RE: How about "situations" as a plot abstraction?

["Brandon J. Van Every" <vanevery@3DProgrammer.com>]

> Suppose you have a plot like this:
>
> 1. Evil character makes small pleasant deal with user
>    (to gain trust of user)
>
> 2. Evil character makes big deal then double crosses user.
>    (major plot point)
>
> Now #2 may be data driven, as you suggested, since the exact details
> of the deal might be important to the story.
>
> But, from an author point of view, it doesn't really matter what the
> first deal is made of, as long as it happens.  Ie, its existence is
> more important that the exact details.  A system that can (in a sense)
> fabricate many forms of #1 will be more successful at achieving the
> more complete plot (#1 + #2).

Um, what (1) is made of matters to the *player*.  The author still has to
create meaning and sell it to the player.  Do you think the player trusts
the evil character, or is the player just mashing buttons and viewing
everything as "try all the possibilities until something happens?"  If the
latter, you have not secured audience buy-in.  Since these issues of content
and meaning still matter to the player, they have to matter to the author.
Sorry, the computer isn't going to give you the significance of a deal for
free.  The human author has to provide it, even for what you might call
"trivial" deals.  Why are we even making a deal such as (1), if it is not
important to the story somehow?  Just to see what we can click our mice on?


Cheers,                         www.3DProgrammer.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.