Games Writing for Interactive Media. In the Beginning... First game: pong (nonnarative, developed on...

Games

Writing for Interactive Media

In the Beginning . . .

• First game: pong (nonnarative, developed on oscilloscope) Play Early Games

Chris Crawford says a game

• Usually has a “win condition” or at least a challenge and reward (there’s a difference).

• But there are many theories.

• There are narrative and nonnarrative games (examples: solitaire vs. Tomb Raider)

Espen Aarseth says a game has:

• 1) Rules• 2) A game world

(material/semiotic systems)• 3) Gameplay

(events resulting from application of the rules to the game world)

• (even nonnarrative games have this – solitaire)

Janet Murray (neo-Aristotelian):

• “Games are games” and saying they’re narratives ignores the fact that games are a distinct for in and of themselves.

• He points out, for example, that animals play games and they’re not telling stories while they do it.

Espen Aarseth:

• Believes that games can be narrative: that stories can naturally intersect where protagonist and antagonist meet for a challenge.

• The game holds the contest and the story narrates it.

Janet Murray’s Charts

• Murray believes that areas of game and story have both independent and overlapping features.

Janet Murray’s Charts

• Thinking about nondigital overlap cases, in multiple directions, as a comparison.

Janet Murray’s Charts

• Also suggesting that “game” and “story” represent two directions of an axis.

Chris Crawford’s Tips

• What is interactivity?Playing with your dog?Reading a novel?

• “Act” is the key word in interact.It starts with verbs: run, jump, kill, build, feed, talk, die, etc.

• Allow the viewer to have inputAvoid too much “speaking” to the viewer.

Hero’s Journey: Point of View

• First Person: Viewer is the hero (e.g., first-person shooters)

• Second Person: Viewer is projected onto a character who is the hero.

• Third Person: Hero is separate from viewer

Example

First-person narrative viral marketing game(promotes shopping and buying these toys)The Asylum: Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys

• “Plan Your Future Park” in Gotham Gazette.First-person game used as a journalism storyabout public works and park development.

Example

• Burger King’s Subservient Chicken (viral marketing piece) is third person

Example

Third-person narrativefor self-esteem-buildingwww.josietrue.com by video artist Mary Flanagan

DivaStarz third-person narrative toencourage shopping behaviorin young girls.

Educational Games

Also called “Serious Games”

Interactivity in Learning

• Play is foundational to learning (interacting with material versus lectures)

• Interactivity engages the mind more profoundly than any other kind of expression (more than passive observation)

• The computer’s competitive advantage and artistic opportunity is this interactivity.

• Educational Games on the computer work for children under 10 (not advanced enough for older)

Guidelines for Good Interactive Software Development

• Start with verbs. What can my viewer do? The more the better (example: Zoo project)

• Keep it fast.• Give feedback (example:

v1 Pieces of Herself)• Let player act and don’t tell

to much.• Don’t chastise your viewer

(e.g., “Wrong answer!”)• Make everything undoable

—they can try a different way and succeed.

(Cont’d)

• Combine joyful play (exploration) with competitive play (kill or be killed).

• Extremes don’t work: too boring, too intense

• Intensity does not necessarily mean richness (example, a ball is fun to play with as long as it’s going where it wants to go)

• Focus on process rather than facts (quizzes are deadly). Let people PLAY.

• What not to do: Math problems, quizzes, and meaningless puzzles that have to be solved to get to the next place or win.

Questions?

Group Work

Bibliography

• The Art of Interactive Design: A Euphonious and Illuminating Guide to Building Successful Software by Chris Crawford, No Starch Press, 2002.

• First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game by Noah Wardrip-Fruin (Editor), Pat Harrigan (Editor), MIT Press, 2004.