IStory
An iStory is an interactive text adventure displayed on an iPod using the Notes feature.
The original concept of the iStory comes from the minds at iPodSoft. Programmer Nathan Esquenazi created the freeware program iStory Creator for Mac OS X and Windows. iStory Creator has now been succeeded by iWriter, the shareware version. The iStory genre as an art form was first accepted into reality by iStory Silver in December 2004, followed by MAD Studios in August 2005. It has gained a small following and continues to operate today. There have been other iStory sites but none have succeeded to the extent of MAD Studios.
iStories come in many genres, such as adventure, horror, combat, quiz games, or just simple fun. Anyone can make an iStory about anything, as long as they have a program like iWriter, iStory Creator or are familiar with the use of basic HTML coding.
iStory Formats
iStories can be found in three main formats:
.xsp
.xnp
text format
An .XSP file is an iStory that was created with iStory Creator, but can be played with or without iStory Creator. A .XNP file is an iStory created with iWriter and can only be read with iWriter. Text Format is the process of creating the HTML text files from scratch, using Notepad or another similar text editor and coding each file individually.
Programs
iStories are written with programs like iStory Creator or iWriter. iStory Creator is no longer available through its main site, iPodSoft, but the Windows version can still be downloaded at MAD Studios. iWriter can be downloaded as a 15-day trial version. iPodSoft no longer features iStories on its website.
A new iStory creation software is being developed by MAD Studios member, seraphrevan. The project goes by the codename, "Project Arcalius", named after one of seraphrevan's abandoned iStories. Details on what features The New software will contain have not been disclosed.
Conclusion
Although iStories are not a new concept, as text choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) games have existed in the past, due to iPodSoft's development of iStory Creator, and with the help of such sites as iStory Silver, iPod Arcade, MAD Studios, and iPodSoft the term iStory has become popular amongst many iPod users who enjoy this form of text entertainment.
References
External links
iStory sites