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Game Content Model: An Ontology for Documenting Serious Game Design

Article · December 2011

DOI: 10.1109/DeSE.2011.68

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 Game Content Model: An Ontology for Documenting Serious
Game Design
Stephen Tang1 and Martin Hanneghan2
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences,
Liverpool John Moores University
Byrom Street, Liverpool, L33AF, UNITED KINGDOM.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— Computer games is a form of real-time interactive software structures and templates to help amateurs and novices in specifying and
wrapped in creatively crafted media that offers game-players engaging, documenting game design details, however they fall short in the formality of
goal-directed play. Designing computer games requires adequate representation and the completeness of its game representation. The Nelson &
experience and great attention to detail to describe the rules, play and Mateas game model [9] and the Narrative, Entertainment, Simulation and
aesthetics that compose the interactive experience. For inexperienced Interaction (NESI) model [10] are better examples of knowledge model
game designers, formalised methods such as game design languages and developed with engineering conscious. However, similar to the shortcoming of
game meta-models can provide a guide and language to produce a game GOP, they lack of concepts that describe events in a game level, game objects
design specification correct by design. This paper introduces a new game and game environment, and the formality of concept representation.
content model that can aid game designers document specification of game The need of such ontology for game is driven by our research in
design. incorporating Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) practices into game
development as an effort to provide a technology platform for non-technical
domain experts to produce serious games without worrying about the intricacy
Keywords— Game Design Languages; Game Modelling; Model Driven
Development; Serious Games; Game-Based Learning.
of game development [5]. MDE refers to a software development approach
that relies extensively on the use of models to represent aspects of software and
automates the transformation of models into more refined software artefacts.
I. INTRODUCTION MDE can provide the environment for domain experts to produce a serious
Game design is the creative expression of a game designer‘s vision of some game via modelling (either using language or visual tools) without worrying
virtual goal-directed play where the game designer engages him or herself in an about the intricacy of game development. Using this approach, game designers
activity to innovate and create a concept of play within a set of business, are expected to produce game models using the concepts defined in the game
psychological, sociological and technological constraints. It is a process that meta-model to describe rules, game-plays and aesthetics of computer games.
requires one to (i) imagine a game idea; (ii) define how the game works; (iii) The result of such an approach is a formalised description of game design that
document aspects of the game; and (iv) communicate such a vision and the can be interpreted easily by game developers which can also be used in MDE
design decisions for use as a blueprint by the development team. The various environment. The models can then be analysed and translated using
aspects of game design are commonly documented in the form of creative transformation engines and generators to synthesize software artefacts
writing and the approach is still widely taught through texts (see for example consistent with the models automatically.
Rouse [1], Rollings and Adams [2], Bates [3] and Fullerton [4]) but do not Our investigation into game models for the use in MDE has revealed that
provide much aid for novices except for the samples of game design documents there is no one game model can provide the complete concepts representation
and templates for game design as references [1, 2, 4] for documenting game of a computer game from game design viewpoint [11]. We do not imply that
design. This matter is most evident when it comes to non-technical domain the GOP, RAM, game design patterns, Nelson & Mateas game model and
experts who wish to design their own serious games for game based learning[5]. NESI are invalid, but they are unsuitable for use in MDE. Concepts to
There are very limited tools that can help them to understand the anatomy of a represent game objects, game levels, game environment, game structure are
game design and guide authors to describe their ideas to form a complete missing in some game models. Moreover, features of each concept, its
design specification of the game. relationships and constraints are not clearly defined. In this paper, we gather
In the field of knowledge engineering, concepts in a domain are our knowledge of game design, game development and serious games, and
