<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] simulation vs. storytelling is a fallacious distinction --> <!--X-From-R13: Xnzrf Ivyfba <wjvyfbaNebpurfgre.ee.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 10:50:11 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 98100313413002.03970@d185d1e96 --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] simulation vs. storytelling is a fallacious distinct</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:jwilson#rochester,rr.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00048.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00050.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00095.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00043.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00049">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00049">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00049">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] simulation vs. storytelling is a fallacious distinction</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] simulation vs. storytelling is a fallacious distinction</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: James Wilson <<A HREF="mailto:jwilson#rochester,rr.com">jwilson#rochester,rr.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 11:05:29 -0400</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> I've been following this simulation vs. storytelling thread as it has veered off into a number of fascinating areas. As I recall, it originally started out with some quotes from Legend in which various emotions, memories, and internal responses (i.e. over and beyond what one can easily classify as sensory information) were supplied as part of a location's description. People then moved on to discussing 'storytelling' in the sense of 'reifying a narrative', 'simulation' in the sense of 'there is a consistent set of physical laws which apply to every logical object' - someone (perhaps Raph) mentioned 'moving spoons on the table' - 'simulation' in the sense of 'the physical laws modeled closely reflect RL', and 'realistic graphics' vs. (let-me-call-it) 'stylized representation'. Probably not in that order. So let me shoehorn things into my own way of thinking and see what happens (I do have a point, I promise). Given some game, I want to know where it lies upon the following scales: 1. "manipulates-mental-state": to what degree is the player character's internal state (emotions, memory, identity) manipulated by the game? Such manipulation can take the form of simply informing the player of their character's emotions/memories/etc (cf. legend's descriptions) or it can extend to controlling the character's actions (cf. the berserker and love potion). 2. "events-are-narrative": to what degree does the course of events reflect a 'narrative', where a narrative must have a large-scale plot which ascribes some larger significance to events? At one extreme, causality is controlled simply by the behavior rules of individuals and objects, and events have little or no significance in a larger narrative flow. Much like in RL, a textual description of such is rarely more than banal. While there is nothing to prevent a gripping narrative to arise of its own out of such interactions, it is highly unlikely. At the other extreme, causality is tightly scripted in order to force events into a narrative form. In the middle, narrative is more loosely guided by various means, perhaps through hints, omens, etc. 3. "all-objects-manipulable": to what degree is every logical object in the game amenable to 'realistic' manipulation, where 'realistic' means 'coherent with the assumed laws of nature'? At one extreme are things like the ancient text adventures where only certain verbs could be applied to certain objects; a little higher up you have room descriptions telling you about beds that you can't sleep on, and nuclear blasts that leave shops intact. At the other extreme, every piece of scenery, every individual, is manipulable to the extent that it should be according to the laws of nature applicable at the moment. 3(a). "real-world-simulation": to what degree does the game (attempt to) model the real world? clearly this is dependent upon #3 (but not vice versa). 4. "looks-real": "to what degree is the representation presented to the player (be it graphics or text) 'realistic' in the sense of 'corresponding to real sensory data'? At one extreme would be immersive VR that looked, felt, tasted, smelt and sounded like you were really there; at the other extreme would be something like IRC or unix that doesn't even pretend to simulate sensory information. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all logically independent, though certain combinations would be more or less difficult to implement. For instance, "events-are-narrative" is made a bit easier by a high "manipulates-mental-state" quotient (as then player characters' reactions can be tuned to fit the narrative) and a low "all-objects-manipulable" quotient (as then players can't muck up your carefully-designed scenarios as easily). A highly-narrative game which allows players to detonate nuclear bombs (wiping out all the subplots in progress within N miles) is going to be much more of a challenge. James </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00048.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Storytelling vs. Simulationist (Was Re: Room descriptions)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00050.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00095.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00043.html">[MUD-Dev] [DESIGN] To kill or not to kill? (non-violent conflict)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00049"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00049"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00050" HREF="msg00050.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Sat 03 Oct 1998, 18:06 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00061" HREF="msg00061.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></strong>, ApplePiMan <a href="mailto:ApplePiMan#aol,com">ApplePiMan#aol,com</a>, Sun 04 Oct 1998, 02:23 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00089" HREF="msg00089.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></strong>, Michael.Willey <a href="mailto:Michael.Willey#abnamro,com">Michael.Willey#abnamro,com</a>, Mon 05 Oct 1998, 20:19 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00095" HREF="msg00095.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Quest engines</A></strong>, Hal Black <a href="mailto:hal#moos,ml.org">hal#moos,ml.org</a>, Mon 05 Oct 1998, 23:47 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00049" HREF="msg00049.html">[MUD-Dev] simulation vs. storytelling is a fallacious distinction</A></strong>, James Wilson <a href="mailto:jwilson#rochester,rr.com">jwilson#rochester,rr.com</a>, Sat 03 Oct 1998, 17:50 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00043" HREF="msg00043.html">[MUD-Dev] [DESIGN] To kill or not to kill? (non-violent conflict)</A></strong>, The Wildman <a href="mailto:wildman#microserve,net">wildman#microserve,net</a>, Sat 03 Oct 1998, 15:36 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00046" HREF="msg00046.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [DESIGN] To kill or not to kill? (non-violent conflict)</A></strong>, Richard Woolcock <a href="mailto:KaVir#dial,pipex.com">KaVir#dial,pipex.com</a>, Sat 03 Oct 1998, 16:16 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00055" HREF="msg00055.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [DESIGN] To kill or not to kill? (non-violent conflict)</A></strong>, The Wildman <a href="mailto:wildman#microserve,net">wildman#microserve,net</a>, Sat 03 Oct 1998, 20:40 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00067" HREF="msg00067.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [DESIGN] To kill or not to kill? (non-violent conflict)</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Sun 04 Oct 1998, 10:53 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>