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Videospiele sind zu einer beliebten Form der Unterhaltung für Spieler aller Altersgruppen geworden, weshalb dem weltweiten Videospielmarkt bis 2025 ein Umsatz von 269 Milliarden Dollar vorausgesagt wird. Mit der steigenden Nachfrage nach qualitativ hochwertigen Spielen ist der Wiederspielwert ein wichtiges Element für den Erfolg eines Spiels geworden. Das Spektrum der Videospiele reicht von einfachen 8-Bit-Spielen wie Snake bis hin zu komplexeren Spielen, die eine Geschichte erzählen. Der Entstehungsprozess von Videospielen erfordert viele Ressourcen, die sowohl große Entwicklungsteams in AAA-Studios als auch kleinere Teams in Indie-Studios aufbringen müssen. Bestimmte Tools wurden entwickelt, um den Erstellungsprozess zu unterstützen und es den Spielern zu ermöglichen, neue Levels dynamisch zu generieren, während sie das Spiel spielen. Bei diesen Tools handelt es sich um Algorithmen, die Inhalte für Videospiele prozedural generieren können. Das bedeutet, dass der Entwickler nicht mehr jedes Level von Hand erstellen muss, sondern stattdessen Regeln definieren kann, denen der Algorithmus folgen muss, um auf Knopfdruck neue Level zu erstellen. Viele populäre Algorithmen sind für diesen Fall entwickelt worden, einer davon ist der Wave Function Collapse Algorithmus, der von Max Gumin entwickelt wurde. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Implementierung des WFC-Algorithmus in der Unity-Spiele-Engine zur prozeduralen Erzeugung von Inseln. Sie untersucht die Herausforderungen, die sich während des Implementierungsprozesses ergaben, und die notwendigen Änderungen, die vorgenommen wurden, um die gewünschten Ergebnisse zu erzielen. Die praktische Umsetzung umfasst die Erstellung eines Videospiels mit prozedural generierten Inseln. Die Ergebnisse zeigen nicht nur verschiedene Herausforderungen auf, wie z. B. die Festlegung von Adjazenzregeln und zusätzliche Techniken zur konsistenten Erzeugung von Inseln, sondern auch, wie der Algorithmus modifiziert werden kann, um diese Herausforderungen zu überwinden und definierte Kriterien zu erfüllen. Video games have become a popular form of entertainment for players of all ages, which is why the global video game market is predicted to generate \$269 billion in revenue by 2025. With the increasing demand for high-quality games, the replayability has become an important element in determining a game's success. Video games can range from simplistic 8-bit games such as Snake to more complex story-driven games. The creation process of video games requires lots of resources, which large development teams in AAA studios as well as smaller teams in indie studios have to produce. Certain tools have been developed to assist in the creation process and enable players to generate new levels dynamically while playing the game. These tools are algorithms that can procedurally generate content for video games, meaning that instead of handcrafting each level by the developer, they can instead define rules that the algorithm has to follow in order to create new levels with the click of a button. Many popular algorithms have been developed for this case, one of which is the Wave Function Collapse algorithm, developed by Max Gumin. This thesis focuses on the implementation of the WFC algorithm within the Unity game engine to procedurally generate islands. It explores the challenges faced during the implementation process and the necessary modifications made to achieve the desired results. The practical implementation involves the creation of a video game featuring procedurally generated islands. The results not only showcase various challenges, such as establishing adjacency rules and additional techniques used to consistently create islands, but also highlight how the algorithm can be modified to overcome these challenges and fulfil defined criteria.

Nicht-spielbare Charaktere (NPCs) werden in Videospielen oft durch Behavior Trees gesteuert. Diese sind bekanntermaßen eine gute Wahl, wenn es um komplexe Charaktere geht, die eine Vielzahl an Aktionen überzeugend darstellen sollen. Jedoch erfordern Behavior Trees auch einen signifikanten Implementierungsaufwand, was oft dazu führt, dass Entwickler oft zu simpleren Modellen wie Finite State Machines (FSMs) greifen, obwohl diese womöglich kein vergleichbares Resultat liefern. Das ist im Speziellen bei einfachen NPCs der Fall. Da diese oft nur eine begrenzte Anzahl simpler Aktionen durchführen können ist eine FSM ausreichend. Dies jedoch limitiert die Wiederverwendbarkeit zwischen einfachen und komplexen Charakteren dramatisch, und führt überdies zu einer Grauzone, in welcher möglicherweise FSMs verwendet werden, obwohl sie bereits zu komplex werden. Wäre es möglich Behavior Trees automatisch zu trainieren, würde es deren Implementierungsaufwand verringern, und sie auch in Situationen, in denen es um simple NPCs geht zur besseren Wahl machen. In dieser Arbeit wird das Automatische Trainieren von Behavior Trees mittels evolutionären Trainings untersucht. Zu diesem Zweck wird ein Entwicklungsumgebung implementiert, welche Werkzeuge zum Untersuchen, Verändern, Laden und Speichern von Behavior Trees bietet, und überdies eine Simulationsumgebung zur Verfügung stellt, in welcher in weiterer Folge einige Behavior Trees trainiert werden. Die Behavior Trees, die in der Simulation trainiert wurden, passen sich in den meisten Fällen perfekt an ihre Umgebung und die Charakteristika des NPCs an. Obwohl die Simulationsumgebung noch Verbesserungspotential aufweist ist die generelle Idee, Behavior Trees automatisch mittels evolutionären Lernens zu trainieren vielversprechend, speziell in Fällen in denen es normalerweise nicht effizient scheinen würde, Behavior Trees manuell zu implementieren. Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in video games are often controlled by behavior trees. They are well known to be a good choice when dealing with complicated characters that should be able to perform a variety of actions convincingly. However, their implementation effort is significant, which often leads developers to using simpler models, like Finite State Machines (FSMs), even though this might not result in an equally good result. This is especially true when looking at simple NPCs. Since they are often only required to perform a limited amount of simple actions, a FSM is sufficient. However, this limits the potential of re-usability between simple and complex NPCs significantly, while also leading to a grey area in which FSMs might be used, even though they are already getting too complex. Training behavior trees automatically would lessen their implementation effort, making them a better choice, even in situations regarding simple NPCs. This thesis takes a look at training behavior trees automatically using evolutionary training. For that purpose, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is implemented, which offers tools for inspecting, editing, loading, and saving behavior trees, as well as a simulation environment which is then used to train several behavior trees. The behavior trees trained in the simulation environment adapt perfectly to their environment and NPC's characteristics most of the time. Even though the simulation environment could be improved upon, the idea of using evolutionary training to train behavior trees shows significant promise, especially in cases where manually setting them up might not seem worth it.

