Technology such as television, computers, and video games are often in the line for reasons of why people lack physical activity and tend to gain weight and become obese. In the case of video games, with the advent of the so called “serious games initiative”, a new breed of video games have come into place. Such games are called “exergames” and they are intended to motivate the user to do physical activity. Although there is some evidence that some types of Exergames are more physically demanding than traditional sedentary games, there is also evidence that suggests that such games are not really providing the intensity of exert that is at the recommended levels for a daily exercise. Currently, most exergames have a passive approach. There is no real tracking of the players progress, there is no assessment of his/her level of exert, no contextual information, and there is no adaptability on the game itself to change the conditions of the game and prompt the desired physiological response on the player. In this thesis we present research work done towards the design and development of an architecture and related systems that support a shift in the exertion game paradigm. The contributions of this work are enablers in the design and development of exertion games with a strict serious game approach. Such games should have “exercising” as the primary goal, and a game engine that has been developed under this scheme should be aware of the exertion context of the player. The game should be aware of the level of exertion of the player and adapt the gaming context (in-game variables and exertion interface settings) so that the player can reach a predefined exertion rate as desired. To support such degree of adaptability in a multimedia, multimodal system, we have proposed a system architecture that lays down the general guidelines for the design and development of such systems.

Technology such as television, computers, and video games are often in the line for reasons of why people lack physical activity and tend to gain weight and become obese. In the case of video games, with the advent of the so called “serious games initiative”, a new breed of video games have come into place. Such games are called “exergames” and they are intended to motivate the user to do physical activity. Although there is some evidence that some types of Exergames are more physically demanding than traditional sedentary games, there is also evidence that suggests that such games are not really providing the intensity of exert that is at the recommended levels for a daily exercise. Currently, most exergames have a passive approach. There is no real tracking of the players progress, there is no assessment of his/her level of exert, no contextual information, and there is no adaptability on the game itself to change the conditions of the game and prompt the desired physiological response on the player. In this thesis we present research work done towards the design and development of an architecture and related systems that support a shift in the exertion game paradigm. The contributions of this work are enablers in the design and development of exertion games with a strict serious game approach. Such games should have “exercising” as the primary goal, and a game engine that has been developed under this scheme should be aware of the exertion context of the player. The game should be aware of the level of exertion of the player and adapt the gaming context (in-game variables and exertion interface settings) so that the player can reach a predefined exertion rate as desired. To support such degree of adaptability in a multimedia, multimodal system, we have proposed a system architecture that lays down the general guidelines for the design and development of such systems.

Technology such as television, computers, and video games are often in the line for reasons of why people lack physical activity and tend to gain weight and become obese. In the case of video games, with the advent of the so called “serious games initiative”, a new breed of video games have come into place. Such games are called “exergames” and they are intended to motivate the user to do physical activity. Although there is some evidence that some types of Exergames are more physically demanding than traditional sedentary games, there is also evidence that suggests that such games are not really providing the intensity of exert that is at the recommended levels for a daily exercise. Currently, most exergames have a passive approach. There is no real tracking of the players progress, there is no assessment of his/her level of exert, no contextual information, and there is no adaptability on the game itself to change the conditions of the game and prompt the desired physiological response on the player. In this thesis we present research work done towards the design and development of an architecture and related systems that support a shift in the exertion game paradigm. The contributions of this work are enablers in the design and development of exertion games with a strict serious game approach. Such games should have “exercising” as the primary goal, and a game engine that has been developed under this scheme should be aware of the exertion context of the player. The game should be aware of the level of exertion of the player and adapt the gaming context (in-game variables and exertion interface settings) so that the player can reach a predefined exertion rate as desired. To support such degree of adaptability in a multimedia, multimodal system, we have proposed a system architecture that lays down the general guidelines for the design and development of such systems.

