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Ambience in Games University of Portsmouth School of Creative Technologies Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries An investigation of ambient gameplay By Mark Eyles The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth. September 2012 Abstract Inspired by Brian Eno's ambient music, which is persistent and supports different levels of engagement, this research explores ambient gameplay in computer, video and pervasive games. Through the creation of original games containing ambient gameplay and looking for ambient gameplay in existing commercial games, this research focuses on gameplay that supports a range of depths of player engagement. This research is not concerned with ambient intelligent environments or other technologies that might support ambience, but focusses on gameplay mechanisms. The definition of ambient music is used as a starting point for developing a tentative set of properties that enable ambient gameplay. A game design research methodology is initially used. Two very different research games, Ambient Quest (using pedometers) and Pirate Moods (using RFID, radio-frequency identification, technology) are analysed. The resulting qualitative ambient gameplay schema contains themes of persistence, discovery, engagement, invention, ambiguity and complexity. In order to confirm the wider applicability of this result a case study of an existing commercial game, Civilization IV, is undertaken. Ambient gameplay properties of engagement, complexity, abstraction, persistence and modelessness identified in Civilization IV, and other commercial games, are combined with the ambient gameplay schema to develop a definition of ambient gameplay. This definition is the basis for a set of investigative lenses (lenses of persistence, attention, locative simultaneity, modelessness, automation and abstraction) for identifying ambient gameplay. This research creates a deeper understanding of computer games and hence gives game designers new ways of developing richer gameplay and gives games researchers new ways of viewing and investigating games. ii ‘It is another world entirely and is enclosed within this one; it is in a sense a universal retreating mirror image of this one, with a peculiar geography … composed of a series of concentric rings, which as one penetrates deeper into the other world, grow larger … each perimeter of this series of concentricities encloses a larger world within’ (Crowley, 1981, p. 11) iii Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... II CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................ IV FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................. X TABLES ............................................................................................................................................. XII DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................. XIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. XIV DISSEMINATION .............................................................................................................................. XV KEYWORDS .................................................................................................................................... XVI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 THE PROBLEM ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 THE AIMS ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 THE RESEARCH PROGRAM ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.4 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................................................. 3 1.5 STRUCTURE OF THESIS .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.5.1 Chapter 2 - Literature review................................................................................................... 4 1.5.2 Chapter 3 - Design research methodology .............................................................................. 4 1.5.3 Chapter 4 - Study one: Ambient Quest game .......................................................................... 4 1.5.4 Chapter 5 - Study two: Pirate Moods game ............................................................................ 5 1.5.5 Chapter 6 - Study three: Civilization IV .................................................................................... 5 1.5.6 Chapter 7 - Findings ................................................................................................................. 5 1.5.7 Chapter 8 - Discussion ............................................................................................................. 5 1.5.8 Chapter 9 - Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 7 2.1 PROPERTIES OF AMBIENT MUSIC ............................................................................................................. 7 2.2 AESTHETIC AMBIENCE ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.3 PERVASIVE GAMES ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.4 FUNCTIONAL AND EXPERIENTIAL PROPERTIES OF GAMES ............................................................................ 14 2.4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 14 2.4.2 Functional properties............................................................................................................. 16 2.4.3 Player experience .................................................................................................................. 22 2.4.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 25 2.5 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 3 DESIGN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 27 iv 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 27 3.2 GAMES RESEARCH.............................................................................................................................. 27 3.3 DESIGN RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................. 28 3.4 CASE STUDY FOR TRIANGULATING RESULTS.............................................................................................. 30 3.5 RIGOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 30 3.6 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 4 STUDY ONE: AMBIENT QUEST GAME ........................................................................... 32 4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 32 4.2 AIMS ............................................................................................................................................... 32 4.3 PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4 APPARATUS ...................................................................................................................................... 33 4.5 METHODS ........................................................................................................................................ 35 4.6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 36 4.6.1 Phase one .............................................................................................................................. 36 4.6.2 Phase two .............................................................................................................................. 37 4.6.3 Summary and conclusion ....................................................................................................... 41 4.6.3.1 Engagement ...................................................................................................................................
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