Performance Comparison of the Marching Cubes Algorithm: CPU vs. GPU

Description
This paper compares two approaches to implementing the Marching Cubes algorithm, a method of extracting a polygonal mesh from a 3D scalar field. One possible application of this algorithm is as a procedural terrain generation technique for use in video…

This paper compares two approaches to implementing the Marching Cubes algorithm, a method of extracting a polygonal mesh from a 3D scalar field. One possible application of this algorithm is as a procedural terrain generation technique for use in video game development. The Marching Cubes algorithm is an easily parallelizable task, and as such benefits greatly from being executed on the GPU. The reason that the algorithm is so well suited for parallelization is that it breaks the problem of mesh generation into a large group of similar sub-problems that can be solved completely independently.
Date Created
2022-12
Agent

Heady Stuff: Agile Development Practices in Unreal Engine Game Development

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Description

This paper will demonstrate that the Agile development process helps to ensure incremental work on an Unreal Engine game project is achieved by presenting a product produced in Unreal Engine along with my experience in utilizing Scrum to facilitate the…

This paper will demonstrate that the Agile development process helps to ensure incremental work on an Unreal Engine game project is achieved by presenting a product produced in Unreal Engine along with my experience in utilizing Scrum to facilitate the game’s development. Section 2 discusses project goals and motivations for using Agile, using Unreal Engine, and for the choice of genre in the final product. Section 3 contextualizes these goals by presenting the history of Unreal Engine, the novel applications of Unreal Engine, and the use of Unreal Engine in the development of Heady Stuff. Section 4 presents findings from the project’s development by describing my use of Agile and by presenting the steps taken in learning Unreal Engine. Section 4 continues by highlighting important development considerations in the use of Blueprints, C++, and HLSL in Unreal Engine. The section ends with the presentation of project feedback, its incorporation in the final product, and the resources used to assist development. Section 5 compares the workflow, help resources, and applications of Unreal Engine with those of Unity, another highly popular game engine. Lastly, Section 6 performs a post-mortem on the overall development process by considering how well Agile development processes were upheld along with how much of the original plans in the Design Document was present in the final product. Additionally, the section presents the major challenges encountered during project development. These challenges will help in proposing possible best practices for game development in Unreal Engine.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

The Influence and Relevance of Data Analytics for European Soccer Teams

Description
The influx of readily available sports data has transformed the landscape of recruitment analysis conducted in European soccer leagues. Clubs now have access to a repository of information that helps to monitor the status of current players and filter those…

The influx of readily available sports data has transformed the landscape of recruitment analysis conducted in European soccer leagues. Clubs now have access to a repository of information that helps to monitor the status of current players and filter those they wish to recruit. Supplemented by extensive financial backing, the teams in the English Premier League have shifted from a local, more traditional approach to a focus on the acquisition of players in international markets. This paper analyzes the rapid effects of implementing a data-driven approach to recruitment and argues that the dominance of Liverpool in the EPL from 2017 to 2022 has stemmed from a superior focus in this data-driven recruitment compared to other clubs in the league, specifically Manchester United. Other teams have recently shifted their structures to model the modern, fast flow of data that the two European super clubs manage each season yet consistently fail to match either. Furthermore, this project establishes the feasible prospect of clubs prioritizing their staffing for data over other departments, including players.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Lyons First Draft (Spring 2022)

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Description

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that…

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that end, The Game Band, a Los Angeles-based game development studio, decided to make America's favorite pastime, baseball, virtual. Just like that, Blaseball was born. In this creative project, the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com was subjected to analysis of its user interface and user experience elements by the author of this paper in the role of the researcher. The research questions posited by this project were as follows: - What user interface/user experience elements of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com were effective, and what elements detracted from the purpose of the site? - What recommendations could be made by the researcher to improve the user experience and allow for a more effective user experience of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com? To answer these questions, two deliverables were decided upon. The first was a research study consisting of a usability survey and interviews with web developers who worked on Blaseball or Blaseball-related projects. The second deliverable was an industry-level analysis of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com to be presented as a culmination of the research and work. Through this process, it had been discovered that while the site was simplistic and could easily direct users to other pages, as intended by the developers, UI elements on individual pages confused and misled users. As such, clarifications and a more in-depth UI were recommended.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Lyons Final Project (Spring 2022)

