Location location location: Experiences of authoring an interactive location-based narrative

Abstract

Location-based narratives are a form of digital interactive storytelling where a reader’s physical movement triggers narrative events. Unlike traditional hypertext the poetics of these narratives is poorly understood, meaning that it is difficult to build effective authoring tools or to train new writers. In this paper we present our experience of authoring an interactive location-based narratives, focused on the creation of a story ‘The Isle of Brine’ set on the island of Tiree. Our experience highlights the primacy of location in the authoring process, and both pragmatic and aesthetic considerations for the design of the narrative.