22:36:55 <Elanlee> I figure I should probably say Hi first, and thank
people for showing up. staring at the number of "attendees" has
officially got me nervous!
22:37:16 <astralpunch> <Curlay> QUESTION: Those of us who emailed
themanbehindthecurtain@... and got no bounce back
saying 'too slow'. Will we get anything?
22:37:45 <Elanlee> oh right. The loot. I can't promise that just because
your mail got it, we'll have something.
22:38:00 <Elanlee> but I will say that we're working really hard on finding
cool stuff for those of you that were first...
22:38:10 <Elanlee> ...can I tell a neat story here?
22:38:13 <astralpunch> Sure
22:38:54 <Elanlee> The original plan was to release press notes all over
the place that a bunch of props were stolen off the lot from the
movie. Those props were going to magically show up on peoples
doors.
22:39:04 <Elanlee> Now it's not going to be so magic, but that's what our
grand plans were at least.
22:39:16 <Elanlee> next.
22:39:37 <DanHon> <julez> QUESTION: do you feel that the game was
successful?
22:39:51 <astralpunch> (Interruption: wholok is in charge of #evanchan.
when he says not to ask more questions, listen to him or you may
be kicked.)
22:40:12 <Elanlee> ABSOLUTELY! The game went far beyond anything we could
have imagined.
22:40:27 <Elanlee> We figured we'd get a few people to notice, but never
dreamed it would be anything this big!
22:40:30 <Elanlee> next?
22:40:39 <astralpunch> <Ktnb> QUESTION: What was the puzzle you guys
thought would take nine months to solve?
22:40:47 <astralpunch> That's a GREAT one!
22:41:10 <Elanlee> <smirk> That was the password for Paco. You guys are
so good at this it scares us!
22:41:40 <Elanlee> We figured theres no way they're going to dig this out
of the calendar. Eventually, someone will just get bored and
guess a random password that will work.
22:41:54 <Elanlee> is that enough of an answer?
22:42:02 <astralpunch> yes
22:42:03 <Elanlee> I can keep going, I just never know when to stop.
22:42:10 <Elanlee> ok, next then.
22:42:24 <DanHon> <FusionAddict> QUESTION: Any new games in the future
planned, and if so, when can we look for them?
22:42:54 <Elanlee> guys, hold on one sec....I'm going to try to grab
Sean....you need the other half to this team.
22:43:06 <astralpunch> no problem.
22:43:18 <Benjamin> in the meanwhile..
22:43:19 <Benjamin> <VirtualHost 63.174.174.151>
22:43:20 <Benjamin> ServerAdmin parakeet@...
22:43:20 <Benjamin> ServerName tech-chat.websolutions2001.com
22:43:20 <Benjamin> ServerAlias tech-chat.websolutions2001.com
22:43:20 <Benjamin> DocumentRoot /home/parakeet/public_html
22:43:20 <Benjamin> ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/home/parakeet/public_html/cgi-
bin/"
22:43:20 <Benjamin> DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.shtm
index.shtml index.php3
22:43:20 <Benjamin> </VirtualHost>
22:43:23 <Benjamin> ack wrong past
22:43:24 <DanHon> Would you like to move on to a different question whilst
we wait?
22:43:25 <Benjamin> e
22:43:39 <Benjamin> basically, I want to say that my staff are watching
both channels
22:43:46 <Benjamin> any rude conduct will result in an immediate server ban
22:44:12 <astralpunch> For those who don't know, Benjamin owns this IRC
network.
22:44:25 <Elanlee> he's on his way. I'm can do famous impressions while we
wait...
22:44:51 <astralpunch> oh my.
22:44:58 <DanHon> Elan, your audience is waiting expectantly ;)
22:45:06 <Elanlee> Ok, can you repeat the last question?
22:45:26 <DanHon> <FusionAddict> QUESTION: Any new games in the future
planned, and if so, when can we look for them?
22:45:30 <Elanlee> sorry, too many open windows, and I keep burning myself
on my hot chocolate!
22:45:47 <Benjamin> I can help in this regard
22:46:29 <DanHon> (We're currently arranging for Sean Stewart to join this
forum. Please wait. Lemon soaked napkins are on their way!)
22:46:30 <Elanlee> oh right, that's a tough one. There are definately Xbox
games planned, but I don't have much to do with them. As far as
more of this goes, we've got such cool stuff planned! I can't
tell you about it or <whimper> they'd find me.
22:46:38 <astralpunch> Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Stewart.
22:46:45 <Elanlee> Sean!!
22:46:53 <SS> CMs!
22:47:12 <Benjamin> Elanlee: you can type /close -m to close all your PM
windows
22:47:14 <Benjamin> that will help
22:47:24 <Elanlee> Ok, thanks!
22:47:41 <Elanlee> You guys are way too good at making a guy feel like a
celebrity!
22:47:47 <Benjamin> lol we try our best
22:47:59 <Elanlee> so, now that we're both here, what's the next question?
22:48:26 <astralpunch> <Nicko> QUESTION: Will something about the game
apprear on the DVD of AI?
22:48:58 <Elanlee> blech....I hate this answer. NO COMMENT. Sorry.
22:49:09 <Elanlee> next...
22:49:09 <astralpunch> fair enough. we all HOPE so.
22:49:14 <Elanlee> me too!!!
22:49:15 <astralpunch> you're PMs . . . pull strings.
22:49:23 <Elanlee> right, I'm on it!
22:49:45 <Benjamin> Elanlee: if someone keeps PM'ing you over and over let
me know, and I'll deal with him/her
22:49:48 <DanHon> Sean?
22:49:57 <SS> yes?
22:50:05 <DanHon> Any answer, or shall we move on?
22:50:13 <wholok> I think we can move on, unless Sean wants to break his
NDA.
22:50:18 <SS> NO COMMENT on DVD <elan is the guy for this stuff...)
22:50:21 <Elanlee> :)
22:50:24 <Elanlee> lucky me.
22:50:26 <DanHon> Okay, next question :)
22:50:26 <DanHon> <sleeplessly> QUESTION: Would you tell us who authored
the exquisite in-game Sencha letter?
22:50:57 <SS> Elan did the Sencha puzzles; i wrote Sencha's text.
22:51:18 <SS> next
22:51:27 <Elanlee> next
22:51:28 <astralpunch> <Alypiusus> QUESTION: How do we get a job as a PM?
22:52:10 <Elanlee> you have to be willing to lose all your friends, never
eat or sleep, and develop eerie nervous twitches that make others
uncomfortable in your presense.
22:52:10 <SS> Well, I got a referral from another SF writer, and then had
the right answer to Jordan's question, "So by any chance, do you
know what a "Role Playing Game" is?
22:52:54 <Elanlee> I just happened to know Jordan who shares his crazy
ideas with me...my job to make them real.
22:52:55 <Elanlee> next
22:53:03 <SS> My answer of "If you're looking for a guy who has played
Empire of the Petal Throne with Runequest rules, I'm your boy."
22:53:04 <SS> \next
22:53:10 <DanHon> <pelrun> QUESTION: Who were the Watchers?
22:54:21 <SS> They are nameless spear-carriers who work for the dalangs;
the material for the Sophia entries on Diane & Martin under
surveillance seemed to need something, and they were it. Our
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
22:54:27 <Elanlee> we came up with them all of ten seconds before they were
implimented.
22:54:36 <Elanlee> next
22:54:36 <SS> next?
22:54:45 <astralpunch> <rayven[food]> QUESTION: what did the clues in the
trailer actually mean?
22:54:53 <Elanlee> ooo, with a question mark the word "next" doesn't look
nearly as pushy.
22:54:55 <SS> elan?
22:55:58 <Elanlee> oh right, those. In the spirit of the game, I don't
want to reveal stuff that hasn't been solved yet.
22:56:33 <astralpunch> I think you just sent terror into our hearts.
22:56:45 <Elanlee> Sorry, that was not what I meant: let's try.....we
needed something REALLY fast for a lot of different reasons and
built something WAY too hard to solve.
22:56:49 <Elanlee> better?
22:56:57 <astralpunch> better
22:57:00 <SS> next?
22:57:06 <Elanlee> next(?)
22:57:11 <DanHon> <proggieus> QUESTION: did we ever solve any of the
puzzles in a way that surprised you such as catskills?
22:57:21 <Elanlee> oooo
22:57:46 <Elanlee> RUR-14.
22:58:09 <SS> modifying comment:
22:58:11 <astralpunch> What was it that surprised you about RUR-14?
22:59:06 <SS> There were puzzles like the Waste Land Puzzle where it wasn't
that the manner of the solving was bizarre, but rather the
incredible glee of knowing you could put something out there THAT
way out, and it *would* be found
22:59:18 <Elanlee> in fact our running joke was that we should put up
"solve world hunger" just to get that one out of the way for the
world.
