TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
In Russia, there's a KGB mockup town in a classified training site that has a 1:1 Sega Saloon replica.
Im honestly against a Yakuza 0 movie.
Because I dont think even a 4-hour screen time can do it justice. I think we need a full blown series. Just so we can fit the most appropriate substories in it.
I refuse to support this if we dont have room for the Obatarian.
That's the fake script that gets "leaked" to journalists So they'll stop digging through the trash for a day or two and let who ever "leaked" it pay their bar tab.
-[X]Red Day: John Second part of his Red Trilogy… Focusing on not the guerrillas and freedom fighters in Seattle, but of the horror of war, focusing on several, small but interconnected stories all culminating in the Siege of Denver. DC: 30 Rolled:D100 => 100
I had and interesting thought since we are in the 80s and Pablo Escobar is down in Columbia and its a fact that he held Hector Lavoe against his will for some petty crap, is there a chance that the CIA and DEA are keeping an eye on him due to that speech we made at the RNC which may in turn shifted the Drug War in a different direction
Well after much procastination here it is my promised Super Star Wars pitch I take away the Super from the title but if you think the Super should stay I will change it so give me your opinion, after all this is the first time I do something like this.
LucasArts Pitch
:
Star Wars
Set up: Based on the events of the first Star Wars movie the player plays across diferent levels based on the events of the movie with some changes made to the story to adapt it to video game format
Characters have to fight their way across multiple platformer levels with the help of their weapons against the many enemies that will attack the player while they try to reach their destination.
The player is able to initially control Luke Skywalker, then can choose Han Solo or Chewbacca as the game progresses. Other levels have players control Luke's landspeeder and an X-wing fighter.
With some exceptions most levels end with a boss battle where the player must defeat it to be able to advance to the next level
1. Dune Sea - Boss: Sarlacc Pit Monster
2. Tatooine I (Landspeeder, Level 1)
3. Outside the Sandcrawler
4. Inside the Sandcrawler - Boss: Lava Beast Jawenko
5. Part I: Land of the Sandpeople / Part II: Land of the Banthas - Boss: Mutant Womprat
6. Tatooine II (Landspeeder to Mos Eisley)
7. Mos Eisley
8. Cantina Fight - Boss: Kalhar Boss Monster
9. Escape from Mos Eisley - Boss: Hover Combat Carrier
10. Death Star Bay - Boss: Imperial Defense Droid
11. Rescue of the Princess - Boss: Detention Guard Boss
12. Tractor Beam Core
13. Death Star Attack
14. Trench Battle - Boss: Darth Vader's TIE Advanced
Laser Blaster
Flame blaster
Proton Seeker
Rapid ion gun
Plasma Wave Blaster
Lightsaber (only as Luke Skywalker)
Plasma shield - Temporary invulnerability
Thermal detonator - Clears screen of enemies
Health (Small and Large) - Regains health
Time - Increases time to finish the level
Bonus - Multiplies the number of points by 2
Health Sword - Increases size of health bar
Extra Life - One more life
For over 40 years, the World Showcase at EPCOT resort in Walt Disney World, Florida has been a shining icon of Disney Imagineering and creative and cultural expression. Featuring 20 (21 if counting American Adventure) nations spread 1.5 miles across the world Showcase Lagoon, the Showcase both serves as a triumph and love letter of human history and culture, of a slice of the many different nations that compose of the Earth. Throughout the many changes at EPCOT, the World Showcase has for the most part in composition remained the same due to its timeless nature and it's become a distinguishing feature of the Disney brand itself.
Despite its popularity and prestigious fixture within Disneyworld, the World Showcase as it stands today is a significantly divergent and somewhat alien picture to its original concept and leading up to the opening of EPCOT, there were dozens of changes and near misses for the Showcase with it often being said that each time Disney advertised the upcoming land to the public, it was an entirely different presentation to what had come before. Yet just what were these differences and how did the World Showcase come to be the beloved land we know today?
