Not available / text

In trying to provide access to videogame materials for scholars, collecting organizations must build standards for building and structuring collections, and in turn information professionals must assess the information needs of users. In order to begin the assessment, this paper presents a content analysis of scholarly videogame articles. The results of the analysis will provide the basis for structuring videogame archives, libraries, or databases. Metadata schemas are important to access, and to collecting. That metadata will aid patrons is widely accepted, but too often schemas and vocabularies are based on only experts’ opinions without taking into account patrons’ ideas of what is important. To address this dearth, the content analysis presented in this paper combines historical ideas of metadata standards from expert archivists with an analysis of what themes are important, common, and sought for in the literature of videogame scholars, who are the likely users of videogame collections. / text

This thesis deals with using a computer game in ICT classes at high school. The created game is made like story split into six tasks. Each task is connected with different musts of daily computing. The player have to step by step deal with connecting up peripheral facilities to computer, loging into operating system, beeing familiar with operating system environment, program uninstallation and installation, finding out safe password and correcting mistakes in a job apllication. There are several alternative solutions in the each task.

Abstract The focus of this thesis is on perceivable interaction forms that can be utilised in multi-player computer games and Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs). Interaction forms are manifestations of user-user and user-environment interaction. These forms convey the actions of the user to others, and to oneself, during synchronous communication and interaction partially resembling face-to-face encounters in the physical world. The communication, co-ordination and collaboration difficulties in current 3D CVEs have yet to be overcome. The aim of this thesis is to conceptualise and delineate the available mutually perceivable interaction forms. The research analyses entertainment industry solutions and examines their potential as providers of design implications for CVE systems in general. Furthermore, games are used as platforms in the construction phases of the research. The research answers the problems of what interaction forms exist in multi-player games and what are their main characteristics and how to apply the understanding of possible interaction forms in order to help the design of games and professionally used CVEs? The problems are approached with conceptual analytical and constructive methods. Delineation and categorisation of various interaction forms in games and CVEs is presented. The gap between theoretical models and practical design is bridged by using several empirical cases as a constructive part of the research. The significance of this research is related to the increasingly important role of CVEs in global organisations and virtual enterprises, as well as in the everyday life of people. The communicational and functional enhancements of the virtual environments and multi-player games make the interpersonal interaction more usable and applicable in computer mediated settings. The research provides a deeper understanding of the concept of interaction forms in the context of CVEs and multi-player games. The results can be used to create more supportive, appealing and communicative applications by applying interaction models and theories in the form of rich interaction design guidelines. The main contributions of this research are the conceptual models of interaction forms and corresponding rich interaction design suggestions. The results reveal important and neglected aspects of interaction forms to the world of game and virtual environment designers. Combined with the descriptions of interaction design processes the overall outcome of the work is applicable to a wide audience designing or using computer systems that support communication, co-ordination and collaboration.

The digital project at the intersection of the interactive installation and computer game.

Datorspelsindustrin har genom åren haft delade meningar gällande modifiering av deras spel. Några av dem har varit väldigt positiva till det, vilket lett till att deras spel ibland lever vidare längre än de borde eller till och med början av en helt ny genre av datorspel. Men de delade åsikterna har lett till att det inte finns någon standard när det kommer till att tillhandahålla hjälpmedel för att kunna modifiera spel. För att få en inblick i och undersöka om det finns likheter mellan vilka olika hjälpmedel som utvecklarna ger ut, utfördes ett experiment som bestod av en kategorisering av hjälpmedel som olika spelutveklare kommit ut med. Experimentet resulterade i sex stycken kategorier av verktyg: öppna datafiler, API, enkel nivåeditor, avancerad nivåeditor, SDK och övriga verktyg. Tillhörande dokumentation var av tre typer: information om hur moddar aktiveras, information om verktyget och guider för skapandet av moddar. En fallstudie gjordes där moddar skapades till några spel, med syfte att skaffa insikt i kvalitén på de tillhandahållna hjälpmedlen. Från denna kunde slutsatsen dras att de guider som användes var bra nog för att en novis kunde komma igång med att skapa moddar. I fall där dokumentation saknades, krävdes det antingen att de givna verktygen var självförklarande, eller att moddaren har stor erfarenhet av spelet. / The computer game industry has through the years had different opinions about the modding community, and the way people modify their games. Although a majority of the companies have started to embrace the community and even gone so far as to release tools to aid the players in modifying their games. But the lack of cooperation between game developers have led to a disparity in the ways games are opened up to modifications. To get an understanding in and investigate if there are any similarities between the way the tools given out by the companies’ function, an experiment was made to categorise the different aids based on their likeness. The result of the experiment were six categories: open datafiles, API, simple map editor, advanced map editor, SDKs, and other aids. The documentation for the tools were divided into three categories: information about how the mod are activated, information about the tool itself, and guides and tutorials for how to use the tool. A case study was also conducted where mods were made for a couple of games to get an insight into the quality of the aids provided, as well as its documentation. The conclusions drawn from the case study were that tools of self-explanatory nature did not need any documentation for a novice to use. As well as if the documentation were well made, a novice could easily follow it to create a simple modification. When the documentation was lacking or non-existent, combined with an editor that was not very easy to follow, the knowledge of the game was clearly needed to be able to create even the simplest of modifications.

