This episode was originally going to be the season finale, not the premiere. But when Matt said he'd do a Transformers crossover, he wanted "GAMESLIDE" moved to the season premiere slot. He felt that the N Team's previous contact with the Sliders would make contact with the Transformers more plausible.
This episode was originally going to be co-written by me and Matt Slater, but, due to Matt not having enough time to write it, I was given the entire episode. This was after it had been moved to the season premiere slot.
This episode was originally going to be a three-parter, but, while writing it, I realized there was only enough material for one part. The original summary I had up for PART 1 read: "The Sliders arrive in Videoland, and stuff happens." I later changed it to a more descriptive title. I didn't have any ideas for PARTS 2 or 3 yet, so I just put down: "No defined plot yet."
I started planning out this episode on Monday, December 21, 1998, at 8:11 PM. I finished the final draft on Tuesday, March 2, 1999, at 10:05 AM.
Dr. Wily being quiet is a prelude to his attacks later this season.
The lyrics for Videoland's version of 'Danger Zone' come from the closed captions for "MEGA TROUBLE FOR MEGALAND".
Kevin, Rick, Stacey, and Lana's middle names are established.
The Ungrateful Undead album Kevin purchases is a reference to the band shown on "Castlevania Bandstand" in "THE BIG GAME".
"Digital Love", one of the albums that Lana purchases, is named after a song played in an episode of "Kidd Video".
I consulted "SLIDERS: THE NOVEL" and the Sliders FAQ while writing this episode.
Dr. Right's line, "Amazing. Absolutely amazing.", is Doc's line from "Back to the Future, Part II".
Dr. Right's line about the timer being similar to the warp zone openers is an in-joke, since I purposely modelled the openers after the timer.
The concert scene is modelled after the concert scene in the "Sliders" episode "The King is Back".
Dr. Wily being described as "a vision of madness" in the final scene comes from the story "Rockman: The Wily Wars".
IMMATERIAL GIRLS
This episode was delayed for a week due to Spring Break.
This story was inspired by the comic book story "ZELDA'S CONSUMER TIPS".
I started planning out this episode on Wednesday, March 10, 1999, at 8:30 AM. Then I started writing the episode. I finished the first draft the next day at 9:03 PM. I finished the final draft on Thursday, March 18, 1999, at 8:40 AM.
I did research on the Internet about the various diseases mentioned.
Kristen's belief in the existence of a conspiracy was inspired by Betty's belief in a "Betty and Veronica" comic book.
1.5 Hylian rupees is equal to one credit or United States dollar.
Kristen is a human calculator.
Kristen's mention of the name Justin comes from the "Justin Bailey" code in Metroid.
I was originally going to have Lana and Kristen time themselves as they go through the mall, but I never wrote that scene.
Lana likes chocolate sprinkles.
SPOTTED
This episode was delayed for three days because I forgot to copy the site updates onto a floppy disk before I left for school.
DISCO INFERNO
This episode was originally going to be in Season 5, but I moved it to Season 6 to be closer to the time that Mega Man 7 was released.
The title of this episode comes from a disco song and a homemade "Back to the Future" film that I and my friend, Mike Rohm, are filming.
I started planning out this episode on Monday, March 8, 1999, at 11:30 AM. I then began writing the episode. I finished the final draft on Friday, April 16, 1999, at 7:20 AM.
Thanks to Michael Lee Rohm for the lyrics to "Staying Alive"!
Kevin's line, "I love disco, and I hear it's making a comeback!", comes from a '70s Preservation Society commercial. Mike suggested I put it in.
The ability of the N Teamsters to recall their weapons by thought was inspired by something I read that said the Transformers have a similar capability.
Mike referring to disco as "the Golden Age of music" comes from Danny's comment in an episode of "Full House".
Mike's line, "Kevin, you promised me disco, now you better deliver", was inspired by Mike Rohm's line in my "Back to the Future" film.
