Chris Crawford's Storyworld: Storytron
Yesterday I spent some time exploring Chris Crawford's interactive storytelling site, Storytron.
In his Balance of Power: 21st Century storyworld, the player takes on the role of the President on September 12, 2001. The objective of the President is to advance
advance American interests. The player is given various lists of options such as pressuring others countries through diplomatic means or more agressive ones, like bombing. The computer then responds with an outcome to the player's choice. The player must once again respond. And on and on. Slowly a story is built.
I was expecting a visually enticing storyworld to interact within. But, this was not to be the case. The interaction was very much text based with a few visual guides that could be called upon such as maps.
What did intrigue me though, was that such a game provides a great way to learn history. In order to make my next move as the President, I would have to consider my options and understand the history of other countries. The storyworld provided this information. So, I could see how such games could be a great learning tool. But, that would largely depend on who was responsible for the information.
Chris Crawford also envisions using his storyworlds to help teach employees certain tasks that need to be known at various companies. He also sees it as a way to teach people about the customs of other cultures, so, if for example, a diplomat visits another country in order to take care of business, he does not ruin relations by doing something that is culturally inappropriate. I see the possibilities, but it seems this may have a ways to go before such interaction can become interesting enough for the user to want to interact in such a way in the first place.
In his Balance of Power: 21st Century storyworld, the player takes on the role of the President on September 12, 2001. The objective of the President is to advance
advance American interests. The player is given various lists of options such as pressuring others countries through diplomatic means or more agressive ones, like bombing. The computer then responds with an outcome to the player's choice. The player must once again respond. And on and on. Slowly a story is built.
I was expecting a visually enticing storyworld to interact within. But, this was not to be the case. The interaction was very much text based with a few visual guides that could be called upon such as maps.
What did intrigue me though, was that such a game provides a great way to learn history. In order to make my next move as the President, I would have to consider my options and understand the history of other countries. The storyworld provided this information. So, I could see how such games could be a great learning tool. But, that would largely depend on who was responsible for the information.
Chris Crawford also envisions using his storyworlds to help teach employees certain tasks that need to be known at various companies. He also sees it as a way to teach people about the customs of other cultures, so, if for example, a diplomat visits another country in order to take care of business, he does not ruin relations by doing something that is culturally inappropriate. I see the possibilities, but it seems this may have a ways to go before such interaction can become interesting enough for the user to want to interact in such a way in the first place.
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