engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) (05/03/87)
Hi,
I have started a discussion group at the University of Maine's bboard on
interactive fiction, a new subject that I'm majoring in at Cornell University
(ok, so I'm an independent major bored by the conventional). The group at
Maine hasn't gotten a huge number of responses, partly because there aren't
that many people who use CSNEWS@MAINE. It is also only a bitnet group, and
doesn't have (as far as I know) unix/usenet access.
Anyway, I am writing this because I would like to get people to
participate in the discussion, which they can't do unless they know about it.
Also, if there is enough interest (email me at either of the addresses at the
bottom) I could try to set up a parallel group on Usenet, though I have
absolutely no idea as to how this could be done.
The basic premise of interactive fiction is that it removes the linearity
from fiction and replaces it with a fluid, branching presentation that
requires input from the reader. Thus it brings the author and the reader
much closer in the creative process. I have a number of ideas on the subject
that I have already posted to CSNEWS, so if you want to read them, and are on
a bitnet machine (IBM anyway) type . . .
TELL CSNEWS@MAINE SENDME INT_FICT CSNOTICE FROM CSBB ( ASIS
To do the same thing from a VMS or Unix machine, just replace TELL with your
favorite interactive message command and the proper syntax. On VMS that
would be SEND/REMOTE and on Unix RSEND (I think).
I am posting this to the three 68000-based micro's newsgroups because
interactive fiction require a graphic interface to allow the author to keep
track of the various branchings in his text, which should be rather complex.
Prof. Jay Bolter (visiting at Cornell) has program working, called
StorySpace, that allows one to write this fiction on the Macintosh. I see
no reason why this couldn't work on either the ST or the Amiga if someone
(I'm going to try once I learn C (can anyone help me with the evnt_multi()
call in Megamax C for the ST? PLEASE?)) does some work on it.
So, step right up and add your name to the list of people interested
in interactive fiction!
Adam Engst
engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu.UUCP
pv9y@cornella.bitnetengst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) (05/11/87)
Expires:
Many of you saw my postings several days (weeks?) ago on
interactive fiction. I posted those notices to these groups
because of the current status of interactive fiction on the 68000-
based micros and because of the necessity (at least I think so,
but I may be wrong) of working inside of a graphic environment,
which allows the author to keep track of a complex branching
structure.
I received quite a number of responses from different people
expressing an interest in being put on a mailing list or in
starting a new Usenet discussion group. I asked around to find
out the proper method of starting a new group and was told that I
needed to talk about interactive fiction on an existing newsgroup
for a while, then get names on a petition, and then apply to the
net powers that be for a new newsgroup provided that I had shown
that there was enough interest to warrant the new group. This
procedure seems reasonable, so I am writing to these newsgroups to
inform all those who are interested in interactive fiction and
those who previously replied that I will be discussing it in
MISC.MISC.
I decided on MISC.MISC because it is for those topics which
don't really fit into any existing newsgroup. I don't think that
interactive fiction does. It is not a game, yet it is
entertainment while also being serious literature. It can also be
used for computer-aided instruction and has a certain relationship
to artificial intelligence. It needs the technology of the
computer and the creativity of the writer. What it needs more
than anything else at the moment is interest. People must realize
that it is not a game and it is not trivial, it is real. This
discussion will be devoted to any and all of the aspects of
interactive fiction with the goal of developing it as a new medium
for reading and writing with the aid of the computer.
To start the new discussion off on the right foot (or left
foot, it's non-discriminatory), I will start posting the messages
from the CSNEWS@MAINE discussion group that I started at the
beginning of 1987. I will also accept any email, but please
specify if you don't want your ideas posted because I believe in
free distribution of pertinant information. In short, please give
the subject a chance. I think it is very interesting and has a
great future.
