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Interactive Drama Prototype 'Facade' Released
rafg writes "In most story-based games where you get to talk to characters, interaction is limited to selecting conversation options from a menu. Facade calls itself a one-act interactive drama, and is an attempt to create realistic 3D AI characters acting in a real-time interactive story, where you can talk to them via a natural language text interface. The player is cast as a visiting longtime friend of Grace and Trip, a couple in their early thirties, and ends up in a verbal crossfire resulting from their failing marriage. More info in the press release, an older conveniently mirrored NYT article and an Idle Thumbs review. It's available in the form of a rather chunky 800MB torrent."
Haven't "type-in-the-orders" games been around since Advent and Zork?
I've upped my standards, so up yours.
its so you can yell "don't open the door" during the horror movie?
Cripes!!! If I want to hear a bunch of drama and nagging, I'll go listen to my own family!!!
the most dramatic thing is the download time...
Will work enough to sound appealing and make people try to use it, won't work enough to be practical and thus will be very frustrating. Most of speech AI look good on the... facade, but one stumbles extremly quickly on their shortcomings.
\u262D = \u5350
So it's 3-D characters, interacting in real-time with what your 3-D character does and says, right?
But haven't we already been playing games like this for a while?
Maybe it's better at drama, by which I take it that the characters say dramatic things to each other, but is that really such a great improvement in game play? "Here's your sword" is just as dramatic to me as "Somewhere in the house, there is a killer" -- depends on why I'm playing the game to start with.
So it may be evolutionary for sure, next generation MYST perhaps, but it doesn't sound revolutionary.
More hype than hope -- but definitely a new market niche for the genre.
Beer Kills Memories Of Ugly People?
It is clever in that it uses a "real" AI which does its best to draw the player into the game world. However, it seems like it would suffer from the same type of problems that any AI suffers from, that is it can't understand everything the user types.
It also suffers from cutscene-mania. The game itself is a series of cutscenes that progresses even without user interaction. Though cutscenes have their place in games, building a game around them is a surefire way to limit replayability.
I would love to try the game, personally.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
The player is cast as a visiting longtime friend of Grace and Trip, a couple in their early thirties, and ends up in a verbal crossfire resulting from their failing marriage.
If the AI is advanced enough, maybe I can seduce Grace, talk her into killing Trip, and then turn her in for the virtual reward!
It isn't "Facade", it's "Façade".
var sig = function() { sig(); }
Another attempt to make a 'grown up' computer game by removing the things that make games worth playing (simplified, fun universe that's not like what we do every day and offers clear goal to reach and things to explore) and adding in the things that make life worth escaping from (evenings like the one described in this game, and people called 'Trip').
Now, there are some good technical bits in this game -- it's nice not to be taking turns or picking from a menu. Much more conversation-ey. But as an idea for a game, 'handle an awkward evening in a sparsely furnished apartment' pretty much sucks.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
> Slap silly woman
I DO NOT KNOW THE WORD "SLAP"
> Tell silly woman you can keep the dog but that playstation is mine
I CANNOT DO THAT
> Kill woman
YOU ATTACK WOMAN, BUT THE EFFORT IS WASTED. HER DEFENSIVE IS TOO STRONG
WOMAN ATTACKS YOU
WITH ONE WELL PLACED BLOW WOMAN CLEAVES YOUR SKULL
YOU ARE DEAD
YOU HAVE MASTERED 0.0% OF THIS ADVENTURE
Nothing new. There are hundreds of such games. Everywhere it looks the same.
Player: Hello.
AI: Hi. What brings you here, traveller?
Player: I'm just sightseeing.
AI: Could you rephrase that?
Player: I'm passing by.
AI: Sorry, I don't understand.
Player: Nothing.
AI: uhhh. Sorry?
Player: Please, forget it.
AI: I can't do it.
Player: Where is the weapons shop? [it's across the street]
AI: I don't know where it is.
Player: Who are you?
AI: I'm Thargos, your friendly wizard, thank you.
Player: I'm looking for a quest.
AI: Sorry, I don't know where is quest.
Player: Give me a job.
AI: I'm giving you nothing, you must earn everything by yourself.
Player Goodbye.
AI: Goodbye. By the way, wouldn't you happen to have some spare time to deliver this package to my friend across the city?
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
GeorgeBot: Don't toy with me, MarthaBot. I don't remember.
MarthaBot: You laughed your ass off the last time.
1337 H@x0r: God, you old people are really boring! Can't you, like, kill some zombies or something?
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Well, more like finally "Stand against the wall opposite to the doorknob. Cautiously grab the door knob. Turn it and slowly open the door, still staying by the wall. Peek through the gap between the door and the wall inside." instead of entering a room first, and looking what's inside (and stabbing your leg) later. (Remember Silent Hill? I hated it.)
