iMyth

Author: Chris

  • Robert Madsen, Starting an Indie Studio

    I cam upon this series of articles a little while ago on Gamasutra:

    http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RobertMadsen/20140731/222331/Starting_an_Indie_Studio_Part_1.php

    The articles explains the trials and tribulations of a computer engineer starting an independent game company.

    I don’t want to take away any fire from the article’s creator so I’ll let the reader discover the value of the articles themselves. As a burnt out old Digital Artist, I am encouraged by this series of article. I pray to the universe it has a happy ending. Of course this gives hope for my own success but success to all the other individuals teetering on the possibility of going independent in the near future.

  • Back After a Long Siesta

    Greetings – I have been asleep at the wheel lately and not contributing to my blog. This does not mean, however, that I have not been looking for inspiration and other motivations into the realm of immersive interactive storytelling.

    I will be flooding my blog with all of the goodies which I have collected over the past few months. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate in dropping them by.

  • 4 Layers of Interactive Narrative in Games

    Check out this new article a created Based on the article Thomas Grip created for his lecture at the GDC.

    4 Layers of Interactive Narrative in Games.

    I think it is interesting because it may be a methodology to incorporate plot and story into an otherwise barren sandbox. The Crawford engine is plagued by this constant threat. This will always be the responsibility of the content creator. However, if tools and workflows are incorporated to help facilitate this way of thought, the task of creating an open story world with plot can become a reality.

  • Grammar Based Facades

    This is very cool and has me super excited

    [embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-PLQ3tfzY[/embedyt]

    This is a way to define the look, style and motif through a grammar based facade.

    When used by an interactive storyteller, entire worlds can be generated rapidly.

    Of course, down the road, more variability will be needed. However, this is a great start. I look forward to be able to use tech like this in the very near future.

  • No Man’s Sky

    I have done very little in the world of Interactive Storytelling recently. The game title I am associated with has been in Alpha for the last month. We just went past “Art Freeze”  which means the real bugs are being resolved.

    Needless to say, one of the biggest news items was the big hit at E3 last week. No Man’s Sky was evidently the darling of the show.

    [embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZO40WBNA60[/embedyt]

    I am really excited about this development. Here is an interactive procedural universe crawler. Now this may not be the most “plot-driven” of storyworlds. It does represent an initial, procedurally generated universe that has gained some commercial appeal.

    This game has yet to be release. There is no telling if it will actually be a commercial hit or not. However, if it it it will be one of the first, commercially viable interactive story worlds.  As a game it may not be spectacular. However, as an open, expansive and unlimited universe it is a pioneer; one which others will follow and start building on the expertise.

    I am very excited for these fellow and hope they have a big hit on their hands. It will open the doors for future, unbounded story worlds. As defined before, it will be considered as the “First”  “Grammar Based Universe”.

    Very Exciting!

  • Chris Crawford’s On Interactive Storytelling

    I have been crazy busy at work delivering the next big installment to the annual video game empire.  I have not had much time to do any research let alone do any blogging.

    I finally finished reading Chris Crawford’s On Interactive Storytelling, V2. It is dramatically different from the first version. In my humble opinion the second version is easier to read and overall less biased by Chris Crawford’s ego. The overall tone of the book is not necessarily one of optimism but of sobering reality. Crawford believes in the inevitable evolution of interactive storytelling. However, he warns of the present and future pitfalls. He also does a fair job of tearing down current attempts to create the new media form. I found this to be disappointing. I wanted to find directions and signposts that would help guide new interactive storytellers on the path of success. That is not to be found here. What you will find are descriptions of others’ attempts and why Crawford believes they failed. He outlines what he thinks to be a stable foundation for an interactive storytelling engine. But he himself can not guarantee success. To be fair, Crawford does a good job interpreting his own attempts and justifying their failures. In all I found this version to be an essential text describing the current state of the art in interactive storytelling. It explains the successes and failures of the evolution. Anyone who is thinking of pursuing interactive storytelling should read this to help guide their own development and be entertained as Crawford playfully rips apart everyone and himself.

  • Unreal Engine Blueprint

    [embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKAcrNHENC8[/embedyt]

    Unreal Engine Blueprint

  • Mixamo

    I have neglected the Grammar Based Universes aspect of my website for far too long. What better way to break the silence than with Mixamo.

    https://www.mixamo.com/

    What mixamo is is a procedural character generating system That not only allows the user to prototype new characters rapidly but provides precedural tools for rigging and simple canned animations.

    [embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp9FB6NQu1U[/embedyt]

    I’m not saying all character should be created this way. In fact it can be kind of limiting on the grand scale of things. However, if you are a developer trying create a prototype for an early concept or are experimenting for tomorrow’s technologies, then time is your greatest nemesis. Unless developing beautiful characters is your primary ambition, you need to customize a character which will provide the function you need now.   I have not had an opportunity to play with Mixamo yet. However, I will follow up as I discover more about this unique tool.

    As the Raconteur engine comes to life, I will definitely keep this service in mind.

  • Storyworld Presentation

    This posting compliments a prior posting I created concerning the use of social media to perpetuate the interactive storytelling experience. The interactive storytelling experience is not a one time event nor is it bound to the individual. For interactive storytelling to have an impact on its intended audiences, all aspects of the story need to penetrate almost every aspect of their lives and the lives of their piers,( friends, families, playmates, …). The story must be shared and discussed for the experience to live beyond the specific interactive storytelling phenomenal experience.  This is the realm and function of Storyworld. 

    I created a Storyworld presentation for the folks of my company based on my experiences attending the 2012 Los Angeles Storyworld Conference.  I don’t know of a method WordPress can display a Powerpoint document so I am I am embedding the presentation in the blog. Google view is supposed to be able to play it but I have not got it to work yet.. If there is anyone that needs me to re-post it I’ll be happy to work with you to get it.

    [gview file=”http://chrisroda.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Storyworld2012Appended2014.pptx”]

    I was able to get this to view in window using Internet Explorer. The results are fairly under-whelming. I get bupkiss with Chrome. You may need to just download the presentation for yourself and view it as was intended.

     

  • Modeling

    Over the weekend I read Chris Crawford’s chapter on “Modeling”. Overall I like his approach to modeling human response and behavior. I think he’s got a good thing going. I especially like the way he translated boolean into numerical form. It makes a lot of sense. Hi eight steps for establishing modelling rules seem like good guidelines.

    Crawford mentioned during an earlier chapter that to represent the vast and numerous storyworlds, interactive storyworld creators would need to employ more procedural methods for modeling reality. I think this approach needs to be extended to modeling behavior. While his technique for contracting multiple rules with one numerical equation is pretty nift, I can’t help but wonder if this can’t be pushed further.

    Boolean logic is also another attribute that can be improved upon. Boolean expressions are good for modelling simple transitional states. However, reality is very rarely black and white. More often it is multiple shades of grey. I like to replace my Boolean expressions with Fuzzy Logic operations. I feel I get a more organic response with Fuzzy Logic where boolean tends to be mechanic. Extending this further I would like to get my hands dirty with Fuzzy Cognitive maps. Instead of creating rules to represent behavior, Fuzzy cognitive maps create vast matrices keeping record of those sensitive relationships. I have not been able to implement  FCM’s yet. However, they will be one of the first features included on the Raconteur Engine.