Researching Affective Systems and Engaging Interactions
Researchers
Maria Aufheimer
Visiting Graduate Student, NPCs and 3D Modeling
Maria is a Media Informatics Master's student from Ulm University, Germany. Besides her studies, she is interested in researching the effects of non-player character design on players, especially those of villains and antagonists. As a visiting student, her goal is to develop her skills by working with experienced researchers.
Katja Rogers, Maria Aufheimer, Michael Weber, and Lennart E. Nacke. 2018. Exploring the Role of Non-Player Characters and Gender in Player Identification. In Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts. Melbourne, VIC, Australia. ACM, 271-283. doi:10.1145/3270316.3273041
@inproceedings{Rogers2018c,
abstract = {Non-player characters (NPCs) are important for immersion, but how their character design affects player experience has received little attention in previous games research. Related work suggests that NPCs support player identification, which in turn impacts player enjoyment and immersion, but this has not been explored empirically. In a betweensubjects study, we explored effects of NPC design on player experience. In particular, we investigated how biological sex of NPCs and player gender affect identification and NPC interaction. Our results provide first empirical support for NPC design supporting player identification, reveal gender differences in the identification process, and uncover new research questions regarding mediators of the identification process.},
author = {Rogers, Katja and Aufheimer, Maria and Weber, Michael and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '18 Extended Abstracts},
doi = {10.1145/3270316.3273041},
isbn = {9781450359689},
keywords = {Non-player characters,gender,player identification},
pages = {271--283},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{Exploring the Role of Non-Player Characters and Gender in Player Identification}},
year = {2018}
}
Non-player characters (NPCs) are important for immersion, but how their character design affects player experience has received little attention in previous games research. Related work suggests that NPCs support player identification, which in turn impacts player enjoyment and immersion, but this has not been explored empirically. In a betweensubjects study, we explored effects of NPC design on player experience. In particular, we investigated how biological sex of NPCs and player gender affect identification and NPC interaction. Our results provide first empirical support for NPC design supporting player identification, reveal gender differences in the identification process, and uncover new research questions regarding mediators of the identification process.
@inproceedings{Rogers2018d,
abstract = {Non-player characters (NPCs) serve important functions for game narratives and influence player immersion. However, the visual design of NPCs for specific narrative roles is often approached by relying on designers' previous experience or guesswork. We contribute to the understanding of player perception of narrative NPC roles in games, by proposing a methodological approach towards the visual design of NPCs to fit specific narrative roles. We demonstrate this approach through the visual design of characters for the three narrative roles of mentor, companion, and enemy. The results of an online survey (n=45) indicate trait expectations towards these narrative roles, and differences therein based on participant gender. Further, the characters were generally perceived as the targeted role based on visual design alone. This method of designing characters for narrative roles is beneficial to both game designers and researchers for further exploring effects of NPCs on player experience.},
address = {Toronto, ON, Canada},
author = {Rogers, Katja and Aufheimer, Maria and Weber, Michael and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Graphics Interfaces 2018},
doi = {10.20380/GI2018.21},
isbn = {9780994786821},
issn = {07135424},
keywords = {Gender,Narrative roles,Non-player characters,Player experience,Trait expectations,Visual design},
pages = {154--161},
title = {{Towards the visual design of non-player characters for narrative roles}},
year = {2018}
}
Non-player characters (NPCs) serve important functions for game narratives and influence player immersion. However, the visual design of NPCs for specific narrative roles is often approached by relying on designers’ previous experience or guesswork. We contribute to the understanding of player perception of narrative NPC roles in games, by proposing a methodological approach towards the visual design of NPCs to fit specific narrative roles. We demonstrate this approach through the visual design of characters for the three narrative roles of mentor, companion, and enemy. The results of an online survey (n=45) indicate trait expectations towards these narrative roles, and differences therein based on participant gender. Further, the characters were generally perceived as the targeted role based on visual design alone. This method of designing characters for narrative roles is beneficial to both game designers and researchers for further exploring effects of NPCs on player experience.
