Game Vision DELIVERABLE 7.1 - TRIBE project
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DELIVERABLE 7.1
Game Vision
Date: 30/05/2016
Prepared by: TII
TRIBE - TRaIning Behaviours towards Energy efficiency: Play it!
Grant agreement: 649770
From March 2015 to February 2018
This project has received funding from the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under grant agreement No 649770
Document: D7.1. Game Vision
Author: TII Version: 1
Reference: D7.1 TRIBE ID 649770 Date: 31/5/16
DELIVERABLE FACTSHEET
Document Name: Deliverable 7.1 Game Vision
Responsible Partner: TII
WP: 7. TRIBE Game Development and Validation
Task: 7.1 Vision Development
Deliverable nº: 7.1
Version: Final
Version Date: 30/05/2016
Dissemination level
PU = Public
PP = Restricted to other programme participants (including the EC)
RE = Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the EC)
X CO = Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the EC)
Diffusion list 1
Approvals
Company
Author/s TII, UNI GRAZ, CIRCE
Task Leader TII
WP Leader TII
Documents history
Revision Date Main modification Author
1 30/04/2016 First draft TII
2 06/05/2016 First review UNI GRAZ
3 13/05/2016 Second draft TII
4 23/05/2016 Second review CIRCE
5 27/05/2016 Final version TII
1
To be filled just if the dissemination level is PP or RE;
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DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
“This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 649770”.”
This document has been prepared by TRIBE project partners as an account of work carried out
within the framework of the EC-GA contract no 649770.
Neither Project Coordinator, nor any signatory party of TRIBE Project Consortium Agreement, nor
any person acting on behalf of any of them:
(a) makes any warranty or representation whatsoever, express or implied,
(i). with respect to the use of any information, apparatus, method, process, or
similar item disclosed in this document, including merchantability and fitness for
a particular purpose, or
(ii). that such use does not infringe on or interfere with privately owned rights,
including any party's intellectual property, or
(iii). that this document is suitable to any particular user's circumstance; or
(b) assumes responsibility for any damages or other liability whatsoever (including any
consequential damages, even if Project Coordinator or any representative of a signatory
party of the TRIBE Project Consortium Agreement, has been advised of the possibility of
such damages) resulting from your selection or use of this document or any information,
apparatus, method, process, or similar item disclosed in this document.
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ABBREVIATIONS
WP: Work package
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Deliverable 7.1 Game Vision presents the general approach to design the TRIBE game as part of
WP7, TRIBE game development and validation. It does so by providing an overarching description
of what the TRIBE game aspires to be in terms of thematic and gameplay design while excluding
detailed design work such as specific interface and other content design. Such design will be
covered in their own deliverables as the project progresses.
This document approaches the outlined tasks by explaining the issues when working with so
called wicked problems, such as game design, while utilising an approach to game design called
“gameplay design patterns” which aspires both to better help understanding and executing game
design. Furthermore, it uses several commercial and academic game examples in order to orient
the game design, using gameplay design patterns, towards a planned design result.
The relations of WP 7 and other WPs are also described in this document, as they constitute
important design limitations for the TRIBE game. Some WPs play an important role for how the
game is designed while others provide game content that is used within the software of the game.
WP 3 “User Behaviour Change Characterisation” provides the game design with a scientific user
surveys to construct a basic understanding upon which to base the “avatar” behaviour and
relevance to the simulation. WP 4 “Measures and Actions for Energy Efficiency” provides the
game with an extensive list of energy efficiency measures as well as knowledge from professional
simulation tools. This WP also provides an energy baseline for each building to be used while
benchmarking the correctness of the game’s simulation properties. WP 5 “ICT Deployment for
Monitoring and Control” will provide real data to be used throughout the project to validate
simulations. Finally, WP 6 considers some implementation issues very directly and flows very
seamlessly into the base implementation of the game itself.
Following the chosen gameplay design, game examples and design limitations from the other WPs
of the project, a game design is proposed and described. The design draws inspiration and
knowledge from the aforementioned sections and describes various aspects of the game. The
game design is summarised and then described as a flow of user interaction with the game, a
gameplay flow. This flow is analysed and described as game mechanics describing how the game
flow holds up logically. Finally, there is a description of the proposed theme, which will function as
an engine for content design as well as a note on an approach to audio and visual design.
