MASSAGI!

Andrew_Baker	I had an idea, and even wrote up a formal proposal for an AGI project in which everyone who wanted would contribute a piece. If enough people were interested, I'd post the full proposal. The concept would be that the player was stuck in some sort of crazy nightmare world where he would move from one area to the next (From one contributor's section to the next), but the different areas would be separate from each other, so each contributor could do whatever they wanted in each. I'm not sure of its viability as a concept. I used to publish small indie comics, and the group in which I was a member had a comic idea that was similar called "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome". I don't know if they EVER finished it, but they had the limitation of making it continuous from beginning to end, and they had to deliver the work snail-mail to each author in succession. Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out and see who bites.
Rainer	hey, not a bad idea. that way all of those who cant get a whole game finished, can at least contribute something towards a game.
sonneveld	it might even encourage people to cram more puzzles per room. I'm assuming you can't go back a section, so you don't have to worry about problems with reusing vars/flags? - Nick
Andrew_Baker	Exactly, once the Massagi team is assembled, all the resources will be divvied up equally.
Sami_Tervo	:) Great idea! In a weird way it reminds me of film called Cube. Although you couldn't go back to previous section I think that there would be enough variables, strings, items (could be used as flags) and flags, if everybody would get like 5 (except strings) of each data-thingie. Why? Perhaps choices/actions you made in sections could be connected somehow to the final section?? Who knows.
sonneveld	Well, even if they're all mostly disconnected from each other, they could all share a theme. Perhaps you could make it so each puzzle has to have multiple solutions and depending on your solution, you get varying amounts of karma.. this karma could be used to get to three different sections at the end depending on the karma. You could always replace karma with money or small children or something... :) - Nick
Andrew_Baker	Beer?
sonneveld	I don't know many people who collect beer though..except in their stomach. I guess the ending could depend on how blind you are though. - Nick
Andrew_Baker	All right, I'm laying on the official proposal for Massagi! Recruitment will start NOW! Recruitment will end at the end of October, at which time development should commence. I will provide a board where recruits can discuss the various aspects of the project. Each recruit will be given an equal share of all resources (pics, views, logics, vars, inventory items, flags, etc.). Recruits working in teams will only be given one share. Each share should, ideally, be independent of the other shares. Special concessions shall be awarded when the dependency works, is robust, and is sensible. It is assumed that we will be democratic about this and allow each recruit an equal vote. When each share is complete, it will be submitted through a channel I will establish. This will either be a direct upload or a crude e-mailing. Each share should be accompanied by source (defines.txt, words.tok, etc.). The source code should also be well-documented. All of these considerations will be for the other recruits working alongside. Finally, while I am a complete ogre, I will say for the record that I am not the Massagi! leader. I will be a recruit just like everyone else. I will provide the forum and web-space for this project because I think it is a good idea. I will also be developing my share of the project because I want to have a piece of work that I developed alongside my friends and talented peers in the AGI/SCI community. If anyone has anything they would like to add or modify to the proposal, please reply to this thread. If anyone would like to recruit themselves, please reply to this thread.
Joe	I'll give it a try.
Rainer	hangon, I think you're getting a bit carried away with it. Remember Jack and Julia? You dont want it to be another one of those... I think you should just create the first section in the game and let others submit their secions at will and you can add them accordingly to the game, releasing a version maybe each time a section is added. If you police it, then you'll scare people away, because no-one wants to commit themselves and nothing will ever get done.
Corby	This sounds fun! Count me in!
Andrew_Baker	Uh, no Cosmic R, I am not going to police it. I will be an equal member, the same as anyone else involved. One of the advantages of having the different sections be independent is that if someone decided not to do the work, then we would still have a collection of modules that could be assembled into a finished project.
gpm	This is a very interesting idea, and I think it could definitely work. I'd like to give it a try.
Joey	i gotta quickly post this thread before my mom relizes im on. im not supposed to be. anyway, i would love to help! if it is made under agi studio, i would love to write some source. i am alright i guess. thanx to chris, he tought me a lot. but i am not good making pics and views. i would enjoy programming though.
Steven Melenchuk	This sounds interesting... but how are you going to coordinate all of the areas into a single game? You'll need to find some sort of common theme holding everything together, and a way to end the game and explain how all of the different areas fit in... Give it some thought, people, this could turn out to be great ;)
Sami_Tervo	I'm in!
Nailhead	Here's just an idea that I had to tie in all of the different sections. Suppose the story is about time travel, the different sections could be done in different time periods (stone age, Renaissance period, 1970's, etc).
rwfromxenon	err.... Isn't that kinda like Time Quest by Chad Goulding ::)
Nailhead	By all means I wouldn't purposefully use the same plot as Time Quest or anything. I just think using the Time Travel element would be an entertaining way of connecting the different sections.