consolidated to build a knowledge base for reference purpose. Knowledge borrow concepts on existing game ontologies to develop a new game ontology
engineers do so by developing ontology to formally represent the concepts, that represents aspects of a computer game design in a complete form. This
features and constraints on the concepts in a domain formally into machine- new game ontology will be used in our model-driven serious games
interpretable definitions. The result of this is a shared common understanding development framework to provide novices and non-technical domain experts,
of the information structure of a domain knowledge which can be reused. with a desire to create content for game-based learning, a template and the
In the domain of computer games, Game Ontology Project (GOP)[6] has formalised languages to describe their game idea. In Section II, we outline the
identified both common and distinct elements of game design abstractly, and scope and methodology we used to develop our game ontology. In Section III
orders it hierarchically to form a game ontology. It is a language for game we present our game content model before we draw a conclusion and describe
design and also a framework for game designers to improve their our further research in this exciting area.
understanding on what to design in computer games. At the highest-level, the
ontology focuses on the definition of interfaces that map user inputs to a set of II. ONTOLOGY DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
allowable actions of an avatar; rules that govern the interactions and economies
in the game world; goals that determine player‘s success or failure in the game; Ontology development or development of knowledge model is a practice to
entities that populates the game world; and entities manipulations which define identify the relevant knowledge of a domain and organise it into a hierarchical
how entities behave physically in the game world. Each ontology entry is structure of concepts (classes) in which each concept is described using
labelled with a name, listed with relationships with other elements in the features and attributes (slot) and constraints on the features and attributes
hierarchy and given description about the element as well as examples of both (facet).
concrete and partial reification of the elements. However, the game ontology There are a number of methods and methodologies one can employ to
itself lacks in concepts that describe events in a game level, game objects, develop their own ontology in a domain. Corcho, Fernández-López & Gómez-
game environment and game structure. As an ontology, it struggles to represent Pérez described a number of methodologies for ontology development in their
the features and constraints of concepts in a machine-interpretable format paper [12]. Among the cited are CyKB, Uschold and King‘s method,
because it only describes the concepts used in a game from an end user point of Grϋninger and Fox‘s method, the KACTUS project method, Sensus‘s method,
view in explanations with example. It is therefore useful for only studying and METHONTOLOGY, the On-To-Knowledge methodology and CO4 protocol.
analysing computer games, but has little use in producing a complete Each method or methodology approaches ontology building differently. Cy KB,
specification of computer game for the purpose of development. Uschold and King‘s method, Grϋninger and Fox‘s method,
Other knowledge models on game design such as Rapid Analysis Method METHONTOLOGY and On-To-Knowledge methodology organise ontology
(RAM)[7] and Game Design Patterns [8] are developed with the same purpose building into phases and series of activities or steps; KACTUS project method
as GOP – for game studies. These knowledge models provide the techniques, develops ontology through abstraction of knowledge bases developed in the
same domain; and Sensus‘s method and CO4 develops ontology through reuse For novices learning to develop ontology, Noy & McGuinness‘s paper on
of existing ontology. In addition, each method or methodology has varying ―Ontology development 101: A guide to creating your first ontology‖ is the
degree of dependency between the ontology developed and application of the best starting point. Noy & McGuinness‘s seven steps method requires one to
ontology. Corcho, Fernández-López & Gómez-Pérez concluded that KACTUS [13]:
project method and the On-To-Knowledge methodology are application- 1. Determine the domain, scope and purpose of the ontology;
dependent; Grϋninger and Fox‘s method and the Sensus‘s method are semi 2. Consider reusing existing ontologies;
application-dependent; while the remaining (Cy KB, Uschold and King‘s 3. Enumerate important terms in the ontology;
method and METHONTOLOGY) are application-independent [12].These are 4. Define the classes and the class hierarchy;
not the only methods and methodologies available for ontology building. One 5. Define the properties of the classes – slots;
can also build ontology using the methodologies in software engineering and 6. Define the facets of the slots; and finally
knowledge engineering. 7. Create the instances.

