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Introduction My STS research topic revolves around researching whether or not Cyber Forensics and log analysis can aid crime investigations and improve the security of society by allowing analysts to uncover suspicious behavior quickly to resolve and prevent crime. My technical Capstone research involved creating an anime racing game similar to Mario Kart for a lackluster Racing genre and a stale and repetitive Anime genre on Roblox using the Roblox Studio Engine that provided the building, scripting, animating, and other tools to do so. My technical Capstone research is loosely related to my STS research topic as it involved creating security measures against hackers and exploiters through implementing log checkers. These log checkers would check if the client’s data matches the server’s data, and if it didn’t, it would classify the log as suspicious and prevent the game transaction from occurring, and in some cases even prevent the user from continuing their gameplay. Through this, I became curious in the usage of log analysis and Cyber Forensics in crime investigations and prevention. Project Summaries My STS research paper investigated how beneficial log analysis can be in cyber forensics and cyberattacks. Furthermore, whether these logs can aid with crime investigations and improve the security of society by allowing analysts to uncover suspicious behavior quickly to resolve and prevent crime. In this paper, I also presented the Cyber Forensics process, the protocol for conducting the process, the challenges that come with the process, and the solutions to those challenges. I analyzed several case studies with topics ranging from internal network activity logs from an employee to pharmaceutical drug transportation logs. I concluded that log analysis is useful in cyber forensics and can help prevent crime from escalating, but the crime has to occur and be recognized as suspicious activity beforehand in order to do so. Log analysis and Cyber Forensics can aid with crime investigations and improve the security of society by enabling analysts to uncover suspicious behavior quickly and resolve crime investigations. As stated previously, my technical Capstone research was to create a Roblox game that combined the Anime and Racing genres to create a Mario Kart-styled game. Roblox, a gaming platform where users develop games for other users to enjoy, not only lacks games in its Racing genre but many Anime-inspired games are repetitive and lack variety. To address the problem, I worked with a partner to develop a game inspired by Mario Kart using Roblox’s Studio. Roblox Studio provides developers with built-in 3D modeling, sound, UI, animation editing, and plugin systems along with the programming language Lua to develop games. I used Trello, a project management web application, with an agile development process to document ideas and progress on various aspects of the game. The project was successful in the creation of a game that mixes the Racing and Anime genres for users to enjoy. However, the project still lacks a consistent player count due to limited advertising and poor visuals, meaning the game is not likely to be long-lasting. The next step is to create and implement better visuals and UI along with advertising for more public traffic, while also fixing bugs/glitches as they appear. Conclusion My STS research and technical Capstone project taught me the importance of building a good development team and the importance of analyzing logs. Through my technical Capstone project, I was reminded about the importance of a good team that consistently communicates about their progress and ideas. My Capstone involved working with one other person and without communication to discuss ideas and progress, it would have been more difficult than it was as we could not meet physically and only communicate electronically. In both my STS and technical Capstone projects, I learned about the importance of logging transactions and analyzing those transactions when they occur before continuing a process to ensure the system is working as intended. In the game I made for my Capstone, we added automated log analyzers to ensure players weren’t exploiting. If a log was found to be suspicious, such as attempting to access something that was off-limits, the transaction would be canceled and the player would be kicked/banned depending on the severity. My STS research extended this to other real-world applications and explored Cyber Forensics and log analysis. Through my STS research, I learned about the challenges and restrictions when conducting the Cyber Forensics and log analysis processes and how it helps improve the security of our society. Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge my STS professor, Richard Jacques, for his guidance throughout the creation of this portfolio and the STS research paper. I would also like to acknowledge my technical Capstone advisor, Rosanne Vrugtman, for her aid in creating and formatting my technical report.

The frame rate of a game is important for both the end-user and the developer, and for a game to be considered playable, the minimum requirement of 60 FPS should be maintained. With respect to the programming design pattern, the cur- rent industry standard is to use Object-Oriented Design (OOD). While the demand for efficient game applications is increasing, applications developed using OOD are struggling to efficiently utilize the available computing resources and consequently meet the minimum frame-rate requirements. A design pattern that may be able to cope with the current and future requirements of resource-intensive game applications is the Data-Oriented Design (DOD), which focuses on the efficient CPU memory utilization. The main difference between OOD and DOD is related to the way data is organized and accessed. While DOD is able to efficiently utilize the cache memory, programming using the data- oriented design is perceived as much more complex compared to programming applications using object-oriented design. In this paper, we will first develop a simple game applica- tion using both programming design patterns. Thereafter, we evaluate the performance of both implementations with respect to the overall execution time, CPU and memory utilization. Furthermore, we will develop the corresponding multi-threading versions to explore how the memory is utilized when multiple cores access data from shared cache memory. The results of the empirical evaluation show that the code sections that use DOD perform significantly faster than the corresponding parts implemented using OOD for both single-threaded and multi- threaded applications. The maximum observed speedup of 13.25 times demonstrates that games and applications developed using DOD can utilize the available resources more efficiently.

Cet article analyse des créations vidéoludiques récentes à travers le prisme de la culture et de la musique industrielle, créations qui seront catégorisées comme « jeux vidéo industriels ». Face à une effervescence de la production de jeux menée par des concepteurs solitaires depuis 2015, l’auteur identifie comment des pratiques singulières de création vidéoludique peuvent être inspirées par des formes artistiques underground. Afin de guider cette réflexion, des entrevues ont été menées avec cinq créatrices et créateurs : Yames, Selfish Dream, Valerie Dusk, Stef Pinto et Andrea Pignataro. Le texte propose une analyse des correspondances entre leurs stratégies de production et celles de la culture industrielle, notamment en s’intéressant à une utilisation particulière du bruit (sonore, mais aussi visuel et spatial), ainsi qu’à la manière dont ces créations font office de bruit au sein de l’industrie dominante du jeu vidéo, venant ainsi fragiliser ses définitions canoniques et l’histoire technocentriste du médium. This article proposes an analysis of recent alternative video games through the particularities of industrial music’s aesthetics. Considering a massive increase in video game production by solo designers since 2015, the author identifies how singular practices of game creation can be inspired by underground art forms. To further this research, five game developers were invited to participate through interviews: Yames, Selfish Dream, Valerie Dusk, Stef Pinto and Andrea Pignataro. The article proposes an analysis of the common production strategies between industrial culture and these game creators, more precisely by studying the singular use of noise in their games (audio but also visual and spatial) and how their creations act as noise in the context of the dominant video game industry by weakening its core definitions of what games are and the technocentrist history of the medium.

Commercial game makers at all scales of production have increasingly come to incorporate livestreaming into every stage of the game development cycle. Mainstream hits like Fortnite and League of Legends owe their ongoing success in no small part to their massive uptake by streamers, and triple-A releases from major publishers can reliably expect significant attention on streaming platforms. But what about smaller, lower budget games? For independent game developers, the costs and benefits of streaming are less clear. Based on interviews with small commercial indie developers in Toronto and Montréal, this article critically examines different discourses around streaming and commercial indie games, focusing on developer perceptions of the benefits and risks of streaming and its impacts on indie game-making practices, including production, promotion, and community-building. Contrary to persistent popular myths about streaming as the key to ‘discoverability’, commercial indie game development remains a precarious form of cultural work, and indie games collectively attract only a tiny fraction of the overall audience on streaming platforms. There is a high level of uncertainty about the factors that led to a given game’s success, leaving many indie developers ambivalent about leveraging influencer attention and even as they commit significant time and energy trying to doing so.

