Mathias Lux
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First Game Creators Barcamp Held at the University of Klagenfurt

Local game developers and researchers gathered for the inaugural Game Creators Barcamp on Friday, December 6th, at the University of Klagenfurt. The event featured discussions on game development, educational technologies, and industry funding opportunities.

The first Barcamp drew a small but engaged group of participants who explored various game design and development topics. Discussions covered diverse areas, including the story behind the game Electric Alps, potential improvements in language learning through gamification, particularly for teaching irregular German verbs, and an examination of game theory in puzzle game design. The attendees also provided an overview of funding schemes available for game studios. Plans are underway for the next Barcamp, scheduled for spring, hoping to increase participant numbers.

Interview with Felix Schniz on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of “World of Warcraft”

On 20 November, Dr Felix Schniz commemorated the 20th anniversary of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft by giving an interview to the Kleine Zeitung. The interview focused on the secret behind World of Warcraft’s ongoing success and what we can learn from a historiographic perspective on the game.

The full interview was released in print on 23 November. It can also be accessed here:

https://www.kleinezeitung.at/wirtschaft/gaming/19088300/wie-world-of-warcraft-das-computerspielen-massentauglich-gemacht-hat

 

 

Game Creators Barcamp 2024

Calling all game enthusiasts! Whether you’re into game development, game design, game studies, or anything in between, join us for the Game Creators Barcamp. 

When: December 6th, 2024 from 13:15 to 16:00
Where: HS 4, Klagenfurt University

A Barcamp is an open, participant-driven event. There’s no pre-set schedule—you create the content! Attendees can sign up on-site on the day to host an (up to) 20-minute-session. This can be a game-related talk, a discussion, or an on-stage demo.

Some topics to explore might include:

  • Game development
  • Game design
  • Game studies
  • Playtesting and prototyping
  • Stories and non-linear narratives
  • Sound and music for games
  • Podcasting and streaming about games
    as well as novel and groundbreaking ideas for games

This is a chance to share your knowledge, explore new ideas, or simply connect with others who share your passion for games. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, an indie creator, a GSE student, or just curious, you’re welcome to take part in shaping the day!

🔗 Sign up to host a session on-site, or just come along and join the conversation!

 

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Workshop paper accepted: One Spell Fits All: A Generative AI Game as a Tool for Research in AI Creativity and Sustainable Design

Authors: Tom Tucek, Kseniia Harshina, Georgia Samaritaki (University of Amsterdam), and Dipika Rajesh (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Abstract:
This paper presents “One Spell Fits All”, an AI-native game prototype where the player, playing as a witch, solves villagers’ problems using magical conjurations. We show how, beyond being a standalone game, “One Spell Fits All” could serve as a research platform to explore several key areas in AI-driven and AI-native game design. These areas include AI creativity, user experience in predominantly AI-generated content, and the energy efficiency of locally running versus cloud-based AI models. By leveraging smaller, locally running generative AI models, including LLMs and diffusion models for image generation, the game dynamically generates and evaluates content without the need for external APIs or internet access, offering a sustainable and responsive gameplay experience. This paper explores the application of LLMs in narrative video games, outlines a game prototype’s design and mechanics, and proposes future research opportunities that can be explored using the game as a platform.

EXAG ’24: Experimental AI in Games Workshop at the AIIDE Conference, November 18, 2024, Lexington, USA

 

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Short paper accepted: Experiencing Forced Migration: A Participatory Approach to Developing a Serious Video Game

Authors: Kseniia Harshina, Imke Alenka Harbig, Mathias Lux, and Tom Tucek

Abstract: Forced migration affects millions worldwide due to conflict, disasters, and persecution. This paper presents a participatory approach to serious game development, engaging individuals with lived migration experiences to create authentic and impactful narratives. Based on qualitative research, we propose a game design methodology to enhance empathy and raise awareness of forced migration. Our study demonstrates the potential of participatory games to bridge the gap between forced migrants and the broader public, fostering empathy, social change, and empowerment for marginalized communities.

