{"title":"Analysis of Business Model Transition Based on Active User and Review Value","authors":"M. N. Rizani, M. Khalid, H. Iida, R. F. Malik","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3409782","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3409782","url":null,"abstract":"The main barrier that prevents players from playing games with the pay-to-play (P2P) business model is the price of the game that they have to pay to own or play the game. Games with a free-to-play (F2P) business model, this barrier does not exist. In this paper, the effects of the business model transition from a P2P to F2P games are analyzed in two popular first-person shooter games based on data of their active user and review. The data are processed into daily active users (DAU), weekly active users (WAU), positive-to-negative review ratio graph, and keywords extraction. The results provide some insights for the game developers, where the effects of F2P transitions and its possible associated risks are identified.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"135 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115190623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Romantic Love in Games, Games as Romantic Love","authors":"Renata Ntelia","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3402968","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402968","url":null,"abstract":"In some games, the player is positioned in the role of a lone hero, who has to overcome obstacles and defeat adversaries, in order to save the woman they love. It is argued that such games follow the tradition of adventure romances dating back to 12th century France. From those romances, a particular understanding of love was shaped, romantic love that is. Romantic love as a cultural phenomenon is situated in a limited historic period, in which it pertained to a certain experience of love, that of desire which is refined to something honourable, elegant, and civilized through personal suffering and sacrifice. As such romantic love was the product of a specific set of chivalrous rules, which the aristocracy aspired to so as to elevate and discern themselves from the commoners. This experience was mostly witnessed in literature than real life, or as Huizinga claims in sports, games, and tournaments. In the current paper, it is argued that digital games that uphold this tradition are able to offer to their players the experience of romantic love because they constitute challenges to the fulfilment of one's desire. In that regard, they afford the experience of romantic love in its historically situated meaning due to their code. This posits digital games as the appropriate medium to offer romantic love as they form manifestations of the experience as such.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"76 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115529900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Marklund, Rebecca Rouse, Lissa Holloway-Attaway
{"title":"Contextualizing Game Literacy: A transhistorical approach to understanding Game-Based Learning environments","authors":"B. Marklund, Rebecca Rouse, Lissa Holloway-Attaway","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3409610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3409610","url":null,"abstract":"The nature of ‘reading’ different types of texts, across all media, is fundamentally beholden to the concept of ‘literacy’. The concept of literacy is well established in media studies–from books, to film, and visual, performing and interactive arts–and as such it has a wide range of applicability. All forms of media constitute a semiotic milieu in which signifiers and codes mean different things depending on the form's unique language and the contexts and manner in which individual participants, or “readers”, approach them. In the field of digital games research, literacy is commonly defined as a narrower concept that refers to the ability to identify affordances and interact with game components with a high degree of confidence. This focus on capability is understandable to a degree: the unique aspect of games as a medium is often considered to specifically be its interactability, and thus being able to interact becomes synonymous with being ‘game literate’. In this paper, however, we will both describe how literacy in games would benefit from a more nuanced, transhistorical view of interactability, as well as provide examples from many kinds of media beyond games to demonstrate that interaction literacy is neither novel nor unique to the medium of games. Understanding this rich history would provide a broader foundation of referential literature for game scholars to use when discussing the concept of game literacy and the interactability of media in general.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117260558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Hybrid Approach to Procedural Generation of Roguelike Video Game Levels","authors":"Alexander Gellel, P. Sweetser","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3402945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402945","url":null,"abstract":"Algorithmic generation of data, known as procedural content generation, is an attractive prospect within the game development industry as a means of creating infinitely fresh and varied content. In this paper, we present an approach to level generation for roguelike dungeon style levels, based on our examination of the suite of existing approaches used in formal research. Our generator aims to create simple dungeon style level layouts that are always playable. We utilise a hybrid technique combining context free grammars to generate a description of levels and a cellular automata inspired process to generate the physical space. The generator proves successful at consistently generating dungeon layouts that maintain completability at all times with sufficient variation, when accounting for the occasional need for corrective actions. We conclude that there is substantial value in hybrid approaches to automated level design and propose a new heuristic by which to assess dungeon style level content.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115989273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Caselli, Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone, Jasper Schellekens, S. Gualeni
