CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Nowadays, a Video

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Nowadays, a video game has become something that's very popular and interesting for all kinds of demographics. Along with the growth of Information Technology, video game industry grows even more swiftly. With those growths, it piqued the interest of individuals to develop their own game. A video game developed by an individual is called an Independent Video Game, or more well-known as an Indie Game. Indie Games started to become popular in the latter half of the 2000s, mainly by means of new online distribution methods at that time (Irwin, 2008). One of the examples of the online distributor is itch.io. The following is a statistic of the number of games that are uploaded on the site, between the year of 2013 and 2015.

Figure 1.1 Indie Game site, Itch.io upload rate (Source: https://itch.io/blog/2/running-an-indie-game-store-2015)

To create an interesting game, usually, it would be necessary to own a huge amount of resources, such as labor force (developers or programmers), time, and expenses. Meanwhile. Indie Game developers work with a small number of people and a limited amount of resources. With such obstacles, Indie Game developers resort to utilizing a method called Procedural Generation , a method to create data algorithmically. Procedural Content Generation (PCG ) is very useful to help and reduce the cost of designing and developing a video game. This procedurally generated content can be used to automatically or semi-automatically create various aspects in a game, essentially in designing a level or in the creation of the gameplay aspect or the contents of the game (Amato, 2017). The usage of Procedural Generation is very extensive due to its many variations. One example of a very specific use of Procedural Generation is a Procedural Quest Generation, where this method will generate quests in an MMORPG game semi- automatically by using structured constraints made by the developers (Doran & Parberry, 2011). Another distinct usage example is a Procedural Clutter Generator, where this method is using a random system combined with structured constraints to semi-automatically design something (Taylor & Parberry, Randomness + Structure = Clutter: A Procedural Object, 2011). Procedural Generation in and of itself can be used for level design in a game called Sokoban (Taylor, Parsons, & Parberry, 2015). Procedural Content Generation (PCG) is something that is commonly used in movies and games (V & A, 2012), especially, in Roguelike games (Simon Almgren, 2014). Due to this trait, Indie Game developers are more likely to develop games with a genre of Roguelike, which caused a rise in the popularity of the genre (Hatfield, 2013). Roguelike game can be simply defined as games that were inspired directly or indirectly by the game Rogue (Weber, 2015) . One of the most popular Roguelike game developed by an Indie Game developer is The Binding of Isaac . 3

Figure 1.2 Roguelike game: The Binding of Isaac (Source: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/The_Binding_of_Isaac/)

The main component of a Roguelike game is its replayability , or its ability to attract players to play it more than one time. This feature can be attained by using a level generation system, which would give a different result each time. This means, the usage of Procedural Content Generation became something practical to develop a Roguelike game. Going back to the example of one of the most popular Indie developed Roguelike game, The Binding of Isaac isn’t just intriguing and unique because of its quality as a Roguelike game. This game also has an interesting topic and can indirectly give information through its storytelling, attracting the player’s interest to find out more in regard of the topics in the story. The process of learning by means of appealing someone’s interest is called Tangential Learning. Tangential Learning can be defined as a process where someone is interested to teach themselves about a topic when the topic is served through a context that they enjoy (Brown, Rivera, Li, Wu, & Nguyen, 2014). Another example of Tangential Learning in video game is World of Alchemy , a puzzle game in a mobile platform where the players are taught about chemistry in High School level, indirectly. Commented [YA1]: Sebelum tangential learning, tambahkan data pendukung tentang mental ilness, In this day and age, heavy topics can be brought upon people on daily basis by mengapa perlu pembelajaran tentang mental illness, beriakn data pendukungnya using media like game through Tangential Learning. For example, the story of The Binding of Isaac use the analogy of religious story and put it in the perspective of a child. Mental illness also has become a topic that game often tackle whether it’s 4 directly or indirectly. Why? Because despite all the effort to raise the awareness of how serious it is, Mental illness is still holding such a strong stigmatism towards whoever affected by it.

