教育游戏开发原则与技术

当今电脑游戏发展迅速,青少年对其的迷恋已经成为社会关注的问题。研究电脑游戏的教育价值,将其与教育相结合是目前研究的重点。游戏实现技术多种多样,掌握难度较高,该文主要介绍了一种操作简单、功能强大的游戏设计软件——RPGMaker。     

Form one students’ engagement with computer games and its effect on their academic achievement in a Malaysian secondary school

The main purpose of the study was to address the association between computer games and students’ academic achievement. The exceptional growth in numbers of children playing computer games, the uneasiness and incomplete understanding foundation when starting the discussion on computer games have stimulated this study to be conducted. From a survey conducted on 236 form one students in one of the Malaysian secondary school, 75.8 percent were gamers. Playing computer games seemed to be more stereotypically boy’s activity with 91.3 percent of the boys engaged in computer games compared to 54.1 percent among the girls. They spent an average of 8.47 hours per week playing computer games. Parents and teachers’ concern about computer games was not something that went unwarranted as an overall result was predicting computer games as having negative associations with students’ academic achievement. However, in-depth analyses by combinations of classes done step by step indicated that the initial results could be overruled by students from the last class, whom need extra attentions. As a conclusion, the findings in this study suggest some interesting yet ultimately weak associations between playing computer games and students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making any generalization as looking at the population as a whole will be different from its components. The generalizability of this study’s findings is limited by the nature of the sample. Even so, blaming computer games for the students’ bad academic performance in school is unjustified as there are many more other factors to look into before finding computer games as the scapegoat.     

Form one students’ engagement with computer games and its effect on their academic achievement in a Malaysian secondary school

The main purpose of the study was to address the association between computer games and students’ academic achievement. The exceptional growth in numbers of children playing computer games, the uneasiness and incomplete understanding foundation when starting the discussion on computer games have stimulated this study to be conducted. From a survey conducted on 236 form one students in one of the Malaysian secondary school, 75.8 percent were gamers. Playing computer games seemed to be more stereotypically boy’s activity with 91.3 percent of the boys engaged in computer games compared to 54.1 percent among the girls. They spent an average of 8.47 hours per week playing computer games. Parents and teachers’ concern about computer games was not something that went unwarranted as an overall result was predicting computer games as having negative associations with students’ academic achievement. However, in-depth analyses by combinations of classes done step by step indicated that the initial results could be overruled by students from the last class, whom need extra attentions. As a conclusion, the findings in this study suggest some interesting yet ultimately weak associations between playing computer games and students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making any generalization as looking at the population as a whole will be different from its components. The generalizability of this study’s findings is limited by the nature of the sample. Even so, blaming computer games for the students’ bad academic performance in school is unjustified as there are many more other factors to look into before finding computer games as the scapegoat.     

Al in computer games: Survey and perspectives

Computer games have traditionally implemented empirical solutions to many Al problems and are now turning to more traditional Al algorithms. After introducing the role of Al in gameplay, we review the main techniques used in current computer games such as Finite-State Transition Networks, rule-based systems and search algorithms. We describe the implementation of Al in several commercial computer games, as well as academic research in Al targeting computer games applications. We conclude this review by discussing future trends and proposing research directions.     

Computer games' influence on scientific and information visualization

The breakneck pace of consumer graphics development has yielded an unexpected dividend: using commodity graphics boards in high-end scientific applications. Historically, the visualization community has been a driving force in high-end computer graphics innovation, fostering technologies that have gradually filtered down to the consumer market. In recent years, however, the financial growth of the computer games market has made it the driving force in the development of consumer graphics applications and hardware. While scientific and information visualization focus on knowledge, computer games focus on play. Thus, the type of play a game depicts strongly affects the graphics it requires. Popular game environments span many classifications, including fast-paced first-person shooting games, massively multiplayer roleplaying games, computer translations of classic board games like chess and backgammon, and construction simulations that let players create a city or even an entire world. Regardless of their differences, each game type facilitates the development of visual thinking concepts. Thinking visually in three dimensions, benefits the sense of wonder and user interaction connected with the application of scientific and information visualization technologies.     

Fast ray tracing and the potential effects on graphics and gaming courses

The modern graphics processing units (GPUs), found on almost every personal computer, use the z-buffer algorithm to compute visibility. Ray tracing, an alternative to the z-buffer algorithm, delivers higher visual quality than the z-buffer algorithm but has historically been too slow for interactive use. However, ray tracing has benefited from improvements in computer hardware, and many believe it will replace the z-buffer algorithm as the graphics engine on PCs. If this replacement happens, it will imply fundamental changes in both the API to and capabilities of 3D graphics engines. This paper overviews the backgrounds in z-buffer and ray tracing, presents our case that ray tracing will replace z-buffer in the near future, and discusses the implications for graphics oriented classes should this switch to ray tracing occur. Since computer gaming is one of the most important industry driving graphics hardware and the fact that recently there are many computer science courses related to games and games development, we also describe the potential impact on games related classes.     

