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italicize the picture captions
upload additional pictures found in family photo album over Thanksgiving break
downsize spread-out pictures (groups of three) so they fit three across on smaller browser (mine is 17 inches)
use the “target=" blank"” command for links to pages not created by me
reformat pages to correctly display in alternatives browsers (again, this is an issue because I designed the whole thing through Firefox on my 17 in screened laptop)
add the missing > to the end of the picture tags, which will correct the paragraph/font issue
Why, you arrogant,
disrespectful little brat! You’ve got some nerve…Insolence towards a professor
is a punishable offense.
Choose from a set of three excuses:
1) I found the map in the library, sir. I was on my way to bring it to Mr. Filch. I heard Peeves tormenting him down the hallway before you “appeared”.
2) I….I….I can’t control what the map says, sir. I didn’t create it. Fred and George gave it to me. I think they purchased it from Zonko’s.
3) (holding back snickers) Lighten up, professor.
Snape’s responses to your excuses:
Response 1:
“Sure you were....Potter, you should well remember that I have a near-constant store of Veritaserum and can reveal the truth whenever I wish. Rest assured, if you’re lying to me, I’ll know it.” Snape storms off, still clutching the map.
Now Snape is in the dungeons
Response 2:
“I know your penchant for causing trouble, Potter, as does nearly the entire Wizarding world. Take your purse and head back to your quarters immediately. If I catch you wandering the corridors this late again, the consequences could be dire. And I’m not referring to what I might do to you. These are dangerous times we live in…Keep your wits about you and stay out of where you don’t belong….which is a lot of places.”
Ominously, Snape walks slowly down the hallway. Now you are more suspicious than ever.
Now Snape is in the dungeons.
Response 3:
“I DO NOT NEED TO LIGHTEN UP!!!WHY DOES EVERYONE TELL ME THAT!!Just because I’m pale, dress all in black, constantly look pissed off, have a tortured past, listen to crappy bleeding heart pseudo-punk music, wear my greasy hair down in front of my face, and like the dark does NOT mean I’m emo!!!!
Snape suddenly clutches his head in agony. ‘80 points from Gryffindor!’ he shouts as he abruptly turns from you and walks off towards the dungeons. You can hear him humming “Screaming Infidelities” softly under his breath.
Now Snape is in the dungeons.
“What’s his deal?” says a nearby picture of a man with a twirly mustache and cane.
After all responses:
Your mind is spinning as you gather your thoughts about your encounter with Snape. Why was he so defensive? What happened to his forehead? Had Snape been up to no good or attacked? And what was up with that look on his face when he mentioned your mother? You decide to find Hermione and Ron and discuss.
To the north is the portal to the Gryffindor common room.
Descriptions of various sinister looking items.
Discover a picture of Lily in the desk-which is locked.
In the room there is a vial containing swirling red wispy smoke. Hermione and Ron wonder what it is.
Harry thinks it bears a resemblance to pensieve thoughts. The only penseive you know of is in Dumbledore’s office.
Dumbledore’s office:
(there is a puzzle to get inside)
Have portraits of the various professors talk to you.
The penseive is locked in a cabinet. Ask one of the portraits who to open it.-opens with a phoenix song.
Fawks flies in (he remains at the portrait of his master). He sings-the cabinet opens.
You dump the red smoke into the Penseive-and various excerpts from “the prince’s tale” play before you.
Afterwords, Harry is horrified. Hermione and Ron have responses as well.
End game.
include Basic Screen
Effects by Emily Short.
When play begins, say "It
is the beginning of 7th year. You, Ron and Hermione, though still continuing
their search for the Horcruxes, have decided to return to Hogwarts. Severus
Snape has been appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts . No one but you, Draco, and
the rest that were on top of the tower that one night know about Snape’s
connection to Dumbledore’s death. When you heard that he was appointed
headmaster, you insisted that the group return to keep a watchful eye on him.
Surely he must be up to something. It is
the beginning of term. You, against Hermione and Ron’s advice, have gone to
patrol the hall, only to discover Hermione's concealing beaded hand bag lying
on the ground. You are heading back towards the common room to return it."
The 7th floor hallway of Hogwarts is a room.
The description is "you are heading towards the Gryffindor common room. It is
1’clock in the morning. Barely-lit torches and suits of armour line the stone
walls. You hear distant sounds. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, yet an
uneasy feeling seems to grip your stomach."
instead of listening when
the player is in the 7th floor hallway, say "[one
of]It's just Mrs.Norris's claws.[or]It's
just Peeves making Filch's life a living hell.[or] you
hear whispers through the walls.[at random]"
The player carries
Hermione's concealing beaded handbag.
The handbag is a closed
openable container. Understand "bag" or "purse" as the
handbag.
