PUBLIC MARKS with tag www.nicve.salford.ac.uk

There is an increasing interest in the computer games industry in the development of games with emotionally compelling interactive storylines. Games designers, screen writers and narrative theorists propose contrasting approaches to engineering satisfying stories in which players can participate. This symposium focuses on the application of artificial intelligence techniques, frameworks and theories to the creation of interactive narrative in game worlds. It will address questions such as: how can we engineer believable story characters which can interact with players in an emotionally convincing way; how can we design interactive stories in which the player’s experience is central; how can we scale up prototype interactive narrative architectures to meet the requirements of today’s game engines; and what are the applications of narrative games in other domains such as education or health? Themes running throughout the symposium will be: the extent to which games engines can be used as research tools and appropriate methods for disseminating and sharing prototype systems throughout the community.