Writing For Games

Inform 7 Bootcamp Notes

Find slides at http://aramzs.me/7j

Find example at http://aramzs.me/7k

More examples at – http://iat.ubalt.edu/blodgett/TCG/

Inform 7 – entirely graphics free.

Natural language

Errors tab -> Problem button will tell you where things have gone wrong.

You can change the code as the came is running.

All you need to create a room is the room name.

[Room name] is [direction] of [room name]

Directions:

East

West

North

South

Up (above)

Down (below)

in

out

You can also declare something enterable (thing).

When dealing with directions ‘of’ can always be replaced by ‘from’.

You can declare a group a Region. – Group of rooms that are adjacent and share some attribute.

“There is a region called the cave. Everything in the cave is…”

Rooms can be lit or unlit. Unlit is completely dark, they need an inventory item to light it.

All objects are “thing” type and must be declared. If they are declared in a room they do not need to remain in that room.

You can create doors, which can be locked or unlocked. Doors do not have to be “Doors” they can be other things, like grates.

You can create something outside of a room (or without a room) and move it in later.

Using some will make the thing plural (a collection of multiple objects.)

No article causes it …

Course: introduction to ethics/moral philosophy

1. Learning objectives: one big, two sub for a course unit

Big: understand and apply utilitarianism to novel situations

Sub:
– understand/apply act-utilitarianism
– rule-utilitarianism

(utilitarianism: what’s morally right is what produces the best consequences)
(best actions versus following the best rules)

2. ARG play objective: generally “Save the world by X”

Save the world by making a compelling utilitarian argument for why humans should exist

3. RPG play objective: narrative object McGuffin style, and/or final product like a report to an authority figure

– Convince Skynet (the machine) not to wipe humanity off the planet

– Create multiple teams to address each kind of utilitarianism

– Arguing with each other, individual arguments trying to strengthen the whole

– Time travel aspect, each team represents the philosopher who espoused the theory (character sheets? worldviews?)

– And end up with this is the best argument?

– Skynet has these 5 reasons why the world should be destroyed (novel instances) — class breaks into 5 teams to address each?

– Utility is useful, but useful to whom? (metaquestion of the unit)

– Debate, have this be hashed out in a forum

– Point is to convince the machine that we’ve either made the right decision or that we’ve learned from our mistakes

4. Outline story-arc of RPG …

With Laura Packer

Descrip: “BREAKOUT: Compelling video games need compelling storylines. Traditional narrative offers many exciting possibilities, but there are other tools you can use to develop a story. Improvisation allows you to tap your imagination in unexpected ways, tell old stories with new finesse and explore narrative lines without inhibition or censors. You may just find a new tale aching to be told. This workshop includes several exercises. Participants will leave with new story ideas and tools for story development.”

Improvisational storytelling – there is no failure.

“Improv is something that really helps feed our creativity”
How to tap into it and bring it into your work, to make us more creative?
Goal: New ideas for stories, games, tools for developing new gaming materials.
Why Improv for game design?

It’s fun!
“Loosens up your image engine”
playful
new creative directions
You already know how!

What are stories and games made of?

Emotional hooks
plot
charater
cultural elements
structure
narrative
Motifs

discrete images that carry weight
Prominent in Folklore study.
Discrete recurring fragments or themes across many stories.
Elements that tell you about the story

Ex: wolf
dark forrest

Powerful because they carry implied cultural knowledge.
They do some of the work for both the story creator and the audience
Ex: how a character holds a gun, stance – tells you something about the character.

Image in the story

Connect …