Using Playfic to write interactive fiction

During my university years, I played MUD's with a number of friends. As we sat in the vax lab at Uni the adventures were rich and satisfying. I was surprised to find out that these interactive text environments are still being used, not for games, but for interactive fiction.

Playfic is a platform using Inform for writing and playing interactive fiction. The program that is created is used to tell a story within an interactive world. The reader can move through the text by giving simple instructions which allow the reader to respond to the text. There shouldn't be any ambiguity in the text, so writers need to be clear on their intentions.

Readers can experience the text adventures or write one of their own. The code for this interface looks straight forward and it would be fun to teach a unit on interactive fiction as part of an English/IT. You could also use Playfic as a story starter tool, getting students to document their adventure and turn it into their own story.

As you can see the Source Code is really easy to understand.

Interactive fiction (aka "text adventures") is a genre of game that uses no graphics or sound, but instead, uses text to tell a story in an interactive world.

This reading environment is the next step in the old "Choose your own adventure" or the new "you choose books" where you have power over the direction that the story takes.

Further Reading:

• The joy of text - The fall and rise of interactive fiction
  http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/22/interactive-fiction-awards-games
• Interactive Fiction: Text Adventures
  http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/interactive-fiction-text-adventures--gamedev-9996
• Teaching Experimental Interactive Fiction
  http://storycade.com/teaching-experimental-interactive-fiction/
• Interactive Fiction in the eBook era
  http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2011/jan/11/interactive-fiction-ebooks-apple-kindle
• Toward a theory of interactive Fiction
  http://nickm.com/if/toward.html

Winter Reading Display

Looking for a different strategy to encourage students to read more, we paired books up as reading suggestions for the winter break.

Using a tool such as "What should I read next?" and our knowledge of the collection we paired up books that we thought would complement each other. Either within a genre or across genre's. Pairing a popular book with a classic or a book with the movie adaptation.

Since putting the display together this morning, we have "borrowed out" eight packs to students today - woo hoo!

How did we do it?

The sign was made using Canva and the wrapping strip is just the backdrop image from Canva spliced up into strips with some Reject Shop BakersTwine!

Monday Musings

Made me giggle, so I thought I would share ....

I miss the days of the old paper train tickets. I would leave them in books and discover them years later and wonder what I was doing on that day so many years ago ...

Super Awesome Sylvia

On Friday at Northern Beaches Christian School I had the opportunity to take part in a workshop with Gary Stager and Super Awesome Sylvia.

I have heard Gary talk a number of times before and I know him professionally from my days at Methodist Ladies' College. But this was an opportunity to participate in a workshop and chew the fat over a few issues.

Gary is provocative and really challenges the way in which you look at technology in schools. He won't provide the answers neatly wrapped up product in a box for you, but what he will do is get you to think deeply about the philosophy and pedagogy behind your technology program.

So after a presentation from Gary, Sylvia took over the reigns and spoke about the projects she has worked on and the WaterColor Bot that she collaborated on.

This is not her first time speaking in front of a group of educators, Sylvia came to us via Edutech in Brisbane where she keynoted for a room of educators. She has also presented at TED!

Further Links:

• Invent to Learn by Gary Stager and Sylvia Libow Martinez
  http://www.inventtolearn.com/
• Awesome Sylvia's Show - twitter @makersylvia
  http://sylviashow.com/