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.

This study seeks to analyze the japanese role-playing video game Valkyria Chronicles. Since the game uses a fictionalized european scene of World War 2 as its setting, it is an interesting object for analysis. The work is done through using the theoretical framework of the use of history as developed by Peter Aronsson among others and Occidentalism, or the representation of the west. The study shows that while the context in which the game’s events occurs in is fictional, the events are heavily influenced by WW2 and fits into categories of history use such as monumental use and furthermore is employed in a way which works in a way to relate the events to a japanese audience by the frequent and heavy use of moral appeal. The occidental tendencies are found in the disdain for metropolitan culture the game displays, and the favoring of the rural milieu

This paper covers the JRPG subgenre as it compares to the greater RPG genre. These will be compared through how games can, through their mechanics, be traced back to which types of society the games originate from. These societal types are collectivism and individualism, as defined by Richard Brislin (2000). The games are divided into Japanese games and Western games, and are examined for evidence of societal ties in their gameplay mechanics that tie them to their country of origin, or evidence that contend those ties. / Detta examensarbete täcker JRPG-subgenren och jämför denna med den bredare RPG-genren. Dessa jämförs genom hur spel kan, genom deras mekaniker, spåras tillbaka till vilka typer av samhälle spelen härstammar från. Dessa samhällsformer är kollektivism och individualism, enligt definitionen av Richard Brislin (2000). Spelen är uppdelade i japanska spel och västerländska spel och undersöks för bevis på samhällsband i deras spelmekanik som knyter dem till sitt ursprungsland eller bevis som strider mot dessa band.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse au jeu de rôle numérique, plus spécifiquement le jeu vidéo appartenant au genre du jeu de rôle. Pour comprendre ce genre, il est nécessaire d’en faire l’histoire pour en lire l’évolution à travers le temps. Or, une simple lecture historique ne parvient que très partiellement à restituer un portrait d’ensemble de ce type de jeu vidéo. À partir de notions de genre, de jeu de rôle et d’histoire, ce mémoire dresse un bilan historiographique du RPG ainsi que de ses écritures. Ce bilan permet de dégager les enjeux principaux qui ont articulé l’histoire du jeu de rôle numérique, enjeux qui sont ensuite soumis à une enquête historique. Cette enquête menée sur la critique de jeu vidéo dans des magazines spécialisés entre 1980 et 2006 permet de restituer l’état des lieux à une époque donnée et de le comparer aux écrits des historiens du genre. À la lumière de ces résultats, ce mémoire documente, précise et nuance l’histoire du jeu de rôle telle que construite par les historiens et offre une vision plus actuelle du jeu de rôle numérique d’hier à aujourd’hui. / This master thesis studies digital role-playing games, in this case referring to video games of the role-playing game genre. To do so, it is necessary to study the genre’s history to better understand its evolution through time. However, a historical overview does not fully account for the phenomena of digital role-playing games. Using notions of genre, role-playing games and history, this thesis provides an overview of the history and historiography of role-playing games and its writing. This overview then highlights some major issues which have been integral parts to the genre’s history. These issues are then the focus of a historical study, using video game reviews found in specialized magazines from 1980 to 2006, to situate the state of things in defined points in time regarding role-playing games and compare it to what the genre’s historians have written. This thesis then uses the results obtained to document, clarify, and nuance the history of digital role-playing games built by its historians, and offers a more accurate picture of role-playing video games through their history.

Dans les jeux vidéo de rôle japonais (JRPG), si le héros est généralement un personnage masculin hétérosexuel se battant à l’arme blanche pour sauver le monde, le personnage de soutien principal est une jeune femme éprise du protagoniste et dotée de divers attributs associés au féminin (apparence soignée, mais peu adaptée au combat, tendance à occuper un rôle de soutien…). À partir du constat selon lequel la plupart des analyses féministes occidentales ne prennent pas en considération le contexte culturel spécifique japonais qui voit naître les JRPG, ce mémoire construit un cadre conceptuel pour mieux décrire et comprendre les tendances historiques de l’évolution des personnages féminins de ces objets vidéoludiques. Il fait appel au concept de l’agentivité, utilisé à la fois en études du jeu et en études féministes littéraires, pour établir des liens entre le genre d’un personnage et la jouabilité qui lui est associée, puis à des travaux japonais sur les phénomènes otaku pour s’assurer d’intégrer un point de vue non-occidental sur ces objets culturels. ll se termine par une analyse des rôles en combat et dans le récit des personnages féminins de la série Tales of. / In Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), if the typical protagonist is a male brunet swordsman saving the world, the typical support character is a young good-looking woman, enamored with the protagonist, and whose fighting style focuses on supporting him rather than offense. From the observation that most occidental feminist analysis in game studies do not take into consideration the specific cultural context in which JRPGs are born, this master thesis builds a theoretical framework to allow a deeper understanding of the historical dynamics that have guided the evolution of female characters in these videogames. This thesis examines the uses of the concept of agency in both game studies and literary gender studies, in order to bridge gameplay and gender. It then integrates Japanese perspectives of female characters in otaku cultural objects, such as mangas and animes. The thesis ends by depicting of the evolution of female characters in the Tales of series, more specifically their combat roles and importance in the story.