Game Design Commons^™

The Technical World Of Warcraft, Derek Hampton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The Technical World of Warcraft explores the various technical instruction elements of World of Warcraft, more specifically observing issues faced by players who take on content at the highest level. The thesis raises the problem of the in-game technical documentation being utterly ineffective for the aforementioned players, causing them to create their own technical documents. While observing the environment found exclusively within the game, research from Jennifer DeWinter and Ryan Moeller, Mark Chen, Sarah Bishop, and more, is used to analyze the game's instructional elements from a critical angle. Several job listings from other major game development companies are also …

How Live Streaming And Twitch Have Changed The Gaming Industry, Krystal Ruiz

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

Live streaming in itself has become a booming industry in which its content consists of “streamers” who live broadcast numerous events and real-time interactions while simultaneously chatting with viewers drawing huge and increasing numbers (Adamovich). Twitch has especially excelled at garnering attention as one of the most popular live streaming platforms that focuses on broadcasting and viewing video game content (Adamovich). Twitch has grown rapidly within the last few years asserting its dominance as one of the major forces in the games industry and becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry (Adamovich). For example, according to Descrier, in 2016 there were approximately 292 …

Making Data Playable: A Game Co-Creation Method To Promote Creative Data Literacy, Stefan Werning

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article explores how making data playable, i.e. developing exploratory co-creation techniques that use elements of play and games to interpret small to mid-sized datasets beyond the current focus on visual evidence, can help a) promote creative data literacy in higher education, and b) expand existing definitions of data literacy. The article briefly investigates playful characteristics in existing data practices, and discusses how this perspective compares to existing frameworks that define data literacy. In a second step, we present a Discursive Game Design technique to promote creative data literacy. The article reports on findings from a sample workshop, during which …

The Impact Of Shigeru Miyamoto On The Game Design Industry, Luan Tran

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

Nintendo started as a small company in the 1970s that sold playing cards. Having seen the exemplary gift in his son, Miyamoto's father arranged for an interview with the president of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi. Consequently, Miyamoto got a position in 1977 as an apprentice in the planning department after showing his toy creations to the president. He became the first Nintendo artist as he helped create the art for the first original coin-operated arcade game. The approach demonstrated his innate abilities that would help him become the ultimate guru in the industry. Through individual discovery, Miyamoto has managed to produce …

The History Of Nintendo: The Company, Consoles And Games, Laurie Takeda

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

From the start, Nintendo has evolved overall as a company; from a playing card manufacturer to developing a wide variety of video game consoles and video games that are played worldwide, they continue to research and expand upon what the company can offer.

Cognitivevr: Memory Training For Dementia Patients, Daniel Phill

Postgraduate

Around 50 million people suffer from dementia worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2019). One of the worst symptoms of dementia is memory loss as it affects not only the sufferer but their family as well. Recent studies have demonstrated that the immersion of virtual reality has the potential to improve memory in the general public (Krokos, Plaisant, Varshney, 2018) and that dementia patients are able to use virtual reality (Flynn, Schaik, Blackman, Femcott, Hobbs & Calderon, 2004). In this paper, I examine the literature linking virtual reality and dementia care and explain how I used this in my creative practice to …

Spontaneity And The Supernatural: Simulating Improv On Twine, Angelica Zadak

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This thesis is an improv-based digital role-playing game (RPG) created on Twine titled Spontaneity and the Supernatural. The game synthesizes Dustin Edward’s scholarship on remix and digital rhetoric, Kathleen Blake Yancy and Stephen J. McElroy’s application of assemblage theory in composition, and Viola Spolin’s improv theory and practices to take improv from the stage to a digital space. This game uses Twine as a development tool to deliver improv concepts, such as Spolin’s ensemble, environment, and intuition, procedurally. To incorporate these elements into the game, the thesis engages potential players with a narrative that suggests all players can practice improv …

Indeterminate Sample Sequencing In Virtual Reality, Chase Mitchusson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The VR Sequencer is a tool for composing and performing music which takes advantage of spatial configuration of 3-D objects to generate looping sequences. This project combines dice-rolling with omnidirectional playheads and variable terrain to make a sequencer with indeterminate features in Virtual Reality (VR). A comparison of mapping systems for music games and digital instruments demonstrates a middle ground for interactive music making which the VR Sequencer applies. An inspection of current VR works exhibits a disconnect be- tween VR gamers and experimental musicians. In an attempt to give the gaming community access to experimental music making, the VR …

Minecrafting Bar Mitzvah: Two Rabbis Negotiating And Cultivating Learner-Driven Inclusion Through New Media., Owen Gottlieb

Articles

In 2013, a boy with special needs used the video game Minecraft to deliver the sermon at his bar mitzvah at a Reform synagogue, an apparently unique ritual phenomenon to this day. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this article examines two rabbis’ negotiations with new media, leading up to, during, and upon reflection after the event. The article explores acceptance, innovation, and validation of new media in religious practice, drawing on Campbell’s (2010) framework for negotiation of new media in religious communities. Clergy biography, philosophy, and institutional context all impact the negotiations with new media. By providing context of a …

Students Find More Than Gaming In Depaul Esports, University Marketing And Communications, Courtney James

DePaul Download

The Esports market, or competitive video gaming, is anticipated to surpass $1.5 billion by 2023. At DePaul, Esports is even a BIG EAST-sanctioned program. DePaul’s director of Student Involvement, Courtney James, talks about DePaul’s unique Esports community, which draws hundreds of student gamers. Through their participation, the students find connection, an inclusive environment and even inspiration for career paths. James also discusses some of DePaul’s upcoming Esports events and the pandemic’s impact on the industry.