Über das Medium Computerspiel findet zunehmend eine Auseinandersetzung mit psychologischen Traumata statt. Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung, Krankheit und Tod sowie Depressionen und Phobien sind hierbei vorherrschende Themen und Motive. Thomas Spies zeigt in einem historischen Überblick und in vergleichenden Analysen Tendenzen der kulturellen Repräsentation auf. Die Beschäftigung mit Titeln wie »Papers, Please«, »Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice« und »Disco Elysium« lässt deutlich werden, wie Computerspiele zunehmend medienspezifische Möglichkeiten finden, die Vielfalt und Komplexität traumatischer Erfahrungen zu vermitteln.

Wir stehen mitten in einer zweiten Digitalisierungswelle, die unseren Alltag und unsere Arbeitswelt erfasst. Dies gilt auch für die Architektur. Neu geht es dabei nicht mehr nur um das Einlesen und Darstellen von Daten oder das Produzieren von virtuellen Räumen und Objekten, sondern vielmehr um die Möglichkeiten von deren Verknüpfung und Weiterverarbeitung. Bezeichnungen wie «Internet der Dinge» oder smarte Technologien und darauf aufbauend Konzepte wie Smart Cities suggerieren die totale Vernetzung von Objekten, Räumen und Menschen über Algorithmen. Die Verknüpfung unserer physischen mit der digitalen Welt wird vielfältiger und komplexer. Was bedeutet dies für die Architektur, das Bauen und für die Architekturausbildung? Welche digitalen Werkzeuge und Programme kommen zum Einsatz und wie werden sie genutzt für das Planen und die Ausführung, die Gestaltung unserer physischen Umwelt?

Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) ist eine Technologie die heutzutage vielfältig eingesetzt wird, und die Anzahl der Anwendungen steigt täglich. In den meisten Gebieten wird KI im Hintergrund eingesetzt, sei es zur Analyse von Daten, Stimmerkennung oder für die Erstellung von Vorhersagen. Der Benutzer sieht üblicherweise nur das Resultat, während der genaue Prozess dahinter verborgen bleibt. In Spielen wird KI jedoch oft eingesetzt um sogenannte Nicht-Spieler-Charaktere (NPCs) zu kontrollieren. In diesem Fall kann die Spielerin*der Spieler die Entscheidungen und Aktionen der KI direkt beobachten, und der Entscheidungsfindungsprozess wird wesentlich offensichtlicher. Dies führt zu einer Reihe neuer Herausforderungen, da von der KI nicht nur gute, sondern auch natürlich wirkende Entscheidungen erwartet werden. Diese Arbeit betrachtet den derzeitigen Stand der Technik, vergleicht verschiedene Technologien, und analysiert welche Qualitätsanforderungen an eine gute NPC KI gestellt werden. Zu diesem Zweck wird auch die Leistungsfähigkeit derzeit verfügbarer Spiele untersucht. Es stellt sich heraus, dass Behavior Trees den größten Handlungsspielraum für diese Anwendung bieten. Nicht nur indem sie die KI natürlich agieren lassen, sondern auch durch Ihre Struktur und dadurch, dass sie die Möglichkeit bieten die Schwierigkeit durch Anpassung von Parametern des Behavior Trees zu ändern. Die Arbeit schließt mit einer grundlegenden Implementierung einer KI ab, die verwendet werden kann um einen simulierten Wolf zu kontrollieren. Teile dieser KI wurden mit generierten Daten trainiert, welche durch reale Daten ersetzt werden könnten. Es wird gezeigt, dass eine Änderung der Agenden und Prioritäten der Wölfe zu unterschiedlichem Verhalten führt, welches wiederum ihre Erfolgschancen in der Simulation beeinflusst. Dies legt den Grundstein für eine komplexere KI welche auch während des Spieles lernen und sich über mehrere Generationen entwickeln kann. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that is widely used nowadays, and the number of applications is increasing every day. In most areas, AI is used in the background, performing analysis of data, image or voice recognition, and making predictions. The user usually only sees the result, and the exact process behind it is mostly obscured. In games however, AI is often used to control non-player characters (NPCs). In this case, the player directly observes the decisions and actions of the AI, and the decision making process becomes much more obvious. This leads to a completely new set of challenges, since the AI is not only asked to make good decisions, but also ones that seem natural. This thesis takes a look at the current state of the art, compares different technologies, and discusses what qualities are expected of a good NPC AI, also taking a look at the performance of currently available games. It finds that behavior trees offer the most versatility in this regard, not only in making the AI act natural, but also in terms of structure and by offering the possibility of adjusting the difficulty by changing parameters of the behavior tree. The thesis concludes with a basic implementation of an AI for controlling a simulated wolf. Parts of the AI were trained using generated data, which could be replaced by real world data. It is shown that changing the agendas and priorities of the wolves changes their behavior and how well they succeed in different simulations, laying the foundation for a more complex AI, capable of learning during the game and evolving over multiple generations.

Following the materialist approaches to contemporary digital memory- making, this article explores how unequal access to memory production in videogames is determined along economic and cultural lines. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with different European, Asian and North American historical game developers, I make the case for how materialist and cultural aspects of videogame development reinforce existing mnemonic hegemony and in turn how this mnemonic hegemony determines access to the production of memory- making potentials that players of videogames activate and negotiate. My interview findings illustrate how individual workers do not necessarily intend to reproduce received systems of power and hegemony, and instead how certain cultural and material relations tacitly motivate and/or marginalise workers in the videogame industries to reproduce hegemonic power relations in cultural memory across race, class and gender. Finally, I develop the argument that access to cultural production networks such as the games industry constitutes important factors that need to be taken seriously in research on cultural memory and game studies. Thus, my article investigates global power relationships, political economy, colonial legacies and cultural hegemony within the videogame industry, and how these are instantiated in individual instances of game developers.

