"Egypt" was worked on by two students, Rajiv Manglani and Matthew Gray.
In the beginning one is not sure whether it is a work of fiction or an
actual historical report. The use of interactive maps and a constant
silent reference to an index work very well with this story. I did
not always understand why certain parts of the maps referred to the lexia
they lead to, but it was fun to follow them around. For example, a link
on the Royal
Village leads to a description of how the tomb structure was damaged,
and clicking on a globe icon lead to a map of the site of the pyramids
while another link leads to a map of Egypt. I thought it should be the
other way around. The graphics are nicely made, some by the artists themselves.
The site is very aesthetically pleasing. The
index lists all the pages available, which is good to know because
it gives an estimate of how long it is. I think it is the most well organized
story page I have come across. One of the things I did not like about "Exile"
was that its index was too vague and not very helpful.
This story is very clear and precise. The lexia are well linked and sized. Each is supposed to be a translation of ancient papyrus found in the pyramids, with the translator's remarks in italics at the bottom. It is hard to imagine it in book format because that would make all the remarks look out of place. Since the papyrus were separate sheets, I like that when I am reading one of them I do not see the rest. It gives the feeling of actually reading a single piece of paper.
This site has a page about how it was created that I found interesting. Apparently Rajiv and Matthew wrote parts separately and combined them later without having read what the other had written. This sounds like it had a good effect, but because of an error, I cannot open the half of the story written by Matthew Gray. Due to this fact I am missing a vital part of "Egypt" that I would like to read. I wished the plot was more intricate. There is a lack of impact when important events take place(as when the builders were trapped). I would have liked to see more of the characters. Even their escape is very loosely explained. If the rest of the story were available, these issues might be resolved.