CHAPTER 4 Virtual Mekton: Past and Present The origin of Virtual Mekton (VM) can be most directly traced to one person: Choyu Izumi, perhaps one of the most unlikely game designers in history. Born near Kyoto, Japan in 1977, his family moved to the United States barely a year after he was born. For the most part, he lead an unremarkable life (except for a continuing interest in robot shows and toys long past the usual age) until graduating high school in 1996, having barely squeaked through in his math classes. He went on to college as a film major specializing in animation, minoring in computer science. He overcame his difficulty with math through extensive use of calculators. By age 21 he had written his first "worthwhile" piece of software, an Anime Physics Module add-on for the popular game "Quake II(tm)" that included a number of mecha character models, and even two transformables. Three years later, Choyu debuted a new 3D shooter of his own: "Rumble." This game was primarily notable in several respects: Its primary mode of operation was in the third person view, It had an absolutely increadable number of character models (with editors to change out texture maps, change weapons and several other related features), and it was released over the internet as low-priced shareware. Truth to tell, Choyu never expected to get anything more than being able to afford the occasional pizza from the proceeds. The response amazed him. While certainly not enough for him to live off of, the flow of registration monies provided a steady enough source for daily groceries - a welcome relief for a final-year college student strapped for cash. At the same time in his life, he was engaged to Terry Lorens, the love of his life (in a similar situation), and worried about paying back his student loans. Three and a half years later, In late 2002, the Izumis officially formed a software company and began selling "Rumble II: The Onslaught" on-line, leaving the final version of "Rumble I" as it was, releasing a free, playable demo of its sequel. People buying Rumble II by credit card could immediately download it, and recieve a CD-ROM in the mail a week later. The game was also sold through computer catalogues to reach the conventional market. The main improvements were in using smoother character animations, higher rendering quality, an easier to use editor. The hardware available at this time kicked the game speed through the roof, providing some of the best multi-player capabilities yet. Rumble IIs editor also had a rudimentary capability to create new characters by combining premade modules. Most agreed, however that the "new" characters looked fairly bad, and the fact that they also used a stock set of motion animations restricted their utility. Even with that drawback, the success of the Rumble series continued. Choyu was able to pay over half his expenses with only part-time additional work, this left him with a fair amount of free time for his family and other projects. A year or so later, an arcade manufacturer, Krazpotski Amusement Technologies, approached Choyu to do a licensed arcade edition of Rumble. Entranced by the idea, Choyu agreed and joined forces with the Krapotski programming department. There he headed up the team porting his game to the arcade hardware. A little over nine months later, the first machines were in the arcades. The new version of Rumble, called "Avalanche" was the first to be equipped with a cartridge drive to let players use characters they created with a home machine based editor suite that came with the mass market home edition. Sadly, Rumble III was to be the last project the Izumis would complete. The big Easter earthquake of 2005 struck while the Izumi family, together with Choyus father and both of Terrys parents were on vacation in their RV touring Japan. The quake threw the vehicle off of a freeway overpass and then buried it under rubble. The only survivors of the disaster were Roberta Izumi, age 4 and her year-old brother (both were named for named for their grandfathers - Bertie for Terrys father and Taira for Choyus). The children were found a couple of hundred meters from the buried RV. There were no signs of them having climbed out, nor was there any memory of being thrown free. Taira was much too young, and Bertie never could remember anything more than a loud noise and a blur that went on and on. They were found by a middle aged woman who had barely pulled to a stop trying to avoid piling into the debris and wreckage. ============================================================================================= SIDEBAR: For those that want to run a darker game than what is presented, this is where the hook hides. Was it REALLY an accident, or was it a fortunate coincidence that the earthquake happened to cover up some...sordid dealings? And just HOW did the children avoid their parents fate? A moment of conscience? Outside Enlightened Self-Interest? Or does this go even deeper into the shadows? ============================================================================================= Despite this early tragedy, both children grew up relativley normal. Adopted by their