22:59:27 <Elanlee> next
22:59:34 <Elanlee> oh right...RUR 14..hold on
22:59:35 <astralpunch> We keep saying we'll cure cancer. shrug.
22:59:36 <SS> next?
23:00:10 <Elanlee> I was amazed at how ingenious the solution was. We had
long since written around the puzzle...hold on, Sean will tell
you the story.
23:00:40 <SS> I was watching the boards more than Elan, but didn't really
pay much attention to all that stuff, since I had no clue what it
meant. Finally I figured out what was happening, and I asked
elan, "Wo what is the page going to say, again, when they finally
get?"
23:00:54 <SS> get it?"
23:01:07 <astralpunch> Ha, so because of the Chicago messup, you guys
hadn't even written the page?
23:01:18 <Elanlee> right, then I said, "It tells them that they've failed
the job application, and they have to read up." which was a tie
in to the book puzzle.
23:01:27 <SS> "Okay, so that's a problem"
23:01:30 <Elanlee> Sean didn't think that was such a great idea.
23:01:44 <SS> "We'd better change something *now*!"
23:02:02 <Elanlee> So anyway, we re-wrote the ending (again, seconds before
it went live) and to this day marvel at how amazing you guys are.
23:02:21 <Elanlee> hold on, Sean has more.
23:02:28 <astralpunch> How large was the hit after the story got
Slashdotted?
23:02:34 <Elanlee> MASSIVE!
23:02:42 <Elanlee> everything crashed!
23:02:49 <SS> You remember you hit it on Sunday, then the first big client
writer said, Hm--sweems like we checked that one a couple of days
ago."
23:03:01 <astralpunch> For the record, the problem of cloudmakers.org going
down had NOTHING to do with Slashdot.
23:03:04 <SS> All that weekend, others were saying, "Hey! the Server keeps
crashing!"
23:03:17 <SS> And we were PRAYING you wouldn't hit the answer when the
server was down.
23:03:27 <SS> Which, I have to guess, is what must have happened.
23:03:28 <astralpunch> So, it seems we did?
23:03:33 <Elanlee> of course
23:03:33 <SS> Can't say for sure, though...
23:03:46 <astralpunch> okay, next question is mine. ready?
23:03:52 <SS> next
23:03:57 <astralpunch> <sfsdfd> QUESTION: What's with the Japanese phones?
23:04:03 <Elanlee> it was a nightmarish time. All because we didn't
explain to one actor that he should leave a puzzle at the bar.
23:04:06 <astralpunch> That's the one that just dumbfounded us.
23:04:43 <astralpunch> The CMs in Japan know nothing about a phone thing.
23:05:16 <Elanlee> right. That was a seperate game we set up for our
Japanese audience. There was a lot of interest over-seas in the
game, and so we set up a game that would only work with i-mode
phones. It's still running, but only a few hundred people have
found it.
23:05:28 <Elanlee> too hard to monitor a puzzle that I can't access myslef!
23:05:34 <Elanlee> next?
23:05:39 <SS> next?
23:05:39 <astralpunch> hold on
23:05:46 <astralpunch> is that game directed by you guys or by others?
23:05:52 <wholok> What's the starting point for the i mode thing?
23:06:24 <Elanlee> Yes, we directed it, but have dropped it.
23:06:49 <Elanlee> the starting point was the clocks on the Japanese ads.
I'm not sure that the link in is still functional, but once you
guys found Hayate, you were all cought up.
23:07:01 <Elanlee> next?
23:07:22 <DanHon> <KGCKat> QUESTION: Were we ever supposed to find a credit
tag/expiration date?
23:08:28 <SS> No, but then again, you were supposed to read UAN as "go
away" instead of a puzzle, and we made that by popular demand.
I'm sure another couple of weeks of pressure and we would have
bowed to the invetibable. ?The working UAN is a great example of
how player interest drove us to create content.
23:08:40 <Elanlee> we wrote a bunch of stuff to support clever stuff that
you guys came up with. You really kept us on our toes!
23:09:12 <Elanlee> I learned really quickly that there was no such thing as
a "keep out" sign, and so we stopped putting them in. That one
was too late to change though.
23:09:19 <Elanlee> next?
23:09:24 <SS> next?
23:09:26 <wholok> a quick follow up. When we put in the PM names into
PACO, we get a prompt for credit tag/expiration.
23:09:28 <astralpunch> <gooey> QUESTION : what was the most MIND BOGGLING
obscure reference that your team came across that ALMOST made it
to the game but didn't :)
23:09:30 <wholok> doh.
23:09:45 <Elanlee> who- that was just our way of saying that this beast
killed us!
23:11:00 <SS> We wanted to do a scripture cake puzzle in the worst way.
23:11:21 <Elanlee> I had my baking hat on and was ready to go! It was just
too hard to get a reproducible baking effect that would not be
obvious from reading the ingredients.
23:11:35 <Elanlee> next?
23:11:36 <SS> next?
23:11:49 <SS> elan actually baked for hours one night...
23:11:53 <DanHon> <sarahvb> QUESTION: What was the PACO console all about?
23:11:53 <Elanlee> yum!
23:13:09 <Elanlee> Old part that got nixed. Back when we were naive, we
thought that just leaving out a link would prevent people from
finding something. (oh boy.)
23:13:34 <SS> Fuzzy, you are responsible for the greatest number of PM
heart attacks. Your original AICN "The Donutech Conspiracy" post
is archived on my hard drive.
23:13:41 <astralpunch> ha!
23:13:46 <Elanlee> you made us work for our money!!!
23:13:52 <astralpunch> the last thing Fuzzball needs is an ego trip
23:14:02 <astralpunch> he's the most viewed profile on our member database
23:14:08 <Elanlee> neat!
23:14:11 <SS> we didn't say he was modest.
23:14:12 <astralpunch> (through shameless self-promotion, I'd add)
23:14:17 <Elanlee> :)
23:14:23 <SS> next?
23:14:23 <Elanlee> next?
23:14:35 <astralpunch> I'm gonna be selfish and post one of my own. Sorry
kids.
23:14:41 <astralpunch> <astralpunch> We call the game, "The Game."
According to USA Today, you called it "The Beast." Are you still
calling it "The Beast?" Do you have nicknames for the
Cloudmakers, considering we call you the PMs?
23:15:31 <Elanlee> We do call the game the beast. Back when we first
started, we did a quick check on the number of images we'd need
from the original photo-shoot. It came out to 666, and the name
stuck.
23:15:40 <astralpunch> that's ace
23:16:01 <SS> also we put everything in file folders marked "errorlog"
23:16:30 <astralpunch> so, do we have nicknames?
23:16:33 <astralpunch> I'm almost scared to know.
23:16:55 <Elanlee> I think we generally call you guys "they" as in "Oh god,
"they solved it!" or "they're going to kill me for this one!"
23:17:04 <astralpunch> makes sense
23:17:42 <SS> I know many many many of you by name or nick. Elan stopped
me (quite right;y) from making some Sophia entries. And I looked
up those most likely to call, in my judgement, on the cddb on
Mike Royal Dday, so i could pretend to "backtrace" you. never
had time, alas...
23:18:08 <Elanlee> I'm such a meany
23:18:21 <SS> next?
23:18:52 <DanHon> <sfsdfd> QUESTION: What did you actually foresee coming
out of the phone chat [with Mike], if not the result that we
produced?
23:19:01 <Elanlee> I should say that our plan for Mike Royal was for him to
be able to read all about you guys when you called. it was just
too massive an effort though, and you guys kept the phone lines
ringing so consistantly that we never had time.
23:19:01 <DanHon> (and, Sean, feel free to talk about your experience!)
23:20:31 <SS> No, you guys did fine with Mike. There were a number of
possible levers you could pull (what would his dad think? Offer
him a job in PR through RK's grateful father, etc.) Some you
used, enough, i thought, and in the endgame you were supplying
tactical suggestions, etc.
23:20:49 <SS> The experience was 5.5 hours of continuous talking. :)
23:21:07 <SS> We don't know why some people got through often, and others
not at all.
23:21:53 <SS> And I was doing it from my garage in CA, so there are no
massive banks of recordings, alas. This is more often street
theatre, maybe, than you expected...?
23:21:57 <SS> next?
23:22:28 <SS> <elan is typing>
23:22:44 <Elanlee> My favorite story about Mike was in finding the actor.
"Hmmmm, I wonder where we could find an actor that knows so much
about the story. He's got to be charming, and funny. He's got
to really understand all the intricacies about the characters."
Sean: I'll do it! Me: "Really? That would be great!"