In the handbag are the
invisibility cloak, your wand, and the Maurader's Map.
The description of the
cloak is "It is very old, yet has no signs of wear and tear. The
cloak is an ancient family heirloom passed down to you by you late father. It
has saved your life many times, AND HAS GOTTEN YOU OUT OF CONFRONTATIONS. The
cloak is one-of-a-kind. Wasn't there mention of a special invisibility cloak in
'The Tales of Beetle the Bard?'"
The description of the
Maurader's Map is "This map was created by your father James, your godfather
Sirius, and his friends Lupin and Peter. It not only shows all entrances and
exits out of the castle, but can tell you where all people in the castle are,
whether they be invisible, ghost, animagi, or human."
The description of the
wand is "It is an 11' Holly wand that contains a phoenix feather.
It's brother wand belongs to the Dark Lord. When the two wands come in contact,
they become extremely powerful. The Dark Lord believes your wand posesses some
special power, and will stop at nothing to get yours. Keep an eye on it."
Snape is a man. Snape is
in the dungeons.
the description of Snape
is "Snape has greasy black hair and a long black cloak that
seems to encompass his whole body. There is a large, bloody, painful-looking
cut across his forehead."
Instead of taking
something that is in the handbag for the first time:
say "Before you can open it, Snape appears.
Potter, what are you
doing roaming the castle after curfew? Surely you know that these are dangerous
times we live in. You wouldn’t want your mother’s sacrifice to be in vain, now
would you?
";
wait for any key;
say "At
the mention of your mother, a peculiar look appears on Snape’s face, a mix of
agony and longing. You remember that
during a previous incident two years ago during Occlumency training, you saw
Snape call your mother a 'mudblood', the most offensive word in the wizarding
world. If he had hated your mother so much, then what was that look for? You
decide to discusss this question later with Hermione.
";
wait for any key;
say "'Well
Potter, I'm waiting.'";
now Snape is in the 7th floor hallway.
Instead of taking
something in the presence of Snape, say "His gaze freezes your
nerves. You cannot move."
[snape conversation]
Table of Topics and
Responses
topic response
"cloak" "it's sparkly, leftover
from my days as a lounge singer"
instead of asking snape
about "cut/forehead":
say "a
defensive look spreads across Snape's face. 'The contents of one of my potions
cabinets fell on top of me. Don't let me catch you wnaderin the halls again.
Next time, I will not be so kind.' Snape runs off towards the dungeons, his
black cape billowing impressively behind him. ";
Now Snape is in the
dungeons.
instead of asking snape
about "hair":
say "Snape
gets defensive. 'It is a scalp condition. I've tried everything: mouse, gel,
pomade, even Afrosheen. 50 points from Gryffindor for your cheekiness.' Snape
scowls towards the lower levels. You see him check his hair out in one of the
hallway mirrors and sigh.";
Now Snape is in the
dungeons.
Instead of asking Snape
about something:
repeat through Table of Topics and Responses
begin;
if the topic understood includes topic entry
begin;
say "[response
entry][paragraph break]";
rule succeeds;
end if;
end repeat;
say "That
is irrelevant. You should keep your nose out of other people's buisness. The
consequences MAY.BE.DIRE!!!125 points from Gryffindor."
Instead of doing something
with the map in the presence of Snape: say "the purse unexpectantly
clammers to the floor and the Maurader's Map falls out before Snape.[paragraph
break]";
say "Snape
snatches up the map, points his wand at the object and yells 'Aparecium!' He
carefully opens the map, on which tiny lettering has appeared: ";
wait for any key;
say "[paragraph
break]'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs can't believe that
Snivellus is still as slimy and greasy-looking as ever and probably hasn't
washed his hair since his 7th year at Hogwarts.'[paragraph break]";
wait for any key;
say "Snape
responds: 'Why, you arrogant, disrespectful little brat! You’ve got some
nerve…Insolence towards a professor is a punishable offense.'[paragraph
break]
You stand wide-eyed with
shock. You'd better come up with a good excuse.[paragraph break]";
say "Three
options occur to you. You can tell Snape about finding the map, you can tell
Snape about Fred and George, or you can tell Snape to lighten up."
Instead of telling Snape
about "map/the map/finding the map":
say "You say 'I found the map in the library, sir. I was on my
way to bring it to Mr. Filch. I heard Peeves tormenting him down the
hallway.";
wait for any key;
say "Sure
you were....Potter, you should well remember that I have a near-constant store
of Veritaserum and can reveal the truth whenever I wish. Rest assured, if
you’re lying to me, I’ll know it.' Snape storms off still clutching the
map.";
Now Snape is in the
dungeons.
