Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-22T12:17:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Saulo de Oliveira Machado.pdf: 2123394 bytes, checksum: c349146a4877892402785fb3a1e6f964 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T12:17:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Saulo de Oliveira Machado.pdf: 2123394 bytes, checksum: c349146a4877892402785fb3a1e6f964 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The attendant research aims to describe the present relations between the concepts of magic circle and metagame and how they are evidenced in the experience of the player. With the increasing presence of digital and board games in the daily life of society, it seems propitious that we return efforts to decipher the elements that make up the experience lived in the games through the players. Through the review of these two concepts we managed to elaborate how their joint acting is presented through a common player presence in the game. To do so, we start with a review of the concepts of magic circle and metagame, its definitions, its most used approaches and how they focus on the experience that the player has during the game. Finally, we focus on demonstrating the presence of these concepts through the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, a game that constains in its diverse ways of playing, various approaches for the player to have contact with his universe / A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever as relações presentes entre os conceitos de círculo mágico e metajogo e como eles se evidenciam na experiência do jogador. Com a crescente presença dos jogos digitais e de tabuleiro no cotidiano da sociedade, parece propício que voltemos esforços em decifrar os elementos que compõe a experiência vivida nos jogos através dos jogadores. Através da revisão destes dois conceitos conseguir elaborar como sua atuação conjunta se apresenta através de um ator comum presença do jogador no jogar. Para tanto, partimos de uma revisão dos conceitos de círculo mágico e metajogo, suas definições, suas abordagens mais utilizadas e como eles se incidem sobre a experiência que o jogador tem durante o jogar. Por fim, nos concentramos em demonstrar a presença destes conceitos através do MMORPG, World of Warcraft, um game que consegue conter em seus diversificados modos de jogar, diversas abordagens para que o jogador tenha contato com seu universo

Video games are a part of modern culture. As video game spaces begin to enter a new generation’s spatial lexicon, it is important for architects, curators of spatial design, to understand this new medium of space. This thesis aims to introduce two concepts specific to video game design, the magic circle and flow, to architects as a means of understanding the design of video game spaces. First coined by the Dutch historian Johann Huizinga in Homo Ludens, and later adapted by video game designers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, the magic circle refers to the boundary created by the rules of a game that separate reality from the fantasy of the game. Within the magic circle, the rules of play can transform and give new meaning to spatial organizations that could be considered problematic in real world architectural design. Flow is a psychological concept introduced by Hungarian psychology professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. When completing a task, flow occurs when both the skill level of the participant and the challenge level of the task are equally high. When a state of flow is achieved, the task becomes enjoyable and can be carried out indefinitely until the balance is broken. Effective video games spaces are specifically designed to contribute to flow experiences, while ineffective spaces can make a game too easy or too hard, creating a boredom or anxiety for the player. Through a series of explorations and video game case studies, specifically in the first-person and third person shooter genre, this thesis first observes the transformation of implied spatial meanings in the magic circle. It then introduces the unique spatial languages used to generate spaces that support the creation of flow alongside the gameplay and narrative of a video game. This thesis culminates with the design and execution of an original capture the flag map created with the Unreal Engine that tests the concepts of the magic circle and flow in video game spaces. As video games become increasingly ubiquitous, this thesis acts as means of entry for architects to understand the unique properties of an emerging form of spatial design.

Video games are a part of modern culture. As video game spaces begin to enter a new generation’s spatial lexicon, it is important for architects, curators of spatial design, to understand this new medium of space. This thesis aims to introduce two concepts specific to video game design, the magic circle and flow, to architects as a means of understanding the design of video game spaces. First coined by the Dutch historian Johann Huizinga in Homo Ludens, and later adapted by video game designers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, the magic circle refers to the boundary created by the rules of a game that separate reality from the fantasy of the game. Within the magic circle, the rules of play can transform and give new meaning to spatial organizations that could be considered problematic in real world architectural design. Flow is a psychological concept introduced by Hungarian psychology professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. When completing a task, flow occurs when both the skill level of the participant and the challenge level of the task are equally high. When a state of flow is achieved, the task becomes enjoyable and can be carried out indefinitely until the balance is broken. Effective video games spaces are specifically designed to contribute to flow experiences, while ineffective spaces can make a game too easy or too hard, creating a boredom or anxiety for the player. Through a series of explorations and video game case studies, specifically in the first-person and third person shooter genre, this thesis first observes the transformation of implied spatial meanings in the magic circle. It then introduces the unique spatial languages used to generate spaces that support the creation of flow alongside the gameplay and narrative of a video game. This thesis culminates with the design and execution of an original capture the flag map created with the Unreal Engine that tests the concepts of the magic circle and flow in video game spaces. As video games become increasingly ubiquitous, this thesis acts as means of entry for architects to understand the unique properties of an emerging form of spatial design.

Kontextmedvetna spel låter den reella omgivningenpåverka aspekter av spelinnehållet. Då kontextmedvetna spel i en mobil miljö är ett väl utforskat område saknas forskning kring dess möjlighet att även fungera i en stationär miljö. I denna utforskande studie har en modifikation till det stationära spelet Cities: Skylines utvecklats som låter spelarens aktivitet påverka nästkommande spelsession. Modifikationen har sedan använts vid en användarstudie som undersökt hur denna typ av mer löst kopplade kontext där spel och kontext är tidsmässigt separerade påverkar spelarens upplevelse. Studien visar att denna typ av kontextmedvetenhet upplevs önskvärt. Det kan dock krävas någon form av hjälpande länk som förstärker kopplingen mellan spel och kontext samt att kontextmedvetenhetens syfte bör vara att förstärka spelupplevelsen snarare än att vara en drivande faktor.

