Comments on: Textfyre, an Interactive Fiction Company

By: Thomas Ettin

Thomas Ettin — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:16:49 +0000

Absurd. “IF games … played entirely through sound and graphics” are not the future. They’ve been around for at least 14 years. Ever played Myst?

They’re called graphical adventure games and you can find a handful on the shelf of your nearest Wal-Mart. Thousands have been made, and dozens of which are quality, enveloping works of art.

By: Textfyre - Text Adventures Strike Back | Devil Games

Textfyre - Text Adventures Strike Back | Devil Games — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:19:47 +0000

[...] for trying something different in today’s market. If you’d like to read more, Grand Text Auto has some other information here. http://www.passfieldgames. [...]

By: Attention from the Blogosphere « Cognitive Ramblings

Attention from the Blogosphere « Cognitive Ramblings — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:42:07 +0000

[...] am · Filed under Textfyre, interactive fiction Starting with Grand Text Auto on July 6th Textfyre has been re [...]

By: nick

nick — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:44:37 +0000

Today saw the arrival of an interview with David Cornelson in Gamasutra and a post about Textfyre in GameSetWatch.

By: David Cornelson

David Cornelson — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:37:20 +0000

I think Ricardo is mis-understanding my “sound and graphics” theory. I still think the written word will always be vastly different from a visual medium, but that sound/voice could create new kind of IF and then voice with visuals (still or motion) could create yet another new kind of IF. I’m absolutely not interested in multimedia edutainment since that medium/market is saturated with Baby Einstein, LeapFrog, and other types of products. I am very specifically going after the prose based edutainment market. That’s where I think a gap exists. People still spend a lot of money on books. I want to add something to that market.

By: Ricardo Malafaia

Ricardo Malafaia — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:36:24 +0000

Little addendum that can’t go blank:
“But in sixteen years I think the biggest difference is that we should be able to develop IF games that are played entirely through sound and graphics”

This is completely bogus. Literature didn’t die despite movies and TV. It’s a complete different media, with different strenghts and a much more authoral and personal means of expression. A camera can never directly convey the authors intentions, feelings, wit and humor like his own words written down. It seems Mr. Cornelson is intending IF to be a multimedia edutainment software like those from the 90’s instead of what IF truly is: crosswords and literature…

Again, good luck. But IF will find more hopes in systems like NN and less scripted AI…

By: Ricardo Malafaia

Ricardo Malafaia — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:24:43 +0000

I don’t know: modern IF has been all about mature, witty writting, clever but fewer puzzles and experimental IF mechanics. This guy is targetting teens and kids — a noble goal, IF needs an younger audience to survive rather than just old fans — and for that, he’s hired exactly the authors of such sublime matured IF settings as Ingold or Gentry…

I wish him good luck, but clearly this is not for me. I’m actually more interested in your NN system down the road. :)

By: Dennis G. Jerz

Dennis G. Jerz — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:46:27 +0000

I, too, have been impressed by David’s vision and his tenacity, and I’m glad to see his work getting recognition.