The Basics of Interactive Storytelling

This presentation addresses a number of related problems that have long been the subject of debate among theorists and practitioners of interactive storytelling. Foremost among them are two, the Problem of Internal Consistency and the Problem of Narrative Flow, that are caused by a perceived tension between a player’s desire for interactive freedom and agency, and an interactive story designer’s ability to offer a coherent story-like experience and a dramatic arc. The presentation shows how the problems arise from faulty, and often unstated, assumptions about what the ideal interactive storytelling experience should be like. Is proposed a new schema for understanding the relationship between the player and the designer, and for understanding the player’s role in creating his own experience. According to this schema, the player accepts a degree of responsibility for the coherence of his own experience, which is directly proportional to the degree of freedom that the software offers him. The problems are thus resolved.