Mike's line, "Disco rules the universe!", is similar to the subject of one of Mike Rohm's e-mails to me.
Mike Rohm suggested that Kevin perform "I am the Game Master". I based the song on "Do the Urkel" from a Family Matters episode.
STAR-CROSSED
The title of this episode is the title of a "Quantum Leap" episode.
I started planning out this episode on Wednesday, April 7, 1999, at 4:00 PM. I started writing the first draft on Friday, April 9, at 9:00 PM. I finished the first draft on Sunday, April 11, at 5:12 PM. I finished the final draft on Friday, April 23, at 7:11 AM.
The Director is based on the Director on "Nowhere Man".
Lana's comment, "It sure is a beautiful night", comes from "METROID SWEET METROID".
The scene with Lana driving and being attacked is based on a scene in a Season 2 Millennium episode. I originally wrote it for Season 5's "SINS OF THE FATHER", excluded it from the final draft, considered putting it in "GAMESLIDE", and finally placed it here.
The Game World reference is basically an insult directed at Chris Blair, who claims that was the name of the universe is an alleged movie that aired before the TV series.
DEMONS ARE FOREVER
This episode was delayed for four days because I didn't have it HTMLized in time, due to school, updating my Bayou Billy site, and working on Season 7. Also, I didn't have school on Monday because it was finals week, and I had no finals on Monday. So, I put the episode up on Tuesday.
The title of this episode was inspired by the title of the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever".
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
This episode didn't have a summary until I put the episode up. There was no character listing either. Both had "?"s.
Tornel and Zebu's conversation at the end is a prelude to "THE MACHINE WARS".
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
This episode came about after I moved "SLEEP DEPRIVATION" to Season 5. Kelly wanted an episode in Season 6, so I let her do this one.
The name of the episode comes from a local radio commercial for Napa Auto Parts, sung "What's in a name? A reputation. We're building on service and quality. What's in a name?"
WHOLLY CRAPIMONY
This episode came about when I suggested it to Laurie.
I came up with the title of the episode on Monday, May 31, 1999.
I e-mailed Laurie my suggestion for the episode's title. She accepted it on Tuesday, August 3, 1999.
I started writing my part of the episode on Thursday, April 22, 1999, at 8:30 AM. I finished it on Wednesday, May 19, 1999, 1:11 PM. I got Laurie's part of the episode on August 3. I finished the first draft of the episode on Friday, August 13, 1999, at 12:52 PM. I finished the final draft on Tuesday, August 17, 1999, at 10:59 PM.
This episode is longer than usual. On Friday, August 13, 1999, I considered splitting the episode in two and putting both parts up at the same time. But I decided against it, because I want all of the points I'm making in this story to be in one whole part, not two.
Li's line, "You're a pretty cool guy", was inspired by Lana's line in "SIMON THE APE-MAN".
Lana's line, "I'd rather be unmarried than divorced", was inspired by a line I had read on the back on a movie box at a video rental place.
The song that Stacey, Lana, and Li dance to is by Kidd Video. It's another tribute to the awesome TV series from the '80s.
Lana's line, "That's my choice every time", was inspired by Stu's line in "The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition" by Stephen King.
I decided to make Billy Idol the wedding singer, because I saw him in the movie, "The Wedding Singer".
Laurie wrote the proposal scene, the wedding announcement scene, the scenes in Simon's room and Li's room and lab, and the scene in the hallway before the ceremony.
THE MACHINE WARS
The title comes from a line of repainted Transformers toys.
This episode came about when I asked Matt at school if he wanted to do a Transformers indy-fic. He nodded and said "Yes, I would." When it was put in Season 6 as an episode, he wanted to move our episode, "GAMESLIDE", to the season premiere slot. He wanted "MACHINE WARS" to be a crossover between Videoland and the Transformers universe, and he felt that this would be made possible if the N Team had previously been exposed to Sliding technology. So I moved "GAMESLIDE" to the season premiere slot. Around this time, I found a ROM of the Transformers game for the Famicom. After Matt played it, he told me something like: "I was thinking, the Transformers game came out for the Famicom. Pretty much the same thing. So, screw the alternate universe. I'm having Unicron take over Videoland." And so it was.
