> What i'm intereseted in is not really how to build or structure the
>storylines (even though it's closly connected), it's more how you could
>visualize the storyline and make a good interface in 3d (possible 2d) to
>navigate them. I'm also facing the possibility to have several
>storylines that could (based on users feedback) connect to eachother
>dynamically at runtime (as some sort of "added value" links) if needed.
I think you have to start with the structure, then the visualization and
the navigation flow naturally. Let's say, for example, your story is
structured as a network of nodes, be it a tree, graph or whatever. In that
case the visualization problem breaks down into visualizing the parts, i.e.
nodes and connections, and the navigation problem simplifies into moving
from node to node via the defined connections. Click in the general
direction of a connection to another node, and there you go. Voila, Myst.
The nodes and connections are discrete scenes, though the well-defined
nature of the connection lets you design seemless transitions so the
structure can be invisible to the viewer.
However a less structured storyline might call for a different approach.
If your story is not rooted in particular locations you could divorce the
visualization and navigation problems from the story line. Visualization
would consist of modeling a large space, and navigation would consist of
allowing the user to wander around freely. But, to borrow a phrase,
wherever you go, there you are -- and there the story is too. Imagine a
huge hotel with thousands of rooms, each different -- different colored
walls, different arrangement of furniture, different view out the window --
but whichever one you pick you see the same story. Different set, could
even be different characters, but the same plot.
> Even though it's not my main concern, notation and acctual storage is
>also of interest. I have an Oracle8i (that *will* be used anyway) which
>has the capability of doing OO structures that i can imagine could be
>useful.
Perfect for storing Java objects representing the entities in your model.
> I'm also very concerned with separating the structure from the
>presentation (layout) which sort of implies XML. Someone maybe have seen
>a DTD for this (len:)?
If no one knows of a good one, I suggest we make one up ourselves. After
all, at the rate DTD's are popping up, pretty soon they'll be like home
pages -- everyone will have one.
> The visualization is of course done with VRML :)
Generated or hand-crafted? (Just curious, I love them both...)
Michael
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Michael St. Hippolyte [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Trapezium Development LLC http://www.trapezium.com
