Electronic Literature: 251J.2

So, I'm not sure if anyone from class has found this yet but here it is:

IFWiki

I found this when I was researching Inform 7 facts for my final paper. It's a Wiki site dedicated to interactive fiction!

Nothing is ever what it seems.

This sentence makes so much sense to me now. At least more so then it used to. This class has enabled me to see just how much truth is in this statement. Although not always true, it does happen to be true more often when it comes to electronic literature.

When it comes to electronic literature, nothing is ever what it seems. It is so unbelievably true that you find yourself shocked.

What I mean by all of this is that you often will find underlying aspects of things that happen or occur in works of electronic literature. There is a ton of things you overlook or tons of things that aren't ever what they seem.

Often there are underlying themes that are masked under things that have nothing to do with what the work of electronic literature wants to convey. What I mean can mostly be explained by the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." You will most definitely be led the wrong way if you go by your initial impression.

So what I have learned this semester is to yes, take into account your initial impression, but do not let it control your entire thinking on the subject.

Like almost everyone else in the class, I saw fit to post my "end of the year" entry, in an attempt to sort of wrap up things nice and neat, in a tiny little package. And...well, quite honestly, I feel as though this is more of a beginning than an end. It's cliche, I know! But bear with me here. First up, hands in the air if you knew what the term "electronic literature" was before the beginning of the semester? Yeah, pretty much just one person - and that's Professor Whalen. I mean, sure, the rest of us that were in the class learning maybe had some sort of guess, but I personally had not really experienced it until my exposure to it during this semester. It was a good class, though - I certainly wouldn't wish to replace it with another class! And in fact, it makes me feel as though I could possibly appreciate things like video games or text-based adventures even more. Skimming the surface only presents you the "face value" - actually taking the time to take the plunge and figure out what lies beneath presents you with a whole new experience.

So, I suppose that means I'll be uh... "analyzing" all those video games I'm planning on playing this summer.

Electronic Literature relates directly back to the first thing we read The Garden of Forking Paths and the development of stories into non-linear almost endless structures like the never ending dark passages of the house. The choices offered us in the games and even the book we read provided us with many ways in which to respond and enjoy these works. They offered a great variation from the traditional singular story line of the works we are so used to, ultimately though the only true choice we make is whether to play the game or not and when to stop. We are restrained by the preexisting programming and the programming only allows us to go but so far. The traditional story line is impossible to break, because the creators of stories are limited to it by their imagination. One can only come up with so many beginnings, middles, and ends to a story before naturally the possibilities run out. These constraints are natural though as we are constrained to the physical being and circumstances we are born into. Humans will never naturally be able to fly, but at least within Electronic Literature that option can be presented.

I think most of us will agree (correct me if I'm wrong) that we learned a lot in this class that we didn't know before. Well, that's how I feel. I was pretty darn clueless. But enough of that.

I am across this article http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/stories/2009/04/27/fo...
and thought of this class. Not in a bad way! In a, "Ha! This class would show him!" kind of way.

Quite frankly, Mr. Eric Fox, I don't agree with you at all. Sure, I will agree that some students are lazy, don't think for themselves, unoriginal, etc. But technology has pretty much nothing to do with it.

Obviously, technology has paved the way for new mediums of creativity and, oh wait, a new form of literary genre- electronic literature.

I cannot tell you how much I have learned from the internet. I certainly cannot imagine life without it. I understand his point about libraries, but again, it's wrong. I work at the library now and live and breathe library databases and the LC classification system. You can have a balance between traditional library learning and learning through the internet.

Anyways, what I would like to say is that I think electronic literature proves him wrong. There are just so many new possibilities for writing now and outlets for creativity and thought. Maybe Mr. Fox's perspective is too outdated to excite students.  read more »

Ah, it has come to an end. This semester has surprised me because although my grades seem to be lower than usual, I learned more this semester than I did throughout the others. Especially in the discipline of literature. Who knew it could be electronic? I sure as hell didn't. I thought videogames were the bridge from literature to electronics but I did not know that they could be analyzed and created as a book alike. But I think I've come a long way since the the first day of E-Lit. I've learned about the popular hypertext, lexias, player-experience, programming, ludology, narratology, procedural rhetoric, modality...need I go on? Accompanying these terms were the programs of the e-lit genre. All of these collectively still leave me in a state of shock because I had no idea e-lit was so alive. Maybe the english major criteria should be reviewed and have more modern picks. The best part is that I, for first time in college, took a class that I had zero knowledge about before the first day. As students we are usually predisposed to most of the subjects we take in college but not this one for me.

