nrik v He d a apa l sk Ma HOW THE CHOICE OF VIRTUAL JOYSTICK AFFECTS USABILITY IN MOBILE FIGHTING GAMES Bachelor Degree Project in Informatics 30 ECTS Spring term 2020 Tomas Granlund Marcus Karåker Gustafsson Supervisor: Henrik Engström Examiner: Mikael Johannesson Abstract As the mobile games market keeps growing, game interfaces for mobile games also warrant further development. One area that especially has room for improvement is the touchscreen joystick. This dissertation focuses on the differences in usability for different touchscreen joysticks. A mobile fighting game prototype was developed for this purpose, and a user study was conducted in order to evaluate the difference in usability between two joysticks. Data was gathered and demonstrated, and an analysis of the logged data was conducted, showing no significant difference between the two joysticks. The authors hope that the comparison methodology and measurements demonstrated may be used as a benchmark and framework for future research in mobile joysticks. Keywords: mobile games, touchscreen joystick, fighting games Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 2 Background ........................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Touchscreen Input .................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1 Touchscreen Gamepads ................................................................................................. 2 2.1.2 New Touchscreen Gamepads ......................................................................................... 3 2.1.3 Defining Virtual Joystick .................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Game Design and Game Interface ........................................................................... 3 2.3 Game Controllers and HCI ....................................................................................... 4 2.4 Examples of Control Schemes for the Virtual Joystick ............................................. 4 2.4.1 PUBG Mobile ................................................................................................................... 5 2.4.2 Honor of Kings ................................................................................................................. 5 2.4.3 Honkai Impact 3rd ........................................................................................................... 5 2.4.4 Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition................................................................................ 6 2.4.5 Dead Trigger 2 ................................................................................................................ 7 2.5 Previous studies ....................................................................................................... 8 2.5.1 Touch and Play ............................................................................................................... 8 2.5.2 Touchscreens vs. Traditional Controllers ........................................................................ 8 2.5.3 Game Controller Impact on Immersion ........................................................................... 8 2.5.4 Game Controllers and HCI .............................................................................................. 8 3 Problem .............................................................................................................. 9 3.1 Method ...................................................................................................................... 9 3.1.1 Hypothesis ....................................................................................................................... 9 3.1.2 Evaluation ........................................................................................................................ 9 3.2 Method Discussion ................................................................................................. 10 3.2.1 Determining the Scope .................................................................................................. 10 3.2.2 Previous Experience ..................................................................................................... 10 3.2.3 Experiment Ethics ......................................................................................................... 10 3.2.4 Questionnaire ................................................................................................................ 11 4 Implementation ................................................................................................ 12 4.1 The Choice of Joystick ........................................................................................... 12 4.1.1 Conventional Joystick ................................................................................................... 12 4.1.2 Kinetics .......................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.3 The Differences ............................................................................................................. 12 4.2 The Choice of Game Genre ................................................................................... 13 4.2.1 Game Evaluation ........................................................................................................... 13 4.2.2 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 14 4.3 Developing the First Version of the Game Prototype ............................................. 14 4.3.1 Specification .................................................................................................................. 14 4.3.2 Gestures ........................................................................................................................ 15 4.4 Initial test ................................................................................................................ 17 4.4.1 Experiment Procedure .................................................................................................. 17 4.4.2 Results .......................................................................................................................... 17 4.5 Developing the second version of the game prototype .......................................... 18 4.5.1 Changes ........................................................................................................................ 18 4.5.2 Specification .................................................................................................................. 19 4.5.3 Gestures ........................................................................................................................ 20 4.6 Second Test ........................................................................................................... 21 4.6.1 Experiment Procedure .................................................................................................. 21 4.6.2 Results .......................................................................................................................... 21 4.7 Developing the Third Version of the Game Prototype ............................................ 22 4.7.1 Changes ........................................................................................................................ 22 4.7.2 Specification .................................................................................................................. 22 4.8 Logging ................................................................................................................... 22 4.8.1 Finger Position Logging ................................................................................................ 23 4.9 Coronavirus Aftermath ............................................................................................ 23 4.9.1 Deciding on a New Joystick .......................................................................................... 23 4.10 Developing the Fourth Version of the Prototype ..................................................... 24 4.10.1 Changes ........................................................................................................................ 24 5 Evaluation ........................................................................................................ 25 5.1 The Study ............................................................................................................... 25 5.1.1 Experiment Procedure .................................................................................................. 25 5.2 Analysis .................................................................................................................. 26 5.2.1 Analysing Background Data .......................................................................................... 26 5.2.2 Analysing Effectiveness ................................................................................................ 27 5.2.3 Analysing Effectiveness and Background Relation ....................................................... 29 5.2.4 Analysing Satisfaction ................................................................................................... 30 5.3 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................