Past raif topics: IF Theory: part 2

This is part two of a collection of Past raif topics to do with IF theory.

The first part may be found at Past raif topics: IF Theory: part 1.

If you add or change any of the sections on this page, remember to update the entry on the Past raif topics page as well.

The player and the PC

See also => Triangle_of_identities .. AFGNCAAP (IFWiki articles)
See also => Character Gender in IF (XYZZY News article)

• PC characterization (Dec 1998)
• PC presentation to player (Jul 1998)
• Specific vs nonspecific main character (Apr 1994)
• Main character being ill defined (Sep 1996)
• PC gender in IF (Jun 2001)
• PC gender (Feb 1997)
• PC talking to / refusing to obey player + 1st person perspective (Nov 1993)
• Relationship between player & protagonist / "Interactive Theatre" (playing a role) (May 1996)
• Assigning personality to the player / playing a role (Apr 1996)
• PC personality (Apr 1993)
• Identifying with PC + the problem with puzzles (Nov 1998)
• Best kind of PC / identifying with the PC (Aug 2001)
• Why should the player care ? (Oct 2000)
• Involving players in the story (Apr 2004)
• Internal PC conflict + puzzles (Apr 1994)
• Internal PC conflict #2 (Apr 1994)
• PC emotional reactions (dictated by author) (Oct 1998)
• Giving thoughts / emotions to the PC + leaving objects behind (Sep 1995)
• Character development (Feb 1994)
• Character development + mixing drinks (Feb 1998)
• Initial player actions / starting with an inventory (Nov 1998)
• Reasonable things to expect a player to do early in game (Feb 2002)
• "About" text / first thing player should see (Nov 2000)

PC & player knowledge

• Player knowledge vs PC knowledge (Apr 2002)
• Giving PC knowledge to the player (Oct 1994)
• Handling PC knowledge / memories (Mar 2002)
• PC knowledge / alternatives to amnesia (Feb 2002)
• Modelling player knowledge across restarts (Nov 1997)
• Telling back story without screens full of text (Jun 2005)
• Conveying back stories / nuanced PCs + moral choices (Nov 1999)
• Supplying information to the player (ask about, etc) (Jan 2001)
• PC knowledge & "recall" verb (Apr 1996)
• Conversation topic lists / topics not yet known to the PC (Dec 1998)
• Informing player about special verbs (Jan 2001)

Player perspective & multiple PCs

• Point of view (1st/2nd/3rd person) (Sep 1998)
• 1st/2nd/3rd person viewpoint (Sep 1996)
• 1st/2nd/3rd person point of view + overview of IF (Feb 1994)
• 3rd person perspective / problems with 2nd person (Jun 1996)
• First person, past tense viewpoint (Jul 1998)
• First person perspective + PC talking to / refusing player (Nov 1993)
• IF prose / player perspective (Dec 2003)
• Objections to 2nd person viewpoint + what IF is (Sep 1996)
• Third person IF (Feb 2000)
• Blind PCs in IF (Nov 1996)
• Room descriptions in games with a blind PC (Jan 1997)
• Non-human point of view + blind PCs (Jul 1994)
• Multiple PC perspectives (a la Suspended) (Dec 1999)
• Multiple PCs (Jul 1999)
• Avatar-less IF (Jun 2002)

Genres / themes / types of IF

See also => Game Listings by Genre (Baf's guide to the IF Archive)
See also => IF Metadata Initiative page
See also => Genre .. Cave crawl (IFWiki articles)

