Abstract. Creating believable agents with personality is a popular research area in game studies but academic research in this area usually focuses on one facet of personality -for example, only on moods or character traits. The present study proposes a motivational framework to predict goal-directed behaviour of virtual agents in a computer game and explores the opportunities of using personality inventories based on the same motivational framework to design virtual agents with personality. This article claims that motivation to reach a goal is influenced by psychological needs which are represented with an equation that determines the strength of a character's motivational force. The framework represented by this study takes into account psychological needs and their interrelations for analyzing choices of virtual agents in a computer game.

In this article, we define interactive storytelling as a gaming experience where the form and content of the game is customized in real time and tailored to the preferences and needs of the player to maximixe enjoyment. The primary focus of interactive storytelling should not be on the attributes of the technology or characteristics of the medium, such as the AI techniques, planning formalisms, story representations, etc. but on different interaction levels provided by computer games and basic components of player enjoyment such as difficulty levels and gaming rewards. In conducting an analysis of interactive storytelling systems, we propose a user-centered approach to interactive storytelling by defining different customization levels for an optimum gaming experience.

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The focus of interactive storytelling should not only be on the attributes of the technology or characteristics of the medium, such as the AI techniques, planning formalisms, story representations, etc. but also on the computer-mediated communication processes, such as the relatedness of transmitted messages with previous exchanges of information, the number of attributes to be manipulated by the player, or the level of player control on the messages. It is argued that an approach to maximize player enjoyment in a computer game is to customize/personalize the gaming experience and the associated computer-mediated communication processes. To this aim and to provide answers to “how” and “what” should be customized, the article first explores the problematic notions of interactivity and then frame the discussion in the context of interactive storytelling systems. Secondly, it analyses table-top role-playing games RPGs - the live counterpart of computerized interactive storytelling systems – in an attempt to find “what” to customize. In particular, it focuses on the Dungeon Master whose role in co-ordinating human-to-human communication process of interactive storytelling provides valuable insights into how to handle the human-to-machine/game communication process. Finally, the article proposes a framework to explain “how” to customize for maximum player enjoyment and optimal game experience within an interactive storytelling system.