All of these sections should finally add up to a holistic design approach for the vision of the game,
without getting into the details of specific content design. The approach of using gameplay design
patterns will result in a feasible game design and the design limitations of the project as a whole
should add to the uniqueness of the TRIBE game.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Gameplay Design Patterns ..................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Design as a Wicked Problem ................................................................................................................ 2
2.2 Choosing Gameplay Design Patterns ................................................................................................... 2
3 Gameplay and Game References ........................................................................................................... 3
3.1 Simulation and Strategy Games ........................................................................................................... 3
3.1.1 SimCity-like Simulation ............................................................................................................. 3
3.1.2 The Sims-like Simulation ........................................................................................................... 4
3.1.3 SimTower-like Simulation ......................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Pervasive Gameplay ............................................................................................................................. 6
3.3 Game World Exploration...................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Causal Gameplay .................................................................................................................................. 9
3.5 Player Created Game Elements ........................................................................................................... 9
3.6 Storytelling ......................................................................................................................................... 10
3.7 Serious Games.................................................................................................................................... 11
4 Limiting Factors for the Game Design .................................................................................................. 13
4.1 Pilot Buildings and Energy Efficiency Measures................................................................................. 13
4.2 Baseline and Energy Savings Modelling ............................................................................................. 14
4.3 Strategies for Handling Discrepancies ............................................................................................... 15
4.4 Utilising the Real Data ........................................................................................................................ 16
4.5 Modelling User Behaviour ................................................................................................................. 16
5 TRIBE Game Design .............................................................................................................................. 17
5.1 Gameplay Design ............................................................................................................................... 18
5.1.1 Framed Freedom .................................................................................................................... 18
5.1.2 Pervasive Gameplay................................................................................................................ 18
5.1.3 Game World Exploration ........................................................................................................ 18
5.1.4 Casual Gameplay .................................................................................................................... 19
5.1.5 User Generated Content......................................................................................................... 19
5.1.6 Storytelling .............................................................................................................................. 19
5.1.7 Serious Games ........................................................................................................................ 19
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5.2 Gameplay Flow................................................................................................................................... 20
5.3 Game Mechanics ................................................................................................................................ 21
5.4 Static versus Dynamic Simulation ...................................................................................................... 22
5.5 Theme ................................................................................................................................................ 23
6 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 25
7 References ........................................................................................................................................... 26
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1 INTRODUCTION
Based on the work done in WPs 3, 4, 5 and 6 this document aspires to define a game design vision
taking previous work from these WPs into consideration. In WP3, we draw knowledge and game
properties regarding profiling of users in the various pilots. Game content and actions are drawn
from the building’s energy modelling and impact assessment of the identified energy measures
and relations between such measures, avatars and pilots in WP4. The monitoring plans and
studies of the layout of the pilots from WP5 are used for mapping and understanding the game
world. Finally, WP6 provides a simulation engine, which is incorporated into the game engine for
the energy simulations related to the game. Deliverable 7.1 presents a vision about how a game
can be designed, by drawing knowledge from previous game designs, around the simulation
engine and handling the design limitations that come from previous work in other WPs within the
project.
TRIBE Play It! is a mobile phone game in which the player takes the role of an energy consultant in
order to change the behaviour of virtual avatars of various shared space environments. The
unique aspect of TRIBE’s design is that it is based on real data collections, advanced energy
simulations and social studies in order to approach a realistic simulation while still being a fun and
accessible mobile game.
This document aims to lay out the design and vision for the TRIBE game. It will do so by presenting
the concepts of gameplay design patterns, which will be used as a framework to analyse the
gameplay aspects of game references. Furthermore, examples of games that either have been
developed to promote energy awareness or are commercially successful and design wise
interesting are presented. These examples are analysed to see what portions of their design can
be used for purposes within TRIBE.
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2 GAMEPLAY DESIGN PATTERNS
Whenever there is a need to realize something of any complexity, design patterns are used as
tools of the design process. Their function is to help communicate recurring design choices, guide
the process of producing similar design choices to that of other designs and describe components
on all levels within the design language. The same thing is true for game design, and more
specifically gameplay design which refers specifically to the design of user activities related to
playing a game. The idea of gameplay design patterns is presented by Björk et al. (2004) as a way
to work with mentioned issues specifically in the context of gameplay design. The interpretation
of gameplay design patterns in this document will be based on his work. In addition to the general
design approach, Björk’s gameplay design “wiki” (Björk et al. 2016) of identified patterns will be
used as a toolbox for approaching specific design patterns.
2.1 Design as a Wicked Problem
In general, design is often described as a so-called wicked problem (Stolterman, 2008), that is,
problems which can be solved with several possible approaches to arrive to the same solutions.
Furthermore, such problems also imply that these solutions can be interpreted subjectively in
many ways. The subject of game design is no different, presenting the designer with a composite
design material involving both various means of audio-visual design as well as gameplay, that is
what the user (or player) does while playing the game. As such, it is difficult if not impossible to
come up with a correct solution to a specific game design. Instead, a more fruitful approach is to
draw from previous experience and results of others as well as testing early versions of the design
in order to approximate a good solution. In order for this to happen, certain assumptions should
be considered so that a starting point for designing can be reached at an early stage. Applying this
knowledge on top of the approach of gameplay design patterns means analysing existing games
and their successful use of gameplay design as well as making a pick of plausible gameplay to
implement and try out in an early prototype.
2.2 Choosing Gameplay Design Patterns
A gameplay design pattern could, according to Björks wiki, refer to “Resources”, “Skills” or
“Characters”, all representing different aspects of how a user plays a game. These patterns by
themselves do not describe actual games per se, but instead explain design patterns that recur in
several different games. In the mentioned wiki, such patterns will generally be presented using
examples of games where a description of how to use and implement them is present, as well as
the expected consequences of doing so. Every gameplay design pattern is not present in the wiki
and therefore it is sometimes the case that Björk’s approach is used rather than one of his
articles.
