The original world-building, according to some of the most ancient texts that are still available to us today, is said to have taken place long ago when God spoke everything into existence.
It seems that this Creator was not wanting to just create a sterile puppet world that would only follow a preset program. There must have been a much deeper plan at work, since along with the Universe, He also created humans, and more importantly, as the ancient texts report, He made the latter in His own Image.
A very odd turn of phrase indeed. Many may take that to mean this Creator is an anthropomorphic being that exists in a state similar to our own and his shape is that which mankind owes its physical appearance.
There seems to be many issues with that idea. Perhaps instead it meant giving humans something very special. A piece of Himself in their very nature, so they could then truly reflect His ultimate Image.
If so, that piece may be Free Will with its very important offshoot of Creativity. Ultimately, though He was in overall control, His creation could do things as they desired within the reality He had created for them.
The articles in this treatise all have an underlying theme. They all look at the works of people creating worlds that did not previously exist, but even more interesting is they all look at works that were originally created for the entertainment of others.
The importance of the latter shows the very deep-seated desire that exists in people to not only be entertained but also for many the desire to create things that have never existed before, even if that creation itself is only imaginary with just tenuous roots in our reality.
Mankind has an innate drive to both create and to also be entertained by new creations. Speaking from my own experiences, nothing brings more joy to a world creator than seeing others also enjoy that creation. One without the other is useless. A creator wants an audience and audiences need creators. Perhaps that’s why Humankind is even here?
Let’s go ahead now and look at some of the more notable world-builders and their creations, along with how they touched the diverse audiences that interacted with them.
Scott Adams is author of the Scott Adams series of adventure games and co-founder of Adventure International and Clopas LLC. Born in Miami, Florida, and now living in Platteville, Wisconsin, Adams was the first person known to create an adventure-style game for personal computers with his first game, Adventureland. His company, Adventure International, released games for many major computer platforms throughout the 1980s. Adams worked as a senior programmer for AVISTA in Platteville until 2016. Scott founded Clopas, the “PLAY the game! LIVE the adventure! CREATE your story!” company in 2017, with his wife of 30 years, Roxanne. Scott and Team Clopas are currently working on Adventureland XL, a Conversational Adventure™ game, in celebration of the original’s 40th anniversary, aiming for a holiday release 2019. Adams’s works include the classic Adventure game series of 14 games: Adventure #1 — Adventureland (1978), Adventure #2 — Pirate Adventure (1979), Adventure #3 — Secret Mission (1979), Adventure #4 — Voodoo Castle (1979), Adventure #5 — The Count (1979), Adventure #6 — Strange Odyssey (1979), Adventure #7 — Mystery Fun House (1979), Adventure #8 — Pyramid of Doom (1979), Adventure #9 — Ghost Town (1980), Adventure #10 — Savage Island, Part I (1980), Adventure #11 — Savage Island, Part II (1981), Adventure #12 — Golden Voyage (1981), Adventure #13 — Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (1984), and Adventure #14 — Return to Pirate’s Isle (1984), as well as Return To Pirate Island 2 (2001), The Inheritance (2013), and Escape the Gloomer (2018), a game set in the Redwall Universe of Brian Jacques.