Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:04:00 GMT
Alabaster is a new interactive fiction game from Emily Short and various other authors that takes place in the world of Snow White. In the game you’ve been asked by the Queen to execute Snow White in the woods and bring back her heart in a box. Snow White, however, has another plan. Now that you’re out in the woods and alone with Snow White, which of the two women do you trust?
There’s a lot in this game to be interested in, starting with the game’s dark fairy tale setting and the themes that the game touches upon throughout the course of your conversation with Snow White. Secondly, there is the conversation system itself – it’s designed by Short, who laid out some of the concepts behind the system in her article about conversation in games. Alabaster also utilizes simple procedural illustration to lend a little more depth to the story without showing up the player’s imagination.
Finally, the creation of the game was rather unique in and of itself – although Emily Short wrote the introduction of the game, the conversation pieces, or “quips” were written by numerous contributors (John Cater, Rob Dubbin, Eric Eve, Elizabeth Heller, Jayzee, Kazuki Mishima, Sarah Morayati, Mark Musante, Adam Thornton, and Ziv Wities) and then tied together stylistically at the end of the development. The result is 18 different endings and over 400 quips, many of which have alternate versions, depending on the situation. The entire conversation tree is available for download, along with the game’s source code.
But is the game a success? Well, my early impressions of the game is very favorable. The story and writing are, naturally, very good. I love the idea of unraveling characters through conversation and the way you must use this information to ultimately make a decision to trust one person or another. Short’s conversation system is adequately complex, too, although the recurring problem in IF games – namely, how do I phrase what I want to say so that the interpreter understands it – is there. Conversational hints and the “CHANGE THE SUBJECT” action are very useful, but I’m still slightly resentful of them (they can be turned up or down). Still, this system is a step forward from the other (admittedly few) IF games I’ve played, and the story is well-worth following through.
TIGdb: Entry for Alabaster
Posted in Macintosh, Interactive Fiction, Windows, Freeware | Tags EmilyShort | 27 comments
Posted by Paul Eres
Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:53:00 GMT
Photopia by Adam Cadre is probably his most famous interactive fiction. It was released in 1998 for an IF contest (which it won). I don’t play IF games that often because their puzzles can often be maddeningly obscure, but this is an exception, and is one of my favorite games—it’s not a typical IF game.
As much as I hate when others say this, Photopia is a game that it’s best to go into unprepared for, without knowing what to expect. Expectations can affect the experience. But I’ll at least say that it’s short, very well-written, that it involves only a single puzzle, and that it’s linear. If that isn’t your cup of tea, ignore this post. There are a lot of things about it which don’t make sense until the end. The nature of its single puzzle and its ending are the things people tend to remember about it.
Cadre’s other IF are worth checking out too—he personally feels that his best work is Varicella (also found on that same page), because it is a full world and Photopia is more of a short story, but Photopia is probably better for the casual IF user since it’s less difficult to get into.
TIGdb: Entry for Photopia
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Interactive Fiction, Highly Recommended, Freeware | Tags AdamCadre | 33 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 14 May 2009 12:45:00 GMT
Interactive fiction writer and pioneer Emily Short has a regular column at GameSetWatch called “Homer in Silicon.” In her latest column, titled “Sub-Façade,” she describes some ways to approach conversation modeling in games. The name comes from the game Façade.
Conversation is such an important part of real life, and yet in games it doesn’t seem like it’s discussed very much (at least outside of the IF community). It’s not too surprising – real conversation is an extremely complex and nuanced form of communication that is affected by all kinds of internal and external stimuli. In most games, it’s not only unnecessary to have realistic communication, but also extremely time-consuming to implement (indeed, since you would be essentially inventing the wheel), and probably a hindrance to the player as well.
That said, games are the perfect place to explore conversation (or anything, really). And who better to open up the discussion to the general public than Ms. Short, who has authored many award-winning interactive fiction games that focus on conversation. I thought this was a fascinating article that earns bonus points for containing the phrase “atomic quip.”
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Community, Developers | Tags EmilyShort | 46 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:55:00 GMT
Judith is a new game collaboration between Terry Cavanagh (Don’t Look Back, Pathways) and Stephen “increpare” Lavelle (Rara Racer, Opera Omnia). If the above screenshot makes you want to play, then you should play, by God! It’s good.
TIGdb: Entry for Judith
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Macintosh, Interactive Fiction, Highly Recommended, Windows | Tags increpare, TerryCavanagh | 122 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:48:00 GMT
Dead Like Ants is another unique Interactive Fiction game from C.E.J. Pacian, the creator of Gun Mute (2008 XYZZY Award winner for Best Puzzles). I don’t play enough IF to even pretend that I have any authority on it, but Pacian has always struck me as having a very strong written voice. DLA ranks up there for me – the theme is carried confidently through the game mechanics and writing, which is economical but also very evocative. Plus, insects are radsauce.
