Fundamentals Of Interactive Storytelling

Abstract

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.

Interaction in eXtended Reality Applications for Cultural Heritage

“…In the last few years, interaction has been added. Interactive storytelling encompasses many different fields that fall under the term of human-computer interaction [4]. Handler Miller defines digital storytelling as digital media platforms and interactivity for narrative purposes, either for fictional or non-fiction stories [5].…”

Moody5: Personality-biased agents to enhance interactive storytelling in video games

“…Interactive storytelling requires that a certain amount of the narrative elements of a story emerges from the interactions that the player has with the environment, and other characters, including NPCs [6]. Crawford [3] discusses three potential strategies for developing interactive stories for games: (i) interactions with the environment (narrative events emerge from the interaction between the player and the game); (ii) data-based strategies (which uses libraries of story components to generate consistent combinations of events in response to user actions); and (iii) approaches exploiting natural language (allowing the user to exploit a -limited -vocabulary to interact with the game system).…”

“…A game is an experience designed to entertain the player and to move her emotionally, especially in story-driven games [6]. Hence, when the player is aware that her decision matters (aka they impact on the development of the plot), the replayability of the game increases, keeping the user engaged for a longer time [5], e.g., to repeat the adventure to try to reach different endings.…”

“…S2.4 Its easy to add personality traits to agents.S2.5Its useful to generate story events that modify the emotional state of the NPC. S2 6. The monitoring interface is understandable.…”

Experiential Media and Transforming Storytelling: a Theoretical Analysis

“…Solving problems of inequality of access to the tools of production, distribution and access in these experiential creative and cultural industries is essential but not easily addressed. -Interaction, including non-linear narrative structure (Bostan and Marsh, 2012).…”