Arx Fatalis (2002)

[Brett Mcgalliard]

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Between satisfying one's curiosity through free-form exploration of a virtual space or closely following a fictional being's journey through circumstances and surroundings that challenge them, audiences relish the chance to immerse themselves into a realm that promises to evoke all sorts of feelings and themes that make a lasting impression on the participant.

From the simultaneously colorful and bleak world of Epic Mickey (2010) to the solemn rendition of Louisiana in NORCO (2022), virtual worlds bear no shortage of moods and backstories that invite players to learn and understand the set of events and spaces they'll be encountering throughout their journey.

When it comes to virtual realms, developers must consider the possibility of making their creation as noteworthy as feasible while maintaining a sense of plausibility that respects the player's suspension of disbelief. Whether it's the backstory that details how things came about and persisted in the here-and-now, or the manner in which NPCs interact with their surroundings and one another, worldbuilding boasts sundry layers of narrative depth that can complement one another if developers keep cohesion in mind.

Honorable Mention: The Geneforge series (2001-11). Despite looking like your typical fantasy setting at first glance, Geneforge presents a world with a peculiar hierarchy among its inhabitants and multiple factions that have their own take on the idea of one class having control over another simply because the former crafted the latter out of magical essence.

When one typically thinks of worldbuilding and lore, it's likely that they'll associate those with books, audio recordings, and other collectibles the player can collect while casually exploring the game world. While technically true, it's also true that worldbuilding and lore can be naturally conveyed through the story route that the developers carved for those wishing to just focus on essential activities.

The careful dishing out of lore and worldbuilding along the main path is something that Outer Wilds (2019) nails, chiefly thanks to the exploratory and literal gameplay loop that pushes players to leave no stone unturned while trekking across the final frontier. From prudently wending one's way across obstacles of varying shapes and danger levels, to slowly translating snippets of the Nomai language spread across one's playthrough of the main story, Outer Wilds relays a sense of history and scale that looks daunting before becoming something that can be managed through persistent exploration and an understanding of the in-game world's layout and details.

Honorable Mention: Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (2007). While its lore is sizable, the expansion pack only uses worldbuilding details that are relevant to the in-game world's main players and the actions they take. The result is a tale with a solid enough pacing while still providing backstory tidbits that add meaning and depth to the proceedings.

Such is the storytelling formula that Half-Life 2 (2004) adopts and doubles down on to great effect. Between the uneasy rift among human inhabitants in City 17 (Civil Protection vs. ordinary citizens) and the aftermath of an assault on Ravenholm, the title's surroundings and circumstances manage to strike a balance between letting players proceed at their own pace and inviting them to study the events, locales, and people around them.

Thanks to the relatively seamless way the action plays out (i.e. no cutscenes and only a few loading screens), the player will feel like they've experienced an adventure that left them both thrilled and enlightened on the happenings that they've observed or had a hand in.

Honorable Mention: Death Stranding (2019). The title's focus on covering lots of post-apocalyptic ground means that players will gradually absorb the details and scale of their surroundings while going about their business. Couple that with alien elements that dot the virtual environment, and you've got a recipe for worldbuilding that highlights potent themes of loneliness and connection in a land torn asunder by unfathomable events.

Of course, it's one thing to make lore and worldbuilding overwhelming, and another to render those two aspects frustratingly obscure. This is where developers must consider making the act of uncovering more of the world and its backstory part of the gameplay loop. Doing so means that players won't mind being dropped into a world they know little to nothing about, long as the title assures them that all shall be revealed in due time should said players make an effort to hunt down and study objects and characters.

Honorable Mention: Arx Fatalis (2002). The "underground society" premise plays nicely with the idea of venturing through uncharted territory, allowing players to smoothly absorb the worldbuilding and lore that the RPG has to offer. This feeling of uncovering things with little to no handholding is amplified by the oppressive atmosphere and claustrophobic environment.

Fallout 2 (1998) stands as a unique example of a game that proves to be both dark and funny (hence the term "dark humor"). From the sundry vocations that players can adopt in post-apocalyptic America (e.g. prizefighter, sex worker, etc.) to the odd inhabitants encountered in the player's travels (e.g. chess-playing radscorpions, a Bridge Keeper straight out of The Holy Grail, etc.), Fallout 2 never shies away from either its taboo topics or more lighthearted touches.

Ergo, the worldbuilding that stems from the alternate America that predates 2077 is allowed to clearly highlight the contrast between the grim and laugh-it-off factors. Not a usual combo you see in post-apocalyptic media and certainly not one to everyone's taste, but the eccentric lore does lend Fallout 2 that distinct aura of gleeful madness worthy of great satire.

Honorable Mention: Loom (1990). Inspired by Disney classics and imbued with whimsical charm, Brian Moriarty's foray into graphic adventures evokes a feeling of wonderment and wanderlust that compels players to experience Bobbin's journey from start to finish in a state of hopeful optimism. Optimism that's reinforced through striking visuals and musical tracks.

Two CV copepodids (juveniles) were collected from ER60 (EPA monitoring station in western Lake Erie) on April 3, 2016. An adult female was found at the same site in August 2017 and a second adult female was found in a November 2017 sample collected nearshore in East Harbor, Lake Erie, Ohio.

Mesocyclops species in general are voracious predators, feeding on rotifers, cladocerans, and dipteran larvae (Williamson 1986; Gliwicz and Umana 1994; Brandl 1998a, 1998b; Rao and Kumar 2002; Chang and Hanazato 2003; Kumar and Rao 2003; Dieng et al 2003; Nagata and Hanazato 2006; Sarma et al 2013). M. pehpeiensis is a omnivorous tactile predator (Dieng et al 2003) and will feed on phytoplankton in addition to zooplankton (Sarma et al 2013). In mesocosm experiments (Chang 2005) M. pehpeiensis restructured the zooplankton community. The population of a small cladoceran, Bosmina fatalis, was affected negatively, but B. longirostris was not similarly affected. On the other hand, small rotifers responded positively to M. pehpeiensis. In laboratory experiments, Hwang et al (2009) found M. pehpeiensis to severely supress the population growth of all four cladoceran species tested -- including rare Great Lakes native species Scapholeberis kingii. Mesocyclops edax populations in DC ponds disappeared shortly after the discovery of M. pehpeiensis in those systems (Reid 1996).

Two members of this genus -- Mesocyclops edax and Mesocyclops americanus -- are native to the Great Lakes. Reid (1996) reported that in the ponds of Washington, D.C., M. pehpeiensis coexists with Mesocyclops edax and M. americanus; however, on later return the native species had disappeared. This would suggest that, despite the fact that these are omnivorous-carnivorous forms (Surez-Morales et al. 2003), this introduced species is capable of successfully competing for part of the resources available in these systems.

The Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (USACE 2012) suggests that alteration of water quality using carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrogen, and/or sodium thiosulfate could be effective in preventing upstream and downstream movement of copepods. It should be noted that the effectiveness of these methods is likely significantly diminished against copepod ephippia.

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