In this study the impact of a board game as parent guidance strategy to reinforce Cognitive Control Therapy (CCT) in the home environment of a child with ADHD was explored. The influence of such a board game, based on the principles of CCT, on multiple contexts of the child’s existence - therapeutic and family contexts - was also investigated. There were two reasons for involving the parents in therapy. Firstly, children with an attention problem are situated within contexts and the effect of ADHD can permeate to the home and school environments. Secondly, for Cognitive Control Therapy (CCT) to be successful, it needs to be sustained by frequent repetition. It was hypothesized that sustainability of the effect of CCT should rise substantially after introduction of the board game, as the child and the parent can reinforce the principles of CCT by using it, even without being able to attend a session. The board game was designed by using the principles for game development as articulated by Dodge. A case study was then conducted by using a mixed methods approach, where quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. Data collection strategies consisted of quantitative methods in the form of the Cognitive Control battery (pre and post test), and the Copeland Symptoms checklist. Qualitative strategies included parental feedback, qualitative data during therapy sessions (observations and therapeutic notes) and a semi-structured interview with the mother. Data was collected before, after and during the intervention. The intervention consisted of individual therapy with the participant, parent guidance and parallel implementation of the designed board game by the parents with the child-participant. The quantitative data (from the CCB and the Copeland Symptoms Checklist) from the post test indicated that sensitivity towards distractions remains a concern, and that parental implementation of a board game (incorporating elements of CCT) with a child can possibly have a slightly negative effect on cognitive control functioning. However, the scope of this case study does not allow direct correlations to be drawn between the parental input and the child’s cognitive control functioning. It does point to the possibility of heeding caution when implementing a board game to reinforce CCT principles by a parent. Conversely, the findings from the study also indicated that family relations improved. Five qualitative insights emerged: i) increased ability to distinguish between relevant versus irrelevant information in the participant; ii) increase in organizational thought in the therapeutic situation and at home; iii) improved communication between parent and child, resulting in improved skills to maintain discipline; iv) improved interaction among family members; and v) transfer of skills to the mother. The study found that the greatest contribution of the board game appears to be the improvement experienced in the family context – probably as a result of increased interaction among family members and attention focused on the problem. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Educational Psychology / MEd / unrestricted

This study evaluates perception differences of male and female narrators in video game tutorials. Video games have long been considered a masculine pursuit, and because of this, women have endured unpleasant surroundings and interactions in gaming and related communities. With the proliferation of technologies like Twitch and YouTube gaming, gaming is more communicative than ever, increasing potential for problematic interactions. Recent booms in these technologies emphasize the importance of understanding how varying demographics are perceived, as these perceptions influence interactions, potentially limiting the likelihood of women and others' involvement and interest. Involvement in technology during youth is associated with interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers--all fields with disparities in women's employment. Measures included confidence, credibility, performance, trustworthiness, and leadership ability to better understand how the integration of communicative technologies into gaming influences perceptions based on cues--in this case, specifically voice. Male narrators were hypothesized to be evaluated as more confident and credible than female narrators overall, while performance, trustworthiness, and leadership evaluations were hypothesized to be moderated by one's own gender identity. No significant differences emerged, which suggests a positive change in climate for female gamers and leaders in the industry.

