Plusminus: Emergenssilähtöinen peliympäristöjen suunnittelu

Emergent gameplay occurs when the rules of a game system interact and create new behavior that is not defined by the rules of the system. It has been a widely discussed topic in the research of games and game design, and it is described as a desirable and beneficial property of a game system that is difficult to design. Emergent gameplay has been described to increase player freedom and creativity, make game worlds more consistent and immersive, increase the depth and strategy in games, and extend the lifespan of a game. However, it may also make designing games more difficult, decrease the creative control of game designers, and enable game-breaking behaviors. Previous research on how to design games for emergence has approached the topic heavily from the perspective of technical implementations of the game rule systems. In this thesis emergent gameplay is approached from the perspective of level design, and the impact of level design on the occurrence of emergence in a game is discussed. The thesis states that designing games for emergence requires considerations in level design of the game, and that level design decisions can significantly increase the emergent properties of a game system. The thesis looks into previous research on emergence and analyzes the definitions of the concept. The findings are then used to form several methods and approaches on level design in order to support and encourage emergent gameplay which are used to design levels for an action-puzzle game Plusminus. Finally, the thesis discusses the methods and approaches formed and evaluates the results of the attempts to increase emergent gameplay through level design. The conclusions of this thesis suggest that how levels are designed can introduce constraints in emergent gameplay and that the occurrence of emergence and use of emergent strategies in games can be improved with level design solutions.Emergenssi viittaa pelitutkimuksessa pelijärjestelmän toimintaan, kun järjestelmän säännöt ovat vuorovaikutuksessa ja luovat uudenlaista käyttäytymistä, joka ei ole järjestelmän sääntöjen määrittelemää. Aihetta on tutkittu paljon pelitutkimuksessa ja -suunnittelussa, ja se mielletään usein toivottavaksi pelijärjestelmän ominaisuudeksi, jota on vaikea suunnitella. Emergenssin on väitetty lisäävän pelaajan vapautta ja luovuutta, tekevän pelimaailmoista todentuntuisempia ja immersiivisempiä, lisäävän peliin syvyyttä ja strategisuutta sekä pidentävän pelin käyttöikää. Se voi kuitenkin tehdä pelien suunnittelusta vaikeampaa, vähentää pelinkehittäjän kontrollia pelaajan pelikokemuksesta ja mahdollistaa peliä rikkovia toimintoja. Aiempi tutkimus pelien suunnittelusta emergenssille on lähestynyt aihetta usein näkökulmista, jotka ovat painottuneet vahvasti pelijärjestelmän sääntöjen tekniseen toteutukseen. Tämä tutkimus lähestyy emergenssiä peliympäristöjen suunnittelun näkökulmasta ja analysoi ympäristösuunnittelun vaikutusta emergenssiin. Tutkimus esittää, että pelien suunnittelussa emergenssiä varten on emergenssi huomioitava myös pelien ympäristöjen suunnittelussa ja että pelien ympäristöjen suunnittelulla emergenssin esiintymistä voidaan lisätä merkittävästi. Emergenssiä lähestytään aiheena analysoimalla aiemman tutkimuksen sille antamia määritelmiä, minkä pohjalta luodaan peliympäristöjen suunnittelumalleja emergenssin lisäämiseksi toimintapeliin Plusminukseen. Lopuksi käytettyjen suunnittelumallien käyttöä ja vaikutusta emergenssin esiintymiseen arvioidaan. Työn tuloksista voidaan nähdä, että pelien ympäristöjen suunnittelu voi luoda rajoitteita pelaamiselle, mikä voi myös vaikuttaa emergenssin esiintymiseen. Tulokset myös viittaavat siihen, että emergenssilähtöinen peliympäristöjen suunnittelu, ainakin Plusminuksen kaltaisessa pelissä, voi lisät mahdollisuuksia emergenssin esiintymiseen

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America

As the United States slowly emerges from the great recession, a remarkable shify is occurring in the spatial geogrpahy of innovation. For the past 50 years, the landscape of innovation has been dominated by places like Silicon Valley - suburban corridors of spatially isolated corporate campuses, accessible only by car, with little emphasis on the quality of life or on integrating work, housing, and recreation. A new complementary urban model is now emerging, giving rise to what we and others are calling "innovation districts." These districts, by our definition, are geographic areas where leading-edge anchor institutions and companies cluster and connect with start-ups, business incubators, and accelerators. They are also physically compact, transit-accessible, and technicall

Telling the market story through organic information interaction design and broadcast media : submitted to the College of Creative Arts as requirement for the degree of Master of Design, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand, 2007

Interaction Design, which is essentially story-creating and telling, is at once both and ancient art and a new technology. Media have always effected the telling of stories and the creation of experiences. (Shedroff, N., 1994, p. 2) Advances with visual representations within broadcast design have been applied to areas such as weather simulations, sporting events, and historical reconstruction's. However, financial market information presentation is fairly uniform in television news broadcasting, showing little progression in pace with other news information catego­ries. While stock market news segments make limited use of supporting graphics, addi­ tional information that may assist the viewer is filtered out, effecting viewers interest, understanding and decision making process often associated with market related stories. Research to date has been limited to single visualisations. There has been little re­search into the use of multiple information views that are composed to support news presentations. People use many different information sources on a daily basis. News sources are used to stay informed about events, to some sources, viewer evaluation of informa­tion is a part of that process. News information and other data commodity sources are now more accessible, allowing designers to look at ways of transforming them into new or improved information services. This research explores the display of stock market information by looking at ap­propriate media delivery methods combined with Organic Information Interaction Design to enhance information relationships. Organic Design and Information Inter­action Design 1 principles are combined. This denotes a 'living' relationship between elements, incorporating hierarchy principles with enhanced information delivery and user experiences. Four themes are tied together through the use of a conceptual prototype. [FROM INTRO