http://www.hindawi.comThe latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/594313The explosive growth of the number of applications based on networked virtual environment technology, both games and virtual communities, shows that these types of applications have become commonplace in a short period of time. However, from a research point of view, the inherent weaknesses in their architectures are quickly exposed. The Architecture for Large-Scale Virtual Interactive Communities (ALVICs) was originally developed to serve as a generic framework to deploy networked virtual environment applications on the Internet. While it has been shown to effectively scale to the numbers originally put forward, our findings have shown that, on a real-life network, such as the Internet, several drawbacks will not be overcome in the near future. It is, therefore, that we have recently started with the development of ALVIC-NG, which, while incorporating the findings from our previous research, makes several improvements on the original version, making it suitable for deployment on the Internet as it exists today.Peter Quax, Jeroen Dierckx, Bart Cornelissen, and Wim Lamotte© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/906931We propose a visualization approach for analyzing players' action behaviors. The proposed approach consists of two visualization techniques: classical multidimensional scaling (CMDS) and KeyGraph. CMDS is for discovering clusters of players who behave similarly. KeyGraph is for interpreting action behaviors of players in a cluster of interest. In order to reduce the dimension of matrices used in computation of the CMDS input, we exploit a time-series reduction technique recently proposed by us. Our visualization approach is evaluated using log of an online game where three-player types according to Bartle's taxonomy are found, that is, achievers, explorers, and socializers.Ruck Thawonmas and Keita Iizuka© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/623725Human beings communicate in abbreviated ways dependent on prior interactions and shared knowledge. Furthermore, humans share information about intentions and future actions using eye gaze. Among primates, humans are unique in the whiteness of the sclera and amount of sclera shown, essential for communication via interpretation of eye gaze. This paper extends our previous work in a game-like interactive task by the use of computerised recognition of eye gaze and fuzzy signature-based interpretation of possible intentions. This extends our notion of robot instinctive behaviour to intentional behaviour. We show a good improvement of speed of response in a simple use of eye gaze information. We also show a significant and more sophisticated use of the eye gaze information, which eliminates the need for control actions on the user's part. We also make a suggestion as to returning visibility of control to the user in these cases.Tamás (Tom) D. Gedeon, Dingyun Zhu, and B. Sumudu U. Mendis© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/327387Multiplayer online games with support for high user numbers must provide mechanisms to support an increasing amount of players by using additional resources. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the practically proven multiserver distribution mechanisms, zoning, instancing, and replication, and the tasks for the game developer implied by them. We propose a novel, high-level development approach which integrates the three distribution mechanisms seamlessly in today's online games. As a possible base for this high-level approach, we describe the real-time framework (RTF) middleware system which liberates the developer from low-level tasks and allows him to stay at high level of design abstraction. We explain how RTF supports the implementation of single-server online games and how RTF allows to incorporate the three multiserver distribution mechanisms during the development process. Finally, we describe briefly how RTF provides manageability and maintenance functionality for online games in a grid context with dynamic resource allocation scenarios.Frank Glinka, Alexander Ploss, Sergei Gorlatch, and Jens Müller-Iden© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/192153Location-based games not only offer new experiences for the players, but also present new challenges for researchers in terms of analyzing player behaviour. Whilst many ethnographical studies have presented useful qualitative insights into this area, there is the potential to both improve support for these studies and to provide more effective representations of the quantitative data that can often be extracted from the game itself in a manner that enables greater understanding. In this paper, we illustrate how combined spatial and temporal information can be represented using the human geographers' technique of space-time paths to provide 3D visualizations of a player's or players' movement. Our analysis of a particular location-based game shows how a richer understanding of overall game play is obtained and highlights the possibilities for using the technique for a whole range of location-based services to provide a more complete view of complexities of journeys. Further, we discuss how these techniques can be utilized more generally by ethnographers who study the behaviour of mobile actors.Paul Coulton, Will Bamford, Keith Cheverst, and Omer