|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- GET ALL OBLIVIANA--ISSUE 001--PART 4 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Get All Obliviana  ||  Issue 001  ||  -------> (Cup OWga001d, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mon 11/2/98 * 12:13 AM Well, 11/1/98 was gonna be the day... the day that Obliviana got going... but that day is gone by now... Saturday night I had a weird experience driving home from my grandmother's house. I seemingly channeled a voice, and it pretty much verified the whole Stripe thing. Basically, Wanderings add up to "Boxes" (for lack of a better term right now), and Boxes add up to Stripes. That is, a group of Wanderings can be "traded" to form a Box, and then Stripes are made up of a sequence of Boxes. I've been trying to clear my mind regarding Obliviana. When I think about Obliviana, it has been a big mish-mosh. Now, I have cleared my mind to some extent. I now have to come up with the specific way I am going to implement the new Obliviana idea. It will have to incorporate this new structe of Wandering/Box/Stripe. And it will be a new thing. 8:57 AM I have about ten minutes here. I have a new vision for the website. It's still vague, but it's coming. It will involve simplifying everything. The idea of creating a format, and making this format understandable, and then doing variations on the form. This is at the core of many "craze" products today--Magic cards, Beanie Babies, etc. Obliviana is made up of Wanderings and LWOR. This is the basic setup. Each location in LWOR is going to have a set of Wanderings there. If I can make LOCATION the basic form, then I can make other LOCATIONS variations on the form. One thing is certain--the Obliviana website has to be engaging and entertaining; it has to maintain attention span as long as possible. Now, I just had the idea of taking Wandering Covers and expanding the idea to include other kinds of covers. That is, use the same format, but have the covers represent, say, Locations. Um... maybe this is not a good idea. The whole issue of unification again. Obliviana is a Super Occult Amusement. The idea of Wanderings is pretty simple. LWOR adds some complexity--but its "placeness" may help the system be more graspable. Now, as far as content goes, will it all be "inside" a Wandering, or can some stuff exist "in" LWOR and not in a Wandering? Well, this is the issue of unification. You know, I am tempted to just go full steam ahead and TRY to unify the whole system. Obliviana would then be a set of Wanderings. I think that I should try and do this. Because I seem to anguish over non-unification so much. But there are different ways to do a full unification. Gotta go to work now. To my real job in New York City. Tue 11/3/98 * 11:12 PM Did a lot of stuff today. Voted, went to New York, got the new Alanis Morissette album at Virgin Megastore Times Square, went to work, and then went to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum to see the "Architecture of Reassurance" exhibit--which I was totally blown away by--all Disney Theme Park stuff! Anyway, it was a month ago today that I wrote the Declaration of Obliviana. Maybe today I can write some amendments to it? to cover all the new ideas I've had over the past month? ROUGH VERSION OF AMENDMENTS [1] Imagine that your FOW "resonates" in respose to Wandering energy, when at vertical/209 status. When it feels like time to stop, turn your FOW horizontal, but keep it at 209, to let it drift back to a dormant state. [2] I have observed that consumption of alcohol has a devastating effect on Obliviana. Obliviana can make cool things happen whn done properly. When alcohol is consumed, it makes BAD things happen. Please heed this warning--do not drink 24 hours before and after playing Obliviana. I wish this were not the case, since in order to make Obliviana a part of your daily life, you pretty much have to give up drinking altogether. And that's a heck of a bad thing to tell people from a marketing standpoint. [3] Each Wandering has a Glyph. When you do a particular Wandering 8 times, you get that Glyph, and it is entered into your Fonosta Device. You may only get one "credit" per day for a given Wandering. A credit means that you did that Wandering at least once in that day. In lieu of actually doing the Wandering, you can Carry it with you for the day, and get a credit. But in order to get the Glyph, at least one out the the eight credits must be from actually doing the Wandering. [4] ... 11:27 PM At this point I have to step back and say that this system I am developing is good--but the problem is getting people to do it. This is a very difficult task. I have to structure the website in such a way that people are eased into Obliviana, comfortably. Can I create a weekly web feature that lots of people will flock to? Ot should I just go ahead and try and promote the full version of Obliviana the Super Occult Amusement, damn the torpedoes? My goal is to get people playing Obliviana. Doing Wanderings with an active FOW. And building up Fonosta Device. Am I missing something? Is there some key element I'm missing, an element which is part and parcel of Super Occult Amusement, and also something people will flock to? So, it would have to be even simpler that the basic FOW system. Visit little scene... look at graphic.. visit little scene...30-second vacation? Stare at image and count to 30? I don't know. But something... something I could start doing right away... which would gain me an audience... keep people coming... 