Game Interaction Game Scoring Rule Game Dimension

Rule
Game Tempo
is_a is_a has_GameDimension
has_GameTempo Game Physics

Game Rule
has_GamePhysics Media Component
Front End Display

has_GameRules has_FrontEndDisplays
has_MediaComponents
Game Simulation
Game
Presentation
is_a is_a has_GUIComponents
GUI Component
Pedagogic Event
Game Context
Indicator
has_GameContexts has_PedagogicEventIndicator
has_GameScenario Complete Game
Difficulty Indicator Virtual Camera Structure
is_type
Scenario-based
has_VirtualCameras Game Structure is_type Structure
is_type
has_DifficultyIndicator is_type Training-based
Structure

has_EventTriggers Presentation-based
Structure
Game Scenario
Event Triggers Vital Score
Game Control
is_a is_a Interface
has_GameObjectives has_GameEvents has_EventTriggers
has_GameStructure Game Attribute has_GameControlInterface Input Event

Game has_InputEvents
Objective
Game Event has_GameAttributes Game Control
has_GameControl
has_GoalCondition
has_GameActs Game Player
has_GameRecord
Goal Condition Game Acts has_GamePlayer Game Record Raw Result

has_GameEnvironment has_Avatar has_Inventory Computed Result

is_a
SERIOUS GAME has_GameResults
is_a
Inventory
Avatar Game Result

Game Environment
Key Concept Vital
has_GameObject
is_a has_gameObjects
is_a
has_GameObjects Position
Class is_a
Objects Attribute
Game Object is_a Solidity State
has_GameAttributes
is_a
Property
has_GameTheme is_a Mass

Sound has_Actions Game Theme Inventory State

generalisation has_Appearance
has_Sound has_ArtRequirements
composite has_Intelligences
Animation
shared has_Animation
Art Requirements
Action

Appearance
is_a relationship defines has_VitalUpdate
an generalisation- Vital Update is_a Internal State
has_Motion Intelligences is_a
inheritance relationship Projections
between a parent and
child.
is_a is_a Object Image
Motion
is_type relationship is_a
refers to a generalisation- Navigate-ability Deciding condition
specialisation relationship has_Force
has_Constraint
between base-type and
derived-type. Learnability
Force Constraint

