|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 149--5/31/97 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 12  ||  -------> (Cup OWis149, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = OsoaWeek Book Twelve 6 "OsoaWeek149" by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana, Tarb 6235 (5/31/97), copyright 1997 OBLIVIANA REGISTRY NEW REVOLVERS None NEW CUPLINES OBLIVIANA CENTRAL Cupline 0013-OC0002: OsoaWeek (OCOW) NEW CUPS OsoaWeek (OCOW) *OW* LORD OF OBLIVIANA Mon 5/26/97 * 4:52 PM I feel like kind of a jerk. It's just, I was at this lawn party type of thing, and I was sitting in the sun, and I was wanted to work on Obliviana, and I guess I didn't use a lot of tact with Denice in expressing my wish to leave. I don't know. It wasn't extreme or anything, but Denice was a little taken aback, and I had to go and say goodbye to everyone and I felt a little stupid. Just one of these stupid little experiences that we all have to deal with. I don't know. It's just, I'm not spending the time I need to to work on Obliviana. This stuff doesn't happen by itself. Obliviana is not gonna become a big thing unless I work very, very hard on it. But time is a tough commodity to come by these days. I don't think it should be so hard to find time to do something like this, but it is. So where am I at? This last update wasn't very stellar. All I added was Text Zope 12 thru 44. But this alone took a good amount of time to accomplish. And also, of course, the last issue of OsoaWeek, which contains the story of The Birth of the Octagon, relating my Wonderful Metuchenian Dusk of last Thursday. Octagon is a major step forward. My attempts to explain it to people are not too successful, which is understandable. Octagon is a concept which, right now, has full meaning only to me. So this is what I want to do now. I want to develop this system so that it is specific. Right now I have a general idea of what's going on, but I know that I have it in me now to go all the way and fully define the system. About a year ago I wrote a document called "Little World of Raceways". At the time,I felt that I had finally arrived at the right idea. But toward the end of the document, I realized that I wasn't there yet. I think I'm going to present that document here, after this Lord of Obliviana feature. It's pretty long, but I think it's important in the documentation of the development of this system. Such documentation will be of interest if Obliviana "takes off". And really, folks will only be reading this stuff if Obliviana gets big. So I think I am justified in including these notes. As I am reading these notes, I will make comments here which are related to my current work. [1] Idea of Racetrack names all starting with the letter A. Perhaps there could be an A "level", a B "level", and so on. Being that each level is constructed on a single FOW board, there will be a limited number of Racetracks that will be able to be built. [2] Idea of Fonostas being based on idea of little classic videogame characters, and the overall classic videogame paradigm. I do take this idea far in these notes. I'm not sure if I want to go that far, but I have to keep it in mind. [3] Idea of Team Spirit is very important, and something I need to bring focus back on. [4] Idea of the Fonosta aspect of the "character", which lives on a Racetrack. This "character" aspect will be but one of the eight aspects of Fonosta, as embodied in Octagon. Right now I can also think of "Device", which is you Fonosta's "herald" or "sign". "Vehicle" would be another aspect, as is called for in a Little World of Racetracks. [5] Obliviana Girls. Hmm. This is an idea I did leave behind last year, but it does have potential. One big difference in my current thinking on Obliviana as opposed to a year ago is that I see Obliviana as appealing to a wider audience, ie, not just a male comic book / Star Trek audience. Because of this, I might have to include "Obliviana Boys". But this makes the whole idea a lot more complex. A year ago, I was thinking of including some degree of erotica in Obliviana, like my idea for a "Naked Girl" ezine, which would Playboy-level pictorials. But I have changed my perspective on this. It may sound wimpy, but I do want Obliviana to be a little more "family oriented". This decision is based partly on the fact that our culture is swinging more toward a greater openness regarding sexuality--a shift toward hedonism. This is exemplified by the mass cultural embrace of lesbianism of late. So in the spirit of contrariness, at the very least, I am moving in the other direction.But also, as I have been developing Obliviana, it has become clear to me that it will appeal to a much broader audience than I estimated a year ago, so I don't want to alienate people. This is a dangerous thought place. If you try to please everyone, you're sure to fail. But in the end, Obliviana is mine, and I'm gonna move it where I want to move it. And a move toward innocence and Wonder is indeed a good move. Like I said, at some level I like to be contrary. And isn't it interesting that moving in a more "wholesome" direction is contrary? [6] Octagons are the building blocks of Obliviana. And in their eight-aspect nature, they are somewhat like Swiss Army knives... [7] Fonosta Coins. This is an idea where an earned object is "planted" in the "ground" at a spot along a Racetrack. At thiss point, of course, we're talking Octagons instead of Coins. The idea of building structures with Octagons, that Buldings are one of the eight "facets" of Octagon. This brings up the question of if an Octagon can be USED in all eight aspects, or only in one. Well, I think it makes sense that an Octagon can be used in all its aspects. [8] Octagon Facets so far: Character, Device, Vehicle, Building. [9] Okay. The idea of Cups as the "currency" in Obliviana. The idea of doing Friction Enhancers in the real world to earn Cups. But now, I have the idea of also being able to earn Cups, and hence "buy" Octagons, with the actions of your Fonosta Character in LWOR. This would help alleviate the potential problem of people lying about their Friction Enhancer accomplishments. However, I do see different sorts of Octagons being available for a reality-focused Oblivianan and a digital-focused Oblivianan. In other words, some Octagons will "cost" all reality-based, Friction Enhancer Cups, some will "cost" LWOR-based Cups, and some will require a mix. [10] In the notes, I refer to fighting as being one activity a Fonosta can engage in. As I recently stated, I no longer want fighting to be an aspect of Fonosta. Competition, definitely, but fighting, with violence, I do not want. This, like the sex aspect, is a reaction to the current culture, especially videogames, where extreme violence is now commonplace. Mortal Kombat was a big thing because there was never any game that popular and that violent. But where do you go from there? You have to get more and more graphic and horrific with the violence. There are games now where you drive around and run people over and kill them. This sort of thing goes too far. And the damage that is done is NOT that kids are going to become serial killers, but that their overall persona is altered in a negative way by this numbing to violence. [11] Cups are the universal "object" in Obliviana as regards taking an achievment and quantifying it into an object. This is a major idea of mine, that in a wide array of sorts of activities, folks can accumulate Cups. [12] Idea of "hidden" aspects, as in "evolution" of your Fonosta, as in, if you have one sort of character, say a "Navy Giraffe", that through "evolution", the "Navy Giraffe" will become something new, like a "Reptillian Exploration Giraffe", or something. Also, the idea of hidden Facets in an Octagon, where certain Facets are hidden until a period of time passes, or some condition in LWOR is met, such as "clearing" an area of something (like a Pac-Man paradigm, eating all the dots...) [13] Railroad. I do like the idea of Fonostas being able to lay rail and run trains. This idea is worth developing. [14] The notes describe a very detailed LWOR where all sorts of activities are possible. Now, I am leaning toward a more simplified and restricted system in LWOR. [15] Primacy. This is a major idea in Obliviana. Basically, the earlier you are, the more Prime you are. With Fonosta Numbers, you hold Primacy over all Fonostas with higher numbers than yours. But this idea extends far beyond just Fonosta Numbers. There will be Primacy in Racetracks and various other places. In the notes, I refer to "Challenge Areas". But even in terms of areas along a Racetrack, building structures will establish a sort of Primacy in each area. This is a subject that requires much