Story Machines: Interactive Texts and Narrative Games
| Module title | Story Machines: Interactive Texts and Narrative Games |
|---|---|
| Module code | EASM185 |
| Academic year | 2024/5 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Robert Sherman (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 12 |
|---|
Module description
This module teaches the technical, conceptual and creative skills needed to develop your own interactive stories and text-based games. It compares the nature of these works with more traditional narrative forms, and introduces new authorial concepts of interactivity, multilinearity, audience agency, narrative choice and consequence, information theory, simulation, procedurality and narrative mechanics.
You will put these concepts into practice from the start by learning to write and code in Twine, a free-to-use tool for creating text-based games and interactive texts. You will produce a variety of prototype and finished works, test and critique each other’s work, develop narrative designs in team-based exercises, and deconstruct and critique theory and practice from the cutting edge of interactive narrative design.
This module is a good choice for any student interested in learning to program, entering the games or immersive industries, or who wishes to explore the connections between storytelling and computing more deeply.
Assessment on this module will involve several submitted creative works and a self-reflexive artist’s statement.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module will introduce you to the use of creative technology in the interactions between audience and story. This pioneering module bridges the gap between narrative and creative technology to develop innovative and entrepreneurial storytellers who can work across the huge and rapidly expanding industries that rely on such skills, including the interactive, immersive, games and digital creative industries.
You will develop your ability to invent, develop, write and finish creative work that is purposeful, and deepens your critical understanding of the modern practice of storytelling and the technologies that support it. You will learn to critique and comment upon both the opportunities and challenges that these new technologies and practices introduce to the authorial process. You will also gain experience of working creatively on narrative designs in a team environment, a vital skill for anybody interested in working in the creative industries. The module will improve your research skills and your writing by way of peer review and commentary from your seminar leader. It will be of particular interest to any student looking to become a game designer, narrative or interaction design, writer, director, producer, academic, interactive artist or entrepreneur.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Conceive, plan, research and design an interactive narrative experience using available technologies;
- 2. Demonstrate awareness of how different technologies and techniques can create powerful narrative experiences;
- 3. Understand the core formal challenges in marrying computation and narrative.
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Understand and demonstrate how modern technologies affect the practice of creative writing;
- 5. Critique interactive narrative work within its creative and scholarly context, with reference to established criticism.
- 6. Understand how to use the universal principles of good storytelling to manage the challenges of interactive storytelling.
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Demonstrate the ability to work both individually and as part of a group in a workshop setting;
- 8. Master the processes of feedback, testing and iterative development on complex, software-led creative projects.
- 9. Learn the fundamental principles and practices of computer programming.
Syllabus plan
The course will begin by seeking connections and harmonies between ‘traditional’ storytelling practice and the practices of interactive storytelling, focussing on the universalities of good storytelling practice. The material will then cleave away from the familiar, introducing both new conceptual and technical skills each week, cemented by in-class practical exercises and reflective and practical homework tasks, with feedback from both the tutor and peers.
Students will continue to learn new elements of craft and technique, with a particular focus on using computer programming creatively to support authorial goals. This will be assessed by a short formal assessment, in which students will develop a creative work that responds to and utilises the material covered in class to that point.
In the final weeks of term, students will work together in a ‘narrative design jam’ to produce a high-level design for a narrative experience with another student, before finally pitching their idea for their final project to the class for feedback. The final assessment is then completed during the holidays, before the start of the new term.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 278 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 22 | Attendance and participation in 11 2-hour seminars. |
| Guided independent study | 22 | Group work, discussion and feedback outside of class (2 hours per week). |
| Guided independent study | 100 | Independent research: 9 hours per week reading, playing and viewing. |
| Guided independent study | 156 | Independent writing, coding and narrative development. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team Narrative Design Jam | 4 hours (class time) | 1-3, 6-8 | Peer and tutor feedback (oral/written) |
| Class and Independent Group Work Participation | 2 hours per week | 1-9 | Feedback from peers (written) and tutor (oral, in-class) |
| Final Project Pitch | Pitch presentation (5 minutes in class) | 1-2, 6 | Peer and tutor feedback (oral/written) |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Interactive Narrative | 25 | 10 minutes playtime | 1-2, 4, 6, 9 | Written |
| Self-Reflexive Authors Statement | 30 | 3000 words | 2-6 | Written |
| Final Interactive Narrative Project | 45 | 25 minutes playtime. | 1-4, 6, 8-9 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short Interactive Narrative | Short Interactive Narrative | 1-2, 4, 6, 9 | Referral/deferral period |
| Self-Reflexive Authors Statement (3000 words) | Self-Reflexive Authors Statement (3000 words) | 2-6 | Referral/deferral period |
| Final Interactive Narrative Project (25 minutes) | Final Interactive Narrative Project (25 minutes) | 1-4, 6, 8-9 | Referral/deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
The Indicative Learning Resources will vary depending on the seminar leader and course convenor. Prior to the commencement of the course a reading/viewing/playing list will be provided to students, as well as web-based and electronic resources.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 10/05/2021 |
| Last revision date | 20/03/2023 |
