[MUD-Dev] TECH DGN: Story detection

[Greg B]

On 8/11/05, Boyle, Paul <PBoyle at maxis.com> wrote:

> I've seen some limited plot generation stuff in MUDs and the
> broader gaming world.  Most of it has fallen along the lines of
> mad-lib like quests with a few bolder story generation attempts in
> the AI research field.

> However, I haven't really seen any attempt to detect the story a
> player is trying to tell within a game.  Façade does it a little,
> trying to fit your plot contributions into the overall plot of the
> one act play they tell.  And there are plenty of demonstrations of
> machinma in operation where the player can tell their story
> without the game really being aware of it.  However, what I'm
> looking for is work on detecting that a recognizable story is
> being told by the player, so that the game can then interact with
> the player on that level.  Something capable of correlating more
> than a single event or state, not just embedded branch points or
> plot triggers.

> My hope is that you guys can give me some idea how hard this is,
> even in a limited context domain like a game.

Paul,

Here are my very feeble ideas on this really interesting point.

Characters would need some type of data collection associated with
them.  This is done commonly now, but I would argue that the more
robust the system, the better for our present purposes.

By this, I mean at least the following type of data: How many "X"
has the player killed?  Where in the world has the player been?
What faction/guild is the player with and what is the character
position within the faction/guild?  What major quests and/or special
items can the character claim?

Now, if you have all that data individually associated with each
character you could do some story detection through dialog.  Assume
we have that information above and a character travels to meet a NPC
diplomat in a foreign land.  The character might get some dialog
that these elements woven in:

"Oh CharacterName1 your reputation proceeds you.  As leader of the
GuildName you are a most welcome guest in our kingdom.  Legends of
your war against the (MonsterName i.e. goblins) are well known in
our land.  Is that the mighty WeponType WeaponName by your side?  Is
it true you vanquished the terrible UniqueMonsterName to win that
prize? My friends in OtherKingdomName tell of your exploits there as
well."

I can imagine further relationship type elements being brought into
the story.  Imagine that CharacterName2 is on your "friends list" in
the game.  CharacterName2 has done a lot for a particular NPC and
won great favor with that NPC.  When CharacterName1 first meets the
NPC, the NPC might say: "Welcome CharacterName1, any friend of
CharacterName2 is a a friend of ours as well.  She has done many
great deeds for us.  How can I help you today?"

This might even influence the subsequent dialog and possible quests
given to CharacterName1.  That would make relationships even more
important in the virtual world than they are now.  Currently there
is certainly a Player to Player effect of personal relationships.
This might go far to produce an actual Player to Environment effect
from your personal relationships.

All this would be amusing at best and not "deep" by any means, but
it would be a step in the right direction.

Perhaps this at least helps get the ball rolling.

Greg
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