further development. [16] Crime. In the notes, I refer to the concept of Fonosta committing crimes. I do not want a system where such things will be possible. While any system can be abused, the structure of the system can go a long way in guiding behavior. And I do want to encourage and reward such things as honesty, integrity, fair play, etc. [17] Idea that Obliviana should be an idea that could be implemented without computers. The idea is that there could be "Obliviana Parlors", where the game can be played using models, boards, pieces, chalkboards, newsletters, etc. This doesn't mean that I WILL be implementing Obliviana thus, just that the system is of such a nature that it COULD be implemented thus. [18] In the notes I refer to the idea that a person can have more than one Fonosta. This is utterly wrong. A person may have one, and only one, Fonosta, and that's it. If you look at Fonosta as a means of personal development, it is preposterous to even conceive of a person having more than one Fonosta. There is the concept of "Pawns" in LWOR, where you can have "minions" to do your bidding, but this is something quite apart from the absolutely unacceptable idea of multiple Fonostas. [19] I'm getting toward the end of the notes now, and the whole idea is falling apart. Things have gotten much too complicated and contrived. But this system of a year ago was doomed from the start because it did not take into account the idea of events in the real world being the true meaning behind the system. Oh well. [20] From the notes: "Now I have this idea of a game that can be played in many ways... as a boardgame, a cardgame, in reality, in cyberspace, big or small, all of it Obliviana. A tall order. Can I come up with a game like this, that is close to what I already have?" This is a prelude to the current system I have. [21] Idea of Cups containing identified "liquids", such as these from the notes: "Lemonade and mercury and whiskey..." [22] From the notes: "But the vision of a sword stabbed into the ground... a powerful image... a potent symbol..." The idea of Swords being stabbed into the ground as basic establishments... I remember drawing one of these giant swords stabbed into the ground... Well, I am done reading the notes. Very interesting. I had forgotten that final idea of the Swords, stabbed into the ground. I like the image of that. And Swords, as a Tarot Suit (along with Cups, Coins, and Wands), has always been a part of my thinking in Obliviana structure. 8:08 PM I'm getting married in less than six months, and there's a whole lot of stuff going on relating to it. One of these issues is where me and Denice are going to live, and we keep going back and forth on whether or not it would be possible to buy a house. When I think about all this kind of stuff relating to the development of Obliviana, I definitely see some potential conflicts. Specifically, the financial risk of launching Obliviana, as it will impact on my life as a whole. Well, no one said this was gonna be easy. As I mention in the notes from a year ago, I have some anxiety about the move from a stable job to the very unpredicatable realm of self-employment. So let me get back to my work on Obliviana. I'm never gonna get anywhere unless I get Obliviana going. Okay. So after going over that year-old writing, where am I at? Well, the writing contained a lot of good ideas, but it was ultimately an unworkable idea. As I developed the idea, that becamse apparent. I declared at the beginning of the document that I was applying the brakes to the general development process, and that I was going to settle on the idea I was currently working on. Well, that obviously didn't work. But the "Little World of Racetracks" idea has survived. It was dormant for the better part of the past year, but I brought it back to life a month or two ago. The overall goal of Obliviana is to get people to interact with the real world using 209. The whole Little World of Racetracks is a system of organization and, more importantly, motivation. LWOR is a reflection of 209 pursuits in reality. 9:47 PM Headed for Home Depot before to get brass pipe segments to design new Jukewand. But it was closed and I wound up going to Barnes & Noble, where I resisted buying the Leonard Maltin "Little Rascals" guide. Playing my MD for the first time in years. $800 down the drain. But that was long ago, whatever. So, I'll get back to developing Obliviana. It's interesting how I'm always kind of at "square one" in this process. There have to be some advantages to this. Anyway... OVERVIEW OF OBLIVIANA "Obliviana" refers to a long-forgotten, secret way that people can interact with reality. Give me the benefit of the doubt on this for now. It's a theory, but it works. Whether it's ancient or brand new matters little. But I believe that it is very, very ancient. The foundation of Obliviana is the number 209, which is manifested in the Forge of Wander (FOW), a board with 11 rows and 19 columns of squares. I theorize that the number 209 and the FOW have supernatural attributes. In other words, attributes which cannot be explained by science. A Storm is a single square on the FOW, which is identified by a Flip (row) number from 1 to 11, and a Dire (column) number from 1 to 19. There are 209 Storms in all, and they are also numbered from 1 to 209. Dashic. 11:37 PM Ah, Dashic. That overview of Obliviana was going so well until the word DASHIC reared its (possibly) ugly head. I came up with the term "Dashic" to mean the act of doing 209 and going on Storms. "Not magic, but DASHIC." was a phrase I coined. I checked on the WWW, and there is absolutely no instance of the word "Dashic" in any search engine. But what happens is, whenever I start thinking about the word, or writing it, or whatever, I get this really intense and weird supernatural feeling. It makes me feel somewhat sick and distressed. So awhile ago, I decided to drop the word, totally. Now I'm back here fretting about the word. The word is undeniably powerful. Very powerful. Because of my negative reaction to it, I have always thought that it might be BAD. But now, I don't know. Of all the words I have invented, none have ever given me anywhere near this sort of vibe. 12:06 AM I've been surfing the WWW, avoiding dealing with the Dashic issue. Damn, when I just wrote the word there, I got another weird feeling. Dashic, Dashic, Dashic, dashic, DASHIC, dASHIC, dAsHiC, DaShIc, Dashic, Dashic, D A S H I C... Dashic. Dasher. Dash. Dashician. Dashical. Using the word in various forms as the word "magic" is used. Black magic. Hack Dashic. Man, it's annoying that I've gotten caught up on the issue of this word. I mean, I had totally rejected the word, and now I'm back to dealing with it. Because of the feeling that I get from the word, it's clear that it has GREAT power. I could be reacting to it like this because it IS the true word for that which I am using it for. That is, it is the word that describes going on Storms with 209 in Obliviana. Or, the other possibility is that it IS a bad word. But in what sense could it be bad? I believe that somewhere in OsoaWeek past I posited that it is some evil form of 209. This IS the other possibility. But let's look at the word. To "dash", as defined in the American Heritage, is: Man, it has a lot of meanings. A lot of them are destructive in nature. This makes me lean toward the idea of Dashic as using 209 for destructive and evil ends. And such a use of 209 is theoretically possible. So for now, I will determine that Dashic is the word for an evil use of 209. So maybe there is a sister term to Dashic, also a play on the word "magic". Hazic? Hazician. Hazer. Play on word "haze" and "hazy". Eh... Jazic, Jazzic, on "jazz". Lazhic. "Lazy", "Lapis Lazuli". The latter could be the official stone of Obliviana. Note that I have used "zh" at times to mean 209-type things. Zhazhic? Hmm... it has possibilities. You know, this whole line of reasoning has gotten me all out of whack and queasy. I'm going to bed. Goodnight. 