11:39 PM I'm kind of hoping to get a breakthrough in the next 20 minutes. This thing... it would have to be VERY simple. Something I could update every week... or even every day. I would have to be a component of the Obliviana Super Occult Amusement system. See, doing Wanderings and recording them and everything--that's too much for people right away. Themes and variations--very powerful. What I should have is a graphic that has variations on themes. But there has to be an angle. And it has to be the kind of thing that is integral to playing Obliviana, and that will continue on--not just a thing to get things started, but really a part of the system. It must require no effort on the part of the audience. And it must be understandable. It can be presented as supernatural. Good luck charms? Contemporary good luck charms? Modern Good Luck Charms? But what purpose could they serve in the system? Octagon... gotta think about Octagon... Oracle? Choose a random link? Like Tarot cards? Good luck charm... orcale... what else is there supernatural that people understand very well, and can also be a part of this system? Octagon... this is good... choose from one of eight links? Weird Luck Charm? Stare at the Weird Luck Charm and say the magic number--209! And have Weird Luck all day long! Okay. I like the basic concept. But how do Weird Luck Charms fit into the system? I mean, in an overall sense, a Weird Luck Charm, as a Fonosta Device-like image--it is just about the simplest way of playing Obliviana. But how should I construct the Weird Luck Charms? I could just make cool images and name them... but how would they fit into the overall system? 11:57 PM Not much time left! I'm almost there! Your Fonosta Device is your OWN Weird Luck Charm! So, "general purpose" Weird Luck Charms could encourage a person to start building their own... So... can WLCs just be cool, named images? Yeah. I think they can be. So, there it is. Weird Luck Charms. A new idea. A cool idea. Wed 11/4/98 * 12:00 AM In the final seconds of yesterday, I was thinking about the similarities between Wandering Covers and Weird Luck Charms. But I think that WLCs will make Wanderings all that much more understandable. Good night. Thu 11/5/98 * 10:05 PM I want Obliviana to make money, to be a success, to be something that really enjoy having as a part of their lives. I think that in my thinking, I might have been perceiving my audience as a bunch of Frank Edward Noras--people with minds similar to my own. But most people do not have a mind like mine. My particular kind of intelligence seems to be pretty rare. Weird Luck Charms are a way for me to introduce people to Obliviana in a very simple and painless way. Man, I'm out of it tonight. Let me start again. Weird Luck Charm is a system which needs to be exceedingly simple. It needs to be a no-brainer. The name itself is quite descriptive. Here are some ideas: [1] WLCs are going to be FOW-shaped JPEG files. [2] WLCs are going to be named and numbered and dated. [3] Perhaps there will be multiple versions of each WLC design. [4] WLC will be very simple on the surface--www.obliviana.com brings you to a screen where you choose a link from a set of links, like choosing a card at random. The link leads to a Weird Luck Charm. [5] Oracle-level: WLC will have some oracle-type information. Oracles and good luck charms are very familiar to people. 10:29 PM I want to keep WLC as simple as possible. I'm in a weird state of mind right now. One thing I definitely want is for each WLC to have a distinct name. And how about theme? What are the elements of WLC? WLC can have some complexities as long as they don't get in the way. WLCs must be colorful and appealing to the eye. Additionally, they must be compelling from a name/theme point of view. I want WLCs to be the kind of images that will be able to used in a variety of media--like T-shirts, laminated inkjet photo printouts, etc. WLCs will, at some level, just be WEIRD. I think that the name of the WLC should be in the image itself, and the checkerboard pattern from Wandering Cover should also be there, and the typography aspect. Theming/naming should perhaps have a structure, such as combining two ideas together. 10:47 PM This also has to be popular! This is a part of Obliviana meant to be the way for people to get into Obliviana! So I have to make it so that people will like it! I could also have an I-Ching-like way of choosing. Like, flip a Quarter, and Nickel, and a Dime. There are eight combinations. Magic 8-Ball-like responses: Get Real, You Got It, Perhaps, Uh-Huh, Forget It, You Crazy, etc. The WLC will give further insight into your question. For weird luck, stare at the Weird Luck Charm and say the magic number 209! Fri 11/6/98 * 8:47 PM Firstly, the idea of FOW as a "door". Visualizing it as a door seems to work quite well. But before I can introduce people to FOW, I have to introduce them to Weird Luck Charms. WLC has to be the kind of site that I would visit on a regular basis. The key to this is stimulation. Two sites that I have visited on an extremely regular basis for perhaps over a year are macledge.com (Macintosh Gamers Ledge) and emulation.net (a Mac emulation site). Both these sites are updated on an almost daily basis, and quite often lead to downloading games playable on my Mac. The lure these sites have for me is the "fix" of playing a new game. Never mind the fact that most of the games I download (besides emulated classics) wind up sucking--it's the thrill of launching and playing a new game, with all the bells and whistles--and all that PROMISE--from the moment of hearing about it to the moment of playing it--the promise that the game will be GREAT. Another site I check out quite often is the Pinocchio Productions weekly Disneyana auction. And although I have only bought two things from there (including a $500 print from the Contemporary Resort Hotel), I am drawn back by the promise of seeing a must-have object. Yet a third type of site I've been visiting with regularity is the "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" information sites (like starwarz.com, theforce.net, and virtualedition.com). These sites pay off with new information about the new Star Wars movie. All of these sites are updated on AT LEAST a weekly basis, and most are updated daily or every few days. All of them hold the promise of unexpected infostimulation--new games, new colelctibles, new pieces of information. 