"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.
A Walkthrough Video of the Play-Test Version of the Game.
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.
The Map of the Game.
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
A Heat Map of Players' Movements.
- 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.