Video games can be dynamic sovereign spaces for Indigenous representation and expression when the self-determination of Indigenous people is supported. Where games are concerned, self-determination involves the autonomy and right of Indigenous people to make key decisions regarding the process of how a game is developed as well as what that game entails. A game is sovereign when self-determination is a respected practice throughout all phases of development from conceptualization to distribution. In what ways can games be sovereign and what challenges may be faced? Utilizing comparative case studies of the self-determined games Lost Memories, Terra Nova, and When Rivers Were Trails, this research identifies possible approaches and challenges for sovereign games looking at development as well as the resulting designs.

Existing work on personality traits in software development excludes game developers as a discrete group. Whilst the skills needed for these roles overlap, this field has unique factors, suggesting there may be differences in personality traits for game development roles. We analysed data from 123 game developers who completed an IPIP FFM scale and demographic questionnaire using factor analysis. Between roles, games programmers reported lower Extraversion than Designers, Artists and Production team; lower Openness than Designers and Production, and reported higher Neuroticism than Production, potentially linked to burnout and crunch time. To further explore these differences, we compare against published norms of software developers and find game developers reported lower Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and higher Neuroticism . Our work has implications for employers in allowing them to understand personality traits exhibited within game development teams, and how they might be leveraged in developing effective interdisciplinary dynamics in the workplace.

Video game development is a complex endeavor, often involving complex software, large organizations, and aggressive release deadlines. Several studies have reported that periods of "crunch time" are prevalent in the video game industry, but there are few studies on the effects of time pressure. We conducted a survey with participants of the Global Game Jam (GGJ), a 48-hour hackathon. Based on 198 responses, the results suggest that: (1) iterative brainstorming is the most popular method for conceptualizing initial requirements; (2) continuous integration, minimum viable product, scope management, version control, and stand-up meetings are frequently applied development practices; (3) regular communication, internal playtesting, and dynamic and proactive planning are the most common quality assurance activities; and (4) familiarity with agile development has a weak correlation with perception of success in GGJ. We conclude that GGJ teams rely on ad hoc approaches to development and face-to-face communication, and recommend some complementary practices with limited overhead. Furthermore, as our findings are similar to recommendations for software startups, we posit that game jams and the startup scene share contextual similarities. Finally, we discuss the drawbacks of systemic "crunch time" and argue that game jam organizers are in a good position to problematize the phenomenon., Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Games

This article examines how the unique characteristics of Marvinter, an inclusive transmedia Advent calendar, affected its production and the individual media workers involved in this. In the native transmedia Marvinter project, a radio series and a mobile game were created and released simultaneously. Using ‘partly shared’ resources, the project was developed by two collaborating, non-profit organisations. Each chapter of the digital game had to match the corresponding radio episode. The whole had to be designed to provide a shared cultural experience that included people with hearing or visual impairments. The authors of the present article were part of the game development team and thus directly experienced the complexity of developing a digital game as part of a transmedia project. This article presents the results of a case study with an insider perspective. It is supplemented by semi-structured interviews with key people in the project. The transmedia nature of Marvinter was justified by the need to include people with complementary disabilities. Although sometimes associated with negative connotations of ‘naked commercialisation’ in transmedia contexts, the marketing strategy was here an important element in promoting inclusivity. However, owing to the concurrent work processes, game production became overly complex. CC BY 4.0 Inkluderande julkalender

The purpose of this article is to present and evaluate Entity-component-system architecture designed based on data. The solution allows for improving application development process and increasing its efficiency. A test application was prepared for research using custom solutions. Evaluated techniques was compared with object-oriented programming in the article.

Avatar design types can range from human representations to abstract representations. In digital educational games (DEGs), avatars are frequently used to encourage users to play the game. However, the role of avatar design types and their engagement in digital games are still unclear and empirically under research. Therefore, a bespoke digital educational game in geography was developed and validated by six expert users. Then forty-five users participated in the evaluation phase to investigate engagement and avatar types on digital educational games using the user engagement scale (UES). The results reported aesthetics and satisfaction factors somehow influenced the avatar design types, but none of the UES subscales was influenced by preferred avatar design types. Moreover, the human-cartoon avatar, which was not entirely human and cartoonish, was the most popular avatar design type among young adults. Other issues discussed for future developers and research included incorporating more avatar design selections into the study, integrating social interaction features into the game, using the same drawing style for avatars and provide easy access to the bespoke game during data collection.

Virtual reality (VR) technologies are becoming more and more popular, not only as a gaming console, but also as a viable training tool. Especially for health and safety training programmes, VR can be very useful to train people in dangerous environments and situations without imposing real danger on them or others. Chemical laboratories are environments where risks of severe injury or even fatality are always present. For this, we developed a VR serious game, called VR LaboSafe Game, as a tool for laboratory safety training. However, designing a VR serious game is a challenging task. There are many factors to consider for an optimal game design. In this study, we discuss important design considerations and we present the game design of VR LaboSafe Game. Preliminary tests of an early version of the game show usability issues and minor discomforting symptoms for some participants. Nevertheless, participants do agree that VR LaboSafe Game is useful for learning laboratory safety; is more active and responsive in their learning process and makes safety training more engaging. ispartof: pages:23-33 ispartof: Games and Learning Alliance vol:1 pages:23-33 ispartof: 10th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance location:Online date:1 Dec - 2 Dec 2021 status: published

A video game refers to a digital breed of entertainment experienced on various devices, including personal computers, gaming consoles, tablets, and smartphones. For some time now, video games have not been perceived as a form of play solely reserved for children but as the way of spending the leisure time enjoyed by a vast of adults worldwide. As a result, the video games sector has become a behemoth larger than the movie and music industry combined, and it is growing on daily basis. The process of developing video games is more complex than ever which is the reason why every now and then novel game engine is proposed. The objective of this paper is to present features of a game engine that was implemented in C# programming language. The introduced game engine draws on MonoGame library that contains collection of functions and commands thus facilitating the creation of a virtual space and supporting the development of video games. The functionalities and capabilities of the presented game engine are demonstrated on the examples of 2D and 3D video games prototypes.

This article examines level design processes and challenges at professional game stu- dios. Thematic analysis of data, recorded through field studies and semi-structured interviews, identify four key themes: level design as an interdisciplinary effort; who is the level designer; the role of narrative in level design; and challenges of managing creativity in the level design process. Results indicate that while the role called level designer is often assigned to specific disciplines, the process of level design is usually highly interdisciplinary. Furthermore, this interdisciplinary collaboration requires management to maintain both creativity and efficient pipelines, by distributing owner- ship and facilitating communication and planning. The level design process seems par- ticularly vulnerable to suboptimal interdisciplinary communication and planning, due to significant reliance on narrative design, game design, art, sound design, and tool development. While this article addresses level design specifically, most observations are comparable to previous findings on game development in general. CC BY 4.0Corresponding author(s): Tobias Karlsson, School of Informatics, University of Skövde, PO Box 408, 541 28 Skövde, Sweden. Email: tobias.karlsson@his.seThe author(s) received nofinancial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication ofthis article.

The game development industry is growing, and training new developers in game development-specific abilities is essential to satisfying its need for skilled game developers. These developers require effective learning resources to acquire the information they need and improve their game development skills. Question and Answer (Q&A) websites stand out as some of the most used online learning resources in software development. Many studies have investigated how Q&A websites help software developers become more experienced. However, no studies have explored Q&A websites aimed at game development, and there is little information about how game developers use and interact with these websites. In this paper, we study four Q&A communities by analyzing game development data we collected from their websites and the 347 responses received on a survey we ran with game developers. We observe that the communities have declined over the past few years and identify factors that correlate to these changes. Using a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model, we characterize the topics discussed in the communities. We also analyze how topics differ across communities and identify the most discussed topics. Furthermore, we find that survey respondents have a mostly negative view of the communities and tended to stop using the websites once they became more experienced. Finally, we provide recommendations on where game developers should post their questions, which can help mitigate the websites’ declines and improve their effectiveness.

