mdrigger's blog

I accidentally attached my final for my other class to my previous post. Here is my real final for this class.

For my final project I wrote Prof. Whalen a letter. It's actually more like an essay than a letter (its 5 pages). I focused on virtual reality. I wrote about what I discovered about virtual reality during this class, using my personal experience with our assignments as my examples.

Since I have never played an ARG outside of this class, I didn't really know what to expect. However, I think I may have set too high a standard for ARG's. I was very critical of the ARG for My Own Worst Enemy that my group followed for our presentation. Now that we are responsible for making our own ARG, I realize that it is much more difficult to plan and execute an ARG than I thought it would be. There is so much thought that must go into every detail of the game. Plus, there is no way to know how the players will react. I may think that something may be too easy or too hard, but there is no way to know what the player will think. Plus, while you may think something is a genius idea, the player may hate it. It is similar to writing a book or painting a picture. You may think one thing, but the viewer/player may not agree.  read more »

One of the questions that Dave Szulborski discusses in the beginning of his book is the whether ARG's are a story or a game. I thought this was very interesting. I have not played many ARG's, in fact I have only played the one my group is working on for the project. We are following the ARG from "My Own Worst Enemy." The game is about a girl who is a psychology student and worked with a man named Oliver. Her patient disappeared, after telling her some interesting stories about a company called Janus. There are several webisodes of this girl, Emily, and in the latest one she is attacked. From my experience, which is limited to just this ARG, i think that ARG's are something in between a story and a game. The premise of the game is a story, the player is trying to help this girl. However, it is different than just reading a book because the player/reader has to get involved. The player can apply for a job and access websites about a company called AJ Sun. The player has control over the story.

I definitely don't think that either of Cathy's books are ARG. So far I have been reading the books without using any of the evidence. While reading Cathy's book I looked through the evidence before I started reading. However, once I started to read I didn't touch the evidence again. The only thing I really did was call the number on the front of the book. Although, I only did this after we talked about it in class. Otherwise, I would never have even thought to actually call the number. Now that we are reading Cathy's Key I have not even opened the evidence. The reason that these books are not an ARG is because the evidence is not necessary to the reading of the story. I have been reading the story without using the evidence, the evidence doesn't serve any real purpose. The evidence is interesting and fun, but is not an important part of the stories. The books can be interactive, but they do not necessarily have to be. If the book were an actual ARG, then the reader/player would have to use the evidence to actually understand the story.

I definitely don't think that either of Cathy's books are ARG. So far I have been reading the books without using any of the evidence. While reading Cathy's book I looked through the evidence before I started reading. However, once I started to read I didn't touch the evidence again. The only thing I really did was call the number on the front of the book. Although, I only did this after we talked about it in class. Otherwise, I would never have even thought to actually call the number. Now that we are reading Cathy's Key I have not even opened the evidence. The reason that these books are not an ARG is because the evidence is not necessary to the reading of the story. I have been reading the story without using the evidence, the evidence doesn't serve any real purpose. The evidence is interesting and fun, but is not an important part of the stories. The books can be interactive, but they do not necessarily have to be. If the book were an actual ARG, then the reader/player would have to use the evidence to actually understand the story.

I finally got the file zipped. The project is attached.

My Inform game is based on a prisoner trying to escape reality and entering an alternate reality. I found the project very interesting. I really liked coming up with the concept of the game. I had lots of ideas for my game and I got very excited. However, my technical abilities hindered my game. I was not able to completely understand Inform, nor could I understand the recipe book. I got very frustrated at having my ideas limited by my abilities. There were several instances were I would try to type some source code, but Inform would strike me down. I got so annoyed at seeing that arrow and description of what I had done wrong. I was especially annoyed at trying to create other characters. I wanted the player to be able to interact with other characters, however I never figured out how Inform would allow me to do this. I also spent about an hour trying to make a liquid. This did not work. I spent so much time reading the recipe book about liquids, and I still never figured it out.  read more »

The Lighthouse...also known as the most pointless game ever. As with most interactive fiction games, I found this game to be very difficult. I played for quite some time, but did not make it very far in the game. I did not see an objective in the game. I knew that I was watching a lighthouse, but then I was lost. I walked around the the lighthouse and had trouble figuring out what to do. Just like most IF games, I didn't know what the game wanted me to do. I tried to open doors, but encountered problems. When I finally got somewhere after being stuck in the foyer for quite some time, I still didn't understand what I was trying to do. When I got up the stairs and unlocked the box, I didn't realize that the button inside was a button you push, I thought it was a shirt button. SO instead of pushing the button, I took it. I never won the game because I didn't realize what I was trying to do.  read more »

I thought that Moo was a very interesting way to have a class discussion. I like the idea of Moo, the idea that we can have a class discussion virtually, without actually speaking. I would especially like it if we didnt have to go to class, if we could have class in our own rooms. However, I dont think that we used Moo very effectively. Everyone was having separate conversations and everyone was typing so fast. Some people really were having a class discussion and were interacting with other classmates. While some people were simply experimenting with the program and seeing all the interesting things they could do in this new universe. The result was pure chaos. I could not follow a discussion and whenever I started to type something to respond, someone else typed what I was going to say or they changed the subject. I think that with time we will discover a better system to use Moo for class. If we treat it like a real class, where we have to wait our turns, everything will run smoother. In general though, I really did enjoy the Moo experience.

While I don't think I will be putting Lawnmower Man 2 in my netflix queue any time soon...there were some interesting ideas about virtual reality in the film.

One idea I found interesting, but that wasn't really explored very much, was how virtual reality can affect an individual's relationships. For example, in the beginning of the film, the doctor is depressed so he retreats into the world of virtual reality. This affects his relationship, with his wife, who eventually leaves him. I believe that this is a common stereotype about people who are interested in virtual reality. If they enjoy being submerged in another reality, then they don't enjoy their real reality. This can also be seen in parents encouraging their children to watch less TV and to play with friends instead.  read more »

The Machine Stops was written by E.M. Forster in 1909 as a warning against the dangers of becoming too reliant on technology. Although the story portrays a much more dependent and drastic futuristic world, many of the general ideas of the story can be seen in today's society. The world in Forster's story is completely controlled by a machine that has the ability to fill all the demands of human life. The characters in the story are completely immersed in their technological world.

The world in the story can be compared to the sensations felt by an individual playing the game Shade. The player becomes entirely immersed in the world of the game's character. The player is in control of every move the character makes. If the character needs something, like to be feed, or to find plane tickets, the player fulfills that need. In some ways the player can be seen as equivalent to the machine in the short story.