Studying the field of visual attention in the context of games can help level designers to make the players feel more immersed and increase the general enjoyment of a game. With the help of visual cues, the designers are able to lead the players through the levels without breaking the aesthetics of the game, thus preventing to break the immersion. This study is presenting a method for analyzing visual cues in a 3D adventure platform game. Gathering data with the help of today's eye-tracking technology. The results can ultimately be used as a guideline for future work in the field.

Energy consumption has become one of the main design constraints in today’s integrated circuits. Techniques for energy optimization, from circuit-level up to system-level, have been intensively researched. The advent of large-scale integration with deep sub-micron technologies has led to both high power densities and high chip working temperatures. At the same time, leakage power is becoming the dominant power consumption source of circuits, due to continuously lowered threshold voltages, as technology scales. In this context, temperature is an important parameter. One aspect, of particular interest for this thesis, is the strong inter-dependency between leakage and temperature. Apart  from leakage power, temperature also has an important impact on circuit delay and, implicitly, on the frequency, mainly through its influence on carrier mobility and threshold voltage. For power-aware design techniques, temperature has become a major factor to be considered. In this thesis, we address the issue of system-level energy optimization for real-time embedded systems taking temperature aspects into consideration. We have investigated two problems in this thesis: (1) Energy optimization via temperature-aware dynamic voltage/frequency scaling (DVFS). (2) Energy optimization through temperature-aware idle time (or slack) distribution (ITD). For the above two problems, we have proposed off-line techniques where only static slack is considered. To further improve energy efficiency, we have also proposed online techniques, which make use of both static and dynamic slack. Experimental results have demonstrated that considerable improvement of the energy efficiency can be achieved by applying our temperature-aware optimization techniques. Another contribution of this thesis is an analytical temperature analysis approach which is both accurate and sufficiently fast to be used inside an energy optimization loop.

Epic poems originate from Ancient Greece with the most well-known one being the Odyssey by Homer. Today other forms of media than just poems are considered epic. Video games have the possibility of both being incredibly detailed as the epic modern novel and being a spectacle as seen on epic cinema. The big difference between video games and the other forms of new media is that video games offer the unique experience of space. Players can navigate the game space and explore the different atmospheres and environments that it offers. This thesis delves into what an epic is in the context of level design. The case targets are two levels from the 2018 God of War title and the analysis is done by using passion as a method. The researcher and the player are the same person. The results consist of definition of epic levels and a framework for creating the feeling of epicness through level design.

This is a study on information conveyance, specifically a study on how specific level design techniques can be used to convey information to the players regarding a competitive multiplayer game's “state of play”. Through an analysis of different games, three different level design elements were identified as effective tools for conveying information and these elements are; architectural placement, visual cues and environmental changes. A third-person multiplayer shooter game was then created with the three elements applied in different forms and then tested for their effectiveness. Afterwards, the game was tested by a number of participants who filled out a survey of questions and were interviewed. It was discovered that the methods tested were found to be mostly effective at conveying information, the architectural placement of the capture point in conjunction with the visual cues aspect of it worked well to inform the players of the state of play. The environmental changes were an example where a method had an impact on the game but since the correlations were unclear, the information was not conveyed effectively, but with a few alterations has the potential to work well.

Elden Ring, an open world game by From Software has used almost exclusively hiddenguidance systems to guide the players. This study provides insight on players’ experience ofplayer agency and freedom of choice. This is a pilot study into the subject of Elden Ring’ssuccess as an open world game while keeping visual guidance to the minimum. This researchwas conducted with a mixed methodology combining a quantitative survey for backgrounddata qualitative semi-structured interviews for further in-depth analysis. Data has shown thatall participants have experienced some form of player agency in Elden Ring, alongsideexperiencing different hidden guidance systems throughout different parts of the game. Thisstudy can be helpful for game developers and players alike to see how a successful openworld game guided players’ experience without using visual guidance. To conclude, based onthe data, it should be noted that the concept of agency is a construct that is decided by theplayer.

