Calculated plot or table-role infection
I came to the thought about the mechanics of computed "self-written" stories while I was engaged in forum role-playing games. The text format of the game imposed certain restrictions on the use of systems tied to the die rolls. A specific platform with the support of such a function is required, the course of the game is cluttered with the questions “do I need to roll a cube” by the actual message-throws, after which the master’s word still needs to be inserted and only then can the player write a informative post describing what happened.
You can fight it all in different ways, but such a “battle with the interface” seemed not entirely justified and wanted to think in the direction of something light, which is always under-handed. That there was a simplicity of verification of results, along with their some unpredictability. Then look and fell (figuratively speaking) on ​​the usual application "Calculator".
Further, it was probably thought up not quite what corresponded to the initial premise, however, at least, this resulted in a plot generator.
')
The idea came out like this: we take several actors of the story and assign numbers to them (let's say they will be two-digit - from 11 to 19), then we indicate the theme of the story (detective, western, horrors, fantasy) and write down, so to speak, plot vectors - 9 basic word associations. Fulfilling certain rules, we provide the interaction of actors, generating new objects and developing the plot.
Example (he is the first test of the idea)
Characters:
12 - a little girl
15 - her sister
17 - maniac .
Theme: Horror
List of associations: 1 — fear, 2 — secret, 3 — darkness, 4 — cold, 5 — flock, 6 — corpse, 7 — laughter, 8 — death, 9 — illness.
We decided on the starting point, but how to interact? We have a calculator and thought about an intuitive approach. It was decided to act according to the following principle - if two objects establish some kind of “positive” connection between them, then we multiply them each other, if the “negative” one then divide the initiator by the object of his efforts.
Having decided on the rules, we begin to generate a plot by inventing the first operation with our objects:
Maniac, quite expected, wants to kill the sister of a little girl = 17/15 = 1.13
And now the main thing: look at the table of associations, taking the first digit of the interaction result for interpretation. If necessary, we attract the next ones in order to come up with some kind of result, and it is desirable to generate a new object.
It turns out that “1-1-3” is “fear-fear-darkness”. Just fear, perhaps, does nothing here, but the addition of darkness is already suggestive. Thus, it was decided to describe it as “the maniac decided to kill her at night and now awaits the onset of darkness”, and we get a new object 1.13 - night .
Now let's continue, this time choosing a new pair of objects:
A little girl talks to her sister in the evening = 12 x 15 = 180
It turns out "fear-death" and "the girl tells her sister her dream, in which she saw her being killed."
New object 180 - sleep .
See what happens next:
Sister makes fun of ridiculous sleep = 15/180 = 0.083
“8” is “death.” "But internally, all the same, frightened by what he heard and decides to be careful."
0.083 - caution .
Sister is trying to be careful = 15 x 0.083 = 1.245
"Fear-secret-cold." Actually, it's just scary for her and she can't fall asleep, no new objects were invented.
At night, the ill-fated maniac attacks his sister = 17/15 = 1.13
It turns out the already established object "night", this seems to be not enough, and we consider the figures of the object "night", deciding that the sister runs away from the attacker. It was decided to replace “night” with “run away”.
The little girl, meanwhile, has a dream = 12 x 180 = 2160
"Secret-fear." "The girl wakes up from what he saw."
2160 - wake up .
The sister continues to flee = 15 x 1.13 = 16.95
"Fear is a corpse." "He clogs up in the closet and finds a skeleton there."
16.95 - the skeleton.
Sister examines the skeleton = 15 x 16.95 = 254.25
"Secret-flock-cold." "The bones are cold."
Little girl is looking for her sister = 12 x 15 = 180 (sleep)
There are options - maybe she left this case and fell asleep, but if we are not satisfied, then we go down to the numbers: “fear-death”. Maybe she hears something, she starts banging with horror and she locks herself in the room.
In this part of the story, I broke off, in order to assess what happens. Some associations, at first glance, did not lead much, since they were essentially a repetition of the very theme of horror: fear and secrets, for example. Therefore, I decided that associations should, if possible, differ in meaning from the topic itself in order to be more useful.
One of the interesting consequences was that the numbers of objects often help to think out additional touches, for example, the maniac decided to attack at night, and at night - 1.13, that is, at one in the morning, 13 minutes. The effect of gradual “burying” into a problem is also interesting - the character does one, gets the second, follows this second, gets the third, and so on. And also the way the change in the general context changes the weight of the word associations in the same operations.
After that, I created a second test:
Characters:
13 - the wolf ,
18 - prince ,
11 - the princess .
Theme: Fairy Tale
List of associations: 1 - cases, 2 - life, 3 - miracle, 4 - story, 5 - subject, 6 - reflection, 7 - transformation, 8 - campaign, 9 - death.
The wolf attacks the wandering prince = 13/18 = 0.72
"Transformation is life." "The wolf did not expect it to be a prince, and the hero did not lose his head and caught the wolf alive."
0.72 - caught the wolf .
The princess heard rumors about the capture of a wolf by a prince = 11 x 0.72 = 7.92
"Transformation-death." “She remembered reading about such wolves somewhere — they turn into werewolves and when this happens, the prince may not be lucky.”
7.92 - werewolf .
The princess is going to warn the prince = 11 x 18 = 198
"Affairs." "But too many classes in the palace, it is better to send a messenger."
198 - messenger .
The messenger went to the prince = 198 x 18 = 3564
"Miracle Object Reflection." "The messenger suddenly on the way came across a magical book that messed up his mind when he opened it."
