storyteller
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Dev puts Storyteller on hold to turn Ernesto RPG into a full game
Ernesto RPG is a "quick RPG" played entirely in clicks on a field populated by pixelated icons. Start at a cave and form a path to another cave by clicking on icons right next to each other, such as medkits, poisonous spiders, weapons, tunnels that may or may not be insta-death traps, and enemies; level up, make it to the exit cave and proceed to the next level. It's shockingly addictive (and free). It's also from Storyteller developer Daniel Benmergui – Storyteller won the Nuovo award at IGF 2012, and it's still a work in progress. It asks players to put scenes of a comic strip in order to complete the requested actions. Now it's on hold while Benmergui tries to turn Ernesto into a full, commercial game. "I love Storyteller, I think it's an important game and I want it to be released soon, but I've been working on it for three years now and I am starting to feel creatively numb from always dealing with the same project," Benmergui writes. "There are a few important things to work out before I am able to release it, so there's no way I can rush it to completion. Storyteller still needs time and more hard work to be a great game." Benmergui says developing Ernesto will give him much-needed perspective on Storyteller and experience in launching a full game. He plans to be done with Ernesto in less than three months and he emphasizes that this does not mean Storyteller is canceled.
Stephen Elop says he's ready for change at Microsoft
All eyes are on Stephen Elop. Just hours ago, he introduced Nokia's first Windows tablet; he's also overseeing his division's integration into Microsoft; and Redmond is even considering him as its next CEO. During our interview today, Elop understandably couldn't comment on the prospect of taking Steve Ballmer's place, but he did say he's ready to take up the challenge of bringing the two giants together, no matter what. "I'm looking forward to being a part of driving that change within the company in whatever capacity," Elop said.
Nokia Storyteller app offers new way to view your memories, coming to Lumia 1520 (update: video)
A Nokia product announcement wouldn't be complete without some new Nokia software to go along with it, so what does the company have in store for us this round? Among other things is Storyteller, which -- as the name suggests -- wants to display your photos and videos in the form of stories. It also ties in with Nokia Here maps to show where pictures are taken, and recording with the Lumia 1520's four microphones allows audiophiles to capture directional stereo audio too. It's all meant to give a "richer experience" when you're capturing photos, and later when sharing them with family and friends. Update: Nokia just announced Storyteller for its brand new Lumia 2520 tablet, and you can check a video for Storyteller on the Nokia Lumia 1520 after the break.
Amazon introduces Storyteller tool to turn scripts into storyboards
Amazon Studios has been forging ahead with its push to develop original movies and TV series, and it has now introduced a new tool that it's hoping will help foster further development. Dubbed Amazon Storyteller, the tool lets writers quickly turn their script into a storyboard without the need for any actual artistic skills. As Amazon explains it, the tool first scans the writer's script and then "identifies the scenes, locations and characters from scene descriptions, and 'casts' them from a library of thousands of characters, props and backgrounds." Writers and filmmakers can then choose to customize the storyboard or upload some of their own images if they like, before sharing it with others to solicit feedback (naturally, it's only available if you submit your script to Amazon Studios). According to the company, the tool works best with contemporary dramas or romantic comedies given its current art assets, so you may still have your work cut out for you if you're looking to storyboard your post-apocalyptic fantasy epic.
Storyteller preview: In the eye of the beholder
"Wait, save that. No one's done it that way before. You made it more complicated."Daniel Benmergui reached out to grab the mouse and save a screenshot of my panels in his comic-book narrative game, Storyteller, where I had just concocted a tale of love and loss based on the page's prompt, using a trio of static characters. One click and Benmergui let me regain control – he resumed his place over my shoulder in a quiet room off of the main GDC concourse, paper and pen in hand, taking notes on my visible thought processes as they played out on-screen.It didn't feel as if he were judging me for any missteps or silly lapses in narrative logic – In Storyteller, there are no right or wrong answers, as long as the setting is satisfied. It's up to the player to concoct her own story, based on prompts such as "Adam is heartbroken but recovers," "Tim betrays Adam for money but kills himself out of regret" and "A mother murders her own daughter out of jealousy."
