Cognitive and Computational Models in Interactive Narrative R. Michael Young Department of Computer Science North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, 27695 young@csc.ncsu.edu Abstract In this paper, we set out a basic approach to the modeling of narrative in interactive virtual worlds. This approach adopts a bipartite model taken from narrative theory, in which narrative is composed of story and discourse. In our approach, story elements – plot and character – are defined in terms of plans that drive the dynamics of a virtual environment. Discourse elements – the narrative’s communicative actions – are defined in terms of discourse plans whose communicative goals include conveying the story world plan’s structure. To ground the model in computational terms, we provide examples from research under way in the Liquid Narrative Group involving the design of the Mimesis system, an architecture for intelligent interactive narrative incorporating concepts from artificial intelligence, narrative theory, cognitive psychology and computational linguistics. Introduction The number and type of computer system using interactive 3D interfaces continue to grow as the processing power of commercial graphics cards increases. While a significant portion of the most popular virtual worlds applications are in the $9 Billion per year interactive entertainment market, it is now common for users to interact with virtual worlds in applications ranging across simulation, training, education and social interaction. Many of these environments, especially those that are focused on entertainment, exploit informal adaptations of narrative techniques drawn from conventional narrative media in their design. Much of that work, however, conflates two central aspects of narrative structure that limit (a) the range of techniques that can be brought to bear on the narrative’s generation and (b) the range of narrative structures that can be generated for a