The project focuses on computer tools suitable for particular game genres and how they are used to develop 3D computer games. As part of learning about the tools, the author developed a 3D computer adventure game called "Adventures of Smiley" using Macromedia Director MX and 3D Studio Max. The game's purpose is to engage children using a friendly interface while they learn about different topics in various subject areas through lessons and puzzles. The research gathered information about the current game industry, technologies and game genres, which can be used as a reference for the beginning level game programmer. The project documentation and the game are also published on the Internet and can be freely accessed online.

This thesis is a reception analysis using qualitative interviews to investigate the formation of cultural groups around computer-game LANs present in Rhodes University. It also looks at how issues of social inequalities evident on the university's campus impact on the participation of students in these LANs. The findings of this study are that the participants have established a community around the practice of computer LAN-gameplay based on values developed through the combination of the material and gameworlds. It serves as a home-on-campus for them; where they can fully explore their passion for games thus reaffirming their identity as gamers on a campus where being a gamer is viewed negatively. In this light, computer-game playing is not just a practice these participants perform, but a culture they live out every day. This is a culture predominantly lived out by men. One of the reasons for this is because most women have been raised to believe to have negative predispositions about digital gaming e.g. that it is childish, addictive and anti-social, but also that computer are meant to be used by men - women use them only when it is absolutely necessary, for example, that it is childish, for academic-related purposes. As a result, not many of them will use computers for any otherreason for fear of being socially criticised. In addition, the gaming culture being dominated by whites is due to the fact that admittance in to this community is still unaffordable for the majority of black students on the Rhodes University campus as a result of their social backgrounds.

As the interactive entertainment industry matures, we need a better understanding of what makes software entertaining. A natural starting point is the application of traditional Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) tools to interactive entertainment software. Cognitive models are tools that HCI researchers have used to model users' thought processes and evaluate interface design. With this research we investigate the relationship between the complexity of an interaction and the entertainment experienced by the user. We designed a simple computer game, created a normative model for how a user plays this game, built several variations of this game such that normative models of these variants differed across two factors: pace and complexity. User studies were conducted on these variations, and we compared these factors to user performance and self-reported user enjoyment.

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Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Information and Communications Technology Degree, Faculty of Accounting and Informatics, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016 / The need to utilize English in daily International communications within broad settings, such as business and academia, is accelerated by Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and internationalisation. Internationalisation introduces the increased need (through ICT) to communicate through a common language (global language) and English has evolved into such a ‘global language’. There is evidence in the literature indicating that teachers assume that students have the educated ‘guessing skill’ in the ability to read and write efficiently in English. Literature further proves that limited ESL proficiency is still a major drawback for the efficient and effective use of English as a medium of instruction both in academe and in other industries. Therefore, the current study postulates that interventions such as perceived educational themed computer game playing could facilitate English vocabulary improvement; an approach believed to be more appealing to the students of this ICT-dominated world than traditional rote learning. As a result, students of the Internet age more receptive towards vocabulary conveyed through ICT tools, as opposed to traditional printed texts. The focus of this study was on the utilization of an ICT tool in the form of a computer game in supplementing teaching and learning of English vocabularies. This quasi-experimental mixed methods’ research used seven research instruments that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. This research attempted to investigate the effectiveness of a selected computer game on English vocabulary improvement using engineering students (participants) that served as either the control or experimental groups. Data analysis tests, such as Wilcoxon Signed Ranks, Chi-Square and Paired Samples T-Test assisted in analysing the data collected for this study. The significant findings of this study indicate that the study’s selected computer game was easy to use and useful, because there were improvements in English vocabulary amongst participants resulting from the game. Further lessons learned from this study confirm that ICT relevant tools (such as this study’s computer game), do complement teaching and learning. These findings also align with the study’s theoretical framework by indicating that perceived ease of use and usefulness of the study’s selected computer game have an influence towards English vocabulary improvement. / M

This dissertation, "Ban Hammer: Rhetorics of Community Management in the Computer Game Industry," argues that community management, as an emerging corporate discipline, manages community discourse to produce particular subject-consumer attitudes and behaviors. Employing a multi-perspectival, suspensionist methodology, this dissertation analyzes the discursive practices of community managers working in the computer game industry, along with the communities themselves, to discover how computer game communities and computer game development organizations employ a wide variety of rhetorical strategies as they attempt to exert power over one another. Drawing from a wide range of sources in the study of rhetoric, community management, fan studies, computer game development, psychoanalysis, new media studies, and professional communication, this project argues that community manager's inhabit a unique discursive space, one characterized by unresolved and unresolvable discursive tension, and that the work of community managers has an ever increasing importance to both the computer game development cycle and the production of fan communities.

