Chapter 1

“You need syllables to fill up this space or you need something that rhymes.” – David Grohl

“The entire song is made up of contradictory ideas... It's just making fun of the thought of having a revolution. But it's a nice thought though.” –Kurt Cobain on “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, X, Square, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Square, X, Triangle, Circle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Circle, Square, Triangle, X, X, X, X

This is the cheat code to unlock all levels of Boone's 3D Adventure on the original PlayStation. Boone's 3D Adventure was one of the original classic platformers released alongside things like Mario 64 and similarly to Mario 64 was a continuation of its previously two-dimensional platforming franchise to the third dimension. I never played Boone's 3D Adventure 1, 2, or 3 back on the Super Nintendo. That was before my time. My first console was the original PlayStation and then, eventually, the PlayStation 2. Not that slim PS2 they came out with later, but the old fat one. I still have it. Even with all the updates in technology in recent years, it's still probably my favorite console and most treasured possession.

I'm sorry, I've gotten off topic. Let me get straight to the point.

Video games operate in repeating patterns. More importantly, designer's hide secret codes and messages in them. Boss fights really have particular patterns that one needs to follow in order to defeat them. Levels have particular sets of behaviors needed in order to finish them. Along the way, there's also secret sets of actions that can unlock previously hidden things, sometimes conferring an advantage, other times just reviewing the inside joke of the developers.

I'm not some weirdo who only plays video games though. I like movies and TV and books as much as the next person. Other media operates on these basic principles. There are cheat codes to movies, books and music that allow you to unlock their secrets. You just need the code. All culture means something, you just need the cheat codes.

But I'm getting off topic again. Even our language is really just one massive system of patterns and symbols that we learn through repetition. From an outside, observer, all these random squats we make and scribbles on paper would be completely meaningless drivel. And yet, think of all the meaning we assign to them.

The universe operates in a similar way. It's not just pop culture and things like that. Reality on a fundamental level is a set of repeating patterns and actions to accomplish particular goals. Along similar lines, there are hidden patterns that only few can detect and, if you pick up on them, certain actions can give you advantage. Or perhaps, they just unlock God's in-joke on the universe.

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I know that g-word might be a bit loaded, so let me explain. I don't consider myself particularly religious. I prefer to think of a designer, the designer of reality. I don't ascribe a name or describe any attributes of this designer; it just seems obvious to me that the universe was designed. I was an atheist long enough to learn that it's a dead meme. The universe was made with a particular purpose. It's obvious; the signs of level design are everywhere.

Let me think of an analogy to better explain it to you. A map is an abstraction from the true reality and is obviously less real than the landscape before you. But at the same time, the map can guide you and emphasize important features that help you navigate your environment. Similarly, speaking video games of course are an abstraction from real life and are less real than reality. (I don't think we live in The Matrix or anything like that. Reality is not a simulation, just analogous to one. Also, everybody knows that Dark City is way better than The Matrix). But, as an abstraction, they emphasize parts of reality that we sometimes miss in the humdrum of daily existence, like gaining experience in order to improve our skills in particular areas through nearly endless repetition in grinding. What really separates a 9 to 5 job from grinding in an MMO? Nothing substantial. As I mentioned previously our reality is designed by some form of designer and thus reality has secrets and shortcuts coded into its very fabric, to unlock them one just needs to find the cheat codes for existence.

Everything follows a pattern. I was only three or four years old when 9/11 happened, but I still remember it vividly. The look on my mother's face as she stared at the television. In a typical child-like panic, I asked her what was wrong. There's nothing more disturbing as a child than seeing your own parents in fear. I tried to approach the TV to see what was on it that was causing this reaction, but she shouted at me, “No, Ward, don't look at the screen. Stay away from the TV. Don't look at the screen.”

Saint Paul's Cathedral in downtown New York was the church where the new American government was consecrated to God after the revolution. The Twin Towers were built over what used to be church property. When 9/11 happened, debris covered the churchyard but not a single window was broken. You think the hijackers knew what they were doing? Maybe they didn't, but the universe sure did. They drove the plane right into America's throat, slitting its neck wide open. The country has been stumbling around bleeding ever since. I'm not very political, I'm just stating facts as I see it. You don't have to be political to see the obvious pattern.

The “normal” world we live in is full of elements of game design. It's obvious. Anyone can see it if they look hard enough. I'm going to find cheat codes for reality. I will unlock the secrets of the universe.

Square, Triangle, R1, L2, R2, R1, Circle, Circle, L2.