TIGdb: Entry for Dead Like Ants
Posted in Macintosh, Interactive Fiction, Highly Recommended, Linux, Windows | Tags Pacian | 5 comments
Posted by Xander
Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:20:00 GMT
Blueful is a short story by Aaron.A.Reed, designed to act as a prelude for his IF adventure Blue Lacuna. The interesting quirk of Blueful is that it takes place over a number of different websites which you navigate through your browser. It adds a certain amount of reality to the story, though sadly it does degrade the experience when a couple of the links refuse to work anymore (though a clever ‘word’ system is in place so you can skip broken chapters and carry on to the next link), however the sheer inventiveness of it all makes it worth the trouble. The ending especially sounds interesting, but whether I can even get it remains to be seen. I’m afraid closure is something you’ll have to wait for.
I’d suggest ignoring a lot of the ‘reaction’ comments on both websites if that kind of ‘This will change my life. Honestly, Thank you!’ testimonial grinds you the wrong way, but truthfully its a tough story to not enjoy given the clear amount of effort that was put into it. It’s very well thought out, and if it was partly designed to get me interested in the more complex follow-up Blue Lacuna I’d have to say its worked on me. Look forward to a review soon!
(Thanks to Fuzz in the forums!)
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Adventure, Abstract | 23 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:12:00 GMT
To quote Pacian:
I’m not affiliated with this competition (although I am planning on entering it), but it’s doing something interesting and I think it could use a little more exposure.
EnvComp, as those trendy kids in the IF community have abbreviated it, is looking for Interactive Fiction games with, and I quote, “interesting or unusual settings”.
Phrased like that it doesn’t sound too exciting, but then you remember that you won’t have to provide any graphics for the world you create, and you also remember how many IF games over the past couple of decades have been first rate mind-fucks. I think this competition could, if enough people set their minds to it, produce some of the most astounding landscapes you’ll see – uh, or read in a game in 2009.
EnvComp started officially on 15th December, and entries have to be submitted by 15th March. Submissions will be judged by an all-star panel of 13 IF authors. There’s more details, including the rules and guidelines for entering, on its IFWiki page.
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Developers, Competitions | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:18:00 GMT
The entries for the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition are now available for download, either individually, or as a torrent. The deadline for voting is November 15th.
(Thanks, Pacian!)
[edit] A number of bloggers in the Interactive Fiction community have been reviewing the games – courtesy of Emily Short, a list of people doing write-ups is available after the jump!
Read more...
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Community, Competitions | 3 comments
Posted by Terry
Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:08:00 GMT
For the last two months or so, Interactive Fiction veteran Emily Short has been running a cover art drive. The basic idea is that attaching something visual, like a cover, to various works of Interactive Fiction would make it easier for sites (like ours, I guess) to promote the brilliant and very overlooked interactive fiction scene to a wider audience. It’s gone pretty well – including alternates, there are currently 98 submitted covers in the photostream (some examples are included in the side image), but there are still quite a few games outstanding.
I know there are officially only a few days left, but after seeing all the artistic talent on display in tonight’s iScribble session I figured that there are probably quite a few people reading this that could help out with a final push! To take part, all you have to do is create a cover like the ones on the side for any interactive fiction game and send it to Emily. A good place to start would be this post on her blog which lists a few games which have requested cover art but haven’t gotten any yet. Even if you’re not familiar with those games (or any interactive fiction), I’m sure someone on the forums would be more than happy to give you a synopsis or describe a scene. Full details about the project (including detailed clarifications) are collected here. As of right now, here are the games still looking for cover art:
- A Dino’s Night Out, by Aris Katsaris
- Breath Pirates, by Mike Snyder (to replace existing art)
- Goldilocks is a FOX!, by J.J. Guest (to replace existing art)
- House of Dream of Moon, by IF Whispers
- Learning to Cross, by Mark J. Musante
- Legerdemain, by Nathan Jerpe
- Luminous Horizon, by Paul O’Brian
- Revenger, by Robb Sherwin (to replace existing art)
- Tales of the Traveling Swordsman, by Mike Snyder (to replace existing art)
- Waystation, by Stephen Granade
- Wearing the Claw, by Paul O’Brian
There are officially only three days left, so if you’re interested, get cracking! |  |
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Community | Tags EmilyShort | 9 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:52:00 GMT
The desert sand squirms beneath your feet, alive with mutant nanomachines. Sheriff Clayton has Elias. He’s hanging him at noon.
It looks like you’re going to have to shoot some people.
So begins Gun Mute, a new interactive fiction game from Pacian, the developer of Snowblind Aces, a Text the Halls favorite.
And yeah, you’re definitely going to do a lot of shooting in this game, which may seem out of place for a text adventure. Non-linear exploration and item collection/usage are kind of the hallmarks of your “typical” IF, but in Gun Mute there are only two directions – forward and backward – and the only item you’ll ever need is your trusty six-shooter (ain’t that the truth!).
That Pacian can craft some tricky puzzles around such a limited set of actions is a testament to his abilities as a game designer. But it’s the narrative, set in a far-out futuristic Western, that keeps you hooked until the final, climactic showdown. Games like this really show off why interactive fiction is such a unique and exciting genre. Superb work!
EDIT: And if you’re stuck anywhere, you can type ‘HINT’ for hints.
Posted in Macintosh, Interactive Fiction, Highly Recommended, Linux, Windows, Freeware | Tags Pacian | 24 comments