Well I made it through another semester and this time I enjoyed my English class more then I would of expected. This class was very interesting and helpful. From all of my English classes that I have had, I got to say that this is probably in my top 3. This class had a different twist and that made it much better. The discussions that we had during the class was very helpful toward when we had to take a quiz or write a paper. I like how this class was very organized and prepared (makes it easier for students and teachers). The projects that we had to do where very interesting, especially creating games or doing a group project on a video game. Professor Whalen was a very good teacher and he knows his stuff, I was never afraid to ask him about something or try to get his input or help. Creating a website for the class made the class 90% easier because everything that we needed in the class was on the website and it was very easy to access. I had a very fun semester in this class and I hope that more classes are going to be like this one in the future.

It's been a long semester. In the beginning, I was just an average gamer. I enjoyed video games as much as the next college freshmen with nothing to do. But, only after I enrolled in Electronic Lit, did I understand the true depth and development involved in game design. One of the first things I had to understand is that Electronic Literature falls across many genres. Just because there are no high tech graphics and HD gaming, doesn't mean it isn't electronic literature. In fact, I almost prefer a text based puzzle game sometimes. Furthermore, I learned about game development. I remember on the first day when we were told we were going to be designing our own video games. That was the craziest thing I had ever heard. But, after months of Electronic Literature I found that I was very capable of designing my own game, and not only could I do it, I enjoyed it. As the year progressed I went from thinking this was an interesting English class to thinking it was training for a possible career in the future. Electronic Literature still has miles to go before it is given as much attention as a novel, but with the development of more technology, there is a promising future ahead.

When I first picked up book House of Leaves I was so annoyed by the lay out, the pointless confusion and the redicoulous back story that had to be understood in order to appreciate it. The book was read and I could answer questions on it but I didnt appreicate it like Professor Whalen or any of my fellow students did. So I decided that maybe it would be a decent idea to try to go back over it. As I began to re read the book I finally understood why the class was so mezmerized by the concept. It was the most unique piece of literature I had ever read. The hyper text styling of the pages coupled with unique page layouts made me feel what the author wanted me to feel. If the book was just written as a standard peice of literature the book would have been drastically less interesting. As the pages moved along with the footnotes the story unfolded to me and the story engulfed me. I wish I had actually followed the book as intensly as my fellow classmates.

It is the end of the semester but I feel like a whole new avenue of exploration has just begun Electronic Literature wise. I may not be the most tech savvy but I am learning slowly but surely a lot of the time you have to have a good story and without that you don't really have anything at all. My good friend once said that no matter how great re-makes of Sonic are made it will still be pretty difficult to get someone to care about Sonic. Like you won't feel bad when he dies or anything like that but it is a lot different in E-lit because you mix the game and story elements [which is why we studied video games that actually follow this format]this allows you as the reader/gamer to grow attached to the characters the same way you would to an actor or actress in a movie. I have found a cool site that I am sure a lot of people have already heard of but in case you haven't http://www.albinoblacksheep.com this is a really interesting game that wants you to do one thing escape the room. I thought it was pretty cool.

This is new. I just came across this mentioned on Nick Montfort's blog, a new website, launched yesterday(?), for the programming environment some of you have been working in (or toiling with -- depending on how much success you've been having). It's a whole new presentation for Inform 7, complete with some new documentation, screencasts, and a bunch of complete working examples. If you're still putting some finishing touches on your IF project (if you're doing an IF project), you may very well find something useful.

I've only looked at the site briefly, since I wanted to get this post up, so please take a look. And if you find anything on the new site that you think is particularly helpful or that leads to any epiphanies, post it in a comment here so others can benefit as well!

My project, as you saw in class, was to recreate World 1-1 of the original Super Mario Bros as a text adventure. The two main goals were to produce a reasonably accurate simulation of the game, and to explore what was going on in Mario's head when encountering the mushroom kingdom for the first time.

If you never played the NES game, or if it has been a long time since you did, I'd recommend you check out a gameplay video on youtube (up to 1:50). Without that reference point, my game isn't likely to make a whole lot of sense. I'd also recommend you type 'help' before getting to far into things.

If you're curious about how I mapped the level into rooms, check out the attached image. Some of the room names have changed, but otherwise it's pretty close to the image. The red circles represent objects I simulated, and the stars are enemies.  read more »

Just letting everybody know - my final project was building more of campus. If you still have tkMOO or don't mind downloading it again, you can check it out. Professor Whalen was nice enough to attach it to the existing Combs rooms, so now you can wander along campus walk and even explore res halls, and buildings like Trinkle and the Great Hall.