Under den senaste 20-års perioden har dataspelande ökat i popularitet bland stora delar av befolkningen i den industrialiserade västvärlden (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Dataspel har gått från att vara en fritidssysselsättning som ungdomar ägnar sig åt till att ha blivit ett signifikant kulturellt fenomen som stora delar av befolkningen ägnar sig åt. Dataspelande är dock fortfarande vanligast förekommande bland ungdomar av manligt kön (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). Denna studies syfte är att undersöka vilka drivkrafter medelålders män har till att spela dataspel online samt att söka en djupare förståelse för hur dataspelandet påverkar de medelålders männens självbild och känsla av tillhörighet. Den valda metoden är av kvalitativ karaktär och insamling av empiri har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med sex medelålders män som spelar tillsammans via Internet. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av Anthony Giddens och Stuart Halls teorier om identitet och identitetsskapande i det senmoderna samhället samt Randall Collins teori om sociala interaktionsritualer. Resultatet pekar på att medelålders mäns motiv till att spela dataspel i en online-miljö främst är att få tillgång till social interaktion och därigenom ha möjligheter till att bygga vänskapsnätverk. Informanternas spelande utgör ett slags virtuell och digital interaktionsritual som bidrar till att skapa en avslappnad miljö som tillåter informanterna att ladda sig med positiv emotionell energi som bidrar till att de klarar av att hantera en stressfylld tillvaro i det verkliga livet. / During the past 20 years, computer games have grown in popularity among large parts of the population in the industrialized Western world (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Computer games have gone from being a leisure activity that young people are engaged in to being a significant cultural phenomenon that large parts of the population engages in. However, computer gaming is still most common among young males (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). The purpose of this study is to investigate the driving forces behind middle-aged mens gaming online and to seek a deeper understanding of how the computer gaming affects the self-image and sense of belonging among these men. The chosen method is of a qualitative nature and the collection of empirical data has taken place through semi-structured interviews conducted with six middle-aged men who play together via the Internet. The study's theoretical framework consists of Anthony Gidden's and Stuart Hall's theories on identity and identity creation in the late modern society as well as Randall Collin's theory of social interaction rituals. The result points to the fact that middle-aged men's motives for playing computer games in an online environment are primarily to gain access to social interaction and thereby have the opportunity to build friendship networks. The informants act of gaming is a kind of virtual and digital interaction ritual that helps to create a relaxed environment that allows the informants to load up with positive emotional energy that helps them cope with a stressful existence in real life.

