Mini Games

* See also MiniGame_Creation_Idea
* See also MMORPG Game_Mechanisms
* See also Hacking 
* See also Handheld Device Mode and Apps
* See also Player_Activities
* See also Puzzles
* See also A DOWNSIZED GAME OF THIS TYPE
* See also Asset_Creation_Process PCA
Rapture Rebirth MMORPG Mini-Games ideas ( for '2D' and simple '3D' Tablet interface ) :
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Example - Raptureville ( Farmville-like App ... Except There's more Gunfire )
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The Mini-Game/Offline Mode of the MMORPG - Benefit By Future 'Handheld' Advancements :
More and more capable to run better programs ( CPU processing with multiple core and larger Memory/Storage )
Much better '3D' visuals with near powerful GPUs ( 'Doom' is preferred to 'SpaceInvaders' style )
The communications links are getting better, allowing more interruption free usage and higher bandwidth for data ( burstiness still limits realtime data flows ). Games are still largely to target 'standalone' playing, but those integrated with the Game World do shuffle some amounts of data back and forth.
Still there will be limitations of the screen size (physical, if not resolution) and touch input surface (cant really rely on the horrendous keyboards and no fine pointing controls).
Battery Life - especially when the unit is running full processing power (CPU + GPU) for extended periods.
More common form factors and programming to unify development with more standard features - less mutating and tuning for too many platform variations leading to 'dumbing down' the programs to a 'least common denominator' utilization.
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Does NOT ALL have to Be Whizzbang Graphics :
Can be the easier "Old School" graphics ( to be playable on handhelds/smartphones ) - LOTS of Tools and Old Assets available for this. 
Ex - "X-Com"-like - Single Player scenario with Tactics like X-Com ( a turn based ( sub )game )
Need simplified '3D' -> '2.5D' graphics ( overhead side view - fixed orthagonal view)
Simplified figure animations (pixel block animations) 
?? New Tools - On-The-Fly conversions from the main game Assets Terrain map and Characters and NPCs ( game data downloads ). 
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Handheld Gaming Potential :
'3D' Performance in "OpenGL ES" "OpenGL ES" - A Open Source 3D Programming Library on handhelds for some (semi) 3D-flavored Mini-Games and use of Player Game Tools ( like a Map system - which if useful enough might be used 'handheld' WHILE also playing (simultaneously) on the main gaming computer Client ).
Need performance numbers for rendering to see how far this might be used. Screen resolutions, though getting better, are physically small, and thus the small screen pixel size probably requires looking at a larger-than-PC object representation to prevent 'eye squint' - Means less can be seen on the 'screen' at once. Advancing generations of handheld tablets and smartphones keep expanding their capabilities.
Limited/simpler MMORPG locations ( effectively a mini-'level' ) - Inside of Your 'Residence', The local Bar, Your Greenhouse(farm), The City Library, A Workbench, The Material Exchange ( equiv of 'auction house' ) where there are limited NPC and other-Player interactions. These could eventually be done to a reasonable detail level and object count for 'mundane' settings.
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Rapture '3D' Screensaver ( For your PC or Smartphone ) :
Kind-of like that classic Fishtank screen-saver - Except it is a view of the Cityscape of Rapture.
Awarded on the Player's Diver Achievement -- Talking the City Council into letting you use (risk) one of their few Diving Hard Suits to go out into the 'Eternal Sea'/'Cruel Depths'/'Wine-dark Whatever' in it. ( Recently, radio-controlled explosive bolts have been added, which can trigger expansion of emergency floats, sending the unit to the ocean surface for recovery, whether the occupant is alive or not -- You did sign that Waiver ... )
Big Daddy walking by, Bathyspheres move about, AE Trains run past, all the Neon lights and illuminated buildings, denizens of the deep glide by. Golden Age Rapture at its height ...
A 'Mode' allows historic views of New Rapture showing it coming back to life, growing bit by bit as it's Citizens restored order to the Chaos. Real Assets from your Game World are shown (externally at least) as they are.
'3D' models and animations, behaviors
Put it on your computer at Work ...
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Mini-Games Tying Into the 'Online' BioShock MMORPG Game :
Another idea that might be interesting and be part of the RTS (Real Time Simulation) aspect. This would be inline with the current technology craze - having an interface which allows Players to monitor/control their non-avatar resources. Access which can be run on Tablets/Palmtops/Smartphones ( a non-3D interface, though '3D' effects could be there optionally for flavor/glitz ).
The MMORPG Players goals are rebuilding/repairing/expanding Rapture, and would have some NPCs ( ex-splicers/big-daddies/auction-house agents/etc ... ) under their control which would be working on game tasks which normally take-time/are-boring and which make slow (real-time) progress. '2D' symbolic representations corresponding to 'Team' NPC worksites, the Player has designated, would be manipulated have NPC and material resources allocated to them, and task queues would allow continuation while the Player is not online. Re-manufacturing and selling of items (crafting) worked on by the Player's ex-splicer minions ( who besides no longer being insane ) may possess important skills from the ADAM they absorbed through those chaotic years or just have alternate player selected training or are Hired.
The Rapture Reborn MMORPG would be a cooperative game. Communications with other Players would be facilitated to acquire/borrow/loan resources or coordinate projects via mail/chat/posting/trade paradigms which we already see existing in many MMORPGs. As seen in many other games, an 'Auction House' selling mechanism can be used to streamline inter-player resource transfers ( with many goods/items delivered by that wondrous Pneumo-Mail Jet Postal system -- which the players will get working again ) ...
The RTS (Real Time Shooter) aspect of the game would motivate/drive some Quests in the FPS part of the game, to get ahold of things needed for the 'work' of bringing Rapture back to life (repairs and building). The Player will likely have to hunt for critical components in the still-wrecked/wild areas of Rapture, will have to fight off the wild Splicers still inhabiting them, and may have to join their 'Team' NPC workers to search out and recover those needed resources. ( Heh for once 'Fetch it' Missions with actual utility for the stuff being 'fetched' )
Puzzle Mini-Games fit in with the limited tablet/palmtop/smartphone interfaces ( Think -- wiring/ piping/ mechanical assembly/ therapy for your raw Splicer in the Tenenbaum Rehabilitation and Recovery Clinic/ Lockpicking/ U-Make-It scrounging/Crafting ). There are lots of possibilities for such puzzles, who's effort/results feed in to the main game.
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Mini-Games for the MMORPG
There are many of BioShock's Fans out there who have the skills to create 'Apps' that could do mini-games for the MMORPG. I would want it to be easier for them and others less skilled to also create them. Many of the mini-games have a similar form ( like a 'Pipelaying' game or a platformer style or tetris-like or tile slider or even a 'Farmville' ) that premade game skeletons could be created for ( all that reusable template stuff my modular system 'wall-of-text' talks about ). So the Players would have to provide mostly the data for them ( pixel art, various option selections, some scripting ) to have them work. And once the game existed, it could be incrementally improved by other Players who have more skill finishing and tuning games. Once vetted and accepted, the games then would be playable by thousands of the MMORPG Players. Not all of them will be gems, but linked to the main game for rewards/payoff and useable in short odd times of day, they add a broader element to the MMORPG.
I was checking what ( game engines/computer languages ) could be used to create Mini-Games on the widest number of devices, and because the low-end hand-helds (ie- smartphones) are largely proprietary/underpowered/klunky of interface, they would mostly only be useful for the basic text/menu Apps built by the game company to access in-game mail, bulletin boards, auction house, the NPC 'Team' task system, inventory juggling. Other content might be made available via web browser based methods ( like Rapture TV/Radio/Films, research materials, and the Newspapers ).
