more prosperous these little people are, the more they worship you, and the more magic points you can get as a god. However, that's where your problem comes from.In the wider land, the other sons of Zeus also compete with you and each other for immortality.These gods can be played by other players, or by the game itself through artificial intelligence.The other gods will inflict seven kinds of disasters on your people, completely erasing the foundation of their worship and worship to you.They will unleash a destructive blue tsunami that will drown not only your people, but their farmlands, thereby endangering your own existence as a god.Without the people, there would be no worship, and there would be no gods.

Of course, you can also "reciprocate gifts"-if you have enough mana in your hand.But the mana needed to use destructive power is astounding.But besides tearing apart your opponent's territory and devouring screaming villains, there are other ways to earn mana and defeat your opponents.You can get Pan out to roam your lands, using his magic flute to attract newcomers.Alternatively, you could erect a "pope magnet"—a granite Egyptian cross monument—that would function as a shrine to attract devotees and pilgrims. Meanwhile, your own people are fleeing the fiery storms of your mischievous half-brothers.Plus, when those little alliances of gods have ravaged one of your villages, you'll have to decide whether to rebuild it or use your arsenal to hunt down their people.If it's the latter, then you can use one hurricane to suck up houses and people alike and fling them across the continent in broad daylight.Or burn the land to nothingness with biblical fires of annihilation (until some god restores it by sowing healing wildflowers again).Alternatively, streams of flaming lava can be unleashed from a well-placed volcano.

During a visit to the offices of Electronic Arts, the game's publisher, I took an expert tour of the world from a metaphysical perspective.There, I was completely attracted by the speed of the divine power.Jeff Haas is one of the developers of this game.You could call Haas the super god who created the other gods.His finger pointed to a large billowing black cloud over a village, and this black cloud suddenly erupted with overwhelming lightning.The electric pole swings and hits the ground.When a white electric pole hits a person, the person is roasted to a blackened crisp.Haas laughed at the beautiful picture, but I was shocked. "Yeah," he admits a little sheepishly, "this game is all about destruction—a lot of hacking and burning."

"But there are some positive things you can do as a god," Haas offered, "but not too many. One of them is making trees. Trees are always fun. You can also use wildflowers. Bless the land. But most of the time, it destroys or is destroyed." Aristotle may have known this idea.In his day, the gods were scary beings.The concept of gods as brothers or even allies is definitely too new.In his day, you were better off hiding from the gods, reassuring them when needed, and then praying that your god would destroy the other gods.It was a dangerous and capricious world. "Let me just say it," Haas said, "is a world you don't want to be in."You're right, that's godhead to me.