• Game classifications (cruelness, puzzleness, etc) (Oct 1998)
• IF Classification System (Nov 1998)
• Classifying IF games (Mar 2000)
• Categorizing IF (Mar 2000)
• Categories / typology of IF (Dec 2001)
• IF genres / unclassifiable games (Oct 1996)
• IF genres / classifying IF (Feb 1997)
• IF game categories / genre tags (Oct 1998)
• Good IF archival (Oct 1998)
• Genre study 1: Science Fiction (Apr 1995)
• Genre study 1: Science Fiction #2 (Apr 1995)
• Genre study 2: Fantasy (Apr 1995)
• Puzzle box games (Nov 2001)
• "Observational IF" (Oct 2001)
• Audio-only IF (Apr 1998)
• Romantic IF (Feb 1993)
• Why romance doesn't work as a game (Dec 1999)
• Mystery games (clues & solving / winning) (Apr 1994)
• Mystery games (solving / winning) #2 (Apr 1994)
• Writing a murder mystery (Feb 1994)
• Time travel games (Sep 2002)
• Interactive fact (virtual tourism / simulation) (Apr 2005)
• Interactive non fiction (Dec 1999)
• Historical IF (Feb 1998)
• Educational IF (May 2001)
• Educational IF ? (Nov 1995)
• Non-game IF / training using IF (Jan 1993)
• Writing IF for children (Sep 2000)
• IF games for children / recommendations (Oct 1998)
• Musicals / dancing in IF (Dec 1999)
• Forensic IF game thoughts (Jun 2002)
• Legal IF (silicitors & barristers) (Oct 1999)
• Tragedy IF (Nov 1998)
• Tragedy in IF + problems with adapting IF + AI & NPCs (Nov 1994)
• Introspective / thoughtful / "depressing" games (Oct 1996)
• One room games (Aug 1994)
• Games with 1 or 0 objects, or no PC (Apr 1999)
• IF "chick flick" stories (Oct 1998)
• Comic-style adventure games (Apr 1998)
• Writing humorous IF (Nov 2000)
• What level of humor in a humorous adventure ? (Mar 2000)
• Adaptations of existing literature (Feb 2001)
• Problems with adapting IF / tragedy in IF (Nov 1994)
• Interactive Metafiction (fiction about fiction) (Nov 1994)

Never ending games

• Never ending game (Jan 2003)
• Never ending games (Aug 2003)
• Infinite number of rooms (Jan 2000)

Replayability

• Replayability (Oct 1998)
• Rereading games / menu of chapters (Dec 1998)
• Rereading IF / repeatable IF (Mar 1993)

Computer generated story lines

See also => Game Mechanics: Text generation
See also => Plot Automation article (David Graves, 1991) .. OZ Project publications
See also => www.interactivestory.net .. Structuring Content in the Façade Interactive Drama Architecture (pdf)

• Erasmatron story generator (Jan 1998)
• Erasmatron story engine (Aug 1997)
• Story generation + personal vision of IF (May 1991)
• Dynamically generated IF games (Jul 1993)
• Dynamically selecting plot elements (Jun 2005)
• Computer writes a book / computer generated stories (Jan 1993)
• Automatic adventure game generator (Nov 1992)

Interactivity

See also => Interactivity (IFWiki article)

• Linearity, interactivity & overinteractivity (Jun 2001)
• Narrative / art & interactivity (Dec 1998)
• Interactivity vs puzzles (Jul 1999)
• Making cut scenes interactive (Mar 2002)
• Non-interactive games ? (Nov 1999)

Linear IF & multiple endings

See also => Linear .. Rails, being on .. Multipath .. Multiple endings (IFWiki articles)

• Linear IF / being "led by the nose" (Jan 2002)
• Games "on rails" (Jan 2001)
• Linearity (May 2000)
• Linearity + modelling player knowledge across restarts (Nov 1997)
• Avoiding linearity / what makes a game linear (Jul 1997)
• Nonlinearity (Aug 1997)
• Multiple endings (Mar 2002)
• Multiple endings necessary / desirable ? (Mar 1999)
• Sequels to games that have multiple endings (Jan 2002)
• Preventing inconsistencies in a non linear plot (Dec 2000)
• Mutually exclusive storylines / changes behind the player's back (Nov 1998)

Multi player games

possibly known also as multiuser games, multiple users games, multiple players games, or even multiple PCs games.

