Game vs. Hyperfiction
Jeff
previously...but after reading the FAQ for this list,
I am still
unclear about the differences between Int-fiction and hypertext
fiction (by hypertext fiction I mean stories being developed in Storyspace
or Hypercard or HTML. (none of these are mentioned in the FAQ.)
Are they the same thing, or are there differences? Is int-fiction more
problem/riddle oriented and hypertext fiction generally more closely
rooted in traditional narrative?
(And a side not, please excuse...if Jacob W. is still on this list,
could he e-mail me...I want to say hi and ask about Save Princeton.)
Andrew C. Plotkin
Hyperfiction Je...@phoenix.princeton.e (691)
> I am still
> unclear about the differences between Int-fiction and hypertext
> fiction (by hypertext fiction I mean stories being developed in Storyspace
> or Hypercard or HTML. (none of these are mentioned in the FAQ.)
Mmm, given the examples you're using, the difference is that interactive
fiction gives the reader a chance to interact with how the story
actually develops, while hypertext is interactive only in how the reader
chooses to perceive the (fixed) story.
It's more a matter of approach than of tools. I've seen interactive
fiction done with Hypercard (e.g. Myst), and with HTML
(http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/r/e/rei/WWW/GAME/intro.html).
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
Gareth Rees
> I am still unclear about the differences between Int-fiction and
> hypertext fiction (by hypertext fiction I mean stories being developed
> in Storyspace or Hypercard or HTML. (none of these are mentioned in
> the FAQ.)
>
> Are they the same thing, or are there differences? Is int-fiction
> more problem/riddle oriented and hypertext fiction generally more
> closely rooted in traditional narrative?
There is a continuum of interaction from ordinary fiction through
"adventure games" through to the kind of interactive story-telling that
people at the moment can only dream about. We might rank these artforms
in order of increasing interactivity, somewhat like this (the FAQ has a
similar listing):
Traditional, linear narrative
Postmodern non-linear narrative
Tree fiction ("choose your own adventure")
Fully hypertext narratives
Adventure games
Simulations
Automated interactive story-telling
Virtual reality story-telling
Discussion of hypertext fiction tends to go on in the newsgroup
"alt.hypertext", on the HTLIT mailing list (to subscribe, send e-mail to
"subs...@journal.biology.carleton.ca" with the text "subscribe htlit"
in the body of the message), and on the World Wide Web itself (see the
URL http://is.rice.edu/~riddle/hyperfiction.html). Discussion of
artforms that are more interactive than adventure games is somewhat
perfunctory because no-one really knows how to implement them.
So on rec.arts.int-fiction, we talk about adventure games. What
distinguishes an adventure game from a hypertext narrative is the
attempt to give the reader a large freedom of action, and a lot of
ability to modify the state of the story.
--
Gareth Rees
Kia Mennie
> Discussion of hypertext fiction tends to go on in the newsgroup
> "alt.hypertext", on the HTLIT mailing list (to subscribe, send e-mail to
> "subs...@journal.biology.carleton.ca" with the text "subscribe htlit"
> in the body of the message)
...And I am going to be pedantic and note that it must be `subscribe
ht_lit' or it won't work...
~
> URL http://is.rice.edu/~riddle/hyperfiction.html). Discussion of
> artforms that are more interactive than adventure games is somewhat
> perfunctory because no-one really knows how to implement them.
<ignorance> ...`more interactive artforms'...such as? </i>
<a href ="http://www.eng.carleton.ca/~kmennie">.</a><List-owner, ht_lit>
`...loathing the philistine West and looking to the East as the seat of
civilisation, from there looking back to the West with nostalgia and regret'
Gareth Rees
> ...`more interactive artforms'...such as?
Well, interactive fiction in which the plot is generated at run-time
rather than being pre-programmed in every detail by the author;
interactive fiction with characters whose every actions doesn't have to
be specified in advance but who have limited ability to reason, make
plans and carry out those plans. The FAQ goes into some speculation
along these lines.
--
Gareth Rees