Handbook On Interactive Storytelling

HANDBOOK ON INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING Discover the latest research on crafting compelling narratives in interactive entertainment Electronic games are no longer considered “mere fluff” alongside the “real” forms of entertainment, like film, music, and television. Instead, many games have evolved into an art form in their own right, including carefully constructed stories and engaging narratives enjoyed by millions of people around the world. In Handbook on Interactive Storytelling, readers will find a comprehensive discussion of the latest research covering the creation of interactive narratives that allow users to experience a dramatically compelling story that responds directly to their actions and choices. Systematically organized, with extensive bibliographies and academic exercises included in each chapter, the book offers readers new perspectives on existing research and fresh avenues ripe for further study. In-depth case studies explore the challenges involved in crafting a narrative that comprises one of the main features of the gaming experience, regardless of the technical aspects of a game’s production. Readers will also enjoy: A thorough introduction to interactive storytelling, including discussions of narrative, plot, story, interaction, and a history of the phenomenon, from improvisational theory to role-playing games A rigorous discussion of the background of storytelling, from Aristotle’s Poetics to Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey Compelling explorations of different perspectives in the interactive storytelling space, including different platforms, designers, and interactors, as well as an explanation of storyworlds Perfect for game designers, developers, game and narrative researchers, academics, undergraduate and graduate students studying storytelling, game design, gamification, and multimedia systems, Handbook on Interactive Storytelling is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the deployment of compelling narratives in an interactive context.

An invaluable collection of essays and interviews exploring the business of interactive storytelling, this highly accessible guide offers invaluable insight into an ever-evolving field that is utilizing new spatial and interactive narrative forms to tell stories. This includes new media filmmaking and content creation, a huge variety of analog story world design, eXtended realities, game design, and virtual reality (VR) design. The book contains essays written by and interviews with working game designers, producers, 360-degree filmmakers, immersive theatre creators, and media professors, exploring the business side of interactive storytelling – where art meets business. Contributors to this book share their perspectives on how to break into the field; how to develop, nurture, and navigate business relationships; expectations in terms of business etiquette; strategies for contending with the emotional highs and lows of interactive storytelling; how to do creative work under pressure; the realities of working with partners in the field of new media narrative design; prepping for prototyping; writing analog and digital. This is an ideal resource for students of filmmaking, screenwriting, media studies, RTVF, game design, VR and AR design, theater, and journalism who are interested in navigating a career pathway in the exciting field of interactive storytelling.

What really makes a video game story interactive? What's the best way to create an interactive story? How much control should players be given? Do they really want that control in the first place? Do they even know what they want-or are their stated desires at odds with the unconscious preferences? All of these questions and more are examined in this definitive book on interactive storytelling for video games. You'll get detailed descriptions of all major types of interactive stories, case studies of popular games (including Bioshock, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain, and Metal Gear Solid), and how players interact with them, and an in-depth analysis of the results of a national survey on player storytelling preferences in games. You'll get the expert advice you need to generate compelling and original game concepts and narratives.With Interactive Storytelling for Video Games, you'll:

Digital Storytelling shows you how to create immersive, interactive narratives across a multitude of platforms, devices, and media. From age-old storytelling techniques to cutting-edge development processes, this book covers creating stories for all forms of New Media, including transmedia storytelling, video games, mobile apps, and second screen experiences. The way a story is told, a message is delivered, or a narrative is navigated has changed dramatically over the last few years. Stories are told through video games, interactive books, and social media. Stories are told on all sorts of different platforms and through all sorts of different devices. They’re immersive, letting the user interact with the story and letting the user enter the story and shape it themselves. This book features case studies that cover a great spectrum of platforms and different story genres. It also shows you how to plan processes for developing interactive narratives for all forms of entertainment and non-fiction purposes: education, training, information and promotion. Digital Storytelling features interviews with some of the industry’s biggest names, showing you how they build and tell their stories.

Stories are everywhere around us, from the ads on TV or music video clips to the more sophisticated stories told by books or movies. Everything comes wrapped in a story, and the means employed to weave the narrative thread are just as important as the story itself. In this context, there is a need to understand the role storytelling plays in contemporary society, which has changed drastically in recent decades. Modern global society is no longer exclusively dominated by the time-tested narrative media such as literature or films because new media such as videogames or social platforms have changed the way we understand, create, and replicate stories. The Handbook of Research on Contemporary Storytelling Methods Across New Media and Disciplines is a comprehensive reference book that provides the relevant theoretical framework that concerns storytelling in modern society, as well as the newest and most varied analyses and case studies in the field. The chapters of this extensive volume follow the construction and interpretation of stories across a plethora of contemporary media and disciplines. By bringing together radical forms of storytelling in traditional disciplines and methods of telling stories across newer media, this book intersects themes that include interactive storytelling and narrative theory across advertisements, social media, and knowledge-sharing platforms, among others. It is targeted towards professionals, researchers, and students working or studying in the fields of narratology, literature, media studies, marketing and communication, anthropology, religion, or film studies. Moreover, for interested executives and entrepreneurs or prospective influencers, the chapters dedicated to marketing and social media may also provide insights into both the theoretical and the practical aspects of harnessing the power of storytelling in order to create a cohesive and impactful online image.

As a game designer or new media storyteller, you know that the story is critical to the success of your project. Telling that story interactively is an even greater challenge, one that involves approaching the story from many angles. Here to help you navigate and open your mind to more creative ways of producing your stories is the authority on interactive design and a longtime game development guru, Chris Crawford. To help you in your quest for the truly interactive story, Crawford provides a solid sampling of what works and doesn't work, and how to apply the lessons to your own storytelling projects. After laying out the fundamental ideas behind interactive storytelling and explaining some of the misconceptions that have crippled past efforts, the book delves into all the major systems that go into interactive storytelling: personality models, actors, props, stages, fate, verbs, history books, and more. Crawford also covers the Storytron technology he has been working on for several years, an engine that runs interactive electonic storyworlds, giving readers a first-hand look into practical storytelling methods.

The evolution of story-telling is as old as the human race; from the beginning, when our ancestors first gathered around a campfire to share wondrous tales through oral traditions, to today, with information and stories being shared through waves and filling screens with words and images. Stories have always surrounded us, and united us in ways other disciplines can't. Storytelling for Interactive Digital Media and Video Games lays out the construct of the story, and how it can be manipulated by the storyteller through sound, video, lighting, graphics, and color. This book is the perfect guide to aspiring storytellers as it illustrates the different manner of how and why stories are told, and how to make them "interactive." Storytelling features heavy game development as a method of storytelling and delivery, and how to develop compelling plots, characters, settings, and actions inside a game. The concept of digital storytelling will be explored, and how this differs from previous incarnations of mediums for stories Key Features: Explores the necessary elements of a story (setting, character, events, sequence, and perspective) and how they affect the viewer of the story Discusses media and its role in storytelling, including images, art, sound, video, and animation Explores the effect of interactivity on the story, such as contest TV, web-based storytelling, kiosks, and games Shows the different types of story themes in gaming and how they are interwoven Describes how to make games engaging and rewarding intrinsically and extrinsically

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2018, held in Dublin, Ireland, in December 2018. The 20 revised full papers and 16 short papers presented together with 17 posters, 11 demos, and 4 workshops were carefully reviewed and selected from 56, respectively 29, submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: the future of the discipline; theory and analysis; practices and games; virtual reality; theater and performance; generative and assistive tools and techniques; development and analysis of authoring tools; and impact in culture and society.