Voyage to Pitcairn

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. “Winifred Blyth, you quit that screaming and get your backpack into gear or you’ll miss your first class!” That was Mum yelling from downstairs, always helpful!

Hi, I’m Winnie Blyth, and I was just unceremoniously ejected through the airlock of Valve’s new game, GenerationShip III: Voyage of The Bounty, en-route to recently discovered planet Pitcairn, but no sympathy from Mum.

Home in Bondi, Sydney, 7:30 am Monday:

This was my 16th attempt at Level 4 of The Bounty. I’d been trying to crack that level since 5 am, and for the past two weeks. Every time I get almost through the level, I get killed in a mutiny, usually thrown out the airlock.

Mum had heard my scream of frustration; but she was right, I had to be at Bondi Junction underground station in 11 minutes to make my first class of the day at Sydney Uni in Principles of Animation. I’m doing a Bachelor of Design Computing. Design Computing has been a bit of a disappointment so far, too oriented to business apps for my liking, but I am enjoying the required “broadening unit” from studies in the Arts. I’d picked Colonialism from the History department. I think it’ll give me some good theme ideas for my own game designs.

Fisher Library, Sydney University, 3:30 pm Monday:

Well! Principles of Animation is okay so far, but I wish we’d finish the theory and start drawing and coding. Today’s Colonialism lecture gave us homework: “Write a 600-word essay on the colonisation of Tahiti; include European attitudes to the indigenous population, but also comment on classism among officers and crew proximate to the 1789 mutiny on the English botanical voyage in the South Pacific. Due in 7 days.” That’s going to keep me busy and delay my crushing defeat of my arch-rival Chris Fletcher in Gen-ship III! [Note to self: I might have to find a way to nobble Chris]. So here I am looking up info on botanical voyages to the South Pacific by the English in the 18th century.

It turns out this “botanical voyage” was Captain William Bligh’s voyage to Tahiti on the sailing ship Bounty, on which his crew mutinied and kicked him off the ship. Hmm! I think this must be part of the inspiration for the developers of Gen-Ship III.

Perhaps I was just a tad meaner than absolutely necessary to the crew on my Gen-ship Bounty?

GenerationShip III employs a new natural language interface option (NLI tm). It lets you interact with the non-player characters in plain English. You can type, but voice is better because there is a bit of nuance to the non-player character voice replies. I’ve only learned to appreciate NLI from Level 3 onward. Level 1 was your classic puzzle-solve level which doesn’t take long if you know the tropes. Level 2 uses lesser-known puzzles to progress though the level – but you can find many of them online. Level 3 seems to have unique thinking challenges that I have not previously encountered in a game. These are scenario puzzles that seem to be tailored to the player’s interactions, so they resist Professor Google. I was anticipating Level 4 would be GCHQ Puzzle Book level of difficulty, and I have both books from that series for just such occasions. However, Level 4 turns out to be different. You use normal language to interact with non-player characters in a way that requires a bit of psychology and finesse. The non-player characters also seem to engage in some NPC-to-NPC conversation which you can hear in audio as a sort of sotto voce. The voices sound pretty natural, even nuanced with a bit of emotional content – I’m impressed.

I read on Reddits’ GamingLeaksAndRumours that Level 5 and above even allows communication and coordination with other nearby (GPS-local within 5 kilometer) players in complex ways. There’s also talk of something odd in the About section of the game: playing beyond level 3 implies consent for research. I wonder what that is all about? Anyway, I’m determined to get to Level 5 before Chris Fletcher, who’s in a couple of my uni classes, gets to boast about solving Level 4 – I don’t want to ruin my own gloating rights.

Coffee with Chis Fletcher at Hoochie Mama Café, Newtown Sydney, 10 am Tuesday:

Me: “So Chris, any luck with Gen-ship III?”

Chris: “Nah, I’m doing everything right, but the crew is just ignoring me and even calling me names. The interaction is surprisingly imaginative. It’s like the game is adapting its responses to what I’ve done and said before. After a while the crew slack off and we go off course, fall into a sun or get lost in space. I’ve been stuck on Level 4 for over a week now.”

Me: “You need an Iron Fist, Chris. Show them who’s boss! Cat o' nine tails and all that! Show no mercy and they’ll be forced to comply. You’ll be at Pitcairn in no time.”

Chris: “That sounds like you Winnie. How’s it working out for you?”

Me: “Oh, I’m this close [thumb and finger gesture]. Just need to tighten the gauntlet a bit more and I’ll have level 4 in the bag”.

Back home, 6:30 pm Tuesday:

Well, a bit of tactical management of Chris, and a bit of strategic sycophancy and I’ve got this! Login to Gen-Ship III. Restore Level 4. Let’s exploit that advanced natural language interface!

Bridge of The Bounty, GenerationShip III, flight date 2055.04:

Initiate meeting with senior staff.

Me: “Thanks for coming everyone. I’ve been thinking. This has been a tough voyage, and I’ve been pushing hard for our shared success. But all work and no play and all that. How about we ease off a bit and put on a party for the crew on the mess deck. I want to use the event to hand out awards and thank the crew, and especially you the hardworking leaders, who are really the ones that make things happen around here. Any suggestions?”

First officer Christian (in a guarded tone): “Well Captain, that sounds like a really good idea, but I must say I for one am a bit surprised, you have always run, how shall I say this, ‘a tightly disciplined ship’. But I agree that the crew would benefit from a bit of celebration and appreciation. Thank you.”

Chief engineer Coleman (sotto voce to Christian): “Well that bastard might just save her impudent head from exploding out the airlock. Let’s see how this works out.”

Me: “Mr Christian, make it so!”.

The crew seemed to enjoy the food and extended grog ration and the officers were delighted by my, hastily concocted, awards for exceptional leadership and so on, blah, blah!

Shortly after that sickening display of self-restrained niceness, I am rewarded with the long-awaited “Congratulations Captain, Level 4 complete! Welcome to Level 5”.