Development Of Digital Games Research Articles

SOFTWARE MATURITY LEVEL AND TRAINING OF QUALIFIED PERSONNEL IN SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES AT IFBA

The Brazilian Digital Games Industry has grown significantly over the past few years, resulting in the approval, by the Federal Senate, of Bill PL 2.796/2021, which creates the legal framework for the electronic games industry. Educational programs focused on game development in Brazil are a necessity for training talent and promoting innovation in this segment. Being a high-risk business, digital game development requires metrics that can assess technology development. In this context, the objective of this work was to present a correlation between the level of software technology readiness and the digital game development process, as well as to analyze IFBA courses that increase the supply of qualified personnel in digital game development. For this, bibliographic and documentary research procedures were used. Four technology readiness level (TRL) scales applied to software developed by American and Brazilian government agencies were identified, all adapted from the TRL scales and requiring adjustments for application in the various software technologies. The DG-STRL scale, by Ferreira and Ribeiro, correlates the stages of digital game development with the TRL for software technology, and is an instrument focused on the sector. It was observed that the IFBA offers game development courses at continuing education, undergraduate and specialization levels, contributing to the training of talented developers capable of competing on a global scale.

Serious Games for Improving Mental Health: Status and Prospects

With the rapid development of time and technology, the significance of digital game development cannot be underestimated. In today's era, games have permeated thousands of households, encompassing a wide range of genres. They are no longer solely entertainment products but also can be applied in education, medical care, learning, scientific research, and other fields. Research indicates that serious games (games designed to teach knowledge and skills or provide professional training and simulation) can effectively improve mental health. This review discusses the current status and future prospects of serious games in promoting mental health. It presents a comprehensive classification of serious games by integrating several literature resources, synthesizing information and data analysis to investigate their effectiveness in improving mental health outcomes. The findings show that serious games play a certain role in the treatment of mental illness. However, the current body of research is not without limitations, as there exists a dearth of controlled experiments comparing the efficacy of serious games to other types of games and investigating the effectiveness of gamification techniques. To address these gaps, researchers and designers should further prioritize approaches such as emotional design and participatory design. Additionally, leveraging emerging technologies like virtual reality can facilitate the development of adaptable game designs and methodologies that align with evolving societal needs.

Digital Game Design for Older Adults: A Conceptual Framework

The digital revolution, particularly digital games, can potentially improve older adults' lives. However, the commercialised digital games on the market are not designed specifically to help this demographic cope with the adverse effects of ageing. There are no specific guidelines or frameworks that consider the andragogy principles. We aimed to address our research question: How can older adults’ game experience influence design consideration? and discusses a framework that could aid the design and development of digital games focusing on older adults and their gaming experience. Mixed-method approach is used in this study, consisting of four stages in the research design. This article introduces and discusses the purpose, design, play and experience (PDPE) framework which has informed the development of a game prototype that was used to validate the framework by investigating older adults’ experiences.

Actualization of the content of the educational process in the artistic and creative areas of Bachelor's training in terms of the formation of digital competencies

Introduction. Currently, almost all spheres of society life activities are developing in terms of progressive digitalization, therefore it is required to promptly transform existing approaches to organizing the student learning process. The purpose of research: to determine digital competencies relevant to the field of professional activity of graduates of artistic and creative areas of training and to actualize the content of the educational process in accordance with the results obtained. Materials and methods. The study was conducted during 2021 – 2023 on the basis of the Department of Design, Art Education and Technology of Yelets State University named after I.A. Bunin. The target group included 157 respondents with experience in conducting creative activities using modern digital technologies. Empirical test methods for data collection were implemented in two ways: during direct communication and remotely using Yandex Forms. Quantitative statistical analysis was carried out using LibreOffice Calc. Results. 6 enlarged groups of digital competencies of graduates of artistic and creative areas of training, currently in demand by society and the labor market, have been identified. Based on the opinions of the respondents, they were ranked according to the degree of importance: have the skills and abilities to work with raster (16.6%) and vector (12.1%) computer graphics, design and edit pages or sites on the Internet (13.3%) , develop multimedia content (5.7%), create and edit 3D models (23.6%), use specialized programs according to the training profile (28.7%). Conclusions. The empirically obtained results were integrated into the curriculum for undergraduate training in the direction 54.03.01 Design, specialty (profile) “Design and Contemporary Digital Art”, in terms of the proportional distribution of study time between disciplines and modules focused on the development of digital competencies. The optimal sequence of developing skills in mastering specialized digital tools has been identified, which is the key to the effective outcome of the educational process. Promising vectors for the development of artistic and creative education of students have been identified, which include: design of mobile applications, creation of elements of augmented and virtual reality, development of conceptual digital games.