{"title":"Satire at Play: A Game Studies Approach to Satire","authors":"S. Caselli, Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone, Jasper Schellekens, S. Gualeni","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3403007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3403007","url":null,"abstract":"The persuasive potential of games and their use in political propaganda and raising social awareness are well-established components of the game studies discourse, and the literature around persuasive games highlights satire among the expressive tones of several games. Despite this, what persuasive games’ literature still lacks is a complete and stand-alone defining account of satire in games, which could be useful in analyzing both analog and digital games used for satirical purposes. Our intention with this paper is to frame satire within the field of game studies through notions and perspectives borrowed from other media studies and narratology. In that pursuit, we initially give an operational definition of satire focusing on concepts such as entertainment, critique, and rhetoric. Subsequently, we explore how this definition relates to, and interacts with, key concepts in game studies, such as procedural rhetoric, and the implied designer.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129748111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mehak Maniktala, Chris Miller, Aaron Margolese-Malin, A. Jhala, Chris Martens
{"title":"M.I.N.U.E.T.: Procedural Musical Accompaniment for Textual Narratives","authors":"Mehak Maniktala, Chris Miller, Aaron Margolese-Malin, A. Jhala, Chris Martens","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3409602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3409602","url":null,"abstract":"Extensive research has been conducted on using procedural music generation in real-time applications such as accompaniment to musicians, visual narratives, and games. However, less attention has been paid to the enhancement of textual narratives through music. In this paper, we present Mood Into Note Using Extracted Text (MINUET), a novel system that can procedurally generate music for textual narrative segments using sentiment analysis. Textual analysis of the flow and sentiment derived from the text is used as input to condition accompanying music. Music generation systems have addressed variations through changes in sentiment. By using an ensemble predictor model to classify sentences as belonging to particular emotions, MINUET generates text-accompanying music with the goal of enhancing a reader’s experience beyond the limits of the author’s words. Music is played via the JMusic library and a set of Markov chains specific to each emotion with mood classifications evaluated via stratified 10-fold cross validation. The development of MINUET affords the reflection and analysis of features that affect the quality of generated musical accompaniment for text. It also serves as a sandbox for further evaluating sentiment-based systems on both text and music generation sides in a coherent experience of an implemented and extendable experiential artifact.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128369401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"ExpReal: a Writing Language and System for Authoring Texts in Interactive Narrative","authors":"N. Szilas, R. D. Jong, M. Theune","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3402949","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402949","url":null,"abstract":"As interactive narratives, by definition, change according to the user’s choices (dynamic story), so do the dialogue utterances by the characters. Writing all possible utterances manually faces scaling problems. This motivates the use of natural language generation techniques. We present ExpReal, a surface realizer and templating language that allows authors of interactive narratives to write flexible and enriched templates while maintaining control over their use. Templates are automatically selected based on author-specified conditions relating to the world state (e.g. characters’ emotions) or the current task at hand. ExpReal has been developed to support at least three languages (English, French and Dutch).","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130026676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Giantness and Excess in Dark Souls","authors":"Dom Ford","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3402966","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3402966","url":null,"abstract":"Using the Dark Souls series as an example, I examine how a frame of ‘monster of excess’ can be used to read giantness in digital games. The monster of excess finds a paradigmatic example in the giant, an age-old mythic figure still prevalent within digital games. Many elements are directly borrowed or translated from other artistic forms such as film and literature. But, in this paper, I focus on how excess is encoded ludically, and how that links with the more representational and aesthetic depictions of excess within the games. I find that elements such as the camera and the game’s interface, along with the player-character are all affected by giantness, with giants seeming to exist in excess of the games’ established frames.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129019814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. G. Maureira, Giulio Barbero, M. Freese, M. Preuss
{"title":"Towards a Taxonomy of AI in Hybrid Board Games","authors":"M. G. Maureira, Giulio Barbero, M. Freese, M. Preuss","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3409607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3409607","url":null,"abstract":"With hybrid board games rising in popularity and game AI algorithms becoming more sophisticated, there is potential in involving AI to create novel game experiences and tools that can support developers. However, examples of hybrid board games that involve AI remain relatively sparse. In this work, we propose that creating a taxonomy of AI in hybrid board games can help the development of games that occupy as-of-yet unexplored areas of the design space. By mapping out different dimensions through which the involvement of AI in such games can be understood, we seek to encourage further academic discussions and applied explorations.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130765677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Immersive Gameplay via Improved Natural Language Understanding","authors":"Berkeley Andrus, Nancy Fulda","doi":"10.1145/3402942.3403024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3402942.3403024","url":null,"abstract":"Many first-person shooters feature non-player characters (NPCs) that work alongside the player. Interfacing with these NPCs can add unnecessary complication to a game and steepen the learning curve for new players. Recent improvements in automated voice recognition and language representation have set the stage for more immersive methods of interfacing with NPCs through player speech. In this paper, we present several promising methods of classifying user utterances to extract predefined commands from unstructured speech. This framework facilitates a more flexible interface than has been used in past speech-controlled games. We also show how our methods effectively leverage small sets of example data to outperform existing industrial utterance classification systems.","PeriodicalId":421754,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126743083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}