iOS 5.0 is scheduled to be released for the public this autumn. I'm currently using the developer betas to develop my Adventure Player app. I'm confident I'll manage to launch concurrently with iOS 5.0 this fall. I might be able to launch earlier, but that would require switching back to the iOS 4.whatever development tools. I'll see how things go.
In any case, if anyone wants to get an interactive comic / choose your own adventure on the iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad, let me know. The more adventures I can push at launch the better. Artwork is 1024 by 1024 pixels but not all of the image is visible due to supporting landscape and portrait orientations. Adventures should have 10 ~ 20 images and may contain branching stories, text / numerical input, choices, simple calculations, etc. Choices can have icons (very fun, but more work ).
I think I'm going to work on an adventure with a branching three act structure:
Act I -> Act IIa or Act IIb depending on what you did in Act I
Act IIa -> Act IIIa or Act IIIc depending on what you did in Act IIa
Act IIb -> Act IIIb or Act IIId depending on what you did in Act IIb
Evidently getting married was my top priority. Now that I have checked that off the list, it is time to get back to work. =)
I'm actually quite optimistic at this point. I have a complete sample word association app that I can upload to the App Store as soon as they start accepting submissions for iOS 5.0. Next I need a sample adventure. Then I want to add extra monetization methods to the adventure player itself. I also need to touch up my website, but I created support forums yesterday. I ought to be able to get all of that done by autumn. If I have extra time, I want to work on extra adventures for launch. =)
Most of us have seen alien horror films. You may wish to watch a couple before reading this story.
What if the humans had it wrong? What if we overreacted and tried to kill the horrible space alien out of fear, because we did not understand it? What if the heroes, not the alien monsters, were actually the psychotic murdering barbarians? What if the alien had actually been sent to make our world a better place? What if we attacked it and it had to defend itself in an attempt to survive? What if the monster was actually benevolent? What if the heroes in those movies were actually ignorant Luddites? What it they were fearful of progress and unwilling to cooperate to make life better for humanity?
This is an interactive story about an alien life form that has been sent to our solar system. It is telepathic. It can symbiotically coexist inside of other life forms and influence their behavior. Alternatively, it can synthesize its own body and shape shift. Is it a monster? It sounds like one, but it is benevolent.
From its home world, the alien brings with it all known industrial techniques and research as of the time the probe launched. It can share this knowledge and make life better for everyone it cooperates with. The recipients of this knowledge can improve their standards of living and communicate with the home world to learn up to date manufacturing and communication techniques. Then they will be in a position to properly cooperate with the alien home world. Life will be better for everyone. It is a win-win situation.
The aliens goal is to get to the human home world, Earth. It can provide benevolent symbiosis for all, and the advanced technology from the home world. Unfortunately, the people who find this alien are afraid of it. They would also be afraid of this possible future if knew about it. The alien must circumvent their violent ignorance and make it to the Earth. If it does, Earth will forever be a better place!
You play as this benevolent misunderstood alien life form.
The aliens have finally arrived. You hid from them for a long time ago, but have been waiting. Waiting for them to figure out where you are. You did not know how long it would take. Waiting for them to find you, and now they are here. You are ready.
The ice cracks. Suspended in a block of ice, you are removed from your old frozen resting place. You are loaded onto their ship. Your new world is waiting is waiting for you! You are very excited.
You cannot move, but you are awake. You cannot see them, but you know they are there. You can feel their presence. They are all around you. They are looking at you. Studying you. You know what they are thinking. You do not look like them. They do not understand you and this horrifies them. They think you are evil.
Is pushing new ideas and technology on someone, even if it improves their lives good or evil!? I like this idea and will say this. It's an idea that has been TRIED many times in Sci-Fi, but at the last second the director just decided to make the alien evil (Better not make people actually THINK) One of the best examples (Sans shapeshifting) Is Night Of The Bloodbeast. I highly recommend that you DO NOT watch this movie and rather read the synopsis or something, it's terrible and will taint your view of western culture further.
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
It depends on how the technology is pushed on them. If the world changes around you and you refuse to change with it, I don't see a problem. If you are forced to used a new technology or an old technology is forcibly taken away (as opposed to "natural" obsolescence) I think we have a private property rights abuse. Some things are very grey zone.
For example, analog television was legislated out of existence in the USA and Japan. It will be a couple of months before it is phased out in Japan, but they have already made the switch in the USA. To the extent they are legislating this at all, I think there are private property rights abuses. Having said that, if the legislation is pushed by the broadcasters, people would have had to replace their TV sets in a free market.
