i think my biggest problem with interactive fiction is finding what does something

The multiple-choice style of IF solves this problem. Its format stems from those old Choose Your Own Adventure books. But those were pretty awful stories. Modern IF in that style is often much better. Again, see 'choiceofgames.com'. The blog there is pretty interesting.

I'll suggest Henry's Hunan. Unlike Denny's, this is a great place to relax, eat, and talk. Food is good and not terribly expensive. This downtown location is just a few blocks from BART.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=henry's+hunan+natoma&fb=1&gl=us&hq=henry's+hunan+natoma&hnear=henry's+hunan+natoma&cid=0,0,12322762489937493476&ei=fnOsTN_eFo70swOb553iAw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CBgQnwIwAQ

Maybe someplace along the BART line would be appropriate, in SF.  That works for me.

These guys are currently making money on IF. (not lots though, but more than beer and pizza money)

http://www.choiceofgames.com/


Yesterday, I was at the SF bay area IF meetup. The author of Blue Lacuna and other Inform 7 big wigs were there and the choiceofgames guys. Great meeting!

Hidden Agenda was a great political strategy game that was commentary on US-Soviet relationships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Agenda_(computer_game)

@zaphos -- Yeah, that's probably the best way to start out. Sometime in the second half of Oct. works best for me. I'll know more in a week or two. Au Coquelet is relaxed. We won't need to reserve seats for a just a few people, 5 or 6.

I haven't really played a game with any cultural depth.  I've seen some attempts, and they are often clumsy.  Maybe one of these days I'll go back and try some really old text adventures like "Trinity," to see how they hold up as literary works.  Many current games have a story and a main character to follow, but variations on "the reluctant hero" do not constitute cultural depth as far as I'm concerned.  To a seasoned screenwriter or novelist, it's a cliche.  Cultural depth IMO should not be based on what is entertaining, but what is profound.

File this under tooting one's own horn, but honestly, I've strived to make games with important messages. Because I also think games are largely empty of cultural depth. There are good examples, from Passage to Pathologic. But lately a core gamer attitude has arisen that is quick to condemn developers as 'pretentious' who bring cultural sophistication to games. Ex: Tale of Tales... I haven't had that said about my games, because core gamers take one look and go, "huh?" And I'm fine with that. I'm working on casual games. 'The Witch's Yarn' was about a middle aged woman rediscovering her power after the death of her husband. 'Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble' is about how women changed American society in the 1920s to allow them greater freedom.

'arcada mia' will be the cultural depth equivalent of Civ. It proposes to allow the player to experience life across the ages from four social class perspectives.

Some developers are trying to bring cultural relevance to games. Help them out by acknowledging their attempts, regardless of success or failure.

Au Coquelet is pretty nice, in Berkeley at Milvia and University. They have a back room where you can get full meals or a snack, and it's fairly quiet. It's usually not too crowded.

I'd like to be more involved with indies in the bay area. I live in Emeryville. So Berkeley or Oakland is perfect for me.

Musenik, I don't know why nobody's talking about how awesome your art looks. It really does have that classical feel to it- I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thanks Theo. The main problem with the image is, the artist is so infatuated with this thematic piece, he's slacking on the actual production art! Funny how the TIG crew here picked right up on that...  I'm sure they're waiting for the revised and complete version, before commenting. <grin>

george,

that's a good idea. I'll try to find some spare cycles to implement, but things like that often slip by me. I'm scrambling just to keep up with the story writing needed.

Our dev log is here:

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=14173.msg430349#msg430349

the site is: www.arcadamia.com

The main problem I'm having is trying to explain something that really hasn't existed before. It's almost as bad as describing an entirely new color.

Fortunately, the game is easy to pick up and play. So when the demo releases, then everyone will have something new to talk about. :-)

I've committed to a teaser campaign, but I'll probably never do one again. They only work for big name companies and designers.

I was hoping to submit to the IGF, but the game's just not in shape. Another two or three months, and I'm sure it would be. Missed IGF by (that) much!

UPDATE: instead of appending our more recent info to this thread. We swapped out the old press release with the new one. We hope this one gives a better idea about the game. A brief description of the core mechanic is available on the website:

www.arcadamia.com

I've applied, mostly to learn more. And SF is a quick BART trip for me. Don't know if they have other offices available elsewhere.


http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/15/game-media-firm-ign-entertainment-to-give-free-office-space-to-indie-game-startups/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Venturebeat+%28VentureBeat%29

I took 'arcada mia' to Pacificon for it's first user testing. The tutorial was surprisingly effective. No one failed to gain the first objective. (non-trivial) There were: crashes, dead ends, and miscommunication of the game model, to be sure. The best news was, out of four women and four men, one said it wasn't his kind of game. The others said they really enjoyed it.