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Description

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that…

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that end, The Game Band, a Los Angeles-based game development studio, decided to make America's favorite pastime, baseball, virtual. Just like that, Blaseball was born. In this creative project, the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com was subjected to analysis of its user interface and user experience elements by the author of this paper in the role of the researcher. The research questions posited by this project were as follows: - What user interface/user experience elements of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com were effective, and what elements detracted from the purpose of the site? - What recommendations could be made by the researcher to improve the user experience and allow for a more effective user experience of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com? To answer these questions, two deliverables were decided upon. The first was a research study consisting of a usability survey and interviews with web developers who worked on Blaseball or Blaseball-related projects. The second deliverable was an industry-level analysis of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com to be presented as a culmination of the research and work. Through this process, it had been discovered that while the site was simplistic and could easily direct users to other pages, as intended by the developers, UI elements on individual pages confused and misled users. As such, clarifications and a more in-depth UI were recommended.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Lyons Usability Report (Spring 2022)

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Description

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that…

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that end, The Game Band, a Los Angeles-based game development studio, decided to make America's favorite pastime, baseball, virtual. Just like that, Blaseball was born. In this creative project, the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com was subjected to analysis of its user interface and user experience elements by the author of this paper in the role of the researcher. The research questions posited by this project were as follows: - What user interface/user experience elements of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com were effective, and what elements detracted from the purpose of the site? - What recommendations could be made by the researcher to improve the user experience and allow for a more effective user experience of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com? To answer these questions, two deliverables were decided upon. The first was a research study consisting of a usability survey and interviews with web developers who worked on Blaseball or Blaseball-related projects. The second deliverable was an industry-level analysis of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com to be presented as a culmination of the research and work. Through this process, it had been discovered that while the site was simplistic and could easily direct users to other pages, as intended by the developers, UI elements on individual pages confused and misled users. As such, clarifications and a more in-depth UI were recommended.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

An Analysis and Exploration of the User Interface and User Experience Elements and
Design Principles Present in The Game Band’s Blaseball

Description
During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that…

During the height of COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, most major sports leagues were shut down or postponed, to limit the spread of COVID-19. However, people still yearned for the community of cheering on their favorite team. To that end, The Game Band, a Los Angeles-based game development studio, decided to make America's favorite pastime, baseball, virtual. Just like that, Blaseball was born. In this creative project, the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com was subjected to analysis of its user interface and user experience elements by the author of this paper in the role of the researcher. The research questions posited by this project were as follows: - What user interface/user experience elements of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com were effective, and what elements detracted from the purpose of the site? - What recommendations could be made by the researcher to improve the user experience and allow for a more effective user experience of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com? To answer these questions, two deliverables were decided upon. The first was a research study consisting of a usability survey and interviews with web developers who worked on Blaseball or Blaseball-related projects. The second deliverable was an industry-level analysis of the Season Twelve version of Blaseball.com to be presented as a culmination of the research and work. Through this process, it had been discovered that while the site was simplistic and could easily direct users to other pages, as intended by the developers, UI elements on individual pages confused and misled users. As such, clarifications and a more in-depth UI were recommended.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Mark: A Game About What Makes You, You

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Description
Mark is a creative project to showcase the storytelling potential of video games and explore the unique narrative tools at their disposal. In particular, the mechanics are crafted to spotlight the ludonarrative—when the gameplay adds to or even tells its…

Mark is a creative project to showcase the storytelling potential of video games and explore the unique narrative tools at their disposal. In particular, the mechanics are crafted to spotlight the ludonarrative—when the gameplay adds to or even tells its own story. In addition, the short, non-linear progression of collecting a different assortment of friends with each playthrough explores player agency and its role in the emergence of narrative from a series of loosely-scripted events.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent

Math Educational Video Game

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Description
The goal of this project was to determine if the chosen research and testing method would result in a game where students would practice math in the best way. This was done by creating a video game using Unity that…

The goal of this project was to determine if the chosen research and testing method would result in a game where students would practice math in the best way. This was done by creating a video game using Unity that followed key principles for designing a math game and for how students should practice math in general. Testing was done on participants to determine the strategies they used in order to play the game and these strategies were then defined and categorized based on their effectiveness and how well they met the learning principles. Also, the participants were asked a before and after question to determine if the game improved their overall attitude towards math to make sure the game was helping them learn and was not a hindrance. There was an overall increase in the participants’ feelings towards math after playing the game as well as beneficial strategies, so the research and testing method was overall a success.
Date Created
2022-05
Agent
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