Instead of telling Snape
about "Fred and George":
say "'I….I….I can’t control what the map says, sir. I didn’t
create it. Fred and George gave it to me. I think they purchased it from
Zonko’s.'";
wait for any key;
say "'I
know your penchant for causing trouble, Potter, as does nearly the entire
Wizarding world. Take your purse and head back to your quarters immediately. If
I catch you wandering the corridors this late again, the consequences could be
dire. And I’m not referring to what I might do to you. These are dangerous
times we live in…Keep your wits about you and stay out of where you don’t
belong…which is a lot of places.' Ominously, Snape walks slowly down the
hallway. Now you are more suspicious than ever.";
Now Snape is in the
dungeons.
Instead of answering Snape
that "lighten up":
say "(holding back snickers) 'Lighten up, professor.'";
wait for any key;
say "'I
DO NOT NEED TO LIGHTEN UP!!!WHY DOES EVERYONE TELL ME THAT!!Just because I’m
pale, dress all in black, constantly look pissed off, have a tortured past,
listen to crappy bleeding heart pseudo-punk music, wear my greasy hair down in
front of my face, and like the dark does NOT mean I’m emo!!!!'[paragraph
break]
Snape suddenly clutches
his head in agony. ‘80 points from Gryffindor!’ he shouts as he abruptly turns
from you and walks off towards the dungeons. You can hear him humming
'Screaming Infidelities' softly under his breath.";
Now Snape is in the
dungeons;
now the player is in the
Ending Chamber.
The Ending Chamber is a
room.
Instead of looking in the
ending chamber:
say "Your mind is spinning as you gather your thoughts about
your encounter with Snape. Why was he so defensive? What happened to his
forehead? Had Snape been up to no good or attacked? And what was up with that
look on his face when he mentioned your mother? You decide to find Hermione and
Ron and discuss.";
end the game in victory.
Course Objectives:
1. Examine a wide range of genres, styles and cultural literatures.I definately feel that this project (and this course) met goal #1 the best. We learned three very different and very challening programs this semester. Though the only practical application I see is of Flash, all were worthwhile in that they taught us the thinking skills needed to learn complex programs in general. Again, as I've said in previous blogs, I will be leaving the world of electronica come May 2010 (a year and a half away?!). But, for those of us going into New Media, you've been prepped for the real world. I shall be spending my life in books, scripts, theaters, and courtrooms, and hopefully some of what I learned in EL 405 will aid me. If not, I've proved I'm intelligent enough to master (almost) several complex computer programs.
As for the engagment with and awareness of vital issues, I think that objective is best applied to our first Flash cartoons (mine dealt with the Obama protest and involved two lipstick-covered pigs) and the narrated slideshow.
So know I know why Potter Puppet Pals switched to traditional puppets. Flash takes forever and a day to create something. So much for creating the next internet cartoon sensation.
Related resources:
Since I took this class out of sequences, the best resource I can recommend is EL 236: Writing for the Internet. There is an entire unit on Inform 7. Chances are you will take this class your freshman or sophmore year. Considering I missed the first half of my freshman year due to being stuck in another major, I had to take both EL 236 and EL 405 at the same time. Not to be arrogant, but I flew through EL 236's inform unit because I had already been writing games for over a month prior in El 405. So save your games, exercises, and tutorials/quizes. You will use those skills again.
There is no textbook to accompany Inform 7: it's already included in the program. The best resource is practice: trial and error will teach you much.
In case you are interested in any additional help, here are some supplemental electronic materials:
Some Observations on Using Inform 7-IF author Emily Short offers some tips on programming/writing
Write a Text Adventure-how to get started
Natural Language Game Programming-an article by Liza Daly on the operation of the Inform 7 system and coding guide.
Project Log: includes blogs from the beginning of the semester when the game started out as just an exercise
Inform Screencast and Weekly Reflection
Snape Responses-outline of what I want to happen down one of the three paths that lead to the end of one scene. This path splits into three sub-paths.
Beta Test day-beta testing for the exercise, not the project
IF Revision-in which I implement changes based on the first Beta test
IF exercise code-the source code for the section of the game that was just an exercise
Final Plan-an early storyline/actiosn sketches of the rest of the game (the project portion)
IF Game Progress Report: EL 405-I continue to add rooms and interactions with objects
EL 405 Alpha Test-ideas I came up with to improve the game based on observation of another player
Finished....sort of-where I finish roughly coding the game through the end and include my notes from the two Beat testers
update on Beta testing over break-Changes: EL 405-in which I try and implement most of those changes
And so finally, the game is finished. Hallelujah.
Tuesday, December 2nd: I was able to recode the section on telling Fawks please to accept "please" as the command instead of the specific phrase "Fawks, please", which the players I tested were not able to guess.
