Ms Armstrong

Main objective

Your job is to create an interactive story (think “Choose Your Own Adventure”) where the reader is told a story but presented options as they go along that can change the outcome of the story.  See examples from last year on the shared drive at school.

Method
You may use either:

a) HTML or
b) MicroWorlds

You are encouraged to also use GIMP or paint to create or edit custom graphics.

Detailed Requirements

The story must contain:

• A written component… obvious I suppose… some kind of scenario/plot/story with a beginning, middle and end. You may take a fairy tale or children’s story you already know and put a twist to it, if you like.  You may be thinking, “This isn’t English class… why do I have to write????” but think about computer/video games you have played – if the characters and story are not interesting, the game is much less fun.  Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, even Mario games all have plots.  The people in charge of making these games considered “the story” long before they wrote any code.
• A graphical component… some kind of pictures or animation.
• An interactive component… at least 3 places in the story where readers are given options that affect what happens next in the story. Some choices could result in dead ends, some choices could result in a happy ending, some choices could result in a less than ideal ending… it’s up to you.

Storyboarding
Before you get very far into coding your story on the computer, please create a plan of action as to how your story will develop. This plan is called a storyboard. To read more about storyboarding, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboarding and watchhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPjjoOFIu8 (deals with storyboarding in film, but applies to all storyboarding). Example storyboards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht9ClnZZOPo

Storyboarding is used in television, film, video games, comic books, etc. It’s your “rough draft”, your “blueprint”, your “map”. It’s your chance to work out your ideas before spending the time, effort (and money!!) to actually do it on the computer/on film. It means that you’ll have a solid plan, so when you actually sit down to draw/write/code/animate/film, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Storyboards are often done in pencil (and later made darker with marker) and sketched quickly and roughly (but still in an organized and neat fashion).  The goal is not perfection – that will come later – so do not spend hours making perfect drawings and do not worry if you do not know how to draw!  Every action that will take place in your program should be explained in your storyboard.  Anyone should be able to read your storyboard and know exactly what will happen in the computer version.

For this particular storyboard, your goal should be to map out your plot. Where do the storylines split? What happens each time the user clicks on a choice? Do the storylines ever cross paths again?  This will require a bit of creativity on your part (most storyboards are linear in nature… yours will need to diverge to show the different options).

Due Dates

Storyboard – End of class, Friday March 5th OR End of class, Tuesday, March 23td

Finished Interactive Story – End of class, Friday March 12th OR End of class, Wednesday, March 31st

(You can choose your own adventure and pick to either do this assignment or the MicroWorlds Game assignment first.  One project must be handed in on March 12th and the other will be due March 31st.)