Somehow I doubt the new game would understand that.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
I mean, I can't personally fly an F-16 or kill aliens, so that's fun to do in 3D on my computer, with or without natural language interfaces (though the more the merrier).
But get tangled up in the verbal sniping between two people in a failing marriage? That's what visiting the in-laws is for. And not only is it in 3D, the personal safety options are turned off, and the frying pans feel completely real.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Well, no one here appears to have downloaded and installed Facade. Thanks to Evil Avatar, I picked this one up over night and just installed it.
First off, make sure you have a 1.6 Ghz machine. It's not just a recommendation - the install won't work if you don't meet that requirement. And the install is very long as you might expect.
This is a very audio game. If you're deaf, I'm not sure it's even possible to play. The first really odd thing is that the characters call me verbally by my real name. It's "Adam", which isn't too uncommon, but strange nonetheless. I suspect they have a hundred or so common names they've recorded.
The controls are weird - a combination of keyboard arrows, typing, and the mouse. There's also some limited manipulation of objects (e.g. picking up the phone and throwing it around). You can also hug and comfort the two people with a click of the mouse.
The main interface, however, is the keyboard. You'll do a lot of typing, trying to guess what the magic keys and phrases are.
I haven't finished it. Heck, I feel I've barely scratched the surface. Even though it's in a single room, the illusion of open interaction with two humans is pretty good. Well, enough Slashdotting. Time to play a bit more.
Didn't Danga get there first with LiveJournal?
:S
Wait...
You're telling me they're real people?!?!
This sort of thing is not so much revolutionary as evolutionary, we will see more and more of this.
I design levels for game called Operation Flashpoint. It's a sophisticated shooter. Back in the days of Unreal and Halflife I used to code bots too, but they pretty much found their way around the map by pathnodes, and had limited, fixed views of things, like how much they 'hate' their enemies. The level of sophistication with flashpoint bots takes it to a whole new world. I add my own AI routines giving bots the ability to spot and exploit opportunities, or be afraid, make them courageous or cowardly depending on what they see and hear, etc... Each of the bots in operation flashpoint can be written as a single self navigating object, in user definable script. This is the interesting thing... Once you give AIs in excess of 8 or 10
parameters, have a few different ones, make those parameters loosely codependent and hook them into 10 or so environmental rules, throw in a handful of random events, now you have a chaotic
scenario that NEVER plays the same way twice.
You lost all deterministic control. How do you debug a non-deterministic program? Of course its not really non deterministic, it just might as well be. My missions are always where the player plays a small, non-pivotal role (well actually the task is try and find a pivotal opportunity to change the course of the 'war') that rarely influences the great, highly unpredictable battle ensuing.
As someone who undertands concurrent programming I still find it amazing what happens inside my little reality model with only a few tens of bots
walking about, coding the scripts for a complex level is possibly one of the most challenging programming excercises you can imagine (which is why its fun) trying to influence events in a reality whose parameter space is vast. You have to reason probabalistically, and no excercise will do more for your ability to craft exception handlers, or exercise your 'but what if...?' brain parts.
--Rob
Towards the Singularity.
and ends up in a verbal crossfire resulting from their failing marriage
Oh yeah. THAT sounds like fun!
(Maybe they'll rename this game "The Jerry Springer Experience")
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
This is going to appeal to you in five years. Remember, this is a first step into a larger world where we can get away from the limitations of clicking on a phrase to respond with a la KOTOR.
I've not seen this demo (though I will check it out when I get home) but this seems like it could lead to really cool stuff. The implications for Alternate Reality Games is pretty cool. Now it's just typing text and reading the response, but start to incorporate a voice recigition and you've got something. You could call a phone number and have a conversation with a computer. I'm pretty damn exicted about the prospect of this technology.
This is a very audio game. If you're deaf, I'm not sure it's even possible to play.
I'm glad to see Gerry Todd's(of SCTV fame) "Audiogames" is now a reality in 2005.
You really ought to try and read it, it's a quite a clever piece of work.
Pathman, Free (as in GPL) 3D Pac Man
Given the average human being on the planet, and their rather crippled forms of social and verbal interaction, why would I want to interact with something that acts like a realistic person?
... and then they built the supercollider.
The name of the game is "Façade", which is a french word that means "frontage" or "facing"
I wouldn't mind you in my head, if you weren't so clearly mad -Lews Therin Telamon
Player: I came here for a good argument.
AI: No you didn't, you came here for an argument.
Player: Well, an argument's not the same as contradiction.
AI: It can be.
Player: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a definite proposition.
AI: No it isn't.
Player: Yes it is. It isn't just contradiction.
AI: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
Player: But it isn't just saying "No it isn't".
AI: Yes it is.
Player: No it isn't, an argument is an intellectual process... contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says.
AI: No it isn't.
