Browsing by Author "Kultima, Annakaisa"
Now showing 1 - 16 of 16
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item "An Adapt-or-Die Type of Situation”: Perception, Adoption, and Use of Text-To-Image-Generation AI by Game Industry Professionals(ACM, 2023-10-04) Vimpari, Veera; Kultima, Annakaisa; Hämäläinen, Perttu; Guckelsberger, Christian; Department of Computer Science; Department of Art and Media; Computer Science Professors; Computer Science - Visual Computing (VisualComputing); Professorship Hämäläinen Perttu; Professorship Guckelsberger Christian; Department of Computer ScienceText-to-image generation (TTIG) models, a recent addition to creative AI, can generate images based on a text description. These models have begun to rival the work of professional creatives, and sparked discussions on the future of creative work, loss of jobs, and copyright issues, amongst other important implications. To support the sustainable adoption of TTIG, we must provide rich, reliable and transparent insights into how professionals perceive, adopt and use TTIG. Crucially though, the public debate is shallow, narrow and lacking transparency, while academic work has focused on studying the use of TTIG in a general artist population, but not on the perceptions and attitudes of professionals in a specific industry. In this paper, we contribute a qualitative, exploratory interview study on TTIG in the Finnish videogame industry. Through a Template Analysis on semi-structured interviews with 14 game professionals, we reveal 12 overarching themes, structured into 39 sub-themes on professionals' perception, adoption and use of TTIG in games industry practice. Experiencing (yet another) change of roles and creative processes, our participants' reflections can inform discussions within the industry, be used by policymakers to inform urgently needed legislation, and support researchers in games, HCI and AI to support the sustainable, professional use of TTIG, and foster games as cultural artefacts.Item Comic-making to Study Game-making: Using Comics in Qualitative Longitudinal Research on Game Development(2024) Park, Solip; Hämäläinen, Perttu; Kultima, Annakaisa; Department of Art and Media; Department of Computer Science; Mueller, Florian Floyd; Kyburz, Penny; Williamson, Julie R.; Sas, Corina; Wilson, Max L.; Toups Dugas, Phoebe; Shklovski, Irina; Computer Science Professors; Computer Science - Visual Computing (VisualComputing); Professorship Hämäläinen PerttuThis paper reports the research method of the “Game Expats Story (GES)” project that used qualitative longitudinal research (“QLR”) incorporated with art-based research (“ABR”) in the context of game research. To facilitate greater participant engagement and a higher retention rate of longitudinal participants, we created comic artworks simultaneously while researching the case of migrant/expatriate game developers (“game expats”) in Finland 2020-2023 in two phases: (i) art creation as part of the qualitative data analysis to supplement the researcher’s inductive abstraction of the patterns, and (ii) artwork as a communication and recall tool when periodically engaging with the informants over the multi-year project span. Our findings suggest that the method of QLR-ABR helps game research as it positively influences the researcher’s abstractions of longitudinal data and participants’ continuous engagement with a high retention rate of 89%. We conclude that incorporating artistic methods provides new opportunities for ethnographic research on game development.Item Cross-cultural Online Game Jams: Fostering cultural competencies through jams in game education setting(2023-08-30) Park, Solip; Kultima, Annakaisa; Ono, Kenji; Choi, Buho; Department of Art and Media; International Professional University of Technology in Tokyo; Chungkang College of Cultural IndustriesThis paper discusses cross-cultural online game jams in a game educational setting, drawing on the experience gained from the project "Games Now! Online Jam" (henceforth "GNOJ") conducted by Aalto University in Finland during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021-2022. Each GNOJ lasted a week, and jammers utilized various online tools, cloud services, communication platforms, and open-source software. Ninety jammers from Finland, Sweden, South Korea, and Japan participated virtually from their home countries. Through post-survey and observation data, we found that jammers highly valued the cultural learning experience offered by jamming. Notably, they encountered unexpected surprises stemming from the diverse local game development practices and different conceptual and terminological connotations across countries during the jam. But jammers displayed proactive engagement in overcoming such cultural differences, with a heightened motivation to learn other languages, cultures, and local game development practices across the world. These findings highlight the pedagogical benefits that cross-cultural online jams can bring to game education. By fostering cultural awareness and competencies in understanding local nuances in game development and communication styles, such initiatives can help future (and current) game developers to effectively prepare multinational work environments and cooperative workflow with remote teams spanning multiple time zones.Item Designing Games as Playable Concepts: Five Design Values for Tiny Embedded Educational Games(2020) Kultima, Annakaisa; Park, Solip; Lassheikki, Christina; Kauppinen, Tomi; Department