|| -------- -- -----  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 5 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Get All Obliviana  ||  Issue 001  ||  -------> (Cup OWga001e, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Sun 11/29/98 * 8:15 PM Well, I still think that I may indeed have the True Obliviana Foundation. But I have to work on it some more to find out. 8:49 PM I wrote and mailed out OsoaWeek226, 5 days late. In it, I declared my intention to open the new Obliviana website on 1/1/99, and I drew a parallel to the dawn on Halfevil Graphics, where I tried to start it on 6/6/86, but my car broke down, so I had to start it on 6/7/86. Both 6/6/86 and 1998 are associated with 666. So whereas the events in June 1986 took place on two days, this event is happening in two YEARS. Obliviana "broke down" in 1998, and it will officially start in 1999. Okay. 8:57 PM 33 days will the opening of the new Obliviana website. I do not want the opening to be a confusing "getting started" kind of thing that makes no sense--I want it to kick ass, and be understandable. So, I will keep to the Obliviana system I recently established. The hard part is in Defining the Octagon Sectors. So let me get to it. There are 80 Octagon sectors. .Every Wandering will be "put" in one of these sectors. I want similar Wandering to be close together, and very dissimilar Wanderings to be far apart. Wanderings can be just about anything--anything that can be done. But there can be some rhyme and reason to the system. Like... werid, normal, inside, outside, alone, with others, etc. I recall working on this issue in the past--now I have to find that writing! 10:18 PM I think I'll try and work on this challenge without going back to my previous writing, since it will be a little tough to find. Okay. The idea here is that Wanderings will be broken down into broad categories. Solo vs. Group. Weird vs. Normal Familiar vs. Unfamiliar Creative vs. Uncreative Okay. So, we are talking about major areas. Now, I think I can focus somewhat on Obliviana Wanderings. Mon 11/30/98 * 12:19 AM Wanderings. Obliviana Wanderings, specifically. I am going to attune the first set of Octagon sectors to Obliviana Wanderings. I hae been trying to find old writing I did on this subject, but I still need to spend more time looking. But I think it might be good to work from scratch a little. Okay. Obliviana Wanderings are going to come in a wide variety of types, but I think that they can be broken down into several major categories. First of all, there is the idea of passive entertainment, such as Severe Repair, which you just read. And then there's interactive entertainment, like a game. Ah, I gotta go to bed. Gotta go to work tomorrow! 10:23 PM Well, I have a good new idea--to have archetypal entries on all 80 Octagon sectors, to serve as the basis for ALL uses of Octagon. Specifically, this idea would involve some kind of theme which is rich in symbolism--such as a set of "Winnie the Pooh" whimsical characters, or something like that. Each Octagon sector would then have a little piece of text in it, establishing the "meaning" of that sector. This is a good idea--but it is quite challenging. But this is absolutely what I have to do if I want Obliviana to truly launch on 1/1/99. I have to have Octagon established. Now, just prior to this idea, I had been thinking of tailoring Octagon to Obliviana Wanderings only. But this new idea requires that Octagon be more flexible, and able to indeed accomodate ANY set of Wanderings. This does, at first, seem to be somewhat impossible, but I don't think it is. I am not saying that I am going to be able to pigeonhole every kind of human activity into 80 categories--what I am saying is that any activity/Wandering will naturally fit into one of the 80 sectors. Each sector will be able to accomodate a wide variety of activities. Wanderings are, essentially, defined activites. Kayaking for two hours, lighting a candle, reading an issue of Starlog from 1983, going somehwhere you've never been before, visiting a store you have no deisre to visit, etc. I have to back up and take a look at human activites from a very broad perspective. PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES vs. RANDOM OVERALL CONTEXT OF WANDERING ALONE vs. WITH OTHER PEOPLE EXPERIENCE ONLY vs. INFORMATION RECORDED vs. ARTIFACT CREATED SENTIMENTAL VALUE (going back to your old school) vs. NO SENTIMENTAL VALUE "FUTURE" VALUE (relates to something you want in the future, like looking at a kind of car you eventually want to get). vs. NO "FUTURE" VALUE MAIN ACTIVITY--PHYSICAL, MENTAL, or EMOTIONAL? DRINKING IN ENTERTAINMENT INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT, SOLITAIRE or with OPPONENTS PHYSICALLY MOVING AROUND vs. STAYING IN ONE PLACE BUSINESS vs. PLEASURE WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT IS THE MOOD? WHO ARE YOU WITH? Let me get even more basic. What is an experience? A series of things, a beginning, a middle, and an end. A goal in mind. Specifically, Wanderings are aa subset of human activities/experiences which do have a specific goal. How about combining Wanderings? Neverbeen and Pebbleswitch, for example. can be done at the same time. But, these are, strictly speaking, Friction Enhancers, and might not be Wandering in and of themselves. Perhaps a "Friction Enhancer Trip" would be a good Wandering, where you do at least, say, five Friction Enhancers during a journey of some sort. I have so far subdivided Octagon into 16 sets of five, using two overlapping divisions of four and one overlapping division of two. Maybe then, at the sector level, where each sector has three identifiers, I can then fine-tune the set of five? I think that in general, I need the various areas in Ovtagon to represent different overall philosophies. Do you want to learn of have fun? Do you have subtle or blunt aesthetics? Are you wild or reserved? I think that since I have a limited number of "slots", I need to allow for lots of combing--that is, sectors will have more than one meaning, but those meanings will elate in some way. So, what are some REALLY basic characteristics? ORDER vs. CHAOS GOOD vs. EVIL PLEASURE vs. PAIN WORK vs. LEISURE BUILDING vs. DESTROYING GATHERING vs. DISPERSING COMMUNICATION vs. SOLITUDE IMPORTANT vs. SILLY Is OCtagon going to be something like an oracle, like the Tarot? It might... 