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Lecture 3 CS148/248: Interactive Narrative

Lecture 3 CS148/248: Interactive Narrative. UC Santa Cruz School of Engineering www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps248/Spring2007 michaelm@cs.ucsc.edu 12 April 2007. Process Intensity. Process intensity - term coined by Chris Crawford Refers to the “crunch per bit” ratio

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Lecture 3 CS148/248: Interactive Narrative

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  1. Lecture 3CS148/248: Interactive Narrative UC Santa Cruz School of Engineering www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps248/Spring2007 michaelm@cs.ucsc.edu 12 April 2007

  2. Process Intensity • Process intensity - term coined by Chris Crawford • Refers to the “crunch per bit” ratio • How much processing does the computer do on the data? • Instantial assets – data displayed by computer • Sound files • Bitmaps • Text • Animations • …

  3. Instantial assets: a temptation • When first learning to program, instantial assets provide immediate reward • For art and humanities students, might feel more “safe” • But, instantial assets • Don’t make use of the unique properties of computational media • Limit possibilities for interaction • Create an authorial bottleneck • Are computationally “opaque”

  4. The essence of the medium • The essence of the computer as a representational medium is not • Intervention in the production or display of 3 dimensional forms or visual imagery (tools) • Interaction with a participant/observer (interactivity) • Control of electro-mechanical devices (installation) • Mediation of signals from distant locations (communication) • The essence of the computer as a medium is… Computation, processes of mechanical manipulation to which observers can ascribe meaning

  5. The conversation model of interaction • Listen – what is the range of possible utterances (verbs) provided to the player? • Think – how deeply does the system process the player’s utterance (understanding)? • Speak – what is the range and complexity of the system’s responses to its understanding of the player’s utterance? • Interaction is a combination of the depth of the listen/think/speak loop and the speed of the loop

  6. Instantial assets limit interaction • More degrees of interactive freedom require more complexity of response • As the interactor can say more, the program needs to be able to think and speak more • Responses generated from instantial assets… • Limit response to combinations of assets • Require more assets as the range of response grows • Can be an authorial bottleneck • Instantial design tends to limit interaction or collapse response

  7. Computational opacity • The meaning of instantial assets are opaque to code • Example: code that triggers video clips can’t reason about or manipulate the meaning of the clips • This opacity limits the code’s ability to resequence these assets in meaningful and interesting ways • Assets must be designed for sequencibility or… • Assets must be “opened-up” to the code

  8. But instantial assets aren’t “bad” • Can tap into rich meaning systems • Complex connotations, emotional flavor… • We don’t know how to procedurally generate rich instantial assets • This can quickly become an AI complete problem • Purely procedural work may be overly abstract • Need to appropriately balance the use of instantial assets and procedurality • Develop strategies for manipulation of instantial assets

  9. Two analytic frameworks • Laurel (1986, 1992): Aristotelian theory of interactive drama • Structural – what are the “pieces” of an interactive dramatic experience? • Murray (1998): the pleasures of interactive story • Experiential – what does an interactive story feel like?

  10. Laurel’s treatment of Aristotle Inferred Formal Cause Dramatic properties Structure Action (plot) Enactment Intensity Catharsis Intensity Closure Character Thought Language (Diction) Material Cause Pattern Enactment (Spectacle)

  11. Murray’s experiential categories • Immersion • Engagement; acceptance of internal logic • Transformation • Masquerade; variety; personal transformation • Agency • Action with effects relating to player intention

  12. Combine agency with Aristotelian categories • Agency chosen as primary • Immersion - engagement and identification • Transformation - change in the protagonist • Agency – not implicit in Aristotelian categories • How does the category of agency relate to the Aristotelian categories

  13. Structural prerequisites for agency Plot Constraints Action (plot) Player character Inferred Formal Cause Thought Player intention Language (Diction) Material Cause Material for action Pattern Enactment (Spectacle) Maximize agency when material and plot constraints are balanced

  14. Classic adventure game Plot Constraints Action (plot) Player character Thought Language (Diction) Material for action Pattern Enactment (Spectacle)

  15. Modern storygame (RPG and openworld) Plot Constraints Action (plot) Player character Thought Language (Diction) Material for action Pattern Enactment (Spectacle)

  16. Example: Classic FPS Plot Constraints Action (plot) Player character Thought Language (Diction) Material for action Pattern Enactment (Spectacle)

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