Diese Arbeit untersucht Videospiele und speziell deren Auswirkungen auf Menschen. Die überwiegende Mehrheit der Studien über Videospiele befasst sich mit den negativen Auswirkungen und vermittelt so ein insgesamt schlechtes Bild über Gamer und Videospiele. In dieser Arbeit werden nicht nur die Vorteile des Spielens von Videospielen behandelt, sondern es werden auch die möglichen Gefahren für Spieler betrachtet und Lösungen gefunden, wie diese vermieden werden können. Der Titel verdeutlicht den Inhalt dieser Arbeit nicht unbedingt, er repräsentiert vielmehr die Extreme dessen, womit Videospielkonsumenten manchmal in Verbindung gebracht werden. Gamer sind jedoch weder faule Geeks noch gewaltbereite Freaks. Um die individuellen Auswirkungen, die Videospiele auf Menschen haben können, gründlich zu verstehen, müssen wir jeden Aspekt von Videospielen abdecken. Es gibt verschiedene Arten oder Genres von Spielen, bei denen wir bestimmte Ergebnisse beobachten können, die bei anderen nicht auftreten. Daher müssen wir den riesigen Pool an Spielen irgendwie in ein paar Gruppen kategorisieren, damit wir Schlussfolgerungen ziehen können. Spiele haben eine unendliche Anzahl von Variationen und können daher auf unzählige Arten zur Entwicklung des Gehirns beitragen. Eine der spezielleren Arten von Spielen sind die so genannten Serious Games. Dabei handelt es sich um digitale Spiele, die nicht primär oder ausschließlich der Unterhaltung dienen, aber solche Elemente enthalten können und sich hauptsächlich auf die Vermittlung von Informationen und Bildung konzentrieren. Wir haben unser selbst entwickeltes Handyspiel als Testquelle genutzt, um einige der vorgestellten Effekte auf die Spieler zu testen, und wir haben vorbeugende Maßnahmen gegen negative Effekte, wie z.B. Sucht, implementiert. Für die Implementierung verwendeten wir Unity, eine plattformübergreifende Videospiel-Engine. Wir gehen kurz auf den Implementierungsprozess des Spiels ein und geben darüber hinaus eine Einführung in Unity und dessen Benutzeroberfläche und Funktionen. Darüber hinaus haben wir eine Umfrage zum Konsum von Videospielen durchgeführt, um eine Vorstellung über die am meisten gewünschten Arten von Spielen zu bekommen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen - im Gegensatz zu den gängigen Stereotypen -, dass Videospiele nicht nur vorteilhaft für die Spieler sind, sondern auch gezielt eingesetzt werden können, um Menschen zu erziehen. This thesis investigates video games and more specifically their effects on people. The vast majority of studies regarding video games cover the negative effects and so give an overall bad image about gamers and video games in general. We not only cover all the benefits of playing video games, but also have a look at the possible threats for players and find solutions on how to avoid them. The title may not clarify the contents of this thesis, it rather represents the extremes of what video game consumers are sometimes associated with. However, gamers are neither lazy geeks nor violent freaks. To thoroughly understand the individual effects that video games can have on people, we have to cover every aspect of video games. There are various types or genres of games in which we can observe specific results that do not occur in others. Therefore, we must somehow categorize the giant pool of games into a few groups so that we can take conclusions. Games have an infinite amount of variations and thus can contribute to the development of the brain in countless ways. One of the more specific types of games are the so called serious games. These are digital games that do not primarily or exclusively serve the purpose of entertainment, but may contain such elements and mainly focus on conveying information and education. We used our self-made mobile game as a testing source to prove some of the presented effects on players and we implemented preventative measures against negative effects, such as addiction. For the implementation we used Unity, which is a cross-platform video game engine. We briefly cover the implementation process of the game, topping it with an introduction to Unity and its user interface and functions. Furthermore, we conducted a survey regarding the consumption of video games to get an idea about the most wanted types of games. The results –in contrary to the common stereotypes- show that not only are video games beneficial to players, they can be used purposefully to educate people.

Serious Games are often employed in the health sector. Games for health, e.g., for diagnostic purpose, education, and training, are used to address tasks as diverse as rehabilitation, cancer awareness, and understanding of or coping with psychological disorders. One important area in which Serious Games play an important role is education, training, and learning, which is the focus of the present paper. A challenge in the development of Serious Games is the interdisciplinary nature of the project itself. Medical experts, social scientists, computer scientists, and artists need to work together from the early stages of the project on to the development of a game concept. Working with an interdisciplinary team presents advantages and challenges. Bringing together experts from various disciplines ensures using state-of-the-art techniques and offers fresh perspectives. On the other hand, a common terminology and a usable workflow have to be established. This article focuses on the development and the lessons learned from the serious game SANTRAIN, which aims at the first responder training of the German Federal Armed Forces.

Time and time again derelict psychiatric institutions and rogue inmates serve as settings and antagonists in cultural narratives, and digital games are no exception. The eeriness of exploring what Erving Goffman calls »total institutions« and the tension of being confronted with the mentally ill orchestrate a persistent conflict between madness and reason. How this conflict is constructed on a narrative, aesthetic, and ludic level is the central focus of this article. The perspective applied leans heavily on discourse analysis to give a brief overview of contemporary ideas on mental illness and psychiatric institutions. Theoretically founded in Erving Goffman's concept of total institutions, Outlast (Red Barrels, 2013) and The Town of Light (LKA, 2016) are comparatively interpreted, concluding in the assumption that the perspective of both titles, while differing considerably, constructs mirroring glances on psychiatric institutions and the madness within.