of Media; Professorship Malmi L.; Department of Computer ScienceDigital games transform our lives; they provide an opportunity to engage with other worlds in a playful way, in many ways similarly to what other forms of audio-visual communication (like movies, paintings or photos) have offered for a longer time. However, learning materials still use rather traditional ways for accompanying media, ranging from static figures and graphs to videos and animations. In this paper, we explore the notion of Playable Concepts: tiny games that are embedded as part of educational material instead of separate and standalone products. We argue that games could be in a similar role as static graphical elements in educational and communicational material, embedded in the text, together with other media formats. We suggest that the design space of Playable Concepts can be framed with five distinct design values: Value of Partiality, Value of Embeddedness, Value of Simplicity and Immediacy, and Value of Reusability.Item Developing a Game Production Pipeline for University Educators(2022-06-17) Grufstedt, Ylva; Kauppinen, Tomi; Kultima, Annakaisa; Department of Art and Media; Domenech, JIn this paper, we describe the initial process of developing what we call the Game Production Pipeline (GPP), an effort to assist and guide educators in making educational games within higher education. Noting the need to push the boundaries of engaging virtual learning principles in the wake of the pandemic, the GPP seeks to address the epistemic gap between game design, virtual education, and game production. We set out to investigate educator wants, needs, and challenges in this area. We also created a probing survey to collect juxtaposing feedback on the GPP from commercial game developers. We found that educators were more concerned with implementation than design, and that developers had notes on time and production management, and epistemic clashes in making educational games.Item Everywhere but Nowhere: Development Experiences of the International Game Developers in Finland during the Covid-19 Pandemic and Remote Work(ACM, 2022-10-29) Park, Solip; Kultima, Annakaisa; Lehtonen, Miikka J.; Krath, Jeanine; Department of Art and Media; Rikkyo University; University of Koblenz-LandauThe Covid-19 pandemic has influenced people's views on work, and a significant portion of the global game industry converted to remote work during the pandemic. To explore the status of game development in this pivotal moment, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 immigrant/expatriate game developers ("game expats") in Finland analyzing their migration push and pull on societal, industrial, social, and individual factors. The results indicate societal and industrial factors simultaneously influencing game expats' migration intention, but with an increasing influence of game corporation's role on developers' both on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness due to an absence of (local) community activities during the pandemic. The data also reveals that game developers are valuing the physical workspace for face-to-face interactions, despite the industrial norm of digital tools and seamless transition to remote work. Furthermore, an alarming stratification and hierarchization within the game industrywere identified, which game developers self-dividing in-house versus outsourced workforce even if they were both required to work remotely. This paper contributes to game studies on game developers' experiences as an attempt to investigate the local context of game development. It is also one of the first snapshots of game work practices in Finland during the Covid-19 era.Item Flipped male gaze(2022) Varila, Jenni; Kultima, Annakaisa; art; Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Kultima, AnnakaisaThis thesis addresses both the importance of versatile female character design in video games and the issue of the Male Gaze among female characters and studies the motives of game designers concerning diversity. More specifically, it explores means of increasing the diversity of female characters among designers. Despite half the players being women, a small fraction of the lead protagonists are female. The study claims the reason lies in the lack of female designers, which is a commonly acknowledged situation in the game industry. This thesis consists of qualitative, open-ended interviews with eight hand-picked professionals working in the games industry and character design. The professionals were interviewed about their perspectives on character diversity in games and the future of female protagonists. The interviews were analyzed with a constructive grounded theory approach, in which they were coded by concepts, and then hypotheses were formed from these concepts. In addition, the research findings are also based on the character reference literature that designers use. Such literature, which included character design handbooks and character sheets, contained clear evidence of structural sexism. For example, the femininity in the characters was often built on sexually appealing appearance. This research claims it is hard to be a pioneer designer of new kinds of female characters if the reference literature repeats traditional stereotypes of women. The interviews and literature review led to a theory of the optimal way to support the diverse design of female characters. This consists of three aspects: 1) the