Given the wicked problem nature of design, and more specifically of game design, it is difficult to
determine a correct set of gameplay design patterns for a specific game design. It is however
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possible to make a selection of a given a set of design limitations and design a game given those
patterns. For the purpose of the TRIBE game, various aspects that should be addressed are
presented in Task 4.2 “Measures impacts on the users and pilots”. Specifically, this task analyses
the success in terms of the category of serious games as well as a group of commercial games in
relation to impacting player behaviour. Furthermore, given the simulation nature of the project,
games that focus on human simulation on various levels have been given extra attention.
3 GAMEPLAY AND GAME REFERENCES
This section contains a selection of relevant games used for inspiration and/or as reference for
design choices. It is divided by game types, analysing examples of academic, serious games as well
as commercial examples. In general, the academic example is mostly used to evaluate the studies
they have been used in while the commercial example is used for the actual gameplay design. This
is because academic games tend to rarely achieve any major success in terms of spread and
reception outside their respective projects, which is an important factor for this project as it
attempts to reach a large number of users.
3.1 Simulation and Strategy Games
Simulation has a very broad meaning in the field of game design. In fact, games in themselves are
often viewed as simulations where users have the possibility to control certain aspects of a
simulated procedure. It is however also very possible to view games from the control perspective
and describe games as sets of possible actions that the user may take. Framed freedom is a
pattern within gameplay design which describes the balance between the pure simulation and
user controlled progression, and it is commonly found in many different game genres. This
concept is very useful for describing where a game falls between what is more of a simulation
game vs. a strategy game. Strategy games are games that focus on coming up with series of
choices given a game’s framed freedom in order to reach certain game goals. Simulation games
can refer to games that focus on any form of simulation. Within the framing of this Project, games
that simulate a household or society have been chosen as they concern similar issues to that of
the Project. Several games utilize framed freedom and represent a strategic gameplay with focus
on simulation of societal environments. Some of the classics involve SimCity, The Sims and Sim
Tower, all representing different perspectives while sharing much gameplay design. In the
following subsections, games of particular academic or commercial relevance are presented,
specifically, the three aforementioned games.
3.1.1 SimCity-like Simulation
SimCity is an open-ended city-building game with its first version released in 1989 (SimCity,
Wikipedia). Since then the game has become a standard for the look and feel of city building
games and new versions of SimCity are released from time to time with the latest release to date
being SimCity BuildIt in 2014, a mobile version of the generally PC based game. Games that are
like SimCity feature a top view perspective over a landscape that is partially turned into a
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cityscape by the player over time. The player can see cars and in some cases even people, but
they are very small on the screen.
Figure 1. SimCity BuildIt. Source: Screenshot from SimCity BuildIt (2016).
A clone of SimCity called Cities: Skyline was released in 2015 and quickly became a hit in the
SimCity fan base. Like its inspiration, Cities focuses on planning areas for various functions of a
modern city while making sure that there is enough working infrastructure to support all its
inhabitants. Typical such areas in the series are industrial, commercial and domestic zones.
Infrastructure generally refers to electricity, roads, and water and sewage pipes.
Another SimCity-like game is the Tropico-series. Here, the player takes the role of a dictator of a
small island in the Caribbean. The goal is to manage the exploitation of natural resources and
tourism in order to support a thriving community while managing the threat of guerrillas and
foreign super nations. This is done through the construction of buildings, infrastructure and
political edicts.
An academic example of a SimCity-like game is EnerCities (Knol E. and W. De Vries P., 2011) which
was co-funded by the European Commission through the Programme “Intelligent Energy Europe”
to promote young people to experience energy-related implications. It is an online game, which is
played by using a web-browser and was developed with the game editor Unity 3D. The play style
is similar to SimCity but with a focus on limited play sessions (for educational sessions) and
sustainability aspects of city infrastructure.
3.1.2 The Sims-like Simulation
The Sims is a life simulation game with a focus on domestic households (The Sims, Wikipedia). It is
one of the best-selling video game franchises of all times having sold more than 175 million copies
(counting the entire franchise) since the first game release in 2000 until September 2013. In the
game, the player controls a set of “sims” or virtual characters to make them perform everyday
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tasks such as go to work as well as design and decorate their homes. Making the Sim (or avatar)
work generates money that can then be spent to build the sim’s house. Games like The Sims are
similar to that of SimCity-likes in that they feature a top-down perspective. The Sims-like games
however have a level of detail centred at a household, so as the activities of people can clearly be
seen.
Figure 2. The Sims Freeplay. Source: Screenshot from The Sims Freeplay (2016).
The Sims FreePlay was the first game in the franchise which was made specifically for mobile
platforms. It is also the only game in the franchise which features real-time gameplay, potentially
in order to better adapt to the mobile market with a freemium and in-game purchases monetizing
design. Like other games, in the franchise the focus is not to simulate realism but to use it as
inspiration while designing more for humour and progression.
