gewgaw

Big news in my inbox this morning! After several years of effort, Michael and Andrew have finally released Facade to the public. You can read the GTXA announcement here. Let’s all take a moment to congratulate Team Facade!!!

*music*

*fireworks*

*roaring applause*

*Michael, Andrew, Grace and Trip take a bow*

*Grace grimaces, Trip coughs*

:)

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The first time Michael told me about Facade, it was mostly scribbles on a napkin, thoughts over dinner. He was at Northwestern, showing off Terminal Time (his masters’ work), and crashing at my place. I was just starting school at NU – finding my own path to games research. That week of brainstorming, chatting and excitement – I still consider it one of the highlights of my graduate career.

Mornings, he’d emerge with hair in Fraggle-like state, percolating with questions about the project. Natural language input: crazy… like a fox? Characters with dramatic goals: so nutty… it might just work? How about joint behaviors?

Could interactive narrative really be done in an efficient and responsive manner? What were the limits of the technology? What could a full-blown system achieve? How much should it draw from traditional “drama” and “plot” construction? What’s more – would it be interesting? Fun? These were the things he and Andrew were exploring… and so excited about!

Later on, when Andrew announced that he would take a sabattical from industry to become Michael’s partner in crime full time, all I could do was smile. Michael: this effervescent, sputtering engine… pulling uphill; Andrew: the patient, dedicated caboose… pushing at the other end to help make it all happen. Between the two of them, they were bound for interesting territory!

Of course, the initial thrill of design is necessarily followed by a (sometimes painful, sometimes prolonged) process of implementation. Along the way, I helped out whenever I could… reading scripts, being videotaped… hosting voice actors in my living room. I’ve listened to horror stories, attended talks, critiqued, encouraged, anticipated, playtested, and purchased many, many drinks. And now that it’s finally here – I’m not quite sure what to say!

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Reflecting a bit, I suppose I appreciate Facade for what it is, just as much as what it does.

We live in a day and age where end-to-end AI systems are huge and expensive, increasingly beyond the reach of most universities. As mainstream robotics and AI research moves further and further into the military/industrial/commercial realm, it’s refreshing to see something completed – just for completion’s sake!

Facade is the first experience of it’s kind. Over 5+ years, Michael and Andrew dedicated thousands of hours to build it. They sacrificed their free time, shaped their careers, moulded their realtionships – to attain an ideal. That, in and of itself, is pretty amazing.

Looking at it from an experiential standpoint, well… that’s a tougher nut to crack. Certainly, I have thoughts about the way it works – particularly from a “game design” point of viewt (though it’s less a game and more a piece of performance art). But all told, I’m just to close to really say anything “objective”. If you’re at all curious, you’ll just have to see what it does, for yourself.

I do have some advice, though. When you’re interacting with the app, try to get yourself out of the games mindset. Don’t bemoan the lack of HUD-like feedback. Don’t wish for WoW-style tooltips and tutorials. Rather, consider it an exercise in exploration and improvisation. Play with the system, push on the boundaries of what seems appropriate or logical, just to see what happens. Then, interpret Grace and Trip’s behaviors, and push again.

During this experience, think about how it feels. Is it play? Learning? Drama? What does it teach you about the systems you normally build or enjoy? This, I think, is where many of you will find value.

—

In all honesty, I started this post with a bit of sadness – thinking about all the hard work that went into making Facade a reality, feeling nostalgic about times past (when everyone in the community surrounding this work was younger, a bit less jaded and worn down). But already, I can feel that nostalgia fading. In its place is a new feeling – ancitipation of the dialog I will be able to have with people about this project – a dialog that I’m hoping will be quite benificial.

For example: I have already used it as a touchstone during conversations the issues facing academic computer science. With projects like this, departments can diversify while also building strong technology/tools for research. If every CS department was affiliated with literature and the arts, and each had an interesting platform for experimenting with interactivity – think of how many new students we could attract. Think of how many novel systems and ideas we could prototype! And that’s just the tip of the iceburg.

So, in the interest of dialog – go give it a try. While you’re at it, buy a t-shirt or make a donation. Lord knows, they’ve earned it!