| 1. |
- Austin, Hailey, et al.
(författare)
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Zinecraft : zines as methodology and precursor to Swedish Games
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nordic DiGRA 2023 Abstracts.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Zines are small-circulation magazines that the creators make themselves with simple means. They are often part of underground and emerging communities, and have been an integral part of creative industries. In a study conducted by Austin in 2022, it was found that much of the success of Sweden’s creative industries comes from investment as well as progressive maternity and paternity leave (Austin 2022b). However, the study also revealed a seldom studied element of success in Sweden’s creative industries: the emphasis on creativity, comics, zines and games as part of Swedish culture. This study utilized a zine made during the research collection as a companion to the report (Austin 2022a). We argue that zine creation alongside research makes for more personal and related outputs and that this can be applied not only to academics, but also the games industry.In this paper, we give a background to the importance of zines in Sweden’s creative industry, and how the practice is integral to game making both past and present. Further, we expand on how zines can be embraced as tools for interdisciplinary research, and as a companion output for both academics and industry professionals.
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| 2. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-
(författare)
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Bleed-in, Bleed-out A Design Case in Board Game Therapy
- 2018
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Ingår i: DiGRA '18 - Proceedings of the 2018 DiGRA International Conference: The Game is the Message. - Tampere : Digra. ; , s. -12
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The table-top play situation offers unique opportunities for approaching real-world personal problems in ways where the structures inherent in the problems can be deconstructed, examined, and understood. This paper presents design considerations from the ongoing development of a therapy board-game; how every-day issues can bleed in and out from framed play sessions, and how game rules in this context can benefit from being malleable. The paper also offers a tentative avenue towards how play sessions, in a combination of stances for the design of game mechanics with approaches to game mastering, can be constructed as safe-spaces, affording players to draw near deeply personal issues and find ways to support each other.
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| 3. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-
(författare)
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Characterising action potential in virtual game worlds applied with the mind module
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Because games set in persistent virtual game worlds (VGWs) have massive numbers of players, these games need methods of characterisation for playable characters (PCs) that differ from the methods used in traditional narrative media. VGWs have a number of particularly interesting qualities. Firstly, VGWs are places where players interact with and create elements carrying narrative potential. Secondly, players add goals, motives and driving forces to the narrative potential of a VGW, which sometimes originates from the ordinary world. Thirdly, the protagonists of the world are real people, and when acting in the world their characterisation is not carried out by an author, but expressed by players characterising their PCs. How they can express themselves in ways that characterise them depend on what they can do, and how they can do it, and this characterising action potential (CAP) is defined by the game design of particular VGWs. In this thesis, two main questions are explored. Firstly, how can CAP be designed to support players in expressing consistent characters in VGWs? Secondly, how can VGWs support role-play in their rule-systems? By using iterative design, I explore the design space of CAP by building a semiautonomous agent structure, the Mind Module (MM) and apply it in five experimental prototypes where the design of CAP and other game features is derived from the MM. The term semiautonomy is used because the agent structure is designed to be used by a PC, and is thus partly controlled by the system and partly by the player. The MM models a PC's personality as a collection of traits, maintains dynamic emotional state as a function of interactions with objects in the environment, and summarises a PC's current emotional state in terms of `mood'. The MM consists of a spreading-activation network of affect nodes that are interconnected by weighted relationships. There are four types of affect node: personality trait nodes, emotion nodes, mood nodes, and sentiment nodes. The values of the nodes defining the personality traits of characters govern an individual PC's state of mind through these weighted relationships, resulting in values characterising for a PC's personality. The sentiment nodes constitute emotionally valenced connections between entities. For example, a PC can `feel' anger toward another PC. This thesis also describes a guided paper-prototype play-test of the VGW prototype World of Minds, in which the game mechanics build upon the MM's model of personality and emotion. In a case study of AI-based game design, lessons learned from the test are presented. The participants in the test were able to form and communicate mental models of the MM and game mechanics, validating the design and giving valuable feedback for further development. Despite the constrained scenarios presented to test players, they discovered interesting, alternative strategies, indicating that for game design the `mental physics' of the MM may open up new possibilities.The results of the play-test influenced the further development of the MM as it was used in the digital VGW prototype the Pataphysic Institute. In the Pataphysic Institute the CAP of PCs is largely governed by their mood. Depending on which mood PCs are in they can cast different `spells', which affect values such as mental energy, resistance and emotion in their targets. The mood also governs which `affective actions' they can perform toward other PCs and what affective actions they are receptive