|
 Real Lives is an educational game produced by the aptly named company Educational Simulations. To be honest, Real Lives barely meets the definition of a game. What it does is let you live out the life of a randomly generated human being, with events and choices occurring based on a reasonably deep simulation based on real world statistics. While there is little gameplay to speak of, this obscure little toy definitely deserves to be shown off, if only to help us appreciate our own comfy lives a little bit more. The game does have a bit of Oregon Trail-feel to it, sometimes. I'll do my best to include informational links as we go along, to maximise the amount of edutainment we experience! During the course of a lifetime (or several), you fellow LP goons will help decide the important decisions of our characters' lives! Will we live a prosperous life in a first world country, or die at birth? Who knows!  The current life begins here!Important stuff: The graveyard, where our dear departed are remembered.  Huge thanks to Cathode Raymond for this! Table of contents: The life of Hang Yu, part one The life of Hang Yu, part two The life of Hang Yu, part three The life of Hang Yu, part four The life of Hang Yu, part five The life of Hang Yu, part six The life of Hang Yu, part seven The life of Hang Yu, part eight The life of Hang Yu, part nine The life of Hang Yu, part ten The life of Hang Yu, part eleven The life of Hang Yu, part twelve The life of Hang Yu, part thirteen The life of Rasuna Irawan, part one The life of Rasuna Irawan, part two The life of Rasuna Irawan, part three The life of Rasuna Irawan, part four The life of Rasuna Irawan, part five The life of Rasuna Irawan, part six The life of Rasuna Irawan, part seven The life of Rasuna Irawan, part eight The life of Rasuna Irawan, part nine The life of Abdul Hakim Imran Khan, part one The life of Wang Young-Bum, part one The life of Wang Young-Bum, part two The life of Wang Young-Bum, part three Thread art:  By Comrade Koba Goiter art:  By some guy on the Internet  Also by some guy on the Internet Covski fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jul 13, 2016 |
#
?
Feb 18, 2016 23:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 15:46 |
|
|
Let's be born, shall we? The life of Hang Yu, part one  We're a chinese baby boy  Being born in China is no great surprise - as far as I know the only more likely birthplace is India, with 1 in 5.4 odds. You'll play as a lot of Indians if you spend some time with this game. Of course, we don't get to pick our own name. There is an option to customise a new life, which we might try out in later playthroughs. A table breaking view of the full game interface, just to give you an idea of what the game looks like. The map screen indicates our place of residence - we will have the option to move somewhere else or even emigrate to a different country later on. The fact that the map says we live "near" Louyang indicates that we are rural dwellers, and not living in the city proper. Let's go through the different windows in detail.  The political state of our country of residence, showing us the level of political rights (PR), corruption, civil liberties (CL) and level of government social services (as a function of HDI and PP). 1 is the best, 7 is the worst. It seems that China isn't the best place to be born, but to be fair we had little choice in the matter.  Societal stats: Birthrate, male/female levels of literacy (ML/FL), purchasing power (PP), wealth per capita (WPC), the Gini coefficient (a measure of economic inequality), persons per telephone/radio/vehicle (PPT/PPR/PPV), and finally the percentage of urban population and Human Development Index. Red is bad, blue is good. It's worth noting that I'm running the 2007 edition of the game, so the statistics may or may not be quite obsolete at this point.  Health stats: Male/female life expectancy (MLE/FLE), infant mortality (IM), the percentage of the population suffering from severe malnutrition, and stunted growth from lack of protein, goitre due to a lack of iodine. Next we have the percentage of the population with access to safe water (SW), sanitation (S) and modern health services (HS) in urban (U) and rural (R) areas respectively. We're living in a rural village right now, so things could be better. The WWW tab lets you access real life information sources on your current nation, quite educational!   