Abstract:
Building complete interactive narrative systems is hard. Building systems that are satisfying for naïve users is especially hard since small deficiencies in component technologies can easily destroy the experience for a user. In this paper I argue that we can ameliorate some of these technical limitations through careful choice of genre and style, and discuss a number of properties of farce that make it a particularly attractive choice. Then I will describe work in progress on Punch and Judy AI Playset, a system that allows users to explore possible narratives in the Punch and Judy story world.