9:17 PM Okay--a big idea here--that the WLCs be animated. The main problem here is the limiations of the web-palette being used with my developing graphical style. Also, physical representations would not be animated, and the idea is for all WLCs to be consistent across all media. Little animated "sideshows" are possible--using similar graphical and color schemes--but I don't know. This hurts simplicity somewhat. Or--the animated, small sideshows could be part of a related game? In any event, the WLC site has to be updated, on average, every few days. And it has to offer a thrill of some sort. I think that WLCs need another angle besides just being Weird Luck Charms--ie, things which cause weird luck. They need to have some additional purpose. An idea comes to mind which is along the lines of a person keeping a WLC journal, and inserting certain WLCs in certain slots, with time as a factor. This is an interesting idea, but perhaps a bit too complex. Remember, WLC must be a no-brainer. It cannot involve any effort beyond viewing and interacting in a very basic way. So: a set of items, changing every few days, items leaving, new ones appearing, old ones returning. It would make sense to do SOMETHING with the item. One very simple idea is collecting--but the act of downloading a JPEG file from a web site is more than the average web person can manage. At this point, I could get into a gamelike system, with Java or Shoockwave... but this, too would make it complex and leave people out who don't have a powerful enough computer, or enough know-how to make such things work. No. It has to be simple. There are a lot of periphery things that I do want to include--the collecting thing, the journal thing--but I am concentrating on the CORE system right now. Also--and this is very important--I need the WLC experience to begin, run, and end in approximately 5 minutes. Sat 11/7/98 * 11:43 PM Ideas: "For best results, use only once per day." Little animated GIFs of Zope as various themed characters. WLCs to be themed, totally. Color schemes very important. Use of Zope as the "host" of WLC. I was thinking about creating a character, like "Weird Luck Charlie" or something--and that right there shows that I was thinking of pandering to people with such a banal idea. I cannot and will not pander. But, of course, after a minute of walking through the cold Caldor parking lot, I realized that Zope should be the host. Of course, having a "host" does complicate matters a little. But I think it might add a great deal to the appeal of WLC. Anyway, the big idea here is that a player will start off on the homepage, and then click a series of links, eventually winding up at a WLC. The player will start off thinking of a question, and then click links that are labeled with certain things or ideas. This setup does meet the requirement that the experience last less than five minutes. And the idea of telling people to do it only once per day--I think this will help focus attention spans and keep people interested in the site--and it will also give people a little bit of a thrill to click through all the links and see all the WLCs that there are at any given time. The idea of WLCs coming and going will not be emphasized--but it will be mentioned. I want people to feel that they are doing something "sneaky" by checking out and maybe even keeping track of the set of WLCs that are coming and going. But this level that I am referring to is beyond the basic level, which must remain EXTREMELY simple and easy to understand--ask a question, as you would to any oracle, go through a little ritual, and then come up with the result. I do want to leave the player with a good feeling and a reason to return. Sun 11/8/98 * 3:27 AM Clicking links to arrive at a final destination. Remember, I want this experience to last a few minutes--even once a person is familar with the system. Since a certain amount of time will be spent at each step of the way, I can have shorter stays and more steps, or longer stay and less steps. I have a vision of there being some kind of GIF animation at each step--or perhaps two or more, for the links. And what about the paradigm for the journey? Will it represent something, like walking through doorways and hallways? Use real world info? As in--if it's daytime now, click here--if it's night, click here? Yes--this is a good idea. Also, "what do you like better?" kind of choices. Both these kinds of choices tap into ego, which is good for keeping a person's interest. And make no mistake--it is a Hurculean task to maintain a person's interest in a website for more than a minute--let alone on a daily basis. And since WLC is the "gateway" to Obliviana, it has to be very compelling. Now, on the nature of the choices as they relate to the final outcome--I think it can be pretty much totally arbitrary and random. It is meant to be a WEIRD thing, afterall. Visual stimulation is a very big element here. But forms-and-variations is another big element. I need to frame the content--come up with a few standard forms--and utilize the stimulation in comparing variations on forms. Five minutes of stimulation. Not too easy! I have to come up with some other ways to stimulate. Could I have eight "portals" on the homepage, each identified by a graphic--and when the portal changes, the graphic changes too? No--the coming and going of elements has to be "invisible" at the basic level. That is, basic-level players will not necessarily detect that content is changing--they will go through the stages, and come up with different results in different sessions. Of course, if a player delves into it further, they will see the true structure. How about small "permu-fiction" games? Maybe. The "Steps"--the pages that are between the homepage and the WLC pages--these are the first level of forms-and-variations. So--there has to be a standard Step form. For the Step form, I want all the content to be on-screen at once--no scrolling. I'll use tables for this, of course. I think that two links per Step should be the standard. "Flip a Coin" as a Step? Sure--as long as an alternative is given for coinless folks. "If you wanted to, could you go outside right now and look at the sky?" Good. Now, as far as this 2-link system goes--it will not double the number of WLCs needed at each Step--rather, there will be a set number of Steps at each level. For