How Blockbusters Saved EPCOT
From the inception of Disneyland, it had been the driving force of profits for the Walt Disney Company along with its lucrative merchandise empire. While Disney animated films were beloved, they rarely made enough profit to do more than fund the next picture and most live action Disney films were reliant on budgets built on the back of Disneyland profits. However, from the late 70s onward, Disney found its film divisions for the first time being a serious driver of profits that opened immense potential for a serious expansion of both its filmmaking capabilities and live entertainment ambitions. This proved especially true in 1978, the first year where Disney would gross over a billion dollars at the box office thanks to the trio of War of the Worlds, Halloween and The Black Hole. This was a very welcome development as it helped Imagineers to address a chronic issue of Disney World, lack of funding to achieve Walt's vision.
It was well known that Disney World was but a figment of a fragment of the original vision for EPCOT as an experimental and utopian corporate city. Even EPCOT in its current form was not supposed to be the endgoal as there was originally supposed to be the World Showcase and Future World as separate individual parks entirely, before the doldrums of the 70s placed the company on hard times and it was decided to simply merge the two parks together into EPCOT. It was a measure meant to save money, but there were still heavy costs with the original 30 planned nations reduced to 20 all the while EPCOT's original budget of $800 million found itself ballooning to $1.5 Billion. Here the Disney Blockbusters had a very fortunate effect where it provided a splurge of cash for the parks without incurring heavy debt or requiring new blood for the board room, while the design of the parks being kept at greater ambitions combined with blockbusters substantially increased Disney stock, creating another form of reliable revenue so that cuts could be limited.
When it came to selecting the nations to take part in the World Showcase, Disney Imagineering strived to have a balanced regional and cultural diversity while also meeting the demands for some of the more popular nations.
Morocco
Costa Rica
Taiwan
Australia/New Zealand
Switzerland
Holland
Germany
Brazil
Japan
Poland
Italy
Great Britain
Equatorial Africa
France
Mexico
Scandinavia
Israel
South Korea
Canada
Saudi Arabia
The end result was a relatively well balanced selection that could offer park visiters a slice of each region of the world save for South Asia and Southeast Asia (Due to a mix of regional instability, poor US relations and India's closed off economy). While at first national interest was limited with only the Arab world, Soviet Union, Poland, Germany and Japan showing interest; the rise of the Blockbuster era gave Disney enough financial lattitude to be more generous with sponsorships, only charging nations for the cost of the design and upkeep while Disney handled the construction. This was able to bring in all of the target nations by the middle of 1978 with Disney optimistic that all of the World Showcase could be built upon opening day. For better or worse though, fate would have other plans.
Politics, Religion and Ignorance
Imagineer Peggie Farris was once quoted as saying that the final product of the World Showcase was due to a combination of "Politics, Religion and Ignorance". While a bleak picture, it is a somewhat accurate read of the evolution of the World Showcase and why which nations were cut and how some certain pavilions came to fruition.
The first major change was the removal of Poland. The inclusion of any Communist nations was already a contentious idea that lead to the removal of the Soviet Union despite their interest, but Poland had been stubbornly in favor of representation, both to find some new economic life in cultural exports and tourism and a desire to become more independent of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet-Romanian War would shelve these plans as the Romanian Genocide lit a wildfire in the near dormant anti-Communist sentiments and shareholders immediately protested Poland's inclusion, leading Disney to shelve the nation entirely.
Ironically, at the same time Disney had shelved Taiwan in favor of a China pavilion thanks to Jimmy Carter's normalization of relations. A bit hypocritical, but China had been neutral in Romania and the potential for Disney incursion into the Chinese market far outweighed any blowback. However, after the assassination attempt on the O'Brian family, Disney would again in the face of overwhelming public hostility, shelve China entirely and return back to Taiwan, further spurred on by the Reagan administration's deepening of relations with the Republic of China. Some of the Disney Board wanted to dispense of the controversy entirely and move onto a different Asian nation such as Thailand or Singapore, but the Disney family was adamant in restoring Taiwan to its pavilion, out of a sense of camraderie with the O'Brians and fear of any future attacks on them by the CCP for whatever reason. Thus to have Taiwan and not China be recognized in the World Showcase was an act of defiance to the People's Republic of China.