savior, Katrina Solan, they found a new home. The investigation of the childens' origin was a brief one as DNA testing had advanced significantly over the years. Once their identities had been firmly established, trust funds were set up as had been specified in their parents wills in case of disaster. Into these funds went insurance payoffs, and other investments. The only exception was Krapotski Amusement Technologies refused to pay out another credit of royalties on Rumble III (arcade), nor would they pay on the (short-lived) sequel they made after Rumble III fell behind the technology curve. Katrina tried to fight them in court, but ambiguous wording in their parents contracts let the KAT defense team put up a convincing case. The crux of the case came down the fact that the royalties were only to be paid personally to Choyu Izumi or an agent explicitly designated by him, and he had never designated such an agent. Terry had been a business major and was a sucessful member of a securities brokerage firm - she reasoned that it didn't make any sense to pay someone for something she was perfectly capable of doing herself. A wise decision at the time....but it ultimately cost her children. As the years passed, Roberta showed an unusual aptitude for electronics as she grew, asking for (and getting) one of those "250 projects" kits for her ninth birthday. She was also constantly messing with Katrina's somewhat-aged computer, and the equally old (but more powerful)machine that belonged to her father. Taira, more often than not, helped Katrinas' pet grooming business when he was old enough. Yet his real interest was not in the electronic aspects of games, but in the playing of those old games. Bertie, seeing his love of the old games, decided in 2016 to take the old source code for Avalanche (inherited with her fathers machine) and update it to modern standards. After the restructuring of Avalanche, several more characters and arenas were added. Hardware features weren't neglected either, with the advent of small holographic generators the game took on (literally)new dimensions. The completed package was rechristened "Rumble IV: Tsunami". Her brother got the first copy on his birthday and promptly became oblivious to everything for the next few months. Roberta then proceeded to release Tsunami over the Lightweb, the third-generation evolution if the old-style internet that crashed in 2000 due to a combination of glitches and sheer overload. Unfortunately, the release of Tsunami got the attention of KAT, whom promptly sued for copyright infringment. KAT lost the suit, as their father had never licensed future developements of his code or the Rumble name to them. The long, public, messy court battle drained most of Katrinas savings, as well as her wards trust funds. The settlement againt Krapotski Amusement Technologies only made good a portion of their losses, and ensured that KAT would not try to file another frivolous lawsuit for a long time. Roberta came out of the trial a media darling - the little girl who trimmed the giant's whiskers at 15 (16 by the time the trial closed) with Taira being the quiet, supporting presense, He had been seen in numerous photos, but seldom recorded saying anything. Katrina herself did what she could to stay out of the limelite as well, trying to keep a semblance of a normal life at home for the children. Unfortunately, Katrina was not happy that business at her pet salon had picked up due to the publicity surrounding the childrens fight againt a corporations predation. The trial had also attracted the attention of one of KATs comptetitors: The Blackhand Corporation (TBC). TBC had seen (and wanted)Tsunami, but was forced to wait to make an offer until the controversy from the court battle had died down some. They presented their idea, and with it a contract that was THAT close to promising the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky. It also included full tuition to any college desired. All she had to do was write for them and work for them full-time after graduation. ============================================================================================= Sidebar: For those that are a bit darker minded, you can see the origins of both corporate rivaly, and corporate bad blood here, with a hint of personal emnity for the suits that lost the case. ============================================================================================= Roberta was against the idea, having had more than her fill of corporate types, but Taira, a huge fan of Quantum Gate (made by TBC) was in favor of going in with TBC. He dug out all sorts of favorable things about TBC, both on-line and off-line. Katrina was undecided also , had had more than enough of Big Business, but she also knew that even with her stepped-up business she would not be able to help them afford a good university - not with the pounding that their accounts had taken. In the end a mid-point was found, Bertie redid the Tsunami code with numerous tweaks and extensions, including an infinitely better avatar creation set-up that took advantage of the commercially available hardware. In return she and her