scholarly journals RAGE Architecture for Reusable Serious Gaming Technology Components

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim van der Vegt ◽  
Wim Westera ◽  
Enkhbold Nyamsuren ◽  
Atanas Georgiev ◽  
Iván Martínez Ortiz

For seizing the potential of serious games, the RAGE project—funded by the Horizon-2020 Programme of the European Commission—will make available an interoperable set of advanced technology components (software assets) that support game studios at serious game development. This paper describes the overall software architecture and design conditions that are needed for the easy integration and reuse of such software assets in existing game platforms. Based on the component-based software engineering paradigm the RAGE architecture takes into account the portability of assets to different operating systems, different programming languages, and different game engines. It avoids dependencies on external software frameworks and minimises code that may hinder integration with game engine code. Furthermore it relies on a limited set of standard software patterns and well-established coding practices. The RAGE architecture has been successfully validated by implementing and testing basic software assets in four major programming languages (C#, C++, Java, and TypeScript/JavaScript, resp.). Demonstrator implementation of asset integration with an existing game engine was created and validated. The presented RAGE architecture paves the way for large scale development and application of cross-engine reusable software assets for enhancing the quality and diversity of serious gaming.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krassen Stefanov ◽  
Atanas Georgiev ◽  
Alexander Grigorov ◽  
Boyan Bontchev ◽  
Pavel Boytchev ◽  
...  

This paper presents the architecture of the RAGE repository, which is a unique and dedicated infrastructure that provides access to a wide variety of advanced technology components for applied game development. The RAGE project, which is the principal Horizon2020 research and innovation project on applied gaming, develops up to three dozens of software components (RAGE software assets) that are reusable across a wide diversity of game engines, game platforms and programming languages. The RAGE repository provides storage space for assets and their artefacts and is designed as an asset life-cycle management system for defining, publishing, updating, searching and packaging for distribution of these assets. It will be embedded in a social platform for asset developers and other users. A dedicated Asset Repository Manager provides the main functionality of the repository and its integration with other systems. Tools supporting the Asset Manager are presented and discussed. When the RAGE repository is in full operation, applied game developers will be able to easily enhance the quality of their games by including selected advanced game software assets. Making available the RAGE repository system and its variety of software assets aims to enhance the coherence and decisiveness of the applied game industry.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Starrett ◽  
Andrew S. McAvan ◽  
Derek J. Huffman ◽  
Jared D. Stokes ◽  
Colin T. Kyle ◽  
...  

Abstract Research into the behavioral and neural correlates of spatial cognition and navigation has benefited greatly from recent advances in virtual reality (VR) technology. Devices such as head-mounted displays (HMDs) and omnidirectional treadmills provide research participants with access to a more complete range of body-based cues, which facilitate the naturalistic study of learning and memory in three-dimensional (3D) spaces. One limitation to using these technologies for research applications is that they almost ubiquitously require integration with video game development platforms, also known as game engines. While powerful, game engines do not provide an intrinsic framework for experimental design and require at least a working proficiency with the software and any associated programming languages or integrated development environments (IDEs). Here, we present a new asset package, called Landmarks, for designing and building 3D navigation experiments in the Unity game engine. Landmarks combines the ease of building drag-and-drop experiments using no code, with the flexibility of allowing users to modify existing aspects, create new content, and even contribute their work to the open-source repository via GitHub, if they so choose. Landmarks is actively maintained and is supplemented by a wiki with resources for users including links, tutorials, videos, and more. We compare several alternatives to Landmarks for building navigation experiments and 3D experiments more generally, provide an overview of the package and its structure in the context of the Unity game engine, and discuss benefits relating to the ongoing and future development of Landmarks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laksono ◽  
Aditya

Developers have long used game engines for visualizing virtual worlds for players to explore. However, using real-world data in a game engine is always a challenging task, since most game engines have very little support for geospatial data. This paper presents our findings from exploring the Unity3D game engine for visualizing large-scale topographic data from mixed sources of terrestrial laser scanner models and topographic map data. Level of detail (LOD) 3 3D models of two buildings of the Universitas Gadjah Mada campus were obtained using a terrestrial laser scanner converted into the FBX format. Mapbox for Unity was used to provide georeferencing support for the 3D model. Unity3D also used road and place name layers via Mapbox for Unity based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. LOD1 buildings were modeled from topographic map data using Mapbox, and 3D models from the terrestrial laser scanner replaced two of these buildings. Building information and attributes, as well as visual appearances, were added to 3D features. The Unity3D game engine provides a rich set of libraries and assets for user interactions, and custom C# scripts were used to provide a bird’s-eye-view mode of 3D zoom, pan, and orbital display. In addition to basic 3D navigation tools, a first-person view of the scene was utilized to enable users to gain a walk-through experience while virtually inspecting the objects on the ground. For a fly-through experience, a drone view was offered to help users inspect objects from the air. The result was a multiplatform 3D visualization capable of displaying 3D models in LOD3, as well as providing user interfaces for exploring the scene using “on the ground” and “from the air” types of first person view interactions. Using the Unity3D game engine to visualize mixed sources of topographic data creates many opportunities to optimize large-scale topographic data use.


