Interactive Fiction and Computer Science
"We are seeking (like many other researchers in this field) a means of reconciling the freedom of interaction basic to virtual environments, and to the user's feeling of immersion, with the structural requirements of interesting story experiences. Our aim is to find a theoretical basis and supporting computational mechanisms for participative narrative experiences, in which the user is part of the story." Ruth Aylett http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~ruth/narrative.html (retrieved Aug 28, 2006)
Michael Mateas suggests that the agenda of AI researchers and the agenda of cultural producers are very different, he contrasts the difference in table 2 of Mateas, M. “Expressive AI: A hybrid art and science practice.” Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for Arts, Sciences, and Technology, 34 (2), 2001. 147-153. http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~mateas/publications.html
Cultural production: Poetics, Audience perception, Specificity Artistic abstraction
AI: Task competence Objective measurement Generality Realism
Chris Crawford, in "Chris Crawford on Interactive Fiction," also argues for very different styles of thinking between artists and scientists.
Computer Science Project
Central Dilemma = incompatibility of plot and interactivity
Dead ends = branching narrative
Cheats = foldback systems etc.
see “Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling.”
Real choice considered centrally important to sense of agency
see Janet Murray, “Hamlet on the Holodeck.”
Representation/Modeling /Story Engine
Need a formal system that computer can operate on. Data plus Rules
Math: numbers and operators
Photoshop: pixels, colors, and algorithms for manipulating them
AI Expert Diagnosis system ->
How to Represent Story?
Story Engine
- data = pieces of story/ narrative units
- algorithm = methods for recombining the parts
Influences for this have been various analyses of story structures for example.
- Vladimir Propp, “Morphology of a Folk Tale”
- Robert McKee, “Story Seminar”
- Roland Barthes, "S/Z"
Problems
- size of story chunks, categorizing of chunks, linking of chunks
- analysis of story not interactive story
- at best recreation of most stereotypical of texts?
I have not read this yet, but I think it might be useful, feel free to read and comment!
Brian Magerko: A Comparative Analysis of Story Representations for Interactive Narrative Systems. AIIDE 2007: 91-94 http://gel.msu.edu/magerko/
How to Represent Character?
Physical/Graphical
- 2D or 3D animation - script v procedure (mocap)
- realistic response
- spatial awareness
Mental
- model of goals and motivations
- model of personality
- model of emotions
- link between these models and plot
How to deal with the Interactor?
“Drama Manager” Chris Crawford on Brenda Laurel
Constraints - Laurel
Scripting the Interactor,
- Janet Murray, "Hamlet on the Holodeck"
- Josephine Anstey, Dave Pape, "Scripting the Interactor: An Approach to VR Drama" in the proceedings of the Fourth Creativity and Cognition Conference an ACM SIGCHI Conference, Loughborough University, UK, Oct 13-17, 2002
User model, Magy Seif El-Nasr (see reading for 2/11)
AI and Interactive Fiction
Where do you put the intelligence? In characters, in story system? How link?
- AI and story - planning, goal setting etc.
- AI and navigation - path finding, spatial awareness
- AI and believable characters
- AI and social characters
- AI and natural language
Although this is on game AI it is a good survey of the issues involved for interactive fiction as well.
“Expressive AI: Games and Artificial Intelligence.” Mateas, M. In Proceedings of Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference,Utrecht, Netherlands, Nov. 2003.http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~mateas/publications.html
Also see readings on syllabus by Szilas (2/18), Aylett (2/20), Medler (3/31), Cavazza 4/09)