brother got full tuition, royalties and a private set of pods with lifetime state- of-the-art upgrades. The first finished Virtual Mekton system shipped Christmas of 2019, an eight-pod unit was sent to Ben & Robs Arcade at westgate mall (San Diego), these were linked to Berties pair for testing and networking purposes. B & R had advertised this event for weeks, and it was a smashing success.....the game pods were always full from open to close. The lines to use these eight pods never seemed to go down, and immediately orders started to come in for extensions in other arcades. An editor suite was sold over the counter at the arcades, this also went well, allowing the players to construct their game avatars at home. Six months later, B & R added 24 new pods and started linkages with other, growing arcades that had the pods as well. The game spread quickly overseas, Germany, Japan...within five years the Blackhand Corporation formed the Virtual Mekton Association to manage the various sites and allow for league games. The LightWeb What allowed the Blackhand Corporation to link their Wunderkind game is the LightWeb. The LightWeb is the third-generation evolution of the old telephone network Internet. The FirstGen internet crashed horribly at the turn of the millenium. The dreaded Y2K threat had materialized and crippled parts of the net, and cut off access to other parts that were still viable. After the recovery, the various governments and corporations rebuilt the internet into the SuperNet. The corporations, despite bean-counter protests, rebuilt the the existing global telecommunications network into a more efficient, modern set-up that was purpose built to handle the Information Ages needs... The SuperNet was able to handle data, voice and video with no strain, and a capbility to evolve the hardware to take advantage of tech improvements capabilities. Unfortunately, the SuperNet did not forsee the evolution of commercial holographic technology. Holotech required an inordinate amount of bandwidth, something the SuperNet could provide, but slowed to the point of old internet capacity. WIth the foresight the designing engineers planned for, a "Sub-net" was installed to parallel the SuperNet using high transfer light processing equipment. Since this sub-net was built alongside the SuperNet, it was dubbed the "LightWeb", an obvious reference to its light processing equipment. The Lightweb soon supplanted the SuperNet, but the SuperNet never faded, instead it became the primary (tandem) carrier for audio and non-holo based information. The supporting computers are organized into three categories, with each computer filling only one of the three categories. There are also some limitations that are category-dependent: (NOTE: this was edited for VM relevence) Client: These machines are the Pods, they provide a connection to the rest of the LightWeb Servers: These maintain the arenas and run the majority of the software. These are the big machines that do all of the make-work and provide access to the rest of the world. These machines are also the only ones that arena-construction can be done on - the home machines simply don't have the power or memory to handle them. Net Servers: These handle the routing and control of the LightWeb nodes. Their purpose is to provide the direct linkages between the servers. These machines are owned by other corporations and are not sold to outsiders - not out of proprietaryness, but out of a need to keep hackers from disrupting services across the web. The Agents These are the ones who own the Net Servers. The various corporations who manage the LightWeb can be looked up in the local phone listings, but they all have one thing in common: They are strictly controlled by the World LightWeb Council, whose purpose is to prevent mompolistic control of information. The Council is, in turn, controlled by the UN. In order to keep information flowing the corps lease out light frequency ranges for moderate prices, but anything above the blue frequency is strictly regulated because that is for governmantal use only. Before the Blackhand Corporation spun off its Virtual Mekton Association, they bought the entire green range for world-wide LIghtWeb links for the VM game system (and, of course, their own use). The Virtual Mekton Association(VMA) The VMA was formed to give direction and control to all of the various VM arcades sprouting up all over the world. It set up the rankings and standardized the arena protocols so that they could be played internationally, they also (thanks to dues paid by member arcades)provide prizes and such for the monthly tournaments. Once a year, the winner of the local annual tournaments are brought to the VMA headquarters for THE annual tournement. These individual players are given some state of the art advice for VM (re)construction and compete in the most state-of-the-art pods available. The winner (singular) is given FULL tuition (plus books and fees) to the school of choice. They also have a very good chance of getting a job with the VMA after graduation, but that comes much later... The VMA is a very people-friendly corporation, above and beyond the public