|| -------- -- -----  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 261--7/28/99 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 21  ||  -------> (Cup OWis261, Created v3 (10/3/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ------------------- OSOAWEEK Ezine of Obliviana Issue 261, 7/28/99 by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana ----------- ------------------- LORD OF OBLIVIANA ----------- 9/28/99 * 10:07 PM I guess you can tell from the date above that I'm writing this two months after this issue was supposed to have been released. Well, what happened is, originally this issue was "skipped" like so many others from this time period. But on the date of this issue, I added a few pages to my website in celebration of Obliviana Day 1999. So, I figured it would make sense to present that feature in this issue of OsoaWeek. Makes sense, eh? I created some logos and stuff for the feature on the website, but since there are no graphics in Aerie, you can't see 'em here. If I ever collect all the versions of the Obliviana website in an archive or something, the graphics will be there. And who knows, depending on when you're reading this, such an archive might be readily available! Get all Obliviana. ------------------- OBLIVIANA DAY 1999 ----------- OBLIVIANA DAY 1999 * Wednesday, July 28, 1999 The 209th Day of the Year Tarb 10957 * Exactly 5 years since the official start of Obliviana! Hi there, and welcome to the great celebration of Obliviana Day 1999. I'm your host, Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana. Let me tell you something. For the past few years, I have held the Summer of 1999 as my goal for the time when Obliviana would be a true success. Way back in 1997, this day seemed a VERY long way off. Obliviana Day 1999, right smack in the middle of the Summer of 1999. Me from 1997 would have conceived of today as a time of great celebration. But unfortunately, OBLIVIANA IS NOWHERE, MAN! 51 days ago, I finished Aerie Obliviana Version 2, and I created the new homepage with all the Severe Repair Cup listings. I also brought back Obliviana School and a few other features from past versions of the Obliviana website. That was a very good day. A few days later, the Wired Magazine with my line ad in it came out. And a few days after that, Yahoo accepted my listing for Severe Repair. So things were really looking up. But then... nothing. Silence. No hits. It was pretty damn depressing! Anyway, after a few weeks, my hits did start to jump up a little, from and average of 2 or 3 per day to an average of maybe 7 or 8. But this only lasted a few weeks, and now, my hits are back to around 3 or 4 per day. This level of hits signified that my website is ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE! And I tellya, after so much work, so much effort, it's a real letdown. Until today, I have not updated my website at all in the past 51 days. OsoaWeek, my weekly ezine, is very behind schedule. I have written several issues, and I will update OsoaWeek soon, I promise. So what have I been doing for the past 7 weeks? Well, besides being bummed out, I had a week's vacation from work, which I spent in my storage unit sorting all my stuff out. It was in the low 90s outside, but on the second floor of the completely un-air conditioned metal building, it must have been over 110 degrees with the heat index. So I basically sweated my ass off. And I sorted stuff out. I did this as part of my Y2K preparations. Also in preparation for Y2K, I have been planning on starting a total digital archive of all of Obliviana. In fact, a few weeks ago I decided that I should focus pretty much exclusively on this project, since it takes precedence over my ongoing work on this website, work which as of yet has gotten me nowhere. So pretty much I am going to focus on the archive project for the rest of the year, but I will try and get Aerie v3 done. Amazingly, I still have total faith in Obliviana. I know that eventually, Obliviana will take off. But as of now, it looks like that will have to wait for the unknown realm of the post-Y2K world. Obliviana 2000! Yeah man! Anyway, I've been working on a game for a long time, and a few nights ago I had a creative breakthrough with it, and I hastily threw together a set of rules. The game is "High Glyph Overland", and it is at a "pre-alpha" stage right now. Click on the banner below to check the rules out. You might find them amusing, if nothing else. Well, that's it. Happy Obliviana Day. Five years, and Obliviana is still alive and kicking. Obliviana may be nowhere right now, but you just wait. In 2000 or 2001, Obliviana will be comin' atcha BIG TIME! GET ALL OBLIVIANA!!!!! ------------------- HIGH GLYPH OVERLAND ----------- HIGH GLYPH OVERLAND Pre-Alpha Version, 7/28/99 by Frank Edward Nora, copyright 1999 www.obliviana.com / obliviana@aol.com INTRO "High Glyph Overland" (HGO) is a very cool, totally original game by me, Frank Edward Nora, that requires only paper, pens, and these rules to play. This is the "Pre-Alpha" version, which means that these rules are pretty much a "rough sketch" of what the final game will be. I am releasing these rules in celebration of Obliviana Day 1999, the 209th day of the year. At this point, these rules are meant more as a preview--I have not even played the game yet! But I have been working on the game for a long time. So check it out! BASICS In HGO, the goal is to get High Glyphs and put them in your Device. Your "energy source" to do