Our household. Our parents are rather old, but I guess that means we won't have any siblings to compete for attention with. (The Chinese one child policy is not a thing in this game, as far as I've been able to tell.) Our poor mother is among the 9% of the population suffering from goitre it seems  She's a home-maker currently, but luckily our father is earning enough in the mines to support the family. For reference, 4660 yuan was slightly less than 700 dollars in 2007. We can also see the health and disease resistance of our household members - ours are low because we are literally a newborn babby and will increase soon enough. Our parents aren't really in great shape for their age though. A whole lot of stats about ourself, most of which are self explanatory. Our intellectual and artistic skills are great, although we're lacking in the physical department. We're a handsome baby though It's worth noting that we are rather wealthy compared to the population at large, and we've both a decent house and plenty to eat. (we'll get a closer look on what the levels of diet and shelter mean once we have a household o our own.) Our family is also atheist, interestingly enough. As you can see, our village has access to healthcare, but safe water and sanitation is lacking. We're also given a helpful diary of important events in our life. Not much has happened as we were, as you may recall, born just a moment ago. Not much to do now except age a year, so let's see what happens. Age 2  mom what are you feeding me  1 in 6 per year sounds like a lot of baby food poisonings to me, but what do I know? Throughout the game, we are also given tidbits of information about our country.   Basketball being a big sport in China was rather suprising to me, what with the average Chinese person not being built like an average basketball player.  We are growing up to be a healthy toddler, although being fed lead breast milk might have taken a toll on us. Age 3  mooooom not agaiiin  By the way, anyone with more knowledge than me can feel free to chime in on whether or not these factoids are complete fabrications or not! We're all here to learn after all. Age 4  The game is quite heavy on the triva in the first years. I suppose it helps fill out the often rather uneventful toddler years.  Some interesting geographic facts. 13% of the country being arable land sounds a bit low to me, but I have no real frame of reference. Age 5  Bad Luck Beards is a decent name for an indie band I guess.  It seems our family are good party members, what with the whole atheism bit. Age 6  Hooray, time to get a-learnin'!  It's a good thing we were born a boy I guess   Housing facts!  This one amuses me, because it reads a lot like chinese propaganda if you click the "less info" button. Age 7 Nothing of note happens. Age 8  Our first chance to influence our life! Our amount of leisure time depends heavily on a lot of factors, but for now it is plentiful.  For now, we can choose up to 5 activites. Most correspond directly to our personal stats. We also have the option to pick less than five, which as far as I understand will have a greater effect on our stats due to us being more focused on our choosen activities.  Our current stats. You may note that our family has splurged on a second radio since we were born. Two radios for three people seems wasteful, doesn't it?  You may also notice that we now have safe water, an important progress since we were born!  So thread, our first choice! Pick up to five leisure activities for Yu! I'll try to follow the general spirit of the thread for these votes, so don't be too concerned with the format of the votes. Covski fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Feb 24, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2016 23:57
|
|
|
In before the wailing starts! We should probably play to our strengths. I vote Art, Study, and Play. Your spending is creeping up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:05
|
|
|
Well, we're Chinese, right? Time to get studying, future doctor.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:07
|
|
|
Oh man, I loved this game. Then I randomly simulated an American, though I hit the jackpot, but then realized my character only spoke spanish. And there's no way to learn a new language. Booooo My best run was an Indian lady overcoming being g from a poor family to become a therapist, but she suffered from alcoholism BTW, check everything in the left hand side. We're gonna be a MODEL
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:30
|
|
|
Playing to our strengths means dressing nice and looking good. Fashion... and also Arts and Music I guess. (cool thread!)
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:34
|
|
|
My fondest memory of this game was cheating to create an American with maxed-out stats. He went on to become a company president and died of a heart attack at age 40  We should devote all of our time to Religious Activities. I'm curious to see how we can possibly engage in religious activities while marked as non-religious.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:43
|
|
|
I vote Music and Art. You'll become a prodigy violinist yet!
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 00:54
|
|
|
Devote Yu's time to Reading and Fashion. Maybe if he's a smart, pretty boy then his mother will finally love him. E: You do realize you really need to generate the president of a small central american country at some point, right?