relations that are expected of corporations. This comes about very easily, because the Izumis and Ms. Solan are the major shareholders, the rest is split between the public and TBC. While they are in control they will not allow the VMA to become what KAT did, and they all sincerely believe in the fact that the game was meant for having fun, not just making money (that it does is a BIG bonus). Dues, as mentioned above, are paid for by the major arcades, who pass the cost on to the consumer. The consumer (thanks to good business) pays 2-3 dollars (or equivalant) per game. Some of the arcades allow for a "buy-in" for those that are eliminated before a certain amount of time has run in the game. The drawback for buy-ins is that, when used, they don't provide anything but the fun of playing, the players earn no reputation after getting killed out (and being killed out by someone already dead could affect your rep as well). On the other hand, the player get their money worth of time, so everyone walks off happy. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: ============================================================================================ Now for a word or two on rankings: The VMA set up the ranking system to classify pilots according to their skill and experience. This system also, in a VERY general way, describes the power level of the VM typically piloted by a person of a given ranking. These rankings are official, and are recognized internationally, another benefit of membership. Rank points are assesed, for the most part, by the computer systems running the arena (the criteria are set into the mainframes, and are adjusted for and based on the difficulty of the arena). Outside of the virtual battlefields, the crowd watching (monitored by the computer systems, of course) can add or deduct rep points, based on cool moves, gutsiness, and attitude diplayed by the pilots. A good loser won't lose as many rep points as a poor winner gains, and may actually come out ahead if (s)he fought the good fight. On the other, hand the message "MECHA TOTALLY ANNIHILATED, YOUR RANKING DROPS 25 POINTS!!!" is a common one, so beware "easy" fights, they can mess up your Rep if you lose. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: Rep points are awarded by the GM, based on whatever criteria (s)he desires. The main recommendation is for the GM to develop this table to fit the campaigns needs. The only criteria here is: BE CONSISTANT. ============================================================================================ Rep can never be lost, only gained for the first two ranking levels, as those are considered "learning levels". Once the player has crossed the line as a "Regular", then Rep can be lost, but ranking never goes below Regular. Ranking Avg Piloting Skill Typ VM CP Rep Range Notes Weefles 0 - 2 0 - 150 0000 - 0099 stock VMs only Novices 3 151 - 350 0100 - 0299 Some Mods to stock VM Regular 4 - 5 351 - 550 0300 - 0599 Custom VMs Expert 6 - 8 551 - 750 0600 - 0799 Custom VMs Master 9 751 - 1000 0800 - 0999 Custom VMs Legend 10 1001- 1440 1000+ Custom VMs (Be afraid) NOTE: These are the OFFICIAL Company Rankings for worldwide comparison. More than a few Novices have had their buddies whip up a custom VM, and not all Masters will have 1000 CP monstrosities going after all others. Bottom line comparisons can be done off of VM Piloting skill and Rep. Again: These are TYPICAL ranges of what can be expected, so be on your toes out there. To give an indication of where your Rep stands here is a sample table to guide you: 0000 - 0099 totally new to VM,no real Rep at all 0100 - 0199 a few know about you, but most just don't care who you are 0200 - 0299 You have started to make a name, you are recognized at least by the Staff, if no one else 0300 - 0399 All of the reguler players know you by sight. 0400 - 0499 School-wide fame, anybody working with you (that knows about VM) will recognize your playing style 0500 - 0599 Famous across the city, anyone who follows VM there will know you by sight. 0600 - 0699 County/Province famous, as for city. 0700 - 0799 Regionally famous, there are those in other cities that are starting to hear about you. 0800 - 0899 State-wide fame, as for city. 0900 - 0999 nationally known, might have won the Annual tourney. 1000 + You are feared around the world. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid of anyone with this rep. (currently only Taira Izumi holds this level) Keep in mind, that when you enter a VM arena, if you LOSE, your Rep loses one half the Rep the winner gains -modified by the circumstances, of course. The Arena The Arena is the biggest VM arcade in Geocity. It was one of the first follow-on franchises that were let out after the success of B & R, and it has hosted more than a few of the Major Tournaments by Big Names. With its success, the Arena invested in the VMA and has become the most self-sustaining VM center in the VMA. The Arena boasts thirty VM pods and five dedicated arena-servers, it is also always open (however, anyone that has not graduated high-school is not allowed in/on the premises after 10 PM (2200)). International matches