Simaksaja: visual novel game with TyranoBuilder software for Islamic moderation in elementary schools

The study aims to determine the development, feasibility, and effectiveness of the Simaksaja game. The research was conducted due to the lack of development of digital games based on religious moderation in elementary schools. This research and development refer to the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) type of Dick, Carey, and Carey model. Data were collected through student and teacher needs analysis, media expert and material expert validation tests, effectiveness tests, structured observation, in-depth interviews, and document study. The research subjects were 46 teachers and 46 students for the needs analysis and effectiveness test in 2 schools in the District and City of Magelang. The research findings stated that the game features character-driven material, the introduction of the characters Ning and Gus, and quizzes. Based on the feasibility test, the game expert scored 72%, the moderation material expert 88%, and the Aswaja Annahdliyah material expert 72%, and it was feasible to use. This game is effective based on the effectiveness test in two elementary schools, scoring 80% from the educators’ response and 87% from the students’ response. The novelty of the research is that the TyranoBuilder game contains religious moderation characters, Aswaja Annahdliyah, Pancasila student profile, and Rahmatan Lil Alamin student profile.

Tri Hita Karana as the foundation for digital game development

Tri Hita Karana as the foundation for digital game development

A study on the interaction of the elderly with digital games through usability and user experience evaluations

The growing number of the elderly and their potential use of technological products requires understanding the interaction between these users and technology to develop appropriate products that include them. Accordingly, this article focuses on studying the interaction between older people and digital games to provide strategies for digital game developers to create inclusive games for these users. Thus, usability and user experience evaluation sessions were performed to achieve these objectives, and the older generation's acceptance of technology during interaction with digital games was verified. The data collection methods were observation and the application of questionnaires, one before the tests to evaluate the profile of the public and another afterward to assess usability, experience and technology acceptance. The test was applied to 36 people aged 60 and over. The results showed that the elderly prefer mobile devices and use them more often. Despite their lack of experience with digital games, the test participants had a good experience, even with difficulties such as game time management and perception of screen elements.

Intention to Adopt Digital Games for Safety Training in Young Farm Operators: The Role of Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, and Game Design Characteristics

The development of digital games has proven particularly fruitful for the introduction of new forms of occupational safety training in various work sectors, but less is known about their use in sectors as hazardous as agriculture. In this study, we used a path model to analyze the triggers for the intention to use digital games as a safety training method in a group of young agricultural operators. A questionnaire was used to investigate participants’ intention to use games as safety training tools, perception of usefulness, perception of specific game design characteristics, and perceived ease of use. Game design characteristics and perceived ease of use were positively associated with perceived usefulness, which, in turn, was positively related to the intention to use digital games. These results provided some insights into the most critical variables that can be influenced to increase young farmers’ intention to use digital games for effective safety training.

A Cultural History of the Greek Digital Games Origins: From Clones to Originality

Literature on the digital games industry and gaming history has for the most part focused on the global production centres of North America, Western Europe, Japan, and, lately, China. However, in recent years, a call to research the diverse and less dominant national contexts within which digital games are produced has been addressed. In this article, we shed light on early digital game development in Greece, covering the years between 1982 and 2002. This particular region has been highly neglected by both domestic and international researchers. We approach Greek digital game development from both historical and cultural perspectives, through an investigation of how local game developers interact with a wide range of contextual facets in a complex interrelation between global and national conditions. This article argues that, in order to highlight the characteristics of early national game production cultures and digital games design, one must examine them as well under the broader cultural production ecosystem, along with the economic and institutional contexts and transformations within which digital game production takes shape.

User Experience Techniques Adopted by Brazilian Game Development Studios: An Exploratory Study

Game development studios deal with numerous challenges to achieve the publication of games that are acclaimed by the public. The difficulties range from a simple choice of color for a particular object within the game to mechanics and narratives. In this way, user experience (UX) techniques provide a better perception of the player’s experience. UX techniques are consolidated in the context of software engineering industries and literature. However, few works in the literature (which will be presented in this work) address this knowledge and treat digital games as a specific type of software. In this sense, we aim to explore and present innovative approaches and best techniques adopted by game development studios to integrate UX into their processes. The research included the participation of 41 digital game development studios from all regions of Brazil, of which 31 were interviewed and 10 chose to participate via questionnaire. The analysis revealed that many participants work in small companies (up to five employees) and apply UX techniques intuitively without formal knowledge and justification for using them. Furthermore, we noticed that many studios are unclear about their techniques and confuse them with game design. However, most understand that UX is fundamental for designing a successful game with community support and buy‐in. In addition, most of the justifications for not using UX techniques converged on a lack of knowledge. Finally, we developed a visual scheme to assist studios and future research, capable of consolidating the information extracted from participants about the UX techniques adopted, the benefits and challenges of applying them to the development process, the justifications for not adopting UX techniques (when not adopted), the test instruments implemented, and the UX dimensions evaluated by them.