3564 is a magic book .
The wolf tries to escape from the prince = 13/18 = 0.72
But this event, which we already have, is “wolf caught”, and it fails. And an interesting mathematics looms.
The wolf is trying to negotiate with the prince = 13 x 18 = 234
"Life is a wonder story." “The wolf asks to let him go, in exchange for a promise to miraculously come to the rescue in a difficult situation. The prince believes and lets go. ”
234 - agreement .
After the second test, it became clear that such a plot construction can be played not only by making successive events with other players, but also alone, say, if a person has only a calculator, and all sorts of sudoku, solitaire and other available entertainment do not bring joy. In general, if you think about it, the digital calculating device is a very widely spread platform - more common than cubes, built into almost every gadget.
The result of the operation with two objects can be calculated by any participant, and the history of values ​​is traceable - it can be restored, and even experimenting with prediction.
The separate role of the master for such a game was no longer required, and besides it turned out to be such an entertaining “uniquely calculated by random,” instead of random results from the cube. What gave unpredictable in advance, but later identical outcomes for the same interaction - revealing a certain uniform chemistry, physics of processes or even fate. The game stimulated to look for new solutions: if one method does not work, then think up another - with what else to interact. For example, the wolf could not run away from the prince, but, for example, could run away to the princess or to the werewolves, following different paths of history. At the same time, with the same constancy with which water extinguishes the fire, the wolf, one way or another, is destined to be caught by the prince as long as they remain who they are.
By the way, you can calculate similar outcomes, to immediately illustrate:
The wolf is trying to escape to the princess = 134 = "deeds-story-miracle" = "while the prince was doing business, the wolf overheard a conversation about the fact that there is a carpet-plane somewhere."
The wolf escapes to the werewolves or turns into a werewolf = 102.96 = “work-life-death” = here can be interpreted differently: “busy escape”, “ran away safe and sound”, “turned and now brings death”.
The werewolf attacks the prince = 0.44 = "story-tale." Well, let's say - "the prince realized that he had collided with a creature from legends ...". That is, perhaps, the prince will remember about the aspen stake that is used to kill such evil spirits (yes, werewolves are not vampires, but such are my first associations) or call a werewolf by name, which will stop the attacker and lead to a conversation between them.
Another consequence was that the sequence of mathematical operations can be separated from the specific plot log and viewed in a different context. Therefore, the following test, I decided to try to invert the characters and themes, trying to keep the same interactions as possible:
Situation first. The wolf attacks the prince wandering through the gloomy world of horrors = "laughter-secret" = "the prince is terrified, but the wolf laughs and tells his secret - he is a man and the prince is not his enemy." Events did not arise, so go to the princess comes for the prince = "she is afraid that he left alone in the infectious forest." There is a contagious forest event. What the prince is doing in the forest - "he went into darkness, hunting for a flock of shadow creatures." Shadow creatures appeared . The wolf escapes = "finally, he laughed and melted in the darkness."
Situation two. Maniac again wants to kill his sister, although this time they ended up in a fairy tale = "the plan he had invented came out very difficult, for a start he decided to meet." Event acquaintance . The girl is talking with her sister = "decide to go on a trip." Event travel My sister thought, and she doesn’t like this idea of ​​travel = “suddenly a stubborn girl shows her sister a magic book, reads the lines, and then picks it up and carries it away with a magic whirlwind - now the sister has to go in search.” And so on ...
Time passed and once there was another annual competition of the board-role games Game Chef . I decided to write a system about this too, if the proposed competitive topic inspires me. The terms of the competition implied that in their works it was necessary to build on two or three abstract pictures from the proposed set - it does not matter what they ultimately will become and how they will be perceived. The topic caught me and the output was a “contagious-role-playing” game dedicated to confronting various metaphysical viruses that seep into reality - “Strain 33”. This is the basis of the mechanics of the “calculated plot”.
I will analyze how the individual competitive pictures-ingredients influenced the result. Although, of course, it is difficult to disassemble what each particular image became and how exactly they influenced, but nonetheless.
I'll start with the image of the theme of the competition. Looking at him, I immediately saw that under my "associative calculator" it is very suitable. Here the concept of two possible interactions on which the main process is built was read: characters and other objects have special digital indices and can interact either positively (then the indices are multiplied together) or negatively (the indices are divided one into another). Another theme image resulted in a decrease / increase in the index of the object at certain moments.
But the main point is what happened when the image of the theme was superimposed on one of the ingredients:
Viruses of the concepts of other worlds, penetrating into reality. Thus, the theme reflects the uncertainty of the conflict outcome that accompanies the gameplay, the little man in the picture seems to be torn between whether to remain in the real world or go to alternative (or rather which of the alternative worlds to leave).
I wanted to make a game about viruses for a long time (true about regular viruses), but something was missing. And now, looking at the worm crawling out of the apple, I remembered this idea, and in combination with the theme the association developed into a metaphysical epidemic of an exciting real world.
The remaining three ingredients are also somehow reflected in the game.
I associated the left image with something like the outcome of a certain search in pitch darkness - you can find light (life, meaning), and you can find something bad (shadow, death, oblivion). In the game, it turned into 8 achievements that need to be found to capture reality and some special thing that is not needed, as it leads to the death of objects or the withdrawal of participants.
