Tag: Versu

Amidst all the focus on Second Life and the emerging press coverage on its tenth anniversary – with Gamastura being the latest, providing a very short, punchy and positive piece based on the All Things D article which I examined here over the weekend – it is easy to miss the fact that another of LL’s products, Versu, has also gained a little media attention.

Versu, the Lab’s interactive storytelling application for the iPad, launched back in February with little fuss or flag-waving.  Since then, there’s been little news. It doesn’t appear as if the library of titles available for it has grown to any degree, and there has been little in the way of any word from the Lab as to the future of the product. Versu hasn’t been updated since March 2013, the promised Android version has yet to surface, and there has been no news on the Lab’s broader plans to allow users to write and publish their own stories.

However, in June, UK magazine New Scientist published a piece on Versu, AI gets socially savvy, written by Douglas Heaven. The article was born out of Richard Evans, one of Versu’s co-creators, presenting a paper entitled Versu: A Simulationist Interactive Drama, at the Games and Media Event held in May 2013 at the Imperial College London. Heaven’s piece also appeared in New Scientist Online under the title AI makes social game characters all too human.

It’s a fascinating read. Not only does it give a greater insight into the power and versatility of Versu – something which is potentially easy to dismiss when first encountering the product on paper -, it also suggests ways in which applications such as Versu could be used to assist with or study a range of real-world social and other situations.

FLIRTY, shy or gossipy… these aren’t the typical traits of a bit of computer code. But a simulation system that gives computer-controlled agents a sense of social propriety could change that, leading to more realistic interactions between humans and characters in games.

So opens Heaven’s piece, before going on to give some background on Evans himself, who is not only one of the two minds behind Versu, but also worked on The Sims 3, before going on to set-up LittleTextPeople with Emily Short, which the Lab acquired in January 2013, and from which Versu was born. Interestingly, one of the motivations to generate such a rich depth to Versu’s non-player characters was the frustration Evans had with the behaviour of characters in The Sims 3 where, Heaven notes, computer-controlled characters would suddenly behave inexplicably, shattering the illusion of realism – such as visiting a neighbour’s house and having a bath…

To avoid this, Versu characters are not scripted, per se, as the New Scientist piece notes:

Each of its computer-controlled characters is governed by a deep model of social propriety. They react to rudeness, disapprove of bad manners, and they know a violated social norm when they see one. They gossip, show off and flirt. To make such behaviour possible, Evans streamlined the code that defines characters’ beliefs and desires. This allows them to weigh the consequences of many possible actions before deciding how to behave…

The behaviour of the agents [characters] is not scripted. Instead, they each have a unique set of goals and desires that govern their behaviour. No two play-throughs are likely to be the same.

This approach allows the Versu characters to “play out their own soap opera independently”, which can have some very surprising repercussions, as Evans noted in his presentation. In it, he relates that when testing Versu, he was surprised to find he was being snubbed by one of the characters. It wasn’t until he examined the game’s logs that he found out why. Earlier in the game, he had been rude to another character, who had gone on to tell others of his unpleasantness, with the result that Evans found himself snubbed later in the game.

Because Versu uses social rules to govern the actions and reactions of non-player characters, it is seen as a particularly powerful tool for modelling human interactions, which is in turn bringing it to the attention of academics as well as gamers.

Evans also sees a wider potential for the technology developed for Versu, suggesting that it could be used in a wide variety of activities – such as helping soldiers learn to interact with  civilians in a war zone, or young people to deal with bullies.

Of all the new products launched to date by the Lab, Versu is the one which has piqued my curiosity the most – and it is also the one I’ve found to be the most frustrating, given it is restricted to the iPad and lack of any further news on it coming out of the Lab. Evans’ paper and this New Scientist article therefore both provide welcome insight into the app, and on its potential for the future – assuming the Lab shares in those aims and remains committed to developing and enhancing Versu.

Related Links

• AI makes social game characters all too human – New Scientist on-line, June 28th
• Versu website
• Versu on the Apple App store
• Versu coverage in this blog

On Thursday 14th February, when most of us had our attention on One Billion Rising in Second Life, Linden Lab launched Versu on the iPad.

The much-anticipated storytelling app is being made free-of-charge and is bundled with a tutorial, a “scene” and a “full length” story, with other titles to be offered at $4.99 each and offered “periodically”.

