Player Psychology

This paper considers cities in single-player fantasy role-playing games, identifying recurring tropes in terms of the spatial functions by which they shape the player’s lived experience of the gameworld. The functions of centring, demarcation of inside and outside, movement and encounter will be considered, both in terms of the spatial organizations determining them, and in terms of the spatial practices they give rise to. The analysis shall be anchored in a close engagement with a number of representative titles, including Baldur’s Gate, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Dragon Age: Origins, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt.

Personality is an important aspect when deciding group dynamics. Depending on a person"s way of decision-making, or choice of playstyle, this can change a Final Fantasy game"s playthrough. For this study, the playstyles of Final Fantasy X in Japan and the United States were surveyed. This research involved using Hofstede"s cultural dimensions theoretical framework combined with Likert scale player responses. This research project aimed to show that individual player decisions aligned with the choices expected and predicted by the Hofstede"s cultural dimensions framework. The project focused on five of the Hofstede dimensions: individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, time orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and restraint/ indulgence. The data collected validated this hypothesis in the majority of the dimensions studied.

RPG is a game genre that focuses the cooperative interaction among players, as well as socialization and the improvement of communication skills. As these actions form the very context of these games, RPGs have an inherent level of decision-making that naturally occurs at all times throughout the course of the game. Those reasons led the idea to take advantage of the RPG genre to design a model that is built in a Petri Net and that combines concepts taken from the Game Theory and from the Theory of Persuasion for easing the decision-making process in, particularly, MMORPG environments, as they have all the benefits of the RPG genre and additionally, involves a massive number of players in a kind of plot, thus, reinforcing the needing of interaction and of taking decisions.

In this article, we develop a theory of gameplay labour, acknowledging the paradigm of political economy yet grounded in game design and play, called ‘cultivation play’. In most understandings of game work, theorists traditionally explain digital labour in games as inherently difficult or manipulative. Instead, we propose a theory that explains how gameplay work can be organized around a design heuristic – character progression – that is rewarding, given the objectives and interests of different kinds of players. We explicate our theoretical intervention through an analysis of four games: Stardew Valley, Grand Theft Auto V, The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3 . We specifically examine upgrade paths, what we call character progression tasks, wherein levelling up, progressing, gaining in-game skills and working towards goals operate to create an environment of gameplay work that players may find engaging.

Primes numbers are ‘hidden’ in a sea of Prime Multiples, (PMs). Primes are not random but are found in the defined ‘gaps /slots’ not occupied by Prime Multiples. PMs can be easily calculated without any prior knowledge of Primes and they open a window into the world of Primes. Techniques to compute Prime Multiples are presented [1]. A Template7, (a system of rows & columns) may be used to highlight regions where primes cannot exist and these template rows are called Non-Prime-Rows, NPRs. These smaller NPRs generate many other larger NPRs, which on occasions become sequential that produce large Prime Gaps.

Se resuelve un pórtico hiperestático hasta la determinación de las reacciones de apoyo, empleando el método de Kani para la determinación de los momentos por tramos; el pórtico presenta dos niveles y tres vanos inferiores, los nudos inferiores se encuentran empotrados.  Se asume E = constante.  Se han desarrollado todos los cálculos con tres cifras decimales, con la finalidad de que el lector pueda verificar los cálculos de forma manual; asimismo, se detallan algunos cálculos realizados de forma detallada.

Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus (faveleira), a caatinga xerophyte Euphorbiaceae tree, produces proteinrich forage consumed by ruminants. It should be used carefully due to urticaceous thorns in leaves, fine branches and fruits, and antinutritional substances present in fresh material. The narrow gene pool of the few thornless mutants should be widened by additional thornless individuals grown from open-pollinated seeds. This study checked the potential of six thorny and three thornless open-pollinated native trees in a caatinga site to produce thornless progenies, and estimated the proportion of their thornless progenies. The trial took place at the seed laboratory and seedling nursery facilities of UFCG/UAEF, Patos-PB, Brazil, from March 2002 to November 2003, in a completely random design with nine treatments (trees) and number of replications depending on seed and seedling quantity. Proportions of germinated seeds and thornless progenies were compared by the Student´s "t" test. Seven of the monitored trees produced thornless progenies (5.8% to 20.6%) consistently in two years. Three thorny and two thornless trees generated 15.1% to 20.6% of thornless progenies. Thornless progenies should be grown isolated to produce genetically improved seeds for the thornelss trait with a wide gene pool basis for distribution to local farmers and use to improve other traits such as forage and seed oil production. Further studies should investigate the genetic basis involved in the exhibition of this trait and if other trees in other C. phyllacanthus populations can produce thornless progenies as well.