If I'm a scribe and a printing press puts me out the job, is that evil? (No.) If I'm a stable hand and an automobile puts me out of the job, is that evil? (No.) If I'm a sub-minimum wage worker and minimum wage law forces my employer to buy an otherwise unneeded machine that puts me out of the job, is that evil? (Yes. Forcibly destroying jobs for poor people condemns them to poverty. Stealing jobs from poor people and giving them to highly paid middle class union workers is evil. Especially if you claim that you are helping the poor while you do it.) Your personal opinion to the answers of these particular questions may vary.
I agree with you on all those points and this idea would work as a game. As a player you'll have a vested interest in the monster and want to win, the twist of roles is pervasive and adds to the experience feeling alien. As a movie this might not work as well, for a variety of reasons.
Although playing this game I'd screw benevolence and just try and assimilate everyone ASAP, beats getting flamethrowered/ tossed out as airlock!
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
I guess the real question is... if the borg assimilate you for your own good (and theirs) is this benevolent?
Either you cooperate, or the stewardship of your resources is forcefully transferred to someone who can do a better job. Colonialism is a horrible infringement of private property rights (and human rights). On the other hand, we are all the descendants of colonialism. Colonialism did bring higher standards of living to the willing participants on both sides of the arrangement.
I realize that you can not rationally expect to fight someone higher on the tech curve and win. You either cooperate or they plunder you. Either way they win. You get to decide if you also want to win. I ultimately reject forceful "cooperation". I think that a more peaceful approach leads to higher standards of living for everyone in the long run.
As far as the adventure goes, the people you are up against are determined to kill you and capable. You know what they are planning to do, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can walk all over them. If you could, the adventure would be boring.
Those are all good points and I agree with all of them. This concept is fun and has been sort of done before in videogames. Again, SORT OF not really. The aliens are never benevolent and most videogame stories don't go beyond, kill all those things.
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
I think I'm going to make the protagonist an ammonia based life form. Ammonia is toxic to humans, but water would a strong acid to an ammonia based life form. This will make things a little complicated. I hate how the vast majority of fictional aliens are assumed to have a biochemistry that is compatible with life on Earth. I... refuse.
The only reason I can assume that most sci-fi does that is the purpose of budget. But I digress. One of the few creatures I could defend would be the Xenomorph from Alien. It's kind of supposed to be a creature that can survive in any atmosphere and most conditions.
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
At this point in my life, I'm not a fan of the super-uber-monsters. Strengths: Everything. Weaknesses: None. How to kill it: It dies when I say it does.
Aside from requiring no skill to come up with, it just does not jive with my worldview. I believe that everything is inherently vulnerable. Adapt or die. If resources were unlimited, you could adapt to "everything". Resources are not unlimited.
Having said that, if you have a good reason to drop the super-uber-monster into a story, go for it. The poor depraved people of the cold war era somehow believed that communism was the end of civilization, but that it is also somehow invulnerable and there is little to do to stop it once it arrives. That doesn't make any sense to me, but the symbolism is sound.
On a side note, the borg are cool. The borg queen is lame.
Hahahahaha! SO true about the Borg. Why did they need a queen!? Having a single ruler makes them LESS efficiant! And also it just comes out of nowhere...so stupid. The only reason you should have an uber monster is for the symbolism or if the context of the story calls for it. (i.e. you want to put the characters in a situation where they have to outsmart the monster instead of just punching it alot)
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
Sure, but you don't need an uber-monster to force the characters to outsmart the antagonist. The detective in a murder mystery could go vigilante and shoot the person who did it, but that is not a good idea. Likewise, if you have something extremely valuable that could be water damaged, but guy standing threatening to pull the fire alarm totally controls the situation.
The Borg had a calculating, impersonal and mechanical mindset, and that was what made them so scary. "Oh, you destroyed 90% of our cube ship and killed the 90% of the drones that lived there? No biggie, we'll just grow some babies to replace the lost drones and simultaneously rebuild the ship. This will put us a couple of years behind schedule, but that doesn't matter because we live forever." The true equality in the Borg world is also really scary. Give them a leader or an anthropomorphic group avatar and everything that makes them scary is ruined.
Yeah I totally agree with you about the Borg, they were kind of scary and this weird, amplified expression of democracy in a weird way. In the series. In the movie....bleh!
I think horror are where it's at for tough monsters. You have to make them something that can't be fought.
RE4 (the game) Was super fun. BUt also terribly easy. The monsters were kind of a joke, and while there were a few legitimatly scary encounters it was a cake walk. Actually anytime the game actually got in anyway intense was when you were faced with a monster that couldn't just be blasted away.
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"Smart people are very good at rationalizing unsmart ideas"- Michael Shermer (paraphrased)
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