This paper reviews empirically grounded research on practices in game development with the intent to give a comprehensive overview of contemporary development practices used in the video game industry. While there are many intangible elements that inform game development processes, this review specifically covers the more immediate practical challenges. The review covers a total of 48 papers published between 2006 and 2016, which were all subjected to thematic analysis by three reviewers. The results of the review show that an almost universal characteristic of game development is that it is almost impossible to accurately plan a development project in detail, largely due to the soft requirements inherent in game production which emerge mid-process during development projects, during when testing is coupled with continuous ideation and refinement. Practicing game developers have created their own frameworks that accommodate for this lack of planning. They include flat hierarchies, democratic decision-making, creative autonomy, and informal communication, which are designed to create an environment that maintains creativity and openness to product changes long into the production process. These frameworks vary significantly between studios and often between individual projects. This review also shows that the term ‘Agile’, while often used by both researchers and developers to characterize the process of game development, is not an apt descriptor of how game developers actually work. Agile is used as shorthand for unstructured and flexible development, rather than serving as a descriptor of a definable or unified work method. Finally, as companies develop more complicated hierarchies of stakeholders and staff, the desired flexibility and autonomy of game development becomes increasingly complicated to maintain, and often necessitates more formalized management processes and company structures. In these cases, inherent tensions of game development become more pronounced, and continuous creativity is hard to maintain due to a growing need to formalize processes.

This article draws on over 60 interviews and 120 surveys with indie game developers to illustrate relational labour and entrepreneurship practices in cultural industries and their relationship to ‘good work’. We first outline the changing organization of games work, the shift towards so-called indie production, and the associated rejection of creatively constrained, hierarchically managed production models. In the move towards small-scale games making, indies jettisoned producers because producers represented industry modes of work, values and creative constraints. But indies are now struggling to manage production processes without producers. We use developer narratives to highlight how this ‘missing producer’ work is redistributed in the form of cultural entrepreneurship, cultural intermediation and relational labour. This relational labour simultaneously supports and undermines sustainable production practices, as developers take on impossible workloads associated with networking and connecting with others. We next illustrate how the inherent valorization of growth and expansion in cultural entrepreneurship discourses may force developers to mimic industry practices and organization in order to find funding, but these practices inherently conflict with their desire to focus on making games as small, sustainable and creatively autonomous teams. Ultimately, we want to demonstrate how interviews and time spent with indie developers help us account for otherwise invisible and ambiguous cultural labour practices and discourses, thus allowing us to make sense of the larger context of cultural production and its possible futures.

