Multimedia Corner

Getting it Together

Mike Werb, the screenwriter for the hit movie, "The Mask", was faced with a special problem when he tried to adapt the screenplay to an interactive multimedia game. It needed more than an outline to connect the complex group of multimedia elements available into an integrated structure. He wanted to do a thousand character "what ifs" that were different from the original plot. StoryVision for the Macintosh and Windows environments easily fills the bill.

The product is designed both for writers and graphics designers to use in mapping out the structure of an interactive product. The software creates a visual display of the text and graphics titles elements that come together to form the scenes of the final multimedia product. The software allows you to create balloons with text from your favorite word processor, or by using the dialog boxes within the program itself. With the mouse you can draw lines to link the balloon elements into a plot line or branching plan. The product is thus equally valuable for adaptations or original works.

These elements are arranged on the screen by StoryVision to design all the scenes of each interactive pathway of a multimedia game or presentation. You can design ways different parts along the path are related to other elements in the system. You can create an almost unlimited branching structure. You can follow the game player or lesson plan trainee through the final product to test its ultimate effectiveness.

First, the program allows you to conceive the level of interactivity you need for the particular project at hand. Next, you can reason through the major pathways the user can take from the Startup screen. As you move through the corridors of action you can connect to other pathways as needed to offer the user logical choices within the basic premises you initially established. Along each interactive sequence you can select the appropriate media to use in the presentation.

Once the multimedia product has been fully designed, you can examine it by viewing the multi-screen display, printing a graphic plan, or printing a narrative storyline. The graphics plan is a page sized version of the screen balloon images. The storyline is much like the outline output that word processor would print. The system allows you to print a scene, a screen window, or the storyline. Output to a Microsoft Work file is also an option.

The story vision product is a major improvement over the simple outlining program. Its flexibility, however, may be its only drawback. There is no limit to the number of branches, links, or elements the system can handle. The system's power can lead you into over designing of a product or project. When you use such a powerful tool, you have to remember to keep it as simple as possible to do the job.

The Macintosh version requires a computer with 2 Mb of RAM, 4 Mb of hard disk space, and System 7.0. The Windows version requires either Windows 3.1or Windows 95, 8 Mb of RAM, and 4 Mb of hard disk space. Both versions require a mouse and monitor. The number of word processors formats are currently limited to those of Microsoft Corp., however, the Microsoft Word formatted text can be read by most other word processors.

Contributed by C. W. Mann, who also writes the syndicated computer column, BuzzBytes.

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