Video game players demand a volume of content far in excess of the ability of game designers to create it. For example, a single quest might take a week to develop and test, which means that companies such as Blizzard are spending millions of dollars each month on new content for their games. As a result, both players and developers are frustrated with the inability to meet the demand for new content. By generating content on-demand, it is possible to create custom content for each player based on player preferences. It is also possible to make use of the current world state during generation, something which cannot be done with current techniques. Using developers to create rules and assets for a content generator instead of creating content directly will lower development costs as well as reduce the development time for new game content to seconds rather than days. This work is part of the field of computational creativity, and involves the use of computers to create aesthetically pleasing game content, such as terrain, characters, and quests. I demonstrate agent-based terrain generation, and economic modeling of game spaces. I also demonstrate the autonomous generation of quests for online role playing games, and the ability to play these quests using an emulated Everquest server.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Current learner-centered trends, such as supplying students with content on demand (CoD), coupled with research findings that indicate distributed practice is superior to massed practice in terms of increased memory function and that the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is superior to traditional instruction in terms of academic achievement, content retention, and student satisfaction, prompted an investigation merging these two lines of research. Although PSI is more feasible today based on advances in technology and students prefer its self-paced component, they often procrastinate. In fact, this problem is resurfacing in distance education courses and is reflected in low completion rates as well as in the number of nonstarters. Numerous researchers have used deadline contingencies to reduce procrastination without adversely affecting student achievement and satisfaction, but few have considered the benefit of enhanced memory. / ABSTRACT: It was hypothesized that, by providing students with CoD, a lesser form of self-pacing, and by using contingencies to regulate the pace of assignment submissions, procrastination would be reduced and content retention subsequently increased without detriment to immediate achievement and student satisfaction. To quantify differences in procrastination level, a comprehensive, sensitive, and reliable measure of procrastination, called the rate of relative digression from a target response (RDTR), was proposed. Undergraduate, preservice teachers in an instructional technology course were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. All groups were given the same deadlines. For one treatment, the deadlines were recommended (R) with one absolute deadline at the end of the treatment interval. For another they were conditional (C) with opportunities to earn bonus and penalty points for early and late work. / ABSTRACT: For a third, they were all absolute (A) with no assignment accepted for credit after its due date. Although many problems experienced by students in A made findings for this group inconclusive, analysis of differences between students in R and C indicated that C was superior in reducing procrastination and enhancing memory function without detriment to immediate achievement, pacing preference, and course satisfaction. Although more research is needed to replicate, extend, and clarify findings, these results support using conditional deadlines for assignments when learners are supplied CoD. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Current learner-centered trends, such as supplying students with content on demand (CoD), coupled with research findings that indicate distributed practice is superior to massed practice in terms of increased memory function and that the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is superior to traditional instruction in terms of academic achievement, content retention, and student satisfaction, prompted an investigation merging these two lines of research. Although PSI is more feasible today based on advances in technology and students prefer its self-paced component, they often procrastinate. In fact, this problem is resurfacing in distance education courses and is reflected in low completion rates as well as in the number of nonstarters. Numerous researchers have used deadline contingencies to reduce procrastination without adversely affecting student achievement and satisfaction, but few have considered the benefit of enhanced memory. It was hypothesized that, by providing students with CoD, a lesser form of self-pacing, and by using contingencies to regulate the pace of assignment submissions, procrastination would be reduced and content retention subsequently increased without detriment to immediate achievement and student satisfaction. To quantify differences in procrastination level, a comprehensive, sensitive, and reliable measure of procrastination, called the rate of relative digression from a target response (RDTR), was proposed. Undergraduate, preservice teachers in an instructional technology course were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. All groups were given the same deadlines. For one treatment, the deadlines were recommended (R) with one absolute deadline at the end of the treatment interval. For another they were conditional (C) with opportunities to earn bonus and penalty points for early and late work. For a third, they were all absolute (A) with no assignment accepted for credit after its due date. Although many problems experienced by students in A made findings for this group inconclusive, analysis of differences between students in R and C indicated that C was superior in reducing procrastination and enhancing memory function without detriment to immediate achievement, pacing preference, and course satisfaction. Although more research is needed to replicate, extend, and clarify findings, these results support using conditional deadlines for assignments when learners are supplied CoD.