The press release announcing the lauch reads in part:

A product of Linden Lab’s acquisition of LittleTextPeople earlier this year, Versu provides unique narrative experiences in which the reader is an integral part of character-driven interactive stories. In Versu, you take on a character with distinct preferences, concerns, and desires, as you explore and change a story through your decisions and interactions with other characters. The characters you encounter are endowed with sophisticated artificial intelligence and have their own unique personalities, motivations, and emotional reactions as you interact with them. The decisions you make and how you treat other characters define your character in the story and influence the narrative, giving each title the potential for many unique experiences to explore. In the future, the tool set used to build these immersive stories will be made available to users, enabling readers to insert their own characters and scenes into the narratives they explore.

The Versu website provides more information on the titles released with the app:

An Introduction to Society: a piece approximately 5 minutes in length and designed as a tutorial / introduction to Versu with a lighthearted theme, covering the basics of interacting with the app – understanding objectives and achievements, playing settings and directing a chosen character. The story involves Lucy, a schoolgirl receiving instruction from her grandmother about how to behave herself in polite society. There are several possible outcomes to the story, as well as a little background on characters who may appear again in future titles.

The Unwelcome Proposal: in this scene, adapted from Pride and Prejudice and which runs some 5 – 10 minutes as a further introducion to Versu, Elizabeth’s cousin Mr Collins is full of reasons why they should be married. She disagrees, but can she convince him her refusal is sincere? Users can play as either Elizabeth or Mr Collins, exploring routes through Austen’s story and drawing heavily on her original text.

The House on the Cliff: a full-length original story running to some 30-45 minutes by Emily Short. An accident to a carriage and mail-coach strand a group of strangers in a desolate stretch of coastland. The only source of shelter is an ancient, rambling estate, where neither servants nor master appear to be at home. Users can pick character from a wide selection and play through the story, forming alliances or finding enemies among the other travelers. Tasks within the story include working to recover from the crash, uncovering the secrets of the estate, and the option to pursue aims unique to the chosen character.

A Family Supper: offered at $4.99, this is a full length story of around 30-45 minutes. The Quinn family is hosting a small house party, but an unconventional guest threatens their peace with sonnets, vegetarianism, and a gift for finding everyone’s sore points. When secrets start coming to light and a corpse appears, it’s up to you to bring about justice – if justice is what you want. Players can choose between one of two characters, Lucy, who is staying with her hosts, or another character who is present only for supper — at the Quinns’ estate. As the evening progresses and things begin to go wrong, help to discover what has really happened, and decide how it should best be resolved — if you don’t provoke your hosts to throw you out of the house first, that is!

Of these stories A Family Supper is perhaps somewhat familiar, given the story outline was referred to briefly when the Versu wesbite was open to public viewing at the start of 2013, so presumably, the other character which can be adopted by users is that of “Miss. Bates”. Similarly, The House on the Cliff would appear to be the ghost story hinted at as well. Where there is a very clear difference between the accidental exposure if the website and the launch of the product, is that the “leak” of the website indicated that Versu would be browser-based, rather than a dedicated app.

While Versu is initially only available for the iPad, a version for Android is promised soon. Going on the launch of Creatorverse, any wait for this to happen shouldn’t be that long – although it is uncertain whether the Android product will be aimed solely at tablets or accessible on devices with smaller screens.

A video released with the launch, explains more about the app and the stories, with insights from creators Emily Short and Richard Evans, as well as an unusually gravel voiced Rod Humble.

An interesting aspect with Versu – and in keeping with the idea of “shared creative spaces” – is that while the initial offerings are authored by the team from LittleTextPeople, users will in the future have the option of writing and published their own Versu stories, as noted on the Versu website:

As a content creator, you’ll be able to create your own characters, improvise new dialogue and gestures for them, and even build entirely new stories and games for others to enjoy.

How this will work, and what options may be included in order for budding authors to monetise their stories is unclear – so eyes need to be kept on the Linden Research and Versu websites to catch upcoming announcements as / when the self-authoring capabilities are launched. However, this does go some way to explaining the references to “user-generated” content found in the Versu Terms of Service during the time when the website was accidentally revealed to the public in January.

Of all the new products the Lab initially announced, Versu is the one that has grabbed my attention the most, although I admit I was surprised by dio, launched at the end of January. The press release, Versu website and launch video have again piqued my interest even if, as a non-Apple user, I’ll have to be patient before I can get my little paws on a version (assuming that the Android version will be playable on small-screen devices as well). Certainly, of all the products launched to date, Versu would seem to have the most solid means of building a reliable (if possibly not overly large) revenue stream from the off, through the periodical release of engaging titles, should the app build up a reasonable following.

