tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82859901020918327072024-03-13T07:23:39.651-07:00Digital FictionLRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-31110591643602682592014-11-27T01:27:00.000-08:002014-11-27T01:27:36.786-08:00Ghost (in the machine) Stories<div style="text-align: center;">
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<li class="playtext"><i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="629"></a>A sad tale's best for winter: I have one <br />Of sprites and goblins. </i></li>
<li class="playtext"><b>Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale</b></li>
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So Halloween may be long gone but ghost stories are traditional for the midst of winter and even at Christmas so that's what we're going to be looking at today.</div>
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First of all play through the Twine game, <a href="http://jayisgames.com/games/the-uncle/" target="_blank">The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo</a>.</div>
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This is a horror game so expect a creepy atmosphere and the occasional shock.</div>
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Done that?</div>
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Now have a look at this video of the 2002 GameCube game Eternal Darkness . It's quite long so don't think you have to watch the entire thing!</div>
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LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-56916862427385137392014-11-20T03:52:00.001-08:002014-11-20T03:52:31.426-08:00Hey Listen!This week we're going to be using the opening cutscene (or another of your choice) to inspire our interactive fiction.<br />
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Here's my attempt at reproducing this scene:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PTuHwiyDAfI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In Twine.<br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/pqkkrin0vxckphn/11.20.2014%2C%2011.41.45%20AM%20Twine%20Archive.html?dl=0" target="_blank">Download the file</a><br />
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And click on "import from file".<br />
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Now it's your turn!LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-79181733794263018902014-11-20T03:16:00.001-08:002014-11-20T03:16:30.365-08:00Choose Your Own Authoring ToolsWe're back with a new group and new ways of creating adventures.<div>
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We've already looked at Adam Cadre's work and we're ready to start writing our own adventures.</div>
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This year we're moving on from the basic Word based games and exploring free online authoring tools.</div>
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For the last couple of weeks we've been looking <a href="http://textadventures.co.uk/" target="_blank">Quest</a> which can produce either paragraph based games (like the Choose Your Own Adventure or Fighting Fantasy books) or text adventure/interactive fiction piece (so Zork! or 9:05).</div>
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This week we're going to be exploring <a href="http://twinery.org/" target="_blank">Twine</a> which is a way of producing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard" target="_blank">hypertext</a> fiction quickly and easily.</div>
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If you have admin privileges on your computer you can also try Choice of Game's <a href="http://choicescript/" target="_blank">ChoiceScript</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Cave_of_time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Cave_of_time.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a></div>
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LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-81089225259627193052014-01-17T03:50:00.000-08:002014-01-17T05:15:10.645-08:00The (kind of) final piecesAnd so, with much fanfare and not a little wailing and gnashing of keyboards we are proud to present our finished, our very final pieces of interactive fiction.<br />
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The authors of these pieces have now gone on to university and so what is currently unfinished will remain so. Art is never finished, only abandoned and so are these pieces. Sorry, but it never did Edwin Drood any harm. </div>
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Secondly, if you read/play these stories you should be prepared for some violence. The students who wrote these were 17-19 and some of them aren't suitable for younger eyes. I'll draw your attention to those in my introductions.</div>
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You can read the stories directly from the link but if you choose to download them in MS Word you will need to press [ctrl] as you click on the hyperlinks. If you're using another interface, either on the web or another text editor you may (or may not) have to do something else to get it to work. Or nothing at, who knows.</div>
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<b><u>The stories</u></b></div>
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Adam's You Die - <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/28mt2filiukuyf6/Adam%20-%20YOU%20DIE%20MULTIPLE%20TIMES.docx" target="_blank">MULTIPLE TIMES</a> is the sequel to his earlier <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ps5v10x4daifxxg/Adam%20-%20you%20die.docx" target="_blank">You Die!</a>.<br />
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This time instead of starting out in the disconcertingly pastoral setting of a forest you find yourself trapped in a cupboard with something outside, something that seems to want to do you harm.<br />
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Not so much creepy as downright silly this piece is a rhapsody of OTT deaths with a slight slasher flick sheen.<br />