example, there might be four Steps at each level. So yes--there will be eight links and four destinations at each level. The eight links will simply link to the four destinations in different ways. The cadrinal rule will be, though--NO REPETITION in a single session. Basically, people will be reading more complecity into WLC than there really is. "Which of these animations best depicts your current mood?" Good. Permu-fiction "side-games", or other kinds of side-games, would simply inevitably lead to the next level in any case. So--specifics--number of levels, and steps per level. My gut feeling is that there should be six steps--so that including the homepage and the WLC, there are eight steps in total. Aha! At the WLC level, it will have a few links to other sites online! Yes! This will provide a graceful exit! Steps per level--between 2 and 4. Entryways from the home page--I like the idea of eight. But the numbers are getting pretty high here, in terms of Steps. But again, this number of entryways can be illusory--all Steps can be shared. No matter what numbers I decide on--the number of elements in the system will remain stable. That is, the overall structure will remain the same--except for the link structure, which may or may not stay the same. How many WLCs at a time? I would say 8, definitely. And 5 jumping-in points on the homepage? Maybe... 2:43 PM 2:50 PM Spent a few minutes thinking there. Well, first of all, I want to get started with actual WORK. But I know I have to have the right plan. I think the plan I have been developing is quite good. It does introduce a whole new thing--Steps--which will be a major element in the whole WLC thing. The WLC experience will be very linear. This is in marked contrast to most web experiences. Well, there is variation--in choosing links--but the links each lead inevitable to the next level. So, here is the WLC session sequence: [1] Player goes to obliviana.com, thinks of a question or subject, and chooses a "jumping in" link. [2] Player gets to first Step, gets the choices, and then makes a choice. This will lead to the next Step, where the process is repeated. After the set number of Steps, the player arrives at the WLC. (((Give the "answer" at the next-to-last Step? Also, side-trips, as in permufiction.))) [3] At the Weird Luck Charm destination, a WLC is displayed, along with some kind of answer to the question. Player can decide to stare at the WLC and say the magic number "209" to get weird luck. ((("There's good luck... there's bad luck... and then... there's WEIRD LUCK!"))) [4] On the WLC page there will be a set of links to other websites, and "Come back tomorrow!" This is the basic structure. This does differ from most websites or webgames--especially in that it enuncuiates specifically how it wants a person to browse it--not an open-ended, nebulous "come in and browse"--but a very specific "once-a-day" idea, complete with the "leading you to the door" set of exit links. I might not even have a link leading back to the homepage! 5:50 PM So, I think I have the basic structure. Now to get down to specifics! There are three kinds of pages--the homepage, the Step pages, and the WLC pages. Each should share the same basic format. Firstly, the Obliviana name and logo should appear on every page, along with the Weird Luck Charms logo. Steps each have two links. The homepage will have more, and the WLC pages will have exit links. Homepage... doorways! Yes! Maybe all the animated links should be doorways! Should ALL the links be of the same nature? Perhaps. I mean--YES--all the links should be the same. But what about the Doors relating to the content of the Steps? And... how does the content of the Doors relate to the content of the WLCs? Okay... the theming and Zope. Where does that come in? Zope as various themed characters, doors of a themed nature... Well, first of all, the Doors should be themed. But should the Doors be named? As in... "Tropical Exhilaration", "Vampire Hideout", "Skyscraper Antics", etc. Well, the WLCs will be themed in such a way, too. So what is the relationship between the Doors and the WLCs? And where does Zope fit in? 6:49 PM Should Zope be in WLC? If he is, I think it should be in a subtle way. For example, he could "star" as the various themed characters, but not really talk or be the focus of the thing. Or, Zope could be the one who's "talking" with the various choices. As different characters at each Step? From an overall perspective, I want the Steps to stimulate. I think that maybe Zope shouldn't be a part of WLC. The PLAYER is the star of WLC. Okay. Well, the Zope issue is settled for now. So--I have to create the nature of the Doors and the WLCs, and how they relate. One thing about Doors--I think that each Door can relate to the content of the Step or not--depending upon usage. I see Doors as things that people will collect, along with WLCs. But back to Zope--maybe Zope can be in the Doors only, and not a host. I will consider this. The theming of the Doors will be done in a totally visual way, without words. WLCs will be themed with a name, using cool typography. And Zope should be in every WLC, though perhaps "hidden". In this way, Doors will be less "defined" than WLCs. The idea that you are going through Doors to get to a WLC supports this idea--Doors as "pre-WLCs". Okay. Now on to the structure of the Steps. I like the idea that the last Step gives you the answer to your question. This then suggests that the levels, or "Stages" should each have an overall subject, and that every Step will be Stage-specific. So--how many steps do I want? I still think that six is a good number, but five could work as well. This would consider the link destination post-WLC as a stage. So I'll go with five Steps for now. I know that Stage 5 is the answer Stage. perhaps at that Step, the Doors will have visual clus that relate to the specific WLCs. But maybe not--I want to keep a random feel. Four Steps per stage might be optimal, considering that each Stage will then have eight outgoing links--perfect for the last link, since there will be eight WLCs online at any given time. There could, though, be a different number of Steps at each Stage. How many Doors on the home page? Two is too little. I would say that the number should be 4, 5, or 8. 