Emily Short
Emily Short | |
---|---|
Known for | Galatea Counterfeit Monkey |
Spouse(s) | Graham Nelson |
Website | emshort |
Emily Short is an interactive fiction (IF) writer perhaps best known for her debut game Galatea[1] and her use of psychologically complex NPCs, or non-player game characters.[2] She has been called "a visionary in the world of text-based games for years,"[3] and is the author of over thirty-five works of IF[4] in addition to being chief editor of the IF Theory Book. She wrote a regular column on IF for Rock, Paper, Shotgun.[5]
Career[]
In June 2011, Emily Short, with Richard Evans, co-founded Little TextPeople, which explored the emotional possibilities of interactive fiction. It was acquired in early 2012 by Linden Lab.[6] In 2014, Short was let go by Linden Lab, ending the project she was working on, Versu.[7]
In September 2016, Short was hired by Spirit AI, a roughly 15 person company working on machine learning and natural language processing. She joined its board of directors in 2018, [8] and was later named Chief Product Officer.[9]
In January 2020, Short joined the 12 person Failbetter Games as creative director.[9]
Work as an interactive fiction author[]
A number of Short's works have won acclaim at the XYZZY Awards, an annual popular-choice award for interactive fiction.[10][11] Her work has been described by reviewers in terms that range from "mesmerizing" to "frustrating". Her 2003 work was originally commissioned by a San Francisco synth-pop band, but after they left the project, she completed it on her own.[12]
While many of Short's early games were written in Inform, she later experimented with a variety of formats. One such format was Versu, an engine for plot-heavy and story-rich interactive fiction that Short helped develop, and which was later scrapped by Linden Labs, the company owning the engine.[13] Other formats include Varytale, for which she developed the game Bee,[14] and a custom engine by Liza Daly (with help from the company inkle) for the game First Draft of the Revolution.[15] Both formats use an interactive fiction engine based on hyperlinks.
Inform 7[]
Short wrote most of the 300+ programming examples in the documentation and created two full-length demo games for release with Graham Nelson's interactive fiction development system, Inform 7.[16]
Selected IF works[]
Association | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
XYZZY Awards | 2000 | Best individual NPC | Galatea | Won | [17][18] |
Best Writing | 2nd Place | [17] | |||
2002 | Best Game, Best Puzzles, Best Story, Best Individual PC | Savoir-Faire | Won | [10] | |
2003 | Best NPCs | Won | [19] | ||
2006 | Best Settings, Best NPCs | Floatpoint | Won | [11] | |
2012 | Best Game, Best Setting, Best Puzzles, Best Individual PC, Best Implementation | Won | [20] | ||
IF Artshow | 2000 | Best of Show | Galatea | Won | [21] |
Interactive Fiction Competition | 2000 | N/A | Metamorphoses | 2nd Place | [22] |
2006 | N/A | Floatpoint | Won | [23] | |
Games Magazine | 2004 | Best RPG/Adventure | City of Secrets | 2nd Place | [24] |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Ryan, Marie-Laure. (2006). Avatars of story. U of Minnesota Press.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (5 Jun 2015). "Lonely planet: the solitude of open-world games when the story is over". The Guardian.
- ^ Alderman, Naomi (22 Sep 2014). "The magic of words opens a whole new world of fun". The Guardian.
- ^ "Emily Short Member Profile". Interactive Fiction Database.
- ^ Short, Emily (15 June 2016). "Text Adventures For People Who Hate Guessing The Verb". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
- ^ "Second Life developer acquires experimental game studio LittleTextPeople".
- ^ "The end of Versu: Emily Short looks back".
- ^ "Interactive fiction specialist Dr Emily Short joins the Spirit AI board".
- ^ a b "Jobs Roundup: Emily Short takes over as creative director at Failbetter Games".
- ^ a b "XYZZY Awards: Winning Games of 2002". XYZZY news. XYZZY news. 2002. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ a b "XYZZY Awards: Winning Games of 2006". Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
- ^ "City of Secrets".
- ^ Nutt, Christian (14 Mar 2014). "The end of Versu:Emily Short Looks Back". Gamasutra.
- ^ "Bee". Dan Q.
- ^ Hamilton, Kirk (24 Sep 2012). "Write (And Re-Write) Letters Of Intrigue In This Fantastic Free Game". Kotaku.
- ^ Smith, Graham (9 May 2014). "Informing You: Text Adventure Tool Inform 7 Has Updated". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
- ^ a b Mullin, Eileen (2000). "XYZZY Awards: Winning Games of 2000". XYZZY news. Eileen Mullin. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ "Emily Short: Galatea". Electronic Literature Collection Volume One. Electronic Literature Organization. Archived from the original on 27 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ "XYZZY Awards: Winning Games of 2003". XYZZY news. XYZZY news. 2003. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ "XYZZY Awards Historical Results". 2013. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
- ^ Parker, Marnie. "2000 IF Art Show". IF Art Show. Marnie Parker. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ Musante, Mark J. (2000). "6th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition Voting Results". Interactive Fiction Competition. Interactive Fiction Competition. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ "12th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition". 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- ^ McDonald, Thomas L. and Bennett, Dan. The Electronic Games 100. Games. Issue 196 (Vol. 27, No. 10). Pg.58. December 2003.
External links[]
- American emigrants to England
- American video game programmers
- Interactive fiction writers
- Living people
- Women video game critics
- Women video game developers
- Women video game programmers