Beanstalk is an educational game for children ages 6-10 teaching balance-fulcrum principles while folding in scientific inquiry and socio-emotional learning. This paper explores the incorporation of these additional dimensions using intrinsic motivation and a framing narrative. Four versions of the game are detailed, along with preliminary player data in a 2x2 pilot test with 64 children shaping the modifications of Beanstalk for much broader testing.

Although player motivation is one of the main concerns of computer gaming, research so far has been able to identify only a limited set of motives, which are not founded on formal theories of human motivation. Assuming that goal-directed behavior is triggered by the interaction between personal and environmental factors, this article aims to analyze a broader range of gaming motivations derived from basic human needs. The psychological needs investigated in this study are based on the psychogenic needs divided into six categories: materialism, power, affiliation, achievement, information, and sensual needs, defined by Murray [1938] in his extensive research. Since the present work defines motivation as a product of continuous interactions between players and the virtual world, each individual psychological need is briefly described in terms of the actions it provokes. In this context, this article is not concerned with why people play computer games but how they are motivated in the game. Detailed analysis of the conceptual components of player motivation focuses on matching each psychological need to common gaming situations in computer role-playing games (RPGs). Since this game genre provides interactive virtual environments capable of offering experiences analogous to real life, it is highly relevant to motivational studies. The relationship between motivational factors and gaming situations is discussed with examples from a recently released RPG, which takes place in a fantasy world full of social issues and conflicts, where players usually find themselves in situations that require a choice between the lesser of two evils. It is expected that the variables defined in this study should facilitate the design of computer games that satisfy a broader range of player motivations by providing ways to investigate the relationship between psychological needs and the gaming environment, while bearing in mind the basic components of goal-directed behavior.

This study aims to develop a visual novel game in which the user can actively interact with an NPC by entering their own response rather than selecting dialogue options, as well as to improve the immersion of the Player-NPC dialogue system by obtaining the player's in-game text inputs while using intent recognition with the BERT transformer model. The researchers developed two different versions of the visual novel game to achieve their goal. The first version of the game uses the standard visual novel game mechanics, while the second version uses text input to communicate with NPCs, and the BERT algorithm was integrated in this version for the intent recognition of the player's text inputs. The retraining of the model achieved an accuracy of 0.9375. To measure the players’ immersion in both versions, a Modified Immersion Experience Questionnaire was given to the players to complete after each playthrough of the visual novel games. Based on the research findings, the researc...

Ten new marianna rootstocks [Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. x P. munsoniana Wight & Hedr.(?)] derived from open pollination of 'Marianna 2616'(M series) were planted in 1987 and evaluated at four commercial orchard locations in California (Tehama, Butte, Sutter, and Merced counties) with 'Improved French' prune (P. domestica L.) as the scion. These rootstocks were compared to three standard rootstocks: 'Marianna 2624', myrobalan seedling (P. cerasifera Ehrh.) and 'Myrobalan 29C'. Leaf potassium (K) and nitrogen (N), tree growth, fruit production and fruit quality were measured. Selection M40 in particular had high leaf N, high leaf K (equal to 'Marianna 2624' and better than the myrobalan standards), higher yield efficiency per tree, fruit size, drying characteristics, and few root suckers when compared to the three standard rootstocks. M40 is being considered for patent and release by the Pomology Department at the University of California, Davis. Selection M58 had the highest yield efficiency of any tested rootstock. Several selections had characteristics that would make expanded planting worth considering. Partial financial support was provided by the California Prune Board. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertisement solely to indicate this fact.

RPG is a game genre that focuses the cooperative interaction among players, as well as socialization and the improvement of communication skills. As these actions form the very context of these games, RPGs have an inherent level of decision-making that naturally occurs at all times throughout the course of the game. Those reasons led the idea to take advantage of the RPG genre to design a model that is built in a Petri Net and that combines concepts taken from the Game Theory and from the Theory of Persuasion for easing the decision-making process in, particularly, MMORPG environments, as they have all the benefits of the RPG genre and additionally, involves a massive number of players in a kind of plot, thus, reinforcing the needing of interaction and of taking decisions.