8:15 PM Also today I wrote a few Parkings and I continued the Winter Stadium Them Cupline! Back to WLC. I need to define the nature of each Stage. And also, I need to figure out what the "rest of Obliviana" main page is gonna look like. Also, I have to figure out how Weird Luck Charms relate to Wandering Covers. Wow. Obliviana is getting awfully complex while it's getting simple! 8:28 PM As far a Stages go, I know that the next-to-last Stage is the Answer Stage. "The answer to your question is... MAYBE NOT!!!" Now, choose a Doorway below to find your Weird Luck Charm, which might shed more light on this question!" Each Step will have the player choosing one of two Doorways. So, there will be a question, and then options. The content of the Doorways may relate to the question, or not. Aha! I would like to number the Doorways (note new name: DoorWAYS)--but I don't want to have blatant numbers there. So I may use a simple code with ten characters to represent the number. Doorways are web-palette-compliant animated GIFS. I am thinking of having only two frames of animation for each, but more is possible. Perhaps 4 or 5 would be better. Colors are going to be a big element in WLC. Shall I use colored backgrounds? I think so. But now patterned backgrounds. Colors will add to the stimulation--but I do want to avoid overstimulation. 9:29 PM How will I promote WLC? I kinda don't even want to deal with that issue now, but I will, a little. I think I should include some kind of suggestion for people to tell their friends about WLC. And maybe there are some fortune telling-specific sites with links--and I have to get on search engines of course. Try and get press... line ad in Wired... I cannot forget that WLC is meant as an "engine" to get people into the "real" Obliviana. Wed 11/11/98 * 11:04 PM I am totally obsessed with unification in Obliviana. I'll never be happy with a non-unified system. So, I may as well forget any plan I may have had to settle for a non-unified system! But what does unification mean, exactly? It means, simply, that compoenets of a system are added according to an overall plan, and not haphazardly. Well... I don't know if that's a great deifintion. But in terms of Obliviana, my goal is to have a very simple basic system, in which new components are added in accordance with a structure. But the big thing for such a system is that it can grow wildly diverse while retaining the same basic structure. I am beyond any argument against unification. I realize that now. I have been obsessing on unification for too long now. There is no turning back. I have to have a unified system. Very recently, I defined Obliviana as a set of Wanderings. This idea is, I believe, very close to the true idea that I need. The idea of Obliviana producing one thing--with that one thing being open to great variety--this is the kind of idea I seek. Now, I have this new Weird Luck Charm idea which is very good. But I need to have it incorporated into the overall system. One element here: the use of a specific image in the aspect ratio. Fonosta Device, Wandering Cover/Door/Doorway, Weird Luck Charm, Weird Luck Door/Doorway. Obliviana is something that I truly believe I have DISCOVERED. And as such, I cannot simply impose an arbitrary order upon it. Rather, I must discover the order that is RIGHT for it. So--Obliviana as an aspect of humanity included at the time of Creation but then quickly forgotten. What is its purpose? To give people a means of directly interacting with and affecting Situation. In light of this idea, what is the purpose of the extended system? Basically, the idea is that Wanderings are the basic building blocks of the system. Actually going and doing something. And, all Wanderings done add to the person's Obliviana experiences. The system I am working on is a system to manage Wanderings. Eight days equals a week and a day. Hmm... A big idea in Obliviana is that all of your past Wanderings add up to something--Fonosta Device--which, as a device in the machine sense, can add depth to subsequent Wanderings. So, the main aspects of the system: [1] Establish the core concept of Wanderings. [2] Supply players with a means of recording and managing Wanderings. [3] Producing a set of standard Wanderings. (Players can and should create their own Wanderings, but a set of standard Wanderings is essential, both a guide a player toward being able to create their own Wanderings, and to expand a player's Wandering to beyond the limitations of their own imagination.) So, all of this does suggest a simple, unified system. Here are the main challenges: [1] The format for defining Wanderings, either standard or personal. [2] The format for recording Wanderings. [3] The format for managing Wanderings. [4] The big picture--the "public" Fonosta Device--that which you make available to others and which will be recorded forever. (This is an idea that used to be integral to Obliviana--as in one of the early Declarations of Obliviana.) Now, thus far in these definitions, Little World of Racetracks, the website, advertisements, etc. are not a part of the unified system. And indeed--they MIGHT not have to be. Also, LWOR might actually BE my Fonosta Device! Thu 11/12/98 * 12:11 AM I just wrote and sent out OsoaWeek224. So where am I at here? 10:44 PM I have to make some progress here. Define Wandering. Okay. This is getting ridiculous. Years and years sitting in front of a computer, typing away... but it isn't ridiculous... it all makes sense, This whole 209 thing--introducing people to 209--I am compelled to do it. I have not thought too much about how people will react to it. I mean, I HAVE thought about this subject, but in the event that Obliviana becomes very successful, what will it do to transform the landscape of humanity? Pretty lofty question, eh? But I believe that Obliviana can indeed improve people's lives. It is meant as a supplement for people's current lives, not a replacement. It