Courses
Artificial Intelligence in Games
Understand the differences between traditional AI and AI applied to game development, where other factors such as playability are more relevant that the oponent’s intelligence level. Be familiar with the practical problems when developing AI for video games, and with the several techniques applied in comercial video games. Know how to design and build an AI system for a video game independently of its genre (action, sport, strategy, narrative).
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
To acquire general notions about agents and multi-agent systems; knowing how to identify and classify agents and environments, according to different properties. Knowing how to develop complex systems and systems from different application areas, using an agent-oriented methodology. Knowing how to define a society of agents in order to solve a specific problem. Being able to design agents with reactive, deliberative and hybrid architectures. Being able to create societies of agents that communicate, in a practical way, using suitable languages and platforms.
Computer Graphics for Games
This course covers both theory and practice of game engine software development. It delves into the different engine subsystems including, but not limited to, rendering, character animation, and physics, and details the articulation required to support gameplay development. By the end of this course, students should understand how modern game engines work, and be able to design and develop their own game engines.
Game Design
This course grants the students the opportunity to develop their skills on experience design and prototyping for games. The learning process is sustained in the discussion of what is a game, what are its components and what is its relation to the players (having in mind their differences). It is expected that the student develop design documents and prototypes to support his/her work on the course.
Game Development Methodology
Present a vision of the different methodologies and technologies involved in the development of digital games discussing the main features and issues in each one. Grant students with conceptual tools and techniques to develop user interfaces for games with special emphasis on player controls. Develop the ability to reflect and test the player experience and gameplay. Discuss the role of conceptual modelling and user testing. Highlight the importance to take a user centred approach in the exploration of the player experience.
Multimedia Content Production
Know the different types of multimédia information and how to manipulate them to poduce multimedia content. To understand the technological constraints that affect Production. To understand critical factors affect the success of a production, namely in aspects such as capture, encoding, processing and visualization of the different media. To know the different kinds of available authoring tools. To create Multimedia contents; To identify the different contexts in which multimedia can be consumed, with emphasys on online and network issues (evaluate bandwidth, latency, synchronization, etc.) and mobile devices. Introduce some advanged multimedia usages such as procedural modelling, generative art augmented reality. Apply efficient methods of multimedia content retrieval.
Thesis
Procedural challenge generation guided by player choice in video games
This work analyzes the feasibility of using procedural generation to create challenges in a video game based on the player's choices, such as weapon choice, and to compare that approach to one based on the player's skill as well as one based on generating content randomly. Few games have attempted to procedurally generate ways for the player to progress through the game, by generating challenges that keep the player learning new ways to use the existing mechanics. This work attempts to expand upon those concepts by three different ways of tailoring content to the player. We built a video game that generates content procedurally using the 3 aforementioned approaches and had several users test 3 different versions of the game, one for each approach. Our results suggest that, in this particular implementation, players preferred playing the random approach to the approaches with content procedurally generated, which leads us to believe that more work needs to be done to better understand how player adaptation needs to be implemented to improve play experience.
iCat e o Jogo das Letras: Believability in HRI using Gaze Model
When interacting with robots or synthetic characters, humans create expectations similar to those when interacting with other humans. A robot that can meet such expectations provides a more believable and enjoyable interaction. Gaze Behavior is a non verbal communicative way, having a preponderant role in human interactions. It is related with the eyes, the way we look and the surrounding area of the eyes, having several functions on the human-robot interaction (HRI). This thesis proposes a solution based on a Gaze Behavior model, to understand if we can increase the believability and likeability of the HRI. To measure enjoyability and familiarity of the HRI, we perform an experience with 5 colored lettered cubes, a robot and 12 participants. Each participant interact with the three models and in the end had to fill one questionnaire. After the 12 experiments, the results of the questionnaire were compiled and analyzed through a method called ?Wilcoxon? test. The main conclusions regarding the obtained results point to an easier comprehension/interaction with the robot when our model is used. Additionally, results point to a more enjoyable interaction when movement of the eyes is performed, whether our model is used or the ?Random Gaze? is used.