This comprehensive study scrutinizes the application of "locus of control" in video games, viewed as a psychological mechanism to boost player engagement and immersion. Precise case studies shed light on the incorporation and outcomes of locus of control, furnishing a thorough comprehension from a product designer's perspective.

Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus (faveleira), a caatinga xerophyte Euphorbiaceae tree, produces proteinrich forage consumed by ruminants. It should be used carefully due to urticaceous thorns in leaves, fine branches and fruits, and antinutritional substances present in fresh material. The narrow gene pool of the few thornless mutants should be widened by additional thornless individuals grown from open-pollinated seeds. This study checked the potential of six thorny and three thornless open-pollinated native trees in a caatinga site to produce thornless progenies, and estimated the proportion of their thornless progenies. The trial took place at the seed laboratory and seedling nursery facilities of UFCG/UAEF, Patos-PB, Brazil, from March 2002 to November 2003, in a completely random design with nine treatments (trees) and number of replications depending on seed and seedling quantity. Proportions of germinated seeds and thornless progenies were compared by the Student´s "t" test. Seven of the monitored trees produced thornless progenies (5.8% to 20.6%) consistently in two years. Three thorny and two thornless trees generated 15.1% to 20.6% of thornless progenies. Thornless progenies should be grown isolated to produce genetically improved seeds for the thornelss trait with a wide gene pool basis for distribution to local farmers and use to improve other traits such as forage and seed oil production. Further studies should investigate the genetic basis involved in the exhibition of this trait and if other trees in other C. phyllacanthus populations can produce thornless progenies as well.

With games continuously and rapidly evolving to become more complex and sophisticated in their nature and implementation. There is a fundamental need to sustain and deliver a similarly advanced, realistic, and engaging experience for the player. The implementation of “emergence” within games as providing an effective means to sustain this engagement in conjunction with some form of action recognition mechanism for its support. More recently, games have made much of the “adaptive” mechanisms that tailor the player experience during the game, but much of this appears to be implemented by merely making the game harder according to the success of the player. Some go further than this by incorporating adaptive AI that change agent tactics to suit the player's style of play. Whilst these are clearly advances in the approach to providing a player-centric experience to engage the player, the basis and transferability of these approaches is open to question. Here we propose a limited fla...

The area is located in northwest of Isfahan, 30 kilometers south of Kashan District, and southern section of Qamsar. The longitude of the area of study is 51o, 19′, 13″, E to 51o, 26′, 26″, E and its latitude is 33o, 34′, 24″ N to 33o, 44′, 24″ N. The rocks of the Qohrud batholithic mass and its enclaves are more quartz monzonite. The rocks are peraluminous that are rich of alomin. These rocks are classified in magmatic series of subalkaline, and belong to calcalkaline magmatic series subdivision. According to origin classification, they are considered I type, S- type and A- type. Tectonically are both in the position of volcanic arc granite (VAG) that is related to continental arc granite (CAG) and within plate granite (WPG) that is related to continental rifting in back arc basin. The rocks of the Qohroud area originate from continental crust arc that mixing with back arc basin rifting magmas and hybrid magma stop in the upper crust and balanced.

As a medium for learning, digital games provide promising possibilities to motivate and engage students in subject learning. In this study, a game-based learning system, My-Pet-My-Quest, is developed to support pupils' math learning. This is due to the fact that most students in Taiwan have relatively lower positive attitude towards math learning, even though their math performance is prominent. To this end, a three-tire framework is proposed to guide the design of the My-Pet-My-Quest system. A quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the influence of game quests on pupils' enjoyment and goal-pursuing in math learning. The results revealed that game quests were favored by students in terms of enjoyment, goal orientation, and goal intensity. Possible reasons for these results and a discussion of related issues are presented in this paper.

Although researchers suggest that games have a positive experience in a learning outcome, there is still a lack of investigation on the potential of game mechanics for better flow experience and learning outcome. According to the literature, the flow state in the game creates player engagement which leads to a positive learning outcome. Based on flow theory, challenge and abilities are two crucial game elements to achieve a flow state. This paper discusses the importance of conflict and competition in generating challenges. In gameplay, the players use their abilities demanded by the game to complete the challenge. This paper discusses the role of different skills required to play the game, and through these abilities, the players learn. This paper explains the correlation between challenge and various skills needed to play games. Conflict can be the better approach to generate the challenge because it is endogenous. Knowledge is a crucial ability to incorporate into educational gam...