Software engineering research for computer games: A systematic review

ContextCurrently, computer game development is one of the fastest growing industries in the worldwide economy. In addition to that, computer games are rapidly evolving in the sense that newer game versions arrive in a very short interval. Thus, software engineering techniques are needed for game development in order to achieve greater flexibility and maintainability, less cost and effort, better design, etc. In addition, games present several characteristics that differentiate their development from classical software development.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the state of the art on research concerning software engineering for computer games and discuss possible important areas for future research.MethodWe employed a standard methodology for systematic literature reviews using four well known digital libraries.ResultsSoftware engineering for computer games is a research domain that has doubled its research activity during the last 5 years. The dominant research topic has proven to be requirements engineering, while topics such as software verification and maintenance have been neglected up to now.ConclusionThe results of the study suggest that software engineering for computer games is a field that embraces many techniques and methods from conventional software engineering and adapts them so as to fit the specific requirements of game development. In addition to that, the study proposes the employment of more elaborate empirical methods, i.e. controlled experiments and case studies, in game software engineering research, which, have not been extensively used up to now.     

Age invaders: social and physical inter-generational mixed reality family entertainment

Age invaders (AI), is a novel interactive intergeneration social-physical game which allows the elderly to play harmoniously together with children in the physical space, while parents can participate in the game play in real time remotely in the virtual world through the internet. Traditional digital games are designed for the young where normally the player sits in front of a computer or game console. Unlike standard computer games, age invaders brings the game play to a physical platform, and requires and encourages physical body movements rather than constraining the user in front of a computer for many hours. Age invaders is an interactive social-physical family digital game designed specially for a harmonious game play between the elderly and young. Adjusting game properties automatically compensates for potential elderly disadvantages, for example slower reaction time and slow movement.     

Example Based Everyting

The magic of computer graphics as seen in many current movies and computer games comes at a cost. Creating the geometric forms with which to generate synthetic characters and animating the characters to bring them to life require either highly skilled artists and/or sophisticated capture devices. Both are expensive and, in the case of highly skilled artists, rare.     

Powerplay — Power,violence and gender in video games

Unlike the bulk of electronic media the computer game or video game is a distinctly gendered medium. All investigations confirm that we are dealing with a medium which almost exclusively appeals to and is used by, boys and young men. Therefore, the video games and computer games are very suited for investigating the form of entertainment, the pleasure, that appeals to men, i.e. the specific ‘masculine pleasure’. The paper deals with questions such as: What do computer games mean? What does violence in computer games signify? Why do computer games, especially the violent ones, mean something special to a certain group of men? These questions are discussed from the perspective of semiotics, media and control studies. Finally, the paper discusses the connections between women and the male dominated video games, and attempts to explain why, nevertheless, some girls and women do play these games.     

Piracy on the simulated seas: the computer games industry's non-legal approaches to fighting illegal downloads of games

The computer games industry suffers from high rates of piracy, with many people downloading illegal copies of games. People in the industry are aware of the problem, and the gravity of it has been acknowledged and commented on by many publishers and developers. Yet unlike the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, independent movie studios, and other rights holders, computer game developers and publishers have shied away from attempting to sue pirates or otherwise enforce their rights through the legal system. Instead, the industry has looked to a variety of self-help remedies, a fact that has largely not been commented on by legal scholars. This paper examines the successes and pitfalls of these varied non-legal approaches, broadly classifying them into four categories: digital rights management, online-only offerings, making legal easier, and community engagement.     

Effective affective user interface design in games

It is proposed that games, which are designed to generate positive affect, are most successful when they facilitate flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1992). Flow is a state of concentration, deep enjoyment, and total absorption in an activity. The study of games, and a resulting understanding of flow in games can inform the design of non-leisure software for positive affect. The paper considers the ways in which computer games contravene Nielsen's guidelines for heuristic evaluation (Nielsen and Molich 1990) and how these contraventions impact on flow. The paper also explores the implications for research that stem from the differences between games played on a personal computer and games played on a dedicated console. This research takes important initial steps towards defining how flow in computer games can inform affective design.     

浅谈电脑游戏与娱乐教育

当电脑游戏问世的时候,人们可能意识不到它所带来的社会影响。随着上个实际最后10年互联网迅速的发展,网络游戏也随之风靡全球。这带来了种种问题,广大教育工作者必须正视这些问题。而近几年来,娱乐教育的提出和发展,使教育工作者们的目光又聚焦到电脑游戏之上。电脑游戏的娱乐性如果能和教育应用结合起来,将极大地激发学习者的学习兴趣,提高学习效率和效果。电脑游戏这把双刃剑如果能被我们所掌握,将能改变其"电子海洛英"的恶名,而成为新的教学手段。     

Mate Marote: A flexible automated framework for large-scale educational interventions

There is big consensus that computer games may be an effective way of learning and many initiatives are being developed where aspects from cognitive sciences are being applied in the development of these games. In this article, we present Mate Marote, a flexible framework for large-scale educational interventions. Based on the delivery programs of computers to each student in Argentinian schools, we developed an environment that provides activities/games and registers usage statistics. This framework keeps installation up-to-date connecting with a central server as Internet connection is detected, synchronizing new activities, version updates and usage history. As a first testbed intervention, we deployed three games in La Rioja province (Argentina), where OLPC is the official program. These games were focused on training inhibitory control, working memory and planning skills. We found that usage statistics of games replicate previous results found at the laboratory, showing that this platform works as an intervention framework despite its unsupervised nature.     

