Monday 3 August 2009

Canon

I somehow want to relate this to my recent thinking about narrative but will get around to it later...

2 comments:

Nick said...

How about "Do what works, like what you do, and dance like no-one is watching".

Or maybe not.

VRBones said...

Hmm, that's going to be an interesting jump.

Does canon exist in UnAngband? I think it depends on your perspective.
Is there causality between one action to the next? Yes.
Is there causality between levels? No.
Is there an overall story arc that your play must abide by? Yes, to kill Morgoth.
Is there a common canon between your world and mine? No.
Is there a deeper understanding of the rules of the game across multiple plays through the world? Definitely.

This last point seems to go against the Dr Who analogy. In there, fans are craving for a canon to make sense of the story, which ultimately doesn't exist so that they can tell any story. Fans of PCG games crave to understand the underlying mechanics of the game, of which is certainly there hidden under the trappings of each story.

I'm looking forward to your take on it. Lots of jumping points.