game company valuing diversity, 2) improved art direction briefs, and 3) updated character-design references and handbooks. Motivated by the analysis of the interviews, the thesis then developed a character review method. This method, termed a ‘flip test’, is introduced as a simple tool for design teams consisting primarily of men. The gender gap in the games industry is likely to remain the same for some time, so this tool is seen as an easy first step to solving this complex problem.Item Game writers and narrative designers — The evolving role of storytelling professionals in game development(2022) Lassheikki, Christina; Grufstedt, Ylva; Chen, Sande; media; Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Kultima, AnnakaisaGame writing and narrative design are two disciplines in game development that have emerged in the past thirty years, and have evolved into their own career options; game writer, and narrative designer. While narratives and storytelling in games has been researched, theorized and debated in length from a player’s perspective, what game writers and narrative designers do in their jobs has not. This thesis contributes to the field through a study 149 jobs ads in the field of game storytelling. The sample was analyzed using content analysis, to find out what the professions of game storytellers are, and how they are described in job advertisements, in order to understand what these professionals are expected to do in game productions, and what requirements game companies set for applicants in the field. The focus of this thesis lies on recruitment, careers, skill development and the establishing of professional identity, and it is rooted in the fields of game design praxiology and game production studies. The study identified nine title categories and six seniority levels, through which the requirements and expectations, hiring process, and praxis and responsibilities of the jobs were explored and presented. The study found that the responsibilities between different disciplines and seniority levels overlap to a degree, but certain tasks, requirements, traits, and workflows are more strongly associated with one discipline in the field than another. In addition to creating and writing story content and outlines, the narrative professional collaborates, communicates, holds presentations, manages stakeholder expectations and champions the narrative of the game. The praxis of game narrative is complex and not without potentially stressful work practices. Sometimes the impression the job ad gives is that being part of the narrative department is a constant struggle for resources – but on the whole, the ads paint the picture of a varied, creative, dynamic, and fascinating praxis that is starting to be rather established in both vocabulary and workflows. This study also suggests that content analysis of job ads can be a viable material for identifying avenues of inquiry on design praxis and trends in game development work. Since the study used job ads as the source material, further research using other methods such as studio ethnography, research by design or interviews, could deepen the understanding of the details of these workflows, responsibilities and the individual experiences of careers, as well as the effect of precarity and other stressors on careers in game development.Item The History of Quantum Games(IEEE, 2023) Piispanen, Laura; Morrell, Edward; Park, Solip; Pfaffhauser, Marcell; Kultima, Annakaisa; Department of Computer Science; Department of Art and Media; IBM Research ZurichIn this paper, we explore the historical development of playable quantum physics related games (“quantum games”). For the purpose of this examination, we have collected over 260 quantum games ranging from commercial games, applied and serious games, and games that have been developed at quantum themed game jams and educational courses. We provide an overview of the journey of quantum games across three dimensions: the perceivable dimension of quantum physics, the dimension of scientific purposes, and the dimension of quantum technologies. We then further reflect on the definition of quantum games and its implications. While motivations behind developing quantum games have typically been educational or academic, themes related to quantum physics have begun to be more broadly utilised across a range of commercial games. In addition, as the availability of quantum computer hardware has grown, entirely new variants of quantum games have emerged to take advantage of these machines' inherent capabilities, Quantum Computer Games.Item How monetization mechanisms in mobile games influence consumers’ identity extensions(SPRINGER, 2023-03) Lehtonen, Miikka J.; Harviainen, J. Tuomas; Kultima, Annakaisa; Rikkyo University; Tampere University; Department of Art and MediaDigital distribution and new business models have transformed mobile games from products to services. This servitization turn has enabled consumers to extend their identity in mobile games through prolonged engagement. Drawing on a qualitative study of 17 consumers and 16 producers of mobile games, we elucidate how servitization can have certain negative implications for consumers’ identities. Our findings reveal four interrelated facets through which consumers can extend their identity in mobile games and four corresponding monetization mechanisms. Overt monetization can create identity disconnections and we offer suggestions on re-establishing the connection.Item