itch.io

Oh yeah! I only used the monastic example because that's the one I remember from the novel, however I think that indeed, there can be a multitude of factions that could interact with the manual. I think this could open it up to having specific factions that would be either positive or negative towards its content, too!

Ooooooh, those are some really good questions that I want to address!

- Whether the manual is complete or not, I'm not sure. I think that it could start complete, but then it could get altered, either with additions or redactions. I think it would be really interesting to add an element of knowledge being censored and outright removed by the Agents, and then this has an effect on consecutive loops. Sort of like how concrete use was widespread until the fall of the Roman empire and then was very rarely used until the technology was redeveloped in the industrial revolution.

- The question if the manual has schematics is a good one. I'm struggling to imagine how to incorporate an element of drawing into the game, to be honest. Straight-up drawing schematics might be too daunting, and making a drawing of just the cover of the manual sounds trivial. Thoughts? My thinking goes along the lines of a manual for car repair, for instance, or a manual for electronics soldering, things like this with practical applications that can be used in a myriad of scenarios (not to limit the players).

- The idea of the contents of the manual being misinterpreted is also intriguing, although I think that instead of misinterpretation I would be more inclined towards misuse. What if they figure out that a particular technology that could be used for good is instead used for bad? Could this also feed into consecutive loops, meaning that a previous iteration has an impact on the attitude of the next Agents, actually becoming the inspiration or motivation to add or redact content?

- I think the last point is one that could be further developed into an ending. I think I've got a tenuous idea for the start and the loop, but I haven't given a lot of thought to the end. I like the idea of the Object having an ultimate consequence. Maybe the start of the game establishes a conflict that may be solved (either positively or negatively) by the Object's travel through the loop.

I have this idea but I think it might be too intense to implement, what do y'all think?

There's this novel I read a couple of years ago called 'A Canticle for Leibowitz', that I've been thinking a lot about lately, and I'm thinking about using it as inspiration for my contribution to the jam. The novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that was brought about by nuclear war, and the remainder of humanity was so abhorred and scarred from the exchange that they regressed technology willfully, basically making all engineering and science forbidden. Much later, as humanity begins to rediscover these topics, any surviving technical manuals and academic texts are studied by religious orders and regarded as sacred relics.

I find that idea fascinating and I'm thinking about doing something related to this. That setting is very interesting to me, and perhaps the object can be a technical manual, passed down through generations and different monastic orders of proto-engineers and scientists as they delve deeper into it, figuring out how to apply it chapter by chapter. Maybe the agents represent different disciplines, who see value in the manual from their own perspectives and fields.

I circulated it a bunch, and got some friends to purchase it, but I've heard from some that they miscalculated the time when it would end, and so they were not able to get it. Do you think you are going to extend the sale at some point? This is an amazing cause and I bet you can still collect so much funding!