A Guardian Gamesblog community production
You are the captain of a ship…
Why?
•Observing vs. Participating•High-profile collaborative creative projects•UGC + Social media = something beautiful•1% rule? No wai.
The Dream
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are needed to see this picture.
The Reality
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The Winning Formula
The Abominable Snowman--------------------------------------------------------------- x One Million Penguins(Douglas Adams + Emily Short)
How?
The Wiki Way: (http://textadventure.org.uk)
Attempt 1:Contamination
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are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Attempt 2: The Skeletal Penguin
•Phase 1 - framework + synopsis•Phase 2 - regulars build a skeleton•Phase 3 - develop lists and forms•Phase 4 - community recruitment•Phase 5 - implementation (pseudo interactive demo)
•Phase 6 - motivation (to play, to participate)
•Phase 7 - community recruitment[repeat as necessary]
•Phase 8 - dissemination•Phase 9 - go to Phase 3
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Where’s the launch pad?
http://barrymars.co.uk/spaceship/index.html
INFORM - Background
Designed for writing interactive fiction in 1993.
Became a standard tool for this purpose.
Inform 6 was comparable with a traditional programming language.
Latest iteration Inform 7 took three years to develop.
Inform 7 uses natural English sentences.
INFORM 7 - Basics
Name and author of the projectBreakdown project using headingsDefine your roomsDefine objects & actorsDefine your custom actionsDefine how actions are to be understoodDefine rules for performing actions
INFORM 7 - Basics
INFORM 7 - CompilersThree options to choose from.
Z-Code v5 supports up to 256Kb
Z-Code v8 supports up to 512Kb
Glulx supports up to 4Gb
Z-Code vs Glulx
Glulx has more support for multimedia effects.
Much larger story files are possible with Glulx.
Less interpreter support for Glulx.
INFORM 7 - Interpreters
Windows - Glulxehttp://freespace.virgin.net/
davidk.kinder/glulxe.html
Mac OS X - Zoom or Spatterlighthttp://www.logicalshift.demon.co.uk/mac/
zoom.htmlhttp://ccxvii.net/spatterlight/
Linux - Zoomhttp://www.logicalshift.demon.co.uk/
unix/zoom/
Java - Zaghttp://wso.williams.edu/~jon/zag/
Consistency of implementation somewhat like the early days of CSS.
Google Code / Subversion
Code Repository
http://code.google.com/p/gamesblog-textadventure/
Subversion used to manage collaborative working.
Merges working copies automatically on commit.
Flags up an conflicts and forces resolution.
Tracks changes allowing rollback etc.
Release
Inform 7 bundles everything into a BLORB wrapper for release:
Story FileCover ArtWalkthroughWebsite
Well Here It Is:
http://barrymars.co.uk/spaceship/index.html
Plus, Spaceship! Goodies
Other sites of interest:
http://textadventure.org.uk (the wiki)Google group
http://www.brunton-spall.co.uk/ChapterOne.html (Contamination)http://www.toastkid.com/Spaceship.html (background)http://emshort.wordpress.com/ (Emily Short)http://www.inform-fiction.org/I7/Inform%207.html (Inform7)http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/series/wikigame
(The Guardian’s Wikigame coverage)http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game_nolan.shtml
(Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Many thanks to…
AleksK DennisChow
Phillip Walters Perrin Ashcroft
Michael Brunton-SpallBarry Tucker StatusJones
Bambino Tostare Bridget Dack
Limni CavalcadeCtmiller
Dave Chapeskie Edible Visions CunningStuntFantomex Hambargarz HiddenAway MeepMeep
NDG Tin Robot Nybble Weefz Camax
AlobsterApocalyspse Cow
AndyHillAndy BorleyAdamCrowe
ColonelKilgoreCheddarFrenzyCharlesUllman
DafElsa
IlluminantRobkunRolf
Nick PlainFearofFoursJim PooleyJumbleJumble
JetamoKerry TurnerMachineisboredThe Mighty JagTrev ver TSonofSaitoMitoto
SalubriousoneSenor Monkfish
The Selfish GiantUnPremeditated
YorkiebarZoozoobabaEd SluddenGeo AshtonAleks’ Mum
Our Anonymous ContributorsEmily ShortGraham NelsonThe GuardianGamesbloggers
http://barrymars.co.uk/spaceship/index.html
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