A cross-genre study of online gaming: player demographics, motivation for play, and social interactions among players

One key limitation with the contemporary online gaming research literature is that much of the published research has tended to examine only one genre of games (i.e., Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). Three relatively little studied online games are First Person Shooter (FPS) Games, Role Play Games (RPG) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine player behaviour and characteristics in these three different online gaming genres. More specifically, the study examined the differences between the three different game genres in terms of: (i) the demographic profile, (ii) the social interactions of players including the number and quality of friends, and how gaming related to real life friendship, and (iii) motivations to play games. The sample comprised 353 self-selected players (156 who played FPS, 119 who played RPG and 78 who played RTS). The RPG genre had the highest percentage of female players. The number of hours played per week varied significantly between the genres. RPG players played significantly longer hours than FPS or RTS players. In relation to playing motivation, achievement levels were highest for the FPS genre with RPG genre having the lowest achievement levels RPG players had the highest immersion levels. RTS players were significantly less likely to report having made friends than players of the other two genres

Just war? War games, war crimes, and game design

Military shooters have explored both historical and modern settings and remain one of the most popular game genres. While the violence of these games has been explored in multiple studies, the study of how war and the rules of war are represented is underexplored. The Red Cross has argued that as virtual war games are becoming closer to reality, the rules of war should be included. This article explores the argument put forward by the Red Cross and its reception by games media organizations, in order to consider how the concept of “just war” is represented within games. This article will focus on concerns over games adherence to the criteria of jus in bello (the right conduct in war) and will also consider the challenges that developers face in the creation of entertainment products in the face of publisher and press concerns

Pairing character classes in a deathmatch shooter game via a deep-learning surrogate model

This paper introduces a surrogate model of gameplay that learns the mapping between different game facets, and applies it to a generative system which designs new content in one of these facets. Focusing on the shooter game genre, the paper explores how deep learning can help build a model which combines the game level structure and the game's character class parameters as input and the gameplay outcomes as output. The model is trained on a large corpus of game data from simulations with artificial agents in random sets of levels and class parameters. The model is then used to generate classes for specific levels and for a desired game outcome, such as balanced matches of short duration. Findings in this paper show that the system can be expressive and can generate classes for both computer generated and human authored levels.peer-reviewe

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

“I’d Rather Be in Afghanistan”: Antinomies of \u3cem\u3eBattle: Los Angeles\u3c/em\u3e

This article reads Battle: Los Angeles (2011) against the grain to argue that the film possesses an antiwar undertow running unexpectedly counter to its surface-level pro-military politics. The article uses the antinomy structuring Battle: Los Angeles as the opportunity to explore the pro- and anti-war politics of science fiction alien invasion film more generally, as well as consider the role of cooperation with the military in Hollywood blockbusters. The article closes with a Jamesonian reading of “the army”: as a kind of utopia as registered by mainstream cultural texts like Battle: Los Angeles

An Assortment of Evolutionary Computation Techniques (AECT) in gaming

© 2020, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature. Real-time strategy (RTS) games differ as they persist in varying scenarios and states. These games enable an integrated correspondence of non-player characters (NPCs) to appear as an autodidact in a dynamic environment, thereby resulting in a combined attack of NPCs on human-controlled character (HCC) with maximal damage. This research aims to empower NPCs with intelligent traits. Therefore, we instigate an assortment of ant colony optimization (ACO) with genetic algorithm (GA)-based approach to first-person shooter (FPS) game, i.e., Zombies Redemption (ZR). Eminent NPCs with best-fit genes are elected to spawn NPCs over generations and game levels as yielded by GA. Moreover, NPCs empower ACO to elect an optimal path with diverse incentives and less likelihood of getting shot. The proposed technique ZR is novel as it integrates ACO and GA in FPS games where NPC will use ACO to exploit and optimize its current strategy. GA will be used to share and explore strategy among NPCs. Moreover, it involves an elaboration of the mechanism of evolution through parameter utilization and updation over the generations. ZR is played by 450 players with varying levels having the evolving traits of NPCs and environmental constraints in order to accumulate experimental results. Results revealed improvement in NPCs performance as the game proceeds

The design-by-adaptation approach to universal access: learning from videogame technology

This paper proposes an alternative approach to the design of universally accessible interfaces to that provided by formal design frameworks applied ab initio to the development of new software. This approach, design-byadaptation, involves the transfer of interface technology and/or design principles from one application domain to another, in situations where the recipient domain is similar to the host domain in terms of modelled systems, tasks and users. Using the example of interaction in 3D virtual environments, the paper explores how principles underlying the design of videogame interfaces may be applied to a broad family of visualization and analysis software which handles geographical data (virtual geographic environments, or VGEs). One of the motivations behind the current study is that VGE technology lags some way behind videogame technology in the modelling of 3D environments, and has a less-developed track record in providing the variety of interaction methods needed to undertake varied tasks in 3D virtual worlds by users with varied levels of experience. The current analysis extracted a set of interaction principles from videogames which were used to devise a set of 3D task interfaces that have been implemented in a prototype VGE for formal evaluation

Spartan Daily, March 26, 2020

Volume 154, Issue 28https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2020/1027/thumbnail.jp