11:03 PM I need to make an important distinction here. Octagon is a PART of Obliviana. As such, Octagon needs to represent the range of activites that one can do in the course of doing Obliviana. Obliviana is all about exploring situation. Octagon does not need to cover everything in the world--it needs to cover explorations of situation. So, I need to more clearly define just what a Wandering is. A Wandering is a predefined activity. This may seem to be contradictory, since Wandering would imply unexpectedness. But a Wandering that has no predefinition would indeed be a formless thing. An Obliviana Wandering has a predefined GENERAL STRUCTURE. It is not a strictly predefined set of events, but rather, a loose, overall structure in which to wander. Obliviana is all about moving away from Corridor briefly, and then returning. THIS is very important. So, I think I am contradicting a previous position I had held. Octagon as a means of representing large amount of any kind of information visually--this idea I think I will now narrow to Obliviana Wanderings. You have to move away from Corridor briefly to do an Obliviana Wandering. So, I think that definitions of Wandering can begin with the way in which Corridor is being moved away from. So, what is the nature of Corrdor? Corridor is the normal sequence of events, the "ruts" we all live in. These ruts are situation in nature, but they have a strong spatial aspect. But, could location/space be a component of Situation? 11:17 PM Certainly, location is a big component in Wanderings. Does the Wandering take place in rut locations or not? Sun 12/6/98 * 2:18 AM Okay. 26 days till 1999. On 11/22/98, I defined Obliviana in a very succinct way. Basically, Wandering are done, recorded in Fonosta, and enhanced by 209. In Fonosta, Wanderings are graphically represented in the Fonosta Device. Very simple. So, how do I make it happen? I had this idea a few minutes ago while shaving--to start off with Wanderings being Web-based. I think that this makes a lot of sense. People are going to come to Obliviana on the Web, and so it makes sense to allow people to play Obliviana immediately, while still online--rather than going out into the world and doing complicated stuff (like Mallball, Pebbleswitch, etc.) Doing, Enhancing, Recording. I have the basic idea for Doing online, so what about Enhancing and Recording? Enhancing can involve the basic looking at a FOW and thinking "209". This can be a stage in the process. Recording. Now this is a bit tricky. Recording online Wanderings, and constructing Fonosta Devices is something that could be totally automated online, but I don't have the resources to get anything like that going in 26 days. So this is the biggest problem. The problem lies in the solution--having people record the info manually. The answer here is to allow people to NOT record if they so please--because people are not gonna be thrilled with this idea of recording. Aha! But maybe--yes--at the end of a Wander, a player gets a "secret code". This may change from day to day. They will be encouraged to record it. OVERVIEW OF THE 1/1/99 PLAN Okay. I have the idea of having HTML-based Wanderings. This idea is similar to the fortune-telling plan I recently developed (a month or two ago? it's probably in this document). Anyway, the basic idea is that each Wandering will have an entrance point, and then the player Wanders around till an end is gotten to. I think I may keep the "once per day" concept to keep things fresh. This idea does fit into the larger scheme of Obliviana, since Web-based Wanderings are indeed valid Wanderings. Enter the Wandering. At each stage, choose a link. Keep moving forward. There are no wrong choices. You will eventually wind up at an ending point. Write down the code you get there. You will be using these codes to build your Fonosta Device. Look at the Wandering Doorway and THINK 209! Cool, now click on the Doorway and enter the Wandering! 2:43 AM Okay. I looked back, and found the whole Weird Luck Charm thing. I wrote it on 11/8/98--less than a month ago. It seems like many months! My new idea is different than WLC, but there are some similarities. The core idea is going to be the same--a fun, brief online activity that players are encouraged to do once per day (perhaps). What is my recording idea? Well, Octagon is a factor here. I could use a simplified version of Octagon to keep from scaring people. In fact, I could use the full Octagon system, but make it SEEM simpler, by using the following idea: Octagon is graphically depicted with only eight sectors. Wandering would be associated with one Sector, and additionall have a number from 1 to 10 attached to them. This would then allow for the entire 80-Sector system to be used, without it seeming so complicated. Additionally, the Glyph-building system could initially use only the eight sectors, which would be totally within the full system, though not using all of the system's complexity. Mon 12/7/98 * 9:53 PM Well, I think the heat wave's over. It must have been over 70 degrees today. But the forecast says that the high will be in the mid-40s tomorrow. A big drop in temperature. Back to normal. I need to focus now on the new Obliviana website. My deadline is 1/1/99. I want Obliviana to be up and running early on that day. And hey, it's a Tuesday! I did OsoaWeek227 a little while ago. It was just about a week late. I didn't have much to say. OsoaWeek is hanging on by a thread. Like the rest of Obliviana. And that's pretty stressful. But I know that a better Obliviana is coming. There is not much time left, so I need to focus in on the idea of HTML Wanderings. Okay. Or maybe I'll call them "Online Wanderings". The idea is that there is a Wandering that is... hmm... I just got an idea. Have an online "world"--and have people go through it in different ways, doing different Wanderings... Well, remember, I have to make this VERY, VERY easy for people to do. So--the basic idea is that Online Wanderings are little diversions that a player "enters", explores, and comes to a conclusion with... 11:22 PM I am not yet in synch with this new idea. But I know it is the right idea. Online Wanderings. I am not very enthused. But I have to do it. Wandering Doorways are the FOW-shaped graphics which represent Wanderings. Online Wanderings will certainly have such graphics. The sturcture ofthe online Wandering... a series of pages and links... but what's it all about? I think I should focus on a specific KIND of Online Wandering to start with. Man, I am totally not into doing this. I mean, I want to do it, but my heart is not in it. That sucks. I gotta get in synch with this idea. 11:37 PM What are these Wanderings going to be like? There have to be pages and links. What is it all gonna be about? Or should I go back to the Weird Luck Charm idea? Also, "Clothing for your Presense"... Okay. I think that right now the best idea is to go back to Weird Luck Charm, with a series of questions, leading to an end point. One difference, though, from the original WLC system is that the entry points will have their own identity--they will be Wanderings. Each will have a series of questions, leading to an answer and a code that is recorded. Maybe it's a "weird luck code"? Anyway, the stages are just a series of questions--this is the framework--with side-journeys possible. Goodnight. Wed 12/9/98 * 8:11 PM Hi. I wanna work on