fuck is digital a love story and I will describe
what caused this talk to come about um give a quick
introduction to myself and then we'll move Christine and I'm gonna mostly talk
with Christine about this project
so I recycle text files dot com
which some you may be aware of it is a collection of computer bulletin board
ephemera that I collected through my childhood and then in my late twenties
I decided to put all online because I thought that we have enough
site about Baltimore systems so
here it is I just celebrate my tenth year I am
well up into crazy amount of time where people come to me and say things like
and I started reading you
when I started on the Internet and so now I'm in college and I'm in computer
programming cuz text files to common courage me to go into computer
programming so I'm likes
shut up so
yeah soho over time it's kinda expanded its mission
I've kinda moved into doing documentaries I've collected graphics
and podcasts and
then risk recently this whole deal with archive team were right
I am a team of people backed up to your cities last year
arm so if you lost anything let us know we'll try to get back for you um
so I like I said my relationship a text file to Commons been one now I've been
running it for 25 percent of my life
and it is a in ups got along pretty well I thought
and I was actually down at South by Southwest
I'm when word when male started to hit me know when something
old or all dish happens something like on another fact the creator Vaski died a
few years ago
or or as some new company makes a add that looks like it's done on Apple to
people right to me and the cunt pepper mom and people look at what he saw this
on the Twitter me
and one by one people started toward me going do you know about this digital
a love story thing a round I was busy
mom can I was I was traveling and doing stuff but
it was like dino mite additional love story and I clicked over the data
quickly as I can
effort and this went on for a while
and then finally I had the opportunity I
end up taking a train from Cleveland to
New York which I don't recommend and in this
cylindrical to have pain in misery I
was lucky enough to have a a plug so I could
plug in my laptop and I finally said okay fine I I will should check this
thing out I was just blown away
what this is is this is a point and click the trencher
based around calling
computer bulletin board systems that builds itself
up into a love story a story of tragedy have hope
%ah makes you play several
are roles and by roles inning and I'll subset of being a person who uses both
imports to achieve
what comes to it as a goal and
its kinda music soundtrack to it which PBS's didn't have which makes it even
better
and it was beautiful and it came out
and at the end she thanks the the author who was
Christine love thanks text files to calm for historical research
and this is a background for a story
and her research had come primarily
by reading things that I
had copied of of Baltimore its systems as a teenager
so I thought I gotta meet this person
sold this is the first time you know we just met yesterday
in person and I wanted to come down so
that's the story I am so I guess
if you wanna introduce yourself as you prefer to tell people
well no I'm not tripping introductions I'm
stern tube English literature I am i minor in history so
obviously I am writing about the fat far Pakistan
pass at 1988 is obviously about special interest to me
I'm this was just some another project I picked up by I thought that this would
appeal to actually nobody but me
um the next thing I know people arm are tiny that it's all over going like cell
a comic art so it's definitely BoingBoing jus
you wrap it saying here Korean pool steampunk art on it he would've been
like my
and thats you know arm so a I mean
obviously I mean you could do
AST cyber love story a story in which
you know relationships online are the theme what made you choose Bolton boards
armor its
the faxes its as an air it fascinates me this is am
0 yes sir I I'm wonderful public speaking missus I'm certainly not on dat
on nervous
Anna well I don't mean to put you on the spot but
Aikido idea Waibel to import systems versus say
just pure internet or maybe doing one on Twitter or me what about
in you know why why choose baltimore's verses
you know my these other social media as they call it now
events well it's it's not just a love story also a mystery story and I think
that's the real important thing is is that for this mystery I want to make it
so that damn
I want to put in a more mysteries age I guess and that's a
it seems like a weird thing to say but a in the eighties see on these Baltimore
systems everything seems so much farmer
see so much for isolated I think back is deathly conducive to I'm telling him
I love story it's a making connection on am
when everyone's on the Internet is a a little less I interesting
where the plant the isolation and justice is very much
a story about adolescent Liam a searching for some sir connection and I
think a
putting any he's putting it in him on Baltimore systems a
the health dept I do know I mean I
you know it makes me think I've the fact that I knew my father tended to wake up
between $5.25 in five forty five in the morning
so I knew that I could work until about 445
and get to bed before he would scream at me cuz you realize I had not
