What's new 5/13/99
What's new has been moved to genspace.com. It's listed under "Everything else".
It is STRONGLY recommend that you use the episode listing otherwise you will get lost.
Genesis is, in spots, GRAPHICS intensive. There are a couple of animations over a meg in size. If there is a call for it, I will zip up the entire package so you may view it off line.
If you are finding Genesis too slow (after all we only travel at HALF light speed), you might want to turn image loading off once you have seen all the various pictures/animations.
Another trick is to start another instance of your browser and use this to load the animation. This way you can be traveling/reading through Genesis while the animation is loaded in the background.
Welcome to Genesis. I imagine your first question is, what is it? I guess I'd call it a multimedia, interactive, online experience. I know that sounds pretentious, but it's the best I can do. Genesis is also a work in progress. What you see today is the, ah, well, the genesis of something that will grow much larger.
There IS a central plot unfolding. The challenge to you the reader is to figure out what is going on (beyond the obvious trip to New Terra). There will be clues sprinkled through out the various dialog, broadcasts, interactive sections and so on. In addition to the core saga, I also expect that there will be stories about humanity living, loving, working and dying in this artificial environment.
Your enjoyment and my need for expression. There is no cost and I make no money on this venture. Any of my co-artists are donating their time and energies to Genesis. This makes Genesis a "pure" experiment unfettered by monetary considerations. HOWEVER, if you do enjoy Genesis, I would like very much for you to tell all of your friends to check out Genesis.
If you'd like to send me your comments feel free to do so at:
THE BACK BUTTON
We recommend you always use the Genesis back button (there's one at the end of this page). This will keep you within the confines of the Genesis structure (and story line).
FORMAT
So far there are five different formats used throughout Genesis to tell the story. It is our intention that the formats make you feel as though you really are on Genesis.
In addition to tagged A.I.s there are assigned A.I.s. For a monthly fee, an individual can lease an A.I. as their personal agent. The more sophisticated the A.I., the more expensive the lease.
Finally, there are illegal A.I.s hidden throughout the network called H.A.I.s (hidden A.I.s). These were/are placed there by hackers to act as their illegal agents. These H.A.I.s usually are virtually connected to M.R.A.T.'s ( mobile roaming attenuated tags). These are small floating cameras the size of a tube of lipstick that can follow a subject surreptitiously. They are also illegal since they run the risk of getting lodged in vital equipment.
All of these various A.I.'s tell the story from a third person perspective in screenplay format. Why screenplay format? That's what I do!
PASSWORDS
For all of you browser neophytes, you should know that when the cursor changes (say over a picture) then that spot is hot. Click that spot, and it will take you somewhere. HIGHLIGHTED and UNDERLINED text is usually hot also. Since you've read this far I'd like to give you an example. Go to Genesis Archives: Maintenance Requests. Go to work order #: A.311-004-898. At the end of the work order you'll notice one word is highlighted. Click on it. Read the hints for episode one to figure out the password (if I have to make it any more obvious I might as well scream it from a top the Washington monument and I don't want to get arrested!).
From time to time you will notice that you need a password to get certain information. Passwords will ALWAYS be in LOWER case. The passwords are in the story. They might be obvious and then again maybe not. Think about what the character might use as a password. For all of you hackers out there, this is NOT meant to be a challange. If you must get the password from the code feel free, but you'll be bored.
If you would like to contribute to Genesis, please leave your name and information on how to contact you at the end of this page in the suggestion box. Please let us know what you would like to contribute (music, artwork, stories, etc.)
Please do NOT be put of by the current formats. If you don't see your style, that doesn't mean we won't do it, it just means that we haven't done it yet (e.g., poetry?). Our only requirement is that it is done in such away as to make the reader/participant feel like they are on Genesis. With a little imagination, there are many ways to do this.
If you would like to donate your image for any of the characters that are currently without a face, please leave your name and information on how to contact you at the end of this page. Faces will be used on a first come first donated basis.
Technical Engineers of various disciplines are needed to build the multitude of components on Genesis (graphic artists too!).
Musicians! If you want to showcase your work on Genesis, send us a note. We want to build a juke box in Hooligans pub.
All portions of Genesis, including the story, text, graphics and music are Copyright 1996 by A. A. Roberts (except for those few bits I lifted off the net). Although it is distributed as freeware, it is NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN.
All the registered trademarks used herein are registered to whom ever owns them. This notification is given in lieu of any specific list of trademarks and their owners, which would not be as inclusive and would probably take a lot longer to type.
The reader is granted the privilege to use the source code, images, text, music in Genesis for their own personal use in any fashion they see fit. What you do with the software in your own home is your business.
If the user wishes to distribute or publicly display the source code, images, text, music in Genesis, they must give credit to A. A. Roberts and display Copyright information.
Commercial entities wishing to use the source code, images, text, music in Genesis, must first obtain explicit permission from A. A. Roberts. This includes any commercial software or publications, such as, but not limited to, magazines, cover-disk distribution, books, newspapers, or newsletters in print or machine readable form.
If you made it this far past all the legal mumbo jumbo, here's a riddle for you to ponder. Genesis is real. Stop by Connecticut sometime, and I'll show it to you through a pair of binoculars.