Figure 1: Ontology Diagram for Serious Game

In fact, this method shares many similarities with the techniques used in structure of a serious game can be of type complete game structure, training-
analysis and design of object-oriented software. In object-oriented (OO) based structure, scenario-based structure or presentation-based structure.
software analysis and design, software engineers describe the behaviour of the
software system in all possible scenarios using use-case diagrams; then they 1) Game Context
elaborate the behaviour of the software system using activity diagrams; The game context describes the type of game content presented to game
architecture of the software system is illustrated using component diagrams; players. It can be in the form of game presentation or game simulation.
and finally they use class diagrams to illustrate the relationships and Descriptions on game presentation and game simulation are detailed in Section
representation of entities [14]. Both, Noy & McGuinness‘s method of ontology III.B and III.C respectively.
building and the OO software analysis and design method, enable its
practitioners to develop understanding of the problem area or domain. 2) Pedagogic Event Indicator
In this paper, we have adopted Noy & McGuinness‘s method to build our Computer games designed for use in education and training or serious
game ontology due to the simplicity of the method and the fact that we are games must include some form of pedagogy. In our model, we associate each
accustomed to the OO software analysis and design practice. This will also game section with one or more pedagogic events from the Gagne‘s nine events
help us to think later about how we can build the software models to represent of instructions [16]. These events ordered in sequence are (1) gaining attention,
serious games and use MDE tools to automatically generate software artefacts. (2) informing learning objectives, (3) recalling prior learning, (4) presenting
learning content, (5) providing learning guidance, (6) eliciting performance, (7)
III. GAME CONTENT MODEL provide feedback, (8) assess performance and, (9) enhance retention and
transfer. Labelling each of the game section with these pedagogic events invite
Our game content model is developed based on our studies and
game designers to think critically about and reflect on the learning contents and
understanding of game design and development. It represents a game ontology
activities that they should embed within the game match the type of
from an interactive content viewpoint. It will be used to document the design
instructional events. The requirement to include all the nine pedagogic events
specification of a computer game and will be the model for building other
within a computer game depends on usage of it in the context of game-based
game models in our model-driven serious games development framework.
learning. A computer game can be design for individual learning would need to
Since we focus mainly on serious games, the scope of our game ontology meet all nine instructional events. Whereas for a teacher who want to use a
will cover the game concepts used in documentation of role-playing and game as part of an exercise in a lesson may only has the pedagogic event
simulation game genres because we believe they are more suitable for use providing learning guidance, eliciting performance and provide feedback,
in the context of education and training compared to other game genres while the rest of the pedagogic events are delivered traditionally via lecture and
[15]. Furthermore, the design constructs in role-playing and simulation game coursework component. This can be a mechanism to check if a game has been
genres can also be used to model other game genre such as action, adventure, designed for a full or a partial learning experience.
sports, vehicle, construction and management, strategy and artificial. Therefore
by developing a game ontology using concepts fromthese two genres, we will 3) Event Trigger
be able to reuse the concepts to design a variation ofgames to support the needs Event triggers are used to invoke the transition between game sections and
in game-based learning. activate the game events within a game scenario. They can be classified into
The development of our game content model follows a bottom-up approach four distinct classes, namely:
which requires us to study about aspects of game design by first investigating  Input trigger detects user input via hardware interface or graphical
on the representation of game from a programmatic perspective before user interface (GUI);
identifying the necessary elements that made up our model. This approach  Time trigger is essentially a countdown timer with an interval value
allows us to ensure that each concepts introduced in our model can be with frequency of once, to repeat infinitely or to repeat finitely;
programmatically represented and it also helps us to identify those common  Proximity trigger like input trigger has a hotspot that detects the
game design that are not explicitly represented in the software. This also allows collision of a specified game object, a class of game object or a group
us to encapsulate the technical aspects of game development from game of game objects from different classes; finally,
designers. This sets our ontology apart from GOP which was only useful for  Game mechanics trigger is associated to a range of game application
the purpose of game studies whereas the ontology we proposed in this paper is related of events such media event, game event and simulation event.
ready for used in any game-related MDE projects. Each event trigger is associated with a command that specify the transition
Our new game content model is built onto the work of GOP, RAM and between game sections or activation of a game event.
NESI. We selectively combined these with our study on game design, game
development and serious game and organise the concepts in a meaningful B. Game Presentation
object oriented structure which helps us to translate using MDE tools later. The