gone to bed and a
one of the ways that we kind of try to fight that was having in person
meetings and having phone conferences you know unfortunately phone conferences
account the real lost ephemera this
because we look at the bones of the vault imports system it does seem very
isolated
and people would endeavor to meet each other as soon as possible to get rid of
that
feeling but if you called in to abort abort system that was far away
and didn't have a local aspect then you really felt like you were
distanced in observing and you know some people say no I felt really close but
they also is
I would see there was abort abort system outcall in Minneapolis
and I didn't meet those guys until
2003 and I had been
on their bulletin board system in 1983 so twenty years later I met them
their fatter now I
brilliant the fat um and
so I would from I'd agree with you from from
from a kid's perspective but on the other hand there is that part that where
which comes across i thinkin in the way you put it together where
you might feel a little cut off and still make okay
first of all in the beginning you have
a shop owner give you a ball to import system
number cuz they say oh me know thanks for but you know just
who you go here's here's a number want to call it
night and that is exactly how it worked
exactly how it works somebody would give your phone number and say try this with
your modem
and that was the next eight years
so that's what you know that peace ovett a ghetto
this just fast it's because you didn't have to add to your
you're actually you note there's a part where you're trying to get phone codes
and its pitch perfect is pitch perfect because the phone code might stop
working
and suddenly you are a chunky
your in the street you're doing this and you're like
also meant gonna have collude someone's gonna have good moods
and I got a lot of complaints about that about that aspect present for people who
are meh
who are more my age armed weren't familiar with that
searching for all-cause cusick and I got people saying that
I lack I coffee at the keep going to check for cost like
yeah at the feeling so they're complaining about a basic
game mechanic I inherent in the game
if not much missing the point is not quite understand the point which
I I think it's
so so you've gotten feedback I love your feedback from two days ago by the way
my first %uh piece of ham hate mail he I'm so excited about this
finally I'm I expect heat me
as someone who has received thousands hate mails are I'm envious
beautiful beautiful hate mails arm
including description descriptions of what might descriptions of what the
outside of my house looked like
level um
what next be anyway so I E a
I can say that that you note the best ones the ones
the ones with people don't make an effort to hate you
just hating you you know we like you pass a store in your like other stores
likely
like that's not really working out when they go into
blistering detail that's what I liked about that letter how
at the the phrase I will light was
asking why you chose to go down this retarded Road
I just that level of like you and it was it was like you started out really
strong
but then it was awful I'm angry
cuz its awful but you started out great
and now I hate you I
those are my favorites from
know you probably hear you as somebody inning get you got your really good
blistering
hey email but you you've gotten feedback I would think from
this is just me guessing you can tell me where I'm wrong people who
used from for whom it was a nostalgic
trip through their childhood and people for whom
it might as well have been are
you know up takes place in space on a satellite for all that matters to them
the does it swing one way or another that you've gotten from that
icon alive from both um most masa comida con
don't seem to have really talked about it as some as being stout XI so I must
be now
Sep but I am I I think fundamentally
it just as a setting rather than as as historical area
just as a setting it's still very compelling
so you you get drawn into this world by
DM friendly store owner and
yet Ryan just as you would have been am has actually eighty
regards to whether not yet mister at fort
at this point um I've summer you out a scene would like the URL
to this game perhaps or unless you've already played it or tried it
if you're people here played this game actually oh nice nice job
okay um its it's a I believe it's got accomplished digital that's right
so it's is a Canadian Way yes oh hono you are scouts honor
dot com flash digital
that's right so you can download it
it its cross-platform its out for
its Olympics game it's a Windows game it's a Mac in
sheep this is she this I and I wanted to move on to this because this fascinates
me as well
it's a computer desktop it's actually very much like an Amiga
and you click on it and you interface with it and it'll play music and it came
out cross-platform the first day
and it works the same and you used a variety of two
so this isn't just some like no like fan fiction that some work done really hard
minutes was full application that works solid
you know that's that's the way these things need to be
and so yes you got your Linux thing in your liking are not going to play this
thing
you can you can play it right there so
I remember you mention which tools to use which tool did you use to put
