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A Map Of The Floating City
Oct. 13th, 2011 04:58 pmI posted a couple of times about A Map Of The Floating City, the online game I spent an inordinate amount of time on this past summer.
Once we passed EndGame, it was announced that Thomas Dolby would be doing a lecture/performance barnstorming tour across the US about the game and the music and that Chicago would be one of the cities chosen. We of the Poison River Delta Alliance began planning, and we ended up with rather a lot of folks coming in to town for the gig.
Did I mention we had a lot?
Most of these folks came in from out of town - many of them from the Detroit area. Most stayed with BlueCanary, but I had a couple of overflow folks at my place.
The concert was really interesting. While I do enjoy Thomas Dolby's work, I honestly got more out of the chance to meet the game's primary graphic designer, Paul. It was a blast hearing about how some of the game events looked from the other side of the screen - including a couple of moments when the game gods all looked at each others Skype images as the voice chat channel went silent with the implied "OH SHIT!!!" before they started to figure out what the hell they were going to do about whatever left-field idea we had just presented them with.
I did get a chance to shake TD's hand, and I thanked him for a most enjoyable time and for his years of great music. But the best part was really meeting all my fellow Tribesfolk in person and rehashing old times. Someone made us all nametags with our avatar pictures on them, many people wore clothing or accessories that were game items (I had my Dr. Martens), and people who bought more than enough merchandise to get a wristband for the Meet N Greet shared their wristbands with the less fortunate.
I was kind of sad that everyone ended up ordering dinner and hanging out at someone's house, but I couldn't go because she has long-haired cats, so I had a little pity-party for myself on Facebook. But the next morning when many of them got to have brunch with TD, I bowed out in favor of the more fanatical (TD was coming down with a wicked cold and wasn't up to lots of people). He had remarked on his Twitter Feed that he hoped he had a chance to go sailing while he was here, so BlueCanary arranged that as well. Looked like a blast.
The game is still live at www.floatingcity.com, and you can still join up and trade and get downloads for completed sets. A few of us are still hanging around the forums, and with the aid of a sock puppet I actually reset my score but still held on to most of my cargo. I'm setting Jenny Greeneyes up as a mysterious Captain who "was there when it all went down, on that hot August day when they turned the island into the storm and she rode the city into the sky, but then chose to return to earth. They say she once went drinking with Europa. They say she helped write the Book of History...", etc. As new players come on board, I've been couching some game stories into legendary italics, as well as helping new players get started. The Daring Sorties have been set on a rotating schedule, so you can do a couple per day, and some folks are still trading. So come on by, and if you see the Lizzie off your port bow, give a shout out. She might invite you aboard for a shot of Johnny Walker and some tales of the tribes that saved the world.
Once we passed EndGame, it was announced that Thomas Dolby would be doing a lecture/performance barnstorming tour across the US about the game and the music and that Chicago would be one of the cities chosen. We of the Poison River Delta Alliance began planning, and we ended up with rather a lot of folks coming in to town for the gig.
Did I mention we had a lot?
Most of these folks came in from out of town - many of them from the Detroit area. Most stayed with BlueCanary, but I had a couple of overflow folks at my place.
The concert was really interesting. While I do enjoy Thomas Dolby's work, I honestly got more out of the chance to meet the game's primary graphic designer, Paul. It was a blast hearing about how some of the game events looked from the other side of the screen - including a couple of moments when the game gods all looked at each others Skype images as the voice chat channel went silent with the implied "OH SHIT!!!" before they started to figure out what the hell they were going to do about whatever left-field idea we had just presented them with.
I did get a chance to shake TD's hand, and I thanked him for a most enjoyable time and for his years of great music. But the best part was really meeting all my fellow Tribesfolk in person and rehashing old times. Someone made us all nametags with our avatar pictures on them, many people wore clothing or accessories that were game items (I had my Dr. Martens), and people who bought more than enough merchandise to get a wristband for the Meet N Greet shared their wristbands with the less fortunate.
I was kind of sad that everyone ended up ordering dinner and hanging out at someone's house, but I couldn't go because she has long-haired cats, so I had a little pity-party for myself on Facebook. But the next morning when many of them got to have brunch with TD, I bowed out in favor of the more fanatical (TD was coming down with a wicked cold and wasn't up to lots of people). He had remarked on his Twitter Feed that he hoped he had a chance to go sailing while he was here, so BlueCanary arranged that as well. Looked like a blast.
The game is still live at www.floatingcity.com, and you can still join up and trade and get downloads for completed sets. A few of us are still hanging around the forums, and with the aid of a sock puppet I actually reset my score but still held on to most of my cargo. I'm setting Jenny Greeneyes up as a mysterious Captain who "was there when it all went down, on that hot August day when they turned the island into the storm and she rode the city into the sky, but then chose to return to earth. They say she once went drinking with Europa. They say she helped write the Book of History...", etc. As new players come on board, I've been couching some game stories into legendary italics, as well as helping new players get started. The Daring Sorties have been set on a rotating schedule, so you can do a couple per day, and some folks are still trading. So come on by, and if you see the Lizzie off your port bow, give a shout out. She might invite you aboard for a shot of Johnny Walker and some tales of the tribes that saved the world.