Rashid© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/642314Internet ubiquity and the success of mobile gaming devices are increasing the interest in wireless access to virtual environments. Mainly due to the mobility factor and wireless medium features, traditional gaming architectures are not enough to guarantee good levels of playability and fairness to mobile gamers. We suggest a new mechanism, called playing session, capable of controlling communications between mobile devices and the game infrastructure. In case of network failures, a mimicking mechanism is in charge of playing, until the communication channel is restored. The goal is to reproduce, with an adequate level of mimesis, the user behavior. According to this approach, it will be possible to enhance the overall playability of Internet games without requiring any modification to the existing communication infrastructure.S. Cacciaguerra and G. D'Angelo© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/739041Kok Wai Wong, Chun Che Fung, and Arnold Depickere© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/873913Strategy game and simulation application are an exciting area with many opportunities for study and research. Currently most of the existing games and simulations apply hard coded rules so the intelligence of the computer generated forces is limited. After some time, player gets used to the simulation making it less attractive and challenging. It is also costly and tedious to incorporate new rules for an existing game. The main motivation behind this research project is to improve the quality of artificial intelligence- (AI-) based on various techniques such as qualitative spatial reasoning (Forbus et al., 2002), near-optimal hierarchical pathfinding (HPA*) (Botea et al., 2004), and reinforcement learning (RL) (Sutton and Barto, 1998).Le Minh Duc, Amandeep Singh Sidhu, and Narendra S. Chaudhari© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/371872A novel framework to model and explore predictive contract mechanisms in distributed interactive applications (DIAs) using information theory is proposed. In our model, the entity state update scheme is modelled as an information generation, encoding, and reconstruction process. Such a perspective facilitates a quantitative measurement of state fidelity loss as a result of the distribution protocol. Results from an experimental study on a first-person shooter game are used to illustrate the utility of this measurement process. We contend that our proposed model is a starting point to reframe and analyse consistency maintenance in DIAs as a problem in distributed interactive media compression.Xin Zhang, Tomás E. Ward, and Séamus McLoone© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/243107Online games have exploded in the last few years. These games face several problems linked to scalability and interactivity. In fact, online games should provide a quick feedback of users' interactions as well as a coherent view of the shared world. However, the search for enhanced scalability dramatically increases message exchange. Such an increase consumes processing power and bandwidth, and thus limits interactivity, consistency, and scalability. To reduce the rate of message exchange, distributed virtual environment systems use filtering techniques such as interest management that filters messages according to users' interests in the world. These interests are influenced by perceptual facts which we study in this paper in order to build upon them a perception-based filtering technique. This technique satisfies users' needs by precisely providing an exact filtering which is more efficient than other techniques.Souad El Merhebi, Jean-Christophe Hoelt, Patrice Torguet, and Jean-Pierre Jessel© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/316790An efficient terrain generation algorithm is developed, based on constrained conforming Delaunay triangulation. The density of triangulation in different regions of a terrain is determined by its flatness, as seen from a height map, and a control map. Tracks and other objects found in a game world can be applied over the terrain using the “stenciling” and “stitching” algorithms. Using user controlled parameters, varying levels of detail can be preserved when applying these objects over the terrain as well. The algorithms have been incorporated into 3dsMax as plugins, and the experimental results demonstrate the usefulness and efficiency of the developed algorithms.Sundar Raman and Zheng Jianmin© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/783231Story has traditionally been seen as something separate to gameplay—frequently relegated to an afterthought or epiphenomenon. Nevertheless, in the FPS genre there has been something of a renaissance in the notion of the story-driven title. Partially, this is due to advances in technology enabling a greater capacity for distributed storytelling and a better integration of story and gameplay. However, what has been underrecognised is the dynamic, epistemological, and psychological impact of story and story elements upon player behaviour. It is argued here that there is evidence that story may have a direct influence upon cognitive operations. Specifically, evidence is presented that it appears to demonstrate that games with highly visible, detailed stories may assist players in recalling and ordering their experiences. If