Obliviana. Okay. I need a very basic framework for Online Wanderings/Weird Luck Charms. This framework is, a colorful and well-designed "Doorway" for the Wandering, and then a series of "steps" that lead to an end point. Unlike WLC, you are not going TOWARD a FOW things, but FROM one. This is the major difference. At the end points, there will be an answer to the question. So, entry point, end points, and... steps. Thu 12/10/98 * 12:59 AM I have no clue. What the heck am I gonna do? I just have to get it started. Things look bleak now, but I just gotta get it going. It can be VERY simple. Just a few questions and a few answers. That's it. Sat 12/12/98 * 12:39 AM Just for the record, this entire document has been written at my Quarda 605 in my "office" here in my apartment in Nutley, where I live with my wife, Denice. Now, Obliviana. I don't have much time left before 1999. But I think I'm close to a breakthrough. I pretty much have all the elements I need to get Obliviana going. It's just that the 1/1/99 website will have to be [a] very basic and [b] a strong seed, a solid foundation. I will need to come up with a name for this new idea of a web-based Wandering. It is an oracle of sorts. In fact, it will be identified as an oracle. But people may not know what "oracle" means. "Weird Luck Charm" implies something akin to a good luck charm, which is something fidderent from an oracle. So, what word implies fortune telling? Fortune Telling Game. How about "Clothing for your Presence"? That was a slogan I came up with earlier this year, which I liked a lot, but which quickly slipped away. CLOTHING FOR YOUR PRESENCE A Fortune-Telling Game CFYP, pronounced "sfip" Cfyp. Evokes "crypto-", "cryptic", etc. Hmm. Cool. Weird. Unexpected. I like it. Cfyp. Clothing For Your Presence. A Fortune-Telling Game. Okay. I like it. I'll go with it. So, Cfyps will be numbered. Cfyp 1 will be the first Cfyp. Cfyp 2, the second, and so on. 12:56 AM I checked "cfyp" on the web, and there is a "Comittee for the First-Year Program" at some college, but I don't think that should have any bearing at all on my name. I would have preferred that there was no other CFYP, but it's no big deal. And I don't have time to worry about trivialities--I gotta get Obliviana moving! Okay. Cfyp. Each will be named and will have a "Doorway" graphic. Once you enter, you will go through a series of steps and finally end up at an answer. In the larger context of Obliviana, Cfyps are Wanderings. This means that there must be some attunement to 209, and some recordkeeping. The 209-attunement will happen at the beginning--something like "Stare at the Cfyp Doorway and think 209. When you feel the 209 energy start to flow, click on the Doorway to enter!" I could even have an image of the Cfyp Doorway rotated 90 degrees for the end page! "Now, release the 209 energy and move on to another adventure on the Web! Come back tomorrow!" I will specifically state that you can have some question on your mind, and the end point will provide an answer. I am a firm believer in oracles, and I believe that if I provide a fair array of answers, Cfyp will function as an oracle. So, my goal for 1/1/99 is to have Cfyp 1 online. It's that simple! Mon 12/14/98 * 1:37 AM Cfypr. Pronounced "SIFfipur". Clothing for your Presence. Internet Fortune Telling Game. For 1/1/99, I want to have Cfypr 1 online. Alternate spelling, "Ciffipur"? Nah. "Cfypr" is cool. "Ciffiper"? Hmm... CFYPr. CFYPR. I need the elements of the Ciffiper cover, the nature of Ciffiper theming, the range of Ciffiper answers, etc. 11:16 PM Ciffipur. I'm going with the U. Looks better. Eight letters. Cool. CIFFIPUR THEMING A "Ciffipur" is a single "episode" of Ciffipur. Is each going to be static, or in flux? That a pretty big question! Simplicity is the key. But in this case, the simplicity that matters is that which the user experiences. And in order to maintain that image, I think that the various Ciffipurs will be in flux. How many end points will each Ciffipur have? Will there be a standard set of answers? I am thinking that I should have a set of Tarot-card-like end points, but which is open-ended, so that new ones are added all the time. The answers will be meant to provide answers which are subject to interpretation. Digital photography! Yes! I will use digital photos for the "End Cards". Tue 12/15/98 * 9:56 PM On Saturday we recorded and pretty much finished up Fuzzy Daupner. Now I need to focus on Ciffipur. I still feel detached from Obliviana, but with Ciffipur, I'm starting to warm to Obliviana again. Ciffipur has the potential to be the seed, the bridge, the engine. It's a seed that's planted and grows, a bridge, bring people to Obliviana, and an engine, driving the development of Obliviana. NEW IDEAS First, I see Ciffipur as being a single thing, with a set of Ciffipur Doorways as the first level. As far as end points go, I see using digital photos. This is good visually, but more importantly, it will suggest themes and names and things like that. "Traffic" for example, with that picture I took while in traffic, with the weird sky. Now I need to firgure out the nature of the Doorways. I like theming. I was thinking of theming for something else... what was it? Weird Luck Charms, of course! Yes. So Ciffipur Doorways will be themed. And they should have abstract designs, to contrast the photos of the endpoints. HOW MANY LINKS PER STEP? This is a very good question. 544 is the width I'd been working with in the old website. I want to fit the answers across in one row. But there is the practical concern of having to have a DESTINATION for each link. Hence, perhaps two would be the optimal number of links. But I also want to allow the "side adventure" idea. Maybe two main links, and one inbetween them--usually inactive, but sometimes "lit up"? Theoretically, inside a "Ciffipur Pathway" (new term) there is no need for a link, even to the main page. Ciffipur Pathways. Wow. Yeah. "Ciffipur Pathways". That's... that's... that's AWESOME! Maybe a very solid two is the best idea. But three may also be good. I think that three will give the optimal sense of choice and adventure, whereas four may be overkill. Okay. So three it is. 1/2/99 * 5:06 PM 1999! Yes! I got Ciffipur Pathways done, sometime around 2:00 AM yesterday. It's up and running, but people don't really know it's there yet. My major goal for quite some time has been for Obliviana to be a profitable company by Summer 1999. That's about six months from now. This goal may seem pretty much impossible, but this is 1999, and a lot of things which seem impossible are probably gonna happen. I need so come up with my plan for 1999. I have Ciffipur Pathways, but beyond that, Obliviana is really back to square one. This is a good thing--I am unemcumbered by a wrong plan. But, of course, Obliviana has a great deal of history and structure and content. I just need to develop a