Videospiele sind faszinierend. Daher ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass ihr Motivationspotential in verschiedenen Disziplinen diskutiert wurde. (Serious) Games for Health sind speziell für das Gesundheitswesen konzipiert und zielen darauf ab, positive Auswirkungen auf die Anwender*innen zu haben - physisch oder psychisch. Health Games dienen dazu, Anreize für mehr körperliche Aktivität zu schaffen, sie werden in der Medizin zu Therapiezwecken eingesetzt, sie können förderliche Verhaltensänderungen hervorrufen oder Außenstehenden helfen, Krankheiten (wie z.B. Depression) besser zu verstehen. Ein Spiel an sich macht eine Person jedoch noch nicht dick oder dünn, nicht klug oder dumm und eben nicht gesund oder krank. Es ist ein Zusammenspiel von Missionszielen, Inhalten, Technologie und Vermittlungstechniken, um das angestrebte Ziel zu erreichen. In der Kenntnis über die Spannungen zwischen der schnelllebigen Gamesbranche und dem mitunter restriktiven Gesundheitswesen zeigen wir, wie Games im Gesundheitswesen zum Einsatz kommen und gar kommerziell etabliert werden können. Dabei sehen wir Games als Medien mit hohem Potenzial, aber auch mit Herausforderungen und Grenzen an.

This essay takes a close look how the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) via virtual reality applications is picked up and portrayed in digital games. After all, video and computer games provide players with virtual worlds. They send players, and their characters – particularly in action games and first person shooters – into theaters of war that will be left by many soldiers suffering from PTSD after their missions. Taking CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS III (Treyarch 2015) as a leading example this article shows that the idea of a double virtual world, one with a virtual reality (VR) of therapeutical intention, not only takes the current medical status into consideration, but it sometimes also uses it for the orchestration of utopian and dystopian storylines.

Many video games reinforce a rationalizing logic of self-care through the use of health management tools like hit points and health bars. This paper attempts to problematize the quantification of health in games by situating it at the nexus of objective rationality and hegemonic masculinity. I argue that this assemblage not only necessitates the conditions of existence for hit points and status effects, but also embeds the mechanisms with biopolitical scripts that (re)produce the ideal masculine biocitizen. This rationalization of health in games reinforces hegemonic practices of biomedicine that aim to preserve masculinity rather than improve overall health. Hit points and health bars therefore reproduce masculine ways of seeing that contribute to masculine health practices in the everyday world and consequentially men’s health disparities.

Computer games take up and extend traditional discourses on technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Moreover, representations of AI in computer games include not only narrative aspects but game mechanics as well. This contribution focuses on what distinguishes this kind of AI representation from other medial forms, and on how different types of AI representation can be identified within the computer games field. Overall, representations of AI make visible specific aspects and ideologies implied by the gameplay. From this perspective, it is outlined how these representations work either as support for fantasies of self-empowerment or as an emphasis on medial determination; moreover, cultural functions and meanings provided in this context are highlighted.

RESIDENT EVIL 7, in articulating the threat of infectious mold, situates the illness with the feminine: Historical, cultural, and physiological connections between mold and women gives the game license to limit, objectify, and render the female characters monstrous. First-person immersion brings us into contact with the infection, as mold and Molded threaten the buildings of the Bakers, while mold growing in their brains threatens the Bakers themselves. Through the form of infection, the disease is invasively feminine, reflected in the Bakers and their homes.

This article argues that video games carry tremendous potential in furthering public understanding of mental illnesses. WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH is considered as an example to demonstrate, focusing on the specific sequence of Lewis Finch and which aspects of Lewis’ biography are indicative of schizophrenia. The variant models of comorbidity between addiction and psychosis play a significant theoretical role as, according to the developers, the character’s main trait is a marijuana addiction. The actual narrative, however, indicates causes and consequences of mental illnesses that go way beyond drug abuse, such as traumatic childhood experience and social isolation. Following a biographical approach, this article thus focuses on the ludic construction of Lewis’ psychosis, reaching the conclusion that players may, by virtue of their interactive involvement, experience ›symptoms‹ such as depersonalization and forms of dissociation within the safe framework of play.

The term »medicalization« describes a process in which non-medical problems are explained and solved in medical terms. This often happens through the definition of disease categories. Medicalization as a multifactorial process leads to the pathologization of certain phenomena, to an associated expansion of social control and, in the context of the economization of medicine, to increased social inequality. The expansion of medical competence can take place as a primary medicalization on an institutional and structural level, or as a secondary medicalization on an epistemological level. The latter encompasses the circulation of all medical knowledge in society and (popular) culture. Digital games are also implemented into this medical structure of integration, on the one hand in the form of serious games as a medicalized technology and their use as therapeutic, diagnostic, educational or research tools. On the other hand, commercial games are secondarily medicalized, if they use medical semantics to plausibilize their narrative or game mechanics. Thirdly, games can critically question medicalization as a process and thus provide a normative commentary on problems of medicalization. The operationalization of the concept of medicalization for the analysis of digital games is carried out in the following steps: First, the concept of primary medicalization, its causes, characteristics and consequences are outlined. As a second step interfaces of media and cultural analysis regarding medicalization are identified in the context of the sociocultural circulation of medical knowledge (secondary medicalization). Thirdly, it will be shown to what extent one can speak of medicalization of digital games and which categories could form a meaningful analytical tool kit. Finally, by means of the games RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 (Rockstar Studios 2018) and SPIDER-MAN (Insomniac Games 2018), the elaborated aspects are applied in two brief qualitative analyses.

CELESTE (Matt Makes Games 2018) is a game about climbing a mountain. But it is also a game about protagonist Madeline’s struggle with her mental disorder, specifically depression and anxiety attacks. Embodied by a dark doppelganger named Part of Me, Madeline’s disease makes her perilous climb almost impossible and fights her every step of the way. By primarily externalizing mental disorders on a narrative, visual, and ludic level, CELESTE presents an innovative and differentiated way of depicting depression as a form of functional disorders within the game text. As a theoretical starting point, the widely recognized biopsychosocial model has been chosen in which human beings are defined as whole entities and the relationship between health and disease is described as a dynamic process where one does not cancel out the other. Media portrayals of mental illness – in films and on television, as well as in video games – can be stigmatizing. But with their specific quality of interactivity and the recipient as an active subject, video games have the power to let players experience disease in an innovative way which, in this article, will be exemplified with the video game CELESTE.