5/27/97 * 11:47 PM Y'know, I had a rough time last night trying to get to sleep with all this "Dashic" crap running through my mind. The final determination I came to was that Dashic is something that is perhaps related to Obliviana, but it is not something that will be part of Obliviana. Perhaps Dashic is a fully-implemented method of travelling between worlds. I don't know. Anyway, all this craziness about the name of "doing 209" was rather strange, in that earlier today I succeded in coming up with the right name, only to realize that I already made the word up before, but forgot that I did. The word is "Stormjaunt", and I'm sure it's somewhere in OsoaWeek past. But I went through the whole process again, and came up with it again, sso if I had any doubts about the word, they are dispelled. I came up with the best design yet for Jukewand. And I started working on the "Stormjaunt Scrolls" that are put into the Jukewand. So I'm definitely making progress. STORMJAUNT A Stormjaunt (SJ) is a period of time in which you endeavor to accomlish some goal. The SJ is recorded on a little piece of paper called a "Stormjaunt Scroll" (SS). To begin a SJ, you write some information on SS and put in inside your Jukewand. The Stormjaunt continues until you take the SS out of your Jukewand. Once out, you write some more information on the SS, enter it into a computerm and then put in in a container with all your other SS's. In doing this, you have a Stormjaunt Cup. So why not call it a Stormjaunt Cup instead of Scroll? Hmm... An important aspect of SJ that I didn't mention is that each SJ defines one out of the 209 Storms that you are "on". 5/29/97 * 2:09 AM I have the passion of the Jukewand. This is an aspect of Obliviana that opens the whole thing up into another dimension. From flat to gloriously full. Jukewand is here. Fri 5/30/97 * 12:48 AM 5/29/97 was a very important day for me. I left work at about 8:20 PM. A few minutes before that, I hastily printed out the first beta version of Stormjaunt Scrolls. On the C-train I filled it out and put it in my Jukewand. I was Stormjaunting then, and through Port Authority, and on the bus ride home. At home, I finished the Stormjant. A lot of interesting stuff happened. Then I went to the bowling alley to see Denice with her new league. I show her the Jukewand, which she took and examined briefly. I went to buy Sprite. Not four minutes later, I was back, and she handed me a dollar bill whose serial number began "209209". Obliviana is real, and it is here. Sun 6/1/97 * 1:37 PM I have gone on 5 Stormjaunts so far, with very good results. I use the word "Bliv" to mean an unlikely event which occurs while Stormjaunting. I have gotten several on most of the SJs I've gone on so far, without even doing any serious Friction. 9:16 PM Went Stormjaunting with Peter Litkey. Wound up playing miniature golf way up on Rt. 23. We were the only ones playing, and it was early dusk. The windmill wasn't moving, so we had to plug it in ourselves. *OW* LITTLE WORLD OF RACEWAYS (((The following feature is a document from about a year ago, wherein I establish the idea that I currently call "Little World of Racetracks". Back then, it was "Raceways". I'm including this feature because it relates to directly to the development work I'm doing in Obliviana right now. In fact, I'm going to read this document fully right now, before I begin to develop the current system in earnest. This writing will be most interesting to you if you exist at a point in time in the future where Obliviana has become a "big thing". If not, it will still help you understnad my thought process, and more broadly, the somewhat unique nature of my existence.))) LITTLE WORLD OF RACEWAYS Mon 4/22/96 I have been questing after the holy grail of digital entertainment formats for a long time. I have arrived at the Obliviana Raceway. At this point, I am determined to settle on the Raceway as THE format I'm going to use. Over the years, I've gone through literally hundreds of stages in the development of my ideas. Raceways are the final result of all my efforts. I do not doubt that if I keep on going the way I have been, I'll pass Raceways and go on to something else. But the point here is, I gotta apply the brakes at some point, move on from the theoretical work, and begin construction. I remember at least once, maybe twice in the past I have made the same determination to go with what I got. And those times, I didn't go with my ideas--I moved on. And y'know what? Maybe if I HAD gone with those ideas, things would have been okay. The ideas definitely weren't as good as Raceways, but they would have been okay. The point I'm making is that construction has to begin sometime. I'm lucky I've waited till now, cuz my current ideas are far superior to my ideas of the past. But if there is some new, better idea on a distant horizon, I just can't wait for it. Ever since the fall of 1987, with the birth of Nomadi, with its seven (and eventually eight) divisions, I have been working on more or less the same framework for my core endeavor, then called Nomadi, passing through Halfevil, and finally arriving at Obliviana. There have always been eight divisions--I must have at least a dozen different systems of eight--and Raceways is no exception. So, what I have now is a massive refinement of NIACHUZM--the eight Nomadi divisions (Nomadi Central, Interweb, Anything But Monday Productions, Cut'n'Shoot Records, Halfevil Graphics, Unreal Systems, Zone Supernature, and Mystery Etcetera). So let me describe what Obliviana Raceways are all about. The idea is that a Raceway is a mutlifaceted thing, but definitely a monolith unto itself. That is, Raceways are self-contained, they are "objects". They are endeavors analagous to an ongoing magazine, TV show, radio show, rock band, etc. At the core of a Raceway is the racetrack itself. A road that connects back to itself. Something you can go around and around and around. The entities that exist on the Raceway are called Fonostas, little character based on the spirit of classic video game characters. And the main purpose of these Fonostas is to go around the track--racing, accumulating laps, finding shortcuts, etc. One important aspect of this new idea for Oblviana is that it is NOT technology dependent. I have a flight of fancy yesterday, of being in London at the time of the Beatles, and establishing Obliviana there, without any computers at all. So this is the key--Obliviana is something that can exist as a wholly analog thing. Thinking now, I can see an establishment where the Raceways are constructed in miniature, and folks come in and give instructions for their Fonostas, represented by little figurines. Scoreboards adorn the walls, and a printed weekly newsletter keeps folks apprised of the goings-on in Obliviana. So in this aspect, Obliviana is something which could potentially be established at many different point in time--as long as there's some level of civilization. But my point here is not that I'm yearning to do time travel and establish Obliviana all over time--cuz I don't think I even want to seek time travel anymore--it's just that I want Obliviana to be SUCH a thing, a thing that is not dependent on the Internet for its survival, but a thing, for example, which if it DID exist in, say, 1967, and continued on to this day, would be a natural for the World Wide Web. So as I've described it, the first aspect of Obliviana Raceways is the track itself, and the Fonostas that race around it. The second aspect is the Core Revolver--a piece of intellectual property that is very flexible and expandable. One of my most important Revolvers is Severe Repair--currently an 800+ page novel, which is adaptable to a wide variety of media. So, one Raceway will have Severe Repair as its Core Revolver. Thus, here is the first connection--a Raceway is CONNECTED to a Revolver. The two are intertwined, with elements from the Revolver apparent in the track, and vice versa. Now, the third aspect is the Theme. Themes have developed over the years, and are most apparant in theme parks and theme restaurants. Themes are now ingrained in our culture, and are a potent tool for the construction of entertainment. Just look at the Magic Kindgom at Walt Disney World for an encyclopedia of major themes--Wild West, Futuristic, Pirates, American Freedom, Ghost, Medieval, etc. So, the Track, the Revolver, and the Theme are all intertwined. The fourth aspect is Team Spirit. In this, each Raceway is like a Pro Football team--with a logo, a color scheme, players, fans, and massive competition. The idea is that Racetracks comptete against one another in a variety of ways. And it is this competition between Raceways that forms the major kinetic force in Obliviana. Here it is then--Track, Revolver, Theme, and Team Spirit, the four aspects of an Obliviana Raceway. With these aspects, a Raceway produces a constant stream of intellectual property, from the releases of the Revolver, to the actions of the Fonostas, to news of discoveries and victories, to the creative works of players and beyond. Thus, a Raceway is something you can participate in, running Fonostas, or it can be something that you just observe. Either way, Obliviana can make money, from game fees, advertising, and licensing. LATER So far, I have established the basic structure of Obliviana Raceways. There art of details to go into now. In the ultimate sense, Raceways are entertainment products, aimed at an audience. Each Raceway is a separate entity, but