Photopia
Encyclopedia
Photopia is a piece of literature by Adam Cadre
rendered in the form of interactive fiction
, and written in Inform
. It is regarded as a pioneer in narrative-driven, rather than puzzle- or challenge-driven, interactive fiction. It won first place in the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition
.
Emily Short
has described the game as "hugely influential" and "ground-breaking."
Photopia has few puzzles and a linear structure, allowing the player no way to alter the eventual conclusion but maintaining the illusion of non-linearity. This gives weight to some of the story's motifs—questions of free will
and determinism
.
, a film that prominently features a babysitter and a bus crash.
He submitted Photopia to the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition pseudonymously. He felt that his previous game I-0
would inspire certain expectations in players, since in that game the player character is a young college student who could be instructed to undress. Years later, he dropped the pretense that there was a real "Opal O'Donnell" who had submitted Photopia for him: "it started to bother me that v1.0 of the Phaq had lies in it."http://adamcadre.ac/content/phaq.txt
Adam Cadre
Adam Cadre is a U.S. writer. He gained prominence in the world of interactive fiction with works like I-0 , Photopia and Varicella , for which he has won several XYZZY Awards and been the subject of academic study . Photopia additionally won the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition...
rendered in the form of interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
, and written in Inform
Inform
Over the following decade, version 6 became reasonably stable and a popular language for writing interactive fiction. In 2006, Nelson released Inform 7 , a completely new language based on principles of natural language and a new set of tools based around a book-publishing metaphor.- Z-Machine and...
. It is regarded as a pioneer in narrative-driven, rather than puzzle- or challenge-driven, interactive fiction. It won first place in the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition
Interactive Fiction Competition
The Interactive Fiction Competition is one of the best known of several annual competitions for works of interactive fiction. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours playing a game before deciding how many points to award it...
.
Emily Short
Emily Short
Emily Short is the pseudonym of an interactive fiction writer, perhaps best known for her debut game Galatea and her use of psychologically complex NPCs, or non-player game characters...
has described the game as "hugely influential" and "ground-breaking."
Photopia has few puzzles and a linear structure, allowing the player no way to alter the eventual conclusion but maintaining the illusion of non-linearity. This gives weight to some of the story's motifs—questions of free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and determinism
Determinism
Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen. There are many versions of this thesis. Each of them rests upon various alleged connections, and interdependencies of things and...
.
Development
Adam Cadre has stated that Photopia was heavily influenced by The Sweet HereafterThe Sweet Hereafter (film)
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian film written and directed by Atom Egoyan. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Russell Banks.-Plot:...
, a film that prominently features a babysitter and a bus crash.
He submitted Photopia to the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition pseudonymously. He felt that his previous game I-0
I-0
I-0 is a piece of interactive fiction written by Adam Cadre about the adventures of a teenage girl hitch-hiking on the interstate freeway . It won the Best Game and Best Individual Player Character awards at the 1997 Xyzzy Awards, and was a finalist for six other categories...
would inspire certain expectations in players, since in that game the player character is a young college student who could be instructed to undress. Years later, he dropped the pretense that there was a real "Opal O'Donnell" who had submitted Photopia for him: "it started to bother me that v1.0 of the Phaq had lies in it."http://adamcadre.ac/content/phaq.txt
External links
- Adam Cadre's website. Adam is the author of Photopia.
- Interactive Fiction Competition '98 in which Photopia took first place.
- Photopia's entry in Baf's Guide to the Interactive Fiction Archive notes awards that the game has won, links to reviews, and provides links to the game itself.
- XYZZY News review of Photopia