Ragnarok

This report describes the current state of my research in software development environments. I argue in favour of strong support for project management, comprehension and navigation, and collaboration primarily based on experiences from developing large-scale industrial-strength applications.An underlying model of such an environment, named ``Ragnarok´´, is outlined. A design and first prototype of important parts of Ragnarok is described as well as some results from initial experiments

An Exploratory Review of Design Principles in Constructivist Gaming Learning Environments

Creating a design theory for Constructivist Gaming Learning Environment necessitates, among other things, the establishment of design principles. These principles have the potential to help designers produce games, where users achieve higher levels of learning. This paper focuses on twelve design principles: Probing, Distributed, Multiple Routes, Practice, Psychosocial Moratorium, Regime of Competence, Self-Knowledge, Collective Knowledge, Engaging, User Interface Ease of Use, On Demand and Just-in-Time Tutorial, and Achievement. We report on two pilot studies of a qualitative nature in which we test our design principles. Game play testing and observations were carried out on five Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs): RuneScape, GuildWars, Ragnarok, World of WarCraft, and Final Fantasy XI. Two educational games, Carabella Goes to College and Outbreak at WatersEdge were also observed. Our findings indicate that not all of the popular MMOGs and educational games support all of these principles

Surveillance and Community: Language Policing and Empowerment in a World of Warcraft Guild

A case study of a World of Warcraft guild explores the relationship between participatory surveillance, public discipline, empowerment, and fun. The guild under investigation in this paper is a self-labeled "safe space" guild for female, LGBT, and other minority members of the gaming population. To promote the safe space environment, the guild's members actively enforce prohibitions against offensive language. A comparison is made between the participatory surveillance model employed by the members of the guild and the top-down policies and discipline enacted by the parent company, Blizzard Entertainment; this comparison demonstrates the effects of co-existing models of surveillance in the game community. Furthermore, the effects of the guild's practice of public discipline of rule breakers are analyzed as a method of shaming that enhances the effects of the guild's rules. Finally, by examining reactions from members of the guild, personal and community empowerment are the outcomes of participation in the system. Recommendations are made to incorporate elements of participatory surveillance into games in conjunction with unilateral surveillance typically employed by game developers

Learn English or die: The effects of digital games on interaction and willingness to communicate in a foreign language

In recent years there has been a lot of interest in the potential role of digital games in language education. Playing digital games is said to be motivating to students and to benefit the development of social skills, such as collaboration, and metacognitive skills such as planning and organisation. An important potential benefit is also that digital games encourage the use of the target language in a non-threatening environment. Willingness to communicate has been shown to affect second language acquisition in a number of ways and it is therefore important to investigate if there is a connection between playing games and learners’ interaction in the target language. In this article we report on the results of a pilot study that investigated the effects of playing an online multiplayer game on the quantity and quality of second language interaction in the game and on participants’ willingness to communicate in the target language. We will show that digital games can indeed affect second language interaction patterns and contribute to second language acquisition, but that this depends, like in all other teaching and learning environments, on careful pedagogic planning of the activity

Design and Development of a playable 3D adventure game in an ice world setting. Walpurgis Night: Ice Souls

Treball Final de Grau en Disseny i Desenvolupament de Videojocs. Codi: VJ1241. Curs acadèmic: 2016-2017.This document introduces the technical proposal for the final degree project for the Design and Development of Videogames degree. This project consist in the development of a game built on Unity 3D [1] which genre is a fantasy adventure RPG [2] game based on Nordic mythology. In this project, the players will be challenged to overcome ordeals all along the game, for this they need to use and/or combine the master skills of the four Valkyries that they will control during a limited time. One of the objectives of the project is the application of using Motion Capture [3] techniques to try and give more credibility to the character animations in the game

Negotiating intra-Asian games networks: on cultural proximity, East Asian games design and Chinese farmers

The East Asian online games boom started in South Korea in the late 1990s. Following unqualified domestic success, South Korean games were subsequently exported to other regional markets throughout East and South East Asia. During this time, game development companies specialising in online games for the Asian market also emerged in China and Japan. This essay proposes that one of the key features in this networked gaming context is the relationship between the adaptation of regional East Asian aesthetic and narrative forms in game content, and the parallel growth in more regionally-focused marketing and distribution initiatives. East Asian online games design and marketing play to notions of perceived cultural proximity within the region. By encompassing these considerations, this essay aims to offer a contextual analysis of intra-Asian games networks in terms of production processes and related emergent concerns. How have these online games networks evolved? What are the cultural politics inherent in present-day games networks within East Asia? How may ongoing developments in these games networks contribute to an understanding of contemporary transnational Asianness and its signification within regional cultural flows? To what extent are intra-Asian game networks reflective of imbalanced power relations within the region

The Mjølnir Impact Crater in the central Barents Sea - a potential hydrocarbon system?

A meteor impact event on the Bjameland Platform in the Norwegian Barents Sea about 142 ± 2.6 million years ago formed the Mjølnir Impact Crater. The structure has diameter of 40 km impacting the Mesozoic stratigraphy, and has previously been investigated with emphasis on the dynamics of the impact, the structure formation, sedimentation and post-impact tectonics. Impact structures have proven to be petroliferous elsewhere in the world. By applying new seismic 2D- and P-cable data and integrating prior studies, this thesis focuses on how the structure of the Mjølnir Impact Crater might represent a petroleum system in the Barents Sea. The structural setting of the Mjølnir impact Crater shows several potential structural traps, including horst and graben structures within the crater, and listric rim faults at the periphery. A simplified 1D maturation model of potential source rocks in the area, indicate that the Hekkingen and Steinkobbe formations are sufficiently matured and have generated oil, while the Lower Triassic formations have generated gas. These source rocks may potentially charge the Mjølnir Impact Crater by petroleum migration vertically along deep-seated faults and laterally in the southward dipping stratigraphy, from the Nordkapp Basin area. The southern section of the Mjølnir Impact Crater is considered have the highest hydrocarbon potential, due to a thicker overburden and favorable migration pathways. Five seismic anomalies of high amplitude have been identified in the southern Mjølnir Impact Crater. These are interpreted to represent hydrocarbon accumulations, structurally trapped in horsts and by listric rim faults, and overlain by Upper Jurassic shales with sealing properties. Volumetric calculations for one of the amplitude anomalies suggest that 24,4 MMSm3 of oil may be accumulated at the southern boundary of the crater. In conclusion, presence of source rocks, migration pathways, reservoir and traps supported by observations of seismic amplitude anomalies suggests that the Mjølnir Impact Crater represents a potential hydrocarbon system

Thai Gamers\u27attitude Toward Product Placement in Online Games

Marketers have been more attentive to advertisement in online games. Product placement via movies or news reports have been recognized; however, little is known about the placement in Thai online games. This study thus attempts to (1) report the profile of Thai online gamers, (2) explore their attitude toward in-game placement, and (3) analyze their awareness and product recall. Based on the 253 number of usable questionnaires, Thai online gamers are mainly young, male students, spending 2-9 hours a day playing the games. They perceived congruence between game content and in-game placement and did not object to have commercials in the games. Although 86% of the samples were aware of ingame placement, their product recall is fairly low. In addition to extending insight into online advertisement in the context of Thai gamers, marketers could arrange a more proper marketing plan based on these results