Creation of a new mini-game in WOA

[NMS]

This proposition is a spin-off from another which is going to take me some time to put up as it involves some technical work. Anyhow, IMO, this one is no less significant & meritorious.

Title of Proposal
Creation of a mini-game within the WOA called Name That Airport;

Premise for the Mini-Game

Current main game focuses on & celebrates planes, arrivals, departures, connections, routes, etc. Airports, their layouts, buildings, features, etc, despite being superlative in their own right, have been all but relegated to a secondary status, not being glorified & promoted on the same scale;

Airline CEOs (aka “players”) think that they know their airports. They don’t! Not the way this mini-game will reveal!

Foundational question: “Would I have been able to identify that airport from that screenshot if that player had themselves not named it in their comment?”

Objectives

Deliver top-class entertainment;

Test to the limit the players’ creative & cognitive genius;

Celebrate WOA’s airports in general;

Generate, in particular, an abiding appreciation and regard for the physical and aesthetic aspects of an airport and its constituent elements;

Make the main game even more immersive, entertaining & educational than before;

Gameplay

Players submit one or more snapshots of a PART of an undisclosed WOA airport;

On the basis thereof, other players attempt to identify the airport;

A double-headed leaderboard records the achievements of both the questioners & the repliers;

Ranking of players is on the basis of, for the questioners, as to how few repliers, if any at all, succeeded in identifying the airport correctly, and for the repliers, how long a streak can they maintain at recognizing airports correctly;

In addition to leaderboard honors, top three players on both sides get rewarded with golden planes;

Rules

An entry must compulsorily contain at least an element of identifiability in relation to the airport (not so obvious as to be termed a dead give-away but also not so obscure as to be dismissed as a non-starter) so as to preclude right from the start the argument that that screenshot could’ve been of any of the 8 airports currently playable;

The winning replier has to cite what that element of identifiability was, failing which their reply wouldn’t be acknowledged;

The admn of the WOA, or a separate admn for the mini-game, would vet the screenshots for admissibility in the light of the guidelines above, and post only the admissible ones;

The same admn would be the arbiters in case of a dispute, and their judgment would be final;

While screenshots of extraordinary sights generated by glitches/bugs would be admissible entries, deliberately edited pics wouldn’t. A player found guilty of manipulating a pic could be suspended from the contest for days/weeks/months depending on the seriousness of the violation and/or the frequency with which it’s committed.

So, do you think that this is going to be a piece of cake, easily done & disposed of, & boring to the bone? Then think again! Here are some of the variables with which the pic-takers/questioners would be playing, and the repliers trying to figure out:

i. The already significant number of airports currently playable, with more on the way;
ii.The number of cam positions at each airport;
iii.The dual functions of each of the cam modes;
iv.The number of airplane cams, taken twice (plane on the ground & plane airborne);
v.The number & location of pax & cargo terminals in play, varying from player to player;
vi.The number of Terminal Extensions and the associated stands in play, varying from player to player;
vii.The type of stands (S, M, L & X) in play, varying from player to player;
viii.The periods of the day (morn, mid, a-noon & eve) & night, and the resulting light effects;
ix.The weather conditions (sunny/bright, overcast, rainy) and the way they make parts of an airport look different;
x.Bugs/glitches that may have yielded pics that may make an airport unidentifiable even from a panoramic view, let alone from just a portion of it.

I think that you might be getting me!

So, devs, if this sounds as a feasible & worthwhile project, please slot it in the queue at a not too down-the-road spot. Who knows, it may even become as popular as the main game, if not exceed it!

[legomogo]

I think it got out of hand, I didn’t understand anything

[NMS]

Sorry about that! In simple terms, the idea is that players take screenshots of just parts of their airport and challenge other players to identify the airport on the basis of only that one screenshot. This may sound easy but is actually pretty difficult, as detailed by me above.

[legomogo]

aaahhh, I understand, it’s a good idea but I wouldn’t do it with screenshots, but with the WoA camera to hunt planes

[NMS]

I am not proposing a plane-centered/plane-hunting mini-game. The WOA main game is already heavily focussed on planes. And if screenshots aren’t to be used, what do you think should be used?

[legomogo]

With the plane hunting camera you can take photos of the airport, so it is done with something already implemented in the game and not with something external such as the captures, in addition, a new function is given to the “plane hunting” camera

[NMS]

If I am getting you correctly, you are talking about the plane-spotting cam. Well, that counts as only ONE cam angle…what about the vastly different kind of views from the other 3+ cameras? How would anyone make still pictures using those cams, without making screenshots? And I didn’t know that there was a law at WOA that stopped players from taking screenshots while using the other 3+ cams!

[legomogo]

that? that is forbidden? I think that it could make more cameras like those for hunting planes, for example 5 cameras at each airport

[NMS]

I think that the cam settings at present are pretty much ok for the purpose of the mini-game. The trick would be to capture an original view that makes a familiar airport look totally unfamiliar. Hey, why don’t WE try out the game on our thread? My next message is going to be on that thread. See you there!

[legomogo]

OK sounds good

[Annefrankdedtho]

Get to work on it, i think the devs have enoughbon their plate!

[legomogo]

rat

[NMS]

Well, I wouldn’t mind working on the idea - actually, you & I already are, sort of! - if the request were to come directly from the devs. Imagine, doing all the hard work, only to be told later by the bigwigs that the mini-game wouldn’t be included in the WOA! Btw, I am noticing as to how basic manners such as saying “please” are almost non-existent on this Forum! Therefore, before working on the mini-game, I think I should work on the manners of some of these players (lol).

[legomogo]

the truth

[meteoricwretch16]

While this does sound interesting, I personally dont think it will or should be implemented. It takes away from the game itself and tries to divert attention to a game inside the game. It is a good idea though, and I applaud all the time and effort you did into coming up with this idea and explaining it.

[NMS]

Thanks for your feedback. Appreciate it.

One question, though…have you tried out the concept? Legomogo & I have. And even though we are still in the initial (the “Easy”) mode of the game, it has increased my appreciation for, and enjoyment of the main game that much more (Legomogo is pretty good, & while it kills me to admit it, should be a formidable challenger if/when a multiplayer forum becomes available)! I now often find myself smiling, even chuckling at times, when, while playing the main game, I come across a feature or a sight that had me totally stumped in the mini-game. That’s how it is meant to be, since both theoretically & practically the mini-game is tied to the main game, & both serve to reinforce each other. And it would be fair to forecast that as the number of playable airports keeps increasing, the need for such a mini-game would be felt even more acutely than now.

I strongly suggest that you give it a try.

As for the proposition not getting materialized, hey, NO WORRIES! My love for the WOA obliges me to suggest. Should the devs fail to take up this, or the many other wonderful proposals that other players had floated from time to time, it would only be at their peril. In that scenario (some fear that it’s already begun), sooner or later the WOA, too, would start on the downward part of the trajectory that the UATC took. And while I occasionally revisit UATC for its novelties & for old time’s sake, and it’s going to stay on my phone, like, for ever, I don’t see myself playing it again like I once used to. (Btw, going through some ideas suggested by some players months/years ago, I was pleased to realize that some of them did come to fruition…as to whether those players are still around to enjoy the game with their constructs in it, that’s a totally different question). So, I for one, am & shall remain optimistic & enthusiastic…till an even better game arrives & obliges me to take “flight” (lol).