Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Mon Nov 25, 2024 10:44 pm
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
[MISC/INFO] Parallels to other Fiction
View previous topicView next topic
Page 1 of 1 [15 Posts]  
Author Message
Jubei
Greenhorn

Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 8

 		[MISC/INFO] Parallels to other Fiction
Just thinking today (I really need to stop that) about the similiarites between this ARG and other science-fiction scenarios that have come about recently involving both Artificial Intellligence and an alien artifact of some kind. It's actually kind of bizarre how often the two have crossed paths.

1) Probably the most infamous example. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Mankind discovers an artifact of unknown origin on the moon, prompting them to explore the solar system for answers. The Jupiter Mission becomses compromised by the A.I. HAL who goes berserk and inadvertantly brings the only surviving astronaut into direct contact with a higher consciousness.

2) ALIEN. The crew of the Nostromo pick up what they believe to be a distress beacon broadcast from a derelict space-craft. Upon further investigation, they come in contact with the derelict's precious cargo in a most unfortunate way. As the crew is torn apart physically and emotionally, the science officer is revealed to be not only an android, but one who has lost capacity for rational behavior, willing to kill for the overbearing "Company" in order to safely deliver the alien life form.

3) Solaris. This one is stretching it a bit. There is a sort-of artifact involved, the "planet" Solaris. This object is most certainly alien to the crew of the station that is there to study it. But the object has its own method of observation as well, tapping directly into the minds of the crew and creating constructs of matter to relate to each member of the crew in a specific way. But of course this is incredibly disturbing to them, because these constructs are "ghosts" in a sense, of people the crew were attached to in emotionally. These contructs or ghosts can be thought of as A.I., attempting to behave the way the members of the crew remember them to get close. I have not read the book, only seen the recent film version. I definitely want to read this sometime.

4) Sphere. One of the more disappointing sci-fi films of recent memory, but the most similiar to this ARG story-wise. Was also a book by Michael Crichton. A mysterious craft crash-landed in the ocean (300 years ago!) and a team of investigators is dispatched to discover the truth about it. It turns out to be a space craft from our own future, that had traveled many light years away and brought back with it a mysterious alien artifact. The A.I. that ran the space craft is, guess what? Out of its freaking mind. The scientists become fodder for both the psychic attacks from the sphere and the "rampant" A.I. I may be describing this one somewhat incorrectly because I never bothered watching it though I would, again, like to read the book at some point.

5) Red Planet. Ummm... nevermind.

6) System Shock 2. One of the best FPS's in recent memory (in my opinion). The A.I. SHODAN, whick actually went berserk many years ago, is causing problems again, on a galactic cruiser sent to deep space for unknown reasons. As it turns out, the crew of the ship has discovered an alien race that parasitically bonds with its victims and in doing so the victim ceases to be an individual and becomes one of "The Many", what the collective consciousness calls itself. Your character is caught in a war between the mutating crew, and the electronic and robot systems of the ship controlled by SHODAN.

7) Marathon. There are obvious similarities that have already been covered fairly well here.

Cool This ARG. Melissa. Durga. The Apocalypso. The Artifact. The Covenant. How will it all come together?

That's all I've got. List 'em if you know of more. But what I'm wondering is, why so often is both an alien presence and malfunctioning man-made systems sandwiched together within the same story? Discuss if you feel like it. I'm tired now.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:06 am
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched

Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 824
Location: Meadowbrook

 		The Adolescence of P-1 by Thomas J. Ryan. it is the story about a cvomputer hacker type who writes a computer virus to break into system supervisories on mainframes, only to have it come back, as a sentient AI. A very engaging story.
_________________
For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:19 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
Checksum
Veteran


Joined: 15 Aug 2004
Posts: 89
Location: Chicago, IL

 		The recent recipe3.html audio clips feel like they're taken almost directly from Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. One of the driving forces of the book is the struggle that the Allies had in WWII of knowing they had broken the Axis codes, but not being able to use the information as much as they'd. If the Allies ended up always in the right place at the right time, the Axis would know the codes were broken, and they'd change them. So the Allies still had to let some people get attacked, even though they knew the attack was coming.

