Comments on: Can we turn the art of story over to the players? http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/ Bringing a little drama to social games Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:02:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: justingibbs http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-861 justingibbs Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:48:18 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-861 Megan, I couldn't agree more. Joseph Campbell probably more than any other showed how story can be used to transmit data. How we improve on current modes of storytelling through real time story is still to be discovered however. I'm really impressed with what you and Visual Purple have been able to do though. My guess is that serious games like the ones you're building will lead the way in the development of real time story. It's about to get very interesting. Megan,

I couldn't agree more. Joseph Campbell probably more than any other showed how story can be used to transmit data. How we improve on current modes of storytelling through real time story is still to be discovered however. I'm really impressed with what you and Visual Purple have been able to do though. My guess is that serious games like the ones you're building will lead the way in the development of real time story. It's about to get very interesting.

]]> By: justingibbs http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-778 justingibbs Fri, 08 May 2009 20:10:02 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-778 I couldn't agree more, I just wish others would see this as well. Too often those of us in Silicon Valley get caught up in the technology. We live and breath it. However for most people the latest technology is just a curiosity and the only way to pull them in is offer some great utility or story, or both. Interactive story is cool, but it has to offer a better way to tell a story or it'll be a passing fad. You don't see many <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure" target="_blank">Choose Your Own Adventure</a> books anymore. I couldn't agree more, I just wish others would see this as well. Too often those of us in Silicon Valley get caught up in the technology. We live and breath it. However for most people the latest technology is just a curiosity and the only way to pull them in is offer some great utility or story, or both. Interactive story is cool, but it has to offer a better way to tell a story or it'll be a passing fad. You don't see many Choose Your Own Adventure books anymore.

]]> By: Megan Rutherford http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-775 Megan Rutherford Fri, 08 May 2009 16:56:01 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-775 Great post Justin. I too believe that the power of story can drive an immersive simulation. Why do we sit on the couch and watch movies and TV programs? Because we become engaged in the storyline! Stories are richly coded with meaning and transmit data far more effectively than other mediums. Ultimately, the story is what powers successful simulations and leads the learner to further triumph. The path of the story is what should engage the learner the most! Great post Justin. I too believe that the power of story can drive an immersive simulation. Why do we sit on the couch and watch movies and TV programs? Because we become engaged in the storyline! Stories are richly coded with meaning and transmit data far more effectively than other mediums. Ultimately, the story is what powers successful simulations and leads the learner to further triumph. The path of the story is what should engage the learner the most!

]]> By: justingibbs http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-757 justingibbs Tue, 05 May 2009 21:59:44 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-757 Yeah, most <a href="http://justingibbs.com/narrative-game/" rel="nofollow">narrative games</a> don't go beyond a traditional narrative with obstacles put in the way. Are developers just being lazy or did they find that story interactivity didn't offer much value over traditional narrative? I know Chris Klug, of <a href="http://www.cheyenneme.com/" rel="nofollow">Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment</a> said expressly, "Mention interactive fiction and they'll think you're an academic." He went on to say that developers would never let you waste time on content that might never be seen by the player. Interactive story is a tough one. And what's with the hatred of comic sans? I would switch but I use a great program <a href="http://www.balsamiq.com/" rel="nofollow">Balsamiq</a> to quickly create the diagrams and all it offers is comic sans. Yeah, most narrative games don't go beyond a traditional narrative with obstacles put in the way. Are developers just being lazy or did they find that story interactivity didn't offer much value over traditional narrative? I know Chris Klug, of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment said expressly, "Mention interactive fiction and they'll think you're an academic." He went on to say that developers would never let you waste time on content that might never be seen by the player. Interactive story is a tough one.

And what's with the hatred of comic sans? I would switch but I use a great program Balsamiq to quickly create the diagrams and all it offers is comic sans.

]]> By: justingibbs http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-764 justingibbs Tue, 05 May 2009 21:19:20 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-764 While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective - at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck - I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my <a href="http:\/\/justingibbs.com\/projects\/" target="_blank">dating sim</a>, see first hand what is possible. <a href="http:\/\/www.renpy.org\/wiki\/renpy\/Home_Page" target="_blank">Ren'Py</a> doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics - which in this case can be great. While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective – at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck – I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my dating sim, see first hand what is possible. Ren'Py doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics – which in this case can be great.

]]> By: justingibbs http://justingibbs.com/2009/05/04/can-we-turn-the-art-of-story-over-to-the-players/comment-page-1/#comment-763 justingibbs Tue, 05 May 2009 19:22:17 +0000 http://justingibbs.com/?p=1854#comment-763 While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective - at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck - I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my <a href="http:\/\/justingibbs.com\/projects\/" target="_blank">dating sim</a>, see first hand what is possible. <a href="http:\/\/www.renpy.org\/wiki\/renpy\/Home_Page" target="_blank">Ren'Py</a> doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics - which in this case can be great. While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective – at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck – I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my dating sim, see first hand what is possible. Ren'Py doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics – which in this case can be great.

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