together
I'm its built-in official novel and done from Japanese official novels called
ran P&A to sit and discuss I'm very familiar with it but a
its so extensively modified about halfway through I realize this was a
terrible terrible idea
across kept going to our tix at that point is far too late to change
say you get a lot of sorta all i'd the interface quirks like up the windows you
can't drag them if nothing
big but so eat it's an engine it's not quite
meant for what it's doing as a result it is now
I I mean the
a that like I said the interface is extremely
I mean get you can't drag windows and you forget that about two seconds and
lastly
but you know the fact that there's applications you're installing
applications to make things work
you know just and and so
I think it was like the telly question here and to say I thought that your
your the completeness of your package was work that's part of what makes it
good
because I mean you could have done just fanfiction
I've got some fan fiction written by
some guys in the early nineteen nineties reimagining
the era love the Legion of Doom from the 80's
but that is writing stories they're not creating
narrative mystery a so on why I think the immersion is just that much more
interesting so otherwise I mean
a mystery game you can just have
watch someone solve a mystery but that's not nearly as fun as
feeling like you're starving yourself and to get into
to read about this world is one thing but to actually be thrown into it
that such a rocket that that gets you into a I think much more than any am
pros could so whether any particular text files
oMG in your research that really stood out to you
as inspirations I can't see any one particular
I'm a prop in any one particular back i cant
think titles now I'm I mean I went drama
you have a section that that's just like people recounting their entire histories
and I thought that was some
does could just get a feel from what sort of I'm hacking mechanics would be a
bit
over the top in white Fordham what would feel right hmm
and then I am I just read a lot of absolute shock post
just like dick pic the messages section oh yes
yeah yet is that the section on textile to calm
which is just messages just masses of messages
and I have used that to settle more arguments over the years I mean it's
crap right mm literally just
scanning old printouts and getting print out some other people
I am I have printouts from the first BBS
I'm printed out a month after it started and people
one guy is chatting with somebody in says K 00 L to him
and that's 1978 so fuck you historian to tommy was 1995
the guy there's a guy and I'm sorry I'm forgetting his name right now he's a
crumb Marion
and people keep pointing me to him because he
will occasionally because named grant something he's a columnist
a used to be important port systems and he will occasionally wooot
that was what got it it was a huge argument over where did the word won't
come together an
and somebody wanted me to come along and just nutsack in with a ninety-eight 1982
reference be let's play before you even understand it
but it turned out that it really does look like it's from
who there it is like if you trace it back I'm sorry to say
yup woop there it is um
this was the town that dreaded whirlpool let's not go there um I
how so um you know
there's always this kinda love %uh like trade little berry
jams in these messages that I i mean i you know
arm for instance using messages this there's a case I always give this one is
a politics board
and somebody says let's discuss politics which now would be like
strap in you know explosives years of I
you know if you just set up let's talk about politics
man 14 minutes later you are like so
there someone does it and people engage in a conversation with politics its
stunted and childish and stupid you know mondale sucks
and so on but it's 64 messages and it took
two and a half months soul
you realized that people are responding to each other four days
after the previous guy and its sole glacial
and slow and get now
you can have those kinda conversations if you post something on fark
in fact on fark you don't even need to have the subject be about what you're
talking about to europe
you know %uh Metafilter is suffering through this right now trying to produce
they've produced a whole set of terms you know this thread jacking thread
shooting
om with their just saying like yours behavior that we now know it's not
it's not good for you were talking about cars and one of the guys has a political
stickers lights suddenly start talking about his political sticker
you're ruining the conversation it's not precious
it doesn't help mom the bottom port system printouts
are the ones I really like homered you capture you found these with the trades
discussions the wearer's treating your
where the guy shows up and says I've got cuts are gone
3 I and so on
and and and there's a bit of that arm you
you you wrote some very nice introductions to different kinds of
you know you you give the audience some me and the players something Tendo like
instruction so that you cannot you know and you don't feel embarrassed about it
to someone posted a message in it just happens to tell you everything you need
the you be afraid to ask was that 4
you was that specifically because you will reach your audience was gonna have