story does, indeed, have a more direct influence, then it is clearly a more powerful and immediate tool in game design than either simply reward system or golden thread.Dan Pinchbeck© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/470350This paper is part of an experimental approach aimed to raise a videogames classification. Being inspired by the methodology that Propp used for the classification of Russian fairy tales, we have identified recurrent diagrams within rules of videogames, that we called “Gameplay Bricks”. The combinations of these different bricks should allow us to represent a classification of all videogames in accordance with their rules. In this article, we will study the nature of these bricks, especially the link they seem to have with two types of game rules: the rules that allow the player to “manipulate” the elements of the game, and the rules defining the “goal” of the game. This study will lead to an hypothesis about the nature of gameplay.Damien Djaouti, Julian Alvarez, Jean-Pierre Jessel, Gilles Methel, and Pierre Molinier© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/619108Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) have been known to create rich and versatile social worlds for thousands of millions of players to participate. As such, various game elements and advance technologies such as artificial intelligence have been applied to encourage and facilitate social interactions in these online communities, the key to the success of MMOGs. However, there is a lack of studies addressing the usability of these elements in games. In this paper, we look into interaction patterns and awareness design elements that support the awareness in LastWorld and FairyLand. Experimental results obtained through both in-game experiences and player interviews reveal that not all awareness tools (e.g., an in-game map) have been fully exploited by players. In addition, those players who are aware of these tools are not satisfied with them. Our findings suggest that awareness-oriented tools/channels should be easy to interpret and rich in conveying “knowledge” so as to reduce players-cognitive overload. These findings of this research recommend considerations of early stage MMOG design.Tiffany Y. Tang, Cheung Yiu Man, Chu Pok Hang, Lam Shiu Cheuk, Chan Wai Kwong, Yiu Chung Chi, Ho Ka Fai, and Sit Kam© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/378485Game assets are portable between games. The games themselves are, however, dependent on the game engine they were developed on. Middleware has attempted to address this by, for instance, separating out the AI from the core game engine. Our work takes this further by separating the game from the game engine, and making it portable between game engines. The game elements that we make portable are the game logic, the object model, and the game state, which represent the game's brain, and which we collectively refer to as the game factor, or G-factor. We achieve this using an architecture based around a service-oriented approach. We present an overview of this architecture and its use in developing games. The evaluation demonstrates that the architecture does not affect performance unduly, adds little development overhead, is scaleable, and supports modifiability.Ahmed BinSubaih and Steve Maddock© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/834616This paper proposes a novel method to generate strategic team AI pathfinding plans for computer games and simulations using probabilistic pathfinding. This method is inspired by genetic algorithms (Russell and Norvig, 2002), in that, a fitness function is used to test the quality of the path plans. The method generates high-quality path plans by eliminating the low-quality ones. The path plans are generated by probabilistic pathfinding, and the elimination is done by a fitness test of the path plans. This path plan generation method has the ability to generate variation or different high-quality paths, which is desired for games to increase replay values. This work is an extension of our earlier work on team AI: probabilistic pathfinding (John et al., 2006). We explore ways to combine probabilistic pathfinding and genetic algorithm to create a new method to generate strategic team AI pathfinding plans.Tng C. H. John, Edmond C. Prakash, and Narendra S. Chaudhari© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/321708Despite the ubiquity and rich features of current mobile phones, mobile games have failed to reach even the lowest estimates of expected revenues. This is unfortunate as mobile phones offer unique possibilities for creating games aimed at attracting demographics not currently catered for by the traditional console market. As a result, there has been a growing call for greater innovation within the mobile games industry and support for games outside the current console genres. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a novel location-based game which allows us turn a camera phone into a mixed-reality laser cannon. The game uses specially designed coloured tags, which are worn by the players, and advanced colour tracking software running on a camera phone, to create a novel first person shoot-em-up (FPS) with innovative game interactions and play.Fadi Chehimi, Paul Coulton, and Reuben Edwards© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/542918Multiplayer online games (MOGs) have become increasingly popular because of the opportunity they provide for collaboration, communication, and interaction. However, compared with ordinary human communication, MOG still has several limitations, especially in communication using facial expressions. Although detailed facial animation has already been achieved in a number of MOGs, players have to use text commands to control the expressions of avatars. In this paper, we propose an automatic expression recognition system that can be integrated into an MOG to control the facial expressions of avatars. To meet the specific requirements of such a system, a number of algorithms are studied, improved, and extended. In particular, Viola and Jones face-detection method is extended to detect small-scale key facial components; and fixed facial landmarks are used to reduce the computational load with little performance degradation in the recognition accuracy.Ce Zhan, Wanqing Li, Philip Ogunbona, and Farzad Safaei© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/176056A novel way of playing games called ambient gaming is defined and described. Growing out of ideas in ambient music, ambient gaming is defined as “ignorable as it is interesting” after Brian Eno's description of ambient music. Ambient gaming is set in the context of existing games. Further, ambient games are set in a technological context, showing that the technology enabling their development is now becoming available. The specification and implementation of an ambient game prototype, Ambient Quest, are described. Finally, future directions leading to work enhancing games are suggested.Mark Eyles and Roger Eglin© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/751268We present a technique for modeling and recognising human activity from moving light displays using hidden Markov models. We extract a small number of joint angles at each frame to form a feature vector. Continuous hidden Markov models are then trained with the resulting time series, one for each of a variety of human activity, using the Baum-Welch algorithm. Motion classification is then attempted by evaluation of the forward variable for each model using previously unseen test data. Experimental results based on real-world human motion capture data demonstrate the performance of the algorithm and some degree of robustness to data noise and human motion irregularity. This technique has potential applications in activity classification for gesture-based game interfaces and character animation.John Darby, Baihua Li, and Nick Costen© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/753584One of the main challenges encountered by interactive graphics programmers involves presenting high-quality scenes while retaining real-time frame rates on the hardware. To achieve this, level-of-detail techniques can be employed to provide a form of control over scene quality versus performance. Several algorithms exist that allow such control, including the real-time optimally adapting mesh (ROAM) algorithm specifically aimed at terrain systems. Although ROAM provides an excellent approach to terrain visualization, it contains elements that can be difficult to implement within a game system. This paper hopes to discuss these factors and provide a more game-orientated implementation of the algorithm.Matthew White© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/412056A common approach to produce visual speech is to interpolate the parameters describing a sequence of mouth shapes, known as visemes, where a viseme corresponds to a phoneme in an utterance. The interpolation process must consider the issue of context-dependent shape, or coarticulation, in order to produce realistic-looking speech. We describe an approach to such pose-based interpolation that deals with coarticulation using a constraint-based technique. This is demonstrated using a Mexican-Spanish talking head, which can vary its speed of talking and produce coarticulation effects.Oscar Martinez Lazalde, Steve Maddock, and Michael Meredith© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/216784Schema theory provides a foundation for the analysis of game play patterns created by players during their interaction with a game. Schema models derived from the analysis of play provide a rich explanatory framework for the cognitive processes underlying game play, as well as detailed hypotheses for the hierarchical structure of pleasures and rewards motivating players. Game engagement is accounted for as a process of schema selection or development, while immersion is explained in terms of levels of attentional demand in schema execution. However, schemas may not only be used to describe play, but might be used actively as cognitive models within a game engine. Predesigned schema models are knowledge representations constituting anticipated or desired learned cognitive outcomes of play. Automated analysis of player schemas and comparison with predesigned target schemas can provide a foundation for a game engine adapting or tuning game mechanics to achieve specific effects of engagement, immersion, and cognitive skill acquisition by players. Hence, schema models may enhance the play experience as well as provide a foundation for achieving explicitly represented pedagogical or therapeutic functions of games.Craig A. Lindley and Charlotte C. Sennersten© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/720280We