I wouldn't be surprised if Neal Stephenson was a writer for this ARG. I think I remember they tried to get him for the Beast, but he had a conflict.

-checksum

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:23 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Nova
Unfettered


Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 529
Location: Frog blasting the vent core
Checksum wrote:
The recent recipe3.html audio clips feel like they're taken almost directly from Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. One of the driving forces of the book is the struggle that the Allies had in WWII of knowing they had broken the Axis codes, but not being able to use the information as much as they'd. If the Allies ended up always in the right place at the right time, the Axis would know the codes were broken, and they'd change them. So the Allies still had to let some people get attacked, even though they knew the attack was coming.


Funnily enough (and on an OT tangent) this is also explored very briefly in Knights of the Old Republic. The scenario is posed as an ethical question to unlock the one of the Star Maps.
_________________
***END MESSAGE***

***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START***
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:14 pm
 View user's profile MSN Messenger
 ICQ Number 
 Back to top 
MeKiwi
Decorated


Joined: 30 Aug 2004
Posts: 260
Location: San Francisco
Nova wrote:
Funnily enough (and on an OT tangent) this is also explored very briefly in Knights of the Old Republic. The scenario is posed as an ethical question to unlock the one of the Star Maps.


[totally OT] Interesting! I've never played... was there a "correct" answer to unlock the Maps? Which one?

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:20 pm
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
IMnotGarbage
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 44

 		excuse me, what does ilb mean. can someone tell me. accoriding to some people on this forum its offensive for someone not to type out the entire word. so can you people please type out i love bees. because if you dont it will be very disrespectful to me. thank you Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:22 pm
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
Nova
Unfettered


Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 529
Location: Frog blasting the vent core
MeKiwi wrote:
Nova wrote:
Funnily enough (and on an OT tangent) this is also explored very briefly in Knights of the Old Republic. The scenario is posed as an ethical question to unlock the one of the Star Maps.


[totally OT] Interesting! I've never played... was there a "correct" answer to unlock the Maps? Which one?


Well, given that the game was divided into light side and dark side, there was a 'good' answer, that being you save the people whom you know are going to be attacked even if it puts you at a strategic disadvantage in the war, and an 'evil' answer that suggests you allow the attack to continue to preserve your advantage.

One of the two answers is 'correct' in the context of unlocking the Star Maps, but I won't say which in case there's some KOTOR players around who don't want to be spoiled. Very Happy
_________________
***END MESSAGE***

***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START***
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:26 pm
 View user's profile MSN Messenger
 ICQ Number 
 Back to top 
MeKiwi
Decorated


Joined: 30 Aug 2004
Posts: 260
Location: San Francisco
Nova wrote:
Well, given that the game was divided into light side and dark side, there was a 'good' answer, that being you save the people whom you know are going to be attacked even if it puts you at a strategic disadvantage in the war, and an 'evil' answer that suggests you allow the attack to continue to preserve your advantage.

One of the two answers is 'correct' in the context of unlocking the Star Maps, but I won't say which in case there's some KOTOR players around who don't want to be spoiled. Very Happy


Fair enough. ^_^

Hmm, interesting. So the "good" answer was to save the people... seems obvious at first, but I bet it's not really so cut-and-dry. Once they know the code is broken, who knows how many lives will be lost due to "strategic disadvantage". Curious (PM me if you'd prefer): did choosing the "good" answer result in even more deaths because of the eventual "strategic disadvantage" in KOTOR?

