Interactive adventure fiction is, after dying an awful pageless death in the 80s, back again! At least in one North Yorkshire school where pupils are pioneering the use of interactive fiction.
A google of interactive fiction will bring up the hideous Zork-style adventures that consisted more of trying to find the exact verb/command to advance the plot. Further searches will bring up hilariously inappropriate parody titles for the Choose Your Own Adventure series.
What interests us, instead, is the creation of our own interactive adventure stories. The possibilities are, by as a piece of text is, impressive. Especially if we do not limit ourselves to the second person, which can be turgid, even if it is more manageable across several authors. However, it is the addition of rich media that makes these most impressive – talking avatars, interactive panoramas that ask for a clue, a soundtrack…
Below is an example of how the gamebook may read, and below that is an example of the planning required to create it. More to come soon…
