scholarly journals Unifying Rigid and Soft Bodies Representation: The Sulfur Physics Engine

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Maggiorini ◽  
Laura Anna Ripamonti ◽  
Federico Sauro
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Game Engine ◽  
Unified Approach ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
Physics Simulation ◽  
Game Engines ◽  
Player Experience ◽  
Game Environment

Video games are (also) real-time interactive graphic simulations: hence, providing a convincing physics simulation for each specific game environment is of paramount importance in the process of achieving a satisfying player experience. While the existing game engines appropriately address many aspects of physics simulation, some others are still in need of improvements. In particular, several specific physics properties of bodies not usually involved in the main game mechanics (e.g., properties useful to represent systems composed by soft bodies), are often poorly rendered by general-purpose engines. This issue may limit game designers when imagining innovative and compelling video games and game mechanics. For this reason, we dug into the problem of appropriately representing soft bodies. Subsequently, we have extended the approach developed for soft bodies to rigid ones, proposing and developing a unified approach in a game engine: Sulfur. To test the engine, we have also designed and developed “Escape from Quaoar,” a prototypal video game whose main game mechanic exploits an elastic rope, and a level editor for the game.

scholarly journals Using the Roblox Video Game Engine for Creating Virtual tours and Learning about the Sculptural Heritage

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (20) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Cecile Meier ◽  
Jose Luis Saorín ◽  
Alejandro Bonnet de León ◽  
Alberto Guerrero Cobos
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Game Engine ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
School Students ◽  
Final Questionnaire ◽  
Game Engines ◽  
The Creation

This paper describes an experience to incorporate the realization of virtual routes about the sculptural heritage of a city in the classroom by developing a simulation of the urban environment using a video game engine. Video game engines not only allow the creation of video games but also the creation and navigation of in-teractive three-dimensional worlds. For this research, Roblox Studio has been used, a simple and intuitive program in which no previous programming skills are required. During the 2018/2019 academic year, a pilot experience was carried out with 53 secondary school students who were given the task of designing a virtual environment in which they had to include 3D models of the sculptural her-itage of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Before starting the experience, the par-ticipants answered a questionnaire to obtain a previous idea of the students' knowledge about the creation of video games. Once the activity was finished and in order to evaluate the result of the activity, the participants answered a final questionnaire. The students emphasized that after the activity they are more aware of the sculptural heritage of Santa Cruz and that they consider themselves capable of creating their own interactive worlds with Roblox.

Training cognition with video games

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Cardoso-Leite ◽  
Morteza Ansarinia ◽  
Emmanuel Schmück ◽  
Daphne Bavelier
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
Impact Action ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
Third Person ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
New Research

This chapter reviews the behavioral and neuroimaging scientific literature on the cognitive consequences of playing various genres of video games. The available research highlights that not all video games have similar cognitive impact; action video games as defined by first- and third-person shooter games have been associated with greater cognitive enhancement, especially when it comes to top-down attention, than puzzle or life-simulation games. This state of affairs suggests specific game mechanics need to be embodied in a video game for it to enhance cognition. These hypothesized game mechanics are reviewed; yet, the authors note that the advent of more complex, hybrid, video games poses new research challenges and call for a more systematic assessment of how specific video game mechanics relate to cognitive enhancement.

Toward Broader Definitions of “Video Games”

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas John Jensen ◽  
Daisyane Barreto ◽  
Keri Duncan Valentine
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Technological Capabilities ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Digital Environments

As video games grow in popularity, ambition, scope, and technological prowess, they also mature as an art form, shedding old definitions tethered to video games as simple, competitive exercises. Greater technological capabilities, in addition to years of experimentation and maturation, have expanded the ability of games to tell different kinds of stories, offering branching paths. The question of “what makes a game a game?” looms larger than ever in this era of video game storytelling. As plots and characters grow, branch, and develop, so, too, do the boundaries of what a game actually is. In traditional definitions of gaming, a set of rules and a victory condition were essential elements to a game. As game narratives and game mechanics grow in increasingly complex and experimental directions, new player goals have emerged. Now, gamers socialize, customize, nurture, kill, build, destroy, break, glitch, and explore as much as they work to win and accrue points. This chapter surveys the current landscape of video games, highlighting examples and trends that challenge more traditional notions and definitions of what it means to be a “video game.” The broader definition presented here takes into account play, narrative, digital environments, and more, acknowledging the expanse of the video game experience.

scholarly journals How Color Properties Can Be Used to Elicit Emotions in Video Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Geslin ◽  
Laurent Jégou ◽  
Danny Beaudoin
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Circumplex Model ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Color Spaces ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
The Many ◽  
Development Methods