At the same time, Disney was still searching for a replacement for Poland. Disney had pivoted towards Yugoslavia, a Communist Slavic state that most Americans held a high opinion of and had been crucial in the Romanian War. Josip Tito was heavily supported of the concept and was committed fully with Disney Imagineers drawing extensive concept proposals for a Yugoslavia pavilion. However, after Tito's death, the Foreign Ministry was at gridlock over which version of Yugoslavia to promote and which states would be highlighted, where previously Serbia and Croatia had been the dominant focus. Thus, Yugoslavia broke its partnership in spite of Disney attempting multiple times to make a unified Yugoslavian pavilion with no favoritism to any member state.
The end of the Yugoslav partnership occured roughly around the same period as the reversion from China to Taiwan. Still in a highly patriotic mindset, Roy Disney turned to Romania as the best replacement. The country had just emerged victorious as the first Warsaw Pact to rejoin the free world, and it was currently the most popular nation within America alongside Japan with an explosion of Romanian culture in the US beginning. While President Nicolaescu was hesitant, Disney proved to be generous in their case by forgoing a commission charge and maintaining upkeep until 1990, by which such a point the Romanian economy would most likely recover and stabilize. As a practical gift, Romania agreed and thus the pavilion went from rustic Warsaw to a more gothic and Transylvanian theme.
Perhaps the two most ambitious pavilions were the Israel and Saudi Arabia, later United Arab Emirates pavilion. The two were to offer a glimpse into the Middle East with Israel focused on the biblical history and deep faiths of Jerusalem while the UAE was to be an insight into the Arab World. However, by grouping both pavilions together, both were unfortunately doomed to fail. When confirmation of the Israel pavilion was set, the UAE and partnered Arab nations were incensed at Israel's feature of Jerusalem, fearing that it would promote the Israeli position of Jerusalem as their capitol to the world. While Disney tried to reassure Arab partners that the pavilion was only focused on historical Jerusalem and would only recognize Tel Aviv as the capitol, miscommunication and inflaming regional tensions lead to the participating Arab nations to remove themselves.
This left Israel who while highly enthusiastic and willing to invest tens of millions of dollars into the projects, caused just as many, if not more headaches domestically. With the onset of the Satanic Panic, Judaism would become an occasional target of Far-Right action groups and by association anti-Israeli sentiment was on the rise. There were protests by Evangelical groups over the representation in Jerusalem, wanting it to be Christian-focused, while some Jewish leaders were also frustrated at having to share the pavilion with Christianity and Islam. Disney did its best to try and find a balance to please everyone, and had even postponed Israel to try and prevent controversy on opening day. Ultimately the Lebanon War and fears of Munich-style attacks at EPCOT pushed Disney to cancel the pavilion.
Unfortunately, the Middle East would not get any proper representation aside from at best tertiary association through Morocco. Regional tensions were hot with the Lebanon War, Iran-Iraq War, Gaddafi's antagonism and the bitter recent memories of the Oil Shocks put a damper on enthusiasm. There was some hope that if the Ayatollah regime was to fall, then old concepts for Iran could be resurrected, but such would be a decade into the future at best. While Turkey was considered, negotiations stalled too much and were ended by other strategic priorities and developments. For Israel, it would be replaced with Spain with Spanish architecture considered to be the best replacement for sightlines in the overall Showcase design. Meanwhile with the UAE, it would receive a most left field replacement, the African nation of Botswana. Botswana's inclusion was a major shock to the public where it had never once come up previously, and many did not even know about the existence of Botsawana in the pre-internet age. However, the last failure of the World Showcase lead to its sudden inclusion. Disney's ignorance.
