Episodic gaming is a relatively new phenomenon, that hasn?t been as extensively explored as other areas in game research. In this paper we research how episodic narratives and gameplay engage players compared to regular continuous storytelling. By exploring this we get a better understanding of how to design games that captivate players to the point of them wanting to play the next episode.  A user study is conducted where ten players play two episodes each of an episodic game. We apply observations and interviews to capture a large amount of empirical data.

This essay is about the use of narrative in video games, and the discussion surrounding it. For years ludologists (game researchers) and narratologists (narrativity researchers) have been arguing about how to analyze narrativity in games. While ludologists have chosen to see games as a product by itself, and therefore something to be analyzed separately, narratologists instead see games as a narrative medium alongside film, theater and books. This essay starts by taking a look at the arguments from both sides, and then introduces three questions regarding narrative in games, and how this phenomenon has changed over the past 13 years. To answer these questions, five case studies are carried out, analyzing games with the help of a new framework built on narrative theory.

Denna studie har undersökt hur en användares motivation att samla mynt i ett serious game påverkas av att dessa är sammankopplade med spelets gameplay. För att undersöka detta har två versioner av ett serious game skapats, ett där mynt endast kan användas för att köpa kosmetiska uppgraderingar och ett där uppgraderingarna som kan köpas, utöver kosmetiska förändringar, även påverkar spelets gameplay. 12 personer har deltagit i testet och värderat hur mycket motivation de känt då de spelat spelen. Resultatet tyder på att det inte existerar någon markant skillnad mellan hur mycket motivation testdeltagarna kände inför att samla mynt i de båda versionerna. Undersökningen skulle kunna utvecklas genom att fler tester utförs på flera olika typer av mjukvaror..

The thesis work has been carried out at Volvo Aero Corporation (VAC) in Trollhättan. VAC has entered a partnership as developing and producing partner with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and is currently at the starting phase of producing the turbine rear frame (TEC) to the engine PW1000.The purpose of this study was to create a report on process level that describes the conditions and the potential with PW1000 TEC to reach the product cost calculation taking into account lead times and describe alternative method solutions.The report describes a comparison between the present flow (2012), a flow based on product cost calculation (2016) and a potential flow (2016). The work has mainly been based on acquiring the knowledge and information available to inspect the present flow; this has been done by workshop observations, meetings and gathering of the information that is available on the work site for the PW1000 TEC.The information obtained has been merged into an Excel document, called Roadmap. It serves as a roadmap with current situation as the start and the potential flow for 2016 as the goal. With the roadmap as a tool, assumptions have been taken considering the flow and how it will change, where processes have been eliminated, reduced or marked as a problem..

The purpose with this qualitative interview study was to try to describe, through a phenomenological viewpoint, the meaning that Counter-Strike players put on there contemporary world. We started to explore this Game World with field research studies on the world?s biggest Game exhibition Dreamhack in the city of Jönköping. This helped us to develop our main question for this study.The thirteen participants of the interview were selectively chosen from a Game Café in the city of Karlstad. They were interviewed with five questions that dealt with their experiences of playing Counter-Strike and their experience of time perception in their world.

This essay explores to what extent the Swedish language version of Google Images meets the usability requirements of average everyday users. Previously published studies on user behaviour and users? interface and search option preferences define the usability requirements, which are matched against Google Images? actual interface and search options. The retrieval method of Google Images is also briefly discussed, and users? opinions about Google Images too, as they come across in the previously published user studies.The findings are that Google Images lack some of the things that users ask for, but it still seems to be the most used image search engine among average internet users and more appreciated than other search engines.

Uppsatsen syftar till att diskutera och jämföra tre olika metoder för karaktärsutveckling och diskutera dessa i förhållande till The Female Assassin; ett spelmanuskript som utspelar sig under Franska Revolutionen. För att få en god bakgrund för examensarbetet valde jag att läsa ett antal böcker om Franska Revolutionen, karaktärsutveckling och Game Writing. Jag har använt mig av personlighetsdiamanter och mallen Character Template för att skapa karaktärer till manuskriptet. I rapporten diskuterar och jämför jag dessa två metoder samt arketyper. Jag kom fram till att de tre metoderna för att utveckla spelkaraktärer fungerar utmärkt och kan kombineras för att få fram mer avancerade karaktärer.Spelmanuskriptet är skrivet utifrån mitt High Concept om spelet La Meurtrière (se Bilaga 2) framtaget för kursen Modellkonstruktion för Interagerbara Medier/Spel A11.