Matt didn't have enough time to write the episode, so he gave me what he had written of Part 1, along with some instructions on how he wanted it to go, and I got to write the episode.
The episodes didn't originally have subtitles, but, when I took over writing them, I added the subtitles, because I thought they'd sound cool.
The sub-plots of Dr. Wily attacking with the old Robot Masters and the StarDroids invading Megaland come from two Season 6 episodes (formerly slated for Season 5) that I axed before I even started writing them.
The summary I had up for Part 1, before the merger with "DR. WILY'S REVENGE", read: "A giant, world-devouring planet named Unicron makes itself known, and the N Team can't stop it by themselves."
The summary I had up for Part 2, before the merger with "STARDROIDS", read: "The N Team teams up with the Autobots to battle Unicron, Pak, and the Decepticons."
Matt's original title for the episode was "CAPTAIN N: THE MACHINE WARS". But when I started writing it, I decided to shorten it to "THE MACHINE WARS".
This episode was originally going to be a two-parter, but, while I was writing PART 1, I realized the storyline I had would be too long to fit into only two parts, so I expanded it into a three-parter.
The summary I had up for Part 1 before the expansion was: "A giant, world-devouring planet named Unicron makes itself known, and the N Team can't stop it by themselves. So, they team up with the Autobots. But Unicron gets Pak to help defeat the good guys. On top of all that, the Decepticons and Dr. Wily launch separate attacks at the exact same time!"
The summary I had up for Part 2 before the expansion is now Part 3's summary.
Matt wrote everything in Part 1 up to and including the scene where Mike spots Pak. I wrote the rest.
I started planning the trilogy out on Monday, December 28, 1998, at 8:00 PM. I finished the first draft of Part 3 on Wednesday, April 28, 1999, at 7:33 AM. I finished the final draft of Part 3 on Monday, September 20, 1999, at 9:13 AM.
I put in the "I, Robot Master!" bit just to get a reaction from Mandi when she read the story.
Lana's comment about Duke not being around is a joke about to the fact that the dog rarely appears in episodes, and, if he does, he doesn't do much.
The name for the Decepticon ship - Nemesis - comes from the two-part "Beast Wars: Transformers" series finale, "NEMESIS".
Mandi's "Deceptikitty" bit comes from Sparkplug's line in the TF three-part episode "THE ULTIMATE DOOM".
Matt came up with the black pattern on Proto Man's new body.
The bit where Soundwave plays the TF theme off of Proto Man comes from the script for the "Beast Wars: Transformers" season 2 episode "THE AGENDA" PART 2, where the theme was to be played off of Ravage. That wasn't carried out, because Mainframe Entertainment couldn't get the right to use it from Sunbow Productions.
Roll (Mega Girl) now looks and sounds like she does on the "Mega Man" TV series, but without the gadget attachment on her left arm.
The "cardboard boxes incident" I'm referring to is when the school librarian told Matt and I to carry a bunch of cardboard boxes from the library down to the dumpster.
My "Raise the Nemesis" line is a reference to the "Beast Wars: Transformers" series finale, "NEMESIS".
Mandi calling me "Captain M" is a reference to Season 5's "ROGUE SQUADRON".
Rush now looks and sounds like he does on the "Mega Man" TV series.
Roll's line, "Decepticon rule forever!", is Megatron's line in the TF three-part episode "THE ULTIMATE DOOM".
All the vocalizations of the transform sound come from "The Formidable Transformers FAQ", except for "wonka-wonka-wonka", which comes from the script for the "Beast Wars: Transformers" season 2 episode "THE AGENDA" PART 2. Mega Man's explanation comes from the FAQ.