MMO Blender: Jef's SWG/Star Citizen mashup
Thus far I've managed to keep my nose out of Massively's MMO Blender column. This is primarily because I don't need 1000 words to describe the ideal MMORPG when a short phrase like "Star Wars Galaxies minus the IP" basically sums everything up. That said, something happened a couple of weeks ago that caused me to expand on this idea. Chris Roberts returned to the ranks of gamemakers, and when he announced his Star Citizen multiplayer title (which I desperately hope he renames, incidentally), it set in motion an MMO flight of fancy that I would love to experience.
Meet Heckerty, well-known British children's story, makes its way to the iPad
Meet Heckerty is a delightful British children's story starring Heckerty, a "zany, 409-year-old, upside-down-on-her-broomstick, green-faced witch," and her sidekick cat Zanzibar. The traditional story has made its way to the iPad with a wonderful adaptation that takes advantage of the interactivity offered by Apple's tablet device. Children can choose to read the book themselves or have the voice of Jan Ziff read the story to them. Each page is filled with at least one tappable element that'll jump, move or make a noise when your child touches it. The storytelling is outstanding and the story is the perfect length for the younger set who can only sit still for a short period of time. My children loved the iPad storybook, and there's little doubt that Meet Heckerty sets a high standard for other children's books to follow. We got a chance to speak to Jan Ziff and Allan Davidson, the husband and wife team that brought the Heckerty series to the iPad. We asked them about their experience in adapting the popular children's story to the iPad and their future plans for the series. You can read the interview below. You can also find out more about Heckerty on her website. The Meet Heckerty app is available from iTunes for 99-cents. At that price, it's a must-have for parents with young children. Q: One the first things I noticed about the book is its excellent storytelling. Can you tell me a little bit more about the Heckerty story and the storyteller behind the app? A: The Heckerty stories do have a "secret sauce" - it's the great British oral storytelling tradition that goes all the way back to The Canterbury Tales through Alice in Wonderland to Beatrix Potter and Winnie the Pooh, and recently to Harry Potter. Ann Rachlin created the Heckerty stories and refined them for many years in her renowned Fun With Music classes in London. Jan really was the original Fun With Music student, along with her two siblings, and often served as a test audience for ideas that were later integrated into Fun With Music, and became part of Ann's many records and books for 2-9 year-olds. That's where Jan learned to combine words with the rhythms of music, which you may not always hear but is definitely part of the what creates Heckerty's magic. And Ann's wonderful storytelling skills made all the difference as we developed and recorded the stories for this series. But to your question - it was in late in 2010 that Ann asked us whether we thought Heckerty could be brought to life on an iPad or iPhone. We loved the idea, did some research, thought about it and decided to do it. It's been a fascinating ride with all kinds of unexpected turns and plot twists but Heckerty's now out the door and everybody that's seen the app so far has loved it, something we've all found tremendously rewarding! Q: Did you use iBooks Author to develop the book? If so, can you summarize your experience with the tool? If not, how did you bring the book from printed pages to digital format? A: No, we didn't use iBooks Author for several reasons - first, it wasn't available when we launched, second, even though iOS was the dominant and most creative platform, it was clear that there would be other competing operating systems and that we'd need to serve them. That's how we ended up using Flash for this project. And Flash turned out to have been a great decision - it let us go straight from the original text and Ann's storytelling to the "living" graphics and child-friendly form factor that distinguish the iPhone and iPad and other mobile devices. We could really bring out the rich interactivity and audio that these devices are so perfectly suited to. From a production and technical perspective, we had to shorten and tweak them so that they'd work well, then let Colin and Dave, our extraordinary programmer and animator team do their magic with the images, design and the audio we had developed -- the collaboration turned into Meet Heckerty and additional stories that are already in production. Q: As someone who now has experience with both traditional and digital media, what do you think of the iPad? Will it replace or complement printed books? A: We think the iPad is arguably the most exciting development in the history of personal computing. From its form factor, the screen resolution and the superb audio in the latest version, the iPad is changing the way stories can be told