This paper aimed to discover how player satisfaction is affected by context-aware elements based on physical, real-world factors in an action role-playing game. The possibility of utilizing player modelling to counteract the reduction in player empowerment in a game heavily influenced by external factors was also explored. This was accomplished by creating an ARPG heavily integrated with various weather, and daytime, context data obtained from web-based APIs. Followed by conducting qualitative tests with help of eleven participants during a time period of a week. The evaluated results were presented in a manner of relevance for both context-driven applications as a whole, and for further exploration within game developments utilization of state of the art technology.

This study investigated the possibility of procedural generation of skill trees which are similar to skill trees in contemporary video games. A set of randomly-selected skill trees from contemporary video games, from differ- ent game genres, was compiled, and an analysis was performed to extract relevant observations from the set. Using the observations, models for skill tree generation, and for skill tree comparison were proposed, and they were followed for the generation and analysis of the results. It was found that the method of Graph Grammars provided satisfying results compared to the set of skill trees from video games. Additionally, the other methods researched, L-Systems and Naive Randomized Graph Generation, while both may still require improvements discussed in the thesis in order to provide more satis- fying results, they may still be used for particular needs by game designers as they are. 1

Title: Application of hierarchical graph grammars in procedural 3D world gen- eration Author: Jakub Svoboda Abstract: Procedural content generation (PCG) is an often-used technique in video games. It allows us to generate large quantities and permutations of con- tent. A common problem in utilizing PCG in level design is that it is challenging to generate content close to what a human would create in overall quality and structure. One way of solving these problems is using graph grammars to rep- resent relations in the game world. Implementing a working graph generator using graph grammars and applying it to generate worlds is not very well docu- mented. This thesis will try to overcome this problem by implementing such a generator and extending it to use hierarchical graph grammars. The generator will be used to generate a 3D open world. The generator should be suitable for levels in other types of games. Keywords: procedural content generation, game development, hierarchical graphs, graph grammars, procedural level design

The notion of aesthetic unity has garnered substantial attention within the realm of contemporary art, particularly in the domains of film and gaming. These creative mediums encompass a multitude of design elements, making the pursuit of aesthetic unity all the more crucial. In the context of traditional 3D action games, achieving aesthetic unity holds paramount importance in crafting captivating and immersive experiences. Notably, combat systems play a pivotal role in attaining aesthetic unity as they often serve as the primary avenue for player interaction. This research delves into the concept of aesthetic unity in action games, with a specific focus on strategies employed in traditional 3D action game design. Through interviews with seasoned developers possessing extensive research and development experience, this study utilizes the interview research methodology to extract valuable insights and summarize the strategies employed in the development process. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of development models, gameplay design, and other essential design elements, such as plot, in fostering aesthetic unity within the realm of 3D action games.

This study has examined what in virtual characters movement invokes negative sensations associated with the Uncanny Valley. This was done through a study involving semi-structured interviews, open-ended surveys and eye tracking during which the 10 participants observed gameplay and dialogue clips from three different games. A literature review was performed regarding the topics of Game User Experience, Immersion, Animation, Motion capture, Uncanny Valley and Body language studies. The results of the study indicate that it is possible for participants to identify what details in virtual characters’ movements induce these negative sensations to them, which strengthen previous research of the topic. The results of this study did not show a great deal of variation between the participants yet showed a unique set of motivations and examples about what influenced their perception. However, with such a small sample, the results can only be applied to this study and merely provide the groundwork for future studies of the topic. However, it does provide more detailed information about the uncanny valley that can help game developers to make informed decisions when choosing to work with realistic animation

Avatars are used more and more in online communication, in both games and socialmedia. At the same time technology for facial puppetry, where expressions of the user aretransferred to the avatar, has developed rapidly. Why is it that facial puppetry, despite this,is conspicuous by its absence? This thesis analyzes the available and upcoming solutions for facial puppetry, if a com-mon framework or library can exist and what can be done to simplify the process for de-velopers who wants to implement facial puppetry. A survey was conducted to get a better understanding of the technology. It showedthat there is no standard yet for how to describe facial expressions, but part of the marketis converging towards a common format. It also showed that there is no existing inter-face that can handle communication with tracking devices or translation between differentexpression formats. Several prototypes for recording and streaming facial expression data from differentsources were implemented as a practical test. This was done to evaluate the complexity ofimplementing real-time facial puppetry. It showed that it is not always possible to integratethe available tracking solutions into an existing project. When integration was possible itrequired a lot of work. The best way to get tracking right now seems to be to implement astandalone program for tracking that streams the tracked data to the main application. In summary it is the poor integrability of the solutions that makes it problematic forthe developers, together with a wide variety of facial expression formats. A software thatacts like a bridge between the tracking solutions and the game could allow for translationbetween different formats and simplify implementation of support. In the future, instead of working towards making all tracking solutions output stan-dardized tracking data, research further how to build a framework that can handle differ-ent configurations. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

"Sitting is the new smoking" and is one of the major causes of human health problems today. Swedes train the most in the world but are also among those who work  mostsedentary. Proper movement while taking 1 minute of active short breaks helps to preventfurther health problems. Cameras can detect body movements and this information can beused to do motion analysis and skeletal estimation. Furthermore, this can be used to create games that can use this detected movement and force the user to be more active whiledoing something fun.This thesis is about designing and implementing two mini-games in Godot for particular body movements using MediaPipe. Game designers for the mini-games use heuristicsfor motion-based control in games presented by Hara and Ovaska. This thesis focuses ondeveloping game control using motion control for the mini-games. The game controls areevaluated by calculating the sensitivity of how well the controls work for the games.

The game development processes behind entertainment games are not well understood. While there are studies that report on user interface evaluation in game production, there are very few studies that report on user interface design. The purpose of study is to explore and learn more about the game industry perspective and their processes behind user interface design. A systematic literature review was performed on the Game developers Conference database, GDC Vault. The review uncovered 105 presentations that relate to UI Design. A thematic analysis was performed to explore the eight most relevant presentations to the research question. The analysis resulted in two themes. The first theme describes UI designers’ experience of interdisciplinary collaboration. The second theme describe two seemingly conflicting goals in the UI design process: aesthetics and usability. The study contributes to the field of game development research with some knowledge about how the game industry create UI design.

В данной работе показана разработка тренажера для тренировки функции равновесия головы человека. Подробно рассмотрена система, реализующая биологическую обратную связь. Также представлена разработка собственной системы и её реализация в виде игры. В результате выполнения работы были получены и проанализированы данные с датчиков акселерометра и гироскопа смартфона. Результатом статистического анализа являются найденные статистически значимые параметры. / This paper shows the development of a simulator for training the balance function of the human head. A system that implements biofeedback is considered in detail. It also presents the development of its own system and its implementation in the form of a game. As a result of the work, data from the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors of the smartphone were obtained and analyzed. The result of statistical analysis are the found statistically significant parameters.

This paper explores what attributes are important for the creation of environment art tools. The purpose of this is to make sure that when a tool is to be developed, it will be done properly within a given time frame. This is important since the cost of tool development is high in both time and capital spent. Being able to make sure that when those resources are spent, that the resulting tool is of high quality and solving the problem which the development team set out to do. Through interviews, forms and the creation of our own tool I hope to find these attributes and to be able to provide insights into how a studio or team might apply them for their own purposes.