to. By performing affective actions on each other PCs can affect each others' emotions, which - if they are strong - may result in sentiments toward each other. PCs' personalities govern the individual fluctuations of mood and emotions, and define which types of spell PCs can cast. Formalised social relationships such as friendships affect CAP, giving players more energy, resistance, and other benefits. PCs' states of mind are reflected in the VGW in the form of physical manifestations that emerge if an emotion is very strong. These manifestations are entities which cast different spells on PCs in close proximity, depending on the emotions that the manifestations represent. PCs can also partake in authoring manifestations that become part of the world and the game-play in it. In the Pataphysic Institute potential story structures are governed by the relations the sentiment nodes constitute between entities.Because games set in persistent virtual game worlds (VGWs) have massive numbers of players, these games need methods of characterisation for playable characters (PCs) that differ from the methods used in traditional narrative media. VGWs have a number of particularly interesting qualities. Firstly, VGWs are places where players interact with and create elements carrying narrative potential. Secondly, players add goals, motives and driving forces to the narrative potential of a VGW, which sometimes originates from the ordinary world. Thirdly, the protagonists of the world are real people, and when acting in the world their characterisation is not carried out by an author, but expressed by players characterising their PCs. How they can express themselves in ways that characterise them depend on what they can do, and how they can do it, and this characterising action potential (CAP) is defined by the game design of particular VGWs. In this thesis, two main questions are explored. Firstly, how can CAP be designed to support players in expressing consistent characters in VGWs? Secondly, how can VGWs support role-play in their rule-systems? By using iterative design, I explore the design space of CAP by building a semiautonomous agent structure, the Mind Module (MM) and apply it in five experimental prototypes where the design of CAP and other game features is derived from the MM. The term \textit{semiautonomy} is used because the agent structure is designed to be used by a PC, and is thus partly controlled by the system and partly by the player. The MM models a PC's personality as a collection of traits, maintains dynamic emotional state as a function of interactions with objects in the environment, and summarises a PC's current emotional state in terms of `mood'. The MM consists of a spreading-activation network of affect nodes that are interconnected by weighted relationships. There are four types of affect node: personality trait nodes, emotion nodes, mood nodes, and sentiment nodes. The values of the nodes defining the personality traits of characters govern an individual PC's state of mind through these weighted relationships, resulting in values characterising for a PC's personality. The sentiment nodes constitute emotionally valenced connections between entities. For example, a PC can `feel' anger toward another PC. This thesis also describes a guided paper-prototype play-test of the VGW prototype World of Minds, in which the game mechanics build upon the MM's model of personality and emotion. In a case study of AI-based game design, lessons learned from the test are presented. The participants in the test were able to form and communicate mental models of the MM and game mechanics, validating the design and giving valuable feedback for further development. Despite the constrained scenarios presented to test players, they discovered interesting, alternative strategies, indicating that for game design the `mental physics' of the MM may open up new possibilities.The results of the play-test influenced the further development of the MM as it was used in the digital VGW prototype the Pataphysic Institute. In the Pataphysic Institute the CAP of PCs is largely governed by their mood. Depending on which mood PCs are in they can cast different `spells', which affect values such as mental energy, resistance and emotion in their targets. The mood also governs which `affective actions' they can perform toward other PCs and what affective actions they are receptive to. By performing affective actions on each other PCs can affect each others' emotions, which - if they are strong - may result in sentiments toward each other. PCs' personalities govern the individual fluctuations of mood and emotions, and define which types of spell PCs can cast. Formalised social relationships such as friendships affect CAP, giving players more energy, resistance, and other benefits. PCs' states of mind are reflected in the VGW in the form of physical manifestations that emerge if an emotion is very strong. These manifestations are entities which cast different spells on PCs in close proximity, depending on the emotions that the manifestations represent. PCs can also partake in authoring manifestations that become part of the world and the game-play in it. In the Pataphysic Institute potential story structures are governed by the relations the sentiment nodes constitute between entities.
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| 4. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Mind Stories : A Story Making Game - From Narrative Therapy to Interactive Narrative Therapy
- 2023
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Ingår i: Interactive Storytelling. - Cham : Springer Nature. - 9783031476570 ; , s. 155-167, s. 155-167
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Narrative has been central to psychoanalysis from its inception. What has been explored less is the relationship between psychotherapy and interactive narrative. In particular, narrative therapy is a well-established practice in psychotherapy which shares central concerns with interactive narrative research and practice. In this paper, we explore the foundational role of narrative in psychotherapy and consider its interactive aspect. Then, we identify the overlap between interactive narratives and narrative therapy, and identify interactive narrative works which use this potential for therapeutic purposes. We also describe a concrete implementation, the board game Mind Stories, and introduce the concept of interactive narrative therapy.
