CoreyStruss

Yikes. I am already behind on Portfolio 2. I guess I am too caught up on the thought of Interactive Fiction and all of its possibilites. Although I have been labeled as "a hard critic", I feel that there are many oppurtunities to sieze while studying interactive fiction. I have generally hated every minute of it, but that doesn't mean that I can't contribute a bit. Here is just a small portion of what I given to the IF community:

It all started with my website and how to meet the user compatibilty tests. I learned that the User is the main audience, and I need to satisfy him/her. The website helped me learn this by creating something that would appeal to the public, as well as inform them. I think that my website did just that. It informed my peers about Chan Wook-Park's films, and let them know just how they were, in my opinion. I feel that I got a good opinion from Katie Walker's blog, that helped me hone in on what I needed to improve upon.

Next, I edited the Wikipedia website about lacrosse. What I have changed about the website has withstood the test of time. I feel that I contributed to an important website that is used by all kinds of people. You can read more about it my blog entry.

Next, I edited my very own Wikipedia webpage about the life of the man, the legend, Corey Struss. I talked about goats, frisbees, and even Demi Moore. Basically, I was just testing what would happen if I made a stupid entry on Wikipedia. I later found out that WIkipedia took it down, making room for more professional / serious entries. Teehee.

Up next, I revealed to all of me peers that I am a role-player. I am addicted to games because I usually step into their shoes and become the main character. That's just the way that my imagination works. It's not that I want to be another person, I just want to experience that thoughts and actions of another human being. This is the primary choice to do it.

After concluding a revelation of my own, we actually got into the Interactive Fiction genre. Needless to say, my first experiences in the genre were not very good. I felt that I was restricted to a lot of things that I wanted to do. I am used to being able to roam freely, as in MMORPG's, but my expectations for the IF genre were too high. It turns out that there are rules and regulations to it.

After an unsatisfactory experience with Interactive Fiction, I decided to give "Galatea" a shot. After all, it *is* one of the most acclaimed IF games. After playing it, I realized that it was a complete waste of time. There was no physical interaction, besides talking. And even the dialogue was confusing. I was generally disappointed in "one of the finest IF games to grace this generation".

After experiencing my "low" in the IF genre, I stumbled upon something that uplifted my hopes for the genre. "Photopia" was a game that gave me the freedom I needed. It felt like an MMORPG, kind of like the usual games that I play. I included a humorous storyline, as well as a character I could actually "step in the shoes of". It was a breath of fresh air to the IF genre.

Up next came my playlist (Exercise 2) on interactive fiction. I can honestly say that all of it sucked. At first, I played a game called "Castle Adventure.". It was a game that involved an overhead map of what was going on in the castle. You would move your character by using the arrow keys, yet you would run into unexpected monsters that would cause instant death. (IE Trolls). I didn't like this, because there was no way to solve the actual puzzle without trial and error.

Up next on the playlist of death was "The Four Symbols". Kind of like "Photopia", it gave me new hope in the genre of Interactive Fiction. It included a setting that made me interested (a swamp full of witches) and included a background story that made me inquisitive as to whether the witches that were murdered were guilty or note. Overall, it was a good game, because it set the kind of atmosphere that other IF games just seemed to lack.

The worst game in the history of ever was "The Golden Wombat of Destiny." I can honestly say that I didn't get past the first part. I was stuck in a forest / maze, and there were no clues as to how to get out. Grr. I was upset when I couldn't even beat a computer in a test of knowledge.

The last IF game that I played was also a horrendous one. Needless to say, I didn't end the IF section of "Writing for Internet" on a good note. I played a game called "The Golden Flute". What can I say? I'm interested in bards. I later realized that this game didn't have anything to do with them. I was upset, because every time I tried to advance the storyline, I would die, because my party of pixies and princes would die. Argh... Can't I do anything right?

Lastly, I blogged a richly linked blog entry on all of my IF experience. Although it contains links to thje worst games in the history of ever, I feel that it represents my stance on the IF genre.

Next, the comments:

Comment Grande - I gave Jeremy a few tips to look upon when he is designing his IF game.
Comment Primo Here is where I gave Erin some insight on my job as a professional cart attendant. I feel that she will get a lot out of my comment. :)

Now, it's time to get BUCKWILD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

My blog about "explaining" things in the business world.