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The authorial voice is very strong and Adam was clearly enjoying himself writing the many, many ways in which you and everyone around you can come to a sticky end. It's also pretty repetitive stuff, the subtitle isn't an exaggeration.<br />
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Eden's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/v91teygjzsqdnh7/Eden%20-%20You%20are%20in%20a%20building.docx" target="_blank">You are in a Building</a> starts with a stark choice. "You're here, what do you want to pick up?" with no idea of the context or what may or may not be useful.<br />
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Again the themes are unknown but malignant forces, abandoned buildings and handy weaponry left lying around for no apparent reason. It's also the most unfinished of the stories and you'll have to scroll through manually at times to reconstruct the story.<br />
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Who is the person stalking you, where are you and why are you here? If Eden knew she wasn't letting on which lends it something of the absurdist. Perhaps we're all being stalking in our private abandons buildings?<br />
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After all that death and despair Hannah's perkily titled <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru2cf1acoz1qeq4/Hannah%20-%20Time%20for%20Lesson.docx" target="_blank">Time for Lesson</a> is like opening the coffin lid to fresh air and blue skies.<br />
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Lesson is all about working hard and doing the right thing. But there may be a dark heart beating here too if you look hard enough. You're prevented from being <i>too</i> good by a broken link and opting for ice-cream sees you reading a book instead. All of which raises the question are you playing the story or is the story playing you?<br />
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From the domestic to the epic with Jack's<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlh3s2s0ah0vjnc/Jack%20-%20Peasent%20Quest.docx" target="_blank"> Peasant Quest</a>. Taking the part of a typical proto-hero farm boy you find a sword in the forest. Do you take it and can you use it if you do?<br />
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Time for some philosophical science fiction in Katie's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/aopjoqu63o8cq5r/Katie%20-%20Welcome%20to%20Kebbatron.docx" target="_blank">Welcome to the Kebbatron</a>.<br />
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Although it starts off in a similar way to Eden's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/v91teygjzsqdnh7/Eden%20-%20You%20are%20in%20a%20building.docx" target="_blank">Building</a> it emerges as a much more philosophical work with shades of Orpheus or Dante.<br />
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Pip's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/g0pf50gvztp7eeb/Pip%20-%20the%20problems%20with%20groups.docx" target="_blank">The Problem With Groups</a> on the other hand is much more down to earth, privileging realism and the novelistic concerns of inner dialogue over big explosions and bangs.<br />
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Finally we arrive at our only illustrated story, Sam's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/1vdozw19motgz9l/Sam%20-%20You%20quest%202%20The%20Terror%20of%20Politics.docx" target="_blank">You Quest 2: The Terror of Politics</a>. If the Mighty Boosh were to turn their hand to interactive fiction I imagine it would be something like this; satirical, surrealist and just really, really silly.<br />
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So there you have it. I hope you enjoy reading these stories or playing these games or whatever it is you're doing when you consume these. We certainly had a lot of fun writing them and hope to return to the project at some point in the future with bigger and better stories.<br />
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If you have read these do let us know what you think of in the comments section.<br />
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LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-92093493085719703192013-04-17T02:01:00.000-07:002013-04-17T09:14:52.520-07:00A taste of interactive fiction 9:05Play a classic of IF, 9:05 <a href="http://iplayif.com/?story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifarchive.org%2Fif-archive%2Fgames%2Fzcode%2F905.z5" target="_blank">here</a> courtesy of the <a href="http://ifdb.tads.org/" target="_blank">Interactive Fiction Database</a> .<br />
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We won't have time the session but everyone should play <a href="http://iplayif.com/?story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifarchive.org%2Fif-archive%2Fgames%2Fzcode%2Fphotopia.z5" target="_blank">Photopia</a>, that's right, EVERYBODY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-2354070770138563522013-04-17T01:53:00.001-07:002013-04-17T01:53:16.654-07:00Mapping our storiesToday we're going to be using a<a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/" target="_blank"> free online flowchart generator</a> to plan some longer form hypertext fiction.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMKvUKC53hI-TsnCaqRKZJqLgneOIC0mm6il1ivgb65EkAu-LJQxUYhSd3T2qIMnbWcBneBqxUQgn80-G6wO35IeNnX9zrvhCeaiFTQWe4oy87lc5t2hZtx8XyFbSWlkOo9nmnI2ikww/s1600/Flow+chart+screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilMKvUKC53hI-TsnCaqRKZJqLgneOIC0mm6il1ivgb65EkAu-LJQxUYhSd3T2qIMnbWcBneBqxUQgn80-G6wO35IeNnX9zrvhCeaiFTQWe4oy87lc5t2hZtx8XyFbSWlkOo9nmnI2ikww/s320/Flow+chart+screenshot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_374301766"></span>You will need to create an account so you can save.<br />
