February 2015 – Page 2 – Digital Studies Center

The Digital Studies Center welcomes you to come and play with Twine. Join us in ModLab (Fine Arts 215) on February 18 as Michael Russo, graduate student in the English Department, leads a hands-on Twine workshop.

Twine is an open-source tool that can be used for creating and teaching interactive, nonlinear stories. Our workshop is geared towards beginners and experts alike. You don’t need to know how to write code to start creating and sharing electronic fiction. Still you can extend your stories with variables, conditional logic, images, CSS, and JavaScript when you’re ready.

Whether you’re interested in creating a story of your own or you’re simply curious about the process of creating an electronic nonlinear narrative, the DSC encourages your attendance. We will have the software running on our own machines and will also teach you how to install it on your own computer (if you want to keep tinkering afterwards).

Keep an eye on the DSC Calendar for announcements about future events.

Each semester, the Digital Studies Center hosts a series of Well Played events during which students, faculty, and staff discuss and play videogames. These events are based on the ETC Press Journal, Well Played, and they encourage close readings of game mechanics and narratives. Well Played sessions are free form, collaborative, and interactive. All are welcome to attend, regardless of expertise or familiarity with videogames. All attendees are invited to join in by both playing and discussing games.

Join us in ModLab (Fine Arts 215) on February 11 at 12:15 for a Well Played session about Propentine’s, With Those We Love Alive, which pulls the player’s body into the game space. The game is free, and you are welcome to bring your own computer to play it, but the DSC will also have it running on its own machines. You may also want to bring headphones, and you will need, as the game’s opening screen tells us, “a pen or sharpie nearby, something that can write on skin.”

Follow the DSC Calendar for announcements about future events.