Feel free to leave feedback here! Unless it's negative. (Kidding.)

Also, how awesome was the Mario game presented in class?

So something that I've been doing in my downtime between studying for exams, and mostly programming madly, is checking webcomics.

Y'know, comics on the internet. Most of them don't particularly take advantage of their digital nature, but I once stumbled across this:

http://www.dreamleak.co.uk/

Dreamleak initially reads much like a normal webcomic. However, as you go along, you can run your mouse over the various panels to reveal hidden text.

It's pretty interesting. Pity it suddenly ended.

Electronic Literature. A course that when I signed up fot meant absolutely nothing to me. As the semester went on I thought that the class would literally teach me nothing and that I was merely going through the motions. However I was horribly mistaken by this, as we began to delve into works of Interactive Fiction and other forms of E-Lit I began to get new ideas for writing and how emotions could be conveyed. House of leaves showed how an actual book could achive the emotional power of a movie with only words and a few sparse colors. The main point I found in this class was that there are always new mediums for expression. Had I never taken this class I would never have known of this one and thus would have been left oblivious to this fantastic medium. No other English class I have taken has made me feel as though I have taken away anything from it except this one. Electronic Literature will eventually become the next midum for writing and I am happy that I was exposed to it in the way I have been.

My project is a hyperlink jumble of various images of varying sorts. It is a little linear but for the most part pretty sporadic links. The desired effect is for the reader to have to think a bit about it and how it is interwoven and about the many things it tries to say. In it you can see direct influences from House of Leaves such as concrete poetry (typographically arranged words), varying fonts, and I even tried to hide some stuff in there. It's not hard to find at all but forces the reader to at least slow down which is the desired effect. I also included links to other websites to make it more multifaceted. I found a couple really great websites that went exactly along with what I was trying to say and felt lucky in that regard. A difficult part of the process was attempting to stay relevant. 'No One Really Wants to Be Here' really sprints off into several directions. In my mind they were well interconnected, but I'm sure I did not make it clear enough for the reader. The editing process was sad, because I deleted several of my favorite links, so the work would remain more cohesive as a whole. I have taken several creative writing classes and written a fair bit of poetry of questionable quality.  read more »

Attached is my final project. It is an interactive fiction work that goes through the motions of an agoraphobic housewife using Inform 7.

Note: This is not my final product. I didn't realize that I had not written an objective for my player until it was reviewed in class. So, I am currently working on adding one in. So, stay tuned!

For those who have never heard of Second Life, it is a virtual world launched by Linden Labs in 2003. Much like the Sims, each user may create an avatar to interact with others within the world. Second life is comprised of a three-dimensional realm where users may socialize, explore, and create new lands and objects of their own. Built into the program is its very own unique scripting language, where those with enough patience may design anything from their vast imaginations. Though creating an avatar is free, Second Life uses its own currency called Linden dollars. To obtain some of this currency, you have one of two options: pay real money or work for money in-game. Though the latter may be tedious in most cases, it is the best solution for the beginner. The idea of working in-game may be silly at first, however, performing work for another individual is often rewarding at times. Aside from the obvious monetary gain, manual labor opens a world of socialization not experienced by many other games. This allows the user to meet new people, become educated in a variety of fields, and all puns aside have a second life. I mentioned becoming educated. Believe it or not, Second Life is backed by millions of dollars of funding.  read more »

So now that we are done with our final projects, I’m looking back on the semester thinking about what I have learned in this class. Well for starters I just made my own “videogame” (something that I couldn’t imagine myself doing at the beginning of the semester). But more than that, I have gained an appreciation for the hard work that goes into programming games like the one I created.

When we began reading House of Leaves, I couldn’t figure out why we were reading a paperback novel in an electronic literature class. As we read deeper and deeper in the book I started to be able to make many connections between the book and works of interactive fiction. House of Leaves uses multiple layers and many footnotes to tell a very complex story, just the way interactive fiction would go about telling a story.

I think this class is very beneficial, especially as interactive fiction continues to grow as a medium of storytelling.

For my final project I am going to create a game about a Russian Spy. I have always been very interested into spy's and what they have to do on their missions. The place that my game is in, is Germany and the house belongs to a very wealthy engineer. The Soviet Spy has couple objectives that he must do before his mission is complete. I am not going to tell the objectives because I don't want to the rest of the game. The story is going to very serious but at the same time you will get to see a very touching side of the Spy. I hope that everyone will like my game and I will enjoy playing other students projects.