DIJS: Methodology for the Design and Development of Digital Educational Serious Games

Digital serious games (SG) have been considered useful in different fields, including education. Several authors focus on their design and development to minimize posible errors in the process and be able to meet the objectives proposed by the game. This article presents a review that considers works where strategies and methodologies are proposed to facilitate the task of designing a SG. Based on this review, this article presents the novel DIJS methodology for creating digital educational SG. The objective of DIJS is to offer a guided process for fully designing and developing digital educational SG, with a focus on balancing the entertainment and educational aspects of the game. The methodology weaves together the strategies proposed by game designers and those corresponding to instructional design, making it novel and original. DIJS has been evaluated using the expert judgment technique. Among the main results achieved with the methodology, experts highlight its usefulness, and have a positive opinion about its metaphor and the elements that are recommended to use. Aspects for improvement are also described, which will be the starting point for future work.

Analysis MiHoYo Business Model Competitiveness

People’s purchasing capacity rises along with that of the national economic strength. At the same time, because of the rapid development of the Internet and mobile phones becoming a common commodity, mobile games have gradually gained the spotlight and integrated into people’s daily lives. The industry of mobile games has expanded tremendously, which has led to fierce competition under the promotion of capitalism. Small- to medium-sized enterprises in the game development industry now face strenuous difficulties in moving forward with the expansion. In this article, we appraise MiHoYo Co., Ltd., a digital game development and publishing company based in Shanghai, regarding its development so far in the industry; using theories and methods in business administration, we analyze the competitive advantages of MiHoYo. MiHoYo has released best-selling video games with themes centered around renowned intellectual properties, which form a multi-dimensional matrix of products that enhances its lead in competition; at reasonable prices; MiHoYo’s original intellectual properties have attracted a large number of users with high consumer stickiness. Moreover, MiHoYo has a culture of prioritizing technology and setting clear goals, and it has successfully released promising products while gathering experience in business management. The success of MiHoYo under the challenges posed by the game development industry allows other small- to medium-sized enterprises to see development directions in a new light. Lastly, suggestions are presented for the future progress of MiHoYo.

Games as Political Actors in Digital Journalism

The goal of this study is to explore the role of digital games as political actors in digital journalism. The development of digital games designed to frame journalistic messages led to the emergence of newsgames. This trend impacts online mass media outlets’ performance as political actors in democratic polities. In this article, we explore the current relationship between political communication and newsgames by answering the following research question: How do online mass media outlets use newsgames to report, interpret, and critically analyze democratic polities?<em> </em>In this study, an inductive grounded theory approach was used to analyze 29 political newsgames published in 25 mass-media digital outlets across 11 different countries. The findings reveal that mass media outlets employ political newsgames to perform four distinct functions when covering political events: analytical reportage, commentary, critical scrutiny, and representation.

Chemistry of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Brazil’s Protagonism in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS: Exploring the Theme with High School Seniors

The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection consists in using antiretroviral medicine before sexual exposure to the virus to decrease probability of infection. The PrEP is capable of preventing the virus infection and promoting a healthier sexual life. Brazil has been a reference in HIV treatment not only because it was the first country in Latin America to offer free antiretroviral treatment to virus carriers but also because it participated in the Initiative in Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (iPrEP), a study that was carried out in several countries worldwide and proved effectiveness of the PrEP. Medication distributed by the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) is quite unknown to the population. To mitigate current proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and increase in pregnancy cases among adolescents, sexual orientation has been intensified in schools and, thus, it has also become their responsibility, rather than parents’ responsibility alone. Therefore, this study aimed at carrying out dynamic and dialogic interventions about the PrEP in classes taught to High School seniors who attend technical courses in Commerce and in Development of Digital Games at the Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro - Campus Uberlândia Centro, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. A dialogical Chemistry class was taught to show students several images and chemical structures of active ingredients found in the medication (PrEP). Besides, students answered a questionnaire with open questions anonymously to evaluate the effect of the class on their learning about sexual education, HIV/AIDS and, mainly, the PrEP. Students showed much interest in the tasks and interacted positively. Results of the questionnaire enabled to observe students’ increase in knowledge about the PrEP. In sum, this study enabled the PrEP to be better disseminated, since doubts were mitigated.

Serious Games in Digital Gaming: A Comprehensive Review of Applications, Game Engines and Advancements

Serious games are defined as applied games that focus on the gamification of an experience (e.g., learning and training activities) and are not strictly for entertainment purposes. In recent years, serious games have become increasingly popular due to their ability to simultaneously educate and entertain users. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the different types of digital games and expand on the serious games genre while focusing on its various applications. Furthermore, we present the most widely used game engines used in the game development industry and extend the Unity game machine advantages. Lastly, we conclude our research with a detailed comparison of the two most popular choices (Unreal and Unity engines) and their respective advantages and disadvantages while providing future suggestions for serious digital game development.

