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GeekNights 090127 - The Little Engine That Could Kill

AprecheApreche
edited January 2009 in GeekNights
Tonight on GeekNights we review the free indie RPG, The Little Engine That Could Kill. In the news, New York Comic-Con is coming, and Games for Windows is going.

Scott's Thing - Gravity Bone
Rym's Thing - Final Fantasy Legend 2
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Comments

  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited January 2009
    I love that I get my geek nights at 6 pm. Yay PST, the one thing it's good for.
    I do regret games for live is going. I was looking forward to playing some games with my xbox 360 counterparts. Halo 2 for PC for example.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Ishmael DummyIshmael Dummy
    I was looking forward to playing some games with my xbox 360 counterparts. Halo 2 for PC for example.
    You couldn't have done that anyway as only a few games (Shadowrun, Universe At War) have cross-platform play; Halo 2 doesn't.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Yeah, making a patch to do that would have been easy for them.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Console is to printer what games are to ink?
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    Console is to printer what games are to ink?
    Don't you mean: Console is to games what printer is to ink?
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    It works both ways, doesn't it?
  • omegafinalomegafinal
    I had hopes for GfW-LIVE, because of cross-platform play. But I hate it when developers won't use that feature because of the old "PC controls > Console" or vice versa. They should have just given the gamers the option if they want cross-platform play or not, instead of cutting out completely.
  • djfooboodjfooboo
    edited January 2009
    I read a couple character sheets for The Little Engine That Could Kill out of curiosity. I know now to just take your word for how terrible the characters were.
    Post edited by djfooboo on
  • CremlianCremlian
    After listening to this eps, I am so glad I left before the game started on Sunday... Though the thought of Scott picking a RPG (I know Blindly but still) that had lurid descriptions of penises makes me LOL and the faces on people as they realized what they were reading would have been worth it.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    edited January 2009
    The RPG you talked about in the main bit sounds awesome/grim.

    I like the idea of each person having completely different information as the game begins. I once did a show where I got volunteers on stage and they each had a different set of instructions relayed to them via (hidden) earphones, and they acted stuff out as they were told it. The idea worked, and it looked like I was controlling them by the power of my mind. It was only mildly entertaining though, and most people thought I'd planted volunteers in advance and we'd rehearsed the full act.

    Anyway, combining these ideas could lead to a really fun role playing system:

    1. You need 5 people.
    2. and 5 ipods.
    3. and five individual playlists of unique audio track.
    4. Everyone presses play at the same time, and each receive there initial characters/stories/facts.
    5. The game starts, and everyone starts interacting.
    6. At a certain point, some people hear a scream, others don't, some people are told what they just saw.
    7. The game continues, and some people are told to make excuses and leave the room together.
    8. Lots more cool things happen, with the ipods playing the part of the GM... but a more powerful GM (but limited in other ways).
    9. The last hour is a free for all, but all the time there is a countdown happening in everyone's heads.
    10. The spaceship is going to crash, but before that happens you have to decide who is going to be the unique winner/loser.
    11. Everyone presses stop.
    12. You plug the winner's/loser's ipod into a stereo and play the very last track.
    13. You find out if you all guessed right or wrong, and what happened because of your choice.
    14. Maybe play the last half hour again and see if you can pick the right person this time.
    15. Even if you do pick the right person, keep playing to hear the alternative endings.

    It would be a shit ton of work, but I think it could be fun.

    Or maybe it's been done before.
    Post edited by Luke Burrage on
  • AprecheApreche
    Go for it Luke. All you have to do is make 5 mp3s.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I think someone with more RPG experience and more GM experience would do a lot better job at this than I could ever hope to do. But I might do a proof of concept, something that lasts for maybe 15 minutes with three people. I have two week work trip in March that needs filling with something.

    Meanwhile, I'm setting off on the epic journey that is my second novel (I'm 900 words behind already... must crack on with it tonight!)
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    edited January 2009
    The concept for the game sounded great, it really did. 8 characters with different information? Complex intertwined plot? Sign me up!