they all coexist and interact, and all follow the same basic rules. TUE 4/23/96 Just ran for the train, heart pumping, just made it... Last night, when I wrote those two paragraphs up there, I just didn't feel like myself. I don't know what it was all about... Anyway, I'm thinking of naming the raceways thusly: Raceway America Raceway Aqua Raceway Ancient Raceway Archery Raceway Ape Raceway Astronomy Raceway Arctic Raceway Aftermath Raceway Apparition? Raceway Apple? Raceway Aggression/Artillery/Army? Gotta wonder if there's a "Raceway America" out there somewhere, though. So I have the four aspects: Track, Revolver, Theme, and Team Spirit. The question is, how exactly do these interact? Well, the track itself is something of a blank slate, able to conform to the needs of Revolver and Theme. Team Spirit is again something of a tabula rasa, which will develop on the terms of the other three aspects. So that leaves two aspects--Revolver and Theme--which are at the heart of the matter. The Revolvers are, for the most part, set in stone, at least in terms of their essential natures. The Revolver will form the heart and soul of each Raceway. The purpose of Theme is to give each Raceway a clear identity. If I were to derive theming directly from the Revolvers, I wouldn't get very potent themes. So, the themes have to be separate. I have decided that all eight Raceway names will begin with the letter "A". This is because when I saw that I had four really good "A" names (Archery, Astronomy, Arctic, and America) I may as well go "A" all the way. So, it's clear that the Theme will be the greatest influence on the Track and on Team Spirit. The Revolver WILL kind of hang back and have a more subtle influence... but that's the way I want it... to DE-EMPHASISE THE CONTENT! So here it is... tracks based on themes... At THIS level of the endeavor, things don't look too good. But I know that this is the right idea, and that when it's all constructed, it will be wonderful. THE TRACK At the core of the Track is the racetrack itself, and the Fonostas who circumnavigate it. The design of both the Track and the Fonostas is based on the Theme. But beyond the theme, there are the play mechanics. The basic mechanic is: Fonosta, go around the Track. And depending on a number of factors, a Fonosta will be able to go around the Track X times per 4-hour Tarb. Different means of getting around the track involve different things. Walking or running is the most basic form. Using a personal vehicle is another. Riding mass transit may well be another. "Astral" laps are even possible, as in OOBEs (out-of-body-experiences). LATER. Fonostas going around the Track... writing letters/reports to their masters? Ideas... different direction to go in terms of advancement... different goals... clockwise vs. counter-clockwise. Clockwise for good Fonostas, CCW for evil? Hmm... Decisions to be made... the basic course of Fonosta life... and then the challenges on top of that... Structure of the Track... different "phases"? Like, in Raceway America, Wild West, 1776, Heartland, California Coast, New York City, etc. Collecting laps, fighting laps, building laps, money laps... Wed 4/24/96 Final episode of Murder One last night. Okay ending. Last night while laying down and thinking, I came up with a good idea for Obliviana--Circs. The Circ is the basic unit of currency in Obliviana. The idea is, whenever your Fonosta completes a CIRCuit (lap) of the course, he gets one Circ. And, every Circ represents a circuit done by a Fonosta. Circs can be used to buy things, to gamble with, to trade with other Fonostas, etc. Now, I have to point out how this system is analogous to the sort of life most of us lead--going in circles--home to work to home to work... earning a paycheck every weekly circuit... trying to better ourselves, metting and overcoming peril and pitfalls. I didn't intentionally design Obliviana this way, but I think that such an analogy must have been in the back of my mind somewhere. With this new aspect, I can begin to see the great value of the "Little World of Raceways"/"Little World of Racetracks" idea, which it took me so long to come up with. I think that people will also see the parallel between the plight of the Fonostas and their own plight--maybe at a conscious level, maybe subconscious, but anyway, it should get people excited about Obliviana. So, I have the basic scheme--make circuits around the Track to earn Circs. Now, I have to develop all the stuff you can spend your Circs on, and also alternate ways to earn Circs. Regarding gambling, I still maintain that every Circ in circulation (pun intended?) represents a Fonosta doing one lap around the course. Thus, even in terms of gambling, Circs won have to also represent laps done. Thus, the pool of Circs in Obliviana is always a finite number, though ever-increasing. I could create some Fonostas for myself whole roar around the track in super vehicles, priming the well of the Obliviana Circ economy, and funding the inital casinos and stuff. So, at any given time, there are X number of Circs in Obliviana, divided among the set of all Fonostas. Ideas--give another Fonosta a car in return for 1/4 of his Circs for a given time. Loan a Fonosta a 4x Amulet/Token/whatever (which pays 4 Circs for every lap) in exchange for a percentage. But doesn't a multiplier device contradict the basic economic premise of Obliviana? Ah... it could, like, make COPIES of the Fonosta, so that when one lap was completed, it would have been done so by FOUR Fonostas. Well, gotta think about this some more. So, every week is made up of 42 4-hour Tarbs. In each of these Tarbs, you instruct your Fonosta what to do. You can assign multiple Tarbs to a single task, but you cannot assign mulitple tasks to a single Tarb; the Tarb is the basic unit of time in Obliviana. Tracks are going to be several miles long, so in a four-hour period, the number of Circs an average Fonosta will be able to make is... say four miles of track, 4 MPH speed walking, then you'd get 4 Circs per Tarb, or 168 Circs per week. What about fractions of laps? That is, a fraction remaining at the end of four hours? I think that that lap can be continued at a later time, let's say... that is, laps measued in hundreths of a lap, with a new Circ awarded for each whole number reached. Branches which separates and eventually reconnect--choose your course through the track--and depending on the course, you''ll gain or lose in different ways. Speed--speeds are assigned to you Fonosta or the vehicle he rides in. Each Track has a specific distance around it--with different branchings making for diffrent distances. The idea is that the shorter branchings involve less Fringe Benefits, whie the longer ones involve more. Ah, so here we have it--another aspect, "Fringe Benefits". That is, objects and attributes acquired by traversing the longer branchings of each Track. Here is my initial idea--the track is divided into quarter, and each quarter has a set of branches. Each quarter also has an attribute (Swords, Cups, Hammers, Wheels, probably), and the longer the branch, the more fringe benefits you derive, but the less Circs you can make. Say there are four branch per quarter of the Track, labeled A, B C, D. A being the shortest, D being the longest. In defining your Circs for a Tarb, you'd have to deem a code--AAAA would mean the quickest route with the least fringe benefits. ABAB might be a good, conservative choice. DDDD would reult in drastically fewer Circs, maybe not even one, but much more in terms of Fringe Benefits, such as fighting skill, building skill, collecting skill, and driving skill (this one I'm still working on). Obliviana Girls--I have previously discussed the idea of Obliviana Girls being among the prizes most greatly sought after by Fonostas. This scheme would make all Fonostas male, and lusting after the all-female Obliviana Girls. That is, no Obliviana Boys. This scheme will likely be viewed as sexist by some people. But considering that I expect my audience to be almost entirely male, I see no problem with it. I don't think I'll get a court order to create female Fonostas and Obliviana Boys, but you never know. What are the drawbacks of this system in the short run? Some liberal guys might take offense at it, but will it prevent them from joining? And, is there a large female audienc out there for Obliviana that I am not aware of? Remember--trying to make something that is all things to all people is not possible. Women are free to join, just like women are free to buy Playboy. And, even though Obliviana will be quite unique, it could spawn imitators which don't violate copyright--and folks are free to make all-girl characters with a bunch of boys as the prize. So I don't see