The highest end mini-games might require some of the '3D' capable tablet type game engines ( many which have development tools that cost money ) which again could be created via a 'data-only' approach to eliminate the complicated system programming for most Players Game-makers. 
Of course anyone who wants to make a full 'App' game themselves that ties in to the MMORPG could probably be accommodated ( with all the appropriate vetting of course ) and communication methods for Score recording, scenario DownLoad, and game completion data (in-game payoff) would be provided to tie in to the MMORPG servers.
And remember that 'creation' includes adding new parts/scenarios/levels/expansions of existing games - collaborating as a group will result in more/better animations, new skins, additional scenarios, help instructions/tutorials for the games ( yes, some people make great games but are LOUSY telling people how to play them ). There is also the 'in-game' part where the mini-games tie into the MMORPG, including score boards for people who like to compete and of course the Quest/Mission credit in-game you earn by doing many mini-games. Some games like the continuous Players Farm system actually would correspond more directly to in-game assets.
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Wiring Mini-Game Using Hexes Instead of 'Pipe' Squares :
Offers even more combinations of components interconnects (6 sides) and more complicated 'components' to solve.
Player Tasks to repair wiring circuitry as part of a Mission or fixing/improving their own equipment ( part of the in-game Fabrication interfaces ). Suited to 'Mini-Games' played on the offline tablet/smartphone App part of the MMORPG.
There can still be 'Square' circuitry, which represents the older WW2 era electronics ( tubes, relays ) versus the newer 'X-ister' ( transistors, Bio-Electronics ). Devices and machines can use both kinds of technology in their sub-modules as well as mechanical mechanisms ( a whole 'nuther' repair/fabrication system ... )
The Ultimate may be helping fix one of those "O M G" complex machines - Rewiring part of a Vita-Chamber with a 1000 x 1000 component grid ( You get to fix some part of it as your Task - It actually adds incrementally into the machine object in the MMORPG - as a group puzzle effort ), so you can see the ongoing progress and its eventually operation when fixed. The Thinker's Disk Logic Circuit (DLC) Tasks offer similar activities.
Getting replacements and rebuilding components is part of the Task. Different levels of difficulty depend on what skills/tools you have ( You can sign up for easy or harder ones ).
Rewards for such 'benevolent' tasks assisting the City can be getting priority use of the machines later. Of course, if you really mess up and not just cannot complete it, but destroy the sub-module, you are expected to make good for it. You are helping move New Rapture move ahead one Link of the Great Chain at a time.
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Smart Phones - MMORPG Mini-Games and 'Getting Stuff Done' Apps :
All the text/web type Assets should be no problem ( not a huge amount of system resources or display quality is required, communications often 'batched', and not requiring a continuous connection ).
* In-Game mail and bulletin board 'postings' - keep up with the latest doings in New Rapture. Directories of people/businesses you may want to contact
* Clearing House - buy sell items - obtain those things you need for your projects
* City Paperwork/Bounty - file official stuff or lookup various city information ( and job postings, etc ...) . In New Rapture the paperwork is streamlined, as it is to facilitate productive activities and prevent disputes and NOT to justify alot of bureaucratic parasitical jobs.
* Pneumo Remote Shopping - Buy stuff you will need, from convenience of your own residence.
* Team Task Tracker - keep your NPCs busy doing all that tedious stuff, or have them ready to go when you get online on your gaming machine.
* Store Management - manage you NPC run store/business/production
* In-game Media feed - TV news/shows, Radio broadcasts, Newspapers/magazines ( Want Ads ...)
* U-Invent fabrication/repair system - create useful stuff from all that junk you collect
* Farm-It - farm management - easy-peasy mode or micro-manage to maximize your yield. Rapture has many hungry mouths to feed ...
* Training/Research manager - advance you and your NPC Team's skills and move forward your project research.
* City Map - plan how to get your team to your 'jumping off point' into the ruins. Will probably have to be '3D' to visualize it properly, with X-ray zoomable rotating view. May even be useful to have next to you while playing the game on your PC. Directory of interesting places and your own flagged locations. Automatic Pathfinding thru available transportation paths is not overly taxing on even low end handheld processors these days.
* Intelligence feeds - keep up with status of happenings outside the New City - what do the City's spies say the Splicers are up to ??
* Inventory preparation - why dither about later on-line when there is adventuring to do ( on your Game Machine )
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Mission Games - Simple touch interface ( with lots of scenarios ) :
* Mr Security-bot - Endless mission chasing Vermin, Splicers, criminals, and spotting Leaks ( SO You didn't think that Security-bots could level ?? Upgrades for those that survive and exceed their programming ).
* Little Sister Adventures - They live in their own world, but can have many odd adventures as they seek out their ADAM. Big Daddy is usually there to handle the 'angels' that are not quite dead yet ... Digging Out the tssty ADAM takes a bit of skill ... 
* Repair-It - Use your skills and components you have obtained to deftly repair valuable machinery you need or can sell. Puzzle out solutions - when you don't quite have the pieces you need.
And lots lots more ...
Many of the above would have synchronization/communication with the online game so that info changes/setting made on the palmtop/tablet would be updated on the PCs version of the interface.
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Games to be Run On a Simpler Interface (Tablets/Palmtops) :
These Mini-Games would allow Players to play part of the game while away from their home gaming machines. Results from the Mini-Games can have direct impact on in-game activities ( while utilizing time the players couldn't play otherwise ).
Beside hopefully being fun games ( if there's a good progression to continually get harder to match a spectrum of Player abilities ) having short duration and payoffs in the main game. Some being skill advancements, and others to accomplish certain in-game tasks like repairs/fabrications/searches on the players own projects ( as well as city assigned jobs ), while others reward with job pay beyond the ( my NPCs on automatic ).
Lots of variants(scenarios) - If player created assets are part of the game system and other similar games can be produced along the same lines by Players ( scenario variants (data) for an existing game vs creating it, which is programming ).
'2D' Flash-style animations and interactions for the programs ( alot of players understand these concepts for creation of the mini-games, so wont be frightened off )
Common creation frameworks to act as templates - grid placements, communication with server, scoring and rewards systems.
Some Players create better graphics and aesthetic animation effects versus creating the game mechanics and control interfaces ( again assuming that the company adopts the challenging and 'pushing the envelope' idea of allowing player created asset and then actually being able to make the system work ). Graphical effects are often interesting just to see them ( see what imaginative players come up with ).
Games have instructions and explanation of how they tie into the main game. Names and locations/tasks etc are passed from the server to personalize the mini-game as being part of their efforts in the main '3D' game.
Top Scores ?? ( and tracking player against themselves ) Why not ? Some people find great interest in trying to out do each other and in an MMORPG you want to add as many avenues of interest as possible to keep people playing.
There would also be interactive access to in-game media - newspapers/mail/delivery notices/job bulletin boards/text chat/NPC activity monitorings and task directions and progress/map views/auction house/ etc... so players can keep track of things happening in the game and communicate/interact.
A longer explanation of many things mentioned will be in a following posting.
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Additional Varieties of Bioshock Rapture MMORPG Mini-game Interfaces :
* Chasing the 'bug' like "Pac Man" ??? Watch out these bugs bite... Hmm 'bugs' you need a pistol for... Prestige points with City as "Vermin Exterminator".
* Squishing the bug/rat - Whack-a-mole style (touch screen) That gratifying crunch you no longer get crushing Splicers skulls... More Prestige "Harbinger of the Doomed Rat" or somesuch.
* Mechanical puzzles ( Infinite's IR flash game example of one simplistic kind - imagine that with 10 X as many different parts and types of interconnections and gimcracks you have to solve. ) In game work credits for repairing City infrastructure of various kinds ( lots of THAT to do in this place ).