Jamography: How to document and reference design jams in academia(Springer, 2021) Kultima, Annakaisa; Stenros, Jaakko; Harviainen, J. Tuomas; Department of Media; Tampere University; Inuse; Department of Computer Science; Madge, Octaviana-LucianaIn this chapter, we propose that academic papers on ephemeral development events, such as game jams and hackathons, pay more attention when providing identifiable details of the events, or have a dedicated reference section (‘jamography’) detailing the referenced events in an identifiable manner in order to improve transparency and sustainability of the publications. Game jams are organised in a global context, and depite the similarities of jams, important differences can be noted in terms of how jams are implemented, what their formats are, and what culture and context are surrounding them. Furthermore, game jam names are not always unique. This means that, when identifying game jams in an academic study, one can find it impossible to tell two events apart. Since the game jams topic is an emerging and still poorly documented area in research, it is hard to know what kind of game jams are being discussed. Apart from this, whereas game jams are ephemeral, vanishing as soon as they are completed, documentation is key - website references do not always suffice. In this chapter, we propose and argue the key information and format.Item Modular real-time high resolution 3D character development for Unreal Engine(2023) Hudson, Michael; Kultima, Annakaisa; artmed; Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Hämäläinen, PerttuThis thesis presents a modular high-resolution character creation roadmap for real-time games and cinematic projects, aimed at artists who are not yet acquainted with the nuances of character creation for games or enhancing characters for cinematics. The proposed roadmap follows an observed workflow, starting from initial sketches and progressing towards the final representation of a fully functional game module, ready for integration into high-resolution games or cinematic projects. The modular character creation workflow roadmap presented in this thesis draws upon 17 years of experience in the games industry, encompassing various projects spanning mobile and PC/console games. The character creation process integrates certain aspects from the fields of post-production and videography, acknowledging the convergence of games and films due to advancements in game engines capable of rendering near-cinematic quality images in real-time. As the potential of modularity systems and their complexity is only limited by project definitions and budget considerations, this workflow roadmap empowers artists to create their own modularity-capable character systems and foster versatility across different project types that could benefit from modular implementations. In the discussion part, this thesis explores additional possibilities for expanding the methods outlined in the modularity workflow and roadmap, broadening its scope to encompass the controlled creation of hero character objects. Moreover, the modularity functions can be easily modified, extending the product thinking beyond characters alone. This thesis contributes to the existing knowledge base of artists proficient in creating real-time game characters for high-resolution game engines, expanding their understanding of modular character generation and the potential to derive multiple characters, additional content, and enhanced versatility from a single character base. The workflow roadmap described here incorporates elements drawn from a third-person action-adventure game project and a Massively Multiplayer Online-Experience project, both incorporating storytelling and cinematic components. The construction work in this thesis is based upon these two described projects and the reflection of the process. While the character modeling aspects of this workflow relies on readily available online or digital anatomical references, the modularity aspects have been developed through online learning, testing, observations, and guidelines derived from the aforementioned sample projects. By adopting a modular approach, this framework enables the replication of a single asset with customizable properties to generate diverse and unique assets. Such functionality not only reduces production costs but also enhances the versatility of character-based assets. In many cases, game characters featured in cinematics necessitate a distinct character creation process at two different resolutions, ensuring consistency between the game world and cinematic sequences. The modularity workflow empowers artists to generate characters at suitable resolutions from the outset, thereby minimizing the effort required to create multiple characters. Simultaneously, this approach allows the implementation of various character design ideas into a single character base under the guidance of art direction.Item Move to Design: Tactics and Challenges of Playful Movement-based Interaction Designers’ Experiences during the Covid-19 Pandemic(2022-11-04) Park, Solip; Hämäläinen, Perttu; Kultima, Annakaisa; Vidal, Laia Turmo; Segura, Elena Márquez; Reidsma, Dennis; Department of Art and Media; Uppsala University; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; University of Twente; Department of Computer Science; Karpouzis, Kostas; Gualeni, Stefano; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, AllanDesign practices targeting playful