The central image was associated with some kind of defense or defensive reaction. In conjunction with viruses on this association, the thought of immunity immediately pops up. Thus, the bad thing that the metaphysical virus does not need to be found is the immune response of reality, leading to the death of the carrier of the virus. In addition, developing the idea of ​​protection, I introduced the rule that found achievements should be sacrificed, thus protecting the carrier of the virus from the action of the immune response.
The right image pushed me to the fact that I also left that initial plot generation mode for one person as a bonus, without a viral color, but with the idea of ​​searching for achievements taken from there. The picture seems to indicate that a plot crystallizes / builds up in a person’s brain (it seems that it was remembered that one of the most common types of plotting is called a “snowflake”).
Brochure with the resulting game is on my site, you can read here:
SHTAMM 33
In general, it looks like this - one player acts on behalf of the same horror, and fills the city with his characters and objects, interpreting the events through the prism of horrors. Others become carriers of other genres and settings - fantasy, cyberpunk, mutants, zombie apocalypse, and so on. Fluids of these different dimensions interact in every way, change the real world and fight with each other. The ultimate goal is to find pairs of numbers that are such achievement artifacts and determine the winner.
It is better to play into the company in the mode of confrontation of metaphysical viruses, therefore, later in this article I will focus on examples from a single, plot-based mode.
The theme for this story was just time . But the starting subject objects related to this topic:
Inventor 23
Hours 95
Reporter 13
Library 54
Oracle 67
Alien from the future 71
I picked up the following associative vectors:
1. Drawing
2. Ring
3. hook
4. Fight
5. The shackles
6. Pride
7. Speech
8. Insult
9. Healing
What do I do next - proceed with the composition of the plot. I select two objects and multiply their indices, if an action has been thought up in which they somehow converge, or I divide one index by another, if there is some conflict between them. The result is interpreted in the framework of the theme and those associations, which are indicated by the result of the operation.
In addition to the basic rules that were analyzed at the beginning of the article, the search for achievements is also added. This happens when pairs appear in the first 7 digits of the result number.
11,22,44,55,66,77,88 and 99 are achievements, if all of them were open, the game ends. 33 is a disintegration, in this case the word association is not used, both interacting objects are destroyed, which is appropriately described in the plot.
When you first open each achievement, you must come up with a plot object, its index will be the corresponding pair of numbers, not the whole number. If an achievement has already been discovered, then the pairs of its numbers no longer matter. Pair 33 is an exception and it works every time it appears again in history.
Here is a scenario that grew further from the proposed source data:
The inventor rummages in the old library, looking for information on creating a time machine.
23 x 54 = 1242
He caught a few half-rotten books, which contained ancient knowledge. Returning to the workshop, he drew a diagram of the device, which will allow to overcome the boundaries of time.
Scheme time machine 1242
A newcomer from the future appeared in the middle of the city, he was entrusted with the mission to break the main city clock.
71/95 = 0.747368
The newcomer fails to turn his plan: he was a little mistaken with time and now the square with the cordon is cordoned off, a festival is being prepared there where the mayor will address the residents.
Mayor of the city 0.747368
The reporter went to the inventor to interview. In the end, they began to meet, which led to the rings, the wedding and the child born to them 299 .
While the months of marriage were going on, our inventor still tried to build what he depicted in the diagram.
23 x 1242 = 28566
He was able to assemble the device, but he lacked some important detail, a stabilizer for temporary flows. Only recently, the inventor accidentally discovered this missing component - the usual gold ring.
Thus, there is a first achievement unlocked! Time machine 66
The reporter, meanwhile, was engaged in raising a boy. On my father's time machine (and often without my father's knowledge), they traveled through different epochs - real and fictional.
Everything was going fine until one day they were captured. Bloodthirsty pirate Captain Hook locked them in the hold of his brig. But the boy was smart, brave and resourceful - he deceived the captain, robbed him, and fled with his mother back to our time.
Now on their wall, in the living room, hangs a trophy - the magical triangle 3887 !
The newcomer from the future reappeared in the city, now he is assigned to meet with the local oracle.
71 x 67 = 4575
The newcomer was set up and in the appointed place he was waited not by the oracle, but by the members of the criminal syndicate. The newcomer from the future was captured by them and taken to the organization’s headquarters for interrogation.
Criminal Syndicate 4575
The head of the criminal syndicate, having elicited its origin from the stranger, is trying to persuade him to cooperate.
4575 x 71 = 324825
The head of the syndicate is Captain Hook 324825 , pulled into our world by a Three -Cornered Hat. He believes that the Alien knows how to go back.
But back in time, when the Mayor of the city spoke on the square with the clock.
0.747368 x 95 = 70, 99996
Oh, this event is remembered by many. During the speech of the Mayor, the clock suddenly exploded, dotting the area with debris. Some eyewitnesses told how some stranger came out of the clouds of dust, looked around, and disappeared in a violet flash of light.
Now here is a memorial, built in honor of the victims of the explosion. They were exactly twelve.
. achievement unlocked! 99
, .
71 / 4575 = 0,015519
, , - , . .
Achievement unlocked! 55
.
299 88 = 26312
, , .
, .
— , . , .
324825 13 = 4222725
, . , .
Achievement unlocked! 22
, , , .
71 99 = 7029
, . , , . .
7029
, .
299 66 = 19734
, . , — .
19734
, , «» . — .
299 71 = 21229
. , : .
, . , , . .
67 / 13 = 5,153846
, . , — , . , .
, .
5,153846
. , .
67 13 = 871
, . .
871
, , .
67 / 871 = 0,076923
, , . .