* Macro puzzles - Player and their lackeys walking THROUGH real terrain, treasure hunts ( find that spare part the whatzit machine needs to restore balance of the effluvium ether or something like that ).
* Pulling apart piles of wreckage to get salvaged goodies, without the pile falling on you are collapsing away where it is no longer accessible.
* Fishing - not a sport, a survival skill in Chaos era Rapture ( Food for your Team and for sale in the market. ) Lots of variations and now doubt bait and lure upgrades and that sorta stuff.
* Turn the "pipe game" into a real Pipe Game - plumbing solutions (infrastructure repairs) - You'll want to do at least your own residence to save on the money and to get what you want working (and upgrade it later).
* De-fusing a bomb or trap (mechanical mechanisms), hacking a sensor/alarm system to 'sneak' in to some unfriendly place. There are potentially all kinds of these game and how they relate to the Game World and other Player activities.
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Player Created Mini-Games - Just More of the Same ?? :
Sure, coming up with a New (and actually Good) style of Mini-Game is difficult (and rare), but look at all those copycat games out there ( that noone even wants to pay for ). At least with the BioShock MMORPG mini-games, they can feed back INTO the main game and give you credit in quests/missions/commerce, so that whatever stupid thing the game has you do ( preferable without too much mind-numbing tedium ) you get advantage for doing it.
Many of the 'games' could also really be 'creation' tools where the task is to create some kind of simple in-game content that would be used to help fill out 'unique' (placeable) things for the City Auto-Generators to use ( of course still subject to vetting to avoid inappropriate content ).
An escalating set of mini-game scenario difficulties ( with increasing in-game rewards ) would be employed to allow players to find their 'comfort zone'.
The mini-games should NOT become a 'cash machine' for the main MMORPG game ( payoffs should be limited appropriately ). Management of in-game resources should add 'efficiency' as the bonus ( so Players don't HAVE TO use the mini-game to get things done ). There would be in game involvement and advancement as prerequisites for various mini-games ( Ex- you would have to set up a 'farm' to play the continuous farming mini-game and buy additional materials in-game for expansions/improvements, even though it could be managed in the tablet interface. )
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NOTE that guidelines would have to be created so to prevent Players from copying existing games, and thus provoking the LEGAL GODS ( and the evil armies of lawyers ) down upon the MMORPG.
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2D/3D Bioshock Mobile Game - Example of what you might have for 'Offline' Mini-Games :
http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock_2D_%28Mobile_Game%29
http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock_3D_%28Mobile_Game%29
Facilitated by having tools in the main game interface to 'Can' game Assets for a simplified 'mobile' game would make it much simpler to create them. Then the Players can concentrate on the creative interactive aspect for such games, and skip alot of the tedious Asset drawing step. Many of those 'games' could be little more than amusing interactive jokes ( like a funny cartoon, but with more 'production values ). 
* " Knock Knock. Who's there. Big Daddy. Big Daddy who ? ...", 
* "Why did the Spider Splicer crossed the Road? To ...", 
* "A Big Sister and Jack and a Houdini Splicer walk into a bar ...", 
Etc ...
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Loading Mini-Games to be Played Offline (App-like) :
Apps and data transferred from the Server, the Mini-Game is played offline, and then the game results are sent back later ( when connectivity is reestablished ). Several scenarios ( matching the Player's in-game situation or matching assets they control ) for a 'game' could be assembled by the Server and loaded/queued-up. Several different games could be loaded for extended off-line playing activity.
There would be built-in game security to prevent cheating ( no simple file manipulations - Server based security blocks easy client hacks ). 
* Mini-Game Data is tailored/customized to the Player and has encoded markers that disallow re-submissions, application to a different Player, and any easy faking of results. 
* The Server easily detects game scenario + results invalid for a different player.
* The multitude of different Mini-Games make any payoff for difficult 'hacking' inconsequential.
* Some situational Mini-Game types have the Player go thru a varying/mutatable bunch of actions, but the results are not known until submitted/run, and thus a hacker doesn't know what 'right' actions to build into their hack data sent to the Server. ( Too complicated/changeable to be easily hacked ).
The Mini-Games don't have huge payoffs ( actually are fairly limited ) so would not warrant reverse engineering/hacking the App ( and various programming tricks can make even that difficult ). Results aren't just files transferred but interactive between the tablet app and the Server, and it would take sophisticated hacking to fool the system.
Players could have another Player play their account but that is the same as having someone else log into your account on any other MMORPG and do stuff for you ( blocking 2 simultaneous logins on the same account is pretty standard for account payment cheats ). As long as they do the playing fairly, one at a time, there is no problem.
Many of the off-line activities are not actually Mini-Games, but manipulate cached data from the in-game world. 
* The Player can plan out their next in-game excursion and setup/organize the resources they will want to use ( like the original X-Com where you decided equipment for your squad - but alot more than that for THIS game ). 
* Another example would be downloading your in-game mail messages to be looked thru and have replies written ( to be sent when a network connection can be reestablished ).
* Project planning/monitoring for the 'rebuilding' activities in the game can be done conveniently on a tablet/palmtop ( using time when a game-machine use isn't possible ).
Example -- You (a MMORPG Player) are going on a REAL plane flight and would like something interesting to do for a coupla hours while you are waiting/flying. So you take a few of the next Mini-Game scenarios for the 'Civic Prestige' activities ( ie- Plug the Leak, and Rat Patrol ) and your in-game Mail Dump. You can take your shop/farm business records/plans for review/adjustments/management, as well as a few new scenarios for that fun 'Roleplay a Security Bot' 3D Mini-Game. Then there are the latest Rapture TV programming ( shows and commercials and news ), and the daily New Rapture Newspaper. You may wish to take a summary of your NPC 'Team' stats ( so you might consider some new training for them ). All your game notes/reminders, map data, Teamtask assignments, and 'bank' contents are all kept upto date on your handheld. When you can get back to your PC you want to do some Blast-Fest in 'The Ruins'/'The Wild', but while that's out of reach you can get some more mundane game things done.
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Sometimes Mindless Games Are Good : 
For the Tablet/Smartphone - How about a 'Tetris-like' or a 'Jewel-like' game using those icons from the Solo Games ? Plenty of App developers out there to tap into for such 'simple' games.
http://rapturearchives.org/html/bs1_icons.html 
http://rapturearchives.org/html/mp_icons.html
Win fabulous prizes !!! ( actually as being a 'game of skill' it bypasses alot of gambling issues, and as long as the 'prizes' are all in-game ... ) Now what would it emulates as being some real Rapture related activity ? Sifting through rubble looking for salvageable objects ? Recycling job at the City Dump (Ewww) ? Rearranging/sorting some Splicer's mental patterns in the 'Cure' hospital ? Some nebulous tie to the primary game theme is preferred ...
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Mini-game Idea Examples :
Existing Hacking of various devices/machines - Bots/Vending :
* Machines/Cameras/Turrets/Security doors/Locks
* BS1 circuit fluid path grid (thinking and speed)
* BS2 moving needle (mostly click timing)
* With additions for more skill based adjustments, impact of research/tools/part quality
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Utility Lineman
* Connect the in-and-out paths of several utilities in a building section to establish continuity with the pieces you are supplied :
* Add safety features for bonus
* Bonus for redundant capacity to the completed 'circuits'
* Fit multiple Utilities simultaneously (water, air, electricity, Pneumo, comm-lines)
* Don't forget to cut the power before you start rewiring ...
* Do estimations and if it can't be done then send the job back to the bureaucrats who messed up.
