Tension Space Analysis for Emergent Narrative

Abstract: Emergent narratives provide a unique and compelling approach to interactive storytelling through simulation, and have applications in games, narrative generation, and virtual agents. However the inherent complexity of simulation makes understanding the expressive potential of emergent narratives difficult, particularly at the design phase of development. In this paper, we present a novel approach to emergent narrative using the narratological theory of possible worlds and demonstrate how the design of works in such a system can be understood through a formal means of analysis inspired by expressive range analysis. Lastly, we propose a novel way through which content may be authored for the emergent narrative system using a sketch-based interface.