Tema je rada izgradnja konceptualnoga okvira igrifikacije hrvatskoga mrežnog rječnika. Istraživanje se provodi u okviru istraživanja projekta Mrežnik, koji u cijelosti financira Hrvatska zaklada za znanost. Projekt traje od 1. ožujka 2017. do 31. srpnja 2021. Mrežnik je prvi hrvatski mrežni rječnik koji se izrađuje isključivo za mrežu (engl. born-digital; web-born). Mrežnik ima tri modula. U prvoj četverogodišnjoj fazi planirana je obrada 10 000 natuknica u osnovnome modulu, 3000 natuknica u modulu za učenike nižih razreda osnovne škole, 1000 natuknica u modulu za osobe koje uče hrvatski kao strani i ini jezik. U strukturu obrade natuknica te na mrežne stranice Mrežnika uvrstit će se i igre izrađene na temelju sadržaja rječnika. Prije izrade igara za Mrežnik provedeno je istraživanje igara i igrifikacijskih elemenata koji su trenutačno prisutni na drugim stranicama rječnika, enciklopedija te informacijskih ustanova. Provedena analiza uključuje mrežne stranice 181 rječnika, 71 enciklopedije, 179 muzeja, 254 knjižnice i 21 arhiva. Od toga 26 rječnika, 10 enciklopedija, 11 muzeja, 18 knjižnica i 2 arhiva sadržavaju igre s igrifikacijskim elementima. Na temelju identificiranih igara te primjene igrifikacijskih elemenata izrađene su prve demoinačice igara za Mrežnik. Kako bi se testirala učinkovitost demoinačica koje bi se trebale implementirati u modul za neizvorne govornike, provedeno je testiranje sa studentima na Croaticumu. Studenti su bili podijeljeni u eksperimentalnu i kontrolnu skupinu. Eksperimentalna je skupina nove sadržaje usvajala i s pomoću igara, a kontrolna klasičnim metodama. Na kraju sata studenti su pisali posttest te nakon dva tjedna odgođeni posttest. Rezultati obaju testova uspoređeni su s predtestom, koji se pisao prije obrade novih nastavnih sadržaja kako bi se analizirao napredak obiju skupina. Glavna hipoteza bila je da će studenti eksperimentalne skupne ostvariti statistički značajno bolje rezultate od kontrolne skupine na posttestu i odgođenome posttestu. Ta hipoteza na kraju istraživanja nije dokazana, ali su studenti eksperimentalne skupine napredovali u oba posttesta u odnosu na predtest te su u upitniku dali pozitivne povratne informacije i prijedloge povezane s poboljšanjem igara. Na temelju provedenoga istraživanja, postojećih obrazovnih igara i igrifikacijskih elemenata te procesa izrade igara osmišljeno je sedam koraka koji čine konceptualni okvir igrifikacije mrežnoga rječnika: određivanje obrazovnih sadržaja i ciljeva igara, osmišljavanje igara i određivanje koji će se igrifikacijski elementi uključiti, izrada igara, testiranje i dorada igara, objava igara, promocija igara i praćenje zadovoljstva korisnika. Koraci koji su provedeni pri igrifikaciju Mrežnika prikazuju kako je taj konceptualni okvir moguće implementarni za mrežne rječnike te druga mrežna leksikografska izdanja. This thesis focuses on creating a conceptual framework for the gamification of Croatian borndigital dictionaries. The conceptual framework is illustrated by examples from Mrežnik, a borndigital dictionary that is being created at the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics within the research project Croatian Web Dictionary – Mrežnik financed by the Croatian Science Foundation. The Mrežnik project aims at creating a free, monolingual, easily searchable, hypertextual, corpus-based, online dictionary of the Croatian standard language with 10,000 entries. These entries contain definitions, subentries, collocations, examples of usage, normative and pragmatic advice, idioms, references to other entries, and external links. Mrežnik is based on the Croatian Web Repository corpus and the hrWaC – Croatian web corpus. In addition to these sources, all other available print and web sources are taken into account in writing definitions and providing examples and meanings. Mrežnik is created using the TshwaneLex dictionary compilation software that allows the creation of the desired structure and fields for dictionary entries. Mrežnik consists of three modules. In the first phase of the project, the module for adult native speakers of Croatian will have 10,000 entries, the module for school-children will have 3,000 entries, and the module for non-native speakers will have 1,000 entries. Games based on the dictionary content for all three models are developed within the project. The conceptual framework of gamification of born-digital dictionaries takes into account the process of developing, testing, and implementing these games within the dictionary. At the end of the Mrežnik project, the online dictionary with its games will be publically available on the web site rjecnik.hr. Gamification is a process in which game elements are implemented in non-gamelike situations to make them more fun. Gamification is used in many areas such as education and fitness. Many learning applications such as CodinGame for learning computer languages and Duolingo for foreign language learning use games (mostly quizzes) and gamification elements such as scoring, leaderboards, badges, and skill trees. A lot of research using games for learning purposes has been conducted but it does not focus on gamifying the dictionary content and testing it for learning purposes. Technology for creating games has progressed and now there are a lot of web services such as H5P, Quizlet, EclipseCrossword, etc. and free game codes with no copyright restrictions which are available on sites like CodePen and GitHub for creating educational games. Before creating dictionary games for the Mrežnik dictionary, the types of educational games and gamification elements used on websites of lexicographic publications had to be identified. Hence, the first research question in this thesis is: ● RQ1: Which gamification elements are present in Croatian and foreign lexicographic e-publications?To answer this research question, an analysis of 181 web dictionaries and 71 encyclopedias was conducted. The websites were found on the Wikipedia list of lexicographic publications and academic search engines RefSeek and iSEEK. The research showed that only 26 web dictionaries and 10 web encyclopedias contain games or gamification elements. Games identified on these sites are quizzes, drag-n-drop games, puzzles, crosswords, fill in the blanks games, listening games (games for spelling of heard words), offline materials for games, games for finding words, memory, typing games, hangman, and unique games. Within each of these games and on websites of online dictionaries and encyclopedias these gamification elements were identified: scoring, levels, time limit, leaderboards, avatar, badges or other award systems, and story with quests. Dictionaries, unlike encyclopedias, do not have any unique games. A story with a quest is the least present gamification element in lexicographic games. To get more data about educational game and gamification elements in addition to the previous research question the research was expanded with the next research question: ● RQ2: Which gamification elements are present on the library, archives, and museum websites? To answer that question 179 museum, 254 library, and 21 archive websites were analyzed. It was determined that only 18 libraries, 11 museums, and 2 archives contain games, links to games, or gamification elements. . Same as in dictionaries and encyclopedias on archive, library, and museum websites quizzes are the game type that occurs most frequently and scoring is the gamification element which occurs most often. Stories and quests are present more often on these websites because they are appropriate for presenting cultural and historic content as it is easier to tell a story through games. On the bases of this analysis and the identification of game types and game elements from educational websites, the first demo versions of games for Mrežnik were created. The demo versions of these games were presented to schoolchildren and non-native speakers learning Croatian as a foreign language. Their reactions were noted, analyzed, and taken into consideration for further development of games. Games for Mrežnik were created using available free technology that had no copyright restriction. Most of the games were developed through available codes on Codpen and GitHub websites, and some games were developed through the H5P platform. The demo versions of the games were published online through GitHub and GitLab repositories. Currently, many different game types were developed such as quizzes, crosswords, typing games, fill in the blanks, drag-n-drop, memory, etc. and they implement mentioned gamification elements such as scoring, leaderboards, levels, time limits, and badges. The finished games organized by categories will be published on the address: rjecnik.hr/igre. To test the effectiveness of these games, after getting the permission from the Ethics Committee for this research, the research was conducted on two groups of students who learn Croatian in Croaticum – Centre for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language. The research was conducted in online classes during the pandemic of the COVID-19 disease (from 6th April to 22nd April 2020). The experimental group (9 students) used games published on GitHub during their class: https://borna12.github.io/croaticum/. The control group (12 students) had the same lesson but did not use educational games in class. To compare their progress, the same vocabulary test was given to students in both classes. At the beginning of the first class, they wrote a pretest to analyze and compare their initial knowledge of the vocabulary that is to be learned in the lesson. The posttest, which is the same as the pretest but the questions are in a different order, was given to the students of both groups at the end of that class to see their progress after the class. After two weeks they wrote a delayed posttest, which was again the same as the previous two tests, to check their long-term vocabulary retention. The results of all three tests were used to test the hypotheses: Ha0: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and are going to use gamified materials did not achieve significantly different results in the pretest than students who are not going to use gamified materials. ● Ha1: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and are going to use gamified materials achieve significantly different results in the pretest than students who are not going to use gamified materials. ● Hb0: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and used gamified materials do not achieve significantly better results in Croatian vocabulary tests than students who have not used gamified materials. ● Hb1: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and used gamified materials achieve significantly better results in Croatian vocabulary tests than students who have not used gamified materials. ● Hc0: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and used gamified materials achieve significantly lower or equal progress in Croatian vocabulary tests compared to students who have not used gamified materials. ● Hc1: Students who learned Croatian as a foreign language and used gamified materials achieve significantly better progress in Croatian vocabulary tests compared to students who have not use gamified materials. ● Hd0: Students of Croatian as a foreign language after using gamified materials achieve significantly lower or equal results in Croatian vocabulary tests. ● Hd1: Students of Croatian as a foreign language after using gamified materials achieve significantly better results in Croatian vocabulary tests. ● He0: Students of Croatian as a foreign language who like electronic games did not achieve significantly different results in Croatian vocabulary tests from students who do not like electronic games or are neutral to them. ● He1: Students who learn Croatian as a foreign language and like electronic games achieve significantly different results in Croatian vocabulary tests from students that do not like electronic games or are neutral to them. ● Hf0: There is no significant correlation between students' results in Croatian vocabulary tests and their self-evaluation of their current knowledge of the Croatian language. ● Hf1: There is a significant correlation between students' results in Croatian vocabulary tests and their self-evaluation of their current knowledge of the Croatian language. Hypothesis Hf was tested with the Spearman correlation, hypotheses Hb and Hc were tested using a one-way Mann-Whitney U-test, hypotheses Hd was tested using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and hypotheses Ha and He were tested using the two-way Mann-Whitney U-test. The calculation for all these tests was done using the programming language R. The power of each test was calculated using the programming language R or program G*Power to measure the power of the result given by the statistical test based on sample (n) and effect size (d). Based on the results of statistical and power tests alternative hypothesis in Hd was accepted that students achieve significantly better results after using gamified materials. For Hb only in the analysis of the delayed posttest, which analyses long-term memory, the null hypothesis was accepted that students who use gamified materials after two weeks achieve equal or worst results than students who were not using gamified materials. For other hypotheses, nullhypothesis would be accepted if the power of the test was higher so no valid conclusion concerning these hypotheses could be made. However, based on descriptive statistics for Hc in the first posttest results and delayed posttest results, we can see that students from the experimental group have improved after the pretest, more than the control group. Students from both groups also completed a short questionnaire after the first posttest. Most students (17) mention that they use a web dictionary for learning Croatian. Eleven students (six from the experimental group, five from the control group) said that they like playing electronic games, nine students are neutral to them and only one student does not like to play electronic games. Students from the experimental group also answered a question about the games used during their class. Eight out of nine students enjoyed learning through games. Those students agreed that these games are good, simple, and fun for learning the Croatian language. Two students commented that some games are maybe too simple for advanced learners and that more descriptive words and examples of word usage could be implemented. The results of the conducted research implicate that games have the potential to help students in learning Croatian as a foreign (other) language. The methodology for conducted research can also be used for future researche with a larger sample which could give more statistically significant results. Based on observation during class, research results, and students’ feedback current games developed for the Mrežnik project were modified to allow more difficulty adjustments and have more examples of using a certain word or explaining a certain language rule. More adjectives were added to motivate the player. The next hypothesis tests the possibility to create a conceptual framework for the gamification of a web dictionary based on previously identified gamification elements. To prove the hypothesis, we must take into consideration which educational game types and gamification elements are present on the dictionary and encyclopedia websites as well as on the websites of other educational institutions. We must also take into consideration how these games are created, tested, and implemented within born-digital dictionaries and how can we check whether they are successful with users. Based on that, seven steps of the conceptual framework of gamification of born-digital dictionaries were designed: 1. deciding on the educational contents and goals of the game; 2. designing game types and deciding which gamification elements to use; 3. game development; 4. game testing and updating; 5. game publishing; 6. game promoting; 7. monitoring user satisfaction. The steps in the designed conceptual framework are mostly linear so when one step finishes the next step begins. However, game creators can return from step seven to step four to fix bugs or mistakes or update the game content based on user feedback. When creating a conceptual framework for gamifying e-dictionaries, the first step consists of choosing dictionary content that the creator of games wants to gamify and selecting the targeted group for which the gamified content is developed (e.g. elementary school children, non-native speakers, university students). In Mrežnik, games based on dictionary content were categorized as spelling games, phonological games, morphological games, syntactic games, discourse games, lexical games, word formation games, and games for learning the elements of the Croatian culture. Within each of these categories, games for the three modules of Mrežnik (adult native speakers, school-children, and non-native speakers) were developed. The starting point for the second step is to decide what type of games will be developed for the selected dictionary contents and for the targeted players selected in step one. When the game type is decided on the process of choosing which gamification elements can be implemented within the selected game types (timelimit, levels, badges, etc.) and which assignments created from dictionary content will be incorporated into the game. For this step, it is important to know which game types for educational games exist and what gamification elements can be used. This was analyzed in this thesis within the first two research questions. On the example of Mrežnik, many game types are presented with their gamification elements which are used for gamifying all categorized dictionary content. When games and game elements have been selected the development of games can start (step three). For game development, first the adequate technology that can allow creating games based on decisions made for previous steps has to be chosen. Sometimes this technology, code, or program for developing games has to be tested to see if it allows game creation based on the concept for the desired game. If testing proves so, the selected technology can be used for final game development. After the first version of the game is created, the process of testing the game, fixing bugs, and potentially updating game content can begin (step four). Game testing can be done by the game developer himself, but it is also recommended to have other users, that represent the targeted audience for the game, test the game, and give their feedback. If the game, after a few tests, is playable, has no major problems, and covers everything planed in the concept, it can be published. In the case of Mrežnik, games were created using available free technology and demo versions of the games were presented and tested by the developer, his colleagues, and coworkers but also by some members of the target user groups to get feedback. For publishing (step five), descriptive meta tags (description, keywords) that can help users on the internet find the game have to be added. Code for web platforms such as Google Analytics can also be implemented in the publishing process to follow user interaction with website games. At the end of the project, when implementing games into Mrežnik, a separate page for all games where the games are categorized will be created so the users can easily browse through them (on previously mentioned link rjecnik.hr/igre). Games have categories and subcategories on dictionary websites based on their content (these categories were decided on in step one). Games will also have tags to connect games of the same type (e.g. memory, quiz, etc.). A unique feature of Mrežnik, which was not found on any dictionary or encyclopedia websites, is that links to some games will be implemented into the entry structure by external links, i.e. certain dictionary entries will have links to games that cover the content of that entry. After the games are published, the next step is to promote them (step six). Promotion can easily and cheaply be done through social media where players can further share the game and even give direct feedback to the developer. In addition to social media, it is also good to have articles written about the games on website portals that are visited by potential players and to promote the games on certain TV shows, in newspapers, and magazines. Another way to promote educational games and also get instant feedback is to have workshops for learners or teachers. All those promotional methods are planned and have already been partly conducted for Mrežnik. The last step (step seven) focuses on monitoring user satisfaction. This can also be done through social media since the users can freely give their opinion. Google Analytics can also be used to check which games or parts of games are being played most often. Questionnaires can also be given to players. Player feedback can be used for creating new games or updating the existing ones and adding new content (which can lead back to step four). Therefore, by explaining and giving examples for all seven steps and creating games based on the content of the born-digital dictionary Mrežnik, we can conclude that it is possible to create a conceptual framework for the gamification of a Croatian born-digital dictionary. The steps of this conceptual framework can also be used for gamifying other lexicographic works. This conceptual framework can also help in developing the methodology for gamifying language content in the digital environment and language games created for Mrežnik can help players in learning Croatian language and dictionary content. The thesis opens further questions that require more research in the future such as: a) how to modify the conceptual framework for gamifying encyclopedias (and possibly archive, museum, and library content); b) how would results of using gamified dictionary content for learning purposes (possibly not online) with a larger sample and different groups (this includes not only doing research on non-native speakers) fair compared to current research results; c) how to implement crowdsourcing for further gamification of lexicographic works; d) with the development of the game industry, will there be a need to identify more educational game types and usable gamification elements in the future.