coherent, workable plan. So: [1] The first goal is for Obliviana to be profitable by Summer. This means that it is making more money than it is spending. [2] My cardinal rule for Obliviana as a business is that I retain 100% ownership in it. I will not accept outside investment. This is a very big restriction, since I will have to get Obliviana profitable without being able to spend much money at all. [3] Profitability has two sides--spendings and earnings. Spendings are subtracted from earnings. With Obliviana, I will need to keep spending down to a minimum, so that I will need to make less money in order to be profitable. I think that Obliviana does have the potential to gain income with very little overhead. [4] The main expenditure in Obliviana would be my salary--the money that I need to live on. This is part of the goal--that Obliviana be profitable AND that I work solely for Obliviana. This is my goal. [5] I would say that earnings would have to be at least $1000 a week in order for Obliviana to be "going". This assumes minimal costs in association with making the money. I think a more realistic idea of earnings would have to be $2000 a week, since there will be costs associated with running the business. This is a bare minimum. [6] This means that individuals and/or businesses will have to be paying Obliviana, on average, $2000 a week. So I will have to be providing $2000 a week worth of products and/or services. [7] These are the general kinds of products and services that I feel are possible: [a] Selling "standard" products via mail order. "Standard" refers to products that are not customized. [b] Selling "custom" products via mail order. "Custom" refers to products which are customized as per a customer's request. [c] Selling "custom" products via Internet. This refers to computer files which are transmitted via the Internet to the recipient. These could include graphical files, sound files, text files, and video files. [d] Selling "custom" services on Internet. This would involve placing data on my website, such as game-related stuff. An example would be a custom "Fonosta Device" for a player. [e] Advertising online. Once I have a big enough audience, I could sell banner ad-type ads, or have sponsorships for various aspects of Obliviana, such as for game elements. I could also include promotions, such as my idea for putting Xappenshards on a sponsor's page, which would attract many players to that page. [f] Advertising/promotions in the real world. If there are enough players, I could produce a physical product which an establishment could offer as an "in-store" promotion. For example, a game-related product could be given away, but a player would have to go to the place in question to obtain it. [g] Licensing. Once the various Obliviana brands have enough fans, it would be possible to license properties for a variety of uses. [h] "Conferences". This refers to me charging a fee to attend a function related to the game, such as a lecture, a tournament, etc. All of these potential income methods depend upon people being "into" the game of Obliviana. [8] The Game of Obliviana is based on the Stormjaunt, in which the player focuses on 209, goes on a Wandering, and then finishes the Wandering, letting the 209 energy dissipate, and recording the results, adding them to their "Fonosta". I clearly need to get further into the specifics of this process. 5:59 PM I started playing the game of go today, on Yahoo games. I had played a few games against a computer, as well as one trial game with Dencie last week, but today I played a few real games with a real person. Go is a game that has a very, very basic set of rules, and which is, nonetheless, a vastly complex, rich, and wonderful game. I would like to take that as inspiration for Obliviana. I have already established that Obliviana has a fairly simple basis, and has the potential for richness and complexity. What I want to do now is to develop the basic rules of Obliviana, to focus on their nature and to refine them. At the core of Obliviana is the Fonosta, which is a player's record of all accomplishments in their playing of Obliviana. Here are some aspects of Obliviana: [1] The basic unit of currency in Obliviana is the "Wandering". A Wandering is, very simply, something to do. It can range from being very simple to very complex. Wanderings are represented by the symbol of the door. To begin a Wandering is to "open" it. Failure to complete the Wandering is to "close" it. To complete a Wandering is to "pass through" it. [2] Once a Wandering is "passed through", it is "gotten" by the player and placed in their Fonosta. These objects I will call "Passages" for now--Wanderings that the player has made a passage through. Passages in a Fonosta can be in one of two states--which I will call for now "ready" and "used". [3] All Passages enter the Fonosta ready. Once they have been used to "purchase" Glyphs, they are used. The purchase of Glyphs is the central dynamic of Fonosta. Its purpose is to represent a large amount of data in a small number of objects. [4] Octagon is a pattern, with the overall shape of an octagon, wherein all of the points are connected to all of the other points, creating 80 distinct "Sectors". Octagon is the basis for the purchase of Glyphs. The basic idea is that Glyphs have a cost represented by both quantity and quality. Quantity refers to the "size" of the passages, which is generally dependent upon the difficulty of doing the Wandering--the harder the Wandering, the "larger" the Passage. The Quality refers to the spaces in which the Passages reside. [5] All Passages have an "Octagon Characteristic". This refers to which Octagon Sectors they can be placed in. In general, each Passage will be associated with a single Sector. But, it is possible that certain Passages will have the potential to be placed in any sector in a certain area, or indeed, any Sector at all. [6] I do want to develop, at least in theory, a means of playing Obliviana using very simple physical components. But in practice, Obliviana will most likely be computer-based. Obliviana game as boardgame, in limited form, which represents the overall game. That is, a game which can be played in an hour or two, which will mimic the true game of Obliviana, which is played over the course of years, or, indeed, a lifetime. Sun 1/3/98 * 7:18 PM 1999. And I still don't have a coherent plan for Obliviana. But I am working on it. Okay. I have the basics pretty much established. I want to try and zero in on exactly how I want Obliviana to be. Here's an interesting idea--the Ciffipur Pathway concept of getting a random result... On to another topic, people are going to have to really be into Obliviana. This means that it has to be something that people are gonna get into. This is common sense. I'm not in the best state of mind right now, but I have to continue onward. The problem