Les technologies et services mobiles font aujourd'hui partie de notre vie quotidienne grâce notamment aux ordiphones et ardoises numériques. Nous vivons actuellement la réalisation de la vision de Marc Weiser. Les fonctionnalités et les services rendus prennent le dessus sur les objets techniques. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à un type particulier d'applications informatiques: les jeux vidéo. Comme d'autres secteurs, les jeux vidéo doivent prendre en compte la révolution mobile, pour se réinventer et intéresser des joueurs. Cependant, les jeux sur support mobiles doivent faire face au problème du changement des conditions de jeu du joueur. Nous pouvons parler de contexte du joueur.L'objectif de cette thèse est de proposer un modèle pour la conception de jeu auto-adaptatif au contexte du joueur. Ce modèle doit être générique et permettre la création de jeux vidéo qui sont capables de modifier les activités et objectifs qu'ils proposent en fonction du contexte courant du joueur. Notre proposition se constitue de deux éléments clefs. Le premier consiste en un modèle générique des activités et des objectifs d'un jeu vidéo que nous avons appelé «composant de gameplay». Ce modèle est une formalisation du concept de boucle de jeu objectif, challenge, récompense. Ce modèle nous permet de représenter les objectifs et activités du jeu sous la forme d'un arbre. Le deuxième élément est un modèle de détection des arbres compatibles avec un contexte courant. Ce modèle se base sur des règles de contexte qui sont associées aux nœuds de l'arbre. Notre démarche consiste ensuite à vérifier que l'objectif représenté par la racine de l'arbre peut être atteint dans le contexte courant. Pour valider notre approche, nous avons réalisé une expérimentation en laboratoire. Nous avons également utilisé notre expérience sur l'utilisation des composants de gameplay dans un contexte industriel. / Nowadays, the technologies and mobiles services are a part of our daily life thanks to smartphones and tablet computers. Currently, we live the realisation of Weiser's vision. The features and services provided are more important than technical objects.In this thesis, we are interested in a kind of computer applications: video games. Like other sectors, video games have to deal with mobile revolution in order to reinvent themselves and to interest players. However, video games on mobiles devices have to deal with the variation of playing conditions. We can call these conditions the player's context.The main objective of this thesis is to propose a model for the design of games that are able to adapt to the player's context. This model has to be generic and allow the game to adapt the proposed activities and objectives to the current context.Our proposition has two main elements. The first one is a generic model of the activities and the objectives which are proposed by the game. We have called this model "gameplay component". It is a formalization of the objectif, challenge, reward game loop concept. It allows us to represent a game as a tree.The second element is a model for detecting game tree which are compatible with a defined context. This model is based on rules which are linked with the nodes of the game tree. Our approach consist of checking that the objective which is given by the root of the game tree can be reached in the current context.In order to valid our approach, we have conducted a laboratory experimentation. We have also used our experience about using of gameplay component in a industrial context in order to do a case study.

The present research proposes two procedural content generation approaches for missions and play space in a game with dungeons, and a game prototype developed as a proof of concept for the feasibility of the algorithm and as a test framework for user-based experiments. The first approach will define missions by generating dungeon maps together with locked doors and keys through the use of an evolutionary algorithm. The second approach will populate the generated dungeon space by filling the content of dungeon rooms using space-filling curves and cellular automata algorithms. The evolutionary algorithm evolves tree structures encoding information about the dungeon. The goal is to converge the generated dungeons as close as possible to satisfy the set of parameter inputs provided by a game designer. The dungeon holds information about the amount of rooms, the connections between them and their position in a 2D map. There are also relevant semantic information in the content for the generation of narrative, which presents itself by the placement of unique pairs of keys and locks throughout it. Thus, a feasible way to finish the dungeon can be procedurally generated. The content of rooms are generated using space-filling curves algorithms such as Hilbert and Moore curves as well as Conways Game of Life Cellular Automata. Computational results report that the evolutionary algorithm provides dungeons with up to a 100 rooms very close to the desired ones for a range of different parameter inputs. The early validation tests with humans show no statistical difference between levels procedurally generated and those made by humans. Further user-centred validation tests with the game prototype show the algorithm-generated levels are perceived as equally or even more human-made than their human-authored counterparts, as well as funnier and more difficult. Thus, the research aims to generate gameplay elements combining different algorithms for a single solution, which could be easily adapted to a range of different games. / O projeto propõe duas abordagens de geração de conteúdo para missões e mapas em um jogo com calabouços, e um protótipo de jogo desenvolvido como prova de conceito da factibilidade do algoritmo e também como plataforma de testes para experimentos com usuários. A primeira abordagem define missões ao gerar mapas de calabouço em conjunto com chaves e portas trancadas através do uso de um algoritmo evolutivo. Já a segunda abordagem irá popular o espaço do calabouço criado ao preencher o conteúdo de suas salas usando algoritmos de curvas de preenchimento de espaço e autômatos celulares. O algoritmo evolutivo evolui uma estrutura em árvore que codifica informações sobre o calabouço. O objetivo é convergir os calabouços gerados para se aproximar ao máximo da configuração de entrada fornecida por um designer de jogos. O calabouço possui informação sobre as salas, como a quantidade das mesmas, as conexões entre elas e suas posições em um mapa 2D. Também contam com informações semânticas relevantes para a geração de narrativa no calabouço, que são o posicionamento de pares únicos de chaves e fechaduras através do calabouço. Portanto, uma maneira factível para o término do mesmo pode ser gerada proceduralmente. O conteúdo das salas é gerado usando curvas de preenchiment de espaço como as de Hilbert e Moore, além do autômato celular do Jogo da Vida de Conway. Resultados computacionais demonstram que o algoritmo evolutivo é capaz de criar calabouços com propriedades muito próximas às desejadas para uma grande variedade de entradas para calabouços com até 100 salas. Resultados preliminares de validação com humanos mostraram não haver diferença estatística entre os níveis gerados proceduralmente daqueles feitos por humanos. Testes posteriores de validação centrados em humanos com o protótipo de jogo mostram que os níveis gerados pelo algoritmo são percebidos como feitos por humanos de maneira semelhante ou até em maior grau do que suas contrapartidas geradas de fato por humanos, assim como são percebidos como mais divertidos e difíceis do que estas. Portanto, esta pesquisa objetiva gerar elementos de jogabilidade combinando diferentes algoritmos em uma única solução, que pode ser facilmente adaptada para uma variedade de jogos diferentes.

