Supporting creativity in computer game authoring

支持电脑游戏创作的创造力

• 批准号: EP/D064546/1
• 负责人: Judy Robertson
• 金额: $ 26.74万
• 依托单位: Glasgow Caledonian University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2006 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FD064546%2F1
• 关键词: Supporting; creativity; computer; game; authoring

Designing a computer game is a complex and challenging creative task which can play a valuable role in children's education. Game designers draw on skills from different artistic domains such as storytelling, visual design and music to create a coherent dynamic experience for the player. There are also a number of technical skills to be acquired such as programming with a scripting language or mastering complex level editing tools. To be a successful designer, however, the novice must also learn the necessary thinking (meta-cognitive) skills to work within an open ended creative process. This project will investigate the creative stages of computer game design, and explore how young novice designers can be effectively supported throughout this process. Previous research has identified that computer game authoring has potential in an educational context, for example by introducing children to computer programming, developing story writing skills and by bolstering their self esteem. The findings from preliminary studies suggest that game design tasks may also foster meta-cognitive skills such as planning, reflection and self directed learning. This is consistent with theories of the creative process in other domains.The first stage in the project will be to use a design-based research methodology to map out a theoretically informed model of the creative stages involved in the computer game authoring process, and the interplay between these stages. Data gathered from a field study in a local school over a period of three months will be integrated with theoretical insight into creativity to further understanding of the creative process of computer game authoring and identify the required domain and meta-cognitive skills. Observations and interviews from the field study will also be used to identify effective strategies for supporting novice designers during different stages of the creative process.In the next phase of the project, a learner centred design methodology will be used to design and implement software support for novice designers. This software scaffolding, based on the model developed in the previous stage, will be built into a computer game authoring tool called Adventure Author which enables 10-14 year children to create 3D computer games. The software will be evaluated during the final phase of the project with another group of novice designers. The evaluation will have two aims: firstly to assess the efficacy of the software scaffolding and identify improvements for the future; and secondly to refine the theoretical model on which the software scaffolding is based.In conclusion, this project aims to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of the creative process of computer game design, using this model to develop software support for novice designers. A further aim is to contribute to an understanding of the educational potential of computer games by identifying the domain and meta-cognitive skills which are required by novice game designers.

设计电脑游戏是一项复杂而挑战性的创意任务，可以在儿童的教育中发挥重要作用。游戏设计师借鉴了来自不同艺术领域的技能，例如讲故事，视觉设计和音乐，为玩家创造连贯的动态体验。还可以获得许多技术技能，例如使用脚本语言编程或掌握复杂级别的编辑工具。但是，要成为一名成功的设计师，新手还必须学习必要的思维（元认知）技能才能在开放的创作过程中工作。该项目将研究计算机游戏设计的创意阶段，并探讨如何在整个过程中有效地支持年轻的新手设计师。先前的研究已经确定，计算机游戏的创作在教育环境中具有潜力，例如，通过向儿童介绍计算机编程，发展故事写作技巧并增强他们的自尊心。初步研究的发现表明，游戏设计任务也可能培养元认知技能，例如计划，反思和自定向学习。这与其他领域的创作过程的理论一致。项目的第一阶段是使用基于设计的研究方法来绘制计算机游戏创作过程中涉及的创意阶段的理论知情模型以及这些阶段之间的相互作用。在三个月内，从当地学校的一项现场研究收集的数据将与对创造力的理论见解相结合，以进一步了解计算机游戏创作的创作过程，并确定所需的领域和元认知技能。现场研究的观察和访谈还将用于确定在创作过程的不同阶段支持新手设计师的有效策略。在项目的下一阶段，以学习者为中心的设计方法将用于为新手设计师设计和实施软件支持。基于上一个阶段中开发的模型，该软件脚手架将内置在一个名为Adventure Woter的计算机游戏创作工具中，该工具使10 - 14岁的儿童能够创建3D计算机游戏。该软件将在项目的最后阶段与另一组新手设计师一起评估。评估将有两个目标：首先评估软件脚手架的功效并确定未来的改进；其次是完善软件脚手架所基于的理论模型。总而言之，该项目旨在使用该模型为新手设计师开发软件支持，以对计算机游戏设计的创作过程进行更深入的理论理解。另一个目的是通过识别新手游戏设计师要求的域和元认知技能来为计算机游戏的教育潜力做出贡献。

项目成果

Adventure Author

冒险作家

• DOI: 10.1145/1297277.1297285
• 发表时间: 2007
• 作者: Robertson J