Good thoughts, Kahuna!
However my basic philosophical problem with nonlinearity is that it is not
nonlinear at all. It is parallel-linear (actually tree-shaped).
Let's say you do the Boo-chess thing. Add an element that the user can
change, and suddenly you have a branching point -- you have different
actions on the parts of the characters.
IMPORTANT QUESTION: WHO DETERMINES WHAT THE ALTERNATIVE STORYLINES ARE?
The author does, of course! Therefore there is an inherent hard-limit on
the number of potential storylines within the same story. Worse yet,
forcing an author to create N good stories instead of 1 good story may lead
to a lack of quality in all N stories.
Questions:
- Is this worth doing?
- Does this add nothing more than replay value to the story?
- If the story was written to serve a moral, what purpose does it serve to
allow characters to change the course of events to corrupt that moral being
told? (I can just imagine a nonlinear story for kids about staying away
from drugs, and having the user -- who is now in control of the story --
able to do whatever he/she wants... might be scary if the story was not
intelligently written to account for all possibilities)
I'm assuming you mean "nonlinear" to mean you don't just create a
controllable, roaming camera in an otherwise linear story. I think that
deserves a genre name of its own.
The alternative is to simulate the human brain in characters' reactions,
which I don't quite think we can handle yet. I believe technologies like
genetic algorithms -- which serve to simulate an object's behavior via
"virtual DNA" may cross over (no pun intended) into the realm of nonlinear
storytelling in a big way. The downside: it then becomes impossible to
predict the outcome of the story. Is this a good thing or bad thing?
That's left as an exercise to the reader (or writer?)...
So it seems to me, at the current level of technology, that the following
is true:
- true nonlinearity is technically impossible currently
- creating branching stories is N times harder than 1 good story
- creating branching stories is N times harder to tell a moral
- linear stories may still be the best way to go
If the last assumption is the best, my original question stands: How can
VRML and linear storytelling co-exist?
-John
At 11:56 AM 5/22/98 -0700, Kahuna wrote:
>I would say that psuedo nonlinear stories are not only possible, but that
I am doing just
>that right now. First off, there is nothing wrong with a linear story. I
do think that it
>is a little irrational to create a linear story using a 3D format. The
very nature of
>linear story telling is 2D. Why, because you are controling the action,
the camera, and
>the events that take place, you have eliminated the need for the viewer
to explore the
>surroundings, thus eliminating the need for a 3D environment. If the need
to tell a story
>surpasses the viewers need to interact, then you could do this better with
cell animation
>like toystory . Cell animation also gives you the oportunity to improve
the graphics
>quality of your story.
>OTOH, you can create a story line with in a story line within a story
line, and allow the
>viewer to explore these options, and his surroundings in 3D space. My
first episode of
>virtualmen, is an example of nonlinear story telling with the exception
that in the first
>episode there is only one plot line. The second episode will have two plot
lines. If you
>explore episode one of virtualmen a little, you will find that your
actions do effect the
>out come or accessibility of some of the responses of the characters.
>One of the things that attracts me to this type of story telling technique
is my own
>fascination with unimportant characters in some of my favorite books. I
always wondered
>what type of events were happening to some of the lesser characters, how
had their lifes
>been effected, or not effected by the events unfolding in the main story.
But you can not
>walk inside of a book and wander down the street to the Radly's and see
how Boo is doing,
>and just how he spends his day. In a 3D environment you not only can do
that, but you can
>perhaps create a situation that alters the course of the events. Let say,
Boo Radly, is
>playing a game of chess with the viewer, when he should be guarding Scout
and Jem after
>the october pagant. Would Jem be able to overcome Bob Ewell and save his
sister? Would
>Atticus be so calm and controled if Bob Ewell succeeded in carrying out
his threat? And
>what was happening to Dill while all of this was going on? If you keep a
non linear plot
>within the realms of the metaphysical, you can simply say that the viewer
has several
>paths he can explore throughout the life of his 3D experience. Which paths
depends on his
>actions or lack of action.
>So,,, lets do it, lets create a nonlinear interactive story, and stop
talking about it.
>
>/////////////// Ua mau ke ea `o ka vrml `i ka pono
>/ // /// http://www.kahunanui.com
>///// // /// // http://www.kahunanui.com/review.html
>/ /// /// // [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>//// // /// //
>/ /// ///
>///////////////
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John D. DeCuir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Friday, May 22, 1998 11:00 AM
>Subject: More on nonlinear storytelling
>
>
>>Hi gang,
>>
>>I was driving into work this morning, marvelling at the
>>relatively-uncrowded L.A. freeways on a holiday Friday, when I started to
>>think about nonlinearity again. This list has been fairly quiet lately, so
>>I'll throw out a few thoughts:
>>
>>Q: Do we want nonlinear, or linear stories in our VRML worlds? Or both?
>>
>>Do we want the user to have control over our story? We can always go the
>>"no-control" approach and basically make a 3D movie with no interaction --
>>a tried-and-true formula. However, do we start sacrificing story quality
>>as we add interaction into our stories?
>>
>>If we decide to go the linear route, what advantages, if any, does VRML
>>give us? (especially without a streaming audio format right now...) Why
>>not use other formats?
>>
>>Q: Is it possible to create truly nonlinear stories, or only pseudolinear
>>stories?
>>
>>I define "pseudolinear stories" to be those that generally allow you
>>freedom, one chunk at a time:
>> A -> B -> C -> D
>>so that you have complete freedom inside "A", "B", etc... but the flow of
>>the story inevitably brings you from A to B, and so on... hardly nonlinear!
>>
>>Q: What effect does multiuser content have on nonlinear storytelling?
>>
>>I would think the multiuser aspect would provide an element of
>>nondeterminism into our stories. On the other hand, theme park rides are
>>inherently multiuser -- and strongly linear. (There are some subtle
>>nonlinear touches -- see the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland for an
>>example) Moreover, some of them (notably in the Disney parks) provide an
>>_extremely_ good storyline. (See Alien Encounter, WDW)
>>
>>You'll see me harp on and on about theme park rides, but there's a good
>>reason for that -- I see a lot of analogies between VRML worlds and theme
>>parks. Both are intended to provide a virtual environment to the user.
>>Both involve (somewhat) interactive things to do. And both (try to) tell
>>good stories along the way.
>>
>>As a disclaimer, I am a nonlinear story amateur, so I may not know of which
>>I speak. Can anyone recommend any good books or references about nonlinear
>>storytelling? (Particularly in a multiuser context?)
>>
>>Have a great holiday weekend, folks.
>> -John
>>
>>--
>>John D. DeCuir -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>Sr. Internet Programmer -- Sony Pictures Imageworks
>>This msg does not necessarily represent the views of Sony Corp.
>>
>
>
--
John D. DeCuir -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sr. Internet Programmer -- Sony Pictures Imageworks
This msg does not necessarily represent the views of Sony Corp.