Figure 1.3 Mental Health Infograph (Source: http://www.wou.edu/westernjournal/dont-overlook-mental-health/)

By observing a statistic made by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, it shows that the number of college students struggling with mental health has been steadily rising. Mental Illness is a very serious issue. According to Activeminds.org, Mental Health issue is one of the leading factor that affect a college student’s academic success. Mental Illnesses such as Depression, Anxiety and Eating Disorders are often associated with a lower GPA and higher probability of a student dropping out of school (Strickland, 2017). Therefore, it can be concluded that it is very important for us to help raising the awareness towards Mental Illness. With all that information in mind, therefore this scientific paper will focus on the development of a Roguelike game by using Procedural Content Generation to raise awareness and teach about Mental Illness. It must be not only interesting but also teaches or gives information indirectly.

1.2 Problem Statement According to the Background that has been explained in the previous chapter, the following are the formulation of the problems from this scientific paper: 1. How to develop a good video game with a limited resource? 2. How to develop a video game that can help / educate user about mental illness with a fun and enjoyable experience? 3. How to develop a video game that can gives information indirectly about

mental illness? Commented [YA2]: Pakai kalimat tanya , pakai tanda tanya

1.3 Scope of Work The following are the scope of work from this scientific paper: 1. The target players are gamers globally. 2. The language used in the game will be English to attract global player base. 3. The Mental Illnesses topics including: “Depression”, “Anxiety”, and “Bipolar”. 4. The game can be played without any internet connection.

1.4 Aims and Benefit Henceforth, the aims and benefit of this scientific paper are as the following: Aims: 1. To apply the usage of Procedural Content Generation in the development of the video game. 2. To develop a Roguelike game that is interesting and different for the Roguelike community. 3. To apply Tangential Learning to raise awareness regarding Mental Illness in

the video game. Commented [YA3]: Tambahkan kaitannya tentang awareness mental illness Benefit: 1. As a contribution to the Game Developing community in Indonesia and Roguelike community. 2. As a tool to give information about mental illness. 3. To promote and inspire other game developers in Indonesia. 4. To grow the player’s interest to find out more regarding the topic in the video game. 6

5. As a reference material in the development of other games and in the writing

of other scientific papers. Commented [YA4]: Taruh di baris terakhir 1.5 Research Methods The methodology that will be used as the reference in the writing of this scientific paper are as the following:

1.5.1 Data Collection and Analysis Methods The analysis method will be done towards the data that are collected through: 1. Literature Study In the form of a study and learning on theories and information that relate to the scientific work materials, obtained through articles, journals, internet or books. 2. Survey / Questionnaire Data collecting is done by creating a questionnaire that will be spread to people related to the topic of the scientific work, to obtain the required data and information. 3. Similar Application Comparison This can be done by doing an analysis towards applications or games with similar characteristics as the scientific work. The result of the aforementioned analysis will be used to create a comparison towards the game that will be developed.

1.5.2 Program Development Methods The method that will be used in developing the video game is the Waterfall Development method. Waterfall development model is a project development model that uses a linear and sequential design approach. This model is very simple and easy to use, especially for a small-scale project with a small number of developers. This method is started with defining the problem that needs to be solved, followed by collecting data and theories to support the development of the video

game. The followings are the steps in doing the Waterfall Method (Dennis, Commented [YA5]: Sebutkan tahapan waterfall secara ringkas, Wixom, & Tegarden, 2015):

- Planning -> Data Collection - Analysis -> Data Analysis - Design -> Game Design - Implementation -> Game Development

- System -> Game Testing, Review / Evaluation and Documentation Commented [YA6]: Dikasih penjelasan sedikit, apa yagn dilakukan di planning secara general ya , di 1.6 Writing Structure analysis, di design di implementation dan di system ?? yakin system ? The writing of this scientific paper will be done by dividing it into several chapters to ease the reader to read and understand the content of this scientific paper. The following is the outline of this whole scientific paper: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will discuss the background of the scientific paper, problem statement, the scope of the work, the aims and benefit, the research methods, and the writing structure. CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION This chapter will discuss relevant theories and the related research materials, that will be used as the base in the writing of this research paper. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter will discuss the analysis that obtained from the research, which are User Analysis in a form of questionnaires, Similar Application Comparison, as well as the system design and visual design. CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION This chapter will discuss the result of the application development, evaluation, and the description of the features in the video game. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS This chapter will discuss the conclusion reached from the previous chapters, additionally discussing any useful suggestions that would be helpful for any future development.