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My example is<a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/publicSegments/view/516e6254-ac1c-4f89-a469-2d800a00136c/image.jpeg" target="_blank"> here</a></div>
LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-51003730202204291232013-04-10T05:06:00.002-07:002013-04-10T05:06:17.518-07:00The strange case of the disappearing book, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippa_(a_book_of_the_dead)" target="_blank">Agrippa</a>.LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-49005096682779890152013-04-10T05:04:00.000-07:002013-04-11T02:23:19.557-07:00<strong><u>Hypercard and Hypertext Fiction</u></strong><br />
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Today we're going to be looking at the hypercard and hypertext fiction, neither of which really exist anymore.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rtYFgc8u2nsIHZk8O-SX-k8zJ-5N5jyzSvyoieG9Dygj8RYUALcri4rn_k3RE0urLPQ0xToR94JsTSqu_w6e0rV0rnT_8eKYCI5v4rrFmHt8Bl93v1XXfHX5ja2x5Qs9m4Y1ixPwh_k/s1600/cosmic-osmo+screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rtYFgc8u2nsIHZk8O-SX-k8zJ-5N5jyzSvyoieG9Dygj8RYUALcri4rn_k3RE0urLPQ0xToR94JsTSqu_w6e0rV0rnT_8eKYCI5v4rrFmHt8Bl93v1XXfHX5ja2x5Qs9m4Y1ixPwh_k/s320/cosmic-osmo+screenshot.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you want to read more about <strong>Hypercard </strong>you can do it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard" target="_blank">here</a>. Because of the nature of the medium most of the games were either strategy (especially kingdom sims) or adventure games; the most famous adventure to come from the early Hypercard scene was Myst.<br />
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We're going to be looking at <a href="http://www.playalterego.com/" target="_blank">Alter Ego</a>. Warning: depending on the choices you make there are some upsetting scenes.<br />
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<strong>Hypertext</strong> is still with us, it's what allows me to link to the web but is less used for games or fiction. We're going to be exploring <a href="http://www.luminousairplanes.com/" target="_blank">Luminous Airplanes</a>.<br />
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We're going to use the bookmarking and hyperlink features of MS Word to create our own hypertext fiction. See this short example: <a href="file:///N:/My%20Work/Enrichment/Digital%20Writing" target="_blank">Hypertext fiction in Word</a> (internal link).<br />
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You can see our group's first attempts at hypertext fiction here:<br />
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You will need to open these up in Word (not the preview) and enable editing. Press CTRL to click on the links.<br />
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This was my example, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/67a606dq1c7w3fd/Hypertext%20Fiction%20example.docx?m" target="_blank">A Late Night</a><br />
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And this is what the group came up with:<br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/ps5v10x4daifxxg/Adam%20-%20you%20die.docx?m" target="_blank">"You Die!" by Adam</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/6rug4eangx1fdyi/Jack%20-%20Village%20boy.docx?m" target="_blank">"Village Boy" by Jack</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/g0pf50gvztp7eeb/Pip%20-%20the%20problems%20with%20groups.docx?m" target="_blank">"The Problem with Groups" by Pippa</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/wukui74uyy38im4/Sam%20-%20You%20Quest.docx?m" target="_blank">"You Quest" by Sam</a><br />
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Let us know what you think.<br />
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We are planning to create some more complex stories using the same techniques in the coming weeks, watch this space.<br />
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<br />LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-31757729661325677032013-04-10T03:58:00.003-07:002013-04-10T03:58:42.572-07:00Flash Fiction.<br />
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Flash fiction is very short fiction, typically either under 500-1000 words long.<br />
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We're going to post some of our flash fiction here but in the meantime you can see what we mean by visiting <a href="http://flashfictiononline.com/main/" target="_blank">http://flashfictiononline.com/main/</a><br />
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Flash fiction differs from a word sketch or vignette because it must be a self contained story that comes to a satisfying conclusion; in other words it needs a beginning, middle and end.<br />
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For many, me included the first piece of flash fiction preceded the digital world. This story is usually attributed to Ernest Hemingway 'For Sale: Baby Shoes, never worn'. See also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drabble" target="_blank">Drabble</a>.LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285990102091832707.post-37415493572999628052013-04-10T03:51:00.001-07:002013-04-10T03:51:12.867-07:00Digital Fiction at LFATSF<br />
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Digitial Fiction is one of a number of enrichment activities offered to all students on a Wednesday afternoon at Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form.<br />
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What is Digital Fiction?<br />
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For me digital fiction is any form of storytelling which embraces the possibilities of the digital format. So most e-books wouldn't qualify because they are simply books presented in a digital format.<br />
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We've already looked at flash fiction and in the coming weeks will be exploring hypertext and interactive fictions.LRChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10001281436423843123noreply@blogger.com0