Procedural plot generation in videogames to extend the player’s agency in narrative

Abstract

This Degree's Final Project is aimed at the development of a Procedural Plot Generationon system in a videogame capable of creating a consistent and interesting narrative which provides the player with a high level of agency while keeping the gameworld alive whether he/she takes part in it or not. The purpose is to generate strong narrative blocks that keep a cohesive flow of events with the world state, but allow the player to have freedom and independence, enabling him/her to establish his own emergent narrative and interact with the plot as desired. The system has been integrated in Out of the Cave (see Appendix I), an action fantasy simulator set in a sandbox in which the player has the freedom of using an established set of mechanics to interact with the world’s objects and entities, which are managed through an ontology. What concerns the ontology of the world and its relationships isn’t the object of this project and will be treated as a black‐box from which the world state is read and modified externally without considering its inner functioning. Plots are procedurally generated from this state, which can be modified by other plots or the player’s interactions. Although Out of the Cave is presented as a sandbox and the generated plots will be adapted to this kind of world, the core of the system could be adapted to other game genres with non‐fixed narratives. This would make possible the creation of narratives with multiple endings, but also multiple beginnings and different plots each time they are played. Creating an unique experience and ensuring replayability are some of the main goals of procedurally generated narrative, and therefore, of this project. The chosen tool for the development of this project has been Unreal Engine, which will be justified in later chapters of this report.