0,076923
, , . , . .
71 55 = 3905
: , ( ), — , , .
, , , .
22 / 324825 = 6,772877
, — . «».
Achievement unlocked! «» 77
, , , .
67 77 = 5159
, . - , . - , — . — , , .
5159
— , ? — . «» .
77 / 67 = 1,149253
— , , — , .
Achievement unlocked! 11
, , - . , . .
71 13 = 923
At the beginning of the conversation, the girl thought that she was talking to another psycho, but her skepticism quickly evaporated when she heard about time travel, about the cocked hat, Hook and the oracle. Everything told in a surprising way coincided with the situation, now she guessed how it all happened.
Sensational interview 923 The
reporter promises to publish the interview, and she goes to the burnt house. She wants to find there something important that can help her fix everything.
13 x 5.153846 = 66.99999
In the garden, under the stone slab, she finds her old time travel diary.
Diary of Time Travel 66,99999
“Yes, I already read this book,” the pirate grinned. “But if truth is written there, then I already know what will happen, so the past will change.”
“It will not change,” the oracle replied gloomily. - In fact, you will not return back.
“I'm tired of your stupid predictions,” said the captain and taking out a pistol shot at the oracle.
324825/67 = 4848,134
As soon as the body of the oracle fell on the floor, a police detachment (acting on a tip from a criminal syndicate) broke into the room and a skirmish ensued. As a result, only Captain Hook is alive, the police and the Corsairs are killed.
The oracle is destroyed. "Corsairs" destroyed.
A reporter is reading a diary.
13 x 66,99999 = 870,9998
Everything converges, she was not mistaken. Today, exactly an hour later, her version from the past with her son should appear in the city park, where they will quarrel for the reason that one of the two of them mixed up the time coordinates.
870,9998
( ).
13 88 = 1144
: , …
Last achievement unlocked! 44
, .
Now we will generate another story, already in the fairy tale genre .
This time, objects could be destroyed only through disintegration (achievement 33). The implication was that if some object would be destroyed just like that, according to the plot, then the possibility of interaction with it remains.
And achievements were now considered separately, without participating in interactions.
Associations vectors:
1. Light
2. Poison
3. Fire
4. Escape
5. Mystery
6. Rain
7. Past
8. Reflection
9. Luck
Starting fairy story objects:
Fairy 54
King 81
Witch 17
Troll 22
, .
22 / 54 = 0,407407
. , , .
0,407407
( ) .
. , . . !
17 0,407407 = 6,925919
: , . -, , .
6,925919
.
22 81 = 1782
, .
1782
.
81 1782 = 144342
, , , , .
The king is in a panic - yes, everything converges! There is an ancient prophecy, which says that the sun goes out. And the first evidence is the arrival of the troll with luminous eyes.
Prophecy 144342
Achievement unlocked! Eclipse (44)
Fairy does not want to fly with the rest to the crystal.
54 / 0,407407 = 132,5455
It flies to the east, to the ruins of an abandoned temple that was burned in ancient times. Inside, on a dilapidated altar is a relic shining in the rays of the rising sun.
Sacred Relic 132,5455
Achievement unlocked! Hope (55)
The King sends his best squad against the troll.
81/22 = 3.681818
. .
3,681818
, .
17 6,925919 = 117,7406
, , , . - , ?
117,7406
Achievement unlocked! (11)
, .
54 132,5455 = 7157,457
On the dilapidated wall, ancient bas-reliefs and letters have been preserved telling how in the past the priests of the Sun prevented the invasion of demons into this world with the help of relics. Fairy understands that she needs to find such a priest, perhaps he will be able to get rid of the troll.
Demons 7157,457
Fairy looking for the priest of the temple of the sun.
54 x 1782 = 96228
By a happy coincidence, she notices this man running out of that part of the forest that is in thunderstorm. The priest followed the royal squad, and fled in horror after the troll burned them all.
The fairy was able to explain to the drenched adept that he must use a relic to expel evil.
Fear 96228
Achievement unlocked! Fate (22)
Following the fairy, the priest finds a relic.
1782 132,5455 = 236196
. , , , : , .
, .
, .
81 96228 = 7794468
The royal alchemist has a way to solve one of the problems: he declares that once the royal squad has been destroyed by a troll, you can use the powerful Machine The Day After Tomorrow, which turns some details of the past backwards. The machine works in an imperfect manner, but the alchemist says that according to his calculations, removing a deceased detachment from the past does not technically disrupt the normal course of time. True, there are only two charges left in the Machine, moreover, there is always a risk of temporal anomalies, but in this situation the king has no choice and he allows the experiment.
Everything seems to be going well and the dead squad disappears from the past for a few moments before the flames enveloped them. Unharmed, they appear near the royal castle.
Alchemist 7794468
Achievement unlocked! (77)
, - .
17 117,7406 = 2001,59
- , , . , .
2001,59
, .
117,7406 / 0,407407 = 288,9999
, , , . , .
288,9999
Achievement unlocked! (88)
, , .
81 7794468 = 6313519
, , .
, . , . , … .
, . .
6313519
.
17 / 6,925919 = 2,45454
, , ! , , . , , .
2,45454
, , .
54 / 1782 = 0,030303
. , , . .
0,030303
.
0,030303 22 = 0,666666
. , . . , . , .
0,666666
Achievement unlocked! (66)
, .
7157,457 144342 = 1033121
33 : 7157,457 144342 .
, : - , . , .
. .
