Theses 2003

TITLE: Parallelization and performance of interactive multi-player game servers

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.A.Sc.
Institution:	University of Toronto
Department:	Dept. of Elec. and Computer Engineering
URL:	http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk4/etd/MQ78159.PDF

Abstract: An important application domain for online services is interactive, multi-player games. An essential component for realizing these services is game servers that can support large numbers of simultaneous users in the same game world. In this work, we use a popular 3D interactive multi-player server, QuakeWorld, to study this important class of applications. We develop a benchmarking methodology appropriate for this class of applications. We evaluate the server and find that current systems can support a few tens of users. The primary bottleneck is compute cycles. We present the design and implementation of a multi-threaded, parallel version of the sequential game server. We examine the challenges in this class of applications, mainly in task decomposition and synchronization. We present preliminary performance results for a server with up to eight processors. We find that parallelization is challenging and the 8-thread server can support over 25% more players than the sequential server.

TITLE: The meanings and experiences of virtual reality

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	Ph.D.
Institution:	University of New Brunswick
Department:	Sociology
URL:

Abstract: This research explored the meanings given to virtual reality by new and experienced users in the field of entertainment technology. It was hypothesized that experienced users would have a different understanding of virtual reality, compared to new users, as a result of personal experience. The data was collected through in-depth interviews, and participant observation during game play. Forty-one participants from Ottawa and satellite cities were recruited on-site using posters, flyers and informational handouts. Information was also posted in the general geographic region, and messages sent to electronic mailing lists. Participants self-selected themselves into the research, and the purpose of the study was outlined prior to the pre-experience interview. Participants were interviewed, prior to, and immediately following, a practical experience using a virtual reality game, 'Zone Hunter'. The findings show that both new and experienced users raised three major elements as key to their understanding of virtual reality: telepresence, engagement and subjective viewpoint. Where the two groups differed was in the importance they placed on these elements. In addition, experienced users also felt immersion and interaction were necessary pre-conditional elements for telepresence, engagement and viewpoint. The post-experience interview demonstrated that while both groups were satisfied with their encounter with 'Zone Hunter', they were dissatisfied that their experiences of virtual reality did not fully match the expectations contained within their definitions. Negative aspects of the experience–low quality graphics, blurry focus, unclear rules of the game world, and the use of buttons on a controller as an interface–prevented the participants from experiencing immersion and interaction, and ultimately, telepresence and engagement. There are three central conclusions that can be reached as a result of this research. First, personal encounters with technology significantly change one's understanding of the social meanings allocated to technology. With experience utilizing virtual reality, new users became similar to experienced users in recognizing that telepresence and engagement cannot occur without a high level of interaction and immersion with the virtual realm. Their conceptual framework changed as a result of personal experience. Second, while participants never experienced telepresence in the virtual realm due to the negative aspects that prevented immersion and interaction, they still believed they had encountered virtual reality. Telepresence and engagement were important elements, but did not have to be fully present for the participants to identify their personal encounter with 'Zone Hunter' as a virtual reality experience. Finally, while participants overall had a certain degree of dissatisfaction with their practical experience, they were still attracted to the concept or idea of virtual reality. Participants remained fascinated with the promise of the meme of idealized virtual reality that is shared widely in contemporary culture. This research thus shows the strength of virtual reality as a concept in contemporary culture.

TITLE: It's just really fun to play! : a constructionist perspective on violence and gender representations in violent video games

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	Ph.D.
Institution:	University of Waterloo
Department:	Recreation and Leisure Studies
URL:

Abstract: Communication researchers have highlighted the need to conduct research that uses alternative methodologies to examine gender and violence, as well as the connections between the two, in video games. This study took on this challenge and adopted an interpretive hermeneutical approach to explore the meanings and experiences of game players, and the implications of these meanings for the social construction of reality. The analysis led to the development of three main themes, “' The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'”. The first major theme, “'The Good'”; encapsulated players' positive experience of violent video game play. The players in this study experienced many positive aspects and espoused numerous related benefits of game play, such as fun, the exhilarating thrill of an adrenaline rush, gaining cognitive problem solving and other career related skills, becoming immersed or lost in the experience (being in “flow”), stress relief and relaxation, and, surprisingly, increased social connectedness and bonding with others as part of game play. The second major theme “'The Bad'” captured some players' acknowledged concerns about game play. These were related to the violence in the games, and included player recognition of being desensitized to violence, concerns that some of the violence was unpalatable or went “too far”, experiencing aggressive emotions, and exhibiting and witnessing aggressive behaviors. In addition to personal concerns, players were particularly concerned about younger children's access to and playing of violent video games. The third and final main theme, “'The Ugly'”, contained evidence of the continuance of stereotypical reproductions of gender within this type of leisure entertainment. In addition to this, it was revealed that a large portion of the violence in the games is gendered violence targeted towards females and non-hegemonic males. The reproduction of gender was a strong component of the hegemonic and masculine culture of gaming. Interpretation of these findings was based on the social constructionist framework as well as on feminist theoretical perspectives. The meanings and experiences associated with game play contributed to the social construction of gender and violence, as well as to the intersection of the two. The perspectives of the players indicated various ways in which video games contribute not only to the acceptance and normalization of violence and violent images, but also to the reinforcement of traditional notions of gender and to the perpetuation of gendered violence. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

