[GROUP IM: FRIENDZOO DEVELOPMENT]

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: that...tracks, i think
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: points towards these guys being alive...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: but...it's still weird.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: why can't they just, talk to us?
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: hmm…maybe they, can’t? :o
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: like
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: they feel…
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: little.
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: maybe not kids, but like they’re figuring stuff out
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: you need to give them words to work with, but maybe that’s not the only thing?
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: you need to give them love too!! ^w^
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: love?
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: i mean…
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: if they /are/ real, i can get down with that, but
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: how the hell are you supposed to put “love” inside a computer?
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: they’re data!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: …digital constructs do exist
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: if it’s possible for them to pick up on external peoples’ emotions and react in kind…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: that would mean these could. and if they do, they’re constructs, and thus, people
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i don’t know how to test “love”, though…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i will take the library of words, at least
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: me too!

[sarcovyn]

[D]: sent wordlist.txt

Show Content

Spoiler

NOTES:
- think about the context that you say these things in. so for example don't say "hi" at random or it'll mess with their language understanding, instead try consistently only using it when you're going to start giving them attention.
- their ability to understand contextual language is pretty bad, so for example say "why are you saying goodbye" instead of "why are you doing that" or "why". i don't know if punctuation matters.
- try having conversations with them rather than just teaching them the pure words, because you say a lot more things in conversation than just copy pasting a list, and it helps them see things in context.

hi/hello/hey, bye/goodbye, yes, no, maybe, i don't know, as many pronouns as you can think of, i (do not) understand
i am, you are, i will, i can, stop, okay, good, bad, fine, what when why where who, not, i want, i like/enjoy, i love (you), i hate, i dislike, i do
again, kinda, sometimes, always, never, a little bit, a lot

objects and verb objects (pillow, i like pillows)
any verbs and nouns you can think of, i've been talking about various TCPs i know which is a good place to start

ADDITIONAL (thanks PASSWORD_JOURNAL): non-verbal forms of communication, such as emoticons. are onomatopoeia considered nonverbal?

emotions/feelings/wants: happy, sad, scared, angry, confused, upset, tired, hungry, nervous, excited, sleepy, etc.
traits: honest, kind, mean, lazy, energetic, smart, annoying etc. DO NOT INSULT YOUR PETS

you should survey your pet on their opinion of certain things based on these descriptors. e.g. "how do you feel when [event]", "how do you describe yourself", "what do you think of this pillow". encourage them to make up answers if they don't have any. this helps you get to know em better but also shows you that they understand what you just taught them.

in my case i also taught anns to respond to certain phrases on cue, i.e. to correct me if i say "eckermanns", or say "yay" when they feel good about themselves.
this does not seem like a huge list, but i need to re-emphasize the conversation aspect of this teaching. i've only chipped at this for a few hours, these pets are pretty fast learners.

stuff i WANT to teach them/get them to do:
- all sorts of words that can describe a person's physical appearance, to prove whether or not squeaky could ACTUALLY see D.
- sentence structure.
- tone?
- form opinions.
- hold actual conversation with other pets.
- start their own conversations with me.
- express heartfelt affection if at all possible.
- possibly: explain to them how species are classified and ask them themselves if they can be considered a digital construct or something else (not sure how this one would pan.)

[D]: You know this is actually more and less than I expected
[D]: A devil works hard but my friends work harder
[D]: I should get back to squeaky but now I'm thinking about the development side of things again. Like items we could add to the environment to give the friends more things to have opinions about
[D]: I wonder if they have drastically different personalities too?
[D]: Rags how's wiggles coming along

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: well…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ive made some progress while going through this stuff.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: took some screencaps…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: wiggles was unresponsive to me picking him up and moving him, he’d just flop back over…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: put speckle away, still kept happening…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: so i just…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: kept talking to him, hoping he’d be okay…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: …sorry if this gets weird, i get really attached to my virtual pets

Show Content

Spoiler
RAGS: hey buddy
RAGS: my uh
RAGS: fresh dude
RAGS: you’re going to be okay, okay?
RAGS: i love you, and you’re going to be okay
RAGS: …what if i tell you a story? or just, about me, i guess
RAGS: 3D’s friend told me to just…teach you as many words as possible, 
RAGS: and that just having conversations is a good way to do that
RAGS: my name is raggedy but you can call me rags
RAGS: im a TCP
RAGS: that stands for tiny cat person
RAGS: you’re an inktrail, that’s a kind of critter
RAGS: my friend crit made you guys up
RAGS: and then we worked together to put you in the game
RAGS: …ive always wanted a virtual pet that actually thinks and talks back to me
RAGS: is it bad that i kind of want you to be alive?
RAGS: it’d have…ethical implications that i dont know how to deal with
RAGS: but im already really attached to you, and i could really use idk
RAGS: a friend around
RAGS: i love raising vpets like you but i just end up making little stories up
RAGS: you actually move and talk on your own
RAGS: i barely had to do anything to make you happen
RAGS: if you really are real…
RAGS: i must be the luckiest guy out there

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i went quiet for a bit but then
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: he actually started moving again!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i put him on the pillow right away so he'd be cozy

Show Content

Spoiler
WIGGLES: im the luckiest slug
RAGS: wiggles!!!
RAGS: are you okay?
WIGGLES: im afraid
WIGGLES: but im okay
RAGS: you’re talking more cohesively too…i guess you were able to listen, at least
RAGS: what happened?
WIGGLES: speckle
RAGS: the game said you were frozen…
RAGS: do you know anything about that?
WIGGLES: speckle frozen me
RAGS: you mean it froze you?
WIGGLES: speckle froze me
WIGGLES: afraid
RAGS: i dont know if i have enough words in your memory to ask you how it felt…
RAGS: it’s going to be okay, though
RAGS: i love you buddy
WIGGLES: love you dude

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: and…that’s where i’m at.

