"How to guide players without words in an open-world game?"
2022.11
About
This is a group project research on no-verbal guidance in open-world games for GSND 6330.
My duty included:
- Brought up research questions;
- Designed the game map;
- Developed part of the game;
- Conducted play-test with 10 players;
- Analyzed think-aloud data;
- Led the paper writing and wrote the abstract, and Sections 1, 2.2, 3.2, and 4 of our paper.
Research Questions
RQ1: What kind of non-verbal guidance design is the most efficient way to guide the player in an open-world game?
RQ2: How do non-verbal guidance systems affect the in-game immersive experience?
RQ3: How can we design open-world games without user interfaces?
Methods
To ground the study, an open-world game with non-verbal guidance was designed. In the game, the player needs to approach three lighthouses and use pressure pads to lower the corresponding lighthouse. Additionally, there is a small town set on the island for the players to explore.
Ten participants were recruited to play the game. Participants were asked to engage in think-aloud protocol while playing the game. Their paths through the game world were tracked. After the players played the game, they were asked to take a two-part survey. Participants were also asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. The think-aloud process and interview were transcripted. An open coding analysis was conducted of the think-aloud transcripts for the qualitative results.
Results
- Players generally took the paths we designed with the expectation that players would follow them.
- Players paid the most attention to architecture and artifacts when they navigated through the gamespace.
- Players always took the shortest available paths to the architecture that they were interested in.
- Some players may change their interests when exploring while others had a solid goal.
- Since there are no interfaces to indicate the interactable objects, the affordance of the object in the game need to be recognizable, believable, and reliable.
- Non-verbal guidance can improve players’ immersive experience, especially for players who are motivated by exploration.
For more detailed results and discussion, please read the paper.