The eSports scene as well as the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) have rapidly grown in popularity over the past decade. Research regarding game design factors and player experience in this genre are still not fully explored. This study aimed to examine Heroes of the Storm (HotS), League of Legends (LoL) and Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota2) through a tailored game ontology for MOBA games, if the game mechanics cause more frustration and challenge compared to other genres (Johnson, Nacke and Wyeth, 2015); and to better understand the effect on player experience in MOBA games. Results suggest that builds for heroes, including talents, items and meta strategies, are the most challenging aspects. Frustration may surge when players make mistakes or when communication within the team fails. Additionally, the main difference between these games is the level of difficulty and complexity making Dota2 the optimal choice for MOBA veterans and HotS a good introduction to the MOBA genre. / ESports scenen så väl som Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genren har snabbt vuxit i popularitet under de senaste tio åren. Forskning angående speldesignfaktorer och spelupplevelse har fortfarande inte blivit fullt utforskat. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka  Heroes of the Storm (HotS), League of Legends (LoL) och Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota2) genom en skräddarsydd ontologi för MOBA spel,  och hur spelmekanikerna skapar mer frustration och utmaning hos spelare i jämförelse med andra genrer (Johnson, Nacke och Wyeth, 2015) samt att bättre förstå vilken effekt de har på spelarna i MOBA genren. Resultaten tyder att builds för karaktärer, inklusive talents, items och metastrategier är dem mest utmanande elementen. Frustration kan uppstå när spelare gör misstag eller när kommunikationen inom laget ej fungerar. Den största skillnaden i mellan dessa spel är svårighetsgraden och komplexitet, vilket leder till att Dota2 är ett optimalt val för veteraner och HotS är en bra introduktion till MOBA genren.

Background. Although a growing market, most of the commercially available gamestoday that features eye tracking support is rendered in a 3D perspective. Games ren-dered in 2D have seen little support for eye trackers from developers. By comparing the differences in player performance and experience between an eye tracker and acomputer mouse when playing a classic 2D genre: space shooter, this thesis aim tomake an argument for the implementation of eye tracking in 2D video games. Objectives. Create a 2D space shooter video game where movement will be handledthrough a keyboard but the input method for aiming will alter between a computermouse and an eye tracker. Methods. Using a Tobii EyeX eye tracker, an experiment was conducted with fif-teen participants. To measure their performance, three variables was used: accuracy,completion time and collisions. The participants played two modes of a 2D spaceshooter video game in a controlled environment. Depending on which mode wasplayed, the input method for aiming was either an eye tracker or a computer mouse.The movement was handled using a keyboard for both modes. When the modes hadbeen completed, a questionnaire was presented where the participants would ratetheir experience playing the game with each input method. Results. The computer mouse had a better performance in two out of three per-formance variables. On average the computer mouse had a better accuracy andcompletion time but more collisions. However, the data gathered from the question-naire shows that the participants had on average a better experience when playingwith an eye tracker Conclusions. The results from the experiment shows a better performance for par-ticipants using the computer mouse, but participants felt more immersed with the eyetracker and giving it a better score on all experience categories. With these results,this study hope to encourage developers to implement eye tracking as an interactionmethod for 2D video games. However, future work is necessary to determine if theexperience and performance increase or decrease as the playtime gets longer.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Diogo Rodrigues Albiero.pdf: 70379977 bytes, checksum: fb9b1276b50014ad042bb447d1800b53 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09-17 / This dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between game design and the player on the construction of experiences manufactured in videogames. Due to its interactive nature, we can understand that videogames are made by two instances in the construction of its language and experience: on one hand, the game design defines how the game will be; and on another, the player, key-element, interacts and renews the choices made for the game. The question of how the experiences in videogames happen is instigated through this mutuality. With this purpose we seek to understand the concept of experience through the duality proposed by Eduard Gámez, using Martin Heidegger s phenomenological perspective and John Dewey s pragmatic view. We then go to a practical approach on how to create the language of videogames, based on Jesse Schell, Tracy Fullerton, Jesper Juul and Jane McGonigal. After identifying the key-elements to understand how videogames configure their language, we switch to the player s perspective. By using Gámez s Core Elements of Gaming Experience, we seek to identify similar aspects from players experience and how they eventually conform a subjective outcome from playing. These theoretical pillars end up in the analysis of the game Heavy Rain. It allows the concepts and examples used in the text to be effectively analyzed as a whole. The bibliographical revision and the approach given during the dissertation allow the evaluation of videogames under the game design and the player s perspective, heading towards the creation of the experience of this media on a mutual path. Through this we can see videogames from a wider point of view, understanding its processes and the potential they carry in their core as a media / Este trabalho busca entender a relação entre o game design e o jogador na construção das experiências agenciadas pelos videogames. Por sua natureza interativa, podemos entender que os videogames são compostos por duas instâncias na construção de sua linguagem e experiência: de um lado, o game design comporta escolhas feitas e define como o jogo será; de outro, o jogador, peça-chave, interagindo e atualizando o espaço criado. Gera-se a questão de como as experiências nos videogames acontecem a partir dessa mutualidade. Para isso buscamos entender o conceito de experiência através da dualidade proposta por Eduardo Gámez a partir da perspectiva fenomenológica de Martin Heidegger e da pragmática de John Dewey. Passa-se a uma abordagem prática de como se constrói a linguagem dos videogames, baseada em Jesse Schell, Tracy Fullerton, Jesper Juul e Jane McGonigal. Após configurar elementos-chave para entender como os videogames configuram sua linguagem, busca-se o olhar jogador. Almeja-se, tendo como base o modelo dos Elementos Centrais da Experiência do Jogo (Gámez), identificar pontos semelhantes das experiências dos jogadores e como elas conformam eventualmente um resultado subjetividade do jogar. Esses pilares teóricos culminam na análise do jogo Heavy Rain. Ela permite que os conceitos e exemplos discorridos durante a dissertação possam ser efetivamente analisados como um todo. A revisão bibliográfica e o caminho tecido durante o trabalho permitem que possamos avaliar os videogames sob a perspectiva do game design e do jogador, que caminham juntas para a criação da experiência da mídia. Isso permite que enxerguemos os videogames de uma maneira mais ampla, entendendo seus processos e a potencialidade que carregam dentro de seu âmbito midiático

