Interactive Fiction…rediscovered
Interaction Fiction (IF) is the perfect blend of gaming and storytelling and has the power to engage your X-Box aficionados with both reading and writing. Kristian Still, Assistant Head at Hamble Community Sports College in Southampton is an Interactive Fiction expert and enthusiast, having seen the evidence of its impact first hand. Why should you head over to textadventures.co.uk after you are done reading this post? Because IF can make a difference to your students attitudes to reading.
So… what is Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction is on-screen text adventure gaming. It is not a new phenomena, & has been around for decades & although mostly textual, the term can sometimes refer to all adventure games, including wholly graphical adventures such as Myst. It may be niche, but it’s certainly passionate and global, with its own international writing competitions, superstar authors and numerous community sites.
Simply put, Interactive Fiction tells you the beginning of the story through text and then it puts you in charge and let’s you decide what your next move in the story should be. You are the game and you have to solve the problems which the story presents. In effect the decisions that you, the reader makes will determine the subsequent information that you are given, the parts of the story or the clues you are presented with, the areas you have access to and ultimately the journey which you go on to get to the end of your story. And the end of your story could be quite different to the end of the next player’s.
Kristian says: “A good example to help you get your head around Interactive Fiction is the short Escape from Byron Bay – . Notice I said short and not simple. The first ever title written by “Mr Heard” an ICT teacher with little IF experience”. You can hear the thoughts of some lads involved in a bit of Interactive programming, in these podcasts.
When we asked Kristian about the educational value of Interactive Fiction he said “I have been experimenting with Interactive Fiction with a few of my classes…
“One observation consistent with all the groups is that playing IF is tough”.
“IF demands good deduction skills and also facilitates text engagement and comprehension. After all, not paying close attention to the text, either leaves you without closure, or results in your untimely demise. Or at least your player gets it in the neck”.
“The second observation is more important, almost all the students have engaged with reading and playing IF titles and my so called “reluctant readers” are no longer… well, reluctant.
In fact, they are quite despondent when I tell them we are not “text adventuring” today. And it is not just my classes, there are a handful of colleagues investigating how Interactive Fiction can be used to engage learners. So what is stopping you? Quest is a free text adventure authoring and there is a hatful of titles, again all free”.
“I don’t wish to overwhelm you and there is so much more I could share with you, however, let’s take stock.
Interactive Fiction engages readers, in fact it demands the reader to pay attention.
Throw in a good measure of problem solving skills, depending on the type of Interactive Fiction being read. And writing Interactive Fiction requires a much broader set of skills, it is so much more than creative writing”.
If you are interested in finding out more about IF, you could drop Kristian a line via Kristianstill.co.uk or through twitter @kristianstill.
… You decide …
Category: 2) Useful n Interesting
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As well as our events, we like to share interesting, and more often than not, FREE tools, resources and ideas, some old, some new, and we hope you might find something useful. We'd love your thoughts. Tim & Sarah
My pupils have been reading IF for a few months INSTEAD of Guided Reading. We haven’t been involved in any programming but the pupils REALLY enjoy exploring the text in this unusual way. I have found that it captures the imagination of reluctant boy readers and have observed them absolutely engrossed in the text. Not only that (which is blooming marvellous) but the level of conversation they exchange is great. They warn each other, watch each other and they also like to get to somewhere first with the right equipment too.
Overall – there is A LOT of mileage in IF. And this is just at Primary School level. I’d really like to get some pupils in Year 6 programming… watch this space!
You are right- the mystery and feeling of involvement captures some who might not usually get involved with fiction.
I look forward to reading some of your IF tales if you do get your class in to programming Dave
Shouldn’t tht be “If you’d like to watch this space – go here”?…
Very interesting read, and I think the observation that IF is such a good blend of gaming and storytelling is right on the mark.
I am currently working on my doctorate in Education, and the focus of my research is on using IF in the classroom environment. I’m looking for teachers that are using IF, and that might be interested in being a part of my study. If so, please contact me. (I’m assuming my contact info will be provided in some way after I make this post.)
I do think there is great potential for IF to engage students in ways that traditional text books have failed. To that end, I’m developing a historical Interactive Fiction piece (more like Interactive Fact) that I hope will be of benefit in the classroom. (More info at http://tinyurl.com/75754ka).
Hap Aziz
HERE IS HAP’S EMAIL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET IN TOUCH: hapaziz@gmail.com
Hi there Hap and thank you for your comment
Usually, emails are kept hidden when people file comments. But, as you are hoping to get responses from folk who use IF, would you like me to make your email open?
It would be good to keep in touch regarding your studies and the outcomes of your research
Sorry for the delay in moderating your comment
Keep in touch
Tim
Hi Tim.
When I read two days ago this post, I thought: “Wow, It’s incredible, I’m searching information about Interactive fiction, the story of adventure games, and in this post there is some information”
Also I need some information of educational experiences about the use of interactive fiction, visual novels, graphic adventures, etc. for my “dissertation”.
I’m spanish, and I’m studying in my country a “Master’s degree of ICT in Education”.
I’m interesting in the use of the adventure games at classroom, and in general it’s the focus of my “dissertation”.
I know the program called “Quest”, and more programs to make Interactive Fiction, for example: Inform7 http://inform7.com/
JACL http://code.google.com/p/jacl/
CAT http://www.staining.fslife.co.uk/index.htm and others programs to make “IF” and adventure games, but I couldn’t probe every program.
If you want I tell you more programs to make adventure games.
If you know something, please contact me.
Thanks for everything.
Cheers.
Noelia.
Hi Noelia
Thank you for your comment
Hap Aziz wrote a comment earlier about some fascinating Interactive Fiction work
HERE IS HAP’S EMAIL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET IN TOUCH: hapaziz@gmail.com
Another person you should get in touch with is Kristian who is mentioned in the post
Let us know how yo get on
Tim
Noelia,
Yes, please contact me if you’re interested to discuss Interactive Fiction and text adventure projects. I’m working on an Interactive Fiction game about Williamsburg, Virginia, in the 18th century, right around the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You can find out more about the project by going to this link: http://tinyurl.com/75754ka. And you can contact me through my email address at hapaziz@gmail.com.
I would love to know more about your thoughts on the topic.
Hap
Hi Tim and Hap.
Thanks for everything.
Hap, I read a little of your game project and I think that it’s very interesting.
I’ll contact with you, I’ll send an email now.
Thanks, I follow you in twitter, mi nick is @NoeBranford, and I have added you to google +, in my circle called: “Educational video games”
Cheers.
Noelia.