What this SUB is all about
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I am working on a Cyberpunk themed ARG, that includes a MUD, and hopefully will also include ARG elements. If I've mentioned it to you, and you wanted to keep an eye on it, subscribe here, and I will make news posts when there is news.
I am hoping to have the system 'up' around mid June.
Thanks for your interest.
Story:
An old computer nerd and radio nerd bought, what he was told, was old military radio equipment that was sold by the pallet in the 90's. It was filled with old radio components, but nothing particularly interesting except for an old ammo can, with 'Special Project XXXX' stenciled on the side of it.
Upon opening the can, this guy discovers a pretty standard power cable, antenna and 9-pin serial connector. So, he turns it on, and starts throwing commands at it. He figures out the basics of the protocol, and that it's wirelessly connecting to some kind of a network.
So, he does what anyone would do in that situation ... he uses a small computer to sort out the routing protocol, and connects it to a telnet port, thus connecting it to the internet ... and posts in some forums 'Hey, has anyone seen anything like this before?'.
Bit by bit, piece by peace, people start realizing that there's a whole military network, a precursor to the internet, still running for some unknown reason, and apparently not touched since the mid-90's, when the LAST group of old hackers had tripped over it, and decided to use it for their own personal playground.
Now there are small groups of explorers gathering together, with the shared interest of exploring this old network, they refer to lovingly as 'The CoreDump'.
Game:
The game's online component is handled with a custom MUD engine, that emulates an early 80's network of machines. You can connect from machine to machine, gaining privileges, and computing cycles, that can be used to further explore the network.
The 'offline' component is a matter of throwing 'Coredump Conventions', or small parties where these people would gather to trade secrets, talk hacking and play 'spot the fed', which is actually supported by an interface written in the 'old days'.
So, basically, a very automated version of the party game 'Mafia', that fits into the background story of the game.
It's an ARG, not an RPG. The difference being that, when you play an RPG, you're pretending to be someone more interesting than you are. In an ARG, you're just you, pretending the world is more interesting than it really is. You dress like you, you sound like you, you use your name ... you just allow yourself the suspension of disbelief necessary to treat the stuff going on 'in-game' as real.
As such, you probably wouldn't carry airsoft guns, or make foam armor. You may, on the other hand, build custom machines to connect to the CoreDump with, including wearable, laptops and lunchboxes.
Also, if you're attending a con, there might be themed games going on, like 'spot the fed' that include other props, but that not everyone needs to play.
The plan:
I've got a MUD engine done. I was building content before I started a new job, and I was actually going to run a game on Halloween, but Halloween just got too busy for everyone, so we've been talking about Spring, probably mid-june.
So, before Mid-June, I'd like to get the engine fully tested, the base content created, and arrange the first party. I'm also building a little in-game subreddit, so my friends who are into it, but can't come to the con, can be a part of it too.
I never expect more than 20 people to participate, but I just love making stuff, and this gives me a sort of theme to run with.
Here's a screenshot of the game: http://coredumpproject.tumblr.com/image/96658114227
Here's my halloween outfit, where you can see my wearable-display mirrorshades and wearable computer (integrated into a shoulder holster). I could see losing the airsoft, and wearing something like that for a 'con' night, to give you an idea of the 'dress code'.
https://38.media.tumblr.com/3e4fb3296dab8258e02cf81ba08367ac/tumblr_ne7ktfZVjv1s84144o1_500.jpg
Also, I've got blank mag-strip cards, a reader and all the pieces to make a sort of ATM out of. I'm planning on making the cards into IDs for the people who attend the party, and they'll be able to swipe it on the ATM to perform in-game functions.
Posted Dec 6, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC · edited
Have you thought about running this at Defcon? It seems like a good place to kick off the ARG, especially the more physical elements like your ATM system, and helping people meet each-other to make groups.
Honestly the idea started with a set of friends in mind, and the game had been more or less tailored around what I thought they would like. So, finding players wasn't a real concern. Right now I'm really just trying to get back into the swing of developing and testing with them, so I'll have more of a finished product to kick this sub off with.
Awesome! I'm glad to hear there's still activity! Defcon might be a good avenue to get more people interested in making content, but if that's not a concern right now then that's great too.
yeah, what happened ... and this was all my fault, was that I kept mentioning what I was doing, and then people sort of asked me to start this sub so they could keep up with news, which was cool ... and then I started trying to get people together to make content, but there just wasn't enough really out there for people to necessarily know what I was going for. I had most of the pieces, more or less, but no examples of what it looked like when someone actually played.
Then, I realized I'd spent about a month just running the sub, or at least spending more time on THAT than actually making the game.
So, I always said I wanted to test play it in June, and I'm still on track for that, but it'll be 5-10 friends of mine in a bar, probably mid to late June, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot from that, and probably try to do monthly 'sessions' throughout the summer.
At some point, and I'm not making promises because I just don't know when, I'll have enough content and play experience to tell people 'This is how it's done', and 'This is what works'.
I sort of had a lot of people throwing out ideas and contributing, but without play testing, or dedicated players to try things on, it felt like a lot of ideas that I couldn't properly evaluate.
It was great having interest, and people willing to help, but I felt like I wasn't sure where we were going either, and that caused a lot of confusion. I mean, where code and hardware was concerned, I knew exactly what I wanted ... but, what works in terms of puzzles, and flow, and scripts for the cell leaders to present to the players, I had no idea ... and that was the stuff people really seemed to want to contribute.
So, really, I'm back to doing a lot of back-end coding, because there was a list of things that I wanted to be better about the server ... and I've been experimenting with a lot of cheap custom hardware, because I think that adds a lot to the feel of the game, to have these sort of hardware puzzles to piece together. I'm really into the physicality of the game. I think having people in one room, with objects they can feel and see, is very important.
So, I'm working a lot, and as usual with this sort of project, you feel 90% done, and then find another 90% to do, but I do want to PLAY the game soon, so things are moving.
As for DefCon, we'll see ... I think it has to do with the audience, and how seriously people really want to take it. I'm not sure if people who take hacking seriously would find the 'fun' in a game that sort of makes light of that whole concept, or if they would embrace it.
Yeah, I can understand that. Managing people and building your own content both take time, and it's hard to have a community before there's a solid foundation. I was worried that CoreDump might have fallen to the wayside with so little sub activity, but it's good to hear there's still development even if we're not hearing updates.
As for the hacker community, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. I'm active in network security, cryptography, and reverse engineering and have gone to Defcon for the past few years. Yes, they take hacking seriously in that they're all proficient, but they're also ridiculous and have great love for everything this movie stands for. I think they would absolutely embrace this if given the chance.