Abstract

This thesis aims to examine the creation of interactive storytelling experiences in a Virtual Reality environment, more specifically in games. The focus will be on balancing the increased immersion, with an effective, coherent and interactive story. Since cinematic approaches for storytelling can’t be ported directly, new approaches have to be developed that balance the increased player freedom and immersion with story cohesion. In this thesis, existing approaches ranging from classical theater and cinema to games will be analyzed, aiming to conceptualize a set of guidelines. A prototype will be developed to demonstrate and validate the assumptions. The storytelling focus will be on pre-authored and scripted stories, but related approaches such as automated story generation will also be considered. To effectively create such guidelines, the core essences of storytelling and immersion must be identified and extracted.