a problem with it. If a command is given that cannot be understood, the Fonosta will revert to the default Tarb command. As well, if a player misses the deadline, the Fonosta will execute the default Tarb command 42 times. This command will almost certianly be a circuit definition. Back to the Girls... the idea is that Obliviana Girls are characters, each with a single name. So... there can be Obliviana Girl Daphne, OG Laura, OG Tracy, OG Emma, etc. OG's are fictional, and therefore, can be represented in a variety of ways. But eventually, I want real girls to play the parts. But, just like a part in a movie or TV show, the character stays the same even if played by a different actress. OG's live on the Raceways, and observe all of what is going on. They don't do laps, and none of them are controlled by players. (Even though, it might give some guys a thrill to contol an Obliviana Girl...). They have their own lives, and interact intensively with the other girls. But each of them wants to have the greatest, most powerful Fonosta as her boyfriend. THIS is the greatest motivation to gain power in Obliviana, because an Obliviana Girl will be your Fonosta's girlfriend, and you'll get all sort of benefits from this, including exclusive erotic pictures, video, and audio. LATER So, an order might be 15 BADA, 42 AAAA, 3 DACC, etc. The number is the number of Tarbs, and the letters are the code for the way throught the course. Another idea is that of side-roads, which would lead to different areas and powers. STATUS--The Status of your Fonosta, and What it Means. The state of your Fonosta is the state of your Power, for in your Fonosta resides all of your Power in Obliviana. MAJOR FONOSTA STATES NAME--a single word in the English language, unique to your Fonosta in Obliviana. HOME RACEWAY--the Raceway you call home. FONOSTA COINS--placed in Roadways and/or Roadway Quadrants. Establishes presence and Primacy. BODY--the "physical" form of your Fonosta. Of a set of standard bodies, with non-standard possible at higher levels of Power. COLORS--the color scheme of your Fonosta. CIRCS--number of Circs (Obliviana "money") in the Fonosta's possession TRUE CIRCS--number of circuits the Fonosta has completed around the course--not money, just a number STORM PELTER--a graphical texture and Storm definition more... POWER--Power is Good. Your Fonosta gaining Power is the goal of Obliviana. But what exactly IS Power? Is it going to be a single number, or a composite of many factors? What is the ultimate prize? It is to Lord over parts of Obliviana, exerting a level of control over things. Power involves your levels in the Four Attributes (Sword, Cup, Hammer, Wheels?), Pawns, Circs, True Circs, Investments, etc. This all relates to the Fonosta sphere of activity. That is, the sort of things Fonostas do and seek after: Circs--going around the course, earning one Circ each time. Wheels--vehicles to go around the track faster and earn more Circs Pawns--underling Fonostas to do your bidding more... Maybe... building your own fortress or castle is a good high-end goal... or creating your own world... Thu 4/25/96 This morning and last night I was losing touch with reality, I guess my mind was somewhere else. It seems like a new time, a new chance. I'm thinking of calling the doctor today about this pain in my throat which has been there for over a week. Kind of a distraction to this whole Obliviana thing. Right now, I don't feel much like thinking. I don't know what it is. Even the computer keyboard seems interesting and new to me. What could be the explanation for it? Just moved my seat--the sun was bothering me. Now I even covered the window with a shade, so it's much more comfortable to compute. I know that it's all about chooing life over death. That's the secret to success. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not feeling too lucid right now. This thing with my throat... I think I better call 'em up and make an appointment today... if it's something serious, I have to fight it. I have to live. I have a vision of being in the early eighties and having an endeavor like Obliviana. I imagine how much better it would be... but would it? So many of those bright young startup companies, computer entertainment-related of the early eighties... so many went out of business... I do not want to go out of business. I want Obliviana to endure. Maybe that's why I've been waiting for the most durable idea, so that Obliviana will succeed, big time. I'm having a vision of Tomorrowland, in the Magic Kindgom, at WDW Florida. After a big rainstorm... not too crowded... 5 or 6 PM... somewhat wet, and the cool air conditioning as I walk into a ride... or just taking the WEDway for the hell of it, to relax... I want Obliviana to be an endeavor which fulfills the promise of the bright-eyed visionaries of the early eighties. In other words, Obliviana will take all the... I don't know what I'm getting at here... this is most remarkable, being so unable to think... What's wrong with me? If I'd known I would be like this, I wouldn't have burdened myself with the PowerBook! LATER Felt really bad at work today--muscle aches, some dizziness and disorientation, fatigue, sore throat (still), and more. Made appointment to see doctor this morning for 8:45 PM tonight. I would have hoped to be in bed by then, but no--I'll be languishing in a waiting room in Metuchen. So maybe I'll get some sleep here on the train and at home before I have to go. On Obliviana... I can't think too straight now, but let's look at it as a business. It has to make money. That's a big thing. Ah, I'm too out of it to write! Fri 4/26/96 Idea of each Raceway having three standard "suits" and one non-standard. So, if the standards are Swords (fighting), Cups (collecting), and Hammers (building), there will be eight non-standard "suits", such as Shovels (digging), Wings (flying), etc. You can travel to other Roads to do the "wild suits", but if it's not your own Raceway, you have to spend Tarbs getting there and coming back. Okay. So what we have now is, a system with 11 different "suits", or things you can go after. Three of these suits are standard, and eight are non-standard. Swords/Guns, Cups/Dots, Hammers/Shovels, Wheels/Wings/Rockets. Wands (magic) Maybe charge both Tarbs AND Circs to go to another Raceway. Do Fonostas have to sleep? If they sleep, they'd get dreams, right? So you can collect dreams, too! Game is played in 13-week Trick Sojourns. I have cigars and Pop Rocks in my pocket. Residence--all Fonostas live somewhere--and in their home area, they can build, dig, explore, etc. What about the Foundation? Maybe I should fold in Solitaire and the other, Peltersets 19 and 20... Fonosta bodies and colors... standard in each Raceway... if you move your Fonosta to a new Raceway, you can get either the new color or the new bodies, but not both... stay in the same Raceway and your Fonosta will eventually undergo Evolution, and change into something new. Of you have built things in your current home, you might want to stay (Hanner-oriented), but if you are just perfecting your Fonosta and its fighting and moving abilities, you are more mobile, and can move around. Collecting Ability (Cups)--capacity for obtaining and managing Obliviana Cups... Fighting Ability (Swords)--combat with other Fonostas or various other meanies... Construction Ability (Hammers)--build various structures, such as fortresses, shortcuts, roads, etc. Driving Ability (Wheels)--capacity to handle various vehicles, also obtaining new vehicles Digging Ability (Shovels)--capacity to dig, and to discover buried things... Shooting Ability (Cannons)--capacity to shoot and destroy evil marauders from the sky... someone's got to do it, or else the Raceways would be overrun... (collecting the remnants of the destroyed marauders?) Climbing Ability (Ladders)--ability to climb up various structures and avoid obstacles Magical Ability (Wands)--capacity to cast magical spells for a variety of purposes. Golfing Ability (Clubs)--capacity to play miniature golf Railroading ability (Rails)--capacity to lay rail and build trains more... NATURAL FEATURES OF THE RACEWAYS There are a number of features here. One might be mysterious skyscrapers, or abandoned mineshafts, or mountains, or rails that lead into the unknown, etc. The idea is that there will be Suits for exploring these various aspects... Maybe some features will prove to be very useful to the game, while others will be red herrings, totally useless. Like, massive towers, far in the distance... Fonostas will have to build roads to get out there... develop climbing ability to get up them, etc... LATER Well here I am on the train... gonna go to a video game liquidation sale preview tonight... Last Saturday, while