and the way they are told. Will the iPad and similar devices completely replace the printed book? We don't think so but it will continue to rapidly take over many of the functions that many print products like books, magazines and newspapers have traditionally provided. And the reason is simple, we think - where the iPad offers a substantially better experience, people will naturally gravitate to it, and over time, the capabilities of the iPad will both grow rapidly and the cost will drop dramatically. There will always be people who want a book, who enjoy the smell and the heft of a book, and love to see rows of spines on shelves. And then there are the voracious readers who could never take 12 printed books on vacation with them, but who can easily take an iPad - each sees different benefits in the book experience, each for different reasons. We also believe that the iPad is changing the way stories are told. And that rather than replacing or even complimenting printed books, the iPad and similar devices will have material written and produced for them, bringing the best of the story and leveraging the strength of the device to better tell that story .... that's what we've tried to do with Heckerty. Q: What was your biggest challenge in producing the iPad version of the Heckerty story? Did you have to modify the storyline (make it longer or shorter, for example) to accommodate the digital reading experience? A: We shortened and tightened the story to suit the iPad and how kids use the devices - the most pleasant surprise was how well-suited the Heckerty stories turned out to be for the iPad and iPhone - the biggest challenge on from a story perspective was letting the story's strengths come through and let the iPad make each one a unique experience. Q: Do you have plans to bring additional titles to the iPad? A: Absolutely!! Several stories are already in production - the next one to appear will be "Heckerty Cook" (that's the working title). Let's say that Heckerty's cooking skills and menus leave a lot to be desired ... and her cousins decide to fix the problem. Until you see the story, we'll leave the ingredients of the story to your imagination, but we can tell you that we still break down laughing every time we come to some of the scenes as we work on them! Hopefully, you and your audience will have time to talk about Heckerty again once Heckerty Cook ships!
Some Assembly Required: Issue #3 -- Building a base with SWG's Storyteller system
So... yeah, MMO story. It's a giant buzzword nowadays. Funnily enough, MMO story isn't a new concept. Dedicated MMO storytelling tools are quite rare, though, and the means to build story-related set pieces are rarer still. Enter Sony Online Entertainment and its seminal Star Wars Galaxies sandbox. There are many reasons to dig this particular game if you're a fan of player-generated content, but among the most important is the Storyteller system. Yeah, I know SWG is on borrowed time. There's still plenty of time to enjoy it though, and if you're a Star Wars fan, a sandbox fan, and especially a player-generated content fan, you're going to love it. Join me after the cut as I show you how to create your own makeshift starship base, complete with starfreighters, starfighters, Rebel pilots, and even a few Wookiee commandos thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah, this is all in the live game-world too. No instancing here. %Gallery-129431%
One Shots: Storyteller
I'm always captivated with NPC life in MMOs -- what these not-so-essential characters are doing in the background of our unbridled heroism. Here's a charming scene in Lord of the Rings Online's Hobbiton, where a matronly storyteller is spinning a yarn for two fascinated children and one sleeping slacker. My only regret is that you never hear the story; I guess that's between these characters and them alone. This past week, Massively writers spotlighted some of their personal favorite One Shots. Starting tomorrow will be free-for-all week for you, our readers. Send any eye-catching, beautiful, scary, or generally epic screenshot to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll pick the best of the best for this week's One Shots! %Gallery-112285%
Gaming poet Benmergui announces a comic-book puzzler, 'Storyteller'
Daniel Benmergui creates games as if he were a tortured artist trapped in a game developer's body, and his newly announced project, Storyteller, appears to be from his lighter Existentialist-Satire period. Benmergui calls Storyteller his "most ambitious project," mixing comic-book style narrative with a "more 'gamey'" feel than his other experimental titles, Today I Die and I Wish I Were the Moon. Benmergui makes games out of poetry (or poetry out of games; or nothing out of nothing for the nihilists in the audience) and in 2010 he was a Nuovo award nominee at the Independent Games Festival for Today I Die. He plans to make Storyteller more visually striking than his previous works, with a heavy puzzle element, and is hoping to finish it in a year's time for Mac, PC and iPad.
