A little less Obtuse

I hope to see the next generation of RPGs go beyond what has already
been marketed.  I think, from our discussions, we can see that game
publishers have some ideas.  We can also see that their ideas are
necessarily limited (to us) by the environment from which they arise
- - the printing industry.  With that in mind, here are some ideas I'd
like to toss out in the hopes they'll get tos someone who actually
might want to use some or all of the concepts.

The other day I waxed eloquent about using computers and integrating
them with RPGs and really said very little.  I apologize for wasting
your time.  Now I hope to try this again with a little more thought
and some concrete proposals.

Today we get idea number 1.  Further ideas will be in later posts,
so we don't get overwhelmed with text.

#######Idea 1: The Composite Game (aka the CAT proposal)#############
           This is immediately implementable (1992)

I call this the CAT proposal, because it's simply a formalization
of what the CAT sub-list members are doing individually, and in a
somewhat more limited fashion.

Imagine an RPG that is still a table-top RPG, with GM, and printed
rules.  Only there is one *big* difference.  All of the nitty-gritty,
penicl-pushing, details are handled by silicon, rather than dice and
gray cells.   That is, the game comes with a program (and/or special-
ized computer) that handles character generation, combat, travel
times, world generation, trade and commerce, etc.

The GM still has control over what actually gets said and done, and
can therefore modify the output of the game, and input new parameters,
characters, data of any sort.  The computer can keep track where the
party is, what their possesions are, and so forth, leaving the players
to concentrate on *playing*, and the GM to concentrate on keeping the
plot and game flow together.

Addidtionally, with computations done by Si, you could do the evil
things of making space three or four dimensional, making events
transpire in two different milieus simultaneously, making fuel burn
a function of speed and distance, making healing time more playable.
####################################################################

So let's talk about this.  I suspect it's a natural creative avenue
for TML'ers, especially the ones interested in TDR.  No-one says
whatever new sci-fi game it turns into has to be MT-compatible.
Although it certainly could be...

Anyone wanna implement or suggest this (or some variant) to some
gaming house?
- --
Richard Johnson     [email removed]          [email removed]
Sic gloria mundi.