Plan for Peter Eberle
by Peter Eberle · 10/10/2001 (10:21 am) · 0 comments
In this plan I'll be discussing in some detail the Digital Adventures concept. But first to some other business. It's seems like I was the last person to post before the Sept. 11th attack. I hope that's not a bad omen. My prayers and thoughts go out to all who have suffered and lost. Secondly, the Other Realites web site is up. It's basic and utilitarian right now, but it does what it is supposed to, diseminate information. It has more detail on Other Realites: The Game then covered in my last post and has more detail on Digital Adventures then will be covered here. If your interested, please visit the site.
The Concept behind Digital Adventures is simple. Digital Adventures are short 1st person adventures that put you in someone else's shoes, living their life. Digital Adventures sits at the crossroads between Computer Entertainment and Television. They combine the best of both areas of entertainment. Intended for the general public they are much shorter then the typical computer game (2-4 hours) and would include many different types of adventures.
Being short and episodic by design has many benefits. Shorter and significantly cheaper development, which would encourage developers/writers to experiment with style. Also, as the characters and settings would generally be repeated from the pilot adventure, subsequent episodes would be cheaper and quicker to develop. With these benefits in mind DA could ideally be released on a regular, short term basis.
The goal for DA would be to have a large number of adventures (of many different types) running at one time. This would allow enable a subscription business model with varying packages ($5 for 4 adventures, $10 for 10, etc.), much like cable or satellite television packages. Because all episodes would be able to be monitored it would be easy to see which adventures were not drawing enough 'viewers' to cover their costs, resulting in cancellation or possibly some sort of revision to the adventure.
The biggest hurdle (currently) is the graphics power of the average computer. Remember DA are targeted towards the general public, not the graphics enthusiasts with the latest and greatest. As the power of the average low-end computer grows, so will the visual detail of the adventures (increasing the potential audience). There are other hurdles, from small to large, but perhaps I shall leave those for another day.
That's it for now. Please come visit the site. I shall try to update and add to it on a regular basis. Thanks for reading.
Peter E
The Concept behind Digital Adventures is simple. Digital Adventures are short 1st person adventures that put you in someone else's shoes, living their life. Digital Adventures sits at the crossroads between Computer Entertainment and Television. They combine the best of both areas of entertainment. Intended for the general public they are much shorter then the typical computer game (2-4 hours) and would include many different types of adventures.
Being short and episodic by design has many benefits. Shorter and significantly cheaper development, which would encourage developers/writers to experiment with style. Also, as the characters and settings would generally be repeated from the pilot adventure, subsequent episodes would be cheaper and quicker to develop. With these benefits in mind DA could ideally be released on a regular, short term basis.
The goal for DA would be to have a large number of adventures (of many different types) running at one time. This would allow enable a subscription business model with varying packages ($5 for 4 adventures, $10 for 10, etc.), much like cable or satellite television packages. Because all episodes would be able to be monitored it would be easy to see which adventures were not drawing enough 'viewers' to cover their costs, resulting in cancellation or possibly some sort of revision to the adventure.
The biggest hurdle (currently) is the graphics power of the average computer. Remember DA are targeted towards the general public, not the graphics enthusiasts with the latest and greatest. As the power of the average low-end computer grows, so will the visual detail of the adventures (increasing the potential audience). There are other hurdles, from small to large, but perhaps I shall leave those for another day.
That's it for now. Please come visit the site. I shall try to update and add to it on a regular basis. Thanks for reading.
Peter E
