Forming attachments to other creatures and things is not a phenomenon that is contingent on the entity existing in the real world. It’s a common thing in video games that the player grows attached to certain characters in some way, and it can sometimes even be a driving factor for a game’s gameplay. However, the process of creating an entity that the player may form an attachment to, especially for such games where this is a vital aspect, is not defined. By taking the popular virtual pet game Tamagotchi as an example and looking into various character design theories, we developed our own virtual pet game and reviewed our design process in an attempt to establish a baseline model.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and examine how gameplay experiences differ in the gacha game Genshin Impact (miHoYo, 2020). In particular, there is a focus on the economic systems of the game along with the general play experience. People can have different perspectives as veteran players or newbie players, so the objective is to find differences in how these players approach the reward systems of the game, and how their relationship to these systems is affected. This is done by utilizing a mixed-method approach, using aspects of both formal analysis and autoethnography. It is further explored how players interacted with these economic systems, with a focus on the harder to acquire, premium currency of Primogems. The characteristics of reward systems in Genshin Impact, particularly the content unlocking mechanisms of the game, are discussed further, as they have implications for both types of players. The paper goes deeper into discussing dark design patterns, which are prevalent in the experiences of both players. As Genshin Impact is a large game with a variety of content, this is further explored and related to relevant theory to better facilitate a discussion about possible design implications. By comparing and analyzing the experiences of both players in regards to relevant theory, it was concluded that at a certain point the game no longer concerns itself with rewarding players adequately. This was further compounded by the game offering less and less goals to work towards for players, as they simply run out of meaningful content to do. Players are distracted from this lack of a goal by expertly crafted dark design patterns, introduced to the players in such a way that they have all but no choice, but to engage in these patterns willingly.

As a response to finding innovative ways of using games as tools for learning we explore the design process of creating a game system meant to promote self-directed learning. This thesis explores what design pillars a game system needs to follow when making a game that is meant to promote self-directed learning through reflection on cause and effect relations. We use a theoretical framework based on procedural rhetoric and self-directed learning in video games to inform our design process when creating an eco-adapted game system that provides experimentation opportunities. We adapt an ecosystem as a simulated real life context for our game environment and identify the major design pillars that video games looking to promote self-directed learning needs to consist of. The major pillars we found most important were; 1, activate participation, to engage the player by allowing them to experiment with different perspectives and the game state. 2, avoid correlating rhetorical arguments, to not influence players as they set their own goals when playing in an informal setting. 3, provide observational clarity, to let players learn how the actions they perform affect the actors and events in the game system. 4, enable trial and error, to give players time to explore multiple approaches in a safe environment where they can fail and try again without penalties. This thesis focuses primarily on the design process and documentation around the creation of a game system that adapts self-directed learning principles as a central design directive. In our design documentation we provide an open discussion of our design process around the decisions, findings, and implementations that make our simulation. / Som ett svar på att hitta innovativa sätt att använda spel som verktyg för lärande undersöker vi designprocessen för skapandet av ett spelsystem som är avsett att främja självstyrd inlärning. Denna uppsats undersöker vilka designpelare ett spelsystem behöver följa när man skapar ett spel som är avsett att främja självstyrd inlärning genom reflektion över orsaks- och påverkansrelationer. Vi använder ett teoretisk ramverk baserat på procedurell retorik och självstyrd inlärning i datorspel för att informera vår designprocess när vi skapar ett eko-adapterat spelsystem som ger experimenteringsmöjligheter. Vi anpassar ett ekosystem som en simulerad verklig omgivning till vår spelmiljö och identifierar viktiga designpelare som datorspel som vill främja självstyrd inlärning behöver bestå av. De huvudsakliga pelarna som vi fann viktigast är; 1, aktivera deltagande, för att engagera spelarna genom att låta dem experimentera med olika perspektiv och spelets tillstånd. 2, undvik korrelerande retoriska argument, för att inte påverka spelarna när de sätter sina egna mål medan de spelar i en informell miljö. 3, ge observationsklarhet, så att spelarna lär sig hur handlingarna de utför påverkar aktörerna och händelserna i spelsystemet. 4, möjliggör försök och misstag, för att ge spelarna tid att utforska flera tillvägagångssätt i en säker miljö där de kan misslyckas och försöka igen utan straff. Denna uppsats fokuserar främst på designprocessen och dokumentationen kring skapandet av ett spelsystem som tillämpar självstyrda inlärningsprinciper som ett centralt designdirektiv. I vår designdokumentation ger vi en öppen diskussion om vår designprocess kring de beslut, resultat och implementeringar som utgör vår simulering.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) provide powerful, natural, and robust ways to interact with digital content, across a number of different domains. AR and VR, collectively known as Extended Reality (XR), can facilitate the execution of surgical procedures, aid in maintenance and repair of mechanical equipment, provide novel visualization paradigms for data analysis, and even empower new ways to experience video games. These experiences are built on rich, complex real-time interactive systems (RISs) that require the integration of numerous components supporting everything from rendering of virtual content to tracking of objects and people in the real world. There are decades of research on the development of robust RISs, utilizing different software engineering modalities, which facilitate the creation of these systems. While in the past, developers would frequently write all of the components and the “logical glue” themselves (often built with graphics suites such as OpenGL and DirectX), with the the rise of popular 3D game creation engines, such as Unity and Unreal, new development modalities have begun to emerge. While the underlying game engines provide a significantly easier pipeline to integrate different subsystems of AR/VR applications, there are a number of development questions that arise when considering how interaction, visualization, rendering, and application logic should interact, as developers are often left to create the “logical glue” on their own, leading to software components with low reusability. As the needs of users of these systems increase and become more complex, and as the software and hardware technology improves and becomes more sophisticated, the underlying subsystems must also evolve to help meet these needs. In this work, I present a new software design pattern, the Relay & Responder (R&R) pattern, that attempts to address the concerns found with many traditional object-oriented approaches in XR systems. The R&R pattern simplifies the design of these systems by separating logical components from the communication infrastructure that connects them, while minimizing coupling and facilitating the creation of logical hierarchies that can improve XR application design and module reuse. Additionally, I explore how this pattern can, across a number of different research development efforts, aid in the creation of powerful and rich XR RISs. I first present related work in XR system design and introduce the R&R pattern. Then I discuss how XR development can be eased by utilizing modular building blocks and present the Mercury Messaging framework, which implements the R&R pattern. Next I delve into three new XR systems that explore complex XR RIS designs (including user study management modules) using the pattern and framework. I then address the creation of multi-user, networked XR RISs using R&R and Mercury. Finally I end with a discussion on additional considerations, advantages, and limitations of the pattern and framework, in addition to prospective future work that will help improve both.