Matt's line, "I like corn", is something he told me is the perfect response in any confusing situation.
Matt thought up the "secret handshake" bit.
Stacey's line, "I, like, hate it when she does that", is a reference to "CHANGES" PART 4: "THE SECOND SIEGE".
Club Zero comes from "Mega Man--the Series" Book 16: "Mega Fraud" by Mandi Paugh.
Mandi climbing across the stage on the ladder was inspired by the scene in "Back to the Future, Part II".
Mandi hooking up her Zapper to the club's power source was inspired by what Kevin did in the comic book story "THE MASTER MACHINE".
Mandi's line, "Twinkle, twinkle, little Starscream", is Cheetor's line in the "Beast Wars: Transformers" episode "POSSESSION".
Dr. Right and Dr. Wily now look like they do in the promo video for the "Mega Man" TV series.
Dr. Right's line, "So, the alien device did this?", was inspired by Optimus Primal's line in the "Beast Wars: Transformers" Season 2 episode "Coming of the Fuzors" Part 2.
Dr. Wily's line, "I've had a change...for the better", is Megatron's line in the "Beast Wars: Transformers" Season 2 premiere, "Aftermath".
Pak's line, "Who's the man?! Huh?! Who's the man?!", is Captain Hiller's line in "Independence Day".
The part where I catch Mandi, and our lines, comes from "QUEEN OF THE APES".
Mandi's "Colonel Sanders" joke and the KFC references are due to Dr. Wily wearing what looks like a KFC outfit in Mega Man 8.
Mike's line, "Dude, it's hard to find those!", was inspired by Matt's line, "Dude, you can't find those!", when I told him about the scene at school.
The Hate Plague I mention is a reference to the TF Season 3 two-part episode "THE RETURN OF OPTIMUS PRIME".
I was going to have Matt suggest Taco Bell, but he told me to make it Boston Market instead.
This trilogy does more than conclude Season 6. It leads into Season 7.
EPISODES THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT IN
Mark Moore's Mega Man 8 episode. I was gonna have me, Mandi Paugh, and Matt Slater come to Videoland and help Mega Man defeat the Mega Man 8 robots. However, the time period was too early for Mega Man 8, so I removed the episode.
"SLEEP DEPRIVATION" by Kelly Harris. I moved it to Season 5 to have more Zelda content and more classic NES and Gameboy content in that season.
"EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD" by Steve Cronen. It was going to be a Ninja Gaiden II episode starring Mega Man, Romeo, and Julius. However, Steve later figured he didn't know enough about the saga of Ryu Hayabusa, so he gave it up and told me he'd like to do a Super Street Fighter II episode, called "WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN", instead. I agreed. The summary I had up for the NGII episode was: "The three N Teamsters meet up with Ryu, who is searching for his girlfriend, Irene Lew. The search takes them into the dark, sinister world-domination plot by the evil Ashtar."
"WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN" by Steve Cronen. Steve came up with a better idea for an episode, so he canceled the SSFII episode. The SSFII episode was to feature Kevin, Mega Man, Ryu, Ken, some of the old fighters, and the New Challengers: Cammy, T. Hawk, Fei Long, and Dee Jay. The title of the episode comes from a song by The Who. Steve replaced this episode with "CLOSE YOUR EYES AND THINK OF THIS".
"BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO VIDEOLAND" by Steve Cronen. I told him to write the episode as an indy-fic, because it's a crossover with something big-name, and was thus cost a lot of money to make. The description I had up was: "Beavis and Butthead travel to Megaland and meet up with the N Team. And you know something's gonna get burned when Lana invites the moronic duo into their house!"
