
				IDEAS FOR NEXT PROJECT
 				by Stu Galley 10/20/86

			MIDNIGHT RIDER or ESCAPE FROM BOSTON:

This is interactive historical fiction in the form of a spy story: the main
character is Paul Revere the artisan, and his goals are both to obtain secret
plans from the bad guys and to foil those plans by warning the good guys
before it's too late. The setting is real, historical Boston in 1775
(crooked streets, shops, pubs, sea on all sides, and
British bad guys on the prowl) and roads to the west. The puzzles involve
sneaking about after curfew, meeting fellow rebels secretly, and making
your way toward Concord, ending with a chase scene when a British patrol
spots you. No historical knowledge is required, but you can learn plenty
by participating in the story. (Possible gimmick: the story is told in
third person, from multiple viewpoints, like some traditional fiction.)
(Other possible gimmick: the story can be
inter-cut with a similar story set in modern Boston, where you have to
ride the "T" to Concord before the buses shut down for the night!)

		MILLIWAYS or RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE:

Takes up where "Hitchhiker's" left off.  Manufactured planets, Deep
Thought, white mice, time travel, 1001 verb tenses, digital watches, the
Frogstar, Total Perspective Vortex, the End of History! [Does Douglas
really want to work on this at this time? Does it matter?]

			CHECKPOINT (revived):

You, an innocent train traveller in a foreign country, get mixed up with
spies and have to be as clever as they to survive.  Or, you take the
viewpoint of a spy in a similar scenario.  Much of the groundwork for
this product is already laid; what it needs is some "flash" in the style
of 007 movies, and a more varied and/or interesting plot.

			THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Fantasy sells big, right? The "Alice" books are a fantasy that I feel
expert about. I pick the second title because the chessboard geography
gives better feedback about the player's progress. And for its more
adaptable features, such as the maze in the garden of live flowers.
But, like movie adaptations, elements of both books would appear.

			SCIENTERRIFIC AMERICAN 

There are several possible directions to take this: humorous, fantastical,
serious, etc.  How about an interactive version of the magazine, where the
"Amateur Scientist" needs a list of items for experiments, the main
articles become separate research labs, and the
"Computer Recreations" are real and playable?  [Is this project still
viable?]