This essay focuses on the construction of so called "computer game addiction" or "computer game abuse" in the Swedish press during 2000-2006. During this period computer game addiction went from an obscure phenomenon to a legit reason for the involuntary commitment of a fourteen-year-old.The study's theory is based on several social constructionist ideas. Kitsuse and Spector's theories about constructing social problems as claims-making activities are used for understanding the actions of the individual and groups involved. Hewitt and Hall's article about quasi-theory is used to explain the construction of explainations for the new social phenomenon. Blumer's five-stage model is used for categorizing the construction of the new social problem.

Contents:The evolution of today?s computer influenced society has taken giant steps towards virtual reality, game addictions and the possibility of not having to meet the people we communicate with. What is a reality today?To give a more concrete image of our question we?ve chosen the online game World of Warcraft as an example and to describe our connection to an alternative reality. We have performed different investigations, interviewed both gamers and non gamers, all this to give us the opportunity to see if the term reality has started to change in a direction that will allow us to call this alternative world a reality, or if it?s just a world wide phenomena of for example gaming addiction.

This thesis aims to examine the phenomenon of gambling and consequences that may result from having a gambling problem. The thesis also intends to investigate opportunities for support and a few explanatory- and treatment models. Games are taking on new shapes and access to gambling for money is on the rise. Studies on gambling have primarily been focusing on epidemiological factors rather than factors increasing or decreasing the risk of developing gambling-related problems. The empirical material is based on eight qualitative semi-structured interviews.

To create multifunctional buffer strips along a watercourse in an economically sustainable way requires consideration of many different factors. In this plan we have selected pollutant reduction as the main purpose of the buffer strip. We have also strived to achieve minimal income loss due to reduced production, increased biological diversity, good game preservation that leads to higher income from hunting, aesthetical satisfaction and possibility to profit from available subsidies. This is done mainly to make landowners/farmers more interested in creating buffer strips along water courses.As sand is the dominant type of soil in the area, the water course is less affected by surface runoff compared to if the soil would be clay or some other finer texture. Game preservation and subsidies have therefore been the main factors when establishing the width of the strip, because these require wider buffer strips in some cases.

Control of a diesel engine equipped with Variable Geometry Turbine (VGT) and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) requires a multivariable control method. One problem is that the engine system is non-linear. Furthermore there are strong cross-connections between inputs and outputs and the inputs have alsoboundaries. To be able to manage these control problems, MPC has been used that is a multivariable method. The MPC-controller consists of an optimization problem and therefore MPC can find the optimum control signals in an easy way.

The work covered in this report includes a literature study of the diesel dual fuel technology(hereinafter referred to as DDF). The literature study covers earlier work that has been doneregarding the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel in a DDF system. Moreover a onecylinder research diesel engine was fitted with a CNG fuel system for experimental testing. Theinstallation of the engine and the test cell is described. Results from the tests are presentedcovering emissions, heat release and pressure traces from the DDF-concept.During the literature study it was found that most research was related to heavy duty dieselengines.

A webpage can be perfectly usable but if users are unable to find the webpage it will remain unused. Nine out of ten Swedes use a search engine and the most popular one is Google, amongst other search engines. In this report I seek to answer which ranking factors that should be included in an SEO-audit of an existing webpage and also how to optimize a webpage for search engines. Applying the method heuristic evaluation normally used to discover usability issues in an existing interface, on TT News Agency?s campaign site I found issues having a negative impact on the visibility in Search Engines Page Results.

Biogas is a gaseous fuel, rich in methane, produced through a biological route in an anaerobic digester. A gas engine generates combined heat and power, which can be used at the farm to reduce energy cost. The process also generates a digestate, with better utilization of nutrient compared to cattle manure. The aim of this study is to analyze the profitability of a farm-scale biogas plant for combined heat and power (CHP) at Wapnö. Wapnö is an agriculture company located in the southern part of Sweden.