This study researches the possibility of creating immersion through the use of breaks in fiction that includes the player inside of the game world through the use of their real name, age gender and more. The qualitative method is used in the form of semi-structured interviews with two groups of respondents (one consisting of experienced players and one with inexperienced) who were made to play an artefact, in the form of a visual novel like experience set in a chat room. The reason for having two groups was to find out if their experiences would differ or not.The results of the study show that the majority of the respondents were able to immerse themselves in the artefact and that the fiction breaks and the use of the player’s real life information played a role in achieving this. However a minority of the respondents did not agree with this and stated that they found the fiction breaks distracting and that the use of them broke their immersion. This, along with the fact that the artefact mostly focused on the narrative rather than gameplay, makes it hard for the study to draw any definitive conclusions for video games at large. It does however show that it is possible for fiction breaks to immerse the player.

Online gaming has over the years become very popular and during the global pandemic of 2019, gained an even larger amount of people indulging in the activity. All this online activity has led to a decline in in-person social interactions which have been researched to have negative effects on young adults. This thesis aims to find ways to promote more in-person social interaction with the help of games. An artifact in the form of a video game was created with active video game principles and pervasive game characteristics in mind, with the goal of achieving social interaction between players and spectators. Nintendo Joy-Con controllers are the main controller used and an external microphone to capture sounds is used to fulfill the prerequisites of pervasive games. A collection of five different minigames was created, all with different ways that noise can affect the gameplay. The results of the experiments showed that the artifact promotes in-person social interactions between players and spectators by making the spectators able to interact with the games.

I denna studie som utgår från Huizingas begrepp ”den magiska cirkeln” undersöksapplikationen Tilt Brush för VR headsetet HTC Vive med avseende på dess bild ochljud samt hur detta tolkas och används under interaktionen med applikationens verktyg.Begreppet utgår ifrån att användaren kan låta sig uppslukas i ett spel så längeförväntningarna enligt spelets regler inte störs. Genom en fallstudie har applikationenstuderats med metoder som autoetnografi och multimodal analys utifrånsocialsemiotiska begrepp, samt öppna intervjuer med inslag av ”think-aloud”. Deliknande iakttagelser som framkommit med hjälp av olika metoder får anses styrkastudiens resultat. Resultaten i studien pekar på att det för interaktionens del är viktigt attvissa aspekter av ljudet, som har med positionering eller fysikens lagar att göra,stämmer överens med våra erfarenheter från verkligheten och att detta i sin tur stämmeröverens med det visuellt representerade. För bildens och ljudens meningserbjudanden iövrigt är användaren beredd att gå med på vilka oerhörda illusioner som helst så längebild och ljud kommuniceras i överensstämmelse och på ett trovärdigt sätt som lever upptill användarens förväntningar inom den magiska cirkeln, platsen för själva spelet.Förväntningarna behöver då inte ha med verkligheten att göra. Vad som uppfattas somhög modalitet styrs av vilken genre användaren förväntar sig att möta. Detta i sin turrelateras till användarens tidigare erfarenheter och sociala och kulturella bakgrund.

This thesis broadens the discussion surrounding the fourth wall and immersion in games; the hypothesis being that there are more ways to manipulate the fourth wall other than breaking it, and that manipulation of the fourth wall does not necessarily break immersion. Four types of fourth wall manipulation have been labeled in this body of work: breaking, expansion, contraction, and grazing. Expansion and contraction derive from Simon Conway (2010), with minor augmentations to the contraction category having been made by this thesis. The term breaking has been narrowed down and specified while grazing was invented for this particular study. The aim is to update terminology surrounding the fourth wall to introduce it as a narrative tool for game designers, where the tool can be used in different ways that underline the narrative experience that designers want to convey. The study was done by a close reading of the games Metal Gear Solid and NieR: Automata, but references other games relevant to the different types of manipulation. The results show that the identified instances of fourth wall manipulation within the two focus games can all fit in the proposed updated terminology, with some instances elevating the play experience.

No description available.

This thesis research explores the patterns of player-character relationships and player-character attachment in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) and Genshin Impact (2020). The purpose of the paper is to fill in the existing gap in the literature concerning the psychological and social mechanisms of attachment that players form with non-customizable game characters. The research explores the nature of player-character attachment in its relation to game mechanics and broader social context, as well as its transformative potential.   The research relies on interdisciplinary mixed-methods methodology, drawing from the fields of psychology and anthropology. The first part of the research employs auto-ethnographic data on the authors' personal relationships with game characters. The second part involves a series of qualitative in-depth interviews with players of Animal Crossing and Genshin Impact. Thematic analysis with the elements of case-study methodology is applied to the interview data. The results of the interview analysis are compared between the two player groups, as well as to the findings of the auto-ethnographic inquiry. The main results of the comparative analysis suggest that players’ perceptions of characters in the studied games can be categorized as character-as-object and character-as-other. Further on, a distinction can be made between two types of attachment that players form with characters-as-others. The first one is player-for-character, focused primarily on a player’s relatedness and empathy towards a character. The second one is character-for-player, where a game character is perceived as a supporting and caring figure that transcends the boundaries of the game. The relationship types are not mutually exclusive, and both of them have been found to have transformative potential.