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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design
Best Practices For Teaching Shifting Gameplay Styles, Matthew Grabowski
Best Practices For Teaching Shifting Gameplay Styles, Matthew Grabowski
Level Design Theses and Dissertations
This thesis explores four different methods (Golden Path, Punishers & Reinforcers, Teaching in Threes, and Forced Teaching) for teaching players how to engage with shifting gameplay styles within video games using Nico Fridja’s Valence Theory [1]. Using the Far Cry 5 Arcade Editor, the researcher created a single-player video game level in which all four teaching methods were tested in tandem with one another. The goal of creating this level was to evaluate the validity of the teaching methods and their ability to shift gameplay valences, specifically between stealth-focused gameplay and push-forward firefight combat gameplay.
Using Spatial Composition To Influence Player Tension, Canny Yuan
Using Spatial Composition To Influence Player Tension, Canny Yuan
Level Design Theses and Dissertations
This thesis focuses on how space and level geometry in a video game influence a person’s tension. The researcher explored a few potential best practices, which a level designer might utilize when employing spatial composition in video games. By modifying a space's density, size, and openness, a designer can effectively increase or decrease the player’s spatial tension. To explore the effectiveness of the best practices and the related spatial methodology, the researcher recruited playtesters to play the thesis artifact, a customized game level in Dying Light called, “A Way Out.” The researcher then analyzed the heart rates and experiences of …
Rabbit Hole, Olivia Wiebe
Rabbit Hole, Olivia Wiebe
Scripps Senior Theses
Rabbit Hole explores an alternate reality which erupts within moments of insomnia, and posits it as a place of self-discovery. Though this Rabbit Hole is a personal one, the work implies that these worlds can be found within any person when they are alone. Digital spaces have become tools of absolute availability and distraction, capitalized on by companies who profit when our eyeballs are stuck to our screens. However, cyberspace was once dreamed of as a place of self-discovery and experimentation. Rabbit Hole is an attempt to reclaim digital space, and turn towards ourselves within technology. These individual “Rabbit Holes” …
Playing To Win: The Effects Of Implementing Gamification Strategies In Product Marketing, Sabrina Stone
Playing To Win: The Effects Of Implementing Gamification Strategies In Product Marketing, Sabrina Stone
CMC Senior Theses
Let’s play a game. What effect do you think video games have on twenty-first-century marketing? In this age defined by its nature of digitality, capturing the attention of consumers is an arduous competition. Through market segmentation, research, and the observable variables of consumer behavior, product marketing has turned to video games as a solution to appeal to younger demographics. Gamification is an increasingly applied product marketing strategy employed to increase favorable metrics. Of those key performance indicators (KPIs), boosted measures such as click-through rates, impressions, and engagement rates suggest that gamification is a strategic opportunity to persuade consumers to take …
Choice-Based Games And Resilience Building Of Gender Non-Conforming Individuals: An Exploratory Study, Yuri M. Cantrell
Choice-Based Games And Resilience Building Of Gender Non-Conforming Individuals: An Exploratory Study, Yuri M. Cantrell
Masters Theses
Research on gaming and user experience of the general population has been abundant, but gender non-conforming (GNC) individuals’ experiences had been largely overlooked until recent years. Using a phenomenological approach, the goal of this study is to find deeper understanding of this phenomenon by exploring what gaming experiences shape the identity of the participants. The exploration of gaming and gender non-conforming experiences through interviews can fill a gap in the current literature on gaming culture regarding this specific population. By taking a closer look at this topic, patterns and themes within games may provide insight to potential resilience building activities …
Indie Developers And The Queer Content Renaissance In Video Games, 2013-2017, Shane Michael Hansaruk Mr.
Indie Developers And The Queer Content Renaissance In Video Games, 2013-2017, Shane Michael Hansaruk Mr.
Major Papers
Queer content in video games has existed since the 1970s, but as time and technology have progressed, so too have the potential for queer content in video games. During the mid-2010’s, a sudden increase in the number of games with queer content began, lasting between the years 2013 and 2017. This research project examines this period in great detail to determine the cause of this drastic increase. Through examining queer games literature, two queer games databases, and two select titles from this period, I determine that independent, or “indie” developers, have a substantial impact on the increase of queer games …
Plausible Expositions With Possible Expeditions, Nikolaus D. James
Plausible Expositions With Possible Expeditions, Nikolaus D. James
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Influenced by video games and cinema, in this body of work, Plausible Expositions with Possible Expeditions, I use objects to create scenarios that suggest a narrative. The scenes are then photographed and displayed through cathode-ray tube televisions and viewers use their own knowledge and ideas about the objects to create that narrative. Each of these objects has is own data set, and the most common have a universal data set—information surrounding the object that is widely recognized, much like how a crowbar is commonly associated with crime. Similar to playing a video game, an algorithm is used when viewing my …
God Of War: Masculinity And Fatherhood Through Procedural Rhetoric, Andrew A. Morgan
God Of War: Masculinity And Fatherhood Through Procedural Rhetoric, Andrew A. Morgan
University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations
Video games and academia have a long history with one another. Academic researchers have continued to debate the extent to which video games can materialize real world effects. In this thesis, I employ procedural rhetoric and feminist scholarship to analyze the rhetorical power of God of War. I focus on the game’s immersive procedures and the performances of masculinity from Kratos, Atreus, and Baldur. These three characters all perform different masculinities, and their interactions with one another inform the game’s portrayal of masculinity and fatherhood. By engaging in violence and depicting nuanced performances of masculinity, God of War positions the …
Rhythm Quest: Creating A Music Video Game, Tanner Daniel Cohan
Rhythm Quest: Creating A Music Video Game, Tanner Daniel Cohan
Senior Projects Fall 2019
This project was the creation of a music-centric video game named Rhythm Quest. Rhythm Quest is a combination of two very distinct video game genres, in a way that has not yet been done in the mainstream, particularly taking inspiration from the rhythm game Rhythm Heaven and the turn-based roleplaying-game (RPG) Paper Mario. It was a joint project between the computer science and music divisions, and involved the creation of all assets necessary to create a video game, including sprite creation, software development, writing, music, and sound effects. The game’s tutorial, as well as the battle system, is complete.
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment In Procedural Content Generation, Charles Joseph Calder
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment In Procedural Content Generation, Charles Joseph Calder
Senior Projects Fall 2017
The world of game development has gone through many chapters since its birth. Many complex techniques, designed to give every player a personal game experience, have been developed by those who love to create. This project explores modern Procedural Content Generation and Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment techniques. The algorithm developed in the course of this project is designed to increase developer and player quality of life. Through adaptive generation, this project will explore how players engage with games and what developers can do to add to the player experience.