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 01:11
|
|
|
Study, Play, and Physical Training. I want us to grow up into a strong, well-adjusted nerd.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 01:14
|
|
|
Study, Play, Music. Let's make our mother love us.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 01:40
|
|
|
Music, Art, and good ol' Physical Training
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 03:43
|
|
|
I vote Music, Study, and Sports.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 05:20
|
|
|
Untick everything except Fashion. We will be the prettiest, or starve trying.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 05:50
|
|
|
Music, Art, and studying
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 06:58
|
|
|
I remember getting into this years ago from the "LFest pics you got" thread, when someone posted a picture of their person being murdered at age 4  .Fashion and nothing but
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 07:22
|
|
|
So far, it looks like Yu will be committing to being the hardest studying, music playing, art painting pretty boy he can be! Will update in a few hours, so still time to get some votes in if you feel like it.gbuchold posted:Your spending is creeping up. uuhuuuuhhhhg Suspect Bucket posted:Oh man, I loved this game. Then I randomly simulated an American, though I hit the jackpot, but then realized my character only spoke spanish. And there's no way to learn a new language. Booooo An interesting note: During the course of a lot of games, I've *never* been born i a "first world" country when generating a random life. I get the feeling I'd probably die at birth if I did, though. Still, sorta makes you appreciate your luck in the real life birthplace lottery. Xerophyte posted:You do realize you really need to generate the president of a small central american country at some point, right? I'll... I'll really have to do that, won't I? It actually took me a surprisingly long time to understand that reference, glad to see that people remember my legacy of LP superstardom 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 10:54
|
|
|
Hopefully this version has fewer issues with the whole 'only people in the first world can graduate' - the version I'm more used to essentially gave people in third-world countries worse education, which is to be expected, but then judged them seemingly by first-world standards. So even decently-developed countries, if they didn't have quite the educational standard of, say, England, would have most of the kids unable to finish even their basic education.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 13:35
|
|
|
Whoa, if it isn't good ol' Goiter Simulator! I seem to remember either an older version or some pre-patched version having a glitch in the way it calculated the chance of an individual developing a goiter, resulting in almost every character, even ones in the First World, being super-prone to the affliction. Like, 9/10 games likely, is what I'm saying. Good times, good times.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 14:13
|
|
|
KazigluBey posted:Whoa, if it isn't good ol' Goiter Simulator! I seem to remember either an older version or some pre-patched version having a glitch in the way it calculated the chance of an individual developing a goiter, resulting in almost every character, even ones in the First World, being super-prone to the affliction. Like, 9/10 games likely, is what I'm saying. Good times, good times. Hahaha, I was going to say something about this game's fetish for goiter, too. We're gonna get goit.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 14:37
|
|
|
Don't forget to smoke mad weed, I'm reasonably sure you always get a chance to try drugs in this
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 15:33
|
|
|
The life of Hang Yu, part two Okay, I may have run into an issue with saving and loading the game, so it's possible that we didn't get to pick leisure activities for now. No biggie, as long as it resolves itself later on. I'll figure out a way to avoid it in the future. Age 9  This one was interesting, I had no idea about marriage age restrictions. Interestingly, they seem to have had the opposite effect to what was intended. Age 10  Famine rears its ugly head in the country.  Luckily our family, being reasonably well off, is not affected. I've never actually starved to death in this game, for what it's worth.  We are, however forced to move into a less fancy house to cope economically.  Our housing is still "moderate", so apparently we moved into a fancier place for a few years without the game telling me. Huh. Age 11 Nothing of interest happens. Age 12  Toiling away in the literal mines seems to have taken a toll on our poor father's body. Arthritis is some nasty stuff.  Our parents are getting old, actually. Should our father pass away, we would find ourselves in a difficult situation indeed. Yu is a healthy and active twelve year old, but his disease resistance is looking so-so. I suppose getting poisoned repeatedly in your infancy will do that to you, huh? You'll note that we are still spending a bit more than we're earning, too.  Surely biking everywhere is helping out our physical condition. Age 13  Ah, young love Yu is crushing pretty hard on a girl in his village. Truth be told she is average in most respects, a rather sad girl from a family much poorer than our own. Yu himself is an intelligent young lad, although with a remarkably weak moral compass. (Conscience is roughly defined as a character's ability to tell right from wrong, and can be improved by doing nice things in your free time and making good moral choices) It seems we've moved back into a nicer house again, too. With our intelligence, we might have a shot at going to college, if we can keep it up and circumstances allow. So, let's talk about love! To keep things moving along, let's decide on a policy for romantic relationships. Vote for one of the following: A) Yu, isn't picky at all. All comers are considered. In fact, he'll strive to be in a relationship as constantly as possible. B) Yu would like to have a girlfriend, but won't actively pursue relationships. C) Yu feels that the single life is the life for him! At least for now. (Or maybe he's too much of an awkward goon?) If you vote for A or B, feel free to define criteria for me to follow when considering potential partners! (ie rich girls only, no ugly chicks, only intelligent girls, etc) Or, maybe Yu has no standards whatsoever? Note: As it is impossible to save the game when pop-up choices like these are active, the vote will run for as long as I can be arsed to keep the game open/until we have an arbitrary number of votes/until I feel the thread has reached some for of consensus, which ever comes first. So vote early, vote often!
