Photo by believekevin
Recently I've heard a lot of Buzz about a new console game called Heavy Rain. I've not played it personally, but I've read several reviews, I've watched the game be played, and I've done a fair amount of research on it. It's being called a new paradigm in gaming, and hailed as incredibly original.
As I listened to all the hype that surrounded the game, I was met with something akin to Deja Vu: an intense sense of 'this-has-already-been-done-to-great-effect.' Heavy Rain is billed as an "interactive Drama" one player I spoke with went so far as to say "It's like a movie, only you're the main character, you write the story."
When I heard that, it clicked. These games aren't new and innovating, they are moving a time tested format (that dates back to the 1970s and Colossal Caves) known as interactive fiction from words to pictures.
Interactive Fiction games are a small subset of the 'Text Adventure' style of games.There are hundreds upon hundreds of Text Adventure games that are not interactive fiction. These games often have a sparse setting, and a more sparse plot. They don't understand what you tell them, at all. They are frequently frustrating, and rarely fun. If your only exposure to Text Adventures was the 1980s Scott Adams style, please consider giving them another chance.
There are, however, a large, perhaps equal, number of 'Text Adventure' games that are interactive fiction. These games are works of fiction in which the player assumes the role of the main character. He wanders through well crafted prose, marveling at the locations that the author has beautifully formed, conversing with the characters that inhabit this world of prose. The things the player says are understood, or at least mis-understood in a helpful (or amusing) way.
If Heavy Rain is a movie, then a Text Adventure is a Novel, a Short Story (occasionally, a poem). They are rarely as easily accessible as they're screen counterparts, but they are often far more fulfilling and complex.
As I said, Text Adventures have been written for as long as we have had computers. The first, Colossal Caves, (which became Dungen, which become Zork, which became the Zork trilogy that launched Infocom, who was acquired by Activision, who still makes good video games.) was written in the late 70s on a mainframe at MIT.
I have a hard time calling Colossal Caves and games like it "interactive fiction." It isn't the quality of the prose that prevents them from attaining this distinction. The prose is actually quite nice, with some highly detailed descriptions, and some incredible bits of humor. What limits these games to being 'text adventures' is that there isn't really any fiction with which one may interact. What plot is there is just an excuse to string together some puzzles, and explore a cave/dungeon. It's a fun game, but it's just a game.
For my money, the first real work of interactive fiction was the game "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" published by Infocom in 1984. This is the first time that a Novelist collaborated with the programmer to create not just a game, but an entire world which a player might lose himself as the protagonist. (I know I've mentioned this game in several recent posts. But it's a good game. You should play it.) This was a story first and a game second, in much the same way as Heavy Rain.
The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy was one of many incredibly rich and plot driven works that Infocom published in it's heyday. No commercial works have been released since the late 80s (or the early 90s, depending on how far you stretch your definition of Text Adventure), but Text Adventures are not a lost art form, any more than the novel is. They are still being written, and written well. It's about as easy to pick up a text adventure game as it is to read a book, provided you're willing to take the time to do it properly.
From the collapse of Infocom circa 1990 until very recently, text adventures haven't needed to be particularly friendly. The people who were playing them were, by and large, the same people that were producing them. This became a bit viscous cycle, as authors began to make their games less and less accessible to the novice user. Many of these are good games, but they lack the polish often found on the really stellar games and the better commercial titles.
This all changed right around the year 2000 with a game called Photopia (click to play online.) Photopia is a non standard Text adventure. It's a game that can be enjoyed by someone who has never played a text adventure. It is not a simple game, though it is a straightforward one. You make choices that dramatically effect the outcome of the plot, but there isn't much problem solving involved. The prose is eloquent, the plot is stunning, and the game is fueled by emotion.
As the written word goes, it falls closer to short story than it does to novel but, I for one, would not fault the game for that.
Since Photopia, other games have emerged, seeking to bridge the gap between interaction and story, and to really open up the idea of Interactive Fiction to a new audience. Games like 'The Dreamhold' and 'Curses' are highly recommended introductory games, that were specifically targeted at new players.
I've just started playing Interactive fiction again recently, with all the hype around heavy rain, so expect to see a few more posts on the games I enjoy.
Playing
All of the games I discussed here to day are written in the wonderful Inform programing language.
On Windows systems they can be read with one of several programs:
- Gargoyle - This is an installer. For people who like things to be simple, download this. Download a game, save it to a folder, double click on it, and it open.s
- FROTZ (see the link below.) . Frotz is a far older program, that is sadly, beginning to show its age. It is slightly more difficult to use than Gargoyle.
There isn't yet an iTunes like library system for Text Adventure games, but the community is working on it. When it launches, you'll hear about it here.
On BSD, Linux, and other *nix system, I suggest Gargoyle (sudo apt-get install gargoyle from ubuntu/debian) There are several other programs available, and they work to varying degrees, but Gargoyle remains my favorite.
For Mac OS X users I suggest ZOOM , it supports the big three text adventure languages. The more esoteric games might require an additional interpretor, but good games for anything other than Inform or Tads are so rare that I wouldn't worry about it.
iPhone users should do a quick iTunes search for Frotz. I think its a free download from the app store.
Android users should look at Twisty and Hunky Punk. Neither is perfect, but both are good.
Resources
The Dreamhold- bundled with Frotz. Unzip- Drag the game file onto the file called Frotz. Drop it and play. Alternatively, install Gargoyle from the link above. It makes life a bit easier.
Files
Lost Pig - Lost Pig is a very funny, well written, and challenging game. It is fair, has a good hint system, and has a much larger plot, and much richer characterization than it might initially appear. Expect a full review very soon.
