After going deep into all of the IFs I really began to notice a progress in my ability to function in such virtual worlds. The first IF I attempted was Photopia. After 10 minutes I was too pissed off to continue. I wanted to go into it with little context and instruction as I do with most works, yet it became pretty clear it was necessary to obtain some form of explanation of functioning within IFs. When we did the single ending IF in class, it really helped me understand how IFs work and I began to have more confidence in working with Photopia and the others.
I decided to work with Pig first and worked my way through it fairly well. I really enjoyed myself with Pig because it was funny and laid back. I felt no rush or anger as I had previously with Photopia. I think that whatever character the user must be plays a large role in how they go about going through the IF. With Pig, I felt like nothing I did was wrong, I felt little responsibility in my actions. This (along with the HELP page telling me there’s no way to get stuck) also lead me to have more fun with the commands since I tried to do a lot more from burning everything I see to kicking and singing as I pleased.
After playing all the IFs I was inspired to find my MYST online and play it. I remember when my Brother and I were little kids we used to play MYST constantly and loved it. As I play it almost a decade later, I realize why we had such a fascination with it. It has all the attractive elements of CYOAs and IFs. It takes user interaction to a new level from a visual standpoint. Basically, for those not familiar with MYST, it’s an old PC adventure game. I wouldn’t say it was the first of its kind, but it was a major frontrunner in the genre. The game works just like a CYOA and IF by allowing the user to explore a virtual world. The different being it’s not based on a text but visuals. The virtual world is comprised of a large series of interactive (and many times “alive”) views/pictures. On each picture the user clicks on objects in order to examine and work them, while moving throughout the massive world by clicking places in the distance in order to walk around. When the user clicks a place in the distance, they will move there and be given a new view in which more paths, puzzles, and/or objects are present. In an essence, this takes CYOA and IFs to a new level. Unfortunately, with the addition of such visuals some freedoms are taken away. While many adventure games contain dialogue, such games like MYST lack an amount of characters due to its isolated context. However, there is a very strong narrative presence with all adventure games and MYST is no different.