Here's an interesting idea. I think you all know about states and
state diagrams. Basically you can have a few states (mad, happy, sad,
etc.) and some events which spark state transitions between them.
This idea has been around a long time in CS (especially CS theory).
What if we model our characters as a state machine, but the
player/viewer's job is to navigate in this state machine to an
appropriate goal? This is just like wandering around in a maze -- in
this way the "maze" metaphor from interactive fiction (Zork, etc.)
makes the transition from space to psychology. Combine the two and
you have a very complex interweaving of character manipulation as well
as spatial manipulation. Has this type of thing been done before?
-John
---"Michael St. Hippolyte" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I think what Len said about viewpoints is equally valid about
characters --
> they are story driven. They have a specific obligation to the
story: add
> some color, illuminate another character through dialog, or advance
the
> plot in some way. Many of the characters in a linear story have
simple
> roles and are therefore very simply defined. Woe to interactive
authors if
> we can't figure out how to have simple characters as well.
>
> A hierarchy of characters can be envisioned where the various levels
of
> characters (subclasses?) are defined by the complexity of the role .
For
> example:
>
> Level Capabilities
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> Extra Background role, canned behavior, no dialog
> Color extra Background role with dialog
> Bit player Plays a noticeable but unchanging role in the story
> Supporting Plays a role which changes as the story develops
> Lead Drives the story
>
> I'm sure such definitions have been around since Aristophanes,
perhaps a
> more formally schooled student of theater could point us to the
standard.
> The challenge of making characters interactive is different at each
level.
> Bit players in particular interest me because they seem to be on the
cusp
> of complexity. Extras will always be simple while lead characters
will
> always be complex. A linear bit player can be very simple, but how
simple
> can an interactive bit player be?
>
> Michael
>
>
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