Making a non-fiction video game is still by all means extremely odd, but the challenge in creativity has been fun. With access to examples, that creativity has also increased. I always liked “The Cloud Under the Sea” when we first saw it, and using that as a source of inspiration, I have many ideas on how to get the rest of this project to give off a similar vibe. 

Current Standings

Currently, CSS has been the hardest part of this alongside working with someone and trying to get each other’s work on one project file has been so much fun to do. If only. It’s so easy to find a source online that shows you what you’re trying to do, the issue comes when that example is not in the story format you want. 

It feels great to accomplish something in Twine until you realize you figured it out with the Harlowe story format and your project is in Sugarcube. I feel like I’ve lost so many brain cells trying to convert Harlowe stuff to Sugarcube. However, even with this challenge I feel like I’m learning a lot more about the way HTML and CSS work hand in hand. 

With this first draft, there isn’t much to our project just yet. There’s the initial set up to the topic we’re addressing and then we have an outline of how we plan to proceed. From here it’s a matter of doing some research and putting our information together until we can start working on expanding more and more. 

I also feel like after this first draft, I won’t have to worry much more about getting the CSS to look good. I think I’ve spent enough time trying to make it look less like a typical twine game.

Final Thoughts

As we wrap up the rest of this semester, I’m going to simply do my best to apply what we’ve learned to this last project. I’m excited to see everything that everyone else is doing for their projects and hopefully it can give me ideas on how to better improve my own. 

The post The Last Stretch With Twine appeared first on Digital Writing.

I also can’t believe that this is the last discussion post! This semester has honestly just flown by faster than I would have expected and my brain is still catching up to that knowledge. Our group is currently working on figuring out the many details of Twine, CSS, and everything in between which has been sucky but also really fun.

As for the verification quest, it was a pretty fun project to get finished. Not just because it’s over and we can move on with our lives but because it was actually kind of fun to research and play around with the CSS. Admittedly, I pretty much just used the CSS to change the color scheme and font types but I really love color schemes and fonts and I was struggling to do that.

It feels really weird to have had a week without any kind of reading assignments. I feel like I’m just so used to having Sam and Mike around that it’s like we had two people drop the class really last minute. They decided to drop out and start a podcast (they seem like podcast guys). Now all we have left are the memories of the fabulously front duo, our interactive nonfiction projects, post revisions, and reflections. On the upside, that means soon we’ll all have time to sleep again.

I’m kind of scared for the post revisions because that means I have to actually look at the old posts I wrote and cringe at the things I somehow felt comfortable posting (apparently the part of my brain that does homework while sleep deprived has the delusional confidence of Raygun). I think it’ll be kind of like watching a video of yourself as a child saying “Well actually…” that your family makes fun of you all the time for or when you look back through old year book pictures and see your cringe phases and bad haircuts. Blah blah blah, all the things that will haunt you forever.

Anyway, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, New Year, and everything else in advance!

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When I started, I had a fantastic format that I liked. One post led to another like a blog, and each one held promise for the reader, explaining what exactly we read, links to each thing if possible, and a (what I thought) thorough breakdown of the conversations of each week.

Suffice to say, that only kept happening for about 2 weeks before I fell off the horse on that. It’s honestly a shame. I was very excited to keep going on that, but I shouldn’t be terribly surprised. I’m not very good at keeping things like that going. But I had a good time while it was going.

I know that this is probably supposed to be a reflection on what we did this week and not a lamentation on my lack of work ethic, so I’ll go through it. This week, I worked my bones off (that’s right, my very bones) to get that Verification Quest done. Remember when we were supposed to learn HTML and CSS all those weeks ago? Well, I learned it late. Very late. And while it took me several hours (5 to 10 to be exact) to learn it, I did in fact learn it.

So, over the course of about 2 to 3 days, I did get it done. I’m a little inordinately proud of that, given how fast I learned HTML and CSS. It wrote about 3000 words, all 3000 of which I was proud of, before I double checked the amount of words that I actually needed, which was approximately 1000 less than what I had written. With a heavy heart, I found out ways to try and get rid of 1000 words, made many contractions, deleted as many adverbs and adjectives as I thought I could get rid of, checked the word count, and thought that only 500 words over was an acceptable amount.

