Worksheet for GDV talk by Heather Albano

 

1. In your own words, explain the difference between a parser interactive fiction game and a choose your path interactive fiction game.

Parser games are text based games with a cursor and no graphics. The player makes a choice on what to do next, and the game responds by showing them what happens based on the choices made.

 

Choose your path games came in game books that contained a large amount of text with multiple choices. The player/reader would advance to a specific page based on the choice they made.

 

2. Name an example of a parser game.

An example of a parser based game would be “Zork I” and A dark room.

 

 

3. Name an example of a choose your own path game.

An example of a choose your own path game would be “Choose your adventure, The Cave of Time.”

 

4. Why does she say interactive fiction virtually died out in the mid-1990s?

The company Infocom was purchase then later shutdown by the game publisher Activision in 1989. The game form didn’t really die as fans were able to keep the community alive. There was an issue in that with these types of games there were enormous amounts of branching paths. This restricted games from telling short stories.

 

5. Why does she say poetry is an important element of interactive fiction writing? What example does she use?

She explains that poetry is an essential element in that words are provided in short sentences but are powerful. These words are chosen carefully and encourage the player to fill in the blanks. Albano uses With Those We Love Alive by Porpentine as an example.

 

6. Why does she say that ambiguity is not only unavoidable but also necessary?

She says that with mainly text and no graphics, it is impossible to cover every detail. This leaves it up to the player’s interpretation and imagination to fill in the blanks. 

 

7. What’s important about complicity?

Complicity gives the feeling of possession or ownership in the plot. The area in which the fictional story interacts with the player is the primary goal. Actual choices can be presented to the player that would affect the plot.