Resolutions to Some Problems in Interactive Storytelling Volume 1 Ernest W. Adams A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Teesside for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. January 2013 Abstract This thesis addresses a number of related problems that have long been the subject of debate among theorists and practitioners of interactive storytelling. Foremost among them are two, the Problem of Internal Consistency and the Problem of Narrative Flow, that are caused by a perceived tension between a player’s desire for interactive freedom and agency, and an interactive story designer’s ability to offer a coherent story-like experience. The thesis shows how the problems arise from faulty, and often unstated, assumptions about what the ideal interactive storytelling experience should be like. I propose a new schema for understanding the relationship between the player and the designer, and for understanding the player’s role in creating his own experience. According to this schema, the player accepts a degree of responsibility for the coherence of his own experience, which is directly proportional to the degree of freedom that the software offers him. The problems are thus resolved. The thesis also discusses a variety of other issues related to interactive storytelling that I have considered over the years: the fact that players are often expected to enact a character who knows more about the story world than the player actually does, which I call the Problem of Amnesia; the overloading of the term conflict ; a false analogy between dramatic tension and gameplay tension; an idea called a credibility budget, which I suggest as a possible feature of a future automated story-generation system; some emotional consequences for players that attend implementation of agency by various means; and certain challenges that face development of a semiotics for video games. The thesis concludes with a template and guide to writing a requirements specification for interactive storytelling experiences. I present arguments for the value of requirements specifications as design tools both for practitioners and for students. Dedication This work is respectfully dedicated to Willie Crowther and Don Woods, creators of Adventure, who first set my feet upon the road. Acknowledgments The research presented in this thesis was conducted over a period of 16 years, from 1995 to 2011. I could not possibly list all the people who have given me advice and insight during that time, and will have to confine myself to a few who were especially generous with their time and thoughts. My greatest debt is of course to my adviser, Clive Fencott, who first suggested that I work towards a PhD by Completed Work at the University of Teesside, and who offered me the position of Visiting Fellow at that institution, without which this work would not have been possible. His encouragement and support have been invaluable. It was during a lecture delivered by Ken Perlin at the Virtual Storytelling Conference ’05 in Strasbourg, France, that I had the insight that forms the nucleus of this thesis. If Ken had not made the offhand remark, “The cost of an event in an interactive story should be directly proportional to its improbability,” I would have had rather less to say. Since then Ken and I have had many long and fruitful conversations about interactive storytelling at a variety of conferences, for which I am very grateful. Michael Mateas was particularly helpful during the writing of this thesis, and he is the scholar from whom I quote the most. I remain an awed admirer of his seminal work Façade, created with Andrew Stern. Chris Bateman’s advice on the Template and Guide to Writing a Requirements Specification for Interactive Storytelling (Appendix V) was enormously helpful. Steven Bachelder, Ian Bogost, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Janet Murray, Jim Simmons, Rich Carlson and Ulf Wilhelmsson have all provided inspiration and shown me kindness, and I thank them. Thanks also to Anna-Sophia Alklind Taylor for telling me how she unintentionally violated the plot of Syberia II . Finally, I could never have done this work with the generous support and eagle eye of my wife Mary Ellen Foley, who read the manuscript in draft and made many helpful suggestions. The words are all mine, however, and all responsibility for any errors or omissions lies with me. Copyright Notice Volume 1 copyright © 2012 by Ernest W. Adams, all rights reserved. Volume 2 lectures copyright © Ernest W. Adams in the year of their delivery; Gamasutra Designer’s Notebook columns © United Business Media in the year of publication, reprinted by permission. Volume 3 copyright © 2006 by Prentice Hall. Volume 4 copyright © 2009 by New Riders. Volume 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction and Historical Background...................................................................7 1.1 Conventions Used In This Thesis......................................................................8 1.1.1 Pronouns....................................................................................................8 1.1.2 Terms for the Producers and Consumers of Stories..................................8 1.2 Excluded Subject Areas.....................................................................................9 1.2.1 Static Hypertext.........................................................................................9 1.2.2 Multipresent Interaction Models.............................................................10 1.2.3 Multiplayer Contexts...............................................................................11 1.2.4 Low-Interaction Automated Story Generation Systems..........................12 1.3 Organization of the Work................................................................................13 1.3.1 Literature Survey.....................................................................................13 1.3.2 Volumes Included....................................................................................13 1.3.3 Volume 1 Chapter Overview...................................................................14 2 Overview of Adams’s Contributions.......................................................................17 2.1 Objective of the Work.....................................................................................17 2.2 Career Summary..............................................................................................18 2.3 Primary Works.................................................................................................18 3 Key Terms and Concepts........................................................................................23 3.1 Terms Used in This Thesis..............................................................................23 3.1.1 Player and Role-Playing..........................................................................23 3.1.2 Narrative and Interactive Narrative.........................................................25 3.1.3 Story and Plot..........................................................................................26 3.1.4 Interactivity and Agency..........................................................................29 3.1.5 Interactive Storytelling............................................................................31 3.1.6 Interactive Drama....................................................................................33 3.1.7 Story-Like................................................................................................34 3.2 Avatar Specificity............................................................................................35 3.3 Storytelling Mechanisms.................................................................................36 3.3.1 Plot Structures.........................................................................................37 3.3.2 Mechanisms for Advancing the Plot........................................................42 4 “The Challenge of the Interactive Movie”..............................................................45 5 The Problem of Amnesia........................................................................................48 5.1 Original Statement of the Problem..................................................................48 5.2 Critique and Resolution...................................................................................49 6 The Problem of Internal Consistency.....................................................................52 6.1 Original Statement of the Problem..................................................................53 6.2 Internal Consistency in Tabletop Games.........................................................54 6.3 Attempted Resolution: Compromise...............................................................55 6.4 Solutions Proposed by Others.........................................................................56 1 6.4.1 Privileging the Story................................................................................56 6.4.2 Privileging Player Freedom.....................................................................59 6.4.3 Sandbox Games.......................................................................................61 6.4.4 Procedurally Generated Plots..................................................................64 6.5 Critique............................................................................................................66 6.5.1 Avatar Specificity....................................................................................66