A New Hope Part 2: The Hopening

OK, it's go time, again. The case study at this stage has been scrapped. This will require a re-write of the methods chapter. It's around 4000 words or so, therefore it shouldn't be too taxing. Since I am effectively replacing the case study with a far more detailed quantitative study, I need to explore literature and guides on how to a) acquire the data, though a survey seems the most appropriate, b) how to analyse the data once I have it (so that is it not only coherent but of use to the stakeholders) and c) how to broach the subject with developers in a way that expresses the value they will potentially derive from this data and how to organize a system so that the data collection is ongoing. I'll need to look at how organizations (such as EEDAR if we're being game dev specific) gather their data and package it.

The trick is discerning which topics to collect data on; age, education, experience, etc. These obvious ones are all well and good, but I need to determine what is going to be of use to industry. This will require some discussion, quite probably during the interview process. I need to be able to gather the data probably by mid year, then spend probably 2 months analysing it. Following that, hopefully the results will bear out on two fronts; one, the interviews should provide enough fodder on the issues of GDE that I can put together recommendations for how to approach building a games course, the importance of internships and real world experience, the need for a more structured approach to education and industry interaction, the value of teamwork and soft skill and the absolute need for a well rounded skill set. This research is the exploratory part.

The quant part is the more practical, immediately useful part. I need to outline what the data will be used for and how long it will before the data will be useful to educators. For example, it may take a year to gather data on not only existing developers but developers who join the industry in 12 months to get a better picture of where these developers are coming from. Regarding how the data will be used, a university games course chair might view the data and note that the majority of programmers new to industry (or within 5 years) all have a strong C++ background, so it would be logical to ensure that students of that course are adequately exposed to C++.

The interview process will still be vital, as a large part of this research is still exploratory.

So, a balance must be struck. The plan has been revised to ensure the outcomes have a greater practical purpose for stakeholders; while previously the data would be largely qualitative, the balance is now more evenly split. I need to knock together a few diagrams to illustrate this new direction for my own edification, then put together a schedule detailing what I'll be doing and when. Following that, I need to revise my methods chapter and educate myself on data analysis methods in place of the case study literature I previously included.

More to come.

A New Hope

It is a period of academic war. Rebel research teams, striking from a hidden office, have won their first victory against the evil University Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, A LACK OF STRUCTURE AND FOCUS, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire candidature. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Prince Greg races home aboard his starship/hatchback, custodian of the stolen plans that can save his thesis and restore freedom to the galaxy…

A recent trip to GCAP has proven very useful pour moi. I realised properly that the scope of this thing was excessive, but the problem seemed to warrant all bases being covered until I had a clearer picture of the best and most useful course of action. By useful, I mean useful to the potential stakeholders; students, industry and education. My initial and til recently current plan was to create an overview of the industry and produce, as a key outcome, a set of recommendations about how a games course should be delivered among other things. There was a vague notion of acting as an education liaison in there somewhere but it was not fully formed.

What has become apparent is the importance of 'useful' data; a key goal of this kind of research should be to produce something tangible and ongoing. That was another revelation (of sorts); any data collected should be set up in such a way that it is not just a snapshot of that period, but sustainable. This means designing a data collection method that will be repeated each year or 6 months.

This means a revamp of the research design and, thankfully, a lessening of the amount of interviewing I will have to undertake. 1 hour interview time equates to 4 hours of transcription time if you are an experienced transcriber. The case study, following discussion with a few likely types, would seem redundant as one arrangement between a university and a developer is unlikely to be similar to another arrangement. This means a case study would not really reflect the state of play.

Of greater value would be the conducting of interviews with studio heads and some educators to get their view on the industry and where the problems lie, perform some qualitative analysis on the results, and identify the key themes to construct a series of guidelines or recommendations. This aspect of the research is still valid as this kind of study is still largely formative. These recommendations would be coupled with the aforementioned 'hard data', itself rather more immediately useful to developers, educators and recruiters alike.

To summarize the outcomes: a series of recommendations about how game development education and relationships can be improved, coupled with a data series detailing educational background, age and experience and other fields of as many existing developers as possible. This data would serve as a reference point for a) developers who wish to recruit new employees b) educators who wish to ensure their courses are relevant and c) recruitment agencies.

Ok ok, let's just back the fuck off for a moment shall we? What precisely is happening and will happen in the future? Let's deconstruct, in fact let's tear it all down, analyse, revamp, rebuild. Okay, so I'm dropping the case study element as it seems unlikely to generate useful results. I'm introducing a heavier quant element, that being the sustainable data on game developers. A 5 year limit or thereabouts should ensure that those within that range would have had the option of attending a games course (assuming they have a formal qualification).