is that I am not myself "into" Obliviana at the moment. That is, the current state of Obliviana does not inspire me. And that is what I am trying to fix. Okay. Let me look at this from the perspective of a fan. Say Obliviana gets popular. A fan will hear about it, encounter it. And then the fan will get into it. I like the idea of both computer-based and physical-based elements of the game. For it is a game, a big game. The basis of the game is that you want to keep on improving your Fonosta. So, the specific nature of Fonosta is key to Obliviana. Clothing for your presence. The idea of using your Fonosta device to get 209 energy going. And it is bolstered by your past Wanderings. So it is the Fonosta that is the key. I have held this as a central idea for quite some time. Fonosta is the key. And the cool part of Fonosta is that it is represented almost fully by the Fonosta Device. And this, a graphical sign, is instantly graspable. It has an aesthetic value, but it also communicates a large amount of information in a small space. A KEY IDEA FOR 1999 Here is an important idea, one which will be the backbone of Obliviana development: Keep it specific, don't ask too much of people. This may seem cynical or wrong, but I am saying that I don't want to give people too many options. So, in Obliviana where I define a Wandering as "doing something" it has to be more specific than that. I will certainly NOT emphasize that people can come up with their own Wanderings. I would love it if I were able to focus on that, but it dilutes the message, unfortunately. There is the reality of human nature to contend with, always. COOL, LOUNGE, BACHELOR PAD I don't know. Just that kind of feel. Fifties optimism and coolness. A conceit, but a... a striving after a higher ideal. As you can see, I'm still in a weird state of mind. But I have to continue onward. I think that the dynamics of... smoking a pipe, and just caught a smell... makes me think of Disney World... Anyway, the dynamics of the Fonosta Device--how to enter data, etc. But there has to be a basic urge behind all of it. Freedom? The urge to be free? Luxuriant. Obliviana presented in that lounge kinda style, not retor, but with that attitude... The idea that the game can be played in many places in many ways... the idea that your efforts are not being wasted... I think that there is a core concept I have yet to come up with. Side note: I have to write about my travels and experiences on 1/1/99. Core concept... Yeah... Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana Obliviana. Pow... I'm at square one... Cloo... the cool new word... All the cool ideas in Obliviana... taking advatnage of usused freedom... having adventures wherever you are... etc... these should be DEemphasized, in favor of some more simple concept, and then the full nature of Obliviana will of course bolster the whole thing. Yes, the key here, to today's thinking, is the idea of "packaging" Obliviana in a way... it has to be palatable to today's mind. Mini-Adventures! Obliviana Mini-Adventures! Got a few minutes? Go on an Obliviana Mini-Adventure! It's fun! It's brief! Become an Obliviana Mini-Adventurer! The world around you becomes a theme park! A true adventure! Well. That's really right where I want to be. This sort of thing, if not... if not this phrasing exactly. "Mini-Adventure" is awfully generic. "Adventure" is clearly the right word, but "mini" may not be. TURN THE WORLD AROUND YOU INTO A COOL THEME PARK! HAVE AN ADVENTURE EVERY DAY! Why wait for the occasional vacation or weekend trip? Why even wait for a good movie to come out? You can have a little adventure right now, wherever you are! With Obliviana Mini-Adventures, you can turn just about any situation around, and make it a cool, fun adventure! 8:26 PM Okay. So let's talk about mini-adventures. This is a good idea. I am going to keep writing... keep on moving... keep on... Okay. So here's an idea, the idea of the mini-adventures, where perhaps they could be sold like D&D adventure modules or something, the physical component... or not... The idea is that I do want physical items to be of value in the system, but I want these to be of the limited-edition and more expensive variety. In other words, I want to be able to sell such items for a decent price. I don't want to be... spending tons of time and money manufacturing stuff just to sell it at a loss or at not much profit or whatever. I want to keep Obliviana web-based and have physical items available for those who desire them, and at a somewhat premium price, that is, not super-cheap. Okay. So what else? The idea of the mini-adventures being very well defined, and there not being too many of them at once, so as not to overwhelm people. This is a good idea, thhat people will... that people will be able to assimilat the system without getting overloaded. As I write I am getting visions of past places from my life, this is very emotional stuff, very emotional work, for me to be back at square one, defining Obliviana. I've been here so many times before. Now, where will Severe Repair fit into all this? First of all, Severe Repair is gonna be a big part of Obliviana, no matter what. I have been neglecting it, and Zope, for too long now. The idea of Wanderings being potentially in the form of entertainment is an idea I have to reexamine. I don't know if it will work that... well... reading Severe Repair cannot be considered a mini-adventure, but perhaps it could fit into Fonosta in its own way... yes... I like this idea. So, while Severe Repair and Zope and Superior will not be mini-adventures, they will have an equivalent stature with mini-adventures... will be able to be enetered into a Fonosta... Okay. So where am I at? I'm keeping on writing without pausing. It's because I am in a bad state of mind and I want to get things moving. It is 1999 and I am still here! It's crazy, but it's also cool. If I had allowed an earlier Obliviana development to take bloom, it may have by now become somewhat successful, but it would not have been RIGHT. Okay. So, I am going to go with this idea of Obliviana as a game... where you have a Fonosta, and there are a number of Wanderings you can do that go into your Fonosta and allow you to "buy" Glyph for your Fonosta Device. As of now, some Wandering are mini-adventures, and some are entertainment-based. Now, this whole system is focused on the Fonosta Device. Not the Fonosta itself, but the Fonosta device. I need to, then, get back to work on the specific nature of Fonosta Device! And I had started working on it! With 8-sided polygons, etc.! Goodnight! Wed 1/6/99 * 11:47 PM On 11/22/98, I set forth the true nature of Obliviana. A month-and-a-half ago. Started juicing today. Wrote more of the song "The Armixhony of Conrad" today. Last night I went to see the Disney Theme Park exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt again, with my