DESIGN AND BUILD VR HORROR GAMES WITH PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION USING CELLULAR AUTOMATA ALGORITHM

Procedural content generation is helping game developers to create significant quantity of high quality dynamic content for video games at a fraction of cost of the traditional methods. Procedural texture synthesis is a sub category of procedural content generation which helps video games to have significant variations in textures of the environments and the objects across the progress of the game and to avoid repetition. Generative Adversarial Networks are a class of deep learning algorithms which are capable of learning the patterns and creating new patterns. In this paper, Generative Adversarial Networks is used for procedural content generation for original textures synthesis for video game development. This method is used by video game designers for autonomous redesigning of objects and environment textures. This process saves significant time and cost in video game development. The particular attention in this paper is on procedural synthesis of ground surface textures. The generated texture samples are visually acceptable and have mean score of 2.45 with 0.1 standard deviation after 2K iteration. Also the discriminator loss of generated samples reached 0.74 at the final stage of training. The proposed framework can be used as an effective procedural texture synthesis framework for video game design and development.

Between War and Play

The computer games industry is growing rapidly today, and the number of users of these games (players) is increasing. All of this has an impact on modern society. The development of new computer games involves constant evolution in such areas as technological innovations, the development of game genres, and analysis of market trends in the entertainment sector. The development of artificial intelligence and its application in the development of computer games contribute to the dynamic change of the landscape and expansion of the space and genres of games. The purpose of the article is to study and analyse the state of the modern computer games industry, taking into account the main genres and trends in the use of artificial intelligence in their development and the formation of the corresponding game space, to assess technological innovations, to analyse the market and to forecast the future development of the game industry. The research methods are the main methodological approaches and technological means of artificial intelligence for the development of computer games and the formation of the corresponding game space. Such methods include, in particular, systematic and comparative analyses to identify the features of computer games of various genres and types, the method of expert assessments, which involves the analysis of literary sources and information resources, interviews and surveys of game industry experts. The novelty of the study is a comprehensive analysis of modern technologies, in particular generative artificial intelligence, their use in the development of computer games and trends in the formation of the space of such games. Conclusions. The main trends in the development of computer games have been identified. The factors that influence their market are identified and forecasts are made for the future development of this industry. The paper analyses the use of artificial intelligence, in particular generative artificial intelligence, in the development of computer games (to optimise game creation and reduce budgets) and the formation of the corresponding game space, generative artificial intelligence has opened a new era of development of the computer game space. The impact of artificial intelligence on the balance between integration and immersion in the real world is determined. The current state of virtual reality games with their achievements and problems is analysed, which is crucial for understanding their future development trajectory. The new trends and technologies considered point to the future of the computer games space.

We feel that it is essential to ask: Why study video games as a form of information technology? Are video games not a mindless and childish form of entertainment without any serious consequences requiring scholarly examination? We believe the answer to that question is a resounding “no”. We propose that video games are one of the first samples of IT with which children come into contact and can have a profound effect on their acceptance of technology overall. It can be argued that the sooner children come into contact with and accept technology, the more likely they will be to sustain such activity into adulthood. Interesting cultural aspects related to video games are arising as this form of IT generates interest in research communities, especially when examining the social dynamics of video game players (e.g., real time strategy (RTS) gosus, arcade junkies) and video gaming communities (e.g., role-playing game (RPG) clans, first-person shooter (FPS) sects). Similarly, the recent influx of games with mature content has increased the number of older video game players (Snider, 2002). Moreover, there are observable emotional and psychological effects that video game players experience. For example, some reports suggest that video games with violent themes can desensitize individuals (Violent Video Games, 2000). Video games have become so popular and pervasive that they are transforming the modern world, and these effects are measurable at the individual, organizational, societal, and even global levels. The sheer economic impact alone of video games cannot be ignored; a recent article reports that the video gaming industry generated $9.9 billion in revenue for 2004 (Richtel, 2005). Finally, video games can be considered a “gateway to computer literacy” for children (DeBare, 1996). This also implies that video games have more of a role in a child’s lifestyle than simply mindless entertainment. Studying video games as they relate to gender and IT is thus a worthwhile endeavor with non-trivial ramifications. Specifically, studying how playing video games relates to gender differences in the IT work profession may provide interesting results because such an inquiry would identify a possible contributor to the gender gap noticed in the IT workforce today. Males have traditionally possessed a strong desire to interact with technology, which we posit is partly driven by increased exposure to video games. Males therefore appropriate artifacts of technology (e.g., computers, wireless, handheld devices, etc.) more readily than their female counterparts. Contrarily, females are being alienated from technology, which we believe is a causal result from their lack of positive video game experiences. How video games affect the gender gap in IT could be explained in the following manner. The IT profession is considered a male-dominated and male-oriented field. If we include game developers as part of the IT profession, we find little exception to this dominance. Video games are thus designed from the minds of male game developers; Saltzmann (2001) reports that 99% of all game developers are men. Video games conventionally have had a stronger appeal to males than females. Less than 30% of all video game players are female and the number of“serious” female game players is considerably lower (DeBare, 1996). For example, only 5% of GamePro magazine readers are female and only 8% of the buyers who returned product registration cards to Electronic Arts, a leading game design company, are female (DeBare, 1996). As a result, the majority of video games contain an emphasis on overtly male-oriented themes such as gratuitous sex and violence, extreme action, science-fiction themes, mythical fantasies, and sports. Due to this overly male-oriented content of video games, young males are naturally drawn to them. Therefore, we posit that young males have a “fun” or positive interaction with technology, while young females do not. Young males thus have an initial attraction to technology that is driven by video games, and consequently may have a strong desire to seek professions where technology is central to the work (e.g., programming, animation). Conversely, young females who lack this “fun” interaction with technology may miss the attraction, thus resulting in a lack of interest in pursuing a career where technology is essential. Thus, we propose a research agenda that examines female interest in video games as a method to address the gender gap in the IT profession. We speculate that investigations into the gaming habits and gaming preferences of females can not only provide an understanding of women’s interests in video games, but also lead to characteristics that can be emphasized to increase female interest in technology.