In addition, I also recoded the section on "insert vial into pensieve"-neither player had been able to come up with this phrase. Instead, I coded the game to accept "dump vial in/into pensieve", "place vial in/into pensieve", and "drop vial in/into pensieve".
My main concern was to have these two actions in the game proceed smoothly enough to not infuriate the player (of the creator). The game is challenging, I think, but it's not unplayable. I had a feeling I had made sections too difficult, and testing confirmed that feeling.
Developer's Commentary Screencast:
part 1: source code explanation-
part 2: brief game demonstration
Here it is:
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And so we've reached the end of EL 236. In thinking back and reflecting on what we've done the entire semester, I can safely say this is one of the few classes in this major that I've actually had fun in. Although, whenever I seemed to say the "f" word this semester, something horribly UNFUN would be assigned. I'll admit: I got really sick of those little quizzes about Html and Inform 7 programming. The two books we read, Don't Make Me Think and Writing for the Web, were beyond tedium. They were so repetitive that I would space out during reading. I found myself writing basically the same blog reactions over and over again. Yes, usability testing is very valuable, but if I had to read one more chapter about it, I'd probably puke (figuratively).
This is the first semester in which I've been able to apply the concepts I've learned in other journalism classes to each other. Throughout this course, I've mainly drawn from CA 100 (Communication Theory and Technology) and EL 336 (which was on oral, manuscript, and digital culture). Because I squeezed this major into half the time people usually take to create it, I had to take classes out of sequence. EL 336 was difficult because I was reading all about hypertext and interactive fiction without a clue about what they were or how they worked (and more importantly, what the value was of learning about the two mediums).It all makes sense now.
I must admit, I really didn't understand the value of Inform 7. I see no direct real-world applications for learning how to program an IF game, but I suppose that learning a complex program is sort of a warm-up for the real world. I understand many of the graduates from this program go into computer and technology fields. Since I'm not going to be working in New Media after graduation (it's law school and Broadway for me), I've had a hard time seeing the relevance of much of the subject material. But I have to remember that I'm an exception to the rule and remind myself what kind of students the NMJ program is geared towards.
Am I a Html programmer? A Blogger? A Flash designer? A sound editor? No.
But I know how to do all of these things, and do them well. If life was spent learning only things we were interested in, no one would graduate college.
Above all, I am a writer, an actress, and a singer.
I'm a sometimes guitarist. I'm a comedienne. I'm a lover of everything that is Wilde, Meyers, Rowling, Hugo, Cabot, and Green.
I'm a litigator. I'm a philosopher. I'll probably be an expatriot someday.
That is who I am.
I'm also neurotic. I'm anal-retentive. I make things harder for myself than they have to be. I push myself too hard. I care way too much about my grades and what they say about me. I sometimes measure intelligence by GPA. I sometimes care too much what people think of me. I set my goals too high, but reach them eventually (driving myself up the wall in the process).
That is also who I am.
I have a year and a half left at Seton Hill. I don't have many classes within this major left. From here on out, I'm finishing up this degree, taking the rest of my core Theater classes, and filling in the spaces with the two gen ed classes I need. I only have one more class that I have to blog in-Media Lab, sometime senior year. I've written some 214 blog entries in the past year and a half.
This is the end my friends, and I offer you the following words of wisdom based on my observations these past 2 1/2 years (2 of which where spent as a journalism major):
1) Whatever you are learning is NOT B.S., regardless of whether you will use it in your future. Everything in this world has value.
2) Clear hours long blocks to work. Saturdays are golden.
3) Not doing your work and half-assing assignments is not going to spite the teacher. Learn the material. Complete a kick-ass project-that is your "so there."
4) Be respectful. Regardless of your personal feelings towards the course, the professors have earned their degrees and therefore deserve your respect.
5) You do not know more than the teacher. Pay attention and don't be apathetic. Apathy gets you nowhere.
6) You do not have to love everything, but love at least part of what you do. I hate New Media-but we have to use it. Society has to adapt to technology. I love writing. That is why I am a journalism major.
7) stop and smell the roses, the bushes, the trees, and even the grass and leaves. Don't let life pass you by.
And finally we had freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom to create our own project using what we had spent the first two and a half months learning.
Rejoice greatly, for you've weathered the fires of hell. (excuse the dramatic license).
Now here's the actual portfolio:
The progress: from term project proposal to finished product
Sorry for the lateness
Progress Blog the Second
Alpha Report
Progress Blog the Third
E Finito-EL 236 Project nearly done
The Hopefully Last blog Relating to my Term Project Besides the Portfolio
The Finished Project:
Helpfulness-I offered constructive criticism and suggestions to my peers
Jed:
Jessie:
King Arthur Lives Again-My IF Game Progress
Christina:
Kevin:
Andy:
Denamarie:
And there it is. Finalmente.
Grazia a dio.
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