The Souls’s series has become more and more popular over the recent years. The games have defined their own genre and are praised by many. One element of what is praised is the level design. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the level design of each game has developed over each game. To gather data from the games we have selected a number of principles found in level design related literature. After identifying these principles in the games we convert them into quantifiable data. What we found was that the results varied a lot and it was difficult to see any development. The study would have needed to be done on a grander scale to get more accurate and interesting results. Gathering player data could reveal interesting results such as paths players tend to traverse. / Souls serien har ökat i popularitet under de senaste åren. Spelen har definerat sin egen genre och hyllas av många. Ett element som hyllas är spelets level design. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka hur varje spels level design har utvecklats under åren. För att samla datan har vi valt ett antal principer som vi har hittat i level design relaterad litteratur. Efter vi har identifierat principerna i spelen så omvandlar vi dem till kvantifierbar data. Vad vi upptäckte var att resultaten varierade mycket från år till år och det var svårt att se någon utveckling. Undersökningen skulle behövas gjorts på en större skala för att få mer korrekta och intressanta resultat. Att samla data från spelare skulle kunna ge intressanta resultat, ett exempel är vilka vägar spelare tenderar att ta.

It is 50 years since the development of the first computer game and digital games now have an unprecedented influence on our culture. An increasingly popular leisure activity, digital games are also permeating other aspects of society. They continue to influence computer technology through graphics, animation and social networking; an influence which is also being felt in other media, in particular film and television. They are a new art form and they are seen to be influential on children s learning and development. However, despite their pervasiveness and apparent importance within our society and culture, they are still largely ignored as part of our cultural heritage. Dismissed as disposable, entertainment products, they have not specifically been addressed in most of the academic literature on digital preservation which represents a serious omission in past research. This was justification for an exploratory study into the preservation of digital games and the aim of this study has been to explore the value of digital games, their significance in our culture, and the current status of their preservation. Investigating the relationship of games to culture; reviewing current preservation activities and drawing conclusions about the value of digital games and the significance of their preservation were the study s objectives. These have been achieved through interviews with key stakeholders the academic community, as potential users of collections; memory institutions, as potential keepers of collections; fan-based game preservation experts; and representatives from the games industry. In addition to this, case studies of key game preservation activities were explored. Through this research, a clearer picture of attitudes towards digital games and opinions on the need for preservation of these cultural products has been established. It has become apparent that there is a need for more coherent and collaborative efforts to ensure the longevity of these important aspects of digital heritage.

This thesis introduces the innovative idea of the use of computer games and interactive entertainment by second-and third-age adults, specifically in the area of game content and interaction. This form of entertainment and technologies has become varied recently, with increased and widening participation of groups such as older adults of differing ages. The purposes of using technology involve well-being, intergenerational relationships and learning; these are some aspects primarily associated with the study of gerontology and game studies. This investigation encompassed two phases. Phase One examined the type of computer games older adults would like to play relating to hobbies, dreams and interests. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected in a step-by-step approach enabling participants to design their own game idea in an informal, jargon-free environment allowing for ease of understanding and coherence. Phase Two of the investigation involved older adults playing one of two consoles (Wii and PS-2). The games chosen were from the sports genre (golf, tennis and boxing) and were required to play for 15 minutes each. Results from Phase One indicated that participants were able to devise and design a number of game genres, and having prior knowledge of gaming did not necessarily aid when trying to design a game concept. Results from Phase Two indicated participants’ playing on the Wii was easier due to the nature of the console pad, rather than the traditional game pad used on the PS-2. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis interaction mechanism was far more influential on participants’ experience of flow than content. Extensive technological developments have enabled audiences in recent years to interact with gaming platforms easier than before, using motion sensor and natural body movement during game play. Preliminary design guidelines established from this investigation stipulate a multitude of aspects relating to interaction and content to enhance the experience of gaming for older adults.

Denna studies syfte var att undersöka om det finns någon skillnad i hur stokastiskt rekombinerad musik upplevs jämfört med linjär musik i datorspelet Thunder League (2015, Hellion Studios). Åtta informanter spelade två olika versioner av spelet, en med stokastiskt rekombinerad och en med linjär uppspelning av samma musik. Därefter intervjuades de om sin upplevelse och vilka skillnader de lade märke till mellan versionerna. Resultatet på undersökning visar att informanterna oftare tyckte att den stokastiskt rekombinerade musiken var bättre än den linjära. Resultatet visade också att informanterna inte överväldigande upplevde någon av metoderna mindre repetitiv. Frågan skulle kunna undersökas igen för att säkerställa resultaten igenom till exempel en större undersökning med tillhandahållande av spelet och formulär över internet för att på ett mer resurseffektivt sätt nå ut till fler människor.