Interactive Fiction: Model Development and an Example Created with DHTML and Microsoft Agent

摘要

Interactive fiction (IF) appears to include both the adventure and role-playing games genres. However, Desilets (1999) defined interactive fiction as a "computer-based form of literature in which the reader plays the part of an important character, deciding, within limits, what action that character will take". That author argues that IF promotes student motivation, develops insights into elements of conventional literature, problem-solving skills, critical thinking and problem identification, and can be inexpensive to develop. McKee (1992) and Rieber (1996) agree that games can affect cognitive functions and motivation, and inherently stimulate curiosity (Thomas and Macredia, 1994) by including challenges and elements of fantasy, novelty and complexity (Malone, 1984; Malone and Lepper, 1987; Rivers, 1990). Educational researchers have investigated mainly two game types, simulation and adventure, as viable educational tools (Quinn, 1994, 1997; Roberts, 1976). Quinn (1994) proposed a model for the development of educationally sound games that attempted to integrate cognitive science, interface design and models of instruction. However, that theoretical model offers little practical help to guide game developers. In an attempt to formalize the relationship between educational theory, game design, play and development, we developed the Game Object Model (GOM) (Amory et al., 1999) (Fig. 1). While this model includes interfaces that create the ambiance of the game, Harrigan (1999) argues that dramatic theories (Laban, 1975; Stanislavski, 1976) could be incorporated into the design of educational software to heighten game play. The primary objective of this study was to develop an interactive fiction prototype to evaluate the use of GOM and to extend this model to include an interactive actor. Secondary objectives were to teach young people basic astronomy and to evaluate the use of Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML) as a viable authoring tool.