So, though I've mentioned it above, who does this new element benefit and how? Let's see. Collecting annual data about new additions to the games industry should allow devs, educators and recruiters to get a handle on who is getting in, who isn't and why. If the majority of new employees are not grads/have experience, this means there are not enough grad positions and steps can be taken to address this issue. If grads are getting jobs but few are game course grads, then there is clearly an issue with the existing crop of games courses. Beyond gathering data on every developer within the preferred range, identifying a group of developers and following their progress over a period of time would be ideal.

Question is, precisely what do I need to extract from the participants? Age, educational background (school, tertiary, short courses), prior experience, position in the company, others? I'll come back to this and flesh it out further.

GCAP '10

Fascinating trip to GCAP this year (that is to say GCAP itself was fascinating, not the trip there. That was mundane and, dare I say it, rather painful).

If I could sum up this year's conference in one word it would be this one: marketing.

This word and subsequently theme was common to 80% of presentations, particularly the plenaries. David Edery's take on the lifecycle of a console is a useful guide for those wishing to maximize their chances of success when launching a new title on a particular platform.

The chaps at Endgame offered one of the few solely gameplay focused presentations as they outlined the difficulties they encountered when balancing, er, difficulty. Fractured Soul for the DS is a gamers game, if there is such a thing any more; if there is, this it is one, or something. A significant portion of their presentation was centred around the user testing process and the feedback generated by it. Heartbreaking might be one way to describe it. However, for the sake of a little pain, a well balanced gameplay experience is its own reward.

The Doublefine keynote was entertaining though not particularly relevant to those not running a large studio. Despite that, it did offer one particular lesson applicable to any developer; take risks.

Between sessions we were treated to a middling selection of pastries, none of which tempted me (though they were quickly snapped up by other more ravenous developers. Devs are a fine judges of pastryflesh). Lunch was distinctly DIY which seemed in keeping with the rise of local indie developers, though I can't say I was the target market given the lack of veggie options. Still, while I don't have the stats handy I'd suggest the average developers diet would consist of cakes, donuts and liquefied versions of those for refreshment (and possibly bathing purposes).

All in all, a successful trip. Gold Coast was fucking horrible though, that casino's lighting system looked like an offcast from the set of the original Tron. Couple that with the Elvis impersonators and the ghastly women who inhabited said casino and the inside of my drab yet spacious digs at Best Western were entirely preferable. That said, $35 for not cleaning my dishes? gefuckd

Emergence and the student learning process and impala rape

The topic of this week's practical is emergent game design or gameplay. Before I continue, it's pertinent that I provide a small insight into the carefully constructed guidelines students follow when immersed in a learning environment. A typical course of action is as follows:

1. Enter room.

2. Select terminal. This selection may be based on having previously used a particular terminal and is therefore habitual, or it may be that students have marked that terminal with a pheromonal discharge, thus alerting other students that this terminal is claimed; approach it your peril.

3. Engage in discussion with nearby students or withdraw all contact. Either is acceptable and in some cases preferable depending on hygiene levels.

4. Log into Facebook. This will occupy anywhere from 10 to 100% of a student's allocated prac time and is a vital component of the learning experience. If they have missed an important event, such as a friend of relative expressing their boredom or the commemoration of a particularly satisfying shit, the student will express hostility, so it's best to allow them adequate face(book) time.

5. Maybe open the practical content, then ignore it, then maybe play a game. This last step is composed of several sub steps that are interchangeable and may or may not occur over the course of a single class (though the ignoring step is considered mandatory).

Right, so there's a short overview of the process. This article will focus on the final step (or substep... dubstep?), 'maybe play a game' and the subsequent and unexpected adherence to the practical content.

Someone mentioned Minecraft. Someone else opened the browser version of Minecraft and the emergent possibilities, er, emerged. Minecraft is effectively a sandbox, sometimes literally, as you destroy then shape the landscape as you see fit. Within the constraints imposed upon the player (the base unit is a block of a fixed size and each structure can be built from these fixed size blocks only), the range of possible outcomes (architecturally at least) is vast.

Within 15 or 20 minutes, houses had been built, caves excavated, mines plundered and impalas raped. Despite that bit about the impalas, it was clear that an opportunity to point out the key role emergence played in an immersive player experience had arrived. Sadly, when the choice to focus attention on either Minecraft or myself had to be made, I didn't stand a chance. Still, I think my point, ignored though it may have been, rang true. Emergence is key to a cult following; provide players with the tools and they will provide the masterworks, ensuring the game you create will live on past relegation to the bargain bin.

That was terribly disjointed but that's what you get (thanks Paramore) when you write an article over a month stretch.

It's go time! Mandelbaum, Mandelbaum!

Boy have I been slack. Yes! Slack in many ways, have I been. I have forgotten how to type (this is a laborious exercise just now) and I have welcomed any and all distractions from my research. This presentation next week could be a catalyst, a mini deadline, something to fear. Fear is a powerful motivator and I have very little of it. It's not fear of presentation (that's more apprehension as anyone should feel when making an allegedly significant presentation to peers), nor fear of feedback; no, this fear is borne of inactivity. I fear not having done enough, so I can harness this perhaps baseless (though I know I have done, academically speaking, fuck all of late) fear and actually get organized.