is a small, but significant, thing. Recording specific actions and experiences, called Wanderings, is one core idea in Obliviana. This idea by itself is not supernatural, but it is very powerful. If you look at the extreme idea of using computers I am ready for the next stage. I am ready for success. When I just wrote that word success, I misspelled it. I wrote cusses. Some Freudian slip, eh? Ready for cusses and ready for success are one and the same. Success carries with it a whole new package of perplexing problems. But I have one major rule--I will never relinquish even a tiny fraction of ownership in Obliviana. Even if it means that Obliviana crumbles and fades away, I must always own Obliviana. Because no one else will be able to see Obliviana as I see it. I am peripherally aware of the difficulties that are part and parcel of Obliviana becoming a success, known to most and practiced by many. And I am, of course, afraid of these problems. But I think that all the time I have spent working on it has not only made Obliviana stronger--it has also made ME stronger. So, Obliviana will be built on some very simple core concepts. [1] Establishment of Wanderings, and ways to record and manage them [2] The supernatural force of 209/FOW. [3] The Obliviana aesthetic, as embodied in the Friction Enhancers. [4] The creation and production of Obliviana Wanderings. Wanderings can, in general, be just about anything, and I expect people and groups to create their own Wanderings. But a strong, ever-growing set of Obliviana Wanderings is absolutely essential. These are good core ideas. Now, I have to figure out how to implement them! First and foremost, I have to come up with a format for defining Wanderings. Each Wandering will have specific aspects a set of aspects. These aspects will be constant, whether Obliviana Wanderings or custom Wanderings. Here are some basic aspects: [1] NAME--each Wandering will have a name. In the case of Obliviana Wanderings, the name will be unique. In terms of custom Wanderings, the name cannot be guaranteed to be unique. That is, unless each Wandering creator has a unique name... [2] NUMBER/CODE--it is my aim for ALL Wandering to be identified by a unique code. The code can be a number preceded by a Wandering Creator code. Registed Fonostas will of course carry a unique code--the Fonosta name and number. But I want the system to work for people who have no formal connection to Obliviana. I want all Wanderings to have unique codes. For each Wandering Creator, I envision a sequential numbering scheme. So, no matter what the sub-categories, Wanderings are all numbered in chronological order. [3] DESCRIPTION--simply, a description of the Wandering. That is, that which must be accomplished to "pass through" the Wandering. (Aha--more Door/Doorway stuff!) [4] GRAPHICS--I see there being several graphical aspects to each Wandering. Beyond simply writing the code and/or name of the Wandering, I envision graphical symbols. These symbols have the potential to come in two major categories--first, that which can be quickly and easily drawn by hand, and second, a computer-based graphic which is more elaborate than the hand-drawn graphic. I am commited to the idea that Obliviana can be done with or without the aid of a computer. Therefore, I need to develop a hand-done system as well as a computerized system. So, whether you have a pocket-sized notebook or a pocket-sized computer, you can still do Obliviana. FONOSTA Ah yes, the Fonosta. Simply put, the Fonosta is a player's record of all Wanderings "passed through" ("portaled"?). But Fonosta is going to be much more than a chronological record of Wandering passed through. I envision Fonosta as being something that is built over time. As well, I want Fonosta to be something that can be presented on a single piece of paper or single computer screen. Enter Fonosta Device. Fonosta Device (FD) is a single image--either on paper or on a computer screen--which represents a player's entire history in Obliviana. Since it is very possible, indeed probable, that a player will pass through thousands of Wanderings, it is entirely impractial to delineate each individual Wandering. It is conceivable to simply graphically represent quatities of each Wandering, but this is not the system I envision. Rather, I see players using Wanderings to BUILD various structures in their Fonosta Device. Fri 11/13/98 * 1:12 AM Well, I was on a roll back there, but I got kinda light-headed and nauseous from the cigar I was smoking, so I took a break. Anyway, I think that these structures that are built in the Fonosta Device are extremely important to Obliviana. I have not worked a great deal on the ideas behind these structures. So I think I should do a little work now. Basically, the Fonosta Device structures involve CHOICE. Each element in a Fonosta Device represents a large number of Wanderings. A simple element, graphically speaking, can represent thousands of Wanderings and years of work. But, Fonosta elements will be... hmm... Octagon... keep coming back to Octagon... Basically, these elements are going to be of the sort that... you "buy" them with a number of Wanderings and/or other elements. There will be a large variety of choices, in terms of the elements you choose. One idea here is that a player will be working toward cetain goals, getting certain elements. This idea is very good, but I need to get into some specifics. I do not like the idea of these elements being arbitrary. I want them to represent something, to be part of some overall scheme. Octagon is an idea which has gone through many stages--but the original vision was that a single Octagon can represent eight different aspects--such as architectural elements, colors, shapes, etc. I had taken this to be related to LWOR, and the Racers, Vehicles, Sidekicks, etc. But perhaps I can apply it to Fonosta Device. So--you "buy" and Octagon, and then you have to choose one of its eight Facets to use. This is an interesting idea. The idea would be that there are eight overall kinds of elements on Fonosta Device, and you can choose which ones to focus on... But