O processo de aquisição da leitura e escrita não é uma tarefa fácil quando se tratam de crianças que apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem. Nestes casos, é comum a busca pelo auxílio quando elas já apresentam bloqueios relacionados às atividades escolares. Os softwares educativos que apresentam os mesmos métodos utilizados na escola, ou são cópias digitalizadas de cartilhas, são identificados facilmente gerando novas frustrações nas crianças. Neste trabalho foi concebido um ambiente que apresenta os conceitos pedagógicos baseados na teoria sócio-contrutivista, de forma lúdica. Foi desenvolvido um jogo com interface tridimensional e cenário ambientado em uma cidade com simulações de atividades do cotidiano da maioria das crianças. Para modelar os objetos e personagens do jogo foi utilizada a ferramenta Blender utilizando como referências fotos e imagens geradas com a ferramenta GIMP. As animações dos personagens foram desenvolvidas com as técnicas de cinemática que representam bem os ciclos de caminhada e de corrida, tornando a animação mais realística. Os programas para a game engine foram implementados com o interpretador Python que permite controlar os objetos e a lógica do jogo. Essas técnicas proporcionam uma interface gráfica tridimensional sofisticada e atraente. O jogo foi desenvolvido considerando características que o tornam lúdico para as crianças, como a implementação de fantasia controlada, desafios e propriedades que estimulam a curiosidade. Os conceitos pedagógicos utilizados no jogo foram avaliados por pedagogos e psicólogos que consideraram sua aplicação adequada e significativa. A ludicidade do jogo foi testada com 37 crianças analisando seus comportamentos frente as características implementadas para tornar o jogo atrativo. A vontade de todas elas de permanecerem jogando mais de que o tempo estipulado e não se deixarem distrair por outras brincadeiras, mostrou o acerto do meio escolhido para este trabalho. Em nenhum momento as crianças consideraram as atividades como tarefas escolares. O conteúdo educativo permaneceu transparente aos jogadores que enxergaram apenas uma atividade lúdica, podendo desse modo, facilitar a aprendizagem das crianças desmotivadas pelos métodos tradicionais. / The acquisition process of both reading and writing is not an easy task when it is undertaken by children with learning difficulties. In such cases, search for help is common when those children have already experienced some trauma associated with school activities. Educational softwares that are based on such activities tend to be digital copies of textbooks that are easily recognizable and which keeps bringing about the same frustrations for children with learning difficulties. This paper aims at showing a ludic environment that we developed and in which some pedagogical concepts were drawn on the social constructivist theory. We came up with a game with 3D interface and a scenery game adapted in a city containing simulations of daily activities that are familiar for the majority of children. In order to create the model of the objects and characters for the game we used Blender, and the photos and the images were created with Gimp tool. The characters\' animations were developed by using direct kinematics and inverse kinematics, which represent the walk cycles and run cycles as well as enable the generation of most of realistic animation. The algorithms for the game engine were implemented with Python, that allows for controlling both the objects and the game logic. These techniques provide 3D sophisticated graphics and an attractive interface. The game was developed by using characteristics that turns out to be playful for children, such as the implementation of controlled fantasy, challenges and properties that stimulate curiosity. The pedagogical concepts employed in the game were evaluated by pedagogues and psychologists who considered it adequate, significant and useful. The ludic characteristic in the game was experimented with 37 children in order to analyze their behavior towards the features that had been implemented to achieve an attractive game. All of them wished to keep playing the game more than the allotted time, and they did not get distracted from it, neither did they consider these activities as school tasks. The educational content remained transparent for the players: as soon as they could see a playful activity they started following the procedures, which has proved to be useful to facilitate learning for the children unmotivated by traditional learning methods.

Certain Operative Dentistry skill sets, such as bonding procedures, do not require a refined psychomotor skill level as much as a mastery of the concepts, placement and timing requirements of the bonding procedure. Procedures such as these may lend themselves well to the interactive media style that today's students are so familiar with in a computer module "gaming" format.

<p>The goal of this bachelor thesis is to explain how computer game graphic artists at the game company Digital Illusions(Dice) has changed during the last six years. To give this question a background the essay describes how the computer game process works and it also describes the working roles for the peoples in the process. Further the thesis describes the changes for the computer game graphic artist and the reasons for this change. When it comes to Digital Illusions the thesis focus on the game Battlefield 1942. The work began with telephone interviews with game artists at the largest game company’s in Sweden, witch gave us indications of the fact that the status and the influence of the production of the game for the game artists had been ascending during the last six years. We therefore wanted to find out the reasons for this change, as well as finding one single game to study. We therefore interviewed three of the responsible computer game artists for the game Battlefield 1942. We also went to the computer game education Playground Squad in Falun for two days of interviews and observations. We concluded that the computer game graphic artists had increased during the last six years primarily caused by the fact that computer game graphics more and more had been used as means of marketing and the fact that the knowledge and the making use of editors among the artists has increased. </p>