LCC 6317/4720 Interactive Narrative Lecture 1 January 10, 2005

Class mechanics

Organization: design issues Interaction – interactor’s relationship to narrative Interaction – interactor’s relationship to narrative Narrativity – in what sense is the experience narrative? Narrativity – in what sense is the experience narrative? Segmentation – what are the pieces? Segmentation – what are the pieces? Representation – sensory display, conventions Representation – sensory display, conventions

Organization: narrative modes/genres Multiform story – a single situation in multiple versions Multiform story – a single situation in multiple versions Kaleidoscopic narratives – simultaneous, intersecting action Kaleidoscopic narratives – simultaneous, intersecting action Rhizomatic narratives – story webs that refuse closure Rhizomatic narratives – story webs that refuse closure Morphing story environments – construct stories out of formulaic pieces Morphing story environments – construct stories out of formulaic pieces Variant stories – parameterized story pieces Variant stories – parameterized story pieces

Organization: technical modes/genres Computational narrative traditions Computational narrative traditions History of work and criticism Specific design commitments Specific design commitments Can be orthogonal to narrative modes Can be orthogonal to narrative modes Though each tradition has a common narrativity commitment

Electronic literature Interactive fiction (IF) Interactive fiction (IF) Segmentation: places and objects Major trope: the puzzle Hypertext Hypertext Segmentation: links and lexia Major trope: association

Games vs. narrative Contemporary game trend – large, simulated worlds Contemporary game trend – large, simulated worlds Black & White, The Sims 1/2, Grand Theft Auto 3 (all), Fable NarrativistsLudologists Paradigmatic form: hypertextParadigmatic form: games Academic pedigree: literary theoryAcademic pedigree: games studies

Story generation I: Morphemes & grammars Morphemes – story events or “functions” Morphemes – story events or “functions” Vladimir Propp analyzed Russian folk tales Example morphemes: The hero leaves home, the hero is given a difficult task, the hero defeats the villain Grammars – hierarchic combination rules Grammars – hierarchic combination rules Story grammars – use story functions by analogy to linguistic elements

Sample output & story grammar once upon a time there lived a dog. one day it happened that farmer evicted cat. when this happened, dog felt pity for the cat. in response, dog sneaked food to the cat. farmer punished dog. Joseph story generator – R. Raymond Lang story  setting + episodes episodes  episode + episodes episode  story_event + emotional_response + action_response

Story generation II: Author simulation Model authorial knowledge beyond story structure Model authorial knowledge beyond story structure Examples: Authorial goals, plans, knowledge about the world Examples: Authorial goals, plans, knowledge about the world

Terminal Time Collaborators: Paul Vanouse, Art Department, SUNY Buffalo Steffi Domike, Design Department, Chatham College

History engine Goal trees (ideology) Historical events Audio-visual elements Audience feedback

Knowledge Base Event Rhetorical Goal Trees Biased event Storyboard Rhetorical Devices Natural Language Generation Media Retrieval & Sequencing To multi- media front end Terminal Time architecture

Characters I: Chatterbots Canonical chatterbot is Eliza Canonical chatterbot is Eliza Stateless (or minimal state) response to input based keywords and templates Stateless (or minimal state) response to input based keywords and templates Temporal coherency (or lack thereof) comes from human interactor Temporal coherency (or lack thereof) comes from human interactor My 1 is 2  How long has your 1 been 2? 1 thinks I am 2  Do you think you are 2? My luck is down  How long has your luck been down? Everyone thinks I am crazy  Do you think you are crazy?

Characters II: Reactive planning Have state – goals, emotions, memory Have state – goals, emotions, memory Select behaviors to accomplish goals Select behaviors to accomplish goals Dynamically mix goals Dynamically mix goals Examples: Petz, A Behavior Language (ABL) Examples: Petz, A Behavior Language (ABL)

Interactive Drama Plot structure Tension/Complexity Time Exposition Inciting incident Rising action Crisis Climax Falling action Denouement Characters Personality Emotion Self motivation Change Social relationships Consistency Illusion of life

Façade Dramatic world inhabited by computer controlled characters (believable agents) The user (player) plays a protagonist within the story, first-person point of view The player experiences a story with a dramatic arc Collaborator:Andrew Stern, independent artist and researcher