Kon-Tiki	What you could use too to connect all the plots together, is making the main plot about a guy who's in a library. Every plot's a different book. -Kon-Tiki-
jelleghys	I was thinking of something similar to Kon-tiki's idea: an old man telling stories to his grandchildren. But I think Nailhead's idea is better...
sonneveld	How about a Quantum Leap sort of thing. When you finish your quest in that area, you just teleport out. or open a door that wasn't there before. or open a door that leads somewhere different. - Nick
gpm	I was thinking using a Chronoskimmer type machine.. to use an idea sort of like Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. You have to collect a certain item / element / clue to the ultimate puzzle in each of the individual sections. With that, you could have quests within a whole epic story. We're coming up with a lot of good ideas here.. let's keep 'em coming!
Parabola	Wow, some really good ideas. I really like the 'quantum leap' idea since that way you can have a lot of very different sections without a central theme to connect it all. something i was thinking about yesterday was the fact that ppl may want to use different looking characters in their parts, so it could be like quantum leap except we see the character as they should look and not Scott Bakula 8)
sonneveld	How about we just have somebody watching tv? Each time he changes the channel, he goes to a different game chapter. You could be extra tricky and make it so you can swap channels back to old games. - Nick
mr-t	That would kick major ass. Would AGI be up to it?
Randy	Or what about a game like the TV show "Stargate" or "Sliders" where the main character moves between worlds.
Sami_Tervo	Well..not a bad idea but if Stargate-system (haven't seen Sliders :( ) would be used, then everybody should draw gate and dialer thingie to their pics (or atleast gate if they are using that portable dialer).
mr-t	A DOOM style system where you just teleport around from one segment to another? Or maybe even a Wolfenstein 3-D type one where every stage has an elevator to go the next one?
Sami_Tervo	Doom-style would be better, that Wolfenstein would just take space from pics.. Hey, how about Stargate's circles-thing? You know, the system that is used for short trips like from ship to planet?
Kon-Tiki	Hmmm, don't really like all that space-stuff. It's one big deus ex machina. using other themes than space can be more difficult, but it'll be more rewarding at the end (as a beginning: you haven't made yet another space game.) -Kon-Tiki-
Joey	well, how about your some bad guy transported you into some special world. in order to get to him and defeat him, you must go through multiple quests. after you complete one, you go to the next. and you progress. then, you go to the boss's level and you have to kick his ass. maybe, there could be hidden objects in each world or quest that you will need to defeat the final boss. great idea so far, keep him up.
sonneveld	I think Andrew's plan was to have just separate scenarios that you have to solve. Like little skits. The reason why this occurs probably doesn't matter as much as long as it's not too contrived. - Nick
Parabola	are you planning for there to be a story that runs through all the segments or just throw the player in the deep end? 8)
mr-t	There should be several "quests", each being a different game (to keep file size down), and each based on a different theme. Example : Joe likes Sci-Fi. He makes the first segment of this quest, and people keep adding their own segments until you get to a certain number of segments (like 8 or something) and you have a new game!
rwfromxenon	If you have ever read the books or seen the TV show of Red Dwarf, there are different realities where every possibility ever is carried out, and there are several universes, some that go backwards in time. If you like British humor (insults) then check it out. I am part British myself and I can get all the jokes, however unfunny.
Kon-Tiki	Hehehe, know of Red Dwarf. I've seen some episodes of it and laughed myself a monkey( ;D). I believe that choice-thing is called the quantum-theory, but I'm not sure of that. Making Massagi this way will result in a non-linear AGI-game. That would be very fun and innovating. -Kon-Tiki-
Parabola	Just a thought. Anyone seen the 'Red Dwarf' episode Timeslides? due t a case of mutated developing fluid the crew are able to step inside photographs. there could be a guy going throught his photo album, and then step into each quest. only in the show there was a limitation of the person not being able to leave the confines of the original image 8)
rwfromxenon	;) Or how about the one where time ran backwards and the Cat took a dump ;D
mr-t	Is it just me, or has this topic gone off topic? ::)
jelleghys	Why don't you make a poll of it. How are we going to bring all the parts together This way That way Another way Look at all the different ideas of the people on this thread. So many ideas, but you should pick one and work it out. People should only vote if they want to work on the game. If you don't do this, you will end up talking about something that will never happen. :(
Andrew_Baker	Good point. I said Massagi! would be a democratic process, so I'm going to take a poll. It would be best if only those people who wanted to contribute responded, to be completely fair.