Examine the informational structure of one digital game or one digital narrative of your choice. Explore these as examples of interaction, with particular reference to the role of the audience in each.

Interactive narratives are still a moderately new form of communicating stories and have been around since the late 1980s. Interactive stories did not catch people’s attention until the new millennium and became a hit during 2010. “Moviemakers see it as a form of cinema, video-game people claim it as an extension of their own field, computer scientists think of it as part of the broader field of artificial intelligence, and experts in the art of improv consider it to be the computerization of their skills.’- Crawford. C, 2013. Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling. Second edition (1).
http://e-merl.com/stuff/duckadv.html
‘A Duck has an Adventure’ is a hypercomic adventure narrative that challenges you as the audience to discover all the possible lives one duck could live. Every choice made by the audience builds a new pathway to explore. Daniel Goodbery is the creator of this interactive narrative and ‘A duck has an Adventure’ was released both online and as an android app.
With any interactive narrative there will always be advantages and disadvantages that the audience faces, especially when it comes to following a non-linear narrative. ‘A Duck has an adventure’ is an easy to follow story and the main advantage is based on the fact that the audience is given choice. In terms of interaction the story becomes more exciting as the audience is given more alternative endings – in this case 16. Along the way you are also able to gain achievements and collect 7 different hats – this keeps the audience entertained and intrigued in what will happen next.

The interaction of the audience relies on you to keep clicking at every image in order for the story to continue, although you are able to make decisions such as ‘get an education’ or ‘have an adventure’, you are at times still restricted as to which path you want to choose because the author then decides where the story will lead you too next, this could be a disadvantage for the audience, as they will feel a lack of control in decision making.

According to an extract I read in ‘Pause and Effect: The Art of interaction’ (2) there are 4 key steps of interaction – Observe, Explore, Modify and Change. With observation the audience makes an assessment, and the next stage that follows is to Explore – this is when the audience does something to the narrative e.g. I chose ‘A simple life’ for the duck. The modification is when the audience selects an option and the narrative changes, which subsequently is the final element in the development of the narrative.
http://e-merl.com/stuff/duckadv.html

After asking a few people to experiment with the narrative themselves, the majority of them found the story humorous and aesthetically pleasing in a visual perspective, however after a while they found it boring – I believe its because they felt the story was repetitive with layout and there was ultimately an ending to the story. I also think that the format and structure of the narrative is at times like a game, and so we forget that we are actually reading a narrative, and go with the intention of completing something such as a challenge whereas in reality we are just reading a story.

In terms of structure, the narrative is quite unpredictable as it relies on you as the audience, to take on the role of the duck and make decisions for him. There are 3 different types of structure that can be approached for a narrative – Nodal plot structures, Modulated plot structure and open plot structures. (2)

A duck has an Adventure is a Nodal plot structure which means that the narrative is a lot more complex in terms of format i.e. choosing different paths. There will always be a choice of alternative endings. Transitions can be made at an early stage of the story and you also have the choice of going back to the beginning or to another stage of the story in order to change the path that the duck takes. The benefits of this plot structure are that there is development of the character and the narrative grows too, and the author must make sure that the interactive components of the narrative are there as a means of exploring elements – I believe ‘A duck has an Adventure’ does this successfully. (2)

Following different paths in the story relates well to the Roland Barthes theory on narrative where the text is like a ‘tangled ball of threads’ – this signifies that once the story is unravelled then we see different potential meanings and in this example we see potential endings e.g. the duck becomes a cartoonist.

Again, in regards to theory, Levi Strauss looked at binary opposites that developed from years of studying myths and legends all around the world, and from this concluded that narratives are built around the conflict of binary opposites. Looking back at ‘A duck has an adventure’, it is established that because there is a use of non-linear narrative then binary opposites do not come in groups of 2 – they differ depending on the choice you make. Looking at ‘A duck has an adventure’ in further depth you could say there is a use of binary opposites in the visual structure of the narrative – beginning vs. end, left vs. right, etc. (4)

Authors all share one thing in common; they all have a perspective to convey and this creates a story/narrative. Interactive narrative such as ‘A Duck has an Adventure’ is one of the most challenging and ambitious forms of art today, as it combines both traditional narrative and visual art and interactivity. All 3 of these elements use information to be understood in different ways. With ‘A duck has an adventure’, we convey the narrative in different ways because we are given choice.

Choice is not always something that audience want, because it can complicate the way we think. Sheena Iyengar studies how we makes choices and believes that the more options we are given, the better choices we make, however she also argues that when there are too many choices to compare and contrast then we can become overwhelmed – ‘Choice no longer offer opportunity, but imposes constraints’ - July 2010, Iyengar, S.: The Art of choosing.

According to Sheena, studies show that when more than 10 options when they are trying to make a choice they make poor decisions. In regards to ‘A Duck has an Adventure’ the most number of options given to the audience is 3, and so choice isn’t really a matter of difficult decision making, especially because you are also able to backtrack the choices you make and go back to the beginning of the narrative.(5)

Vladimir Propp looked into fairy tales to discover 31 different functions that stories and narratives take on. These 31 functions are all very predictable because it is the norm in most movies, stories and TV shows we watched nowadays. As a member of the audience, we know that there will be equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution in narratives we read and watch, however in ‘A duck has an Adventure’ we have many paths to choose from that include and exclude this norm.

