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. WELCOME New Venice is an encoded environment shell located on the sea bed of the Mediterranean sea designed to host program versions of life forms taken from all walks of time and space. It was built by the damaged AI unit Brian after crash-landing in the 15th century AD and the coding of the city has suffered as a result of her corrupted hardware: decayed and unstable buildings, frequent glitches and code 'floods' plague the city which, until now, looks like it has been completely devoid of habitants. But Brian has been working tirelessly to encode and import as many new residents in to her facility as possible; it has taken centuries of processing to code the first arrivals (yourself included) and will probably take further centuries to finish the rest. When you arrive in New Venice you are earnestly reassured that your friends and family will be along 'shortly' - unfortunately for you, 'shortly' in an AI's mind could be anything from a few hours to a few millenia. Rest assured, Brian is working tirelessly to bring in as many people as possible to populate her imperfect little city. . BRIAN & NEW VENICE A well-meaning AI, Brian has spent many hundreds of years digitising your form in order to import you in to New Venice. She is both the creator and the keeper of New Venice - unfortunately for you, she doesn't do either of these things very well. New Venice is located in a dome on the bed of the Mediterranean sea but from the inside you would not be able to tell - the city is surrounded by impenetrable 'buildings' on all sides and a weather program ensures that residents cannot see the ceiling above. The buildings that surround the city seem to be empty warehouses but are much like old Hollywood sets that simply mask where the illusion ends. All other buildings throughout the city can have their coding 'edited' by citizens to suit their needs to a certain extent but these high-security building codes are completely inaccessible by anyone other than Brian. Buildings throughout the city are graded from 1 to 3 reflecting how malleable and adaptable they are for recoding by citizens: the more desirable grade 1 buildings are sought after as living areas: anyone who makes their home in these buildings can edit them to reflect whatever environment they desire. Grade 2 are less malleable and the buildings in their original state are smaller, more decrepit and in less desirable locations away from the main waterway. The Grade 3 buildings - the badcode districts - are almost impossible to recode. They are crumbling warehouse-type buildings, more prone to glitches that make them darker and grimier than other areas of the city. Badcode areas are also where citizens put under punishment are restricted to; all citizens are free to come and go in the badecode areas as they please unless they are under area arrest and sent there under detention. Much like the real Venice, New Venice is a wet city built on and around a series of waterways. There are no pavements or sidewalks (unlike the real Venice) and every building opens out on to a canal, big or small. Travelling between buildings can only be achieved by boat but lucky for you there are plenty of boats to choose from. However, it should be noted that swimming in the canals is completely forbidden: the waterways are patrolled by security programs that take the form of sharks and will quickly relocate any citizen caught in the waters back on to shore. Citizens are encouraged to move in and edit their surroundings as much as they wish - it's Brian's most ardent hope that his inhabitants are as happy in their new environments as possible. To help with this, each citizen is given a Personal Computer Unit (PCU) that must be carried at all time. PCUs are the most important posession a citizen will ever have: not only is each unit completely unique to every individual (the design reflects the time period that the user is from) but it is also the only way a citizen can interact with their surroundings on a coding level. It is both a passport and a tool and almost impossible to replace. Damaged units will be repaired by Brian but willingly damaging your - or another person's - PCU is one of the most heinous crimes anyone can commit. PCUs not only allow citizens to edit the code of the city but are also a powerful communication tool allowing citizens to interact with each other - and Brian too, as smaller Brian programs (Baby Brians) are carried on PCUs as a guide to the city. Brian updates all the PCUs with important information - warnings about glitches, updates about the latest goings-on in the city - as often as possible. ?NAVIGATE: {LOCATION} {MAINFAQ} {DATA ENTRY} {REGS} {SEE DBASE} |