Bibtex
@Article{ribelles2022modulating,
author={Ribelles, Jose and Lopez, Angeles and Traver, V. Javier},
title={Modulating the gameplay challenge through simple visual computing elements: A cube puzzle case study},
journal={International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence},
year={2022},
month={},
day={},
volume={},
number={},
pages={},
doi={10.9781/ijimai.2022.05.001},
url={https://doi.org/10.9781/ijimai.2022.05.001}
}
Modulating the gameplay challenge through simple visual
computing elements: A cube puzzle case study
Jose Ribelles Angeles Lopez V. Javier Traver
Universitat Jaume I
Abstract
Final publication is available at IJIMAI via this link
Our work has to do mainly with the game challenge; in particular, we delve into this issue: whether the player experience can be modulated with relatively simple manipulations of images present in the game. By image manipulation we mean modifying some other aspects of the image (e.g. color, edges, texture) or distorting it somehow (e.g. blurring, geometric deformations, frequency filtering), but respecting some aspects of its contents, so that it can be recognized and potentially distinguished from others, yet with different cognitive abilities or effort with respect to the original image. This possibility can be partially grounded on the information quality, which is understood as one of the mechanisms underlying flow. We generally refer to these alterations as visual computing. Arguably, visual computing is particularly suitable for some game types or genres such as puzzle or card games, but it could also be applied to other games where the modification of visuals of some of its elements, may have an impact on the gameplay. To address this issue, we focus on a controlled case study, a 2D video game version of the Cube blocks puzzle, and explore whether, and how, changes to the images used for the sides of the cubes affect the actual gameplay and the player perception of their experience.
Full paper 5MB
Positive player’s experiences greatly rely on a balanced gameplay where the game difficulty is related to player’sskill. Towards this goal, the gameplay can be modulated to make it easier or harder. In this work, a modulating mechanism based on visual computing is explored. The main hypothesis is that simple visual modifications of some elements in the game can have a significant impact on the game experience. This concept, which is essentially unexplored in the literature, has been experimentally tested with a web-based cube puzzle game where participants played either the original game or the visually modified game. The analysis is based on players’ behavior, performance, and replies to a questionnaire upon game completion. The results provide evidence on the effectiveness of visual computing on gameplay modulation. We believe the findings are relevant to game researchers and developers because they highlight how a core gameplay can be easily modified with relatively simple ingredients, at least for some game genres. Interestingly, the insights gained from this study also open the door to automate the game adaptation based on observed player’s interaction.
Paper
Citation
Jose Ribelles, Angeles Lopez and V. Javier Traver. " Modulating the gameplay challenge through simple visual computing elements: A cube puzzle case study ". International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 2022, (online)