Game Design Commons^™

Everescape: A Meta-Ethical Analysis Of The Player’S Morality Through Immersive Gameplay, Alexis Mavis S. Ferrer, Denise Keara L. Limkakeng, Belle Elizabeth S. Tan

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

For the longest time, the concept of heroes and villains has been treated as opposites. Despite this, many actions taken by both are usually of equal morality, especially in video games, as they exist as two sides of one coin. This study attempts to find the application of game design that influences a player's perspective toward protagonists and antagonists. It also aims to find the extent to which a player can disconnect from normative morality within the world of a video game and how it may affect their perceptions of morality. Finally, it aims to find how the avatar absolves …

Zenosyne: A Game Design Concept Assimilating Dispassion In Young Artists Through The Use Of Storytelling And Game Design Principles, Edelaiza Julienne M. Aggabao

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

As young artists reach the milestone of choosing the career path, they assess their passions to decide if they will continue art professionally. Extrinsic factors like lack of income or parental disapproval attribute to the dispassion among students. This study aims to compact discussions of young artists’ dispassion into a story-driven video game. As gaming trends increase throughout the years with role playing games tackling heavy issues, presenting the findings in this study through the use of game development effectively explores the perspective of dispassionate artists. For artists, passion is the focal point of their end product. Cognitive dissonance theory …

Maria: A Game Concept On The Perception Of The Filipino Voting Youth Towards Women In Politics, Mehriell Ellice S. Ang

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

Over the years, the Philippines prides itself on being one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. Despite this, female participation within the realm of politics remain below the critical mass of representation—often attributed to androcentric biases and the patriarchal structure of society. In this modern age, with the proliferation of feminist ideologies as well as the rise of publicly misogynistic sentiments, the general stance of the young Gen Zs towards women’s participation in politics remains a mystery, as many of them continue to become part of the eligible voter population of the country. This paper then aims to …

My Eyes Are Up Here!: Defining The Female Gaze Through A Comparative Analysis Of Films Throughout The Decades, Anka A. Delos Reyes

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

The male gaze is a trend that has been observed in film for decades, and the oversaturation of inaccurate portrayals of women can be harmful as these portrayals affect women’s self-perception and regress the efforts of feminst movements. Given this, the study aims to define, characterize and illustrate an alternative to the male gaze through My Eyes are up Here! A digital zine that reimagines films adopting the female gaze, rather than its objectifying counterpart. To collect data for the study, visual content analysis of films from different genres and decades was conducted following a set of codes, and the …

Balancing Data- Vs. Art-Driven Decisions In Video Game Design, Jaden D. Goter

Honors Theses, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Video games, like software, need to be designed. Video game development studios tend to use data-driven or art-driven decision-making to design their games. Data-driven decision-making is where active and passive data is collected in order to make informed decisions about the design of a game. Art-driven decision-making is when designers use their artistic intuition to design games, potentially ignoring player data. This paper elaborates on the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches and provides case studies of games designed under both approaches. Based on these studies, for a game to be successful, a combined approach of data- and art-driven decision-making …

Developing A Prototype Of A Playfulness Toolkit, Hanneke Hovels

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Projects

Playfulness is the ability to reframe situations, seeing new possibilities. A playful mind-set increases our mental flexibility, resilience, empathy, and our overall well-being. Unfortunately, growing up most of us lose part of our playfulness. How can we facilitate adults to live a (more) playful life? To ignite playfulness in adults’ lives, we first have to raise awareness for the benefits of playfulness, and then help people to develop a playful mind-set and integrate playfulness into their lives. In this project I combine my knowledge of creativity and playfulness with my experience in service and behavior design. I developed a prototype …

For The Kingdom, Jack Conway

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

For The Kingdom is a tabletop board game that I have developed for my thesis. In my thesis, I would like to cover three areas that have been crucial to the development of the game- the guidebook created to support and facilitate the board game, the changes made due to player feedback and testing, and the potential paths to getting the game to the market. Before Talking about those three areas, however, I will first describe the games genre and a bit about my approach to developing it.

It's All Fun And—: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Space In The Pandemic., Erica Von Proctor Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exhibition and document explore spatial rhetoric during the pandemic, utilizing materiality and relational aesthetics to reflect on the different ways in which the public and private are made distinct from one another. In doing so, Lewis addresses new cultural navigations of shared spaces, both digital and corporeal, public and private. In addition, the artist also examines the faulty social and institutional systems that the pandemic brought to light, such as socioeconomic dynamics and voter suppression, while utilizing Kenneth Burke’s concept of the terministic screen. Games are a central theme throughout the exhibition, as they are often coded as “home” …

Female Portrayal In Games Through Costumes: Designing And Creating Appealing Armor For Female Players, Nancey Fang

All Theses

This thesis details the design, development, and creation of variations of more functional female armor designed for games with the female audience in mind.