The Daily Grind: What Star Wars Galaxies features will you miss the most?
Yep, it's another Star Wars Galaxies-flavored Daily Grind (if you think the sentimentality is thick now, wait until the week of December 15th). When the long-running sandbox title rides into the sunset this winter, it will be taking with it quite a few unique features that have been deemed unnecessary in all the games since. Whether we're talking about the Dancer, Image Designer, and Musician functionality, the space game that allows for interaction and personalization inside the spacecraft as well as out, or the player-generated content features made possible by the Storyteller and Chronicle systems, there's a lot to love about SWG even if you don't particularly love Star Wars (or the game's disregard for Star Wars lore). Today's breakfast topic follows on from yesterday's, but this time around we want to know about feature sets instead of personal memories. What SWG features will you miss the most? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Exclusive: Smedley on the sunsetting of Star Wars Galaxies [Updated]
When I penned this week's Soapbox about Star Wars Galaxies and the NGE, I had no idea what was in store for MMO gamers today. In fact, I was so confident that the pre-eminent MMO sandbox was going to be around forever (or at least another eight years) that I reassured commenters that there was no need to fear Star Wars: The Old Republic. The two games might both feature the Star Wars IP, but their goals are so dramatically different -- one being a dialogue-driven themepark, the other being a player-driven sandbox -- that they shouldn't conflict unduly. Surely Star Wars fans could play both indefinitely and enjoy both types of gameplay. Unfortunately, on Thursday we learned that just won't be so. Sony Online Entertainment has announced that Star Wars Galaxies will be shutting down on December 15th of this year, marking what is in my mind the most significant sunset of a major MMO to date (and a personally painful one for many on the staff at Massively, including me). I know what you're thinking, and no, the impending closure is due neither to the hackings nor to a dwindling playerbase. Past the break, an audibly regretful John Smedley, President of SOE, sits down with us to chat about SWG's sunset, explaining the reasons that led to the decision and offering a new hope for the future.
The Soapbox: A case for player-generated content (or why MMO story is complete and utter bollocks)
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I read with great interest Ragnar Tornquist's recent blog posting concerning story in The Secret World. After I got over the initial impulse to roll my eyes at yet another developer jumping on the BioWare-induced story, story, story bandwagon, I found that Tornquist had a couple of interesting points to make. Unfortunately, he also missed an opportunity to strike a blow in favor of player-generated story content. While this is totally unsurprising coming from a man who has built his career on interactive storytelling prowess, it was nonetheless disappointing on several levels. Yes, yes, I know, Tornquist is a wunderkind developer, you'd have his babies, and who am I to question his almighty design wisdom? Regardless, I am questioning portions of this particular blog piece, because MMOs are an exceedingly inadequate vehicle for storytelling of the kind that developers are espousing lately. That's not to say massively multiplayer titles shouldn't have a narrative component, though. Join me after the cut to find out why MMO makers ought to stick to systems and math and leave the storytelling to the folks who do it best.
The Anvil of Crom: All I want for Christmas
Buuurrrp. Ah. Begging your pardon, but you know how it goes this time of year, leftovers and all that. Seeing as how this is a Thanksgiving holiday weekend here in the States -- and the annual Christmas shopping orgy has begun -- it seems an appropriate time to indulge in a bit of list-making with regard to Age of Conan. I don't normally do lists here at The Anvil of Crom, as many seem to be the game journalist's equivalent of the oh-crap-I've-got-a-deadline-but-no-topic safety net. Occasionally, though, they serve a real purpose. In my case that purpose is bitching politely talking about what I'd like to see Funcom add to its AoC recipe. So, in honor of the pilgrims and their pilfering of North America (or the cold turkey sandwich you're no doubt stealing from your fridge at this very moment), I present to you three things Age of Conan should pillage from other MMORPGs. Join me after the cut for the rundown.
