Group items tagged

Abstract: "Abstract Game developers spend a large portion of their time developing and tweaking the articial intelligence in video games. Problems related to productivity in the development of AI have been solved using various modeling techniques in the eld of AI, language design and easier to use editors. Using a domain specic language to assist in describing AI can increase productivity in this area. In addition to this, game developers can be relieved from irrelevant tasks such as worrying about performance, correctness of the implementation, memory management and optimiza- tion data structures and focus on the high level description of the game play. In this thesis, we focus on real-time video games and we investigate the development of a domain-specic language containing the necessary elements to describe and execute strategies to achieve goals in a real-time video game. We develop a domain-specic language to express strategies for computer controlled actors using techniques commonly found in em- bedded domain-specic languages, and in particular embedded domain- specic languages in Haskell. To demonstrate this language we have developed a prototype of a real-time strategy game that uses strategies implemented using the domain-specic language developed in this thesis"

Abstract: "Video games that customize to a player's experience level and abilities have the potential to allow a broader range of players to become engaged and maintain interest as they progress in experience level. A game that uniquely customizes the player's experience could attract additional demographics to gaming, which will result in a distinct edge in marketability and potential revenue. This thesis examines a subsection of adaptive gaming systems from the perspective of identifying game factors that alter the level of difficulty. Our focus is to provide a solution useful to both research and commercial gaming communities by developing a system that simulates results offline yet can be integrated into online play. While online performance is the main goal of an adaptive system, the offline simulation provides several benefits. Offline simulation allows the elimination of insignificant factors from inclusion in the training and evolution phase of machine learning algorithms. In addition it provides commercial games with a useful tool or method for performing game balancing and level tuning. To test our approach we designed a test-bed version of the game Pac-Man. The experimental testbed alters environment variables to evaluate their effect on a set of selected response variables. Observing the results of several response variables provides the potential to represent multiple player states, though our focus is on controlling the difficulty for a player. The testbed will simulate the actions of both Pac-Man and the ghosts over a variety of different settings and strategies. The evaluation of a factor's significance and its effect size are calculated using a factorial analysis approach. This method allows the identification of factors relevant to both individual strategies, and the set of all player strategies. Finally, as a proof of concept for both the online and adaptation prospects of this method, we developed a prototype adaptive system. Utilizing the releva

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: "Out of the recent popularity of downloadable contents (DLC) among video game manufac- turers has resurfaced the issue of versioning of informatio n goods. The central idea behind the zero-day DLC strategy is that consumers who find the base v ersion of a game to be suffi- ciently attractive would pay a premium to upgrade by purchas ing such a DLC. In this work, we combine the literature on versioning with that on product sampling to model the impact of consumer learning on the product-line strategy of a game m anufacturer. In doing so, we demonstrate that a manufacturer's desire to vertically diff erentiate could actually stem from a horizontal separation among consumers. When consumers diff er in their perception of the fit between their tastes and the features of the product, horizo ntal differentiation seems a natural choice. However, if the manufacturer is unable to classify p otential consumers into groups with distinct tastes, horizontal differentiation becomes impra ctical. We find that, interestingly, this inability to differentiate horizontally does not limit the m anufacturer from vertically positioning its product line. We characterize the conditions under whic h the DLC strategy is effective and discuss how it affects consumer and social welfare. Our resul ts also have obvious implications in markets for other digital experience goods."

Abstract: "Among numerous classical statistics paradoxes, N - uel (for N ℕ \ {1}, because N - uel where N = 1 is clearly not that interesting!) problem shows that the fittest of all competitors does not necessarily win this competition. Truel, Quadruel, and Nuel is simply an extension of a duel tournament, which involves more than two people ( Pirates of Caribbe an three - way sword fight serves as an appropriate visual representation). In addition, each N - uel player actually may possess different winning maximization strategy , since the Nuel tournament is known to illustrate that a fitter/better competitor in a mul ti - entry survival type competition does not necessarily possess significantly higher chance of survival than others. It is my desire to see this process: I want to visualize the N - uel process as a third - person observer, and if a person was playing this as a video game (which I plan on developing via Java Programming), I also want to visualize the winning strategies each video game participant follows."