top level of our game content model consist of ten interrelated key concepts A game presentation is a virtual canvas that holds media components and
that best represent the rules, play and aesthetic information of a computer game GUI components to form a game menu, a game notification or a cut-scene to
and they are Game Structure, Game Presentation, Game Simulation, Game present information about the game and allow them to navigate through the
Rules, Game Scenario, Game Event, Game Objective, Game Object, Game game structure. As a virtual canvas, a game presentation has properties such as
Player and Game Theme. depth, dimension and even position on the device screen.
The game structure provides the form and organises game into segments of A typical game menu presentation is composed of a virtual canvas that
linked game presentations and game simulations.The interactions between holds a background image or animation, GUI component that link to other
game object and the results of an interaction in a game simulation are defined game sections and possibly a sound loop. A game menu is a group of buttons
using game rules. A game simulation can be used to host multiple game themed accordingly. Some other games may have slightly more sophisticated
scenarios aligned with the storyline. Each game scenario is setup using a visualisation on the menu itself. No matter how fancy the user interface is,
selection of game objects to create an environment, a sequence of game events fundamentally we are mapping user input to a functional aspect of the game via
and a set of game objective that challenges game player skills and knowledge a custom GUI component.
about the game. Game player can control game object(s) and interact with A game notification presentation can have a background image with texts,
other game objects via hardware or graphical user interfaces. And finally, game more graphics, and button overlaid on the background image. It is used mainly
theme describes the ―look and feel‖ of the game. The relationships between to brief game player about the game objective before the game simulation,
these key concepts are illustrated in Figure 1. In the remaining of this section, prompt game player about in-game happenings during the game simulation and
we will elaborate these ten concepts and the other concepts that are used to present to game player the results after a game simulation. The virtual canvas
describe these concepts. for a game notification can be varied in sizes and can be displayed as an
overlay on another virtual canvas.
A. Game Structure A cut-scene presentation usually consists of only a pre-rendered video that
fills the entire screen. It has no GUI components and often the method use to
The game structure, as explained in previous section, describes the skip the video is by pressing any key on the hardware interface. Cut-scene
architecture and flow of a game. It segments a game into parts which we define presentation is used widely as a platform for game storytelling. Alternatively,
as game section. Each game section is composed of a game context, a game story can be told using graphic with animated texts and sound.
pedagogic event indicator and an event trigger. The transition from one game
section to another game section (or the flow of game content) is governed by
the definition of a trigger or the invocation of a GUI input event. The game
1) Media Component  a bar which is another visualisation method to indicate the remaining
The type of media component supported in a game include text, graphic, value of an attribute.
sound and video. Each media component retracts its content from a defined Each front end display would also require information on the data source
media source. For visual media such as text, graphic and video, additional and the position of it on the screen. Some computer games such as PES 2011
properties such as position (x, y and z) and area (height and width) are required. has static front end display to present information such as score for each team,
remaining time and a mini map of the players in the field. Other computer
2) GUI Component games such as Halo Reach uses a mix of static and dynamic front end display
Button, list-box, checkbox, radio-button, textbox, tab and scrollbar are to present not only information about the game scenario, but also the
examples of GUI components used in most software application. Each GUI ammunition level of the selected weapon and other non-handheld weapon such
components have properties such as position, value and visual representation as grenade. In the game simulation concept, we only need to specify the
which can be styled accordingly to suit the game theme. description of all static front end display and the position of any dynamic front
end display so to maintain consistency of layout throughout the game. Details
C. Game Simulation of the dynamic front end display will be described in the game object itself as
internal appearance (see Section II.E.2).
Game simulation, by definition, is a mechanism that recreates scenarios
virtually for game-play to take place.The simulation of a game scenario is D. Game Rule
governed by a set of rules that define the interactivity, physical and temporal
properties of the virtual world. A game simulation has game rules (read more A game rule states the relationship between game objects and game world,
about game rules from Section II.D), game dimension, game tempo and game and the effect of an interaction. In our model, game rule can either be a Game
physics which give it a form. Game scenario (read more about game scenario Scoring Rule or Game Interaction Rule.
from Section II.D) is the content of the game simulation whereas front end 1) Game Scoring Rule
display is used to display information about the simulation of a scenario to
game players.In this section, we will be describing the game dimension, game A game scoring rule only applies to game player and it defines what to be
tempo, game physics and front end display concepts. awarded to the game player when a scoring condition is met. Every game