First: nail that fucking ethics amendment and get it submitted; if I get it back with changes required then so be it, better to find out than not.

Second: get the student survey finished and use Google's survey tool to implement it.

Third: finalize that research design; even it it proves to be inadequate or in need of revision, at least press on in a direction. Hopefully, any mistakes in the design will be revealed early on and even if they aren't, I should be able to adjust given the imprecise nature of the data I plan to collect.

Fourth: create a presentation. It will include:

Intro - quick revision of the topic and research questions, plus what will be covered in the presentation. Mention honours and what led me to this topic. New question: can the industry in its current state sustain the number of games course students that will graduate this year, next year and beyond

Exploratory study - Queensland trip: education, industry, government (find out what Mark Fludder does again) - ice breaker, getting an impression of the state of education in Queensland as it is now arguably he epicentre of Australian games developement. Research topic was validated by all three participants which was in itself a satisfying outcome.

Literature - Quickly revise literature, emphasis on sparse game dev education specific literature. Briefly touch on topics yet to be explored (note they are non-essential for the data collection phase).

Research design - overview of discussed approaches (qual and quant, type of questions, case studies, 3 case studies, one case study plus interview and surveys, fallback position should case study prove difficult to pursue), current approach, methods to be used (interviews, surveys). Touch on analysis techniques perhaps. Plan to pursue the majority of data collection in January.

Participants - Staff from universities and colleges that offer game development specific courses, be they programming, art or design based (or all 3). Students of said courses. Game developers from both larger companies that produce software for mainstream platforms (console, PC) and smaller, independent developers.

Problems - reiterate lack of game dev ed lit. Issues with case study (accessibility to both students and staff, ensuring I ask the right questions, how to analyse the data once it is acquired, transcribing the audio).

Ethics - submitted a revision of earlier submission.

Current focus - finalizing research design and identifying and contacting prospective participants. How to enhance the collaborative nature of game dev courses (art and programming - comes up in literature frequently). Exploring whether business and marketing subjects should be added to a curriculum, thus equipping students with the skills to start their own small-scale commercial game development ventures. iPhone, digital delivery in general is such that it is now possible for small teams to operate with low overheads and self publish. Mention own indie development project.

Next phase/conclusion - broadly speaking: collect data, revise questions and direction, analyze and interpret findings and hopefully begin writeup of results. Then, return to literature review and explore any new topics or issue to come to light and continue writeup.

Revision of topics discussed

Questions

Motivate me fear, you malefic fiend (P.S. I like the word malefic and have used it three times this past year).

Thought for today

Gradually closing in on a workable research design. Questions: will I be able to find a suitable set of participants for my case study? How many interviews will I need to conduct and will it need to be done longitudinally? I must organize a suitable analysis method but that can probably wait until I have finalized the research design. I have to ensure that all the data that I plan to collect is going to be of use.

A single case study comprised of interviews only and supported by other interviews and surveys should hopefully address the relationship issue. Interviews and surveys will hopefully solve the course structure and content issue. I need to determine whether to acquire the data that addresses each research question separately or all at once. All at once is probably feasible.

G'night everybody!

Failed attempt number -124

You sit and you sit and you sit some more and then your buttocks go numb and by that point you are considering giving it all away because with all the sitting and numb buttocks and general inactivity that causes such a condition, you could surely be spending your time more fruitfully.

You finally stand and are immediately liberated, free of the oppressive shackles that I sometimes wear when I am sitting down for extended periods and wish to maintain stability. With blistering speed, I gradually rise to my full height and survey my surroundings. "Where the fuck is my dartboard" I'll ask. It's that kind of absurd, oddly placed and misleading query that typically annoys the shit out of reasonable people. Not only do I have no dartboard, if I did have one I doubt it's whereabouts would concern me. It could be in the loo, the lounge or the laboratory where I conduct all my dartboard related experiments for all I fucking care. Fuck! There's a pungent aroma wafting from under the lab door that is the cause of this rather unsavoury taste in my mouth (it's worth noting that the general you became the specific I at some point in this paragraph. There, roughly. I'm pointing at it).

I am shackled in an entirely figurative sense as well, in that I can't seem to escape this particular style of writing. I can loop around it, make simple words about stuff and get really basic and not do much words but ultimately I return to an unnecessarily verbose, expansively overwritten and excessively inflitistimant writing style, crueling any chance I have of escape. It isn't especially amusing and again serves only to annoy people. This cancerous literary dribble marks me with both an avuncular tone and lecherous grin, warming me with familiarity whilst feeling me up a bit. It's sick you know. This incestuously prosey bastard's days are numbered though. Simplicity in all things is the new motto and I plan to recite it to anyone and everyone who so much as looks vaguely in my direction or thinks about gingers.