Abstract

This thesis discusses the potential the aural condition of games have with respect to creating and sustaining flow for all player types. It goes further to discuss the components of flow, existing methods of flow creation and sustenance with regards to game design and also suggests new flow creation and sustenance methods that leverage the properties of sound, music and the overall the aural condition of games.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………………………………………… IV

ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………… V

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
   1. BACKGROUND……………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
   1. APPROACH……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………………………………. 6
   1. THE CONCEPT OF FLOW…………………………………………………………………………….. 6
   1. CREATING AND SUSTAINING FLOW……………………………………………………………….. 7
   1. CRITICISMS OF THE CONCEPT OF FLOW………………………………………………………… 8
   1. CREATING AND SUSTAINING FLOW IN GAMES……………………………………………….. 9
   1. JUGGLING PARAMETERS: THE ART OF KEEPING PLAYERS ‘IN THE ZONE’……….. 10
   1. STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINING AND CREATING FLOW…………………………………….. 12
      1. UTILIZING DYNAMIC DIFFICULTY ADJUSTMENT…………………………………………. 14
   1. CRITICISMS ON JENOVA CHEN’S APPLICATION OF FLOW……………………………….. 16
   1. MUSIC: CONSTITUENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS……………………………………………. 18
      1. THE AMBIGUITY AND ‘ABOUTNESS’ OF MUSIC…………………………………………. 18
   1. THE POTENTIAL MUSIC HOLDS: AURAL CONDITIONING………………………………… 21
   1. PLAYER TYPE ANALYSIS AND DEDUCTIONS…………………………………………………. 21
   1. UNIFYING PLAYER TYPE ATTRIBUTES……………………………………………………….. 24
   1. GAMEPLAY DRIVEN GAMES, PLOT DRIVEN GAMES……………………………………… 25
3. METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
   1. METHODOLOGY OF ‘FLOW IN GAMES: AURAL CONDITIONING’…………………. 28
   1. PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS: PRECURSOR TO METHODS DEVELOPMENT……………. 29
      1. FINDINGS FROM THE UNCHARTERED 2 PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS…………………. 30
      1. FINDINGS OF THE FIFA 11 PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS…………………………………. 31
      1. FINDINGS: PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS, SUMMARY……………………………………… 32
      1. INFERENCE FROM THE FINDINGS OF THE PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS………………. 32
4. FLOW CREATION AND SUSTENANCE METHODS………………………………………………. 34
   1. AURAL CONDITIONING METHODS……………………………………………………………… 34
   1. AFFECTIVE EMPHASIS……………………………………………………………………………… 35
   1. DYNAMIC PLAYER MIRRORING…………………………………………………………………. 37
   1. DYNAMIC ENEMY MIRRORING…………………………………………………………………… 38
   1. THE PSYCH SYSTEM (AURAL POWER-UP)………………………………………. 39
   1. TESTING THE METHOD OF AFFECTIVE EMPHASIS………………………………………… 40
      1. FIRST ROUND OF TESTING……………………………………………………………………… 41
      1. SECOND ROUND OF TESTING………………………………………………………………….. 43
5. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 46
   1. FUTURE WORK………………………………………………………………………………………. 46

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………… 48

LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………………………. 49

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 50

PLAY-THROUGH SESSIONS DATA……………………………………………………………………….. 50

1.      Introduction

Fun experiences are memorable and enjoyable because they are primarily unique in their interpretation for every person sharing that moment. Fun experiences create no stress, no anxiety and naturally keep us happily captivated in the experience for hours, making us temporarily unaware of the passage of time (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). We experience these moments – just to name a few – when we have a fun night out with our friends; share laughs and interesting stories, have great sex and cheer our favourite teams on to a win. Mikhaily Csikszentmihalyi describes this phenomenon that ultimately creates a fun and entertaining experience as ‘flow’ (Richter, 2008); and according to his research, flow can be achieved in almost all activities under the right circumstances and prerequisites. Understanding the concept of flow, its characteristics and how to create and sustain it in an experience makes all the difference in creating a boring activity or an incredibly fun and fulfilling one.

For my thesis, I will develop methods that leverage properties of music and sound to facilitate the process of flow creation sustenance in a gaming experience for all player types. This objective is shared with Jenova Chen’s thesis, ‘Flow in Games’, which sought transporting players to their personal flow zones and delivering genuine feelings of pleasure and happiness (Chen, 2007 a p. 1) in a gaming experience. ‘Flow in Games’, Jenovah Chen’s master thesis at the University of Southern California, Interactive Media Division; revolves around the application of Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow, described by Richter as ‘living in fullness, without waste of time and potential, expressing one’s uniqueness, yet participating intimately in the complexity of the cosmos’ (Richter, 2008 p. 1). The concept of flow with regards to games facilitates the process of sustaining a player’s state of being ‘in the zone’ for the entire gaming experience. Chen provides an outline of game design methods and principles that aid the process of achieving the state of flow in video games (Chen, 2007 b). He also highlights the challenges to be possibly met in designing for varied player types. This thesis seeks to use the concept of flow as it was used in ‘Flow in Games’: maximizing

player fulfillment and enjoyment in a gaming experience. This time however, focusing on the music and sound aspects of the game’s design.

               Background

Players are inherently different; they have different preferences, behave differently in identical situations and scenarios, and have different expectations of an experience given identical a-priori information about it. This fundamental dynamic of players complicates devising processes and methods for use in achieving flow in games (Chen, 2007 b) for all player types in a gaming experience. To achieve flow for all player types in a gaming experience requires finding the right balance of player type characteristics for which when satisfied guarantees immersion of all player types into the gaming experience.