The challenges found in three-dimensional platformer games heavily rely on the player’s ability to perceive depth and it is therefore crucial for them to feature shadows as they are an important depth cue for the human visual system. In this paper, we compare two different kinds of shadowing solutions, blob shadows and shadow-maps. Subjects split into two groups each played a differently shadowed version of a 3D platformer game prototype as well as a common, unshadowed version. The first group’s prototype featured blob shadows while the second group’s used shadowmaps. The players were asked to input their own proficiency level from one to five into the program. The data collected through in-prototype logging to a file hinted at shadowmaps being more desirable as the shadowmap group’s delta from shadowed to unshadowed playthrough was lower than the blob shadow group’s. However, this data featured a number of problems, such as low sample size, subjective evaluation of player proficiency in 3D platformer games and different distribution of proficiency in and across groups. / Utmaningarna funna i tredimensionella platformsspel beror starkt på spelarens förmåga att uppfatta djup och det är därför avgörande för spelaren att ha skuggor eftersom de är en viktig antydan till djup för det mänskliga visuella systemet. I detta examensarbete jämför vi två olika typer av skuggningslösningar, “blob shadows” och “shadowmaps”. Försökspersonerna delades upp i två grupper, var och en spelade en annorlunda skuggad version av en prototyp för ett 3D-plattformsspel samt en ordinär, version utan skugga. Den första gruppens skuggor gjordes med “blob shadows” medan för den andra gruppen användes “shadowmaps”. Spelarna ombads att mata in sin egen kompetensnivå från ett till fem i programmet. Uppgifterna som samlats in via loggning i prototypen skrevs till en fil som antydde att “shadowmaps” var mer önskvärda eftersom “shadowmap”-gruppens delta från skuggad till icke-skuggad igenomspelning var lägre än skugga-gruppens. Dessa data innehöll emellertid ett antal problem, såsom låg provstorlek, subjektiv utvärdering av spelarens kunskaper i 3D-plattformsspel och olika spridning av kunskaper i och över grupper. Insikter för framtida forskning inkluderar skapandet av en objektiv ram för utvärdering för kunskaperna för spelarna såväl som förminskningen av prototypens omfattning.

Games can be used to convey meaning and communicate messages. While there is ample research on games' expressive capacities, how players' backgrounds impact game interpretation has thus far been under-explored.  This study explores this gap by way of testing an expressive game and discerns if there is a relationship between how people experience a game and their personal background and current state of mind. To engage this question, we conducted a player study. We developed the abstract, metaphorical game “Lorn” intended for this purpose. The game together with an online survey, intended to assess players' background and state of mind, was distributed to potential participants. After having played the game, the participants shared their interpretation of the message in the game and their experiences and feelings they experienced while playing. 15 people participated in the player study. The result indicates there are differences in how people interpret a message depending on their personal background and their current state of mind. / Spel kan användas för att förmedla både budskap och mening. Trots att det finns omfattande forskning på hur man kan uttrycka sig med spel, så är forskning kring hur spelares bakgrund påverkar deras tolkning bristfällig. Den här studien utforskar detta genom att testa ett “expressivt spel” och urskilja om det finns någon koppling mellan hur människor upplever ett spel och deras personliga bakgrund och sinnesstämning. Vi utförde en spelarstudie för att undersöka den här frågan. För detta ändamål utvecklade vi det abstrakta, metaforiska spelet “Lorn”. Tillsammans med en online enkät, som ämnade att ta reda på spelarnas bakgrund och sinnesstämning, distribuerade vi spelet till potentiella deltagare. Efter att ha spelat spelet delgav deltagarna sina tolkningar av betydelsen, sina upplevelser av Lorn, och vilka känslor de kände när de spelade spelet. 15 personer deltog i studien. Våra resultat indikerar att det finns skillnader i hur människor tolkar budskap beroende på deras personliga bakgrund och sinnesstämning.