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Repairs - Machine Disassembling/Assembling: 
* Jigsaw like puzzle of fitting all the parts together
* Get useful machines of variety of complexities working again
* Broken pieces removed and replaced ( keep a good stockpile on hand )
* Symbolic pieces dropped in the slots ( preferably the right slots )
* Research/blueprint, skill/tool advantages
* In game objects are repaired either for yourself or as a 'job'
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U-Invent - Fabrication Making Parts :
* Use of an old U-Invent machine (which was automatic) rebuilt to use as a fabrication rig (beg, borrow, but don't steal one).
* Player supplies recipes and formulas to control making of parts for machines (later use for repair activities)
* Reprogram the machine to make parts ( adjustment puzzle of the in-built tools options )
* Machine pattern with improvements innovated by players skill
* Progressive results with more skill and tool modules and additional recipes
* DO repairs to the machine during your process 'run' of parts
* Parts get produced for in-game use
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Guard-bot Patrol
* Player remotely controls a city patrol bot ( those automatic ones were never that bright )
* Plan and Set the patrol pattern for a given map area ( some with higher difficulty patterns )
* Link into camera/electric eye sensors to get clues of possible 'Perp' locations
* Follow/corner the Perp"Perp" = Perpetrators ( drive vermin into traps )
* Control door access (security locks) to block the 'Perps' off
* Coordinate multiple reinforcement bots movements
* Different 'Perps' move at different speeds or can try to attack the bot
* Coordinate 'the watch' being called to handle/apprehend the 'Perp'
* Answer priority alerts to investigate reported sightings of 'irregularities'
* Many different maps and scenarios ( ie- stake out the smugglers, watch the gate to the wild, vermin patrol, etc ... )
* Keep the city safe so people can sleep soundly in their beds ...
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Splicer Brain/Genetic Reconstruction ('the Cure' for Splicers)
* Symbolic representation of the brain of a splicer
* Remove the broken bits (unhappy faces)
* Adjust the pieces to form coherent patterns ( connect the smiley faces )
* Minimum adjustments get bonus
* Most combinations of 'good' brain patterns get bonus ( means more skills for the ex-Splicer )
* Skill adjustments to enhance efficiency and improve outcomes
* Use X-Cell and Anti-Adam to assist difficult cases
* Every Ex-splicer saved is one more step forward for Rapture
* Doctor your patient is ready ...
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Certification Tests for player skills
* Do tests to qualify for a better job ( bypasses time consuming in-game training )
* Various machines and tools and tasks done to prove proficiency for future job placements in-game.
* Paint the wall section ( roller or paint brush, neatness counts ) - no painters holidays please
* Assemble the machine from the blueprint pattern (memory game)
* Weld that leak ( wandering hand aiming game - like some of the target scopes )
* Find a free path for the electric line ( floor tiles path, no overlap with existing lines )
* Flip the Burgers ( variant on whack a mole )
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Pull the goodies Out of the Pile ( a "pickup sticks" type game )
* Scrounge thru the debris pile and try to extract the most valuable items
* If you pull wrong then debris falls down and blocks things ( may also help uncover things )
* Move things that are in the way
* Time limit before the Splicers hear you and you have to leave ( if they catch you, lose all )
* Time limit before the room fills up with water
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Guide the sub/Bathysphere thru the maze of buildings and obstacles
* Maze game get thru to the destination on-time and certainly before fuel/air runs out
* Dodge the giant squid or other hazards
* Go out and return on a 'routine' trip
* Skills allow faster speeds and better maneuverability
* Get your own sub/bathysphere and make it a profitable business
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Trawling for Fish
* Raptures mainstay that never quit the whole time after 'the fall'
* Place the nets
* Run the multiple subs out to the schools of fish and corner them into the nets
* Avoid hazards - various Deep Sea Nasties and Sharks that want to eat your fish
* Bring your catch home to Rapture
* Work for the city or later purchase your own submarine to get real profits.
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Program the Circuitry/Punchcards (Minerva's programs)
* Minerva will be a very useful tool for the City if they can just get it programmed.
* More 'wiring' connections type puzzles
* Solve the logic connection with the provided circuitry (fit to form the path)
* Bonus payout for speed of completion
* Progressive difficult and higher rewards
* Accumulate circuit bits you didn't have to use for subsequent 'programs'
* More programs you do, the more you are paid (and skill advances)
* Some are Circuitry and others Punch Card sequences linking the logical paths
* Tools and special circuit parts for 'shortcuts'
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The Prospecting game :
* Find useful materials for Raptures industries to convert to useful things ( the manufacturing starting up again )
* Dig thru the rock looking for veins/deposits
* Don't open the tunnel to the sea ( indicators about how close you are getting to that )
* Pull as much as you dare out
* Different and amusing tools
* Different types of mines have different properties - metal/oil/minerals
* HighGrade a few 'samples' for yourself (smugglers trade for gold)
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The Farm - setup and operate a farm to feed Rapture with something other than fish and seaweed :
* Growing crops ( farm games existed LOOONG before Farmville )
* Tending animals ( Beware the mutant cows and flame-throwing chickens ) - crops to feed animals
* Progressive development ( not a single run game )
* Add more lights to improve growing
* Add new crops ( new seeds with multiplying numbers when you grow seeds for later crops )
* Bring in fertilizer ( mulched from the inedible seaweed ) to improve your farm.
* Keep the vermin away ( who try to eat your crops )
* Skills increase and expand your farm
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Chase the Thing thru the City Sewer :
* A common low income entertainment for starting players
* Navigate the maze of sewers under the streets - don't go too far or you will get lost.
* Vermin targets have bounties (in-game rewards)
* Interesting/valuable items sometimes get lost, there to be found
* Lighting and water level vary
* Nastier things are sometimes run into ( keep your weapon handy )
* Bring your hip boots.
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Route the Pneumo :
* Jet Postal job shifting the transfer incoming capsules to the right outbound tube
* Jamming events and mis-routings/damaged packages or bad addresses
* Shelving capsules destined for the local station and taking)
* Rush periods when transfers backed up (all come in at once)
* Higher skill Pneumo job offices (scenarios) have more tubes/more problems/more traffic
* Lots of flashing lightbulb type and buzzing indicators warning of incomings and jams ...
* Amusing labels of what are in the capsules
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Librarian in the Great Library :
* Sort the books onto the shelves ( some kind of shuffling action in the 'buttoney' tablet interface )
* Find research request items as they come in faster and faster.
* Slidey-type word puzzles ( using common BioShock terms )
* Research skill bonus.
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Obstacle puzzle ( reach that prize if you can in the ruins ) :
* Grid puzzle of interlocking objects which by pushing around opens a path to the far side
* Doors
* Heaps of debris
* Fires
* Things to push/pull ( with different length sticks ) that nullify other obstacles
* Variety of tools for different scenarios
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The Pick and Pay game :
* Piles of salvages items to look thru
* Sort thru them and Find the one piece that
* You may have to dismantle things to get what you are after - don't destroy too much
* Bonus for minimal value loss due to 'dismantling' and rough manhandling
* As usual, skill and tools add to efficiency
* Rewards for finding a 'bounty' item
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Fontaines Fisheries ( under new management ) :
* Keep the city fed with this staple commodity
* Unload the submarines that come in with their loads of fish
* Submarine moves some while floating
* Avoid crushing the workers who sometimes get in the way
* Put the fish onto the moving conveyor evenly so it doesn't jam
* Finish before too many subs back up
* Accuracy in picking up/dumping to not waste too many fish
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Job dispatcher :
* Work done for the city council to allocate and schedule manpower to current jobs.
