Mirjam Eladhari
Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Location: DARC Lab
Hosted By The Center for Games and Playable Media
This talk is focused on iterative design methods for experimental game prototype development. The area of game design is recognised as a wicked problem space, that is, an area where attempts at producing solutions change the understanding of the problems. In game-design research it is crucial to build and test designs in order to explore how certain game-mechanics can result in different play-dynamics and play-experiences. Depending on the scope of research questions and available resources, it is important to carefully plan the design process of prototypes, their development, and the testing of them. It is also important to consider what types of data to obtain, and how to treat the data, in order to acquire materials for analysis that can support the exploration of the research questions of a study. This talk outlines different methods in order to provide a navigational aid in this process. As practical example, the play-test of the testing of a multi-player prototype, the Pataphysic Institute, is used. Mirjam will present the design of the play-test, the considerations taken regarding what data they gathered, how the data was interpreted, and the preliminary results (and what those mean for future development).
Bio:
In her research Mirjam aims to design, develop and evaluate innovative features for play experiences in games with many players. The work is conducted in the intersection of artificial intelligence and game design. Mirjam is an Associate Professor at Gotland University. Before she went into research in 2003, she was lead game programmer at Liquid Media in Stockholm. Her first brush with game research was in the research studio Zero-Game of the Interactive Institute in Sweden, where she was technical lead.