FantasyA is a computer game where two characters face each other in a duel and emotions are used as the driving elements in the action decision of the characters. In playing the game, the user influences the emotional state of his or her semi-autonomous avatar using a tangible interface for affective input, the SenToy. In this paper we show how we approached the problem of modelling the emotional states of the synthetic characters, and how to combine them with the perception of the emotions of the opponents in the game. This is done by simulating the opponents action tendencies in order to predict their possible actions. For the user to play, he or she must understand the emotional state of his opponent which is achieved through animations (featuring affective body expressions) of the character. FantasyA was evaluated with 30 subjects from different ages and the preliminary results showed that the users liked the game and were able to influence the emotional states of their characters, in particular the young users.

Na sociedade atual os hábitos de desporto e lazer viram-se cada vez mais para a utilização do meio natural para a sua prática, como é o caso da Orientação. O impacte da orientação no ambiente tem duas facetas, por um lado a degradação da sua qualidade, através dos resíduos que são deixados inadvertidamente nas áreas onde se realizam as provas, por outro lado na destruição de vegetação e perturbação de espécies de animais. Ambas as categorias de impactes podem ser minimizadas desde que se cumpram um conjunto de ...

Ten new marianna root-stocks [Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. × P. munsoniana Wight & Hedr.(?)] derived from open pollination of `Marianna 2616' (M series) were planted in 1987 and evaluated at four commercial orchard locations in California (Tehama, Butte, Sutter, and Merced counties) with `Improved French' prune (P. domestica L.) as the scion. These rootstocks were compared to three standard rootstocks: `Marianna 2624', myrobalan seedling (P. cerasifera Ehrh.) and `Myrobalan 29C'. Leaf potassium (K) and nitrogen (N), tree growth, fruit production and fruit quality were measured. Selection M40 in particular had high leaf N, high leaf K (equal to `Marianna 2624' and better than the myrobalan standards), higher yield efficiency per tree, fruit size, drying characteristics, and few root suckers when compared to the three standard rootstocks. M40 is being considered for patent and release by the Pomology Department at the University of California, Davis. Selection M58 had t...

Player modeling is an important concept that has gained much attention in game research due to its utility in developing adaptive techniques to target better designs for engagement and retention. Previous work has explored modeling individual differences using machine learning algorithms performed on aggregated game actions. However, players’ individual differences may be better manifested through sequential patterns of the in-game player’s actions. While few works have explored sequential analysis of player data, none have explored the use of Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to model individual differences, which is the topic of this paper. In particular, we developed a modeling approach using data collected from players playing a Role-Playing Game (RPG). Our proposed approach is two fold: 1. We present a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) of player in-game behaviors to model individual differences, and 2. using the output of the HMM, we generate behavioral features used to classify real world pl...

Although researchers suggest that games have a positive experience in a learning outcome, there is still a lack of investigation on the potential of game mechanics for better flow experience and learning outcome. According to the literature, the flow state in the game creates player engagement which leads to a positive learning outcome. Based on flow theory, challenge and abilities are two crucial game elements to achieve a flow state. This paper discusses the importance of conflict and competition in generating challenges. In gameplay, the players use their abilities demanded by the game to complete the challenge. This paper discusses the role of different skills required to play the game, and through these abilities, the players learn. This paper explains the correlation between challenge and various skills needed to play games. Conflict can be the better approach to generate the challenge because it is endogenous. Knowledge is a crucial ability to incorporate into educational gam...

One aspect for a platformer game to be challenging to play is the NPC (Non Playable Character). An NPC is often placed as an obstacle for player to finish at each level. However, an effort must be done to create a behavior of an NPC to be challenging enough and not monotonous. Creating random behavior is one way. But the problem with this approach is a less interactive NPC behavior because of its inability to respond from the game state accordingly. In this paper, we propose an implementation of Sugeno Fuzzy to create behaviors for the NPCs. This methodology takes player’s state and NPC’s state to determine what action will be done. The inputs are player to NPC distance, NPC’s health and player’s weapon ammunition. The outputs are retreat, defense and attack. We applied this methodology in an educational game about Rubela virus vaccination “Healthy Hero” for its boss enemies. Evaluation shows that by applying Sugeno Fuzzy, the NPC behavior can responds to player’s state and its own ...

Single layer and multilayer films of titanium and Inconel 600 (76 at.% Ni, 16 at.% Cr, 8 at.% Fe) have been prepared by sputtering in argon/nitrogen atmospheres, with nitrogen partial pressures ranging from 0% to 40%. The microstructure and chemistry of the sputtered films were characterized using transmission/high-resolution electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and ion beam analysis with MeV helium beams. The microstructure depended on deposition power and individual layer thickness, as well as the sputtering atmosphere composition. Metal nitrides were formed in single layers of both materials whereas, for multilayers, nitrogen was preferentially incorporated into the titanium layer.

Maximizing player enjoyment in computer games is one of the most popular issues in game design. Different components of game fun have been determined by researchers in the past, but this article will focus on game challenges, difficulty levels, and their effects on player enjoyment. Various different genres exist in the computer gaming world, but it is important to note that roleplaying games provide diverse gaming challenges uniformly in their structure and require special attention in terms of player enjoyment. This study will ...

Researchers have identified different components of game fun in the past, but the objective of this contribution is to analyze game challenges and difficulty levels, and their effects on player enjoyment and emotions. This paper presents basic principles for designing game challenges as well as the requirements and qualities required to achieve maximum enjoyment. Special emphasis is given to the accumulated knowledge of Wizards of the Coast (and formerly TSR) in designing role-playing games. Different player types ...

In this paper, we present a quest structure (in the form of a grammar) obtained from an analysis of the main quests of a single player role playing game (RPG), namely "The Witcher 3 - The Wild Hunt". This grammar extends a previously presented analysis by other authors on MMORPG quests. This extended grammar is suitable for application in single player RPGs. The grammar allows the procedural generation of quests in any RPG wanting intricate quests. We believe that this extension makes the previous grammar more expressive, and it will bring us closer to being able to represent and procedurally generate quests that are equal to human-authored ones.

Anodic aluminium oxide (AAOM) membranes were used for template growth of carbon nanotubes (CNT) inside their pores by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of different hydrocarbons, in the absence of transition metal catalyst. A composite material, containing one nanotube for each channel, having the same length as the membrane thickness and the external diameter close to the diameter of the membrane holes, was obtained. Yield, selectivity, and quality of CNTs in terms of diameter (up to very thin CNT), carbon order, length, arrangement (i.e. number of tubes for each channel), purity, that are critical requisites for several applications were optimized by investigating the effect of changing the hydrocarbon feedstock gas, also in the presence of hydrogen. The samples produced using methane as a feedstock have a well ordered structure. The role of the alumina channels surface during the CNT growth has been investigated and its catalytic activity has been proved for the first time.

Each human activity involves feelings and subjective emotions: different people will perform and sense the same task with different outcomes and experience; to understand this experience, concepts like Flow or Boredom must be investigated using objective data provided by methods like electroencephalography. This work carries on the analysis of EEG data coming from brain-computer interface and videogame "Neverwinter Nights 2": we propose an experimental methodology comparing results coming from different off-the-shelf machine learning techniques, employed on the gaming activities, to check if each affective state corresponds to the hypothesis fixed in their formal design guidelines.

Bu çalışmada, Kutadgu Bilig'in üç değerli nüshasından biri olan Arap harfli Mısır nüshası hakkında birtakım yazım meselelerine değinilecektir. Çalışmada Kutadgu Bilig'in Mısır nüshasından hareketle, Reşit Rahmeti Arat'ın okuyuşunda ve tarafımca yapılan okumada ortaya çıkan farklı yazım özellikleri tespit edilecektir. Bu farklılıklar ünlüler ve ünsüzler olarak iki farklı grupta değerlendirilecektir. Bu çalışma için öncelikle, Reşit Rahmeti Arat'ın üç nüshayı da kapsayan metin yayınından Mısır nüshasına ait olan kısımlar çıkarılmış ve Mısır nüshasına özgü bir metin oluşturulmuştur. Bunun için gerek metinden gerekse dipnotlardan faydalanılmıştır. İkinci okuma ise Arat'tan tamamen bağımsız olarak, tarafımca, yalnızca nüsha dikkate alınarak yapılmıştır. Verilen örneklerden ilki Reşit Rahmeti Arat'ın Kutadgu Bilig Metin yayınından alınmıştır. İkinci kısımdaki örnek ise kelimenin yazımının uygun olduğu düşünülen biçimidir. Verilen örneklerin yanına sırasıyla, kelimenin ait oldugu nüsha, sayfa sayısı, beyit ve satır nurmarası eklenmiştir.

Much of the current research into artificial intelligence (AI) for computer games has been focused on simple actions performed by the characters in games (such as moving between points or shooting at a target, and other simple strategic actions), or on the overarching structure of the game story. However, we claim that these two separate approaches need to be bridged in order to fully realize the potential of enjoyment in computer games. As such, we have explored the middle ground between the individual action and the story-the type of behavior that occurs in a "scene" within the game. To this end we have established a new model for that can be used to discover in what ways a nonplayer character acts in ways that break the player's feeling of immersion in the world.

Ten new marianna root-stocks [Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. × P. munsoniana Wight & Hedr.(?)] derived from open pollination of `Marianna 2616' (M series) were planted in 1987 and evaluated at four commercial orchard locations in California (Tehama, Butte, Sutter, and Merced counties) with `Improved French' prune (P. domestica L.) as the scion. These rootstocks were compared to three standard rootstocks: `Marianna 2624', myrobalan seedling (P. cerasifera Ehrh.) and `Myrobalan 29C'. Leaf potassium (K) and nitrogen (N), tree growth, fruit production and fruit quality were measured. Selection M40 in particular had high leaf N, high leaf K (equal to `Marianna 2624' and better than the myrobalan standards), higher yield efficiency per tree, fruit size, drying characteristics, and few root suckers when compared to the three standard rootstocks. M40 is being considered for patent and release by the Pomology Department at the University of California, Davis. Selection M58 had t...

Information empowers those who make sense from its successful interpretation; this is especially true on the subject of weather where the recipient is required to have prior forms of fundamental understanding towards the natural occurring phenomenon and its effects. This study facilitates the learning of complex weather phenomena for children using a unique educational approach using mobile technology. The initiative runs under Singapore's National Weather Study Project (NWSP), which already operates a network of mini weather stations in schools across the state to promote environmental awareness and support dynamic interactions with real time data. Its data is accessible via Web, Microsoft SensorMap and Google Earth interfaces. IWIS, an application for the recent Google Android mobile platform taps onto the fusion of mapping and the weather project server's data to present to children accessible local multi-variate weather data depicted using visual metaphors and propagates the development of mobile learning applications in the imminent future.

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Creating believable agents with personality is a popular research area in game studies but academic research in this area usually focuses on one facet of personality- for example, only on moods or character traits. The present study proposes a motivational framework to predict goal-directed behaviour of virtual agents in a computer game and explores the opportunities of using personality inventories based on the same motivational framework to design virtual agents with personality. This article claims that motivation to reach a goal is influenced by psychological needs which are represented with an equation that determines the strength of a character’s motivational force. The framework represented by this study takes into account psychological needs and their interrelations for analyzing choices of virtual agents in a computer game.

Player modeling is an important concept that has gained much attention in game research due to its utility in developing adaptive techniques to target better designs for engagement and retention. Previous work has explored modeling individual differences using machine learning algorithms per- formed on aggregated game actions. However, players' individual differences may be better manifested through sequential patterns of the in-game player's actions. While few works have explored sequential analysis of player data, none have explored the use of Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to model individual differences, which is the topic of this paper. In par- ticular, we developed a modeling approach using data col- lected from players playing a Role-Playing Game (RPG). Our proposed approach is two fold: 1. We present a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) of player in-game behaviors to model individual differences, and 2. using the output of the HMM, we generate behavioral features used to classify...

Video games are now acknowledged as a prominent part of popular culture and played by an audience wider and more varied than ever before. Considerable recent research shows that people engage with games differently, and these variations may be attributable to individual differences. Understanding the impact of personality on behavior in games has several benefits: more inclusive design practices, accurate user models for adaptive applications and articulated toolsets to segment players for game user research. Nonetheless the work done so far to explore the interplay between personality and behavior in virtual environments does not always account for personality at a granular level, nor does it take into consideration the different contexts of the environment beyond pooling variables together. We hypothesize, first, that by considering the individual facets that compose broad personality traits we will be able to identify stronger links between them and gameplay behavior. Second, we ...

Computer games are an increasingly popular application for Artificial Intelligence(AI) research. This paper discusses some of the most interesting components and challenges faced by developers in designing and creation of a game based on artificial intelligence. Game AI provides players a richer gaming experience by going beyond scripted interactions, responsive interaction systems that are adaptive and intelligent.

Player modeling is an important concept that has gained much attention in game research due to its utility in developing adaptive techniques to target better designs for engagement and retention. Previous work has explored modeling individual differences using machine learning algorithms per- formed on aggregated game actions. However, players' individual differences may be better manifested through sequential patterns of the in-game player's actions. While few works have explored sequential analysis of player data, none have explored the use of Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to model individual differences, which is the topic of this paper. In par- ticular, we developed a modeling approach using data col- lected from players playing a Role-Playing Game (RPG). Our proposed approach is two fold: 1. We present a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) of player in-game behaviors to model individual differences, and 2. using the output of the HMM, we generate behavioral features used to classify...

Video games are now acknowledged as a prominent part of popular culture and played by an audience wider and more varied than ever before. Considerable recent research shows that people engage with games differently, and these variations may be attributable to individual differences. Understanding the impact of personality on behavior in games has several benefits: more inclusive design practices, accurate user models for adaptive applications and articulated toolsets to segment players for game user research. Nonetheless the work done so far to explore the interplay between personality and behavior in virtual environments does not always account for personality at a granular level, nor does it take into consideration the different contexts of the environment beyond pooling variables together. We hypothesize, first, that by considering the individual facets that compose broad personality traits we will be able to identify stronger links between them and gameplay behavior. Second, we ...

This article examines the information seeking behavior and meaningmaking in virtual play spaces by employing the example of one such space. The researcher examines the means by which game players get the information needed to succeed in a game through the lens of everyday life information seeking, and how they make meanings in the play space through the lens of the dramaturgical approach. While this research emphasized a particular online game environment, the information seeking and meaning-making applies to many other virtual play spaces, both multiplayer and single player. If information seeking and meaning-making are taking place in virtual play spaces in the ways they appear to be, gaming in the library could be an important way to promote effective information seeking. The possibility of a new way of seeking information and meaning-making suggests several lines of investigation regarding the provision of information in other arenas that remain to be explored.

Video games are now acknowledged as a prominent part of popular culture and played by an audience wider and more varied than ever before. Considerable recent research shows that people engage with games differently, and these variations may be attributable to individual differences. Understanding the impact of personality on behavior in games has several benefits: more inclusive design practices, accurate user models for adaptive applications and articulated toolsets to segment players for game user research. Nonetheless the work done so far to explore the interplay between personality and behavior in virtual environments does not always account for personality at a granular level, nor does it take into consideration the different contexts of the environment beyond pooling variables together. We hypothesize, first, that by considering the individual facets that compose broad personality traits we will be able to identify stronger links between them and gameplay behavior. Second, we ...

Cellular Automata (CA) have recently evolved as a good cryptographic primitive. It plays an important role in the construction of new fast, efficient and secure stream ciphers. Several studies have been made on CA based stream ciphers and we observe that the cryptographic strength of a CA based stream cipher increases with the increase in the neighbourhood radii if appropriate CA rules are employed. The current work explores the cryptographic feasibility of 5-neighbourhood CA rules also referred to as pentavalent rules. A new CA based stream cipher, CARPenter, which uses pentavalent rules have been proposed. The cipher incorporates maximum length null-boundary linear CA and a non-linear CA along with a good non-linear mixing function. This is implemented in hardware as well as software and exhibits good cryptographic properties which makes the cipher resistant to almost all attacks on stream ciphers, but with the cost of additional computing requirements. This cipher uses 16 cycles ...

Beside simplices, n-cubes form an important class of simple polyhedra. Unlike hyperbolic Coxeter simplices, hyperbolic Coxeter n-cubes are not classified. We show that there is no hyperbolic Coxeter n-cube for n ≥ 6, and provide a full classification for n ≤ 5. Our methods, which are essentially of combinatorial and algebraic nature, can be (and have been successfully) implemented in a symbolic computation software such as Mathematica .

As AI techniques become more widespread in computer games, and the area of synthetic characters matures, avatars in such computer games also tend to gain autonomy and become more clever. However, this autonomy may bring also some change in the interaction between users and game characters. Players may become less in charge of their characters and lose the power of complete motion or behavior control. On the other hand, characters may become more clever exhibiting much more interesting autonomous actions and behaviors. This paper presents, defines and discusses the concept of "influence", as an alternative to "direct" control of game characters, describing how influence can be achieved in computer games. To illustrate the notion of " influence" we will present a game called FantasyA where players interact with it by influencing the emotions of they semi-autonomous avatars using a tangible interface called SenToy. We show how "influence" was built into this game, the role of SenToy as an influencing device, and the reactions of the users to this type of control.