Author Image Posted By : liamjtolentino 24 Apr
Warp Technology

Before I begin this discussion, I would like to note that I am not a physicist and any of the science I explain here comes from my own understanding of these topics. This entire blog is meant to be a creative output for myself, so there is little need for properly cited research.

Anyone who grew up with Star Trek would be undoubtedly familiar with the concept of a warp engine. For those unaware, a warp engine bends space around it to allow a spaceship to travel across the universe faster than light. When I was pondering on this concept on a drive home, I thought about how a lot of other miraculous technologies ended up becoming widely available to the general public. The very computer I am using to type this and the one you are using to read this was built upon many decades of research around a technology that was originally used for massive operations like sending a rocket to the moon. Now obviously warp engines would be far more complex than any computer, but it is inevitable that a society that develops them would eventually be able to compact the technology down to something that an average person could use, not just for space travel.

This got me thinking about possible concepts for commercially available warp technology. The obvious ones would involve transport, and not just the intergalactic kind. With advanced enough warp technology, you could build a whole city in which people can get to where they need in an instant by warping the space between them and their destination. Train lines that travel across the country could get to their destinations in seconds with warp technology.

Then I thought about how it could be used to simply compact things. Entire apartment complexes that take up city blocks could be compressed into a pocket dimension that people could simply walk into. Your closet full of junk could become as spacious as the TARDIS from Doctor Who. Space becomes essentially irrelevant when you have a technology that can change it very easily.

Of course, anyone familiar with the concept of relativity would know that bending space inadvertently affects time as the universe’s way of making sure the speed of light stays constant in any frame of reference. Warp technology could take advantage of this effect by creating spaces where time is slowed down or sped up to meet certain needs. For example, one could use this technology in a server room to speed up the calculations of the computers. It could also be used recreationally by having time move in a certain way at home such that people can spend a lot more time resting while time moves normally in the outside world. There are obviously a lot of negative effects that would result in messing with time like this, but I can imagine that a society that reached this point would have figure out ways around those problems.

One really interesting use that I thought about only recently is the use of warp technology to create extremely accurate color displays. I’ll try not to get too deep into quantum mechanics here, but basically, when electrons emit light, they only do so at very specific frequencies due to energy levels being at fixed quantities. Because of this, color displays, no matter the technology, cannot produce the exact wavelengths of every color in the visible spectrum and only get around that with an illusion on our eyes by mixing specific amounts of red, green, and blue light, the colors our eyes are sensitive to. Because of this, most of the colors we see on a display, such as the color yellow, are not the actual wavelengths of light. The effect is still more than convincing enough, of course, but with warp technology, it may be possible to accurately produce light of any frequency in the visible spectrum.

Essentially, you make use of the Doppler effect which is often associated with the sound of something approaching you, but it is also seen with the further edges of the universe where light gets shifted to longer wavelengths due to space expanding between galaxies. With warp technology, you could take advantage of this effect and have something that produces a fixed wavelength of light and bend the space around it such that the color we end up seeing is different. You could then use this to make a beam of light that aims at different pixels on a screen, somewhat like an old CRT television, but instead of electrons hitting phosphors on a screen, they’re the actual photons of the exact colors we want. With how advanced displays are now, I can’t imagine how much of a difference this would make, but you can imagine a company would market the hell out of this and make people think this is the future of color displays.

Continuing on the concept of bending light, there is a concept in physics known as gravitational lensing where objects in space have such strong gravitational fields that light bends around them, much like a lens. With warp technology, it may be possible to build powerful telescopes that simply bend space to create lenses. Since the light is not passing through a physical medium like glass, we end up reducing a lot of the light data lost with physical telescopes. For more everyday uses, this could also be used for cameras. Instead of having to buy a bunch of different lenses for different purposes, maybe there could be a product that uses small warp engines to create any lens you want with gravitational lensing.