23:22:48 <astralpunch> okay, I'll wait.
23:22:59 <SS> :)
23:23:05 <Elanlee> next?
23:23:13 <SS> next?
23:23:29 <astralpunch> This question is dedicated to #evanchan's regulars:
23:23:32 <astralpunch> <darklytr> QUESTION: Were you ever tempted to make
an actual game character of Coroner Sweborg?
23:23:43 <irwando> lol
23:23:49 <Elanlee> Ha!!
23:23:51 <astralpunch> and #evanchan went wild just now!
23:24:20 <SS> the first person who ever saw the chemistry puzzle, my very
smart friend Philip who did science consulting for us, said, OK,
I got Coroner Sweborg, but what does it mean?
23:24:38 <astralpunch> The first incidence of it on our level is in an AICN
talkback.
23:24:47 <SS> The brilliant SF writer who recommended me for the job said,
"I got 406, but I don't know what to do with it."
23:25:01 <SS> :)
23:25:01 <Elanlee> of course, all of this made me shudder
23:25:24 <SS> no IMMEDIATE plans for a C. Sweborg spin-off... :)
23:25:28 <SS> next?
23:25:32 <Elanlee> next?
23:25:39 <astralpunch> Have you seen the tiny script written about Sweborg?
23:25:50 <astralpunch> Entitled "Coroner Sweborg: The Adventure Begins," I
believe?
23:25:50 <Elanlee> no, where is it?
23:25:59 <SS> no, though i've heard quotes in the chatroom...
23:26:05 <astralpunch> it's somewhere in files. written by darklytr, my
good friend who posed this question.
23:26:10 <irwando> We'll send it to the both of ya
23:26:14 <DanHon> Moving on ;)
23:26:19 <DanHon> <TFoxD> QUESTION: Was there emphasis placed on
introducing players to new materials (GEB, Shakespeake, etc.)?
23:26:20 <SS> K!
23:26:21 <Elanlee> Now that I've got some free time on my hands, I'm dying
to catch up on the boards...I REALLY want to see troutmakers!
23:27:41 <Elanlee> The idea of a collective detective was really to get as
many disciplines playing as possible. We went out of our way to
include stuff that we didn't know much about to keep things as
diverse as possible.
23:27:47 <SS> "Lutes!" "2nd Century Church Fathers!" "Italian Futurist
Painting!" "Mosaic 1.0"
23:28:32 <SS> every week we wanted one puzzle that would be, for one person
out there, "OHMIGOD! I'M a Xenobotanical musicologist!!!!!"
23:28:40 <Elanlee> :)
23:28:59 <SS> when you have TWO lute players, though, you know you're on to
something...
23:29:09 <SS> next?
23:29:11 <Elanlee> next?
23:29:18 <astralpunch> <gooey> QUESTION : Was there ever a PLAN B ? would
the story line have deviated any drastically than it did ? how
tightly was the REIN of the storyline and how often was it let
go, to remain flexible ?
23:29:38 <SS> The whole storyline is Plan X
23:29:40 <Elanlee> We threw out our entire story line on day 1!
23:29:43 <SS> :)
23:29:50 <Elanlee> you guys burned through it too fast!
23:30:24 <astralpunch> uh oh. i_monk meets the PMs!
23:30:35 <SS> EG the 404 error that Tastes Like an SF/Horror novel...
23:31:29 <Elanlee> We were literally making up characters the night before
and asking questions like, um "so um, would a nightmare AI get
along well in social situations? Can we give him friends?"
23:31:39 <SS> not quite true, insofar as we had character arcs; I was
always going to get to "there was something in my eye" But the
ancillary action was made up on the fly, usually seconds ahead of
deadline.
23:32:01 <Elanlee> next?
23:32:04 <SS> next?
23:32:42 <DanHon> <TFoxD> QUESTION: Is there a possibility for a
novelization of the game story?
23:33:30 <SS> Alex Irvine and I have to turn in an ms. by Septeber 15th,
for publication in November.
23:33:52 <astralpunch> To clear up, that's a manuscript of this game or of
something else?
23:33:57 <DanHon> (and the crowd just went wild)
23:34:16 <irwando> Book signings Sean? :) I know 6000 people or so who
would show up.. :)
23:34:34 <SS> <quick further word: I want everyone to know that Elan
didn't just make puzzles. He ran thr project, herded all cats,
read every word of text, specced out every piece of
dunctionality, watched over every art design: this is his
project, first and foremost. Also a great editor for me.
23:34:53 <Elanlee> oh man...
23:35:03 <SS> Yeah, a novelization of the game, not the movie.
23:35:14 <irwando> awwwww,,,
23:35:27 <SS> Next, (unless there's follow-up)?
23:35:36 <astralpunch> next
23:35:37 <astralpunch> <JAGuarinc> QUESTION: What character did you think
would have a bigger role and ended up being downplayed in the
interests of good feedback/storytelling?
23:35:37 <wholok> How do the gameplayers fit into the novel? Sort as Laia
fit them in?
23:35:39 <Elanlee> next?
23:35:47 * wholok does it again.
23:35:58 <Elanlee> should we answer the first one?
23:36:08 <wholok> it's up to you.
23:36:24 <SS> GK got eclipsed by the Red King, for one.
23:36:39 <Elanlee> GK got totally trumped by RK. It was a bit of a shock
seeing as how we hired an actress for GK and not the Red King.
23:36:46 <astralpunch> We heart Dwayne. He'd be one of us.
23:36:49 <SS> <i dunno about gameplayers. I guess Campfly is in for
sure...!>
23:37:00 <astralpunch> hrm, may want to check with him on that one!
23:37:25 <SS> we figured that out about Dwayne pretty fast. L<more>
23:37:36 <astralpunch> Is the novel going to be entirely set in the 2142
world, or be set in our time as we try to unravel the mystery?
23:38:09 <Elanlee> Sean is typing, and I'm patiently sipping my hot
chocolate.
23:38:25 <SS> Note that Dwayne's personality was also created by players:
specifically, the fact that Jason Fertor<s> had his name spelled
differently in two different places. We had this continuity
glitch, plus Elan said the players would want a Sophia entry for
RK, so I put the two together to create the guy you know.
23:39:00 <Elanlee> Sometimes I wish we had recorded our late night
sessions. They were pretty hilarious!
23:39:03 <SS> <novel = 2142.>
23:39:09 <Elanlee> next?
23:39:09 <SS> next?
23:39:17 <astralpunch> Not as hilarious as #evanchan's, I promise.
23:39:27 <Elanlee> no doubt!
23:39:29 <DanHon> <companera_k> QUESTION: What do you forsee happening to
Martin and Diane?
23:39:39 <irwando> Heh, #ec late night is scary...
23:40:27 <Elanlee> I think Sean is about to say something artsy...
23:40:32 <SS> nobody, not even the author, knows what happens to people
after the last page is turned. Not if they are living breathing
creatures, anyway. Only lifeless automatons have ends
predestined by their author.
23:40:41 <Elanlee> ;)
23:40:55 <SS> next?
23:40:58 <Elanlee> next?
23:41:02 <astralpunch> <sarahvb> QUESTION: Were we ever supposed to find
Colleen?
23:42:09 <SS> We had a puzzle for finding Colleen, actually, a starmap E
can explain sometime. But in the end, the truth is that we
*don't* get some people back: and Colleen is one of those
absences that determines the shape of Laia's life.
23:42:36 <SS> If, otoh, we had to come up with 8 more beats of content, we
would have found Colleen...
23:42:37 <SS> next?
23:43:00 <Elanlee> no more updates!!! please!!!
23:43:00 <Elanlee> next?
23:43:13 <SS> <weary smile>
23:44:00 <DanHon> <sarahvb> QUESTION: Who was your favorite character?
23:44:06 <SS> while we wait, more applause for the redoubtable Dan Carver,
who manned the ship when Elan was out of town, and did countless
hours wrangling audio for us...
23:44:21 <Elanlee> Yay Dan!!
23:45:00 <Elanlee> Brutus. He was the most fun to breath life into, and in
may ways, the most expressive. (sorry for the early corbis
tags!)
23:45:00 <SS> In the end, Laia I think.
23:45:15 <SS> next?
23:45:19 <Elanlee> next?
23:45:28 <SS> elan also has a sencha obsession, btw
23:45:30 <astralpunch> Combining two: <darklytr> QUESTION: What was 22/7?
AND <Fladnag, et. al.> What is Sophia?
23:45:32 <astralpunch> My personal thought was always that 22/7 was IP, and
thus, Sophia knew the IP (and all that implies) of everything.
Am I trout?
23:45:36 <Elanlee> He's cool damnit!
23:46:09 <Elanlee> Sean, you MUST answer this....I'm going to sit back and
laugh for a while.
