Digital games are part of the creative industries, which is based on value creation through ideas and creativity. This market has gained relevance due to technology development that attracted both new firms and users. The present dissertation aims to explore three themes: (1) video game market as a two-sided market; (2) the effects of characteristics and behavior of game titles on consoles sales; and (3) project management to develop digital games. Those themes were explored through three articles: the first is a literature review and a bibliometric study of the economic concepts on two-sided market, which focused at identifying main topics, research trends and avenues for futures research. The second text is an analysis on the simultaneous influence of games\' quality and exclusivity on console sales. The last one is a qualitative, multiple-case study to understand, explore and suggest improvements to game project management in the Brazilian market. Findings include: (1) the main authors and topics, trends and developments, from and avenues for future research; (2) combinations of quality and exclusivity can affect console sales either positively or negatively, (3) quality has a predominant effect on sales over games non-exclusivity; and (4) the use of agile methodologies and Design Thinking are diffused among game developers. / Sem resumo.

Genom detta kandidatarbete prövar vi på att testa ett annorlunda tillvägagångssätt inom spelutveckling och design, till att försöka skapa en mer innovativ och tilltalande spelprodukt. Med hjälp av termen Critical Play från Mary Flanagan, undersöker vi genom reflektion, diskussion och ifrågasättande, alternativa sätt att tolka världen på. Genom prövning skapar vi en underhållande gestaltning och analyserar ifall Critical Play som utveckling­ och designmetod även går att applicera tillsammans med teorier från medvetandefilosofi i åtanke. Vi ser möjligheter i att föra fram en avvikande spelupplevelse, genom att presentera spelvärlden och dess objekt på ett visuellt asymmetriskt sätt för alla spelare / In this bachelor’s thesis we explore alternative game­design and game­development methods and use them to try to create more innovative and publicly appealing games. Guided by Mary Flanagan’s Critical Play method, we investigate through reflection, discussion, and questioning the other interpretations of how we experience the world. Through tests, we build a video game and analyze whether or not Critical Play is a feasible method for creating games, even when philosophical tenets governs the underlying game mechanics. We discover possibilities to create unique game experiences by presenting game­objects as visually asymmetrical entities.

Abstrakt Under vårt kandidatarbete arbetade vi under 20 veckor med att utveckla ett webbaserat spel riktat mot Facebook. Vi använde Agile/Scrum som projektmetod för vårt arbete och förändrade metoden och utvecklade verkyg för att effektivisera den för vårt syfte. Vi kom fram till att det är svårt att göra ett socialt spel och att det viktigaste i produktionen är att se till att det finns en tydlig koppling mellan spelarnas interaktion med varandra och den grundläggande spelmekaniken. Vi tappade fokus under utvecklingen och lärde oss den hårda vägen vikten av att planera realistiskt och börja ifrån grunden när man utvecklar ett spel. Spelet vi skapade använder sig av slumpässigt genererad terräng, är skrivet i JavaScript och utspelar sig i en viktoriansk miljö. Nyckelord: Facebook, spelutveckling, webbutveckling, internet, sociala spel Abstract During our bachelor thesis we worked for 20 weeks with the development of a web-based game for Facebook. We used Agile/Scrum as our project planning method, changed the method to make it more effective for our purpose and developed tools for the method. We came to the conclusion that it's hard to make a social game and that the most important thing in the production is to make sure that there's a clear connection between the players' interaction with each other and the foundations of the game mechanics. We lost focus during the development and learned the hard way the value of planning realistically and to start from the core when developing a game. The game we created uses a random generated terrain, is written in JavaScript and takes place in a Victorian environment. Keywords: Facebook, game development, web development, internet, social games

Denna rapport behandlar utvecklingen av den spelmotor samt spellogik som används i spelet Steam Tale utvecklat under projektnamnet Project Steam Age av gruppen StormBound. Spelet utvecklades i första hand för mobila enheter, och i rapporten ingår även en kort undersökning av mobila spel i ett historiskt perspektiv. Även spelets genre, JRPG, en förkortning av Japanese Role Playing Game, kommer att förklaras som hastigast med referenser till andra spel inom genren. Spelet programmerades för Android OS version 2.3 och framåt i språket Java. En av svårigheterna som påträffades, såsom beskrivs i rapporten, var att säkerställa att spelet fungerar för den varierande prestanda som mobila enheter utgör, inklusive aspekter såsom med eller utan hårdvaruacceleration av grafik, varierande mängd lagringsutrymme och processorkärnor samt storlek på skärmar. Därtill bör man vid skapandet av en applikation av denna typ beakta resurshantering, framförallt beträffande grafik och ljud, ett ämne som behandlas i denna rapport. / This report concerns the development of the game engine and game logic that are used within the game Steam Tale, which during the development process was known as Project Steam Age, by the group StormBound. The game was developed targeting mobile devices, and within this report is included a short perspective on the history of mobile gaming. The game’s genre, JRPG, short for Japanese Role Playing Game, and peripheral concepts in regards to it are explained as well, and in relation to other genres and games available. The game was made for Android v2.3 and later and as such coded in Java. Amongst the difficulties encountered, as detailed within this report, were the task of ensuring that the game runs on a wide range of phone hardware, including aspects such as both with and without hardware-based graphical acceleration, varying amounts of storage space and CPU-cores, as well as differing screen sizes. Furthermore, at the creation of applications such as this one should consider resource handling, especially concerning graphics and sounds, a topic discussed in this report.