Classifying the many types of video games is difficult, as their genres and supports are different, but they all have in common that they seek the commitment of the player through exciting emotions and challenges. Since the income of the video game industry exceeds that of the film industry, the field of inducting emotions through video games and virtual environments is attracting more attention. Our theory, widely supported by substantial literature, is that the chromatic stimuli intensity, brightness, and saturation of a video game environment produce an emotional effect on players. We have observed a correlation between the RGB additives color spaces, HSV, HSL, and HSI components of video game images, presented ton=85participants, and the emotional statements expressed in terms of arousal and valence, recovered in a subjective semantic questionnaire. Our results show a significant correlation between luminance, saturation, lightness, and the emotions of joy, sadness, fear, and serenity experienced by participants viewing 24 video game images. We also show strong correlations between the colorimetric diversity, saliency volume, and stimuli conspicuity and the emotions expressed by the players. These results allow us to propose video game environment development methods in the form of a circumplex model. It is aimed at game designers for developing emotional color scripting.

Empirical evaluation of player experience using a machine-learning approach to dynamic difficulty adjustment in video games

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Robb ◽  
Bo Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Empirical Evaluation ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Machine Learning Approach ◽  
Player Experience ◽  
Control Version ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
Player Performance ◽  
Experience Of Flow

Dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) in video games involves altering the level of challenge provided based on real-time feedback from the player. Some approaches to DDA use measurements of player performance, such as success rate or score. Such performance-based DDA systems aim to provide a bespoke level of challenge to each player, so that the game is neither too hard nor too easy. Previous research on performance-based DDA shows that it is linked to better player performance, but finds mixed results in terms of player experience (e.g., enjoyment). Also, while the concept of flow is regarded as an important aspect of video game experience, little research has considered the effects of performance-based DDA on flow. We conducted an experiment on the effects of performance-based DDA on player performance, enjoyment, and experience of flow in a video game. DDA was achieved using a generalised algorithm. 221 participants played either the DDA version of the game, a control version (difficulty remained constant), or an incremental version (difficulty increased regardless of performance). Results show that the DDA group performed significantly better. However, there were no significant differences in terms of enjoyment or experience of flow.

scholarly journals A History of Video Games

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tuakana Metuarau
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Interactive Design ◽  
Museum Exhibitions ◽  
Game Engines ◽  
History Of ◽  
Video Game Consoles

<p>This research begins with the premise that while video-games have become a pervasive cultural force over the last four decades, there is still a dearth of educational and historical material regarding the emergence of video game home consoles and their content. Games have an extensive history, dating back to early radar displays and oscilloscopes of the 1960s (Tennis for Two, 1958) and early home video game consoles of the 1970s (Magnavox Odyssey, 1972). From the JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machine and Marketing Association) arcade standard of the 80s to the high powered processors of Sonys PS4, video games have come a long way and left a wealth of audio-visual material in their wake. Much of this material, however, is archived and engaged within a traditional manner: through text books or museum exhibitions (Games Master, ACMI 2015). Through interactive design however, this data can be made easily comprehensible and accessible as interactive data-visualisation content. This design research project explores processes of data visualization, interactive design and video game production to open up video game history and communicate its developmental stages in a universally accessible manner. Though there has been research conducted utilising game engines for visualizations in other fields (from landscape architecture to bio-medical science) it has rarely been used to visualize the history of gaming itself. This visualization (utilising the Unreal Engine and incorporating historical video content) creates an accessible preservation and catalogue of video game history, and an interactive graphical interface that allows users to easily learn and understand the history of console development and the processes that lead video games to their current state.</p>

Cute, cuddly and completely crushable: Plushies as avatars in video games

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Reay
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Game Mechanics

This article examines video game avatars that are designed to resemble toys. It names this trope the ‘Blithe Child’ to capture the carefree, careless and childlike interactions this avatar invites. This article argues that the connection between the Blithe Child and traditional toys functions to express and explain non-violent game mechanics, to shape sentimental player–avatar relationships, to create cosy, snug playspaces and to encourage pro-social, creative and self-expressive playstyles. However, the Blithe Child inherits some of the more sinister dynamics latent in human–toy relationships, namely the desire to humiliate and mutilate the cute object and anxieties about what it means to be ‘real’ – to be an independent, agential subject rather than a passive, manipulated, othered object. Drawing on theories derived from cuteness studies and toy studies, this article uses a close reading approach to critique the age-based hierarchies that underpin this trope.