"REUNION" by Cynthia Chan. This was going to be an episode where Kevin and Lana both have family reunions in Megaland. However, I thought the episode was too silly, and Cynthia agreed. Kevin's uncle Lenny from New York was to appear for the first time in this episode. Cynthia then proposed a Groundhog Day parody involving Mike celebrating his 20th birthday (February 2nd, 1974) and repeating it over and over again. I rejected it because of time-travel. Cynthia then proposed a Street Fighter II episode which had the female members of the N Team being the heroes of the day. My reaction was something like "Great, another Street Fighter II episode." This was before Steve Cronen had canceled his. Then she came up with her Toyland episode, and I accepted it. The summary I had up for the "REUNION" episode was: "Lana plans a reunion for her family, not knowing that Kevin wants to surprise her with his own relatives. When Dr. Wily and assistant Angela find out about the party, they decide to control people's minds. Angela is in Lana's body, and it's a race against time to get everyone back to normal before Lana can crown Wily the King of Videoland!"
"DR. WILY'S REVENGE" by Mark Moore. This story was to be a cookie-cutter episode, using the plots (what little there are) from the first four Mega Man games for Gameboy. But then, after talking with Matt Slater about it, I dropped this episode and added the plot into "CAPTAIN N: THE MACHINE WARS". The summary I had up for this episode was: "Dr. Wily attacks with a bunch of old Robot Masters." This episode was originally going to be only one part and cover all five Mega Man Gameboy games. However, I thought it couldn't all fit in twenty minutes, so I put the fifth game in a second part called "STARDROIDS". Me, Mandi Paugh, and Matt Slater were supposed to appear in a Season 6 Mega Man 8 episode, but, since I got rid of that episode, I decided to put us in this episode and "STARDROIDS" instead. This episode was originally going to be a Season 5 episode, but I moved it to Season 6 to give me, Matt, and Mandi an appearance this season.
"STARDROIDS" by Mark Moore. This story was to be an episode using the plot from the fifth Mega Man game for Gameboy. But then, after talking with Matt Slater about it, I dropped this episode and added the plot into "CAPTAIN N: THE MACHINE WARS". The summary I had up for this episode was: "An alien race known as the StarDroids attack Megaland." This episode was originally going to be a Season 5 episode, but I moved it to Season 6 to give me, Matt, and Mandi an appearance this season.
A Kid Icarus episode by David Yonts. He wrote a stupid story and sent it to me. I knew he wasn't taking his episode seriously, so I removed it from the list.
"NIGHT OF THE LIVING IDIOTS" by Mark Moore. I had only included this episode for the sake of having a Halloween episode. I couldn't think up any good ideas for it. So, I canceled it. It would free up my time to work on "DISCO INFERNO" and "STAR-CROSSED". The summary I had up read: "On Halloween night, Dr. Wily creates bizarre and hideous robots and sends them out to terrorize the world!" The episode would've featured "Do the Freak" from "GAMEBOY". The title was inspired by the title of the "Mega Man" episode "NIGHT OF THE LIVING MONSTER BOTS". I didn't even start planning out the plot yet.
"CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR" by Mark Moore. I had only included this episode for the sake of having a Christmas episode. The episode would've been boring, with Lana falling asleep during Mass or making comments, So, I canceled it. It would free up my time to work on "DISCO INFERNO" and "STAR-CROSSED". The summary I had up read: "Lana agrees to attend Midnight Mass with her friends, but her mind keeps wandering." I came up with the idea for this episode on Thursday, December 24, 1998 - Christmas Eve. I didn't even start planning out the plot yet.
A Final Fantasy II episode by Alison Hynes. She was supposed to write this episode for Season 5. Alison almost turned this episode into an independent fanfic, because she didn't think the episode would work. She said there are too many characters in the game, and Final Fantasy II is such an old game that many people have not played it, and they may get confused. I pleaded with her to write the episode, because I like Rydia and want another episode with her, and she agreed. Shortly afterwards, she had me postpone it from Season 5 to Season 6. Then she asked me to cancel it, which I did. The summary I had up for Part 1 read: "The N Team go to the Final Fantasy II universe to stop bad guys." The summary for Part 2 read: "The N Team helps stop the bad guys."