The Powerhouse is a computer game which was developed within the project Young Energy (Bang
M. et al., 2006). It featured gameplay similar to that of the Sims but with a focus on managing
energy consumption versus virtual user satisfaction from electrical appliances. The games were
used to see whether or not it could provoke change in users’ energy behaviours in real life. While
the studies yielded positive results, it was also concluded that the discussion among users
between play sessions was an important factor.
3.1.3 SimTower-like Simulation
SimTower is yet another construction and management simulator (SimTower, Wikipedia). In this
game, the player takes the role of the manager and designer of a modern skyscraper and needs to
rent out apartments and offices as well as provide infrastructure and services to the structure.
Although the game is generally open-ended, there is a goal of getting a five-star rating for the
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tower. The player’s perspective is from the side looking at a cross-cut of the building. People are
visible and their behaviour can be tracked. While there was never an official sequel to the original
SimTower for PC, published by Maxis in 1994, in the same way as there have been with SimCity
and The Sims, there have been several games with a similar style.
Figure 3. SimTower. Source: Screenshot from SimTower (2016).
A similar game is Fallout Shelter, is a mobile simulation game developed by Bethesda Game
Studios as a promotional game for an upcoming big title Fallout 4. The game is taken as a
SimTower-like approach but it allows the player to build a bunker in a post-apocalyptic scenery.
The player must manage food, water and power as well as the bunker “inhabitants” happiness in
order to develop the underground facilities and defend against outside attacks from raiders and
mutated monsters. The game generally received positive reviews, but there has been criticism
due to lack of depth and use of micro transactions as a financial model.
Power House is an online game developed by Stanford University in studies related to behavioural
change related to energy efficiency and social networks (Reeves B et al., 2011). The game uses
real measurements and challenges players’ tasks, rewarding them for real-life actions with virtual
in-game points. It uses the perspective of a SimTower-like game.
3.2 Pervasive Gameplay
The activities of playing a game are generally separated from the ones a player needs to carry out
outside of the game world. This is however not true for all games. Pervasive gameplay (Björk’s
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wiki) is a type of gameplay that can either coexist with “ordinary” activities or in some cases even
turn such activities into gameplay actions. Examples of pervasive games are the Car Number Plate
Games, which can be played to make lengthy car travelling more fun, or alternate reality games
like Momentum, which involves role-playing while carrying out every day social activities. The
benefit of this type of gameplay is that the game can be carried out into everyday activities.
Figure 4. Ingress. Source: Screenshot from Ingress Intel Map (2016).
In 2012 Niantic, Inc. released the game Ingress, which relies on pervasive gameplay (Ingress,
Wikipedia). In the game, a player chooses to connect a Google account to one of two teams, and
switching the other team later on becomes very restricted. Each player plays to conquer and
guard “portals” which are real world landmarks for their team. The game uses GPS positioning
and smart algorithms in order to force players to physically go to these landmarks in order to play
the game. The game is so widespread that landmarks are all across the world. Ingress is an open-
ended game with no specific victory conditions, but events that are either global or bound to a
specific geographical area are arranged from time to time. The game is sometimes described as
game that promotes exercise and learning of the players surrounding neighbourhood.
Power Agent is a game that took a pervasive approach to encourage energy efficient behaviour
(Gustafsson A. et al, 2009a). The game kept track of energy consumption and players played in
teams against each other to see who could use the least amount of energy during play sessions of
a given time. In order to achieve this, the players had to encourage their families and other
persons who might have an effect on their energy consumption in order to achieve as good
results as possible.
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3.3 Game World Exploration
Game World Exploration (Game world exploration, Björk’s wiki) refers to the gameplay of learning
the layout of a game’s world and discovering aspects and specific objects that can be found within
it. Players do not necessarily have a complete understanding of the game world before starting
the game. This promotes an approach in which the player needs to uncover unknown secrets and
learn about its virtual whereabouts. The premise of this type of gameplay is that something needs
to be found within the game world.
Figure 5. Myst. Source: Screenshot from Myst (2016).
In the Myst game-series, the player is placed in unknown mystical environments (Myst,
Wikipedia). These environments are segmented into various scenes and many of them contain
puzzles that the player needs to solve in order to progress. Puzzles sometimes require that the
player interacts with things in several scenes, such as levers changing how bridges in other scenes
are connected, and the order of which the player needs to solve these puzzles is not always clear.
The puzzles also often require the player to memorize things, such as a special set of symbols
representing a numerical system that only exists in the context of the game.
Funergy! is a game which uses game world exploration in order to teach young kids about which
home appliances should be specifically considered for energy sustainability (Funergy!, cwndesign).
The game allows the player to walk around between several rooms in a home environment and
read about various devices in each room. One dive is the target of each room and presents the
player with a mini-game challenge, which must be completed to progress in the story-line.
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3.4 Causal Gameplay
Gameplays easy to get started with, perform, leave and get back to without in-game penalties are
sometimes referred to as casual games (Casual gameplay, Björk’s wiki). These games started to
become more popular with larger groups during the first decade of the 2000s. This opens new
requirements on the design of games including when they could be played. This type of gameplay
is often compared with “hard core” gameplay, which implies a demand on dedication and skills
from the player’s side.