scoring rule has a scoring condition which has no direct relation with
1) Game Dimension interaction. It can be derived from the state of a game object (e.g. enemy is
The game dimension refers to the virtual space of which the game dead or fire is extinguished), the input statistics (e.g. accuracy is above 80%),
simulation takes place. It can either be 2D or 3D. 2D limits the viewing of a the time (e.g. respond is less than 5 seconds or level completed in less than 5
game world from side view (platformer or side scroller), top view or an angled minutes), or the game objective (e.g. objective 1, 2 and 5 are met).
view (isometric), whereas 3D provides the freedom to view game world from An example of game scoring rule in the Stockpile game mode for Halo
all angles. Traditionally, selection of a game dimension has direct influence on Reach is when a flag is brought into team territory and protected until timer
the choice of game technologies and the production of graphic assets for use in reaches zero (scoring condition) and team is awarded with one flag point
the game. However, such is not the case anymore when game is produced for (outcome).
3D game dimension as selection any 2D dimension would only mean fixing the 2) Game Interaction Rule
camera to a plane or at a specific location. Computer game such as Pacman is
represented using 2D game dimension, whereas Halo Reach Game interaction rule differ slightly from scoring rule. It dictates the
(http://www.bungie.net/projects/reach/default.aspx) is rendered in 3D. outcome of the interaction from two game objects. Each game interaction rule
has an actor which can be a game object, a class of game object or a group of
2) Game Tempo game objects from different classes, a subject which represents a game object,
Game tempo is a measurement of the pace of time in the game world. A a class of game object, a group of game objects from different classes or the
minute in the game world may refer to a minute in the reality. In some games, game world and an interaction condition which refer to the state of actor or the
it may be speed up where ten minutes in the game world represents one minute state of the game world.
in reality. For example in soccer game such as Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (PES Each game rule is paired with an outcome which has a matter and an
2011) (http://www.konami.com/games/pes2011/), one half of the match which operation to add or subtract a value from the matter. Matter in the context of
represents 45 minutes of the game world time can be set to represent 20 game refers to an item (e.g. key to dungeon door), an attribute (e.g. money) or
minutes of game-play in reality. permission (e.g. competition mode unlocked). Rewarding the player with any
game object can mean give (add) or take away (subtract) an item or increase
3) Game Physics (add) or decrease (subtract) in the value of an attribute to provide the game
Game physics define the physicality of the game world. It encompasses the player the advantage to succeed in the game. Whereas, punishment would
collision world and environment forces. The collision world, by default, is mean consequences that add more challenges to game-player or a game object
turned on to provide the illusion that game objects in the game world are solid. to succeed in the game. An example for game interaction rule is ammo (actor)
Turning off the collision world will cause the game objects to have ‗ghost‘ introduces 10 points damage (outcome) to Spartans and Elites (subject)
effect. There is no need for game designers to specify the low level algorithms whenever it comes in contact.
on collision detection as the focus in this model is to capture the specification
of a game from a design perspective. That should be the duty of a game E. Game Scenario
programmer or technical lead. The collision world will notify the respective Game scenario, as previously described in the game simulation (see Section
game object and simulation if there a collision has been detected and reaction II.C), is a description of a situation which require game player to overcome a
to such an event could be an action from game object or to award a score based number of challenges in order to achieve the defined objectives. It is also
on the defined game interaction rule. What remains to specify in the game commonly termed as game level in gaming jargon. A game scenario, in our
physics is the type of environment forces act on all game objects. model, is represented by a game environment, a set of game event (read more
about game event from Section II.F), a set of virtual camera, a difficulty
4) Front End Display
indicator and a set of game objective (read more about game event from
Front end display (or head up display) has no significant meaning to any Section II.G). All interactions within the game scenario are regulated by the
game design. It is just a mechanism to notify game players about the game rule (see Section II.D) and intelligence component of the game object
parameters in the game world that would affect their game play. Front end (see Section II.H.4).
displays are usually themed to provide a unified ‗look and feel‘. Some of the
generic types of front end display include: 1) Game Environment
 a counter which uses digit or icon to display the value or number of an The game environment represents the composition of the virtual world by
attribute, populating the virtual space with game objects,checkpoints and proximity
 a gauge which is a recreation of an analogue display. It can be used to triggers. Game objects are virtual things that are carefully placed to create a
represent game time, speed of a game object or even used as a spatial and social setting which events of game-play can take place (see Section
compass to represent direction, II.H for more details on game objects). Checkpoints are also placed
 a mini map which provides the location of specific game objects strategically within the game environment, but only used to mark positions in
