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From: kjfair@midway.uchicago.edu (Kenneth Fair)
Subject: Re: Crimes Against Mimesis, Pt. 1
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References: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960415001822.14115A-100000@xp.psych.nyu.edu> <4ktkon$n3c@news.lth.se>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 15:47:04 GMT
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Thanks, Roger, for a very interesting article.  I've saved a copy to
reread once I get around to actually making a game and not just playing
around with Inform.

In article <4ktkon$n3c@news.lth.se>, mol@marvin.df.lth.se (Magnus Olsson) wrote:

>Indeed. Even the most realistic fiction is fundamentally unrealistic if
>you scrutinize it closely. Fiction isn't *supposed* to be realistic,
>it is just supposed to *seem* realistic, and that's a totally
>different thing. All readers of this newsgroup should be familiar with
>the argument "I don't want a simulation of reality, I want an
>entertaining game!". 

Absolutely.  Reality is boring in many ways; our daily lives usually
make terrible stories.  For example, my life today:


 Your alarm buzzes, arousing you from a sound slumber.  It's 6:01.

 >SNOOZE

 You hit the snooze button and fall back asleep.  Nine minutes later...
 Your alarm buzzes, arousing you from a sound slumber.  It's 6:10.

 >TURN OFF CLOCK

 The incessant buzzing stops.

 >STAND

 You drag yourself from your bed.

 >LOOK

 Your Room

 You are standing in your room.  It has nice high ceilings and two desks.
 You're glad you got the super single after all.  There is junk on the
 floor that you need to pick up.  You tell yourself you'll do it later.

 Glancing over by your desk, you see your Criminal Law textbook.  You wince,
 remembering that you have not read today's assignment yet.

 >READ BOOK

 You find that you are too tired and cannot concentrate on the assignment.
 The words keep merging to say things like, "Srum, whes das heliop."

 >NW

 Bathroom

 >TAKE SHOWER

 You step into the shower.  Luckily, you manage to remember to undress 
 before you turn on the water.  You shower, then dry yourself.

 >SE

 Your Room

 You feel a bit more alert now.

 >GET DRESSED

 You get dressed.  You must do laundry soon.  Whatta pain.

 >READ TEXTBOOK

 You can now focus on the words of the assignment.  The text talks about
 the legal aspects of conspiracy.  You wonder again why you are in law school.

 You feel tired again.

 >SLEEP

 A wise move.  You climb back into bed and blissfully doze through your
 morning class.

 [You have gained five points.]


See?  Accurate, yet completely uninteresting.


*snip*

>Of course, all conventions are there to be broken, and breaking this
>one can be done to great effect. For example, I think that part of the
>tremendous appeal of "Twin Peaks" and "The X-files" is that they are
>detective series that intentionally leave a lot of mysteries unsolved
>- especially in the X-files, the point is that there are things that
>we can't understand and that we will never know.

Well, that, and part of the appeal was watching for things that would
pop up again episodes later.  It's one of the things that makes "Seinfeld"
and "The Simpsons" appealing to me, seeing characters or scenarios appear
again later, sometimes even in the next season.

--
KEN FAIR - U. Chicago Law  | Power Mac! | Net since '90 | Net.cop
kjfair@midway.uchicago.edu | CABAL(tm) Member | I'm w/in McQ - R U?
   "You're fooling yourself.  We're living in a dictatorship, a
    self-perpetuating autocracy..."   - Dennis