Figure 6. Candy Crush Saga. Source: Screenshot from Candy Crush Saga (2016).
Candy Crush Saga is a game released in 2012 consisting of a puzzle game where the player needs
to move around candies of various types following specific rules (Candy Crush Saga, Wikipedia).
This results in connected patterns of similar candies to disappear, which turns into points. It
quickly grew into an immensely popular app game for mobile devices and was the most
downloaded app for IPhone in 2013.
Power Explorer is a mobile game created to explore learning and gameplay designs in 2009
(Gustafsson A., 2009b). It gives the player control over an “avatar”, which is individual for each
player. The game presents four different modes, each being a mini-game of its own. The
gameplay in these modes varies from competitive to explorative.
3.5 Player Created Game Elements
Some games allow or even require the players to create their own game elements (Player created
game elements, Björk’s wiki). This can be for instance that a player needs to create their own
avatar before entering the game world or even change the rules of the game itself. Having
enabled players to create game elements makes them into producers and provide more freedom
of choice as well as means of crafting activities in the game. Potentially, this means that players
grow more attached to the game as they invest into it.
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Figure 7. Minecraft. Source: https://media.mojang.com (2016).
A game that heavily relies on player creating game elements is Minecraft (Minecraft, Wikipedia).
In this game, the player is presented with a procedurally generated world of blocks which can be
reconfigured as the player desires. Everything, from tools to entire landscapes, is shaped by the
players themselves. Since its alpha version release in 2009, the game has exploded into a global
game phenomenon having reached 100 million registered users in 2014 and becoming the best-
seller PC game of all times.
Energy Battle is a game developed in a study with the goal of encouraging home occupants to
save energy (Geelen D. et al., 2010). The game provides team based competitive gameplay where
teams compete who can save most energy for the period of a game session. The winning team is
rewarded with building blocks that are used to build a figure. Here, the player creating game
elements is used as a means of reward. However, this is also related to the specific study carried
out.
3.6 Storytelling
It is common in games to present a story that unfolds as the gameplay progresses (Storytelling,
Björk’s wiki). The story may be driven as pre-produced material, actions by the game developers
or by the players themselves. Some players claim the story to be the main reason for playing
certain games or sometimes even games in general. Telling a story generally requires characters
and objects for the characters to act upon. Especially player characters or player avatars are
useful as a starting point for storytelling as this allows for emotional engrossment from the
player’s side. Storytelling can also be used to focus a player’s attention on specific aspects of the
game or game world.
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Figure 8. Undertale. Source: Screenshot from Undertale (2016).
Undertale is a role-playing video game released in 2015 (Undertale, Wikipedia). The player takes
control over a child and explores various environments and fight battles as the story unfolds. The
storytelling is an integral part of Undertale and all game modes are built to facilitate it, be
explorative or action sections of the game. The game was specifically designed to challenge the
norm of the player solving problems by killing opponents in video games, by being centred on
battles but always allowing the player alternative ways of solving them except for killing the
threat. Undertale quickly achieved the status of a cult video game and it has been ranked among
the 25 top Windows games of all times. This is a remarkable reception given that the game was
developed almost entirely by one person.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a visual novel adventure game primarily targeted at mobile
platforms (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Wikipedia). It is heavily based on storytelling and
follows the character Phoenix Wright who works as a defence attorney. There are two modes of
gameplay in the game, one in which the player explores the game world in search for evidence to
prepare for court trials and one in which the player defends various defendants by looking for
controversies in testimonies and presenting evidence at the right moments.
3.7 Serious Games
Serious games are a commonly used but the meaning of the concept should be further clarified. A
common definition of a serious game is a game whose primary purpose is not to entertain per se
(Djaouti, D. 2011). However, there are several aspects of games that are often used to describe
serious games. Most of them are edutainment, simulation and games with a purpose.
Edutainment games aspire to combine education with entertainment, making it something that is
both useful and attractive. Simulation games aim to exercise skills and knowledge within the
framework of a simulation such as driving a vehicle or learning expected outcomes given certain
actions. Games with a purpose refer to games that aim to solve a problem that requires real
human interaction.
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Figure 9. Papers, please!. Source: Screenshot from Papers, please! (2016).
Papers, please! is a game in which the player takes the role of an immigration officer in a fictional
state with a post-soviet inspiration (Papers, Please!, Wikipedia). The player’s task increases its
difficulty as terrorist attacks and foreign politics require increasingly more paperwork to be
inspected. The player must also handle moral dilemmas such as claims of trafficking, bribes and
rations of resources for the family of the player’s character. The game has been praised for being
immersive and causing emotional reactions due to its thoughtful and relevant game mechanics.
The inspiration for the game development might partially come from experiences that the
developer had while dealing with immigration issues in Japan as an American citizen.
The War of Mine is a war survival simulation where the player manages a set of survivors trapped
in the centre of a civil war (This War of Mine, Wikipedia). The player needs to make choices
between who gets to go scavenging during the night (when snipers cannot spot the survivors) and
what to try and build in the hideout during the day. The player must also juggle essential
resources of the survivors such as food, warmth, health and mental stability in order to keep them
alive. The game was inspired by the living conditions and wartime atrocities during the siege of
Sarajevo 1992 to 96.