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| 5. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-
(författare)
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Re-Tellings : The Fourth Layer of Narrative as an Instrument for Critique
- 2018
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Ingår i: Interactive Storytelling. - Cham : Springer. - 9783030040277 - 9783030040284 ; , s. 65-78
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fourth layer of narrative in Interactive Narrative Systems (INS), such as games, is the players’ re-tellings of the stories they have experienced when playing. The occurrence of re-tellings can be considered as an indicator for a well designed INS and as an instrument of critique - the experiences of play are important and memorable to such a degree to the players that they find them worthy to tell others about. The notion of the fourth layer is added to the structural model of IN Systems having (1) a base architectural layer giving conditions for a (2) second layer of narrative design, while a (3) third layer is the narrative discourse - eg. the unique, session-specific played or traversed sequences of events. In relation to this, the Story Construction model is described.
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| 6. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-
(författare)
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The Story Pile - Representing Story in the Board Game Mind Shadows
- 2018
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Ingår i: Interactive Storytelling. - Cham : Springer. - 9783030040277 - 9783030040284 ; , s. 280-284
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mind Shadows illustrates how story can be represented in board games. Here, the game is described, along with design considerations regarding event documentation and co-authoring. In analog games these activities, needs to be designed in a manner that integrate them into game-play, in a manner that is not too cumbersome for the players.
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| 7. |
- Eladhari, Mirjam Palosaari, 1971-
(författare)
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TOG: An Innovation Centric Approach to teaching Computational Expression and Game Design
- 2019
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Ingår i: Teaching Games: Pedagogical Approaches.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes the design approach TOG (standing for Technology, Ontology, and Game Genre), and how it can be used in teaching game design and technologies enabling computational expression. TOG, inspired by the processes of AI Based Game Design, was conceptualized when teaching a course on computational expression at the University of Malta. The main aim with teaching with the approach was to facilitate innovation and to prompt students to expand their palette of methods for computational expression as game designers
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| 8. |
- Guzdial, M., et al.
(författare)
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Tabletop Roleplaying Games as Procedural Content Generators
- 2020
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Ingår i: FDG '20: International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. - New York : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450388078
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) and procedural content generators can both be understood as systems of rules for producing content. In this paper, we argue that TTRPG design can usefully be viewed as procedural content generator design. We present several case studies linking key concepts from PCG research-including possibility spaces, expressive range analysis, and generative pipelines-to key concepts in TTRPG design. We then discuss the implications of these relationships and suggest directions for future work uniting research in TTRPGs and PCG.
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| 9. |
- Huang, Lida, et al.
(författare)
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Improving and Analyzing Sketchy High-Fidelity Free-Eye Drawing
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9781450398930 ; , s. 856-870
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some people with a motor disability that limits hand movements use technology to draw via their eyes. Free-eye drawing has been re-investigated recently and yielded state-of-the-art results via unimodal gaze control. However, limitations remain, including limited functions, conflicts between observation and drawing, and the brush tailing issue. We introduce a professional unimodal gaze control free-eye drawing application and improve upon free-eye drawing by extended gaze-based user interface functions, improved brush dynamics, and a double-blink gaze gesture. An experiment and a field study were conducted to assess the system’s usability compared to the mainstream gaze-control drawing method and hand drawing and the accessibility among users with motor disabilities. The results showed that the application provides efficient interaction and the ability to create hand-sketch-level graphics for people with motor disabilities. Herein, we contribute a robust and professional free-eye drawing application, detailing valuable design considerations for future developments in gaze interaction.
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| 10. |
- Koenitz, Hartmut, et al.
(författare)
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Approaches Towards Novel Phenomena : a Reflection on Issues in IDN Research, Teaching and Practice
- 2022
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Ingår i: Interactive Storytelling. - Cham : Springer. - 9783031222979 - 9783031222986 ; , s. 441-454
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- What happens when scholars approach novel phenomena such as Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN)? How can we be certain that theoretical frameworks, analytical approaches, and vocabulary are adequate,which means that they are able to fully describe the specific characteristics of the novel phenomena? The same goes for approaches in the practice - how can we be sure that the chosen design methods enable the use of the full expressive potential of a novel phenomena? Furthermore, we ask how we can critique and improve categories and approaches? We reflect on how theory and analytical approaches have been produced so far, identify issues with the current practice, consider alternatives and propose a number of measures to improve the situation. Amongst them are increased efforts on the meta-level in terms of theoretical development and reflective works which concern themselves with the further development of the field, iterative approaches towards theory and method, a more critical approach in education, multi-method analysis, and dynamic representations.
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