In total, I probably worked on this project about 50 hours over 3 days. The library became both my best friend and my worst enemy, but it got done and that’s what counts.

Today, we showcased all that work in the PWR student showcase, and while I was a little nervous, it was fun getting to talk about everything that I was working on! On top of that (and I know I probably shouldn’t say this), but it really helped solidify what my research was about and why I cared about it. I will say though that at the end of the showcase my poor voice felt a little thrashed. My sympathies go out to the people who were doing two sections of the showcase!

So, what’s next? The final part of this class is the Interactive Nonfiction, and I’m very excited for it, albeit a bit nervous just because all of the final projects for all of my classes are rapidly approaching. Ah well. ‘Tis the life of a college student!

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I hope you have all had a good week! I certainly tried to! This week was characterized by being very busy. 

Verification Quest

Tuesday was the due date for the Verification quest, which I totally missed. I was dealing with some issues, so I asked for an extension.

I then finished it on Thursday night, or rather Friday morning, just in time for the showcase.

Then, while I was doing the showcase, I noticed so many small issues, I just felt the need to clean it up. So I may clean it up, just for my sake. 

Speaking of the showcase.

The Showcase

I really liked the showcase, being able to see everyone’s works and talk about them was really cool. I went out of my way to ask questions as well, as someone with social anxiety I am quite proud of myself.

If you presented, awesome work! I tried to talk to as many people as I could, so I apologize if I could not make it to your table.

It was quite inspirational!

Interactive Nonfiction

I have been working very hard with my group on this project, as I suspect all of you have.

So what have I learned?

For one, Twine and CSS/HTML work in a very interesting way. I like the tag system, it allows for an interesting way of handling classes and CSS.

I do think it is a little annoying how finicky it is with importing HTML/CSS pages. I spent a lot of time working on a HTML page then ported it to Twine and encountered many more issues, but this inspired a new idea for working that I am going to share with you all.

My group has a google drive folder where we have all of our information and resources for our projects. What I am going to start doing is working and troubleshooting within twine, then upload my work into the folder as a HTML document. This way, it is easy for my group member who is compiling the main twine document to import my work while also saving me from having to do multiple revisions and trouble-shooting.

Of course, this is the method I found work’s best for my group. I imagine that many of you all have your own techniques, so feel free to share them. I will also be happy to help with any HTML, CSS, and Twine stuff any of you all need help with.

The post The Week with A Showcase appeared first on Digital Writing.

This week, we submitted our final drafts of our Verification Quest websites, worked on our Twine games, and discussed how we can apply Verified in our future projects/what we took away from the book.

Finishing the Verification Quest was quite a satisfying challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed designing the site and getting everything setup, but putting the words in was a much harder task than I thought. Considering how I wanted to progress through the different variables in my research was crucial to getting the final product I wanted. I also had to seriously slow down and really establish what I was talking about and the points that I was researching. It is easy to get overwhelmed if you don’t specifically say “this is what I am going to prove/disprove”, and that is a skill I could still improve on. At the end of the day, going back through and making those changes, moving things around, and specifying in the areas I needed to specify gave me a product that I felt much more satisfied with. I could definitely see myself doing more thorough research and expanding this site to potentially use in the future.

My biggest takeaway from Verified is that it is extremely easy to misrepresent information, and it is the responsibility of the view to acknowledge that they do not know what they are looking at. Furthermore, they should have the skills to find more information to prove/disprove whatever is considering them. The majority of the people on the web are there to get your attention, and being mindful of what you let consume your attention is critical to being efficient. Overall, Verified really taught me that I should do enough research to know why I believe what I believe, beyond the basic “because I saw it on social media”.

Finally, the Twine game. That thing was brutal to start, I am not going to lie. There is something a lot more complicated about doing research, writing a story to go along with the research, coding that into a visually appealing game, and then adding elements to make the game entertaining. Tweaking the CSS to make the visuals work was very annoying, especially with the exporting to a file and then having to open it up and click through the game over, and over, and over. Maybe there is an easier way that I am missing. However, it is extremely satisfying when you finally have a working product.

—–

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!'” – Hunter S. Thompson

I wish everyone the best of luck in all future endeavors, and I hope life turns out better for you than you could have ever imagined.