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4 LIMITING FACTORS FOR THE GAME DESIGN
The goal of the TRIBE project is to create a mobile phone game based on energy use in a number
of existing pilot buildings as well as a 250 potential energy saving measures that can be
implemented on these buildings. The idea is that such a game promotes energy efficiency and
creates awareness around the building users in a way that traditional media and software cannot
achieve.
From a player perspective, the goal of the game (as will be further described in the next chapter)
is to improve the energy efficiency of a number of buildings to reach a 20% reduction of the
building’s energy consumption by 2020 in accordance with EU‘s 2020 goals, by virtually applying
the energy efficiency measures. In the game, time will progress faster than in reality to be able to
reach the year 2020 ahead of time (in order not to bore the player). The game will simulate both
energy use in relation to factors such as weather conditions and user behaviours and energy
saving measures applied. The purpose of this section is to describe how the work developed in
WPs 3,4 and 5 which do not directly deal with game design, fits in the game design as well as to
analyse the limitations these WPs impose onto the game design. In parallel to the game design, in
WP 6 the simulation of the energy use within the game is developed. Connections to this WP will
mostly be dealt with in the next chapter.
4.1 Pilot Buildings and Energy Efficiency Measures
The pilot buildings used within TRIBE project are divided in 3 main environments: home-life,
academic and offices. In addition to the existing and reference buildings considered, a list of 250
potential energy efficiency measures that can be applied in these buildings have been defined
and simulated. The reference buildings designed and developed (which do not exist in reality) are
inefficient and simple buildings whose aim is to serve as a tutorial and first level game for the
player, in which the set of 250 energy efficiency measures can be implemented. Therefore, in the
game, these reference buildings will be used as a first game level that the player can explore and
learn and, once it is completed, he will be able to proceed to the next level (Pilot Building).
Each pilot building is being developed virtually as a 3D model. A number of representative rooms
in the pilots have already been defined (see DLV 4.3 for more details), in which the electrical
equipment and furniture will be recreated to resemble the real building. This virtual model is
referred to as the virtual pilots, in which the 250 energy efficiency measures have also been
modelled and simulated (see DLV 4.3).
However, the virtual pilots will not be exact copies of their real counterparts, as the use of some
rooms might be altered in certain pilots to enable a better game design. In addition to the 250
energy efficiency measures, there might also be others added for storytelling purposes into the
game.
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Each of the WPs 3, 4 and 5 address these pilots and the list of energy measures but from a
different perspective. WP3 focuses on user behaviour, WP4 focuses on simulating the energy use
of the buildings as well as the resulting energy savings from the measures applied by means of
existing simulation software, and WP5 will provide real data measurements from the different
pilots thanks to the monitoring plan that is being implemented in each real Pilot building.
4.2 Baseline and Energy Savings Modelling
The winning condition of the game is when a player has reached a certain level of energy savings
within the building. One of the key points of TRIBE project is that these energy savings achieved
within the game are also reproduced in the real pilots. This means that the actions made in the
game should produce similar energy savings than would be achieved in the real world. However,
an accurate definition of the winning condition or the visualization of the player’s progress
regarding the energy savings achieved are far from trivial. The reasons are that weather
conditions and other factors change over time and hence the building’s associated CO2 emissions
will constantly be changing.
Therefore, to estimate the potential energy savings of each energy efficiency measure, a
building’s energy baseline is needed, which represents the business-as-usual scenario, that is, the
energy consumption of the building without the implementation of energy efficiency measures. It
should be noted that there are two energy baselines in TRIBE project. The first one has been
obtained by modelling the pilot buildings in specialised simulation software, in which the energy
efficiency measures have then been modelled (WP4, see DLV 4.3 for more details). The inputs to
this simulation are, among others, historical weather data, a detailed model of the building
(constructive elements, equipment, schedules, etc.) as well as a set of basic assumptions and
information about users’ behaviour. The second way to provide the building’s energy baseline is
from the real data obtained from the monitoring system implemented in pilot buildings (WP5).
The use of real data has the advantage of being real but, since the monitoring system is nowadays
being implemented and validated in the Pilots within WP5, longer data series (a whole year data)
will not be available until the end of the project. On the other hand, the energy baseline obtained
from simulation is already available and the impacts of the application of the energy efficiency
measures have been estimated based on it, but the modelling of user behaviour is approximate
due to its unpredictable nature and difficulty of implementation.
The simulation created in the game (WP6) will involve detailed simulation of user behaviour
based the inputs from WP3, and of the energy consumption based on inputs from WP4. However,
due to the difficulty of simulation of heat transfer in a building with the game development
software, the heating and cooling systems will be modelled in a simplified way within the game,
based on the energy model obtained with the professional simulation software used in WP 4.