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 16:41
|
|
|
A girlfriend at 13? Pfff. We're going to become a celebrity TV doctor, bitches! B. Unless someone happens along who fits into the overall "plan", don't go out of your way to pull anyone.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 16:53
|
|
|
With such a poor moral compass, I vote that we stay in character and vote A. Why be tied down with monogamy when you can have everyone and care for no one?
chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Feb 19, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:04
|
|
|
C. Yu is a goonie goon with no time for girls.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:06
|
|
|
C) Yu doesn't want a girlfriend at all 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:11
|
|
|
Oh, I remember playing this. Apparently the latest version is 2010, should check that out some time I suppose. Yu is smart and good-looking, clearly we need to get all the girls. A.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:12
|
|
|
Ahundredbux posted:C) Yu doesn't want a girlfriend at all On second thought, this is a better justification. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:18
|
|
|
I guess I should talk a bit about the mechanics of relationships, too! Entering into a relationship will always provide a boost to happiness, while being rejected will lower it. I'm not sure if there's some form of compatibility calculation, or if an intelligent and handsome person will always have an easier time pursuing love interests. The relationship will also affect the happiness of the character while it is ongoing, and breaking up with someone tends to lower your mood as well, although less if you are the dumper rather than the dumpee. Besides the random romantic interests we meet as we saw in the update, you can also actively try to find a partner, which generates the same type of event. I'm sure there are some calculations based on the stats of your partner, but the most noticeable effect comes into play when you are married (still a little ways off for Yun), as their stats will affect the partner's job (and thus income), as well as the stats of your children. So we don't *really* have to be too concerned, about the stats of our tweenage sweethearts, but we all want what's best for Yun, right? KennyMan666 posted:Oh, I remember playing this. Apparently the latest version is 2010, should check that out some time I suppose. KazigluBey posted:Whoa, if it isn't good ol' Goiter Simulator! I seem to remember either an older version or some pre-patched version having a glitch in the way it calculated the chance of an individual developing a goiter, resulting in almost every character, even ones in the First World, being super-prone to the affliction. Like, 9/10 games likely, is what I'm saying. Good times, good times. MarquiseMindfang posted:Hahaha, I was going to say something about this game's fetish for goiter, too. Yeah, the goiter bonanza has been toned down, but I'm sure that we won't go many games without seeing that ol' buddy around. (also that was a good pun MarquiseMindfang) aerion111 posted:Hopefully this version has fewer issues with the whole 'only people in the first world can graduate' - the version I'm more used to essentially gave people in third-world countries worse education, which is to be expected, but then judged them seemingly by first-world standards. Covski fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Feb 19, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:30
|
|
|
B, we can settle for better. That is the Communist Chinese philosophy after all. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:31
|
|
|
Ahundredbux posted:C) Yu doesn't want a girlfriend at all I think the odds are something along the lines of one in twenty to be homosexual, with equal odds of being bisexual. I usually find it out by blindly getting involved with people and only afterwards realising that I got a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend
Covski fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Feb 19, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:35
|
|
|
Fair enough, my vote still stands though 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:39
|
|
|
Hitlers Gay Secret posted:B, we can settle for better. That is the Communist Chinese philosophy after all. Exactly. We don't want to let the party down, do we?
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:42
|
|
|
Covski posted:Homosexuality isn't a choice, people are born that way. Video games really do engender some great sentences sometimes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 17:43
|
|
|
The life of Hang Yu, part three B takes it by a small margin. Yu has more important things to focus on for now than getting bogged down in serious relationships unless somebody exceptional comes along. This girl, most certainly isn't.  Sorry Chin-Chih. It's not Yu, it's you.  Age 14  Again we move back into "ample" housing. I think this is an issue with our family's wealth being just on the edge of where we can afford it and not, causing us to bounce between them. I'll ignore these from now on.  The Yu-machine doesn't show respect to anyone though. And drat, that part about the parents not being allowed to openly mourn for their kids is pretty messed up to me, do we have any actual Chinese people in the thread that can confirm that this is true? Age 15  Man this edutainment adventure got really dark all of a sudden   Our first moral choice of the game? Will Yu go down the dark path of deceit and lies!?  Judging from his absolute lack of a conscience to speak of, I think the answer is pretty clear. Still, I'll put it up for a really quick vote for the sake of form, in case any of you feel like you need to take this chance to redeem him before it is too late.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 18:11
|
|
|
Lizard Wizard posted:Video games really do engender some great sentences sometimes. Pff, I dare any of you to say it hasn't happened to you at least once or twice!
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 18:12
|
|
|
Eh, Yu already lied once, what's wrong with lying more?
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 18:34
|
|
|
We'll lie, but not for ourselves. Yu is a member of the Communist Party and will lie for the motherland. And because his moral compass is really hosed up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 18:43
|
|
|
Lie because we're so pretty.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 18:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 15:46 |
|
|
Lie, because we don't want to lose face.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 19:07
|
|