The Verge: Networks Of Intersubjective Responding For Just Sustainability Arts Educational Research, Marna Hauk, Amanda Rachel Kippen

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Two sustainability arts scholars describe a method of data interpretation they developed for making sense of complex environmental and sustainability education research data. They “played” images and recorded a conversation in a form of arts-based intersubjective knowing. The card game process was named the Verge because of how the process promises to surface unheard voices and re-center nondominant insights and ways of knowing. It leverages Casey’s glance method with systems networks to complicate sense making in arts-based educational research. The arts scholars intermixed research data from two just sustainability education research case studies: collages from participants of a climate justice …

Designing Analog Learning Games: Genre Affordances, Limitations And Multi-Game Approaches, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

This chapter explores what the authors discovered about analog games and game design during the many iterative processes that have led to the Lost & Found series, and how they found certain constraints and affordances (that which an artifact assists, promotes or allows) provided by the boardgame genre. Some findings were counter-intuitive. What choices would allow for the modeling of complex systems, such as legal and economic systems? What choices would allow for gameplay within the time of a class-period? What mechanics could promote discussions of tradeoff decisions? If players are expending too much cognition on arithmetic strategizing, could that …

The International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication: Online Event (Cmsc'20) And Cmsc'21, Frances Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

You are warmly invited to register now for the 5th International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC’21) which will be held at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, 2–6 July, 2021.

The International Conference on Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) is a unique gathering of computer scientists and mathematicians, teachers, musicians, dancers, dramatists, game designers, educators and communicators of all sorts.

Due to the pandemic, the in-person event scheduled for 2020 has been post- poned and a short CMSC Online Event was organized as a “teaser” or trailer in order to feel the spirit of the full 5th CMSC …

(Fun)Ction: Developing Games From A Narrative Standpoint, Julian Barocas

English and Creative Writing Summer Fellows

My goal with this project has been to deepen my understanding of why people play games, how to make games narratively compelling, and what technical methods are effective in play. This has allowed me to investigate both the technical, scholarly assessments of board game dynamics while also exploring their real-world applications, successes, and weaknesses. Building on my research, my project has culminated in a full prototype of an original board game that has both narrative structure and an engaging gameplay structure. I have also produced a reflection paper on the experience and an annotated bibliography of my research texts and …

(Fun)Ction: Developing Games From A Narrative Standpoint, Julian Barocas

English and Creative Writing Presentations

My goal with this project has been to deepen my understanding of why people play games, how to make games narratively compelling, and what technical methods are effective in play. This has allowed me to investigate both the technical, scholarly assessments of board game dynamics while also exploring their real-world applications, successes, and weaknesses. Building on my research, my project has culminated in a full prototype of an original board game that has both narrative structure and an engaging gameplay structure. I have also produced a reflection paper on the experience and an annotated bibliography of my research texts and …

Transeuntis Mundi: An Installation About Migration And Human Legacy, Cândida Borges, Gabriel Mario Vélez

Frameless

Transeuntis Mundi is a journey through transcultural and transnational humanity and geography. It is presented as an immersive installation, powered by virtual reality, projection mapping, sound sculptures and performative actions, the audience is able to transit through places and ethnicities.

Wind, Light And Seating Xperience (Xr), Shaun Foster

Frameless

Inspired by Plato’s Cave metaphor from "The Republic", this mixed reality experience talk and demonstration will ask the user to enter a virtual reality experience that is not completely virtual. Elements from the real world exist inside of the virtual; a flash light, a chair and wind. Research and demonstrations will be presented discussing what is XR (mixed reality) right now and what are some exciting technologies on the horizon that will take this field further...

Cross Disciplinary Virtual Reality For Lighting And Composition: Research Update, Shaun Foster, Ihab Mardini

Frameless

Advanced technology has made Virtual Reality a viable tool for widespread multidisciplinary use. We saw an opportunity to use VR to benefit multiple departments at RIT; 3D Digital Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and the School of Film and Animation. All departments wrestle with the problem of effectively allowing the students the speed to iteratively light, compose and compare work. The complexity and length of rendering time using previous generation (CPU rendering) 3D applications distracts learners from focusing on design. Light and Composition are two major elements of designs that are often buried under overwhelming technical obstacles.

Early Adolescents' Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Gender Representations In Video Games, Helen Liu

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study investigated adolescents’ perception and attitudes towards gender representation in video game covers, and the degree to which these depictions may influence their notions on gender and identification. Seventeen participants ranging from ages 12 and 13 participated in semi-structured interviews to explore this topic. This study’s conceptual framework encompassed social cognitive theory, gender schema theory, and cultivation theory. Findings suggest that gender representation in video games does influence the majority of participants’ notions of gender. However, there are differences between how males and females’ approach, interpret, and respond to this type of media. Findings also showcased that evidence of …

Falproject, Mohsen Hazrati

Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020

"A fāl or Bibliomancy is good or bad, the profit or the loss whose occurrence is predicted by hearing a word or a voice, seeing the movement or the expression, opening or reading a book, or observing a specific motif or image." Mohammad Vojdani

FAL Project is a VR-AR Prediction Machine based on an Old Iranian Bibliomancy tradition.

This project is about generating a virtual environment of a prediction using unlimited online data based on the Persian Mysticism and tradition into a VR artwork. As there are so many people who get matched results based on their niyats(Intent of prediction) …