are arranged by the VMA and will always coincide with week- ends or holidays, so the youth of the world can compete. Every month there is a Major Tournament; the tourney's conditions change every month, some require co-operation, others require survival, and yet others only require the extermination of all opponents. The conditions are never copmletely revealed (only hints and teasers), and part of the challenge is to figure out what needs to be done....Before It's Too Late. Due to the players skills at both playing and creating VMs, the Arena supports the VMAs guidelines for challenge matches. These rules were put into place to keep newer players from getting arbitrarily obliterated by higher ranked players, more on these rules will be shown in CHAPTER 5. Prizes for winning the monthly tourney range from Gift certificates to a model of the winners VM in a victory pose (perhaps over the rubble of vanquished foes), to the FULL tuition offered by the VMA/TBC. The pods are arranged in three tiers of 10 and in the center of them all is the Viewing pit that contains a twenty foot holo projector and seating for fifty (standing room is available by the Pods). The Arena has a snack bar and all of the usual amenities, so some folks (Read: High schoolers) come here for dinner and to watch the players battle it out, others come to hang out and watch..so all types can be found. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: Here is where the children of Geocity gather in their off-hours. At this place they trade program modules, compete against one another, and occasionally fall in love. ============================================================================================ The employee areas are off limits, controlled by a retinal scanner to keep out those that would cause mischief. Tours can be arranged, but it is not suggested to try to use the tour as a means of breaking and entering. Inside the employees areas there is a video conferance room (for 5),the main computer center, A locker/changing area, the management offices and the mini-autofactory that produces prizes and trinkets for winners and for those that want souveniers. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: The mini-autofactory is controlled by a completely independant computer system that has NO outside access, no hacking here chummers. The retinal scanners are impossible for an average teenager to beat (most shouldn't even try, this is on the same order as having a child try to physically crack a bank vault in real life) ============================================================================================ CHAPTER 5 VM Contruction Virtual Mektons are built using a personal editor. These editors can be bought (relativly) cheaply at any VMA-affilited arcade, and are designed to take advantage of the Virtual Mekton Programming Language (VMPL). VMPL allows easy modifications to existing constructs, and built-in comression utilities let the final product fit on a standard data disk. Technical staffs at the VMA are trying to overcome one of the perinnial problems of using the data catridges: The fuller the cartridge, the slower the program runs (called "Lag time"). So far there has not been much luck, and the pods are not built to accept other (more expensive) media formats. The first step in the construction process is to design out the VM you want. This will take the player CP/50 in days. (NOTE: this cuts design time from what the Official Rules state. This allows a PC to design a VM in half the time it would normally take - allowing them to make real progress even with a poor schedule. Here is a sample chart for VM design: Ranking Typ VM CP Time Range Design diff Prog diff Weefles 0 - 150 0 - 3 days 10 10 Novices 151 - 350 3 - 7 days 15 15 Regular 351 - 550 7 - 11 days 20 20 Expert 551 - 750 11 - 15 days 25 25 Master 751 - 1000 15 - 20 days 30 30 Legend 1001- 1440 20 - 30 days 35 35 Designing a VM requires a VM Design roll (INT + VM Design + 1D10). This roll is made once the needed time to design the VM is finished, the GM is NOT to tell the player the result..it is far better to roleplay the result, see also the Flaws Table. Once the design has been completed, the player moves on to the next step: Programming the monster they have created. Once the design phase is finished the player starts to program. Programming time is equal to the design time, but unlike the design time programming time can be reduced. The first way to reduce programming time is to come up with a clever way of coding a complex item in the VM, this is represented by making a TECH + VM Programming roll vs 1.5 times the Design diff. For every point over the target number, programming time is reduced by 10%, if you BOTCH the roll, then the GM gets to have a field day with your design.... The second way to reduce programming time is to get friends to help you, but they also give a slightly larger chance for things to get screwed up. The designer will split up the design and give parts of it out to those helping, and everyone has to make a VM Programming roll. The benefit is that programming time is reduced to 30% of what is needed (minimum 1 day