going up to Clifton to sign my lease... my Jeep was at 29999, and then 30000... and while it was still on 30000, the trip odometer went to 209! The night before I drank for life. Yeah. My brother asked me if he could crash at my apartment with a girl... I don't know about the idea... I told Carmine how messy my apartment is... he asked me how long it would take for my new place to get that bad... I told him it wasn't gonna get that bad... he was like "yeah, right"... but I have to really put all my effort into not letting my new place deteriorate... It's interesting... I've worked on this file every day this week... and never transferred it off the PowerBook. I think it contains some really good ideas, but the whole thing is not settled yet. So where am I? I have the idea of the three standard and one one non-standard quadrants per Raceway. The way it's shaping up, Obliviana is gonna be a really complex thing. But the idea is that the core idea is simple. So that's what I gotta get to the bottom of--the simplicity. The Fonosta in its world is an allegory or something for real life. I wanna define the parameters of the world of Obliviana. There are the Raceways themselves. These are looped roads. There are the Fonostas. These are little characters. There are eight core Raceways... they all intertwine on the surface of the world of Obliviana... Along the Raceways is Scenery... features which reinforce the Theme of the Raceway... SCENERY--what's it all about? Raceway America* (Liberty Square/Frontierland) Raceway Archery* (Fantasyland) (Campus/Robin Hood/Alice in Wonderland/ Raceway Astronomy* (Tomorrowland) Raceway Arctic* Raceway Apparition* (Haunted Mansion) Raceway Aqua* (Pirates of the Carribean) Raceway Aftermath Raceway Ape* (Adventureland) (to ancient as jungle temples?) Raceway Ancient* (Asian mystic theme?) (jungle temples/misty mounains/ Raceway Aero (as Ancient?) Raceway Apple? Raceway Ares (war) Raceway Alice (in Wonderland) Scenery... one type per quadrant... Challenge areas... defined by suits... and more... Circs... and then exploration beyond the Raceways... Mon 4/29/96 Ideas: Guitar as Suit--build up your musical skill, form a band, get popular. Something with Miniature Golf Each Raceway has "Challenge Areas", like video games, where you test your skills. An example might be a valley where you build skyscrapers, or a Pac-Man type spot collection game, etc. Idea that each Raceway has four Quadrants, and in making a Circ, you can take one of four (or five) routes through each quadrant. Route A gives you no Suitpoints. Route B gives you 1 Suitpoint. Suit C gives you 2 Suitpoints. Route D gives you 4 suite point. Route E, which will be available only to higher-level Fonostas, will be worth 8 Suitpoints per traverse. F (16), G (32), H (128), I (256), etc. might be available in the future... The basic scheme here is Circs per Tarb. Each Route in each Quadrant has a mile value. Your Fonosta has an MPH value. So, the higher Routes will be longer, and hence less Circs will be possible, but Suitpoints will be obtained. At the end of each 4-hour Tarb, Circs and Suitpoints are added to the Fonostas totals. Fractions are stored for both--for Suitpoint, the percent through the Quadrant, and for Circs, the percent thru the course--that is, whether you were on a higher or lower route, it's the percent, not the actual distance. So, the distances of the higher Routes will relate to their value relative to Circs. These values will be difficult to set, but maybe they will be self-regulating. That is, with the importance of Primacy, less Fonostas will enter the more "expensive" Suits, and therefore there will be less competition. An idea, for there to be Primacy within each of the "Challenge Areas", with Primacy each week, or at the end of the Trick Sojourn, counting toward Power. Thus, the lesser-populated Challenge Areas will be more attractive, because of less competition and a greater chance for achieving Primacy. The number of Challenge Areas should not be rigid, as in one per Quadrant, but rather, it should reflect the total number of Fonostas in the game. For example, there could be one CA for each 100 Fonostas in the game, something like that. Now, let me get into the idea of Suitpoints. The idea is that within each Suit (Arcana?), you can buy various artifacts to make your Fonosta more effective (like, for example, a "1.1X" booster, which will increase your speed to 110%, no matter what vehicle you're using, or whether you're walking. The idea is that you have to buy these artifacts with Circs AND Suitpoints. So, for example, a Chain Saw for combat might cost 30 Circs AND 130 Sword Points. It might be listed "Chain Saw: 30/130" Integration--I want all the Suits to affect each other in intricate ways. The Suit of Wheels, for example, helps you get more Circs and Suitpoints, because it gets you vehicles that allow you to move faster. Swords might, for example, help you get through random attacks you might encounter. Hammers allow you to build fortresses and skyscrapers and stuff to help protect your assets, allow you to sleep better, etc. More... Trading--one Fonosta may have excess Sword Points, while another might have excess Hammer Points, so a trade would be in order. Trading would be a burden on the Obliviana system, but I think it's necessary. Automation--it's clear that the Obliviana system will eventually have to be fully automated. It will be a large database-management program, with data being input and output constantly. The system can be administered manually--but it will be very time-intensive--so I should put an emphasis on automation. Idea--Fighters can set up ambushed to waylay unsuspecting Fonostas, seizing Circs, Suitpoints, etc. Do I want to allow crime like this in Obliviana? Will there be random number in Obliviana, or can it be like chess, all based on strategy? Challenge areas will be named and formatted as arcade video games. Measure distance accurately, ie, going to another road, measure that distance? LATER So let me recap exactly what I have here. Obliviana is coming into focus, and I don't want to blow it. I have to start making specific plans for implementation now, since I feel that the structure of Obliviana is just about set. I have to say that right now, my greatest hurdle is the fear of success. I know that sounds a little crazy, but it's absolutely true. I lead a relatively stress-free life right now. I go to work every day, late most of the time, so I can resist the stress of getting up exactly when the alarm goes off. I have a good job where they put up with my babyish personality--specifically, I can get up and go to the bathroom anytime, go to lunch anytime, come in late, stay late and do my own work after punching out, listen to music, etc. I get a good paycheck every week, and I have health insurance. Now, if Obliviana succeeds, my responsibilities and stress level goes way up. I will have to face difficulties and stresses far beyond what I now deal with. It is the fear o facing these difficulties that is at the core of my fear of success. It's interesting that this is my final hurdle--a hurdle which it would seem relatively easy to overcome. But I don't know... I think that this is the final hurdle that many, many people never get past. So let me try and project exactly what it is that I am afraid of. Maybe if I face it, it'll be easier to overcome. When Obliviana becomes a real company, I will have a period of time where I am doing it in my spare time--but if enough people respond, and money starts coming in, I will have to quit my job--my good job--and risk the uncertainty of self-employment. This is the first element. In my mind this issue has been muddled. I think, vaguely, that I'll be able to keep my job until Obliviana is so successful that there won't be much of a risk quitting D&A and being the head of a successful company. But the more likely scenario is that I will have to quit with the future of Obliviana uncertain, and thus I will have to make a difficult decision that could affect my life greatly. So--what is my plan for the implementation of Obliviana? Okay. First of all, I have my vision of Obliviana in London in 1967, for some reason. The time and place is not important. What IS important is the idea that Obliviana is something that can exist away from the realm of computers. This is the cardinal rule of Obliviana, and I believe that it is the key to Obliviana's implementation. So--what am I proposing? That I implement Obliviana in a wholly analog environment first? Well, my vision for a non-computer Obliviana centers around a storefront in a major metropolitan area, where people come in to make their moves, hobnob, hang out, relax, etc. Obliviana could then include a restaurant, a