In video games, music must often change quickly from one piece to another due to player interacti... more In video games, music must often change quickly from one piece to another due to player interaction, such as when moving between different areas. This quick change in music can often sound jarring if the two pieces are very different from each other. Several transition techniques have been used in industry such as the abrupt cut transition, crossfading, horizontal resequencing and vertical reorchestration among others. However, while several claims are made about their effectiveness (or lack thereof), none of these have been experimentally tested.
To investigate how effective each transition technique is, this dissertation empirically evaluates each technique in a study informed by music psychology. This is done based on several features identified as being important for successful transitions. The obtained results led to a novel approach to musical transitions in video games by investigating the use of a multiple viewpoint system, with viewpoints being modelled using Markov models. This algorithm allowed the seamless generation of music that could serve as a transition between two composed pieces of music. While transitions in games normally occur over a zone boundary, the algorithm presented in this dissertation takes place over a transition region, giving the generated music enough time to transition.
This novel approach was evaluated in a bespoke video game environment, where participants navigated through several pairs of different game environments and rated the resulting musical transitions. The results indicate that the generated transitions perform as well as crossfading, a technique commonly used in the industry. Since crossfading is not always appropriate, being able to use generated transitions gives composers another tool in their toolbox. Furthermore, the principled approach taken opens up avenues for further research.
Digital games rely on precomposed music, usually associated with certain moods or feelings that t... more Digital games rely on precomposed music, usually associated with certain moods or feelings that the composer or game designer wishes to express in particular sections of the game. By removing precomposed music and replacing it with procedurally generated music, we can have the music change according to di fferent cues in the environment, thus creating a fresh, dynamic experience.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate an algorithm that is capable of continuously creating procedural music for game environments in a real-time environment. It also demonstrates the feasibility of an experimental but flexible system that combines the procedural generation of music using 1D cellular automata with music/colour mappings taken from already existing literature. A third aim is to try and recreate a synaesthetic experience for non-synaethetes.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a continuous algorithm that creates music in a 3D environment, based on the surroundings.
We evaluate the system by seeing which scales and colours are chosen in certain areas of our environment.
Traditional and popular games rely on pre-determined game assets such as art, sound and storyline... more Traditional and popular games rely on pre-determined game assets such as art, sound and storyline. By retrieving and extracting relevant information from the Internet, storing this information in knowledge bases such as ontologies, and dynamically generating these assets, a fresh, dynamic game is created.
The aim of this paper is to increase the replayability of a game by generating new game assets based on the information found on the Internet. We have implemented this in the form of a turn-based combat game where players can switch weapons that increasingly improve in power.
Information extraction is discussed and implemented here as a way of obtaining relevant weapons for the game from online sources. Concepts that apply to diff erent weapons must be recognized from a body of text, while the information in the text must be interpreted into weapon data, depending on the types of words and phrases used in the text. Examples of such data include attack, defence and range. We consider some sort of basic classi cation to determine what types of weapons the articles found are. Furthermore, we attempt to show a possible use for ontologies and information extraction in the area of video games, where ontologies are used as a knowledge base for the weapon data, allowing the game to pick relevant units from a body of related candidates. We also take into
consideration some simple game balancing techniques, since we are ultimately working with unseen data.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a video game that retrieves weapon data from an ontology, which is populated using information extraction algorithms. These are then placed in the game and used with the rest of the game assets. We also look into the evaluation of ontologies and other knowledge bases, the evaluation of information retrieval and information
extraction algorithms, as well as the total evaluation of the developed video game.
In video games, music must often change quickly from one piece to another due to player interacti... more In video games, music must often change quickly from one piece to another due to player interaction, such as when moving between different areas. This quick change in music can often sound jarring if the two pieces are very different from each other. Several transition techniques have been used in industry such as the abrupt cut transition, crossfading, horizontal resequencing and vertical reorchestration among others. However, while several claims are made about their effectiveness (or lack thereof), none of these have been experimentally tested.
