48 research outputs found
Connecting Narrative Worlds
Report on the 6th International Conference for Interactive Digital Storytelling: “Connecting Narrative Worlds”, Bahçeşehir University Istanbul, November 6-9, 201
Practicalities and Ideologies, (Re)-Considering the Interactive Digital Narrative Authoring Paradigm
In this paper, we discuss the hypothetical nature of authoring
Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) and the formal authorial
process for this medium. We explore the current state-of-the-Art
in IDN authorial approaches and consider the perspective of a
traditional and technologically naïve author. We propose a
combination of meta-narrative and autonomous agent approaches
in a quest to democratize IDN authoring to a wider, less
technically oriented audience. In doing so, we ask fundamental
questions with regards to how the user experience can be
expressed within the authorial process. We also, as part of this
discussion, reflect on the nature of authoring IDNs and the author
him/herself
Interactive Narrative Design beyond the Secret Art Status: A Method to Verify Design Conventions for Interactive Narrative
In recent years, game narrative has emerged as an area for novel game concepts and as a strategy to distinguish a particular title. However, innovation in this area comes primarily from indie companies and individual efforts by noted designers. There is a lack of trained specialists ready to produce interactive narrative experiences. Many existing practitioners are self-trained and often rely on intuition in their design practice. A key element missing from the effort towards a more sustained development and improved professional training is a set of design conventions that fulfill a role comparable to cinematic conventions like continuity editing or montage. Therefore, our research focuses on identifying, verifying and collecting such design strategies. We describe an empirical method to verify candidate design conventions through the evaluation of user reaction to A/B prototypes, which improves upon the trial-and-error process of old
INDCOR white paper 1: A shared vocabulary for IDN (Interactive Digital Narratives)
COST Action 18230 INDCOR (Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representations) is an interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners intended to further the use of interactive digital narratives (IDN1) to represent highly complex topics. IDN possess crucial advantages in this regard, but more knowledge is needed to realize these advantages in broad usage by media producers and the general public. The lack of a shared vocabulary is a crucial obstacle on the path to a generalized, accessible body of IDN knowledge. This white paper frames the situation from the perspective of INDCOR and describes the creation of an online encyclopedia as a means to overcome this issue. Two similar and successful projects (The Living Handbook of Narratology and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) serve as examples for this effort, showing how community-authored encyclopedias can provide high-quality content. The authors introduce a taxonomy based on an overarching analytical framework (SPP model) as the foundational element of the encyclopedia, and detail editorial procedures for the project, including a peer-review process, designed to assure high academic quality and relevance of encyclopedia entries. Also, a sample entry provides guidance for authors
INDCOR White Paper 2: Interactive Narrative Design for Representing Complexity
This white paper was written by the members of the Work Group focusing on
design practices of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for
Complexity Representation (INDCOR, WG1). It presents an overview of Interactive
Digital Narratives (IDNs) design for complexity representations through IDN
workflows and methodologies, IDN authoring tools and applications. It provides
definitions of the central elements of the IDN alongside its best practices,
designs and methods. Finally, it describes complexity as a feature of IDN, with
related examples. In summary, this white paper serves as an orienting map for
the field of IDN design, understanding where we are in the contemporary
panorama while charting the grounds of their promising futures.Comment: 11 pages, This whitepaper was produced by members of the COST Action
18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR -
https://indcor.eu
INDCOR white paper on the Design of Complexity IDNs
This white paper was written by the members of the Work Group focusing on design practices of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR, WG1). It presents an overview of Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) design for complexity representations through IDN workflows and methodologies, IDN authoring tools and applications. It provides definitions of the central elements of the IDN alongside its best practices, designs and methods. Finally, it describes complexity as a feature of IDN, with related examples. In summary, this white paper serves as an orienting map for the field of IDN design, understanding where we are in the contemporary panorama while charting the grounds of their promising futures
Reframing interactive digital narrative: toward an inclusive open-ended iterative process for research and practice
In more than two decades of research and practical experiments in interactive digital narrative (IDN), much insight about the relationship of narrative and digital media has been gained and many successful experiments have been undertaken, as a survey of the field illustrates. However, current approaches also limit the scope of experimentation and constrain theory in interactive narrative forms original to digital media.
After reviewing the "interactivisation" of legacy theory (neo-Aristotelian poetics for interactive drama, poststructuralism for hyperfiction, 20th century narratology for interactive fiction and as a general theory for IDN), the thesis introduces a theoretical framework that changes the focus from the product-centered view of legacy media towards system and the process of instantiation. The terms protostory describing the overall space of potential narratives in an IDN system, narrative design for the concrete assemblage of elements and narrative vectors as substructures that enable authorial control are introduced to supersede legacy terms like story and plot.
On the practical side, the thesis identifies limitations of existing approaches (e.g. legacy metaphors like the timeline, and authoring tools that support only particular traditions) To overcome these limitations a software toolset built on the principles of robustness, modularity, and extensibility is introduced and some early results are evaluated.
Finally, the thesis proposes an inclusive, open-ended iterative process as a structure for future IDN research in which practical implementations and research co-exist in a tightly coupled mutual relationship that allows changes on one side to be integrated on the other.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Murray, Janet; Committee Co-Chair: Bolter, Jay; Committee Member: Haahr, Mads; Committee Member: Knoespel, Kenneth; Committee Member: Pearce, Celi
Connecting narrative worlds
Report on the 6th International Conference for Interactive Digital Storytelling: "Connecting Narrative Worlds", Bahçeşehir University Istanbul, November 6-9, 2013
What Game Narrative Are We Talking About? An Ontological Mapping of the Foundational Canon of Interactive Narrative Forms
There have been misunderstandings regarding “narrative” in relation to games, in part due to the lack of a shared understanding of “narrative” and related terms. Instead, many contrasting perspectives exist, and this state of affairs is an impediment for current and future research. To address this challenge, this article moves beyond contrasting definitions, and based on a meta-analysis of foundational publications in game studies and related fields, introduces a two-dimensional mapping along the dimensions of media specificity and user agency. Media specificity describes to what extent medium affects narrative, and user agency concerns how much impact a user has on a narrative. This mapping is a way to visualize different ontological positions on “narrative” in the context of game narrative and other interactive narrative forms. This instrument can represent diverse positions simultaneously, and enables comparison between different perspectives, based on their distance from each other and alignment with the axes. A number of insights from the mapping are discussed that demonstrate the potential for this process as a basis for an improved discourse on the topic