This research project has investigated the mechanical behaviour of artificial turf surface systems used for sports under a range of real player movements, and the contribution of component layers to the overall system response by developing advanced measurement systems and methods. Artificial turf surface systems are comprised of a number of different materials and commonly with several layers, all of which contribute to their composite behaviour. During sports movements a player loads the surface, resulting in deformation that can change the surface behaviour, which in turn modifies the player biomechanical response. Improving the understanding of surface response to actual player loading is important for developing enhanced products for improving play performance. Likewise, by improving knowledge of surface effects on players, the understanding of injury risk can be improved. However, there is currently no published research to measure and analyse the behaviour of artificial turf system during real player locomotion. This research was undertaken to address this current lack of knowledge within the interaction between player and sports surface regarding the effects of player loading on the mechanical behaviour of artificial turf systems. In addition to support player loading regime, mechanical behaviour of hockey and third generation artificial turf surface systems and their component shockpad layers (a rubber shreds bonded shockpad and a polyurethane foam shockpad) was examined through dynamic cyclic compressive loading using an advanced material testing machine in laboratory environment. Each layer and carpet-shockpad system was subjected to controlled loading designed with previous biomechanical data at various loading frequencies (0.9 Hz, 3.3 Hz and 10 Hz) and under two different contact areas (50 mm and 125 mm diameter) to simulate aspects of player walking, running and sprinting. All layers and surface systems tested showed nonlinear stress-strain behaviour with hysteresis. Increasing the contact area resulted in reduced surface vertical deflection and more linear response. Increasing the loading frequency led to stiffer response in the lower stress range (< 400 kPa) for all surface systems. The third generation artificial turf systems showed also an increase in stiffness at higher stress range ( > 600 kPa) and a decrease in maximum strain as the loading frequency increased. Hysteresis loops obtained at different loading frequencies indicated that the amount of energy lost at the same peak load of 1900 N in each surface system decreased with an increase in loading rate. Player loading regime was performed to quantify the load/stress and the resulting surface deformation/strain under subject loading. Measurement systems including motion capture system, force plate and high speed were developed to characterise the response behaviour in a novel way. The mechanical behaviour of artificial turf surface systems under three player movement patterns (heel-toe walking, forefoot running and forefoot single leg landing) was measured. Boot-surface contact area of each movement varied during the stance. The heel-toe walking results indicated that the maximum applied stress and surface strain occurred in very early stance (first 10%) when the boot-surface contact area was small. For forefoot running and landing, the peak surface strain occurred around mid-stance concurrent with the time of peak applied stress. The maximum strain measured under running was smaller than under landing. A thin-film pressure sensing mat was used in both mechanical and player loading regimes and proved to be a useful tool for evaluating the pressure distributions and contact areas at different interfaces of the surface system. The applied stress on surface was observed to greatly reduce with depth over increasing contact area through the surface systems. Although the average pressure was reduced, pressure distribution contour showed directly under the surface load area the pressure at depth was still relatively large and that outside of this area the pressure was much lower. A comparison of the mechanical behaviour of artificial turf systems in terms of compressive strain, modulus of elasticity, stress distribution and energy loss under mechanical and player loading was evaluated. Key loading parameters in different loading regimes and their influence on surface system response were determined. The structure and material intrinsic properties of shockpad were considered to further explain the observed surface system behaviour. Two mathematical models were used to fit through the experimental data and found to be able to describe the loading behaviour. A breakthrough in understanding of the effects of real player loading on the mechanical behaviour response of artificial turf systems, and the contribution of the components to the whole system response has been achieved through the development of advanced measurement techniques.

