The Artist’s Mathematical Palette
Weighting Factors
How to Set Values
PART III Strategies for Interactive Storytelling
Chapter 7
Simple Strategies That Don’t Work
Branching Trees
Foldback Schemes
Constipated Stories
Kill ‘Em If They Stray
Storified Games
Chapter 8
Environmental Strategies
Emergent Story
Possible Extensions
Extending the Size of the Three-dimensional World
More Props
More Agents
Smarter Agents
More and Better Puzzles
A Journey Structure
All of the Above
Storytelling in The Sims
Chapter 9
Data-Driven Strategies
Story Components
Connectivity Data
A Short Digression
The Aarne-Thompson Catalogues
Applications
Vladimir Propp
An Application
Georges Polti
Chapter 10
Language-Based Strategies
An Inside-Out Approach
Language and Reality
Vocabulary
Grammars
Meaning
Inverse Parsing
Semantic Networks
Graphical Languages
Basic English
Pictorial Languages
PART IV Core Technologies for Interactive Storytelling
Chapter 11
Personality Models
Factors in Developing a Personality Model
Completeness
Conciseness
Orthogonality
Tied to Behavior
Overspecificity
Types of Personality Variables
Polarity of Variables
Moods
My Preferred Personality Model
Intrinsic Variables
Mood Variables
Volatility Variables
Accordance Variables
Relationship Variables
Automatic Relationship Adjustment
Calculating with Personality Variables
Putting a Personality Model to Work: An Exercise
Chapter 12
Drama Managers
Listen
Think
Speak
Environmental Manipulation
Goal Injection
Shifting Personalities
The Ticking Clock of Doom
Dropping the Fourth Wall
“Correcting” the Player
Scoring Systems
Example: An Arthurian Storyworld
Tragedy
Chapter 13
Verbs and Events
Verb Counts
Specific Versus Generalized Verb Handling
Events
Chomskian, or Recursive, Data Structures
Flat Data Structures
Chapter 14
HistoryBooks and Gossip
HistoryBooks
Gossip
Recording Events
Constructing Tales
Finding a Gossip-Mate
Lies
Intent to Harm Relationships
Gain Benefit Through Misdirection
Defensive Denial
Secrets
The Grapevine
Chapter 15
Anticipation
Including Anticipation
Choosing Verbs
Including Logical Inferences
Inference Engines
Tree Analysis
Chapter 16
Roles and Sequencing
Selecting Options
Hard-wired Versus Soft-wired Approaches
Roles
From Plan to Execution
Deferred Reactions
Chapter 17
Development Environments
Historical Background
The Importance of Development Environments
Elements of Development Environments
Algorithmic Entry
Some Suggestions
Setting the Context
Threadtests and Rehearsals
ComeFrom Analysis
Debuggers
A Programming Note
Script Editing
PART V Applications
Chapter 18
The Erasmatron
Early Efforts
The Erasmatron Engine
Data Types
Roles
Scripts
Inclination Formulae
Time in the Erasmatron
Plan Execution
Movement and Space
Additional Odds and Ends in the Engine
Future Directions
Chapter 19
Research
Generic Issues
Hammers and Nails
Boolean Thinking
The Oz Project
Experience Management
Story Traces
Façade
The Dr K- Project
HEFTI
IDTension
The Virtual Storyteller
InterTale
Story Grammars
Interactive Drama Architecture
DraMachina
Personal Narrative Agents
HTN- and HSP-Based Technologies
Chapter 20
Distant Relatives
Interactive Fiction
Hypertext Fiction
Digital Storytelling
Scriptwriting Software
Role-Playing Games
Simulations
Narrative Intelligence
Chapter 21
Prognostications
The Evolutionary School
The Wrong Verbs
The Wrong Themes
Market Factors
A Marketing Fairy Tale
A Marketing Nightmare
The Revolutionary School
Implications of the Market-Driven Approach
Increasing Awareness
Predictions
Index
About the Author
Chris Crawford
was one of the leading lights of the computer games industry. He led the games research group at Atari, where he wrote
The Art of Computer Game Design
, one of the classics in the field. He designed and programmed fourteen published computer games and wrote five books on software design. He founded and led the Computer Game Developers Conference, now known as the Game Developers Conference. Then in 1992 he walked away from computer games to work on interactive storytelling. Over the intervening years, Crawford has created and developed the Erasmatron interactive storytelling technology, portions of which he has patented. Crawford continues to advance the state of the art through his writings, lectures, and Phrontisterion, an annual conference on interactive storytelling. Crawford lives in the mountains of southern Oregon with his wife, Kathy, and with two dogs, eleven cats, three ducks, three burros, and one pig. He also had two goats and two emus, but the mountain lion ate them.
