GREAT NEWS! Jason Stevan Hill , COO and Co-Founder of Choice of Games will be joining our session to introduce some behind-the-scenes experiences and answer some questions!

Step into the world of interactive fiction and learn how to weave compelling narratives that respond to player choices. What an amazing experience for a player--but what a challenge it can be to accommodate those options as an author, especially if you are writing also for replayability! (Hint: the answer isn't writing unlimited branches unless you hate your life.)

In order to unlock the magic of interactive storytelling with ChoiceScript in this immersive workshop, you'll need to consider how to use a handful of strategies (stats, delayed branching, fold-back), tools, outright tricks to create an experience that produces that rich, responsive interactive experience. We can't cover all the techniques you might uncover for yourselves, but you'll be relieved to experience that ChoiceScript was created first and foremost with experienced non-coder writers of fiction and roleplaying games in mind.

We'll explore notable interactive novels, play through captivating scenes from published games, and get our hands on code examples that brings these stories to life. By the end of the session, you'll have written and shared your own interactive scene!

No previous programming experience? No problem! This introductory course will guide you through creating your first scene using ChoiceScript. We'll play through examples, install and setup the necessary software (or use browser-based alternatives), and dive into the basics of ChoiceScript coding. All are welcome, from novices to experienced programmers. Come tell your story in a whole new way!

BUT THIS ISN'T ALL!

In the past decade more mainstream AAA game studios have gradually experimented with telling stories that aren't white male preadolescent power fantasies, but the games publisher that also created the ChoiceScript language -- Choice of Games -- is unique in that it committed itself wholeheartedly to radical inclusion in goals, roleplaying styles, and romantic and identity options from day one: creating a very big tent indeed!

Consider this directive from their writer's guide:

"The Player Character(PC)’s name, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and appearance must be determined by the player... Choice of Games is inclusive and egalitarian. We have a very wide audience that includes people of many different genders, races, orientations, ethnicities, and life experiences. We want to make sure that all of our readers feel welcome in the environments of our games, and we want many different kinds of people to be able to create PCs who fully represent them. Therefore, our games always include characters of multiple genders, races, orientations, ethnicities, etc. More importantly, our games always ensure that the player will have an equally fulfilling story regardless of the gender, race, orientation, etc. of the character that they choose to play. In particular, no gameplay options should be restricted to PCs because of those characteristics: ie, we don’t want to see a game where if you choose to play a man you get to fight in the key battle, but if you choose to play a woman then you can’t participate in the war at all. We also strongly encourage authors to think outside traditional binaries of gender and orientation. So, for gender, this would mean including the option for the PC to be nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, transgender, etc. For orientation, this would mean including the option for the PC to be bisexual, asexual, etc."

In this workshop, I will share examples of how these approaches function and how other authors have addressed these possibilities in their work. Whether radical inclusion is a compelling objective for you in your creative practice or not, you may find that at least understanding the assumptions you make about your readership can unlock a new dimension to how you tell stories and what stories you can tell together with your players and readers.

Timeline:

1. Introduction (10 min): Detailed introduction to the Choice of Games story and an overview of some of their published interactive novels -- as well as suggestions for other publishers and authoring platforms to explore later!

2. Gameplay Demo 1 (20 min): Play a selection of compelling scenes from published games, with injected "Speak Aloud Protocol" interruptions for you to take stock of what is happening in your specific playthrough!

3. Installing ChoiceScript (10 min): Installing and setting up ChoiceScript and CSIDE, or setting up a ChoiceScript project in Dropbox and GitHub.

4. Programming Intro (20 min): Introduce the basics of writing a scene in ChoiceScript, with time for questions and clarification.

5. Gameplay Demo 2 (15 min): Walk through an example project side-by-side with code to illustrate how scenes and choices work.

6. Workshop (35 min): Participants create, refine, and share their own five-choice scenes, with time for feedback and revisions.

7. Wrap-up (10 min): Recap, questions, resources for further learning, and discuss opportunities for continued practice and sharing.

Equipment:

• Bring a Windows or Mac laptop -- preferably with Node.js, ChoiceScript, and potentially ChoiceScriptIDE (CSIDE) already installed.

• Tablets and phones should work for playing through the online examples, but you'll DEFINITELY need a full laptop with a keyboard to write and review ChoiceScript code (which is heavily indentation focused).

Installing Choicescript and ChoiceScriptIDE (CSIDE)

• Install Choicescript here: https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/

• Install Choicescript IDE here: https://github.com/ChoicescriptIDE/main/releases/tag/v1.0.1

• And check out the web version of CSIDE that requires dropbox and github accounts here: https://choicescriptide.github.io/web/