Thank you,
Adam Engst
engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu.UUCP
pv9y@cornella.bitnethadeishi@husc7.UUCP (05/12/87)
Re: Interactive Fiction In the last issue of BYTE magazine a LISP-like interactive fiction authoring system was described. The listing is in C and is available on BIX. Anyone with a BIX account like to download it and post it to some newsgroup that we all have access to? I for one wouldn't mind porting the thing to the Amiga, and I'm sure others would enjoy porting it to their respective systems. Since it is written totally in C it should be relatively easy to port to any C-equipped system. I presume the author wrote it on a IBM-PC so there may be PC-specific code which would clearly have to be modified; hopefully not. It looks VERY nice; it supports "verb noun preposition noun", conjunctions (as in "verb noun and noun preposition noun", where "noun" can be things like "the big red book" and so on. I've written such a system in AmigaBasic which has a similar level of parser complexity, but of course the LISP syntax makes the adventure system much nicer; in particular you specify rooms by name, objects can have arbitraily long property lists, and objects can have different sets of properties (i.e., not all objects have to have all of the possible properties) and so on. Very nice. -Mitsu
wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu (Pierce T. Wetter) (05/13/87)
> > In the last issue of BYTE magazine a LISP-like interactive >fiction authoring system was described. The listing is in C and is >available on BIX. Anyone with a BIX account like to download it and >post it to some newsgroup that we all have access to? I for one wouldn't The program you are referring to is called ADVSYS, and there is a mac version on Sumex-aim.stanford.edu under directory info-mac. Pierce Wetter California, n.: From Latin "calor", meaning "heat" (as in English "calorie" or Spanish "caliente"); and "fornia'" for "sexual intercourse" or "fornication." Hence: Tierra de California, "the land of hot sex." -- Ed Moran -------------------------------------------- wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu --------------------------------------------
julian@riacs.edu (Julian E Gomez) (05/13/87)
Somebody named Perry at Xerox Palo Alto tried something like this a few
years ago. The whole thing was called "YAFA" which probably meant Yet
Another Fantasy Adventure. The story went along in chunks: somebody
would write a chunk and send it out, then the next person. An
entertaining story line ensued, with some perceptible style differences
as different authors contributed.
--
Scientists will study your brain to learn more about your distant cousin, Man.
Julian "a tribble took it" Gomez
julian@riacs.edu || {...decvax!}ames!riacs!julianengst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) (05/14/87)
Could someone please get the ADVSYS program from Sumex-aim.stanford and post
it here and the 68000 microcomputer groups. Then perhaps someone could be
interested (Mitsu?) in porting it to other machines, if that hasn't already
been done. I haven't the foggiest idea how to get or I would do it myself.
Thanks,
Adam
engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu
pv9y@cornellaengst@batcomputer.UUCP (05/16/87)
Could everyone who is posting a note on interactive fiction please only post
to misc.misc for now? That way those who aren't interested won't have to
read about it and suffer terribly. Thanks to all those who have either
written to misc.misc or written to me personally! And to all those who have
asked me about a definition of interactive fiction, try reading misc.misc,
since that is where we are working out a definition. About a mailing list:
I am not going to set one up, mostly because I have about a 60% chance of
getting mail to someone who writes to me, and it isn't fair to keep some
people from talking about interactive fiction just because I can't figure
out how to get mail to them. So the moral of the story is - if you want to
read about/write about interactive fiction, do it on misc.misc.
Thanks,
Adam Engst
engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu
pv9y@cornellaengst@batcomputer.UUCP (07/08/87)
For those of you who cannot (or don't want to) read the Usenet or Bitnet discussion groups on interactive fiction we are back in mailing list form. If you want to send mail to the list, the address is . . . . . . . . . . >>>> gamemasters@parcvax.xerox.com <<<< Just include "Interactive fiction" on the Subject line so the moderator can separate it out from the adventure game discussion messages. If you want to add yourself to the mailing list (so you get digests every day or so) send a request to . . . . . . . . >>>> gamemasters-request@parcvax.xerox.com <<<< and ask to be added. You can also ask to be deleted from the list, ask for archived mail, or report a mailer failure at the request address. I will be sending the messages that come from Bitnet and Usenet as well, so everyone will have access to all the messages. If anyone has any questions, just email me at either of the below addresses and I'll try to help. Thanks a lot for the discussion up to now and I hope that it will improve even more with the increased audience. Adam C. Engst engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu pv9y@cornella.bitnet