The diploma thesis deals with the subject of video games heroes. The goal of this thesis is to analyze the image of a video game hero and the components of which this image consists. Another focus of this thesis is to compare the images of video game heroes of the RPG (role-playing game) genre with the FPS (first person shooter) genre and to find out which aspects the images have in common and which are different. Content analysis of the games is applied in this thesis, based on predefined criteria and field notes gathered during playing top 100 rated games (50 games of the RPG genre and 50 games of the FPS genre) by Metacritic for 30 minutes each. The selection of the research sample is limited by the main character of the games; analysed games are such in which the hero is determined by the game and the player can't adjust him in any way, for example by choosing the character's gender, their physical predispositions and their occupation. The analysis of the games proved that the main hero was mostly an adult Caucasian human male. This characteristic was registered in the FPS genre more frequently.

Gender stereotypes are identified as a major problem happening in the game industry, it is presented in both female and male characters which they are highly following the preference of masculinity. Multiple researches have been conducted to analyse how females are being sexualized and objectified, and there is an atmosphere of misogyny in both the industrial aspect and the user aspect. However, It is interesting to rethink the problem from the opposite perspective, where the question can be ‘why the word masculinity is somehow becoming a conclusion of this industry?’ How masculinity is growing during the development of video games? And why the walls of masculinity are still solid in recent years where most other forms of media is posstivlty accepting feminism into their field? The project starts as a role of a male gamer, in both perspectives of male and video game player,  aiming to find a way to deconstruct the atmosphere of masculinity by the theory of inclusive masculinity in the game industry, discussing the positive and negative aspects of masculinity, and finally provide a possibility to build up an inclusive condition in this industry.

Background. Secondary motion is a principle of animation, it is movement that occurs as a result of other movement, such as swinging hair or clothes. In 3D animation, such as in games, it is often simulated instead of animated manually. In game projects with time limitations, it can be interesting to know to what degree these simulations impact the visual quality in order to decide whether they should be prioritized. It is also interesting to know how the results of various methods compare to each other. To simulate in real-time means that physics simulations are running during gameplay. Baked animations on the other hand are simulations that have already been processed and saved as animation data, they are less dynamic but also less performance intensive. Objectives. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the impact of three sets of animations by conducting a survey where each set is compared. The three sets are: animations that feature real-time simulations, baked simulations and ones without simulation. The goal is to acquire a metric from the comparisons that can give an insight to the visual quality impact of each method. Methods. Three animation sets were created. Then, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire that featured side by side video comparisons of the animation sets. The videos featured a stylized character running, walking, or jumping through an empty environment. Pairwise similarity judgements were done by asking the participants to rate each video compared to each other. The results from the questionnaire were analyzed using a method that is a part of the analytical hierarchy process. The data from each comparison was averaged, put into pairwise comparison matrices, and then used to calculate priority vectors. The level of consistency of the comparisons were also calculated. Results. The priority vectors show the ratios of how each animation set were preferred compared to each other. In the priority vector for all animations combined, the set without simulations ranked at twenty-four percent, the real-time set ranked at thirty-three percent and the baked set ranked the highest at forty-three percent. The comparisons were calculated to have a very high consistency, which strengthens the result. Conclusions. The results show the impact that adding simulated secondary motion has. The simulations appear to improve the visual quality, but the margin is not extreme. The calculated ratios could be used to argue for or against a game project’s prioritization of secondary motion simulations depending on the project’s time constraints and access to preexisting methods of simulation. It should be noted that the format of video comparisons did not showcase all the advantages of each method such as creation accessibility, technical performance or dynamicity. As such, it is uncertain how fair the comparisons of the baked and real-time simulations are in a more general sense. Nevertheless, the results are considered to give at least a partial insight into how these methods compare.

This thesis will investigate how developers can create recognizable and historically realistic female game characters while balancing historically accurate aspects and creative aesthetics.This paper is meant to give a better understanding of the importance of accurate historical female costumes in games, and investigate whether or not these are preferable to a gaming audience. The results will be reached by analysing the results collected from two online surveys where six 3D models’ turnarounds from two different eras with different levels of historical accuracy will be represented.

Šiame darbe buvo pasiūlyti dirbtinio intelekto pritaikymo būdai bei metodai, kompiuterinio žaidimo personažui, dviejų personažų koviniam žaidimui. Pasiūlytais būdais bei metodais buvo bandoma pritaikyti dirbtinį intelektą kompiuterinio žaidimo personažui, šio tipo žaidimui. Buvo tiriama ar pasliūlyti būdai ir metodai tinka šiai kompiuterinių žaidimų klasei. Taip pat buvo tiriamas agento mokymosi greitis, nuo ko jis priklauso bei ieškomi faktoriai, kurie lemia tokio tipo žaidimo personažams sparčiau mokintis ir naudingiau naudotis įgytomis žiniomis. Atrastus ir ištirtus faktorius buvo stengiamasi suderinti taip, kad mokomas personažas balansuotų tarp greitai besimokančio ir tinkamai besinaudojančio išmoktomis žiniomis. / In this work was offered an adjustments of techniques and methods of artificial intelligence for computer player, in two-players combat games. There was tried to adapt the artificial intelligence to the computer player, with those proposed techniques and methods in this type of games. Also was investigated whether those proposed techniques and methods suits for this class of computer games. In this work also was analyzed agent learning speed, on what depends it and explored the factors that determines the rapid learning speed and efficient use of agent knowledge. Discovered and investigated factors were fitted to the rapid learning speed and efficient use of agent knowledge.

In this study we look at character choices in digital games, what causes them and more specifically how big of an impact the character’s clothing has on this choice, and how this differs between genders. Further, we also look at differences in how partially nude characters are perceived versus fully clothed characters, as well as how all of this affects the player's user experience. With this in mind, we also want to know how game designers can use this knowledge in character choices to design for a good user experience. To answer these questions, we conducted qualitative interviews as well as a survey. Based on the results we concluded that the clothing has quite a low impact on the player’s character choice, but that they prefer to play as a fully clothed character if they get to choose. Instead, the character’s abilities are mostly what drives the choice. Furthermore, a partially nude character is most often seen as unrealistic, annoying, and/or uncomfortable for the player. This is especially true for female characters. In order to design for a good user experience in character choices, the game designer should include as many female as male characters, as this benefit both men and women. This is because women tend to play as female characters, whereas men to a greater extent plays with both male and female characters. Beyond this it is also a good idea for the colours of characters to be customizable to tailor to players specific needs, such as colour-blindness.