Immersive sims are all about being immersed and acting in a believable world, despite this,we believe that how their save systems affect player experience has not been exploredenough. In this paper we examined the relationship between save systems, save scumming,and player immersion using the scales tested by Weibel and Wissmath (2012) in their studyabout presence and flow and how they constitute immersion. In order to test how much savescumming influences immersion, we had two groups of players play Deus Ex: HumanRevolution: one that played using only the autosave system, and the other one exclusivelyusing quicksaves. After playing the game for two hours, they then answered twoquestionnaires that allowed us to gauge their presence and flow respectively. Our test foundwhat looks to be a trend of quicksave negatively affecting flow, but our results are notstatistically relevant (P = .11), this might be due to our small sample size (N = 10). / Immersive sims handlar helt och hållet om att känna inlevelse och agera i en trovärdig värld,fastän detta, så tror vi att hur dessa spels sparsystem effektuerar spelarens upplevelse inte harblivit undersökt nog. I detta uppsatsarbete så undersökte vi relationen mellan sparsystem,“save scumming” (tendensen att överanvända ett spårsystem för att lättare klara utmaningar),och en spelares inlevelse med hjälp av skalor skapade av Webel och Wissmath (2012) i derasstudie på flöde och närvaro när det kommer till spel och hur det inrättar inlevelse. För att testahur stor effekt save scumming har på en spelares inlevelse så hade vi två grupper av spelaretill att spela Deus Ex: Human Revolution: den ena gruppen fick endast ta användning avspelets automatiska sparsystem, medans den andra gruppen fick endast använda det manuellasnabbsparsystemet. Efter var spelare är färdig så hade vi dem till att svara på två enkäter somlåter oss beräkna deras nivå av både flöde och närvaro. Våra tester hittade vad som kan sessom en trend till att snabbsparsystemet har en negativ inverkan på flöde, men våra resultat ärinte statistiskt betydelsefulla (P = .11), detta kan bero på att vi hade en liten provstorlek (N =10).

Uppsatsen undersöker spelgrafik i Cyberpunk 2077, mot bakgrund av händelserna kring spelets offentliggörande – som väckte stort raseri och missnöje från inte bara spelarna själva, utan även aktieägare och spelrecensenter. Utgångspunkten i analysen är etablerandet av en diskursiv läsning inom en kvalitativ visuell analys av ett urval bilder som visar hur människor i spelet manipuleras till att köpa produkter som är skadliga för dem. Hur bilderna visar just detta – etableras i en andra, djupare läsning utifrån ett antal marxistiska positioner som alla har gemensamt att de beskriver processer relevanta för Karl Marx’ tankar om alienation och förfrämligande.Resultatet diskuteras sedan i relation till hur verkliga film-, spel-, data- och storföretag säljer produkter genom att paketera dem inuti berättelser om klasskamp, civilt uppror eller arbetarkultur. Sambandet mellan CD Projekt Red’s inbladning i fiktiv och verklig kapitalism, utgör det viktigaste resultatet och den röda tråden för arbetet. Huvudsakligen gestaltar sambandet sig genom upprättandet av en varufetischism och kommodifiering i fråga om hur de gestaltar- och kommunicerar till sina egna konsumenter. Jag diskuterar sedan riskerna med dataspel som tillämpning för en marxistisk kritik, då den interaktiva komponenten i spelandet förutsätter människan som en del av produkten / The essay surveys relevant game art inside Cyberpunk 2077, in the light of the recent and heavily criticized product launch. The study starts out with establishing a discourse reading through qualitative visual samples of how costumers are manipulated to buy hazardous products inside the fictive context of the game. The examples of how this manipulation takes place, are shown by applying pre-described Marxist positions that are generally connected to Marx phases of alienation (see keywords below).The results are then discussed in relation to how real movie-, game-, computer- and other big business markets products through appropriation of stories and themes such as class struggle, civil obedience or working-class culture. Establishing the comparison between the fictive and existing capitalism of CD Projekt Red is the main thesis that is followed through the work and verified in the result through evidence of 3 commodification and commodity fetishism. The main aspect of the arguments focuzes on how CD Projekt Red has shown the relationship between themselves and their followers through consumers and manufacturers. The thesis and subject matter is discussed in the end of the essay, also mentioning the risks of analysing a digital game through Marxist perspectives, since the interactive part of gaming requires the player to be viewed as connected to the product. / Filmen som gjordes inom ramen för frilansuppdraget åt NordAmps var i sin helhet en draft för videopitch till mottagare, bestående av fotografi, ljud och ett fåtal enkla tredimensionella modeller. Efter uppdragets slut ville jag se hur jag kunde förbättra min medieproduktion genom att applicera en metod som blandar animation och teknisk illustration. Detta fick mig att resonera kring; hur skulle jag kunna kommunicera bättre utifrån samma filmlängd, samma ljudbild och samma tempo - men bara genom att jobba med tecknat material i efterproduktionen? Vad är viktigt att lyfta – och hur undviker jag att komplicera istället för simplifiera budskapet?  Förutom att konkretisera och förenkla komplex information från avsändaren, så bidrar animationen till att skapa det övergripande visuella narrativet; det vill säga; vilka är NordAmps, varför är de viktiga och hur kommunicerar de kring sitt innehåll? Genom att blanda rörligt fotografi med animation och teckning så vill jag skapa en mer rik och pedagogisk medieproduktion - som visar på hur komplexa tekniska frågor kan kommuniceras effektivt till tittare som saknar förförståelse om ämnet.

