Emotions and Agents in Games

Rui  Prada  

                               Who am I?

Professor  at  Ins0tuto  Superior  Técnico  Dep.  Computer  Science  and  Engineering    Applica0on  Area  on  Games  h5p://ajist.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/    7  years,  2  courses  

 >200  students,  >  50  game  prototypes  

Senior  Researcher  at  INESC-­‐ID      Intelligent  Agents  and  Synthe0c  Characters  Group  h5p://gaips.inesc-­‐id.pt/    

                                                               Who am I?

Sociedade  Portuguesa  de  Ciências  dos  Videojogos  (Est.  2009)  Co-­‐Founder  and  Current  President    Promo0ng  

 Knowledge  and  understanding    CollaboraHon  of  peers    Teaching  and  research  

www.spcvideojogos.org  

                               Who am I?

Author  of    Design  e  Desenvolvimento  de  Jogos  Carlos  MarHnho,  Pedro  Santos,  Rui  Prada  FCA,  2014  

h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/nanagyei/5199156473  

                                           Who am I?

Avid  Player    Game  Collector  

h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/merydith/5875929614  

                               Who am I?

          Player Experience h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesHmbrell/8314586801/  

Experience? Why?

Games  are  means  to  live  experiences  Voluntary  Subjec0ve  

Gameplay   Experience  

Game  Designer  

Player  

Experience? Why?

Design  for  the  experience  A  good  game  is  one  that  promotes  a  good  

experience    

Gameplay  Experience  

Player  

Game  Designer  

1.  Doing/Performing      

2.  Feeling/Assessing      

3.  Remembering/Learning  

Experience? What?

Fulfill  a  dream  

 Do  something  that  cannot  be  done      

 Feel  special      

 Live  and  acquire  something  unique  

Player Experience

Doing/Performing    Create  moHvaHon,  opportuniHes,    incenHves  for  acHon  

Feeling/Assessing    Promote  interesHng  choices    Define  consequences  of  choices  

Remembering/Learning    Promote  re-­‐use  and  combinaHon  

Crafting the Experience

          Pleasure h5p://pixabay.com/p-­‐110303  

A  good  experience  elicits  pleasure  

 

Brain  rewards  “desirable”  situaHons  and  behaviours  

A Good Experience

Achievement.  Achieve  milestones,  finish  tasks.  Power.  Have  an  impact  on  the  world,  improve  skill.  Affilia0on.  Maintain  posiHve  interacHons  with  others.  Avoidance.  Self-­‐preservaHon,  seeking  certainty.  

 Balance  Novelty  and  Control  

Pleasure: Satisfaction of Needs

Internal  sensa0ons  linked  to  assessment  of  situaHons  

People  have  needs  of  emo0onal  regula0on  (to  relax  or  get  excited)  

Regulate  engagement  (a5enHon  and  moHvaHon)  

Pleasure: Emotions

If  something  has  emo0onal  impact  

it  is  relevant!  

Emotions and Engagement

Primary Emotions

a. b. c.

d. e. f.

Anger   Fear   Disgust  

Surprise   Happiness   Sadness  

     Achieve  a  desirable  situaHon  Complete  a  level  Give  the  players  what  they  desire  Nice  rewards  (e.g.  rare  items)  

             Achieve  an  undesirable  situaHon  

Lose  something  important  Lose  an  opportunity  

Stronger  if  the  situaHon  is  irreversible    

Eliciting Emotions

     Obstruct/deny  players’  goals  Hurt/damage  what  they  like  The  blame  is  not  a5ributed  enHrely  to  the  self  Belief  that  the  situaHon  is  recoverable  

             Promote  anHcipaHon  of  an  undesirable  situaHon  

Threaten  what  is  important  for  the  player  Creates  tension  

PotenHates  other  emoHons  (e.g.  Happiness)    

Eliciting Emotions

     Create  unexpected  situaHons  Framed  in  the  expectaHons  of  players  and  uncertainty  PosiHve  or  negaHve  surprises                

Create  uncomfortable  situaHons  Not  clearly  undesirable,  but  to  avoid  Social  disgust:  related  to  social  values  

Eliciting Emotions

All  emoHons  ma5er  Go  beyond  primary  emoHons  

Social  emo0ons  (Guilt,  shame,  pride,  love…)  

Which Emotions?