The evolution of the movement of virtual creatures is an interesting application of evolutionary algorithms in the field of Artificial Life. The goal of this thesis was to explore the possibilities of its use in computer games. As part of this thesis I proposed a game with the theme of evolution of the movement of virtual creatures, I created a system for their evolution based on information from existing works and expanded it with the features needed for the proposed game. In the course of the work, it turned out that the evolution is too computationally demanding to use in the game. Therefore, I created a simplified game prototype and in my work I focused more on experimenting with various settings of the algorithms for the evolution of virtual creatures.

Occupancy Regulated Extension (ORE) är en algoritm som används för att procedurellt generera banor till spel. Detta arbete undersökte användning av ORE för att skapa byggnader med tätt packade rum, specifikt från ett prestandaperspektiv. Detta genomfördes med treimplementationer av olika varianter av ORE. Dessa varianter är rutnät, svepande linje, och AABB. För små rum var rutnät snabbast, med svepande linje därefter och AABB den långsammaste. Med större rum var svepande linje i stort sett oförändrad och därmed snabbast, medans de andra två visade en ökning i genereringstiden. Rutnätsgeneratorn påverkades mest av rumstorlek, men inte tillräckligt för att vara långsammare än AABB. Resultatet var inte betydligt nog för att definitivt utse en implementation som bäst, eftersom skillnaderna var för små för att utesluta problem med implementationerna. Ytterligare arbete krävs för att uppnå ett mer exakt resultat. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p>

