As computer technology moves from the domain of industrial utility to the realm of communication, its seemingly limitless possibilities prove to be both exciting and intimidating. Artists and storytellers are especially intrigued by the new capabilities found in the development of technology; the computer's approach to presenting information makes it an innovative tool for self-expression. In the book, Hamlet on the Holodeck, author Janet Murray discusses the challenges of working creatively with the digital environment. In explaining the elemental properties of this media, Murray shows us how we may use the expressive power of technologies to create a more compelling form of storytelling (67).
Murray compares the current advances in technology to the birth of cinema. She explains that the invention of camera technology did not necessarily denote the arrival of movies as an artistic medium. Cinema originated as an additive art form, combining the film technology of a stationary camera and the traditional art of theater in order to make narrative films called photoplays (66). Filmmakers experimented with the fundamental properties of film for decades in order to create the series of conventions that now define the movie. By utilizing the properties of film editing, sound, color, and camera angle, the technology of film evolved into an expressive and original way to recreate and enhance reality.
According to Murray, the advancement of modern computer technology parallels the development of the movie camera. When confronted with the combination of sound, video, picture, word processing, and global networking of current computing, computer pioneers mirrored the behavior of the 19th century filmmakers, adhering closely to traditional technology formats for communication. In response to the widespread view of computers as an extension of traditional storytelling mediums, users created the phrase "multimedia". The adoption and current usage of the additive phrase proves that, like the old photoplays of the video camera, computer storytelling is still in its early stages of development. Multimedia scrapbooks (found on the Internet or CD-ROM) are a prime example of the way in which current technology simply adopts and combines conventional formats like photography and books. In many situations, documents transferred to the web take the linear form of a printed novel, with the table of contents presented as links that require too much clicking in order to reach the desired destination (87). Readers become frustrated with navigating the labyrinth of hot links that could more easily take the traditional printed form of a novel. The electronic imitation of traditional narrative in this instance, "takes advantage of the novelty of computer delivery without utilizing its intrinsic properties," (67).
In order to maximize the potential of computers as storytellers, the crucial elements of these digital environments must be identified. Imitating the filmmaker's examination of camera qualities, Murray separates computer technology into four distinct parts, explaining the exceptional value of each. The first component of this new technology is its procedural nature, or its ability to execute a series of rules. Using procedural logic, programmers are often able to anticipate choices made by users, and successfully accommodate or frustrate them. The intricacy of procedural rules demonstrates the computer's function "not [as] a wire or a pathway but an engine. It was designed not to carry static information but to embody complex, contingent behaviors" (72). Murray feels that these systems can be used for good storytelling if writers can adopt procedural codes that are recognized as accurate interpretations of the world.
In order to create these realistic, easily grasped, formulaic scripts that more closely resemble real life, electronic media must also embody a participatory character. Computers give humans the ability to initiate procedural behavior, constructing a machine responsive to our input. Many of the more effective programs also provide a limited repertoire of actions for the user, allowing programmers to focus on a limited environment with nearly limitless possibilities. The result is the creation of another world that allows its users to experience realistic and fantastic situations without ever leaving the keyboard. This combination of procedure and participation creates what many refer to as interactive technology.
To supplement participation and interactivity, digital technology also contains the exceptional property of spatiality, or the ability to "represent navigable space" (79). The creation of graphical user interfaces like those found in computer operating systems and video games extend the experiences of participation by moving beyond linear space to a geography users can actually move through. Evolving from a text-based world to a graphic intensive one provides a greater illusion of reality that allows users to become more immersed in a programmer's story. The computer's encyclopedic capacity is the final and arguably the most important element. The term "encyclopedic" refers to technology's ability to store and retrieve far more information than was previously thought possible. The computer's promise of efficiency and infinite storage have extended human memory indefinitely, and exponentially increased our resources. This unparalleled encyclopedic capacity, combined with the element of spatiality, represents the uniquely immersive qualities of cyberspace (71).