Bearing all the above in mind, it has been decided to implement in the game the building’s energy
baseline from the energy simulation model developed in WP4, as a time series of data over which
the different energy efficiency measures will be applied through real-time simulation (through
algorithms). This is a common strategy in game development for how to treat physical properties
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such as light for example. In some scenes, the game designers let the game engine calculate how
light will be spread into a scene in advance, a feature called prebaked light. In other instances, it is
important that the game engine calculates the light in real time to reflect changing conditions in a
scene, a significantly more CPU consuming approach. There is also the option of mixing the two
approaches by for example prebaking condition of the room and then adding the changing in light
from the sun in real time on top of this. Whenever possible, prebaking is always preferred to
increase game performance. For the same reason, using static prebaked data in terms of the
energy usage of the building as much as possible is preferred.
4.3 Strategies for Handling Discrepancies
Since there is a difference in how the game simulation (WP6) and the pilot simulations (WP4) are
developed, there will be most likely a small discrepancy between both of them in terms of the
effects of the energy efficiency measures applied. We can also expect that there will be
discrepancies between simulations (WP4 and WP6) and the actual data from the pilot (WP5) in
terms of both energy baseline and measurements, as the real building users may not behave as it
has been estimated in the simulation. These discrepancies can be categorized as:
• Temporary: i.e., one specific day in the real pilot the energy consumption is lower or
higher than in the simulation due to temporary conditions e.g. more or less people in the
building than usual.
• Accumulative: Other might be discrepancies that accumulate over time due to
assumptions and simplifications required in the simulation.
• Factoring error: Simulated energy consumption matches real data when the same
weather data and external conditions are used, but may deviate with other conditions.
That would be the result of different values considered in the calculation, which lead to
different results, i.e. the energy consumption of the air-conditioning would be higher for
hotter weather conditions than those considered in the simulation software.
• Changing pilot conditions: As the pilot building ages and conditions change over time, the
actual measurements might also deviate from the simulation due to the fact that the
model is no longer valid (as the schedules and values considered have varied).
In the first case with temporary variations between the models, the problem can be defined as a
resolution problem. The other cases would be a precision problem.
Within TRIBE Project, it is expected to be able to assess precision discrepancies between the game
simulation (WP6) and the pilot simulation (WP4) through calibration by running the game in a test
mode where time is allowed to progress but no measurements are implemented. By adjusting
factors and repeating this process, we will be able to calibrate the game. This should ideally yield
a result where the game simulation follows the energy baseline provided in WP4 by the energy
simulation software.
When it comes to resolution discrepancies, it will impact the way we can provide feedback to the
player. A winning condition will not be achieved until the energy savings attained are higher than
20% by 2020.
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4.4 Utilising the Real Data
Since time will progress faster in the game, the players will be playing with an energy baseline and
weather data based on previous years (from simulation). As mentioned in the previous section,
we can expect that the pilots will deviate from the models in the project increasingly over time as
external conditions change. For this reason, it was decided to use as energy baselines the ones
obtained through simulation in WP4 which are based on data collected nowadays and corrected
with actual utility bills from the real Pilots so as they are as close to the reality as possible. The
real data from the monitoring will also be an important of the game to show the reality of the
buildings’ performance. For this reason, the game will consist of a gaming session where the
different measures are applied to the pilots in real time as well as a parallel gaming session where
the player can follow the progress of the real pilot compared to his game session. The idea is that
the player through the game will be related to the building’s performance and will therefore be
interested in its progress as well as on how his own virtual scenario relates to reality. The post-
game feedback will be mostly placed in social media platforms.
4.5 Modelling User Behaviour
About 30 of the 250 energy efficiency measures targets user behaviour change rather than
investment in the buildings’ material or equipment. From a player perspective, the way that you
interact with behaviour orientated measures differs compared to the ones that involve
investments. To realistically represent user behaviours, the game will simulate a number of in
game characters that follow a basic schedule of eating, sleeping, working, going to the toilet,
socializing, etc. For example, the energy efficiency measure of using the window or radiator in a
correct manner will be translated into an indirect measure that the player performs to get the
avatar to behave in the desired way. This could for example include things such as writing a note
or sending an avatar to a course or simply being a good example and do the right measures
himself or herself as an action in the game.
In the game, we also want to simulate high resolution, as we want players to experience random
routines of real life through the avatar. The simulations carried out in WP 4 use estimated values
to describe user behaviour such as that the occupancy level of a room is 0.7 persons per square
meter. Meanwhile, the game simulation will simulate the movement of avatars and a schedule of
each avatar in detail. It will also simulate attitudes, personality and satisfaction of these avatars
based on conditions such as, how correctly the building is performing or the availability of services
such as workplaces, coffee and so on.
