Intelligent Approaches for Tailoring of Video Games (an overview of some research directions)

1. Intelligent Approaches for Tailoring of Video Games
Boyan Bontchev
SUMMIT Annual Conference
Sofia, Bulgaria
April 24, 2024
Contract BG-RRP-2.004-0008 for the financing of project "Sofia University - Marking Momentum for Innovation and Technological Transfer“ under pillar 2 "Establishing a network of research higher education institutions in Bulgaria",
component "Innovative Bulgaria" from National Recovery and Resilience Plan part of the program to accelerate economic recovery and transformation through science and innovation

2. Computer
Games as a
New Type of
Media
Credits:
Hitbox Team

3. Serious Games (SG)
• “A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose
other than pure entertainment” (Abt, 1970)
• “A serious game is a digital game in which education is the primary goal,
rather than entertainment” (Micheal & Chen, 2006)
• SG provide an opportunity for active, self-controlled learning through play
• SG are used for educational purposes, vocational training, military and
political purposes, advertising, in manufacturing, applied research, etc.
(Sawyer and Smith, 2008)

4. Serious Challenges of Serious Games
• Higher development costs
• Lower attractiveness than recreational games
• Issues in presenting instructional design through SG design – how game
mechanics present and interact with the learning process?
• Assessment of knowledge and skills - how to effectively trace and analyze relevant
parameters representing the progress of the player in training?
• What psychological theories can be used to create realistic and convincing virtual
players (non-player characters, or NPCs)?
• Paradigms for improving the mechanics and dynamics of SG - personalization and
adaptation
D1.6 GALA Roadmap 2, Nov. 2011

5. Intelligent
Player-
Centric
Tailoring of
SG
Player-
Centric
SG’s
SG design
and analysis
tools Recognizing
and tracking
player
emotions
and
outcomes
NPC with
adaptive
behavior
Dynamic
difficulty
adjustment
Personalized
content
based on
the player
model
Smart
services for
creating
customized
SGs

6. Automatic Generation of Personalized and Adapted SG
Note: dashed modules are under development
Textual content
Graphics
Audio content
Generated
XML +
multi-
media
content
Unity3D API
Unity3D Editor
Didactic
game tasks
Metadata
(XSD)
Connectivity
Editor
Didactic tasks
Property Editor
Maze Editor Maze Builder
Virtual
players
Intelligent Q&A
agents
Online games
Unity3D game
engine
(browser plugin)
Personalization
and adaptation
Virtual players
3D maze
Automatic
game
generation

7. Screenshots of Some Generated SG
• The Dynasty of Asenevtsi
• The Heritage of Valchan Voivode
• Let Us Save Venice
• Climate Heritage Vulnerability Game
• Climate Heritage Impact Game
• Climate Heritage Adaptation Game

8. Intelligent Tailoring of SG – Current Works
• Smart services for game content creation
• Smart personalization of video games for learning based on a complex
learner/player model
• Using of generative AI in educational video games
• Intelligent adaptation of educational video games:
1. of difficulty of didactic tasks
2. of behavior of tutoring NPC

9. References
• Bontchev, B., Antonova, A., Terzieva, V., Dankov, A. “Let Us Save Venice”—An Educational Online Maze Game for Climate Resilience,
Sustainability, 2022, 14(1), 7, EISSN: 2071-1050, https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/1/7, https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010007 (WoS IF:
3.9/Q1/2022, SJR=0.66/Q1/2022), pp.1-23.
• Terzieva, V., Bontchev, B., Dankov, Y., Paunova-Hubenova, E. How to Tailor Educational Maze Games: The Student’s Preferences, Sustainability,
2022, 14(11), EISSN: 2071-1050, https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116794 (WoS IF: 3.9/Q1/2022, SJR=0.66/Q1/2022)
• Antonova, A., Bontchev, B. Designing Smart Services to Support Teachers to Create Personalized and Adaptable Video Games for Learning.
Proceedings of the 15th Int. Conf. Education and Research in the Information Society (ERIS 2022), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, October 13–14, 2022, CEUR
Workshop Proceedings, Vol. 3372, ISSN 1613-0073, pp.9-16 (SJR=0.15/2022) https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3372/
• Paunova-Hubenova, E., Dankov, Y., Terzieva, V., Vassileva, D., Bontchev, B., Antonova, A. (2023) Ready to play – a comparison of four
educational maze games, In: Krouska, A., Troussas, C., Caro, J. (eds) Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems: Proc. of the 2nd Int. Conf. (NiDS 2022).
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 556. Springer, Cham., Electronic ISSN: 2367-3389, Print ISSN: 2367-3370,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17601-2_9 (SJR=0.151, Q4/2023; IF=0.54/2022).
• Bontchev, B., Terzieva, V., Antonova, A., Dankov, Y., Vassileva, D. (2023) Educational Video Games on Climate Resilience of Built Cultural
Heritage. Chapter 5 in: Heritage Education for Climate Action, Vol. 2, Edited byIrene G. Curulli, D. Kaya, and A. Khaefi, ISBN: 978-1-786-30903-7
(print), 978-1-394-25543-6 (e-book), ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc, USA, November, pp. 53-64,
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394255443.ch5.
• Bontchev, B., Naydenov, I., Adamov, I. (2024) Intelligent Adaptation of Difficulty and NPC Behavior in Serious Video Games for Learning,
accepted at IFAC Conference on Technology, Culture and International Stability (TECIS 2024)', May 29-31, 2024, Waterford, Ireland (to appear
in IFAC-PapersOnLine Journal, Print ISSN: 2405-8971, Online ISSN: 2405-8963 (Web of Science))
• Bontchev, B., Terzieva, V., Vassileva, D., Dankov, Y. (2024) Students Attitude to Serious Games for Cultural Heritage, accepted at IFAC
Conference on Technology, Culture and International Stability (TECIS 2024)', May 29-31, 2024, Waterford, Ireland (to appear in IFAC-
PapersOnLine Journal, Print ISSN: 2405-8971, Online ISSN: 2405-8963 (Web of Science))

10. Thank you for your attention!
For questions – email to:
bbontchev@fmi.uni-sofia.bg