Squaring off with SWG's producer, Teesquared
The fans of Star Wars Galaxies are stalwart. Despite all the trouble the game has gone through, it features one of the most active communities in the Sony Online Entertainment library of MMOs. The developers have noticed this and have continued to work diligently on new content for the loyal players. Recently, we took the opportunity to ask SWG's current Producer Tony "Teesquared" Tyson some questions about the present and future of the title. He answered all our inquiries about holiday events, future updates, the Galactic Civil War, and the Trading Card Game. Some exciting things are coming! Follow us after the break to find out what future holds in a galaxy far, far away...
Come get some in EQII's newest raid zone
If EverQuest II players jumped genres, they might exclaim, "That's no content patch! It's a space station!" As it is, the upcoming Halas Reborn patch is awe-inspiring, as SOE continues to highlight new goodies packaged within its coded depths. Players have a lot to look forward to: the Storyteller system, the travel revamp, additional player housing, and a brand-new 1-20 leveling experience in New Halas should expand the already-beefy title nicely. On top of all of that, the juicy cherry resting comfortably on a bed of whipped cream, are two challenging new raid zones for high-level characters. We've already looked at one of them, The Underfoot Depths, and SOE has just released details on the second. Icy Keep: Retribution is a mammoth four-group raid instance with several new challenges, including a deadly game of chess. Players will be helping the Frostfoot clan to gain entry to the keep, but that may be the beginning of the true danger -- Vrewwx, an ice dragon, has hatched and is waiting. Read the full scoop on EverQuest II's newest raid zone as we count down the days for Halas Reborn!
EQ2 Storyteller system detailed
Sony Online Entertainment has revealed another feature of their Halas Reborn content update for EverQuest II. Coming later this month, the patch will include a new mechanic called the Storyteller system. The unfortunately named system is not a robust set of roleplay tools like the one in Star Wars Galaxies, but rather a modification to the game's existing quest journal. The system adds a tab to the quest journal user interface that consolidates the story of each major quest. Additionally, the Storylines tab will chronicle your position in EverQuest II's lengthy quest chains, provide clues to completion, and add a bit of narrative flavor to the long-running fantasy MMORPG. The Storyteller system is a work in progress, as SOE will not have all of the game's quest loaded into the system when the patch launches. "What you see when Halas Reborn reaches the live servers will only be a starting point, and other quests will be connected and looped as we progress the feature. If you don't see your favorite quest right now, don't worry! It will be there soon," says the official press release. Check out the release and the associated discussion thread on the official boards for more information.
The Tattered Notebook: The importance of storytelling
Hey Norrathian travelers! Seccia is off for the week, undoubtedly soaking up the rays on the shores of the Sinking Sands to welcome the warmer months. I, on the other hand, am stuck inside writing her column. Sheesh, I wish I had accumulated as much vacation time as she did... Anywho, I want to tell you a story about telling stories this week. As many of you may have heard, one of the newest features coming to EverQuest II in the near future is the storyteller system -- a simple window that will visualize your travels from one zone to the next. It's a UI element that will help link quests together, aiding the game in telling a continuous story as you travel around Norrath. Plus, if you wish, you can follow the Storyteller window as it takes you down the game's "Golden Path," a series of quests that will become a "main storyline" of sorts for the game. Out of all of the new things coming with the next set of updates (New Halas included), it's the storyteller system that I've been looking forward to the most. So why do I choose a simple UI addition over a brand new city? Simply put, I want to be engaged with my gameplay experience.
Anti-Aliased: Fourth Edition and the Kamehameha Fallacy
I've wanted to do a post on Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition for a while now, but I just couldn't put my finger on what I wanted to talk about with it. The rules are very much made in the vein of World of Warcraft -- you can tell that by just opening up the book, going to the classes and seeing all of the various powers that you can obtain by leveling -- and the whole system feels a bit more MMO-ish than normal. The funny part is, if you're expecting a "D&D Fourth Edition blows" rant, you're not going to get one. Instead, let me entertain your opinions on the way we design our MMOs. This column is dedicated to something I like to call the "Kamehameha Fallacy," otherwise lovingly known as the "Mine's Bigger!!!!!11one" syndrome. This fallacy is the reason you're addicted to MMOs, the reason you hate Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition, and the reason today's MMO leader (World of Warcraft) is doomed to fail all wrapped up into one little ball.