Kunskapen om TV- och datorspelmissbruk bland ungdomar är idag väldigt begränsad. Stillasittande/fysisk inaktivitet, som TV- och datorspel ofta innebär och som kan innebära negativa konsekvenser, blir allt vanligare. En semistrukturerad intervjustudie har genomförts på sju män i åldersgruppen 17-29 år i syfte att undersöka drivkrafterna bakom mäns spelbeteende i tonåren. Dessutom har information om spelmissbruk bland ungdomar inhämtats av fyra yrkesverksamma inom spelområdet. Detta samt kopplingar mellan TV- och datorspel och spel om pengar har gjorts p g a bristen på forskning om TV- och datorspel. De före detta spelmissbrukarna har kategoriserats som fritidsspelare och spelproblematiker (som lyckats sluta missbruka spel på egen hand), samt spelberoende, som fått avstå helt från spel för att få ett slut på sitt missbruk, medan övriga än idag kan spela i måttlig och ytterst liten mängd. Verklig och upplevd kontroll över sig själva och omgivningen har varit viktiga determinanter för informanternas spelmissbruk. Anledningarna till att de slutade/minskade på spelandet är att de i huvudsak tappade intresset för spel (dock inte helt), fick andra prioriteringar och/eller inte ville få återfall där de återgår till sitt gamla missbruksbeteende. Spelandet har haft en funktion som flykt från en problematisk livssituation, vilken med tiden endast förvärrats för de spelberoende parallellt med missbruket. Även upplevelsen av direkt, tillfällig tillfredsställelse har varit en stor drivkraft samtidigt som det har lett till spelmissbruket. Det tidsödande fritidsintresset fick konsekvenser på den psykiska och fysiska hälsan och beteendet, utvecklingen, relationer till närstående, familjesituationen, skolgången, den sociala etableringen samt den socioekonomiska situationen, vilket sammanfattningsvis ledde till att informanterna utvecklade en ohälsosam och ofta destruktiv livsstil. / The knowledge of computer- and video game abuse and addiction among young people is very limited today. The sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity that computer- and video games often involve can have negative consequences, and are becoming more common. A semi-structured interview was conducted on seven men between the ages of 17-29 in order to examine the driving forces behind men’s gaming behavior in their adolescence. In addition, information about game abuse among young people was gathered from professionals in the area of computer- and video games. This and links between computer- and video games and gambling have been made due to the lack of research on video and computer games. The former video game addicts have been categorized as recreational players, game problematics (who by themselves managed to stop abusing games) and game addicts, who have completely abstained from gaming to put an end to their addiction, while the others still play moderately and very little today. Actual and perceived control over themselves and their environment has been important determinants for the player’s former addiction. The reason why they stopped/decreased the gaming is essentially because they lost interest in games (not completely though), got other priorities and/or did not want to relapse and return to old problematic behavior. Gaming as an escape from a problematic life situation was a common feature among the addicts. The situation for the game addicts only worsened with time along with their game abuse. Although the experience of direct, incidental satisfaction has been a major driving force, it simultaneously led to game abuse. The time-consuming leisure activity had consequences on the mental and physical health, behavior and social development, as well as on the relationships to relatives, family situation, school attendance, social establishment and socioeconomic situation. To sum up, the informants developed an unhealthy and often destructive lifestyle because of the game habits.

Audio in today’s first person computer games plays a vital role in informing players about their surroundings as well as general gameplay elements. Awareness of the direction, distance, and spatial placement of audio sources can be crucial for players in various contexts. Spatialising audio through stereo panning can pose challenges to players when it comes to accurately localising sound sources in front, behind, below, or above the player. Binaural audio is another technique used for spatialising audio by simulating how sound interacts with the head and ears before reaching the eardrums from a specific direction before the signal is rendered through the headphones. While binaural audio attempts to alleviate the front-back confusion, the cues from binaural audio are lost when the listener moves their head if some form of head tracking solution is not incorporated. Hence, this study’s research question is: ”How is localisation of audio sources in first-person computer games — while wearing headphones— helped by spatialising the soundscape in relation to head movement utilising head tracking technology?”. To be able to answer the research question a prototype of a game was developed following design science guidelines. The objective was to timely and accurately localise 14 invisible targets emitting sound in a virtual three-storey house. During one half of the test the spatilisation with head movements was inactive and the other half had it activated in order to compare the testers ability for localisation with and without the tool. The order for which half would have spatilisation activated was randomised for each test. The research strategy consisted of two types of experiments, blind — with 20 participants, and open — with five testers, that were conducted to measure and evaluate the participants’ head movement and performance in terms of accuracy and time of localising the targets by shooting them. For data collection this study used a mixed methods approach that included questionnaires with closed questions and semistructured interviews. Data about the testers’ performance was automatically logged during the test. The results from the first, blind experiment showed little head movement and no significant impact on localisation performance from the spatialisation. Consequently an open follow-up experiment was performed to discover if the blind experiment design affected the results. The results demonstrated a higher degree of head movement but corroborated the first test in no substantial effect on the testers’ accuracy or time when localising the targets. In summary, there could be found no positive or negative impact on one’s localisation of audio sources in first-person computer games —while wearing headphones— when spatialising the soundscape in relation to head movements by utilising head tracking technology. Additionally, some participants found the tool to be unfit for the genre that the prototype resembled and suggested that spatialisation of audio with head tracking could perhaps be better suited for other genres. This could serve as material for future research on the use of head tracking for spatialisation of audio in computer games.