This article examines the increasing ludic implementation of mental illnesses in digital games. It especially focuses on display techniques and the benefits and drawbacks of games that utilize a first- or third-person view to immerse the player into the mental illnesses of their protagonists. This sort of player involvement marks a new trend that can be observed in recent games and will play an important role in future game development. Instead of merely stigmatizing the mentally ill as evil antagonists, head-mounted virtual reality displays like the Oculus Rift are able to simulate their perception and thus create a form of self-awareness for the player. LAYERS OF FEAR (2016) and SENUA'S SACRIFICE (2017) are used as case examples.

After drawing connections between theories of unreliable narration and depictions of mental instability, this article explores ways in which subjectivity can become manifest in video games. In the subsequent analysis of Dear Esther (The Chinese Room 2012) and Layers of Fear (Bloober Team 2016), the mechanisms of verbal and visual unreliable narration will be examined, as well as the interplay between these elements and interactivity, and, especially, how these aspects are connected to the mental instability of narrators and focalizers. Dear Esther's narrator strives to inscribe an island's »always half-imagined« surface with his life and memories, while the player is compelled to question the narrator's reliability to the point where she begins to question the island's physical existence. Layers of Fear puts the player in the place of a painter who, while trying to complete his magnum opus, loses all grasp of reality - and his sanity. The game exclusively ascribes the painter, the sole focalizer of the game, the ability to »see« and simultaneously establishes that his eyes are not to be trusted.

This chapter explores the epidemiological framework of disease constructed in the 2010 Wii-console release TRAUMA TEAM (Atlus Games). By fabricating the antagonistic »Rosalia virus« as an ailment of insidious phases, volatile symptoms reminiscent of present-day outbreaks that perplexed contemporary practitioners, of molecular complexity and spread through such conspicuous and rudimentary ecological means as to make surreptitious, the game designers have provided a vivid allegory advocating for a modern paradigm of disease theory/epidemiology; one that transcends a web of causation. The ultimate result is a game that embodies and engages not only complex medical theory, but showcases the downfalls of provincialism regarding the gameplaying apparatus as a whole.

Cancer, a hyponym for serious contemporary diseases, concerns a growing number of patients each year since research has significantly improved and patients can be diagnosed early. While many cases seem to be preventable, it is one of the leading causes of death. In popular media, cancer is often emotionally represented and a sign of death. In medical terms, it might be understood on a cellular level without regarding external conditions. This article shows that both ways can be discussed in two disease models that help to set a discursive framework of cancer representation in digital games. Re-Mission (Realtime Associates, Inc. 2006) shows a scientific side of occurrence by guiding an avatar through the human body while treating cancer internally. The game perpetuates a biomedical interpretation. In contrast, THAT DRAGON, CANCER (Numinous Games 2016) examines a biopsychosocial attempt perspective. While both games are determined by their contexts of production, their representation of cancer can be read as staying close to their initial disease model.

This article examines a little-known example of early interactive cinema: cinematic shooting galleries, which appeared in multiple variations in Europe and the US around 1910. All but forgotten today, such devices – which allowed spectators to fire live bullets at projected images on the screen – offer an excellent test case for any media archaeology in search of ‘precursors’ to digital media such as interactive cinema and video games. They might also appear tailor-made for Kittlerian arguments about the deep links between media and warfare. But understanding cinematic shooting galleries also demands careful attention to the cultural context of hunting and tourist safaris in which they emerged and took on meaning in the early 20th century. The article argues that such devices intersected with a much broader visual culture of colonialism and hunting, promising a ‘training’ in self-mastery through their interactive simulation of the hunt. That training depended on the device’s ability to show images in movement, simulating danger and demanding a rapid response. But it also depended on a less conspicuous aspect frequently highlighted in descriptions from the time: the pause, which kicked in to stop the image for a few seconds whenever a spectator fired the gun. This pausing feature links the cinematic shooting gallery with broader research into pausing mechanisms, particularly in the domain of educational film. But whereas educators conceived the pause as a tool for intellectual mastery, the cinematic shooting gallery used the pause to heighten the sense of bodily mastery, where the stilling of the image would run parallel to the stilling of the body’s automatic nervous responses.

In this article, the authors carry out conceptual and theoretical reflections on smartphone communities by closely investigating two apps: Ingress (Niantic 2012) and Pokemon Go (Niantic 2016). While the games’ narratives fabricate reasons for the players to move, it is the Smartphone - understood as an open object between technological and cultural processes - that visualizes and tracks players’ movements and that situates and reshapes the devices, the users and their surroundings. A central aspect is that the ‘augmented’ cities that become visible in the apps are based on the traces of others: other processes and technologies, as well as other players. These traces of practices and movements structure the users’ experience and shape spaces. Traces are necessarily subsequent and we therefore develop the concept of a deferred (smartphone) community and analyse its visibility within the apps. By close reading the two case studies, we examine potential “smartphone communities” in their temporal dimensions, as well as their demands and promises of participation. In order to gain a perspective that is neither adverse to new media nor celebratory of assumed participatory community phenomena, the article aims to interrogate the examples regarding their potential for individuation/ dividuation and community building/dissolution. In doing so, the games’ conditions and the impositions placed on the players are central and include notions of consent and dissent. Drawing upon approaches from community philosophy and media theory, we concentrate on the visible aspects smartphone-interfaces. The traces left by the various processes that were at work become momentarily actualized on the display, where they manifest not as a fixed community, but as a sense of communality.