To succeed in "developing narrative pleasures intrinsic to cyberspace itself", Murray proposes several expectations for the future of the media (68). In realizing its full potential, digital technology must have a more accessible code system for writers, formulaic scripts that are simple yet effectively reflect a wide range of human behavior, navigation that lures the interactor through gradually more expressive narrative landscapes, and formal methods of organization that allow the reader to explore the computer's expansive resources without becoming overwhelmed. This is an optimistic and ambitious list and, just as in the early days of the film camera, it is nearly impossible to anticipate the future of computer storytelling.
Since the publishing of Murray's book, however, several new technologies have surfaced that challenge the exceptional abilities of cyberspace narrative. Chief among them is the recently released program, The Sims, in which users can create a character's (or Sim's) physical as well as mental attributes, design and furnish environments for work and play, as well as create realistic scenarios for their Sims to enact. This program encourages veterans and novices of the writing process to visually assemble their own complex narratives. Users previously unaccustomed to the intricacies of storytelling are now, albeit inadvertently, becoming well versed in the concepts of static and dynamic major and minor characters, plot development, and dramatic irony. Many players, after creating and enacting a situation, describe their adventures on web pages that others may visit and enjoy. Some include pictures, or "web shots" of the screen to visually convey high and low points of their experiences.
This system's immersive qualities are far more impressive, and allow users to experience their narratives on a complex level. Spatially, users are encouraged to explore an entirely new territory much like our own world, without directly suffering many of its consequences (although some admit to feeling a strong kinship to their Sims, often designing characters nearly identical to themselves and those they know). In an encyclopedic sense, people can use current technology to swap a Sim's physical attributes and/or personalities, objects that they have created, and even whole houses. Users are then able to place characters in an infinite number of situations and environments, creating a vast lexicon of possibilities.
Murray expresses concern that "simulations like these take advantage of the authority bestowed by the computer environment to seem more encyclopedically inclusive than they really are", and points out that simulation programs often provide the illusion of limitlessness (89). Many times, a programmer's own experiences and assumptions are often hidden in a game's processes, leaving out important details or points of view. The authority that we often place on educated or knowledgeable humans is unquestionably applied to the vast encyclopedic expertise of the computer. While many of us will not hesitate to question the ability of another human being, the computer's concealed logic inspires an unquestioning sense of awe. Murray claims that in relation to the possibilities found in computer narrative, "we do not yet have much practice in identifying the underlying values of a multiform story" and proposes that we must train ourselves to understand the multiple patterns found in simulation, much like we now understand the intricacies of the basic, single-plot narrative (90).
The Sims program may be a sign of our developing ability to question and comprehend these complex patterns, as they grow increasingly vital to the understanding of society. Given the opportunity to dialogue with programmers, Sims users express frustration with the programs constraints and are often responsible for the development of more options. When players encounter a situation that limits them, like being unable to invite a clown to their child's birthday party or explore the dating scene, program expansion packs are introduced to provide more user options, and hackers create "patches" for the program that provide for unheard demands. These additional programs amend and add commands, allowing Sims to interact in different ways with their communities and households. Unlike similar programs, there is no real definition of success - users are encouraged to tailor their own individual lifestyles, jobs, and friends, and "these intersecting stories twine around and through real life and make the borders of the fictional universe seem limitless" (87).
Currently, The Sims creators are planning an Internet version of their game, which will combine the technologies of hypertext and simulation. Human users all over the world will be able to chat and interact with each other in a variety of landscapes in real time, creating "the opportunity to tell stories from multiple vantage points and to offer intersecting stories that form a dense and wide-spreading web" (84). Forums like these subtly introduce interested computer users to the tools for understanding the nuances of narrative devices. It seems that Murray's hypothesis is gradually becoming reality; the world's growing interest in detailed storytelling, found in programs like The Sims, reveals that computers are helping us to think about "the many systems we participate in, observe, and imagine" (93).
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