# Curating Simulated Storyworlds — Front Matter

> NOTE: THIS IS A MARKDOWN CONVERSION INTENDED FOR LLM CONSUMPTION.
> IF YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING, READ THE PDF INSTEAD:
> https://jamesryan.computer/papers/2018_ryan_curating_simulated_storyworlds.pdf
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> The PDF is the canonical document, typeset with every figure and table. This file
> is a plain-text conversion of the LaTeX source, published HERE so that software agents
> can read the thesis without parsing a PDF. It is lossy and is not meant for humans.
>
> This file is the front matter only (~700 words).
> See below for links to markdown conversions of the individual chapters.
>
> **Structure.** Sections are `##`/`###`/`####` headings. Cross-references are resolved to
> their numbers ("Section 3.1.1", "Chapter 5"), so a heading can be searched for directly.
> Citations are inline bracketed keys such as `[ryan2017grimes]`; every key used in the text
> has an entry in the bibliography, formatted as `- **[key]** Author. Title. Venue, Year.`
> Footnotes appear inline as `[Note: ...]`.
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> `[Table omitted]`. Code fences carry no language tag. A few diacritics in author names
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> **All files.**
>
> Index (this list, plus the abstract; small): https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/index.md
> Whole thesis in one file (large, ~1.6 MB): https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/full.md
>
> By chapter:
> - 01. Introduction (~4,600 words, ~30 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/01-introduction.md
> - 02. Defining Emergent Narrative (~6,900 words, ~47 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/02-defining-emergent-narrative.md
> - 03. The Pleasure of Emergent Narrative (~21,000 words, ~135 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/03-the-pleasure-of-emergent-narrative.md
> - 04. The Pain of Emergent Narrative (~41,000 words, ~268 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/04-the-pain-of-emergent-narrative.md
> - 05. Refining Emergent Narrative (~11,000 words, ~73 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/05-refining-emergent-narrative.md
> - 06. James Ryan Generator (~2,800 words, ~16 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/06-james-ryan-generator.md
> - 07. World (~20,000 words, ~129 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/07-world.md
> - 08. Case Study: Diol/Diel/Dial (~9,300 words, ~59 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/08-case-study-diol-diel-dial.md
> - 09. Talk of the Town (~25,000 words, ~162 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/09-talk-of-the-town.md
> - 10. Case Study: Bad News (~22,000 words, ~132 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/10-case-study-bad-news.md
> - 11. Hennepin (~32,000 words, ~209 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/11-hennepin.md
> - 12. Looking Ahead: Sheldon County (~11,000 words, ~75 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/12-looking-ahead-sheldon-county.md
> - 13. Conclusion (~2,700 words, ~17 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/13-conclusion.md
> - 14. Bibliography (~29,000 words, ~233 KB) — https://jamesryan.computer/thesis/14-bibliography.md

## Dedication

To Nina, who makes it possible

## Acknowledgements

I cannot imagine a more fostering intellectual environment than the Expressive Intelligence Studio at UC Santa Cruz, and this is due in no small part to those whom I have been so fortunate to call my labmates: Matthew Balousek, Bryan Blackford, Sherol Chen, Kate Compton, Melanie Dickinson, Cyril Focht, Jacob Garbe, John Grey, April Grow, Nick Junius, Eric Kaltman, Max Kreminski, Paul Maddaloni, Josh McCoy, Marcelo Viana Neto, Stacey Mason, John Mawhorter, Peter Mawhorter, Josh McCoy, Wes Modes, John Murray, Joe Osborn, Aaron Reed, Ben Samuel, Ben Spalding, Adam Summerville, and Dietrich Squinkifer.

More broadly, I owe so much to the larger ecosystem surrounding computational media and computer science at UC Santa Cruz, and namely to the people who have made it so great: Rob Abbott, Nathan Alice, Chris Antoun, Matt Antoun, Morteza Behrooz, Chandranil Chakraborttii, Ryan Compton, Peter Cottrell, Jared Duval, Daniel Fava, Angus Forbes, Sarah Harmon, Chao Hu, Hope Hutman, Arnav Jhala, Katherine Isbister, Dylan Lederle-Ensign, Grace Lin, Daniel Lipovetsky, Emily Lovell, Stephanie Lukin, Isaac Karth, Mitch Mastroni, Jo Mazeika, Eddie Melder, Amita Misra, Afshin Mobramaein, Jim Moore, Johnathan Pagnutti, Elahe Rahimtoroghi, Allie Riggs, Elena Rishes, Joe Rossi, Jen Sawyer, Marcelo Siero, Adam Smith, Dhanya Sridhar, Michael Thomet, Jim Whitehead, and Jimmy Zhou.

It was incredibly rewarding to mentor, and collaborate with, a multitude of undergraduate researchers across a variety of projects during my time at UC Santa Cruz: Chase Armer, Casey Barackman, Tyler Brothers, Janel Catajoy, Aislynn Cetera, Lisa Durand, Andrew Max Fisher, Tim Hong, Yani Mohamad Fauzi, Trevor Holoch, Nick Kontje, Adesh Kumar, Merita Lundstrom, David Nguyen, Jacinda Ni,  Jinah Noh, Jared Ono, Taylor Owen-Milne, Silvia Ordonez, Tiffany Phan, Sergiy Ravnyago, Emily Rodriguez, Joyce Scalettar, Ethan Seither, Thomas Ruiz, Thovatey Tep, Kevin Yeh, Jill Z. Yeung, Reshma Zachariah, and all the unforgettable students in the 2016–17 18X sequence.

To the countless friends and acquaintances I've made in this field: there are too many of you to name here, but know that I have appreciated my time with you. I must identify a few individuals, however—thanks for the friendship and intellectual exchange, Tarn Adams, Bill Benzon, Mike Cook, Bill Ferguson, Swen Gaudl, Hartmut Koenitz, Ben Kybartas, Vincenzo Lombardo, Mark Nelson, Antonio Pizzo, and Steve Wingate.

I had critical mentors in my academic life before arriving at UC Santa Cruz, without whom I'd be somewhere else: Johan Christopherson, Genevieve Melton-Meaux, and Serguei Pakhomov, you are beacons in the night.

I would like to extend special gratitude to Marilyn Walker, who took a flier on me when I applied to a computer science PhD program no formal background whatsoever in the field. Without you, I would not have made it to Santa Cruz. Additionally, I should specifically identify Reid Swanson, who was like a fourth advisor for me when he worked here as a postdoc.

To the reading committee of this dissertation—Ian Horswill, Jonathan Lessard, Michael Mateas, and Noah Wardrip-Fruin—thank you endlessly for enduring this tome and for providing invaluable feedback and support along the way. Ian, I met you at my first conference in this field, and you've been a trusted mentor, friend, and fellow Minnesotan for my entire PhD tenure. Jonathan, you are so effortlessly keen and affable; to many more conversations! My gratitude extends also to David Elson, who served on the reading committee for my thesis proposal, and whose ideas persist still with regard to this new topic.

To Michael and Noah: wow. Your imprint is on this document and on my life. I absorbed so much in a relatively short while; I had such a great time. I'm proud to have operated under your tutelage and in the intellectual tradition of the Expressive Intelligence Studio, a wonderland you made for us.

To my parents, grandparents, siblings, extended family, and friends: thank you for believing in me and for reminding me of more important things.

Finally, Nina: no words on a page are enough—you are everything.