Hi all,

As promised, I’m sending along some information on Twine. Twine is open-source software (so free of cost and freely editable). It also runs inside your web browser, so there’s no need to do any ‘proper’ installs to run the tool (so, it runs in modern browsers including firefox and chrome; also safari and IE—if you call those last two ‘modern’).

Here’s the homepage for Twine. You can download Twine by following the link in the upper-right hand corner: http://twinery.org/

If you are looking for a really easy-to-read walkthrough, try this link: http://www.auntiepixelante.com/twine/

Are you looking for some samples texts and asking yourself, what can Twine really do?? If so, try this link or this one (They both have very nice interfaces—the former is formatted more like a book, while the latter more like a piece of text-based IF).

If you’re still curious for more info (particularly as you turn from ‘Twine Novice’ to ‘Twine Expert’), Twine has a really nice wiki that can answer most questions you’ll encounter, and also explains all of the advanced features that this tool is capable of: http://twinery.org/wiki/

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Last class, Neil asked us to post a bit about what we’d like to see done with PG for the class project. Personally, I think something along the lines of a reimagining of the text, perhaps in the piratical sense of “PG 2.0” is ideal to me. That being said, I understand that there are some logistical difficulties that we might run into. I realize that this post is sounding vague, but that’s intentional–we discussed some of the finer details in class. I think that my ideal project has us creating PG 2.0 on Twine, or a similar platform. Then the final version of what we create would be hosted on the web, possibly on a series of mirrored sites and servers spread across the web by an anonymous party. We wouldn’t need to take credit, and credit wouldn’t be “due” to anyone. The idea of reviving and setting Jackson’s PG free seems desirable to me. As we discussed in class, I see Jackson’s PG as caged in by current copyright law, by the constraints of the media (CD-ROM, USB drive, Floppy disk) and barred away behind these constructs.

I’d like to think some day I might stare into the abyss of cyberspace, while sailing through the cyber-glaciers that inhabit this realm, only to catch a glimpse of Victor’s creature, Shelley’s creature, and Jackson’s creature (embodied however they might be) knowing they’re free and wandering the world, driving sledges, trailing off beyond my vision into that abyss that is cyberspace…

-kb