The present research proposes two procedural content generation approaches for missions and play space in a game with dungeons, and a game prototype developed as a proof of concept for the feasibility of the algorithm and as a test framework for user-based experiments. The first approach will define missions by generating dungeon maps together with locked doors and keys through the use of an evolutionary algorithm. The second approach will populate the generated dungeon space by filling the content of dungeon rooms using space-filling curves and cellular automata algorithms. The evolutionary algorithm evolves tree structures encoding information about the dungeon. The goal is to converge the generated dungeons as close as possible to satisfy the set of parameter inputs provided by a game designer. The dungeon holds information about the amount of rooms, the connections between them and their position in a 2D map. There are also relevant semantic information in the content for the generation of narrative, which presents itself by the placement of unique pairs of keys and locks throughout it. Thus, a feasible way to finish the dungeon can be procedurally generated. The content of rooms are generated using space-filling curves algorithms such as Hilbert and Moore curves as well as Conways Game of Life Cellular Automata. Computational results report that the evolutionary algorithm provides dungeons with up to a 100 rooms very close to the desired ones for a range of different parameter inputs. The early validation tests with humans show no statistical difference between levels procedurally generated and those made by humans. Further user-centred validation tests with the game prototype show the algorithm-generated levels are perceived as equally or even more human-made than their human-authored counterparts, as well as funnier and more difficult. Thus, the research aims to generate gameplay elements combining different algorithms for a single solution, which could be easily adapted to a range of different games. / O projeto propõe duas abordagens de geração de conteúdo para missões e mapas em um jogo com calabouços, e um protótipo de jogo desenvolvido como prova de conceito da factibilidade do algoritmo e também como plataforma de testes para experimentos com usuários. A primeira abordagem define missões ao gerar mapas de calabouço em conjunto com chaves e portas trancadas através do uso de um algoritmo evolutivo. Já a segunda abordagem irá popular o espaço do calabouço criado ao preencher o conteúdo de suas salas usando algoritmos de curvas de preenchimento de espaço e autômatos celulares. O algoritmo evolutivo evolui uma estrutura em árvore que codifica informações sobre o calabouço. O objetivo é convergir os calabouços gerados para se aproximar ao máximo da configuração de entrada fornecida por um designer de jogos. O calabouço possui informação sobre as salas, como a quantidade das mesmas, as conexões entre elas e suas posições em um mapa 2D. Também contam com informações semânticas relevantes para a geração de narrativa no calabouço, que são o posicionamento de pares únicos de chaves e fechaduras através do calabouço. Portanto, uma maneira factível para o término do mesmo pode ser gerada proceduralmente. O conteúdo das salas é gerado usando curvas de preenchiment de espaço como as de Hilbert e Moore, além do autômato celular do Jogo da Vida de Conway. Resultados computacionais demonstram que o algoritmo evolutivo é capaz de criar calabouços com propriedades muito próximas às desejadas para uma grande variedade de entradas para calabouços com até 100 salas. Resultados preliminares de validação com humanos mostraram não haver diferença estatística entre os níveis gerados proceduralmente daqueles feitos por humanos. Testes posteriores de validação centrados em humanos com o protótipo de jogo mostram que os níveis gerados pelo algoritmo são percebidos como feitos por humanos de maneira semelhante ou até em maior grau do que suas contrapartidas geradas de fato por humanos, assim como são percebidos como mais divertidos e difíceis do que estas. Portanto, esta pesquisa objetiva gerar elementos de jogabilidade combinando diferentes algoritmos em uma única solução, que pode ser facilmente adaptada para uma variedade de jogos diferentes.