This paper investigates alternative scheduling for game objects in a game engine by using priority based algorithms and comparing different priority assigning methods. Research concerning commercial game engines, game loops, concurrency and scheduling was performed. Three different scheduling algorithms were created and tested using a varying amount of game objects between two different testing scenarios. The results showed that using priority based scheduling gave a slight increase in average frames  per second (FPS) as well as boosting logical update performance of prioritized objects, however overall performance was decreased. The reason this decrease in performance occurred could have been due to the way the scheduler was implemented, and despite the decrease in performance using a priority based scheduling system was considered feasible within certain game engines. / Denna uppsats undersöker alternativa sätt för schemaläggning av spelobjekt i en spelmotor genom att använda prioriteringsbaserade algoritmer och jämföra olika tilldelningssätt för prioritetsmetoder. Forskning gällande kommersiella spelmotorer, ''game loops'', parallellisering och schemaläggning utfördes. Tre olika schemaläggningsalgoritmer skapades och testades med ett varierande antal spelobjekt i två olika testscenarion. Resultaten visade att användning av prioritetsbaserad schemaläggning gav en lätt ökning av det genomsnittliga antalet bilder per sekund (FPS) och gav bättre logikuppdateringsprestanda för prioriterade objekt. Den totala prestandan minskade dock. Anledningen till att denna minskning i prestanda skedde kan bero på hur schemaläggaren implementerades, men trots denna prestandaminskning ansågs schemaläggningssystemet vara möjlig inom vissa spelmotorer.

In game based learning, motivating the players to learn by providing them a desirable gameplay experience is extremely important. However, it's not an easy task considering the quality of today's commercial non-educational games. Throughout the gameplay, the player should neither get overwhelmed nor under-challenged. The best way to do so is to monitor the player's actions in the game because these actions can tell the reason behind the player's performance. They can also tell about the player's lacking competencies or knowledge. Based on this information, in-game educational interventions in the form of hints can be provided to the player. The success of such games depends on their interactivity, motivational outlook and thus player retention. UNTANGLED is an online mapping game based on crowd-sourcing, developed by Reconfigurable Computing Lab, UNT for the mapping problem of CGRAs. It is also an educational game for teaching the concepts of reconfigurable computing. This thesis performs qualitative comparative analysis on gameplays of low performing players of UNTANGLED. And the implications of this analysis are used to provide recommendations for improving the gameplay experience for these players by guiding them. The recommendations include strategies to reach a high score and a compact solution, hints in the form of preset patterns and a clustering based approach.

The purpose of this study was to experiment with the possibility of using ludonarrative techniques present in games to communicate the socio-communicative impairments common in individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Through extensive research, there is a pronounced lack of Autism representation in the form of diagnosed characters and their behaviors in games that there is little research made in this area. To explore this hypothetical quandary, an experiment was performed to test the effectiveness of how games may be used to convey concepts of Autism Spectrum Disorder to neurotypical individuals to enrich their understanding of the disorder and towards those who have it, through the creation and usage of a language based puzzle game prototype. The results concluded that disguising ASD symptoms and concepts as ludonarrative gameplay metaphors was effective in increasing awareness and interest towards the disorder.

This research explores player motivations in first-person shooter competitive multiplayer games and proposes game mechanics illustrated in gameplay contexts that promote competence, relatedness, and autonomy. By adopting a self-deterministic lens for exploring player motivations and experiences, and how they are negatively affected by toxic play, the study aims to identify insights that could diminish the negative effects for standard players. Following a design-based research approach, the project employed player-centred methods to explore personal accounts of experience in the researched context. The end result is an annotated portfolio presenting game mechanics in gameplay contexts that allow players to understand who they are playing with and against, to bond with their teammates, and to get a second chance to rejoin the game. The annotated portfolio frames the knowledge contribution as insights into how the designs enhance perceived competence, relatedness, and autonomy.