Analysis on Galgame <Doki Doki Literature Club!> from the Perspective of How Traditional Digital Game Forms Stand Out in Today's Society

Digital games have been around for seventy-four years. While some games have slowly become obsolete through generations of innovation, others have evolved with the times and have become successful in the modern society. How those forms of games that were born in the last century can have a foothold in today's world, and how traditional digital game forms which are difficult to integrate with new technologies can stand out from their peers through the use of alternative methods is the focus of this paper. Galgame is the object of study in this paper, and the game <Doki Doki Literature Club!>’s composition is analysed from various perspectives, including its content and plot. It also compares <Doki Doki Literature Club!> with other games in the same genre from the perspective of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and explains why this game stands out from other Galgames. It also discusses whether the success of <Doki Doki Literature Club!> can be a reference for other traditional digital games, so that the development of traditional digital games can have more possibilities. The study conclusion is that the game <Doki Doki Literature Club!> did not use a lot of brand-new electronic technology, but was created from the perspective of fully understanding and satisfying its unique player base. The success of <Doki Doki Literature Club!> is a good reference for other traditional digital games that cannot make use of a lot of advanced technology.

Reviewing the Relationship Between Blockchain and NFT With World Famous NFT Market Places

Blockchain and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are two closely related concepts that have gained significant attention in recent years, particularly in the realm of digital assets and decentralized technologies. Blockchain and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) share a symbiotic relationship, with blockchain serving as the underlying technology that empowers NFTs to function as unique digital assets. NFTs, on the other hand, leverage blockchain technology to address the longstanding challenge of proving ownership and authenticity in the digital realm. By representing unique assets on the blockchain, NFTs solve the problem of digital scarcity, enabling artists, musicians, game developers, and creators to tokenize and sell their digital creations as limited-edition, one-of-a-kind items. The indivisibility of NFTs ensures that each token represents a whole and unique piece of content, be it digital art, music, videos, or virtual real estate. This paper is reviewing the world famous NFT that are traded on popular Blockchain on world famous NFT market place such as Opensea and YoungParrot. Several international brands have their NFT listed on such NFT market places.

Design and development process of a digital game to acquire preschoolers’ self-care skills: a model practice

This study aims to clearly describe how to design and develop a digital game with a concrete example for preschoolers to acquire Self-Care Skills (SCS). The study is in the model of design-based developmental research and includes such participants as subject-matter experts, practitioner teachers, and preschoolers in the development steps. RETRO game development model was adapted and followed in the game development process by integrating Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) approach with entertainment game development. Each step of the model involves gathering, analyzing data and yielding informative findings that guide the next step. The views of participants indicate that some behaviors in SCS can be cognitively acquired and internalized by the game with latent learning. While realizing learning outcomes, the developed game succeeded in motivation, engagement and design features as in commercial entertainment games. As the model recommends, if all the bases are covered, the design and development process may be executed right. Since the study reports the entire process of the concrete example, it can help guide novice digital game developers (can be a teacher, a trainer as well) repeat the game development or develop a new one based on DGBL. Keywords: Digital games, digital game-based learning, early year’s education, mobile games, self-care skills.

A conventional and digital mathematical board game design and development for use by students in learning arithmetic

This paper reported the design and development of a conventional and digital mathematical board game for use by students in learning arithmetic. At the time of research, there is no significant indication that a mathematical board game is available in scientific and published patent documentation. The availability of mathematical board games for students’ drills and practice in arithmetic, especially in mathematical statement construction, would benefit them, as this competency is an essential life skill. This research was conducted through the design and development research method with the procedure of users’ need analysis, researcher as developer capability analysis, product design, product development, field testing in its natural setting environment, and the prototype. The board game prototype was developed in both conventional printed and digital versions. The field testing for the conventional printed version was conducted at secondary school classes with 34 and 36 students, respectively, while for the digital by selected participants. The field testing shows that the developed mathematical board game can work as expected in its natural setting environment.

Model for Automatic Generation of Difficulty Curves in Digital Games

This paper presents a model for the generation of difficulty curves adaptive to the user's context. From studies on Flow theory combined with difficulty curves, element of digital game development process, mathematical models and previous data were used to create an adaptive difficulty curve based on user performance. It was used a research developed digital game as a case study, The Incredible Adventures of Apollo and Rosetta in the Space, which provided previous user data to perform the statistical analysis. Through the applied study, it is proposed the Difficulty Curves Generator Model (DCGM) for the generation of adaptive difficulty curves in digital games. Different approaches were used, and the final results demonstrated via simulation of the DCGM the ability of the generator to predict and adjust the game level for the player to experience, by calculating the relation between difficulty and player performance, aimed and focused in the Flow state.