This article draws upon fi ndings from research on the eff ects of gaming, educational psychology, teacher professionalism as well as school improvement, to develop a framework for linking video game activities to formal education. Th is framework uses video game achievements – virtual trophies received for completing tasks or mastering challenges – as a proxy indicator for the development of competencies relevant to formal education. We suggest that this knowledge can be harnessed to improve teaching and learning, in particular teacher perceptions, teaching skills, and, ultimately, measurable changes in students’ learning. Showing teachers what students can actually do and are already doing (in video games) could help them better understand areas of strength and interest of their students. Zugang zum Volltext innerhalb des Netzwerks der PH Zürich (oder VPN) mit diesem Link. Nach Ablauf der Embargofrist ist der Zugang auch via Repositorium PHZH gewährleistet. Bei Fragen: repositorium@phzh.ch, +repphzhbib2019F

Ein Spieler des seit 2005 beliebten Multiplayer-Online-Rollenspiels World of Warcraft fasst das Anliegen dieser Arbeit gekonnt zusammen: „Im Endeffekt ist mein wichtigster Punkt: Was wir spielen ist nicht nur ein Spiel… In dieser Welt entdecken wir ein Gefühl von Da-Sein, welches wir nicht in der realen Welt finden können. Das heißt weder, dass wir flüchten, noch dass wir nur spielen können. Menschen, die das sagen sind keine echten Spieler…“ (Hershey 2015) Allen voran geht es dieser Arbeit darum, im Dialog eine Brücke zu schlagen zwischen Spielern und der Faszination für ihr Spiel auf der einen, sowie Nicht-Spielern und ihren Fragen auf der anderen Seite. Dabei werden nicht nur (religiöse) Spiele analysiert, sondern auch, wie Spieler in sozialen Netzwerken u. v. m. ihre Spielerfahrung (religiös) weiterverarbeiten. Theologie und Religionspädagogik können zu diesem Dialog einen wichtigen Beitrag leisten, wie dieses umfangreiche Werk zeigt.

Automation of play has become an ever more noticeable phenomenon in the domain of video games, expressed by self-playing game worlds, self-acting characters, and non-human agents traversing multiplayer spaces. This article proposes to look at AI-driven non-human play and, what follows, rethink digital games, taking into consideration their cybernetic nature, thus departing from the anthropocentric perspectives dominating the field of Game Studies. A decentralised posthumanist reading, as the author argues, not only allows to rethink digital games and play, but is a necessary condition to critically reflect AI, which due to the fictional character of video games, often plays by very different rules than the so-called “true” AI.

Why do we play games and why do we play them on computers? The contributors of »Games and Rules« take a closer look at the core of each game and the motivational system that is the game mechanics. Games are control circuits that organize the game world with their (joint) players and establish motivations in a dedicated space, a »Magic Circle«, whereas game mechanics are constructs of rules designed for interactions that provide gameplay. Those rules form the base for all the excitement and frustration we experience in games. This anthology contains individual essays by experts and authors with backgrounds in Game Design and Game Studies, who lead the discourse to get to the bottom of game mechanics in video games and the real world - among them Miguel Sicart and Carlo Fabricatore., Beat Suter et al.: Introduction Play Motivation Beat Suter: Rules of Play as a Framework for the “Magic Circle” René Bauer: Games as a Special Zone. Motivation Mechanics of Games Miguel Sicart: Play Computers. A Letter to the Reader Game Mechanics Imre Hofmann: Requirements for a General Game Mechanics Framework Carlo Fabricatore: Underneath and Beyond Mechanics. An Activity-theoretical Perspective on Meaning-making in Gameplay Guidance Systems Hiloko Kato and René Bauer: Hansel and Gretel. Design and Reception of Orientation Cues in Game Space René Bauer and Hiloko Kato: The Spectacular Space. Rules and Guiding Principles of Irrational Spaces in Games Francine Rotzetter: Nonverbal Guidance Systems. Seamless Player-leading in Open-world Games Ethics Wolfgang Walk: Ethics as a Game Mechanism Hiloko Kato and René Bauer: The Player as Puppet. Visualized Decisions as a Challenge for Computer Games Wolfgang Walk and Mark L. Barrett: The Ethical Avatar Game Spaces Ulrich Götz: Rules Shape Spaces – Spaces Shape Rules Mela Kocher: Game Mechanics of Serious Urban Games. Designing for the Ludic City NPC and Non-Human Game Design Günter Hack: NPC and Me. How to Become a Non-Player Character Michelle Westerlaken: When Game Mechanics Come Crawling out of Ant Colonies

t: In dem Digitalzeitalter bedeutet Lesen nicht mehr eine bloße Aufnahme der Buchstaben, sondern eine ganzheitliche visuelle Wahrnehmung. Dieser Artikel stellt ein Modell vor, das auf der standardmäßigen digitalen Bildung durch Video-Bildung und der Videospiele-Kultur aufbaut. Dieses Modell kann der so genannten medienübergreifenden Transliteralität zugeordnet werden. Das Forschungsobjekt ist die Verbindung zwischen den Akten des Spielens und des Lesens als Erscheinungen eines Medien-Verhaltens, die als „positive Interdependenz“ definiert werden kann. Die verwendete Forschungsmethode für die Primärdatenerfassung ist eine Befragung an aktive Videospieler in Bulgarien, die ihre Haltung zu den Themen „Buch“, „Lesen“ und „Schreiben“ zielgenau erforschen sollte. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Mehrheit der Videospieler aktive Leser sind und feste Gewohnheiten und Vorlieben mit klardefinierten Interessen auf diesem Gebiet aufweisen. Der größte Anteil der Befragten weist eine sehr stabile positive Grundhaltung gegenüber dem Lesen auf. Zwei Probleme ließen sich dabei ebenso erkennen – ein Unverständnis des Begriffes „Schreiben“ sowie eine Verachtung der Gaming-Kultur seitens der Non-Gamer und eine Unterschätzung des Potenzials der Gamer als Lesergruppe. Die angewendete komplexe Herangehensweise bei der Erforschung der Verhältnisse „Spielen – Lesen“ und „Videospiele – Bücher“ – eine Kombination aus Medientheorie und einer empirischen soziologischen Forschung – steigert den theoretischen Wert dieser Forschungarbeit und bestärkt ihre Nützlichkeit und ihre praktische Anwendbarkeit. Abstract: Reading in the digital age is not just a letter reception but holistic visual receptivity. This article offers superstructure (an upgrade) of the standard digital literacy with a video literacy and gaming culture. The model can be joint to the so-called media transliteracy. The object of research interest is the relation between the processes of playing games and reading as types of media behavior, defined as „useful dependence“. The method of collecting primary data is a questionnaire survey to active gamers from Bulgaria, focused on the finding of their attitude to the book, reading and writing. The results show that the majority of the gamers are active readers with acquired habits and preferences and with defined reading interests. The maximum percentage of the respondents keep up a steady positive attitude towards books. Also two problems were shown up – misunderstanding of the term „writing“ and neglect of the non-gamers to the gaming culture and the underestimating of the potential of the gamers as readers. The conclusion is that gamers are indigested target audience for the reading industries. The attached integrated approach – a combination of a media theory and empirical sociological research in the study of the relationship „playing games – reading“ and „video games – books“, enhances the theoretical value of the study and confirmes its usefulness and applicability in practice. Аннотация: Чтение в век дигитальных технологий – это уже не просто обычный процесс буквенной рецепции, но и холистическая визуальная восприимчивость. В данной статье предлагается обновление стандартной цифровой грамотности видео грамотностью и гейм культурой. Эту модель может быть отнесена к так называемой медийной трансграмотности. Объектом исследовательского интереса представляет связь между процессами игрой и чтением как типы медийного поведения, которая определяется как „полезная зависимость“. Метод сбора первичных данных является анкетирование активных геймеров из Болгарии, направлено на установление их отношения к книге, чтению и письму. Результаты показывают, что большинство игроков являются активными читателями с уже сформированными привычками и предпочтениями и с определенными читательскими интересами. Максимальный процент респондентов поддерживать стабильное позитивное отношение к книгам. Выделились два проблема – непонимание термина „письмо“ и пренебрежительное отношение не-геймеров к игровой культуре и недооценка потенциала геймеров как читателей. Вывод состоит в том, что геймеры – это неусвоенная целевая аудитория для индустрии чтения. Прилагаемый комплексный подход – сочетание медийной теории и эмпирических социологических исследований в изучении отношений „игры – чтение“ и „видеоигры – книги“ повышает теоретическое значение исследования и подтверждает его полезность и применимость на практике.

Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield, Counterstrike - more and more, violence in computer games is becoming the subject of heated discussion. But what emotional experiences does the playful use of virtual violence make possible? Through participato observation in online games and at LAN parties and analyses of interviews, magazines, and videos, Christopher Bareither presents in detail how millions of people can take pleasure from that which would shock others. By refraining from judgmental cliches, this ethnographic study is able to provide a decisive contribution to a debate at the crossroads of popular culture, politics, and the public sphere. Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield, Counter-Strike - Gewalt in Computerspielen wird immer wieder kontrovers diskutiert. Doch welche emotionalen Erfahrungen ermöglicht der spielerische Umgang mit virtueller Gewalt? Durch teilnehmende Beobachtungen in Online-Games und auf LAN-Partys sowie mithilfe von Interview-, Zeitschriften- und Videoanalysen arbeitet Christoph Bareither heraus, wie Millionen von Menschen etwas als vergnüglich erleben können, was andere schockiert. Ohne wertende Klischees zu bedienen, leistet die ethnografische Studie damit einen entscheidenden Beitrag zu einer Debatte am Schnittfeld von Populärkultur, Politik und Öffentlichkeit.

Die freie Erkundung als zentrale Immersionsstrategie aktueller Open-World-Computerspiele wird auf Basis von komplexen Netzwerken voller Orte, Quests, räumlicher Abfolgen und unterschiedlichen Atmosphären verkörpert. Die nicht lineare Landschaft mit ihrem multikursalen Wegesystem überlässt es den Spielern, wo sie hin wollen und was sie in welcher Reihenfolge absolvieren und wird so zur zentralen Spielerfahrung. Die Narration wird dabei durch das environmental storytelling evokativer Landschaften und Architekturen in graduellen Informationsabstufungen verkörpert. Daraus folgt die zentrale These, dass traditionelle Erzählstrategien wie Dialoge und Texte sowie feste Missionsabfolgen oder story arcs zugunsten einer individuellen Landschaftserfahrung durch den Entdeckerdrang der Spieler vernachlässigt werden. Zur Verifizierung obiger These werden aktuelle Open-World-Computerspiele in urbane und ländliche Repräsentation von Weite gegliedert und analysiert. Dabei spielt die Dichotomie aus suggerierter Freiheit und Ratlosigkeit eine zentrale Rolle. Zur Darlegung von Erkundung und Struktur nicht linearer Landschaften in Open-World-Computerspielen ist ein interdisziplinärer Ansatz nötig. Dabei werden Begriffe und Methoden aus Forschungsbereichen wie Architektur, Kunstgeschichte, Urbanistik, Philosophie, Game Studies, Landschaftsarchitektur, Geografie und Raumtheorie miteinander verwoben. So ist nicht nur der Spieler, dessen Einbindung durch den Avatar und die zu praktizierenden Handlungsmuster von Interesse, sondern auch kulturelle Konzepte wie Wildnis, Landschaft und Navigation. Zu letzterem bildet im Besonderen Jay Appletons prospect-refuge theory (1975) eine unabdingbare Quelle. Der hier neu kreierte Begriff des prospect pacing umschreibt das spielimmanente Destillat ehemals konstitutiver Überlebensinstinkte und navigatorischer Gewohnheiten, die heutzutage lediglich noch zur Unterhaltung praktiziert werden. Folglich simulieren und rhythmisieren Open-World-Computerspiele, deren Agens die Erkundung ist, ein distinktes Netzwerk aus Umgebungsbildern voller Orte, Bezugspunkte und Sehenswürdigkeiten zur Immersion der Spieler., This paper broaches the issue of exploration as a virtual fictional strategy and critical agent to immerse players in vast open world games. Complex networks of places, quests and spatial arrangements are built for simulating a freely explorable environment full of diverse and dense atmospheres. The non-linear multipath landscape is the core gameplay experience and leaves it to the player where to go, what to accomplish and in which order. Narration then mostly is embodied by the environmental storytelling of evocative landscapes and architectures with multiple nuances communicating the world’s story. The core thesis is, that classical strategies like dialogue or text as well as stringent quest chains or story arcs are neglected in favor of a landscape experience and the player’s individual ludic creation of meaning by the urge for discovery. The paper differentiates between urban and rural open world game intrinsic space and analyzes current open world franchises in order to verify the above thesis. Exploration needs the simulation of vastness which means the dichotomy of free roaming and helplessness at the same time. In order to analyze the exploration and structure of non-linear landscapes in open world games an interdisciplinary approach is used merging methods and terms from research fields such as architecture, art history, urbanism, philosophy, game studies, landscape gardening, geography and theory of space. Thus not only the players’ courses of action, play patterns, agency and embodiment with the avatar are thematized, but also the concepts of wilderness, landscape and navigation. Critical to the latter points are modular treaties on European landscape gardens as modular and atmosphere creating areas as well as Jay Appleton’s prospect-refuge theory (1975). For the game intrinsic distillation of former survival instincts and navigation habits of men, which nowadays are used or experienced for entertainment, the term prospect pacing is coined. Thus open world games with a focus on exploration simulate a distinct, rhythmized environment in order to immerse the players into a vast network of places and points of interest.

