Conversation RPG: Part 2
[part 1]
Following part 1 of this topic, a little more detail on the mechanics of conversationm, etc. I'm thinking more about integrating this mechanic into a larger game where communication is pivotal, but also a means to an end so the player has goals driving the conversations in addition to 'sandboxy' relationship building. Ultimately I want to simulate the feel of conversation without the specific details that would have to be written in natural language by someone then heuristically analyzed to make sense in the right contexts, otherwise (and probably regardless) resulting in often awkward and immersion breaking Frankenstein sentences.
Topics
Conversations will center around "topics". Pretty self-explanatory, a topic is what the conversation is about. This can be a person, place, thing etc. and the player and other NPCs will accumulate a wide variety of these over the course of the game. The idea is to provide a large variety of these to increase communication granularity while keeping them easy to organize and manage for the player. The first thing that comes to mind is categories. This will probably be a primarily meta structure only used by the player for organizational purposes rather than having much impact on the system itself. More exploration into that later.The following are the categories I've come up with. I think most conversation topics can fall into one of these groups pretty cleanly. These are pretty simple concepts and, as such, could be represented well by some iconic language for easy menu navigation.
"Global" and "Local" could easily be modifiers for each category as well for more generic or more specific conversations. (e.g. Global weather could be about a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico while Local weather could be about how windy it is today)
Emotes
I haven't really put much thought into the role of emotes in this system. I realize there are probably a lot of parallels between what I'm pieceing together and Crawford's work on Storytron, but I don't know if including "hit [a lot]" or "flirt [minimal]" is necessarily how I want to handle it. That might even be a different parallel system, or out of the scope of this entirely. Not sure yet.
Anatomy of a Topic
A topic itself comes with several subcomponents pertaining to the speaker as well as the subject.
Intent
Another facet in the presentation of a topic by a character is the intent. This is the micro-goal of the current conversation. This can probably change from moment to moment, but each exchange will have a purpose to serve as a catalyst for progression. A person with more knowledge in a topic could use "Inform" with that topic to increase another person's knowledge of it. Declarations could be simple statements of one's stance on a topic emotionally or knowledge-wise.
Some potential exchange intent ideas:
The next step will be discussing the game idea I'm thinking of including this in, as well as more practical implementation ideas with interface and everything. Maybe there will be more pictures to look at as well.
Coming up
Following part 1 of this topic, a little more detail on the mechanics of conversationm, etc. I'm thinking more about integrating this mechanic into a larger game where communication is pivotal, but also a means to an end so the player has goals driving the conversations in addition to 'sandboxy' relationship building. Ultimately I want to simulate the feel of conversation without the specific details that would have to be written in natural language by someone then heuristically analyzed to make sense in the right contexts, otherwise (and probably regardless) resulting in often awkward and immersion breaking Frankenstein sentences.
Topics
Conversations will center around "topics". Pretty self-explanatory, a topic is what the conversation is about. This can be a person, place, thing etc. and the player and other NPCs will accumulate a wide variety of these over the course of the game. The idea is to provide a large variety of these to increase communication granularity while keeping them easy to organize and manage for the player. The first thing that comes to mind is categories. This will probably be a primarily meta structure only used by the player for organizational purposes rather than having much impact on the system itself. More exploration into that later.The following are the categories I've come up with. I think most conversation topics can fall into one of these groups pretty cleanly. These are pretty simple concepts and, as such, could be represented well by some iconic language for easy menu navigation.
- Current events
- news at varying geographic scales
- "the weather"
- People
- family and friends
- celebrities (ok, maybe not so "clean" as this could fall under entertainment below)
- Entertainment
- sports
- media (music, movies and TV, games)
- Specialties
- jobs
- hobbies
"Global" and "Local" could easily be modifiers for each category as well for more generic or more specific conversations. (e.g. Global weather could be about a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico while Local weather could be about how windy it is today)
Emotes
I haven't really put much thought into the role of emotes in this system. I realize there are probably a lot of parallels between what I'm pieceing together and Crawford's work on Storytron, but I don't know if including "hit
Anatomy of a Topic
A topic itself comes with several subcomponents pertaining to the speaker as well as the subject.
- Topic content
The actual meat of the topic. What it's about. This can be nouns like people and places as well as verbs like events that occurred.
- Associated topics
These are the topics intrinsically tied to the main topic. If the main topic is an event, the sub topic could be the people that were involved or the place where it happened.
- Emotion
This is the character's current emotional attitude towards the topic. This could get to be complicated, but it will provide the context for discussion of one topic between 2 people. It's the opinion that can cause arguments or form bonds of common interest.
- Passion level
This is how strongly the character feels about the topic. The stronger they feel, the more fiercely they'll discuss a topic and the harder they'll be to sway to a different emotional stance.
- Knowledge level
This is how much knowledge of the topic the character has. This can be used to inform others as well as perhaps aid in leading discussions or defending with logical arguments.
Intent
Another facet in the presentation of a topic by a character is the intent. This is the micro-goal of the current conversation. This can probably change from moment to moment, but each exchange will have a purpose to serve as a catalyst for progression. A person with more knowledge in a topic could use "Inform" with that topic to increase another person's knowledge of it. Declarations could be simple statements of one's stance on a topic emotionally or knowledge-wise.
Some potential exchange intent ideas:
- Persuasion
- Inquiry
- Declaration
- Informing
- Interruption (? might just be a side effect of changing topics jarringly)
The next step will be discussing the game idea I'm thinking of including this in, as well as more practical implementation ideas with interface and everything. Maybe there will be more pictures to look at as well.
Coming up
- AI and topic usage/interpretation
- Emotional baggage
- Creating and obtaining topics
- Interface
- types of conversations (arguments & debates, etc)
- Character memory
- Probably more thought on emotes
Labels: (PRJ)Town, convorpg, game design
posted by Rich Wilson at 3:33 PM
1 Comments:
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
Post a Comment
<< Home