sister. Got the Walt Disney CD-ROM, the new one about him, at the Disney Store at Times Square earlier this evening. Anyway, I set forth the definition of Obliviana, and I'm sticking with it. Clearly, the area where I need to focus on is Fonosta. I had a few ideas yesterday. One is the idea of there being a daily set of data from Obliviana, setting forth various things, such as Wanderings challenges, etc. Also, I had the idea of people getting two "things" when they passthrough a Wandering--one for them, and one which can do them no good, but which can do someone else good. Today, I came up with the idea of "scrip", where players would come up with their own "Obliviana Money"--printing it on computers, photocopiers, etc., with their own artistic interpretation on a standard format. I have been having a vision for a few days of Obliviana as a Tetris-like thing that virtually anyone could get into. I look at people and try and imagine them being into Obliviana. In order for this to work, Obliviana will have to be very easy to do, and very compelling. Could it run on a kind of benevolent scheme where people benefit from getting other people involved? I think it would have to have a component by which players get people involved. But like I said, it has to be instantly compelling, and it has to be easy. And, there has to be a payoff--there has to be some reward that will keep people coming back again and again. In this issue, I see that my ideas would work well with computers, but I am adamant about a non-computer, low-tech basic system. The system has to be scalable, with the basic game very simple, with room for great depth and complexity. I have been down this road before, trying to come up with a simple basis. The Declaration of Obliviana sets forth a very simple version of Obliviana, but it is not compelling. People read it and shrug in confusion. Ciffipur Pathways, not even a week in release, is another simple system, but it is clearly not what I am ultimately looking for. Recording Obliviana information... Fonostas... trading... daily game parameters and objects and challenges... broad appeal... Motivation. How do I motivate people? I am now aiming for a huge demographic. What can I offer that people really want? Fame? Ego? Being a winner, being on the website for all to see? Good luck? Supernatural promises? Getting something? Getting a prize? I am right now a little addicted to Tetris DX on Color Game Boy. What am I getting? What is the payoff? The payoff is the joy of playing. Crossword puzzles are similar. The joy of playing. Also, the idea of playing for someone else, like playing to help another person's Fonosta, like a daughter or grandson or husband or aunt or friend or whatever. Well, I think it's clear that Fonosta is the motivation. To make your Fonosta bigger and better. This has been a core concept in Obliviana for a long time. But I am lacking specifics as far as Fonosta goes. So, I have to focus on Fonosta. Fonosta. A word that just came to me. Came to me as "Your Fonosta Device". So, the Fonosta Device, which contains, visually, your entire history in Obliviana, is the key to Obliviana. Creating it, modifying it, recording it, displaying it--this is what I have to deal with. A totally computer and Internet based system is not hard to conceive of... even smart T-shirts, that can display graphics, can't be too far off... But I have to create a low-tech version. So what are the requirements? [1] Low-tech as the standard. [2] Carry it around, do it on the fly. [3] Some level of verification possible. [4] Trading as a part of the system. Wow. This is a pretty big challenge. Recording. Pen and paper? Ren... I wrote Ren and paper first... rend... ripping... ripping... ripping pieces off of a printed sheet of paper... A little challenge to complete every day... a new opportunity every day... if you don't do it that day, it's over... motivation... I see a little bag of little objects, and I clear little display thing, worn around the neck maybe, to put the things in... Glyphs are the components of Fonosta Device. They are objects, which can be represented as objects, as well as graphically, or in a number of other ways... The other day, last night it was, I looked up and saw the 1999 where the ball dropped... Maybe basic Wanderings, like Deepnotice and Neverbeen... Anx... (from anxiety...), I just like the look of that little word. The flipping of the three coins to get a number from one to eight... I-Ching-like... The J on my keyboard, like a little charatcet in a cave, side-view, like a videogame... Been... What you do during the day, and then sort out that night... BossaNova track 16, part two... in a cavern like music... carven I wrote at forth... carve, separate, rip... Sheet of paper... many different ways to rip it, forming your choices... those ripped pieces in a container of some sort... Scrip... rip off and give to somebody else... add to their "take" for the day... Obliviana can sell standard or custom sheets... Sounds good. Good night. Mon 1/11/99 * 2:00 AM Okay. Here is thought on the issue. First, a game session is one sheet of paper, begun with a set of Glyphs. The session will end with a new set of Glyphs. The finished session will have Glyphs which may be used in the next session. There will be a sheet of paper with Glyph sets on it. These will be randomly chosen in one of three (or more) ways. First, rip up the sheet, fold up the Glyph sets, and draw at random. Next, have dice values on the sets, and roll dice. Third, have playing card values on the sets and draw card(s). I also see the possibility of two players competing on a single board. But essential to the game is the Glyph system, and the idea of using the Glyphs from finished boards to play on new boards. Glyphs will have properties, such as movement, "combat", assimilation, splitting, etc. Perhaps board is over when all areas have a crossout, or when a certain number of crossouts have been made? Glyphs interact with each other in a number of ways. They can destroy each other, be traded for new Glyphs, split into two of the same Glyph, etc. The final place for each Glyph is also germaine here. In a finished board, the place where a Glyph is will be part of what determines if you can use it in a new board. Glyph is crossed out of old board and etched into new board. Players have sets of old boards. As Glyphs are transferred from old to new, and as the games progress, more powerful Glyphs are gotten. Here is an idea--that at some point, Glyphs are traded up for a Fonosta Device Glyph, which will be a part of the player's Fonosta Device. (2:09 AM now) To trade from one board to another, both boards must be in the same game. That is, there are restrictions on transfers. I have made progress. Goodnight. Mon 1/11/99 * 9:45 PM I have am... Just felt like writing that. It's from a Superior I think. So, back to the game. I seem to have