* Match up best combinations of workers with skill ( who do certain tasks more efficiently )
* Time based schedule with workers shifted to critical tasks to clear way for more general progress
* Get the most tasks completed with available workers
* Priority jobs to get bonus for getting done first
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Tramway routing ('Tower' Operator) :
* The tram system moves bulk stuff below street level around much of the city ( keeps the streets clear and less cluttered )
* Map of parts of the city with the tracks shown and the little trams moving about.
* Keep all the trams simultaneously moving for deliveries and pickups ( freight garbage personnel fuel ).
* Switch between routes ( single and double tracked ) and keep the schedule moving.
* More complex maps and schedules for the more skilled.
* Handle accidents and delays to keep things moving.
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Hephaestus Reactor Control :
* Keep the power system stable by controlling valves and watching indicators
* Prevent it from going into automatic shutdown
* Scenarios running at higher capacity (more $$) afford more risk and speed of destabilization
* Minimize damage to equipment for bonus
* Watch the red lines creep towards utter destruction
* Someday Minerva may do this task but that day is not here yet.
--- --- --- ---
An important thing is that all these mini-games are optional. Progress in the main online game is not to be dependent on execution of these mini-games which many Players may have little time/patience for and/or little interest in playing.
By playing them you might get a bonus in-game, but nothing earthshaking. Effort in them should translate to some equivalent effort for actions in-game ( and make use of time when in-game play isn't possible ). Some games may just be amusing to see once and then never be looked at again. Others may be good enough to be sufficiently distracting for killing time - what hobbies are really all about.
They are also yet another channel for Player Asset Creators to make 'old school' things for this Rapture genre.
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Simple Mini-Game Creations (Short Sequence of Strange/Funny Scenes) :
"Dragon's Lair" was just a coin arcade game made up of a bunch of choreographed scenes/actions ( cartoon video recordings ) which is steered by Player 'choice' ( just a few options ) at numerous points -- where decision points kill you (often amusingly). The Player has to remember which actions lead to continuing further ( finding the successful path versus the 'Fail' ). A subsequent revision improvement made the game NOT restart at the beginning each time, and it would indicate the right choice which had just previously been played - to allow the average Player to get further. For an arcade game, it was a great quarter-eater, as the each 'correct' choice was often arbitrary, leading constantly to many bad results (life use) as the Player worked their way through the game. It was more a memory game to navigate through the dozens of 'decision points'.
A similar game could be done using the MMORPGs stage choreographing tools and by setting up a long sequence of strange and amusing events for the Player to 'play'. More scenario branchings versus a linear 'one path' would make it superior, allowing more discovery of different viable (amusing) scenes.
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Mini-Game Creation Ideas :
* Some Players might specialize in just creating those amusing background animations as seen in BS1 'Hacking' ...
* Game Templates for popular game styles to make imaginative variations.
* Dealing with the 'Bane of the Tablet App Maker' - Varying Resolution of the different tablets and palmtops ( least common denominator for interface specs ). Adjustments to have games fit odd sized screens ( hardware model customizations )
* Yet another mini-game idea : Sliding tile with 'famous' artwork as a 'art restoration' activity ( any picture you saw in BS1/BS2) and put it in your in-game residence ) - And a bonus collection achievement ...
* Machine Repair - Milton Bradley style 'Operation' game ( with virtual tweezers to extract/insert parts ?? )
** Tester Probe with lights ( red light signals broken part etc ... )
** Pieces/Parts/Components go into 'shaped' slots ( kind of like a formulaic/recipe interface that simplifies boring 'technical' stuff )
** Recipes for Blocks of functional-slots can be substituted (sub circuit rewiring) to change characteristics/efficiency - part of technical skill and machine improvement ( also substituting 'dumbed down' components when certain parts aren't available ).
* Mini-Game Templates :
** Faux 'Machine' made with gears and cams and movement arms and other stuff ( alongside faked electronics widgets ) would be a good Mini-game 'Template'. ( Tool-Kit to create things without having to worry about programming details )
** Used by Players to create mechanisms for Mini-games (and additional scenarios).
** Interface IN Mini Game to allow assembling the animated mechanical pieces to solve a puzzle
** Can also be used to make those cute machinery background seen behind the game interfaces.
** Players can create more 'widgets' for the Template
** Desktop Still and Animations
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Ryan Security (Brownie Points) Mini-Game :
Campaign type game back in Old Rapture, where working for Ryan as a Security 'fixer', you face down various criminal elements while preserving law and order. ( Note - you get to see Rapture's official City Ordinance so you know what is illegal or not. )
Rapture's Dark and Seedy ( sounds like a health food ) Underbelly, where unmentionable things unimagined on the streets above happen.
Sounds like LA Noire style playing ( which could be greatly short-cutted in being produced by interested Player Creators using the general mechanisms/tools the MMORPG would have ).
Lots of good backstory involvement from Raptures 'old days'.
Possible advancement in 'Main' Game with Player supposedly examining casefiles ( various appropriate skill advancements ... and possibly clues to still existing sites in Rapture ).
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Hmmm, Sounds like a Mini-Game for MMORPG (Infinite BS) - Revenge of the Automatic Gentlemen ?? 
Automatic Gentlemen to be a Rampant Robot Game - with the crawling on walls and such. It looked to be some hacked robot done by the Vox Populi ( not 'upstanding' enough to be a Founder unit ... A stalker for them (Founders) would probably be a human Big Game Hunter in safari hat and accouterments. ( a separate Mini-Game perhaps for that ... )
Could climb sufficiently with the arms/claws - no need for hands on feet .
No 'Genetic' details ( don't think there's any 'gene' stuff in THIS game ), but it could be powered by a big clear flask of kerosene or even moonshine ( small internal combustion engine -- even a one-banger engine with a flywheel ).
Bad Science would be : a Fink mutated monkey brain controlling the thing - now degenerated from its original 'Gentleman' training ... ( Fink's effort to eliminate those bothersome 'Serfs' Columbia has ).
SO when you hit their fuel, a mini fireball ( or like the kerosene fires you see in movies when a kerosene lamp is breaking - big patch of fire - except bigger --- and it is still coming towards you for a short while before it conks out )
Can have the engine in its mechanism put-putting quietly, when it is waiting in ambush/moving slowly, then making a loud racket when it throttles up to attack you. 
Bizarre-ness - would IT still be uttering some of the 'Automatic Gentleman' voice snippets :
* "Would Madam like me to fetch a carriage ?" etc... While it is attacking you.
* "Will Sir be going to his Club ?" ( Produces a club to menace you with )
* "A light, Sir ?" ( Flaming Molotov cocktail is tossed )
* "Will Madam be retiring soon ?" ( Menaces with a tire iron )
* "Allow me to help you down ?" ( Makes a grab to fling you over the side to plummet to your death ... )
* "A fine day for hunting pheasants, Sir" (aims shotgun)
* "I really wanted to talk to you about an 8-Hour workday Sir" ( Strangling the Player )
The warehouse scene would be a good place to have that really ancient game scenario where you have to maneuver out of reach of 'the robots', and evade and make your escape. ( The Boys Of Silence thing was a teeny bit like that ...) Where they move slowly and are reaching out to try to grab you with their metallic hands, and you have to dodge and weave to get past all of them. Sure you could slam a few with your rifle butt, but meanwhile dozens are inching closer towards you ... Not sure why there would be a whole warehouse full of defectives ( Maybe should be more like a Scrap Heap of 'Returns', with many half dismantled -- crawling at you missing legs etc ... )
-
They can always come up for a reason to make you go thru an area ( being chased and went in the only doorway that was unlocked, etc ... )
Also the reason why there are so many of the Automatic Gentlemen robots ( when not that many people in Columbia might have been rich enough to buy them ) - 'showcase city', and the manufacturer was really selling them at all the places that Columbia would visit ( 'buy one and drive it out of the showroom' type sales ... )
And why they are 'malfunctioning' -- the monkey brains that run the things have either gone senile or a bit rotten ( it is SteamPunky/Diesel_Punk_Crafts themed so they don't have to justify anything with science beyond Frankenstein level fiction ... )
Anyway, a whole maze of crates, in the near dark. With a few variations of the 'scare' - a big crate falls over, some arms reaching out, a strange unearthly scream ( and Booker finds that HE was screaming !! ) after an automaton head rolls at their feet, the open door across the warehouse ( with the light shining from it ) suddenly shuts leaving you in total darkness ...
