ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative

Nicolas Szilas; Ruud De Jong; Mariët Theune

doi:10.1145/3402942.3402949

ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative

Nicolas Szilas, Ruud De Jong, Mariët Theune

Human Media Interaction

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

55 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As interactive narratives, by definition, change according to the user's choices (dynamic story), so do the dialogue utterances by the characters. Writing all possible utterances manually faces scaling problems. This motivates the use of natural language generation techniques. We present ExpReal, a surface realizer and templating language that allows authors of interactive narratives to write flexible and enriched templates while maintaining control over their use. Templates are automatically selected based on author-specified conditions relating to the world state (e.g. characters' emotions) or the current task at hand. ExpReal has been developed to support at least three languages (English, French and Dutch).

Original language	English
Title of host publication	FDG '20
Subtitle of host publication	International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games
Editors	Georgios N. Yannakakis, Antonios Liapis, Kyburz Penny, Vanessa Volz, Foaad Khosmood, Phil Lopes
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-4503-8807-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402949
Publication status	Published - 17 Sept 2020
Event	15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2020 - Bugibba, Malta Duration: 15 Sept 2020 → 18 Sept 2020 Conference number: 15

Conference

Conference	15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2020
Abbreviated title	FDG 2020
Country/Territory	Malta
City	Bugibba
Period	15/09/20 → 18/09/20

Keywords

Authoring
Interactive narrative
Templates
Text generation
22/2 OA procedure

Access to Document

10.1145/3402942.3402949

ArticleFinal published version, 3.21 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

Szilas, N., De Jong, R., & Theune, M. (2020). ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative. In G. N. Yannakakis, A. Liapis, K. Penny, V. Volz, F. Khosmood, & P. Lopes (Eds.), FDG '20: International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games Article 12 Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402949

Szilas, Nicolas ; De Jong, Ruud ; Theune, Mariët. / ExpReal : A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative. FDG '20: International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. editor / Georgios N. Yannakakis ; Antonios Liapis ; Kyburz Penny ; Vanessa Volz ; Foaad Khosmood ; Phil Lopes. New York, NY : Association for Computing Machinery, 2020.

@inproceedings{acace27d8f194ef48ada52c540781ff7,

title = "ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative",

abstract = "As interactive narratives, by definition, change according to the user's choices (dynamic story), so do the dialogue utterances by the characters. Writing all possible utterances manually faces scaling problems. This motivates the use of natural language generation techniques. We present ExpReal, a surface realizer and templating language that allows authors of interactive narratives to write flexible and enriched templates while maintaining control over their use. Templates are automatically selected based on author-specified conditions relating to the world state (e.g. characters' emotions) or the current task at hand. ExpReal has been developed to support at least three languages (English, French and Dutch).",

keywords = "Authoring, Interactive narrative, Templates, Text generation, 22/2 OA procedure",

author = "Nicolas Szilas and {De Jong}, Ruud and Mari{\"e}t Theune",

year = "2020",

month = sep,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1145/3402942.3402949",

language = "English",

editor = "Yannakakis, {Georgios N.} and Antonios Liapis and Kyburz Penny and Vanessa Volz and Foaad Khosmood and Phil Lopes",

booktitle = "FDG '20",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

address = "United States",

note = "15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2020, FDG 2020 ; Conference date: 15-09-2020 Through 18-09-2020",

}

Szilas, N, De Jong, R & Theune, M 2020, ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative. in GN Yannakakis, A Liapis, K Penny, V Volz, F Khosmood & P Lopes (eds), FDG '20: International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games., 12, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2020, Bugibba, Malta, 15/09/20. https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402949

ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative. / Szilas, Nicolas; De Jong, Ruud; Theune, Mariët.
FDG '20: International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. ed. / Georgios N. Yannakakis; Antonios Liapis; Kyburz Penny; Vanessa Volz; Foaad Khosmood; Phil Lopes. New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery, 2020. 12.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - ExpReal

T2 - 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2020

AU - Szilas, Nicolas

AU - De Jong, Ruud

AU - Theune, Mariët

N1 - Conference code: 15

PY - 2020/9/17

Y1 - 2020/9/17

N2 - As interactive narratives, by definition, change according to the user's choices (dynamic story), so do the dialogue utterances by the characters. Writing all possible utterances manually faces scaling problems. This motivates the use of natural language generation techniques. We present ExpReal, a surface realizer and templating language that allows authors of interactive narratives to write flexible and enriched templates while maintaining control over their use. Templates are automatically selected based on author-specified conditions relating to the world state (e.g. characters' emotions) or the current task at hand. ExpReal has been developed to support at least three languages (English, French and Dutch).

AB - As interactive narratives, by definition, change according to the user's choices (dynamic story), so do the dialogue utterances by the characters. Writing all possible utterances manually faces scaling problems. This motivates the use of natural language generation techniques. We present ExpReal, a surface realizer and templating language that allows authors of interactive narratives to write flexible and enriched templates while maintaining control over their use. Templates are automatically selected based on author-specified conditions relating to the world state (e.g. characters' emotions) or the current task at hand. ExpReal has been developed to support at least three languages (English, French and Dutch).

KW - Authoring

KW - Interactive narrative

KW - Templates

KW - Text generation

KW - 22/2 OA procedure

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092329254&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1145/3402942.3402949

DO - 10.1145/3402942.3402949

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85092329254

BT - FDG '20

A2 - Yannakakis, Georgios N.

A2 - Liapis, Antonios

A2 - Penny, Kyburz

A2 - Volz, Vanessa

A2 - Khosmood, Foaad

A2 - Lopes, Phil

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

CY - New York, NY

Y2 - 15 September 2020 through 18 September 2020

ER -

ExpReal: A Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this