Chris Crawford is a true giant in the world of game design (among other things, he's the founder of the Game Developers Conference going on this week). It's great that New Mexico has a role in this important new project...
***This is a MISP Listserv message. Responses are sent to the list by default.*** ***For more info about MISP and the listserv, scroll to the bottom of the page*** *Hi everyone:LEAVING THE LIST /LIST INFO: To leave the list, please email us at: artslab@unm.edu For other list info, please visit: http://groups.google.com/group/nm-media-industries/web/media-industries-list-info Available in RSS: http://groups.google.com/group/nm-media-industries/feed/rss_v2_0_msgs.xmlIt's with great pleasure that I announce the launch of Storytron v. 1.0. Here's the press release.______________FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Crawford, (541) 899-9150
STORYTRON LAUNCHES WITH SEQUEL TO CRAWFORD'S HIT GAME BALANCE OF POWER
JACKSONVILLE, Oregon, 23 March 2009 – World renowned game designer Chris Crawford has created a sequel to his blockbuster, Balance of Power, Storytron, Inc. announced today. The original Balance of Power took the computer gaming world by storm in 1985. Now Balance of Power 21st Century, re-imagined for modern times, launches a new computer entertainment medium.
Balance of Power 21st Century opens with the 9-11 attacks. The player is the president of the U.S., and must match wits with other world leaders to defeat terrorism and keep the world safe. The product is not a traditional game; rather, it showcases Storytron Inc.'s technology, Storytron 1.0, also available for public use.
"Balance of Power 21st Century is the Pong of storyplay," Crawford says. "It is the first of its kind, and is still a little rough around the edges. This is a feasibility demonstration, not a commercial product. But it demonstrates the power of this new medium."
Storyplay (also known as interactive storytelling) is an art form that combines the strengths of games with those of traditional narrative. Storyworlds, which realize this new art form, are highly interactive, like games. Like stories, though, events center on the people. The computer-generated characters whom the player meets are emotionally aware, each with their own personalities, relationships, moods, and personal agendas. They are in essence primitive "AIs."
The player interface, Storyteller, uses a linguistic user interface, or LUI, crafted specifically for Storytronics, which permits the player to communicate with the non-human characters in a much richer way than any other product out there. It elevates the written word into an interactive form, based on extensive research into linguistics and the nature of human verbal communication.
Storytronics has been in development for over fifteen years. Crawford has teamed with writer Laura J. Mixon and a small group of programmers, artists, storytellers, and other pioneers to create this new software, which allows people to create a new kind of online storytelling experience. The authoring tool is free for download at Storytron.com. Anyone can use it to create storyworlds of their own design. Storytron publishes authors' completed works on its website, where players play them, rate them, and discuss them in Storytron's online forum.
Additional storyworlds are under development, including Mixon's Vanity and Vexation, a Regency romance inspired by Jane Austen's works, and several efforts by independent authors. The technology is compatible with Windows, Mac OS/X, and Linux operating systems. People with a broadband internet connection can run the Java-based software using a variety of web browsers.
Play Balance of Power 21st Century at http://storytron.com/play-bop2k.php. Download the authoring tool, SWAT, and test drive it at http://storytron.com/authors-download-swat.php. Storytron's online community can be found at http://www.storytron.com/ipb/index.php.
Storytron, Inc. is a privately-held Delaware company incorporated in 2007 to commercialize storyplay technology. For more information contact Chris Crawford: Storytron, Inc., P.O. Box 425, Jacksonville, OR, 97530. Telephone: (541) 899-9150. Website: www.storytron.com.
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Next up:
NMTC Tech Excellence Awards are April 2nd
More info at http://nmtechcouncil.org
Eric Renz-Whitmore, Program Coordinator
ARTS Lab
GC: 505-993-6884
office: 505-277-2253
cell: 505-227-1086
http://artslab.unm.edu
LEAVING THE LIST /LIST INFO: To leave the list, please email us at: artslab@unm.edu For other list info, please visit: http://groups.google.com/group/nm-media-industries/web/media-industries-list-info Available in RSS: http://groups.google.com/group/nm-media-industries/feed/rss_v2_0_msgs.xml
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