per Ranking level the VM fits in(REG: 3 days)), plus a day for intergration. The down side is if the programming roll is blown by anyone on the team, then the "missed by" number is DOUBLED for determining the flaws (Miss by 3, look at 6). The difficulty can be modified by things. Taking your time may add +1 to +3 to the roll, but rushing can take away a like amount. If you have friends helping then all may use the highest values available and you may add 1 to the roll. per person helping. Please remember that the home compiler is fairly stupid, it will tell you that there are errors, but won't be able to specify what they are. Finding those bugs may require many hours of thorough playtesting which CAN be done at home...but some errors won't show until the VM interacts with a full scale networked arena environment. Where the home compiler won't tell you what the problem(s) is, the arcade simulator will - with everyone looking (or trying to) at your new secret weapon. The PC can roll vs INT to find the errors, but the greater the error, the harder it is to find. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: GAD! I am SUCH a genius! Unidentified animated characater ============================================================================================ NOTE: THE GM MAKES THE PROGRAMMING ROLL. FAIL WEAPONS SENSORS CODE 15 Beams improperly All sensors (except Improper compiling coded, damage & visual) go offline you lose after 10 range are at -2 after 1d6 turns turns 10 Rapid-fire weapons Flawed coding: Bad data transmission de-rezz after 1d6 ranged weapons lose 1 from MV turns at 1/2 range 6 All beam weapons Targeting Misalignment Readouts all show shut off for 1d6 ranged weapons at -3 "Imminent System turns to hit Failure after 1d6 turns of operation 3 All missiles/rockets Bad Shielding not enough power "Jam" after 1d6 turns you get signal noise allocated, MA for 1d10 turns drops by 1/2 d6 no communications and immediate landing needed. 1 Faulty guidance lose commo for 1 turn "Spaghetti Code" routines, Missiles every 1d6 turns drops 1 random /rockets are at -4 multiplier system WA until recoded FAIL ARMOR MOVEMENT SYSTEMS HYDRAULICS 15 Poor coding Movement systems cut VM will lock up ALL Armor SP out after 1d10 turns after 1d10 turns is 1/2, with NO Happy landings! DC/RAM capabilities 10 Armor is "gapped" Slow System response Poor polygon -1 SP from 2 random move at 1/2 MA for all structure: 2 locations. motive systems (includes random sections walking) De-Rezz after 1/2 d6 turns 6 Armor is mapped Jammed Throttle Poor polygon wrong, -1 SP from move full or don't move structure: 1 1 location at all. random location De-rezzes after 1/2 d6 turns. 3 Refractive coating Directional control Poor "camera" flawed, -2 sp VS systems not responsive placement, add beam weapons increase turn radius 2 to all rolls by one needing sensors (targeting, detecting etc etc) 1 Density flawed System misalignment weak limbs -2 sp vs all ballistic -1 to MA -2 kills from weapons melee/fighting damage. The nuts and bolts number crunching for VM construction is identical to Mekton Zeta (or Mekton II + MTS); The only differance is in the MV of the unit. MA will be based on the tonnage of the unit as per standard rules, MV (called "Lag Time") will be modified by the CP of the unit. To modify the effects of lag time the programmer will have to apply Code Compression (X 0.05 per level, this additonal cost does NOT add to the lag time penalty. Please not that this table augments the existing MZ MV table LAG TIME TABLE CP MV XSYS MULTIPLIER TO ZERO (0) 0 - 120 +1 0 121 - 300 0 0 301 - 600 -1 0.05 601 - 900 -2 0.10 901 - 1440 -3 0.15 Time to go through the code and actually do the compression is 1 day per 25 CP of compression cost. This time is in ADDTITION to the coding time to build the VM. There are a few limitations to VM construction, they are: SMT's are only allowed with GM approval (and a dose of sense for the setting). Piracy might be OK, only if the GM approves the concept of control (this shouldn't happen often Character concept or no.) Things NOT allowed are: Dimensional teleport, lightspeed, 'OIDS,Esper Lenses, techno-organics, transformations that are not vehicle/beast related, Merge with mecha, and E-pools are limited to portfolio 3. Combiners are possible in a limited way. The requirements for this are: 1) The GM allows it for his setting, 2) You may build a submecha as a part of the overall design (a power suit with a heckuva set of command armor), 3) The combined VM has to fit on one of the players disk - in addition to the players individual VM. Other than that, no combiners. Beyond these limitations there are no limits.... After the VM is designed and built, the player defines his control systems. This is a simple but cruicial task. Due to the amazing number of supplemental control systems available, the controls have to be specifically defined for the system to recognize and utilize their capabilities. If the control system is lost (IE you can't find your VR helmet) then you will have to come up with a replacement or redefine the controls to work with the default controls that come with the Pods. If you don't