TITLE: Interactive and adaptive audio for home video game consoles

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.A.
Institution:	Simon Fraser University
Department:	School of Communication
URL:	http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/9788?mode=full&submit_simple=Show+full+item+record

Abstract: The thesis analyzes the interactive nature of video game audio, with its real-time audio tools that allow audio components to adapt and conform to random gameplay actions taken by the individual player. Specific games from the different genres of First-Person Shooter, Sports Simulator, and Fantasy Sports games are studied using soundscape study concepts to determine how interactive and adaptive audio functions spanning different interactive game audio constructs. The methodology draws its data from multiple sources, including personal observations, literature surveys, case studies and interviews with professional video game sound designers. The dissertation brings together the discrete areas of soundscape studies (including acoustic and psychoacoustic concepts), video-game audio technology, and theories of interactivity in order to lay the groundwork for the audio textual analyses of the games examined. The thesis argues that interactive audio, within the immersive context of the virtual gaming environment,creates a feedback cycle which serves to empower the participant, and that the surrogate interactive soundscapes of video game environments become vehicles that make the interactive partnership between user and machine possible. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

TITLE: Player as author : digital games and agency

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.A.Sc.
Institution:	Simon Fraser University
Department:	Computing Arts and Design Sciences
URL:	http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/9828

Abstract: One of the key properties of the digital game genre is the proliferation of player-produced content and artifacts. This work reflects a reality that digital games are malleable, loosely bounded, and socially validated and defined. Rhetorical criticism is used as a methodology for examining player-produced artifacts: demonstrating how the exchange and interpretation of meaning in this environment represents player agency and authorship, and how these meanings are dramatized through player-production. The artifacts reveal specific themes that speak to the construction of agency, including the opposition or extension of the primary author, and the legitimacy, ownership and access players assume as part of the role of player-producer. These player works demonstrate a common underlying structure which both reflects the community at large and the individual social realities of the players: that of player agency via authorship. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

TITLE: A visual tool for generative scripting in computer role-playing games

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.Sc.
Institution:	University of Alberta
Department:	Department of Computing Science
URL:	http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk4/etd/MQ87866.PDF

Abstract: It is common for computer game developers to release world-building toolsets to the public, packaged with their games. This allows home users to create and share custom game modules. Many toolsets utilize text-based scripting languages to specify in-game character behaviors. While text-based languages are generally powerful, non-programmers find them difficult to learn and use. This is unfortunate since many professional game designers and home users are not proficient programmers. In this dissertation, we present our research in developing a powerful and practical visual scripting tool, called ' ScriptEase', which automatically generates code in an underlying text-based scripting language. In 'ScriptEase', users specify information through a series of questionnaires and context-sensitive menus. Currently, ' ScriptEase' generates scripts for Bioware's computer role-playing game, 'Neverwinter Nights', but in the future, it could be extended to work with a variety of different games.

TITLE: The phenomenology of play with The Sims

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.A.
Institution:	University of Calgary
Department:	Communications Studies
URL:	http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk4/etd/MQ87422.PDF

Abstract: The best-selling 'Sims' game simulates individual, modern, day-to-day life, and is played by millions. This thesis studies how communication is simulated in 'The Sims' computer game and how it is judged/interpreted by the players. After a review of the relevant literature on simulation and gaming, the focus is turned onto the phenomenological study of communication. The communication theories of Jûrgen Habermas and Anthony Giddens are used to explain the interaction not only within the game, but also between the game and the player. In order to investigate the nature of game-play, interview/observations were conducted with 'Sims' players, and this thesis describes those findings. A phenomenological frame is applied to the results of the interview/observations conducted with 'Sims' players to show that the concept of 'play' is central to interpreting the communication 'within' and ' with' the game.

TITLE: Virtual communities and team formation

Year:	2003
Country:	Canada
Degree:	M.Sc.
Institution:	Carleton University
Department:	School of Computer Science
URL:	http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk4/etd/MQ88792.PDF

Abstract: Virtual communities play an important role in bringing people together and establishing trust. A key research issue is to study the formation, evolution, and dissolution of teams in virtual game communities. Based on the analysis of the requirements of game communities, we introduce four essential elements for team development in different game phases. A lobby service is a basic but important element to facilitate the team formation. A reputation mechanism is an integral part of a lobby service. Coordination models and protocols are needed for game collaboration, and cover team formation, dissolution and invitation of new players. We present a coordination model based on the Layered Reactive Tuple Spaces, protocols of joining and leaving a game, and a reputation model for game communities. We chose a cooperative multi-player online game as our case study to illustrate the proposed models and protocols in team formation and dissolution.