When downsizing the Showcase form 30 to 20 nations, Disney tried to make up for the reduction by having some pavilions be of a regional focus instead of an individual nation. This was hoped to both draw in more participating nations through shared costs and to engage parkgoers with a diverse and rich set of pavillions. The UAE was broadly already one for the Arab world, but further pavilions would be Australia-New Zealand, Scandinavia, and Equatorial Africa. While noble in intent, the regional pavilions were a bit ignorant and naive in trying to cram multiple nations into less than a square mile and make a cohesive theme, something which would have at least required double the standard pavilion size.
For Australia and New Zealand, while both nations were on close terms and saw each other as siblings, they had two contradictory goals for the pavilion identity with New Zealand wanting Maori and settler representation while Australia was focused on the beaches and Sidney. New Zealand was frustrated with the Sydney Opera House replica taking more than half of the pavilion while Australia could not find any meaningful addition to the Opera House, though the most popular suggestion was an aquarium to replicate the Great Barrier Reef. Ultimately, both withdrew in frustration while the space would be taken up by the Philippines who had been eager for a spot shortly after the Showcase's debut and would fill in the Pacific niche nicely.
Scandinavia was a more heated example of Oceania as the three nations fought for each other for dominance in the display, matters not helped by the Imagineers often creating confusing and contradictory concepts which did not make it clear which nation was on display or getting national traditions wrong. Sweden would be the first to withdraw, followed by Norway who could not get the Imagineers to sponsor a ride focusing on the Norwegian oil sector, thus leaving Denmark as the sole representative.
Perhaps the worst pavilion in this case would be Equatorial Africa. Named at first "Safari Africa" in a somewhat demeaning manner, the pavilion out of all the concepts seemed to be the most stereotypical and lacking in cultural nuance, just focusing on the American image of Africa as a wild jungle and primitive land of tribal peoples than any authenticity. While perhaps not done out of malice, Disney Imagineering did not do themselves any favors by creating "Equatorial Africa" a bland term which could consist of more than a dozen nations depending on one's definition and including hundreds of different ethnic groups. The end result was at best a sanitized Pan-African portrayal with the focus on the African jungle. Ultimately, even with its generous terms, Disney struggled to secure reliable partnerships and the "Equatorial African" nations were at the most heated and divisive over which nations were set to be featured. The pavilion collapsed after EPCOT's opening and would instead be replaced with Venezuela, one of the more popular concepts and one whose design perfectly fit the niche of an environmental-focused pavilion Africa was meant to be.
With the continued frustrations of Equatorial Africa, Botswana was pursued as an alternative for sub-Saharan Africa in case the pavilion failed. It would prove to be a move of good foresight with Botswana taking over the UAE pavilion space and providing a look into life on the African plains through a generally more authentic experience. It also helps that Botswana has been a continually stable and successful democracy.
Lastly is the curious case of Holland. A rich nation with stable domestic politics and having a sizable cultural influence on the US, the Netherlands as Holland was hoped to be a popular hit with the park. However, in the early 1980s, the Netherlands simply stopped participating well into development. It's not really sure why is such the case, with the Dutch government having many contradictory narratives. For whatever reason, Holland was now vacant less than a year before EPCOT's opening.
In stepped the O'Brian family who caused the second major change to the World Showcas. Writer and producer Catherine Powell upon hearing of Holland's departure, immediately went to work, creating a team of Imagineers to then shift focus on creating an Ireland pavilion. Due to Powell's high standing in Disney and familial influence, Disney Imagineers simply assumed that this was done with Roy's blessing instead of a passion project. The end result was a beautiful pavilion said to be a slice of the Magic Kingdom come to EPCOT, combing classical Ireland with bits of Irish folklore to create a magical emerald experience. While the Disney Board was broadly positive of the design, there were overriding political concerns due to the heating Troubles, and that Ireland's inclusion could produce backlash from the United Kingdom and pull it out.
Then Bruce O'Brian happened.