redifine, then either your VM will do nothing in the arena environment, or your VM will do very strange things that are not likely to be helpful. The pods come with a default control set that most players utilize: four visual screens that provide a 180 degree visual panorama, there are also 2 4 button joysticks and 3 programmable function touchscreens (similar to ST:NG), and a Game Radar. The Game Radar will provide a 360 view for visual range only, this is not the same as buying the sensor version of radar. Only one of the joysticks are fixed, the other can be removed and a supplemental system can be installed. Installation is simple, all that needs to be done is to plug the control runs into the pod. For the players that DO manage to get ahold of some of the more expensive systems (see Equipment) there are problems with the Vrtual Reality systems. The VR systems provide sharper clarity and better refined targeting, but they do have a tendency to "go on the fritz" very easily in the middle of a battle. This is due to information overload for the helmets control computer. When designing the VM the programmer defines what (s)he wants the visual displays show and how they show it, this is done by hooking up the editor to the family holo-sim, and then selecting/defining the controls to match the VM and the pilot. The controls are completly designed by the player...if the player wants an Evil Laugh everytime the SUUPPAAA Laasserr! is fired then that is what happens. Communications between opposing units is provided via a voice activated open channel. Team freqs are preset before the match and can't be intercepted and decrypted without the proper equipment (ECM). CONTROLS As an example of control layout, A good friend, Jaired Grey recently let me look at his cockpit-in-progress for the "Mistwalker"..his VM of choice. Once he decided on the standard dual-joystick congfiguration, he decided to keep the multi-function-displays (mfd) a simple as possible. The joysticks control overall movement, shift both left, the unit slides left and so forth. Arm movement is activated with the thumb buttons. Primary weapon is set to the right trigger, and primary defensive is set to the right. Drone launch/recovery is on the secondary right thumb with drone target designation on the secondary right thumb. Thruster controls are set to both pinky triggers. The mfds are set as follows: Center MFD, game radar (variable ranges are set with on screen buttons). Left screen,commo and damage display (self or target) Right MFD, electronics (he refused to set this with anybody around). Please keep in mind that he is using one of the simplest control sticks available on the market. (I suspect that this was meant more for a demo on how to set up controls than what he actually uses - he always takes a bag into his pod right before a match). COMBAT NOTES If there is a cockpit hit, the computer will judge the impairment of the pilot. ALL pilots, regardless of their BOD stat, will be treated as if their BOD is a five (5). Power and Endurance of the VM will depend on the energy source selected. see the table below Type Endurance Spare power allowed? standard unlimited NA power cell 3 hours (game time) yes, per std rules combustion 3 hours (game time) yes, but needs to be payed for bioenergy NOT ALLOWED other GM discretion GM discretion (think REAL hard on this) Control systems: Screen controls are considered standard - that is what the VM pods were designed to use so there are no plusses or minuses with this. Manual controls (- 0.05) these can only be found on the first two generation pods (San Diego area). there are no shortcuts, no action commands or programmable features. - 2 on initiative. +1 for piloting (better control feedback) Virtual controls: (+ x0.05) need VR kit (see equipment) to use this, standard bonuses with the danger of control overload and the fact that you can't use you VM if your VR kit is damaged IN ANY WAY Thought control (x.5) NOT ALLOWED in any setting but the darkest. Cutting edge to boot. available only from weapon manufacturers and usually (read: ALWAYS)has some severe side effects. CHAPTER 6 Life at School School is a fact of life when you are living with your parents. Geocity is home to a great deal many high schools, odds are you go to one of them. The first school is Intron High. Intron is a science oriented high school, hosting many labs and science fairs. Students that graduate here tend to follow careers in a technical field. The other high school is Kurosawa High. Kurosawas emphasis is in the humanitites and "soft" subjects. Kurosawa High has been cited for excellence in fields such as psychology, Biology, and history, and has a very extensive library. Both schools share a keen competition at sports and achievement. Despite this friendly rivalry both schools share an abiding dislike of the Rueben Leeching Academy. The Leeching Academy is a private rich-kids school on the south side of Geocity, and has a reputation for pulling political stunts to try to reduce the facilities and staff of the two most prominent public high schools. Curricula at each school is a fairly standard diet of reading, writing and