For my Independent Study at university I’m going to be working on an idea that I’ve had for a few years now.

It’s not a totally unique idea, as my inspiration was an old CGI script that had the same basic functionality, only my plan is to expand on the concept and make it all that it can be. It’s also not the first time that I’ve actually built and published an edition of the idea, but hopefully will be the first time I succeed in making it everything I want it to be.

The idea is that of an interactive fiction site called UnknownTales.net.

So what is interactive fiction? It’s the ability to control the direction of the story that you’re reading!

It’s very much like the classic read your own adventure and Fighting Fantasy game books. You start by choosing the book that you’re interested in, then read the first chapter. At the end of the chapter you’ll often be given a choice between different routes available to follow. You choose the route of most interest, turn to the chapter number indicated, then continue reading, repeating the process of choosing your route as and when it is presented to you.

This is a fantastic way of being able to read the same book several times, with a different story each time you read. Only a lot of the time you’ll find that the general story arc remains the same, and that different routes ultimately end up at the same place.

UnknownTales.net will be an evolution on this concept. You start by reading the first chapter, at the end of which you’ll be presented with a pre-determined number of different paths that can be followed. Upon choosing the path of most interest, the next chapter will be presented, along with more paths to choose from. Unlike the game book stories, which will link back into the main story arc, each path available at the end of each chapter will take you to a totally new chapter which is inaccessible via any other route than the one you’ve just taken.

Cool right? But that’s only the first level of interactivity. The second level is discovered once you find a chapter that hasn’t been added to the story yet. This is where the system shines at it’s brightest, as it provides you – the reader – the ability to write your own chapter for the story.

Although initially I was planning on building this site just for the sake of building it, since starting at university I’ve discovered I have an interest in web site usability. That is, making sure that web site interfaces are as intuitive as possible, so that the users of the site instinctively know how to use it without needing to think. Due to this I’m going to be taking a keen interest in the usability aspects of the site, and conduct various studies and tests to make sure that the site is as good, and usable, as possible.

Anyway, although I’ve started planning some parts of the project, I’m not going to get started until the summer, so until then, keep an eye on the blog for updates about the project, and let me know if you’re interested in helping out at all – I’m going to need creative people to help start the stories.

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