the overall structure down, but I need to get down into specifics. ACTION Action is the stuff that occurs in the game. Specifically, it involves Jots (note:new term, Jot instead of Glyph) being etched onto the board, moved, destroyed, split, traded, etc. Now, just an idea: 10 places in each square, to approximate the 80 area Octagon system--corners, sides, in circle, and outside. The dynamics of Jots... movement, splitting, trading, destroying, sacrificing, etc. For example perhaps a certain Jot in a certain place could sacrifice itself to split a Jot in the same place as it into three of the same Jot. Or, the first Jot could transform into another Jot, making two Jots. One Jot may "evolve" by "assimilating" other Jots. Maybe "Fruit Jots" could be "eaten" by certain other Jots... Also, the idea of a time limit, as represented by turns, and certain Jots which could increase the time left. Freeform rules, as are popular in CCGs (collectible card games), Cosmic Encounter, Fluxx, etc. The cool thing about Obliviana will be that you could make up your own Jots, with their own properties, and then still set many challenges for yourself, because their potential interactions would be so vast in number, that they would be impossible to predict. ! So, this then lays the groundwork for a very simple set of basic rules, which could be enjoyed on many different levels: [1] Solitaire, with a goal in mind. [2] Combat, two players on one board. [3] Personal, create your own Jots and/or challenges [4] Official, use Obliviana-sanctioned Jots and challenges [5] Trading, where a group plays under the same conditions, moving forward and being able to trade Jots, perhaps attack each other, etc. ! Yes, this is moving in the direction of what I want Obliviana to be. Simple basic rules with the potential for vast complexity (as in Go, Chess, etc.) Expandibility (as in Magic). Meme potential ( able to spread from person to person, growing on its own, without me having to spend money to promote it). A side note on the meme issue. I absolutely want Obliviana to spread from person to person. I want it to be able to spread to remote places with no Internet access. I want people to be playing it all over the world. But, along with this, I need to maintain a very strong official presence over the game. As a part of this, game sheets, 8.5x11 which can be photocopied, will say something like "You may copy this sheet for personal use, but please don't alter it.", or "Please keep this message and the copyright message..." I see Jots as being expandable, but I see the board design as being static. This is very important. So, let me get down to some specifics! JOTS Jots are graphical symbols which are "etched" (written / drawn) onto the Obliviana board. They are similar to letters or numbers, but distinct. They should not be hard to etch, and most will be variations on basic letterforms and shapes. Each Jot has a number of properties. I have to keep these properties relatively simple. So, at a basic level, there will be basic Jot types, and each Jot will have one (or more) of these types. Then there are actions. These will include move, trade, split, sacrifice, assimilate, etc. Jots will also be able to make other Jots perform different actions. One idea for an action would be "Inverse" (term from Photoshop), wherein a Jot, inside a circle, will be crossed out, but seven copies of it will come into existence, one in each of the other eight circles. I see Jots as being immutable--that is, either etched or not. In this, I refer to the idea of attached dots or points to a Jot--such as damage points, magic points, etc. I do not see this happening. A Jot is either there in full, or not there. Jot attributes will relate, of course, to the overall structure of the game. So, for example, if there is indeed to be a turn limit, this is something that Jot actions can refer to. 11:13 PM One aspect of this new game of Obliviana is the idea of transferring Jots off of completed boards and onto active boards. Through this dynamic, "higher" Jots can be formed, which ultimately become Glyphs, which are the symbols which go into the Fonosta Device. Play in Obliviana will have to be "segmented" in that one set of boards are in the same "universe", while another is not. For example, a group of players could start a fresh game, in which no other boards are usable. Now, on the issue of the name "Obliviana", I do want to name this game Obliviana, as this game will expand into the full Obliviana system. Specifically, a player will start a "game universe" in which all the Jots represent actual Wanderings. Now, this brings me back to Jot types, and I think that the 80-segment Octagon is what I am going to use to define Jot types. So, maybe each Jot will have a number from 1 to 80, and this will correspon to numbered sectors in Octagon. In terms of creating types, this is awesome, because it creates the dynamic of Jots which are the same in one aspect, but different in another. This then implies that actions and such will refer to Octagon sub-shapes for their effects. To clarify, I have created a number of Octagon sub-shapes, which include some sectors and exclude others. These shapes will be standardized. Now, as to the final form of the basic game. I see the game consisting of a set of 8.5x11 sheets of paper, which will be easy to photocopy or scan. The game board is one. The Octagon reference will be another. And the basic Jot set will be the third. A fourth sheet would be the rules, along with abbreviations for the various actions. On a side note, I want the term "Cloo" to be in the game, perhaps as similar to check or atari. Actually, it should mean something more positive. Like achieving something awesme in the game. I can see an idea for an ongoing game, with a number of board, where a new Jotset is determined every so often, for a set number of times, and then the game is played out with the existing Jots. This would be a multiplayer game, and it could be very cool. As an even more basic thing, I see a sheet with the Glyphs preprinted in it, along with the rules and everything. That would be cool. It would be a very limited version, but it would be an analog for the full game. What about the idea of "Devices" on the board, where Jots can go? Hmm... Well, gotta go to bed. I made a lot more progress. I'm getting there! Thu 1/14/99 * 10:59 PM Snow and ice and wind and stuff today. Six days ago I had the inspiration for this new game of Obliviana. Now, I am again yearning after an answer. I got partway there, now I'm trying to get all the way. I have set forth a number of requirements for Obliviana the game. It has to be playable with paper and pens. It has to be so universal, cool, awesome, and addictive that it will quickly spread to a huge number of people. It has to be very simple in its basic form, which holding the potential for vast complexity and richness. These