TRIBE avatars’ development and user behaviour simulation are strongly based on activities that
were carried out during WP3. In a first step, a quantitative survey among the users of the pilots
was carried out in task 3.1. Based on the collected data, University of Graz identified different
energy efficiency types in task 3.2. For each pilot, whereby CIRCE and San Pablo were merged into
the labour environment, three energy efficiency types were identified, ranging from low to
medium and most efficient. Each type is characterized by mean values in relation to behavioural
energy efficiency activities determining the frequency of actually performed energy efficient
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behaviours. Energy efficient behaviours relate to four behavioural categories: heating, cooling,
lighting and use of electrical devices. Furthermore, the type is characterized by mean values of
behavioural determinants (e.g. attitude, norms etc.) defining the satisfaction status meter for an
avatar in the respective energy efficiency typecast. It seems meaningful to start with avatars of
the least efficient type in order to progressively improve the energy performance of the
respective pilot by “educating” the avatars. In task 3.3, drivers towards behaviour change were
examined to define routes for profile changing. Therefore, differences in mean values of
behavioural determinants were calculated for respondents who reported to conduct energy-
related behaviours that mirror measures proposed in Task 4.2 “always” or “frequently”. These
differences in mean values of behavioural determinants serve as necessary input of drivers to
bring about a behavioural change in terms of acting more efficiently.
Based on the work carried out during the course of task 4.2, impacts of measures on avatar’s
behaviour change were identified. For behavioural measures with no relation to items of the
TRIBE survey, neither money nor satisfaction input is required, thus, they are free to be
performed by the avatars. Behavioural measures with relation to the TRIBE survey have pre-
defined satisfaction input values based on the differences of mean values in behavioural
determinants. These measures do not require money input. Although the secondary measures
that the player make might require virtual money in the game (e.g. sending someone to a
sustainability course). Investment measures have no relation to the TRIBE survey and thus, only
require money input. For all measures, money as well as satisfaction output are generated.
Satisfaction output was defined in task 4.2. This impact determination was based on qualitative
assessments and ranges from low, medium and high impact on the satisfaction status meter.
Furthermore, impact of measures on physiological comfort in terms of thermal and visual comfort
was qualitatively assessed and again ranges from low, medium and high impact on physiological
comfort. Behaviour change happens by ordering the avatars to perform energy efficiency
measures during their daily routine more frequently. Starting with the least efficient avatars, only
behavioural measures can be performed. With more frequent energy efficient behaviours, avatars
come closer to the mean values in relation to a certain behaviour of the next energy efficiency
type. At some point, the threshold is exceeded and the avatar rises up the cluster hierarchy. In
this sense, basic investment measures are unlocked. This can go hand in hand with a role-related
rise in the game. For example, the least efficient avatars as office workers in the labour
environment become building operators when they convert to the medium efficient type, and
decision makers when they rise up to the most efficient type.
5 TRIBE GAME DESIGN
This section describes the design of the TRIBE game bearing in mind the previous sections. It is
divided into several sub-sections in which various aspects of the design are described. The game
will be inspired from previous games, taking into consideration their reception and how games
based on the same gameplay design (such as various energy awareness games mentioned in
section 4) have been used for similar tasks to that of the TRIBE project.
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5.1 Gameplay Design
Considering the statements and results of the studies of gameplay design patterns and previous
game designs shown in sections 2 and 3, a set of design patterns have been selected as a plausible
starting point for the TRIBE game. This section describes these patterns in relation to the vision of
their implementation into the game.
5.1.1 Framed Freedom
TRIBE game will use a framed freedom gameplay as it will be centred around realistic simulations
of energy consumption and the importance of behavioural change in this context. The design of
games like SimCity, The Sims and Sim Tower will be considered as points of reference for this
aspect of gameplay. In particular, the perspective of The Sims and the interaction model and level
of simulation detail from the Sim Tower Fallout Shelter are of great interest. The simulation scope
in terms of number of people and amount of structural detail that the TRIBE project is focusing on
seem to fit with The Sims. Meanwhile, Fallout Shelter presents a well-balanced mixture of casual
gameplay and strategy. The idea is to allow the player to make own choices within the framework
of a project pilot, discovering the expected results after a few years of simulation. However, the
player’s actions will also be lead using a quest system in order to provide the framing aspect of
framed freedom.
5.1.2 Pervasive Gameplay
The use of real-life metrics and pilots promotes the possibility of pervasive gameplay. The obvious
implementation would be competitive gameplay between players at the various pilots to promote
behavioural change at these sites. However, the project aims to create a game that goes far
beyond the potential Pilot users, meaning that such gameplay would only make significant sense
to some players (who also are building users). However, it is still considered to use the metrics
from the pilots in this way, although the importance of this should be evaluated in the earlier
versions of the game to see whether or not it is of significance outside of the pilot user context.
5.1.3 Game World Exploration
During early test sessions, game world exploration and treasure hunting activities were identified
as potential entertaining aspects of the TRIBE game. The ideas would be to hide various actions
and items around the pilots and allow the players to search for and discover these game
components themselves. This would engage in learning about the various parts of the pilots and
could potentially be used as a means to teach the avatar something about the actual design of the
real pilots and the relevance of this and a pilot's energy needs. Examples of things for the player
to discover include possibilities to manually turn on and off devices that do not need to be on at
all times, or picking up a piece of energy trivia or an item to be used within the game or just teach
the user something new. While energy awareness games like FUNergy are very simple and focus
on children, the exploration gameplay of the TRIBE game would take more inspiration from Myst
and similar games, making it exciting for more user groups.
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