Group items tagged

Abstract: "In this project, the following research question is set forth: is it possible to create fair maps for a video game using multi objective evolution algorithms? A description of the video game used for this project, Civilization V, is provided as well as an overview of other map generation methods, and research being done in the field of procedural content generation. A definition for what is fair is made and expressed through functions, that evaluate maps for the video game Civilization V. These evaluation functions express five distinct perspectives on how fair maps are perceived. The fitness functions are designed to conflict as little as possible with each other. A method is defined as to how this theory is applied in practice to generate maps for Civilization V. The evaluation functions are applied on maps from the game's map generation method, and compared to maps that have been evolved with the method provided by this project."

Abstract: ""Sequence Breaking" is a type of feature interaction conflict that exists in video games where the player gains access to a portion of a game that should be inaccessible. In such instances, a game's subsuming featur e - its storylin e - is disrupted, as the predefined set of valid event sequences - event s being uninterruptable unit s of functionality that further the game's story - is not honoured, as per the game designer s' intentions. We postulate that sequence breaking often arise s through bypassing g eographic barriers, chea ting, and misunderstanding on the player's behalf. Throughout this dissertation, we pre sent an approach to preventing seque nce breaking at run - time with the help of Use Case Maps. We create a "narrative manager" and traversal algorithm to monitor the playe r's narrative progress and check the legality of attempted event calls. We verify our solution through test cases and show its feasibility through a game , concluding t hat our solution is sufficient and feasible."

Abstract: :Games for a Digital Age: K-12 Market Map and Investment Analysis includes a sector analysis and market map of game‐based learning initiatives with an analysis of relevant trends in education and digital technology that are likely to impact development of a robust game-based learning market segment. By formulating a new framework for understanding the changing dynamics of purchase decisions at the school, extended learning, and consumer levels including a "follow the money" analysis, this report will guide efficient use of existing capital and examine where new investment would be most productive. Conducted and written by Dr. John Richards, Leslie Stebbins and Dr. Kurt Moellering, the report synthesizes findings from extensive market research and a series of fifty interviews with leaders in the developer and publishing industries, and from the government, foundation and research sectors."

Abstract: "The development of serious games, requires the participation and collaboration of several disciplines; as in the following thesis, showing the collaboration between physiotherapists and developers. Obviously good collaboration and understanding requires a tool that allows passage of information from one discipline to another. One example of such a tool is the concept of patterns. The concept has been adopted in many communities, one of which is game design where they have been called game design patterns, to offer the same advantages with additional benefits. In the following thesis we use game design patterns in order to translate the requirements of physiotherapists into a serious game. Or more precisely, the aim is to satisfy the requirements of physiotherapists as movements, motivation, and other features and map them into patterns and translate them in a serious game. The validation of the mapping was carried out in three different ways: with the physiotherapists, patients, and finally with game designers. The work carried out, shows an example of how game design patterns can be used to satisfy the requirements of physiotherapists in a game for rehabilitation."

"Abstract. While building a game engine in Microsoft XNA 4 that pow- ered a RTS (real-time strategy) tower defense type game, we were faced with the issue of increasing the amount of visual feedback received by the player and adding value to the gameplay by creating a more immersive atmosphere. This is a common goal shared by all games, and with the recent advancements in graphics hardware (namely OpenGL, DirectX and the advent of programmable shaders) it has become a necessity. In this pa- per we will build upon the shadowing techniques known as VSM (variance shadow map) and LVSM (layered variance shadow map) and discuss some of the issues and optimizations we employed in order to add real-time soft shadowing capabilities to our game engine."

Abstract: "Serious Games are increasingly used as a tool for various applications contrary to the traditional enterta inment purpose. Many game engines are available, and Unity3D is another example that presents some features such as rapid prototyping and an easy learning curve. The 3D space where action takes place is sometimes hard to map into a logical memory structure providing flexible access to that information. The problem of tracking players ' path as well as their decision s in 3D environments arises when there is no previous knowledge of the scenario representation and the creation of a memory data structure poses an extra effort for the modeller. The proposed solution in this paper, albeit simple, is a straightforward way to track the location of the video game character and map it when he / she passes certain limits. Th is mechanism proved to represent a key step for ward, addressing the important issue of tracking the decision - making process of players for future analysis and behaviour elicitation."

"The article will illustrate and explain how we worked with research and our own and secondary literature to create a game that had the potential to create social change. The game Junomi was designed to address the problem of loneliness among Danish teenagers and create opportunities for the families to play and experiment with the ways in which they communicate together. The game is a location based smart-phone game that takes place in players' everyday environments around the city. Players invite close family members to play for an agreed period of time (for example a week or a couple of months). Throughout the game period, players create questions, each with three possible multiple choice answers, and place them on a map to be found by other players. When other players pass by the question locations on their everyday routes around the city, the questions pop up on the phones."