The success of Online Social Networks (OSN) is influenced by having the ability to understand who is important. An OSN can be viewed as a graph where users are vertices and their interactions are edges. Graph-based methods can enable identification of people in these networks who for example exhibit the characteristics of leaders, influencers, or information brokers. A Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) is a type of OSN. It is a video game where a large number of players interact with each other in a virtual world. Using behavioral data of players' interactions within the space-based MMO EVE Online, the aim of this thesis is to conduct an experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of a number graph-based methods at finding important players within different behavioral contexts. For that purpose we extract behavioral data to construct four distinct graphs: Fleet, Aggression, Mail, and Market. We also create a ground truth data set of important players based on heuristics from key gameplay categories. We experiment on these graphs with a selection of graph centrality, Influence Maximization, and heuristic methods. We explore how they perform in terms of ground truth players found per graph and execution time, and when combining results from all graphs. Our results indicate that there is no optimal method across graphs but rather the method and graph should be chosen according to the business intention at each time. To that end we provide recommendations as well as potential business case usages. We believe that this study serves as a starting point towards more graph based analysis within the EVE Online virtual universe where there are many unexplored research opportunities. / Framgången hos Online Sociala Nätverk (OSN) påverkas av förmågan att förstå vem som är viktig. Ett OSN kan ses som en graf där användarna är noder och deras interaktioner ärbågar. Grafbaserade metoder kan möjliggöra identifiering av personer i dessa nätverk somtill exempel uppvisar egenskaper hos ledare, påverkare eller informationsförmedlare. Ett Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) representerar en typ av OSN. Det är ett datorrollspel där ett stort antal spelare interagerar med varandra i en virtuell värld. Genomatt använda beteendedata om spelarnas interaktioner i den rymdbaserade MMO:n EVE Online är målet med denna avhandling att genomföra en experimentell studie för att utvärdera effektiviteten hos ett antal grafbaserade metoder för att hitta viktiga spelare inom olika beteendemässiga sammanhang. För det ändamålet extraherar vi beteendedata för att konstruera fyra distinkta grafer: Fleet, Aggression, Mail och Market. Vi skapar också ett ground truth" dataset av viktiga spelare baserat på heuristik från viktiga spelkategorier. Vi utför experiment på dessa grafer med ett urval av grafcentralitet, Influence Maximization och heuristiska metoder. Vi undersöker hur metoderna presterar i termer av antal ground truth spelare som finns per graf och över grafer, och i termer av exekveringstid. Våra resultat tyder på att det inte finns någon optimal metod för alla grafer. Metoden och grafen bör väljas beroende på intentionen vid varje tillfälle. För detta ändamål tillhandahåller vi rekommendationer samt potentiella affärsmässiga användningsområden. Vi tror att denna studie tjänar som utgångspunkt för mer grafbaserad analys inom EVEOnlines virtuella universum där det finns många outforskade forskningsmöjligheter.

The main purpose of the survey was to map older generations’ use of computer games, hereafter called gaming, and to highlight positive effects gaming has on the aging person. The goal of the survey is to contribute with deeper understanding and broadened awareness of which possibilities gaming offer to improve the wellbeing of the ageing human being. The collected empirical information was based on these questions: What does gaming look like amongst societies’ persons of the third age? Which factors contribute to encourage the ageing person to play? Can gaming be an important preventive factor for the ageing persons of the future? The gathering of data was carried out, using two different methods. A questionnaire based survey and thematically opens interviews. The selection of participants in the questionnaire based survey consisted of 32 persons. Two interviews were carried out. One with two persons and one with one person. All participants were of the third age, meaning that they are healthy and can manage daily life themselves. The result of the questionnaire based survey indicates thatmost persons of the third age, in spite of being in possession of digital instruments, well suited for gaming, very few of them actually play, and have no interest in it. The results of the interviews indicate that the lack of interest by older adults can partially be caused by the mass medias’ exposure of negative effects gaming can have on people, and partially by a lack of exposure of positive effects it can have to achieve improved wellbeing. Furthermore, the results of the interviews indicate that what could increase older persons interest in gaming, is research confirming the positive effects it can have on older persons, and that games that are both interesting and satisfying are available.