bar, a coffee bar, whatever. The thing is, this implementation would be massively expensive to get started. Unless--unless it exists in this form in written form only. I could write a story about this Obliviana establishment--getting into the details of Obliviana intimately. This story could serve as the backbone for the digital implementation of Obliviana. Hmm. Sounds like it could be a pretty good idea. Back to the tough part--the central premise of business--the cold, hard reality that when you're running a business, you have to have people give you more money than you spend on everything in the business--salaries, supplies, rent, electricity, advertising--everything. Thus, Obliviana needs to make more money than the entire cost of the operation. So the question is, where is this money going to be coming from? People paying a fee to play Obliviana. Okay. Well, unfortunately, I have come to the point where I have to begin considering implementing structures which might use psychology to separate people from more money than they expect. That is, ideas which bait people with promises, and then switch things around a little, so that they wind up spending more money than they thought they would. Y'know what? I'm not going to do that. I don't care if it means the failure of Obliviana--I just can't do it. Like Ayn Rand says, you should never have someone else live their life for your sake. Reduced to the specific, you should never expect more in return for something than it is worth. Therefore, Obliviana will have to EARN every cent it takes in. And I think Obliviana is so GOOD, it can get by without cheating anyone. So, where is the money going to come from? Well, I see it coming from several sources. Three, to be specific. The first is the players themselves. It will cost a set amount of money to play each Trick Sojourn of Obliviana. Secondly, there are advertisers. Since the Obliviana WWW site will be visited by players AND others who come to get free entertainment, there will be many "eyeballs" for advertisers to put their words and images (and sound and video and game) in front of. The third is licensing. Companies who produce different thing will pay for the right to create things with Obliviana themes. Okay. Number two is not going to happen until I have achieved and documented a great number of hits per day to the Obliviana WWW site. The third will not happen until I have firmly established that there is a market for such Obliviana licenced items. So this leaves the first--game fees--as the main form of income for Obliviana in its early stages. And people will pay only when they see how great Obliviana is, and WANT to join. The key is players. Players will drive the engine of Obliviana. A player is someone who will pay to play Obliviana. And they will also, by playing, provide the kinetic energy for Obliviana's forward momentum. They will also, through word of mouth, bring more people to the Obliviana WWW site--potential new players, and also "eyeballs" for advertisers--and all the people who are enthusiastic about Obliviana are potential buyers of Obliviana-related merchandise. So the dual goal here is to get people to play, and also people to watch. And no matter how much promotion and advertising I do, it all comes down to Obliviana itself--if it's insanely great, the players will come. So this gets right back to the design, which is what I have been working on. I believe that right now, today, I have the right foundation for Obliviana. So let me go over the idea in detail. OBLVIANA IN DETAIL Obliviana is a game in which players control little characters called Fonostas in a world of Raceways. The ultimate goal is to gain Power and attain Primacy over all other Fonostas. Each Raceway is made up of four Quadrants, each of which represents a Suit. A Suit is a symbol representing a kind of activity. Fonostas earn one Circ for each time they complete a circuit arounf the Raceway. Each Quadrant has a number of alternate courses. These courses determine the number of Suit Points the Fonosta gets while passing through the Quadrant. The shortest route gains the Fonosta no Suit Points, but allows for a much quicker circuit of the Raceway. The longer courses gain the Fonosta Suit Points--the longer the course, the more points. Also on the Raceways are Video Games, each of which is based on a Suit. Some examples of these Suits are fighting, building, collecting, shooting, exploring, and climbing. Fonostas pay a certain number of Circs to enter a Video Game, and then they endeavor to achieve certain goals with the game, with the goal of coming in first in the game by the end of the Trick Sojourn, which is a 13-week period of time that Obliviana is played in, one after another. To function better in these Video Games, a Fonosta buys Artifacts. To buy an artifact, a Fonosta must pay an amount of Circs AND an amount of Suit Points. Racing games, based on the Suit Wheels, use the Raceway itself as their course. (8) Collecting games, based on the Suit Cups, involve exploring mazes and other environments, collecting pieces of shattered Cups, each of which is a limited-edition entertainment release from the Revolver of the Raceway the Video Game is in. (8) Fighting games, based on the Suit Swords pit Fonostas against computer-controlled adveraries and, more importantly, each other. (4) Building games, based on the Suit Hammers, involve the construction (and destruction) of buildings, walls, etc. Also digging tunnels searching for stuff. (4) Space shooting games, based on the Suit Rockets, pit Fonostas against various invaders and meanies in space. (2) Gambling games, based on the Suit Pentacles, involve Fonostas playing games of chance and betting on various races and events. (2) Musical games, based on the Suit Guitars, casts Fonostas in the role of rock stars--learning their instruments, forming bands, and releasing songs and albums. (1) Dungeon games, based on the Suit Wands, have the Fonostas as wizards, exploring dungeons and slaying all manners of mosters and nasties. (1) Casino (coins) Obliviana Girls (sex) (drugs) Guitars (rock'n'roll) Nurturing (Video Devil Jr.) Dreams (sleep) Okay. So there are the Suits. Tomorrow I'll settle on the Themes and Revolvers. Tue 4/30/96 Whence the Foundation? The Storm Pelters? Yeah, the Foundation... what has happened to it... It is still there... the 209 Storm Pelters... and the totems and the colors... or adjectives instead of colors... Should I fold in Peltersets 19 and 20? Maybe. If the idea is to make the Foundation a timeless classic... it makes sense to use the better Pelters in it... Raceway America* (Liberty Square/Frontierland) Raceway Archery* (Fantasyland) (Campus/Robin Hood/Alice in Wonderand) Raceway Astronomy* (Tomorrowland) Raceway Arctic* Raceway Apparition* (Haunted Mansion) Raceway Aftermath* (Rotten Apple (nuked NYC), faroutback) Raceway Ancient* (Asian mystic theme?) (jungle temples/misty mounains) Raceway Aqua* (Pirates of the Carribean) Now... 1: OBLIVIANA PRIMAL Raceway America WHEELS (8) 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Pentacles 2: 209 Raceway Astronomy CUPS (8) 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: Rockets 3: SEVERE REPAIR Raceway Arctic SWORDS (4) 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Hammers 4: ZOPE Raceway Aftermath HAMMERS (4) 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: VOID 5: SUPERIOR Raceway Ancient ROCKETS (2) 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Rockets 6: WELCOME TO THE WEASEL VILLAGE MALL Raceway Apparition PENTACLES (2) 1: Wheels 2: Pentacles 3: Cups 4: VOID 7: FORGE OF WANDER Raceway Archery WANDS (1) 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Wands 8: SUPER OBJECT Raceway Aqua GUITARS (1) 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: Guitars 5/7/96 That last thing I did was a week ago... seven days since I've worked on this issue... and already doubt and dissatisfaction is slipping in... No--I have to be strong. I have to accept this design as THE design. But... okay... the idea of eight Raceways is good. The idea that each has a Core Revolver is good. Each has a name, a theme, four quadrants, an associated Suit... 1: OBLIVIANA PRIMAL Raceway America WHEELS (8) driving 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Hammers 2: 209 Raceway Astronomy CUPS (8) gambling 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: Rockets 3: SEVERE REPAIR Raceway Arctic SWORDS (4) fighting 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Spots 4: ZOPE Raceway Aftermath HAMMERS (4) building 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: VOID 5: SUPERIOR Raceway Ancient ROCKETS (2) shooting 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Rockets 6: WELCOME TO THE WEASEL