requirements may seem like a pipe dream. And indeed, they are very audacious requirements. But I have a vision. Etching Jots onto the game board. How do I begin to define Jots? Jots each have a unique graphical symbol. They have "powers". So I need to define some Jots and the gameboard and some powers. Now, I see Obliviana as a game which can be played purely as an abstract strategy game. A big aspect of the game is how Jots come into play. In a game which is just a game, there will be various game mechanisms for Jots to come into play. But when combined with Wanderings and 209 and stuff, Jots come into play as a result of actions in the real world. I think that I should go back to the model of Obliviana as a very ancient thing, with the Fonosta Device as a means of recording lots of information very compactly. This is at the heart of the game. The game is, very simply, the device by which the information is distilled. So I should deal with this issue a little. How can a large amount of data be represented in a small number of objects? Well, the idea is that each object would represent a large number of other objects. But I seek a subtlety which would allow a richness so that to one familiar with the language of the Fonosta Device, an image with a great deal of subtlety and detail will emerge. With this in mind, I have to make a few declarations. First, the idea that Fonosta Device could be used to store any kind of data is a nice idea, but it is unworkable at this development phase. That is, I need to focus solely on Wanderings as the data to be distilled. This is because the nature of Jots will very much depend on the nature of Wanderings. Wanderings. Things to do. But not just things to do. Things which move temporarily away from Corridor. I know what Obliviana Wanderings are. And here is another declaration--"user-defined" Wanderings are not going to be a part of the system, at least in the early going. So, I need to come up with 80 different archetypal Wanderings. This does, of course, mean that Wanderings will each be identified with one of the 80 sectors in Octagon. The range of Wanderings does not have to cover any kind of activity--just Obliviana Wanderings. I am now focusing Obliviana on this idea; Obliviana is not going to be all things to all people. It is going to be... to be a set of 80 archetypal Wanderings. Then, all Wanderings will fit into one of these archetypes. How massive a task is this? Well, I am not going to treat each sector as an island; There will be a hierarchy of divisions. But also, beyond hierachy, major attributes. An example of this would be earth, air, fire, and water intesecting for form mud, dust, ice, and steam. Within each sector (I need a new word for "sector", by the way) there will be a limitless number of potential Wanderings. But each Wandering will be "in" one sector. Use "Zone" for "sector"? Haha, that would be cool, since "Zoning" was my original term for Stormjaunting. Alright, I'll use it, for now. Pow. I don't want to begin the task of categorization right now, but rather, I want to focus on the game in light of this new idea. The game board of Obliviana, which I defined last Friday as eight squares on a 3x4 grid, is going to be a tool for transforming basic Wandering Jots (ie, the Jot you get for completing a Wandering) into higher Jots, and eventually into a Glyph. Aha! Here's a good idea. A Jot's Zone is a major part of a Jots identity, but if it were the only part, then any Wandering in a given Zone would be treated exactly the same in the distilling process, and this is clearly not desirable, since it would not be able to distinguish between two Wanderings that, though they are in the same Zone, are very different. Thus, I propose another aspect for Wanderings--perhaps based on a second Octagon of 80 Zones. This other aspect would define the "powers" of the Jot. And this would result in 6400 extended Wandering archetypes. To put this in perspective, even if a player did 10 Wanderings a day, it would take 640 days to do all 6400 Wanderings. In other words, this level of potential is sufficient. Even if there are more than 80 Wanderings in a Zone, at that point, it would be okay for there to be an overlap. This system would require "only" 160 definitions, which is not overwhelming. What it "is" (Zone) and what it can "do" ("Powers")--these are the two aspects of each Jot. Now, given these two aspects of each Jot, the idea of a gamelike system makes perfect sense. Through a series of game "turns" and actions, Jots are distilled. This idea of game action adds an element of "personal style" to Fonosta Device. This is above and beyond the aesthetic aspects of Fonosta Device--the sizing and arrangement of Glyphs in Fonosta Device. So, Fonosta Device has great potential as a tool for identity, in that it offers a very rich and complex set of tools for transforming the set of Wanderings--itself a powerful tool for identity! My next challenge is in the structure of the game, wherein transformation occurs. I think it is clear from my recent work that the game is based on the Obliviana game board--which is, in its most basic form, a sheet of 8.5x11 paper, wherein a set of Jots are "etched" and then transformed through a series of actions over the course of a number of turns. It is easy for me to see the potential in such a system for it to be made into a game which can be played apart from Wanderings. Specifically, the selection of Jots will be without the need for actually doing the associated Wanderings. Now, I want to delve into the nature of Glyph. Glyphs are similar to Jots, except that they represent not a single Wandering, but a large number of Wanderings. The question is, should Glyphs really be different from Jots? I think not. If you're just starting out, and you've only done three Wanderings, I see no reason why your Fonosta Device should not simply contain the three Jots which represent the three Wanderings. So, what I had been calling Glyphs will simply be "High Jots"--Jots which are obtained by the action of trading a number of other Jots for the new Jot. This is a major refinement. Glyphs and Jots are now the same thing. Or, perhaps, I can retain the terminology, with Glyphs being "High Jots", or Jots which represent multiple Jots. So, what is the system by which Glyphs are organized? I could take the eight sets of ten in Octagon and use them as the basis for Glyph. The basis for Glyph would be combining two of these basic eight areas, resulting in 64 basic Glyph types. Or, I could use the idea of the "shapes" in Octagon as the basis, with the understanding that said shapes would help define the definitions in the basic Octagon set of Zones that defines the Wandering archetypes. Hmm. This will be very challenging, but I think it makes sense. Well, quite a bit of progress tonight! Goodnight. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----