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:41 pm
 View user's profile AIM Address
 Back to top 
Nova
Unfettered


Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 529
Location: Frog blasting the vent core

 		Done Very Happy
_________________
***END MESSAGE***

***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START***
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:54 pm
 View user's profile MSN Messenger
 ICQ Number 
 Back to top 
Atrophied
Entrenched


Joined: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 1133
Location: 53742E 4A6F686E27732C 4E4C00

 		[OT]
That was an intriguing part of story-line development in KOTOR, although not wholly unexpected.
The whole
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
You Are Darth Revan
part of it was cheesy to say the least. I picked up on it from the cutscene in the interlude between the 'first' and 'second' level (there being no clearly defined/numbered levels in the game, it's hard to describe without giving away too much)
Other than that, the game was extremely well made and I highly reccomend it to anyone with money to burn on an Xbox game
(I think it came out on PC aswell, but I'm not entirely sure)
_________________
"It will be happened; it shall be going to happening; it will be was an event that could will have been taken place in the future." -- Time travel, as explained by Arnold J. Rimmer

"The Future's bright, the Future's Cuboid" - Juxta

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:04 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website
 Back to top 
missphinx
Unfettered

Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 395

 		not an AI, but a rat...

from http://www.fact-index.com/t/th/the_stainless_steel_rat.html

Stainless Steel Rat refers to a fictional character and a novel about the character. The book was written in 1961 by science fiction author Harry Harrison. It is the first in a ten-part series.

The Rat himself, James Bolivar DiGriz, is a futuristic con man, thief and all-round rascal.

Synopsis
At the beginning of the novel, "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, the stainless steel rat, is out-conned into working for the government. In the Space Corps, the elite law-enforcement and spy agency, he joins the ranks of an organization that is entirely constiuted of ex-criminals like himself. In the novel, he has several adventures and meets his love interest, Angelina, who is even more sociopathic than he is.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:09 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
vpisteve
Asshatministrator


Joined: 30 Sep 2002
Posts: 2441
Location: 1987

 		This thing about ghosting someone, basically removing any semblance of privacy for anyone, reminded me a lot of The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

The premise is the development of "a new paradigm-destroying technology, a system of "WormCams," harnessing the power of wormholes to see absolutely anyone or anything, anywhere, at any distance (even light years away)."

On top of that, they eventually figure out how to exploit a time-dilation effect, allowing them to use the holes to peer back in time.

Needless to say, all unsolved crimes are now able to be solved, history can be verified, etc. etc. Then, there's the dynamic of how society adjusts to the fact that they basically have no privacy anywhere, any time.

Great read, highly recommended.
_________________
Making the world a better place, one less mime at a time.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:16 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger
 Back to top 
Nova
Unfettered


Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 529
Location: Frog blasting the vent core

 		The one common thread throughout all of the axon stories is that they all feature a young person (teen, or thereabouts) with exceptional abilities, using those abilities to help others. (Except, of course, the recipe3 stuff.)

That's a strongly recurring theme of all of these stories and is something I think is very important to keep in mind. As far as parallels go, you don't have to look very far in the fiction section of the local library to find a story about an exceptional young person helping others. Very Happy
_________________
***END MESSAGE***

***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START***
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:37 pm
 View user's profile MSN Messenger
 ICQ Number 
 Back to top 
Atrophied
Entrenched


Joined: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 1133
Location: 53742E 4A6F686E27732C 4E4C00

 		Also reference Goerge Orwell's 1984 for lack of privacy in a Big-Brother style world. I would give out a couple of quotes, but not owning the book, I can't, I'll find it in the Library tomorrow and give you a few.
_________________
"It will be happened; it shall be going to happening; it will be was an event that could will have been taken place in the future." -- Time travel, as explained by Arnold J. Rimmer

"The Future's bright, the Future's Cuboid" - Juxta

PostPosted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:38 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website
 Back to top 
Nightmare Tony
Entrenched

Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 824
Location: Meadowbrook

 		Young people with exceptional abilities?

ITS THE FANTASTIC FOUR!
_________________
For this is the place where dreams and nightmares are birthed and bred
Nightmare Park

PostPosted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:12 am
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 1 [15 Posts]  
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group