From the abstract: "Here we demonstrate for the first time the iterative development of agent behaviour for a real-time strategy game (here StarCraft) utilising Behaviour Oriented Design (BOD) [7]. BOD provides focus on the robust creation and easy adjustment of modular and hierarchical cognitive agents. We demonstrate BOD's usage in creating an AI capable of playing the StarCraft character the Zerg hive mind, and document its performance against a variety of opponent AI systems. In describing our tool-driven development process, we also describe the new Abode IDE, provide a brief literature review situating BOD in the AI game literature, and propose possible future work."

Abstract: "Adolescent obesity is an increasing challenge, and pervasive social health games hold much promise for promoting sustained healthy behaviors. Researchers and d esigners of these systems have many potential theories and existing best practices at their disposal. Our study, grounded in participatory design, shows which ones matter - both for pervasive social health games and within the cultural context of a community we studied over the course of three years. We worked with 112 US middle school students from a lower - income community in a series of participatory design exercises focused on social rewards for everyday physical activity. In our analysis, we discuss design implications in four key areas : social presence, gender effects, incentives and competition. We show how these themes manifested in students' designs and why they were particularly important to our participa nts. We then use our findings to suggest design strategies for youth - focused pervasive social health games."

Abstract: "Computer based video games are receiving great interest as a means to learn and acquire new skills. As a novel approach to teaching navigation skills in the blind, we have developed Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES); a virtual reality environment set within the context of a video game metaphor. Despite the fact that participants were naïve to the overall purpose of the software, we found that early blind users were able to acquire relevant information regarding the spatial layout of a previously unfamiliar building using audio based cues alone. This was confirmed by a series of behavioral performance tests designed to assess the transfer of acquired spatial information to a large-scale, real-world indoor navigation task. Furthermore, learning the spatial layout through a goal directed gaming strategy allowed for the mental manipulation of spatial information as evidenced by enhanced navigation performance when compared to an explicit route learning strategy. We conclude that the immersive and highly interactive nature of the software greatly engages the blind user to actively explore the virtual environment. This in turn generates an accurate sense of a large-scale three-dimensional space and facilitates the learning and transfer of navigation skills to the physical world."

Abstract: "Non-player Characters (NPCs) that accompany the player en- able a single player to participate in team-based experiences, improving immersion and allowing for more complex game- play. In this context, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) teammate should make good combat decisions, supporting the player and optimizing combat resolution. Here we investigate the target selection problem, which consists of picking the op- timal enemy as a target in a modern war game. We look at how the companion's different strategies can influence the outcome of combat, and by analyzing a variety of non-trivial First Person Shooter (FPS) scenarios show that a mathemat- ically simple approach significantly improves over common strategies typically found in games, and can achieve results similar to much more expensive look-up tree approaches. This work has applications in practical game design, show- ing that simple, computationally efficient target selection can make an excellent target selection heuristic"

Abstract: "It has been well-noted that contemporary digital games tend to design for a relatively high skill threshold engineered to appease a well-entrenched and digitally literate audience (Hayes, 2005). Such design practices, however, serve to disenfranchise new and novice players wanting to learn to play. This novice-expert divide is a significant barrier to entry for individuals wanting to play digital games, and given that digital games are seeing increased use in pedagogical contexts (Akilli, 2007; Becker, 2007; Nieborg, 2011; Shelton, Satwicz, & Caswell, 2011; Ulicsak, 2010), such skill-based barriers further complicate the seamless incorporation of digital games into the classroom. In an effort to explore how we might bridge the gap between new and weathered players, I created three tutorials for World of Warcraft (2004) in an attempt to improve the existing tutorials for newer entrants to the game. These new tutorials offered different modalities of instruction, as well as instructional strategies in assisting newer players. Tutorials were designed using the Structured Sound Functions (SSF) model of instructional design, following the Attentional Control Theory of Multimedia Learning (ACTML). The tutorials were then analyzed for their effects on play outcomes, player engagement, and player motivations using the Dick and Carey (2011) three-stage model of formative evaluation. This work thus makes two important contributions. First, this research conducts a much-needed in-depth study of game tutorials, which is an area yet to be well-charted in the disciplines of either education or games studies. Secondly, by analyzing the results of the formative evaluation, I conclude that players react favorably to a faded or "just-in-time" instructional strategy-an approach to player scaffolding which showed significantly increased motivation for play, engagement, and play mastery among novice participants. Implications for game design and future research are disc

