Graphics, Imaging, and Games Lab

This is a rough road map of the problems that need to be solved by our coherent emergent story system.  You can learn a bit more about this project via the poster we presented at GRAND 2013.

1. Applying prerequisites and assigning scores to scenes using modifiers:
   1. What are the best modifiers to use in calculating a scene’s score?
   2. What is the best way to calculate the score (e.g. a simple formula)?
   3. How will gameplay (e.g., movement/location, combat (?), explicit choices through dialogue or menus) affect the values used in the calculations? (It should be strongly connected.)
   4. How can this approach direct players into a certain path according to their choices (for example, losing too much innocence might change what story paths are available for the rest of the game)?
2. Deciding when and how to present scenes to players:
   1. When should a scene be chosen from the top scoring scene(s) to be offered to the player? Alternatively, when should a scene be available anytime so long as its current score is above a threshold? (can use tags to facilitate?)
   2. When should players be given a choice about consuming a scene and when will a scene’s presentation be triggered automatically? (design questions, make sure to support with framework)
   3. When there is a choice, how can it be creatively presented to the player? How can we foreshadow the consequences of choices?
3. Modifying scenes dynamically:
   1. When and how should we dynamically change a scene to connect back to the story the player has seen so far? (Dialogue, objects, motifs, location)
   2. How should we modify a scene to fit in with current game state (e.g., location, character availability)?
4. Ambiguity + development of threads -- thematic, character arcs
   1. How can we encourage multiple interpretations of core story events?
   2. How can reoccurring motifs be introduced into scenes in a meaningful way? (e.g. through objects that can be in the environment, colours, etc...)