I want to look at this in a broader sense. Wanderings do add up to something in Obliviana--in the supernatural aspect. You Wander "on" your Fonosta Device--you "use" your past Wanderings to enhance your Wandering experience. This is theoretically a part of the 209 system--the system that I discovered, rather than created. (In this lifetime anyway. This statement alludes to my belief that I might possibly have been involved in the creation of the 209 system way back at the dawn of time, but this is a sci-fi kinda idea, and I admit that it could just be fantasizing on my part.) Anyway, it would seem logical that in such as system as 209, there would be a simple way of keeping track of your Wanderings. Fonosta Device has to be a very simple idea. It has to be doable in many different ways--like carrying around various objects in a bag, for example. This implies that there is frequent "trading up" to new symbols, so that the total number of elements does not get out of hand. There are several factors here. One is that there will certainly be, eventually, thousands of different Wanderings. But considering the necessity for simplicity, there will have to be some kind of categorization of Wanderings for the pusposes of Fonosta Device. That is, the trading structure has to be simplified--it cannot refer to every single Wandering out there. So, each Wandering will have to fit into a certain "archetype". That is, no matter what the specific nature of the Wandering is, it will have to count as a specific, standardized value in the Fonosta Device system. Aha! This, then, implies a broad system of categorization for Wanderings. Such as "type 1", "type 5", etc. There are certainly natural categories for Wanderings, such as drinking in entertainment, physical travel, building artifacts, etc. Also, there should be some system for categorizing Wanderings in terms of "difficulty". So, this then suggests that Fonosta Device be a system that is apart from Wanderings to some extent. "Get Element" and "Trade Element". Hmm... Gotta go to bed. Goodnight. Sun 11/15/98 * 11:12 PM It's my first wedding anniversary today. We had a candlelight bossanova sushi dinner on a trunk. I haven't worked on Obliviana for a day or two now, so let me see where I'm at. I'm at the whole Fonosta Device question. Now, one big aspect of Fonosta Device is that the Glyphs (the elements in Fonosta Device) are "device independent"--no pun intended. That is, the Glyphs are "objects" which can be depicted in a variety of ways. So, it is more important to come up with the object structure of the Glyphs than to focus on their visual representation. Mon 11/16/98 * 8:54 PM The structure. Glyphs are the basic units. Are Wanderings going to have Glyphs of their own? This is a very important question. I think that a level of separation between Wandering and Glyph is a good idea. If there are Wanderings that are very challenging, then they can be "converted" into a Glyph through a specific Deal. Deals are the basis of the trading system. Each Deal conists of a "price" and a "product". The "currency" behind the "price" is Wanderings and Glyphs, and the "products" are Glyphs. 10:54 PM Man, I'm really drifting. I've been dealing--or trying to deal--with this subject for days. Okay. Laser Smash. I just felt like writing that. Okay. Glyph attributes are big here. Glyphs will have names. Now, another big question--is Fonosta Device gonna have a "paradigm"--that it, if I'm using the word correctly--is Fonosta Device and the Glyphs going to represent a world and elements within it, or not? Good question. I'll sleep on it. Wed 11/18/98 * 12:50 PM Some new ideas today. One idea is that there will be different types of Glyphs--sets, which will not be "cross-tradable". In other words, Glyphs which can be traded up to other Glyphs of that sort. An example of this is time-based Glyphs. Essentially, you would get these Glyphs as time passes, without really having to do anything. This is a good type of Glyph to describe the Glyph Deal system. Basically, a unit of time would be traded for a certain Glyph. And then, that Glyph can be used for a trade in the future. I also today thought of Fonosta Device in a much broader sense, as a way of very quickly presenting a large and complex amount of data. In the case of Fonosta Device, an overall view of a player's activities in Obliviana is given--and in addition, the player's personality will be apparent to some degree in the design decisions made. This Fonosta Device (FD) system, viewed in this larger context, would have other uses, beyond Obliviana--such as representing the content of a website, for example. So, this system needs to be usable by the average person. That is, a person will need to be able to learn the language of the system and "read" Fonosta Devices. The basic building block of this system is the Glyph. All FDs are made up from a set of Glyphs. Glyphs need to be able to convey information. So, as a language, FD needs to be learnable, and the easier it is to learn, the better. Glyphs each represent a number of ideas. MAGNITUDE conveys how "big" a Glyph is. This is a very important aspect. But I very much want there to be CHOICE in the development of a FD. That is, given the same set of Wanderings, I want different people to be able to build very different FDs--all of which convey both the set of Wanderings and the aesthetic and personality of the designer. Octagon is absolutely a factor here. The idea that each Octagon contains eight different aspects, and that you choose one of them when you get an Octagon. THIS is a good idea. The idea of getting to Octagon levels and then choosing the way to branch is very much what I want. And the number, 8, gibes very well with my vision for the whole thing--8 basic directions. 