I agree with RPG about the secret forum, and with revising how making the Chain Game is set up... I had an idea that I've been tossing around with for a while, and I think it would work for the new Chain Game.

Basically, there's no wait to do your chapter, like in the past. Everyone works simultaneously, and blind to what everyone else is doing as well. Then, the team shares the chapters, assembles them into some sort of order, and then split up again to make chapters that connect the random ones together. The logistics of this are all planned out, but I won't bore people with them unless the idea takes off.

MORE SPECIFICALLY:
----------------------

The Set Up)
- - Everyone comes up with a cast of Main Heroes / Main Villains, and some vague-ish setting details (time period, world, other setting details, etc.)

Phase 1)
- - Everyone is randomly assigned a chapter title, theme, or some component that must be featured in the title. No one knows what anyone else's chapter title is, nor where their chapter will fit (beginning, middle, end, etc.) All characters and Main Villains are assumed to have know each other prior to the chapter.
(Optional: Use a random generator like SeventhSanctum to come up with chapter titles or themes)

Phase 2)
- - The chapters are shared, and assembled into something that vaguely resembles sense. The team then choose/are assigned to create interludes that happen between two chapters, connecting them together as best as possible.

Phase 3)
- - Everything is assembled, and the team is assembled to discuss tweeks, corrections, and such, which the project leader is responsible for doing. Also, the Intro and Finale are created.


**Alternatively, Phase 1 could be chapters that go from "Intro" to "Major Turning Point", Phase 2 is "Midpoint" to "Climax, and Phase 3 is Connecting them all together with interludes, and doing the Finale.

P.S. I really like DP's Dungeon Crawl idea... perhaps a fusion of that and this would be nice? Some dungeon crawl with a vague-ish plot, where people are assigned a hero level / dungeon challenge range, and then split to create the chapters / levels of the dungeon, and later assemble them together.

Nah random chapters done at the same time wouldn't work. Not having battles would be boring as well. What we need is someone to sync the chapters and a core system to start with.

Alright, I've got it.
I have taken all of your ideas and merged them in a crazyass blender to come up with this:
Chain Game 4 will have the shape of an anime-esque school/college/high school drama.

Advantages:
A solid core setup. The game will take place inside the school. There will be no battles, the gameplay will consist of school events such as triathlons, basketball games (or any sport whatsoever), quizzes and tests, school trips, school drama, etc...
Each person will make a week of the protagonist's life at school. Instead of saying "Chapter 1" we would say "First week". Feel free to do the weekends as bonuses or leave them to the person in charge of syncing the chapters. The only requirement would be to make a complete week of the protagonist's life. We don't have to limit the story to the protagonist's point of view either, you could choose to make your "week" based on any character's point of view. For instance, we would have a week based on the shy girl of the class while the next week would be focused on the energetic guy of the class.
The NPC will have premade characteristics such as:
- School thugs.
- Transfer students.
- Fashion club girls.
- Athletes.
- Nerds.
- Teachers.
etcetcetc... making it possible for the NPCs to have more "life" and not just stand there.
With this system, the possibilities for mini-games are vast. We will not have to mess with random battles and hopefully the setup will allow a smoother and less "random" plot. Note that the game doesn't have to be limited to just the school but we could include places such as character houses, malls, restaurants, clubs, etc...
The storyline would have to be kept close to the realms of reality. This means NO magic, NO monsters, NO randomweirdfantasystuff.
What do you guys think? I believe we could build upon this setup.

I think it would be a nice break from all the random fantasy stories with the cliché "villains and heroes" setup. Besides, if we are going to throw away battles, we need a system more open to mini-games and with a stronger and smoother storyline. Think about the comedy potential for the game, what's best than school/high school/college for comedy? Also, the organization is just plain easier to manage. We don't have to limit ourselves to your traditional school themed environments either. We could make the game take place in a futuristic or medieval college, someone mentioned they wanted something futuristic.

I don't think getting rid of battles would be a good idea. Maybe somebody could be in charge of all battles in the game (of course the person in charge of their part would get to decide monsters and bosses for his/her chapter).

Also, I kind of like the idea of having the game take place in a modern day age (plus futuristic/whatever tones if anyone wanted).

If it is set in a school I am not going to play it.

I think the best setup would be this;
A number of random titles are generated (discarding bad titles, like the Erect Wife) and distributed to people who have signed up. We start a private forum like RPG thinks we should, and each person submits their segment and the next person picks it up. We do have someone "guiding" the process, if not being in charge of it, so that its direction stays on the right course. There could be a seperate section wherein people discuss their ideas for the overall storyline (nothing too specific, but vague outlines to give other people a hint as to where to go). This way, we'd be able to get something of a coherent storyline put together.

