Interactive Narrative: Theory and Practice

| Syllabus | Readings | Project Assignments

There are 5 required projects

Project

Due Date

Project I: Norman Conquests

Tuesday Feb 23 (Prelim)

Thursday Feb 25 (Final)

Project II: Multiform Story

Thursday March 11 (Prelim)

Tuesday March 16 (Final)

Project III: CharacterMaker3

Draft due Tuesday April 6

Final Version: Tuesday April 13 (Contest!)

Project IV: CharacterMaker4 or Multiform Story

Thursday April 29

Project V: Revision of Earlier Project

Tuesday May 11

Project I: Norman Conquests Due Tuesday February 23 (Prelim) ;Thursday Feb 25 (Final)

Using the story line, and any appropriate dialogue, visuals, audio, moving video from the Norman Conquests trilogy, create an interface for moving between simultaneous actions in a story. Alternately you may use another appropriate story including one of your own invention. Your design should maximize both clarity and dramatic agency, providing a framework for choices that are driven by narrative curiosity and that satisfy or intensify the interest they arouse, while never leaving the interactor confused about navigation. The project should be no less than 6 lexia, and as long as you like. It should be a coherent unit, though probably not a complete representation of the story. The preliminary screen designs or outline is due on Tuesday Feb 23 in the appropropriate folder of the course locker: 21w765j/www/IN99/nproj . The final version is due Feb 25.

Project II: Multiform Story Due Thursday March 11 (Prelim); Tuesday March 16 (Final)

Create a multiform story suitable for digital presentation. Your story should be composed of clear morphemes, that vary in interesting ways, to create multiple related narratives. Within the overall pattern, there should be multiple versions of component characters or events, as in a Propp fairy tale or in Groundhog Day. It can take the form of a 3x3 or 5x5 , or of a science fiction alternate universe tale or a participatory story that can develop in different ways based on the interactor's choices. You can also use an existing story, such as the movie Sliding Doors, as long as there are clear morphemes in parallel segments that vary with each telling. There should be at least 3 variants and at least 5 morphemes. Implement your story with an interface that is easy to navigate and that reinforces the pleasure of juxtaposing the changes.

Project III: CharacterMaker3 Character

Create a character using the CharacterMaker3 authoring tool that is capable of sustaining a conversation with an interactor for 20 consecutive exchanges. The character should have more than one image attached to it. The images can be animated gifs.

Preliminary Character due April 6

Final Character due April 13

Writer's Tips

Optional Use of CharacterMaker4 software, which provides for grouping key words into topics and for tracking the conversation with flags.

 

Project IV: CharacterMaker4 Character or Multiform Story Project

There are two ways to satisfy this assignment:

1. Building on what you have learned from working with CM3, create a character using the CharacterMaker4 authoring tool, which will let you create multiple topics, and use audio, video, or animation as well as images. The character should have at least 6 topics to talk about, and the conversation should follow a storyline.

2. Create a new multisequential story, or significantly expand one from earlier in the term.

Project V: Revision of any Previous Projecta

Choose any of the projects created during this semester, and revise it . ive: Theory and Practice