Koster
Up to page 127
Post your initial response to the book on your blog. Include a direct quotation that you want to talk about in class.
Strongbad Email #94
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail94.html
Interactive Fiction (TBA)
You don't need to create a separate blog entry for each game on this list, but if you'd like to break up your observations into separate entries, by all means go ahead.
On your own, play Pick up the Phone Booth and Die and 9:05. The first game should only take a few minutes. (There is a way to win it.) The second game has two main endings... one involves fading away without any sort of big climax, and the other involves a major revelation that is the reason I like using this game in class. You're welcome to work in groups. If you get help from a friend when you get stuck, you should be able to get through both of these in 15 or 20 minutes.
Then, sample each of the following works of interactive fiction for about 5 minutes, and choose two to play for about 15 minutes each. Your blog entry for these readings should include quotations from the games, with an explanation for why you chose the games you chose.
These are classic works from the 80s:
- Zork I (the most famous and the geekiest; created by and mostly for MIT engineers);Leather Goddesses of Phobos (campy sci-fi farce); Deadline (detective story); Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (absurdist comic sci-fi)
For general tips on playing IF, see Emily Short's Introduction to IF.
Jerz, ''Exposition in Interactive Fiction''
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/gallery/exposition.html
Jerz, ''Ask the Adventure Dwarf''
Check the handouts section on J-Web. We'll go over it in class Tuesday.
Interactive Fiction (TBA)
You and your partner will choose a game to play. The game you choose should have a tone or setting that is similar to the one you are working on. You might choose a gothic mystery, a light-hearted romance, a sword-and-sorcery spoof, or a puzzlefest.
I'll be happy to help you find listings and reviews that will help you guide your choice. Games that were entered as part of the Interactive Fiction Competition are designed to be played in about two hours.
Darby, Make Amazing Games in Minutes
The actual game-making part of this book doesn't start until Chapter 12… but the introductory material is still useful. Read the introduction through chapter 4.
Serious Games -- Context for Project 1
New generation of video games takes on serious subjects
No longer just entertainment, advanced technology is being used in games that do everything from teach children about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to help war veterans cope with post-traumatic stress syndrome. For lack of a better descriptor, they've been dubbed "serious games." Like "Re-Mission," they're designed to entertain players, but they're also meant to teach, train and inform them.
"(Video games) are a little bit like documentary films were in say the '60s or '70s," says Suzanne Seggerman, co-founder of Games for Change, a support organization in New York for makers of video games dealing with social issues. "Film had been a popular medium for a long, long time, (but) it took quite a while for it to mature enough to sustain real-world content. Games are at the same place now. They're being used for more serious purposes."
Darby
Chapters 5 and 6.
Chapters 7-11 are more useful as reference tools. Skim them.
McAdams, Flash Journalism
Read the introduction and all of Part I.