this is your "Forge of Wander" (FOW), a grid of 209 squares called "Storms", 11 wide and 19 high. To make High Glyphs, you first make Elements, then you make Jots out of the Elements, then you make Chains out of the Jots, and with the right Chains, you can make High Glyphs. ELEMENTS Elements are the most basic components in HGO. There are three types of Elements: 8wise, 2wise, and 5wise. The 8wises are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. The 2wises are: "x" (square) and "o" (circle). The 5wises are: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. JOTS Jots are the basic unit in the game. Each Jot is made up of 3 Elements--one each of the 3 types. Jots are drawn by first making a circle or a square, depending on the 2wise. Then, the 8wise and the 5wise Elements are written inside the circle or square. So, one Jot might be a square with "B4" written inside. Another could be a circle with "G1" inside. There are 80 possible Jots. No player can have two of the same Jot at the same time. Jots are referred to thusly: "Do3" is "dee-oh-three", "Fx1" is "eff-ex-won", etc. CHAINS Using the basic action of "Link", two Jots are joined together. To draw this, the two Jots can be right next to each other, or a line can be drawn from one to another. Each Jot can be linked to only one or two other Jots. Linking can also link together two Chains, forming a single Chain. LOOPS A Loop is a special link which connects the two open Jots in a Chain. It is represented by a line with two loops in it. A single Jot can Loop to itself. When a Chain or Jot is Looped, it is "inert", and cannot be subject to any transformation besides Unloop. HIGH GLYPHS High Glyphs are created from Chains. In all cases, when a Chain is transformed into a High Glyph, ALL Jots which make up the Chain are wiped out. To make a High Glyph, a Chain must have a certain pattern in its sequence, somewhat akin to hands in poker (see list below). Once a High Glyph is created, it is drawn in the Device, and is there permanently (at least in the scope of a single game). ACTIONS HGO is played between two or more people, taking turns. Each player may take one Action per turn. Each Action has a FOW cost (see below). FOW The FOW is a grid with 209 squares called "Storms". Every Action has a FOW cost. To pay the cost, Storms are crossed out. There are X types of payments. A BASIC payment is a number, and to pay it, you cross out that number of Storms, anywhere on FOW. A PILFERID cost means that all the Storms in the cost must come from a single row (Dire) or column (Flip). This is represented by "d" for Dire or "f" for Flip. CONNECTED (c) means that all the Storms used in the payment must be connected horizontally or vertically. FIELD means that a block of Storms are paid. This is represented by two numbers and an "x", such as "5x5", 2x3", etc. In such costs as "2x3", the orientation does not matter. If a player's FOW is too filled-in to pay a certain cost, then the cost cannot be paid. The game is over when both players have exhausted their FOWs. ACTIONS & COSTS (Cost in Parentheses) [1] CREATE TWO ELEMENTS (1): Create any two Elements. [2] CREATE JOT (1): Wipe out 3 Elements, one of each type, and draw a Jot using these Elements. [3] LINK (1): Join 2 Jots together. Each Jots can only be joined to at most 2 other Jots. For Looping see [4] below. [4] LOOP (2d): Join the two loose ends of a Chain together, or Loop a single Jot to itself. [5] UNLINK (1): Remove one link, anywhere in a Chain. Does not apply to Loops. [6] UNLOOP (4d): Removes a Loop. [7] BASH (2x2): Reduce a Jot to its compnent Elements. [8] SHATTER (3x3): Break every link in a Chain. [9] DEMOLISH (5x5): Reduce every Jot in a Chain to its component Elements. The Chain is then, of course, gone. [10] BOMB (2x2): Spend any one Storm in an opponent's FOW. [11] TRADE (4fc): Any two Jots trade places. They can be single or in Chains. They can both be on your side, both on your opponent's side, or one on your side and on on your opponent's side. [12] SCRAMBLE (3x3): Change the order of Jots in any Chain, your or your opponent's. [13] GET HIGH GLYPH (2x4): Wipe out qualifying Chain and draw corresponding High Glyph in your Device. Chains satisfying more than one High Glyph may gain those High Glyphs at no extra cost! HIGH GLYPH "HANDS" [1] 2wise Minor--5 in a row of the same 2wise. [2] 2wise Major--8 in a row of the same 2wise. [3] 2wise Stutter--5 in a row alternating x and o. [4] 2wise Super Stutter--8 in a row alternating x and o. [5] 8wise Minor--5 in a row of the same 8wise. [6] 8wise Major--8 in a row of the same 8wise. [7] 8wise Straight--5 8wises in a row IN ORDER, rising or falling. [8] 8wise Super Straight--8 8wises in a row IN ORDER, rising or falling. [9] 5wise Minor--5 in a row of the same 5wise. [10] 5wise Major--8 in a row of the same 5wise. [11] 5wise Straight--5 5wises in a row IN ORDER, rising or falling. [12] Drunken--5 in a row with all different 8wises and all different 5wises. [13] Lucky--a chain of 13 Jots. Notes: Block a certain Element in terms of making High Glyphs? Gaining a certain High Glyphs prevents other player from getting it? Well, that's about as far as I've gotten so far. When I finish the Alpha version of the rules, I'll post it online. High Glyph Overland! ------------------- ZOPE ----------- ZOPE: Am I as famous as Snoopy yet? No? Well WAKE UP man! For Obliviana Day, you must contemplate your lackadaisical ways! --7/27/99 -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----