The Airship Murder

[gagaf]

swap kitchen and washroom with each other and make the room at the right end a promenade for the staff or a servants' room.

[cacums]

Maybe make it a cocktail lounge.

[gagaf]

Maybe make it a cocktail lounge.

good idea.

idea: a bar or a luggage room.

[TheWhitePawn]

swap kitchen and washroom with each other and make the room at the right end a promenade for the staff or a servants' room.

Wait, I'm sorry, is my game up for debate? Um... no.

Making suggestions is one thing, but don't tell me what to do. (Who the heck are you anyway?)

As for a drinks lounge, that's a really good idea, cacums.

[gagaf]

swap kitchen and washroom with each other and make the room at the right end a promenade for the staff or a servants' room.

Making suggestions is one thing, but don't tell me what to do. (Who the heck are you anyway?)

sorry. i was making suggestions, that's all.

[cacums]

Just a quick question, completely unrelated to the topic. Will the midnight murder game be revived (sorry if that had been asked already.

[TheWhitePawn]

Probably. I really like it. It just takes a very long time to make.

Though now the cards don't seem as cool since I redesigned them for The Airship Murder, LoL.

[gagaf]

do u like airships hence the mystery or was it just an original idea?

[Murder by Death]

Actually, there were quite a few more. Those are just the ones that made trans-Atlantic flights. And you didn't mention the 5 being used in the U.S. either.

I was actually talking about the late '20s through '30s, which I thought this mystery was set. And my understanding is that the US dirigibles were commissioned from Zeppelin for military use only. But either way, there were only 4 with the kinds of multi-deck passenger accommodations you are depicting, for a journey that would last long enough to realistically commit a murder unobserved and solve it away from the rest of the passengers and crew. The bulk of passenger travel was pre-WWI regional, in open train style cabins crammed with 50+ people in under 4-6 hours.

The Empire State Building's mast was originally built as a landing post for zeppelins ... They were only able to dock successfully once though

Again my understanding is that none ever actually docked. The updraft was simply too unpredictable to accomplish it. The most that ever happened was they delivered some newspapers once. And it was specifically intended to accommodate the transatlantic Zeppelins and future US passenger airships (which were never built) But mainly, just to make sure they were taller than the Chrysler building in which they were in a race to ensure the record.

you should check out any of the books on them by John Toland. He does a pretty good job of explaining their importance and prominence in the U.S. and Europe.

Thanks for that, I have not read anything by him and am always eager to learn more about dirigibles. My primary reference to date has been Rich Archbold's detailed book.

One of my favorite fictional stories is "Zeppelin!" by Ronald Florence. It's everything but actual Cluedo in the sky, though with every bit as big a mystery. Really a terrific read that brings airship travel to life in vivid detail. If you haven't read it, definitely check it out.

This very recent book by John Christopher looks good too.

Imagine what would have been if WWI never happened. There's a book by Richard Dreyfuss and alternate-history author Harry Turtledove called the Two Georges, which depicts the world if the US had not separated from England, where modern day airship travel is nicely depicted.

Speaking of alternate-realities, the last episode of Fringe on Fox depicted not only airship travel (and one impossibly docking with the Empire State Building), but also a scene set in 1985 in front of a movie theater with a Clue poster prominently featured. Interestingly, someone at Fringe must love Clue as the next episode is titled "Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver"

[TheWhitePawn]

do u like airships hence the mystery or was it just an original idea?

A little bit of both. I got a book on airships a few years ago and have been interested in them since. But the Clue idea was strictly since it hasn't been done before.

[Murder by Death]

As for a drinks lounge, that's a really good idea, cacums.

I agree. If it's not going to be a dining room, the idea of a lounge is fantastic. I do love the idea of a dining room with a panoramic view. I was always perplexed that none of the airship designs tried to exploit the front facing views of the airship for passengers. I'm reminded of the scene aboard the dirigible in The Golden Compass with a lounge and giant circular window in the nose.

One of the most intriguing designs for an airship I have ever seen is the proposed Vickers Transatlantic model. It was to have the passenger compartment on the top, with an outdoor deck on both the top and stern and an elevator to connect the top and bottom. The British seemed overly concerned with exploiting the grandeur for passengers, rather than the quality of their construction. In fact the R101 was essentially a repeat of the Titanic disaster.

[TheWhitePawn]

One of my favorite fictional stories is "Zeppelin!" by Ronald Florence. It's everything but actual Cluedo in the sky, though with every bit as big a mystery. Really a terrific read that brings airship travel to life in vivid detail. If you haven't read it, definitely check it out.

I ordered it from my library system. Thanks for the tip! I've been meaning to look for a good new fiction book.

[TheWhitePawn]

One of the most intriguing designs for an airship I have ever seen is the proposed Vickers Transatlantic model

Oooh, that looks pretty cool.

Have you ever considered making a Clue game? It might be a nice follow up to The Airship Murder. Perhaps Mr. Boddy had it custom made? It could be an expanded edition with two boards... one for the lower decks and one for the upper cabins.

[Murder by Death]

Have you ever considered making a Clue game?

LOL, yes that's what actually brought me to this forum. Just haven't found the time. Have one specific edition in mind, but will have to wait until I get the resources I need. I've had a number of ideas since then, but after seeing your Midnight Murder and Airship designs, I realize I don't have the time right now to make these games as perfect as yours, which is the minimum level I would want for myself.

Perhaps Mr. Boddy had it custom made?

As for the idea of Mr. Boddy having a dirigible custom built, I like that idea. Like a yacht. The dirigible could be smaller since the profit motive is gone and accommodate fewer passengers and require a smaller crew. This then could be a private outing from America to England to visit his cousin Dr. Black. The edition could be expanded to include Miss Peach and crew, like Capt. Brown and Sgt. Gray.

[TheWhitePawn]

Well, I think I finished the board. If I decide to make any final changes, I'm sure that they'll be minor.

Once again, certain rooms were changed. I also somewhat changed the premise of the game. More details to come.

[TheWhitePawn]

Several people have PMed me about this project asking about which program I use. If anyone else is interested, I am using Photoshop, though the first Airship Murder game was made in Picture It Plus.

[TheWhitePawn]

Well... it looks like a redesign of the board is necessary after all.

I have to print the game on a square board, which means that I need to take a page out of the original Airship Murder and zoom the game in for a more cross-section-like view.

Unlike the original Airship Murder, I won't be using a shadow box from the store but will have the game printed on a genuine folding game board, so that will be nice because I'll get to design a box.

[Murder by Death]

I have to print the game on a square board

Really? I was imagining that this was a quad fold board with the two ends folding over to meet in the middle and then the middle folding backward for a four layer rectangular hex-fold shape. Or, even a tri-fold (the two ends folding over to make a square)

Is this a limitation of your printer? I would think you could just print out the sections and join them on the folds. What had you intended to do before that you had such a long board?

[TheWhitePawn]

No, I am having it printed professionally on an actual gameboard. Unfortunately, the company only offers quad-fold square boards.

On the plus side, the end result will be a professional looking game.

[TheWhitePawn]

Here is the new board. Kind of reminiscent of Passport to Murder and much more like the original Airship Murder.