This is a thread to discuss ideas for new collaborative games and rules.

What I'm trying to do with these games is to try and apply patterns and rules to a through line in order allow the authors complete creativity but encourage them to work with other authors ideas to produce a "story" about the through line.

In the killer a pattern is both the scene types CHARACTER and MURDER and how they are put together for the entire game.  For example in the killer game I was heavy on the CHARACTER in the beginning and then heavy on MURDER at the end.  The pattern looks something like this.

Character
Character
Character
Character
Murder
Character
Character
Character
Murder
Character
Character
Murder
Character
Character
Murder
Murder
Character
Murder
Murder
Character
Murder
Murder
Character
Murder
Murder
Murder
Murder
Murder

The rules are statements like "No moves before a murder".

The through line is "Only one survives"

I don't think it's a good idea to add plots.  Let the plot be discovered by all of us as we collaborate.  Some people like to have everything outlined first - some people don't.  It is easier for someone who likes to outline to work without one than it is for someone who works without an outline to work with one (IMHO).  

I think if we experiment with these patterns and rules we can find some magical combos.  This is very similar to how software is produced - I don't see any reason why this method could not be applied to screen plays.  

Thanks Michael. We need this.

Sandra

I truly don't have anything bad to say about our collaborative effort.  It is interesting, mildly funny, and obviously will have a lot of variation in writing style since so many are involved in bringing it to life...or is that death!

What I am personally trying to apply to my scenes is:
- where people are (based on the tracking sheet)
- based on the characters that are left I read through their initial description of themselves, so I can use things that they bring to the table for ideas
- I read through the last 2 posts and write down any significant "happenings" so that I can continue the story line, or create new ones from that point of origin

I'm not a huge outline person, but I have used outlines for other projects (book and articles) but not so much here.   I can understand why we truly can't do that, but it does require a certain amount of discipline to follow for some.

Personaly I am a pretty free spirit, with a twist for order...I can be a total mess...as long as it gets cleaned up at some point. *wiink*

I totally appreciate your leadership on this board Captain...and I mean that with all sincerity.   It is not easy to keep us all going in the same direction, as I am sure we are as diverse a group of writers as anyone has ever seen. (Live in different countries, have different time zones, different ages, different likes/dislikes, and different writing styles, etc)

Keep us on track our fine captain...I am definitely enjoying this!

Fantastic job!

So I'm guessing there's going to be another game but this time with different rules? I've really enjoyed your killer game Michael so hope these do become regular exercises.

When are you thinking of starting this game Michael?  And or how often?

Could be every quarter or after every OWC.

Let me know when you plan getting names for this new collaboration.  

If we're going to do another Killer game, can I submit a fun fair or theme park idea as the location.  And the setting is at night.

I truly do like this game and how it has turned out. I thought it was going to be tough to survive being that no one really knows me on here (I'm a lurker...I lurk around the message boards and post every blue moon then i lurk some more...all...shadowy lurking like.) which would have lead to an early death, but to my surprise i wasn't the first person to be killed off! I appreciate that indeed.

I think this project is working so well because of the various takes on the characters from everyone as well as our different writing styles. I think it would be interesting at the end of this game to see how everyone felt and discuss certain plot twists and how everyone else envisioned that happening, just to kind of get a feel for how the tiniest thing could have turned the script into an entirely new direction.

As far as the moderator status of Cornetto, I think his presence proved valuable. I viewed his posts as almost a checkpoint and a direction turner to keep us on track once we began to stray too far.

Also. as far as Bert the doctor goes. I don't know if we did this the first time around, but i think perhaps he can only revive a character during a certain point in the game..like...only after a certain number of people have been killed, to kind of throw a bigger  wrench into the way things were going and I did like that Bert killed himself after reviving, it kind of took that option off the plate and I enjoyed that. In a sense, though, Bert felt more like a moderator and a static character who existed for that sole purpose alone and everyone else feels dynamic and alive and ever changing and what not...i don't know if that made sense or not...I'm still a little drunk from the bar...

This is a great learning experience since its simple. Character and murder scenes. I'm going to apply this my script.

Oh, let me know for the next one. I'll be ready.

I was going to hold off on posting this but what the heck, I think we should discuss it anyway.  I really didn't want to bash the killer game to death by overplaying it and I wanted to try out this game technique with other genres.  So this is what I'm proposing we do next.  What do you think?

If you haven’t seen Death Race 2000 then you won't have a clue what this is about..        

Death Race SS

The object of the game is to win the race.  Winning the race will depend on how well you overcome your obstacles, meet your challenges, and on how well you entertain the reader.  You may score during the race as well, scores will be calculated and scorers will be ranked.  

This is a team game/exercise and it only has 9 players (4 drivers + 4 navigators + 1 announcer).  This game will depend heavily on voting from the readers and participation from the cast.

The game is divided into three acts plus a finale.  The acts are divided into three types of scenes – ANNOUNCE, REST, and RACE.  

Drivers

Drivers will be picked by the popular vote of anyone interested.  Voting will happen via PM.  Potential drivers will post their backgrounds in a thread and anyone who is interested may vote for that driver.  The drivers do not have to be anything like the author.  The 4 drivers with the highest vote will be the drivers for the game.

Navigators

After the Drivers are picked, then the navigators will be determined.  Potential navigators will post their backgrounds in a thread.  The navigators do not have to be anything like the author. The drivers only will vote via PM indicating, by preference, the four navigators they would choose.  Driver/Navigator teams will be determined from this vote.

