***2nd CFP for PhD seminar - "Worlds, Stories, and Games" *** May 18-20, 2011 at IT University of CopenhagenSpeakers from the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen:Espen Aarseth (Ludo-Narratology)Yun-Gyung Cheong (Story generation)Mark Nelson (Drama management)Julian Togelius (Procedural content generation)Georgios N. Yannakakis (User/Player modeling)Deadline for abstract submission: *March 22, 2011*Seminar participants will obtain 5 ECTS***ABSTRACT***This seminar invites PhD students to investigate theoretical andpractical problems of interactive storytelling and interactivestorytelling techniques in computer games or related media from theperspectives of computer sciences (part I) as well as humanities basedresearch (part II) and tries to find interconnections between the twoperspectives.Part I: Computational Models of Storytelling and Interactive StorytellingNarrative generation by computers has been actively researched for thelast two decades. In particular, various artificial intelligencetechniques have been used to model story creation and comprehensionprocesses. However, generating interactive stories is still challengingdue to the dynamics of user interaction. The user in story-centeredgames is like an actor who plays a role in a story without the script.Therefore, creating a seamless story that continuously interacts withthe player requires numerous storylines and tremendous authoringefforts. In narrative analysis theory, story consists of two layers:story world and discourse. The story world includes all the events inthe story including the events hidden from the reader while thediscourse contains only the selected events to be presented to the storyconsumer. The author constructs the discourse carefully for particularimpacts and emotional experiences for the reader.In games, the story consumer takes a part in creating the story world,and thus story events that are not worth to tell can be conveyed to her.The user's dual roles as story producer and consumer in the gameenvironment have complicated the direct application of narrativetheories into interactive story generation.This seminar is looking for approaches to problems like: How can weefficiently use the interaction of a user into storytelling? Is theinteractive storytelling more like a story or a game? Should the storycomponents be present in the story world that the user navigates throughor be present in a retrospective way when she recalls the game play? Howmuch does narratology come into play in interactive storytelling?Part II: Ludo-Narratology and BeyondIf games and game technology can be used for storytelling, what isstorytelling, really? How much can the standard theories and models ofnarratology help us understand game-story hybrids and new kinds ofludo-mimetic entertainment, and how great is the need for new theoriesand models? A critical understanding of "story-games" is useful both forthe development of experimental systems such as FAÇADE (2005), as wellas for the study of commercial productions such as FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS(2010), DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (2010), or HEAVY RAIN (2010).For years, game studies have tried to come up with an answer to thequestion: Are these "things" games or stories, or both? Unfortunately,the discussion got side-tracked on a meta-level, misleadingly termed"ludology vs. narratology," and became an unproductive no-man's land. Itis high time to reboot the empirical study of story-game hybrids andmove the field forward.The seminar will explore the ludological limits of narratology andpresent some new models from recent game research, and examine theutility of classical narratology. Through lectures, close-playinganalysis and discussions, the goal is to attain a better grasp of theaesthetic challenges and solutions involved in game-story production andanalysis, through new models and concepts developed specifically forthese new forms.The seminar will furthermore give introductory talks on the state of theart in interactive storytelling techniques such as story generation,procedural content generation, and automated camera control. The seminaralso includes an interactive session to demonstrate the use ofinteractive story authoring tools.***REQUIREMENTS***PhD students from the fields of game studies, narratology, interactivestorytelling techniques, computational story generation and relatedfields are invited to submit papers which offer new insights orsolutions for the presented problems. For participation please send anabstract of your paper (300-500 words) to smam(at)itu[dot]dk.In order to get 5 ECTS you only have to submit a paper and present aposition, a problem, a solution etc. from the given fields.As an orientation:- a humanities based paper should have about 10 pages in Times New Roman12pt, double line spacing or 4000-6000 words,- a computer science based paper: about 4000 words or max 6 pages followingIEEE double-column formatting style (e.g. http://bit.ly/i2KdHK).Knowledge in either computational interactive storytelling techniques ornarrative and computer game theory or both is preferable but notobligatory. A refreshment of knowledge will be made possible with acompendium of theoretical texts provided prior to the course.Furthermore, it is advised to play at least three of the example games(HEAVY RAIN (2010), FAÇADE (2005), FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS (2010), DRAGONAGE: ORIGINS (2010), THE MARRIAGE (2006)) prior to the course in orderto have a comparable frame of reference in terms of examples.The seminar is free of charge; travel expenses and accommodation have tobe comprised by the participants.***TIMETABLE***Deadline for abstract submission: March 22, 2011Notification of acceptance: March 29, 2011Submission of paper: April 29, 2011Further information will be available at the “Events” page ofhttp://game.itu.dk. If you have any questions please do not hesitate tocontact Sebastian Möring, smam(at)itu(dot)dk, or Yun-GyungCheong, yugc(at)itu(dot)dk.-- Yun-Gyung CheongPost-doc IT University of CopenhagenTel. +45 7218 5038Fax. +45 7218 5001Email: yugc@itu.dkAddr. Room 4B06, Rued Langgaards Vej 7, DK-2300 Copenhagen S