    The whole issue is that it was poorly executed. It's sloppy, needlessly complex, needlessly detailed, and needlessly gross. Do I honestly need to know that the Lord is impotent? Really? Is it strictly necessary?
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • KoholintKoholint
    While it may be a bad game, The Little Engine That Could Kill sounds like a great prank. In fact, I think its creation was a prank.
  • KieyKiey
    Theconceptfor the game sounded great, it really did. 8 characters with different information? Complex intertwined plot? Sign me up!

    The whole issue is that it was poorly executed. It's sloppy, needlessly complex, needlessly detailed, and needlessly gross. Do I honestly need to know that the Lord is impotent? Really? Is it strictly necessary?
    That's basically my thoughts on it. It seems like a great idea, just horribly horribly executed.
  • DiddgeryDiddgery
    I was this close to stopping the episode before I heard Rym say how it was absolutely horrible. If that didn't happen- and if I didn't listen subsequently- I would probably have gotten my friends together, tried to get them to play this, and then they'd all be mad at me for making them play something so vile.
  • ......
    [RPG idea]
    So basically ImprovEverywhere's mp3 experiments, only with 5 people instead of 5 groups of people. Of course, your idea to make it an RPG is superior.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    [RPG idea]
    So basically ImprovEverywhere's mp3 experiments, only with 5 people instead of 5 groups of people. Of course, your idea to make it an RPG is superior.
    I looked it up. But no, basically not like ImprovEverywhere's mp3 experiment, like my own mp3 experiment I performed on stage maybe six or seven years ago.

    I came up with the idea when I saw a film where a woman had sex with headphones on, listening to heavy metal music (I can't remember what the film was now). My first thought was that it would be fun to have sex with someone when each of you were listening to different music, going at different speeds. Or maybe it wouldn't be fun, but it would be interesting. Then I came up with the idea of two people listening to different sides of the stereo channels each, with instructions given to both. Then I took out the sex part and made it into a mind control piece for a show I was asked to perform in. Then, years later, I thought it could be cool to make into an RPG.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    The idea has existed for a long time. Acting troupes will be hired to host murder mystery nights at various locales as an entertainment event. Each non actor is given a part to play with a certain amount of information. The actors know the full plot and they stay on the peripherals of the action acting as GM and setting the stage allowing the non-actors to figure out the "who-done-it".

    This game was a failure at an old concept. It wasn't novel or inventive - just poorly written.
  • SchnevetsSchnevets
    Damn, this episode was a great public service announcement, but that is too bad that the game didn't work out. If I stopped the episode a few minutes before I did, I probably would have gone to my Game Night praising the game as something we all have to try (everyone in the group is crazy about Mafia).

    I definitely think there's some potential in this concept, though, and may try making one if I ever have some spare time (unlikely). From what you've said, I think the issue may be the game trying to encompass too much in the packet. I wouldn't have made it a narrative, I would just try giving each character a page with objectives, a page with inventory, a page with relationships, etc...
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    @Luke B: Tip: Use the iPod audiobook format and divide it into chapters so that everyone can restart from a certain point if they need a toilet break.
  • CremlianCremlian
    @Luke B: Tip: Use the iPod audiobook format and divide it into chapters so that everyone can restart from a certain point if they need a toilet break.
    Or you can like pause your mp3 player.... Is that hard?
  • AprecheApreche


    Or you can like pause your mp3 player.... Is that hard?
    Can you and your friends all pause at the exact same moment?
  • CremlianCremlian
    edited January 2009
    Can you and your friends all pause at the exact same moment?
    You can't? I know my friends have the ability to pause a mp3 player within a few seconds of each other what about you :-p
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited January 2009
    And then everyone looks up when they hear the gunshot, one after the other? It also gets worse as you stop and start several times.

    This is actually a kinda neat idea. If you need someone (else) with a British accent to voice NPCs, I'll help out.

    I'm tempted to go onto the Gravity Bone forum and start a thread asking how I get past bit at the end of the chase scene.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    You can't. That's the ending.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    You can't. That's the ending.
    There is always at least one..
  • AprecheApreche


    You can't? I know my friends have the ability to pause a mp3 player within a few seconds of each other what about you :-p
    It requires precision timing, a few seconds makes a big difference.
  • NeitoNeito
    You could use different files...
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    But you then have to get your friends to do several synchronized starts instead of just one with extras as needed.
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