0,666666 81 = 53,99994
, , .
, . , , . , , … , .
53,99994
Final achievement unlocked! (99)
. : , , , , .
, . - , - . -, .
« » , , / . .
You can fight it all in different ways, but such a “battle with the interface” seemed not entirely justified and wanted to think in the direction of something light, which is always under-handed. That there was a simplicity of verification of results, along with their some unpredictability. Then look and fell (figuratively speaking) on ​​the usual application "Calculator".
Plotfinder
Further, it was probably thought up not quite what corresponded to the initial premise, however, at least, this resulted in a plot generator.
')
The idea came out like this: we take several actors of the story and assign numbers to them (let's say they will be two-digit - from 11 to 19), then we indicate the theme of the story (detective, western, horrors, fantasy) and write down, so to speak, plot vectors - 9 basic word associations. Fulfilling certain rules, we provide the interaction of actors, generating new objects and developing the plot.
Example (he is the first test of the idea)
Characters:
12 - a little girl
15 - her sister
17 - maniac .
Theme: Horror
List of associations: 1 — fear, 2 — secret, 3 — darkness, 4 — cold, 5 — flock, 6 — corpse, 7 — laughter, 8 — death, 9 — illness.
We decided on the starting point, but how to interact? We have a calculator and thought about an intuitive approach. It was decided to act according to the following principle - if two objects establish some kind of “positive” connection between them, then we multiply them each other, if the “negative” one then divide the initiator by the object of his efforts.
Having decided on the rules, we begin to generate a plot by inventing the first operation with our objects:
Maniac, quite expected, wants to kill the sister of a little girl = 17/15 = 1.13
And now the main thing: look at the table of associations, taking the first digit of the interaction result for interpretation. If necessary, we attract the next ones in order to come up with some kind of result, and it is desirable to generate a new object.
It turns out that “1-1-3” is “fear-fear-darkness”. Just fear, perhaps, does nothing here, but the addition of darkness is already suggestive. Thus, it was decided to describe it as “the maniac decided to kill her at night and now awaits the onset of darkness”, and we get a new object 1.13 - night .
Now let's continue, this time choosing a new pair of objects:
A little girl talks to her sister in the evening = 12 x 15 = 180
It turns out "fear-death" and "the girl tells her sister her dream, in which she saw her being killed."
New object 180 - sleep .
See what happens next:
Sister makes fun of ridiculous sleep = 15/180 = 0.083
“8” is “death.” "But internally, all the same, frightened by what he heard and decides to be careful."
0.083 - caution .
Sister is trying to be careful = 15 x 0.083 = 1.245
"Fear-secret-cold." Actually, it's just scary for her and she can't fall asleep, no new objects were invented.
At night, the ill-fated maniac attacks his sister = 17/15 = 1.13
It turns out the already established object "night", this seems to be not enough, and we consider the figures of the object "night", deciding that the sister runs away from the attacker. It was decided to replace “night” with “run away”.
The little girl, meanwhile, has a dream = 12 x 180 = 2160
"Secret-fear." "The girl wakes up from what he saw."
2160 - wake up .
The sister continues to flee = 15 x 1.13 = 16.95
"Fear is a corpse." "He clogs up in the closet and finds a skeleton there."
16.95 - the skeleton.
Sister examines the skeleton = 15 x 16.95 = 254.25
"Secret-flock-cold." "The bones are cold."
Little girl is looking for her sister = 12 x 15 = 180 (sleep)
There are options - maybe she left this case and fell asleep, but if we are not satisfied, then we go down to the numbers: “fear-death”. Maybe she hears something, she starts banging with horror and she locks herself in the room.
In this part of the story, I broke off, in order to assess what happens. Some associations, at first glance, did not lead much, since they were essentially a repetition of the very theme of horror: fear and secrets, for example. Therefore, I decided that associations should, if possible, differ in meaning from the topic itself in order to be more useful.
One of the interesting consequences was that the numbers of objects often help to think out additional touches, for example, the maniac decided to attack at night, and at night - 1.13, that is, at one in the morning, 13 minutes. The effect of gradual “burying” into a problem is also interesting - the character does one, gets the second, follows this second, gets the third, and so on. And also the way the change in the general context changes the weight of the word associations in the same operations.
After that, I created a second test:
Characters:
13 - the wolf ,
18 - prince ,
11 - the princess .
Theme: Fairy Tale
List of associations: 1 - cases, 2 - life, 3 - miracle, 4 - story, 5 - subject, 6 - reflection, 7 - transformation, 8 - campaign, 9 - death.
The wolf attacks the wandering prince = 13/18 = 0.72
"Transformation is life." "The wolf did not expect it to be a prince, and the hero did not lose his head and caught the wolf alive."
0.72 - caught the wolf .
The princess heard rumors about the capture of a wolf by a prince = 11 x 0.72 = 7.92
"Transformation-death." “She remembered reading about such wolves somewhere — they turn into werewolves and when this happens, the prince may not be lucky.”
7.92 - werewolf .
The princess is going to warn the prince = 11 x 18 = 198
"Affairs." "But too many classes in the palace, it is better to send a messenger."
198 - messenger .
The messenger went to the prince = 198 x 18 = 3564
"Miracle Object Reflection." "The messenger suddenly on the way came across a magical book that messed up his mind when he opened it."
3564 is a magic book .
The wolf tries to escape from the prince = 13/18 = 0.72
But this event, which we already have, is “wolf caught”, and it fails. And an interesting mathematics looms.