This report concerns the development of the game engine and game logic that are used within the game Steam Tale, which during the development process was known as Project Steam Age, by the group StormBound. The game was developed targeting mobile devices, and within this report is included a short perspective on the history of mobile gaming. The game’s genre, JRPG, short for Japanese Role Playing Game, and peripheral concepts in regards to it are explained as well, and in relation to other genres and games available.   The game was made for Android v2.3 and later and as such coded in Java. Amongst the difficulties encountered, as detailed within this report, were the task of ensuring that the game runs on a wide range of phone hardware, including aspects such as both with and without hardware-based graphical acceleration, varying amounts of storage space and CPU-cores, as well as differing screen sizes. Furthermore, at the creation of applications such as this one should consider resource handling, especially concerning graphics and sounds, a topic discussed in this report. / Denna rapport behandlar utvecklingen av den spelmotor samt spellogik som används i spelet Steam Tale utvecklat under projektnamnet Project Steam Age av gruppen StormBound. Spelet utvecklades i första hand för mobila enheter, och i rapporten ingår även en kort undersökning av mobila spel i ett historiskt perspektiv. Även spelets genre, JRPG, en förkortning av Japanese Role Playing Game, kommer att förklaras som hastigast med referenser till andra spel inom genren.   Spelet programmerades för Android OS version 2.3 och framåt i språket Java. En av svårigheterna som påträffades, såsom beskrivs i rapporten, var att säkerställa att spelet fungerar för den varierande prestanda som mobila enheter utgör, inklusive aspekter såsom med eller utan hårdvaruacceleration av grafik, varierande mängd lagringsutrymme och processorkärnor samt storlek på skärmar. Därtill bör man vid skapandet av en applikation av denna typ beakta resurshantering, framförallt beträffande grafik och ljud, ett ämne som behandlas i denna rapport.

Vi beskriver i denna rapport hur vi, som två studenter vidÖrebro universitet, utvecklade ett nätverksbaserat action-spel för datorer i Windows-miljösomsedanvarmed ochtävladei nordens största spelutvecklar-tävling, Swedish Game Awards. I spelet,som vi döpt till Battle of Life, tar sig spelaren an en farlig och oförlåtande värld och måste slåss mot andra spelareför att överleva.  Vi förklarar i denna rapport hur vi, under tio veckors tid,utvecklar ett spel från grundenoch vilka verktyg och metoder vi använde oss av för att genomföra uppgiften. Vi beskriver projektets mot-och framgångar samt hur vi löste de problem vi komi kontakt med under utveklingens gång.Vi går in djupare på varför vi gjordevissa designbeslut och hur de påverkade vårt slutliga resultat.Avslutningsvis diskuterarviom utveklingsprocessen och spelets eventuella framtid, både från vårt eget perspektivsom utvecklaremen även från ett samhällsenligt perspektiv. / In this report we describe how we, as two students at ÖrebroUniversity, developed a network based action-game for computers in windows-environment that later competed in Scandinavia’slargestgame developer competition, Swedish Game Awards. In the game, that we named Battle of Life, the player take on a dangerous and unforgiving world and have to fight against other players to survive.  We explain in this report how we, during ten weeks, develop a game from the beginning and what tools and methods we used to complete the task. We describe the projectssetbacks and successes and how we solved the problems we encountered during the development. We describe deeper why we made some of ourdesign decisions and how it affected the end result. Finally we discuss the development process and the games potential future, both from our own perspective as developers but also from the society’s point of view.

