Difference between revisions of "1350: Lorenz"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
m
(Functionality and bugs: Major revisions of this section.)
Line 21: Line 21:
  
 
===Functionality and bugs===
 
===Functionality and bugs===
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl (Megan?) is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl (Megan?) is thinking. Upon choosing any option, a second panel appears, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.
+
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl (who is not [[Megan]]*) is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl is thinking. Upon choosing any option - the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (and this will then disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.
  
It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog is submitted. The dialogue options are likely based on click-through rates and hence will change over day based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialogue line will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialogue line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, do several of the storylines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream again. This may be due to common submissions across storylines as well.
+
====*Knit Cap Girl====
 +
Knit Cap Girl is a completely new character, probably created for this unique comic - so as not to confuse her with Megan. Megan is always together with [[Cueball]] (or specifically not together with him), and if he is in this comic at all, it is only as a politician debating on TV. Since Knit Cap Girl seems to be together with [[Hairy]] in this comic it would also be strange if she should be representing [[Megan]]. Hairy has some bad reputation in trying to fool girls to fall for him... But at least he is not usually connected to any other girls - so he can finally have found out how to be with a woman (although they also seem to fight in this comic some times). Finally - Megan is never seen wearing a Knit Cap - actually this may be the first time ever in the comic, anyone has carried such a hat. This is the reason for the name used for Knit Cap Girl throughout this explanation.
  
Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of 2 April 2014, the existence of 5 or more options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself.
+
====Number of options====
 +
Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There is no longer any panels that seem to have six options.
  
Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time. Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel where the reader only has the option left to suggest a line. When pressing enter this is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark.
+
====Easy navigation====
 
 
====Buttons====
 
 
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:
 
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:
 
* Up/Down - navigate options
 
* Up/Down - navigate options
Line 35: Line 35:
 
* Left - go back one panel
 
* Left - go back one panel
 
* a/b/c/d - choose any option directly
 
* a/b/c/d - choose any option directly
 +
 +
====New panels====
 +
It appears that new panels may be generated by [[Randall]] in near real time as user suggestions to dialog is submitted. The dialog options could be based on click-through rates and hence will change over day based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}.  This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog line will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, do several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream again. This may be due to common submissions across story lines as well. Of course there is the other option that Randall has used his time this first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. Some of the options that was there very early was in quite poor English. Later the same idea was still there but in a more refined sentence. Of course one possibility do not rule out the other. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, so some of these was definitely some Randall drew to match the stories progression.
 +
 +
====Permalink====
 +
Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time.
 +
 +
====Suggest a line===
 +
Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line...." By doing so and pressing enter this text is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark. As a few weeks had progressed there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. There has been no reason to believe that new options or panels appeared after the first few weeks of April.
  
 
====Bugs====
 
====Bugs====

Revision as of 22:18, 19 June 2014

Lorenz
Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story
Title text: Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story

NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic. For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see 1350: Lorenz/Images. These will also be described below under themes.
Also note that the order of the options are random. And by adding that there is a fifth option - and only four can be shown - this means there are 5*4*3*2=120 different permutations of the way the options can be arranged in this first image. So the above image is only shown as it is in less than 1% of the cases! Of course when you choose an option it is indifferent what the order of the other options was.

Explanation

This is an interactive and dynamic comic with a possible first picture shown on top of this page. The picture is always the same but the order of the sentences A/B/C/D is chosen randomly. The result of all the interactions by the people would lead to a crowd-sourced content. In honor of April Fools' Day the comic was posted a day early, on Tuesday instead of the usual Wednesday. This also means that if anyone feels this comic is too silly... Randall can call April fool.

The title 'Lorenz' is referring to Edward Norton Lorenz who among other subjects was famous for Chaos theory and the Butterfly effect.

The title text is a reference to that the story line of this comic does include all of the user submitted dialogue and updates over time based on statistics of users clicks and hence will in nature be chaotic. In this manner it is a reference to the butterfly effect, a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.

This comic is an example of a Choose Your Own Adventure story as mentioned in the title text.

Functionality and bugs

The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl (who is not Megan*) is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl is thinking. Upon choosing any option - the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (and this will then disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.

*Knit Cap Girl

Knit Cap Girl is a completely new character, probably created for this unique comic - so as not to confuse her with Megan. Megan is always together with Cueball (or specifically not together with him), and if he is in this comic at all, it is only as a politician debating on TV. Since Knit Cap Girl seems to be together with Hairy in this comic it would also be strange if she should be representing Megan. Hairy has some bad reputation in trying to fool girls to fall for him... But at least he is not usually connected to any other girls - so he can finally have found out how to be with a woman (although they also seem to fight in this comic some times). Finally - Megan is never seen wearing a Knit Cap - actually this may be the first time ever in the comic, anyone has carried such a hat. This is the reason for the name used for Knit Cap Girl throughout this explanation.

Number of options

Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There is no longer any panels that seem to have six options.

Easy navigation

Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:

  • Up/Down - navigate options
  • Enter/Right/Spacebar - choose option after navigating with Up/Down
  • Left - go back one panel
  • a/b/c/d - choose any option directly

New panels

It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog is submitted. The dialog options could be based on click-through rates and hence will change over day based on which choices are clicked most using A/B measurement techniques. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog line will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, do several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream again. This may be due to common submissions across story lines as well. Of course there is the other option that Randall has used his time this first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. Some of the options that was there very early was in quite poor English. Later the same idea was still there but in a more refined sentence. Of course one possibility do not rule out the other. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, so some of these was definitely some Randall drew to match the stories progression.