The wolf is trying to negotiate with the prince = 13 x 18 = 234
"Life is a wonder story." “The wolf asks to let him go, in exchange for a promise to miraculously come to the rescue in a difficult situation. The prince believes and lets go. ”
234 - agreement .
After the second test, it became clear that such a plot construction can be played not only by making successive events with other players, but also alone, say, if a person has only a calculator, and all sorts of sudoku, solitaire and other available entertainment do not bring joy. In general, if you think about it, the digital calculating device is a very widely spread platform - more common than cubes, built into almost every gadget.
The result of the operation with two objects can be calculated by any participant, and the history of values ​​is traceable - it can be restored, and even experimenting with prediction.
The separate role of the master for such a game was no longer required, and besides it turned out to be such an entertaining “uniquely calculated by random,” instead of random results from the cube. What gave unpredictable in advance, but later identical outcomes for the same interaction - revealing a certain uniform chemistry, physics of processes or even fate. The game stimulated to look for new solutions: if one method does not work, then think up another - with what else to interact. For example, the wolf could not run away from the prince, but, for example, could run away to the princess or to the werewolves, following different paths of history. At the same time, with the same constancy with which water extinguishes the fire, the wolf, one way or another, is destined to be caught by the prince as long as they remain who they are.
By the way, you can calculate similar outcomes, to immediately illustrate:
The wolf is trying to escape to the princess = 134 = "deeds-story-miracle" = "while the prince was doing business, the wolf overheard a conversation about the fact that there is a carpet-plane somewhere."
The wolf escapes to the werewolves or turns into a werewolf = 102.96 = “work-life-death” = here can be interpreted differently: “busy escape”, “ran away safe and sound”, “turned and now brings death”.
The werewolf attacks the prince = 0.44 = "story-tale." Well, let's say - "the prince realized that he had collided with a creature from legends ...". That is, perhaps, the prince will remember about the aspen stake that is used to kill such evil spirits (yes, werewolves are not vampires, but such are my first associations) or call a werewolf by name, which will stop the attacker and lead to a conversation between them.
Another consequence was that the sequence of mathematical operations can be separated from the specific plot log and viewed in a different context. Therefore, the following test, I decided to try to invert the characters and themes, trying to keep the same interactions as possible:
Situation first. The wolf attacks the prince wandering through the gloomy world of horrors = "laughter-secret" = "the prince is terrified, but the wolf laughs and tells his secret - he is a man and the prince is not his enemy." Events did not arise, so go to the princess comes for the prince = "she is afraid that he left alone in the infectious forest." There is a contagious forest event. What the prince is doing in the forest - "he went into darkness, hunting for a flock of shadow creatures." Shadow creatures appeared . The wolf escapes = "finally, he laughed and melted in the darkness."
Situation two. Maniac again wants to kill his sister, although this time they ended up in a fairy tale = "the plan he had invented came out very difficult, for a start he decided to meet." Event acquaintance . The girl is talking with her sister = "decide to go on a trip." Event travel My sister thought, and she doesn’t like this idea of ​​travel = “suddenly a stubborn girl shows her sister a magic book, reads the lines, and then picks it up and carries it away with a magic whirlwind - now the sister has to go in search.” And so on ...
Strain 33
Time passed and once there was another annual competition of the board-role games Game Chef . I decided to write a system about this too, if the proposed competitive topic inspires me. The terms of the competition implied that in their works it was necessary to build on two or three abstract pictures from the proposed set - it does not matter what they ultimately will become and how they will be perceived. The topic caught me and the output was a “contagious-role-playing” game dedicated to confronting various metaphysical viruses that seep into reality - “Strain 33”. This is the basis of the mechanics of the “calculated plot”.
I will analyze how the individual competitive pictures-ingredients influenced the result. Although, of course, it is difficult to disassemble what each particular image became and how exactly they influenced, but nonetheless.
I'll start with the image of the theme of the competition. Looking at him, I immediately saw that under my "associative calculator" it is very suitable. Here the concept of two possible interactions on which the main process is built was read: characters and other objects have special digital indices and can interact either positively (then the indices are multiplied together) or negatively (the indices are divided one into another). Another theme image resulted in a decrease / increase in the index of the object at certain moments.
But the main point is what happened when the image of the theme was superimposed on one of the ingredients:
Viruses of the concepts of other worlds, penetrating into reality. Thus, the theme reflects the uncertainty of the conflict outcome that accompanies the gameplay, the little man in the picture seems to be torn between whether to remain in the real world or go to alternative (or rather which of the alternative worlds to leave).
I wanted to make a game about viruses for a long time (true about regular viruses), but something was missing. And now, looking at the worm crawling out of the apple, I remembered this idea, and in combination with the theme the association developed into a metaphysical epidemic of an exciting real world.
The remaining three ingredients are also somehow reflected in the game.
I associated the left image with something like the outcome of a certain search in pitch darkness - you can find light (life, meaning), and you can find something bad (shadow, death, oblivion). In the game, it turned into 8 achievements that need to be found to capture reality and some special thing that is not needed, as it leads to the death of objects or the withdrawal of participants.
The central image was associated with some kind of defense or defensive reaction. In conjunction with viruses on this association, the thought of immunity immediately pops up. Thus, the bad thing that the metaphysical virus does not need to be found is the immune response of reality, leading to the death of the carrier of the virus. In addition, developing the idea of ​​protection, I introduced the rule that found achievements should be sacrificed, thus protecting the carrier of the virus from the action of the immune response.