Those are the everyday uses I can think of right now, but now I want to shift the focus to perhaps the more obvious alternative use of warp technology: weaponry. A lot of technologies started out as tools of war, so it should be no surprise that warp technology would first be used as a weapon. Surprisingly, I can only name two sci-fi franchises that cover the concept of weaponized warp technology, that being Star Wars and Titanfall (there likely was a Star Trek episode that covered it too, but I can’t remember at the moment). Star Wars technically uses hyperspace technology which is a bit different from warp technology, but since they serve similar purposes, I’ll consider them basically the same here. In The Last Jedi, there is an infamous scene where a character uses a ship’s hyperdrive to destroy an entire fleet of ships in an instant. In Titanfall 2, the enemies use a weapon called the Fold weapon to bend space-time to destroy an entire planet from a distance. Both of these cases make use of space travel technology to create weapons of mass destruction, but I want to cover a bit of the small-scale weapon applications because there’s only so much you can say about planet-destroying weapons.

The first thought I could think of was something similar to the AR-2 from Half-Life 2 which fires pulses of dark energy instead of bullets. Dark energy, in the context of theoretical physics, is basically what causes the space between galaxies to expand rapidly, essentially bending space-time like our warp engines. One could use this to create untraceable weapons as they would not be firing physical bullets but instead small ruptures in space-time to kill enemies.

Another possible application would be some kind of gravity grenade as seen in some futuristic shooter games where instead of a normal explosion, the grenade changes gravity to either pull enemies into it or launch them upwards. With warp technology, this would not only be possible but also could have various other applications like maybe have it push enemies outward like a normal explosion or even freeze the enemies in time like with the time-manipulation I mentioned in the earlier section. This could even be applied to a missile for more destructive purposes and if used as a nuke, it could avoid a lot of the radioactive side effects from nuclear weapons.

A really interesting application would be to use warp technology to curve bullets. If you ever played Angry Birds: Space, you may remember that a lot of the levels made use of gravity zones or whatever they were called to change the trajectory of the birds mid-flight. This could be used to fire bullets at enemies behind cover by bending space to curve the bullet’s trajectory around the cover. If any game developers are reading this, please make a game mechanic in a shooter where you can curve bullets with gravity.

I might expand on this topic a bit more sometime, but for now, these are my thoughts.

Author Image Posted By : liamjtolentino 24 Apr
Halo 2 and Yakuza 0: Converging Paths of Two Protagonists (plus a lot of extra thoughts)

This whole thing was originally a thought dump I texted to my friend at 1am one day, but I decided to share it here for anyone interested. This is just about some similarities I noticed between the games Halo 2 and Yakuza 0, specifically in the way that they both handled having two playable protagonists who almost never interact directly yet influence each other’s stories unknowingly. Also, I’ll add an extra bit of my final thoughts after the second separator to discuss my current thoughts now that I’ve finished Yakuza 0 (yes, I wrote all this before even finishing the game). Also, spoilers for Yakuza 0 and Halo 2, obviously.

The Original Message

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So this is a kinda random thought I had lol but I was thinking about the parallels between Halo 2 and Yakuza 0. Obviously these are two vastly different games lol but the main comparison to be made is with how they handled having two playable protagonists. Both games have the player switching to the other protagonist every few chapters with their paths never crossing until after the events of the game (I know Yakuza 0 has that iconic “Yo, Kiryu-chan!” scene, but like that’s at the very end so I don’t count it lol). Also, I love that in both games, the playable protagonists unknowingly affect each other’s lives throughout the story which makes it so much more satisfying when they eventually do meet.

But I think what’s most interesting to talk about is how each game handled this formula because I think it’s brilliant how they both executed this. Yakuza 0 made the protagonists feel vastly different to play, to the point that switching between Kiryu and Majima almost feels like playing a different game. The obvious thing to point out is the fighting styles lol, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. Majima, especially at the beginning of the game, is slightly older and more experienced than Kiryu, so when you switch to him, there are a bunch of subtle changes in gameplay like how much easier it is to get a huge health bar before unlocking the full skill tree compared to Kiryu, or how Majima shows more mastery of his fighting styles in the training missions compared to Kiryu. And not just in fighting, Majima is clearly much more experienced than Kiryu in running a business so you get to see how Majima already knows all the formalities in business interactions while Kiryu initially struggles to properly hand out a business card at the beginning of the game.

