As I interacted with Shade, I kept thinking back to the CYOA books we had discussed and mapped for our recent project. In class, we learned about four characteristics that encompassed complex interactive fiction. They were shifting perspectives, narrative enigmas, reconfiguring story time and reframing. I would argue that Shade and CYOA books could be characterized as complex interactive fiction. In  “Enlightening Interactive Fiction: Andrew Plotkin’s Shade, Douglass argues that “although the interface and description of Shade are rigorously contractured from the second point of view, from the outset there is another perspective present in the room, a kind of IF play-within a play” (135).  He mentions the foreshadowing that occurs towards the end of the game. In class, we define shifting perspectives as changing narrative points of view. I wonder if foreshadowing counts as a shifting perspective. In terms of CYOA books, the shifting perspectives can happen depending on the story that’s being told. In Marie-Laure Ryan’s “The Many Forms of Interactivity”, she describes different structures that dictate the narrative thats told during CYOA books. The Braided Plot structure allows readers to explore different character perspectives, which fits into the shifting perspective characteristic as a complex interactive fiction. 

Narrative enigmas defined as uncertainty as to whats happening or just happened is a key feature in both Shade and CYOA. Playing Shade, it is easy to get frustrated – especially because not all commands work. In many of the blog posts that talked about Shade, it was clear that many people gave up because they didn’t understand what to do. This speaks to the learning curve that IF has. Unlike CYOA books, one must understand the various commands that are offered and understand the importance of details. In CYOA books, the task is straight forward – you must follow the path that is given based on the choices you make. In both IF and CYOA books, uncertainty is key to telling the story. The thrill that you get from making a decision is similar to the thrill that you get when a command finally works. 

Reconfiguring story time is also present in Shade and CYOA. From what I understand about Shade, according to Dogulass there are “two worlds.” Death is imminent and this fits into the humbled chronologies characteristic in reconfiguring story time. I think that this is what makes Shade confusing. If I hadn’t read Dogulass piece, I wouldn’t have known that death was going to happen. In CYOA books, repetition is common. In my book, “The Magician’s House” the setting of the book was often repeated in order to get readers familiar to the odd characteristics of the setting. I know from my own experience reading CYOA books that flashbacks are also common and that different flashbacks are used in order for readers to understand the plot more. 

Lastly, reframing – forcing the reader to interpret past story events based on new information is something that is very present in Shade. For me. I found myself continuously scrolling up to the top to reread the background information in order to get a sense of what I was supposed to do. It’s also clear that after every command that works, the reader has to interpret whats given and try to continue on with the story. In terms of CYOA books, I know that mapping out each possible ending helped some of my classmates come up with the hidden lessons in their book. Some choices were more “privileged” and led to better endings. Because CYOA books fit the four characteristics of Complex IF, I would argue that CYOA books are a type of complex IF. 

When I first tried to explore Matthew Kirkpatrick’s “A Moment Ago,” I thought the website wasn’t working because of the delayed loading process. However, once I’d reopened the browser, there was the work! I think my initial impatience with the application is indicative of our expectations of games in the digital age; we expect things to be available immediately and often become frustrated when things take longer than a few moments. Once I’d given “A Moment Ago” time to collect itself, I found it very intuitive in terms of interactivity. Unlike games such as “Shade” or “The Baron,” the user does not have to guess at what is required of them and can therefore participate to their own satisfaction, instead of trying to ‘win’ or complete the game. On a metaphorical level, I also think the work functions as a demonstration of how the news today can be overwhelming to the point of incomprehension. Just as Kirkpatrick’s work jumbles snippets of content to form a conglomerate of ‘news,’ sometimes mainstream news reflects a world that could be considered unrecognizable. 

I also appreciated the opportunity to hear from Matthew Kirkpatrick in person. Sometimes the digital universe promotes anonymity in a way that de-personalizes the narrative experience. Hearing about his inspiration and construction process behind “A Moment Ago” somehow made the game seem less transient and fleeting; the game felt more significant when I knew a real person had considered topics such as the regenerative nature of news and its role in the digital age. 

Staying with the theme of face-less-ness in our digital world and wanting quick results, I am reminded of the recent technological troubles at the Iowa Caucus for the 2020 Democratic candidate. It is my understanding that this year, the DNC tried to use an app to report caucus results. However, technical difficulties caused discrepancies in the reporting. Caucusing is often characterized by its inherently physical nature–goers often must stand for hours in support of their candidate. Even with the app, caucus goers still had to show up for their candidate but I remain curious about the intersection between an event grounded in physical participation and the complications of the event’s technological use. Was this experience influenced by the introduction of (defective) technology? Do we see this clash of the physical and digital as something that is inevitable or something to be worked through and improved upon? In a recent reload of “A Moment Ago,” mention of the Iowa caucus appears; the digital and material worlds continue to collide.

I found Shade frustrating because of how little there is to do. Some of my commands were not understood, but after some trial and error, I was finally able to explore the room a little. I found that taking what the game gives you helped you progress a little. For example, once you get up from the futon, you are able to turn on the stereo and listen to music. However, there was one aspect of the game that was particularly frustrating. The story kept telling me that I was thirsty and when I typed in the command to drink water, it wanted me to be more specific. I attempted to go to the kitchen, but the computer did not seem to understand that command. After examining the travel book, I found that the character is about to leave fora festival in Death Valley in a few hours. I was curious to know more but was unable to figure out anything else. The contrast between darkness and light also seemed to be an important aspect of Shade. The description of the apartment mentions the darkness trying to creep inside. After attempting to open the shade and turn off the lamp, you get messages saying “you have no desire to look night in the face” and “you do not want the dark.”

Instead of drawing you in with the storyline, Shade engages you by carefully describing the setting and being specific about how the character is feeling. As a result, you must use what the game gives you and use that in order to move forward.

In anticipation of Matthew Kirkpatrick’s visit to class, I completed the assigned homework of navigating his two works A Moment Ago and The Silent Numbers. I began with A Moment Ago. Ever-changing, this piece randomly collects text from various online news sources. Once the user tries to click on, or even hover the mouse over, a part of the linked text, another stream of text appears. The constant evolution of A Moment Ago at first overwhelms the user, but eventually she becomes familiar with the onslaught of information and settles into her role as a player, a reader, and an observer. Kirkpatrick’s second work is more guided; The Silent Numbers invites the player along as the game reveals various developments to the player. These reveals, however, are accompanied by audio that existed as legitimate radio transmissions. Thus, as the player goes through the piece she is reading Kirkpatrick’s words as she listens to the spoken numbers. This combination elevates the material because, similar to A Moment Ago, the authenticity of the audio components (the news content for A Moment Ago) grounds Kirkpatrick’s textual and stylistic additions.

Kirkpatrick’s visit as well as his work led me to further consider how creators incorporate real-world activity into art. I have also been thinking about the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, especially in regard to contemporary realistic literature. From there, I think of the line between personal experience and imagined situations— I predict there to be fewer differences in terms of plausibility between the two than one might initially expect. Interesting that even his novel The Ambrose J. and Vivian T. Seagrave Museum of 20th Century American Art adopts a form that blends the established line between print and electronic literature. Both A Moment Ago and The Silent Numbers reminded me of the proximity that communication allows, and seeing that proximity develop in the two pieces forced me to consider the implications of genre distinctions and other distinctions in general; it’s more similar than we’d think.