Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Flux
As a result of continued user interaction, elements which are initially generic
in form - “some scenery” - tend to become highly focused - “some litter, the
litter is scattered all over” - with continued interaction.
Not only do elements come into focus, they can lose focus through ne-
glect. When elements revert to more archetypal forms, “a desk” becomes “some
furniture”.
(Of course, since the user does not control the mode of interaction, at-
tempts to manipulate the flux of the narrative may not have the desired result.)
Situation 4
A place. A tea chest. A body bag. A scrap of paper. An assassin. A character.
Something happens.
The user selects “a character.” This element will change to something more
specific, but at the same time “a scrap of paper” will lose focus:
A place. A tea chest. A body bag. Some scenery. An assassin. A rascal. Some-
thing happens.
Because some elements must be in focus for other elements to lose focus,
there is a gradual buildup of more-or-less focused elements as the story pro-
gresses. Highly focused elements are assumed to be of interest to the user, are
considered to be of more consequence in the story, and are thus less likely to
lose focus through neglect. In this way the elements of the narrative build up
into remarkably evocative situations, despite the ambiguities and contradic-
tions of the elements.
Visually, the flux of elements is represented by the opacity of the text in
the interface. 80% black text indicates a very focused element, while 20% black
text is almost invisible and indicates that the element is a candidate for change.
Flux is measured by a combination of variables: the age of the element (how
long since the element was last selected), how many times the object has been
selected, the relevance of the element to the current scene (a table is relevant in
a kitchen, a tombstone is relevant in a graveyard).
Weighted choices are made to determine when elements will change their
degree of focus, and at what intervals new elements will be added to the scene.
If a prop is selected and the number of props in the scene is above a certain
threshold, actors are introduced into the scene. If an actor is selected and the
number of actors is above a certain threshold, actions are introduced. When
the number of actions is above a certain threshold, the engine resets and the
user returns to exploring the first level of narrative.