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Game metrics
Anything that can be recorded about gameplay
Used to understand how the game works, and how players experience it
Range of goals and techniques Qualitative, quantitative, game user experience, monetization
Some types of game metrics
Which player are the metrics about?
Basic process
Choose variables to record Choose frequency of recording Store to a database
Run query/visualization later Aggregation, correlation, etc.
Simple example
Spatial, in-engine metrics
Record positions of interesting events
Visualize frequencies, relationships, etc. Usually by drawing on the map
One of the most commonly used kinds of metrics Easy to record, clear how to visualize
Heatmap: HL2 deaths
Heatmap: TR8 in-game help usage
More in-depth spatial analysis
Heatmaps are 2d density estimates from samples
Can do other kinds of density estimates
Or, combine with qualitative data
Binned heatmap
Using a GIS?
Geographic Information System (GIS)
Used for aggregating spatial data in geography, urban planning, etc.
Some recent experiments with using GIS to analyze ”game geography”
GIS overlays
ArcGIS overlay (Hitman: Blood Money)
In-engine/editor visualization
Analytical metrics
Analyzing the game to extract information without player data, or as a supplement to player data
Examples: Reachability analysis Game-theory analysis of a combat system
Recent area of research M.J. Nelson (2011), ”Game Metrics Without Players”
More on metrics
Annual conferences/workshops: Game User Experience
Engines increasingly come with their own metrics/viz infrastructure And extensions, e.g. in the Unity store
Adaptation
Can we use metric data automatically?
Offline or online
Dynamic difficulty adjustment
Adjust game based on player’s in-game behavior
But ”smarter” than classic rubber-banding style DDA
Information on what player does successfully/unsuccessfully, combined with a model of interestingness
Experience-driven PCG
Use metrics information to generate levels or other game content
Offline: a kind of partially automated game design Online: game customization
Like a more ambitious DDA
Togelius & Yannakakis (2011). ”Experience-driven PCG”
Final project
Project can be done individually or in a group Individually written reports in either case
Scope There are about 6 weeks left in the semester Depending on the project, leave ~2 weeks to write up a report
Kinds of projects
Implementation projects
Scientific-experiment projects
Engine investigation projects
Implementation projects
Examples Expand your software 3d renderer to do solid surfaces and lighting Implement a character AI/scripting API Write a Unity plugin to do something not currently supported
Scientific investigation projects
Do an analysis/comparison of algorithms or techniques
Possibilities Implement several standard algorithms from a textbook (AI,
graphics, etc.) and compare them Implement something proposed in a research paper and try to
replicate or extend its results
Engine investigation projects
Take an existing game engine and dive into a specific part of it (physics system, AI system, navigation system, …) to understand and characterize how it works.
Possible topics of investigation What were the design goals, if known? What does this support well and poorly? Benchmarks, etc.