Narrative & Dynamic Systems_Day2

Due: Sketches

Should have a story in mind, at this point, for project 1.

Outline

A man is kidnapped on his way home in the evening. When he opens his eyes, his hands are tied with ropes in a locked room. The kidnapper is roaming inside the building he’s pent. He has to avoid kidnapper’s notice and successfully escape. He thinks there are other people who were also kidnapped like him in other rooms.

He tries to escape from the building. But the kidnapper can see him. After escaping, he returns to his normal life. But he continues to wonder why he was kidnapped and finally goes back to the abandoned building.

Mood board

Precedents

A Black Room Series

Writing

A Beginner’s Guide to Designing Smart Chatbots

- What is the best chatbot you’ve experienced? What made it good?




Taro Chat Ramama on Facebook.
It has a very simple way to talk with and has a clear goal (tell the result of taro) and conversation. So I didn't get lost in the middle when I first use it.

- Describe a use-case for a chatbot that you haven’t seen but you think would be effective.

I think if there's a chatbot to help decision making, I would definitely use it. The chatbot doesn't have to always provide useful information. It can only have a simple function, random pick-up. For example, there's a user who is wondering between two options. One is wearing a yellow shirt, another is wearing a blue shirt. The person who is like me, it is kind of hard to make a decision. (Especially, when it's not a really important decision.) So the user can input these two options into the chatbot and it can randomly choose one of them.

Narrative & Dynamic Systems_Day 1

Write/describe 3 ideas for an interactive narrative.

1. Time Machine
   There is a researcher who is working in a national institute that develops a time machine. Most humans in her world are dead because of a certain accident. One day, she was given a mission of going back a year before the accident to prevent it from happening. In this story, the player can think possible effects of our actions on future generations and take responsibility for that.
2. Room escape
   A man is kidnapped on his way home in the evening. When he opens his eyes, his hands are tied with ropes in a strange room. The kidnapper is roaming inside the building he’s pent. He has to avoid kidnapper’s notice and successfully escape. In this story, the players can feel the thrill of escaping from the rooms to avoid kidnappers.
3. Wizard Shop
   A player went to a magic shop run by a frog and broke a very expensive item. So she has to pay it back by working there for three years. In this story, the player can experience things that happen in the story by running a story or store about magic.

Designing Branching Narrative

• List 5 possible world state variables for each of your 3 story ideas.

1. Time/ Places/ Prior quests completed/ Credibility of the organization
2. Items/ Time limit/ Skills/ NPC abilities/ Places
3. Date/ Places/ Weather/ NPC Friendship/ Money

• Create a simple graph for each of your story ideas

1. Time Machine
   
   
2. Room Escape
   
   
3. Wizard Shop
   
   

Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story

• What promise do each of your story ideas make?
• What truth, from your experience, do each of your ideas express?

1. Time Machine Promise: If player resolve the cause in the past, she will make the world where the player from better. Truth: We need to think about the impact our actions can have on future generations and take responsibility. When I was a freshman in university, there was a room assigned to freshman in my major. We thought it was our own room, so we used it recklessly, threw away trash. The next year, a new freshmen should have cleaned up our trash. And we had to clean up the room that second graders had been spending all week. We also suffered from inconveniences because many objects were damaged by them.
2. Room Escape Promise: Player can live if you succeed to escape this building without being caught by kidnapper. Truth: You will be punished if you commit a crime. Every action has consequences.
3. Wizard Shop Promise: When player pays all her debts, she doesn’t have to work in the shop anymore. Truth: How relationships with people around us affect our lives. From my experience, a personal connection is important when we sell things. I once sold things at a high school festival and when one of my friend who’s very popular came to promote them, things were sold very quickly.

In-class Assignments

Spine

1. Orientation

Someone kidnapped him. When he opened his eyes, he was in a secret room and his hands were tied with ropes.

2. Crisis
He tried to escape from the room. He thinks there are other people who were also kidnapped like him in the building.

3. Escalation
The kidnapper roamed inside the building and found him trying to escape. 

4. Discovery
Finally, he successfully escaped from the kidnapper.

5. Change
After escaping, he returned to his normal life. But he continued to wonder why he was kidnapped and went back to the abandoned building.

Consensus Decks

38. How will this experience make the world a better place?
a. Offer at least one suggestion, preferably more than one

Players will have a chance to think about how to survive kidnapping.

55. Is this experience addictive?
a. Why or why not?

If someone likes escape, survive or thrill, it will be addictive.