no idea where they were
up part of it but part of it is I think other
that that the player as as a character in this some being flying into this
mysterious world
some beat some instruction so and
did the best we introduce game gameplay mechanics is to explain them seamlessly
its best ways to just %uh have someone
in the story tell you had to do something
and you feel like you've learned something rather use Android tutorial um
whether any a ideas you would consider that you ended up not going with
like either because they were too big or it turned out they didn't fit
arm to the whole story was on when winter
number revisions but the most notable on
absence was a third there are a lot of gameplay mechanics are taken from a
and and nineties game called uplink which is a
very fun um gap
with some uplink fans in the audience I hope so I'd love up like it but it in
some a computer could you call out for Activision Thacker come on come on
I Jesus alright
I find fuck you guys I made a there was a game called
Activision hacker by Activision it's awful arm
what I liked about it was that you could tell
this is the thinking I when it starts out it its post to have
um
I'm thinking love Mirror's Edge where I played three demos ovett
like I hope they stick you in the middle of fuckin nowhere
with nothin and you gotta figure shit out
now there are only a certain subset of gamers who would like that
okay yeah exactly
the opening love one up in chanter
I believe it is which is it is dark your fraught spell most one of in the evening
kid on a modified I well
hacker opened with the propped the idea being you had
hackear you had to figure out what the password was to get through
except that if you got the password like four times and go are you sure it isn't
this password
and it had a buncha that never happened to me in the old days
although guest guest did work an awful lot arm
but anyway so talking Activision packard few good
feel free to pirate it cuz you know I I fully endorse it thank you
I am Bayway so just
so weak if you plead Sea Fleet uplink
as a pretty you bumped into this game I
yeah mock not freeze in a couple years ago but
okay just okay I thought you meant you played it in the nineties
or you're just actually literally like going back in don't like but about this
came about this K
up vol plaintiff years ago and I was inspired by
and finally I got around to making something inspired by it
but I'd not there there are a lot of a case that were initially from it they're
still
one there remains in there which is a master goofy and dictionary hacker tool
but the rest the bomb II
they got streamlined out ok sam and as a result it becomes a lot simpler
I'm even know the hacking mechanics are obviously ridiculous
don't do not they don't correspond to anything really do
a rather they correspond but they don't represented
no but as a result you instead he spent most the time talking to people
most I'm reading message it's and I think
anything to change the folks at the game much for the better
7 hacking about hacking attacking about a
talking to people investigating
solving puzzles in a
fairly simple way migrate
I you know the the thing that I as a person for me the most
on the reason I did documentaries was because I said that
that the text files at the bones you know
you could go through the bones but you never gonna find out how what a great
time
was hanging out with that person you just gonna know that
they were probably six-foot-two and
you'll know how many times a person posted in all know what they tended to
post about but you won't find out like but they were feeling when they were
going through it
so that's why did documentary was to talk to people about organic thing
and in your in your
story I'm working very hard to not give spoilers Celtic that's fair
I think you should try definitely try to but
you know it's a case if you come to learn about people you interact with
relationships and talk to people
all along with and I like this there's a lot of red herring
initially because you just kinda reading a lot of messages people dislike
I'm an idiot and you like why am I reading this and then something to go
buying
weekly yeah and that's
you know sifting through clues arm
there's a very old set up books they got reprinted four times
%uh I think the cat reprinted in the nineties on if you look for
the title murder of Miami
um this is a set a box that created my mid-nineteen thirty's by JP links
and what they are is there dossiers and when you pick them up
it is literally a pile of police report
and pictures and stories
and it's really you know it's got its own little feel to it
and then at the end of it there's a sealed envelope
and the sealed envelope shows what
the the person the investigator alternately did
when faced with this dossier so you are too
open it up and it actually was inspired infocomm to include
items in their boxes this beautiful piece and it's very similar to what you
have here this mechanic of
I'm going to live through here boat what's going on there
what's happening here that you know the
have you head I didn't I miss are you
this is obviously not your only project you've done a bunch of
writing and a bunch of mom
other projects was there anything else that kind of work
free version of this a dry run the version we like I could do this even