Permalink

Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time.

=Suggest a line

Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line...." By doing so and pressing enter this text is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark. As a few weeks had progressed there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. There has been no reason to believe that new options or panels appeared after the first few weeks of April.

Bugs

Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions there are some problems reported here:

  • Cookies and Javascript are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render; attempting to load the page in the UNIXKCD terminal or loading the page without Javascript will just get you the previous comic.
  • When selecting a sentence A/B/C/D the server does not respond on that selection.
  • The servers responsible to provide the pictures are down.
  • In the first week after the comic was released, if a response lead to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it was impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble. This was subsequently fixed.

As a consequence of these bugs many readers had trouble with understanding how this interactive comic worked.

Themes

Computer

Political debate

Ocean

Leaving the bulding

Walking

Rocket launch

Space

Kerbal Space Program

Dinosaur

Boomerang

Pokémon

Dreams

Waking up

Transcript

[This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the picture shown at the top of the explanation here.]
[The comic starts with two panels. In the top panel we see Knit Cap Girl sitting at a desk in front of her laptop typing. There is a speech line up to a gray but empty speech bubble.]
[The second panel below has the same gray background as the empty speech bubble above. Here is presented four options to what Knit Cap Girl could be saying. They are marked a, b, c and d written in small white rectangles next to the text. There is a small arrow at the top pointing to the first panel:]
a Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.
b Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on.
c Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.
d Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...
[Once the reader chooses one of the options the text will appear in the speech bubble where the gray area is replaced with the usual white background. The lower gray panel disappears. Now the comic really begins.]
[A new panel is shown after the selection, again with one to four options to choose from in the new gray panel below. This will continue until it comes to an end where the reader finally only has the choice to suggest the next line.]
[The order of the up to four options are random, and changes every time you begin again (or even go back to a previous frame). This means that the a-d in the transcript is not the same next time. In some few panels there are even more than four options. To see the fifth you have to reload, then you may find this fifth option next time. The first panel is one of those with five options.]
[The fifth not shown above is: These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.]
[In the first days of the comic when it developed quickly, new options appeared only to later disappear. Gravity. Lots of it. is one of those lost options from the first panel. At one time there was also by mistake two versions of one of the other five mentioned above. But this was later deleted. Maybe there could still be a permalink to these lost stories out there...?]
[Although it may be impossible to finish it has been tried to make a complete interactive transcript.]

Trivia

  • In one panel Hairy is drawn in bed without his hair - see the Waking up pictures.
  • The most common pictures are "Not very effective", Throwing, Waiting, Leaving the House.
  • The rarest pictures are The Little Prince, The beach, An exponential chart.
  • The all time longest comics by panel - top three.
    • Please only include clearly different storylines:
    1. 77 panels - Space/dinosaur double dream, boomerang, and exploding rocket.
    2. 39 panels - Politics, dream and boomerang.
    3. 36 panels - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.
    • There may be no upper boundary!
    • But this is then the list of the longest comics with most panels as found so far.
    • If you beat a record please post the permalink here.
    • Please note themes included in comic.
    • Please move beaten records down and delete the fourth.
  • Longest by themes - click to expand:
  • Include only more than one if the story is clearly different from from the record.
    1. Multiple dreams:
      1. 77 panels - Two dreams one by each charachter, after space and dinosaur attack.
      2. 36 panels - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.
      3. 35 panels - Two times the same dream with big hole by the same charachter (shovel/blowtorch and then boomerang).
      4. 28 panels - One dream with hole that returns to starting point - does the dream continue?
      5. 26 panels - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and rocket.
      6. 22 panels - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and dinosaur attack.
      7. 21 panels - Two times the same dream with big hole - once be each character
      8. ? - More than two dreams
    2. Boomerang:
      1. 77 panels - double dream etc.
      2. 39 panels - Starting with politic debate in a dream.
      3. 34 panels - As the 39 panel, but here both the girl and the Hairy gets the boomerang in the face!
      4. 30 panels - Rocket, dream, Boomerang hits her in the face. She then puts it down and then picks it up again
    3. Space:
      1. 77 panels - double dream etc.
      2. 30 panels - reaching the Little Prince:
    4. Dinosaur:
      1. 77 panels - double dream etc.
    5. Political debate:
      1. 39 panels - but also dream and boomerang.
      2. 31 panels - politicians fighing and explosive bananas - including the meanwhile image
    6. Blowtorch:
      1. 36 panels - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.
      2. 26 panels - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice
      3. 25 panels - dream of hole and then blowtorch
    7. Pokémon:
      1. 26 panels - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice
      2. 24 panels - really long fight
      3. 22 panels - moving past Pokémon.
    8. Sharks
      1. 13 panels - reaching beach
  • Longest by starting point - click to expand:
  • Only the longest:
    1. These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game: 77 panels
    2. Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on: 39 panels
    3. Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays: 28 panels
    4. Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...: 24 panels
    5. Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook: 13 panels
    6. Gravity. Lots of it: ? (This option do not seem to be featured anymore?)

Where's the discussion block?

It was getting large, so the discussion block has been moved. You can still discuss this comic here: Talk:1350: Lorenz