Could a virtual world create another virtual world within itself?

Answer 1

Actually, this is occurring literally as we speak in a project called "Second Life."

"Second Life" is an MMO-project, standing for Massively Multiplayer Online...

Let me digress for a moment. The most common term associated with MMO, would be the extension MMORPG, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. These would include fantasy games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest, Anarchy Online...the list is extensive. The idea in those games is that you create an avatar to represent you, whether it be a warrior, a wizard, or a cleric, etc., and then fight challanges the computer gives you while interacting with other avatars (real people) like yourself. That is not what your question entails however, as that is a virtual world that is just one interation deep. As a player, you are not able to actively change the world from inside the game in ways that it won't allow...you can only do things the programmers intended for you to do, slay monsters, earn gold, kill dragons etc.

Second Life, however, lets you actively code the world. You are able to change basic parameters such as the landscape, your appearance, etc. In fact, some especially shrewd people base their real life incomes on buying and selling virtual real estate inside the game. But what intrigues me is a fellow who created a game inside the game. He actually coded a casino type game from within the virtual confines of "Second Life" itself. This game could be then played by other players. In fact, it became so successful that he then began charging other players to play his game. When these avatars lined up in the casino to play this virtual game (he called it a combination between bingo and tetris), I believed he would be the first to have successfully transcended to a second interation of a world within a world.

He created a new world out of the confines, limits, and rules of the existing world of "Second Life". And in what I think is an ironic twist, the game become so popular that Nintendo picked it up to market in the "real world" outside of Second Life. I think it's available for Nintendo DS.

I can only imagine in the future that this type of sculpting of new worlds/games/experiences in within in the limitations of the current virtual worlds we may inhabit will only get more complex and fascinating.

In short, yes it's absolutely possible, and quite exciting!

Answer 2

Yes it can. You computer is a virtual world, a game on you computer is a virtual world inside of your computer.

Answer 3

When my son was little, he would ask me over and over again, "how tall are giants?" I would always answer, "there's no such thing, so how do I know how tall a pretend thing is? It's as tall as you want it!" (After a while I just started answering, "twice as tall as half a giant")

You question reminds me of that. Can a pretend place do a pretend thing? If you pretend it can, then it can pretend to also.

Answer 4

Of course. Ever hear of a movie within a movie?

Answer 5

virtually anything is possible...