According to our knowledge, there are only few existing mobile games for learning Viena Karelian dialect and culture. Karelian is classified as a minority and endangered language. Different actions for revitalizing the Karelian language and culture have been made during the several past years in Finland and Russia. However, more effort is needed, especially to developed digital and easily accessible ways to learn and teach Karelian. This paper presents simple games developed for beginners to learn Viena Karelian. We also present findings from a small-scale user study. In addition, we propose a concept idea of the tool for teachers to create simple learning exercises.

Journal of Information Science and Technology, 11, 1, 30-38

This paper introduces a methodology for the design of a collaborative Game Based Learning (GBL) model, used here in the context of a finance course in an onsite learning context. In this paper we discuss three releases of the Finance Assets Game (FAG), the teacher-led face-to-face model, the paper-based model, and the computer-based model

El diseño y el desarrollo de un videojuego es una tarea que conlleva mucho tiempo y recursos, durante todo el trayecto del curso, se han ido aprendiendo una serie de herramientas y conocimientos que en su conjunto permiten la creación completa de un videojuego. Por ello, en este proyecto se plantea aplicar todos estos conocimientos adquiridos para la realización de un videojuego desde su conceptualización hasta su producción. A partir de una idea inicial, se establecen los diferentes hitos y requerimientos necesarios para completarla. En base a la planificación inicial, a lo largo del proyecto se evalúan y modifican los objetivos en base a las necesidades de cada hito. Como objetivo final, se propone crear un juego de rol de acción en tercera persona que englobe las características más comunes de este género, analizando cuales son las dificultades y retos del proyecto. El disseny i desenvolupament d'un videojoc és una tasca que comporta molt de temps i recursos, durant tot el trajecte del curs, s'han anat aprenent una sèrie d'eines i coneixements que en el seu conjunt permeten la creació completa d'un videojoc. És per això que, en aquest projecte, es planteja aplicar tots aquests coneixements adquirits per a la realització d'un videojoc des de la seva conceptualització fins a la seva producció. A partir d'una idea inicial, s'estableixen les diferents fites i requeriments necessaris per a completar-la. D'acord amb la planificació inicial, al llarg del projecte s'avaluen i modifiquen els objectius segons les necessitats de cada fita. Com a objectiu final, es proposa crear un videojoc de rol d'acció en tercera persona que englobi les característiques més comunes d'aquest gènere, analitzant quines són les dificultats i reptes del projecte. Designing and developing a video game is a task that takes time and lots of resources, over the duration of the master's degree, a lot of tools and knowledge have been acquired to be able to create a video game in its whole. Therefore, in this project it is proposed to apply all these acquired knowledge, to the realization of a video game from its conceptualization to its production. Starting from a base idea, the different milestones and requirements necessary to complete it are established. Based on the initial planning, throughout the project, the objectives are evaluated and modified according to the needs of each milestone. As a final goal, it is proposed to create a third-person action role-playing video game that encompasses the most common characteristics of this genre, analyzing which are the difficulties and challenges of the project.