Fish in a barrel? Likely, but two were visitors from Philadelphia, not attending the con. Happy day.

Hit an important milestone this week. All major features are now functional in the game. Time to start testing, tweaking, polishing, adding minor features, and writing LOTS of little stories.

Art has started to trickle in.

Had to slip downers into the composer's tea.  The flood of music was overwhelming, and pretty darn good for first cuts.

[arcada mia]

Well the teaser campaign is proving to be a bad idea. But now we have more concrete details about the game.



Our website went live this morning at: www.arcadamia.com.



And we sent out another press release.

'arcada mia' - Sophistication, now with pictures!

22 September 2010 - Mousechief, Co. (multiple I.G.F. finalist and highly awarded developer of 'Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!' ) reveals preliminary artwork for their next game. (image URLs below) In addition the thematic image, Mousechief clarifies prior descriptions.

Because the game is so original, until the demo is released, description, even pictures will be inadequate. But that won't stop us from trying.

We tried relating 'arcada mia' to earlier works. The natural assumption has been, "Oh, it's that kind of game!", which will lead to broken expectations. So this time we'll declare our game (especially its core mechanic) is not like any of these:

   a) 'Civilization' by Sid Meier
   b) 'Puzzle Quest'
   c) 'Oregon Trail'
   d) 'King of Dragon Pass'
   e) 'Passage' by Jason Rohrer

...but 'arcada mia' has qualities of each of them:

   a) The game presents a vast sweep of time and discoveries that influence culture.
   b) A central, casual mechanic, deep enough for core gamers, drives a narrative.
   c) Strategize to survive events across time.
   d) Navigate narrative challenges with interesting choices that rarely repeat.
   e) Story emerges from play actions during each generation's lifespan.
   
Finally, 'arcada mia', is a casual game of rare sophistication*.

To date, casual games have been wrapped in fairy tales and comic books, because few understood that games can be fine art. Not to lessen the greatness of many existing games, literary interactive storytelling is difficult to make accessible and engaging. Perhaps, as Hemingway helped break literature out of stuffy tomes, a casual game will emerge to bring fine art to a ready audience.

In 'arcada mia' story emerges from play like a monument emerging from bricks which emerged from clay and straw. Your tactics set up little stories. Choose ways to resolve them like a mason sorting bricks to build the monument of your family legend. In turn, stories reward or challenge. They influence tactics.
*Full disclosure: not exclusively sophisticated, because life is more livable with a dash of mischief.



'arcada mia', Raise a dynasty to master the ages.

(Begetting around: Early 2011.) Visit 'arcadamia.com' for more info and images.

The contest has officially begun, and the first two lines of the 'hint poem' have been posted.

[More than a tease: Mousechief's new game.]

Hello,

I am the developer of 'Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!' and a few other games. A couple of them were even finalists in the IGF. I'm announcing info about my upcoming game. Below is the press release.

I'm a little worried that a poorly known indie, myself, can't make a teaser campaign work. Should I have tried?



More than a tease: Mousechief's new game.

20 July 2010 - Mousechief, Co. (winner of multiple awards for 'Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!' and other games) has for over a year been working on it's next game. Today, we offer an elegant description, in the form a riddle.

Who would be the cyborg hybrid of Sid Meier and Alex Haley?
The answer can be found, right now, on www.mousechief.com.

The contest: Starting next week, the Mousechief website will post more hints. These hints will satirize a poem seen daily by millions, for decades. Lines will be posted weekly, until the game's title is revealed. (a title, we warn, to be pronounced in the manner of Gomez Addams)
A prize will be awarded to the first person who sends to us the original poem we are satirizing. The clever winner will receive the first customer copy of the game, and a special INDIE bonus prize of One Dollar!

This new game is not intended for children and will be rated TEEN using the T.I.G.R.S. rating system.


About Mousechief Co.

Founded in 2003, Mousechief is lead by a 17 year veteran of the gaming industry. Working with talents of fine-art illustrators and established musicians, Mousechief crafts unique, interactive experiences for all sorts of gamers.

"We put mischief in your mouse."

Keith Nemitz, Mousechief Co. "We put mischief in your mouse." (Flagship Champion, The Witch's Yarn, Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!)

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/13/dangerous-high-school-girls-in-award-ceremonies/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/02/18/dangerous-high-school-girls-in-trouble-in-trouble/
http://www.crispygamer.com/news/index.php/2009-02-20/dangerous-developer-in-trouble-mousechief-interview/

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060206/carless_01.shtml
http://www.gamedev.net/columns/interviews/mousechief.asp


A massive indie interview on JustAdventure.com
http://www.justadventure.com/Interviews/IndieChat/IndieChatIntro.shtm