VILLAGE MALL Raceway Apparition SPOTS (2) gathering 1: Wheels 2: Spots 3: Cups 4: VOID 7: FORGE OF WANDER Raceway Archery WANDS (1) dungeon 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Wands 8: SUPER OBJECT Raceway Aqua GUITARS (1) become a rock star 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: Guitars RAILS * LOCOMOTIVES (part of Wheels) Okay. I still think I'm gonna change a few things, but this is the basic foundation. So, what do I need to do to do it? "to do to do"--WOW! Anyway, one thing I have to determine is the idea of multiple Fonostas... well, it would make sense to allow people to buy as many Fonostas as they want, since it's impractical to prevent this from happening... that is, an AOL account can have five separate E-mail addresses and stuff... so why restrict people, when the game can be designed to allow players with more money to run as many Fonostas they want, without upsetting gameplay. So... in Obliviana, your Fonosta is created at the beginning of a 13-week Trick Sojourn. Every week, you have 42 4-hour Tarbs to allocate to various tasks for your Fonosta. A set of standing orders is established at the beginning of the Trick Sojourn, so technically, you don't have to do anything for 13 weeks, as long as your orders are good enough. Of course, you'll want to modify the orders and react to unforseen circumstances, but in Obliviana, we seek to give you great fun without great effort. You can create as many Fonostas as you want, but you have to pay for each one, and establish them all at the beginning of a Trick Sojourn; No Fonostas can be created--or destroyed--during a Trick Sojourn. Changes in standing orders will always be accepted, though. In any event, one piece of E-mail per week covers the orders and whatever else... Display of results is a problem... do I do it on the WWW site? Or do I do it via E-mail? And, do I personalize, or do I generalize? I think E-mail MIGHT be good... I could do groups of, say, 100--and send the same piece of E-mail to all of them. Doubts... all this... all this seems so forced... but then, maybe it HAS to be... I GOTTA get going with this, man! I gotta! And remember--the "forced" Raceways are a launching pad for a whole bunch of other stuff... FONOSTAS GET: Circs: Current Total Earned (=total spent+current) Total Per Raceway Suit Points: Wheels Cups Swords Hammers Spots Rockets Wands Guitars Suit Objects Video Games List of all played and how many times each. Number Body Current Body Previous Body Colors Current Colors Previou Colors Storm Pelter(s) Current SP Previous SP LATER Where am I? Tired again. I think my throat infection is back, I'm pretty sure I had a fever before. Raissa--I called her last night and she never called back. I'm about to give up on her. I may as well. I don't have time to deal with her or that damn ISP Brian Kramer... Obliviana. Okay. I have to get it together. One thing that is key to the whole thing is simplicity. As it is, Obliviana is getting pretty complex. I want to make it simple at its core, getting more complex as you get deeper into it. So what do I see as potential unnecessary complexities? One thing is any sort of alternate currency to Circs--Circs must remain the standard currency--nothing like separate kinds of money to gamble with, to get in dungeons, etc. So there are the Raceways, each with four Quadrants, each quadrant having a number of video games. You do laps around the Raceway, play videogames, etc. But the overall goal is to gain power. There are many different routes to power, but power is the goal. But how can I measure Power? Power Points? No... no way. The idea of Fonosta Coins... a representation of Power, paved into a Raceway... then there's Primacy... and various levels of Primacy... overall, in Raceway, in Video Game, etc. Power can rise and fall, so straight points are no good. Fonosta Coins are a good idea... but the idea of paving FC's adds the dimension of the "investment" turning out to be good or bad in the long run. You'll get FC's for being Prime in a certain category... that is, best in Video Game, best on Raceway, most Circs overall, most Sword points overall, etc. The Power of a certain place (say, Quadrant) is based on how many Suit point and how many Video Games were played there, etc. Each Raceway has four parts. Each part represents a certain Suit/Video Game Type. This is a kind of complication. So, a Suit is a Video Game Type. Maybe I should call them Game Sorts. Or something... 7+7+5+5+3+3+1+1 This may be good... 1: OBLIVIANA PRIMAL Raceway America WHEELS (7) driving 1: Wheels 2: 3: 4: 2: 209 Raceway Astronomy CUPS (7) gambling 1: Cups 2: 3: 4: 3: SEVERE REPAIR Raceway Arctic SWORDS (5) fighting 1: Swords 2: 3: 4: 4: ZOPE Raceway Aftermath HAMMERS (5) building 1: Hammers 2: 3: 4: 5: SUPERIOR Raceway Ancient ROCKETS (3) shooting 1: Rockets 2: 3: 4: 6: WELCOME TO THE WEASEL VILLAGE MALL Raceway Apparition SPOTS (3) gathering 1: Spots 2: 3: Cups 4: VOID 7: FORGE OF WANDER Raceway Archery WANDS (1) dungeon 1: Wheels 2: Swords 3: Cups 4: Wands 8: SUPER OBJECT Raceway Aqua GUITARS (1) become a rock star 1: Wheels 2: Hammers 3: Cups 4: Guitars 5/13/96 The idea of being young and capricious in the woodlands...magic and computers... identity and sexuality... Eight Raceways, each with a Core Revolver... that much is set... Maybe the idea of every Raceway being a forest, but in different seasons and situations? Fonostas playing games in the woods with Obliviana girls... DOUBT about the design I have set forth. Not surprising. I knew I woud begin to drift away from this idea--but I cannot let myself do it--I must anchor myself to this idea--and not let go... So the idea of the Eight Raceways is the idea. I cannot stray from it. 5/14/96 Now I have this idea of a game that can be played in many ways... as a boardgame, a cardgame, in reality, in cyberspace, big or small, all of it Obliviana. A tall order. Can I come up with a game like this, that is close to what I already have? Think about human nature. The idea of all sorts of little games being connected, each adding something to a larger mosaic. Games... little games... challenges... adventures... fiction... characters... little segments... quanta... indivisible... all moving together to form the whole. Idea of Fonostas doing in cyberspace what you are doing in reality. Little challenges... what has your Fonosta read? What movies seen? A correlation 'tween reality and digitalworld... A structure that holds all these little quanta of challenges together. Think about th Cub Scouts and the various beads and patches you can earn. You are like a superhero in Obliviana, you and your Fonosta... Something more ambitious than before... still a little world of racetracks, but with a lot more going on... Something about things opening up with these quanta, where you can access them and inteface with them, get and give, and vie for supremacy. These could be the Video Games of the previous idea... but they would be much more open... they would include the Revolvers... and all the little games... A racetrack and an arcade... and these openings extend into the real world... The idea of the structure itself... repeating itself over and over, in a variety of ways... a new way to organize challenges and accomplishments. So... the structure... each Raceway (Roadway, Looped Road, Racetrack)... home to a variety of these openings... what to call them... what symbol to represent them... Cups and Liquids? Lemonade and mercury and whiskey... The structure... each Opening (Stab? Represented by a blade in the ground?)... Giant swords stabbed into the ground... each Sword a stab into reality, a major aspect of a Revolver... At each Sword, giving out Cups, some of which have content, some of which are challenges--you must do something to bring the Cup to fruition. Wheels and Hammers are the other two... aspects... with Cups being the true Artifacts... But the vision of a sword stabbed into the ground... a powerful image... a potent symbol... * What you are youing in reality. Adramt video game: "Rail God" team spirit word--"both", but for three... (thoth? troth?) (be)troth means two coming together... nm: Both ywe, Yew, Yewpsur, Yewpfur nm: Prefer Joanie nm: Hugging Prefer Joanie Hugging Hugging a Left Wall (domaze) thusthy nm: Clibing band: Talk Vong Plunge (from ad "Talk Along Plus" seen in someone else's newspaper) "These are looped roads." band: Jupiter Broth, The Jovian Broth, A Jovian Broth Broth and Jupiter and Sleet; Broth, Jupiter, and Sleet band: Broth, Jupiter, and I'm Feeling (BJAIF) Sjyscrapnij Slyscraner Furdle Entore Queati Dvabdif Compose Reluctanct nm: Cuit place: Allways nm: Fiddlewrith Previou (compare Caribou) *OW* -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----