In Twisty Little Passages, author Nick Montfort explains “how one interacts with interactive fiction,” by transcribing an experience he’s had with an actual work of interactive fiction, Dan Schmidt’s For a Change. I recommend you give added attention to his account and map. Together, they make an experience that’s hard to describe or design tangible.The author also offers a number of pointers and strategies for designing interactive fiction. An important concept to help your understanding of interactive fiction is the idea that interactive fiction is not “narrative, but that [it] produces narratives when a person interacts with [it]. To get a real sense of what is meant by this, take a moment to explore the interactive fiction assigned as this week’s readings, Leon and You’re George Lucas In 1975. Can You Create ‘Star Wars’?. With these examples the narrative isn’t complete until the reader engages the story. In a very minimal way, the reader creates the narrative of the story through the engagement they have with it. It’s as Montfort explains, that it is interaction as “a series of continuous exchanges of texts between the program [or structure or system] and the interactor.”
For this assignment, create a web-based, interactive fiction using the strategies and concepts described in the Montfort reading. You should be able to demonstrate a strong sense of what makes an interactive fiction “interactive.” You may use any digital media tool or system to create your interactive fiction.