I, personally, vote for anything but a "humour game". A game can be funny without being a humour game, and it doesn't have to take itself seriously, but I think CG3 kind of crapped out at Erave's and DP's sections, because they failed to keep coherent, which a lot of people associate with "humour games". I am not entirely sure what the guidelines were for this in previous CG's, but I'm thinking providing a set of resources at the start for everyone to use would be a good idea. There'd be no limits to editing them or adding new ones of a similar style, but they'd give everyone a similar goal to work towards.

Then, everyone who signed up beta tests the whole thing, along with a couple people who we all recognize as being good beta testers.

I, personally, vote for a futuristic game. We could use guns for the battles (which I would like) and I'm sure we could brainstorm a good combat system to use throughout based on futuristic technology (perhaps robot battlers, like in Robotrek?). It could be a light-hearted take on the whole cyberpunk genre with lots of upbeat dialogue that, placed against the grim backdrop of a megacorporation-run future would be pretty hilarious.

I think the Chain Game's main focus is to tell a story over the course of a game from the various perspectives of the people making it, ALEX is already a compilation of (mostly) minigames without any real plot, and while it was fun I don't really think another one is needed (I mean, I'm all for ALEX IV, but a new, very similar project).

Also, I'm really sorry DP. I was thinking of BravoSector's section (which is just painfully badly written), I don't know how I made that mistake! Yours actually really got the story back on track, if anything. My bad, man.

I am not against a minigame intensive chain game, but why does it have to be set in a dungeon crawler without a plot? So long as the plot is fast moving and isn't weighed down with pointlessly drawn out dialogue windows, it could be set anywhere.

I think what the next Chain Game needs is some censoring on behalf of the community by the people involved. Yes, in some way it does contradict the point of the chain game, but in other ways it will help it get over some of the humps that might turn players off (Like 5-6-7 in CG3, which were all pretty boring). If there is some awful section in someone's chapter, who's to say we can't take it out for the good of the whole? If someone kills off all the main characters for no reason, then I don't think they really care about the CG, anyways, and we should have a free hand on editing that section.

@Erave: I didn't say CG4 should be a "SERIOUS GAME!!!". I said it shouldn't be a humour game, because humour games tend to go way off kilter. There is nothing stopping a regular ol' game from being funny as hell without it being a humour game (which usually implies excesses of fourth wall violations and general nonsense). Earthbound was hilarious, for instance, but took itself completely seriously in a way, which only added to it. It broke the 4th wall a couple times, but everything made some weird sort of sense inside the world, but it was so quirky that you couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't a humour game, it was just a very humorous game. There is a big difference, imo!

I'm telling you guys; we should set this in the future and have cybernetic enhancements/robots that can be built using better equipment as our DBS. The world of cyberpunk is ripe for an upbeat game!

You people are too narrow minded about "school", it doesn't have to be something lame. Think of Bleach characters when they are at school, something like that would be neato imo. Anyways, discarding that idea... We could ask Laue permission to use his RP setup as a core: http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=58125
It's a dead RP, there'd be no conflict with us using it.
It's futuristic, it's flexible, and I like it.

I still vote for the dungeon crawler without a real plot. There have been 3 very similar Chain Games so far, it's time we try something similar. I don't think many people even tried to play CG3 to be honest. The topic didn't even reach 2 pages and the feedback was non-existant. The idea of a chain game is not fresh and innovative anymore, what we need now is GAMEPLAY to make a game that is actually enjoyable to play.

That could actually work pretty well. It could be like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus or even LoZ which are mostly about gameplay and a cool, simple, but not entirely focused on story. In other words it could be a game which focused on atmosphere, the game's environment and gameplay while having a simple story which would advance a little every chapter.

By the way, I've been thinking on different themes for the game. It could be horror, pre-medieval (iron age; bronze age; dark ages), 19th century sci-fi (steampunk in a way, like Jules Verne novels) or 1920's themed!

I'm about to give up because there is no way we will all agree on something. We all have different opinions and we all want something different. Someone has to step up, take charge, and introduce a concept to follow even if not everyone likes it.

Here's my two-cents:

I have not really played the other three (I plan to though), but maybe a focus on characters would be a great idea?

I mean we outline the characters before hand. Each chapter's focus is to develop ONE of the characters into a believable and interesting storyline. Some exceptions would be chapters that continue the plot, such as a plot twist or a major battle or something.

Just throwing something out into the open -_-