23:47:00 <SS> It was hipster haX0r speak, nothing more or less, until
player attention began to force us to run more and more 22s and
7s in...
23:47:27 <Elanlee> once we realized that it was such a hot topic, we began
to back-write it in though. (A lot!)
23:47:57 <SS> Then you inevitably get to the 22 major arcana, for instance,
and the spaceship/zephiroth/hodd-mimir-ygdrassil thing comes to
life, and THEN aren't you sorry you obsessed about a couple of
crummy number so much?
23:48:06 <astralpunch> Very.
23:48:09 <Elanlee> 22 words to lead to a 7 letter answer... (as a tiny
example)
23:48:09 <SS> :)
23:48:16 <Elanlee> bad Sean, bad.
23:48:29 <SS> lots and lots of follow-ups on 22/7
23:48:49 <SS> Sophia I think we will leave to each individual's
understanding...
23:48:51 <SS> next?
23:48:57 <Elanlee> next?
23:49:03 <DanHon> <Nicko> QUESTION: How long will the game sites stay up?
23:49:37 <Elanlee> As long as we can. We're still seeing a bunch of people
starting from the beginning. Eventually, we'll run out of money
though.
23:49:45 <SS> next?
23:49:46 <Elanlee> next?
23:49:58 <astralpunch> The kids are upset with the Sophia answer.
23:50:02 <astralpunch> They wish you'd elaborate further
23:50:05 <SS> sorry.
23:50:12 <astralpunch> possible?
23:50:19 <Elanlee> gotta let Sean's word be the last on this. Sorry
23:50:23 <SS> no. :)
23:50:27 <astralpunch> alright
23:50:29 <astralpunch> Dan?
23:50:30 <DanHon> Okay, I've got a followup on that last question...
23:50:37 <DanHon> <julez> QUESTION: was there a day that the game HAD to
end by?
23:51:40 <Elanlee> There were certain events that had to happen in order to
have the movie or the physical location puzzles make sense, but
mostly we had a VERY flexible schedule. Mostly cuz no one had
any idea what we were doing!
23:51:54 <SS> next?
23:51:57 <Elanlee> next?
23:52:06 <astralpunch> <BakoBull> QUESTION: Where there really anyone else
with a playing presence besides us?
23:52:11 <astralpunch> Please discuss AICN and Spherewatch.
23:52:17 <astralpunch> In addition to any others, of course.
23:53:45 <SS> <elan typing>
23:53:48 <Elanlee> There were bunches of smaller groups that would contact
us. Plus, I would get mails all the time from friends saying
that they had found a cool new game on a small board
somewhere....CM was the easiest for us to watch though because of
how well organized it was. Ultimately, I think there were a few
dozen groups that popped up around the world.
23:54:02 <Elanlee> Most wanted to stay small and un-noticed. They wanted
to solve the puzzles at thier own rate.
23:54:18 <Elanlee> next?
23:54:18 <SS> next?
23:54:39 <DanHon> <sleeplessly> QUESTION: How long did it take to construct
the ELIZA puzzles? Did you build in a "learning curve" for
solvers?
23:54:50 <Elanlee> oh boy, Eliza
23:54:53 <Elanlee> this could take a while
23:54:57 <astralpunch> (Or did you just want to slow us down?!)
23:55:02 <Elanlee> no!!
23:55:19 <irwando> You knew it was coming dude. :)
23:55:33 <SS> while elan does the long answer, I'll do a short one, which
is that the Teddy puzzles were done by Dan Carver.
23:57:03 <SS> he enjoyed making them. Some were reasonably quick to put
together. The last one, obviously, was a bear, as there were SO
many kickouts...
23:57:08 <Elanlee> The original plan for Eliza, was (I thought) the most
elegant puzzle in the game. She was a beautifully intelligent
bot that loved to play. I put in the concept of anger only to
force some respect. The original script was several hundred
pages long, and really a lovely thing. Unfortunately, we ran out
of time and there were compatibility problems, so you only got to
see about 10 percent of her...
23:57:37 <Elanlee> We tried so hard to bring her to life in the right way,
but eventually had to settle for a bunch of hacks that made her
terrible. She was the most dissapointing experience for me...
23:57:50 <DanHon> Any chance of seeing the script?
23:57:59 <Elanlee> I'll try
23:58:20 <DanHon> Excellent!
23:58:37 <Elanlee> Eliza would have been saved by a full team and about a
year of pre-production. We had to chop her off at the knees just
to get something out the door.
23:58:46 <SS> we finally had to cut bait on Eliza because every week she
was late we had to invent a whole week of content on the fly. EG
Loki, Mowz puzzles, etc.
23:58:59 <astralpunch> so, Loki is all Eliza's fault.
23:59:02 <astralpunch> I think we now dislike Eliza even more.
23:59:04 <Elanlee> oh that's true...all of that stuff was just stalling for
time.
23:59:13 <Elanlee> :)
23:59:14 <wholok> okay, quick follow up.
23:59:22 <SS> Beautiful stalling! At its best...
23:59:27 <SS> yes?
23:59:38 <wholok> on the topic of MOWZ, did we get the answer "innovation"
before the actual response went live? some people insist they
tried it already.
00:00:21 <Elanlee> no..innovation was always the correct answer. To the
best of my knowledge it was always working, but we had SERIOUS
server problems around that time.
00:00:39 <Elanlee> I should also take a second and REALLY apologize for
that terribly thought-out puzzle.
00:00:49 <astralpunch> ha!
00:00:59 <Elanlee> ya, I was having a rough night.
00:01:09 <wholok> the "dated information" thing really messed with my head.
did you have to bribe google?
00:01:10 <astralpunch> funny, we were having a rough one, too!
00:01:31 <wholok> we've noticed that the search doesn't work anymore.
00:01:50 <astralpunch> it's now on page 7 or something
00:01:57 <SS> The amount of creative puzzle building you did, under time
pressure, most of it after midnight, leaves me reluctant to have
you slag yourself unduly.
00:02:04 <Elanlee> google is just so uncooperative.
00:02:04 <astralpunch> Dan Fabulich was looking for it for the Journey and
nearly tore his hair out
00:02:05 <Elanlee> :)
00:02:19 <Elanlee> No, they had no idea that I was stupid enough to base a
puzzle on thier engine.
00:02:30 <SS> Also, the Exodus/Critic puzzle did a VERY importnat service;
largely ended the "any time we're stuck the PMs will just hint us
with a post on our board" talk...
00:02:53 <Elanlee> sorry Dan!
00:03:03 <wholok> okay, I'm done. time for next?
00:03:03 <SS> next?
00:03:04 <Elanlee> next?
00:03:11 <astralpunch> ready
00:03:14 <astralpunch> <sfsdfd> QUESTION: What in the world did "ball and
boat must lead him" mean, and how did you expect us to react?
00:03:21 <astralpunch> Focus on the latter, please.
00:05:04 <SS> We wanted to give you guys a chance to seize some initiative
and wow us with a creative plan. As it says in the FAQ, the
database was not a solution we had thought of, but worked out
with eerie effectiveness, don't you think? I thought 3 mt (who
had to make that film in 1 day) diud a fabulous job.
00:05:07 <Elanlee> We really wanted to push the interactive nature of the
game. (Maybe too far?) We had a lot of exit scenarios to that
puzzle and wanted to see how best to react to the solution that
you guys came up with. Ultimately the answer that you came up
with was better than anything we had in mind.
00:05:34 <Elanlee> next?
00:05:34 <SS> next?
00:05:50 <DanHon> <RossWhite> QUESTION: With so many loose ends and time
constraints, did you feel that you were able to craft an ending
with emotional resonance? With more time to work, are there
major points you would have pursued/reworked?
00:06:15 <SS> First part: your call.
00:06:45 <astralpunch> The Martin and Laia diaries were very resonant, in
my opinion
00:06:55 <SS> 2nde part: don't know. This was the time and situation we
had, creating second-by-second to this end.
00:07:16 <Elanlee> Ya, more time would have been great. I'm not sure there
is such thing as an ending on par with the amount of involvement
that you guys put into this. By nature, "the end" means we had
to ask you to stop. There was really no easy way to do that.
00:07:33 <SS> I certainly, for my part, tried very hard to find an
emotional, as well as an intellectual, component in the game
experience.
00:08:03 <SS> <elan still typing>
00:08:16 <Elanlee> Ok, now it's my turn....I thought Sean did such a great
job with the last Martin and Laia editions that I got teary eyed.
00:08:46 <Elanlee> next?
00:08:51 <SS> next?
00:09:22 <astralpunch> <mystrijuce> QUESTION: Why no closure from red king?