Utopian images in XR-games are often ambiguous. How can ambiguity be consciously designed in virtual worlds? What are the design principles for game designers? Ambiguity arises from discontinuity and decontextualization, from the deliberate omission of facts, and from the skillful superimposition of contradictory codes. An ontology of interactive media explains the elusive visual poetry and image perception. The five basic elements of media are presented. The model shows the key correlations of user, content, and technology in image perception. An overview of utopian representation as a cross-media phenomenon places game design in an interdisciplinary context. Six selected computer-generated illustrations show how the above design criteria can be successfully applied to the design of virtual worlds. The ambiguous utopia of an image exists only in a brief, irretrievable moment of our own perception. But this moment is valuable for designing real visions for a better future., 13 pages, 9 figures, Contribution to Science MashUp Conference on the topic of "XR - Society - Utopia" at Leipzig University of Applied Sciences on April 24, 2021

This paper introduces Squeezer, a tool for designing juicy effects inthe Unity game engine. Drawing upon inspiration from sound effect synthesizers and description languages, Squeezer can "synthesize" common types of juice effects, by combining simple effects into effect sequences. These effect sequences can be edited and executed even while playing the game in the editor, lowering iteration times and easing the exploration of effects. We make a preliminary usability test to verify the functionality and scope of the tool. Squeezer is available at: https://github.com/pyjamads/Squeezer

This article examines how the process of platformisation is manifesting in videogame development. Rather than reinforcing a top-down perspective of platformisation centred on distribution platforms like app stores, we focus on often overlooked game-making tools and the independent, entrepreneurial, and fringe communities that govern and use them. We draw on case studies of Unity and Twine, two such tools that have transformed videogame creation and distribution. By considering how they complicate existing understandings and definitions of both ‘platform’ and ‘platformisation’, we move beyond reductive narratives that frame platformisation as a fixed, hegemonic process. Instead, we reveal a much more ambiguous and complex relationship between game makers and the platforms they use.

Generative Generations is a workshop kit to facilitate Indigenous youth in designing games that include culturally rooted science ideas. As an extension of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM), the workshop kit interweaves Indigenous pedagogical practices with paper game prototyping to support engaging, hands-on, collaborative, and culturally relevant ideation of games. During a pilot study held during a summer camp with the Indigenous Youth Empowerment Program, youth integrated their own culturally rooted science ideas inspired by prompts from the kit. The pilot study demonstrated a need for additional support in expanding knowledge, which informs future modifications to the workshop kit.

MaxSIMhealth is a multidisciplinary network of manufacturing, design, and simulation labs at Ontario Tech University combining expertise in health sciences, business and information technology (IT), and engineering while building community partnerships to advance simulation training. It discovers existing simulation gaps, provides innovative solutions that change systems, and leads to improved healthcare outcomes. Specifically, it utilizes disruptive technologies, including 3D printing, gaming, and extended reality, as innovative solutions that deliver cost-effective, portable, and realistic simulation, which is currently lacking. MaxSIMhealth is a novel collaborative innovation with aims to develop future cohorts of scholars with strong competencies ranging from technology application, to collaborating in new environments, communicating professionally, and problem-solving. Its work will transform current health professional education landscapes by providing novel, flexible, and inexpensive simulation environments. This editorial aims to showcase maxSIMhealth's innovative strategy focusing on collaborations of expertise in order to develop new simulation solutions that advance the health industry.

Game development is often considered to be a community-based industry, where social networks and flow of information are vital to both individual and company development. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) works to promote and support individual game developers by hosting local monthly gatherings worldwide. This study investigates the effects of the IGDA Finland hubs in Tampere and Kajaani. By interviewing the attendees to the IGDA events in the respective areas we aim to understand how an IGDA hub affects the local game development scene, and how the attendees perceive the uses of the events.The results show that IGDA Finland events can attract a diverse group of people with variety of motivations. Aggregating different insights and accelerating the flow of information seems important for people in very different positions. At the same time, the felt benefits for individuals seem to vary significantly based on the career phase and the expert role. Overall, IGDA gatherings are importantly connected to modes of learning in communities of practice, as they can initiate different communal processes that then continue outside the immediate meetings.

Ponència presentada a CoSECiVi 2020, VI Congreso de la Sociedad Española para las Ciencias del Videojuego 2020 (On-line, 7-8 d'octobre de 2020) The development of video games is a complex task due to the large amount of knowledge it requires in terms of design and programming. In particular, the specification of the behavior of the elements of a game is one of the factors that most increase its complexity. In this sense, there are a variety of game engines with numerous features and programming languages, including complex visual programming systems. With the intention of raising an alternative and reduce the complexity of current systems, presents a small programming language capable of defining any algorithm to specify the behaviors of the elements that make up the games. The dentition of the language has been based on the theorem of structured programming and its derived studies, taking as reference the While language. The ultimate goal of this work is to validate the expressiveness of language and demonstrate theoretically that allows to create the mechanics of any arcade game. For its validation, have been implemented multiple games with different mechanics, having successfully completed all the games that have been proposed so far.

Δημιουργήθηκε παιχνίδι παραγωγής τέλειων λαβυρίνθων χρησιμοποιώντας αλγοριθμική προσέγγιση. Αναδρομικά οι λαβύρινθοι εμφανίζονται για πρώτη φορά περίπου στο 430 με 440 π.Χ. στα διηγήματα του Ηροδότου τόσο στην Αίγυπτο όσο και στην αρχαία Κνωσσό. Ως τέλειος λαβύρινθος ορίζεται οποιοσδήποτε λαβύρινθος που δεν έχει μη προσβάσιμες περιοχές, δεν έχει κυκλικά μονοπάτια και ανοιχτές περιοχές και όλα του τα σημεία / tiles στο πάτωμά του είναι προσβάσιμα με μόνο ένα μονοπάτι να συνδέει οποιοδήποτε ζευγάρι αυτών. Η υλοποίηση του αλγορίθμου έγινε σε γλώσσα C# σε περιβάλλον Visual Studio 2019. Η σύνδεση ανάμεσα στα γραφικά, τον κώδικα και όλο το υπόλοιπο παιχνίδι ήταν εφικτή μέσω της Unity, μιας μηχανής παραγωγής παιχνιδιών για διάφορες πλατφόρμες. Ακολουθήθηκε απλή τακτική συγγραφής σεναρίων και εισαγωγή τόσο χαρακτήρα με κίνηση μέσα στον λαβύρινθο όσο και UI elements με σκοπό τη διαδραστικότητα με τον χρήστη/παίκτη. Πρόκειται ουσιαστικά για ένα εισαγωγικό επίπεδο με πολύ μεγάλο περιθώριο για επεκτάσεις και προσθήκες μελλοντικά. Η εξαγωγή του τελικού προϊόντος το οποίο για την παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή διατριβή ορίζεται ως demo ενός μελλοντικού ολοκληρωμένου παιχνιδιού έγινε, για λόγους ευκολίας κατά την παρουσίαση, αποκλειστικά για υπολογιστές. Σημειώνονται τέλος και όλα τα στοιχεία που i) αφαιρέθηκαν από το παραγωγικό προϊόν και ii) πρόκειται να προστεθούν σε αυτό σε επερχόμενες εκδόσεις.

Video games are applications that present design patterns that resemble multi-agent systems. Game objects or actors are like autonomous agents that interact with each other to describe complex systems. The purpose of this work is to develop a game engine to build games as multi-agent systems. The actors or game engine agents have a set of properties and behaviour rules with the end to interact with the environment of the game. The behaviour definition is established through a formal semantic based on predicate logic. The proposed engine tries to fulfil the basic requirements of the multi-agent systems, by adjusting the characteristics of the system, without affecting its potential. Finally, a set of games are introduced to validate the operation and possibilities of the engine.

WOS: 000482049500005 The emergence of block-based environments aims to facilitate the problems caused by the abstractness of text-based languages. Recent studies generally focus on the effect of having block-based experience on programming education. This study is an attempt to observe the transfer of previous programming experiences (block-based vs. text-based) into a three-dimensional game-making environment through the use of backwards fading. In addition to observation of transfer, students' perceptions about the difficulty of practices were also investigated. Twenty-one senior university students participated in the study. They practiced through worked example, completion example, and full practice. Moreover, the comparison of the contribution of three examples, their perceived difficulty, and cognitive load has also been observed. There are four main findings that add value to the current literature. First, students having text-based programming experience had higher scores, which may be a sign of far transfer; second, completion example format was more efficient for students having block-based programming experience; third, full practice format was perceived as more difficult than either worked example or completion example; and fourth, based on the efficiency of example formats, completion example represented high efficiency for all students. However, average efficiency of all example formats has represented high efficiency for students, who had text-based programming experience.

