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https://github.com/historicalsource/checkpoint
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335 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
335 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
@style (spacing 2)
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@title (Checkpoint)
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@pageheading (draft)
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@majorheading (CHECKPOINT)
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@center (28 March 1985)
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@center (Comments to Stu Galley)
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@blankspace(5)
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@heading (RAISONS D'ETRE)
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@begin (itemize)
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This is a collection of stories in one product. Some of the stories
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should be short enough to finish in one session. All of the stories
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take place in the same general setting.
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The setting should justify some of the limitations of our current
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technology. Since it is hard to converse with characters, all or most
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of them don't understand English. Since "geography" is limited in scope,
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the setting is on trains and in stations, where movement is naturally
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restricted.
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The stories should convey a theme that Hitchcock used often in his
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movies: a very important mission can be delayed or even doomed by
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ordinary people that just happen to be in the way at the wrong time.
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@end (itemize)
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@heading (SYNOPSES)
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All of the stories are based on a similar plot; the difference among
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them is @U(which role) you play in the story.
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I visualize printing the beginning of each variation in the
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browsie, and continuing it on the screen.
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In each variation, you can also choose between easier and harder levels
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of difficulty.
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@subheading ("Traveller" Variation:)
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You're travelling alone, on business of some kind, on a train
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in the European country of Frotzerland (see
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below). Suddenly a fellow passenger,
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recognizing you as friendly,
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bursts into your compartment. He explains that he wants
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to entrust his briefcase to you while he handles some dangerous
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business, but it's vital that
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@comment ( the contents reach N.A.T.O@. headquarters in Brussels without delay.
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If anything happens to him, would you please give the briefcase )
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you follow his instructions, which vary depending on the level.
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Then he dashes out, and a short time later
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you see his body falling from the roof past your window. Obviously
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the "bad guys" are after his briefcase and/or the "MacGuffin"!
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When you open the briefcase (which is in itself a puzzle), you discover
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@comment [ the MacGuffin; let's say it's a copy (small enough to conceal in your clothing -- say, in a pocket) of the "bad" guys' secret plan to kidnap the N.A.T.O@. Commander tomorrow. You also discover ]
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the MacGuffin or clue(s) as to how to acquire it.
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The easier level has these features:
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@begin (itemize)
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The briefcase contains the MacGuffin, as well as
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a camera and the name
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of an object (chosen by the program from a secret
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list), which is a password that you have to say to whoever
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meets the train.
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So you have to reach the frontier, pass customs with
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the MacGuffin, and deliver it
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to the contact (a "good guy") who will meet the train at the
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first station across the frontier -- all
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while avoiding the "bad guy(s)" and not attracting attention to yourself.
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The "bad" spy (who killed the "good" spy in the beginning)
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tries to get the MacGuffin from you, without explicit violence.
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You must avoid him/her, or you can get trapped and killed.
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@end (itemize)
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The harder level has the above features, plus these new ones:
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@begin (itemize)
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The briefcase contains the names of @u(two) objects, the password
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and a "passobject" that you have to display
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so the contact can recognize you. The "good" spy had such an object, but
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now he's gone, so you have to improvise the passobject somehow.
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The "bad" spy is more aggressive and smart, and he/she will force you
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to fight rather than flee. (Rated PG)
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You don't have the MacGuffin at the start; you must first
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contact an agent at the next train station down the line by displaying
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a second passobject in order to receive the MacGuffin.
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You're not on the right train for meeting the final contact. You must
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consult your timetable, change your
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itinerary, buy a new ticket, catch the right train
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at the right station, and proceed as before.
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There's also a pickpocket on the loose.
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If you bump into him/her, you may lose some item that you're carrying.
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(I suppose the briefcase is immune, but on the
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other hand it's a pain to keep things in it.)
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@end (itemize)
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@comment [
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@U(Variation 2:)
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This plot differs from the first in that the "good" spy that enters
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at the beginning is actually, unknown to you, a bad spy.
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So your ostensible goal is the same, but you get the best ending only if
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(the information in) the MacGuffin is made useless before delivery.