Abstract: "This paper introduces Rank-based Interactive Evo- lution (RIE) which is an alternative to interactive evolution driven by computational models of user preferences to generate personalized content. In RIE, the computational models are adapted to the preferences of users which, in turn, are used as fitness functions for the optimization of the generated content. The preference models are built via ranking-based preference learning, while the content is generated via evolutionary search. The proposed method is evaluated on the creation of strategy game maps, and its performance is tested using artificial agents. Results suggest that RIE is both faster and more robust than standard interactive evolution and outperforms other state-of- the-art interactive evolution approaches"

Abstract: "Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) have begun to develop hybrid systems that balance the learning benefits of ITSs with the motivational benefits of games. iSTART-ME (Motivationally Enhanced) is a new game-based learning environment developed on top of an existing ITS for reading comprehension (iSTART). In an 11 session labbased study, 40 high school students interacted with the full iSTART-ME system and completed comprehension measures at multiple time points (pretest, posttest, retention, and transfer). The current work examined students' comprehension outcomes and how they were related to performance within three integrated practice methods: Coached Practice (non-game), Showdown (game-based), and Map Conquest (game-based). Results indicate that performance within the game-based practice environments was positively related to comprehension outcomes, whereas performance within the non-game environment had no relation to subsequent comprehension measures."

"In this paper we will discuss how positive psychology can contribute to the design of digital games and in particular training applications like Serious Games. While digital games have been known for their ability to deeply immerse users, stimulate the senses and tap into a broad range of emotions, it has proven rather challenging to use them as a vehicle for pedagogy. Relevant research is still at its infancy and many of the mechanisms that foster knowledge creation and enhance learning need to be mapped out before scripted in the game. The theory of psychological flow and the role of positive emotions in broadening people's thought-action repertoires bring some practical insights and pave the path for tackling some important de-sign questions. Yet there are still major challenges and uncharted waters to be explored in order for the technology to deliver what has been promised."

Abstract: "In recent years videogame companies have recognized the role of player engagement as a major factor in user experience and enjoyment. This en-couraged a greater investment in new types of game controllers such as the WiiMote™, Rock Band™ instruments and the Kinect™. However, the native software of these controllers was not originally designed to be used in other game applications. This work addresses this issue by building a middleware framework, which maps body poses or voice commands to actions in any game. This not only warrants a more natural and customized user-experience but it al-so defines an interoperable virtual controller. In this version of the framework, body poses and voice commands are respectively recognized through the Ki-nect's built-in cameras and microphones. The acquired data is then translated into the native interaction scheme in real time using a lightweight method based on spatial restrictions. The system is also prepared to use Nintendo's Wiimote™ as an auxiliary and unobtrusive gamepad for physically or verbally impractical commands. System validation was performed by analyzing the per-formance of certain tasks and examining user reports. Both confirmed this ap-proach as a practical and alluring alternative to the game's native interaction scheme. In sum, this framework provides a game-controlling tool that is totally customizable and very flexible, thus expanding the market of game consumers."

Abstract: "The advancement of game-based learning has encouraged many related studies, such that students could better learn curriculum by 3-dimension virtual reality. To enhance software engineering learning, this paper develops a 3D game-based learning system to assist teaching and assess the students' motivation, satisfaction and learning achievement. A quasi-experimental design is based on the ARCS Theory (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) to investigate the effectiveness of game-based learning strategy in 3-dimension virtual reality scenario. The students are randomly assigned into two groups for quasi-experimental design. In game-based learning, the curriculum content is mapped into the game to provide a scenario learning environment. After implementation of quasi-experimental design, the pre-test and post-test results shown that 3D game-based learning system with software engineering curriculum could achieve a better learning achievement and motivation than using traditional instruction. The statistical test displayed that learning motivations of students have significant impact on learning achievement, and learning achievements of students with game-based learning are better than those who use traditional face-to-face teaching. After re-checked the questionnaire, this paper finds that game-based learning challenging and attractiveness can lead to learners' curiosity and immersion in learning activity. And the results show that 80% students are satisfaction, and 83% students are confidence for the course learning after use the game-based learning system. Lastly, the research results could provide to related educators as references"

Abstract: "ideo games and other applications using off - the - shelf tracking devices often take a simple approach to gesture and pose recognition: a recognized gesture is always mapped to the same action . This approach basically turns a gesture into a binary button pre ss and misses much of the nuance implicit in natural gestures. In this paper we explore , in a game design setting , the use of continuous 3D gesture sequences where in attributes of individual gestures, such as speed, direction, etc., combine to influence th e r esult of the sequence as a whole . We present Pixelbending, a game demo built using the Microsoft Kinect and Unreal Developers Kit (UDK) in which the player performs Tai Chi inspired movements to control water. Designed with the goal of creating a fun an d engaging 3D game experience built on a nuanced gesture set, the demo was well received by many players of different ages and sizes. Through the development process we encountered challenges to working with off - the - shelf devices."

