Information Technology Reference
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of options. In short, runtime errors result in slightly less entertaining stories,
but nothing worse.
No flow control
Flow of control considerations are not imposed on the artist. There are no if-
statements and no looping structures. There is an implicit if-statement in the
boolean expression at the beginning of each script, but there is no general-
ized branching control. There are several functions that provide built-in loop-
ing structures; we have found these adequate to the needs of interactive story-
telling. The absence of flow control considerations greatly reduces the burden
on the artist.
Assisting agents
The Erasmatron includes a variety of supporting analyses of the storyworld;
these are presented through a variety of rather stupid agents that I call
lizards
.
It seems to me that the term
wizards
is misleading; since a wizard is an im-
mensely powerful person, capable of performing wondrous feats of magic, I
should think that any software agent called a wizard should be endowed with
vast powers. The wizards we have seen implemented in software strike me as
quite stupid; I wonder what the poor unschooled users think of these suppos-
edly powerful nothingburgers. Therefore, in the interest of clarity of expression
(and perhaps some truth in advertising), I have labeled my software agents
lizards
.
Conclusions
Most of the hard thinking that went into the Erasmatron technology involved
one or more of these three assumptions (primacy of interactivity, indirection
of effort, and ease of editing). Once I had articulated and understood them, the
design problems were much clarified. Sadly, I developed these ideas in parallel
with the creation of the software; my many wrong turns led me, like a mouse
in a maze, to these assumptions as my guiding principles. I am certain that
other sets of assumptions can be used to create other interactive storytelling
systems - but these three worked for me.