To investigate how effective each transition technique is, this dissertation empirically evaluates each technique in a study informed by music psychology. This is done based on several features identified as being important for successful transitions. The obtained results led to a novel approach to musical transitions in video games by investigating the use of a multiple viewpoint system, with viewpoints being modelled using Markov models. This algorithm allowed the seamless generation of music that could serve as a transition between two composed pieces of music. While transitions in games normally occur over a zone boundary, the algorithm presented in this dissertation takes place over a transition region, giving the generated music enough time to transition.
This novel approach was evaluated in a bespoke video game environment, where participants navigated through several pairs of different game environments and rated the resulting musical transitions. The results indicate that the generated transitions perform as well as crossfading, a technique commonly used in the industry. Since crossfading is not always appropriate, being able to use generated transitions gives composers another tool in their toolbox. Furthermore, the principled approach taken opens up avenues for further research.
Digital games rely on precomposed music, usually associated with certain moods or feelings that t... more Digital games rely on precomposed music, usually associated with certain moods or feelings that the composer or game designer wishes to express in particular sections of the game. By removing precomposed music and replacing it with procedurally generated music, we can have the music change according to di fferent cues in the environment, thus creating a fresh, dynamic experience.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate an algorithm that is capable of continuously creating procedural music for game environments in a real-time environment. It also demonstrates the feasibility of an experimental but flexible system that combines the procedural generation of music using 1D cellular automata with music/colour mappings taken from already existing literature. A third aim is to try and recreate a synaesthetic experience for non-synaethetes.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a continuous algorithm that creates music in a 3D environment, based on the surroundings.
We evaluate the system by seeing which scales and colours are chosen in certain areas of our environment.
Traditional and popular games rely on pre-determined game assets such as art, sound and storyline... more Traditional and popular games rely on pre-determined game assets such as art, sound and storyline. By retrieving and extracting relevant information from the Internet, storing this information in knowledge bases such as ontologies, and dynamically generating these assets, a fresh, dynamic game is created.
The aim of this paper is to increase the replayability of a game by generating new game assets based on the information found on the Internet. We have implemented this in the form of a turn-based combat game where players can switch weapons that increasingly improve in power.
Information extraction is discussed and implemented here as a way of obtaining relevant weapons for the game from online sources. Concepts that apply to diff erent weapons must be recognized from a body of text, while the information in the text must be interpreted into weapon data, depending on the types of words and phrases used in the text. Examples of such data include attack, defence and range. We consider some sort of basic classi cation to determine what types of weapons the articles found are. Furthermore, we attempt to show a possible use for ontologies and information extraction in the area of video games, where ontologies are used as a knowledge base for the weapon data, allowing the game to pick relevant units from a body of related candidates. We also take into
consideration some simple game balancing techniques, since we are ultimately working with unseen data.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a video game that retrieves weapon data from an ontology, which is populated using information extraction algorithms. These are then placed in the game and used with the rest of the game assets. We also look into the evaluation of ontologies and other knowledge bases, the evaluation of information retrieval and information
extraction algorithms, as well as the total evaluation of the developed video game.
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Papers by Simon Cutajar
To investigate how effective each transition technique is, this dissertation empirically evaluates each technique in a study informed by music psychology. This is done based on several features identified as being important for successful transitions. The obtained results led to a novel approach to musical transitions in video games by investigating the use of a multiple viewpoint system, with viewpoints being modelled using Markov models. This algorithm allowed the seamless generation of music that could serve as a transition between two composed pieces of music. While transitions in games normally occur over a zone boundary, the algorithm presented in this dissertation takes place over a transition region, giving the generated music enough time to transition.
This novel approach was evaluated in a bespoke video game environment, where participants navigated through several pairs of different game environments and rated the resulting musical transitions. The results indicate that the generated transitions perform as well as crossfading, a technique commonly used in the industry. Since crossfading is not always appropriate, being able to use generated transitions gives composers another tool in their toolbox. Furthermore, the principled approach taken opens up avenues for further research.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate an algorithm that is capable of continuously creating procedural music for game environments in a real-time environment. It also demonstrates the feasibility of an experimental but flexible system that combines the procedural generation of music using 1D cellular automata with music/colour mappings taken from already existing literature. A third aim is to try and recreate a synaesthetic experience for non-synaethetes.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a continuous algorithm that creates music in a 3D environment, based on the surroundings.
