General:
Reagan Library is an odd mixture of stories and images, voices and places, crimes and punishment, connections and disruptions, signals on, noises off, failures of memory and acts of reconstruction. It goes into some places not customary for writing. I think of it as a space probe. I have no idea what you'll think.
Now a word from our Idiot Questioner. Is this fiction or is it a game? Exactly. As one of the inmates says: "The world is what you see and where that takes you." And where would that be? You'll find out.
This work was originally implemented in Hypertext Markup Language with one media extension, QuickTimeVR. In those days, recommended software was Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x, in combination with version 2.0 or later of Apple Computer's QuickTimeVR plug-in. Earlier versions of either browser were thought to be workable.
Things change. For reasons not entirely clear, the links embedded in the QuickTime panoramas stopped working, somewhere around the turn of the century. Eventually, QuickTime itself stopped working under 64-bit Windows. Late in 2009, I therefore rebuilt the panoramas for delivery via the Adobe Flash plugin, which has a somewhat better record for reliability. In doing this, I relied on the excellent Pano2VR application from GardenGnome Software. The developers have my very warm thanks.
I have also updated the HTML to make it consistent with current Web standards; or as consistent as possible without abandoning Frames.
Ground Rules:
Each page contains an image and some text.The image is a dynamic panorama. Dragging the mouse within the panorama window moves the virtual camera. Certain images within the panoramas are cues for hypertext links. Your cursor will change shape when it encounters one of these, and a descriptive title will pop in.
Generally, clicking on an object moves your viewpoint close to that object by replacing the current panorama. Occasionally you'll click on an object and find yourself in a different space, marked most notably by a change of color and lighting. There are four spaces in this version of the Library.
The texts that accompany the images are also multiform. Pay attention to the small squares or color bars that mark the end of each passage. They're not entirely decorative.
If you visit a page more than once, you'll notice the text has changed. Much of what you read on your first visit may seem like nonsense: in fact it's generated by a set of simple random-assembly programs. The text should become more coherent (if not more sensible) on repeated visits. Unlike most things built for the World Wide Web, this text maintains state (during a given reading, at least). By visiting all the places a sufficient number of times, you can bring the text to a final form. Yes, there is an end to it.
Note, however, that simply re-loading a page does not constitute a new visit. You must leave and land elsewhere before you can return.
Most pages contain several text links in addition to the graphical links in the panorama. Some of these links fall within the randomly-generated portion of the text. In most cases these will take you to randomly-selected pages. One link on every page has a specified destination and thus perhaps a greater claim to coherence.
Lines entirely in italics represent important messages from the Library.
More information is available in the red zone.
The original Reagan Library (version 1.0) was distributed in 1999 under copyright by Stuart Moulthrop, reserving all rights. The present restored version (1.1) is distributed under a Creative Commons license with the following terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.
Acknowledgements:
Enduring thanks to Adrian Miles, Deb Verhoeven, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, whose Communications Studies International Fellowship made it possible to hatch this project. Thanks also to Robert Coover for encouragement and to Dimitrios Anastasopoulos and the Little Magazine for the impetus to finish.
While I was at it, back in that other century, I should also have thanked Michael Joyce, John McDaid, and Mark Bernstein, all of whom had useful advice and words of good cheer. In later life, Nick Montfort and Scott Rettberg have helped keep the fires alive. May the God of unbelievers bless Markku Eskelinen for comprehension of this work surpassing its author's.
And ever and always, to my wife, Nancy Kaplan.