GALA Conference 2024 Proceedings will be published on Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Kseniia and Imke Harbig from the psychology department will present their research at the GALA conference in Berlin from November 20 to 22.

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Kseniia and Tom @ CHI PLAY 2024

Kseniia and Tom participated in the annual symposium CHI PLAY (Computer-Human Interaction in Play) from October 14–17/online.
They both took part in the doctoral consortium, where they presented their works and built connections with fellow doctoral students and experienced researchers in the field.
Kseniia presented her topic, “Developing a Virtual-Reality Game for Empathy Enhancement and Perspective-Taking in the Context of Forced Migration Experiences”, and Tom presented his topic, “Enhancing Empathy Through Personalized AI-Driven Experiences and Conversations with Digital Humans in Video Games”.
Proceedings are published under Companion Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY Companion ’24), October 14–17, 2024, Tampere, Finland.

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Kseniia Harshina @ FROG Conference, Vienna (Future and Reality of Gaming 2024)

Kseniia participated in the annual FROG conference from 11 to 13 October, which had the topic of “Gaming the Apocalypse”. Her talk, “Unraveling the Romanticization of Colonial, Imperial and Authoritarian Narratives in Modern Video Games”, showcased a trend in video games to cutefy serious topics like historical power dynamics through aesthetics, and explained the potential issues caused by this phenomenon.

Her talk can be seen on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37-sqVJrMoY), and proceedings will follow in the summer of 2025.

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Happy Retirement to Hermann

On October 3rd, 2024, Hermann’s retirement was celebrated with a special event. During the celebration, the Governor of Carinthia presented him with the Grand Decoration of Honour from the State of Carinthia. In his farewell lecture, Hermann reflected on important topics from his 30-year career, many of which went beyond informatics. He spoke about issues that are relevant to all stages of working life. The lecture was titled “30 Years as an Informatics Professor: Insights and Outlooks.” Many colleagues and friends shared their experiences working with Hermann and wished him well in retirement. Prof. Erich Schwarz moderated the event.

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Felix Schniz @ FROG Conference, Vienna (Future and Reality of Gaming 2024)

From 11 to 13 October, ITEC’s Felix Schniz participated in the annual FROG (Future and Reality of Gaming) conference in Vienna. It is Austria’s biggest, (video) game dedicated academic conference, which attracted 50 speakers from 12 countries this year. Under this year’s topic of “Gaming the Apocalypse”, Felix delivered the talk “Scales of Apocalypse: Space and Affect in Dystopian Video Games between Sacred and Profane”.

Also presenting at the conference were AAU’s Kseniia Harshina and the Game Studies and Engineering master students Tim Sanders and Elli Chraibi, showcasing the diverse research interest and academic expertise produced by Game Studies and Engineering staff and students in the field.

The conference proceedings are expected to be published next year Summer.

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Reza Farahani gave a tutorial at the 12th European Workshop on Visual Information Processing 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland

Dr. Reza Farahani (University of Klagenfurt, Austria) and Dr. Vignesh V Menon (Fraunhofer HHI, Germany) presented a joint tutorial titled ‘Latency- and Energy-Aware Video Coding and Delivery Streaming Systems’ at the 12th European Workshop on Visual Information Processing (EUVIP 2024) on September 8.

Abstract: This tutorial introduces modern performance and energy-aware video coding and content delivery solutions and tools, focusing on popular video streaming applications, i.e., VoD and live streaming. In this regard, after introducing fundamentals of modern video encoding and networking paradigms, we introduce modern solutions systems, using per-title encoding, per-scene encoding, virtualized and software networks, edge computing, overlay networks such as Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and/or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) paradigms to provide latency and energy-efficient VoD and live HAS streaming. Furthermore, the tutorial also presents our tools, software, datasets, and testbeds to demonstrate our latest achievements and share practical insights for researchers, engineers, and students who want to improve conversational streaming or even test such techniques for immersive video sequences (e.g., tile-based 360-degree VR) with a focus on latency, economic cost, and energy.