GAME-675 Writing for Interactivity

Dr. Andrew Phelps, Professor & Director, AU Game Center, American University, Washington, DC, USA

Course Type: Survey / Design and Technology-focused

Keywords: Interactive Narrative, Game Narrative, Storytelling,

University Department Level Credits Length Medium
American University AU Game Center Graduate 3 15 In-person/ hybrid

Course Description

Today, interactive narratives have been widely utilized in various writings for diverse purposes and audiences of different backgrounds. This 5-week short course aims to teach students how to write history interactively on the popular platform Twine. By taking the lecture, introducing its use, and producing their projects in collaboration with classmates, students are expected to become advanced users of Twine.

Weekly Outline

  1. Welcome & Course Overview. Readings: none.
  2. A New Medium for Storytelling. Readings: (university closed for Labor Day), read ahead)
  3. Aesthetics & Practice (Immersion, Agency, and Transformation). Readings: HH Part I & 2 (Chapters 1-6), IDN Section 1 (Chapters 1-4)
  4. Towards a Theory of IDN Design. Readings (IDN Section 2 (Chapters 5-9)
  5. Emergent and Experimental Forms Part I. Readings HH Part 4 (Chap 9-10), IDN Section 3 Part I (Chap 10-14) [1]
  6. Audience & Research Methods for IDN. ASSIGNMENT: Game 1 & Materials Due.
  7. Class Playtest, Critique, and Analysis. ASSIGNMENT: Design Reflection Paper 1 Due.
  8. M is for Multiplayer, from MUD to MOO to Mega and Massive. Readings: “A Rape in Cyberspace” by J. Dibbell, “Writing for MMOs” Gamasutra
  9. Pitching a Narrative Game. Readings: Assorted Pitch Documents (as assigned)
  10. Platforms and General Hackery: Thinking of IDN as Computational Systems. Assorted platform documentation and notes (as assigned)
  11. Emergent & Experimental Forms Part 2. Readings: IDN Section 3, Part 2 (Chapters 15-17)
  12. Work Week. (Note: University closed W-F for American Thanksgiving)
  13. Work Week. 
  14. Capstone Preparation & Course Reflection. ASSIGNMENT: Game 2 & Materials Due.
  15. Class Playtest, Critique, and Analysis. ASSIGNMENT: Design Reflection Paper 2 Due.

Course Objectives ​

  • Students can identify major elements and theories of narrative for interactive environments.  
  • Students can describe the narrative of a given game or interactive media experience using terminology and nomenclature of the field.
  • Students can apply concepts of branching narrative, hypertext, multi- and non-linear narrative in construction of their own digital narrative systems.

Reading

Additional and Supplemental Texts

  • Reed, Aaron. Creating Interactive Fiction with Inform 7. Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage Learning, 2011.
  • Sheldon, Lee. Character development and storytelling for games. Cengage Learning, 2014.
  • Nick Montfort, Twisty Little Passages : An Approach to Interactive Fiction. MIT Press, 2003.
  • Hergenrader, T. (2019). Collaborative worldbuilding for writers and gamers. Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Heussner, Tobias, Toiya Kristen Finley, Jennifer Brandes Hepler, and Ann Lemay. The Game Narrative Toolbox. CRC Press, 2015.

Viewings

IDE and IDN Authoring Tools

  • Twine
  • Inform 7
  • Inky
  • HTML/XHTML
  • Spark
  • Unity3D
  • Unity3D with Fungus
  • Stornaway.io

IDN Artifacts

Major Assignments (being assignments whose value is of 25% or more)