Posted by CoreyStruss at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have always had a fascination with the Star Wars series. From my youth, until now, I have probably seen each movie about 10 times. When I realized just how cool Star Wars was, I picked up the game “Star Wars: Galaxies”, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It made the series much more expansive to me, revealing history and depth to the story. That is why I want my game to be a spin-off of the Star Wars series.
You will start off as a young man on a desolate island, with just your padawan robes on, and a lightsaber in your hip-pocket. After the character makes a certain amount of moves, a hologram appears in front of him, and it turns out to be Jedi Master Kit Fisto. Thus, the story begins. Master Fisto informs you that your home-world, Dathomir, is being overrun by the imperials!
Kit says that a spice ship will be coming to the planet you are on, somewhere on this island. You should probably hitch a ride with them. As the player explores his surroundings, and after a certain number of moves, the player will hear a ship land, not very smoothly, on the island. Not one single person comes out to greet you. You approach the ship cautiously, aware that your force powers can sense nobody in the ship. You climb up the ladder, to find that the whole crew has been murdered from what appears to be a Kashyyk War-Blade. If there was a wookie on this ship, you would sense it.
The player will go to the control panel, where it lists a handful of planets and their relative coordinates. You must input the coordinates for Dathomir into the console, in order for the story to progress. As you are about to get off this deserted rock, you hear a noise. A sith apprentice has been waiting your arrival as he speaks to you. He turns off his stealth camouflage, and unveils his double-sided blade. You pull out your lightsaber, and the fight of good vs. evil begins…

Posted by CoreyStruss at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Exposition in Interactive Fiction

"Putting long stretches of narrative prose into the mouth of the IF narrator will not turn a great puzzle-fest into even a passable story."

This is a quote I can agree with. As we began our interactive fiction unit, I felt that the more you write, the more comprehensible the game will be to the player. I found this to be anything but the truth. At least for me, the more in depth the author makes the game, the more confusing it will be. Take Galatea for example. It was a good idea, and it was built with intelligent creativity, but it didn't hit home. I was confused and thrown off course by its over the top amount of detail, and incomprehensible vocabulary.

From watching Dr. Jerz in class, when he is programming some of his shorter games in class, I know that long-stretches of prose is not necessary. He makes his response to the user short, concise, and direct. He makes it work very well, because he knows that IF gamers want a story, where they can interact as much as possible, without the restraints of lines upon lines of text.

Posted by CoreyStruss at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At the start of the interactive fiction unit, I thought I would have a ball with it. I mean, I love to role-play, and it takes up a lot of my time. You can probably comprehend my love for role-playing through my blog entry all about it. One of the reasons that I love to role-play, is getting the chance to be someone that you are unable to be in real life. It's all about imagination.

Unfortunately, my experience with interactive fiction lacked imagination and creativity. At first I played a game called Pick up the phone and die, which I was a bit skeptical about at first. I guess I had a right to be skeptical. The game just sucked. It was frustrating, and didn't allow me to expand on my open-mindedness. I hated the way that there was only *one* single way to win the game. I'm the kind of person that likes trial and error. I can never get anything on the first try.

Next up, I played 9:05. I also greatly disliked this one. I was chugging along, doing my thang, and excelling in the game. Out of nowhere, Dr. Jerz tells the class that this game could be won in the first few moves. Again, I hate that. I want depth out of a game. I don't want to play a game that has a stupid gimmick to gain popularity. Grr.

Up next on my playlist from hell, was Galatea. From my analysis, you can infer that it was the most confusing game out of the ones I played. I think that it could have been good, had I known what was going on. I know that I was talking to a statue the whole time, but that was kind of a turnoff. The game wasn't very interactive, on a physical note. I didn't get to move around or anything, and that was what made it boring.

Just as I thought I things couldn't get better, they did with Photopia. I played, and played some more, and gladly wrote about it. I actually made headway in the story. It didn't involve a "magic-word" theory, where there is one word, and one word only to progress the story. It let my open my mind a bit, and free my thoughts. I felt that it wasn't overly restrictive. Photopia also had dialogue that I could relate to, as an 18-year old male. When role-playing, I am not afraid to use modern dialogue. IF games should be modernized as well.

Lastly, I constructed my playlist. To start off, I played a Castle Adventure. It was different. Instead of writing responses to situations, there was an overhead view of your character. You would use the arrow keys to move him in and out of situations. For instance, there was a situation where the candle-holders on the wall were all one color, except for one. I went over to it, touched it, and it revealed a spiral staircase. It was interesting in that you could actually see what your character was doing, but it also had its drawbacks. The author created the game so that the only way to win, was to follow one direct path. If you strayed from this path, you would die. Again, I can never solve anything on the first try. I use the trial and error method. In this game, if you made an error, you would suffer the ultimate consquence: death!

I advanced to my next game, called The Four Symbols. It created an atmosphere like no other interactive fiction game I had played. I actually felt like I was the character. Now that is role-playing. The story wasn't half bad either - investigating the deaths of some witches that drowned. Scary!

The Golden Wombat of Destiny was like driving a car with a boot on it. I couldn't get anywhere. I can't really say much about it, when every move that I took, I would die. I can't play an interactive fiction game that doesn't allow the player to interact.