Ce mémoire étudie la dynamique communicationnelle et interactionnelle entre un joueur et un système de jeu par l’entremise des théories de l’énonciation et de la cognition. Par une analyse des jeux vidéo d’horreur en perspective à la première personne, il s’agit de conceptualiser une spirale heuristique de l’énonciation à partir des principes théoriques du Cycle Magique (Arsenault et Perron, 2009). Le propos se focalise sur la manière dont le joueur expérimente et traite les propositions ludiques et les propositions ludodiégétiques. L’intérêt est d’observer comment la valeur réflexive des marques de jeu et des marques de jouabilité sert à départager des relations d’attribution entre des formulations énonciatives (textuelles, verbales, visuelles, sonores ou procédurales) et des agents énonciatifs. Cette recherche rend compte, d’une part, de la gestion cognitive des faits énonciatifs et, d’autre part, de la modulation de leurs valeurs d’immédiateté-hypermédiateté et de leurs rapports de liaison/déliaison avec les agents énonciatifs. Il est expliqué que cette activité cognitive du joueur dirige la schématisation d’attitudes interactionnelles servant à structurer la signification – ludique ou narrative – des propositions ludiques générées au cours de l’activité de jeu. L’analyse cible des processus de mise en phase performative et de mise en phase méta-systémique ludique permettant la détermination de vecteurs d’immersion. En fonction du caractère d’opacité ou de transparence des vecteurs, il est question d’indiquer comment la posture d’expérience du joueur oscille entre un continuum immersif qui polarise une expérience systémique et une expérience diégétisée. / This master thesis studies the communicative and interactional dynamics between a gamer and a game system through the theories of film enunciation and cognition. By analyzing first-person survival horror video games, the purpose is to conceptualize a heuristic spiral of enunciation following the theoretical frame of the Magic Cycle (Arsenault and Perron, 2009). It will be explained that the self-reflexive nature of “game mark” (marque de jeu) and “gameplay mark” (marque de jouabilité) serve to assigned a relationships between an enunciative formulation (textual, verbal, visual, auditory or procedural), the contextual details, and an agent of enunciation. This methodology aim to analyze the gamer’s cognitive negotiation of the immediacy-hypermediacy value through the setting of “linking relations” (rapport de liaison) and “unlinking relations” (rapport de déliaison). This will explained how the gamer produced meaning from some “ludics propositions” and “ludodiegetics propostitions” in order to proceed with the cognitive mapping of interactional attitudes. It will be discuss that through the process of “performative attuning” (mise en phase performative) and “meta-systemic ludic attuning” (mise en phase méta-systémique ludique), these propositions are then introduced as immersive vector. Depending on the vector’s immediacy-hypermediacy value, the gamer’s experience oscillates on an immersive continuum which polarized a systemic experience and a diegetic experience.

No description available.

Com base na investigação prática \"INCUBADORA\", que ocorreu concomitantemente ao estudo teórico, esta dissertação tem o objetivo de confrontar teatro com games, usando como referência o jogo de simulação The Sims. O foco do experimento foi estudar a apropriação dos mecanismos de jogabilidade na dramaturgia, na encenação e na atuação. Esse procedimento se deu por meio de um software especialmente desenvolvido, que permitiu aos espectadores - usando seus próprios aparelhos celulares - interagir com o jogo cênico, o que foi denominado interfaceamento da cena. Esta proposta teve por objetivo perturbar o espaço do \"espectadorcontemplador\" e testar a possibilidade de um \"espectador-interator\". A fim de refletir a respeito do teatro no contexto cultural de mídias digitais, são propostos, então, os conceitos de \"drama gamificado\" e \"espetáculo-game\". / Based on the practice research \"INCUBADORA\", which occurred concomitantly with the theoretical study, this thesis aims to confront theater with games, using the simulation game The Sims as reference. The focus was to study the mechanisms of appropriation of gameplay by dramaturgy, staging and performance. This procedure was done through a specially developed software that allowed viewers to interact with the scenic game using their own mobile phones. This procedure was called interfacing scene. This proposal aimed to disrupt the space of \"spectator-beholder\" and test the possibility of a \"spectator-interactor\". In order to rethink the theater in the cultural context of digital media, it is proposed the concepts of \" gamificated drama\" and \"gamespetacle\".

Générer du gameplay est un incontournable objectif de la réalisation d'un jeu. Nous le recherchons lorsque nous nous rentrons dans la bulle ludique. Pourtant, les éléments produits par les game designer sont des systèmes de jeu, des règles, une simulation, etc. Pour que ce système permette la naissance du gameplay, les game designers doivent nécessairement tenter de modéliser le joueur. Empiriquement ils manipulent des modèles psychologiques et sociologiques du joueur : Courbe d'apprentissage, gestion de la difficulté, degré d'efficience (etc.). Au cœur de la session de jeu industriel et chercheur ont besoin de moyens pour mieux cerner le joueur. La question que nous nous posons est celle de la détection des traits psychologiques, d'éléments caractérisant du joueur, au travers du gameplay ou, pour le moins, engagé dans une expérience ludique. Nous proposons une méthode de game design dédiée à la création d'un profil psychologique du joueur. Nous avons pu l'expérimenter lors d'un travail de collaboration avec INETOP et Paris Ouest sur la question des tests d'orientation professionnelle. Il s'agit du serious game JEU SERAI, développé en partenariat avec l'industriel Wizarbox. Cette première expérimentation nous permet d'envisager un développement de ce champ de recherche à la croisée des sciences de l'informatique, de la psychologie et des sciences cognitives.