within a certain proximity, and the virtual space which will be used in definitions of NPCs act in a game event.
Checkpoints are only positional information and will not be shown visually.
Proximity triggers, described in Section II.A.3, are placed within the game objects include decorative, surface and structural which are virtual things use to
environment but are not shown virtually. These are used only to evoke game define the boundary of the play space. These classes of game objects are some
events or to signify the achievement of a game objective. examples of stock components defined to aid game designers to describe a
game object and this list can be expanded in the future.
2) Virtual Camera
A virtual camera is the viewport to the game world. In the context of game 1) Object Attributes
design, the only aspect that matters is the position of the virtual camera in the Object attributes are data properties that represent a game object‘s vitality,
game world. A virtual camera can be mounted to an avatar to provide a first physical being, cognitive state and ownership. The object attributes associated
person view or hovering above the player‘s avatar to show a third person view. to a game object include a set of vital, a position, a solidity state, a mass and
It can also be placed in a fixed location or animated along a path to provide a inventory (optional). Game designers can choose to represent the game object
cinematic display. A game scenario can have more than one virtual camera to using a single vital definition such as life or further elaborate the vitality of a
provide different viewpoint to the game environment, but only one virtual game object into interrelated attributes such as health, energy, strength, social
camera can be activated at once (unless is it part of the technological feature of and etc. Position of a game object can be specified when setting up a game
the game to render multiple viewports on one single display which is seen in scenario and it may change depending on how it reacts to the dynamics in the
most multiplayer game on console). game scenario. The solidity state defines if a game object is solid, whereas the
mass affects the motion of the game object. The inventory is defined to hold a
3) Difficulty Indicator limited supply of consumable for a game object. For example, a rifle as an
The difficulty indicator is a value associated to the difficulty of the game enhancement to an actor can holds 30 bullets at any one time. Similar concept
scenario. This value is set by the game designer and it is a mechanism to ensure can be applied to the actor whereby it can possess a number of weapon and
game scenarios within the game structure are organised in an increasing cartridges of ammo.
difficulty fashion. In addition, it can be used as a determinant for tuning the
difficulty of a game scenario. In such a case, the difficulty indicator can used as 2) Appearance
a multiplier that affect parameters such as game object generation frequency, All game objects are represented visually with its own appearances. The
number of game objects in the game scenario and the duration of game play to appearance of a game object is composed of an object image and one or more
adjust difficulty of game as it progresses. internal state projections (which is optional). The object image is represented
using one or more image components. The image component represents one
F. Game Event part of the object image and a collection of related image components complete
Game event is the happening associated to a game scenario. A game event the object image. Each part may have similar image components which game
is composed of a set of game act and an event trigger which initiate the game player can use to personalise the game object and for game designer to create a
event. Time trigger, proximity trigger and game mechanic trigger are the variety of game objects to populate the game world. An image style is the
suitable types of event trigger for use when defining game events (read more combination image components that made up the object image and a game
about event triggers from III.A.3). object can only be represented with one image style at any one time. The object
Game act, which we adapted the concept from the performance art domain, image style can be represented using 2D Sprite or 3D model with mesh and
refers to the performance of a game object in a game event.A game act is textures. The internal state projection display specific object attributes using
consists of a game object and a game acting script that describe how the game front end display. This can be the vital or the inventory associated to the game
object should move, animate, sound and interact with other game object in a object.
game scenario. 3) Action
A game acting script is composed of one or more acting coordination that
instruct how a specific game object act in a defined sequence. For example, a The action of a game object can consist of motion, animation, sound and
game object can perform ‗coordination-1‘, followed by ‗coordination-2‘ and vital updates.
ends with ‗coordination-3‘. The same script can also be assigned to other game Motion refers to the actual translation of game object position in the game
objects that perform the same act. world. A motion is subject to a force and also constraints (external force)
The actual detail of an act is defined as acting coordination. The which are defined by the game designer.
coordination of a game object can involve appear (for generation and re- An animation defines the virtual performance of a game object without
spawning of game object), animating an action, playing a sound, moving reference of the position of the game object as a whole. Definition of an
towards a checkpoint, interacting with another game object or a composition of animation sequence depends on the underlying technology supporting
these. Each of the coordination in a script is to be executed one after another in animation. For 2D sprite animation, an animation sequence can be defined by
