Embedded Narratives in Procedurally Generated Environments
Authors
Nielsen, Thomas Lund ; Rafferty, Eoin Ivan
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-05-28
Pages
124
Abstract
Denne specialeopgave undersøger, hvordan procedurel indholdsgenerering (PCG) i spil kan forenes med miljøfortælling ved at skabe virtuelle miljøer med indlejrede narrativer. Forfatterne præsenterer en metode, hvor en Space-Time Drama Manager (STDM) dynamisk placerer narrative elementer i miljøet, så spillere kan udlede den samme historie på tværs af varierende, genererede verdener. Til at vurdere spilleres oplevelser foreslås værktøjet Narrative Experience Measurement (NEM), som kombinerer metoder til at måle narrativt engagement samt intern kohærens og ekstern konsistens. Metoden blev afprøvet i et prototypisk spil og evalueret i en mellemgruppetest (n=69), hvor kontrolgruppen oplevede det samme miljø, mens den eksperimentelle gruppe hver fik et forskelligt, procedurelt genereret miljø. Analysen fokuserede på forskelle i NEM-målingerne mellem grupperne og fandt ingen signifikante forskelle. Resultatet indikerer, at indlejrede narrativer kan kommunikeres konsistent, selv når miljøet varierer fra spiller til spiller via PCG, og peger på en lovende vej for videre forskning i samspillet mellem PCG og miljøfortælling.
This thesis investigates how procedural content generation (PCG) in games can be reconciled with environmental storytelling by creating virtual environments with embedded narratives. The authors propose a method that uses a Space-Time Drama Manager (STDM) to dynamically place narrative elements in the environment, enabling players to infer the same story across varied, generated worlds. To assess players’ experiences, the Narrative Experience Measurement (NEM) tool is introduced as a combination of methods measuring narrative engagement, internal coherency, and external consistency. The approach was tested in a prototype game and evaluated in a between-groups study (n=69), where the control group experienced the same environment and the experimental group each encountered a different procedurally generated environment. Analysis compared NEM outcomes between conditions and found no significant differences. These results suggest that embedded narratives can be conveyed consistently even when environments differ per player through PCG, offering a foundation for further research at the intersection of PCG and environmental storytelling.
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