Jeroen Linssen | PhD studentHuman Media Interaction

University of Twente

Meta Matters inStories and

Games

2014-10-04

Meta Matters

Intelligent board games (cont.)

■ Different players, different games, different styles

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The game & the experience

Experience}Bla?Bla!

*(@#*&(!!!#@$@

Game

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The Interactive Storyteller

■ http://vimeo.com/68865491

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Analysing play

■ Red skips to the beach.■ Granny bursts out in tears.■ Child playing Granny: Because you are leaving me!

■ Hello, says Wolf to Red.■ Child 1: You have to give him the cake!■ Child 2: It has to be poisoned first.■ Child 1: (...) I will do that, alright?

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Meta Matters

Perspective × Reference

Reference

Story Game Reality

Character In-character utterances and imitations

In-character about game elements

In-character about events outside play

Player Action suggestions referring to story

Communication about game aspects

Including real-life events or objects in play

Person Observations about events in story

Observations about interface, opinions about game

Communication about events or objects outside play

Per

spec

tive

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Findings

■ First:■ Discuss system mechanics■ Complain about interface

■ Later:■ Planning in story■ Less about system mechanics

■ Playing is more than just the game itself!

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Meta-game thinking

■ “– 100 XP!”

■ Mass Effect 3 controversy:mismatched expectations

■ People contain multitudes...

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The Virtual Storyteller

■ ...so what about virtual agents?

■ In-character vs. out-of-character

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Plot control

■ Out-of-character thinking about the plot■ Doing ‘interesting’ actions■ Limiting actions per story phase

Exposition

Rising action

Climax

Falling action

Denouement

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Late commitment

■ http://vimeo.com/11836534

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Perceptions & assumptions

■ Omniscient characters: no deception, no betrayals

■ Limit characters’ perception...■ ...but how can they plan towards goals?■ Using assumptions

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FearNot!

■ Agents with emotions

■ Double appraisal

■ Serious ‘game’: player helps character cope

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Serious games: reflection

■ “All games revolve around learning.” (Erik van der Spek)

■ “Learning starts when the game stops.”

■ Lemniscate Model

Game Learning

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LOITER: Interaction with virtual characters

■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tOCnd8ZHG8■ Improving social awareness■ Interaction with virtual agents■ Cognitive model for social interaction

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Learning goals & feedback

■ Goals? Meta-goals!

■ Learning goals based on theories from social psychology■ Examples: recognise stance and adopt a stance

■ Feedback for reflection■ Explainable AI■ Supports the learning goals

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Meta Matters

Meta-techniques

■ (Nordic) live action role play

■ Meta-technique: communicatingout-of-character information

■ Examples: inner monologue,flashbacks/forwards

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Meta-technique:‘Inner monologue’

■ Provide insight into characters’ minds

■ Inspiration: thought bubblesfrom comics, games

■ Not very intrusive to story flow,still play/reflect cycle

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Meta-technique:‘Act break’

■ Complexity levels of interaction/learning goals■ Feedback through discussion: explainable AI

■ More intrusive play & reflect cycle

Part 1 Act break Part 2 Act

break

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Integrating the meta

■ Tutor agents

■ Breaking the 4th wall

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■ Replayability & adaptive difficulty

AI Director22/25

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Reflections

■ A game is more than its rules

■ Humans are agents too

■ Design for the whole experience!

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Take Home Message

Be μετά

Meta Matters

And they learned happily ever after...

mail j.m.linssen@utwente.nl

blog jmlin.eu/phd

Virtual Storyteller virtualstoryteller.info

IUALL.nl

Thanks for listening!

Let’s discuss...

Thanks for listening!

Let’s discuss...

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Meta Matters

Publications

■ Theune, M., Linssen, J.M., & Alofs, T. (2013). Acting, Playing or Talking about the Story: Children’s Communication during Interactive Digital Storytelling. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling.

■ Bruijnes, M., Linssen, J.M., op den Akker, H.J.A., Theune, M., Wapperom, S., Broekema, C., & Heylen, D.K.J. (2014). Social Behaviour in Police Interviews: Relating Data to Theories, in Poggi, I., Vincze, L., & Vinciarelli, A. (eds.) Conflict and Negotiation: Social Research and Machine Intelligence, Springer, Berlin.

■ Linssen, J.M., Theune, M., & de Groot, T.F. (2013). What Is at Play? Meta-techniques in Serious Games and Their Effects on Social Believability and Learning. In Proceedings of the Social Believability in Games Workshop.

■ Linssen, J.M., de Groot, T.F., & Theune, M. (2014). Beyond Simulations: Serious Games for Training Interpersonal Skills in Law Enforcement. In Proceedings of the International Conference of the European Social Simulation Association.

■ van Oostendorp, H., van der Spek, E.D., & Linssen, J.M. (2014). Adapting the Complexity Level of a Serious Game to the Proficiency of Players. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games, 14(2).

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References (1/2)

■ Murray, J. H. (1997). Hamlet on the holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. Simon and Schuster, New York, NY.

■ Belarbi, S., Bergström, K., Ebbehøj, S. L., Hansen, E. E., Fatland, E., Giæver, O. P., … Westlund, A. (2010). Nordic larp. (J. Stenros & M. Montola, Eds.).

■ Swartjes, I. M. T. (2010). Whose story is it anyway? How improv informs agency and authorship of emergent narrative. Centre for Telematics and Information Technology University of Twente.

■ XKCD.com, comic 1089

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References (2/2)

■ Aylett, R., Louchart, S., Dias, J., Paiva, A., & Vala, M. (2005). FearNot! An experiment in emergent narrative. In Intelligent Virtual Agents (pp. 305–316).

■ Koops, M., & Hoevenaar, M. (2012). Conceptual Change During a Serious Game: Using a Lemniscate Model to Compare Strategies in a Physics Game. Simulation & Gaming, 44(4), 544–561.

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Virtual Storyteller credits

■ Mariët Theune, coordinator (2002 – now)■ Hans ten Brinke, perceptions and assumptions (2014)■ Thijs Alofs, Interactive Storyteller (2012)■ Ivo Swartjes, lead designer (2006 – 2010)■ Pjotter Tommassen, plot control (2009)■ Nanda Slabbers, language generation (2006)■ Sander Rensen (2003)■ Sander Faas (2002)

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Sources

■ D&D picture: http://www.blastr.com/2010/06/easy_version_of_dd_create.php

■ Community screenshot: http://io9.com/5810498/did-you-hear-about-the-time-nbc-tried-to-kill-communitys-dd-episode

■ Monopoly: http://chnetwork.org/2013/08/parable-of-the-game-by-marcus-grodi/

■ Little Red Riding Hood lithograph: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11592/11592-h/11592-h.htm

■ Larp picture: Ralf Hüls■ Left 4 Dead AI director: http://

www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2009/ai_systems_of_l4d_mike_booth.pdf

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