00:10:07 <SS> By "no closure" you mean he had his last update on Friday
instead of Monday? This is what we mean when we say you guys are
insatiable. :)
00:10:28 <Elanlee> next?
00:10:28 <SS> next?
00:10:30 <astralpunch> hey, we take all we can get.
00:10:38 <DanHon> <selket> QUESTION: what was the budget for the beast?
00:10:45 <wholok> everyone just wanted RK to get laid.
00:10:51 <Elanlee> oh boy, you know I can't answer that.
00:11:00 <DanHon> I know, but we had to try :)
00:11:12 <Elanlee> more than I could afford on my own. Thanks uncle Bill
and uncle Steve!
00:11:17 <astralpunch> ha.
00:11:18 <SS> <i know. But face it: laia is too much woman, and RK looks
like a mechano-set>
00:11:23 <astralpunch> you made us not hate MS so much!
00:11:32 <astralpunch> you're the best promotion that company has!
00:11:43 <Elanlee> ya, they're starting to win me over as well.
00:11:49 <Elanlee> :)
00:11:52 <astralpunch> ha
00:11:58 <Elanlee> next?
00:12:21 <SS> MS will not be the same with Jordan Weisman and Scot Bayless
there.
00:12:25 <SS> next?
00:12:55 <astralpunch> do you mean "without?"
00:13:00 <Elanlee> yes!!!
00:13:04 <Elanlee> gotta fix that...
00:13:08 <astralpunch> what are they going to do?
00:13:18 <SS> <<oops, Elan says this makes it sound like they are leaving.
I just mean, I had the usual prejudices too, but Jordan is the
most incredibly creative guy I've ever met.
00:13:39 <SS> MS + Jordan = good.
00:13:44 <Elanlee> (next to me of course.)
00:14:01 <SS> next?
00:14:03 <Elanlee> next?
00:14:17 <astralpunch> <Curlay> QUESTION: Why did Sencha send the puzzles
to Laia? What was their connection?
00:15:03 <SS> he thought Evan's murder was wrong, an abuse of power by his
fellow dalangs, was my take. I think it's in Sophia that way,
right?
00:15:24 <Elanlee> He wanted to step in and help, but had the problem of
trying to save his job, life..little things like that.
00:15:49 <SS> I thought Elan did a nice job of themeing the Sencha puzzles,
btw. And Dan, Earthet-22 was supposed to work, it was buggy, and
when you went back to get Mosaic, you didn't check again on
Earthnet...
00:15:51 <Elanlee> Sean, did you just trout them?
00:15:52 <astralpunch> was Sencha a code for another character we know or
an entirely different character?
00:15:59 <SS> NO!
00:16:03 <SS> <i hope?>
00:16:18 <SS> Sencha is his own man.
00:16:18 <wholok> SS: you just said "Check Sophia! TROUT!"
00:16:30 <Elanlee> that's what I read too.
00:16:35 <SS> "Your words. Not mine." :)
00:16:46 <SS> oops...
00:16:52 <SS> NEXT?
00:16:54 <Elanlee> everybody yell at Sean!! Ok, sorry, what were we
talking about?
00:16:56 <Elanlee> next?
00:17:05 <DanHon> <KGCKat> QUESTION: What was the actual meaning of "OES
June 2nd"?
00:17:39 <Elanlee> you mean off the trailer?
00:17:48 <astralpunch> yes
00:17:53 <DanHon> Ooops. I appear to have trouted myself ;)
00:18:02 <astralpunch> yes, you did. try another?
00:18:05 <DanHon> Let's try another, shall we ;)
00:18:15 <DanHon> <pusher_robot> QUESTION: how much personal mail did you
get regarding the game? you'd been kind enough to write me back
a couple times and that was really impressive (call me jonathan
;) )
00:19:40 <Elanlee> A lot, but I love it. (I assume that one was to me...I'm
pretty sure I remember Jonathan.) We both try our best to get
back to all of them.
00:19:58 <SS> 15 emails, maybe, for me? I will happily answer them now
ASAP.
00:20:07 <SS> next?
00:20:16 <Elanlee> ya, we've both got some free time on our hands all of
the sudden :)
00:20:24 <astralpunch> <Jazar> QUESTION: What the heck happened to Monica
Swinton?
00:20:28 <SS> no, I have a novel due in 5 weeks.
00:20:41 <Elanlee> oh right....well living carefree at least!
00:21:06 <SS> jazar--what do you mean, that isn't covered in her catskills
file?
00:21:25 <Elanlee> (I think you just did it again...)
00:21:33 <astralpunch> <Jazar> why is she in a coma!
00:21:34 <SS> She is a desperately unhappy woman who retreats into sleep;
not sure what else to add...?
00:21:38 <wholok> it was spec'ed the night of screenings that Monica wents
nuts due to her being revived in the future. any validity to
that?
00:22:42 <SS> I'm not aware of her having been in a coma...? Unless you
are talking about movie stuff, and there your guess is as good as
mine...
00:23:10 <wholok> people in #evanchan are asking... why was Monica harmed
by Mother2?
00:23:19 <SS> next? <sorry to be foggy, J>
00:24:06 <DanHon> Okay, moving on ;)
00:24:34 <DanHon> <spacebo> QUESTION: how do you feel about developing
this new form of gaming, and how big do you think the impact will
be?
00:25:43 <SS> Why does everyone want to call it a game? (--your, "sheesh--
I want it to be more than a game" PM)
00:25:51 <SS> <elan is doing the serious answer>
00:25:59 <SS> I think it is a new art form, though
00:26:00 <Elanlee> It's been amazing. This is the kind of story telling
that we've been dreaming about forever over here. The chance to
do it, and have such an appreciative audience has been
astounding! There's going to be a bunch of bad rip-offs I'm
sure, but the new direction that this net-specific type of media
has is very exciting!
00:26:36 <SS> next?
00:26:42 <Elanlee> next? Or were you looking for something else there?
00:26:48 <astralpunch> that's fine
00:26:55 <astralpunch> next question is sort of a follow-up
00:27:03 <astralpunch> and very close to my heart for obvious reasons
00:27:04 <astralpunch> <Havok> QUESTION: Has the publicity generated in
this game paving the way for bigger and better projects that
obviously people would even pay for?
00:27:09 <Elanlee> Hold on, we lost Sean....he's coming back....
00:27:19 <astralpunch> ih, this is an Elan question mainly anyway
00:29:18 <Elanlee> hold on guys....having trouble getting Sean back....a
bit distracting.
00:30:35 <irwando> as Sean goes Off line. :)
00:31:15 <Elanlee> There's a lot of opportunity here. This project has
elevated my own personal quality bar ten-fold. If we ever move
into a pay model, it'll be in a non-obtrusive way. It's useless
if it detracts from the game.
00:31:48 <DanHon> Hear, hear!
00:33:11 <DanHon> (we're attempting to get Sean back)
00:35:24 <Elanlee> guys, sorry about this.....any more questions I can
answer in the meantime?
00:35:27 <DanHon> (we're attempting to get Sean back)
00:35:44 <astralpunch> yes.
00:35:47 <astralpunch> Dan, your turn
00:36:03 <DanHon> <godhead> QUESTION: "Beef sandwich"???
00:36:22 <astralpunch> I love that one!
00:37:24 <Elanlee> Um, Was that one of the things you guys found randomly
in the source?
00:37:38 <astralpunch> Since people aren't listening in #evanchan, yes, it
was in a source of an early on page.
00:37:39 <DanHon> Yep, that would be it.
00:39:22 <Elanlee> there was a time when we told some of the developers
that they could put bits of puzzles in the code. Problem was
that they started writing thier own puzzles. Had to stop it as
soon as it became a problem. That was one of the really really
bad side effects.
00:39:43 <wholok> Elanlee: Would that explain "Plato disappeared beautiful
land"?
00:40:15 <Elanlee> ya, but we went back to write that in later. After a
while, it got to be too hard to keep up with all the extra stuff
that appeared in the source though!
00:41:12 <Elanlee> yay, Sean is back!
00:41:41 <Guest5928944> hey guys
00:41:48 <Elanlee> welcome back
00:42:20 <astralpunch> please change your nick to something, anything
00:42:22 * DanHon holds up a board saying "Applause"
00:42:34 <astralpunch> type /nick whatever
00:42:46 <Elanlee> working on it....
00:43:13 <Elanlee> Ok, so where were we?
00:43:13 * DanHon holds up a board saying "Applause", again ;)
00:43:23 <SS> we were being apostles for this fabulous new tech!
00:43:27 <DanHon> I believe it's Bronwen's question if we're done on that
one...
00:43:28 <astralpunch> next question?
00:43:38 <astralpunch> okay, this is a special request:
00:43:39 <Elanlee> ya, next?