This thesis examines the virtual social world of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, Runescape. I observed several locations in the Runescape world, conducted in-depth interviews with players, and participated in clan activities. I analyzed how individual players develop and extend concepts of self through their participation in the game. Players attach patterned meanings to in-game social objects, particularly their character (avatar) that mediates their experiences in the game. Many players refer to their character’s appearance and accomplishments as an extension of the self, particularly when they master game skills or accumulate in-game wealth. How players spend and think about time in the game suggests that they experience a blurred boundary between “play” and “work.”

This diploma thesis deals with comparison of physical abilities of younger school pupils in ice hockey and floorball. The thesis is divided into two parts. In the first part, the thesis deals with the theory that summarizes all information about ice hockey and floorball among pupils of younger school age. There are also theoretically processed chapters on motor abilities, annual training plan and regeneration and compensation exercises. The main aim of this work is to map and compare the level of motor abilities after a one-year training cycle in 2018 and 2019 for younger school age players in ice hockey and floorball using motor tests. Secondary objectives are to measure the increase in dexterity, endurance, strength after a one-year training cycle for ice hockey and floorball players. To map the negative effects of sport training on posture for ice hockey and floorball players and to develop a draft compensation exercise program for ice hockey and floorball players. In the second part, the thesis deals with the comparison of the level of motoric abilities of younger school pupils in ice hockey and floorball by measuring motor skills. Individual motor skills with results are elaborated into individual graphs. Then there is an interview with Mgr. Zuzana Jiřičková, who deals with areas of stress,...

The optimal allocation of the resources to the emergency locations in the event of multiple crises in an urban environment is an intricate problem, especially when the available resources are limited. In such a scenario, it is important to allocate emergency response units in a fair manner based on the criticality of the crisis events and their requests. In this research, a crisis management tool is developed which incorporates a resource allocation algorithm. The problem is formulated as a game theoretic framework in which the crisis events are modeled as the players, the emergency response centers as the resource locations with emergency units to be scheduled and the possible allocations as strategies. The pay-off is modeled as a function of the criticality of the event and the anticipated response times. The game is played assuming a specific region within a certain locality of the crisis event to derive an optimal allocation. If a solution is not feasible, the perimeter of the locality in consideration is increased and the game is repeated until convergence. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology and metrics are derived to quantify the fairness of the solution. A regression analysis has been performed to identify the statistical significance of the results.