The right image pushed me to the fact that I also left that initial plot generation mode for one person as a bonus, without a viral color, but with the idea of ​​searching for achievements taken from there. The picture seems to indicate that a plot crystallizes / builds up in a person’s brain (it seems that it was remembered that one of the most common types of plotting is called a “snowflake”).
Brochure with the resulting game is on my site, you can read here:
SHTAMM 33
In general, it looks like this - one player acts on behalf of the same horror, and fills the city with his characters and objects, interpreting the events through the prism of horrors. Others become carriers of other genres and settings - fantasy, cyberpunk, mutants, zombie apocalypse, and so on. Fluids of these different dimensions interact in every way, change the real world and fight with each other. The ultimate goal is to find pairs of numbers that are such achievement artifacts and determine the winner.
It is better to play into the company in the mode of confrontation of metaphysical viruses, therefore, later in this article I will focus on examples from a single, plot-based mode.
First game
The theme for this story was just time . But the starting subject objects related to this topic:
Inventor 23
Hours 95
Reporter 13
Library 54
Oracle 67
Alien from the future 71
I picked up the following associative vectors:
1. Drawing
2. Ring
3. hook
4. Fight
5. The shackles
6. Pride
7. Speech
8. Insult
9. Healing
What do I do next - proceed with the composition of the plot. I select two objects and multiply their indices, if an action has been thought up in which they somehow converge, or I divide one index by another, if there is some conflict between them. The result is interpreted in the framework of the theme and those associations, which are indicated by the result of the operation.
In addition to the basic rules that were analyzed at the beginning of the article, the search for achievements is also added. This happens when pairs appear in the first 7 digits of the result number.
11,22,44,55,66,77,88 and 99 are achievements, if all of them were open, the game ends. 33 is a disintegration, in this case the word association is not used, both interacting objects are destroyed, which is appropriately described in the plot.
When you first open each achievement, you must come up with a plot object, its index will be the corresponding pair of numbers, not the whole number. If an achievement has already been discovered, then the pairs of its numbers no longer matter. Pair 33 is an exception and it works every time it appears again in history.
Here is a scenario that grew further from the proposed source data:
The inventor rummages in the old library, looking for information on creating a time machine.
23 x 54 = 1242
He caught a few half-rotten books, which contained ancient knowledge. Returning to the workshop, he drew a diagram of the device, which will allow to overcome the boundaries of time.
Scheme time machine 1242
A newcomer from the future appeared in the middle of the city, he was entrusted with the mission to break the main city clock.
71/95 = 0.747368
The newcomer fails to turn his plan: he was a little mistaken with time and now the square with the cordon is cordoned off, a festival is being prepared there where the mayor will address the residents.
Mayor of the city 0.747368
The reporter went to the inventor to interview. In the end, they began to meet, which led to the rings, the wedding and the child born to them 299 .
While the months of marriage were going on, our inventor still tried to build what he depicted in the diagram.
23 x 1242 = 28566
He was able to assemble the device, but he lacked some important detail, a stabilizer for temporary flows. Only recently, the inventor accidentally discovered this missing component - the usual gold ring.
Thus, there is a first achievement unlocked! Time machine 66
The reporter, meanwhile, was engaged in raising a boy. On my father's time machine (and often without my father's knowledge), they traveled through different epochs - real and fictional.
Everything was going fine until one day they were captured. Bloodthirsty pirate Captain Hook locked them in the hold of his brig. But the boy was smart, brave and resourceful - he deceived the captain, robbed him, and fled with his mother back to our time.
Now on their wall, in the living room, hangs a trophy - the magical triangle 3887 !
The newcomer from the future reappeared in the city, now he is assigned to meet with the local oracle.
71 x 67 = 4575
The newcomer was set up and in the appointed place he was waited not by the oracle, but by the members of the criminal syndicate. The newcomer from the future was captured by them and taken to the organization’s headquarters for interrogation.
Criminal Syndicate 4575
The head of the criminal syndicate, having elicited its origin from the stranger, is trying to persuade him to cooperate.
4575 x 71 = 324825
The head of the syndicate is Captain Hook 324825 , pulled into our world by a Three -Cornered Hat. He believes that the Alien knows how to go back.
But back in time, when the Mayor of the city spoke on the square with the clock.
0.747368 x 95 = 70, 99996
Oh, this event is remembered by many. During the speech of the Mayor, the clock suddenly exploded, dotting the area with debris. Some eyewitnesses told how some stranger came out of the clouds of dust, looked around, and disappeared in a violet flash of light.
Now here is a memorial, built in honor of the victims of the explosion. They were exactly twelve.
. achievement unlocked! 99
, .
71 / 4575 = 0,015519
, , - , . .
Achievement unlocked! 55
.
299 88 = 26312
, , .
, .
— , . , .
324825 13 = 4222725
, . , .
Achievement unlocked! 22
, , , .
71 99 = 7029
, . , , . .
7029
, .
299 66 = 19734
, . , — .
19734
, , «» . — .
299 71 = 21229
. , : .
, . , , . .
67 / 13 = 5,153846
, . , — , . , .
, .
5,153846
. , .
67 13 = 871
, . .
871
, , .
67 / 871 = 0,076923
, , . .
0,076923
, , . , . .
71 55 = 3905
: , ( ), — , , .
, , , .
22 / 324825 = 6,772877
, — . «».
Achievement unlocked! «» 77
, , , .