I’m only halfway through Yakuza 0’s story at this point (why are the mini games so much fucking fun 😭) but I feel like I’ll have more to say later on lol. Anyway, I have finished Halo 2, so I’ll talk on that here. Halo 2 has a much different approach to making the protagonists feel distinct. Since it’s a linear first-person shooter unlike Yakuza 0 which is an open-world beat-em-up game, Halo 2 kinda has to make the two protagonists feel almost identical at their core. There’s the obvious part that it also has multiplayer so they need to make the characters feel the same, and while I do kinda wish they had a tf2 approach to make the characters different, I think it’s fitting given the story. Arbiter and Master Chief are supposed to be each other’s counterparts, almost equal in skill and significant leaders on their respective side of the conflict. What really sets them apart is how they’re treated by those around them, and it’s really made clear in the opening cutscene. Master Chief is celebrated by humanity for his success against the Covenant at the battle of Installation 04. At the same time this is happening, Thel ‘Vadam is being publicly humiliated by the Covenant and is stripped bare and burned for his failure against humanity leading him to becoming the Arbiter.

This is where the English teacher analysis comes in lol because the parallels between the characters are really subtle in the gameplay but tie into the story poetically. In the game, Master Chief has a flashlight. It barely has any use in gameplay, especially compared to the first game lol, but the way I see it, the flashlight symbolizes how he is the beacon of hope for all humanity against this unstoppable foe. That may seem like an asspull at first lol but it makes more sense when you look at Arbiter. Pressing the exact same button as Arbiter instead activates his cloaking device making him invisible to all enemies. This symbolizes his shame for his loss, wanting to hide himself from the world that rejected him, but also the fact that he now hides in the shadows, having left his old identity behind to fight the war in places no one will see.

Halo 2’s level design also plays a role here and I think this is where the brilliance shines. Without getting too specific, Master Chief’s levels feel like good old shooter gameplay where you shoot aliens and protect humans. However, Arbiter’s levels can get confusing because you’re fighting against your own race and now you have to keep track of which aliens are with the Covenant and which are the heretics. While they do have subtle design differences, you’ll find yourself asking “Who is the enemy and who am I fighting for?”, the same question that the character himself is asking. It’s such a subtle detail in the gameplay that gets you thinking the same way as the characters you’re playing. Master Chief has his mind set on saving humanity and has no uncertainty on who he’s trying to protect, so his gameplay feels very traditional. Arbiter is lost and confused on what he’s been fighting for and whether or not the faith he was raised to believe in is even true, so his levels often feel confusing.

I could yap a lot more lol but these are just my current thoughts. I might even write a full video essay discussing my full thoughts after I’ve replayed Halo 2 and finished Yakuza 0 🙂

Addendum (Am I using that word right?)

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As of writing this part, I finished Yakuza 0 a few weeks ago and am now on the final chapter of Yakuza Kiwami, only putting it off because I want to finish the Jo Amon fight before the final chapter. With my new context, I want to add a bit more to my previous thoughts.

First, I want to cover something I said in the second paragraph (third paragraph of the overall post): “Kiryu initially struggles to properly hand out a business card at the beginning of the game.” As it turns out, if you make the right choices and quicktime events in that part of the game, Kiryu executes all the business tasks perfectly and he only messed up because I messed up all the choices. I personally think my outcome was canon since Kiryu had no formal business experience at this point since he was just a debt collector for the Yakuza before that, but it could honestly go both ways. What really surprised me after beating the game was how much more money Kiryu makes from his real estate business over Majima’s Cabaret Club. Previously, I thought Majima’s business minigame was more profitable to reflect that he is the more experienced businessman, and that was the case at the beginning, but once I had completed both minigames, Kiryu was easily earning over a billion yen per collection while I could only get barely over 100 million from Majima’s business. I guess it makes sense considering the game takes place when the real estate market was booming, but it still kinda ruins my original point about the gameplay reflecting their business skills.

