At first I was going to incorporate a "bad guy" who has trapped the time traveller (the "good guy") in time. It would have explained why the clues were left in the form of puzzles and codes. The mission would be to find the Item required to control the time portal before the "bad guy" did. It would also help drive the plot.
But when I went back to read this again I realised that it was sounding alot like the Perplex City, so I made a few changes in my potential plot.
I really did like the idea of a scavenger hunt and think that there is potential to create an interesting narrative around it. It also provides the plot with a clear objective, to retrieve something and bring it to a designated place.
The players have to cooperate and complete missions in order to find the locations.
Narrative: The city is in danger!
Why is it in danger? : A time portal has been opened and is letting things pass through from different points in time!
Why is it open? : When a time traveller was leaving our time he did so without the object required to master space and time!
How do we save the city? : Help the time traveller!
How do we help the time traveller? : We find the object required to close the portal!
How do we find the object? : By solving puzzles and clues sent by the traveller from different points in time.
So basically there is this person who controls a time portal using this Item (not sure what it is yet). The person travels through time to help prevent accidents/ save people or just to correct big mistakes that has been/will be made. He stands for the order on earth.
On his visit in Brisbane he misplaced the Item required to operate the portal and went through without it. Without this Item the portal can't close itself. Now he is being transported to random points in time as long as the portal is open in Brisbane. The portal is also allowing people/creatures/animals from all these different points in time to get through to our time.
(It's a bit hard to explain this in a way that makes sense!)
The question is how to intiate the game...
I was thinking of placing one or several items around campus. It could be an everyday item but something out of the ordinary to catch people’s attention and make them pick it up. Maybe even an item from a different point in time just to emphasise the whole time travel aspect of the narrative.
On this item there could be a coded puzzle. The solution of the puzzle could be a url to a website or a YouTube video of the time traveller asking for help revealing the first part of the plot.
The video might contain footage of the city being overrun by Indians or something really random like that. As a teaser of what will happen if they dont complete the mission of closing the portal. The video should be a bit scary though leaving people wanting to know more about the situation. The last words could be "save the city" or something and leave them with another clue.
I got the inspiration for the video from the movie A night at the museum.
So as mentioned above, as long as the portal is open the traveller wont be able to find his way back. Every 5 hours or so he is automatically transferred to another time/place in the world. As long as the portal is open in our time in Brisbane he will be stuck like this and wont be able to help people.
I haven’t decided how long the game is going to run for. It would be fun to be able to run it for a few weeks but it would also require alot of effort and time to write the plot.
there was a budget for this game it would be awesome tom be able to somehow show changes in our world due to the traveller being trapped in time. Random old/futuristic objects appearing, people walking around in strange clothes form different times, just random changes in the city to show that it people from all these different times now has access to our world through the portal. Even though this might be considered a cool thing and all fun and games until a T-Rex or something bad walks through the portal and destroys the city. However there might still be a way of doing this on a smaller scale.
Maybe the time traveller could travel in time to help people instead of correcting people’s mistakes and bad actions. Something like the old TV series Early Edition where the lead character Gary receives an early edition of tomorrows newspaper and prevents accidents and help people.
Things that might be required:
· Youtube account with videos. Then you might think how is he sending videos? Could either be recorded as a part of a tourist video or something in the background of someone elses video. A subtle message.
· Miscellaneous items from different times containing clues or puzzles. I thought it might be a fun take on the time concept and also stand out more than a poster or flyer.
· One master item that closes the time portal
· Would be cool to have people dress up as they are from different times and walk around the city or campus giving people clues in exchange for missions completed on their behalf.
The clues and items are all connected so the players need to interact and help each other to complete the game. And because the travellers position is bound by time so as should the game in some way. And if the end of the game is going to be successful the players need to work out where to be and at what time.
As mentioned before I as picturing the time portal to be a big dressup party located at a bar/club somewhere in Brisbane.
I’d say that this game is aimed at people from 18-30 year olds. University students or young professionals.
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