CTWR 518 - Interactive Writing

NannieBot Debunkery

Just following up from the discussion in class, here's a thorough discussion picking apart New Scientist's poor journalism.

InfocomBot

My friend Andy just put together InfocomBot, an AIMbot that lets you play a bunch of classic Infocom games via IM. Current available games include: deadline, hitchhikers_guide, leather_goddesses, lurking_horror, planetfall, shade, wishbringer, zork1, zork2, zork3

Woo fun!

For You Adventurers

Tracy adds that you can find the D20 System here:

d20 Home Page

This site maintains the most current versions of the the Open Gaming License, d20 System Reference Document, the Modern System Reference Document, the Arcana System Reference Document, the d20 System Trademark License, the Open Gaming License, and the d20 System Trademark Guide. It also provides answers to frequently asked questions about them (FAQs).

Thoughts on the Writing for Games Section

Man, I'm coming up with a lot of narrative ideas that I think I could make work with game mechanics given the time. But I'm not really pushing my ideas very far because I know that it's probably going to be really difficult to implement. Gamedplay isn't something I want to ignore; it's really hard and therefore I want to work on it that much more. I just wish the gameplay didn't necessarily have to work completely so I could push my writing ideas further.

Firedrill

The firedrill grabbed some of our time this morning, so please continue the game testing analysis below.

Game Testing 4 - IGrads

Game Testing 3 - Hexer

Game Testing 2 - SL&V

Game Testing 1 - Oscar

Sheer Luck Holmes

It has been years since I played CLUE. The formal game play continues to be solid and the premise is interesting for the “Sheer Luck” Holmes in all of us. However, it wasn’t as interesting to play as I remember. There is a theatrical nature to the characters and circumstance that may not hold up to current sensibilities.

Who, where, and how are a strong set of premise driven questions that seem timeless. The process of elimination is a strong formal system that keeps people involved with the game. If you don’t pay attention you will probably not win. Being organized about the gathering of information and strategic about the presentation of questions is also helpful.

Characters moving from room to room seem appropriate to the gathering of clues. I also like the quality of chance incorporated through the use of the die. Each game is also unique by the different combination of cards. However, I’m not keen on the fact that no one knows “who done it”. It would seem that the game could be spicier if someone knew. Perhaps it could be more like the game “Werewolf” that we played in 564 on the first day of class.

In the original game of CLUE the colors of the game pieces related to the names of the characters: Col. Mustard = Yellow, Miss Scarlet = Red, etc. These colorful names were great identifiers of character. It is unfortunate that the new game pieces are multicolored and loose that abstract quality. As a boy I remember being fascinated by the game pieces representing the murder weapon. In a day before “Kill Bill”, these items made my imagination run wild. I even remember the “real rope” being uniquely scaled for the game.

The narrative structure of the game, in spite of the dated quality, still holds solid. The players make up the story as they role-play detective. It would be fun to have more story elements incorporated into the game. It also might be fun to have the players elaborate on the story as they “accuse” the who, where and with what scenario.