A computational model for generating visually pleasing video game maps

In this work we introduce a computational model based on theories of graphical design to generate visually pleasing video game maps. We cast the problem of map generation as an optimization problem and prove it to be computationally hard. Then, we propose a heuristic search approach to solve the map generation problem and use it to generate levels of a clone of Super Mario Bros (SMB) called Infinite Mario Bros (IMB). Before evaluating the levels of IMB generated by our system, we perform a detailed study of the approaches commonly used to evaluate the content generated by computer programs. The evaluation used in previous works often relies on computational metrics. While these metrics are important for an initial exploratory evaluation of the content generated, it is not clear whether they are able to capture the player’s perception of the content generated. In this work we compare the insights gained from a user study with IMB levels generated by different systems with the insights gained from analyzing computational metric values. Our results suggest that current computational metrics should not be used in lieu of user studies for evaluating content generated by computer programs. Using the insights gained in our previous experiment, we performed another user study to evaluate the IMB levels generated by our method. The results show the advantage of our method over other approaches in terms of visual aesthetics and enjoyment. Finally, we performed one last user study that showed that our method is able to generate IMB levels with striking similarity to SMB levels created by professional designers.Neste trabalho apresentamos um modelo computacional baseado em teorias de design para gerar mapas de jogos de plataforma visualmente agradáveis. Nós estudamos o problema de geração de mapas como um problema de otimização e provamos que uma versão simplificada do problema é computacionalmente difícil. Em seguida, propomos uma abordagem de busca heurística para resolver o problema de geração de mapas e utilizamos ela para gerar níveis de um clone do Super Mario Bros (SMB), chamado Infinite Mario Bros (IMB). Antes de avaliar os níveis de IMB gerados pelo nosso sistema, realizamos um estudo detalhado das abordagens comumente utilizadas para avaliar o conteúdo gerado por programas de computador. A avaliação utilizada em trabalhos anteriores utiliza apenas métricas computacionais. Embora esses indicadores são importantes para uma avaliação inicial e exploratória do conteúdo gerado, não é claro se são capazes de capturar a percepção do jogador sobre o conteúdo gerado. Neste trabalho, comparamos os conhecimentos adquiridos a partir de um estudo com seres humanos usando níveis de IMB gerados por diferentes sistemas, com os conhecimentos adquiridos a partir de análise dos valores de métricas computacionais. Os nossos resultados sugerem que as m ́etricas computacionais atuais não devem substituir estudos com seres humanos para avaliar o conteúdo gerado por programas de computador. Usando os conhecimentos adquiridos em nosso experimento anterior, foi realizado outro estudo com seres humanos para avaliar os níveis de IMB gerados pelo nosso método. Os resultados mostram a vantagem do nosso método em relação a outras abordagens em termos de estética visual e diversão. Finalmente, foi realizado outro estudo com seres humanos, mostrando que o nosso método é capaz de gerar níveis de IMB semelhantes aos níveis de SMB criados por designers profissionais.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superio

Games and Rules

Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of »Games and Rules« take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a »Magic Circle«, whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world

Games and rules: game mechanics for the "Magic Circle"

Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of "Games and Rules" take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a "Magic Circle", whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by experts and authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world - among them Miguel Sicart and Carlo Fabricatore

Games and Rules

Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of »Games and Rules« take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a »Magic Circle«, whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world

Money & Trust in Digital Society, Bitcoin and Stablecoins in ML enabled Metaverse Telecollaboration

We present a state of the art and positioning book, about Digital society tools, namely; Web3, Bitcoin, Metaverse, AI/ML, accessibility, safeguarding and telecollaboration. A high level overview of Web3 technologies leads to a description of blockchain, and the Bitcoin network is specifically selected for detailed examination. Suitable components of the extended Bitcoin ecosystem are described in more depth. Other mechanisms for native digital value transfer are described, with a focus on `money'. Metaverse technology is over-viewed, primarily from the perspective of Bitcoin and extended reality. Bitcoin is selected as the best contender for value transfer in metaverses because of it's free and open source nature, and network effect. Challenges and risks of this approach are identified. A cloud deployable virtual machine based technology stack deployment guide with a focus on cybersecurity best practice can be downloaded from GitHub to experiment with the technologies. This deployable lab is designed to inform development of secure value transaction, for small and medium sized companies

Entraînement d'un modèle supervisé pour la détection du plaisir en contexte de jeu vidéo à partir de signaux physiologiques et d'indices comportementaux

La modélisation de l’expérience de jeu présente un intérêt considérable pour la conception de jeux vidéo adaptatifs. Les jeux vidéo adaptatifs utilisent l’information émotionnelle contenue dans les signaux physiologiques et les indices comportementaux pour personnaliser l’expérience de jeu vidéo, et ce dans le but de générer une expérience optimale de jeu. Afin de modéliser l’expérience de jeu, le présent projet de recherche s’est penché sur la détection du plaisir d’un joueur à partir de signaux physiologiques (électrocardiogramme, activité électrodermale, activité respiratoire et électromyogramme) et d’indices comportementaux (expressions faciales, mouvements de la tête et entrées d’un contrôleur Xbox). Dans ce travail, des modèles supervisés(SVM, Forêt d’arbres décisionnels et kNN) ont été entrainés sur un jeu de données construit à partir de la base de données FUNii, qui contient les données physio-comportementales de 219 joueurs réparties sur 362 séances de jeu de la franchise Assassin’s Creed. Une méthode pour la création de classes de plaisir à partir du facteur-fun, un outil d’annotation continue du plaisir, à également été proposée. Le meilleur modèle entrainé a permis de distinguer trois classes de plaisir avec un taux de classement de 53, 5% sur un jeu de test, une amélioration de 12,5% par rapport au meilleur résultat obtenu dans des travaux antérieurs.Modeling the gaming experience is of considerable interest for designing adaptive video games. Adaptive video games use the emotional information contained in physiological signals and behavioral cues to personalize the video game experience,in order to generate an optimal gaming experience. With the purpose of modeling the gaming experience, this research project has focused on the detection of a player’s fun using physiological signals (electrocardiogram, electrodermal activity, respiratory activity and electromyogram) and behavioral cues (facial expressions,head movements and facial expressions and inputs from an Xbox controller). In this work, supervised machine learning models (SVM, Random Forest and kNN) were trained on a dataset built from the FUNii database, which contains the physiobehavioral data of 219 players spread over 362 game sessions of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. A method for creating fun classes from the fun factor, a tool for continuous annotation of fun, has also been proposed. The best model trained allowed to distinguish three classes of pleasure with an accuracy of 53, 5% on a test dataset, an improvement of 12, 5% compared to the best result obtained in previous works