Game level editing is the process of constructing a full game level starting from 3D asset libraries, e.g. 3d models, textures, shaders, scripts. In level editing, designers define the look and behavior of the whole level by placing objects, assigning materials and lighting parameters, setting animations and physics properties and customizing the objects AI and behavior by editing scripts. The heterogeneity of the task usually translates to a workflow where a team of people, experts on separate aspects, cooperate to edit the game level, often working on the same objects (e.g.: a programmer working on the AI of a character, while an artist works on its 3D model or its materials). Today this collaboration is established by using version control systems designed for text documents, such as Git, to manage different versions and share them amongst users. The merge algorithms used in these systems though does not perform well in our case since it does not respect the relations between game objects necessary to maintain the semantic of the game level behavior and look. This is a known problem and commercial systems for game level merging exists, e.g. PlasticSCM, but these are only slightly more robust than text-based ones. This causes designers to often merge scenes manually, essentially reapplying others edits in the game level editor., 8 pages, 6 figures

Background On the basis of ethical and methodological arguments, numerous calls have been made to increase the involvement of end users in the development of serious games (SGs). Involving end users in the development process is considered a way to give them power and control over educational software that is designed for them. It can also help identify areas for improvement in the design of SGs and improve their efficacy in targeted learning outcomes. However, no recognized guidelines or frameworks exist to guide end users’ involvement in SG development. Objective The aim of this study is to describe how end users are involved in the development of SGs for health care professions education. Methods We examined the literature presenting the development of 45 SGs that had reached the stage of efficacy evaluation in randomized trials. One author performed data extraction using an ad hoc form based on a design and development framework for SGs. Data were then coded and synthesized on the basis of similarities. The coding scheme was refined iteratively with the involvement of a second author. Results are presented using frequencies and percentages. Results End users’ involvement was mentioned in the development of 21 of 45 SGs. The number of end users involved ranged from 12 to 36. End users were often involved in answering specific concerns that arose during the SG design (n=6) or in testing a prototype (n=12). In many cases, researchers solicited input from end users regarding the goals to reach (n=10) or the functional esthetics of the SGs (n=7). Most researchers used self-reported questionnaires (n=7). Conclusions Researchers mentioned end users’ involvement in the development of less than half of the identified SGs, and this involvement was also poorly described. These findings represent significant limitations to evaluating the impact of the involvement of end users on the efficacy of SGs and in making recommendations regarding their involvement.

Consumer-grade game engines such as Multimedia Fusion and RPG Maker have dramatically extended the reach of digital games as a medium. They have also spawned online communities, where conventions and canons of using these tools have evolved. These partly stem from the functional constraints of the game engines themselves and are institutionalized through manuals, examples, tutorials, and games made with them. However, some members of game engine communities actively seek to challenge these conventions by experimenting with the engines and finding ingenious ways to put them to unexpected uses. Such experiments can be regarded as a form of metacommentary on the engines’ capabilities and limitations. While arguably impractical and inefficient, they enrich the scope of what can be done with the engine and can contribute to its further development.

Software development in a small development team is a challenge, as people have to fulfill several roles, which in larger groups would have dedicated people. To help in this aspect, the ISO/IEC 29110 Lifecycle profiles for Very Small Entities has been developed to help organization and manage the workflow. However, the model presented in the ISO/IEC 29110 is rather abstract, and prominently follows the waterfall approach, even though the documents do amend agile practices as one acceptable approach. In game development this loosely defined approach is problematic, since games industry heavily relies in the agile practices with short cycles of iterations. In this article, the authors present their study of game development organizations, and describe the ISO/IEC 29110 deployment package “Highly Iterative Software Processes” which combines the Entry level model with the industry-specific requirements. In general, the definition of support for the iterative development makes the model feasible for the industry.

Developing a computer game presents a big challenge, since creating a single product requires much more knowledge and experience in different areas than just programming. However, the question is how to bring your work to life in hours and days instead of weeks and months. Using the Construct 2 drag and drop method, we are able to implement visual materials into our game, and the principle of programming is reduced to the events option, which helps us to assign actions through selected graphics icons. Application instant preview allows fast prototyping and iterative development which enables testing during the entire creation process, making it much easier to detect and resolve problems. It gave us flexibility and the ability to see how the prototype of each version actually responds to certain actions, conditions, and events. As a final point, with a good organization and understanding of powerful event system, flexible behaviours, stunning visual effects and capabilities provided by the Construct application package, it is possible to do any conceivable 2D project.

The business simulation (also called economic simulation) genre has been around since 1983, with early titles such as M.U.L.E and Oil Barons being the first to exhibit gameplay mechanics such as the implementation of supply and demand. The genre’s rise in popularity led to the production of well received titles such as Rollercoaster Tycoon, Anno 1602 and SimCity. Item Shop Tycoon is a business simulation game that puts you in the shoes of Pedro Buenaventura, a business owner who crashed his family’s business after a string of incompetent and questionable decisions. He receives a second chance when a goddess reincarnated him into a new world with a shop to run. It is now up to the player to lead the shop’s path to success using investments, good managing skills and a little bit of luck. The gameplay consists of point-and-click segments where the user would have to simply click certain elements in the game in order to interact. The game progresses each day of the month and ends when the day of the deadline arrives. One of the game’s core features is the ability for the player to invest in various business and opportunities that allows them to gain return of investment after a specific amount of time with bonuses such as special item that could delay the time, attract more customers, or discounts on certain items. This depends on the amount invested. However, these present various amounts of risks because these businesses and enterprises can fail. The Iterative Development Model is used for this project since it is focused on simplified implementation that repeats some tasks to improve and polish the result.

The game engines are one of the essential and daily used applications on the game development field. These applications are designed to assist in the creation of this type of contents. Nevertheless, their usage and development are very complex. Moreover, there are not many research papers about the game engine architecture definition and specification. In this sense, this work presents a methodology to specify a game engine defined as a multi-agent system. In such a way, from a multi-agent approximation, a game engine architecture can be prototyped in a fast way. Also, this implementation can be exported to a general programming language for maximum performance, facilitating the definition and comprehension of the mechanisms of the game engine.

This article considers the history, practices and impact of the Indie Megabooth and its founders in terms of their role as a ‘cultural intermediary’ in promoting and supporting independent or ‘indie’ game development. The Megabooth is a crucial broker, gatekeeper and orchestrator of not only perceptions of and markets for indie games but also the socio-material possibility of indie game making itself. In its highly publicized outward-facing role, the Megabooth ascribes legitimacy and value to specific games and developers, but its behind-the-scenes logistical and brokerage activities are of equal if not greater importance. The Megabooth mediates between a diverse set of actors and stakeholders with multiple (often conflicting) needs and goals and in doing so helps constitute the field of production, distribution, reception and consumption for indie games. ‘Indie-ness’ and independence are actively performed in and through intermediaries such as the Megabooth.