From the introduction: "we conduct two large - scale studies of gamer's health behavior, their associated determinants, and the influence of various 2 [persuasive technology] PT strategies on various gamers ' personalities. The aim is to answer the following research questions : Q1. Is it possible that membe rs of one gamer type will respond differently to various persuasive strategies and theoretical determinants from members of other gamer types ? Q2. Which persuasive strategies and theoretical determinants are suitable for designing persu asion games for various gamer types? Q3. Can persuasive strategies and theoretical determinants be mapped to common game mechanics? Q4. To what extent can we employ the one - size - fits - all approach and what persuasive strategies support one - size - fits - all approach ?

Abstract: "In this study, we device a digital game, which possessed scientific and fun, base on the conception of insects (DGBI), then can use it to test elementary school student's conception about insect. The DGBI materials creating pattern use as the ADDIE model. First step is to analyze the DGBI materials. We analyze student's alternative conceptions of insect and what the teaching staff needs to teach in the section of insect, and then we develop three teaching units, namely the ―Bugs Adventure‖, ―Legs and Wings "and" Mouthparts and feeding habits‖. Second, design the DGBI. Making DGBI has a clear teaching aim, multi-learning strategy like conception puzzle, computer simulation and conception mapping etc, an artistic and convenient operating media interface and a learning content that is easy to understand by the words and video in the DGBI materials. Third, develop the DGBI. Developing DGBI includes making animation component and composing animation component, these animation components makes 94.4% of students prefer to use DGBI materials to learn the conceptions of insect, especially the constructional detail magnify function and interactive game design in the teaching materials increase the student's learning interest. Forth, implement DGBI. We invite Two national college professors and four senior science teachers to use DGBI, and then we interview them to collect the testing amendments, and corrected it.Fifth, evaluate DGBI. We use quasi-experiment design and questionnaire survey to evaluate DGBI. In the quasi-experiment design, we select 111 students for four classes in an elementary school in New Taipei City and ask them to use DGBI, and then we tested them by the ―Insects Conceptions test‖. We found that after using the DGBI materials, the student's post-test scores (13.64) is higher than the pre-test scores (7.55), and there are significant differences (t = 16.47,p = .00)and helps the student to establish the correct concept of insect

Abstract: "Persuasive games are an effective approach for motivating health behavior, and recent years have seen an increase in games designed for changing human behaviors or attitudes. However, these games are limited in two major ways: first, they are not based on theories of what motivates healthy behavior change. This makes it difficult to evaluate why a persuasive approach works. Second, most persuasive games treat players as a monolithic group. As an attempt to resolve these weaknesses, we conducted a large-scale survey of 642 gamers' eating habits and their associated determinants of healthy behavior to understand how health behavior relates to gamer type. We developed seven different models of healthy eating behavior for the gamer types identified by BrainHex. We then explored the differences between the models and created two approaches for effective persuasive game design based on our results. The first is a one-size-fits-all approach that will motivate the majority of the population, while not demotivating any players. The second is a personalized approach that will best motivate a particular type of gamer. Finally, to make our approaches actionable in persuasive game design, we map common game mechanics to the determinants of healthy behavior."

"As marketers invest more and more money into in-game brand placements, little research has tested the effects of videogame customization and controller type in relation to advertising effects, even though these factors have demonstrated importance in other areas of gaming research. Results from an experiment show that game customization significantly increases recall of an integral brand placement-one that is central to actual game play-but not of peripheral brands, which simply appear within the game. Regardless of brand type, players using a traditional controller exhibit significantly greater recall than those who use a newer, more naturally mapping controller. An interaction effect indicates that the influence of controller type disappears when customization is allowed; this effect is not specific to either type of brand. These results are interpreted through models of processing fluency and the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing. The article concludes with marketing implications regarding technological videogame advances."

Abstract- "What keeps a player in the game? What makes a game fun? In this paper, we present the results of our studies which may help answer these questions. We will discuss aspects of replayability and the possible existence of ecological effects within our data. Towards a game design methodology, we apply our results by proposing a mapping between core and casual levels in games and replayability aspects. We believe these results can aid software developers produce entertaining games with a long lasting appeal."

A two year project, now in its second year, "o motivate elders to participate in lifelong learning activities by transforming learning and education activities into games." The site map provides links to a number of sections on game design and development and related conferences

"This experiment parses the game files (in their original format) and builds the maps and some of the game objects from the game through WebGL. Some very basic game mechanics and physics are implemented, but there isn't really anything else than pedestrian movement possible in this version."