Who's working on what type of project? Any collaboration possible??

Has anyone checked on what the licensing issues would be if one would attempt to profit off of this in a installation sim type business. I want to set up a bridge and make an event at my University, and am unsure if I am legally able to charge people for use of this game. I wouldn't want to cheat the developer of this awesome product out of any of his hard earned compensation.

IANAL, and am also not Thom, but the way I was planning on running events was to charge a small amount to cover costs, plus also to buy enough copies of the game to get a license for every attendee. That way Thom gets his due and I'm not out of pocket.

Since i have Problems to find a Crew in my area. I focused on creating Profiles for touchscreen control via YTHK.

Cap'n Gwen, your design sounds awesome! I was thinking portable design also but my approach was to use wall panels at this stage and custom built stations/chairs that sit in the middle. My bridge sim is going to be 12ft by 20 ft long with 7ft walls. I have long term plans of adding a top and floor but those are distant at the moment. If you are willing to share your plans/designs Cap'n Gwen I would love to look at them for inspiration. I have a pretty strong tech/automation background but nothing as applicable as yours.

My purpose was to build something that would enhance the experience at Cons since I seem to take it to those more than anything.

Adam and dhm have brought up a thing; can you build an Artemis bridge, or even just a set of computers, and legally charge people to play?

Yes.

I ask that you tell your players who made the software, and where they can go buy it. But you are free to charge people to play Artemis with your equipment or location, without paying me anything more than the regular cost of a normal bridge license.

Let me restate. Build your own bridge. Run the artemis game on your equipment. Charge people to play on your equipment. Keep all the money; you owe me nothing.

Frankly, I want to play on your cool bridges too. Keep posting about your builds and setups. When you've got something cool, I wanna come play. :)

Thom, I only dream of building my own Artemis bridge (because I'm just not savvy enough), but your attitude on this is awesome and much appreciated! It is so great that you actually love what you're creating more than the cash inflow!

Lee,

I am down with your plan, and I think it is an excellent idea. I already have a bridge in my basement that I am retrofitting to run Artemis. I want to build modules that can create dynamic content for a group of players for 2 -3 hours at a time in the exact same way you do.

One of my players is on a major internet review site and we hope to film their playtrough and have it like an interactive tv show. This means I plan to make a universe for them to live in with twists and turns that involve the game as well as limited real world encounters.

The amount of content both our projects involve is massive and compatible so I think you and I should start talking and sharing the workload.

I'll hold off on posting the ideas I've gathered so far till I figure out where the proper place for them is, this is an interest thread and I don't want to derail it.

"Real Life" has kept me away from my Artemis project for too long. My sim sits collecting dust for the moment while I take care of making sure I put bread on my family's table.

PeterS; As I get caught up on the large number of posts that I've missed, I'm seeing some significant attention being placed on the scripting methods/language/interface, which is a good thing for us.

Creating the universe and semi-linear storyline, I believe, will be the most time-consuming part. I think that with the advances in the scripting system and associated tools, building the specific modules will not be as time consuming as just detailing out what the story should contain.

As long as there aren’t any objections, this forum, within this board, should be the right place to discuss many, if not all, of the overriding things that need to be discussed. In addition to this board, I’m a big fan of Google Drive(Docs) which I use for collecting, modifying and updating data, tables, lists and the like. Maybe we can discuss things here and make the appropriate updates to a set of supporting files on G.Drive?

Wow this sounds awesome! I'm a film student, so I wouldnt be much help in actually building the LBE itself , but when you get to the production/story side of things, such as if your considering voice actors, I'd love to help!

~Robert

Actually, I'd have to disagree with some of the things said on the first page. It's a bit nitpicky, but you could entirely work around the problems involved with new players. Mostly, I think, this is because there's a lot of fun (and team-building, which all these similar sites boast) in scrambling to understand one's station when the shit hits the fan.

To start, the easiest (and most engaging) way to introduce players to the game would be to see it as it's done. In the middle of a warzone. With explosions. And an interesting story.

They could be loaded onto the 'ship' under the pretense of an emergency situation. The captain (who is a paid actor) quickly assigns everyone a post (and reminded that all the stations are critically important), but mostly as a chair (they're told). The AI computer would manage the first 30 or so minutes of the battle (entirely scripted, of course). But, the battle, turning increasingly against the players, would force them to evacuate. At some point, the AI would be destroyed (by an explosion, or matter displacement via warp-drive, or something).

