Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms
Adventure game development systems are platforms from the developer’s perspective. This paper investigates several subtle differences between these platforms, focusing on two systems for interactive fiction development. We consider how these platform differences may have influenced authors as they d...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Digital Arts and Culture
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100288 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7558-5160 |
| _version_ | 1811087773437788160 |
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| author | Mitchell, Alex Montfort, Nick |
| author2 | MIT Program in Writing & Humanistic Studies |
| author_facet | MIT Program in Writing & Humanistic Studies Mitchell, Alex Montfort, Nick |
| author_sort | Mitchell, Alex |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Adventure game development systems are platforms from the developer’s perspective. This paper investigates several subtle differences between these platforms, focusing on two systems for interactive fiction development. We consider how these platform differences may have influenced authors as they developed systems for simulation and storytelling. Through close readings of Dan Shiovitz’s Bad Machine (1998), written in TADS 2, and Emily Short’s Savoir-Faire (2002), written in Inform 6, we discuss how these two interactive fiction authoring systems may have influenced the structure of simulated story worlds that were built in them. We extend this comparative approach to larger sets of games, looking at interactive wordplay and the presentation of information within the story. In concluding, we describe how critics, scholars, and developers may be able to more usefully consider the platform level in discussions of games, electronic literature, and digital art. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:51:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/100288 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:51:45Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Digital Arts and Culture |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1002882022-09-28T16:43:09Z Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms Mitchell, Alex Montfort, Nick MIT Program in Writing & Humanistic Studies Montfort, Nick Adventure game development systems are platforms from the developer’s perspective. This paper investigates several subtle differences between these platforms, focusing on two systems for interactive fiction development. We consider how these platform differences may have influenced authors as they developed systems for simulation and storytelling. Through close readings of Dan Shiovitz’s Bad Machine (1998), written in TADS 2, and Emily Short’s Savoir-Faire (2002), written in Inform 6, we discuss how these two interactive fiction authoring systems may have influenced the structure of simulated story worlds that were built in them. We extend this comparative approach to larger sets of games, looking at interactive wordplay and the presentation of information within the story. In concluding, we describe how critics, scholars, and developers may be able to more usefully consider the platform level in discussions of games, electronic literature, and digital art. Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab 2015-12-16T15:18:27Z 2015-12-16T15:18:27Z 2009-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/ConferencePaper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100288 Mitchell, Alex, and Nick Monfort. "Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms." 2009 Digital Arts and Culture Conference (December 2009). https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7558-5160 en_US http://simonpenny.net/dac/day2.html Proceedings of the 2009 Digital Arts and Culture Conference Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Digital Arts and Culture MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Mitchell, Alex Montfort, Nick Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title | Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title_full | Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title_fullStr | Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title_short | Shaping Stories and Building Worlds on Interactive Fiction Platforms |
| title_sort | shaping stories and building worlds on interactive fiction platforms |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100288 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7558-5160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mitchellalex shapingstoriesandbuildingworldsoninteractivefictionplatforms AT montfortnick shapingstoriesandbuildingworldsoninteractivefictionplatforms |