The goal is to empower female players by designing and creating strong armor that is not sexualized and that women can enjoy. I want to show that women can be portrayed as strong and powerful in games by designing armor that is equivalent to their male counterparts. Due to the gender imbalance in the video game industry and player base, it seems that female players are not catered to when most games are created. Many studies …

Real-Time Illumination Capture And Rendering On Mobile Devices, Snehal Padhye, James A. Ferwerda

Frameless

We present our efforts to develop methods for rendering 3D objects on mobile devices using real-world dynamic illumination from the user’s environment. To achieve this, we use the front and back cameras on the mobile device to estimate the light distribution in the environment in real time. We then create a dynamic illumination map and render the object at interactive rates in a browser on the device using a web-based graphics API. This project achieves one of the goals of our related work on realistic visualization of virtual objects: to make virtual objects appear to be situated within the scene …

Choppy Forgeries: A Vr Sculpting Game, Jonah Warren

Frameless

Choppy Forgeries is a fast-paced sculpting game made for virtual reality headsets. The game is intended to give players the opportunity to practice and appreciate the skills associated with artmaking and sculpture (Seeley and Kozbelt, 2008, 163–166) in a fun, light- hearted, competitive context. The game also requires players to closely examine and engage with famous classical sculpture from art history through its gameplay.

Changeling Vr, Elouise Oyzon

Frameless

Changeling VR is an interactive virtual reality narrative game. As we progress through the game, each level is seen through the Point of View of a different character whose emotional core is expressed through different aesthetics, mechanics and interactions.

Vr Sound Mapping: Make Sound Accessible For Dhh People In Virtual Reality Environments, Ziming Li, Roshan Peiris

Frameless

In-game audio plays an important role in enhancing the sense of reality and immersion in the gaming experience. In many games, sounds are also used to provide notifications and clues which are essential to the gameplay. However, in this case, the DHH (deaf and hard of hearing) players may fail to access the information conveyed by sounds, which degrades their gaming experience (Jain et al. 2021).

Developing Indie Games With Agile, Camden Obertop

Honors Theses, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Agile software development has ushered in major improvements to the development of software in the 21st century. Video game development is a form of development that is unique from other types of software engineering, as it can involve work from artists, musicians, voice actors, and others. This paper explores the question whether agile software development as Scrum is an effective tool for creating video games. Ultimately, it can be seen that agile is a very important asset to game developers.

The Social Problems And Benefits Of Video Games, Steven Ly

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

In today’s society, video games have improved and increased alongside technology. Many games have made many communities increase their social media intake and gaming addiction. In the uprise of video games, multiple genres of video games have been created to contain the gamer. This paper will discuss the number of negatives and positives that affect a video gamer. We will also discuss other factors that could correlate to games involving people. The downsides and upsides of video gaming will primarily revolve around social problems that gamers develop and or positive outcomes from gaming. We will dive into the topics such …

Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Kelly Stone-Patrick

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

Looking back on life there are so many memories that have truly made a lasting impact, these can include different vacations, accomplishments, and family, but have you ever had one that included a game or video game? From my personal experience, Tony Hawk Pro Skater has been one of those memories for me from childhood and now as an adult. Tony Hawk Pro Skater was a key part of my enjoyment and leisure as a child while also providing me with memories of time spent with my older brothers. In this paper, we will be highlighting the different elements of …

Gamerz, Derek Kwok

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

Gaming - it is a hobby enjoyed by many and easily accessible for all. But what is considered gaming? A game can be classified as something to do for past time or as an amusement. As it is defined in the oxford dictionary “gaming” can be categorized into two definitions: 1.the playing of games developed to teach something or to help solve a problem, as in a military or business situation, or 2. Digital Technology. the playing of computer or video games. According to the definition on Dictionary.com, board games or physical games can still be considered gaming. Definition two …

Toys Are For Adults, John Wippler

Theses

This paper explores the concept of toys, what they are and for whom they are made. The paper also provides a brief history of designer toys and pop culture, and how pop culture helped fuel the designer toy industry. The psychology of collecting is also referenced, and a direct correlation is made between the act of collecting toys and toy popularity.

The book I wrote is also mentioned and is a vital part of the purpose for the thesis. The book is an introductory guide to resin toymaking and is integral to the expansion of the designer toy community.

Psychological Effects Of Video Games, Myles Johnson

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

Through the birth of the computer, our world has seen a rapid advancement in the multi-faceted use of this technology. The advancements in computers brought about the invention of video game consoles. Basically a different type of computer. Game consoles today are all basically computers, they contain a hard drive and operating system just like a computer (Daniel, 2012). Without even looking into the harmful effects of what a regular computer has on the brain and eyes of a person, one can assume that it is not beneficial to spend hours on one every day or even every other day. …

The Woman Behind The Whitney, Breanna Epp

Honors Theses, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as a prominent sculptor and patron to artists in the early 1900s. Her art collection was the largest of American art at the time, and she led the nation into an appreciation of its own native art. Native in this context specifically means any art that was made in America, not strictly art made by the indigenous people of the Americas. Tackling her entire life, from growing up in the Vanderbilt family to her death, I provide an overview of her interactions with the art …