Playing  is  a  learning  ac0vity  (players  learn  controls,  

mechanics,  strategies,  story…)  

Pleasure: Learning

Support  learning  in  your  game  Balance  guidance  and  

self-­‐explora0on  

Learning

The  experience  is  ruined  if      

 There  is  nothing  to  learn    It  is  impossible  to  learn  (noise,  sensory    overload)    There  is  no  interest  in  the  things  learnt    (are  not  applied  in  the  game)  

Learning

Visceral:  moHon,  heat,  relaxaHon  Cogni0ve:  problem  solving,  memory  challenges  Social:  social  status,  sense  of  belonging,  interacHng  with  others  Moral:  follow  ideals,  moral  code  

Types of Pleasure

 Mechanics,  Dynamics  and  

AestheHcs  

Types of Pleasure

MDA: Sensation

h5p://www.hyperplus.pl/gra-­‐limbo_1958  

MDA: Fantasy

h5p://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Guitar_Hero_World_Tour-­‐players.jpg  

MDA: Narrative

h5ps://c1.staHcflickr.com/9/8157/7339666002_12643d98b5.jpg  

MDA: Challenge

h5p://www.destructoid.com/ul/238434-­‐/77222_NSMBWiiU_Boss-­‐05-­‐620x.jpg  

MDA: Fellowship

h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/brendan-­‐c/4136435012  

MDA: Discovery

h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/terr/2071342211/  

MDA: Expression

h5p://tjseabury.deviantart.com/art/Minecrak-­‐Manor-­‐280667402  

MDA: Submission

h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/ilamont/4329344542  

          Progression h5ps://www.flickr.com/photos/usafe/14050607788/  

The  experience  changes  with  Hme  

Progression

Challenge  and  Novelty  (keep  the  learning)  

Managing the Progression

The Flow

Skill Level

Experience

Degree of Challenge

Skill Level

Anxiety

Boredom

Flow Channel

Experience

          Agents in Games h5p://irisaurus.deviantart.com/art/Vocaloid-­‐The-­‐sims-­‐2-­‐336146712  

Autonomous  enHHes  ProacHve  ReacHve  

DeliberaHve  

Agents

Interact  with  people    

Become  characters  

Interactive Agents

Social  Roles  Purpose  IdenHty  EmoHons  Personality  

Characters

 Promote  

Social  Experience  

Characters

Coherent  behaviour  Fit  the  context  

Meet  the  expecta0ons  (The  Media  EquaHon)  

Believability

Suspension  of  disbelief    

“Illusion  of  Life”  

Believability

Believability: Visual

Believability: Behavioural

          Models For Believable AI h5p://agsandrew.deviantart.com/art/Emergence-­‐of-­‐ArHficial-­‐Intelligence-­‐0007-­‐382222119  

Group  dynamics  Personality:  OCEAN  PosiHon  in  the  group  

InteracHon  dynamics:  IPA  

SGD Model

Social  RelaHons  Influence  and  A5racHon  

Balance  

SGD Model

Perfect Circle

PotenHal  force  towards  change:  beliefs,  behaviour  

 Influence  =  Power  -­‐  Resistance  

Social Power

Reward  Coercion  LegiHmate  Referent  Expert  

Social Power

Social Theater

IdenHty  Layered:  personal,  social  (group  memberships)  

 salience  =  accessibility  x  fit  

 

DIMA Model

Intergroup  relaHonships  EmoHonal  appraisal  

In-­‐group  bias  

DIMA Model

Volcano Island

Social  Importance  InteracHon  Dynamics  Claim  and  Confer  

 

SID Model

Individualism/collecHvism  Power  distance  

Uncertainty  avoidance  Long  term/short  term  orientaHon  

Masculinity/femininity  Indulgence/restraint  

SI Model: Culture

Traveller

Physical  embodiment  Face  to  face  interacHon  Verbal  and  non-­‐verbal  

behaviour:  gaze,  a5enHon  

EMYS Robotic Player

EmoHonal  appraisal:  luck,  social  relaHons,  state  of  the  game  Social  memory:  players  and    

past  experiences  Social  roles:  helper,  dominator  

EMYS Robotic Player

EMYS Robotic Player

          Conclusions h5p://pixabay.com/en/message-­‐in-­‐a-­‐bo5le-­‐post-­‐bo5le-­‐413680/  

Games  are  means  for  experience  Emo0ons  and  learning  have  a  crucial  role  Believable  agents  may  improve  the  social  experience  of  games  

Concluding

People  have  social  expecta0ons  of  agents  To  achieve  believability:  idenHty  personality,  emoHons,  social  awareness,  social  skills,  social  needs,  balanced  behaviour  

Concluding

rui.prada@tecnico.ulisboa.pt    

h5p://gaips.inesc-­‐id.pt/rprada  h5p://spcvideojogos.org  

h5p://ajist.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/      

Contacts