I agree that much of this isn't anything new, but you might or might not be surprised how many people are unfamiliar with it. I'm constantly having to explain it to friends and acquaintances. And as with screenwriting I've learned that you can never cover the basic three act structure enough.

Also by covering the basics I think it better highlights the difference between interactive story and immersive story - something I would argue is a fresh concept.

Megan,

I couldn't agree more. Joseph Campbell probably more than any other showed how story can be used to transmit data. How we improve on current modes of storytelling through real time story is still to be discovered however. I'm really impressed with what you and Visual Purple have been able to do though. My guess is that serious games like the ones you're building will lead the way in the development of real time story. It's about to get very interesting.

I couldn't agree more, I just wish others would see this as well. Too often those of us in Silicon Valley get caught up in the technology. We live and breath it. However for most people the latest technology is just a curiosity and the only way to pull them in is offer some great utility or story, or both. Interactive story is cool, but it has to offer a better way to tell a story or it'll be a passing fad. You don't see many Choose Your Own Adventure books anymore.

I really like the stadium and movie theater analogy. But what gets people to a theater? A few people might show up with no idea what they want to watch and just pick one, but most will only make the trek down already sold one what to watch. In one way what that movie is giving the theater is context - I know what I'm going to get into. If I get an email for a virtual event on wood chips, I basically know what I'm getting into. I know what to expect and what I need to get done. Compare that experience with entering Second Life? I don't know what to expect, I don't know where to go and what to do.

Not only are crowds important, but so is the context and virtual events force you to figure out your context.

I had been keeping an eye on Fairyverse.com from MASA Group, but the site seems to have gone dead. Too bad cause they seemed to be building the closest thing to virtual characters - "We strive to develop the solutions for creating virtual interactive stories in which you and your friends are the heroes".

There are some other companies to watch as well, but they're mission is a bid different - VirtuOz and Novamente.

While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective - at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck - I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my dating sim, see first hand what is possible. Ren'Py doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics - which in this case can be great.

While at the gym I began to question if I'm still looking at this from too technical of a perspective - at least where interactive story is concerned. As you point out, we commonly know the outcome of a story but continue to watch. We go to super hero movies knowing that they can't lose but get caught up in it, find ourselves on the edge of our seats. Adding the interactivity in the storyline might seem logically to not offer much bang for the buck - I can take path A or B but end up at pretty much the same place. Even if you make it thousand of possibilities I question if the creator can really make the outcomes that different. But then again it might just work. Knowing how a story will turn out doesn't kill the entertainment value, heck we even watch them over and over and still get chills. I just need to keep plugging away on my dating sim, see first hand what is possible. Ren'Py doesn't offer any crazy features so it kind of forces you to concentrate on the basics - which in this case can be great.

I tried to create the diagrams from the perspective of a writer and incorporating a storyline. It's possible to create interactive story using a different model but for me that gets too technical - I simply can't wrap my head around it. As a consumer or player I can but as a writer it seems impossible to create. Chris Crawford built Storytron using a different model and I have no idea how I would weave a story into that. It seems to be more of a storyworld than story but I haven't had that much experience with it.

Speaking of Chris Crawford however, he has a great piece on a lot of what you brought up - Flawed Methods

Yeah, most narrative games don't go beyond a traditional narrative with obstacles put in the way. Are developers just being lazy or did they find that story interactivity didn't offer much value over traditional narrative? I know Chris Klug, of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment said expressly, "Mention interactive fiction and they'll think you're an academic." He went on to say that developers would never let you waste time on content that might never be seen by the player. Interactive story is a tough one.

And what's with the hatred of comic sans? I would switch but I use a great program Balsamiq to quickly create the diagrams and all it offers is comic sans.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll certainly check it out when it hits stores in May.