67 77 = 5159
, . - , . - , — . — , , .
5159
— , ? — . «» .
77 / 67 = 1,149253
— , , — , .
Achievement unlocked! 11
, , - . , . .
71 13 = 923
At the beginning of the conversation, the girl thought that she was talking to another psycho, but her skepticism quickly evaporated when she heard about time travel, about the cocked hat, Hook and the oracle. Everything told in a surprising way coincided with the situation, now she guessed how it all happened.
Sensational interview 923 The
reporter promises to publish the interview, and she goes to the burnt house. She wants to find there something important that can help her fix everything.
13 x 5.153846 = 66.99999
In the garden, under the stone slab, she finds her old time travel diary.
Diary of Time Travel 66,99999
“Yes, I already read this book,” the pirate grinned. “But if truth is written there, then I already know what will happen, so the past will change.”
“It will not change,” the oracle replied gloomily. - In fact, you will not return back.
“I'm tired of your stupid predictions,” said the captain and taking out a pistol shot at the oracle.
324825/67 = 4848,134
As soon as the body of the oracle fell on the floor, a police detachment (acting on a tip from a criminal syndicate) broke into the room and a skirmish ensued. As a result, only Captain Hook is alive, the police and the Corsairs are killed.
The oracle is destroyed. "Corsairs" destroyed.
A reporter is reading a diary.
13 x 66,99999 = 870,9998
Everything converges, she was not mistaken. Today, exactly an hour later, her version from the past with her son should appear in the city park, where they will quarrel for the reason that one of the two of them mixed up the time coordinates.
870,9998
( ).
13 88 = 1144
: , …
Last achievement unlocked! 44
, .
Now we will generate another story, already in the fairy tale genre .
This time, objects could be destroyed only through disintegration (achievement 33). The implication was that if some object would be destroyed just like that, according to the plot, then the possibility of interaction with it remains.
And achievements were now considered separately, without participating in interactions.
Associations vectors:
1. Light
2. Poison
3. Fire
4. Escape
5. Mystery
6. Rain
7. Past
8. Reflection
9. Luck
Starting fairy story objects:
Fairy 54
King 81
Witch 17
Troll 22
, .
22 / 54 = 0,407407
. , , .
0,407407
( ) .
. , . . !
17 0,407407 = 6,925919
: , . -, , .
6,925919
.
22 81 = 1782
, .
1782
.
81 1782 = 144342
, , , , .
The king is in a panic - yes, everything converges! There is an ancient prophecy, which says that the sun goes out. And the first evidence is the arrival of the troll with luminous eyes.
Prophecy 144342
Achievement unlocked! Eclipse (44)
Fairy does not want to fly with the rest to the crystal.
54 / 0,407407 = 132,5455
It flies to the east, to the ruins of an abandoned temple that was burned in ancient times. Inside, on a dilapidated altar is a relic shining in the rays of the rising sun.
Sacred Relic 132,5455
Achievement unlocked! Hope (55)
The King sends his best squad against the troll.
81/22 = 3.681818
. .
3,681818
, .
17 6,925919 = 117,7406
, , , . - , ?
117,7406
Achievement unlocked! (11)
, .
54 132,5455 = 7157,457
On the dilapidated wall, ancient bas-reliefs and letters have been preserved telling how in the past the priests of the Sun prevented the invasion of demons into this world with the help of relics. Fairy understands that she needs to find such a priest, perhaps he will be able to get rid of the troll.
Demons 7157,457
Fairy looking for the priest of the temple of the sun.
54 x 1782 = 96228
By a happy coincidence, she notices this man running out of that part of the forest that is in thunderstorm. The priest followed the royal squad, and fled in horror after the troll burned them all.
The fairy was able to explain to the drenched adept that he must use a relic to expel evil.
Fear 96228
Achievement unlocked! Fate (22)
Following the fairy, the priest finds a relic.
1782 132,5455 = 236196
. , , , : , .
, .
, .
81 96228 = 7794468
The royal alchemist has a way to solve one of the problems: he declares that once the royal squad has been destroyed by a troll, you can use the powerful Machine The Day After Tomorrow, which turns some details of the past backwards. The machine works in an imperfect manner, but the alchemist says that according to his calculations, removing a deceased detachment from the past does not technically disrupt the normal course of time. True, there are only two charges left in the Machine, moreover, there is always a risk of temporal anomalies, but in this situation the king has no choice and he allows the experiment.
Everything seems to be going well and the dead squad disappears from the past for a few moments before the flames enveloped them. Unharmed, they appear near the royal castle.
Alchemist 7794468
Achievement unlocked! (77)
, - .
17 117,7406 = 2001,59
- , , . , .
2001,59
, .
117,7406 / 0,407407 = 288,9999
, , , . , .
288,9999
Achievement unlocked! (88)
, , .
81 7794468 = 6313519
, , .
, . , . , … .
, . .
6313519
.
17 / 6,925919 = 2,45454
, , ! , , . , , .
2,45454
, , .
54 / 1782 = 0,030303
. , , . .
0,030303
.
0,030303 22 = 0,666666
. , . . , . , .
0,666666
Achievement unlocked! (66)
, .
7157,457 144342 = 1033121
33 : 7157,457 144342 .
, : - , . , .
. .
0,666666 81 = 53,99994
, , .
, . , , . , , … , .
53,99994
Final achievement unlocked! (99)
. : , , , , .
Total
, . - , - . -, .
« » , , / . .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/455058/
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