Video game dynamic in unplugged mode for innovative and inclusive teaching

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina De Castro ◽  
Martina Marsano ◽  
Umberto Zona ◽  
Fabio Bocci
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Educational Technologies ◽  
Educational Objective ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Game Dynamic ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
The University

The authors of this essay analyze the educational opportunities offered by video games by experimenting with an unplugged design, carried out within the framework of a Laboratory of Educational Technologies at the Degree Course in Primary Education Sciences at. The aim was to enable students, future teachers, to build, in teams, a video game environment that could be reproduced even in the absence of the digital devices on which it is usually implemented and through which it can be reproduced. This last circumstance can occur in many school complexes, unfortunately still lacking adequate structures and instruments. The educational and pedagogical mission of the Laboratory was also to allow future teachers to experiment in a protected environment, the university one, the video game principles applicable even in disadvantaged class contexts. The educational objective was to ensure that the students involved in the design of the game master the philosophy of gamification, so that they could take advantage of it wisely and consciously in their future classes.

scholarly journals USE: An integrative suite for temporally-precise psychophysical experiments in virtual environments for human, nonhuman, and artificially intelligent agents

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus. R. Watson ◽  
Voloh Benjamin ◽  
Thomas Christopher ◽  
Hasan Asif ◽  
Womelsdorf Thilo
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Data Streams ◽  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Time Synchronization ◽  
Behavioral Neuroscience ◽  
State Machine ◽  
List Type ◽  
Game Engine ◽  
Game Engines ◽  
And Control

1Abstract1.1BackgroundThere is a growing interest in complex, active, and immersive behavioral neuroscience tasks. However, the development and control of such tasks present unique challenges.1.2New MethodThe Unified Suite for Experiments (USE) is an integrated set of hardware and software tools for the design and control of behavioral neuroscience experiments. The software, developed using the Unity video game engine, supports both active tasks in immersive 3D environments and static 2D tasks used in more traditional visual experiments. The custom USE SyncBox hardware, based around an Arduino Mega2560 board, integrates and synchronizes multiple data streams from different pieces of experimental hardware. The suite addresses three key issues with developing cognitive neuroscience experiments in Unity: tight experimental control, accurate sub-ms timing, and accurate gaze target identification.1.3ResultsUSE is a flexible framework to realize experiments, enabling (i) nested control over complex tasks, (ii) flexible use of 3D or 2D scenes and objects, (iii) touchscreen-, button-, joystick- and gaze-based interaction, and (v) complete offline reconstruction of experiments for post-processing and temporal alignment of data streams.1.4Comparison with Existing MethodsMost existing experiment-creation tools are not designed to support the development of video-game-like tasks. Those that do use older or less popular video game engines as their base, and are not as feature-rich or enable as precise control over timing as USE.1.5ConclusionsUSE provides an integrated, open source framework for a wide variety of active behavioral neuroscience experiments using human and nonhuman participants, and artificially-intelligent agents.2GlossaryActive task: Experimental tasks which involve some combination of realistic, usually moving, stimuli, continuous opportunities for action, ecologically valid tasks, complex behaviours, etc. Here, they are contrasted with static tasks (see below)Arduino: A multi-purpose generic micro-processor, here used to control inter-device communication and time synchronization.Raycast: A game-engine method that sends a vector between two points in a virtual three-dimensional environment, and returns the first object in that environment it hits. Often used to determine if a character in a game can see or shoot another character.State Machine (also Finite State Machine): A way of conceptualizing and implementing control in software, such that at any one moment the software is in one, and only one, state. In hierarchical state machines, as used in the present software suite, these can be organized into different levels, such that each level can only be in one state, but a state can pass control to a lower level.Static task: Experimental tasks like those traditionally used in the cognitive neurosciences. Simple, usually stationary, stimuli, limited opportunities for action, simple behaviours, etc. Here, they are contrasted with active tasks (see above).Unity: One of the most popular video game engines. Freely available.Video game engine: A software development kit designed to handle many of the common issues involved in creating video games, such as interfacing with controllers, simulating physical collisions and lighting, etc.

scholarly journals Ghosts of the Present Past: Spectrality in the Video Game Object

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Janik
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Fictional World ◽  
The Past ◽  
Game World ◽  
Digital Materiality ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Dual Status ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
Game Environments

The aim of the article is to analyse the phenomenon of ghost characters in video games from the perspective of Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology, and to use this as the starting point for a hauntological engagement with the video game object’srelationship with its own past. The paper will investigateghostly figuresand their spectral status inside the video game environment, as well as their uncertain hauntological status as both fictional bygone souls and digital in-game objects.On the basis of this analysis of ghostly figures in video game environments, I draw a line between the past of the fictional world and the past of the game world, and examine what happens when they overlap.The dual status of the in-game ghost will thereby serve to metonymically anchor an investi-gation into the duality of the game as a whole, as both fiction and digital materiality, and of the dif-ferent dimensions of the past that exist in between these two levels of the game object.

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