Catherine Powell would share her creation with her brother Bruce. Bruce, a proud Irish citizen who wanted to invest heavily in his ancestral homeland, was highly enthusiastic at an Irish pavilion. Thus, in 1983, Bruce who was under the assumption that the opposition was due to money issues offered a no-strings attached check of $32 million for the construction of the pavillion and its upkeep, which would last well into the 1990's under such terms with no inflation. The Disney boardroom was shocked at such an offer, though concerns for the Troubles still kept them on hold. However, the Star Wars Peace and diplomatic developments pushed them to go ahead and greenlight the Ireland Pavilion the last approved pavilion which would fortunately open well after the Ash Wednesday Agreement.
Morocco
Costa Rica
Taiwan
Philippines
Switzerland
Ireland Open March 1985 Germany
Brazil
Japan
Romania Open May 1983
Italy
Great Britain
Venezuela Open September 1986 France
Mexico
Denmark
SpainOpen September 1987 South Korea
Botswana Open May 1984 Canada
Pavilion Features
On opening day of Epcot on October 1st, 1982, 15 of the 20 planned pavilions would be opened for a full visitor's experience. The full geographical and cultural variety on display along with an expanded Future World, brought in high reviews in critical and public support, making EPCOT an instant success which would compete with Magic Kingdom and Disneyland throughout the rest of the 80s. The remaining five pavillions would be installed on an annual basis leading up to 1987 along with many further expansions to the pavilions through the rest of the decade as part of "Phase II" of EPCOT. The full complements of the showcase are:
American Adventure: Functionally similar to the OTL American Adventure, but physically different. It is a dark ride where riders are presented with a show of American history presented by Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin. Set in a futuristic dome at the entrance of the World Showcase to transition between the two parks.
Morocco: Same as OTL
Costa Rica: The most nature centric of the Pavilions. Costa Rican nature was the main attraction with gardens, a large aviary, and pier for fishing. The Pavilion's presence and popularity would spur Disney's involvement in the Golden Toad conservation efforts started by Bruce O'Brian.
Taiwan: Same structure as OTL but with a focus on native Taiwanese culture and history. The pavilion continually has to walk a fine line on its Chinese influences, and even with the break of Chinese relations, Taiwan is never explicitly referred to as the ROC. While loved by visitors, it's very politically controversial.
Philippines: A very fragmented pavilion split off into islands through the lagoon. Guests went on a tour which showcases a mixture of natural beauty and history of the Philippines on each island.
Switzerland: Along with the usual shops and restaraunts, the show-stealing star of Switzerland would be Disney World's Matterhorn. One of the largest Disney rides, the Matterhorn dominated the landscape and became one of the most popular Disney rides ever, making Switzerland a fierce rival to Japan.
Ireland: A more lowkey experience. The pavillion was a rustic Irish village with a focus on pre-occupation Ireland along with a heavy infusion of live performers and small attractions featuring Irish fantasy. Essentially an Irish Renaissance fair, with children loving the many storylines and hidden secrets, and adults loving the Irish Pub.
Germany: Same as OTL, but the planned Rhine River ride is a part of the attraction from opening day, making it among the most popular Disney attractions, especially with its variety of beer.
Brazil: The Pavilion is a recreation of Rio de Jainero. It's largely a marketplace with a restaraunt and frequent live shows in a dance hall. There is a giant foosball attraction where guests can partake in fun matches against one another.
Japan: While architecture is roughly the same, it's majorly revamped. The Art gallery is replaced with "Meet the World", a revolving theater showcasing Japan's history and culture with live performances from seasoned Japanese stage actors. There is a movement simulator which simulates a Japanese bullet train taking visitors on a tour of Japan and throwing in some action scenes such as Kaiju and tokusatsu. In the late 80s, Mt. Fuji is added as a roller coaster. Japan is often considered the highlight and favorite of the World Showcase both due to its design and Japan's overall popularity. It also serves as a massive gateway to Japanese entertainment thanks to its shop selling anime, manga and movie and show home media. A section of the store also always contains Nintendo games and consoles.