The norm of the narrative in Vladimir’ perspective is the fact that there is one leading protagonist/hero – the duck and ‘The most common form of interactive narrative involves the user taking on the role of the protagonist in an unfolding storyline’ (4)
The difference in this narrative is for example, when I choose ‘a simple life’; I am given a choice as to what disequilibrium the Duck goes through i.e. ‘Settle down’ or ‘play the field’, whereas in traditional narratives we predict and know that we do not have a choice in the matter.



The iconography used in this narrative also provides us with the familiarity of what we expect within each path chosen – this relates back to perspective and how the author transmits messages to the audience. The role of the author in ‘A duck has an adventure’ changes because the audience is able to interact therefore; the author no longer narrates the story, because the audience does.
If the author was to narrate the story of the duck, it would be continuous but the audience has to keep interacting otherwise the story does not continue.

‘A Duck has an adventure’ is an open narrative because the audience feels as though there is no ending and there is more than just one storyline. Different characters are also introduced depending on what path you decide to take. This is what helps add more excitement to the storyline, as well as create a more interesting non – linear flow. Although it is an open narrative structure, the 16 alternative endings are all closed because each path, wraps up a different story. The advantage to the closed ending is that the audience feels satisfied with the narrative they have followed and with choice reach an ending they have participated in and created themselves - Andy Cameron says ‘Interactivity means the ability to intervene in a meaningful, way with the representation itself' Salen. K and Zimmerman. E, 2003. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals.

Other than open narratives, there are another 2 principles that interaction uses – input/output and inside/outside. This is the interaction cycle’s ability to add information that defines the interactions quality. With relation to ‘A Duck has an Adventure’ the input relates to the audience becoming aware that after making a choice then they have changed the way the (system) structure flows. (2)

The inside/outside principle is thought of in 2 sections. Inside interactivity is the process of making the audience aware of what they already know. This goes back to understanding the norm of structure, because we know that ultimately, the narrative will reach an end. In terms of the outside principle, it is based on what we are experiencing on an experimental level – this would be how we take on the role of the duck and experience his journey through each path.

The idea of perceptive in narrative is also a key aspect in the foundation of the storyline – there are at least 2 kinds of perspective: Emotional (Cognitive) or Dimensional (Visual). It is clear that ‘A Duck has an Adventure’ follows more of dimensional route, as it bases the interactivity on graphics and visual imagery rather than the use of text. Brief elements of text appear along each path in order to emphasise an event that occurs, an example of this is when you receive a new hat and text appears to make you aware you have collected one. Text also appears below the screen to identify the achievements you have and how many alternative endings you have reached. I believe this helps the audience keep track and become aware of what they are doing – it is way in which they rely on understanding the flow of the narrative. (2)

Interactive narratives on a general basis are significantly becoming more popular and diverse nowadays. People no longer have an interest in picking up a book and reading it but rather, use technology to visually read a story and be amazed by the graphics used to form a creative structure. ‘A duck has an adventure’ has successfully provided myself (as the audience) to participate in story telling. On a personal perspective, I enjoy being able to control the story I am reading because I find the element of surprise different to what I am used too.

Traditionally, when reading a book you are aware that will be a beginning, middle and end – but with this particular narrative, I know that I am going to be reaching 16 different endings and because of this, the author creates enigmas for me that infuse the imaginative side of narrative – it keeps you guessing.

Referring back to the idea of Non- linear narrative, I have found that the use of this structure, creates a more exciting story to follow and "In a hypertext environment a lack of linearity does not destroy narrative. In fact, since readers always, but particularly in this environment, fabricate their own structures, sequences or meanings, they have surprisingly little trouble reading a story or reading for a story" – Ryan, M. 2001. Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The case of narrative in Digital Media

‘A Duck has an Adventure’ presented itself as an interesting target for informational structure, and through my research I have understood that structure is what builds a narrative and keeps the audience intrigued. Interacting helped me visually follow and become a character (the Duck) and create my own story, using the authors starting points. Without an audience, the story cannot go on, we must continue to interact and participate.
























Bibliography

Books

1. Author/Editor: Chris Crawford
Year of publication: 2013
Title: Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling, Second Edition
Pages: xi Introduction
Name of Publisher: New Riders

2. Author/Editor: Mark Stephan Meadows
Year of publication: 2002
Title: Pause and Effect: The art of Interactive Narrative
Pages: Chapters – 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4.
Name of Publisher: New Riders

3. Author/Editor: Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman.
Year of Publication: 2003
Title: Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
Pages: 58

4. Author/Editor: Brownwen Martin
Year of Publication: 2006
Title: Key Terms in Semiotics
Page: 4 & 5

Online

5. http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html July 2010, Iyengar, S.: The Art of choosing.

Articles

6. Riedl, O.M and Bulitko, V. Interactive Narrative: An Intelligent Systems Approach http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~riedl/pubs/aimag.pdf

Journals

7. Ryan, M. 2001. Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The case of narrative in Digital Media http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/ryan/