From the abstract: "This poster describes instructional strategies that match the information processing needs of adults with ASD. The poster is based on findings from a qualitative pilot study designed to identify best practices for teaching adults with ASD video game design. Data from semi-structured interviews with adult learners revealed direct, interactive, and experiential learning as instructional preferences along with the elimination of stressors (competition with others, limited time, and test taking)."

Introduces RTSenv, "configure and manage the main aspects of RTS games, such as maps, computer-controlled units, and game scenarios"

"This action research study investigated whether the combination of the appreciative learning approach as a pedagogical strategy and computer game development as a technological tool enhances student creativity in terms of the products produced. The study consisted of three phases. Phase I used an experimental design with randomized subjects and a control group to investigate the effectiveness of the combination of appreciative learning and computer game development for creativity enhancement. Phases II and III used a one-group pretest-posttest experimental design for the treatment group only. Subjects of the study consisted of 13 and 14-year-old students. Product creativity was evaluated through the Computer Game Assessment Inventory (COMGAIN). Findings in Phase I indicated that the treatment group produced more creative products than the control group. Improvements in the implementation of the appreciative learning approach and computer game development increased product creativity levels in Phases II and III. Thus, this study provides evidence of the transformational possibilities of the appreciative learning approach when combined with computer game development with regards to student creativity."

"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."

"Arkadium has survived for the past decade by making casual games for the web and Facebook. But with the arms race going in games, that approach may not cut it anymore. So the New York game publisher is announcing today that it has hired industry veteran Stephen Jarrett as its vice president of game design. ... The new hire goes with the strategy of moving up in games and making big investments in game platforms such as the upcoming Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft."

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"

"Online games increasingly sell virtual goods to generate real income. As a result, it is increasingly important to identify factors and theory of consumption values that affect intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. However, very little research has been devoted to the topic. This study is an empirical investigation of the factors and theory of consumption values that affect intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. The study determines the effects of game type, satisfaction with the game, identification with the character, and theory of consumption values on intent to purchase virtual goods. The study used a survey to collect information from 523 virtual game users. Study results showed that game type is a moderating variable that affects intent to purchase virtual goods. And it demonstrated that role-playing game users are affected by theory of consumption values: functional quality, playfulness, and social relationship support. Moreover, war-strategy game users are affected by satisfaction with the game, identification with the character, and theory of consumption values: price, utility, and playfulness. The study also presents conclusions, proposes applications, and describes opportunities for further research."

Published 2013 and excerpted in Google Books. From the description: "In Honoring the Code: Conversations with Great Game Designers, 16 groundbreaking game developers share their stories and offer advice for anyone aspiring to a career in the games industry. You'll learn from their triumphs and failures and see how they dealt with sweeping changes in technology, including critical paradigm shifts from CD-ROMs and 3D graphic cards to the Internet and mobile revolution. The book presents in-depth interviews with a diverse mix of game professionals, emphasizing the makers of adventure games, role-playing games, and real-time strategies. It focuses on developers who have contributed to multiple eras or genres as well as those who have hired, taught, or mentored newcomers. Since the mobile revolution has opened up new demographics and new gameplay mechanics, the book features current developers of games for mobile devices. It also explores how indie game developers are making commercial-quality games with a small team mostly using free tools and funded with crowdsourcing applications."