Game development presents more challenges as this type of software becomes more complex and detailed. As in the development of traditional software, this growth in scope incurs in a development process that costs more and has a longer production time, increasing the risks faced by companies that wish to enter or maintain themselves in the electronic game market. With this, it becomes increasingly desirable to search and implement tools that allow for the reduction of required resources to develop games. It is also noticeable that there is an increasing need to proved development teams with new tools that allow faster creation of prototypes, enabling them to test and evolve new game ideas in a nimbler and less expensive way. This work presents the project and implementation of a modular platform that aims to solve or lessen the aforementioned problems, offering a tool that allows for the development of games with reduced costs, in addition to simplifying the quick prototyping process. Through the use of a programming approach based on reusable software components written in different programming languages, this work aims to enable methodologies that are able to foster code reuse, to facilitate team work, to reduce development time and to improve the quality of the final product. / O desenvolvimento de jogos apresenta mais desafios à medida que softwares desse tipo tornam-se mais complexos e detalhados. Assim como no desenvolvimento de softwares tradicionais, esse crescimento do escopo incorre em custos maiores e prazos de produção mais longos, aumentando os riscos enfrentados por empresas do ramo que buscam situar-se ou manter-se no mercado de jogos eletrônicos. Com isso, torna-se cada vez mais desejável buscar e implementar formas de desenvolvimento que possibilitem a redução de recursos necessários para a produção desse tipo de software. Também se observa um aumento da necessidade de disponibilizar às equipes de desenvolvimento novas ferramentas que possibilitem a criação mais rápida de protótipos, permitindo testar e evoluir novas ideias de jogos de forma mais ágil e menos onerosa. Este trabalho trata do projeto e da implementação de uma plataforma modular que objetiva a resolução ou amenização dos problemas citados, oferecendo uma ferramenta que possibilite o desenvolvimento de jogos com custo reduzido, além de simplificar o processo de prototipação rápida. Através do uso de uma abordagem de programação baseada no uso de componentes de software reaproveitáveis escritos em diferentes linguagens de programação, este trabalho busca tornar possível metodologias que sejam capazes de incentivar o reuso de código, facilitar o trabalho em equipe, reduzir o tempo de desenvolvimento e melhorar a qualidade do produto final.

The discussion of LGBT, and specifically, trans identity and its place in games is oneflourishing with more and more research from scholars. Though a glaring issue stillseems to haunt the field, as the voice of LGBT creators and gamers seems to be missingfrom the video game industry and research alike, which is counterproductive to theultimate goal of bettering the environment of games for LGBT gamers and creators. Asa subset to this, a similarly lacking voice is that of the trans gamer. This thesis aims totherefore further explore the stories of a selection of trans gamers through a co-designdriven approach, in an attempt to explore what the trans audience desires from themedium of games, and to explore and to speculate approaches. The findings wouldshow that allowing the participants to themselves lead the study allows for a different,flourishing selection of ideas and hypotheses. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p>

Actualmente, uno de los principales problemas que presentan muchos videojuegos es la falta de actualizaciones o contenido adicional. Este es el caso del Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), el cual presenta la ausencia de licencias de muchas ligas o equipos, lo que limita la experiencia de juego. Por ello, para responder a esta necesidad por parte del segmento de jugadores de PES, es necesario el desarrollo de contenido adicional al juego a modo de un parche, es decir, una modificación que añade actualizaciones al gusto de los jugadores. Identificando esta necesidad, nació la propuesta de CM Parches, cuyo objetivo es adicionar al PES un portafolio más amplio de ligas y equipos para el deleite de los usuarios, así como mejorar la experiencia de juego con un contenido de calidad y novedoso. Para la ejecución del proyecto CM Parches, se tuvo que validar el problema por medio de entrevistas a profundidad, al igual que desarrollar un modelo CANVAS para trabajar en la propuesta de valor. En segundo lugar, se validaron todos los elementos del modelo de negocio con distintos experimentos. En tercer lugar, se ejecutó un “Plan Concierge”, el cual sirvió para medir el interés de compra y ejecutar las proyecciones de venta. Finalmente, se desarrolló un análisis financiero para comprobar la rentabilidad del proyecto. Como autores del proyecto, anhelamos que esta nueva propuesta conquiste al segmento elegido, posea un alto grado de diferenciación en el mercado y supere las expectativas de rentabilidad. / Currently, one of the main problems that many video games present is the lack of updates or additional content. This is the case of Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), which presents the absence of licenses for many leagues or teams, which limits the gaming experience. Therefore, to respond this target need, It’s necessary to develop additional content to the videogame as an “Option File”, in other words, a modification that adds updates to the taste of the players. Identifying this need, CM Parches’ proposal was born, whose objective is to add a broader portfolio of leagues and teams to the game to the delight of users, as well as improve the gaming experience with quality and innovative content. For the execution of this project, the main problem had to be validated through in - depth interviews, as well as develop a CANVAS model to work on the value proposition. Also, all the elements of the business model were validated with different experiments. In a third place, a “Concierge Plan” was executed, which served to measure purchase interest and execute sales projections. Finally, a financial analysis was developed to verify the profitability of the project. As authors of the project, we hope that this new proposal conquers our target, has a high differentiation in the market and exceeds profitability expectations. / Trabajo de investigación

Thesis is focused on evaluation of available tools for 3D application development. In one selected tool (Blender) is created computer game. This game demonstrates Blender's capabilities. The process of creating is recorded in a case study for the possible purposes of own complex games development.