00:43:52 <astralpunch> How many Cloudmakers does it take to screw in a
lightbulb?
00:44:07 <Elanlee> how do you know it's a lightbulb?
00:44:20 <irwando> ha!
00:44:23 <DanHon> Good point. Maybe we need more SPEC.
00:44:37 <Guest5928945> have we tried mersenne primes yet?
00:45:13 <seanstewart> ,waiting for punch line...
00:45:34 <DanHon> next?
00:45:42 <astralpunch> yours.
00:45:46 <Elanlee> I was kind of growing fond of guest5928945. really
rolls off the tounge
00:45:54 <DanHon> Okay, here's one that seven thousand people need to know
the answer to:
00:45:55 <DanHon> <sarahvb> QUESTION: What are we suppsoed to do with
ourselves, now?
00:46:06 <Elanlee> HA!!!
00:46:10 <Romeo> :(
00:47:31 <seanstewart> continue to care about things & think about things?
You're a very special group.
00:47:36 <Elanlee> Um, keep talking to each other..Don't lose all the
amazing stuff that you built, continue to be smarter and faster
than we are, and we'll come back to challenge you again...
00:47:57 <seanstewart> next?
00:48:00 <Elanlee> next?
00:48:03 <astralpunch> Well, that excited them.
00:48:05 <astralpunch> <mystrijuce> QUESTION: Whats your opinion on
majestic?
00:48:46 <Elanlee> I really love Majestic actually. It's a brilliant game.
I'm looking forward to playing. Anything that promostes this new
art form is OK with me!
00:48:54 <Elanlee> ahem, promotes
00:49:07 <seanstewart> next?
00:49:09 <Elanlee> next?
00:49:17 <DanHon> <Sej> QUESTION: How deep in one's black book did you
guys have to dig to find someone who speaks Kannada? Works with
bacteriophage? ..etc?
00:49:58 <Elanlee> Microsoft is an infinately vast resource....and everyone
wants to be a part of something new.
00:50:11 <Elanlee> the hardest part was keeping people away!
00:50:24 <seanstewart> My wife wrote restriction enzyme puzzle, lute
puzzle, and suggested the Debutante Ball. If you can't beat 'em,
join em.
00:50:52 <Elanlee> I would get requests like, "Hey, I can play 'sweet
georgia brown' on my cheeks...can you use that in your game?
00:51:03 <seanstewart> elan is hell on the net, too. He finds stuff.
00:51:25 <Elanlee> I should print that on my business card "I find stuff"
00:51:34 <Elanlee> next?
00:51:46 <seanstewart> we exploited everyone ruthlessly.
00:51:46 <seanstewart> next?
00:51:53 <astralpunch> <sfsdfd> QUESTION: Was there any puzzle with the bar
code on the poster?
00:52:52 <Elanlee> No...sorry. We were in a tremendous hurry, and so Vic
just expertly created something that would look authentic. He's
incredible with no time to spare, so we settled on the puzzle
being in the bar code around perimeter.
00:53:19 <Elanlee> sorry. I hate to send you guys off on chases with no
reward, but we didn't have a choice on that one....deadlines.
00:53:27 <astralpunch> I believe they mean the one in the watermark
00:53:27 <seanstewart> vic is amazing. e.g. wonderful creepy doodles opn
Svet's private page.
00:53:28 <seanstewart> next?
00:53:33 <Elanlee> next?
00:53:44 <DanHon> QUESTION: Is there anything at
http://www.thevisionary.net/mother/ (it says You are not
authorized to view this page, rather than 404) -- or was anything
going to be there?
00:54:22 <Elanlee> Ya, there's a lot of code for writing the automatic
email. Nothing that you're supposed to look at though. Geez,
can't we keep any secrets from you guys?!
00:54:29 <Elanlee> next?
00:54:37 <seanstewart> next?
00:54:47 <astralpunch> [00:56] <infinite_monkey> QUESTION: Any advice for
would-be PMs?
00:54:48 <astralpunch> [00:56] <mystrijuce> QUESTION: where ther any
terrible disagreements between you all?
00:54:48 <astralpunch> [00:56] <BigRedCat> Question: Was the actress who
played Laia unavailable after the first shoot and that's why
there were no videos or new pics?
00:54:48 <astralpunch> [00:56] <sfsdfd> QUESTION: What's up with the stuff
in the Rational Hatter source code - "plague", "famine", etc.?
00:54:48 <astralpunch> [00:56] <metrocake> QUESTION: Will those game sites
appear elsewhere?
00:54:53 <astralpunch> oh god.
00:54:55 <astralpunch> ignore that.
00:55:02 <Elanlee> Um...
00:55:04 <astralpunch> this one:
00:55:06 <astralpunch> <dante> QUESTION: was Amanda Walsh supposed to be a
more significant character? BadMetal seemed to provide mostly
'color'
00:56:22 <seanstewart> There was going to be a lot more BM -- I mean a LOT
more. We have already written 9 issues, complete with pools and
betting tables. However, during merry plot-telescoping, 60,000
wds of BM hit the floor.
00:56:31 <Elanlee> Bad metal had some major plot points that got cut due to
time constraints. We thought the site looked cool enough to go
live though, and wanted a cool way to play "where's Venus?"
00:56:53 <seanstewart> who was played by the same actress, by the way...
00:57:01 <Elanlee> and before you even ask....that's what happened to the
unused sites as well.
00:57:08 <Elanlee> (oh the grand plans we had!)
00:57:14 <Elanlee> next?
00:57:14 <seanstewart> next?
00:57:23 <DanHon> Vaguely following on:
00:57:27 <DanHon> <SpaceBass> QUESTION: Do you think that the constraints
under which you toiled (e.g. labor and time shortage, initial
underestimation of player response, no past experience with this
media form to draw from) contributed to or detracted from the
gameplay? Would things have been as exciting all around if
everything had been fully planned out months in advance, or did
the forced fluidity enhance the storytelling and interactivity?
00:57:49 <seanstewart> It was always going to be interactive.
00:58:15 <seanstewart> The dream is interactivity + sleep for PMs.
Achievable? Who knows... We hope so.
00:58:58 <Elanlee> everything started out VERY carefully planned, but we
learned quickly that a game of that nature would get boring way
too fast. You guys challenged us by the hour, and it was a
pleasure to challenge you right back. I also think that some of
my best work comes from three straight days of sleeping for a
half hour in the office, so you guys saw me at my prime on a
regular basis!
00:59:07 <seanstewart> Certainly anything you tried to make rigid
beforehand would be dead on the table. Any GM knows that. I
even feel that way about 8novels*, if they go like I expect, i
think they suck.
00:59:54 <seanstewart> old motto: "if I only write as well as I can, I
haven't written very well." meaning, it has to come alive in the
telling, you have to find a way to let the world and characters
be smarter than you are.
01:00:07 <seanstewart> next?
01:00:09 <Elanlee> next?
01:00:23 <astralpunch> <Under> QUESTION: Red King binary. Puzzle or not?
01:01:27 <Elanlee> on the original BIOS page?
01:01:34 <seanstewart> <elan typing>
01:01:35 <DanHon> Yeah, that'll be it.
01:01:43 <Elanlee> sorry, I started typing an answer and then realized it
might be for the wrong question.
01:01:51 <irwando> Drove the group nuts man.
01:02:20 <DanHon> Sorry, on the SPCB hack page ;)
01:02:25 <Elanlee> The original binary was back when we thought we were
being cool hacker-like. Oh how you taught us! Really sorry
about that. It was supposed to be "art".
01:02:42 <Elanlee> sorry
01:02:43 <Elanlee> sorry
01:02:45 <Elanlee> sorry
01:02:50 <astralpunch> ha
01:02:52 <seanstewart> fwiw, we call it the shado paj
01:02:56 <DanHon> I think we can just about forgive you ;)
01:02:57 <irwando> bad PM's!
01:02:59 <astralpunch> interesting
01:03:06 <Elanlee> like I said, I hate doing that to you guys....you're too
good at this, and I learned too slowly!
01:03:22 <seanstewart> It's not a bad PM thing, it really isn't. You just
wanted to see puzzles EVERYWHERE.
01:03:32 <wholok> from #evanchan: <sarahvb> fuck art
01:03:36 <seanstewart> Not a criticism. Just a curious fact of the game,
one that the game admittedly encouraged.
01:03:39 <Elanlee> :)
01:03:56 <DanHon> next?
01:04:12 <Elanlee> I agree. We taught you guys to look for puzzles
everywhere, and then should have supported it. We learned our
lesson as we went on.
01:04:16 <Elanlee> next?
01:04:21 <DanHon> <sfsdfd> QUESTION: What's up with the stuff in the
Rational Hatter source code - "plague", "famine", etc.?
