EL405: Exposure to exposition in a new medium
The above prologue comes right out and states, rather starkly, the goal (go check on the cat) and motive (keeping in Auntie's good graces). We do see some passable attempts at establishing character; references to the garage band, sleeping until noon, being a house-sitter, and not wishing to offend a rich relative all identify the PC as an amiable slacker.But so what? Casual details like these are often found enriching ordinary prose narratives, but when they appear in the opening screen of an IF game, they take on a great deal of prominence. Some players may expect to be able to interact with the garage band later, or may feel that the reference to suits and ties is a clue to a wardrobe-related puzzle. To what extent do these details about the PC's character matter in a game about a cat? (Jerz, "Exposition in Interactive Fiction")
I created my own interactive fiction game (Elementia) a couple of years ago as a term project, and I have to admit that a lot of this never really crossed my mind. At the beginning of my game, there are almost two full screens of blocks of exposition text, so I guess it could definitely use some improvement (perhaps I'll try revising it while working on the new IF projects for my current class).
Of course, the reason why my game ended up that way is probably because I consider myself primarily as a writer, not a game designer or computer programmer. I was accustomed to writing short stories and other works, not interactive stories that revise or even completely rewrite some of the rules I grew up with.
But I think the project was a useful exercise, because it forced me to break away from my norm and think more dynamically about the effects of every little word or phrase in my story. As Dr. Jerz mentions in his introduction to exposition in interactive fiction, the IF writer/designer must consider that the player will probably want to be able to interact with any of the sights, smells, or other experiences provided in an IF game.
As a result, I developed a better sense of what works and what fails to meet the player's expectations, and thus I also learned a little more about meeting my readers' expectations while writing a traditional work of fiction. It's a skill that I am constantly improving, but perhaps there is no better medium for doing so--while having fun--than IF.