Here is where I drop down ideas etc that I want to implement. Mostly ramblings.

General
-------

The final goal is to have multi-player, so you can gear up as a penguin, or
as a daemon, and deathmatch. Settle the BSD vs Linux rivalries once and for all.

In multi-player you should be able to play as other characters, perhaps as
a vi (that weird little impy thing on O'reilly's cover) or an EMAC (WTF would
that look like? I bet it's built like a tank!)

Each type has different characteristics, eg the vi creature can run damn
fast and is agile, but doesn't have the hitpoints or arsenal of an EMAC.

For added realism, you have to memorise 200 commands to play the vi guy, and
the EMAC is steered by typing M+MOVE_RIGHT ;)

Single player involves 2 sections, the real world, where your job is to collect
processors to build a beowulf cluster, and the tech world, where you have to
battle through familiar websites to finally reach microsoft.com

You play either Tux, The BSD daemon (what's his name?), or Tux's girlfriend
(we don't want to alienate the 0.0001% of Unix women ;) that is, if we haven't
already...)

'health' is measured in caffeine in the real world, and bandwidth in the tech
world. Speed is relative to how much of each you have. The basic idea is that
in the real world, you get so tired you drop off to sleep, and online all the
fud etc drains your bandwidth.

Real World
----------

Collect processors to build a beowulf cluster. I haven't yet decided whether
you have to collect a set number of processors, or a certain number of MIPS, eg
an Alpha is worth more than a PPC chip which is worth more than a i386. You
could pick up an PIII and wonder why it has the same rating as a PII ;)

In the last real-world level you could pickup a chip from transmeta, which
would instantly put you over the goal. That is, if you can find Transmeta ;)

Tech World
----------

Start in your own little Apache homepage. Work your way through familiar Free/
Opensource webpages such as Slashdot, Segfault, Userfriendly etc. Liberate them
and recieve a weapon for your trouble. (eg /. effect becomes available)

Negotiate deadly flame's, trolls and FIRSTPOSTER's on /. Kill evil Crud-puppy's
on userfriendly. You get the idea.

Raze ZD-Net, put winntmag to the torch, sneak in through egg.microsoft.com (a
friendly linux box lets you through) and kick some evil microsoft butt.

Finally you will have to do battle with the icon of sin. Whether or not this is
set in the real world, or in the tech world is undecided. Perhaps a bit of both.

Weapons
-------

 Real-world:
	Linux CDROM	-unlimited supply, does small amount of damage.
	Fireball	-BSD daemons weapon. (unlimited supply)
	Baseball bat	-As seen on the homepage pic. Does a lot of damage
			 but has a short range.
	Pitchfork	-Daemons version of the Baseball bat.
	Nuke		-Blows down walls, and vaporises anything near.
	Flame-thrower	-Toasts the buggers. They say Unix doesn't have a GUI?
			 Flame them without mercy!

 Internet (tech):
	Ping attack	-Your standard attack, unlimited. Can be upgraded as
			 you obtain more bandwidth.
	Flame mail	-Ranged weapon but quite powerful.
	Slashdot effect -Drop this and the speed of the enemies on screen drop
			 to 1/4 of normal. Enemies with <20 health are killed.
	WinNuke		-The screen flashes blue and all enemies on screen die.
	Netbus		-You take control of an enemy that is infected.
	Melissa		-Enemy that is hit shoots off 5 emails, if one of them
			 hits another enemy, the same thing happens. Damage is
			 quite low/email, but there are lots of them.
	BSOD		-Blue screen of death. Enemy stops for 10 seconds while
			 it 'reboots'. Can still take damage.
	TROLL-bait	-Drop this, and if an enemy walks over it, he gets
			 'flamed' and is dealth ~50 damage. This could be fun
			 in multi-player (it may be invisible, or look like a
			 weapon, health pack etc)
	fork()		-You split in 2, and your other half fights along-side
			 you. NOTE: This means the AI would have to be half
			 decent, which it is far from at the moment!

ENEMIES
-------

Real World:
	MSCP		-Microsoft Certified Peon. Zombie like creature.
	Buried MSCP	-Hides underground, pops out when you get close.
	Clippy		-That $#@$'ing paperclip from Word.
	Gates-Youth	-Think hitler youth meets girl guides.
	Polar Bear	-Gates bought The north pole just so he could raise
			 these evil penguin eaters.
	Suit		-Cross between the fat controller and a PHB. Reads
			 WinNT mag, and believes it.
	Bunny		-A bystander. You judge if he's innocent.

Tech World:
	Software bug	-Microsoft churns these out by the MILLIONS.
	Y2K Bug*	-Bug with a clock on his back, when it hits 2000, BOOM!
	MS-goon		-Looks suprisingly like an MSCP.
	Skript Kiddie	-Tries to bring your down, acts l33t, quite annoying.
	Worm		-Made by a guy called "RTFM"
	FUD-monster	-Found in places like ZD-Net and WinNT mag.
	Spam		-A big fat pig (or tin of spam) that delivers
			 unsolicited mail such as "make money fast!"
	COBOL		-A hideous beast.
	Flamer		-?
	Troll		-Trolls his flamebait.

*the y2k bug will start on 1998, and start counting down when he is within a
certain distance from you.

Items:
------

Real world:
	Coke		-Gives you a small caffeine boost.
	Jolt/Mnt. Dew	-Gives you 2x the amount of coke.
	Coffee		-Gives somewhere the amount of Jolt.
	No-Doze		-Full health.
	IV Drip		-Full Health and a MASSIVE speed boost.
	CD-Burner	-Doubles damage of CDroms (for a small time)
	Asbesdos u/wear	-Resistance to flames. (temp ability)
	Samba		-Samba makes you 'look' like an NT machine, so enemies
			 won't attack you. (they smarten up after a while as
			 fileserving is so much faster and more reliable)
	Nuke Crate	-Ever wanted to become death, destroyer of worlds?
	Bat		-New weapon for Tux.
	Pitchfork	-New weapon for Daemon.

Tech World:
	28k Modem	-Small bandwidth boost.
	56k modem	-2x bandwidth of 28k modem increase.
	Cable modem	-More bandwidth.
	T1		-Full Bandwidth.
	T3		-Gives you Full health and speed increase.
	SMP		-You can now shoot at double the speed.
	

SOUNDS
------

Recording the sfx should be pretty fun. Here's some ideas:

Enemies should have a personality, you should be able to hear them before you
see them. This can help tip you off about traps etc.

Spam pig should oink and say "Make money fast!!!"

Fud monster should say stuff like "Unix has no GUI", "Customers want
integration!", "Linux has no support" and "NT kicks linux ass in benchmarks"

Skript Kiddie should go around saying "L33t", "I'll 0wN YoU!" and "I'll get
r00t" in other words, be as annoying as possible ;)

Yawn when you run out of caffeine, hear the sound of a modem disconnect when
you die in tech land.

NOTES
-----

The style I'm aiming for is a fun game that doesn't take it self seriously.
Think Slashdot meets Duke Nukem meets Gauntlet.

I think it would be cool if maps were named after songs. Why? It just would.

There will be an amazing number of obscure references in there, from internet
culture to science fiction to cult movies. I really liked that kind of stuff in
Duke3d, and wish there was more of it!

David Lawrence
philaw@camtech.net.au