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Procedural content generation for video games (PCGG) has seen a steep increase in the past decade, aiming to foster emergent gameplay as well as to address the challenge of producing large amounts of engaging content quickly. Most work in PCGG has been focused on generating art and assets such as levels, textures, and models, or on narrative design to generate storylines and progression paths. Given the difficulty of generating harmonically pleasing and interesting music, procedural music generation for games (PMGG) has not seen as much attention during this time. Music in video games is essential for establishing developers' intended mood and environment. Given the deficit of PMGG content, this paper aims to address the demand for high-quality PMGG. This paper describes the system developed to solve this problem, which generates thematic music for non-player characters (NPCs) based on developer-defined attributes in real time and responds to the dynamic relationship between the player and target NPC. The system was evaluated by means of user study: participants confront four NPC bosses each with their own uniquely generated dynamic track based on their varying attributes in relation to the player's. The survey gathered information on the perceived quality, dynamism, and helpfulness to gameplay of the generated music. Results showed that the generated music was generally pleasing and harmonious, and that while players could not detect the details of how, they were able to detect a general relationship between themselves and the NPCs as reflected by the music.

The following study investigates how recent games (2014 - 2018) visualize health and health changes, with a focus on the player character’s health, the player character taking damage and the graphical user interface (GUI). 50 games were coded via gameplay videos on YouTube and then analysed. The codes were then grouped together based on patterns and theoretical grounding. These groups were then examined with other studies and game design practices. / Följande studie ämnar att undersöka hur spel från senaste tiden (2014 - 2018) visualiserar hälsa och hälsoförändringar, med ett fokus på spelarkaraktärens hälsa, när spelarkaraktären tar skada och GUI. 50 spel kodades via s.k. “gameplay” videor på YouTube och har sedan blivit analyserade. Koderna var sedan grupperade baserad på mönster och teori. Dessa grupper var sedan undersökta med andra studier och speldesign sedvänjor.

Esta tesis presenta el diseño de una aplicación gamificada para smartphone, tanto Android y iOS, que tiene como finalidad fomentar hábitos de ahorro. Esta aplicación tiene como público objetivo principal personas entre 25 y 35 años de Perú. Para poder cumplir este objetivo analizamos dos conceptos importantes, el primero de ellos es sobre la gamificación, cuáles son los usos actuales de este concepto y los principales elementos de diseño. El segundo grupo es sobre la banca electrónica, como se desempeña hoy en día y algunos usos de la gamificación sobre ella. Posterior a ello, se plasma la conceptualización del juego. Esta definición consta del diseño, mecánicas y dinámicas de juego, como ayudará a fomentar hábitos de ahorro a los usuarios y cómo estos serán validados. Además, se detalla la propuesta de desarrollo, organigrama, tecnologías involucradas, cronograma y costos. / This thesis presents the design of a gamified smartphone application, Android or iOS, which aims to promote saving habits. The main target public of this application is people between 25 and 35 years old from Peru. In order to achieve this objective, we analyze two important concepts, gamification is the first one, what are the current uses and the main design elements. The second group is about electronic banking, how it works today, and some uses of gamification on it. Finally, the game conceptualization is reflected. This definition consists of the game design, mechanics and dynamics, how it will help to promote saving habits and how these will be validated. In addition, the development proposal, organization chart, technologies involved, schedule and costs are detailed. / Tesis