... and then they built the supercollider.
I'm no genius, obviously, so I guess I'd like to know what kind of "programming hassle" makes them require installation to the C: drive. (From the help section of their web site.)
I mean, don't you just need to set a registry key (or something) with the base installation directory? What are they doing that needs hardcoded full directory paths? I'd like to try the game, but apparently I'm not going to because I don't use C: for applications, just the OS. (And it doesn't have 1GB free anyway.)
The whole thing feels like it was created in flash...
Takes ages to start (on a A64 with 1GB RAM), looks like a flash video, gives no option where to install (i didnt even find a entry in \program files, no idea where it went), and now as i try to kick out the crap, its spends over 5 minutes "configuring the uninstaller"...
No matter how smart the idea may be, the conversation into a computer program sucks.
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
Anyone else remember Starship Titanic by Digital Village, Douglas Adam's game company?
3d rendered characters (which looked much better IMHO that the pictures for this game) that used a system called Spookitalk so that you could type in what to say to the characters and they could pretty intelligently attempt to reply.
I haven't played this game yet, but I did play ST and enjoyed it. Hopefully this takes that concept of AI and expands it farther as if you have played ST for a while you eventually can figure out what kind of responses you will get from the different characters.
My point being that this concept is not nearly new at all, even with the audio element which is what people seem to be claiming is different.
Shawn's Tech Articles
It appeals to me, actually -- Michael Mateas from the experimental game lab came and spoke to our natural-language AI class at Gerogia Tech, and he's developing really wild techniques for storytelling here. It's interesting just from a technical perspective -- any time you can get a better interface or more realistic characters in a game, that's appealing, yes?
the "Lifetime" Channel. Just cast the voices of some spunky-but-sweet actress and sensitive-but-tough actor from bad '80s TV shows and watch bored housefraus from across the country line up to play this dreck.
Good drama on relies on more than dialogue, it relies on a total acting performance from the actors, and the state of 3D graphics is simply not advanced enough. Add into that a viewing experience not dissimiliar to a TV show, and think how boring it would be to be using the same camera angle the whole time.
You could call a phone number and have a conversation with a computer. I'm pretty damn exicted about the prospect of this technology.
Don't get out much, do you?
DM: There is an elf in front of you."
P2: "Whoa!"
Player 3: "That's me, right?"
DM: "He's wearing a brown tunic, and he has grey hair, and blue eyes..."
P3: "No I don't, I have grey eyes!"
DM: "Let me see that sheet..."
P3: "W... well, the sheet says I have blue eyes, but I decided I want grey eyes!"
DM: "Whatever... ok, look, you guys can talk to each other now."
P2: (pause)"Hello."
P3: (pause)"Hello."
P2: "I am Galstaff, sorcerer of light!"
P3: "Then how come you had to cast magic missile?"
(laughter)
-Styopa
This is going to appeal to you in five years.
Frankly I kind of remember there being people who were more or less claiming that five years ago.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I remember it 15 years ago. I suspect people will still be saying that 15 years from now too.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Anyone else remember the PC/PS game Sentient? It seems very similar to what this game is trying to achieve, and it did it in 1997 (and it will run on a PlayStation!) It's dialog engine was a little wierd, but I found it very enjoyable.
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Starship Titanic had one of the funniest text engines ever, and Douglas Adams was on the development team. The only thing I can of think against it today is that so many people have atrocious spelling due to their heavy reliance on spelling checkers etc.
800 MB torrent? That's funny, I've never seen a torrent file bigger than a few kilobytes.
(sarcasm)
Amazingly enough, the game's authors disagree with you, it is in fact Façade (yes, including the italics and the capital F). It always pays to back up your anti-pedantry pedantry with RTFA.
SIGSEGV caught, terminating
wait... not that kind of sig.
it turns out they're routing the characters through smarterchild.
why are you talking to me?
Please, post more replies!
/. was a place to see reasoned debate.
I just love to read the uninformed opinions of people who haven't bothered to try the 'game'!
Do any of you work for IGN perhaps?
Maybe somebody who has actually used the software should chime in with their thoughts, eh?
No, I'm not new here, but people spouting uninformed, useless opinions about something they haven't even bothered to try is terribly aggravating. An opinion without experience is baseless. The software isn't a drug, and it won't kill you, so try it out before forming your opinion!
Jeez...and here I thought
You could call a phone number and have a conversation with a computer.
Its too bad all the jobs will be sent to computers in India.
but not exactly graphically in-depth. I saw it previewed at a gaming symposium on interactive worlds last spring at Georgia Tech.
The couple's emotions and emotional responses are the big thing here. It's funny to watch their marriage pretty much break up because you compliment the hostess on her dress, when her husband / boyfriend / whatever hasn't even looked at her in ten months, or whatever the premise is supposed to be. This will be mildly entertaining, but not rememberable.