better and you end up with this year's
this your first foray into this no i i think this really is my driving here
before
my mostly done a lot of pros a lot of them
I did do one game that was some its browser-based mister Obama
about fighting games all done and I'm
that as a servant turn based game which is
a IVC barium seems very
on concept but the Saints are many fictional thing
at but that's the closest thing I've ever done to anything other industry to
produce
are you inspired to do another one absolutely at
I've been trying and I'm not going to rush it I'm not gonna
force it that site more the second one is a musical
thats that's what traditionally do the second to music
laugh it up that i'm gonna do now everyone heard it here first
musical 0 get some hire some singers get some people get some people
man a bigger digital to on ice
I would totally go for a PBS musical
I waiting for the dial tone
the two piano pieces your team I
its busy hits busy
its busy why am I here
my record there was a baltimore system located about
I wanna say six 50 miles north the here call to share what forced to
and it was something like
on average it would take me between 30 and 40
hours have dialing to get into it
and so when I got on I would just take massive amounts um
copies of every single thing on the board because
I was gonna get on again for days and so I have
a lot of what they had ran it just have it up as whatever and just recently
actually buddy
six or seven months ago I was contacted by the cop the came along with the
Federal guys who busted
Cybertron
not now show forced to they knew each other those guys home now
yet sure forced to shower forced 3 the nose ohs any
but also he was a separate they have interview that sysop
he's out in california the school shit now arm
and his sis up name was sysop houses hacker name
for that huber's and um
anyway so it's ok there were you know arm
was a going with time was awesome
bit baby I we saw the cop the whole point is that I'm trying to get like the
other story from the other side
up that particular com
event because I did you have the story from the guys who had it taken down
but I think it's worthwhile arm there's a
view if you guys attended Phil actually stalks before
um fill-ups Lee was a guy who I bumped into who's been working on a book
on the history of phone freaking and his defend and and coming from me the guy
with the
seven and a half hour documentary in Baltimore systems
%ah he's doing it right okay
he's filed hundreds and hundreds a Freedom of Information Act requests is
giving a talk on how we did it
and he's been talking about history plot
it's not just about to phone phreaks going here were awesome
and it's not just a bunch of law enforcement guys gone fuck those guys
they were of
its everybody that's all we can get the story
you can't like everybody in the history can't be
one piece or another to going back to your your work here
arm how long did you work on
I'm I'll alt well actually I'm making the game from start to finish it took
about a month
II this was intentional deadline I'm
me if I give myself if I don't set 1 I'd 10+2
to work on time for two weeks and then forget about it for ever so I said
one month and a hoelter
it plays like a game that was not created
month say that very smooth I mean
was at work every day you know every up yes yes definitely
okay so it's hours of work each day hours a programming and during the first
couple weeks it was also
hours a to Sri in three on them archived a
Redrum files on your site just am especially and even during and when I
was trying to nail
was writing messages and try and nail people's voices
despite just like every impulse and their based on them
the race to a real person X I want to get them
I did like it if your cracked like
I think did a great job so once again it's a Scout's honor
80 Nour dot com slash digital to very small program
and includes chiptune music as an optional background
which adds a nice feel to it but it's optional you can turn it off
so and and and some really good some really good music
there from thank you for your comments yeah I S rates release Creative Commons
crack
yeah I so um
the guy either he is offering me at my limo right but we have 10 minutes so
mom if there's some questions from the audience if you want to come up
and if there was anything you want to ask Christina myself
about anything don't be afraid they were there for a reason
but in while people work up to the gallbladder to do it
up there we go
I E off to the side that a lot of arm but that'll be one of those things that
when
just implemented I figured that a player probably wooden
feed very interested in them seem to have a busy signal is as much that was
obviously a comport
part of a actually calling PBS's
and similar rally speeds again it's I don't i cant think I've anyway implement
that
that would just be frustrating both boards to go down
so you lose avenues
%uh of exploration and I agree the problem is
you know how do you feel how deep a trade that the time is long and boring
you try not to do it by having the time be long and boring in now
that's kind of a you know you have things kinda fade out fade back
as like man that was long and boring and fun
next thing get them work in movies either doesn't um
any other questions along with optional turned on microphone that
maybe now you
their guns love my voice so workaround on
so having played through it and having a bunch of friends have played through
one comment that keeps coming up again and again animus
oil little bit of the device not the plot
k step carefully is I you
get these messages and then you hit reply and then you get responses back
by you never see white you wrote mom
and so does feels like you have a monologue coming at you
but you can only ever see half it now is wondering I mean was that intentional
was that
something that you chose very actively when you're designing the game it is to
some some
he was figuring out that that the game I
I want to do something sir story for a while but it took me awhile to figure
out what would make it work
eventually figured out with us our protagonist you don't see what you're
writing
so it doesn't break immersion as much as a fam
you would say see your response is a wat
I'm when say something like that's not right at all
instead you you have to fill it in and a
it's very and most a response or ambiguous enough that he
hopefully it fits you want to put whatever you actually were gonna ask
CS it was amused is a deliberate effort to not break the immersion
there has been some debate and I think Emily
short wrote a bit of a prototype huge thing and have short does a lot of
reviews have attracted fiction and so on reviewed
digital a love story and discuss that exact mechanic
yep blew me away more than anything she comments about how she normally doesn't
like a
games with interstate characters but in this case it actually first
cuz ive expecting us to and I agree with her
first point completely normally I find him the plant for taking us to be
extremely
more plant might buy actually putting you insist but I think its last seven
and think tanks in this case more but just the second person there
which for me it was a relief a look ok I don't have to think about anything
on that end you know I'm like I wish I could do that in real life
person tells me and I'm like hit K I'm sure I said something Brouillette the
press respect Kyle you give me so well
like I back to my gape
respond it when nope didn't know about the chili
a chil I feature in new Dora
which they created years and years ago the plugin
it would look at your language and would respond and say basically
you seem to be pretty angry hit this button
and I will hold it for 30 minutes and bring it back to you
and by that point your your your
your blood pressure goes down it'll show it to you get your
did you really want to send their and then you gotta fuck that guy
I I keep that going for hours if I keep my hatred burning for
years I've had people talking to me to the Hopi still angry normally a V-chip
um but that was the case with they are
you know trying to augment your brilliance with it and and for me
it was such a load of to not be
thinking I'm gonna have to play the guess the word problem
where person says something else I have to write an email
in which the word password is it
otherwise I can't get past this part
you know and it's still very media me there's still a lot to go through
so um any other questions by the way
I we go right up ahead
that one sucks I don't know what's up with that one I will repeat your
question
%uh just curious know the area i was just curious as to why
Tom you chose to base om
based the story around the may get OS as opposed to
om some the other systems around time
how I can't resist it's just very
distinctive I and me its dead that the county blew up
the original work benches its
very memorable and also on it helps contribute to the mood a lot I think
just having some sort of them
certified dreary blue interface you go to ram
it he couldn't based on something else I can Syria
making a calmer 64 you still has the
original script I'm up next spring is based on c64 but now I I thought
it needed color it need it to tap that
self MEC natural
yeah it's a very beautiful work so um
mythic if there's any other last question to ask um
so so obvious be deterred
a softball question but you appear to have been pretty happy
at the upcoming this particular work right
I yeah I'd say so your so um
do you think a bit as aside thing you do
to other main work you do or do you see a possible future in that
in game writing in games in stories told that way
what is clearly a very big audience for some I'm which
continue to surprise me but and i win
I'm definitely in for to making something I am again many along those
lines maybe not but
but between selling yes I think its some not
devalued about simple prose I I think this
I certainly like I writing novel still but i i think it's a
yeah it's definitely fascinating just having on my chest him play with them
to meet certain areas said to him to him to immerse the player
rather than simply M telling a story
well I hope we get many more a few what I'm saying so thanks again for making
such a great piece of work
and thanks everyone for coming to our little conversation
and um be sure to check out this game
like I said doesn't take long to play but its really enjoyable
scouts honor hono you are dot com slash digital
and from my own self I'm showing off little film tonight at 11 p.m.
over in the big room about text adventures
and interactive fiction and the whole world called get lamp:
so thanks again to everyone thanks for coming
notice