An Integrated and Iterative Research Direction for Interactive Digital Narrative

Koenitz, Hartmut; Dubbelman, Teun; Knoller, Noam; Roth, Christian

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48279-8_5

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As Koenitz et al (2016) have pointed out earlier, the interactive narrative designer finds their craftsmanship in the ability to express narrative through interaction. In other words, an interactive narrative designer understands the appeal of characters, or the importance of conflict and then must be able to apply this narrative sensibility when designing engaging interactions for its audiences.…”

Section: Minor Interactive Narrative Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When they have acquired this alternative understanding of narrative, they can start using their skillset in a new way by applying specific design principles (Koenitz 2015b). For example, we ask students to design interesting narrative game mechanics (Dubbelman 2016) that invite the player to perform actions that support the construction of engaging stories and fictional worlds in the mind of the player.…”

Section: Two Approaches: Unlearn and Reusementioning

confidence: 99%

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Educating Interactive Narrative Designers: Cornerstones of a Program

Koenitz¹,

Roth²,

Dubbelman³

2021

ToDIGRA

Self Cite

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In recent years, games with a focus on narrative have been a growing area. However, so far, interactive narrative aspects have not been the focus of video game education (with the noted exception of a small number of programs in game writing), which indicates that many narrative designers are self-trained. The insular status means that many designers use private vocabulary and conceptualizations that are not directly transferable. This state of affairs is an obstacle to productive discourse and has negative consequences for the further development of the professional field. By starting an educational program, we aim to address this problem using the opportunity to also include perspectives outside of games. We report on the first iteration of a minor in interactive narrative design, and reflect on lessons learned, while considering future trajectories for this and similar programs.

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Section: Minor Interactive Narrative Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Two Approaches: Unlearn and Reusementioning

confidence: 99%

Educating Interactive Narrative Designers: Cornerstones of a Program

Koenitz¹,

Roth²,

Dubbelman³

2021

ToDIGRA

Self Cite

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“…To connect these arguments, we summarize them here before introducing our theoretical model. Current conceptualizations of IDNs, for example, the model created to evaluate the user experience of people interacting with IDNs (Koenitz et al, 2016), describes an affective transformation as outcomes of interacting with IDNs, e.g., affective appreciation. Because of this focus on affective experiences as outcomes, immersion has received much attention and importance, as it is seen as vital to creating a viscerally affective experience.…”

Section: Forms Of Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In regards to Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs), there is still an ongoing debate to differentiate and categorize them from other interactive digital systems (Tavinor, 2008;Koenitz et al, 2016). Instead of engaging in this debate, we aim to investigate the shared characteristics of play between interactive digital systems such as IDNs and video games.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking immersion: A theoretical framework of alienated play to facilitate critical reflection on interactive media

Aeschbach

Opwis

Brühlmann

2022

Front. Virtual Real.

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There is a growing interest in understanding how to best represent complexity using IDNs. We conceptualize this as the aim to make players of such IDNs reflect critically on the complexity being represented. We argue that current understandings of player experience do not lend themselves to this aim. Research on interactive media has assumed immersion to be a universal positive for the player experience. However, in this article we argue that immersion into the Magic Circle of an IDN could be antagonistic to a critical experience. This is because immersion persuades players into suspending their disbelief, rather than facilitating critical reflection. Instead we propose, on the basis of the Epic Theater, an alternative form of play called alienated play. Meaning, a form of play in which the player is playing, while also observing themselves play. This form of play should allow for players to benefit from the enjoyable nature of play, while simultaneously remaining at a critical distance. To illustrate our theory we design two models, one for immersed play and one for alienated play. Furthermore, we present examples of the design for alienation in commercial video games, as well as hypotheses to test out theory in future research. Therefore, this work contributes an initial theoretical and practical informed form of play, specifically designed to facilitate critical reflection on IDNs representing complexity.

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“…Is capable of functioning as an independent and comprehensive workspace (including an independent IDE (integrated development environment) and GUI (graphical user interface)), which allows a prospective author to create an interactive narrative work from start to finish. b. Simplifies the authoring process: the design of the storyworld/protostory and\or of the end-user interaction model/protoprocess [4] is simplified and\or made more effective, so that the tools facilitate the IDN creative process better than a generalpurpose programming language (or media processing tool) would. A 'better'\'simpler' IDN creative process could mean a workflow that is more directed and integrated, less time-consuming or one that demands fewer technical skills; improved accessibility and tangibility of design strategies and representation structures in the tool's UI, and/or improved narrative abstraction/conceptualization in the work environment, making these abstract structures and concepts ready-to-hand [5].…”

Section: Defining Authoring Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Classifying and Describing Authoring Tools for Interactive Digital Narrative

Shibolet

Knoller

Koenitz

2018

Interactive Storytelling

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Authoring tools are a crucial component in the practice and research of interactive digital narrative design, yet no recent meta-analysis or mapping of such tools exists that would make it possible to comparatively study their defining qualities and characteristics and their effects on the artefacts produced with them. As a first step towards this goal, we created an online resource [1] in which we surveyed and classified over 300 tools. This paper lays out our proposed categorisation and description framework for IDN authoring tools. After exploring our definition of authoring tools and research methodology, we describe 9 categories and 38 descriptors for tool analysis and comparison. We conclude with a sample analysis of Twine [2].

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An Integrated and Iterative Research Direction for Interactive Digital Narrative

Cited by 17 publications

References 27 publications

Educating Interactive Narrative Designers: Cornerstones of a Program

Educating Interactive Narrative Designers: Cornerstones of a Program

Breaking immersion: A theoretical framework of alienated play to facilitate critical reflection on interactive media

A Framework for Classifying and Describing Authoring Tools for Interactive Digital Narrative

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