Chapter Four

The essence of an Interactive fiction

The Genre

Time location affects the genre directly as being the closest in the family.. The genre is the general theme that defines the characteristics of the story in terms of the logic of events and interactions. The genre defines if it is about a true life event, a fantasy, or science fiction. A different process is adapted when visualizing a text depending on its genre. Designing the characters, props, stage set, and the "décor" differs from creating a 1950 movie to a 22nd century sci-fi. Sense and sensibility took place in beautiful old mansions showing ladies with old customs riding carriages with horses. While Total Recall's stage location was divided between Earth and Mars, and most of the stunts were aliens or creatures that represented the Director's futuristic vision of humans.

Different genres are aimed at different groups of spectators, and choosing the actors is dependent on this issue as well. The Last action Hero movie, starring Arnold Schwarzneger (instead of Tom Hanks) is a good example. What applies to Science fiction audience is most likely detested by others, and vice versa

This applies to computer games as well. Game players are divided into groups, but without any accurate boundaries and separations of course. Science fiction games, fantasy, shoot'em ups, and contemporary adventure games have their different audience. But those who play Age of empire wouldn't mind playing quake.. and would certainly love to play Resident Evil. For it is all entertainment for them.

Noah Falstein explains the difference between these types:

"Action-Adventure - To someone in the film business this is a movie genre. Most interactive people know that, but they also know that in the computer game world Action games and Adventure games are two very different genres. Very simply, Action games (also sometimes called Arcade style) have their interactivity focused on constant, rapid, real-time choices, and require good hand-eye coordination to play. Adventure games (perhaps better termed story games, but named after the first of their type) are story-intensive, slow-paced games where the major interaction is puzzle solving, and typically there is no real-time fast interaction. This distinction is muddled by the fact that there are a few games (the Wing Commander series as an example) that link some of the Adventure game elements of storytelling and linear sequences with a fast-paced action game. It's also worth noting that there are interactive genres and story genres in a game, for example an Adventure game with a Horror story plot, or a Strategy game with a Comedy theme. But if you're from the film industry, it is often a sign of unfamiliarity with the games industry to refer to an action-adventure game inappropriately. Also note that game genres (e.g. role-playing games) can mean slightly different things in a console system game and a home computer game." ⁽¹⁾

Do we employ magic potions and swords, or laser guns and nuclear chargers? Maybe just ride your tank and blow the enemies base away. These are some of the questions that should be asked frequently when designing a game. This is Genre dependent, and follows the plot course, being the closest interactive factors of the game.

Choosing the genre is location based generally. And fantasy games tend to be location-based more than anything else. This is because most fantasy is based in some part on folklore from the area, which the game is set. ⁽²⁾

"I use those culture merely to show the great diversity of tales and legends floating around out there if you only look. The Irish have their tales of sidhe, Russians have their Christian saints and monsters from earlier times. The Germans have some odd tales, as do the Arabs, 1001 Arabian nights is a required reading." ⁽³⁾

Genre is usually expressed in designing the plot, "stage set" of the game, props and character customs (notice the similarity with time location). Using symbolic objects and abstracts from a certain culture to indicate location and requirements is a well-known method in cinema and theatre. The same method is used in computer games, with respect of the enormous capabilities of computers. Tomb Raider's intro shows Lara croft in the Pyramids (Egypt) passing through the money dome (symbol of good wealth and fortune-Syria), being attacked by Dogs (The death gate keepers in Egyptian mythology) in the tombs of the eternal pharos. Texture maps and lighting are effective in giving an extra touch to the whole atmosphere, using the reddish orange color on the brown stone textures inside the pyramids. While employing Bluish Grey atmosphere in Nocturne using 30's car styles for the Mafia troops attacking Stranger reminds us of cemeteries and vampires. Final fantasy's world is completely different from the one we live in. It exists in a parallel universe where the use of buildings as places (or machines) (4). for living is not the only issue. Balamb Garden (the heroes' home base) is a futuristic representation of a city or a barrack. It is a training center for special kinds of mercenary fighters well-prepared to save the world from a coming war. Each garden is a mobile flying unit that can move and change its place according to its mission. (Final Fantasy VIII). And the pyramids (house of the dead and the eternal residency) turn into a lively world full of adventures to miss croft (of tomb raider) to go through. Choosing the game type decides the storyboard and scene building of the whole game. Adventure games, shoot'em ups, or arcade-like games. have their own way in telling the story and dealing with the plot. Strategy games like age of empires require tactical study of the game scene, and this absorbs the user inside to forget about "middle class" graphics, especially when networked and played against known opponent. Conversation triggered games like final fantasy depends more on the interactivity demonstrated by having your own choice of words.

For example, Selphie asks Squall to join her in the Garden's festival committee, (Final Fantasy VIII) his refusal will create some disturbance in their relationship, which might affect their teamwork. (But saying no to such a good-looking girl modeled with highly detailed graphics -thanks to the talented artists- requires more courage than that needed to fight fierce monsters.)

This type of multiple-options games that require listening to long conversations and reading long articles might be boring if not very well drawn, and cleverly designed

Shoot'em ups and arcade games rely on the player immersion caused by sound and graphics, and in some cases, Haptic feed back.

Networked games are becoming a well-established type of their own. They can be one of any of the aforementioned types, but you are no longer playing against the computer. The characters you are shooting at are not agents with AI programmer behind. They are other live players. Playing the game over and over won't make you able to memorize where is the enemy's hiding place, you will have to be predictive and set all your senses for a possible attack anytime. The relationship with your character and other players' become more natural, and you might feel more pleasure shooting someone you know, rather than being in a fight with a computer.

[Time location] - [Time] - [The Genre] - [The plot] - [The quest] - [Characters] - [Point of view]

(1)Falstein, Noah. Silicon Hollywood: A status report.[1998] http://www.theinspiracy.com

(2)Wilson, Gerry Kevin. Genre study (Fantasy). University of California, Berkly. Rec.arts.int-fiction news group (initial design for interactive arts)- 1995

(3) Wilson, Gerry Kevin. Same source

(4)Le Corbusier,