Guild of Writers

I've been thinking a lot about multiplayer puzzles recently and I wanted to throw out an idea for a set of Ages I've been slowly developing in my head.

The initial link leads to a small mechanical room in which the only opening is a small window overlooking a heavily wooded forest. (For lack of a better term I'm calling this "Forest Age.") In the room are two pedestals with Linking Books. One links to a snowy mountainous Age and the other links to the caldera of a volcano ("Ice Age" and "Lava Age," respectively).

The idea is that we have Written three Ages primarily for the purpose of being a large puzzle. (Many of us in the new Guild of Writers enjoy solving puzzles, so why not?) Ice Age and Lava Age are tied to each other such that solving puzzles in one will allow access to new areas/clues in the other. For example, an obstacle in the Lava Age might be an insurmountable cliff face. Solving a puzzle in the Ice Age allows access to a Book that links to an area near the cliff in the Lava Age where there is a lever that drops a ladder into place. The other player has to be in position already to climb the ladder once it drops because a timing mechanism pulls the ladder back up after a bit, but once this player reaches the top they can pull another lever that locks the ladder in place. Ice Age and Lava Age should both be fairly extensive, comparable in size to Kadish Tolesa or Gahreesehn.

Forest Age is primarily an open-ended exploration Age, sort of a "reward Age" if you will. The Age is semicircular, with the circular boundary being a large rock wall and the diameter being a beach opening onto an ocean into which players can swim. I think it should have a day-night cycle as well as a randomized weather cycle (i.e. thunderstorms last several minutes and it may be anywhere from two to five hours in between them.) There are plenty of other things in the Age, I just haven't thought of them yet ... My initial vision is that full, unlimited exploration of this Age is the reward for solving Ice Age and Lava Age. What I see is a large circular mechanical structure, like a fortress, that we have built in the middle of the Age. As players progress through Ice Age and Lava Age, they come across several links to the Forest Age fortress where they can open doors and make their way progressively around the circle. This allows for easy access to any previously visited part of either Age and also provides more and more teaser views of the reward Age. Players start out facing away from the beach, with links from each Age allowing expansion of fortress accessability in both directions around the perimeter. This hides the beach until almost the very end. The final puzzle that allows players to exit the fortress involves two players on either side of a circular wall. They each have a control panel that has some effect on something in the middle of the circle they can't see. The only way to solve the puzzle is to have a third person in a high balcony who can see what's going on. This person must direct the other two players via chat, helping them to act synchronously to open the lock.

Nothing I've said here is set in stone ... optimally this would be a community-driven effort and I'm certainly open to any suggestions! Such as: what's your initial reaction to this proposal? Do you think it's doable? Would it be well-received by the universal URU community?

On second thought, I think this should have gone under the Artists Forum. Could a mod move it for me?

Since it is a description of an age it should probably be in storytellers, so you can expand on it in that respect before getting concept art going. Would you like me to move it there?

Sure, that will work. Thanks.

I just had a thought. Suppose we wanted to demonstrate the huge impact a single phrase can have on the destination of a Linking Book? For example: someone Writes two Books with identical text except for one phrase concerning an underlying principle of the Age. The result is ... the Ice Age and the Lava Age. The two Ages have radically different features and appearances, but similar topologies (this would facilitate the passing-back-and-forth type of gameplay I alluded to above). I have a feeling this duality would work well on its own without the Forest Age as a reward, so I think I'll try to develop that vision on its own in a separate, future project.

I'll see if I can whip up some rough concept art / maps sometime soon to add a visual aspect to my descriptions.

Topher, I would really like to make my way through your ages! It's a good idea with the need of two players working together!
Please go on with this idea!