Ce travail de recherche s’inspire de l’approche d’énaction élaborée par F.-J Varela lorsqu’il développa sa théorie de la cognition incarnée. Pour qu’une propriété cognitive soit incarnée, il faut que l’organisme vivant s’engage perceptivement dans un processus dynamique avec le monde environnant. Afin de développer les moyens musicaux pour motiver les auditeurs à s’approprier leurs expériences vécues, nous proposons le terme « d’espace sensible » dans le but d’articuler le jeu d’écoute musicale et de l’expérience inter-sensorielle et corporelle. Cette dernière consiste en l’expérience d’interaction sensorielle entre l’extéroception et la proprioception. De même, nous spécifions l’expérience corporelle sur ses deux aspects : le corps physique et le corps virtuel – leschéma corporel et l’image du corps. La relation inharmonieuse de ces deux aspects du corps entraînera chez un sujet-percevant une tension, voire une souffrance, physique et psychique. Pour entraîner le sujet-percevant à prendre conscience de cette discordance, différentes méthodes de rééducation somatique sont développées. Dans ce contexte, émettons l’hypothèse que l’utilisation de dispositifs musicaux interactifs peut contribuer à l’exploration de l’espace sensible et ainsi exercer un impact bénéfique dans le cadre de la rééducation somatique. Les moyens de démonstration consistent en la construction et le test de protocoles de jeux d’écoute, à exposer le public à des dispositifs multimédia interactifs ainsi que l’étude de cas propre aux enfants atteints d’autisme. Nous nous approprions plusieurs techniques pour mettre en place des dispositifs musicaux interactifs : l’improvisation collaborative, la synchronisation spontanée de la posture et du mouvement corporel, l’empathie kinesthésique réciproque. Enfin, nous mettons en évidence les effets bénéfiques de l’introduction des dispositifs musicaux numériques dans le cadre du soin somatique. A la vue de ces résultats expérimentaux, nous sommes autorisés à affirmer que l’exploration de l’écoute peut avoir un impact bénéfique dans un contexte de rééducation somatique à condition que l’écoute soit en acte et vécue musicalement. / This research was inspired by the enactive approach elaborated by F.-J Varelawhen he developed the embodied cognition theory; a living organism has to be involved physically and perceptually in a dynamic process with its surrounding environment so that a cognitive property can be embodied. To develop musical possibilities to motivate the listeners to appropriate their real life experiences, we are proposing the term "sensitive space" to articulate two practices of inter-sensory and physical experience : gameplay of musical listening and somatic exercise. This inter-sensory experience consists of the sensory interaction between exteroception and proprioception. We also focus on two specific aspects of this physical experience: the physical body and the virtual body - the body schema and the body image. The inharmonious relation of these two aspects will lead to a tension, sometimes to physical and psychic pain. To help the perceiving subject to become aware of this conflict, various somatic techniques are developed. We emit the hypothesis that the use of interactive musical devices can contribute to the exploration of the sensitive space, and thus bring a beneficial impact in somatic learning and rehabilitation. Several ways of demonstrating are: 1) the construction and tests of listening gameplay protocols, 2) the public exhibition of interactive multimedia devices 3) the case study on children affected by autism. We use different techniques to set up interactive musical devices: collective improvisation, spontaneous synchronization of the posture or the physical movement, kinesthetic empathy, etc. Finally, we highlight the beneficial aspects of introducing the interactive musical devices within the framework of healthcare. With these experimental results, we can then assert that the exploration of musical listening can have a beneficial impact in the context of somatic learning, on the condition that the listening is an act and lived musically.

Com base na investigação prática \"INCUBADORA\", que ocorreu concomitantemente ao estudo teórico, esta dissertação tem o objetivo de confrontar teatro com games, usando como referência o jogo de simulação The Sims. O foco do experimento foi estudar a apropriação dos mecanismos de jogabilidade na dramaturgia, na encenação e na atuação. Esse procedimento se deu por meio de um software especialmente desenvolvido, que permitiu aos espectadores - usando seus próprios aparelhos celulares - interagir com o jogo cênico, o que foi denominado interfaceamento da cena. Esta proposta teve por objetivo perturbar o espaço do \"espectadorcontemplador\" e testar a possibilidade de um \"espectador-interator\". A fim de refletir a respeito do teatro no contexto cultural de mídias digitais, são propostos, então, os conceitos de \"drama gamificado\" e \"espetáculo-game\". / Based on the practice research \"INCUBADORA\", which occurred concomitantly with the theoretical study, this thesis aims to confront theater with games, using the simulation game The Sims as reference. The focus was to study the mechanisms of appropriation of gameplay by dramaturgy, staging and performance. This procedure was done through a specially developed software that allowed viewers to interact with the scenic game using their own mobile phones. This procedure was called interfacing scene. This proposal aimed to disrupt the space of \"spectator-beholder\" and test the possibility of a \"spectator-interactor\". In order to rethink the theater in the cultural context of digital media, it is proposed the concepts of \" gamificated drama\" and \"gamespetacle\".