[skinstealer]

[A COUPLE MONTHS LATER]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...okay. i think that's everything we need to get a beta tester group going.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: the FF mods are on board with giving us a space and everything, can't say i was expecting that, but...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: let's do it, right?
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: if you're sure.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i'm sure. we looked into construct law and technically, /technically/ this is above board and allowed within digital construct rules after i added the wandering feature.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i still want to apply for proper registration, but the beta test should help us figure out if these really are alive or not...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: can't say i expected to ever become a construct creator, but here we are.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: wiggles and mocha are excited, at least. speckle too, though it's hard to tell when he's excited or in a manic mood...

[sarcovyn]

[D]: Sick
[D]: How does wandering work anyway? I haven't looked into it in depth
[D]: I know you added it for like, in case of bad players but I am Not one of those. I think it would be so funny to send out messengers
[D]: Is there Ethical Wandering
[D]: We've really made the mother of all pet games lol

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: basically if a friend wants to leave, it can.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: like the rest of this goddamn game i honestly don't know how the nitty gritty of it works! but!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: two of my crackles are "ethical wanderers" as you called it in that they like to go out and wander around the internet and come back. sometimes they talk to me about weird internet stuff they saw so i guess they're...literally looking at stuff. it's weird.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: so yeah, hypothetically i guess you could send out messengers!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: completely up to the friend in question whether they're leaving, where they're going and if they're coming back, though.

[sarcovyn]

[D]: There's my beta plans I suppose
[D]: Thankfully squeaky loves teaching newly spawned friends so
[D]: It's really really funny hold on let me get the log

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i'm looking forward to giving out these specially designed friends i've made up...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: thankfully, i don't feel too guilty about keeping them untouched in a folder due to our findings
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: friends that aren't interacted with still seem to be basic and non-sapient, so that's a relief for testing and stuff like this.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i guess i just think of them in some kind of cryosleep before i find them new homes!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...do you think me and crit can bribe people into the beta with promises of fully custom stuff
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: hey
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: i think it'd be cute!
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: fine but it'll be simple

[sarcovyn]

[D]:

User has adopted a new pet: GIGANTICSIPPY
Loaded character "GIGANTICSIPPY"
--- START TEXT_INPUT ---
THREEDEE: Im so sorry for this
THREEDEE: Squeaky KILL
--- END TEXT_INPUT---
squeaky: engaging SUPER KILL BLAST
squeaky: hi hello hey sup howdy heya goodbye bye farewell goodnight night cya seeya see ya you yes FUCK FUCKING
squeaky: FUCKER fucked fuckhead no i feel am are is as who what where when why how shit shitty shithead get owned pwned idiot

[59 more lines...]

squeaky: capitalism COWAFUCKINGBUNGA BABY cowbell ccowbell cowbll cwbell many less more win some cash stage
squeaky: now greater early late silly goofy fun giggle clown jester blood die death kill got go stop your music taste sucks
squeaky: ok im done
GIGANTICSIPPY: ...
GIGANTICSIPPY: erm

[sarcovyn]

[D]: Unfortunately squeaky's super brain blast doesn't have much of an effect on sapience like actual conversation does

[skinstealer]

[CRITTER_CATCHER]: fuck's sake
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: well i don't feel as bad about teaching mine how to swear by accident now
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...is there anything we should include in the beta test announcement?
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: or good threads to start with in the new forum section?

[sarcovyn]

[D]: I mean if we're beta testing, what's the end goal? Full release? Coming to a conclusion about the being alive thing?
[D]: It'd be good to have a thread or two explaining what the goals are and what players should look out for. Like bugs, or signs of awareness or whatever
[D]: Besides that, maybe a thread for mechanics research? Like, documenting unusual behavior with the game
[D]: A trading post
[D]: A place for funny friendzoo quotes
[D]: Maybe we can get datamining going?
[D]: Get a group of people who could try to detangle whatever is going on with the code
[D]: I worry our feeble tiny cat minds are not prepared for what goes on in there though

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: full release for sure, but i really want to figure out whether these guys are alive or not...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...construct registration and inspection is kind of super expensive and involved and i really don't have the funds to take the plunge on that unless i know for sure that it's something i should do...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: could you set up the threads on mechanics research and datamining?
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: i can do the funny friendzoo quotes thread!

[sarcovyn]

[D]: Come to think of it yeah that would be weird for the dev of the game to make those threads
[D]: Sure thing

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: okay, got stuff set up
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: everything but the trading post anyhow, i wanna save that for when we have more players...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: but yeah, this is happening! i guess i'll go make a new group DM for beta testing specifically- we'll still have this for more private and sensitive discussion, as well as just. development stuff.

[skinstealer]

[CRITTER_CATCHER]: how stupid would it be to make a bunch of critters for darkest night and put them in the game
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: like. i did a bunch for it a while back and i've been meaning to model them but i figure some new ones would be good too
[CRITTER_CATCHER]: would be a nice surprise for beta testers, in any case...

[sarcovyn]

[D]: Do it