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game design
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in our daily lives is growing. To prepare future employees to this evolving environment, technology should play a role in education. Furthermore, computer technology serves as a valuable and supportive tool to improve teaching and learning and allows new types of teaching and learning experiences to evolve. For instance, the concept of digital games-based learning (DGBL) has been growing for many years now. In order to prepare the next generation of teachers according to the image of society, teachers must be adequately trained.In this article, the authors describe the design, implementation and evaluation of two courses on digital games-based learning (DGBL) developed for the pre-service teacher training programme in health education in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium). Both courses were set up as an introduction to digital games and gaming for learning and instruction. The objective was to provide an opportunity for students to explore (i) the possibilities, considerations and constraints related to the design of digital instructional games, and (ii) the practical design and try-out of a game in classroom settings using standard or free software (such as Excel, Hot Potatoes, JClic). Results show that the games' inclusion in the formal curriculum encouraged them in using GBL in their future teaching activities and enables them to engage their supervising teachers into using games in their classrooms.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Due to the advanced computer and network technologies, it could be helpful to conduct an advanced distance learning system for learners to process their learning activities in anytime and anywhere. However, according to many research issues which found that the learning motivation is the most important element to encourage people into their learning and assessment activities. In this paper, we proposed the 2D Adventure Game-Based Assessment System which not only could draw people into their learning activities, but could help instructors easily to design and manage the related learning and assessment content.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Computer games are tremendously successful and this is why the potential of using this medium for educational purposes is increasingly recognized and researched. However, as new learning technologies need to be appropriate for all students and ensure equal learning opportunities, it is important to take into account evidences on gender differences in the context of computer games. This paper reviews relevant research results on gender aspects. Aiming for the realization of gender-based adaptation in digital educational games, a model incorporating research evidences on gender aspects is elaborated and implications for adaptation are derived. Adaptation principles and game design are illustrated by means of the 80Days project.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
This paper offers an analytical description of the ethics of game design and its influence in the ethical challenges computer games present. The paper proposes a set of game design suggestions based on the Information Ethics concept of Levels of Abstraction which can be applied to formalise ethical challenges into gameplay mechanics; thus allowing game designers to incorporate ethics as part of the experience of their games. The goal of this paper is twofold: to address some of the reasons why computer games present ethical challenges, and to exploit the informational nature of games to suggest how to develop games with ethics at the core of their gameplay.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
3D game development can be an enticing way to attract K-12 students to computer science, but designing and programming 3D games is far from trivial. Students need to achieve a certain level of 3D fluency in modeling, animation, and programming to be able to create compelling 3D content. The combination of innovative end-user development tools and standards-based curriculum that promotes IT fluency by shifting the pedagogical focus from programming to design, can address motivational aspects without sacrificing principled educational goals. The AgentCubes 3D game-authoring environment raises the ceiling of end-user development without raising the threshold. Our formal user study shows that with Incremental 3D, the gradual approach to transition from 2D to 3D authoring, middle school students can build sophisticated 3D games including 3D models, animations, and programming. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Game designers attempt to ignite affective, emotional responses from players via engineering game designs to incite definite user experiences. Theories of emotion state that definite emotional responses are individual, and caused by the individual interaction sequence or history. Engendering desired emotions in the audience of traditional audiovisual media is a considerable challenge; however it is potentially even more difficult to achieve the same goal for the audience of interactive entertainment, because a substantial degree of control rests in the hand of the end user rather than the designer. This paper presents a possible solution to the challenge of integrating the user in the design of interactive entertainment such as computer games by employing the "persona" framework introduced by Alan Cooper. This approach is already in use in interaction design. The method can be improved by complementing the traditional narrative description of personas with quantitative, data-oriented models of predicted patterns of user behaviour for a specific computer game Additionally, persona constructs can be applied both as design-oriented metaphors during the development of games, and as analytical lenses to existing games, e.g. for evaluation of patterns of player behaviour.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
A synthetic world is a computer-generated Earth-like environment that is accessible online to hundreds or thousands of people on a persistent basis. Due to the genuine human interactions that are cultivated in these environments, this technology may stand to offer much as a social science research tool. In this paper we describe a synthetic world, Arden, which has been designed and constructed for use in macroeconomic experiments. We detail the basis of the Arden economy, the resources and production technologies involved, the game structures that will entice players to make use of them, and the monetary and fiscal policy tools available for regulating the virtual market. The paper concludes with a description of example experiments that could be conducted, as well as a review of key principles and practical considerations to keep in mind when employing this new research tool.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
In video game literature and video game reviews, video games are often divided into two distinct parts: interface and gameplay. Good video games, it is assumed, have easy to use interfaces, but they also provide difficult gameplay challenges to the player. But must a good game follow this pattern, and what is the difference between interface and gameplay? When does the easy-to-use interface stop, and when does the challenging gameplay begin? By analyzing a number of games, the paper argues that it is rare to find a clear-cut border between interface and gameplay and that the fluidity of this border characterizes games in general. While this border is unclear, we also analyze a number of games where the challenge is unambiguously located in the interface, thereby demonstrating that "easy interface and challenging gameplay" is neither universal nor a requirement for game quality. Finally, the paper argues, the lack of a clear distinction between easy interface and challenging gameplay is due to the fact that games are fundamentally designed not to accomplish something through an activity, but to provide an activity that is pleasurable in itself.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Designing and evaluating gameplay experience comes to life after measures for player experience have been found. This paper describes a pilot study measuring game experience with a set of game stimuli especially designed for different player experiences. Gameplay experience is measured using self-report questionnaires after each play session. Results of the questionnaires are then separately compared to design intentions and player evaluations. Our experiment shows that gameplay experience can be assessed with a high reliability for certain gameplay features.
New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:
Europe 2045 is an on-line multi-player strategy game aimed at education of high-school students in economics, politics, and media studies. The essential feature of the game is that players face various simulated scenarios and crises addressing contemporary key issues of the unified Europe. These scenarios are branching and can evolve in a parallel manner. In this paper, we present a technique for specifying plots of these scenarios, which underpins the story manager of Europe 2045. The technique is based on a modification of Petri Nets. We also detail one particular scenario concerning the current crisis in Darfur. On a general level this paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of implementation of Petri Nets in virtual storytelling.
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