So there you have it. My experience with these interactive fiction games has been less than enjoyable. From playing these few games, I am under the impression that the IF genre doesn't like to let players have complete freedom. I think I'll just stick to MMORPG's, thank you very much. They seem to be much more interactive, and just plain fun.

Posted by CoreyStruss at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Castle Adventure

This was a 15 minute waste of time. I went to the website, and browsed the "Fantasy" genre. I figured that a good interactive fiction game could be made using a fantasy theme, so I tried Castle Adventure. Why not? I like castles, and I like adventures. I ran the game through MS-DOS, and was immediately foreign to the whole interface of the game. Instead of having the game typed out in front of you, and you responding with text, there was an overhead view of your character (a crosshair) and you would have to move him around. I went to a few rooms, explored different levels of the castle, via a hidden spiral staircase, and got gobbled up by an ogre. WTF? At one point in the game, and it was pretty far into the game, I had a choice of going east or west: To my dismay, going west resulted in getting eaten by a horde of ogres... GRRR! It just seems as if the author of the game wants the player to make the right decision every time. It was as if there was no room for trial and error. Sorry, but I just can't play that way.

The Four Symbols

This game was much different than the one I played last. You start outside your home, inspecting it. It looks real trashy and run-down. I then went Northwest, and found myself in the pond area. I unearthed a wooden ducking stool, where the villagers used to drown witches. Scary! Just from this part, I knew that the game had created a certain atmosphere that appealed to me. From my experiences, IF games typically struggle with doing this. I would give this game a very high rating, because it swayed my opinion on IF games. I stepped into the main characters shoes, and got to role-play! :)

The Golden Wombat of Destiny

The Golden Wombat of Destiny sucked. It had a cool name, but it just emphasized the notion to never, and I repeat never judge a book by it's cover. You start out in this 'mangrove swamp', and you can't move, because the branches are in your way. After trying for about 10 minutes to make one progressive move, I gave up. It was a good idea to start the game with a puzzle, but it didn't work out for me. I wanted to know about this *golden wombat*, and maybe how I got in stuck in this swampy mess. This was not a good IF game to play for a person who already despises the whole IF world. (me) :-D

The Golden Flute

Grr... I am having no luck with interactive fiction. This game starts you out on a magical chariot, and your travelling companions include 3 elvaan,1 satyr, 2 fairies, the queen of the sprites, and a wizard. I was ready to have a rave with all these crazy fools. Then I started the actual game. I think the goal was to get to the castle, with your party in tact and in one piece. But, the catch is, that it is impossible to get there! Hooray! Every direction I went, the chariot would crash! ARGH!!! Then it would go on to say "You lose this time. It took you 1 moves to lose." Is it just me, or does the author WANT you to lose? God. Just give me a game where I can catch on to the main storyline in the first few minutes. Thats all I want... please...

I HATE INTERACTIVE FICTION. >.>

Posted by CoreyStruss at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Photopia was nothing like Galatea. It was smart, funny, and if felt like I really stepped into the shoes of the main character.

By smart, I mean that it understood what I had to say. There wasn't a "magic word" to move on in the story. There were different ways to move on in the story, and not hit the nail right on the head. It was flexible to me, and that is exactly what I needed after playing Galatea. Galatea was pretty dumb. You basically just had to ask the statue about what she said, time after time.

By funny, well, you probably know what I mean. There was humor thrown into the mix, in order to break up the tension / drama. It was also mysterious, in certain ways. I felt compelled to 'beat' the game; a feeling I haven't felt since starting the interactive fiction unit.

The best thing about Photopia was that it actually felt like I was the main character. I made him do things that I would do in the same situations, and sometimes he would actually do it. I also liked the way that character used dialogue that a typical 18-year old kid would use (slang, obscenities, etc.) I could actually *role-play* in this game. That automatically makes it a keeper in my book!

Posted by CoreyStruss at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'll state the obvious. Galatea is a well-written program, that actually takes a little bit of thought to play. But that's just it. When I want to play an online game, I want to kill some time, and end up winning (it boosts my confidence).

The fact is, I couldn't win this game. It was hard to understand, and realize who was talking / what you were talking to. At one point, after about 15 minutes of no progress, I got mad. I went to the cheats and walkthroughs for it, and wanted to be brutal. I went with the good 'ol brute force method by knocking her flat on her bum. Lemme tell ya, that relieved some tension.

When I make my IF game, I will know what not to make it like: Galatea. It felt like I was running in circles with hammer-smashed knee caps. From what I could tell, there was no 'good' ending to the game. Any way you come out, you will come out from playing Galatea on the bottom.

Posted by CoreyStruss at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)