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(If you don't deliver the MacGuffin as instructed, you learn that
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the bad guys just used another method for delivery and
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succeeded.) To avoid getting bogged down in the details of munging
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the MacGuffin, you have a helper: an actual "good" spy who will mung it
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for you. But you have to find this person (maybe the bad spy gives
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you a photo and instructs you to avoid him/her) and ask properly.]
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@subheading ("Spy" Variation:)
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In this variation you play the role of the "bad" spy
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that goes after the "innocent" traveller and the MacGuffin.
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Naturally, you think of yourself as a "good" spy.
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Your goal is to find the MacGuffin and alter it so that the
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"bad guys" receive false information, or even better, deliver the
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original MacGuffin (not a photo) to your side for analysis
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to trace the leak of secret information.
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You begin on the roof of the train and immediately fight the
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"bad" spy (who's "good" in the "traveller" variation). Assuming that you win the
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fight, you next have to find the traveller with the MacGuffin (or, in the
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harder level,
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the info to acquire it). You could try to get the briefcase and snoop
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in it, observe
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the other passengers' behavior (or speak to them in English, but they
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may not answer), and/or observe the platform during stops.
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Once you locate the MacGuffin, you have to fight or trick the courier, and
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acquire the MacGuffin.
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Then you have a choice: you can alter it, and either return it to the courier
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or deliver it yourself (using password and passobject); or you can
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try to sneak it through customs and deliver it to your "team."
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Any feature not mentioned in the following lists is like the previous
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variation. The easier level has these features:
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@begin (itemize)
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The traveller carries the briefcase all the time, so you can tell
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who s/he is. But you can't acquire it without trickery or violence.
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You have limited means of aggression, e.g. just a gun and no special
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abilities.
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@end (itemize)
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The harder level has the above features, plus these new ones:
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@begin (itemize)
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The traveller hides the briefcase whenever feasible, so you can't tell
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who s/he is. If you can find and open it, you may get clues.
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You have no weapon, but you can indulge in some unarmed violence (rated PG)
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or trickery (e.g. pose as contact, or acquire passobject and pose as traveller)
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to try to get what you want.
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If you succeed in delivering the MacGuffin itself, your contact will
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give you one more task: to help recapture a defector who's riding on the
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very same train.
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(The MacGuffin is in fact a copy of the secret plan to recapture him.)
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Your role in the recapture is simple, but it serves to make your final
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goal significantly different from your goal as "traveller."
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@end (itemize)
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@subheading ("Conductor" Variation [deleted as of now]:)
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Your role is the conductor on the train, and your goal is to avoid
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getting blamed for any trouble that occurs in your jurisdiction,
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like delays, stowaways, violence, or smuggling.
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(Note: as a conductor, you can speak the local language, which thus
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will be "dubbed" into English; but by the same token the "traveller," spy,
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etc. will be dubbed into Frotzian.)
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Your first duty is to punch all passengers' tickets after each stop;
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if you miss one, he/she will turn out to be a railway employee
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who is testing your performance, and you lose your job.
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(This means you can't freely observe the suspect(s) during ticket-punching
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time, so the MacGuffin may change hands without your knowing it.)
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Your second duty is to stand at the front end of the platform
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in each station and give the order for the train to depart.
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At the frontier checkpoint, you should stand by the customs agent
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and try to detect any smuggling, such as the MacGuffin.
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If you observe the passengers while making your rounds, you
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might be able to spot someone on a spy mission by their odd behavior.
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Any feature not mentioned in the following lists is like the previous
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variations. The easier level has these features:
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@begin (itemize)
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It is sufficient to catch either traveller or spy with the MacGuffin in
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hand. At the checkpoint, all passengers empty their pockets to aid
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inspection.
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@end (itemize)
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The harder level has the above features, plus these new ones:
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@begin (itemize)
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At the beginning, your train isn't headed for the frontier.
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But, if you report spy activity to a station guard, you will receive
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a new assignment on the train that the traveller and spy will use.
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(Your bosses will explain that a professional agent is replacing you
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in order to catch the spies; but -- by Murphy's Law -- the spies
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change trains too!)
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You get a better ending
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if you don't apprehend the smuggler at the checkpoint, but rather
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apprehend the contact also, at the station past the checkpoint.
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@end (itemize)
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@subheading (Other features:)
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For variety, the variations also differ in:
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@begin (itemize)
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which objects are the password and passobject
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(and in the harder levels the passobject is harder to obtain);
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which fellow passenger is the "bad" spy
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@comment (and what their cover stories are )
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(this is especially appropriate for
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a spy story, since appearances deceive and all that);
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which person waiting at the station is your contact (ditto);
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and perhaps which train you begin on, thus changing your plan for catching the
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right connecting train (so it's vital to have the timetable and hence
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the package, in order to play).
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@end (itemize)
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@heading (INNOVATIONS)
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Characters:
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Besides the "major" characters, with whom you can have some
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meaningful interaction, there will be numerous "extras" appearing
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in the "crowd" scenes, such as on the train and the platforms.
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(Other new products, such as "Cutthroats" and "Suspect," have
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these to some extent.)
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@comment [
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Parser:
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To make the limitations on talking to
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characters more acceptable, all other characters will
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have limited knowledge of English; so if you give a bad
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command to a character, s/he will complain instead of the parser.
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Examples: "Please, I not know English word 'fooble'." "Please,
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to me simple English speak." "Buzbar frbz mrtzki."]
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Limited freedom of action:
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Since you're on a train most of the time, the limited geography is
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more acceptable, as is the slow way you move about.
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Also, it would be fun if the "bad guys" could capture you, bind and gag you,
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injure you, etc. Then many verbs would not work,
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and you'd have to escape by some cleverness.
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@heading (SETTING)
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Some people might think that the story should be set in a real country,
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like Yugoslavia. It
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would immediately lend realism and a sense of "being there." But
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there are problems. Would a player who happens to know Croatian
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complain that the other characters don't understand it? Or, more
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likely, would the story's timetable have to conform with a real one
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from that country? Would everything have to be realistic: train
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layout, station layout, food menu, ...? To avoid these problems,
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I'm assuming (for now) that the country is fictitious.
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Frotzerland is a country somewhere in the middle
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of Europe, with a neutral but paranoid
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government. (Any similarity to actual countries living or dead is just "tough
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noogies.") The Frotz National Railway ("Ferroglip Natsiolim Frotzilim")
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tends to run on time, so you can usually
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depend on the printed timetable. All action takes place on the trains
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and in the stations. A train is made up of several identical passenger
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cars (technical note: single ROOMs serve multiple locations),
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each with several compartments, a corridor, and two rest rooms;
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also cars for baggage and dining, and a special luxury car to carry
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the defector. The stations are all identical too,
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with these interesting rooms: platform, waiting room, cafe/store,
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rest rooms, ticket/info window, baggage room. You can't leave a station
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without boarding a train, since the police would
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take you in for an improper visa.
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@heading (CHARACTERS)
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The characters include:
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@begin (itemize)
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The innocent traveller, who through pure chance gets mixed up in spy business
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The "good" spy (at the beginning) is a James Bond type, daring enough
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to go fight the "bad" spy and lose big.
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The "bad" spy
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The train conductor -- helpful but suspicious, s/he doesn't want trouble
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in HIS (or HER) jurisdiction.
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The contact(s)
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Waiters, clerks, passengers, spear carriers, etc.
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@end (itemize)
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Some of the characters will be chosen from the following list,
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depending on which plot variation you choose. (Appearances
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will be randomly matched with personalities.)
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@begin (itemize)
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a devious "femme fatale"
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an attractive man
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a merciless, masculine woman
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a jovial, rotund, threatening man
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a regal older woman
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a tall, thin silent man
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@comment ( and her innocent-eyed maid, a man with a fez or turban)
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and so on
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@end (itemize)
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@heading (PACKAGE)
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@begin (itemize)
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In the "browsie" could be a
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short prose introduction to each plot, in lieu of a long "boot screen."
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Timetable (and route map?) should be printed in a color(s) that
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can't easily be photocopied,
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and it should be a "feelie" so pirates can't read it in their local store.
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@comment (Or should it be part of the "browsie" so pirates can't call us up
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and claim they lost it?)
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train ticket(s)
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"sound sheet" with useless phrases in Frotzian and English
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tourist guide to Frotzerland for "browsie"
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@end (itemize)
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