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English 309 Term Work

Colossal Cave Adventure Reaction

The World of Interactive Fiction
Interactive fiction is a new and strange world to me.  When I was younger I games that were big on graphics like Nintendo and Sega, but never heard of interactive fiction until this year.

Interactive Fiction Likes

  • Lack of graphics and colors.  It is "simply" entertaining. 

  • The game's witty responses.  It's not often that a computer can make me laugh. 

  • Unexpected occurrences.  You never know what may
    happen next, so be prepared!

Interactive Fiction Dislikes 

  • There are a lot of directions to follow.
  • The game does not understand all commands, which can be frustrating.  However, this can also be the fun part--trying to crack the code.

Playing Interactive Fiction
Playing IF was a new experience for me.  There is no running, jumping, or fighting.  There is only typing.  I first thought that IF would be boring since there is nothing to look at.  However, depending upon the wit of the programmer, it can be a lot of fun.  IF is based upon intellect, not amusing colors and graphics. 

Problem Encountered in the Colossal Cave Adventure
 I did not read the directions--simple as that.  I could not get the game to respond to me until I read the directions and figured out that if I typed in compass directions (N, S, W, E) I could actually do something.  Previously every time I commanded the game to go into the stream or forest it would say "You can see no such thing".   After I read the directions I could play (as an aspiring technical writer I should know better). 

I would have been completely screwed and never gotten anywhere if directions for how to reach the cave had not been provided.  But, like the directions say, this game was created in the 70's and we don't have a chance without a few instructions. 

Tricks to Interactive Fiction
Here are some helpful hints I discovered while playing the Colossal Cave Adventure:

  • Read the directions.  I like to skip ahead to the fun part, but in this game you do not get anywhere without reading the directions.
  • Be creative.  If a command you type in does not work try another form of that word.
  • There are web pages available to help you.  Colossal Cave Adventure has a page of hints for frequent problems users encounter.

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 Week 3 Reading Response

The readings for this week were quite difficult.  Computer and internet terminology is difficult to understand by itself, but I found it especially difficult since it was discussed as a theory.  The links below lead to my response to each of the author's text.

Aarseth        Bush        Killian         Landow        McGann    

Espen J. Aarseth's Cybertext was a very difficult text for me.  The introduction of so many new terms was very confusing. I think the most important thing that I got out of chapters 1 and 4 is that hyperfictions "do not allow readers free browsing," unlike regular books.   The author does not have control of what a reader chooses to look at because the reader can simply skip over it.  It would be helpful to me if we could discuss the differences between hypertext and cybertext in class.

Bush's As We May Think was particularly interesting to me considering that it was written in 1946--before the world of hypertext existed.  Bush comes up with many valid theories in his essay, the evidence being that many of the ideas he mentioned do in fact exist today, such as the polaroid camera, credit cards, and computer.  Bush was able to clearly see how the methods of science worked and how these methods were going to evolve through discovery and invention. He explicitly describes what was to be named the internet in years to come, naming specific functions and benefits of the internet, "any given book of his library can thus be called up and consulted with far greater facility than if it were taken from a shelf" that exist today.  It is amazing to see that someone from the year of 1946could so easily see the inventions of the future.

Crawford Kilian's Writing for the Web is a very helpful guide for writing for the web (as the title states).  This book is an excellent source for writing clearly and efficiently for the web, and is a good review of all the practices that should be used when writing for the web.  Kilian brings up things that I sometimes forget when writing for the web such as writing in the active voice.

George P. Landow's Hypertext was much easier to read than Aarseth's Cybertext.  The definitions were much clearer.  For example, Aarseth vaguely defines hypertext as a medium of text, while Landow provides several definitions and descriptions as to what hypertext is such as a form of electronic text that is non-sequential writing, which can branch and allows choices to the reader.  I think Landow made many of the same points Aarseth did, but in a much clearer way.  The most intriguing part of the reading from Landow is his discussion of the way in which hypertext is read--it is the reader's choice, not the author's choice.  I am going to keep this in mind in the future when creating web pages.  

Jerome McGann's The Rationale of Hypertext focuses on the shift from books to computerized text, and mainly points out the limitations of using codex materials for research.  He makes several good points--using the internet is now so much easier and efficient than using books today because of availability, extra enhancements such as songs, and expanding editions.  However, McGann also notes a couple drawbacks to computerized text such as copyright laws and incorporating digitized images.  

McGann states that "computerized edition can store vastly greater quantities of documentary materials, and it can be built to organize, access, and analyze those materials not only more quickly and easily, but at depths no paper-based edition could hope to achieve. At the moment these works cannot be made as cheaply or as easily as books. But very soon, I am talking about a few years, these electronic tools will not only be far cheaper, they will also be commonplace."

I think that McGann is right about codex evolving to hypertext.  Looking back on how much printing and publishing practices have changed over the years it is very possible that one day all texts will be electronic.

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Week 5 Reading Response

 Galatea               Photopia             Fine-Tuned

Emily Short's essay about Galatea
Emily Short's essay explores what she tried to do when writing "Galatea."  Short says  that "the text is what the player makes it; responsibility for authorship itself lies somewhere between me and the player."  Short tries to satisfy the players' expectations, rather than make them try to read her (the author's) mind. 

However, Short does not mention what her intention with the game was, other than to make it play satisfactory.  This bothers me, and I suppose it bothers other people to,  because I like to know what the ending is and I only want one ending.  The fact that Short had no intentions of creating one specific ending that allows players to "beat" a game is frustrating, but her intention of creating a game that people enjoy playing is successful.

Adam Cadre's Photopia PhAQ
First of all, I was wondering where Adam Cadre came up with all of the components in "Photopia."  In this interview Cadre mentions several influencing outside sources that mixed together to create the whole of his work.  I was surprised at the variety of sources he used to create a single game, but the fact that the game bounces from reality to fantasy illustrates how he used all of the different sources.  I liked the color scheme because the colors separated the different scenes of the game, but also provided a constant theme. 

The main thing that I noticed after reading these two texts is the contrast between "Photopia" and "Galatea."  One thing that really separated "Photopia" from "Galatea" is that  "the player has little power to affect the events of the story" in "Photopia." You play "Photopia" working through events in order to find out the story, rather than having a hand in the outcome.  In "Galatea" the PC has a hand in the outcome.  I also find it interesting that Cadre intended "Photopia" to have a kind of moral lesson that teaches people to love their children and make their lives as good as possible because "the death of a loved child is tragic. But the life of an unloved child is more tragic still." Life is precious and Cadre attempts to show that with this IF game.  

 Fine-Tuned
"Fine-Tuned" was very aggravating.  We were told to play up to chapter four and I don't think I even got past chapter one.  This game was much like the other games, using wit to keep the PC entertained.  However, this did not last very long for me.  After about the third time of not putting on the parking brake, or not starting the motors I got tired of it.  I was trying to get to the train station, but never made it anywhere.  I drove around and tried to talk to people, but they kept going into the woods, and I could not figure out how to get into the woods.  I just ended up getting killed because I decided to throw myself out of the moving car.  That pretty much sums up my experience with "Fine- Tuned". 

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Kelly Marcks, 3 Dec 2002