Related Links

• Versu product launch press release
• Emily Short’s post on Versu
• Versu website
• Versu on the Apple App store
• Linden Lab acquires LittleTextPeople
• Versu coverage in this blog

Update January 3rd, 2012: following posts on the Versu FAQ from myself and Ciaran Laval, the FAQ has been removed from the Versu website.  The Dio Help page still remains available for that product – at least for the present!
After my brief look at the Versu and Dio websites on New Year’s Eve, I poked a little deeper into the Versu site, taking time to paw over the FAQ, which sheds a little more light on things than I’d initially realised.

As has already been indicated by Rod Humble, Versu is an interactive storytelling medium which relies on strong character interaction, with the plot and character behaviours driven by the actions and reactions of the player through their character.

Versu will initially be browser-based only, although there are expectations at the Lab that a tablet version will be available in the future. Access will apparently be – initially, at least – via Facebook, with the FAQ stating that there is a “limited number” of development accounts available for those wishing to access the game without going via Facebook. The game is largely text-based, again has already been indicated, but will include images of the other non-player characters in the immediate vicinity of the player’s character.

The initial story appears to be a murder mystery, and features a choice of principal characters – “Lucy” or “Miss Bates”. The FAQ indicates that two additional stories are in development, “A ghost story and a romance story in the same time period (Regency England [1811-1820]) are already partially drafted and will be presented at launch.” It goes on to say that, “In the future, we will also include episodes from other settings — anything from spy thrillers to comedy to noir detective stories. Anything that involves strong character interaction is a good fit for the Versu engine.”

Progress through the story is up to the player. For example, a player can select from a list of available scenes, then chose to interact or not. How they interact with the other non-player characters will shape how those characters react to the player in the future (so flinging a bread roll at Mr. Quinn may not endear you to him). If a player chooses not to interact, the story will still progress, making for interesting variations in gameplay – particularly on the “what if” department (“What if I’d left dinner before X, and gone to Y?”; “what if I’d selected A instead of B?” and so on).

Interestingly, some progress through the story is down to what amounts to random chance. To quote the FAQ again, “Whether a character spills something by accident, or selects one conversation gambit or another, might be the result of randomization.”

Progress through gameplay is also marked by the player’s character completing assigned tasks, which doubtless help guide the player through the story to one of several potential conclusions. Progress through tasks can be reviewed via an “Achievements” page.

Games will be entirely self-contained, such that while there are several potential ways to reach the denouement to a story, and the story itself has a number of different endings depending on choices made and actions taken, the cast list will remain the same for each. Thus, any characters previously “killed off” will be brought “back to life” at the start of the next game.

There are also some limitations with the game:

• The initial release will be single-player only; multiplayer capabilities (such as playing together in different roles or working with other players to resolve a story) are planned for the future
• There will be no option to save gameplay with the initial release.

Also, players will not initially be able to generate their own characters. However, the FAQ indicates that this is again planned for the future and will include the ability for players to, “Define your own character, complete with appearance and expressions, personal preferences and unique dialogue options”.

An interesting note with Versu is that the Terms of Service refers to user-generated content (section 4.4). This may simply be because the ToS has been largely boilerplated from Second Life, and thus may not be indicative of how the ToS will appear one it has been fully edited. However, the linked DMCA page is similarly “Versu’d”, so it does raise a question as to what user-generated content might be applicable, particularly if Versu is to fit under the Lab’s umbrella of “Makers of Shared Creative Spaces”.

Is section 4.4 of the ToS simply a reference to a player’s ability to generate their own character and character image, or is it something more?  Again, could the FAQ reference that, “Anything that involves strong character interaction is a good fit for the Versu engine”, mean that the engine might be opened to third-party developers for future stories?

The Facebook access is also interesting, as mirrors what appears to be Dio’s preferred access mechanism (at least initially). As such, it would seem that both Versu and Dio are an attempt by LL to tap-into the large, potentially ready-made Facebook audience. Currently, there is no real indication as to how either will be leveraged from the point of view of generating revenue, although a few thoughts have sprung to mind on that subject.

All told, the website give more information on Versu than I’d initially given it credit, as does the “Help” option on Dio provides a little more information there. Hopefully, and depending on access, I’ll have more information on both in the near future.