01:05:13 <Elanlee> Same problem with the embedded puzzles. I turned that
off as soon as I found out it was happening, and we couldn't find
an elegant way to write it into the story.
01:05:45 <Elanlee> next?
01:05:48 <seanstewart> next?
01:05:50 <astralpunch> <BigRedCat> Question: Was the actress who played
Laia unavailable after the first shoot and that's why there were
no videos or new pics?
01:06:40 <seanstewart> We originally thought of her as a narrator, rather
than a main player. Her role as your surrogate didn't off-hand
require filming.
01:06:54 <irwando> I think more than a few people really wanna know where
they can go find Laia. :)
01:06:58 <seanstewart> Later, as she became more central, it was too late
to do extra stuff.
01:07:37 <seanstewart> Filming was much much much less fluid than the stuff
we could control ourselves without having to go to LA, hire
actors, etc. etc. etc. So video couldn't respond as flexibly to
the turns of the story.
01:07:49 <Elanlee> I can't tell you how many requests I've gotten for her
phone number! (And also from her agent swearing me to secrecy!)
01:07:59 <Elanlee> next?
01:08:03 <seanstewart> next?
01:08:05 <DanHon> Does the Laia actress know she's now got a cult
following???
01:08:15 <DanHon> (from the #ec male crowd, as a follow-up)
01:08:20 <astralpunch> that's from taxicafe, creater of the member database
01:08:28 <seanstewart> I don't know. I hope so!
01:08:39 <DanHon> Okay, moving on:
01:08:39 <Elanlee> not sure.
01:08:39 <DanHon> <spacebo> QUESTION: which writers did you draw on for
inspiration? (philip k dick, william gibson, douglas adams?)
01:08:56 <Elanlee> Sean Stewart
01:09:01 <DanHon> :)
01:09:43 <seanstewart> gibson, shakespeare, me <smile>, iain banks supplied
GKs diction,... long long long list...
01:10:34 <seanstewart> When you have to create this many voices this fast,
you use pretty broadly. Elan and I had this deal where he would
occasionally teach me how to work my browser and i would make him
listen to Yeats poems. A rgular odd-couple movie... :)
01:10:49 <seanstewart> next?
01:10:49 <Elanlee> :)
01:10:51 <Elanlee> next?
01:11:03 <astralpunch> <sarahvb in spirit> What's with the hearts on the
Four Women page?
01:11:13 <Elanlee> frosting
01:11:17 <seanstewart> :)
01:11:29 <seanstewart> next?
01:11:30 <Elanlee> next?
01:11:32 <astralpunch> frosting?!
01:11:38 <astralpunch> you HAVE to explain further
01:11:40 <DanHon> Okay, I'm taking this opportunity to bow out...
01:11:46 <seanstewart> i dunno what it means either, but it sounds cool...
01:11:46 <Elanlee> damn, thought you were going to let that one slide...
01:11:51 <DanHon> And I'm leaving you in the capable hands of Irwin, co-
Trail Guy.
01:11:57 <irwando> whohoo!
01:11:58 <astralpunch> No way. Further explanation.
01:12:08 <seanstewart> thank you so very much for everything, Dan.
01:12:31 <Elanlee> It was just a way to present the page. We had to draw
people in from first glance, and so there a lot of design
decisions made to do that. Sorry, it was just frosting.
01:12:37 <astralpunch> Ok.
01:12:57 <astralpunch> Irwin, do you want me to keep going with another?
01:13:07 <seanstewart> there was also a plan to let it stop beating at a
certain time in the plot, but when that time came, nobody was
playing the game yet, so it made sense to let it slide
01:13:17 <seanstewart> next?
01:13:22 <Elanlee> ya, we did a lot of that.....sliding.
01:13:23 <Elanlee> next?
01:14:35 <astralpunch> while we wait for Irwin to get ready, here's one:
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] <headmocker> Ciphone: That wasn answered in
the PMs FAQ
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] <sfsdfd> QUESTION: Did Kate Nei kill Sencha?
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] <Gupfee> Q: what real life AI projects did
you read about and which ones impressed you the most?
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] *** DanHon has left #evanchan
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] <Draco> QUESTION: What's with the "ambush"
picture series?
01:14:35 <astralpunch> [01:15] <Draco> QUESTION: What was the point of the
Base64 puzzle giving us Plato's Beautiful Land?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <Draco> QUESTION: You mentioned that we got
into the Audrey Green PACO early. Did we kill Kate and you run
with it, or was that pre-planned?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <cyranix9_CARV> sarah: done, and praying
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <akro_sushi> Sorry sorry... didnt mean to
post that twice.
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <infinite_monkey> QUESTION: Any advice for
would-be PMs?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <sfsdfd> Danelope: damn, beat me to it
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <glitterkrystyn> QUESTION: Will there be a
Saturday morning cartoon based on Loki?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <metrocake> QUESTION: Sentinel-security --
more to it?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <OaksBR> QUESTION: Did you have bigger plans
for the Alice in Wonderland references, as the registered domain
names suggest?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <BigRedCat> QUESTION: Why is the enigma that
is the Big Red Cat so amazing and popular?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <wholok> STOP STOP STOP
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <gooey> QUES : what's with the olive loaf ?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:15] <julez> QUESTION: Are the mods going to ask
"Who killed Jeanine Salla"?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:16] *** wholok has changed the topic on channel
#evanchan to QUESTIONS STOP | There *will* be a chat log | DO
NOT /MSG Elanlee or SS | join #PM-Chat
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:16] <sarahvb> QUESTION: Why did Kate, rather
than anyone else, kill Sencha?
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:16] <wholok> STOP QUESTIONS
01:14:36 <astralpunch> [01:16] <gooey> as in 'beat one's head in with an
olive loaf'
01:14:36 <irwando> Bronwen, go, let me find some...
01:14:36 <astralpunch> OH MY GOD
01:14:36 <astralpunch> no, there was 100
01:14:37 <seanstewart> oof.
01:14:40 <Elanlee> neat, I get to peek at your notes!
01:14:47 <astralpunch> please answer this:
01:14:48 <astralpunch> <Wumpus> Was the "Girl Detective" reference a clue,
or an author recommendation?
01:14:58 <seanstewart> both
01:15:09 <seanstewart> next?
01:15:13 <Elanlee> next?
01:15:34 <astralpunch> <KGCKat> QUESTION: Was Spinoza supposed to be
indicated in "8 Brooks is passing", or was it something else
entirely?
01:15:58 <Elanlee> Ok, Sean has been wanting to get this out for
while.....go ahead
01:16:17 <Elanlee> this way, maybe he'll stop pestering me about when he
gets to tell you guys about this.
01:16:31 <seanstewart> the phrase as written was, comp sik djinn @ 8
Brooks iz pasing kilware devlopd 4 the sirkit
01:16:42 <seanstewart> it was broken into three ffragments
01:16:53 <seanstewart> becoming the longest-running query in the game....
01:17:01 <Elanlee> AND IT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT!!!
01:17:05 <Elanlee> next?
01:17:09 <seanstewart> next?
01:17:21 <astralpunch> Irwin, are you ready yet?
01:17:45 <irwando> yeah.
01:18:00 <irwando> <Ciphon`> QUESTION: Did you read any of the Humor posts
on the list, and what were some of your favorite tension-breakers
among them?
01:18:19 <seanstewart> alternate "shatter" video!
01:18:19 <Elanlee> I love this question!!
01:18:27 <seanstewart> "pierogies"
01:18:52 <seanstewart> lots and lots. hard to remmber them all, but yes
they were much enjoyed.
01:18:58 <Elanlee> I didn't have much time to read anything, so Sean would
send me his favorite "gems" kept me going through the night
sometimes!
01:19:15 <seanstewart> next?
01:19:16 <Elanlee> next?
01:19:21 <astralpunch> <Danelope> QUESTION: Who assassinated Sencha? If it
was Kate, how did she become involved with those who wanted him
dead?
01:19:30 <astralpunch> Also, is Kate dead?!
01:19:54 <seanstewart> the text doesn;t say for sure.
01:20:10 <seanstewart> My spec: Sencha's colleagues withdraw their
protection,
01:20:27 <seanstewart> and allow Kate, who wants to avenge the death of
Ivy, to succeed.
01:20:38 <seanstewart> this is their usual style (cf Basta)
01:20:50 <seanstewart> So they open a door; she walks through it.
01:21:00 <seanstewart> Another plot thread that was compressed...
01:21:04 <Elanlee> (I just think Nancy did it.)
01:21:09 <astralpunch> HA!
01:21:11 <seanstewart> :)
01:21:16 <seanstewart> next?
