Guy Pearce walks in with a Polaroid and a notepad…

One of the most important concepts of a long running, story-based game is its history.  Like real life, the people, the places, the tools, the weapons, the books – they all interweave to form a tapestry of information that describes the effect everybody, and everything, has had on the world around them.  It’s sadly amusing that most text-based games would not have the ability to add and retain that information.

Armageddon 2 will remedy that.

We have implemented a new feature called Notes.  Conceptually, notes are nothing more than lists of information tied to a particular in-game object.  Concretely, they are similar in nature to a stack of papers, a bulletin board, or Post-It notes.  In fact, Armageddon 1 has a few examples of note-like things, such as:

• In-game Board Posts
• Character Biographies
• Account Notes
• Kudos

However, in Armageddon 2 we’ve taken that idea to the next level – the ability to tie “notes” to anything we so choose. Imagine if players could create the following:

• Item Biographies
  What if a certain cane had its lineage detailed by its several owners?
• Mount Biographies
  That beetle’s been with you through thick and thin, sandstorms and battles –  a scarred, jaded, but loyal beast.  Document its life for the stories and for the imm who might animate it
• Merchant House Orders
  A merchant needs to keep track of orders placed by their clientele.  What better way to keep that information than in-game for Imms to peruse and load items as needed.
• Clan Information
  Instead of sending in clan emails, players in clans could make notes and updates inside the game for their imms to read.
• Literature
  Books, books, and more books.
• OOC Player Notes
  “Oh man, I need to remember to give Amos his share of the sid tomorrow night at 8 EST.” or “What was the name of that red-head I just met?”

Now add to that the ability for imms to create:

• NPC Biographies
  History and notes that define that NPC’s interaction with other characters, giving imms new to a clan the necessary knowledge for consistent animation.
• Room Biographies
  Lasting entries that describe the major events of a location, not only for other imms to use but perhaps for characters of certain abilities to discover.

There are also administrative notes:

• Builder Information
  Rooms, items, echoes, and various other things that require completion, questions , notes, or to-do lists for a builder to manage.

Inherently, all notes in the game will be searchable, the lists paginated, and everything saved to the database. Also, if desired, we can create web front-ends for all of these notes, allowing players and imms to create, track, and edit at will.

Imagine the amount of history, the stories, and the records that could be kept about a game with these tools.  Imagine how much easier it would be for players and imms to interact with one another to provide an even richer backdrop to their world.  Finally, imagine what other notes you would like to see  in the game and let us know!