Handbook on interactive storytelling /
Jouni Smed, Tomi "bgt" Suovuo, Natasha Skult, Petter Skult.
- 1 online resource : illustrations
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface viii -- 1 Introduction 1 -- 1.1 Interactive storytelling 3 -- 1.1.1 Partakers 6 -- 1.1.2 Narrative, plot and story 7 -- 1.1.3 Interaction 9 -- 1.2 History of interactive storytelling 11 -- 1.2.1 Theatre 12 -- 1.2.2 Multicursal literature 14 -- 1.3 Role-playing games 15 -- 1.3.1 Hypertext fiction 16 -- 1.3.2 Webisodics 16 -- 1.3.3 Interactive cinema 17 -- 1.3.4 Television 19 -- 1.3.5 Games 20 -- 1.4 Summary 24 -- Exercises 24 -- 2 Background 28 -- 2.1 Analysis of storytelling 28 -- 2.1.1 Aristotle's Poetics 28 -- 2.1.2 Visual storytelling 33 -- 2.1.3 Structuralism 37 -- 2.1.4 Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey 47 -- 2.1.5 Kernels and satellites 49 -- 2.2 Research on interactive storytelling 50 -- 2.2.1 Brenda Laurel and interactive drama 53 -- 2.2.2 Janet Murray and the cyberbard 55 -- 2.2.3 Models for interactive storytelling 56 -- 2.2.4 Narrative paradox and other research challenges 57 -- 2.3 Summary 62 -- Exercises 62 -- 3 Platform 66 -- 3.1 Software development 67 -- 3.1.1 Model-view-controller 68 -- 3.1.2 Interactor's interface 70 -- 3.1.3 Designer's interface 73 -- 3.1.4 Modding 73 -- 3.2 Solving the narrative paradox 74 -- 3.2.1 Author-centric approach 76 -- 3.2.2 Character-centric approach 79 -- 3.2.3 Hybrid approach 80 -- 3.3 Implementations 82 -- 3.3.1 Pioneering storytelling systems 82 -- 3.3.2 Crawford's IDS systems 84 -- 3.3.3 Stern's and Mateas' Fa�cade 85 -- 3.3.4 Experimental systems 86 -- 3.3.5 Other systems 87 -- 3.4 Summary 88 -- Exercises 89 -- 4 Designer 92 -- 4.1 Storyworld types 93 -- 4.1.1 Linear storyworlds 94 -- 4.1.2 Branching storyworlds 96 -- 4.1.3 Open storyworlds 99 -- 4.2 Design process and tools 102 -- 4.2.1 Concepting the storyworld 102 -- 4.2.2 Iterative design process 109 -- 4.2.3 Evaluating interactive stories 111 -- 4.3 Relationship with the interactor 114 -- 4.3.1 Focalization 114 -- 4.3.2 Story as message 115 -- 4.4 Summary 117 -- Exercises 117 -- 5 Interactor 121 -- 5.1 Experiencing an interactive story 122 -- 5.1.1 Onboarding - from amnesia to awareness 124 -- 5.1.2 Supporting the journey 124 -- 5.1.3 Is there an end? 126 -- 5.1.4 Re-experiencing an interactive story 127 -- 5.2 Agency 128 -- 5.2.1 Theoretical and perceived agency 129 -- 5.2.2 Local and global agency 130 -- 5.2.3 Invisible agency 130 -- 5.2.4 Limited agency and no agency 131 -- 5.2.5 Illusion of agency 131 -- 5.3 Immersion 132 -- 5.3.1 Immersion types 132 -- 5.3.2 Models for immersion 133 -- 5.3.3 Flow 134 -- 5.4 Transformation 135 -- 5.5 Interactor types 136 -- 5.5.1 Top-down analysis 137 -- 5.5.2 Bottom-up analysis 140 -- 5.5.3 Discussion 141 -- 5.6 Summary 141 -- Exercises 143 -- 6 Storyworld 146 -- 6.1 Characters 147 -- 6.1.1 Perception 148 -- 6.1.2 Memory 149 -- 6.1.3 Personality 150 -- 6.1.4 Decision-making 154 -- 6.2 Elemental building blocks 157 -- 6.2.1 Props 157 -- 6.2.2 Scenes 160 -- 6.2.3 Events 161 -- 6.3 Representation 162 -- 6.3.1 Visual 164 -- 6.3.2 Audio 165 -- 6.4 Summary 167 -- Exercises 167 -- 7 Perspectives 170 -- 7.1 Multiple interactors 170 -- 7.1.1 Multiple focus 170 -- 7.1.2 Persistence 171 -- 7.2 Extended reality 172 -- 7.2.1 Visual considerations 172 -- 7.2.2 Developing a language of expression 174 -- 7.3 Streaming media 175 -- 7.3.1 Problems 175 -- 7.3.2 Solution proposals 176 -- 7.4 Other technological prospects 177 -- 7.4.1 Voice recognition 177 -- 7.4.2 Locating 178 -- 7.4.3 Artificial intelligence 178 -- 7.5 Ethical considerations 180 -- 7.5.1 Platform 180 -- 7.5.2 Designer 181 -- 7.5.3 Interactor 182 -- 7.5.4 Storyworld 182 -- 7.6 Summary 182 -- Exercises 183 -- Bibliography 187 -- Ludography 204 -- Index
"Games are no longer 'just' entertainment or simply a leisure activity; multiple platforms that make games available at any moment of the day and connect the player to other players to become a part of a community play a big role in modern society. Interactive storytelling focuses on creating computer systems, where users experience a dramatically compelling narrative that responds to their actions. The objective of this book is to provide readers with a cohesive picture of the research currently being undertaken in interactive storytelling. In addition to the wealth of material, systematic structure, and extensive bibliography, each chapter provides a set of exercises ranging from implementational tasks to open research questions and starting points for further study. The book is also an inspiring source of information for game designers working in the game industry, focusing on the challenges in creating immersive narrative experiences for the player, irrespective of the technical aspects of game production. The case studies presented have been carefully selected with the aim of proposing specific design approaches where narrative is one of the main features of the gaming experience. Therefore, the book is also aimed at gaming industry- experts who wish to tackle the notion of interactive storytelling to its full potential"--