From: Bullard, Claude L (Len) (clbullar_at_ingr.com)
Date: 27 May 1998
This is true but starting back with von Neumann,
name any situation involving communication
that is not a game. One might ask what are
the critical aspects of "gameness"
It is possible to build stories and non-linear systems that are not games and they will be very compelling. It may be that the media and the use of interactive controls (say vs. drivers that are more subtle) make the game metaphor act as attractors, but there are certainly other ways to do it.
Exploration is one mode of interaction.
Another is to *make* the characters engage
the interactor. There is substantial overlap
of course. However, don't breeze too lightly
past the concept of a story in which engagement
of characters create *relationships* which change
the inheritance of behaviors. That
is a very powerful way to drive a story and
can raise you above the level of a "chatterbox"
coding style. The chatterbox has to use
"guidelines" because it has no personality
in and of itself so simulates one with canned
responses when faced with anomalous conditions.
Len Bullard
Intergraph Public Safety
clbullar_at_ingr.com
Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sandy Ressler [SMTP:vrml.guide_at_miningco.com]
>
> Successfull non-linear stories that
> require substantial user interaction ARE games.
>
> I think to get back to Dennis' observation I can't think of any good
> non-linear story that was simply a
> story not a game.
>
> So the struggle is what type of dramatic device or trick or new way of
> thinking makes sense for a non-linear story...that is NOT a game....not
> that there is anything wrong with that (he says with his
> best Seinfeld voice).
>
> If I write a story I want the reader, audience/viewer to get a message.
> I want them to come away from
> viewing/reading the story having a clear knowledge of my (the author's)
> intent. What is the right
> mix of story telling and freedom for the reader to explore?
>
> Can a nonlinear story that is NOT a game be compelling?
>
> Sandy
>
>
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