Sincerely,

Bryson Chandler

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It all set in on my drive back home. The semester is a few weeks away from ending. I only have a few more semesters before I’m done with my undergrad. I’ve taken two PWR classes this semester, and I think I can say that they’ve taught me more than the other literature-focused classes I’ve had in years passed. I’ve learned how to research properly, how to write HTML and CSS (still relatively poorly), and how to find my voice in my writing, even with more difficult topics. I’m sad that it’s ending, but I’m thrilled that I get to take these skills to new classes.

As for what I actually learned this week:

Communication on group projects always seems to be lacking, but I’m very grateful that my group has seemingly risen above that. My group and I spent a solid handful of hours in the library this week. Our shared Word Document is both productive and chaotic. Notes in different fonts and colors populate its pages at the present moment. Fortunately, the backdraft of chaos on our shared doc has stayed away from our Twine game.

Interactive nonfiction is really not my strong suit. I know the point is to grow a new muscle, but jeez, I suck at it. Trying to write a narrative that isn’t fictional has been difficult. I have to look at every plot point I write and ask, “Is this fictional? Is this made up or make-believe at all?” I’ve performed a lot of rewrites these past few days. I’m sure our in-game narrative will end up being a little fabricated, and I’m willing to accept that.

The threat of winter lurking in the November air has killed my motivation to write creatively. Not that I would’ve had the time to do that this week anyway, but I felt like it was worth noting. I’m used to spending a few hours a week brainstorming ideas and trying to write them out in the least shotgun-blast style, but the temperature dropping and the biting wind have made me want to lay on my couch and watch some 80s sci-fi.

To conclude, I’d like to get a little sappy. I’m very grateful for the folks in my PWR classes this semester. You guys are all wonderful to bounce ideas off of and hear from. Please remember that each of you brings such a unique and important perspective to every table you sit at. I hope this upcoming semester teaches you a lot, bolsters your confidence, and makes you feel like empowered thinkers. You are important, you are welcome, and your words bring power.

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On top of that, team communication has been another layer of complexity. Getting everyone on the same page—whether it’s about design choices, storytelling tone, or even just task delegation—is a challenge. Balancing different ideas and making sure everyone feels heard while staying productive is harder than I expected. It’s like juggling while walking on a tightrope. Especially with myself! Making sure I’m staying on task and getting the things done that need to be done is quite difficult.

But it’s not all struggles! Twine has been such a fun tool to work with. I love how it opens up creative possibilities to make the story interactive and immersive. The topic we chose—Undertale’s effect on indie game culture—has me genuinely excited. It’s something I’m passionate about, and seeing our project come to life (even if it’s slow-going at times) is incredibly rewarding.

I’m learning so much from this experience, even if parts of it feel overwhelming. How’s everyone else handling their projects? Any tips for CSS survival or team coordination?

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Anyways, time is flying, but we knew this already. This week brought us a lot of reflection and in class work sessions.

On Tuesday, we did a Verification guide reflection in class. The questions included:

1. Through both this project and reading Verified itself, what have you learned about navigating information and misinformation online? What new practices have you developed, or could you develop to do so effectively?
2. What have you learned about writing? In other words, what new skills, moves, or strategies have you practiced as you’ve written and revised this project? That can include both HTML/CSS stuff as well as less technologically specific aspects of your writing.
3. How can you apply what you learned while doing this project as you continue working on the Interactive Nonfiction project?

My responses were as followed:

1. I was always a person to ignore any news on the internet, mainly because I never truly believed it, but if I did believe it, I would share it with friends without checking if it was real or true. Since this project and reading verified, I have learned to SIFT effectively through sources and social media claims. I have practiced and developed the skills of tracing claims to the original sources, as well as how to use Wikipedia as a starting point for research. 
2. I learned the very basic uses and methods of HTML and even less/ more basic tools of CSS from this project. I was starting to get the hang of HTML! Which was shocking. CSS is still overwhelming to me, but I made my page look how I wanted it to look, which was nice. My writing overall didn’t change all that much, but it was helpful to write HTML and CSS and see my progress on the piece as I went. 
3. With my group’s interactive nonfiction, the basic skills of CSS have been helpful in making the game look visually appealing. I think most of my applied knowledge that I have carried to this project has been through CSS. I feel my group has implemented a lot of CSS into the piece, which is new, but exciting.