1:12 AM Okay--I do like the idea that the thing you are "buying" in a Deal is an Octagon. Each Octagon will contain eight different Glyphs. Beauty, power, mystery...? Should the Glyphs be based on such things. Certainly, I want there to be eight basic concepts in FD, each with its own Octagon facet. Now, each Glyph will need to have a number of aspects--such as magnitude, facet, "subject", etc. Glyphs have to be based on a simple, yet flexible system, in order to make the system workable. I think that using eight again here would be a good idea. Now, the Facets are going to be named, and the Facets are going to be "set in stone". I think that the Facets can be very broad in their symbolic natures. That is, eight very broad ideas which will encompass everything in the system. Flipping three coins will generate a randon number from one to eight--as long as the three coins are all different. Quarter-Nickel-Dime might be good. Using the order Dime-Nicker-Quarter (smallest to largest), here is the system: TTT=1 TTH=2 THT=3 THH=4 HTT=5 HTH=6 HHT=7 HHH=8 I think that random Facet generation will be a part of the system. Thu 11/19/98 * 11:23 PM Well, a pretty important day for Obliviana--11/19. Not much left of it. I'd like to get a breakthrough. Bought Color Game Boy today. I paid a little too much for it, $10 above the suggested retail, but I was scared of shortages, and I didn't think it was coming out till Monday. It's very, very cool. It doesn't play the sounds right in Galaga/Galaxian, but that's a minor complaint. The screen looks wonderful. Now, I gotta get a good game of Pokemon started! Anyway, back to the issue at hand. I want to focus on the area of Wandering categories. I believe that this is an issue that, if cracked, will open the rest of the Fonosta Device system up. And who knows--maybe I can do that in the next 33 minutes! Okay. The goal here is to come up with a set of Wandering categories. But even more important than the specific categories--which I don't think I'll be able to come up with in such a short time--is the structure under which they are organized. This structure involves the total number of categories, and the themes that they are associated with. I want this to be based on Octagon. But eight kinds of categories is too little. 11:42 PM Okay. I simply connected all the points in an octagon, as I used to be so fond of doing with a square and its segment midpoints ("Elemental 16" and such). This results in 80 sectors, with PLENTY of room for division and subdivision. So this is it. I'm gonna update the website now. 11:54 PM Well, I updated the website, showing a graphic of Octagon. When I went to Blockbuster before, I was thinking instensely about the idea I came up with earlier today, to be able to have Wanderings in a number if different categories at once. By defining areas of Octagon, such as the center sqaure, or the top part, or the outer ring, such a system is possible. I will define this idea more thoroughly soon. Now I'll do OsoaWeek, which was due out Tuesday! Sun 11/22/98 * 11:33 PM I got a haircut today. In fact, I might have gotten 5% of all the haircuts of my adult life today. You know, I think I have all the basics for Obliviana right now. I think I'm there. I feel like crap, but I'm there. Yeah, I have the basis. Octagon is coming along quite well. I see the big picture. I should feel pretty good, right? Ah, I've been through the wringer with Obliviana. I feel totally beaten up. A few months ago I thought I had finally arrived. And then I was beaten back to square one. I was beaten back by the fact that I didn't yet have the right plan for Obliviana. So now that I do have the right plan, I'm kinda in no mood to celebrate. So I may as well record the plan, the true Obliviana system: Obliviana is a game that is unlike any game you've ever played. One basic idea in Obliviana is the Wandering. A Wandering is a definition of something to do. You "go through" a Wandering by doing what it describes. There is a supernatural side to Obliviana that enhances the experience you have while doing Wanderings. This supernatural idea consists of the number 209, and a grid called the Forge of Wander, which is 11 squares wide, 19 squares high, and contains 209 squares total. By focusing on 209, Wanderings become much more enjoyable, memorable, and "deep". Every Wandering you do is recorded in your Fonosta. Part of your Fonosta is the Fonosta Device. This is a graphical sign, with the same aspect ratio as the Forge of Wander, that depicts your entire Wandering history. Rather than depict individual Wanderings, your Fonosta Device is made up of Glyphs, which are "bought" with Wanderings. Each Wandering has an Octagon sector, and there are 80 sectors in Octagon. Each basic Glyph has a cost associated with sets of sectors in Octagon. Basic Glyphs can be combined to form High Glyphs. And High Glyphs can be traded for "bigger" High Glyphs. In this way, your entire Obliviana history can be depicted with only a handful of Glyphs. Wanderings are very flexible, and each person can design their own. But, to get things started and to provide a common ground, Obliviana has an ever-expanding set of Wanderings, including great entertainment and other forms of content. So, this is what Obliviana is all about--continuously building and expanding your Fonosta Device, and having a great time while doing it. And you use your Fonosta Device as a focus when you start each Wandering--bringing to mind all that you have done. Cool. That's it. That's the basis of Obliviana. The true basis. That which I have been striving for. The answer to "What is Obliviana?" Well, I've been at this point a dozen, maybe more, times in my life. That every time, I've been disappointed, because it turned out that I wasn't there yet. I believe that I have arrived at the true Obliviana system, but I've been disappointed so many times in the past, that I am reluctant to get my hopes up. I guess part of my mood stems from the fact that now that I (may) have the foundation, I have a heck of a lot of work to do before I can present it to the public. 11:56 PM So, the big challenge that faces me now is figuring out the nature of each of the 80 Octagon sectors. The challenge here is great--given ANY kind of activity, it will have to fit into one specific sector. So I have to work on figuring out, in an overarching way, every possible kind of Wandering. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----