Chris Crawford pursued computer games as genuine art from 1982, starting with Gossip and Excalibur games.
He built Erasmatron and later Storytron, software tools for creating interactive storyworlds, but neither gained users due to complexity and lack of market interest.
His Deikto technology allowed developers to create custom “toy languages” for character interaction in storyworlds.
He tried Siboot as a simpler interactive narrative system but abandoned it when it felt too mechanical.
In 2020 he succeeded in making Le Morte d’Arthur, an Arthurian interactive art piece, achieving his creative goal though with limited audience.
He attempted in 2024 to share his storyworld editor at Narrascope via web-based tools and a lecture but failed to attract interest.
After decades of creating tools for others without adoption, he concludes that while his own art succeeded, his tools did not find an audience.
He likens his journey to Charles Babbage’s early computing efforts and considers his work a fitting story, even if underappreciated.
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