introduce and describe a new conceptual framework for the design and analysis of audio for immersive first-person shooter games, and discuss its potential implications for the development of the audio component of game engines. The framework was created in order to illustrate and acknowledge the direct role of in-game audio in shaping player-player interactions and in creating a sense of immersion in the game world. Furthermore, it is argued that the relationship between player and sound is best conceptualized theoretically as an acoustic ecology. Current game engines are capable of game world spatiality through acoustic shading, but the ideas presented here provide a framework to explore other immersive possibilities for game audio through real-time synthesis.Mark Grimshaw and Gareth Schott© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/432365The aim of developing an agent, that is able to adapt its actions in response to their effectiveness within the game, provides the basis for the research presented in this paper. It investigates how adaptation can be applied through the use of a hybrid of AI technologies. The system developed uses the predefined behaviours of a finite-state machine and fuzzy logic system combined with the learning capabilities of a neural computing. The system adapts specific behaviours that are central to the performance of the bot (a computer-controlled player that simulates a human opponent) in the game, with the paper’s main focus being on that of the weapon selection behaviour; selecting the best weapon for the current situation. As a development platform, the project makes use of the Quake 3 Arena engine, modifying the original bot AI to integrate the adaptive technologies.Abdennour El Rhalibi and Madjid Merabti© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/539078Undoubtedly the biggest success amongst the recent games console releases has been the launch of the Nintendo Wii. This is arguably due to its most innovative attribute—the wireless controller or “Wiimote.” The Wiimote can be used as a versatile game controller, able to detect motion and rotation in three dimensions which allows for very innovative game play. Prior to the Wii, and with much less furor, Nokia launched its 5500 model phone which contains 3D motion sensors. Using the Sensor API library available for the Symbian OS, this sensor data can be used by developers to create interesting new control schemes for mobile games. Whilst 3D motion can be utilized for ondevice games, in this paper we present a novel system that connects these phones to large public game screens via Bluetooth where it becomes a game controller for a multiplayer game. We illustrate the potential of this system through a multiplayer driving game using the Microsoft XNA framework and present preliminary feedback on the user experience from a public trial which highlights that these controls can be both intuitive and fun.Tamas Vajk, Paul Coulton, Will Bamford, and Reuben Edwards© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/135398An enhanced character registration method is proposed in this paper to assist the auto coloring for 2D animation characters. After skeletons are extracted, the skeleton of the character in a target frame is relocated based on a stable branch in a reference frame. Subsequently the characters among a sequence are automatically matched and registered. Occlusion are then detected and located in certain components segmented from the character. Two different approaches are applied to color regions in components without and with occlusion respectively. The approach has been tested for coloring a practical animation sequence and achieved high coloring accuracy, showing its applicability in commercial animation production.Jie Qiu, Hock Soon Seah, Feng Tian, Quan Chen, Zhongke Wu, and Konstantin Melikhov© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/281959This paper describes a system which generates variations on theme music fitting to story scenes represented by texts and/or pictures. Inputs to the present system are original theme music and numerical information on given story scenes. The present system varies melodies, tempos, tones, tonalities, and accompaniments of given theme music based on impressions of story scenes. Genetic algorithms (GAs) using modular neural network (MNN) models as fitness functions are applied to music generation in order to reflect user's feeling of music and stories. The present system adjusts MNN models for each user on line. This paper also describes the evaluation experiments to confirm whether the generated variations on theme music reflect impressions of story scenes appropriately or not.Kenkichi Ishizuka and Takehisa Onisawa© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/2008/178923The use of sound in an interactive media environment has not been advanced, as a technology, as far as graphics or artificial intelligence. This discussion will explore the use of sound as a way to influence the player of a computer game, will show ways that a game can use sound as input, and will describe ways that the player can influence sound in a game. The role of sound in computer games will be explored some practical design ideas that can be used to improve the current state of the art will be given.J. R. Parker and John Heerema© 2008, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.