[MUD-Dev] TECH DGN: Story detection

[paulmc at syd.microforte.com.au]

Mike Rozak wrote:
> Paul Boyl wrote:

> My take on your definition of story, for your post, is that story
> is a chain of events that lead to a known/desired outcome. What
> you want is for the computer to realize what outcome the player is
> looking for, and subtly manipulate virtual reality so the player's
> desired outcome is met?  Example: In Facade, the system realizes
> the player is trying to get a fight going between the couple, so
> it plays along.

> I haven't seen this done so explicitely, although almost all
> computer "games" allow players to affect the outcome of the
> experience through their actions. At some level (conscious and/or
> subconscious) the player knows that doing X will likley cause Y to
> happen. Thus, the player can consciously/subconsciously get to the
> desired outcome. This is aided by the fact that most games only
> have one or two possible outomes that end the game, but they have
> many intermediate outcomes during the game.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart and I keep coming back to
the same question: do players want stories or do they want drama? Do
I care about plot and a conventional narrative structure, or do I
care about doing something meaningful within a dramatic context?

Paul
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