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SF story-generator - Index

Here is an SF story-generator spreadsheet. The story appears in cells A4 downwards; to recalculate, select the dropdown in cell B4.

If you're interested in where the spreadsheet came from, here's the answer. I generated it from an Excelsior version of the Prolog science-fiction generator that's at www.j-paine.org/cgi-bin/spin.php. This in turn, I adapted somewhat broadly from Gahan Wilson's "The Science Fiction Horror Movie Pocket Computer", in "The Year's Best Science Fiction No. 5", edited by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss, Sphere, London, 1972. This was a simple transition network; the spreadsheet follows it, emitting plot events at each node until it runs out of arcs. This demonstrates how recursion is possible when one thinks of Excelsior tables as functions. It also demonstrates the use of Literate Programming to document a relatively complicated topic. Thanks to Alice Campbell for suggesting an improvement.

I've put a public copy into Zoho Spreadsheet, and also have a version on Google. Ask me if you want to try it.