Jaron _ at _ ElectricInkPen.com Penning the Web Electric
Façade maintain a group blog about interactive drama, poetry, art, and other such things. Its called Grand Text Auto. They usually post on several new subjects each day, and anyone can post comments there.
No data, no cry
In this case, the other meaning of facade is more apropos:
Facade came into common English usage in the 17th century.
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
They need ractors.
-Siggy!
You obviously have NOT been married, or at least for long. All matrimony is a form of violence ;)
I am the Barber of Seville.
...you can just get this.
Rob
Cheers Dinger, I always guessed the bots had a really comples xtate transition table under the hood but I never knew they were trained as NNs !
Hurding cats, yeah thats about it. I tend to put some 'strong attractors' in, like a field hospital in a safe enclave and commandmove them there once
their knowsabout list drops low, this keeps noncombatant bots out of trouble. But you're right
about expert systems being samey, ES are like personalities once you get to know them you know what buttons to press, but this kinda thing is far more unstable. Also, Flashpoint specific, squads often seem to break the AI fighting for dominance when there are two or more units of equal rank in a squad and the CO dies the group structure falls apart and all you can hear is 'where are you?' from bots that are standing right next to you. Teaching bots negatioation protocols that never deadlock seems like a very hard problem.
And in 5 years, if you have a friend by then, you're going to realise ARGs (and cRPGs) are very pointless and dull.
* Can you get all three drinks for yourself?
* Can you 'steal' something from the apartment?
* Can you get end the game with one single statement?
You'd have to hit it with lightening first to make it hurt people...
"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
LISA
the rest of the place sucks
TRIP - See, Grace, no one has a problem with your decorating, it's fine!
GRACE - Well, I plan to return most of this anyhow. This room needs to be redone.
LISA - no, it sucks!
TRIP - Wha... uh...
GRACE - Oh, Trip, she's just teasing you... It's good, we all need that once in a while. -- (interrupted)
TRIP - Heh heh ha ha ha ha, ha... -- (interrupted)
LISA - grace, your place sucks
GRACE - What...?
TRIP - Ha... Lisa, that's why we like you, you're not afraid to give us shit...
LISA - it totally sucks grace
TRIP - uh... uh, heh heh...
GRACE - uh...
TRIP - what...
TRIP - that's, um...
GRACE - uuh...
TRIP - ha ha...
GRACE - ha ha ha ha ha, heh...
TRIP - ha ha ha!
LISA - have you no social skills?
GRACE - ha ha ha ha ha!!
Interactivity has to one the most used and abused words. Is the ability to point and click on things really a good definition of the word? I was involved with the museum world when "Interactive displays" started to appear. While the administrators view it as a way of creating relatively inexpensive exhibits while eliminating staff. The reality is within a few months they have little signs that read "Out of Order". The problem as I see it is who is the user interacting with? The software programmers, the computer or himself? This stuff sounds as bad as the "Make a Movie" software that is being developed.
I hate to point this out, but...
Just because "facade" is a legitimate spelling of that word (according to many dictionaries, the only correct spelling, in fact), it doesn't make it the correct spelling of this game. The parent may be nitpicky (or pedantic even), but if you follow the link in the article, you will see that technically, he is correct.
It's a little bit like someone pointing out that the name of a popular doughnut chain here is "Dunkin' Donuts," not "Dunking Doughnuts." You can point out until you're blue in the face that the latter is orthographically correct, but that doesn't make it the name of the restaraunt.
Amazingly enough, Oxford's American Dictionary disagrees with you. "Facade" with a "c" is a perfectly legitimate spelling. It always pays to back up your pedantry with research.
But you didn't say that either was correct. In fact, you went so far as to insult the original poster by calling him names and belittling his claim.
If the third sentence above had been something like, "In normal typing, it could go either way," then I probably would have overlooked the fact that your first sentence was wrong. But what you originally implied was that because "facade" is a legitimate alterate spelling of the word "façade," it therefore follows that Facade is an acceptable alternative name of the game for Façade. Maybe the game designers don't care, maybe they do, but in either case, the implication that the former necessarily makes the latter true is just plain wrong.
In other words, the fact that the Oxford American Dictionary says that "facade" is a word has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not Facade is an acceptable typographic representation of the name of the game. The original poster may be pedantic, but in return, you were obnoxious. If you had just been a little less so, I might have actually agreed with you, and there probably wouldn't have been an argument.
Oh, and yes, I do try to observe the correct use of umlauts and essets when possible, even on Slashdot. Thinking that no one does (or should) is rather naïve, in my opinion...
I'd have to say that I found Galatea much more interesting than Facade - in spite of the lack of 3D visuals, this one felt much more interactive, and the storyline felt a lot more diverse.
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer