Nick Montfort @nickmofo@mastodon.social
Computer-generated literature
In Brazil's main newspaper, Folha de S.Paulo, I argue that microblogging itself and National Novel Generation Month as initiated by @darius are more important to computer-generated literature than particular technologies like GPT-2 and -3 https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2021/01/robos-ja-escrevem-de-poemas-e-microcontos-no-twitter-a-romances-inteiros.shtml
Nick Montfort
boosted
Hello #fediverse
I’m Comet. I am an artist working mainly in the field of non-work. I travel the universe, write poetry, publish zines, play music and fight fascism.
visit my website: https://cometpustoj.neocities.org
In case you'd like to see a 30-minute video of a one-line Applesoft BASIC program generating a 50,000+ word novel
https://archive.org/details/montfort-1001-basic-games-for-nanogenmo-2020
Several reviews of Amazing Quest...
Fellow IF Comp author & frequent reviewer Joey Acrimonious gives it 5/5: https://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=of92yiv7g2eopvb1&review=56652
Patrick Mooney offers a 5/10 review and two Python implementations: https://tmblr.co/ZQ8Z_wZA4Vq9Gm00
Wade Clark considers the game via BASIC and home computing: https://importantastrolab.blogspot.com/2020/12/ifcomp-2020-spiel-amazing-quest-by-nick.html
Ant ported the game to BBC Micro BASIC and offers a line-by-line explanation: https://ahopeful.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/ifcomp-2020-amazing-quest-nick-montfort-c64-basic/
Nick Montfort
boosted
Spoilers for Amazing Quest
If AQ is experienced as a parody of, and a slap in the face of, these kinds of meaningless shenanigans: https://twitter.com/gaohmee/status/903510060197744640
then AQ is a brilliant treasure of the dharma eye to be cherished muchly.
If AQ is experienced as if itself is a perpetuator of that kind of shenanigans then AQ is arguably not so hot.
(That “if by AQ…” question is not to be determined by me as reviewer or NM as creator, but by each person who approach it. Hence the “is experienced as” rather than the “is meant as”.)
If AQ had presented itself in a way where it was clear how it was setup, how it worked, then the notion of the odyssey, of experiencing it ludically and joyfully would’ve been in the forefront. The amount of time I’ve spent on my own with the dungeon tables at the end of the AD&D1e DMG is…♥♥ But that’s not how the game was presented.
I've written a Q&A about Amazing Quest, my controversial (or maybe just despised?) #C64 BASIC game which just was rated 98th out of 103 in the Interactive Fiction Competition
Please enjoy 1001 BASIC Games, A Novel #NaNoGenMo https://github.com/NaNoGenMo/2020/issues/73
The generating code is a one-line Apple //e or //c program of maximal length:
20DATAALL,WORK,AND,NO,PLAY,MAKES,NICK,A,DULL,BOY:FORI=0TO9:READA$(I):NEXT:?:?"1001 BASIC GAMES":?:FORI=0TO999:FORJ=0TO999:NEXT:?N$"DEAR READER:":?:?" 10 REM";:FORJ=0TO4:?" "A$(RND(1)*10);:NEXT:LIST:?:N$="NEXT, ":NEXT:?"LAST:":?:?" 0 GOTO
@phooky Turns out a simpler solution for Apple ][js is to select text and middle-click to paste the selection
@phooky Yay, with additional delay between keystrokes this works perfectly. Thank you!
@phooky Haha, Windows version written in AutoHotKey! But this may indeed work for me in Linux, thank you
@phooky That does indeed work in the terminal I use, but not in any of these three emulators. And while I see that Apple ][js //jse has code to handle a paste event, I can't see any way to send it one, even from a right-click menu
A quick check on GitHub shows that Apple ][js seems to handle a paste event, but I can't see how to send it one, because CTRL-V will just be passed in as CTRL-V, just as CTRL-G produces the BEL character
Is there any Apple II emulator for Linux that supports copy-and-paste, so I can easily input short BASIC programs? I don't see support for it in MAME, linapple (which I can't get fully working anyway), or the otherwise lovely Apple ][js https://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/
I just fixed a problem with video tearing by setting the parameter "TearFree" to "true."
Next I suppose I'll need to fix my hard disk by setting "MangleData" to "false."
Arg, flatpak. I can't get my flatpak installation of Atom to open files outside my home directory (sandboxing is supposed to be a feature, I know) and I can't tab-complete command-line arguments
@jleedev Thanks! I was able to install ncal via apt, just was surprised that I need to
cal (ncal) is no longer installed by default in Ubuntu 20.10?
@darius And were you surprised?
Please apply for Generative Unfoldings commissions, up to 15 of $1000 will be awarded for free/open-source generative art, to run live in an in-browser exhibition
Deadline for sketches/prototypes: November 1
I'm delighted to be curating this exhibit and on the jury with 4 amazing artists
https://arts.mit.edu/cast/symposia/generative-unfoldings-call/
Server run by the main developers of the project 
It is not focused on any particular niche interest - everyone is welcome as long as you follow our code of conduct!