Cars

The Driver/Navigator team will develop its car.  The description of the car and the team will be posted and a vote will be held to determine starting order.

Scenes

Scenes will be ordered something like the following.
ANNOUNCE
4 REST scenes
ANNOUNCE
4 RACE scenes
ANNOUNCE
4 REST scenes
(VOTE out one of the cars)
ANNOUNCE
4 RACE
(One of these four leaves the race)
3 REST scenes
(VOTE out one of the cars)
ANNOUNCE
3 RACE
(One of these two leaves the race)
2 REST scenes
(VOTE out one of the cars)
ANNOUNCE
2 RACE
(One of these two leaves the race and determines the winner)
ANNOUNCE
FINALE

ANNOUNCE scenes

These are the domain of the announcer character. They will be mocumentary comprised of media excerpts that assist in the main plot.  There may be one or more announcers.  If you want to do an announcer scene contact me.

REST scenes

These are plot driven scenes.  They will be written by the navigators. They happen in different locations along the race.  For example if the race were from New York to LA.  The first rest scenes would be in New York.  The next might be in Chicago, then Denver, then Las Vegas, then the FINALE in LA.

Before the rest scenes your opponent cars will be asked to give you one challenge each.  A challenge will be composed of some type of action that your characters must perform.  You must meet all your challenges.  Failure to meet challenges will results in deductions from your votes.  Meanwhile you should also be providing “story” for your characters to exist within.

RACE scenes

These are action driven.  They will be written by the drivers.  They happen between REST scenes and between locations. For example, New York to Chicago, Chicago to Denver, Denver to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to LA.  

Before the race scenes your opponent cars will be asked to give you one obstacle each.  You must encounter and resolve the obstacles on your way to your destination. Failure to resolve all of your obstacles will results in deductions from your votes. You can also score using normal Death Race scoring mechanisms. You can move your Driver/Navigator “story” forward as well.  

If you were voted out during the previous REST scenes then you may also receive instructions to remove your car from the race.  How you remove it is up to you. Once your car is removed from the race your team no longer writes scenes.

  

I've been approaching the game from many perspectives. I felt amused by working with the characters and toying with different "possible" scenarios.

It was a curiosity to me "why" these people might know each other and so my mind started inventing a connection through "The Agency" idea. And I thought that they were like puppets in many respects to some kind of energy that none of them had control over and this energy was fluctuating around the ship and was entering into different people causing them to kill or have distorted perceptions or whatever...

When Dana wrote the crystal scene, I thought she saved a part of Michael's broken soul and that (the broken soul) was the reason Michael couldn't remember the name of the person responsible for the SS Romero disaster.

I started thinking of Cornetto as the protagonist and Gabriel as a kind of antagonist, but not truly bad- more of a trickster- hence the power I gave him of "inducing laughter". I even toyed with the idea of giving other people latent powers of some sorts, but I was already whacking things out of the ordinary and that was enough.

My approach of the game wasn't actually to live, I guess I was thinking like Bert that way, I even toyed with the idea of suicide.

Well, we'll see how this turns out in the end. We do have a very "spirited" bunch here.

Sandra

Michael,

That is a great idea, i can tell that. Seriously. The only bad thing about it, if we can call it bad is that it has only 9 players. But i guess that makes it even more interesting.

Can't wait for it.

Also somewhere i wrote about a killer game in a spaceship, how about that. Of course i like the Death Race 2000 idea more.

Congrats on making cool things here.

Michael, will all this be within a given time frame and communicated through pm or email as this one? This seems more interesting due to the voting aspect. I'm brainstorming now. lol.

Sandra, this is simply a fun learning experience. Don't get bumped out about the characters and story. When you need to be bumped is when you write a script, lol. I should know...  

Not sure if this is very relevant or not but it seems to me that one of the things that have made the current game a success is the speed in which entries have been posted. When you first suggested this Michael I was expecting it turn into a yawn fest while waiting 2 days for each entry and seeing people getting bored rather quickly. I am really pleased how I was made to be so wrong on that.  

I do think one of the key things that have helped speed the game along is the fact that we have contributers on three different continents and 6 different time zones - Think i am right in that, 3 in the US, 2 in Aus and the UK  (although to be fair I seem to remember Newcastle was always about 10 years behind Redcar )

So we are easily getting a couple of posts a day as people wake-up or come home from work around the clock. It would be great to ensure that we keep this international flavour, I think it does certainly help.

Quoted from Murphy    (although to be fair I seem to remember Newcastle was always about 10 years behind Redcar )

Oooh, low blow Murphy. Low blow!

I was born in Swindon...where does that put me?

I'm in the sunny world of Phoenix, AZ.  Beautiful weather here these days...80's, warm, cool at night...stars - bright in the desert sky.  

Quoted from MBCgirl I was born in Swindon...where does that put me? I'm in the sunny world of Phoenix, AZ.  Beautiful weather here these days...80's, warm, cool at night...stars - bright in the desert sky.

I was born in Vancouver where Jordon is. Weather wise- very much like Seattle I think- quite a bit of rain, but very beautiful with the mountains and the ocean.

I'm very curious about this racing game, I haven't heard of Death race 2000, but I do remember the 1963 movie: It's a Mad Mad World. Is this the idea? Or are we talking about something serious like  a Night Rider kind of thing?

Sandra