A Chrono Trigger episode by Alison Hynes. She asked me to cancel it. There were ?s for the characters and summary.
A Castlevania episode by Jeremy Lourenco. He told me to cancel it. There were ?s for the characters and summary.
A Battletoads episode by Adam King. He couldn't find a way to work it into Captain N, so he said I should cancel it. There were ?s for the characters and summary.
"REVENGE OF THE NERDS" by Steve Cronen. Originally, Steve was going to write a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode. But, after playing "Joe and Mac" on the SNES, he decided to write about that. This episode was originally going to be in Season 5, but, due to Steve not having it done in time, it was moved to Season 6. Then Steve told me to cancel it. The summary I had up read: "When nerdly neanderthals kidnap their cave-babes, Joe and Mac call on the N Team for some assistance."
"CLOSE YOUR EYES AND THINK OF THIS" by Steve Cronen. Steve decided to do this episode after dropping "EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD" AND "WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN".
The line comes from a song called "Armenia City in the Sky", which was on a 1967 album by The Who called "The Who Sell Out". The line goes: "If you're troubled, and you can't relax, close your eyes and think of this." The original title was going to be "THE N TEAM SELL OUT". Steve told me to cancel the episode. The summary I had up read: "In a daring move, the N Team decides to start up their own radio station in order to promote themselves. Kevin and Lana are the music deejays, Mega Man is the advice guy, Kid Icarus does traffic, Simon does weather, and Mike, Rick, Romeo, Julius, and Stacey do the news. Of course, they all mess things up."
"THE SEARCH FOR MIKE" by Adam K. Roberts. Adam didn't send me the episode, and he wasn't replying to my e-mails about the episode, so I canceled it. The summary I had up for Part 1 read: "Mike accidentally warps to Final Fantasy, and Kevin, Mega Man, and Stacey follow him. Mike is sucked into the Esper World, and the others have to get in. Their only hope is a girl named Terra, who is half-human, half-esper. She's a member of the Returners, an organization of rebels against the Empire. The only way the N Team can get Mike back is to defeat the Imperial forces around the gate to the Esper World." The summary I had up for Part 2 read: "The four meet Setzer, the world's only airship owner. He takes them to the gate to the Esper World, and they attempt to save Mike before the leaders of the Imperial Army find them..."
"SPRYTE'S TRANSFORMATION" by "Nickpi". He didn't send me the episode, and he wasn't replying to my e-mails about the episode, so I canceled it. The summary I had up for Part 1 read: "Spryte is turned into a human." The summary I had up for Part 2 read: "Plot Unknown."
"DUKE'S DAY" by Michelle Sinnock. This was originally going to be my episode, but Michelle Sinnock loves Duke so much, I decided to give it to her. This was originally going to be a Season 4 episode, but Michelle didn't have it done in time, so I moved it to Season 5. She didn't have it done in time for Season 5, so I moved it to Season 6. She didn't send the episode to me, and she didn't reply to my e-mails, so I canceled it. The summary I had up read: "A day through the eyes of our favorite canine."
An F-Zero episode by Torin Miller. This episode would've featured Mike Vincent. This was originally going to be a Season 4 episode, but Torin didn't have it done in time, so I moved it to Season 5. He didn't have it done in time for Season 5, so I moved it to Season 6. He didn't send the episode to me, and he didn't reply to my e-mails, so I canceled it. The summary I had up read: "No defined plot yet. It takes place on the world of F-Zero."
A Starfox episode by Adam K. Roberts. He didn't send the episode to me, and he didn't reply to my e-mails, so I canceled it. There were ?s for the characters and summary.
"TOYLAND" by Cynthia Chan. When I got the complete episode from Cynthia, I found it too silly and Disneyish. So, with an apology to her, I canceled it. The summary I had up read: "While on a world known as Toyland for negotiations, rioters turn Kevin and Zelda into living toys!"