Hi Nicol, I just downloaded and finished listening to your message. Here are my thoughts and comments in a sort of question and answer format.
Q: Tom, why must you use mythology in Mysteries of the Ancients? A: Well, Nicol, there are a number of reasons why I use mythology in my games like Mysteries of the Ancients and it has nothing to do with religion per say. I am a Christian myself, and unlike your church I have always been a lot more open minded and liberal about church doctrine. For one thing I believe it is alright to read, study, and understand other religions provided I realise that Jesus Christ is my personal lord and savior. Therefore I do not worship Greek, Egyptian, and Roman mythology but I study them to better understand the culture, people, and beliefs of those ancient societies. Not to study ancient cultures religions is ignorance of what those people thought and how they lived their lives. Which brings me to my next reason for using mythology in my games. I don't know if you are aware of this, but when I entered college it was with the intent to become a historian. I couldn't get grants to get a history degree so I eventually entered the computer science field. All the same I took several electives on ancient history, comparative religions, ancient mythology, to get a better understanding of ancient people and ancient culture. I don't see Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Babylonian mythology, etc as religion but as ancient history. From that attitude or perspective it is not incompatible with Christianity because the issue here is not who or what I personally worship, but studying ancient beliefs from a purely scientific and/or historical point of view. That brings me to my next reason. Although, I am a Christian by faith that doesn't mean I necessarily agree with the bible on each and every subject. What I'm saying is I don't take everything in the bible litterally. For example, in Genesis chapter 1 we have this story about the world being created in six days. Now, since I am college educated, have a heavy background in science and history I absolutely can not take that litteral. I agree with science that the world is about 4.5 billion years old, and our universe is perhaps a good fifteen billion years old. So how do I reconcile that with the bible? Well, for starts the hebrew word in the book Genesis is not day. There really isn't an English word like it, but basically it is an unspecified period of time that is used to seperate one stage of creation from another. Using that logic we could say it was a day, a week, a month, a year, a billion years, whatever. It need not mean a litteral six days that some Creationists insist Genesis chapter 1 is talking about. The other argument proposed by St. Augastine himself is that the Genesis story is a Metaphorical myth to give you the truth that God created the earth, Adam and Eve, etc but is not to be taken litterally. People will probably argue over this until God returns, but the fact is I myself agree with Augastine that Christians should be careful in assuming a litteral six day creation, and have adopted a more scientific and more open minded view about Genesis. All I'm saying is I am a person who tries to see the world both through science and Christianity. I feel by looking at both, comparing them, can we get to the truth. I have had my fair share of Jehovah Witnessesshow up on my door step telling me that the world is only 6,000 years old, and while they are welcome to their beliefs there is nothing they can say or do to convince me that their unscientific position is the correct one. Finally, as I have said many times on this list I am a huge fan of Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and Rogue Angel. All of these books, movies, and games involve an archeologist looking for some lost artifact and must end up going through some ancient tomb or something to recover it. And yes, they involve a fair share of mythology and a bit of the supernatural as part of the plot. As it is totally make believe, all in good fun, it has nothing to do with what I personally believe or how I worship. So in my mind creating an adventure game like Mysteries of the Ancients, historical mythology and all, is perfectly ok for me and others from a religious point of view. If you don't like it simply don't play it. Q: Justin, why must you have shooting In Pipe II Blast Chamber? A: While I am not Justin I'm certain I can answer this one. the answer is pretty simple. We do not all share the same beliefs. As you probably know by now regardless if someone is aChristian or not no two Christian churches agree on the exact same doctrine. I myself have no problem with the violence in Pipe II where you apparently do. This is just something you are going to have to accept and stop moaning about the fact we don't all share the same beliefs here. I don't know what Justin believes in, but like me apparently he doesn't see a problem with the violence in the games he creates. That's why it is there in the first place. More over just because you have a problem with a game that is out there doesn't mean the rest of us do. I'm sure you will find that most of the people who have Pipe II are not bothered by the bonus rounds etc. I'm certainly not, and like I said if you want games that aren't violent you ar just going to have to create them yourself. Justin, Liam, Philip, and I all create games simply for our own fun and entertainment. Yeah, we sell them to you guys for a little extra money, but we aren't hear to pander to one group of religious gamers or another. Either you like the games as is or you don't. That's all there is too it. Q: why don't you make games like Popeye, Baloon fight, or Mario Brothers? A: Excuse me if I missed something here, but wouldn't Mario Brothers qualify as both violent and supernatural by the rules of your church? I must say this took me by surprise because by definition Mario Brothers would be a bit supernatural. He grabs various flowers and plants to make him grow, shrink, shoot fireballs, become invincible, etc. All of these things would be more or less like magic and thus would be sinful in your opinion. That's not even including Bowser, basically a dragon, which is a mythical creature. Sorry, Nicol we can't create Mario Brothers because by your logic it is evil. Oh, my personal favorite Popeye. Well, again we can't create that because it is too violent. If you remember to rescue Olive Popeye has to knock Bruno out, and he usually falls off into the water below. Oops! That's violent! You see, what I'm saying? Your logic is that games are too supernatural, too violent, but when it comes down to it the two of the very games you asked for have violence and supernatural stuff in them anyway. You might as well face it this is a part of our culture and most people don't agree with your religious theology regardless of how well meant it may be. Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