Previous studies have seen the world of video games as a field of its own. The development of video games has created a much broader context that include not only game as social field but also professional field through the rising of electronic sports. The presence of MOBA has shown how gaming becoming the source of entertainment and competition. These field have a structure of its own where forms of capital take role in supporting gamers as an agent to take their own ‘positions’. Gamers own and express different habitus in the field. This qualitative research aims to explore the forms of capital identified by the gamers as essential to possess in the field of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena video games, by doing in-depth interviews with Indonesian gamers of Mobile Legends. The research shows that gamers can be categorized into two types, which are achievementoriented gamers and socializing-oriented gamers, which both identify the forms of capital differently, as they aligned it to their purpose of playing the game

This paper questions how video game players evolve to become video game developers and entrepreneurs. It also questions how this can best be documented so as to inform the video game industry which is recognised as a key entity in the European economic, education and employment future. Market growth in respect of video game sales, innovation, and research and development is introduced in our opening overview of the industry. This is followed by an analysis of the characteristics of the players and their motivation with related evaluation of their management of real versus virtual aspects of the gameplay. The conclusions reflect upon video game development as a vocation and the potential advantages that gamers have over their counterparts in the business.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the software development process is becoming a real revolution in the video game industry. The article explores and systematizes possible areas of application of AI in video game development and gameplay. In general, eight areas of possible implementation of AI in GameDev are described, namely: creating a graphical interface; creating 3D objects in video games; writing dialogues and text content in video games; creating music; voicing characters; creating animation; writing and testing program code; testing video games. Various areas of possible application of AI in video game development were experimentally tested and confirmed during the development by the authors of a game in the adventure genre with horror elements. The authors detailed the applied aspects of using various modern AI tools using the example of developing the corresponding components of the 3D game environment of the game "Labyrinth of Darkness". The use of AI helps to optimize labor-intensive processes, such as content creation and testing, which helps to speed up production cycles and improve the quality of the final product. To achieve the desired gaming style, AI tools allow you to generate several variants of images of game environment elements in order to select the most suitable ones for further adaptation into the game's graphical interface. To do this, deep learning algorithms analyze thousands of texture samples, creating new variations that look natural and meet modern graphics requirements. Thus, the active integration of AI technology into the modern video game development process significantly changes the approaches to testing and improving game products. On the other hand, the paper considers the difficulties and disadvantages of using AI in game development and testing. Currently, generative AI in game development and testing requires careful monitoring, adaptation, and testing. The best solution is to combine the capabilities of AI and the creative approach of developers, which guarantees high-quality content and a unique gaming experience.

The increasing number of video game titles raises competition between video game developers getting tighter and more competitive, this encourages the game developers to be more creative in designing their games so that players become loyal to play and not quickly switch to playing other games. While we know that game development is very difficult, time consuming and requires a lot of costs for the RPG genre. So that the loyalty of game players in playing games becomes a crucial problem.This study aims to explain how the customization of game avatars can increase the loyalty of video game players in playing role-playing games (RPGs).This study uses the within-subject experimental method with participants who are RPG video game players who have played for at least 1 year, 24 participants participated in the 8 experiment session throughout the study. The results of this study indicate that avatar customization is very important because it can improve the player's self-identification in the game, improve the playing experience, improve the perceived quality of the video game played, increase the flow and immersion of players, and increase gamer loyalty. Another result that was raised was that the use of avatars that were the same gender with players (male players using male avatars) did not have higher flow and immersion than when using different genders (male players use female avatars) so that this raises new issues of gander swapping in the role playing video game that can be continued for further research.