The aim of this thesis is to understand how the level design elements in Lost in Random, staging, scale, and shape language convey danger within combat areas. The purpose of the analysis was to find patterns in the visual level design elements presented in the first moment of combat. Through this analysis, the authors offer level designers an overview of how visual level design elements could be used to communicate and create meaningful experiences in combat areas with Lost in Random as an example. A formal analysis was conducted in which screenshots of the game were analyzed to discover whether the visual level design elements are present in the first playable frame of the combat areas and if they share scale and shape characteristics throughout the combats. The main findings can show patterns in the use of staging and how enclosed areas are presented by using the focal point to guide the players towards the goals or challenges. Based on previous theories referenced in this thesis, there is an expectation that triangular shapes and exaggerated sizes will appear as part of these patterns.

This study examines the level design of the game Dying Light through the lens of player movement. It aims to answer the question: How does the player movement capabilities inform the level design in the game Dying Light? The study analyses the correlation between the player’s movement capabilities and level layout. The research is relevant to game designers wanting to make games centered around movement as a core mechanic, and researchers wanting to use design patterns to study level design through the lens of a core mechanic. The research was conducted through a formal analysis of the actions, components, and goals found in the level, which together form a multitude of level design patterns that support the player’s movement capabilities. These patterns were split into categories based on their goals, followed by these categories being noted down on a designated area of the map. The study indicates that the patterns made with these primitives are a useful tool to tie a specific mechanic like player movement to level- and game design decisions, which is shown in how the level design of Dying Light was built around its movement system to allow for almost unlimited freedom of movement.

The purpose of this thesis is to find out how interactive level design directly impactsplayers’ experience of immersion. This was done by researching different perspectives andtheories for immersion and interactivity while using Genshin Impact as an example. For thisstudy, interactive level design means a piece of environment that reacts to a player’s input.This research is important as there is a gap in the research, as while there are existing theoriesfor interactivity, immersion, and level design independently, there is little existing researchlinking them together. Additionally, this thesis is important for future level design, as it willaid in making more interactive and immersive levels for games. The method of this thesisrelied on answers from 2 qualitative and quantitative surveys and 5 semi-structuredinterviews. The data gathered from the surveys and interviews were then separately analyzed.The results indicate that interactive level design indeed has an influence that heightensplayers’ experience of immersion.

Om storleken på utrymmen i spels levlar påverkar stämningen har diskuterats av leveldesignförfattare, bland andra Totten (2019) som nämner i sin bok, An Architectural Approach to Level Design, att olika storlekar på utrymmen i spel främjar olika känslor. Denna bakgrund för studien har sedan applicerats på den data som samlats in för att svara på problemformuleringen Hur påverkas upplevd stämning av områdets storlek i Bloodbornes Forbidden Woods och Upper Cathedral Ward? Datan består av storleksmätningar av utrymmen i två av spelets områden samt kommentarer från internet. Kommentarerna granskades efter ord och uttryck kopplade till upplevd stämning och områdets storlek. Efter att ha sammanställt kommentarerna om områdena analyserades de utefter storleksmätningarna och Tottens (2019) teori. Vi fann indikation till att storlek påverkar upplevd stämning, men att mer forskning krävs för att säkerställa resultatet. Denna kunskap kan potentiellt användas av level designers för att skapa en bättre spelupplevelse. För framtida arbete föreslår författarna att skapa en egen artefakt för att bättre kunna kontrollera beroende och oberoende variabler.

Detta arbete undersöker huruvida "think aloud"-tekniken som den används i användbarhetstestning är lämplig i samband med spelbarhetstestning samt hur uppmaningar att tänka högt påverkar en speltestares immersion i spelupplevelsen. Forskningsområdet valdes främst då tekniken think aloud rekommenderas till spelbarhetstestning från många håll utan vetenskaplig motivering. En frågeställning togs fram med denna bakgrund i åtanke. För att utvärdera frågeställningen genomfördes en kvantitativ undersökning där en serie respondenter fick spela en artefakt i form av en för ändamålet konstruerad nivå till spelet Rising Islands (Mindblown 2016) för att sedan fylla i en enkät som mätte deras upplevda nivå av "immersion". Hälften av respondenterna uppmanades att tänka högt under speltillfället, övriga respondenter genomförde spelsessionen utan störande moment. Gruppernas genomsnittliga enkätresultat ställdes mot varandra i ett T-test. Resultatet visade att uppmaningar att tänka högt inte hade någon märkbar inverkan på upplevd immersion, men vidare forskning är nödvändig då det finns osäkerheter i datamängden. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p><p>There are other digital material (eg film, image or audio files) or models/artifacts that belongs to the thesis and need to be archived.</p>