INTRODUCTION: Serious games is an effort to combine the engagement and motivation from games with some sort of utility beyond mere entertainment. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to revisit and analyse six projects to explore the design space for serious games and derive design guidelines for serious games. METHODS: We analysed our project portfolio to identify a set of projects which satisfied well-established guidelines for design science research. By analysing these projects as well as their outcomes we generated a set of design principles for serious games. RESULTS: The results from this study is a conceptualisation of the design space for serious games and seven design principles. CONCLUSION: By explicating the game design component in serious games and relating it to the utility dimension we add to the understanding of the serious games from a game perspective, which is relevant to any development effort intending to use the persuasive and motivational power of games. Online first; published on 27 May 2021.CC BY 4.0"Funding has been provided by: University of Skövde, Länsförsäkringar, Sten A Olssons stiftelse för forskning och kultur, Church of Sweden, World Childhood Foundation, Region Västra Götaland, Swedish Rescue Services Agency research fund."Corresponding author: Email: henrik.engstrom@his.se

Online game development activity using multi-cultural team-based learning (TBL) was examined in order to identify contributing factors to learning activities by analysing the participants' characteristics, communications, and reflections. In this study, 12 collaborating participants from two countries were divided into three teams. The main collaborative task was to develop a game and improve it is usability for users. Participants' characteristics and information literacy were measured as parameters for learning activity as well as developing a product for assessment. A learning reflection questionnaire was conducted to evaluate the participants' efficacy, satisfaction and sense of achievement in learning, and any difficulties they experienced. Participants' social media communications were classified into four categories: proposal, permission, encouragement, and acknowledgement, based on the participant's type of communication activity. These relationships were analysed to summarise participants' activities and to develop supporting procedures.

Children with diagnosis of down syndrome has different kinds of personalities, mental states, and talents similar to other children. The key point is that every child needs proper support at the right time. There are options like special education programs, physical and other therapies, and play groups. However, there are not any electronic games to support the education and improvement of these children. The goal of this study is to develop a mobile game for children with down syndrome, in order to help them learn everyday knowledge by using a mobile device such as a smart phone or a tablet. In most cases pedagogues use puzzle or paper based card games to teach these children the necessary knowledge they need to maintain their lives. This study aims to optimize the learning process of children with down syndrome by providing educators electronic games they can use to teach them in a mobile application which will enrich the teaching process in addition to update their teaching methods to Industry 4.0 standards.

The impact of environment on individuals is particularly critical. In evolutionary games, adopting the strategy of the neighbor who performs better is nontrivial for the survival and maintenance of cooperation, in that such an action may help the agents to obtain higher benefit and more obvious evolutionary advantages. Inspired by this idea, we investigate the effect of the environment-based preference selection on the evolution of cooperation in spatial prisoner’s dilemma. A simple rule, incorporating individual preference selection via an adjustable parameter α to explore how the selection of the potential strategy sources influences individual behavior traits, is considered. Because social interaction may not be the only way of generating payoffs, we assume that the individual’s income is also affected by the environment. Besides, taking into account individual differences, we introduce the heterogeneity of the environment. Through numerous computing simulations, we find that environment-based preference selection, which accelerates the microscopic organization of cooperator clusters to resist the aggression of defectors, can truly promote cooperation within a large range of parameters. Our study indicates that the combination of heterogeneity and preference selection may be key for the sustainability of cooperation in structured populations.

Over the last several decades, computer games started to have a significant impact on society. However, although a computer game is a type of software, the process to conceptualize, produce and deliver a game could involve unusual features. In software testing, for instance, studies demonstrated the hesitance of professionals to use automated testing techniques with games, due to the constant changes in requirements and design, and pointed out the need for creating testing tools that take into account the flexibility required for the game development process. Goal. This study aims to improve the current body of knowledge regarding software testing in game development and point out the existing particularities observed in software testing considering the development of a computer game. Method. A mixed-method approach based on a case study and an opinion survey was applied to collect quantitative and qualitative data from software professionals regarding the particularities of software testing in game development. Results. We analyzed over 70 messages posted on three well-established network of question-and-answer communities related to software engineering, software testing and game development and received answers of 38 professionals discussing differences between testing a computer game and a general software, and identified important aspects to be observed by practitioners in the process of planning, performing and reporting tests in this context. Conclusion. Considering computer games, software testing must focus not only on the common aspects of a general software, but also, track and investigate issues that could be related to game balance, game physics and entertainment related-aspects to guarantee the quality of computer games and a successful testing process.

Presentation on ClairCity Skylines by Enda Hayes at ClairCity's Annual Conference (Sosnowiec, 2018).

Today, Games User Research forms an integral component of the development of any kind of interactive entertainment. User research stands as the primary source of business intelligence in the incredibly competitive game industry. This book aims to provide the foundational, accessible, go-to resource for people interested in GUR. It is a community-driven effort-it is written by passionate professionals and researchers in the GUR community as a handbook and guide for everyone interested in user research and games. The book bridges the current gaps of knowledge in Game User Research, building the go-to volume for everyone working with games, with an emphasis on those new to the field.

Game jamming is a valuable tool and process to connect game developers from a range of disciplines such as art, programming, audio engineering, or story-telling. The Global Game Jam® (GGJ) thus fundamentally supports the process of connecting people, and forms a basis for studying teamwork formation and -mechanics. It is an annual event, where participants (jammers) meet on physical locations to develop games together within a short time-span of 48 hours. People with similar interest but different skill-sets have the chance to meet and collaborate to create prototypes of games together, whether digital or analog. In this explorative study, data from the GGJ website across four years of game jams and their participants are analyzed, towards investigating group interaction and group forming behavior. The focus is on using social network analysis and social metrics to evaluate the influence of a) jammer skillset and b) jam locations, on social and communicative structures among game jammers in the GGJ environment. The findings suggest that different skill-sets support different forms of social structures and also setups in countries refer to different group sizes and different social structures.

This paper presents the findings of a pilot study for game jam organizers' design values. The study builds on top of previous research on game design values and emphasizes the role of game jam organizers as cultural intermediaries within the game ecosystem. For the purpose of the pilot study, the survey was directed towards 27 main organizers of Global Game Jam (GGJ) 2018 in Finland. The responses covered 74% of the whole population (20 out of 27), providing a good coverage of the population of Finnish main organizers of GGJ in 2018. The pilot study presents support for the utility of the research instrument and interesting openings for future research.

Video games experience an ever-increasing interest by society since their inception on the 70’s. This form of computer entertainment may let the player have a great time with family and friends, or it may as well provide immersion into a story full of details and emotional content. Prior to the end user playing a video game, a huge effort is performed in lots of disciplines: screenwriting, scenery design, graphical design, programming, optimization or marketing are but a few examples. This work is done by game studios, where teams of professionals from different backgrounds join forces in the inception of the video game. From the perspective of Human-Computer Interaction, which studies how people interact with computers to complete tasks, a game developer can be regarded as a user whose task is to create the logic of a video game using a computer. One of the main foundations of HCI. is that an in-depth understanding of the user’s needs and preferences is vital for creating a usable piece of technology. This point is important as a single piece of technology (in this case, the set of tools used by a game developer) may – and should have been designed to – be used on the same team by users with different knowledge, abilities and capabilities. Embracing this diversity of users functional capabilities is the core foundation of accessibility, which is tightly related to and studied from the discipline of HCI. The driving force behind this research is a question that came after considering game developers: Could someone develop a video game being fully or partially blind? Would it be possible for these users to be part of a game development team? What should be taken into account to cover their particular needs and preferences so that they could perform this task being comfortable and productive? The goal of this work is to propose a possible solution that can assure inclusion of fully or partially blind users in the context of computer game development. To do this, a Used Centered Design methodology has been followed. This approach is ideal in this case as it starts including people you’re designing for and ends with new solutions that are tailor made to suit their needs. First, previously designed solutions for this problem and related works have been analyzed. Secondly, an exploratory study has been performed to know how should the target user be able to interact with a computer when developing games, and design insights are drawn from both the state of the art analysis and the study results. Next, a solution has been proposed based on the design insights, and a prototype has been implemented. The solution has been evaluated with accessibility guidelines. It has been finally concluded that the proposed solution is accessible for visually impaired users. Ingeniería Informática