Videogame Sciences and Arts: 13th International Conference, VJ 2023, Aveiro, Portugal, November 28–30, 2023, Revised Selected Papers (Communications in Computer and Information Science)

This book constitutes the revised selected papers of the 13th International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts, VJ 2023, held in Aveiro, Portugal, during November 28–30, 2023. The 17 full papers and the 6 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 64 submissions. They are organized in topical sections named: game experience and evaluation; game-based learning and edutainment; games and culture; game design and development. Preface: Videojogos 2023 Organization Contents Game Experience and Evaluation Data Driven Agents for User Experience Testing 1 Introduction 2 Related Work 3 Emotion Prediction 3.1 The Game and Inputs 3.2 The Output 3.3 Data Collection 3.4 Data Processing 3.5 Prediction Results 4 Persona-Like Behaviour for UX Testing 4.1 Behavioural Distance Metric 4.2 Clustering Algorithm 4.3 Genetic Agent 4.4 Evolutionary Algorithm 4.5 Behavioural Results 5 Conclusion References Embraceable Virtual Paws: Player Experiences in Animal Shelter Simulator 1 Introduction 2 Background 2.1 Companion Animal Welfare, Video Games, and Animal Shelter Simulator 2.2 Player Experiences and Factorized Player Typologies 3 Methods 3.1 Data Collection 3.2 Data Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Extracted Topics 4.2 Extracted Player Factors 4.3 Topics Vs. Player Factors 5 Discussion 5.1 Player Agency in Games 5.2 The Role of Achievements 5.3 Beyond `Having Fun': Emotions, Meaning Making, and Storification 6 Conclusion, Limitation and Opportunities References Livestreaming Games and Parenthood: Exploring the Experience of Portuguese Parent Streamers 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Method 4 Analysis 4.1 Time Management 4.2 From Hobby to Work 4.3 Parent Streamer Identity 4.4 Family Support 4.5 Family Gaming 4.6 Children Affecting Practice 4.7 Perceived Benefits of Streaming 5 Concluding Discussion A Appendix on Interview Questions References Videogame Students in Portuguese Higher Education: Perceptions, Motivations, and Playing Habits – A Case Study 1 Introduction 2 Method 2.1 Participants 2.2 Procedure 3 Results 3.1 Perceptions 3.2 Motivations 3.3 Playing Habits 4 Discussion 4.1 Limitations and Future Directions References Psychological and Behavioral Effects of League of Legends Rank System for Italian Competitive Players 1 Introduction 2 Methods 2.1 Participants 2.2 Procedure 2.3 Measures 3 Results 3.1 Descriptive Statistics 3.2 Inferential Analysis 4 Discussion 5 Conclusions References Comparing Performance and Experience in VR vs. Real-World Through a Puzzle Game 1 Introduction 2 Related Work 2.1 Puzzle Games in VR 2.2 Game User Experience 3 Methodology 3.1 Procedure 3.2 Participants 3.3 Measures and Data Collection 3.4 Data Analysis 4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Performance and Task Load 4.2 Game User Experience 4.3 Presence 5 Conclusion References “Looking up the Camera to Play Right”: An Interview Study of the Implications of Cinematic Storytelling in Game Design 1 Introduction 2 Related Work 3 The Interview Study 3.1 Interviewee’s Recruitment Selection and General Information 3.2 The Interview Procedure 3.3 Ethical Considerations 3.4 Data Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Use of Game Cinematics and Digital Game Storytelling (A) 4.2 Contribution of Cinematics to the Game’s Visual and Sonic Immersion (B) 4.3 Importance of Cinematics in Game-Based Learning or Behavior Change (C) 4.4 Interviewee’s Perspective on the Camera Use (D) 4.5 Player-Viewer’s Relation (E) 4.6 Recommendations (F) 4.7 Trends (G) 5 Conclusion References Game-Based Learning and Edutainment Breaking the Wall of E-Waste Recycling Education by Means of a Digital Game 1 Introduction 2 Game-Based Leaning 3 The What Weee Are Project 4 What Weee Are Computer Game 4.1 Characters 4.2 Scenarios and Phases 5 Cognitive Walkthrough Game Evaluation 6 Conclusion and Future Research References How Players Develop Computational Thinking While Modeling Character Behaviors in Gameplay 1 Introduction 2 Background 2.1 Computational Thinking 2.2 Modeling with Petri Nets 3 Research Design 3.1 Game Design Proposal 3.2 Defining Character Actions as CT Developing Game Mechanic 3.3 Prototyping 3.4 Game Mechanics 3.5 Tracing Behavior Modeling with Petri Nets and Computational Thinking 4 Gameplay Rehearsals 4.1 Probe Use and Data Collection Procedure 4.2 Content Analysis 5 Discussion of Results 5.1 Appropriating the Artifact Action Definition Mechanic 5.2 Manifestations of CT Competences During the Game 6 Distilling Design Insights 7 Conclusion References Extending Educational Games Across Product Lines 1 Introduction 2 Theoretical Foundation 2.1 Software Reuse 