Engagement in digital entertainment games: A systematic review

Since their introduction over 40 years ago, digital entertainment games have become one of the most popular leisure activities globally. While digital games clearly provide highly engaging activities, the nature of this engagement is not well understood. The current study aims to advance our understanding by reporting a systematic review of recent literature addressing engagement in computer games. The papers in the review comprise a sub-sample of papers relating to engagement in digital games that was selected from a broader literature search carried out on the outcomes and impacts of playing computer games. A diverse range of studies was identified that examined varied aspects of engagement in games including subjective experiences while playing games, the physiological concomitants of these experiences, motives for playing games, game usage and time spent playing games and the impact of playing on life satisfaction. A narrative review was carried out to capture these diverse aspects of engagement and to develop a more coherent understanding of engagement in computer games.     

Effective affective user interface design in games

It is proposed that games, which are designed to generate positive affect, are most successful when they facilitate flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1992). Flow is a state of concentration, deep enjoyment, and total absorption in an activity. The study of games, and a resulting understanding of flow in games can inform the design of non-leisure software for positive affect. The paper considers the ways in which computer games contravene Nielsen's guidelines for heuristic evaluation (Nielsen and Molich 1990) and how these contraventions impact on flow. The paper also explores the implications for research that stem from the differences between games played on a personal computer and games played on a dedicated console. This research takes important initial steps towards defining how flow in computer games can inform affective design.     

Gore Galore: Literary Theory and Computer Games

Computer games have not beenadequately theorized within the humanities. Inthis paper a brief history of computer games ispresented as a starting point for developing atopology of games and a theory of computergames as rhetorical artifacts suitable forcritical study. The paper addresses thequestion of why games should be treatedseriously and suggests a theoretical approachbased on Bakhtin's poetics of the novel wherethe experience of time and space (thechronotope) provides a framework of questionsfor discussing computer games.     

游戏设计中碰撞探测的编程算法

随着电脑游戏的不断发展,游戏的类型越来越多.除了那些发生在无限空间中的游戏或棋牌类游戏以外,大部分游戏需要确定运动物体和环境之间什么时候发生碰撞.本文论述了游戏实体间的碰撞探测、游戏实体与地板、天花板、墙壁等环境碰撞的碰撞探测的编程算法,并给出了用Java语言编写的主要代码.     

The differences in motivations of online game players and offline game players: A combined analysis of three studies at higher education level

Computer games have become a highly popular form of entertainment and have had a large impact on how University students spend their leisure time. Due to their highly motivating properties computer games have come to the attention of educationalists who wish to exploit these highly desirable properties for educational purposes. Several studies have been performed looking at motivations for playing computer games in a general context and in a Higher Education (HE) context. These studies did not focus on the differences in motivations between online and offline game players. Equally the studies did not look at the differences in motivations of people who prefer single player games and people who prefer multiplayer games. If games-based learning is to become a recognised teaching approach then such motivations for playing computer games must be better understood. This paper presents the combined analysis of three studies at HE level, performed over a four year period from 2005 to 2009. The paper focuses on differences of motivations in relation to single player/multiplayer preference and online/offline game participation. The study found that challenge is the top ranking motivation and recognition is the lowest ranking motivation for playing computer games in general. Challenge is also the top ranking motivation for playing games in HE while fantasy and recognition are the lowest ranking motivations for playing games in HE. Multiplayer gamers derive more competition, cooperation, recognition, fantasy and curiosity from playing games and online gamers derive more challenge, cooperation, recognition and control from playing games. Multiplayer gamers and online gamers ranked competition, cooperation and recognition significantly more important for playing games in HE than single players and offline participants.     

A Lexical Approach to Study Computer Games and Game Play Experience via Online Reviews

This article proposes a revised lexical approach to understand characteristics of computer games and user experience in game play by analyzing online game reviews. The lexical approach was originally used by psychologists to study personality traits. It was based on a lexical hypothesis stating that personality traits are reflected in the adjectives people have been using to describe personality over a long time. A factor analysis was then conducted to identify the patterns of personality related adjectives (i.e., personality traits). The argument here is that game players have used natural languages to describe computer games and their experiences over time and that the most important characteristics of computer games and game play experience would be reflected in player language. Therefore, the traits of computer games and user experience during game play can be studied by examining the adjectives used by players in online reviews. Based on 696,801 reviews downloaded from three major game websites, the lexical approach was adapted to analyze textual content pertaining to computer games. In two consecutive studies, the most important factors concerning traits of computer games and game play experience were discovered and analyzed. The implications of the revised lexical approach and findings from this project were discussed.