arithmatic with optional studies for sophomores and higher. Specializations in advanced placement classes are based on the schools strenghts - Intron has more tech classes, and Kurosawa has the soft sciences. Leaching is not known for anything special. Homework is stiff for the two public schools, but given the quality of teachers, the workload, the requirements are not that hard. Bullying (a standard in some overseas schools) is not tolerated at the public schools, Leaching treats that as survival of the fittest. To be filled in at a later time. CHAP 6.5 A short history of Geocity. When the Internet failed at the turn of the millenium, the world became a bit bigger again. Information no longer flowed as easily or as quickly, primary channels were flooded with the information needed to keep the governments and major corporations going. It is not suprising that Science research was not of a sufficient priority to warrant attention. Unfourtunately, that lack of priority was, in hindsight, a major mistake. Tectonic activity in the Pacific Basin was rising rapidly, but only in the deep water areas - the populated islands experianced a few more earthquakes than normal, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then came the Great Easter Earthquake or 2005. The rising tectonic activity was slowly generating a major shift of the plates in the deep pacific, and in 2005 a new island was born. The island was not a big one - only a few kilometers in a diameter, but it was in a perfect place for the UNs Project Icarus. Project Icarus was to establish a new space launch site for international usage, and provide a completly neutral site for space research and exploration. In order to settle the new unnamed island, several shipyards were quickly reactivated and new classes of mobile platforms were constructed. Four Atlantis class platforms were built, each was seven to ten kilometers in diameter, providing living and administrative facilities as well as the living space to expand. To support the each of the Atlantis platforms, the Mu class was built. Mu class platforms are mostly aquaculture/hydroculture specific - they provide the parks, recreational failities (swimming, riding etc). There are two Mu class per Atlantic class. Lemuria class platforms were also built - these are the industrial platforms that also double both as docking facilities and as the structural strongpoints for the entire network of platforms. These also house a UN Naval unit as well as UN ground forces (the military forces are meant more for civil defense in case of emergencies). UNSC is also heaquartered on a submerged Lemuria class platform. only three Lemuria class platforms were built due to expense. Once the first triad of platforms were in place (one of each class)the island was opened for international settlement - priority of space was given to the nations that contributed the most to building the primary platforms, but all that wanted space was given some. The second and third triad (along with the second MU class each Atlantis class was required to have) were built and intergrated quickly when the builders of the first set were freed up to help. Population growth helped fill the empty places and curently construction is ongoing beneath the waves connecting and filling the support pylons to allow the cities to expand further. The population of Geocity island comes from all over the world - indeed the first generation of true Geocity citizens have almost reached their majority. Due to the way the platforms were emplaced there are "enclaves" of ethnic types, allowing for a bit of nationalistic heritage without the potential danger of ethnic rivalry - everyone has a part of this artificial island they can point to and say "we did this", and since it is all important nobody feels slighted. ============================================================================================ Sidebar: Again for those of a darker bent, the military is hidden away out of sight - if Geocity was really meant to be a peaceful place of exploration, why have the military there at all. And with all of the construction done to build the platforms, could there be something hidden that the corporations and nations do NOT want others to know about? And just WHAT is Project Icarus about - nobody seems to really know. One thing is for sure - the platforms, while easy to build, took a lot of resources, where are those going to be replaced from? ============================================================================================ Industry was kick started both with the dicovery of minerals in the seabed that was now much more accessable,(this included oil and precious metals) and the attachment of two Lemuria class platforms. The resultant capability has generated a signifiacant trade surplus for the UN and will allow the residents to pay off the nations that built the platforms and become a free international island. Even the ecologists are amazed at the Geocity construct. Minimal impact on the local Aquacology was accomplished by the floating platforms and the industry there was designed for exclusive use in a seaborne evironment. MORE TO COME