Romania: A Transylvanian village leading to a giant castle featuring a dark tour which is sort of a historical showcase of life in pre-Ottoman Romania. There is also a theater showing a forty-five minute movie of life in post-war Romania and how Romanians are rebuilding and moving forward.
Italy: Aside from the shopping courtyard, there are two main features of the Italy pavillion. The first is a Gondola darkride, either going through the pavilion in a shortened version with a restaraunt overlooking the ride or for a long version, heading out into the Lagoon and taking a boatside tour of the Showcase. There was also an expansion in the late 80s of a "Roman Ruins" where guests partake in an interactive museum of Ancient Rome.
United Kingdom: Same as OTL, but with an attached Theater with a mix of animatronics and live actors. Starts off with a Christmas Carol, then in the 90s and beyonds rotates plays based off of classical British literature.
Venezuela: Split between an entrance courtyard modelled after Caracas, and a huge and expansive indoor section where guests are taken on a Skyliner dark ride which explores both Venezuela's nature and its history.
France: Same as OTL. Chances of Ratatouille coming are non-existent thanks to Lucasfilms owning Pixar.
Mexico: Roughly same as OTL, but with original concepts for the temple along with Rio de Tiempo being twice as large and more detailed.
Denmark: A quaint Danish village in the winter season. There are no rides and many shops, but the highlight is "Lego Kingdom", an attraction which features a series of exhibits that show Danish life and major cities along with Disney parks and overall being a fun and immersive visual experience with thousands of stories told among the figures.
Spain: One half of the Pavilion would have been focused on a dark ride taking guests on a journey of Spanish history from the Reconquista to modern day. The other half was heavily focused on restaurant where Tapas were the highlight.
South Korea: Sort of what the Japan Pavilion became OTL in terms of structure. Outside of shops, there is a museum with Korean artifacts and a theater where performers do Pansori performances. It's a very relaxing pavilion.
Botswana: Roughly divided into three areas. The entrance is a traditional Tswana village with recreational performers teaching about the Tswana's tribal history. Transitions to a mine attraction where visitors can "mine for diamonds" through a mining and panhandling simulation meant for children with fake jewels that can be bought. Sometimes the Seven Dwarves show up here. The last section is a courtyard resembling Gaborone with the pavilion's shops, showing Botswana's progress.
Canada: Same as OTL but Anne of Green Gables and other prominent series characters are usually present as cast members and frequently rotate out. Anne is frequently one of the most popular of the cast members and a delight for most who visit.
While the World Showcase didn't quite reach the original ambitions, it is still an impressive feat of showmanship, engineering, artistry and a proud example of EPCOT at its best in education and cultural engagement. Each Pavilion is considered as iconic to the parks as Cinderella's Castle, Pirates of the Caribbean or Splash Mountain and it is hard for anyone, diehard or casual Disney fan, to imagine a different Showcase.
A/N: Watched a two part Yesterworld video on the World Showcase, got obsessed over how it played out here. Here's the results.
It was a measure meant to save money, but there were still heavy costs with the original 30 planned nations reduced to 20 all the while EPCOT's original budget of $800 million found itself ballooning to $1.5 Billion.
Freaking Awesome! Glad to seee we made some true improvements in Disney's Epcot!
For so long it has been like the forgotten child of Disney, even when it was to be his grand project. But now, it has something to be proud of at last!
Hey @Kaiser Chris, did the Ireland Pavillion take notes from A Classical Tale and Celtic Culture?
Part of me wants to pick the other one in the hopes that we do the theme parks soon, but on the other hand I want this to have a knockback effect of spurring Irish tourism, and it's nice when Cat succeeds.
Well after much procastination here it is my promised Super Star Wars pitch I take away the Super from the title but if you think the Super should stay I will change it so give me your opinion, after all this is the first time I do something like this.
Well we could go Star Wars: Genesis for console synergy. By that same definition, Mega Star Wars is on the table for the Mega Drive, though I'm unsure if the Genesis is called that in any capacity since Sega here is a pure American company and we decided on Sega Genesis first and foremost. Mega Star Wars would at least allow for the subtitles.
