New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

This paper describes the results of an analysis of persistent non-player characters (PNPCs) in the first-person gaming genre 1998-2007. Assessing the role, function, gameplay significance and representational characteristics of these critical important gameplay objects from over 34 major releases provides an important set of baseline data within which to situate further research. This kind of extensive, genre-wide analysis is under-represented in game studies, yet it represents a hugely important process in forming clear and robust illustrations of the medium to support understanding. Thus, I offer a fragment of this illustration, demonstrating that many of the cultural and diegetic qualities of PNPCs are a product of a self-assembling set of archetypes formed from gameplay requirements.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Virtual characters simulated by computers have been a subject for research and development in both Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) and video game design. Between AIED and video games there is an emerging enterprise, that is, virtual characters in video learning game design. This paper proposes a Profile-Driven-Interaction (PDI) framework which borrows the design experience of virtual characters from AIED research to that for video learning games. The PDI framework enables virtual characters to take roles for various educational purposes based on the learner model of that learner and learner models of other learners. These virtual characters are designed in such a way that when they interact with a learner, the learner is actually improving her learning status. Based on this framework, a video learning game, called My-Pet-and-Her-Friends, is developed to address some relevant issues in the learning process, in particular, the issues of engagement and reflection of the learner.

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography: