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August 2004 |
International Journal of
University
of Wolverhampton UK in collaboration with the Society for Modelling and Simulation -Europe |
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Chief Editors
Editorial
Board & Aims Previous issues: Copyright University of Wolverhampton 2004 ISSN 1477-2043 The Editors, The University of Wolverhampton do not
accept responsibility for errors arising from papers appearing in
IJIGS. Official
University of Wolverhampton disclaimer. |
Abstracts A Multiplayer O.P.I.A.T.E. C. R. Fairclough and P. Cunningham This paper describes the development of an expert case-based character director system which
dynamically generates and controls a story, which is played out in a
multiplayer networked game world. The system handles multiple users in a game
world and directs the non player characters therein to perform for the users
parallel storylines, interweaving character roles in each story. The story is
told through a ‘narrative of actions’ and automatically generated dialogue.
Much of the storytelling approach is based on the seminal work of Vladimir
Propp, to which is applied the AI case based planning paradigm. Initial
analysis of the system is based on a review of the system and its output, but
future work will involve developing a more objective format for analysis.
OPIATE stands for Open-ended Proppian Interactive Adaptive Tale Engine. Designing
Interactivity in Computer Games: a UML Approach A. C. Siang, G.S.V Radha Krishan Rao The computer game is about the player experience and
enjoyment. It includes graphics, sounds, stories, user interfaces and most
importantly gameplay. Setting player experiences aside, the game is governed
by a set of rules that define how the game is played. Game design should
focus more on the gameplay: the interaction between players and games. This
paper attempts to study the core element of computer game that constitutes
the gameplay. Other elements that contribute to the whole experience of game
are also explored. The utilisation of Unified Modelling Language (UML) in
designing interactivity in computer games is studied by performing reverse
engineering on two games using use case diagrams and class diagrams. that all
games can be decomposed into players and tokens, the interaction of which can
be described by interaction matrices and finite state machine diagrams. Game based learning using web
technologies C. Bouras, V. Igglesis, V. Kapoulas, I. Misedakis, O. Dzianbenko, A. Koubek, M. Pirec and A. Sfiri Game-based
learning has been recognized as an important alternative or supplement to
traditional in-class, face-to-face teaching. It can help both adults and
children in learning new concepts, acquiring expertise and practicing
knowledge. Although game-based learning has been applied mainly for teaching
children, it can be quite helpful for adult vocational or university
learning. In this paper, a web-based game is presented, which has been
developed for enhancing the learning experience of university students. Its
goal is to serve as a complement to classes, although it can be used
independently. It provides the students with many ways of synchronous or
asynchronous communication and knowledge acquisition. Through the game,
students have to search for information, understand it and use it in
discussions with the members of other teams. Many users are able to play the
game simultaneously, while many teachers may run different game themes. Microsoft’s
ASP.NET scripting environment was used for creating the game’s website and
its rationale. The website utilizes also Macromedia’s communication
technology (Flash Communication Server MX) for enabling real-time
communication by several means (voice, text, etc). Flash was used in the
website for building the real-time communication modules as well as for
creating a more elegant user interface. The Analysis of Friendly NPC Behaviour K. Mitchell As the video-game industry has evolved rapidly over the past 20 years, so too has the realism of the games. Many advances are constantly being made in different areas of video game realism, but one such area that is frequently overlooked is the behaviour of the friendly non-player characters (NPCs); the most obvious examples of which are the townsfolk in role-playing games. This paper looks at how these NPCs are to behave and what qualities they are to possess if they are to give the player the impression that they behave in a human-like manner. This is achieved through the creation of several series of videogame environments, each containing NPCs exhibiting different behavioural patterns. A test audience then views these game worlds, and answer questionnaires relating to their personal perception of the inhabitants of each. After analysing their responses and comparing the results for each of the different NPC behavioural patterns, several guideline requirements are produced for creating life-like NPCs. How to Construct Tetris Configurations H. J. Hoogeboom and W. A. Kosters In this
paper we show that every (reasonable) TETRIS configuration
can be constructed from an initially empty game board using a suitable
sequence of pieces. On game boards of even width a simple parity condition
has to be fulfilled. The paper provides an explicit construction. This
problem is connected to the NP-completeness of certain TETRIS related
decision problems. down, once rows below it are cleared. The game ends when
the new piece cannot fall down anymore, because it is blocked by pieces below
it. The more pieces the player has handled, and the more rows he or she
cleared, the better it is. For a more precise definition of the game, consult
(Demaine et al. 2002); for other results on TETRIS, see,
e.g., (Burgiel 1997). Strategies
for solving the N-goal problem I. Wright The
problem of effectively deciding between multiple goals in real-time -- the
"N-goal problem" – is discussed in the context of computer game AI.
Two related aspects of the problem, the speed of goal selection and the
quality of goal selection, are identified, and two related strategies for
solving these problems are introduced. The strategy of goal culling based on
insistence heuristics reduces the time costs of goal selection. The strategy
of automatic goal selection based on machine learning of human gameplay
avoids the problem of explicitly formulating rules to maximise decision
quality. Each solution strategy is illustrated by concrete examples from the
classic arcade game, "Robotron". The aim is to demonstrate that
these techniques are practical for actual computer game development. iv
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