My old friend T.A.G.

I spent a few hours playing Bronze, Violet, and Shade (Varicella) in preparation for class this week, and my previous experience with this genre helped me get beyond the opening hurdles in each.  Encountering “Interactive Fiction” in this class has been like running into an old friend who has changed dramatically since you last saw him.  I.F. seems like a respectable guy, all dressed up and running with an impressive crowd of academics from the likes of MIT, but when I look at him closely I cannot help but see “Text Adventure Game,” my old friend T.A.G., the simple guy with the small vocabulary who was great at helping me pass the time sitting at my 386 PC years ago.  Good times.

I have created “interactive fiction” myself in the past.  I never thought of it as writing or fiction, though; at the time, I was simply writing a computer game with the skills I had (using words), without requiring the ones I lacked (using graphics).  Designing an interactive game of this sort seems to me to involve more game design than creative writing skills.  A game is designed with one or more paths in mind; if the user completes all required tasks in the correct order, a certain outcome will be attained (player will get a prize, slay the dragon, etc.).  If the player deviates from this path, they will fall short of the goal, either becoming stuck or reaching the end of the game.  Fiction, on the other hand, is usually designed with multiple possible interpretations. The clever author does not tell the reader *everything* that happens, but rather leaves some feelings and actions for the reader to guess.

The documentary Get Lamp includes an interview with a gentleman who thought he found a bug in an early I.F. game because when he typed “drink bottle” he literally drank the bottle, which then disappeared.  From the game design perspective, I think it is far more likely that the designer thought about what to do if a player typed “drink bottle,” and decided it would be clever to allow the character to consume the bottle.*  Most fiction writers I know would be quite bored doing the basics of game design, such as defining every possible command and the associated outcomes, which are frequently repetitive (go east: cannot go that way, etc.).

*<Correction, Nov. 2: “drink bottle” was a real bug, per the comment on this post from Jason Scott.>

I once created an interactive game based on my job at the time, working in the IT department of a hospital, for the enjoyment of my coworkers.  As I recall, the object was to print and deliver patient reports to the nurse stations in the hospital before the deadline.  The player was confronted with many challenges unique to our workplace, such as a “herd of visitors” that would crush anyone attempting to use the hospital elevator rather than the stairs.  There was also a troll lurking amid the electrical cables beneath the floor of the computer room, causing mischief.

I must admit that my game had one or two interesting story lines, and that it reflected some modestly creative thinking on my part.  Compared to my efforts at writing fiction, however, creating the story line of an interactive game seems much flatter and less complex.  When I write fiction, I strive to create a story that works on several different levels, supporting both literal and figurative interpretations.  A game, in my experience, typically operates on a purely literal level (examine table, get lamp, etc.), rarely venturing into symbolism.

So, while I understand that interactive fiction does involve some elements of creativity and storytelling, I believe the end result does not come close to the experience of reading a work of fine literature.  I think of I.F. as more game than story.  I suppose it depends upon how much effort the designer puts into the writing.  Simply coming up with lists of verbs, objects, and responses is not creative writing as I define it.  In his YouTube video “Exploring Interactive Fiction,” Nick Monfort mentions what at least one designer attempted in terms of character development, which moves a bit closer to creative writing.  I think future designers should try varying motivations and emotions, and strive to provide non-linear outcomes.

In other words, I suspect that a simple poem or short story can convey a far richer and more complex experience to the reader than any of the forms of interactive fiction we have considered.  As an example, I humbly offer a poem comprising only commands a user might enter in an interactive fiction game:

CLIMB UP
EXAMINE TRACK
OPEN DOOR
LOOK BACK

In interactive fiction, the commands above are likely to produce results that are strictly linear; in poetry, they serve as pointers to limitless meanings.