loose ideas 02: textual references on procedural and interactive narrative

in preparation for a project on interactive and procedural narrative, I reread and rewatched a lot of really important materials to me on the subject and took the opportunity to organize here what I think is most fundamental, in case anyone might be able to use this for reference.

I tend more towards more controled and authored structures and techniques, like sunless skies and fallen london, and less towards more simulationist methods, like dwarf fortress and crusader kings, so this is reflected on the selection.

I broadly recommend the developers and designers Cat Manning, Emily Short, Jason Grinblat, Jon Ingold, Liz England, Max Kreminski, Tanya X. Short e Tarn Adams. as well as the critic and rpg gm Austin Walker.

- Practical Procedural Generation for Everyone

probably the best introduction on the subject? the concept of 10.000 bowls of oatmeal that Kate Compton created is infinitly quoted by anyone that talks about this.

 

- Applying Filters to Character Dialogue

applying filters on procedurally generated text and dialog so they express the character is drunk, or excited, or angry, etc.

 

-  Writing Modular Characters for System-Driven Games

regards the process of composing characters with modular parts (traits, profession, etc), how to choose which ones to surface to the player and compositional models to create more meaningful and less random characters.

- Meaning Alchemy

I think this is a very dense, important and rich talk. talks broadly about how meaning is expressed by narrative generative systems, compositional techniques to create systems that generate specific types of stories intented by the author and the concept of "story volume", that to me is fundamental vocabulary to talk about procedural and interactive narrative.

 

 - Tarot Based Narrative Generation 

the way that tarot cards work like little narrative monemes that instigate the formation of narratives. I find it more inspirational than technically usefull, but still, it always instigates me a lot of ideas.

 

- Five Strategies For Collaborating With A Machine

one of the most important talks on the list in my opinion, about one of the most interesting projects on procedural generation. the very concept of colaborating with a machine is highly poetic. the five suits/ compositional principals that she describes here were a huge game changer on my understanding of procedural generation.

- Beyond Branching: Quality-Based, Salience-Based, and Waypoint Narrative Structures

se a fala de cima foi um divisor de águas em termos compositivos, essa postagem foi a coisa mais determinante para mim em questões estruturais. as estruturas descritas aqui foram o que mais atraiu na área até agora e me norteiam completamente em termos práticos.

if the above talk was a game changer on compositional terms, this post was the most formative thing for me in structural matters. the structures described here are what attracted me the most on the subject so far and thoroughly guide me on practical terms.