2.2 Games in Education 2.3 Education in Software Engineering 3 Related Work 4 Preliminary Investigations 5 Proposal 6 Final Remarks and Limitations References A Videogame for Architectural Design? Minecraft for Young People to Imagine Desirable Climate Futures 1 Introduction 1.1 Theoretical Framework 2 Methodology 3 Results 4 Conclusion References Math-Masters: An Educational Game to Practice the Mathematical Operations 1 Introduction 2 Math-Masters Development 2.1 Login Module 2.2 Preliminary Evaluation 3 Conclusion and Future Work References A Framework for the Creation of a Reading Video Game for Children 1 Introduction 2 Dealing with the Source Text 2.1 Issues of Length, Complexity and Violence 2.2 Gameplay 3 Video Game Accessibility for Children 3.1 Accessibility Issues 3.2 Testing with Children 4 Conclusion References Games and Culture Video Games and Adaptation: An Introduction 1 Introduction 2 Theory of Video Game Adaptation: The Synchronic Perspective 3 Case Study Examination: The Diachronic Perspective 3.1 Showing-to-Interactive: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 3.2 Interactive-to-Interactive: Warcraft 3 and DotA 3.3 Interactive-to-Telling: Halo: Combat Evolved 3.4 Telling-to-Interactive-to-Showing: The Witcher 3.5 Interactive-to-Interactive-to-Showing: Cyberpunk 2077 3.6 Discussion 4 Conclusion References A Lantern Called Desire: Time Travel, Space Nostalgia, and Desiring-Machines in The Great Perhaps 1 Introduction 2 The Great Perhaps 2.1 Kosmos’s Context 2.2 Timeline and Fictional Times 2.3 The Return to the Origin 3 A Lantern Called Desire 4 The Resetting of the Possible Pasts 4.1 The Conjuration 4.2 The AI Machine 5 Conclusions References Adolescent Masculinity and the Geek Aesthetic: A Study of Gaming Magazine Imagery 1982 to 1993 1 Introduction – The Gaming Magazine as Cultural Industry 2 Sample and Methodology 3 Content Analysis Findings 4 Action and Adventure – The Promises of Computing 5 Drawing on the Past – The Use of Fantasy Tropes 6 Princess, Amazon, and Sorceress – ‘Welding Brass Tits on the Armour’ (Altmann 1992) 7 Science Fiction as a Genre of Illustration 8 Beasts, Invaders, and the Benign 9 The Medium of Technology - the Spaceship 10 Conclusion Bibliography For a Pragmatic Study of the Generic Categorization of Video Games: The Case of Survival Horror 1 Generic Classification: An Age-Old Problem 2 Survival Horror: Questions Surrounding a Mutating and Polymorphous Genre 2.1 Defining a Genre by Its History and Formal Features? 2.2 Through Emotions? 2.3 A Semio-Pragmatic Theory? 3 Study the Categories Formulated by Players and Give the Genre a Chance to Evolve 3.1 Synthesis of Previous Comments 3.2 Another Way of Thinking About Gender References Game Design and Development Cities: Skylines: The Digital and Analog Game Design Lessons for Learning About Collaborative Urban Planning 1 Introduction 2 Cities: Skylines as the Dominant CBG 2.1 The Planning Fascination Towards C:S 2.2 The Modern Board Game Implementation of C:S 2.3 Comparing the Digital and Analogue Version of C:S 3 Building a Learning Experiment with C:S Versions 3.1 Methodology for the Experiment 3.2 Results of Play C:S and C:SBG 4 Discussion 5 Conclusion References Humans vs AI: An Exploratory Study with Online and Offline Learners 1 Introduction 2 Background 3 Methods 3.1 The Trash Picker Game 3.2 Experimental Procedure 3.3 Naive Bayes Classifier Learning 3.4 Genetic Algorithm Learning 3.5 Data Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Survey 4.2 Genetic Algorithms 4.3 Comparing the Performance of Human Players Versus AI Techniques 4.4 Human Player Performance 5 Discussion 6 Conclusions and Future Work References An Evolutionary Approach for PCG in a Cooperative Puzzle Platform Game 1 Related Work 2 Geometry Friends 3 A Cooperative Game Level Generator 3.1 Generating the Level Platforms 3.2 Placing the Collectibles 3.3 Level Generation Results 4 User Testing of the Generated Levels 4.1 Results 5 Discussion 6 Conclusions References Icarus, Towards Diplomatic Agents in Diplomacy 1 Introduction 2 Diplomacy and DAIDE 2.1 Related Work 3 Icarus 3.1 No Press Architecture 3.2 Press Architecture 4 Results 4.1 No Press Icarus Results 4.2 Press Icarus Results 4.3 Cooperation Metrics 4.4 Discussion 5 Conclusion 6 Future Work Appendix A DAIDE Press Messages Appendix B Network Graphs References Unlocking the Untapped Potential of Video Game Data: A Case Study of Aim Trainers 1 Introduction 2 The Hot Hand 3 Aim Trainers 4 Data 5 Methodology 6 Results 7 Discussion 8 Conclusion References ChemXP AR Edition, A Serious Game 1 Introduction 2 Theoretical Framework 2.1 Gamification and Serious Games 3 Method 4 Prototype, ChemXP AR Edition 5 Results 5.1 Session Planning and Execution Overview 5.2 Usability Tests—Round 1 5.3 Usability Tests—Round 2 6 Conclusion References Author Index