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If we want a game to adapt to the player's emotional states, how important is the pace of the game?
I'd say it's very important. Some games may be so slow that it's not appropriate to introduce affective adaptations to begin with, Mah Jong for instance. I suspect most people don't get very emotionally involved playing this game; with the possible exception of the exact moment in time when they realise they have won (or lost). On the opposing side, if the game is very fast (think of the last few levels you ever managed in Tetris) the player is automatically emotionally involved, generally with stress. So if we want to adapt to a wide range of emotions, the game needs to induce a wide range of emotions to be detected, right? So, does that mean that the designers have to specifically aim to induce certain emotions at certain times? What if the player reacts totally differently then, to what the designers wished for?
I think all storylines attempt to induce emotions in the player, but I also suspect that the designers, in general, don't much care if you're feeling happy, sad or angry as long as you're feeling, and enjoying yourself (somewhere below the anger). We can then use this same tactic in adaptive games, attempt to induce emotions, not caring what is being felt, but adapting to the reaction, whatever it may be. How do you induce emotions? Oh, in a variety of ways; music, lighting, textures, ambient noises, character animation, voice acting.. the list goes on and on. But all these methods surely rely on a 'sensible' pacing? You can have peaks and troughs in pace of course, but do they not all rely on time used to induce? But if they are, is the 'sensible' pace the same for everybody, or is this another component which the game needs to adapt for the specific player? What is the 'sensible' pace, what games currently, do you think, are set at a good pace for adaptations to player emotions?
Wow, that is a lot of questions, and I don't think I have the answers to any of them! Just thoughts....
Frantic, reactive gameplay, such as the last few levels of Tetris you described will increase the emotional state through 'oohs' and 'aahs' - a kind of shock therapy.
ReplyDeleteHowever it would be foolish to dismiss slower paced games because often an intellectual interaction can lead to a more sustained and fulfilled emotional state.
Consider adventure games such as 'Monkey Island' as an example: when faced with a seemingly impossible puzzle, you do not give up. You try different combinations, evaluate the outcome, and keep going until you find the solution. The sense of achievement earned through this is comparable to surviving another level of Tetris through sheer luck, and the taxation on the brain in solving the puzzle an be emotional in itself.
So I think pace is important when considering how your technology will respond to the emotions of the player, but I don't feel that the technology is suited to just one type or 'pace' of game - it can be implemented somehow to any pace of game with equally rewarding results.
Wow this is really interesting! You are quite right that slow games can be just as emotionally rewarding, the trick is being able to accurately detect these changes. The reason is that a slow change in emotional state can just as easily be due to external events, you thinking about something special,or just a mood change, and so it's hard to say whether the changes are due to the game.
ReplyDeleteNow that the techie side has been covered, I ask you this: What sorts of adaptations would you like to see in a game such as Monkey Island? What would improve the game for you, in terms of real-time changes?
I'll be very interested to know the answer to this!! :)