First Gen Drama Engines

Comparing First Generation Drama Engines: 

Comparing First Generation Drama Engines

What is a “Drama Engine”?: 

What is a “Drama Engine”? An engine capable of interpreting domain language code to support interaction with dramatically interesting characters A way to creatively author character AI A system that supports the self-organization of social contexts in the player’s mind, reflected to some degree in the game The artistic and commercial future of play

Approaches To A Wicked Problem: 

Approaches To A Wicked Problem

Storytron: 

Storytron World is composed of sentences in toy language, together they “generate” a story Linguistic “Deikto” Interface – Turn-Based Business model based on subscriptions No animation, no spatial relationships Static facial feedback Special actor “Fate” manages discourse Characters are defined by bounded (-1,1) floats, traits are constant, perception of traits is variable

Reacting To Verbs Involves Adjusting Variables: 

Reacting To Verbs Involves Adjusting Variables

Every Way Of Reacting To A Given Verb Is Weighed By Inclination Equations The Author Designs, a Character’s Personality Traits are Taken as Input : 

Every Way Of Reacting To A Given Verb Is Weighed By Inclination Equations The Author Designs, a Character’s Personality Traits are Taken as Input

Jane Rejects Fred’s Advances, Violence and Gossip Result: 

Jane Rejects Fred’s Advances, Violence and Gossip Result

I Want To Get In Jane’s Head, So I Open Her Up In The Editor : 

I Want To Get In Jane’s Head, So I Open Her Up In The Editor

After Adjusting Her Opinion Of Fred Things Go Better: 

After Adjusting Her Opinion Of Fred Things Go Better

Storytron Limitations: 

Storytron Limitations Each verb requires a minimum of five scripts per Boolean role, plus one script per variable adjusted and three or five scripts per reaction option Content demands tend toward limited Local Agency, but powerful Global Agency due to generative recombination Balancing and debugging potentially staggering due to highly coupled nature of content Graphically spare front-end limits feedback

Façade’s Architecture: 

Façade’s Architecture A suite of modules and languages A high-level “Beat” authoring language A language for global “Mix-in” behaviors A language for local “Joint Dialogue” behaviors A language parser build on top of JESS A Drama Manager that uses probability at a high level to sequence “Beats”

A Behavioral Language: Core Content Creation Tool: 

A Behavioral Language: Core Content Creation Tool

Relative Proximity And Facial Expressions Give Feedback On Joint Dialogue Behaviors: 

Relative Proximity And Facial Expressions Give Feedback On Joint Dialogue Behaviors

Façade’s Architecture's Limitations: 

Façade’s Architecture's Limitations Learning curve for ABL is steep, authoring environment may improve this Content is oriented toward rich Local Agency but limited Global Agency, more Beats may balance this by increasing number of generative recombinations Input and feedback are not always clear, due to limitations of language parsing and system ambiguity Actors attempts to play off out-of-character inputs rely on a complaint player

Drama Princess: 

Drama Princess Behavior and Animation Module for 144, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood Actors are “empty shells” driven by objects in environment and characterized by a single variable, enthusiasm, which weighs changes in affection for objects Lack of feedback intentional to emphasize player interpretation Filters on available behaviors (distance, condition, intimacy, affection) limit actions to a particular context Uses probability at a low level to mix behaviors

Affection Rises: 

Affection Rises

Adjusting Enthusiasm : 

Adjusting Enthusiasm

Relationships Evolve Over Time: 

Relationships Evolve Over Time

Limitations of Drama Princess: 

Limitations of Drama Princess Oriented toward free-form play, can’t support goals or strategy Randomness implies a lack of control, which implies a short-live novelty and little re-play value, though casual players may enjoy it occasionally to relax Lack of behavioral complexity and language implies shallow social play Little to no Global Agency

Rocket Heart: 

Rocket Heart Characters behave in procedurally unique ways and have unique relationships in a goal context Designed to nest inside more traditional forms of gameplay and interface with game engine Game actions can alter code for character’s relationship actions Actions are conducted in context of relationship, but can mismatch to dramatic effect Hinges on carefully arranged, cascading feedback, based on periodic shifts in relationships and reacting actions Tactile interface provides context-sensitive options

An Argument Between Rivals: 

An Argument Between Rivals

Anna: A Shy Romantic: 

Anna: A Shy Romantic

Rocket Heart Limitations: 

Rocket Heart Limitations Requires supporting gameplay for involving play complexity Characters tend toward over-the-top behavior, limiting potential aesthetics to Shogo-sequel theatrics, and potential audiences to the casual web and mobile spaces Balancing behaviors with game context and other actors is difficult Tends toward more Local than Global Agency, more strongly than Facade

Conclusions On The Outset Of The First Generation: 

Conclusions On The Outset Of The First Generation Emergent systems are much faster to create than Generative systems (five months versus five years) Procedurally unique characters richen Local Agency, while balancing and content limits constrain Global Agency, visa versa for homogenous, data-differentiated characters Generative systems can provide social play that stands on its own, while emergent systems are augmentative to more traditional forms of play Once a system has been established and tested, the time involved in producing content becomes much lower than spatial level design in traditional games Procedural and/or modular art assets make drama game development significantly cheaper than lineated games

What Would Entail A Second Generation Drama Engine?: 

What Would Entail A Second Generation Drama Engine? Clearly and thematically designed input schemes that are “consistently inconsistent” – matching feedback that can be inferred from character cues to a degree of ambiguity that is balanced with the game Leveraging of available forms of social feedback (language, gestures, relative proximity, facial expressions, posture) in a complementary suite Leveraging new forms of input to make context-sensitive verb choices more intuitive and less mechanical (e.g. Wii and PS3 motion sensors) Successful experimentation with background social simulation to cue characters based on a greater culture, or to allow the player to influence said culture indirectly (candidates include Boid’s algorithm, Memetic algorithm’s driven by authored heuristics)