Once they dock at a nearby base to resupply, they would take a 10 or so minute break to talk freely in the 'space station' (or hallway, if the site decides to skimp on budget) which could help to reinforce the setting. After the 10 minutes, the captain would gather everyone up, explain that there isn't enough staff to replace their stations, and ask them to officially join the crew. This would be a good chance to distribute t-shirts.

They would return to their stations, and practice in hyper reality for another 30 minutes. The captain would go around and help people to understand their posts, and give out tips as well. Then, the friendly fleet that was gathered during this time would counter-attack the place that was lost.

This would be the introductory mission, with 10 or so more comprising a campaign. The first mission would be hard to fail, what with only 30 minutes (maybe) of real combat taking place, and being supported by a couple large ships, but still giving the players large amounts of experience.

Since the captain (who dies, or something, in one of the later missions) is an employee, he could control and amplify a lot of what goes on in the control room. Plus, he could control the people who just want to ruin everyone else's experience.

Also, going in with as much effort as this, it would have to be a somewhat modded experience. A more self-explanatory UI is the first thing that comes to mind as an improvement.

It may be obvious, but I've got Gundam in the back of my head as I write this. So, now I go into my suggestions area. All of these would require a serious (or extreme) amount of modding, so I don't honestly think they would be implemented.

Firstly, I'd like giant robots. Or, more realistically, fighters, bombers, and shuttles. A side room, or multiple, would contain an extra terminal that would launch away ships. To help accommodate this, there may be need for a new station. I'm not sure what it would be called, but it would revolve around directing the fighters by giving objectives and tactical info, and possibly managing some of their subsystems. This station would also adjust fighter loadouts prior -and sometimes after- launch. It would probably manage the hangar, repairs, and fighter upgrades as well. Though, controlling all of this may simplify the fighter experience too much. This would be useful for providing an extended range of players, from two to maybe 12.

Adding the capability for 3d mobility would be a great improvement here. This is particularly useful for providing a greater range of environments (i.e. planetary excursions, and possibly tunnels within asteroids that can be navigated).

If two of these setups were mounted side by side, in addition to the... addition of an extra ship, this would allow for boarding actions. The players would be setup for laser tag, and when boarded a door connecting the two would open, and they could shoot each other to bits. This last one would be really tricky, and I wouldn't really advise doing it at all. Just a pleasant thought.

You should decentralize the mission building process. The basic missions would all have to be tailored to different numbers of players, and it would be more interesting if they all had an overriding plot. Following this framework, more than a 100 different missions would have to be made fora 10-mission plot.

It'd be interesting if the facility came with 'onboard' sleeping and eating arrangements. I imagine people would pay 500 dollars for a two-day experience.

The captain would become the GM in later missions. As soon as people don't need their hands held, the on-rails nature of the game disappears as well.
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I realize that pretty much everything I said was over-the-top, and will probably never be implemented. Aim for the moon, right? I'd enjoy helping this along however I can, though I'd be limited to supporting like Robert above.

Lee,

Have you seen that I've started my project?

http://www.artemis.eochu.com/?page_id=28#/20120702/uss-lucidity-an-artemis-campaign-1733303/

There are things relevant to your interest in this campaign, namely a way to explain how a crew got on the ship with no training, and a way to have built in breaks.

Wow! How cool! No, I must have missed it or glossed over it or something. I read through your Player guide and watched some of the video... Quite impressive. I'm interested to see how this develops. I like your concept(s) and storyline so far. It does do quite the good job getting things started with the particular variables that we have to start with.

My goals :
I want a 100% immerse bridge in my basement, in a dedicated room. I am willing to spend money on my project to get the immersion I desire, so that when we get internet BvB working, it will really feel like "Balance of Terror".

(I can't, however, go to the extreme that Wacko is going, but I love his "set".)

I already have much of what I need due to creating an impressive RockBand stage with fog, trigger lights, DM5 controlled real drums, mixers, amps, sound activated lights, etc. I can slide the drum kit (its on rails, http://www.music123.com/drums-percussion/pearl-dr-80-rack) out of the room, and bring in the chair/consoles for Artemis.

Anything I use for the project that is not specifically for ascetics, I can reuse for RB also so I am going to stop short of painting bridge walls. BUT, we did want to be able to drop painted Styrofoam from the ceiling when we take significant damage!!!

damage from the ceiling, that's a good idea I'm gunna add it to the list!