Computer Programming 3 AgendaThursday September 15, 2016

READ ALL DIRECTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING A STEP!

Make sure you use Google Chrome! Work with your partner from Tuesday!

Objectives:

-Complete Python activity from last class, if necessary

-Learn the history and the basic concept of an interactive fiction software program

-Examine and evaluate the user experience and the various forms of user input in an interactive fiction program

-Determine the basic plot of your interactive story and write a brief description of the story you and your partner will tell

-Determine the decision points your user will face, and how those decisions will affect the user experience and outcome of your story

Directions:

  1. Go to the link below to read the definition and a brief history of interactive fiction (the first three paragraphs):
  1. Go to the following link to read the beginners guide to using interactive fiction program:
  1. Go to the link below to play “The Lost Pig,” a classic interactive fiction based on Grunk, the lost pig. This program only accepts user input from the keyboard, so you must use the arrow and “return” keys to navigate help menus, etc. Try typing in “HELP” into the user console, hit enter, and use the arrow keys to navigate to “How to Play Interactive Fiction” which will show you the information listed under the link below.

How to Play Interactive Fiction:

In this game, you'll be controlling the character of "Grunk" (who also happens to be the person telling the story). He needs you to tell him what to do. He's not so bright, so you'll usually want to keep your commands relatively simple. You might try things like LOOK AT MOON, PICK UP APPLE, or HIT ELF WITH SWORD -- provided Grunk is able to see the moon from where he's standing, or can reach the apple, or has a sword with him. Of course, even when Grunk does understand you, it won't always be practical or even possible for him to do everything you suggest.
A lot of IF involves moving from place to place and manipulating objects. For the sake of simplicity, you'll usually want to move Grunk around using compass directions, by typing commands like GO SOUTHEAST -- which you can abbreviate to SOUTHEAST or even just SE. You can interact with objects by typing things like DROP RUBY, DRINK WINE, PULL ROPE or PUT HELMET ON TABLE, and you can see what Grunk is presently carrying by typing TAKE INVENTORY (or just INVENTORY or INV).
Your goal is to help Grunk catch that pesky pig, and then to get back to the farm. This might not be easy! Along the way, you'll probably find it helpful to LOOK AT everything you find and to try to TAKE anything that looks potentially useful. Also, if you try something that you're pretty sure should work, but that Grunk doesn't understand, you might want to try phrasing it a little differently.
If you want to set the game aside for a while, the SAVE command will let you save your place. The next time you play, you can use the RESTORE command to return everything to exactly the way it was when you saved. If you do something you didn't mean to, the UNDO command will even let you take it back. It should be impossible to get this game into an unwinnable state, so if you think of something you might want Grunk to do, try it! Who knows? What you're considering might just be the very thing that he needs to do.

  1. Find and evaluate two more interactive stories. A few links are listed below with examples:

Examples in Scratch

The interactive fiction database. Click around, there’s a lot here!

CONTINUE TO NEXT PAGE FOR YOU ASSIGNMENT!

  1. Go to my Tamhigh website for today’s date and click on the “Interactive Fiction” assignment link. This will give you directions for today’s assignment which is:
  2. Evaluate two of the interactive fiction games you found on the internet.
  3. Describe the game you played (the story, plot, etc.)
  4. Describe how the game you played changed based on user input
  5. Evaluate the game. Did you enjoy it? Was the user experience hard to control or understand? What forms of user input were acceptable (mouse-clicks, keyboard entry, etc.)
  6. A minimum of 500 words summarizing the story you will be telling, including the main character (typically the user), the plot, the setting, and a description of how the user will interact with the story.
  7. A rough draft of a story map with some of the basic decision points your user will face throughout the story.

You will submit this assignment individually, but you may share responsibilities for steps “b” and “c.” So, step “a” must be written individually, but for steps “b” and “c” you may use the same work. Be sure to have your sketch and a document with the information ready to submit on Tuesday.

  1. If you finish early, you can continue with codeacademy and Python, or play the Binary or Linkbot games *the links are listed on my website)