Now I want to talk about the combat. This is where things get a bit more interesting. I said before that the game’s combat reflects the difference in experience between Kiryu and Majima with Majima having access to a lot more health and damage upgrades near the start of the game since he’s an older and more experienced fighter. Even the story shows how much stronger Majima is than Kiryu in 1988 with Majima taking down Awano and Lao Gui, the deadliest assassin in all of Asia, back-to-back. However, when both characters have all upgrades unlocked, including their respective Legend styles, I think Kiryu ends up being stronger than Majima, especially with how ridiculously overpowered the drunk upgrades for Brawler style are (you can easily cheese some of the coliseum tournaments by choosing the sturdy knife and instantly winning with a single heat action while drunk and at full health). Majima still ends up being a lot better for multiple enemies, but for one-on-one battles, Kiryu ends up being stronger. This makes sense after having played Kiwami because it’s clear that in later years, Kiryu rivals Majima in fighting ability which is why Majima sees Kiryu as such a worthy opponent.

The thing is, I beat the main story after having unlocked both Legend styles, so the difference in strength was not reflected in the gameplay for me. However, I’ve heard people say that the business minigames canonically happen after the ending of the main story which makes a lot more sense, especially considering how the game does not indicate how much time has passed between Sera becoming chairman and Kiryu and Majima meeting, so I can see how they could have done all that in that span of time. With all that in mind now, I think the final chapter still does reflect their strength differences if played before getting the Legend styles. If memory serves me right, most of the overpowered upgrades for Kiryu are locked behind the real estate minigame while Majima has a lot of the damage and health upgrades from the start so if you max out both characters with the limited skill trees, Majima still ends up the stronger fighter which makes sense for this point in the timeline.

Now I want to talk about the training missions since I only briefly mentioned them in the original text. I think this is where Majima and Kiryu’s different personalities really stand out, so I’ll go even more in depth for them.

Kiryu’s training missions are about him learning techniques under his masters, but never using it against them. A lot of times, he’s either sent to fight someone else to use a technique for the lesson or he unlocks it after finishing a task. I believe this is to reflect how at this point in time Kiryu has not surpassed the level of his teachers since he never gets to fight them. I guess you can argue that he surpassed Miss Tatsu since he beat that one guy she lost against or that he couldn’t fight Bacchus since he’s old, but I still think he’s supposed to be a beginner fighter at this point. He is only 20 years old in this game, so he is nowhere near the legend status he achieves in later games, and I think that’s reflected well with his training missions. He is just a young man with a mind open to all these new techniques.

Majima, on the other hand, approaches his training missions differently. He is already an experienced fighter being 4 years older than Kiryu and already achieved a bit of a legend status being Sotenbori’s Lord of the Night and known throughout the Yakuza as the guy who survived a year of imprisonment and torture for refusing to carry out an assassination. Because of this, all his lessons have him beating his teachers in combat. With Fei Hu, he learns the different weapon styles by beating him with his own baseball bat style. With Komeki/Komaki, he ends up inventing new techniques to counter the moves that Komeki tries to teach him. With Areshi and his crew, he learns their techniques similarly to how Kiryu does with his training missions, but unlike Kiryu, he ends up far surpassing his teachers (most likely because Areshi and the others dance for entertainment but Majima is actually using the moves for combat).

Now I also want to mention the Komaki training in Yakuza Kiwami (spoilers for that game obviously lol). In this game, Komaki uses his real name (apparently Komaki and Komeki have vastly different kanji when written out so it makes more sense in Japanese why he chose such a similar sounding name for his fake name lol) and is training Kiryu this time. This Kiryu is a much older and stronger fighter than before, so his training actually involves fighting the master. However, he still ends up learning the intended techniques like before, unlike Majima who developed his own techniques from the lessons. On top of the Komaki training, the game also features the Majima Everywhere system for Kiryu to relearn some of the Dragon style techniques he forgot during his 10 year sentence. What’s really interesting is that some of the moves you unlock are actually Majima’s techniques that Kiryu adopted into his own fighting style. This further emphasizes Kiryu’s learning style of adopting other people’s techniques into his own.

It has been a few weeks since I wrote the last paragraph and I completely lost track of what I was saying. Feel free to expand the text, but just note that these are mostly insane ramblings of a man who couldn’t find sleep that night.