• Multi player IF (Mar 2001)
• Multiplayer IF specification (Nov 2001)
• Multi player IF (with multiple PCs) #1 (Feb 1999)
• Multi player IF (with multiple PCs) #2 (Feb 1999)
• Multi player CYOA design (Jan 2002)
• MUDs & multi player IF (Jan 1993)
• Multi user IF & MUDs (Nov 1994)

Real time games

• Real time games (Dec 1996)

Graphical games / graphics & sound in IF

• Graphical IF (Nov 2003)
• Graphics in IF (Apr 1998)
• Graphics in IF + puzzleless IF (Jan 1994)
• Text vs graphics (Mar 2002)
• Graphical vs text oriented games (Jul 1992)
• Text vs point & click interfaces (Sep 2005)
• Graphics vs text + how much parser should understand (Jun 1996)
• Graphical adventures / Sierra vs LucasArts interfaces (Oct 1993)
• Graphic adventure & graphic IF (Apr 1998)
• Why people don't like graphical IF (Dec 2003)
• Bad idea to have graphics in games ? (Aug 1998)
• Imagination the best illustrator ? (Jul 2003)
• Tile based IF / using a graphical tile engine (Nov 1997)
• Sound & graphics in IF / mixing modes (graphics & text) (May 1994)
• Graphics & sound in IF (Dec 1997)
• GUI interfaces & text adventures (Feb 1998)
• Good graphical interfaces / point & click games ("Multidimensional Thief" game) (Sep 1994)
• Adding graphics without making a "graphic adventure" (Aug 1996)
• HTML TADS a bad idea ? + sound / audio in IF (Aug 1998)
• Music (audio) in IF (Nov 1997)

Quality of IF

See also => First-Timer Foibles

• Amateur IF / what not to do (May 2003)
• Signs of an amateur author + default messages (Jan 2002)
• Editing games post release (Jul 2004)

Collaboration

See also => IF Collaborator's list

• Collaborations between programmers & non programmers (Dec 1998)
• Multiple authors / collaboration (Jun 2000)
• Story management (collaboration) (Apr 2003)
• IF collaboration notation (Nov 2002)
• Serial IF (quarterly etc) + team authorship (Jan 2002)

Reviews / feedback

See also => Baf's Guide to the IF Archive .. IF Ratings page .. Emily Short's reviews .. Paul O'Brian's reviews .. J.R. Wheeler's reviews
See also => Non competition reviews at Non-Comp Review Project .. IF Review .. IF Review Conspiracy
See also => Reviews at Brass Lantern .. SPAG Game Reviews
See also => Reviews (IFWiki article)

• Writing IF reviews (May 2003)
• Reviewing / criticizing IF (May 1993)
• Reviewing IF / technical & general reviews (Mar 2000)
• IF criticism / giving constructive feedback (Apr 1996)
• Bug report etiquette (May 1996)
• Game criticism + is IF art ? (Oct 1995)
• Critical reviews + IF as an art form (Apr 1996)
• Need for reviews / "an embarassment of riches" (Mar 1996)
• IF Review Conspiracy page (Dec 1999)
• IF book club (reviews, etc) (Jan 2000)
• Some comp 99 reviews (Nov 1998)
• Review of Half Life (First Person Shooter) (Dec 1998)
• Characterization in "Christminster" (critical essay) (Mar 1996)
• Critique of writing style in "Uncle Zebulon's Will" (Oct 1995)
• Photopia review + when everything "clicks" during a game (Nov 1998)
• Comments on Photopia (Dec 1998)
• Interview with Thomas M. Disch ("Amnesia" game) (Oct 1993)

Judging IF

• Judging games (Oct 2004)
• IF comp predictions / judging (Aug 2003)
• Voting / rating techniques (Oct 2001)

