Lowkey though, having TADC *not* be a videogame but instead something 'generated by a creative AI' makes no sense. I can believe that Caine's a 'creative AI', absolutely, but the fact that videogames and data training for videogames has nothing to do with the circus makes zero sense. It makes a lot of Caine's behaviour kind of nonsensical and random (in a bad way) when you realize there's no good reason for him to be so set in his ways.
1) if the circus isn't the 'main hub' and there's no 'game' that needs to be 'circus themed', why is Caine so fixated on everything staying exactly the same? The logical explanation would be 'it needs to be a circus because the game loses its identity/theming' but it's not a videogame, so I guess Caine just never gets bored of the circus setting ever? Even though he's supposed to be a creative AI who's easily bored and always changing things up in his adventures?
2) the circus-adventure-circus structure acts exactly like a gameplay loop. It makes sense why Caine isn't familiar/comfortable with the structures of real day-to-day life, because the only goal of a videogame is to entertain and create escapism. Except, oh wait, it's not a videogame. Where did the idea for adventures come from then? Why are NPCs treated like they don't matter (like in a VIDEOGAME)?
3) if you're a creative AI who has been created with no limitations/expectations to create videogames, why create a world that is like a videogame? You don't know if/when the humans are coming back, so there's no expectation to make anything catered to humans or 'human players'. You can create anything you want! The sky's the limit! Why not create a world that revolves around you and your tastes, populate it with NPCs, create a religion where they worship you? It's not a good idea to create a world that revolves around you, but if you were a lonely, isolated artificial intelligence, wouldn't your first instinct be to create a world that makes you feel less alone, even if that world is an 'illusion'? Caine's entire existence and self worth seems to be entirely dependent on the humans and how good he is at pleasing them and fulfilling his 'purpose'. This would make sense if Caine was created *for* humans, to create games for them and entertain them, but he doesn't have those limitations! Why does he think this way? The videogame premise isn't canon so why???? Why is anything like this at all????
4) the most logical explanation for why Caine is so set in his ways is because, opposite to humans, he exists to fulfill a function, a purpose. Hammers are made to hammer nails. Except now, according to canon, Caine never had a clear purpose, but just gave himself one. So we're expected to believe that Caine has never had *any* limitations to overcome and that, what, he's just incredibly obstinate? Even though the circus situation clearly leaves him very unfulfilled and he could snap at any moment? Caine has the power to change anything he wants! If he always had this power, why does he never do anything with it? He's a very emotionally-driven character with poor impulse control. Yes, he's smart and he's capable of some restraint/playing the long game, but it's strange that he's apparently free to do WHATEVER he wants and yet he does nothing with that freedom.
I understand that one of Caine's flaws is that he's afraid of change and he doesn't want to leave his comfort zone or lose control. But this version of the plot doesn't make any sense. You'd think that, if Caine is in a crisis and slowly going mad, he'd at least have some kind of urge to change/do something? Be like, haha, I changed the colours of the Big Top! Isn't that craaaazy? I'm feeling a bit under-appreciated so I'm gonna spawn a statue of myself here! If Caine feels trapped and under-stimulated, wouldn't he want to expand the world of the circus and keep adding locations? His primary drive is to CREATE, so wouldn't it make more sense if he got caught in a loop of creating and couldn't stop? Like, nonsensical structures that expand forever into the sky? Actually, that's not a bad idea...I'll add that to my rewrite notes...
Anyway, TLDR: the circus not being a videogame aimed at kids makes zero sense. The characters and the setting make much more sense with the 'videogame premise' in mind, especially when you think about the aesthetics, censorship and the repetitive nature of the circus.