<p style="text-align: justify;">The development of video games can be traced back to the 80s of the last century. The final phase of the gaming industry’s development brought with it another phenomenon — e-sport. “Electronic sport” presupposes playing video games in a competitive setting, with emphasis on increased “institutionalization” of gaming activity through the organization of e-sports teams and official international competitions. In order to define esports, it’s important to note that not every activity of playing video games can be described as e-sport, but every e-sport is essentially playing video games. The interest for the phenomenon of electronic sport has increased over the past several years in all social sciences, including sociology. This paper aims to present several dimensions of the “electronic sport” phenomenon, review the existing research in this field, compare various aspects of e-sports and “traditional” sports, and discuss the formation of new subcultural group gathered around video games. The key task of this paper is to examine the distance between e-sports and “traditional” sport and frame the socio-economic scale of the phenomenon.</p>

This paper uses the author’s experiences of teaching the Filipino module of a multidisciplinary video game development class as a case study in teaching Filipino culture and identity as an element of video game development. A preliminary definition of “Filipino video game” as having Filipino narratives and subject matter, made by Filipino video game developers, and catering to a Filipino audience, is proposed. The realities and limitations of video game development and the video game market in the Philippines is also discussed to show how the dominance of Western video game industry, in terms of the dominance of outsource work for Filipino video game developers and the dominance of non-Filipino video games played by Filipino players, has hindered the development of original Filipino video games. Using four Filipino video games as primary texts discussed in class, students were exposed to Filipinomade video games, and shown how these games use Filipino history, culture, and politics as source material for their narrative and design. Issues of how video games can be used to selfexoticization, and the use of propaganda is discussed, and also how video games can be used to confront and reimagine Filipinoness. The paper ends with a discussion of a student-made game titled Alibatas, a game that aims to teach baybayin, a neglected native writing system in the Philippines as a demonstration of how students can make a Filipino video game. The paper then shows the importance of student-made games, and the role that the academe plays in the critical understanding of Filipino video games, and in defining Filipino culture and identity.

Procedural Content Generation (PCG) has emerged as a powerful approach for automating game content creation, offering significant benefits in terms of cost reduction and time efficiency compared to traditional game design and development processes (Zhang, Zhang, & Huang, 2022). While Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been widely used in PCG, alternative metaheuristic algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) have demonstrated their effectiveness in delivering high-quality solutions and efficient optimization capabilities across different problem domains (Amato, 2017). However, their application in PCG remains limited. I aim to evaluate the performance of PSO and ABC in map layout generation, challenging the conventional use of GAs. By comparing three metaheuristic algorithms (GA, ABC, and PSO) I seek to assess the effectiveness of these approaches in generating game levels and identify any obvious differences in their performance characteristics. Comprehensive experiments are conducted, applying GA, ABC, and PSO to a map layout generation. Metrics like convergence speed and content quality are used to evaluate the generated game content. My findings reveal that both ABC and PSO demonstrate advantages over traditional GA implementations when generating game levels, indicating their potential for enhancing PCG. In this presentation, I will share the results of comparing three metaheuristic algorithms (GA, PSO, and ABC) in map layout generation for game levels, emphasizing the potential benefits of leveraging diverse algorithmic approaches to create more captivating and immersive game worlds. Also, I will conclude with a call for further research in this area to expose new possibilities in content generation. By considering varied metaheuristic approaches, game developers can improve content generation techniques and create more captivating and interactive player experiences.

As computer technology advances, one of the entertainment media that has emerged is video games. The development of a video game is becoming more expensive and labor-intensive as technology itself continues to grow. One of the characteristics of a game as an entertainment medium is its replay value, which refers to the fact that the subject matter can be played more than once. Automating content through the use of procedural content generation is done with the goal of lowering expenses and reducing the amount of labour that is required. This research has two goals: designing and developing a Maze Game using the Procedural Content Generation method with the Cellular Automata and Marching Square algorithms, and determining the level of player satisfaction with the games developed using the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) method. This research will utilize Cellular Automata and the Marching Square algorithm as a method for generating 3D game shapes through Procedural Content Generation. After the game has been developed, it will be performed by players, and the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale will be used to measure the user experience. The result for overall satisfaction, based on the responses of 25 respondents, is 83.14%. Cellular Automata was effectively implemented to generate the map, while Marching Square was used to generate the 3D mesh, albeit with isolated rooms and graphical errors.

Research suggests that a variety of factors can alter video game play-from usability to aesthetics to expertise. An important developing area for human factors research is understanding how individual differences may influence interactions with video games, but the field lacks adequate methods for evaluating and classifying differences. This paper provides a notional framework for characterizing one critical individual difference in video game play, that of knowledge differences arising from player experience. This framework attends to common video game genres and mechanics and is illustrated using two distinct video games: Minecraft and Ark. The purpose is to highlight the sorts of knowledge making up player mental models and show how to identify the form of transferable individual differences that can be measured and improve research on video game development and use.

ARE ACTIVE VIDEO GAMES EFFECTIVE IN ELICITING AT LEAST MODERATE INTENSITY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CHILDREN AND DO CHILDREN ENJOY PLAYING THEM?

With the development of video game, the status of video game in society has been rising. On the one hand, the value of video game does contribute to the development of society, but on the other hand, there have been many problems with the development of game like the impact of violent games on teens and Gaming addiction. According to the "Statistical Report on the Development of the Internet in China", as of December 2018, the number of people addicted to games in China has reached 27.5%. Therefore, how to develop game has become a topic of great concern for the government and game makers. This study tries to find the relationship between social policy and video game development in the field of public opinion through the case study method. Provide policy theoretical support for how to develop video game. The study found that social policy does work in video game development in the field of public opinion by changing people’s perception of video game.