We evaluate the system by seeing which scales and colours are chosen in certain areas of our environment.
The aim of this paper is to increase the replayability of a game by generating new game assets based on the information found on the Internet. We have implemented this in the form of a turn-based combat game where players can switch weapons that increasingly improve in power.
Information extraction is discussed and implemented here as a way of obtaining relevant weapons for the game from online sources. Concepts that apply to diff erent weapons must be recognized from a body of text, while the information in the text must be interpreted into weapon data, depending on the types of words and phrases used in the text. Examples of such data include attack, defence and range. We consider some sort of basic classi cation to determine what types of weapons the articles found are. Furthermore, we attempt to show a possible use for ontologies and information extraction in the area of video games, where ontologies are used as a knowledge base for the weapon data, allowing the game to pick relevant units from a body of related candidates. We also take into
consideration some simple game balancing techniques, since we are ultimately working with unseen data.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a video game that retrieves weapon data from an ontology, which is populated using information extraction algorithms. These are then placed in the game and used with the rest of the game assets. We also look into the evaluation of ontologies and other knowledge bases, the evaluation of information retrieval and information
extraction algorithms, as well as the total evaluation of the developed video game.
To investigate how effective each transition technique is, this dissertation empirically evaluates each technique in a study informed by music psychology. This is done based on several features identified as being important for successful transitions. The obtained results led to a novel approach to musical transitions in video games by investigating the use of a multiple viewpoint system, with viewpoints being modelled using Markov models. This algorithm allowed the seamless generation of music that could serve as a transition between two composed pieces of music. While transitions in games normally occur over a zone boundary, the algorithm presented in this dissertation takes place over a transition region, giving the generated music enough time to transition.
This novel approach was evaluated in a bespoke video game environment, where participants navigated through several pairs of different game environments and rated the resulting musical transitions. The results indicate that the generated transitions perform as well as crossfading, a technique commonly used in the industry. Since crossfading is not always appropriate, being able to use generated transitions gives composers another tool in their toolbox. Furthermore, the principled approach taken opens up avenues for further research.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate an algorithm that is capable of continuously creating procedural music for game environments in a real-time environment. It also demonstrates the feasibility of an experimental but flexible system that combines the procedural generation of music using 1D cellular automata with music/colour mappings taken from already existing literature. A third aim is to try and recreate a synaesthetic experience for non-synaethetes.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a continuous algorithm that creates music in a 3D environment, based on the surroundings.
We evaluate the system by seeing which scales and colours are chosen in certain areas of our environment.
The aim of this paper is to increase the replayability of a game by generating new game assets based on the information found on the Internet. We have implemented this in the form of a turn-based combat game where players can switch weapons that increasingly improve in power.
Information extraction is discussed and implemented here as a way of obtaining relevant weapons for the game from online sources. Concepts that apply to diff erent weapons must be recognized from a body of text, while the information in the text must be interpreted into weapon data, depending on the types of words and phrases used in the text. Examples of such data include attack, defence and range. We consider some sort of basic classi cation to determine what types of weapons the articles found are. Furthermore, we attempt to show a possible use for ontologies and information extraction in the area of video games, where ontologies are used as a knowledge base for the weapon data, allowing the game to pick relevant units from a body of related candidates. We also take into
consideration some simple game balancing techniques, since we are ultimately working with unseen data.
We have managed to build a simple system that demonstrates a video game that retrieves weapon data from an ontology, which is populated using information extraction algorithms. These are then placed in the game and used with the rest of the game assets. We also look into the evaluation of ontologies and other knowledge bases, the evaluation of information retrieval and information
extraction algorithms, as well as the total evaluation of the developed video game.