Types
0Instelling
26Bestandstype
9Taal
5Publicatiejaar
12Thema's
14Producttype
14Publicaties met bestand / URL
2Projectstatus
3This research is about the effect of story on player experience; it aimed to explore the difference between gameplay and story in a player’s experience and strived to measure it. The main problem for this research was one of knowledge; does story affect the player experience? Game creators often wonder if putting a story in a game is worth the time, money and effort. Does it affect the player experience in a positive way? Players wonder as well, if story even has a positive effect on player experience, putting gameplay and story up against each other. That is what this research is for, collecting information about the effect of story on player experience. The problem concerning the necessity of stories in games can be traced back to the long standing debate among the gaming community with two parties facing each other, one on the gameplay side and one on the story side. This also brings forth Clint Hocking’s problem, ludonarrative dissonance, the unharmonious state of a game’s gameplay and story, which, as he describes in his criticism piece Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock (2007), can be experience breaking. Providing more information will hopefully make people think about the harmony that might exist between gameplay and story.
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New online stores and digital distribution methods have led to the development of alternative monetization models for video-games, such as free-to-play games with advertisements. Although there are many games using such models, until now the effect on the player experience from such interruptions has not been studied. In this controlled experiment, we requested that participants (N=236) play one of three different versions of a platformer game with: 1) no interruptions, 2) 30-second video advertisements, and 3) a multiple-choice questionnaire. We then evaluated the effects on the player experience. The study shows differences in their experiences, namely in: competence, immersion, annoyance, affects, and the reliability of the questionnaire answers. The contribution of this work is to identify which player experience variables are affected by interruptions, which can be valuable for selecting the business model and guiding the game design process.
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With the increased adoption of real-time objective measurements of player experience, advances have been made in characterising the dynamically changing aspects of the player experience during gameplay itself. A direct coupling to player action, however, is not without challenges. Many physiological responses, for instance, have an inherent delay, and often take some time to return to a baseline, providing challenges of interpretation when analysing rapidly changing gameplay on a micro level of interaction. The development of event-related, or phasic, measurements directly coupled to player actions provides additional insights, for instance through player modelling, but also through the use of behavioural characteristics of the human computer interaction itself. In this study, we focused on the latter, and measured keyboard pressure in a number of different, fast-paced action games. In this particular case, we related specific functional game actions (keyboard presses) to experiential player behaviour. We found keyboard pressure to be higher for avoidance as compared to approach-oriented actions. Additionally, the difference between avoidance and approach keyboard pressure related to levels of arousal. The findings illustrate the application potential of qualifying players’ functional actions at play (navigating in a game) and interpret player experience related to these actions through players’ real world behavioural characteristics like interface pressure.
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Player behavioural modelling has grown from a means to improve the playing strength of computer programs that play classic games (e.g., chess), to a means for impacting the player experience and satisfaction in video games, as well as in cross-domain applications such as interactive storytelling. In this context, player behavioural modelling is concerned with two goals, namely (1) providing an interesting or effective game AI on the basis of player models and (2) creating a basis for game developers to personalise gameplay as a whole, and creating new user-driven game mechanics. In this article, we provide an overview of player behavioural modelling for video games by detailing four distinct approaches, namely (1) modelling player actions, (2) modelling player tactics, (3) modelling player strategies, and (4) player profiling. We conclude the article with an analysis on the applicability of the approaches for the domain of video games.
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This project introduces a personalized and adaptive music player designed for people with mild to moderate dementia living at home. Research shows music can improve quality of life for people with dementia (PwD), but many struggle to access it due to cognitive decline and loss of initiative. The team developed a high-fidelity prototype that plays online radio and personalized Spotify playlists. The design combines rich functionality with ease of use. A key feature is its adaptive inviting behavior, which gently encourages PwD to engage with music through visual and sound prompts. These prompts adjust over time based on user behavior, using nudging techniques to match individual preferences and needs. The project includes studies on the role of music in daily life, analysis of design principles for dementia, and ongoing home testing of the adaptive player to refine its effectiveness.
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Making it easier for players to form emotional connections with NPCs, both positive and negative, helps player retention. This talk explores how we can use psychology to strengthen players’ emotional bonds with NPCs in a singleplayer, team-based setting, including practical tips at the end. Through using intergroup empathy bias in NPC design, we could give players a more fulfilling experience and keep them around for longer.
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This paper presents a method for generating player-driven narratives from visual inputs by exploring the visual analysis capabilities of multimodal large language models. By employing Bartle’s taxonomy of player types—Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Killers—our method creates stories that are tailored to different player characteristics. We conducted a fourfold experiment using a set of images extracted from a well-known game, generating distinct narratives for each player type that are aligned with the visual elements of the input images and specific player motivations. By adjusting narrative elements to emphasize achievement for Achievers, exploration for Explorers, social connections for Socializers, and competition for Killers, our system produced stories that adhere to established narratology principles while resonating with the characteristics of each player type. This approach can serve as a helping tool for game designers, offering new insights into how players might engage with game worlds through personalized image-driven narratives.
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Music can have a positive effect on the quality of life of people with dementia (PwD). Unfortunately, PwD have limited access to music due to difficulties in product use and loss of initiative. Most studies on designing for PwD focus on improving the interaction design and do not consider the loss of initiative PwD experience. We propose that products for PwD must be easy to use and consider the loss of initiative. We consider loss of initiative a critical factor in design for dementia and use the design and evaluation of a music player for PwD as a showcase to illustrate how to design for loss of initiative. This showcase demonstrates how an interactive product can invite PwD to play music and helps to identify ways to consider loss of initiative in design. Finally, we reflect on the design through in-situ evaluations with a high-fidelity prototype.
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