the order it is arranged. as the collection of 2D images. Whereas for 3D there are a set of techniques
The collection of game events defined in a game scenario will provide the which developers can opt for frame-based and procedural. Other specific
required flow to the game play. techniques for character animation are rag-doll physics, inverse and forward
kinematics. The animation data for 3D are either supplied or generated
G. Game Objective programmatically.
Sound is a verbal form of action. Each sound has an audio source and may
A game objective is the goal associated to a game scenario. It is one of the be supplied with a text as the narrative. Motion, animation and sound can be
components that define the game-play. The other components that are use to used on its own or can be combined to represent an action.
define game-play are game-rules, game player and the game scenario itself. A Vitals update revises the value of vitals for a game object as a measure that
game objective is represented using a goal condition. The goal condition takes account into the cost of an action inflicted to the object or the cost of
checks a track-able value against a constant value defined by the game designer performing an action.
to determine if the game objective has been met or not. The game objective is
marked as achieve once the goal condition has been satisfied. Game player 4) Intelligence
wins the challenges presented in the game scenario if he/she managed to The intelligence component provides game object the ability to decide,
achieve all the game objectives. navigate and even learn. One of the primary forms of intelligence required to
be modelled by most game designer is decision making. A decision is
H. Game Objects composed of a deciding condition and associated to an action. The deciding
Game objects are virtual things that populate the game world and can be condition is closely linked to collision detection, direct input from the game
designed to have a combination of abilities such as decision making, moving, player or event in the game scenario. These conditions are clearly labelled and
acting and responding to surroundings and game player‘s input simulating their organised in pair with an action of a game object to give the game object
existence in the game world. A game object has as a set of object attributes, an ability to respond to events in the game.
appearance, intelligence, it can perform actions and has a thematic description
that describes the aesthetic representation of it. Game objects can be can be I. Game Player
categorised into interactive game objects and non-interactive game objects Game player is the user of the game application who provides inputs to the
based on their behaviours. Examples of interactive game objects include virtual game system as part of the gaming activity. Game player is represented as an
things such as actors, items, consumables, enhancements and mechanical entity with an avatar, game attributes, an inventory, game control and game
which the game player can interact with; while the non-interactive game records.
1) Avatar
IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS
An avatar is a game object that represents the game player in the game
In this paper, we had studied the existing game design models and
world. It has direct relationship to the game control as input events of game
highlighted the issues with it – incomplete representation of a game and the
control interface are mapped onto the actions of the avatar. Game player can be
lack of formalism. It is clear that a new game design model is required
assigned with a fixed avatar or choose to control a game object whenever it is
especially for the use in our game model-driven serious games development
selected in the game world (dynamic). Player is often assigned with one fixed
framework [5]. To address such a need, we borrowed concepts from existing
avatar throughout the game play session in action, adventure, artificial life and
game design model and design a completely new model – the Game Content
vehicle simulation games (game player may have the option to select other
Model (GCM). Our GCM provides a more complete and formalised definition
character in game settings), whereas game player can freely choose an avatar to
of game design constructs than the existing game design models described in
control in construction and management, strategy and sports games. In most
Section I. It can help novice game designersor non-technical domain experts
strategy games such as StarCraft II (www.starcraft2.com), game player can
who wish to design computer games or serious games document design
control a group of game objects as a single unit.
specification of a game formally. In addition, our model can also be used as a
2) Game Attributes tool to study about the anatomy of a game both from design and software
perspective. Our GCM can also be extended to include specific concepts that
Game attributes are data representing the existence and achievement of a
describe components of other games genres such as action, strategy, and even
player. These data can be either a vital or a score. Vital is the value associated
puzzle. This provides the flexibility for model developers to extend our work to
to the chance that a player before he/she loses the game, whereas a score is a
suite a purpose.
record of performance which can be derived from time spent or remaining,
At the moment, we are currently developing a UI-based modelling
number of game objects interacted either indirectly or directly via input event.
environment, Serious Games Modelling Environment (SeGMEnt), based on
For example in the Pacman game, game player has 3 lives or chances (vital) to
our GCM to assist user in documenting their game design specification.
play the game and his or her achievement is recorded as score. For most
modern game, vital of game-player is often linked to the avatar. Take StarCraft
II as an example, the game player‘s vital is represented by the entire military V. REFERENCES
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