interactive fiction.(Technology Information)

Without knowing what it is, who's doing it, or how it's being done, interactive fiction just sounds like fun. It evokes mental images of stepping inside a favorite book or film, cavorting with all sorts of interesting characters, and somehow having an impact on the outcome, or at least the progress, of the story. Imagine your kids exploring Harry Potter's England, accompanying the young wizard on his mysterious adventures, or yourself traveling back to the roaring '20s to play a role in Jay Gatsby's fateful pursuit of his American Dream.

Until recently, opportunities to gain such entrance into fictional worlds had been limited to text-based, parser-driven interactive adventures. Often complex and well written, such prosaic journeys achieve a sense of immersion by interweaving clever puzzles into highly crafted storylines and relying heavily on participants' vivid imaginations.

In the wake of the digital explosion that has defined the past decade, a new breed of interactive fiction has emerged--one that relies less intensely on language and imagination and more on visuals and technological "props," including high-resolution 3D graphics and animation, audio, video, and a range of novel display and interface media.

The most familiar examples of this type of interactive fiction are commercial graphic adventures. Unlike the more prevalent shoot-em-up and chase-and-race variety of computer games, graphic adventures typically engage users by challenging them to solve increasingly difficult puzzles in order to gain broader access to the visual realm and bring them closer to a final solution.

It would be a mistake to suggest that graphic adventures could or should be thought of as the modern incarnation of their text-based predecessors. In fact, to traditional interactive-fiction purists, such claims are fightin' words. At most, the text-based devotees contend, the graphical applications should be thought of as the new-media cousins of the "real thing." They argue that the technical bells and whistles detract from what should be a purely imaginative experience and often are a cover for less-than-stellar plots.

Fans of the newer techno-dense interactive fiction contend that sophisticated graphics and novel interface and display technologies enhance participants' ability to fully immerse themselves through multisensory stimulation--particularly as graphics acceleration and sheer compute power enable real-time navigation through complex environments. Also, the increasing availability of new technologies offers more opportunity for creative and artistic expression than do words alone. Proponents typically point to such graphics-adventure success stories as Myst and its sequel Riven to make their case.

Without a doubt, Myst, released in 1993, set the graphics-adventure ball rolling and is still considered the most enduring, renowned title in this genre. In the adventure, users are delivered to the beautiful islands of Myst--one of many alternate realms constructed by an ancient civilization named the D'ni--to help the protagonist uncover the greedy forces responsible for destroying his creations. The game offers no instructions and includes no living beings, but by moving through the space, users quickly realize their actions may help individuals who are somehow trapped in a parallel dimension.