Mismanor: A Social Role-Playing GameApril Growagrow @ soe.ucsc.edu

Future WorkOur first priority is to finalize our initial design and create a playable experience using our various systems. After conducting user tests with our first playable, we will polish our existing systems and incorporate non-universal knowledge, more varied quest types, and our full story.

MotivationCurrent computer role-playing games (RPGs) are primarily combat-centric, with the majority of meaningful player choice focused on combat actions, while other aspects of gameplay such as quests are often nothing more than a check-list of tasks. Our research focuses on adding meaningful player choice in social interaction and quest completion in order to bring the deep and emergent gameplay currently seen in combat to the social aspects of role-playing.

Characters and IntentThe game has a beginning state, and that state changes throughout the game based on player and Non-Player Character (NPC) actions. NPC actions are determined using intent, which is calculated based on micro-theories (small theories of domain knowledge) relating to traits, statuses, and relationships.

Example:The Colonel wants the Daughter to like him more, and also wants to break the budding love between the Stable Boy and Daughter.

The Daughter wants the Colonel & Player to trust her, does not want the Colonel to trust the Player, and wants the Player to trust her and be romantically involved with her.

The Player breaks up the Stable Boy and Daughter, but in the process becomes romantically involved with the Daughter.

The Colonel would now try to break the Player and the daughter up.

The Player may then try to shun the Daughter, or make better friends with the Colonel (thus improving the Colonel’s opinion of the Player and lowering the Colonel’s intent to separate the Player and Daughter).

Quest CompletionQuests are completed by changing the game state, which we described before as making social moves. If the player has a quest, the system attempts to model player intent and offers social moves that would lead to the completion of that quest. Quests are defined by preconditions, failure/success states, and post-effects based on success or failure.

Dynamic Quest SelectionQuest objectives represent NPC intent toward another NPC and require player involvement in order to be executed. A number of quest-based micro-theories handle quest selection:

Social MovesA social move is an interaction between the player and an NPC fueled by NPC intent and player choice. When a move is performed, it can be accepted or rejected based on the relationships between characters, (permanent) character traits, (temporary) character statuses, and (analog) character stats.

NetworksNetwork values encompass how a character feels about any other character, and they define the intents of characters as quantifiable goals. Networks are directional and include Buddy, Romance, Trust, and Family Bond (only between family members related by blood).

On a scale from 1 to 5 :The Daughter thinks very lowly of her father. Meanwhile, the Colonel struggles to be a supportive parental figure.

Sample Game Loop

Social Move Participants Intent Accept Reject

Blame Initiator, Responder Trust Down Trust goes down Buddy may go up with Responder

Gossip Initiator, Responder, Other Buddy Up Buddy goes up Trust may go down with both Responder and Other

Give Item Initiator, Responder, Item Quest Complete Trust, Romance, or Buddy goes up

Buddy and Romance go down with Responder

Buddy Romance Trust Family Bond

Daughter to Colonel 1 1 1 1

Colonel to Daughter 4 1 4 5

Story Arc Micro-theories

NPC Trait & Status Micro-theories

Quest Type Micro-theories

CKB & SFDB Micro-theories

Relationship Micro-theories

Quests with pre-requisites met

Quest with Highest rating

Deterministic Weighting

characterName(Stable Boy)hasKnowledge(Player, Violet)trustNetwork(StableBoy, Player) greaterthan 50

hasItem(Violet, Necklace)

“Since I can trust you, will you give this necklace to Violet? Please don’t tell her parents about us!”

hasItem(Colonel, Necklace)

“Thank you for giving her the necklace. She’s sure to leave with me now!”“I can’t believe you gave the necklace to her dad!! What were you thinking?!”

Give necklace to Violet

Success: trustNetwork(StableBoy, Player) + 20Failure: trustNetwork(StableBoy, Player) – 30trustNetwork(Colonel, Player) + 20

Quest PreconditionsQuest Giver Preconditions

Success state

Initiation Instantiation(s)

Failure state

Success Instantiation(s)

Failure Instantiation(s)

Quest Name

Completion Effects

Player chooses Brag

Player clicks on Daughter

Flirt, Brag, Compliment presented as options

Daughter rejects Brag

Stable Boy initiates Gossip (Daughter)

Player rejects (says “Be gone”)

Interaction stored in SFDB / Effects calculated

Interaction stored in SFDB / Effects calculated

Player:“I bet I’m smarter than anyone else here!”

Daughter: “Not smart enough to keep your mouth shut.”

Stable Boy: “That is one handful of a woman.”

Stable Boy: “Alright, alright, no need to get testy.”