IF Competitions

See also => Upcoming Competitions .. Annual IF Competition .. IF Competitions and Events

• Purpose (and effects) of IF competitions (May 2005)
• Judging, voting etc. in the Annual IF Comp (Mar 1998)
• Problem with annual competition (Sep 1997)
• Suggested changes to the annual IF competition (Nov 1999)
• "IF Festival" instead of "IF Competition" ? (May 2005)

Copyright issues

See also => IF Freeware General Public License

• Copyright message (May 2003)
• Ten big copyright myths (Oct 1995)
• Distributing IF archive games / rights of authors (long) (Jan 2002)
• Licensing an IF game / library (Jun 2002)
• Mentioning real life company names in IF (May 2001)
• Mentioning trademarks in an IF game (Sep 2000)
• Legality of using a well known place (Jul 2001)
• Using copyrighted characters in IF (Apr 1994)
• Adapting existing works / copyright (Dec 1999)
• Cameos / using authors' worlds & copyright (Jan 1999)
• Are newsgroup postings copyrighted ? (Aug 1998)
• Copyright on old games / Magnetic Scrolls (Dec 1997)
• Derivative games / copyright (Oct 1997)
• Trademarks + originality in IF (Mar 1998)

Commercial IF

• Publishing / selling modern IF (commercialized freeware + flashier interface, etc) (Sep 2005)
• Why would we want commercial IF ? (Jul 2003)
• Commercial IF / killer IF app (Jul 2003)
• Commercial IF + guess the verb problems (Jul 2003)
• Commercial possibilities of IF (Apr 1998)
• What killed commercial text adventures ? (Aug 2000)
• Is the market for pure IF really gone ? (Dec 1991)
• Making money with IF (Jul 1996)
• Marketing / making money with IF (Nov 1995)
• Viable IF business (Jul 2003)
• Marketing IF commercially (Jan 2002)
• IF as shareware / price of IF games ("Avalon" game) (Aug 1994)
• Selling IF (Dec 2000)
• Selling software (SUDS IF system) (Oct 1999)
• Selling IF games (Aug 1997)
• Selling IF + conversation trees (May 1998)
• IF as a career + tragedy IF (Nov 1998)

International IF / non English languages

See also => Inform translations
See also => Rakontointeraktiva newsgroup (discussion about localization strategies for IF)
See also => Language .. Non-English_Games_at_IF_Comp (IFWiki articles)

• Foreign languages & IF (Jan 1998)
• TADS and foreign languages (Nov 1998)
• IF & non-English languages (May 1996)
• IF & non-English languages #2 (May 1996)
• Inform & non-English natural languages (Nov 1996)
• Parsing non-English languages (French, Spanish, Latin, etc) (Sep 1996)
• Non-english IF authoring (Mar 2002)
• Non-English IF (Dec 1995)
• Non-English adventure games (Feb 1993)
• About English & other languages (Aug 2001)
• English the ultimate language for IF ? (Aug 2001)
• French.h (Jan 2001)
• French IF authoring systems (Jun 2001)
• Swedish.h (Dec 2001)
• IF in Swedish / other languages (Aug 2001)
• Inform & German language (May 1998)
• Inform German translation (Jul 1998)
• Making Chinese / Japanese IF (Apr 1999)
• IF in Latin (Feb 1999)
• World friendly games / cultural differences (Aug 1999)
• American vs British spelling (Feb 2002)
• British vs American vocabulary (Sep 1995)
• British vs American vocabulary #2 (Sep 1995)
• Bathrooms / restrooms (May 1999)

Accessibility / IF and the deaf/blind

• IF for the visually impaired (June 2001)
• Playability by the blind (Apr 2005)
• Access to adventure games for Deaf-blind (Sep 2000)
• IF & voice technologies (Jul 2003)
• "Talking" IF (Feb 1997)
• Story Harp authoring system for audio text adventures (Apr 1988)