This paper examines the use of “pure” computer and video games in
classrooms. It reports the findings of an ongoing informal survey of how and
why such games are used as an integrated part of formal classroom learning.
The paper presents a number of examples of the use of such games, and tries to
determine likely trends in their use in such an environment. Of significance is
an examination of the obstacles that teaching staff encounter in attempting to
use such software during lesson times, and how some staff have overcome
these obstacles. Read more...

This document presents a research and development plan, or “roadmap,”
for the development and application of games for learning in education
and training settings. Developed as part of the Summit on Educational
Games held October 2005 in Washington, DC, this roadmap is designed to raise
awareness of key research challenges and opportunities for educational games,
provide stakeholders with a coordinated understanding of these, and to
encourage dialog and interdisciplinary partnerships.

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To explore how the United States can harness the powerful features of digital
games for learning, the Federation of American Scientists, the Entertainment
Software Association, and the National Science Foundation convened a National
Summit on Educational Games, on October 25, 2005 in Washington, DC. The
Summit brought together nearly 100 experts to discuss ways to accelerate
the development, commercialization, and deployment of new generation games
for learning. Read more...

To be able to say something
about such a complex phenomenon as user-produced game modifications, it is important to
consider modders as neither totally autonomous in their productive actions nor completely
vulnerable to the game industry. Read more...

The aim of this paper is to mainly look at the current trends regarding co-created content for First Person Shooter games. The question what constitutes a mod and if there is a need for a definition of mods seems neglected by many authors who simply use the term ‘mod’ for a wide array of user-created game texts. The agency of gamers and the power they can wield when they are collaborative results in implications in relation to the game industry and the content and themes of user-created game modifications. Analysis of the Unreal Universe show game developers and game publishers tapping into the open-source ethos of mod communities and appropriating and institutionalising the mod community. The Battlefield franchise shows the creative energy of modders using original themes in a creative fashion but also the implications of using existing Intellectual Property. Read more...

Information visualisation applications have been facing ever-increasing demands as the amount of available information has increased exponentially. With this, the number and complexity of visualisation tools for analysing and exploring data has also increased dramatically, making development and evolution of these systems difficult. We describe an investigation into reusing technology developed for computer games to create collaborative information visualisation tools. A framework for using game engines for information visualisation is presented together with an analysis of how the capabilities and constraints of a game engine influence the mapping of data into graphical representations and the interaction with it. Based on this research a source code comprehension tool was implemented using the Quake 3 computer game engine. It was found that game engines can be a good basis for an information visualisation tool, provided that the visualisations and interactions required meet certain criteria, mainly that the visualisation can be represented in terms of a limited number of discrete, interactive, and physical entities placed in a static 3-dimensional world of limited size.

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In this paper we study state-of-the-art technologies to design interactive and cooperative 3D environments that are based on videogame 3D engines. We provide, first, a categorization of videogame 3D engines from the point of view of their usage in creating interactive 3D worlds and show a comparison of the most important characteristics. Then, we show an example of how we used a commercial videogame engine to create an interactive an enjoyable visit to an archaeological site. Read more...

In recent years, large scale distributed virtual environments have become a major trend in distributed applications, mainly due to the enormous popularity of multiplayer online games in the entertainment industry. Thus, scalability has become an essential issue for these highly interactive systems. In this paper, we propose a new synchronization technique for those distributed virtual environments that are based on networked-server architectures. Unlike other methods described in the literature, the proposed technique takes into account the updating messages exchanged by avatars, thus releasing the servers from updating the location of such avatars when synchronizing the state of the system. As a result, the communications required for synchronization are greatly reduced, and this method results more scalable. Also, these communications are distributed along the whole synchronization period, in order to reduce workload peaks. Performance evaluation results show that the proposed approach significantly reduces the percentage of CPU utilization in the servers when compared with other existing methods, therefore supporting a higher number of avatars. Additionally, the system response time is reduced accordingly. Read more...

Massively multiplayer online computer games are played in complex, persistent virtual worlds. Over time, the landscape of these worlds evolves and changes as players create and personalise their own virtual property. In contrast, many non-player characters that populate virtual game worlds possess a fixed set of pre-programmed behaviours and lack the ability to adapt and evolve in time with their surroundings. This paper presents motivated reinforcement learning agents as a means of creating non-player characters that can both evolve and adapt. Motivated reinforcement learning agents explore their environment and learn new behaviours in response to interesting experiences, allowing them to display progressively evolving behavioural patterns. In dynamic worlds, environmental changes provide an additional source of interesting experiences triggering further learning and allowing the agents to adapt their existing behavioural patterns in time with their surroundings. Read more...