movement-based interaction are changing rapidly with both technological and societal developments. In this paper, we provide a snapshot of movement-based interaction designers’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, by interviewing designers working in diverse roles that integrate physical human body movement and digital technologies (i.e., exergame and wearable game designers, playground and landscape architects, sports and dance trainers, and Sports-HCI professionals). Using grounded theory, we have identified two tactics from the designers’ experiences: (i) the significance of face-to-face embodied interactions throughout the entire movement-based interaction design process, and (ii) the importance of positive, yet critical, attitudes to technology for designing bodily experiences, including mixed use of non-technical materials and tools for rapid prototyping and iteration. However, it was evident that such tactics are often not feasible without physical interaction between the designer and users. The restrictions imposed by Covid-19, therefore, further revealed the importance of body movement to designing a playful movement-based interaction — from ideation to execution and testing. This paper offers a worrying view of movement-based interaction design during the Covid-19 era, while calling for further investigation to enrich the discourse that could contribute to this field, possibly also beyond the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic.Item Playable (Research) Concepts Workshop: Translating Your Topics into Tiny Games(2020-01-29) Park, Solip; Kultima, Annakaisa; Lassheikki, Christina; Department of Media; Department of Computer ScienceIn this workshop, the participants bring their own research topics and concepts to create small games with the game making tool - Construct 3. We invite the participants of Academic Mindtrek to think about and experiment with how, for instance, figures in their research papers would translate into interactive experiences. What if instead of pictures, tables and charts, research or articles would use small embedded interactive games? What would such games be like, and what are the ways in which games can communicate? We call these "playable concepts".Item Promotypes - Prototyping Games for a University Game Production Pipeline(2023-04-12) Morrell, Edward; Kultima, Annakaisa; Grufstedt, Ylva; Kauppinen, Tomi; Department of Art and Media; Malmö University; Lopes, Phil; Luz, Filipe; Liapis, Antonios; Engstrom, HenrikIn this paper, we reflect upon the development process of three videogame 'promotypes', prototypes designed to promote the game production pipeline service in development at Aalto University. In the process of developing example games for potential internal clients of the university, we aimed to set out realistic project goals for given resources to better communicate the scope and potential level of the delivered outcomes. Our lessons in this project were, at large, general lessons in game development, including how motivation and proficiency with production tools, alongside the anticipated expectations of clients and players for polished games, affected the game development processes. In addition, we explore how the pursuit for academic accuracy and the model of a non-intensive process of academic game development posits additional challenges in the development of a realistically balanced production pipeline.Item Visual design of quantum physics – Lessons learned from nine gamified and artistic quantum physics projects(2022) Archer, Noora; Piispanen, Laura; art; Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Kultima, AnnakaisaThis thesis describes the practise of designing and making gamified and artistic quantum physics projects through an opportunistic, interdisciplinary practise through nine projects conducted between 2015 and 2022. By thoroughly understanding the practical bottlenecks and successes experienced in these projects it is possible to develop guidelines for better practises to be implemented in similar future projects. Using research through design methodology I describe the practise of making multidisciplinary quantum projects, taking particular interest in how visual notations and visual discourse are utilised during gamified and artistic quantum project making. The project learnings build on top of the next and form my personal learning path through several years of practical visual design work. The new knowledge generated through this visual design practise can be utilised by various stakeholders included in the creation of interdisciplinary design outcomes. In order to recognize visual discourse for its true value during design practise, additional effort must be made to make aspects of design clearly visible in projects and also to expose non-designers to these learnings. The main findings of this study suggest that designing interdisciplinary quantum science projects calls for awareness of several aspects that affect the design process and its outcomes. These aspects are the awareness of (1) technical and other external challenges, (2) informal team building communication, (3) existing interdisciplinary information and understanding, (4) the importance of early sketching and visual discourse, (5) utilising existing narratives and (6) framing that benefits user experience. In the results I describe the guidelines to be utilised, in order to develop better practises for making playful and artistic quantum projects.