01:21:16 <astralpunch> You just made the CMs very happy!
01:21:19 <Elanlee> next?
01:21:29 <irwando> <dante> QUESTION: was there anything with the different
autopsy ID#s at PACO?
01:21:45 <Elanlee> um, can you be more specific?
01:22:08 <Elanlee> do you mean the IDs in different formats?
01:22:09 <irwando> I think he means any significance, any pattern?
01:22:16 <astralpunch> I believe that's what he means
01:22:37 <seanstewart> pete would be the guy to ask. he had schemes for
all those numbers, etc.
01:22:39 <Elanlee> Pete
01:23:01 <seanstewart> <Nancy's GNOMES did it>
01:23:03 <seanstewart> next?
01:23:06 <Elanlee> next?
01:23:13 <astralpunch> We're only going to have five more questions.
01:23:17 <astralpunch> <aznrice> QUESTION: Could you please elaborate how
the events in the Ruf Justis movie at cutofthevoid.com affected
Fletcher later in the story? Or was this a sub-plot that wasn't
fully explored as in the case with bad-metal.net's unpublished
issues?
01:24:04 <Elanlee> Sean's taking this one....
01:24:43 <Elanlee> How do I politely ask for questions that don't all
answer with "cuz we screwed up?" <whimper>
01:24:49 <astralpunch> ha
01:24:49 <seanstewart> The story arc on the big board back in Jan. was made
up of 5 sections: the death of evan chan; ten little bungalows;
it's all about david; Hansel & Gretel, the Snow Queen; and
Election Night. OK, six sections
01:24:57 <astralpunch> um, you could offer your own answer to something,
Elan!
01:26:14 <seanstewart> Diane's <forced> epiphany finishes out "The Snow
Queen"; and is part of her progress into personhood. A compare-
and-contrast with Venus, if you will. Had there been more time,
you would have had more chances to see a distinctly more emotive
Diane, but just getting the splinter out was the high-point of
that character arc,/
01:26:34 <seanstewart> next?
01:26:40 <Elanlee> me too...next?
01:26:46 <irwando> <OaksBR> QUESTION: Did you have bigger plans for the
Alice in Wonderland references, as the registered domain names
suggest?
01:28:03 <Elanlee> Yes. Sophia was originally going to use all of those
names. The puzzle was going to be in finding them. Once the
names got published (oh, that was a fun lesson.) we figured we'd
just hold onto the names in case we thought of any other use for
them. Never did.
01:28:16 <seanstewart> next?
01:28:16 <Elanlee> next?
01:28:33 <astralpunch> <Katya2032> Question: Who killed Jeanine Salla?
01:28:49 <seanstewart> agents of the dalangs
01:28:52 <seanstewart> next?
01:29:09 <astralpunch> they need to know why
01:29:13 <seanstewart> oops -- we may have lost elan, here. He's
rebooting.
01:29:22 <irwando> awww..
01:29:25 <wholok> I think Mr. Stewart means to say that we'll have to buy
the novel to really find out. :)
01:29:41 <seanstewart> :)
01:30:15 <seanstewart> next?
01:30:39 <astralpunch> Should we wait for Elan?
01:30:42 <astralpunch> We only have two questions remaining.
01:31:07 <seanstewart> <but obviously people, meaning YOU among others,
were systematically tracking back to the Frankenhobby through
here, and beginning to spec at a possible connection to MUSE.
They were getting more and more exposed, and she knew a lot.
01:31:28 <seanstewart> Elan's on his way. Ask one that looks more story-
ish first. :)
01:32:09 <seanstewart> next? <sorry!>
01:32:41 <irwando> The #ecers are asking about cicadas..
01:32:55 <irwando> Thoughts?
01:33:43 <seanstewart> you all have made a ton of really useful conenctions
about cicadas. The starting point for the mention was in their
tendency to synchronize chirps across many members, so instead of
getting white noise, you get rhythmical pulses.
01:34:25 <seanstewart> but the lateral inhibition spec that synched up with
that was all good spec, and much to the purpose as you began to
think about the TP as a system showing hierarchical or patterded
behavior.
01:34:43 <seanstewart> also, they're bugs, and bugs were big in this game.
:)
01:34:43 <seanstewart> next?
01:34:58 <seanstewart> <elan is coming closer. it's like a marketing
teaser...>
01:35:15 <astralpunch> ooh
01:36:04 <elanlee> must resist urge to make disparaging Microsoft product
comment.
01:36:17 <seanstewart> sentinel suffered a virulent strain of WHOIS, to
return as Watchtower, only to be similarly WHOISed because of a
whole different security breach.
01:36:18 <irwando> heh
01:36:22 <seanstewart> so sentinel = watchtower.
01:37:10 <seanstewart> elan used to worry about this stuff. I tried to
assure him that the patented Just In Time Content Delivery System
made us unhackable.
01:37:22 <astralpunch> ha
01:37:23 <seanstewart> It was too bad that the easter-egg game couldn't go
on longer, but all's fair...
01:37:45 <seanstewart> If you got 'em, you got 'em, and we just had to
learn to play with that...
01:38:04 <seanstewart> ELAN IS BACK! YAY!
01:38:16 <Guest5928949> and there was much rejoicing....
01:38:18 <irwando> :)
01:38:31 <seanstewart> You're right, that IS a lovely nick...
01:38:33 <astralpunch> elan. instructions for you on the other screen.
01:39:19 <seanstewart> We didn't get "angry" about things like RUR or the
Catskill decompile.
01:39:23 <seanstewart> Fortunes of war.
01:39:43 <seanstewart> and teach us to be smarter next time. :)
01:39:55 <seanstewart> next?
01:40:05 <Elan> next? (catching up)
01:40:07 <irwando> <ceruleanonyxw> QUESTION: Were there days when you guys
didn't get along getting this stuff together from sleep
deprivation etc?
01:40:18 <irwando> :)
01:40:25 <Elan> this is so loaded!
01:40:29 <seanstewart> Almost never, amazingly.
01:40:35 <seanstewart> Not counting yesterday. :)
01:40:38 <irwando> Elan.. :)
01:40:40 <Elan> :)
01:40:50 <Elan> not bad for six months of working together 18 hours a day!
01:40:51 <astralpunch> ha
01:41:06 <seanstewart> Elan is incredibly easy to work with. A dream. I
am not. But one of him is enough, apparently.
01:41:23 <Elan> I just fake it really well.
01:41:25 <seanstewart> The truth is, we had a magical rapport on the team
here
01:41:29 <Elan> I'm really a terrible person
01:41:56 <seanstewart> i didn't say you were ethical. Just easy to work
with. :)
01:42:06 <astralpunch> next one, guys?
01:42:07 <Elan> :)
01:42:10 <Elan> get's the job done
01:42:12 <seanstewart> next?
01:42:15 <Elan> next?
01:42:21 <astralpunch> This is actually the last question of the night.
01:42:32 <Elan> that means I get to go to sleep soon??!?!?
01:42:32 <astralpunch> It comes from Cabel Sasser, the founder of
Cloudmakers.
01:42:39 <Elan> yay Cabel!!
01:42:42 <astralpunch> yup!
01:42:44 <seanstewart> Yay cabel!
01:42:45 <astralpunch> <Cabel> Do the Puppet Masters have any final words
or thoughts for the Cloudmakers?
01:42:58 <Elan> oh see, now this could take hours!
01:43:02 <seanstewart> bless you
01:43:30 <seanstewart> i think we wrote our final words and thoughts and
sent them out today on the credits page and in the surfacing mail
01:43:33 <astralpunch> Hey, you could always write us another letter and
leave it on a site somewhere. We'd find it.
01:43:59 <seanstewart> We were honored, driven, inspired, baffled,
exhausted, bouyed up by you.
01:44:13 <Elan> You guys are so much more than we hoped for. You really
brought life to this project. This would have been a sad sad
experiment if you hand't challenged us, and forced us to work
harder than we thought we could.
01:44:25 <Elan> This project really is yours
01:44:38 <seanstewart> PM = cloud. CM = ground. Between = lightning.
01:45:06 <astralpunch> Alright, on behalf of the Cloudmakers, I'd like to
thank you guys for stopping by.
01:45:20 <irwando> Aww, people are getting all teary-eyed in #ec. Big
thanks guys.
01:45:28 <Elan> oh, you guys rock for finding a way to get messages
across.....thanks!!!
01:45:33 <astralpunch> We'll be speaking to you on Tuesday, and you should
all know that the PMs are working on the Mac/Linux/etc. issue for
the Zone Chat.
01:45:34 <seanstewart> Thanks, it's been great. We're teary-eyed too.
01:46:00 <astralpunch> okay, this channel is now open.
01:46:01 <seanstewart> :) :)