Plenty to work with for the scene, including a possible 'Scoobie Doo' twist that it is some people who have taken refuge there, and they try to stay safe by scaring people out of the place ( or somesuch ).
Hmm, could have a nice little scene in another part of the city with the 'crazy' Automatic Gentleman acting the servant to a bunch of corpses (cliche) and it is not clear if the robot killed them or just found some convenient corpse from the new outbreak of violence precipitated by Booker and Elizabeth.
I wonder if the new Game Engine could handle having pieces go flying off of these mechanical enemies - creepy when the Mechanical Gentleman keeps coming at you even when it is only half there. Knock those bizarre earhorns off the 'Boys of Silence and they scream only the louder ... Ole George's head spins like a top, but his Gatling Gun keeps firing ...
They (Infinite BS) needs something creepy to take the place of the deformed Splicers ( the 'Merged' really didn't happen ), and also to 'Come At You out of the Dark'.
Proper sound effects would probably be the real 'creep out' aspect as they should make a distinct mechanical sound that you can hear from a distance as they creep towards you in the dark or around the next corner or are behind the door you need to go thru. I remember in Return to Castle Wolfenstein the half robotic monstrosities - which were hard to kill and were dangerous ( reason to fear them ) that you heard from 'aways-off' (but getting closer), but really did not know where they were or when they would jump you.
Thinking about effects (lighting), the time of the game is also when they used arc-lamps more than a little ( while lightbulbs got better ), and the stark too-bright light they produced would make for nice exaggerated visual effects (GPU shader scripting fun) that would contrast with both the dark and the sunny exterior views.
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Jenga Type Puzzle MMORPG Mini-Games with Debris/Wreckage :
Tangled mass of various debris to keep from caving in (on you). The tower climbing puzzle in Far Cry 3, but taken up a few notches at the DIFFICULT end of its spectrum...
EXAMPLE - You have to get across a room to some goodie, but depending on how/what you attempt to clear, more wreckage/debris falls. Include climbing over obstacles and pulling down things to get objects hanging in wreckage. The usual jumping up to mysteriously handy hanging ropes can be included. Sorry no magical quantum-magnetic 'freight hooks'.
Random(ized) Auto Generation combinations used to avoid the 'Look it up on the Internet' method of solving Missions.
Also you can have Limited Time before flooding and other limitations to make things more challenging ...
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Boys Of Silence Whack-A-Mole :
Utilizing those bizarre Boys Of Silence 'Heavy Hitters' - They had a Lost Opportunity for the Player -- you should have been given a BIG sledge hammer ( and/or The Wrench ), and you literally play Whack-A-Mole with these things wandering about ( sneak up behind them, but watch out as there are many of them and you might be in view of one ).
A chance to refine the game's Object Deformable Damage system - "Its head is crushed-in, yet It Is DStill Comin' For Meeee !!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH !!!! "
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Using the Player Creation Tools to facilitate substituting Alternate Assets, various sequences of interactive scenes could be created. 
example - Killer Clown Mode ( pictured is the cutscene where Booker first meets Elizabeth )
Of course, substituting individual Assets can be quite effort intensive, so various Templated 'effects' ( like generic clown makeup and hair and clothing patterns and background environmentals and lighting adjustments ) could help fill in the bulk of the scenes.
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Mini-Game SlugSurgery 'Nerve Spinning' (McClendon's term)
Regenerating/cultivating nerve cells/tissue to be used for Bio-Electronic production
Playing 'Nerve Farming' - Nerveville ( Neuronville ??)
Culturing genetically modified nerve cells with the properties the Bio-Electronic circuit production requires. Patterned regrowth 'culture' for specific cell types. 
"Let Nature Do Most Of The Work" - McClendon ( reaction to someone telling him he should genetically 'customize' the Nerve cells DNA he uses more ).
--- --- ---
Your Fish Tank - Not just for Sea Slugs :
* For the Player's/NPC's residence ( larger models to be seen at 'The Aquarium' )
* Basic flocking/swimming behavior of 'fish' objects is relatively easy to do (can be run on the Client to offload)
* Various different Fishies to have in your Aquarium ( more would be createable via PCA system ) - collect rare ones to impress your friends.
* Different sizes of tank, accessories ( little Rapture instead of a Castle ), etc ...
* Actually raising Sea Slugs ( with neo-pet TLC ) can be a profitable venture ...
* Tablet/Smartphone off-line interface for tending your aquatic 'Pets'.
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Isometric ('2D') interface for Player 'workbench' ( Fabrication Interface ) :
* More flexible (and better looking) than a "Minecraft" style flat tile interface - especially with objects scaled properly and with free-placement for individual objects ( like Ultima Online's 15-20 years-ago inventory interface ). Same '2D' interface is an alternate inventory control interface in the main game.
* Easier to run on a Tablet Computer to allow 'offline' (handheld) activities ( very low end graphics can handle it - and low-res displays ). Processing requirements likewise are minimal and data batching can work when connectivity is dodgy.
* Formula ( crafting/repair task definition ) representations can use the graphical pictures also.
* '2D' Assets (pixel art) easy to create when '3D' asset data already exists ( game items being echoed in the '2D' interface ).
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Jigsaw Puzzles :
Saw a jigsaw puzzle on floor in Graces apartment, it suggests yet another (easy) Mini-Game mechanism for Tablet/Smartphones. A fairly simple time-waster mechanism perfect for obsessive twiddlers waiting between Textings.
In-game the finished puzzles can be displayed on the wall of the Players Residence.
With a standard 'puzzle' mechanism completed, all that need be supplied is a texture (picture) Asset ( which most players could generate with little effort -- more effort in finding an interesting one ... ). Templates for all the common patterns/mechanisms of jigsaw-type and other such 'puzzles' would be added for variety. 
Some variants might be Bioluminescent versions (which glow when you turn off the lighting ) and might have a 'hidden' picture visible only after the Player finishes it.
Is suppose some Missions/Quests may have their clues in some such jigsaw puzzle, with the answer being revealed after the player assembles it ( or also finds all the pieces ).
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Doogey and Dipshit : Rapture's Answer to "Dimwit & Duke" :
These Puppet games might ONLY work if the Player got to shoot things ( a good idea for another palmtop runnable Mini-Game ).
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Wii Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :
Ergonomic-movement, Wii type controllers -- probably no need/justification, as that console ( with the specialized accelerometer feature - three axis sensing of motion ) would be limited to a minority of console Players ( possibly not worth the development effort ). Maybe some mini-games might be built by Players for it, which use its features (if the manufacturers program tools make it easy, and the program library to use that interface can be integrated into the MMORPGs Tools). Compatibility is the issue -- lots of games were never written for Wii ( in real game industry ) for that very reason.
Perhaps by the time this MMORPG game is ever done ( or a fraction of its advanced features are realized in the game industry ) it might be common for many more console game controllers to have this kind of feature ? ( and/or PCs to have inexpensive Console Style interfaces ... ) Likewise the hand held have such sensor systems, and could be used for the handheld components of the game.