Author(s):  
Chaitya Vohera ◽  
Heet Chheda ◽  
Dhruveel Chouhan ◽  
Ayush Desai ◽  
Vijal Jain

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 367-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepankar Sharma ◽  
Priya Bhatnagar

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the community development approaches of large-scale mining companies, with particular reference to how they may engender community dependency. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with a review of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the mining industry, corporate community initiatives and the problem of mining dependency at a national, regional and local levels. Findings – It outlines some of the reasons why less-developed countries (LDCs) experience under-development and detrimental effects as a result of their linkages with industrialized countries. LDCs are not able to take advantage of advanced technology and management skills due to being relatively poor in capital and skills, and foreign technologies compete unfairly with and destroy local production techniques, creating a pool of unemployable “marginalized” people. Holder’s of investments in LDCs demand annual returns for continued support – profits are taken out of the country or guaranteed by tax concessions. Unwillingness of foreign firms to train local people to take over management positions. Originality/value – This paper explores how the need to address sustainability issues has affected communities, and whether community development initiatives have been effective in contributing to more sustainable communities.


Author(s):  
José Carlos Paiva ◽  
José Paulo Leal ◽  
Ricardo Alexandre Peixoto de Queirós

This chapter presents the architecture and design of Enki, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for learning programming languages on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This environment can be used as a tool by a Learning Management System (LMS) and a typical LMS such as Moodle can launch it using the Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) API. Student authentication tokens are passed via LTI, thus integrating Enki in the single sign-on domain of the academic institution. The proposed tool has a web user interface similar to those of reference IDEs, where the learner has access to different integrated tools, from viewing tutorial videos, to solving programming exercises that are automatically evaluated. Enki uses several gamification strategies to engage learners, including generic gamifications services provided by Odin and the sequencing of educational resources. The course content (videos, PDFs, programming exercises) is progressively disclosed to the learner as he successfully completes exercises. This is similar to what happens in a game, where new levels are unlocked as the previous are completed, thus contributing to the sense of achievement.


TECHNOLOGOS ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 47-57
Author(s):  
Neroslov Alexey

In 1943, at the height of the Great Patriotic War, the new revolutionary drilling technique with high efficiency was used in Krasnokamsk oilfield of Molotov (Perm) Oblast for the first time in the world – the cluster turbodrilling method. The development of oil industry in Prikamye in the 1940s was associated with certain complications. The main deposits of the Krasnokasmk oilfield discovered before the war turned out to be located due to a number of reasons within the area of industrial and residential construction of the city of Krasnokamsk and under the Kama river and the Paltinskoye swamp close to the city. Conventional drilling methods could not be used for their development. The way out was to use the method of directional drilling that was little known at that moment. The development of the innovative technology in Krasnokamsk oilfield in 1942 was largely due to the involvement of the specialists of the Experimental Turbodrilling Bureau evacuated from Baku. Directional drilling which involved the deviation of the bottom hole (the ultimate lowest point of the well) from the wellhead (the initial uppermost location) by several hundred metres opened up broad opportunities for developing hard-to-recover oil deposits while significantly accelerating and ensuring cost savings of the drilling process. The directional drilling served as the basis for the development in Prikamye of an advanced technology of cluster drilling when several directional wells with different azimuths were drilled from a small well pad. In 1943–1944, cluster drilling was tested and successfully used in Krasnokamsk oilfield. The cluster drilling comprised an entire range of innovative solutions including the movement of assembled drilling rigs without dismantling power equipment. Also, it resulted in the reduction of total labour costs, scope of construction and assembly works, costs of building oilfield roads, power lines and pipelines, and transportation costs. People’s Commissariat of Oil Industry of the USSR initiated a large-scale rollout of the advanced method of cluster drilling in the largest oil-producing regions of the Soviet Union – Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus, and the area of the “second Baku” – Bashkiria, Tatary, and Kuybyshev oblast. The transition to the advanced and cost-saving technology of cluster drilling laid the foundation for the technical and economic revolution of the world drilling practices.


2020 ◽  
pp. 177-192
Author(s):  
Noah Kellman

A game engine streamlines the process of game programming by including an array of built-in features that allow programmers to skip the incredibly difficult step of developing physics from scratch. By using game engines like Unity or Unreal, programmers can use the objects provided by those engines, and with knowledge of how they behave, begin creating a game almost right away. Unity is one of the leading game engines today and is particularly well-loved within the indie game economy because it is free and allows developers to easily integrate their games across multiple platforms. This chapter dives into many different audio features of Unity and how one can use them creatively, including a discussion of all of the audio components available in Unity, as well as the mixing functionality. This builds a foundation for the following chapter, which provides a practical lesson on using programming to design the audio landscape of a game in Unity beyond the limitations of the engine’s built-in functionality.


Author(s):  
Yingxu Wang ◽  
Jian Huang

Software patterns are recognized as an ideal documentation of expert knowledge in software design and development. However, its formal model and semantics have not been generalized and matured. The traditional UML specifications and related formalization efforts cannot capture the essence of generic patterns precisely, understandably, and essentially. A generic mathematical model of patterns is presented in this article using real-time process algebra (RTPA). The formal model of patterns are more readable and highly generic, which can be used as the meta model to denote any design patterns deductively, and can be translated into code in programming languages by supporting tools. This work reveals that a pattern is a highly complicated and dynamic structure for software design encapsulation, because of its complex and flexible internal associations between multiple abstract classes and instantiations. The generic model of patterns is not only applicable to existing patterns’ description and comprehension, but also useful for future patterns’ identification and formalization.


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