Video games have not only become an integral part of most transmedial entertainment franchises but also influenced the narrative and aesthetic conventions of other media, especially film. One consequence of this is the growing prominence of ›game-like‹ narratives (and storyworlds) that subordinate characters and storytelling to more abstract principles of narrative organization. In this article, it is argued that this ›game logic‹ leads to some transmedial storyworlds being especially well-suited for an adaptation as a video game, and that the novel-based transmedial world of George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE is such a world. Drawing on transmedial narratology, film studies, and game studies, the relationship between transmedial worlds and games will be discussed with reference to three different Game of Thrones video games: the action role-playing game GAME OF THRONES (2012), the browser game GAME OF THRONES ASCENT (2013), and the real-time strategy game A GAME OF THRONES. GENESIS (2011). As will be shown, all three games follow very different strategies in identifying and implementing the core elements of the respective storyworld, mainly informed by generic conventions and (assumed) player preferences. Thus, the comparison also casts a light on medium-specific strengths and weaknesses regarding video games’ contribution to a broader transmedia storytelling context.

Die ambiente Musik ist ein Genre, das für die Vertonung von interaktiven immersiven Medien von besonderem Interesse ist. Das liegt zum einen an ihrem für die Musik im Allgemeinen eher ungewöhnlichen Rezeptionsmodus – sie will nicht bewusst rezipiert werden. Zum anderen weist sie kompositorische Stilmerkmale auf, die für den Einsatz von generativen Techniken geradezu prädestiniert sind, und damit eine in Echtzeit adaptive Musikuntermalung ermöglichen. Dieser Artikel gibt einen phänomenologischen Überblick über das Genre der ambienten Musik und beschreibt, wie sie für die Echtzeit-adaptive Vertonung interaktiver Medien genutzt werden kann., Ambient is a musical genre that is of particular interest for the scoring of interactive immersive media. One reason for this is that the mode of reception is atypical for music in general: Ambient is not meant to be received consciously. Another reason is that its stylistic features are predestined for use in the context of generative music techniques and, thus, for the use within real-time adaptive music systems. This article gives a phenomenological overview of the genre of ambient music and explains how it can be applied for the real-time adaptive scoring of interactive media.

Der Aufsatz untersucht das auf der 1977 begonnenen Filmreihe basierende STAR WARS-Universum als einen Prototypen des Transmedia Worldbuilding. Im Unterschied zu in sich geschlossenen, von einzelnen Autor/innen geprägten Welten wie THE LORD OF THE RINGS oder THE MATRIX schafft das eigendynamische STAR WARS-Universum neue Kernels als erzählerische Kerneinheiten, die sich von den ursprünglich von George Lucas kreierten und auteurisierten Segmenten lösen können. Eines der prägnantesten Beispiele des Expanded Universe bildet das Online-Rollenspiel THE OLD REPUBLIC (2011– ). Dieser Ableger des popkulturellen Mythen-Patchworks wird auf der Basis des von Tosca und Klastrup entwickelten Modells zur Analyse transmedialer Welten diskutiert, die Erweiterung des Modells um Bachtins Chronotopos der Abenteuerzeit soll zusätzlich eine differenziertere Betrachtung der zeitlichen Aspekte von Online-Rollenspielen ermöglichen., The article examines the STAR WARS galaxy as a prototype of transmedia worldbuilding strategy. In contrast to closed authored transmedia worlds such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS or THE MATRIX, the STAR WARS universe created new kernels that distanced themselves from the segments authorized by selfproclaimed auteur and producer George Lucas. One of the most significant examples of the so-called Expanded Universe provides the role-playing video game THE OLD REPUBLIC (2011– ). This branch of the pop-cultural mythological patchwork is discussed in relation to the analytic model of transmedia world established by Susana Tosca and Lisbeth Klastrup, extended by Michael Bachtin’s chronotopos of adventure time in order to enable a more differentiated terminology for temporary aspects of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

Im aktuellen Zeitalter des Internets und der daraus resultierenden globalen Vernetzung erleben virtuelle Welten als fast parallelgesellschaftliche Utopien in den verschiedensten Formen ihren aktuellen digitalen Höhepunkt. Das analoge Leben erfährt durch so genannte social media (u. a. Facebook, die VZ-Webseiten, lokalisten oder message-board-basierte Internet-Communities) eine maßgebliche Erweiterung, in dessen Fokus die soziale Interaktion der Teilnehmer im Vordergrund steht. Das historisch ...

Increasingly, technology is at stake in toys, games and playing. With the immense popularity of computer games, questions concerning the role and function of technology in play have become more pressing. A key aspect of the increasing technologization and digitalization of both toys and play is the vagueness of borders between producers, consumers and players. In these so-called participatory cultures, players do not simply play with toys designed behind closed doors but become co-designers. This book takes a critical look at the advantages and disadvantages of participatory cultures and places the changing world of toys, games and playing in a historical context. Contrary to many New Media and computer game studies, this book takes the historical background of these phenomena into account by situating the changing world of play in the context of the social and cultural processes of commodification, domestication and urbanization from the 1850s to the present.