So what would it do for your game experience ?
Punching a Splicer (kung fu fighin), climbing/crawling controls, playing drums in the Jazz band ( various other activities ... ) ?
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Tablet/Smartphone Mini-Game - Angry SeaSlugs :
Or is that a trademark infringement(?), so it might have to be called "Pissed-Off Sea Slugs" ??
What lives do Sea Slugs live(?) so that they might be manipulated into the behavior which creates ADAM ? Munching on some glowey stuff ( better not be radioactive cuz that mostly killz ).
The ADAM mutagen might act as a poison (biting things). Does this Sea Slug eat vegetation ( hard when it is below the Depth light penetrates the water ), or browse on bacteria around the volcanic vents, or the detritus that comes down from up above, or hunts other organisms ( They apparently absorb the blood that Little Sisters swill down as part of that ADAM recycling thing ... ) ?
Being shoved into the stomach of a little child - That can't be much of a life ...
What chemical inducement keeps them churning out the ADAM ? ( Keep the thing frightened and generating its poison ?? )
Prodding it with a stick, electric shock, flashing lights ? Make it run the 'maze' ... ??
I'm sure we could come up with some interesting details/interactions.
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Duke Newcolmbe ( and His Amazing Steam Turbine ) - Side game Reusing the Infinte BS Props :
Invaded by Interdimensional evildoers bent on destroying Earth, Duke ( a Captain-America-type wise-crackin dude ) must destroy the source of the Interdimensional Disturbance in the most violent and humorous way possible to save mankind (again). Making America safe from Foul Socialists and Anarchist is just a given.
Perhaps a TV Show In Rapture ( with many abominable cheap props ) and the Player is the actor dealing with the lameness ...
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Dual Playing : Combining Game World with 'Mini-Games :
Idea for 'mini-game' would be : To have one that could be done 'off-line' as well as in-game (the main game) so as to not force the Player one way or the other ( for something that might have significant rewards ). 
Example scenario is : The in-game Player comes upon a locked/blocked door and has to work the usual actions to force it open ( and not just a few knocks with a gun butt ) and comes upon a room full of junk. The Player would then have the task of untangling and sorting the goodies from the rubbish. This kind of situation is limited enough for a 'mini-game' interface to handle ( simple '3D' stuff, simple physical behaviors of Objects, simple drag interactions ). In-game you could uncover such a place and then save it for some off-line time ( and go do more interesting things only doable 'in-game' on the Full powered gaming machine ). Part of the fun of this scenario is discovering something 'really good' amongst more mundane 'just good' stuff ( stuff still useful for other game activities ). Mix in the possibility for some 'just plain weird' findings for the amusement factor ( and a few hazards that might require decisions ) and you wind up with something likely more entertaining than the usual 'Jewel-Crush-like/'Tetris-like' game you play on your palmtop.
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Angry Jellyfish ( Or some name that DOESN'T violate Trademark statutes ) :
Game for your New McClendon Home Computer... ( I suppose you could play that style of game on a text graphics display ).
But this thing (the computer) better have more uses than just playing games.
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The Great Vita-Chamber Hack Mini-Game :
'Hack' (help build/modify) the Vita-Chamber in 'the Clinic' to improve the 'Cure' Process ( now with 20% less excruciating ADAM withdrawal pains !!! ).
Similar in form to the BS1 pipe-laying 'Hack' type mini-game (rewiring it) -- except that the pipe grid is 1000 x 1000 and there are 2000 flow inputs and outputs (circuits). You are tasked with completion one little part (circuit) of the project, and you may have to go obtain required special parts (new tile types) to complete the task.
Would have a much larger variety of components ( over-and-under bypasses, valves, impellers, junctions, Flux-Capacitors, etc ... )
Also will be a larger variety of hazards and obstacles ( higher skills and research will help ). You also have to work AROUND other peoples work as the circuitry progresses ( forcing more and more rerouting ).
Alternate operation (task) for a Player mission is to trace some 'circuitry' and find and fix a error/break or problem in the complicated/twisted wire/chemical maze.
--- --- ---
Job Assignment Mini-Game :
* Used with several of the City Offices to assign personnel to tasks.
* Score Points are awarded for completion of jobs via appropriately skilled personnel.
* Player is given a list of Jobs each require certain minimum levels of certain skills to fulfill and some multiple workers.
* Player is give a list of Workmen each with one or more skills of a certain level.
* Some jobs have a higher priority, which when completed will award multiplied points.
* As a jobs take a certain amount of time to complete and when finished the workers are freed up to be reassigned to another job.
* New jobs are periodically added to the list and some jobs priorities are shifted.
* Equipment is likewise required for certain Jobs and the Player has a list of available equipment.
* Emergency jobs sometimes occur which have to be handled or the player fails.
* The puzzle is to try to achieve the highest score in the available amount of time.
* Workers MAY be reassigned in the middle of a job, but the job being left is halted until the worker+skill requirement is again met ( and there is a delay while a 'reassigned' worker moves to the new job ).
* The 'game' runs for a limited period of real time ( accelerated time simulating a workday or somesuch ).
* Players with higher skill will work somewhat faster than lower skill.
* Game could be 'pretty-fied' with color codes for skills and icons and such.
* Drag and drop of workers onto jobs would be preferred, but many palmtops don't do that easily.
* Scenarios of increasing difficulty would have a longer list of both job and workers and higher frequencies of emergency priorities.
* Variations of the 'job' requirements would be total number of qualifying bodies required and Skill totals rather than minimums or meeting requirement for 'full employment' for the workers.
* I haven't come up with what in-game rewards might be given for achieving alot of play-thrus or high scores ( beyond qualifying the weeks 'Office' requirements ). Minimum would be mention in city council report. Possibly a 'cut' of the budget saved by efficient job completion for the City. Players might be allowed to employ their own 'team' members as 'ringers'.
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MiniGame --> Splicer Slicer - The 'Cure' Process Game :
* Wander the dark depths of a Splicers madness ( with your trusty Anti-ADAM Wrench ) ...
* Track down those psyche 'bugs in the brain' and squish them.
* Locate the Tumors and call in the Flying Chemo Bots to destroy them.
* Shoot X-Cells at the scars to rebuild and patch the structure.
* Contrary to popular belief 'the Cure' does not include sawing off the top of the Splicers head for open brain surgery.
* Higher score for least use of expensive treatment drugs 'to get the job done' and the speed of completion.
* Difficulty increases with more and more deranged brains to rehabilitate, as their demons fight back.
* Score level thresholds for multiple patients can earn you a title of 'Doctor' (or not)
* Earn mention to City Council Report for your success in 'curing' another new citizen.
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Additional Styles of Hacking Type Mini-Games :
Maybe they could have had the color (red.green/white/blue) bars shift in a pattern that you would have to also watch. Pushing the needle yourself ( the wandering sniper rifle gunsite mechanism ) could have made it alot more interesting ( but maybe tedious after the 15th time you had to do it ).
* Workings 2 sticks thru little holes to move little components around ( mouse and arrow keys - both hands )
* A simple space invaders style, advance the probe to activate the defenses
* Pac Man style ('2D'), trace the circuit
* Sliding tile puzzle (time limit)
* Tetris style *( dropping components in to 'bridge' the circuit to unlock the system )
* Doom style, thread the maze to find the circuit ... Watch out for the ADAM-pumped roaches
Question for some of these - is are they some kind of copyright issue to use a similar mechanism to a 'classic' game ...
