I just had a rather interesting weekend -- Maureen Medved from UBC got in touch with me last week and asked if I'd give a guest lecture on writing for video games to her Introduction to Writing for New Media class today. Specifically, she wanted me to talk about branching narratives and how to implement them. Of course I said yes -- I like Maureen -- but, for a couple of reasons I knew I'd end up doing more than just a quick chat about game story theory.

Reason One: I don't believe branching narratives are the whole picture in game story design. I believe there are six different approaches development houses use to construct game stories, and a knowledge of each will only help writers in designing their own games. By the way, the six approaches as I understand them are: linear traditional narratives, branching narratives, parallel paths, threaded narratives, dynamic narratives, and implied narratives (thanks to Chris Bateman, editor of Beyond Game Design: Nine Steps Towards Better Videogames, for the terminology).

Reason Two: I'm a whole-hearted convert to the principles of participatory learning and learner-centric teaching models. In short, rather than passively sitting through a lecture, I thought it would be more effective for people to actually see how these different narrative approaches can be put together. And I figured the best way to show this to people would be to have them play games in class (and then show them the underlying code that makes it work).

Which is where the "rather interesting weekend" part came in -- I spent the last three days hunched over my computer, coding in six different mini-games, one each highlighting a different approach. I used the Aurora Toolset with the Neverwinter Nights I game engine, and hopefully, I've got six little examples which aren't too buggy (read three days to code = not enough play testing) which people can learn from and enjoy. If you'd like to see the mini-games, I've included zipped files of the modules as well as two player characters for you to download. Please note, to play these games, you'll need the Neverwinter Nights I game (patch 1.69), with both the Hordes of the Underdark and the Shadows of Undrentide expansion packs installed.

• Characters.zip (4 KB)
• Modules.zip (168 KB)

While out for a walk in Mexico, my family and I stumbled across a group of Mayan ruins we hadn't known existed -- the ancient coastal community of Xaman-Há. We were going from our hotel in Playacar to the city of Playa del Carmen, looking at these rather large and expensive houses and anticipating a frenzy of souvenir shopping when we came across a stone sign proclaiming Ruinas Arqueológicas. Of course, we took the opportunity to investigate, running from the sidewalk into the forest to see what the abandoned buildings were all about (cue the Indiana Jones theme music).

two opposing views of the same structure

Where Chichen Itza was crowded with hawkers and bands of tourists, we had this site completely to ourselves. We first encountered a series of low step-pyramids, then came a ruined curving wall. We followed the wall through the forest and found another set of ruins, these ones overlooking the Island of Cozumel.

Xaman-Há ruin

By reading the signs posted throughout the site, we discovered Xaman-Há was occupied during the Mayan post-classic period (1300 - 1500 A.D.) as a resupply depot as well as a point of embarkation for women travelling on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Ixchel on Cozumel (I've been told Ixchel was a goddess of midwifery and medicine, and women would seek her favour to secure fruitful marriages).

arboreal termite nest

In the photo above, you can see the remains of the wall we followed through the forest. Above the wall is the nest (about the size of four basketballs) of some arboreal termites. Apart from an iguana and several geckos, this nest was the wildest thing we saw at this site -- it's completely surrounded by Playacar and Plana del Carmen. Not really Indy's style, but it is kind of cool for a local neighbourhood park.

About a month ago, I found myself in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula doing a bit of research for a novella I'm writing. And while I was there, I knew I had to make time to visit the ruined Mayan city of Chichen Itza again. I was first there in the late seventies as a child, and I thought it would be cool to see the site again from an adult perspective.

El Castillo (left) and the Temple of the Warriors (right)

While I clearly remembered some of Chichen Itza's highlights -- such as El Castillo (also known now as the Temple of Kukulkan, which is now being excavated again) and the Temple of the Warriors -- other details had slipped away in the roughly thirty years it's been since I've been to the site. I remember climbing the stairs to the top of the Temple of the Warriors. I remember how steep, narrow, and uneven those stairs were. I also distinctly remember the layout of the Great North Platform and the relation of El Castillo and The Temple of the Warriors to each other (along with the Great Ball Court, too). And finally, I remember the crowds which were there, coming on the spring equinox to see the famed illusion of the snake of Kukulkan slither down the pyramid (we all ended up being disappointed -- the sun hid behind some clouds at the crucial moment). I also remember how effing hot it was.

Chac Mool

What I didn't remember were some of the smaller, less-spectacular features. This Chac Mool above I had no memory of seeing before, but I must have, because it's just before the sacbe (stone road) which links the Great North Platform with the Cenote Sagrado (which I do remember). I also didn't remember how to get to the Cenote Sagrado or Las Monjas or El Caracol, but I had fun trying to figure it out without maps (which eventually I did). I remember those buildings too, but not as clearly as the more famous ones.

Las Monjas (left) and El Caracol (right)

The biggest surprise for me wasn't the site at all -- it was the people. Naturally, the crowds weren't as great as I remember (this visit wasn't during an equinox, so no anticipated light, shadow, and snake show). This time, people weren't crawling over the face of everything (in 2006, barriers were put up and the monuments were closed). While I was disappointed in not being able to recreate my previous temple climbs, I did respect the site and kept off. But it wasn't just the tourists who were the surprise for me this trip. I have absolutely no memory of hawkers selling souvenirs throughout the site from my previous visit. This time, I was hard-pressed to get photos without them in every shot. Although, I found being called "big man" so many times very amusing, and I laughed every time I heard that some souvenier was "cheaper than free," I did miss the relative peace and quiet I'd created for the site in my mind. And oddly enough, while there were heaps of people selling hats and warning of sunstroke, it just wasn't as hot. Go figure.

"cheaper than free"