The problem of resource allocation and management in the context of multiple crises occurring in an urban environment is challenging. In this thesis, the problem is formulated using game theory and a solution is developed based on the Nash equilibrium to optimize the allocation of resources to the different crisis events in a fair manner considering several constraints such as the availability of resources, the criticality of the events, the amount of resources requested etc. The proposed approach is targeted at managing small to medium level crisis events occurring simultaneously within a specific pre-defined perimeter with the resource allocation centers being located within the same fixed region. The objective is to maximize the utilization of the emergency response units while minimizing the response times. In the proposed model, players represent the crisis events and the strategies correspond to possible allocations. The choice of strategies by each player impacts the decisions of the other players. The Nash equilibrium condition will correspond to the set of strategies chosen by all the players such that the resource allocation optimal for a given player also corresponds to the optimal allocations of the other players. The implementation of the Nash equilibrium condition is based on the Hansen's combinatorial theorem based approximation algorithm. The proposed solution has been implemented using C++ and experimental results are presented for various test cases. Further, metrics are developed for establishing the quality and fairness of the obtained results.

<p>Syftet med studien var att skapa en bättre förståelse för hur några juniorishockeyspelare och deras tränare ser på hur faktorerna lagsammanhållning, spelaromsättning, roller och prestation förhåller sig till varandra och hur de arbetade med dessa faktorer. Instrumenten som användes var GEQ (Group Environment Questionnaire) och två helstrukturerade intervjuguider. Deltagarna i studien var ishockeyspelarna i ett J18-lag (n=18) och deras tränare (n=1) i en medelstor klubb i Sverige. Resultatet visade att samtliga intervjudeltagare upplevde ett positivt samband mellan lagsammanhållning, spelaromsättning, rollklarhet och prestation. Sambandet beskrevs dock som cirkulärt, att alla faktorerna var beroende av varandra och påverkades av varandra. Spelaromsättningen upplevdes som positiv då den skapade konkurrens och förbättrade prestationen. Talang och intresse var basen för den formella rollfördelningen. Spelarna upplevde att de var klara över sina roller och att det bidrog till både bättre lagsammanhållning och ökad prestation.</p><p>The purpose of this study was to create a wider understanding about how some junior ice-hockey players and their coach experience how the factors cohesion, player turnovers, roles and performance are interacting whit each other and how the team is working whit these factors. The instruments that were used were GEQ (Group Environment Questionnaire) and two whole-structured interview guides. The participants of this study were the ice hockey players of a J18-team (n=18) and their coach (n=1) in a club of average size in Sweden. The results showed that all the participants experienced a positive correlation between cohesion, player turnovers, role clarity and performance. The relationship however was described like a circle, that all the factors were depending on each other and were affected by each other. The player turnovers experienced as positive though it created competition and improved performance. Talents and interests represent the base of the formal roles. The players experienced clarity in their roles which led to both better cohesion and improved performance.</p>

<p>   This bachelor thesis describes the development of a MOD music player to run on GBA (Game Boy Advance) for Lypson Game Engine. GBA is a basic platform for embedded development, and the stereo system makes it possible to use the platform as a music player. The sound players of the GBA for Lypson Game Engine were designed to play wave files and the size of typical wave files is in the order of megabytes. MOD files are much smaller when compared with wave ones. Therefore, to avoid consuming the resources of the CPU and memory to process and store wave files, the use of MOD files represents a better alternative.The development took C++ as programming language and the development platform used was HAM. The first step was to obtain samples of music, and then control the hardware of GBA to play sound. After that, came the phase of combining it with Lipson Game Engine. These tasks enabled the acquisition of knowledge about the frame of MOD files; learning how to make the GBA play sound and mastering the operating instruction of GBA hardware by the process of development. In addition, it provided a chance to learn about embedded development, which represented a starting point to learn about embedded programming in general.As for the main result, it was achieved by the successful development of the MOD Player, which is now running on the Lypson Game Engine. As the MOD files are of small size, the music player is more efficient when compared with those previously used.</p>