Mid-Term Game / IDN

  • Platform: Twine, Inky, Inform7, HTML, Spark, Unity3D, Unity + Fungus, etc. (student choice, they have experimented with most of these in the pre-requisite course to some degree)
  • Purpose: This project is often our students first attempt at writing an IDN project. Thus, the purpose is to explore interactivity as it pertains to narrative, and to implement some of the strategies and ideas from the course readings and lecture discussions.
  • Requirements:
    • Project Length: 30 minutes
    • Project Size: minimally 3 characters, 10 rooms / locations, and appropriate interconnections. Most are much larger than this. 
    • Project Aesthetics: IDNs should take place in a consistent world, one in which the action is congruent with the larger back-drop, and the characters are reasonably situated within it. The presentation should be thoughtful, consistent, with design elements (colors, fonts, layout, imagery, game scenes, etc.) that compliment the subject matter.
    • Coding Proficiency: Clear use of appropriate tooling for the construction of the application, at least some use of variables for background tracking / script modification based on user choice. Use of advanced elements of the platform is considered a plus (i.e. insertion of images and maps in Twine, use of parallax 2D imagery or 3D assets in Unity, etc.
  • Evaluation: 
    • Interactivity: Degree to which the player has agency and choice within the narrative, the map is non- or multi-linear (and events can be experienced in multiple orders and still be consistent), and the sense of purpose that the player has that their choices have direct and consequential effect on the story.
    • Story and narrative: To what extent are the characters engaging, the actions sensible within the environment, the environment itself well-described and situated in a consistent world, and the ending non-obvious and/or meaningful.
    • Production values: <<How is the story underpinned by a reasonable system for tracking/manipulation/presentation (i.e. variables/states used to augment interactive elements), the quality and selection of imagery, 2D or 3D scenes and assets as illustrations, the presentation of the text itself (formatting, spellchecking, colors, fonts, etc.), and potential experimentation with these elements.
    • Reflection paper: Students are required to submit a 2-3 page paper that explores how their IDN and associated design choices are informed by the readings and sample materials for the course.

Final Game / IDN

  • Platform: Twine, Inky, Inform7, HTML, Spark, Unity3D, Unity + Fungus, etc. (student choice, they have experimented with most of these in the pre-requisite course to some degree)
  • Purpose: This project is often our students first attempt at writing an IDN project. Thus, the purpose is to explore interactivity as it pertains to narrative, and to implement some of the strategies and ideas from the course readings and lecture discussions.
  • Requirements:
    • Project Length: 30-60 minutes
    • Project Size: minimally 3 characters, 15 rooms / locations, and appropriate interconnections. Most are much larger than this. 
    • Project Aesthetics: IDNs should take place in a consistent world, one in which the action is congruent with the larger backdrop, and the characters are reasonably situated within it. The presentation should be thoughtful, consistent, and with design elements and choices (colors, fonts, layout, imagery, game scenes, etc.) that complement the subject matter.
    • Coding Proficiency: Clear use of appropriate tooling for the construction of the application, at least some use of variables for background tracking / script modification based on user choice. Use of advanced elements of the platform is considered a plus (i.e. insertion of images and maps in Twine, use of parallax 2D imagery or 3D assets in Unity, etc.
  • Evaluation: 
    • Interactivity: Degree to which the player has agency and choice within the narrative, the map is non- or multi-linear (and events can be experienced in multiple orders and still be consistent), and the sense of purpose that the player has that their choices have direct and consequential effect on the story.
    • Story and narrative: To what extent are the characters engaging, the actions sensible within the environment, the environment itself well-described and situated in a consistent world, and the ending non-obvious and/or meaningful.
    • Production values: How is the story underpinned by a reasonable system for tracking/manipulation/presentation (i.e. variables/states used to augment interactive elements), the quality and selection of imagery, 2D or 3D scenes and assets as illustrations, the presentation of the text itself (formatting, spellchecking, colors, fonts, etc.), and potential experimentation with these elements.
    • Reflection paper: Students are required to submit a 2-3 page paper that explores how their IDN and associated design choices are informed by the readings and sample materials for the course.

Course Best Practices

  • The course meetings for 3 hours per week on a single day. Students also have full use of the laboratory facility next to the classroom 24/7 during the entire course.
  • The course contains two full class-wide critiques of student work (wherein we have played the games/IDNs during the week prior, and spend the class period with each student/team presenting and then the rest of us offering feedback/suggestions/improvements/commentary.
  • Students that cannot attend a given lecture can attend remotely via zoom or discord, particularly given student (and faculty) illnesses post-pandemic.
  • Students write an additional 2-3 page paper in conjunction with their IDN projects reflecting on the use of design strategies, paradigms, and terminology from the readings and samples for the course.
  • Students are encouraged to submit their games to various festivals and shows, and also to host their games on a public platform such as Steam or Itch.io, and to utilize them for their own websites and portfolio projects.
  • Students are given several hours during the course meetings to both play some of the sample IDN projects provided, as well as to brainstorm their own narratives, often in the form of small card-based experiences prior to conversion to longer-form projects. Feedback for the course has been that leaving these spaces and options for collaboration are very much appreciated by students, and have helped them inform their work by ideating and critiquing with peers in small groups.