Multi-staged hacking for really good stuff ( progressive - you decide when to stop as it gets harder. )
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Mini-Game - Suggested by Someone in the Forums ( Before BS2 came out) as a Solo Sequel Game :
"A city-building simulation game, where you are Andrew Ryan and have to build up Rapture such as a SimCity, but with a 'complex' economic simulation, and in '3D'."
* Needs to be complex enough to cover the City's various aspects - utilities and transportation and resource generation, construction systems, institutions, etc ... Similar relationships to how things are shown to work in the MMORPG.
* Whole lotta '3D' Assets would be available from the main game ( Hmm, use simplified 3D stuff from the main MMORPG, map system, symbols from other interfaces, '3D' viewing mechanism for the map, etc ... )
* It would serve to illuminate/educate Players as to how the whole City fits together and how its original building would progress - starting from that first survey to the Dedication ceremony and the populating of the City.
* In that Mini-Game, the Player would plan and allocate correct/applicable resources through the various city growth stages. Would try to get extra points for more impressive achievements.
* As a Mini-Game it would not be as long to play as a SimCity type game.
* The same mechanism can *double* as a visualization tool for various learning Quests dealing with city functions. Much easier than creating equivalent assets from scratch.
* The mechanism might *triple* as a mini-map display for other Mini-Games ( a clever programmer might make a program that builds a Mini-Game SimCity-like version of the game's current World Map that would be useful for many other things. )
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Mini-Game - Sim-Sofialand :
Can you manage to keep Lamb-land fed and the supply of 'volunteer' ADAM-donors flowing and prevent a revolt leading to Counter-Revolution and the death of the Beloved Leader ??? -- A game with "Tropico"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropico style societal control devices, etc ... It has got potential from some imaginative Player to create. ( Note - As long as you meet your 5-year-plan, your 'sacrifice number' will put you amongst those "Who Will BE Sacrificed LAST" ...) 
TEMPLATES as always - co-used by the "Fontaine's Empire" - a similar Mini-Game idea. 
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A Mini-Game Flavor - Assemble the 3D Fly-bot and Improve Your Maintenance Skill (an example) :
'3D' rotation view where the Player has to pull parts from a Jumbled Pile and add them to the appropriate spot on the Flybot Frame. Faster you can do it (for repeat playability) the more training skill you achieve. Watch out for the additional/optional detail parts ( and even duplicates/wrong parts that get mixed in to your 'pile' ) as the difficulty level increases.
* Assemble the Big Daddy suit and adjust the settings 
* Fix your Pistol ( quick, that half-dead Splicer is still crawling towards you !! )
* Machine Gun Maintenance ( the secret is not to spare the oil ... )
* Put the Restraints on the captive Splicer
* Wire up a simple Help Transmitter
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Idea for a Mini-Game "Little Sister Patrol" :
A '2D' Pathwalking puzzle, with 'Street' pattern that needs 'coverage', and you set the LS paths and Vent Locations, and try to generate the maximum ADAM from your City section.
Various random events of corpse appearances ( events generating them ), Splicer attacks, and coordinating with Big Daddy deployments/upgrades, sleepytime intervals, 'incentive' manipulations, etc ...
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==A DOWNSIZED GAME - Lesser Versions of a Rapture Reborn Project ( And NO, 'Less' isn't really 'More' )==
SimRapture :
Someone in the Forums suggested a SIMs game long the lines of the MMORPG Rapture I describe. I would take that to be an online SIMs ( would SOLO be too repetitive/un-cohesive ? Or would it include 'downloading' other peoples' creations ? ). During the 'Golden Age' of Rapture, it might be a bit boring. During 'The Chaos', it would be somewhat messy with alot of sudden destabilizing Events which might run contrary to the way 'SIMs' games usually operate ( Splicers suddenly swarming over your creations and wiping them out ... Becoming more one of those RTS (Real Time Strategy) 'crawling ant' games ).
Some of the behavior techniques might be very similar for how the NPCs in my MMORPG would operate ( within New Rapture City-Limits at least ). Interrelation between NPCs would be simulated in detail and would operate around fairly ordinary human motivations - leaving the more exciting stuff to the Players. Still it might provide a look at something a little more 'Living' than in other such games.
Actually, the 'download' idea might have some merit with 'people creations' published online to be installed in the Players 'World' ( skipping the 'Servers', which companies are loath to Pay to Maintain and Manage ). 
Unfortunately the interactions of your typical 'Sims' game are rather limited, and Rapture is supposed to be a much more exciting/interesting place.
NOTE - a Sims-like Visual Interface might stand in for the symbolic/high-level 'Strategic Level Interface' which the Company employees would use to direct 'tonal' events within a Server World - Manually doing decisions and making adjustments/balancings which would otherwise require horrendous AI programming and cause worse botch-failing operation -- BECAUSE of (costly) testing it would require to operate'Automatically'. Such gamerunner interfaces DON'T require highly polished interfaces and controls, as they are never seen by Game Customers.
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MOD'ing - Make the Game Interesting - Live the Rapture ...
Everywhere in this Wiki Mass of Text, I've written about 'Role-playing' Splicers and Big Daddies ( even Fly-bots ) as a possible expansion of my basic game ( and intended a whole PvP sub-game to expand the MMORPG activities to keep a segment of the players happy ).
Depending on how much freedom the Players had to create stuff, they could be the ones to add such a 'Mod' ( if the Company didn't ). MMORPGs should have more than just the fighting, and enough other activities ( appropriate to the Rapture setting and the Classes ) to fill in the playing time.
Interacting with NPC Splicers/Daddies/Lil Sisters, etc ... would fill in some of that activity as well, as with a slightly more detailed Rapture terrain ( salvaging stuff would be a matter of survival in that world ).
The Player interactions (cooperative) add alot to such a game, and the Faction dynamics would expand that and give more goals the Players can work towards ). The time period setting could be just after the BS2 time, so that the small Factions/individuals would be given alot of freedom to do their own thing ( without interference of the 'big fish' Ryan/Atlas/Sofia_Lamb )
The games 'map' should be pretty large ( another reason to have Player's Mod'ing to help fill that out without some crappy repetitive auto-generation ).
As alternative to my MMORPG ( which is probably a longshot ) would be REAL Modding the game --- Which if 2K was clever, would include a Server addition which would allow Players to run Continuous/Persistent MP Worlds with some large numbers of Players ( like 30 at a time online per server - like the "Neverwinter Nights" game did 15+ years ago ), and modular 'level' blocks to allow world expansion.
Something like that might be more doable for their limited resources ( and overlap into Solo game Mods to get enough buyers ).
Working out/balancing the material economics, the player Advancement tech/skill trees, NPC strategy behavior for the game --- Turning them into game mechanics rules would be alot of work (for the company). Most Useful IF they exposed the Scripting Logic so that Players could Mod them ( usually Players eventually can do much better than the company does ), and even better if they offer a 'Program Interface' to allow real programming to externally drive the game ( DLLs or separate programs to do NPC AI efficiently ).
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As far as I can tell, this whole set of ideas could fit into my Humongus Revolutionary MMORPG ideas ( my system would be versatile enough to include all of it ), but this simplification also would be a more reasonable to accomplish MMORPG project.
How they (the game company) would be able to avoid the 'WOW' style of running a MMORPG game ( where most MMORPGs are these days ) is probably the hard part. 2K ( ... Irrational ) claimed to be 'innovators', but they still create stuff pretty much the same sort as most other games do ( just lucked out with BioShock, which had certain theme elements that appealed to many people and without much innovation being needed ).
Myself, I think the Player Creation aspect would be the way, but that's really a hard task and a crap-shoot for a company who never did anything like it.
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