This brings up an interesting game design- branching off due to success or failure of an “essential” objective? I don’t recall seeing any game convincingly pull this off- IE it was either pretty clear that it was an optional choice, or the player MUST succeed or fail at this point for the story to go on. Let me know if you can think of any examples!

Regarding the element of the linear in the nonlinear: there’re always going to be limits on your simulation. Some are pragmatic limits; we simply can’t simulate a world to the quantum level. Some, as you describe, are designed limits. If the designer is going to guide the story of one of these hypothetical freely-structured games, she will do so both through the imposition of limits and the addition of goal metrics.

Regarding the multiple levels of action, I think we do want to “combine numerous low-level, but not necessarily linear, actions into a high-level change somewhere.” Ideally, the high-level agency emerges out of low-level agency. It would be clumsy to have a different set of verbs for affecting the game on a low level and on a high level. And I love emergent stories that are as unexpected to the developer as they are to the player. Dwarf Fortress is, I think, the best example of this.

(Oh, I followed you here from Bars of Black And White. I think it was a fairly good game – a little spine-chilling at points, but satisfyingly simple.)

If I understand the points you have raised correctly, you are specifying two separate concepts – low-level and high-level control of a character, and linear or non-linear story and goals. In some way, even in a broad, non-linear environment, you may still have aspects of the linear — for example, you still would not like your character avatar to die and thus lose your hard work in them.
Or perhaps it would be easier simply to weave them together? The reason I raised MMORPGs is that they have an element of co-operation and competition, whereupon individual low-level control of characters may lead to a high-level change in the story — not plot-driven from a higher power (as WoW tends to be), but simply a conflict that causes unexpected incidents and events to occur, causing the game to move forward.
In a sense, could that not be brought into a digital game? Instead of ‘Do what you want. It’ll be fun. Really,’ it could very well be ‘I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen if you do that. Seriously. Try it.’
That is, in some way manage to combine numerous low-level, but not necessarily linear, actions into a high-level change somewhere, be it in the perspective of the player or a major plot – in that sense, it remains interactive, and yet random, because some variable, be it location or simply the personality of the person playing it, will change the experience of the game for the player.

I am deeply sorry that I rambled. I hope that the above made some modicum of sense.

Verskand.

(And as for digital games not having good plots, there is a wide market, and a wide number of developers. I point to thatgamecompany — for a start. Beside that, however, I have greatly enjoyed your games and your viewpoint, and hope to see more of your games in the future.)

-Sequoia.