Crystalline

Crystalline is a fast action arena shooter with a focus on gunplay. The core objective of this project was to create a fun multiplayer First Person Shooter. To achieve this goal as a team we had to best leverage the tools and technology available to us. As First Person Shooter games typically have teams far larger than our own, we had to work hard and smart on Crystalline. Unreal Engine 4 was used in lieu of Unity or an in-house engine, saving hours of development time and allowing us to focus on gameplay and assets more. Thanks to Unreal Engine 4, we were able to produce a game that, based on playtesting, appears to meet our core objective. Due to the limited time available for the project, there are still far more designed features to be implemented. However, the core gameplay has been completed leaving opportunity for expansion and future work. This document is divided into nine chapters and an appendix. Chapter 1 will introduce readers to the core concepts of Crystalline. Market analysis and background research are covered in Chapters 2 and 3 respectively. The prototypes and general process that took Crystalline from concept to game are outlined in Chapter 4. Chapters 5 and 6 outline the core design of the final iteration of Crystalline, technical or otherwise. Chapter 7 describes overall visual designs of the game, both 2D and 3D. Playtesting data is reported and assessed in Chapter 8, and a post mortem is detailed in Chapter 9. This document concludes with an appendix containing an asset bible

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A close examination about what is considered the most important first-person video game ever made and its influence on how we play games toda

Evolving interesting maps for a first person shooter

We address the problem of automatically designing maps for first-person shooter (FPS) games. An efficient solution to this procedural content generation (PCG) problem could allow the design of FPS games of lower development cost with near-infinite replay value and capability to adapt to the skills and preferences of individual players. We propose a search-based solution, where maps are evolved to optimize a fitness function that is based on the players’ average fighting time. For that purpose, four different map representations are tested and compared. Results obtained showcase the clear advantage of some representations in generating interesting FPS maps and demonstrate the promise of the approach followed for automatic level design in that game genre.peer-reviewe

Analyzing the effect of tcp and server population on massively multiplayer games

Many Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) use TCP flows for communication between the server and the game clients. The utilization of TCP, which was not initially designed for (soft) real-time services, has many implications for the competing traffic flows. In this paper we present a series of studies which explore the competition between MMORPG and other traffic flows. For that aim, we first extend a source-based traffic model, based on player’s activities during the day, to also incorporate the impact of the number of players sharing a server (server population) on network traffic. Based on real traffic traces, we statistically model the influence of the variation of the server’s player population on the network traffic, depending on the action categories (i.e., types of in-game player behaviour). Using the developed traffic model we prove that while server population only modifies specific action categories, this effect is significant enough to be observed on the overall traffic. We find that TCP Vegas is a good option for competing flows in order not to throttle the MMORPG flows and that TCP SACK is more respectful with game flows than other TCP variants, namely, Tahoe, Reno, and New Reno. Other tests show that MMORPG flows do not significantly reduce their sending window size when competing against UDP flows. Additionally, we study the effect of RTT unfairness between MMORPG flows, showing that it is less important than in the case of network-limited TCP flows

Use of videogames as resource for the development of listening and speaking skills in utn students.

To implement videogames as means to develop speaking and listening skills in an environment free of academic stress in students of the Técnica del Norte university.El principal objetivo de esta tesis es usar videojuegos para liberar al estudiante del estrés que se genera dentro de un ambiente convencional de aprendizaje para que pueda desarrollar sus habilidades de lenguaje de una forma distinta. Los ejes centrales en los cuales se basa el desarrollo de este proyecto son el aprendizaje basado en el contenido, el método audio lingual y la gamificación. El proceso de recolección de información tiene como participantes a profesores y estudiantes de la UTN. Para esto, la metodología cualitativa es usada en este proyecto ya que brinda una información más relevante para el desarrollo de la propuesta. Los resultados de las entrevistas y encuestan evidencian la preferencia de los participantes por juegos de disparos. Además, los profesores entrevistados en este estudio comparten sus experiencias usando la gamificación para la mejora del ambiente académico, el ánimo de los estudiantes y una mejora en la relación profesor-estudiante. Por lo tanto, el desarrollo de la propuesta da como lugar la creación de una guía de actividades que se pueden realizar dentro del juego como fuera de este; determinar las ventajas y desventajas que estas actividades presentan en relación con el desarrollo de destrezas de lenguaje en el jugador. Finalmente, se presenta un ejemplo real de las actividades que un jugador realiza mientras está jugando y actividades extra que dan como resultado la mejora de las destrezas como lo son el habla y el escucha.Licenciatur

Exploring the potential usefulness of binary space partitions in architectural representations

There have been recent advances developed within the computer gaming industry that have made real-time first-person perspective spatial experiences feasible on the personal computer. Principally through the use of binary space partition tree structures, developers of threedimensional gaming environments are able to convey to computer users a convincing sense of movement through space. The technology behind these advances may be termed as a particularization of Virtual Reality. This paper will outline research intended to determine the possible usefulness of binary space partitions in the fields of architectural education and practice. The feasibility of this technology was studied by directly observing original experimentation in practical application, which was conducted primarily in the Imaging Laboratory at the New Jersey School of Architecture. In addition, this paper references existing theories and experiencebased expositions on the application of computer technology to architectural design and representation, with particular regard to the use of generalized virtual reality

Re-engineering jake2 to work on a grid using the GridGain Middleware

With the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), engineers and designers of games came across with many questions that needed to be answered such as, for example, "how to allow a large amount of clients to play simultaneously on the same server?", "how to guarantee a good quality of service (QoS) to a great number of clients?", "how many resources will be necessary?", "how to optimize these resources to the maximum?". A possible answer to these questions relies on the usage of grid computing. Taking into account the parallel and distributed nature of grid computing, we can say that grid computing allows for more scalability in terms of a growing number of players, guarantees shorter communication time between clients and servers, and allows for a better resource management and usage (e.g., memory, CPU, core balancing usage, etc.) than the traditional serial computing model. However, the main focus of this thesis is not about grid computing. Instead, this thesis describes the re-engineering process of an existing multiplayer computer game, called Jake2, by transforming it into a MMOG, which is then put to run on a grid

Designing, Producing and Using Artifacts in the Structuration of Firm Knowledge: Evidence from Proprietary and Open Processes of Software Development.

In the paper we study the recursive nature of artifacts in the production and the socialization of organizational knowledge. In this respect, artifacts are interpreted both as the product (output) of organizational knowledge processes and, at the same time, as tools easing the development of other artifacts. We compare different practices of knowledge creation and diffusion in complex software production processes with the aim of understanding the effects of interplay between (1) coordination and control practices, (2) mediating artifacts and development tools, and (3) interactions between different actors in the development process. We aim at identifying the peculiar traits emerging in contrasting development paradigms, namely the closed, fully proprietary one widespread in the gaming console industry, and the open model of free/open source software development.video/computer game industry; artifacts; free/open source software; video game console