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 Forum index » Meta » Puppetmaster Help
Small-Time Student ARG
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redherring
Unfettered


Joined: 04 Dec 2010
Posts: 469
Location: NJ

 		Small-Time Student ARG
Looking for help / advice..
Not really sure what/where on the Meta forums is the best place to post this, but this seemed the most appropriate. Please direct me elsewhere if there's a better place to post this (or if there are answers already out there I am just too slow to find ^_^'')

- - -

I'm a film & media arts and information science double major (yeah, I'm a bit nuts), currently taking a new media course. We're tasked with creating an interactive new media project, and my thought was 'Well... ARGs are sorta new/trans-media and interactive and I'm starting to fall in love with them... Let's see where we can go with that!'

Now I'm not so naive to assume this will be easy or that I'll be doing something on the 'i love bees' / 'Marble Hornets' / 'EMH' scale in terms of user interactivity, and I'm also aware conceiving, prepping for, and launching an ARG in just a few months is a big undertaking. I don't necessarily have to have it under way by the time class ends, but I do need the materials to present to my professor.

To get to the point, I'm looking for any help, advice, tips from PMs who have done smaller-scale projects (I'm in the PA/NJ/DE tri-state area, and looking to keep it pretty local). If there are any resources for dead drops, cheap/free VOIP services, implementation of puzzles (obviously nothing too insane), and viral marketing to get things started, I'm eager to look into them now so I can start proposing more on this project. I am working on concepts/characters/story now and hope to have a rough idea soon of what I want to do story-wise.

I know my way around HTML/CSS and am learning a bit about web app development (albeit in Visual Basic .NET, but anything helps). I'm planning on using QR code in the area to see where that might go, and might post on some of the campus bulletin boards just to see if that gets anything started. In terms of making a true trailhead, though, are there any suggestions on how to go about that? I know it's not something that'll just happen, and it's not guaranteed, but if there are any tips I'm eager and open to suggestions.

Some things I'm hoping to (try to) implement:
- Website / Blog
- Email
- Video (not a large amount)
- Web app(s) for puzzles
- Possibly a phone for text interaction or voicemail messages (might invest in a cheap Go Phone or something? Again, suggestions are welcome)

I apologize for how scatter-brained this sounds, but if you can give me any suggestions it'd be immensely appreciated. If you want to PM me any of this instead of replying here, that's fine too.

Thanks in advance!

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:48 pm
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Thunderwolf
Unfettered


Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 419
Location: The Sprawl

 		The best advice I can give: Keep it simple. If you try to overstretch yourself you'll never get it finished, or it will end up collapsing under its own weight, unless there's a lot of you PMing.

"Missing Wallace" has just finished, but is a great example of a simple ARG constructed and run by one person (check out the thread in the Rumours and Updates section, the main website at http://www.missingwallace.net and the wiki at http://missingwallace.wikispaces.com to get an idea of how it progressed)

If you're on a budget, limit mailouts and phone calls - they cost money. Most other things you can do for free or at least on the cheap, though shelling out on a pay-as-you-go SIM card and phone might be worth it if you really want to do calls - just don't use your regular phone number.

Also: FINISH BEFORE YOU START. If you go off half cocked and start posting trailheads befotre you've even worked out a time-frame of character movements, you're likely to come unstuck. Sure, the plot may change based on player interactions, but just make sure you have ALL assets (websites, mailouts, images, puzzles) ready to go, at least in template form before you launch your trailhead.

Other things to bear in mind - Nothing needs to be automated - everything can be done by hand if necessary.

Oh and TEST PUZZLES BEFORE RELEASE! Nothing worse than an unsolvable puzzle because the PM mistyped a ciphertext or something. If possible, get a third party to test the integrity of the puzzles.

Above all, have fun and remember the players are there to have fun too Smile
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"OK, now what you gotta do is go down the road past the old Johnson place. You're gonna find two roads, one parallel and one perpendicular. Now keep going until you come to a highway that bisects it at a 45-degree angle. Solve for x."

PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:07 pm
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redherring
Unfettered


Joined: 04 Dec 2010
Posts: 469
Location: NJ
Quote:
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid!


I really appreciate your advice, Thunderwolf. I happen to be going this alone at the moment (although my professor mentioned that if other students want to collaborate, we're free to do so as long as the project has twice the work put into it… we'll see how that works out). I think that's what I'm aiming for the most, is trying to keep the puzzles, story, and set-up as simple as possible so that I can get this done before the semester ends. I'd like to launch it sometime in early May, although I'll wait to see what my professor thinks (he may not make me start the game, as long as the planning and preparations are done).

In terms of budget, I'd prefer to keep it low, and I've sorta mentally nixed the idea of doing mailouts and phone calls. I have enough knowledge and skills at using HTML/XHTML/CSS, a few programming languages (although I'm guessing Java won't be as useful as VB or ASPX online), and some basic ciphers that I think basic it more online would be a stronger bet for me if I actually want to get it done.

I took a look at Missing Wallace like you suggested, and that's perfect - exactly the kind of project I'm looking to create, albeit maybe a bit toned down with the foreign language and literary references (though I'd consider it if it fit the story).

As for the fun, that's why I'm doing it, and hopefully it's as fun for the players (assuming I get some ^_^'') as it has been for me so far planning out and preparing for it!

- - -

Just another question that I might have shuffled into my first post a bit, but where might an aspiring PM look to send trailheads? I've been scouring uF for ideas, and the biggest thing I've realized is: DO NOT POST YOUR OWN TRAILHEADS, ESPECIALLY IN-CHARACTER. Seems to be a bit taboo, so is there a resource for this somewhere, or is there a forum for people looking for new games?
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:06 pm
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Rogi Ocnorb
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 4266
Location: Where the cheese is free.
redherring wrote:
Just another question that I might have shuffled into my first post a bit, but where might an aspiring PM look to send trailheads? I've been scouring uF for ideas, and the biggest thing I've realized is: DO NOT POST YOUR OWN TRAILHEADS, ESPECIALLY IN-CHARACTER. Seems to be a bit taboo, so is there a resource for this somewhere, or is there a forum for people looking for new games?

Try looking Here.
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I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:03 pm
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