A lot of people in class expressed how they felt they learned a lot from the projects and readings. I think our class grew to be more technically savvy, which WOOHOO, good for us! I am not to the point where I would put that I know HTML and CSS on my resume, but if I did enter a job that needed a little bit of it, I think I would feel fairly confident to step up.

Other than the reflection, we worked in class with our groups on our Twine games. We have the big PWR showcase on Friday, November 22nd. My group has been preparing all week for it, and I am so proud of us for our work. I think it will be a good showcase!

The post It’s Been a Good Run appeared first on Digital Writing.

First, we discussed what we all learned from revising our VQ’s. Honestly, there was so much ground to cover that I couldn’t get to it all in my reflection post. We talked about different methods of information-gathering and fact-checking, and how each of us had been able to hone some skills in that regard. One thing I really cemented into my tool belt is leaving the site first thing to check the credibility/motives of the authors or sources from an outside resource. Along with checking up on academic journals’ credibility, that’s been a game-changer in my source-finding forays.

A skill from doing the VQ project that I personally am going to carry over into the Interactive Nonfiction project is the consideration of audience. Who am I trying to write to? What would interest them, and what would they expect from a piece like this? What could have the potential to turn them away from this writing? Questions like these are things I now feel more comfortable juggling while I write. Before, I had only really done writing for assignments, so the audience was sort of just my teacher or professor. Now though, with digital writing opening the door to the entire internet, keeping our audience in mind is critical.

Along with general debriefs about our projects and growth, we also had some discussions about the new group assignment. Making progress on them in class was also something we tackled. Our group specifically feels like we’re in a great spot so far. Not to brag, but we’ve got a solid first draft and working prototype of each part of our project, and we’re looking forward to presenting what we’ve got at the PWR showcase on Friday.

It’s been interesting combining each lesson from this class into one piece of work; like one of my classmates said, this course does a great job building on itself. We started with an understanding of digital writing as a concept, then moved to some basic ways to construct it from the ground up. Alongside that, we learned about the essential components to effective digital writing, like rhetoric, accessibility, and audience. We talked about how to navigate what’s already out there, and how to make sure we’re not spreading harmful misinformation. Now, we get to take a shot at combining literally all of those components into one final project, and that’s incredibly satisfying.

This class has been informative, fun, and engaging all semester, and I’m a little sad that it’s coming to a close. I’m sure I’ll remember the lessons we were taught well into the future, and I can look back on this time fondly. Thank you all for the smiles and laughter!

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Wikipedia has become a new important friend in my life. I’ve also gained confidence with HTML and CSS, two web-based languages that once seemed intimidating but are now integral to my work. Even small errors in code can cause big problems, so I’ve learned to carefully review everything. Many of these skills I put into my Verification Quest project and with the revised version that I turned in. I feel I did a great deal better but could always still improve upon it more. 

Am I Better?

In terms of project development, I’ve learned the importance of constant revision. Whether it’s rereading my work or revisiting code, I know that accuracy and attention to detail are key. In our current project, for example, we’ve focused on making sure the user experience is seamless, from link designs to ensuring the tone is appropriate. The project is a dating game aiming to educate on the dangers of online dating. When it comes to said game, balancing fun and informative elements is crucial. Overall, this process has made me a more thoughtful and detail-oriented creator, ready to tackle challenges and make our project both functional and engaging.

The Project

Our project has been progressing really well. I know when it came to doing my revisions for the Verification Quest, I used those newfound skills to help with our current project. As I mentioned in class, the ‘a element’ is a friend and really interesting. It is especially important when it comes to Twine since the decision buttons are technically ‘links.’ So we wanted to yassify them for the dating game style we were going for. 

I know my knowledge of Verified and from doing the Verification Quest will come in handy when helping our group with writing the article we’re putting in our project as well. While the dating game portion lets you experience the dangers of online dating there is definitely more to it, which is what the article is for. The dangers of red flags and how to be safe, what precautions to take, how to get out of bad situations, etc. While our game is meant to be fun, a lot of this can actually be very serious. We were even able to talk to a professional about this topic. I’m very excited to present our project at the showcase this Friday.

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