Author:

Viola Stumpf
Supervisor:Prof. Gudrun Klinker
Advisor:Daniel Dyrda (@ga67gub)
Submission Date:[created]

Abstract

Digital Game Levels are a powerful tool to create exciting, immersive experiences for the player and as an integral part of the game, they integrate well with the game's overall design, aesthetic and narrative. It is important that they are well-planned and structured. However, as games grow in complexity and design challenge, level designers lack the time to apply theoretical insights from research to practical level design. To speed up the process of searching through existing literature, this thesis proposes and integrated knowledge platform that summarizes the tools and methods from scientific research to a single shared vocabulary. Despite the growing number of research in the field of level design, there is currently no shared knowledge tool capable of seamlessly integrating individual research topologies, emphasizing interconnections, and fostering knowledge scalability. This thesis provides a solution in form of a digital garden - a non-linear collection of syntactically and semantically connected nodes, enhancing viewer engagement. This digital garden, presented through a user-friendly website, serves as a repository for a diverse set of level design tools and methods. The insights gained from the existing research are categorized in methods, tools, processes, roles, and artifacts, further highlighting the interrelationships and complexity of the garden with a graphical representation. Rather than competing with existing solutions, this project seeks to complement and extend them. In the future, it aspires to evolve into a collaborative platform, accommodating contributions from multiple collaborators, and further enriching the shared knowledge pool.

Results/Implementation/Project Description

Conclusion

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