The call-and-response form of IF — “TAKE LAMP”, “I don’t know how to take the lamp” — has been a familiar gag for thirty years now. And somewhere, in the basement of the computer game world, a few people are still writing text adventures. A few people… a few games… Actually, lots of games. Over…
My son has finally found a math textbook he enjoys. A few years ago, he was happy to play Timez Attack, which was really the first 3D game he had played. Now my daughter is ready to learn her times tables, but we’ve been playing Fate and Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars and Dungeons…
The command line will live on as long as authors and readers keep enjoying fiction made with it. But many have pointed out there is a huge market of readers (print and digital) and casual gamers who ought to love all this free IF, but sadly, they aren’t exactly flocking to it. One reason must…
Graham of Daventry posted to my blog, with news that the fan-produced Kings Quest, non-commercial sequel has risen from the dead. http://tinyurl.com/2em59… The first release date is scheduled for mid-July. Similar:Orson Scott Card Builds an EmpireVideo games are a viable storytelling me…CybercultureGoogling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.When I ask my students…
Ordinarily, this would call for an all-nighter. I’m feeling rather worn down after 4 days of marking AP English exams, and there are 3 days to go, so I’m only going to have time to glance at the new version of Inform 7. Similar:Why We Fall for Fake News and How to Bust ItMeasuring the…
Let’s begin not with humanity’s love for games, but rather its love for stories. Certainly we can see a trend in certain kinds of art toward the telling of stories in ever deeper and more immersive ways. A few hundred years ago the novel came along, introducing the interior monologue; as time went on, novels…
Attending a memorial service for my wife’s aunt, Julia Young, whose backyard and swimming pool were the heart of my wife’s extended family. Visiting Bushy Run Battlefield with the family. My daughter falling in love with the Drawing Pad app, which costs about as much as a package of cheap markers. Waking up Sunday morning…
Jason Scott continues teasing us all as we await the delivery of Get Lamp (and the inventory of goodies to be found within). Coin 0001 is about to be shipped to Don Woods. Similar:Today's second 10sq cm of #steampunk control panel. Love those letter flip tiles. Maybe I'…AestheticsFormer NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever…
Roger Ebert recently tweeted this video, calling it a “Brief, well-made video mounting an optimistic defense of videogames.” Similar:I just caught myself thinking, “This doesn’t suck.” #medievalyork #mysteryplay #blender3d …I just caught myself thinking, “This doe…AestheticsHe dedicated years of his life to QAnon. One day made him question it all.Thoughtful analysis structured around on…CultureThe…
Roger Ebert expounds upon — but does not reconsider — his rejection of the aesthetic possibilities of the video game. Ebert is prompted to return to the topic because of a talk by Kellee Santiago, who used cave paintings and stills from early black and white movies to argue that just as painting and movies…
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Today the most consistently pleasurable pursuit in my life is playing video games. Unfortunately, the least useful and financially solvent pursuit in my life is also playing video games. For instance, I woke up this morning at 8am fully intending to write this article. Instead, I played Left 4 Dead until 5pm. The rest of…
It’s great to see the more current interactive fiction works getting critical attention. The “text adventure” genre has come a long way from mazes and inventory puzzles; these works emphasize the literary effects that can only be generated by manipulating the player’s sense of agency. This study examines how themes, conventions and concepts in Gothic…
It’s a scary time. After all, people are learning to make their own iPhone apps to help their films stand out (something Who Shot Mamba by Brian Spaeth is actually doing really well.) Many filmmakers groan at the thought of learning such a complicated skill, or paying someone who has the skill a lot of…
At PAX we debuted the “How to Play Interactive Fiction” postcard. If somebody is sitting down in front of an IF game for the very first time, this card should give him or her an idea of what commands are likely to work — and what commands are *likely* to work. It’s not trying to…
Allagash At the #pax Get Lamp screening and panel. Don Woods! Steve Meretzky! Infocom forever! http://twitpic.com/1b5yo2 1 minute ago from Echofon Reply Retweet DenisMoskowitz GET LAMP was pretty fascinating. Now watching impessive IF panel. Meretzky is hilarious. 4 minutes ago from Twitterrific Reply Retweet Gingko1 RT @potteryfanatic: Grayshott Pottery Small Conical Lamp…
I’m not at PAX East tonight. (I wanted to be there. I really, really wanted to be there. By my wife said she needed me elsewhere. Enough said.) According to the chatter on Twitter and the blogosphere the interactive fiction panel was standing-room-only, and there’s already a line for seats in tonight’s Get Lamp premiere. Similar:What…
What drives players to spend forty, eighty, or more hours with a computer RPG? If we look only at the quest journal, where the operations of quest flag logics are exposed to the player, the appearance is of a massive indulgence in the pleasures of the to-do list. And certainly there is some of that.…
There’s nothing really new in this story, but it’s still good to see my favorite game genre get some good press. Along with simulated space battles and table-tennis matches, interactive fiction (IF) is one of the oldest of computer-game forms. Though far gone from its commercial heyday in the graphics-impaired ’80s, when it was still…
One of the many interactive fiction events at this now-even-more-awesome event that I cannot attend. The current plan: the main GET LAMP episode at 9:30, followed by a panel on stage of people interviewed for the film, and then some showings of a few more features of the DVD, including the Infocom and Bedquilt episodes.…