jadeatyonsei

[jadeatyonsei]

User Action Framework in Chronicle of Infinity

Emotional affordance

The first thing that came to my mind is what happens right after we win a fight with a monster in my game (just to remind you, I’ve been playing Chronicle of Infinity on my phone). We are shown a screen with our stats from the fight and are given 1 to 3 stars for our performance. We can also see our EXP go up, which is especially exciting when we are close to going up a level. Below that, the goods and artefacts we obtained are displayed. Most importantly, we can see our character show up with a powerful pose and an ethereal aura. It makes us feel happy and invincible having won another fight, and just generally gives us a feeling of being very cool. This encourages us - or at least me - to continue playing the game, since we are interested to see how our character progresses and changes with further accomplishments. To wrap it all up, the design of the post-fight compilation in my game is an example of an emotional affordance that leads the player to have a positive emotional response.

Stages-Of Action Model

I will explain the how the model is employed in a typical single-player fight in my game.

First, we perceive the state of the world: we see what ground we are fighting on and who our enemies are, we see how many of them there are and what additional obstructions we are facing (e.g. poisonous flowers). We can also see that we bested the enemies after they fall to the ground or flee the battlefield. 

Then, we interpret this perception: We can see whether our strikes hit the enemy by seeing their stamina bar drop or seeing them fall. We can also see that our shot missed if the strike graphic omits the monsters.

Next, we evaluate these interpretations: While fighting, we can see whether our initial assumptions about the strength of the monsters, our skills and the aim of the battle was correct. If it is not - for example if the enemy turns out to be stronger than we had anticipated - then we need to reevaluate our plan of action. We can for instance employ more defensive tactics to regain stamina. 

After this mental evaluation is done, we can turn to executing our plan to meet the goals we came up with based on the information we got from the game. To achieve the goal - which here is to get rid of the boss that appears at the end of the game to progress to the next stage of the game - we form individual intentions to act to continuously shoot the enemies with our chosen attack methods. This is strictly related to specifying the action sequence. Right before we execute it, we plan in our head how we will move around the enemy and how we will combine our attack methods to get rid of the enemy as fast as possible. As the last step, we execute our plan: with our right hand we click on the buttons with the appropriate attacks and with our left hand we move the character on the screen.

Interaction cycle of the UAF

Now to translate the stages-of action model into the interaction cycle of the UAF:

We start with the assessment of the situation: we start to move around on the battlefield and see what the world responds with. More enemies start to show up so we start to fight with them, interpreting it as the goal of the game. 

This leads us to the planning phase: we realise that our goal is to kill all of the enemies and reclaim the stolen land and goods in order to proceed in the game level. 

We keep these goals in mind and translate our plans into actions. Based on the knowledge we’ve gained playing the game, we plan how we will attack the monsters, how best to dodge the attacks and how to time our strikes so that they can renew in regular intervals. We also plan our attacks to not give the enemy time to attack us.

Having this in mind, we perform the physical actions by pressing on the screen in the right places and steering the character

Outcomes: Visual and auditory cues (enemies falling to the ground, their health bar turning red, fight sounds) inform us that our actions are successful. Finally, gold spreads around us to pick it up and the fight stats shop up on the next screen to give us feedback on out performance. 

[jadeatyonsei]

Mental Model Studies in Chronicle of Infinity

The Gap of Mental Models

As you know, I have recently been playing the game “Chronicle of Infinity”. Since I never play video games, I am not used to their laws and rules. I am a complete beginner when it comes to games involving combat and complex stories, especially those accessed through a phone app. I was positively surprised to see that COI is a game for beginner and advanced players alike. The developers provide us with small tutorials on how to progress in the game. New things are emphasised using pulsing colours, arrows or red dots in the upper right corner.

One thing I wish had been implemented is a map of the world we move around in. The game takes place in some sort of futuristic palace, in between fights we move around it to talk with different people and get new missions. The map is not too big, but whenever my task is to talk to a specific character I find it difficult to get my bearings and head in the correct direction. I know that the developers have very little space to fit all the important things in, since the game is played on a phone. Despite that, I wish that they had provided us with a map of the world containing the locations of key characters and places. To get around this problem, I use the auto play mode to finish my task faster. It’s an easy way to solve this problem, but the game would be more interactive for me if I could move around on my own. 

Game Metaphors

User Interface: There are several ways in which we can access the game functions and gain information about our character. During fights, a health bar is a metaphor for how much power our character has left. In the bottom of the screen, we can also find an experience bar which shows how far we are from obtaining the next level. In the character description we can also find information about our attack and defence stats which simulate the skill levels our character would have in real life. Separate tabs are made for our role (which contains the information about our character and serves as their description), our backpack (which serves as a storage space for the artefacts we collected), our skills and gear. 

Interactions: The left part of the screen is used to move the character on the map, while the right side is used to pick attack methods during a fight. We get to choose from 4 attack methods during the fight, which symbolises actual attack tactics in real life. Upgrading skills and gear is a metaphor for getting additional training and putting on stronger armour, we get to do it with every level we obtain. 

Communication: Communication with NCPs is done through a predetermined script that we don’t get to influence. When we interact with them, text is shown in the bottom of the screen to imitate a real-life conversation. The characters don’t make gestures or move their mouths to simulate talking. During fights, the “final bosses” sometimes say something to my character. In those cases actual voice recordings are played. When it comes to interactions with other players, local and global voice chats are available. It is also possible to message somebody privately and add friends. System messages are displayed at the bottom of the screen and important information regarding what is happening in the game world shows up as banners in the middle of the screen.

Sketching UX

The first thing I would implement is adding a map as one of the tabs on the main screen. On it, the characters we interact with should be visible and the general outline of our world should be seen with a dot indicating our current position. This would help players who are new to the game find the important NPCs and feel more confident when playing the game. I would also improve the interactions with the NPCs by adding voice recordings for different characters and allowing us to pick between different response options every once in a while. The voice recordings could be turned off easily in the settings. 

I would also allow for steering the character using both sides of the screen. As a right-handed person I find it a bit counter-intuitive to use my left hand to operate the character, and I think adding this option when we’re not in fight mode would be beneficial to the game.

[jadeatyonsei]

3 days in Chronicle of Infinity!

Hi again!

I’ve been playing this game called Chronicle of Infinity on my phone. I could pick from 3 types of characters and then personalise them when it comes to the hairstyle, face characteristics and makeup. My character is called Jade and she’s an Oathsworn. She has two long ponytails, blue eyes and a magical pattern on her forehead. 

The game is set in a fantasy world where we can interact with other players in real time. We are part of the Astral Alliance fighting against the Obsidian Army which is attacking the universe. Jade is tasked with protecting the galaxy from evil, although she has just started this job she is a fast learner. She is sent on missions to neutralise evil forces, rescue allies or get back valuable artefacts. The game consists of a lot of conversations with sages and scholars which guide us through the experience. One of them went like this:

Urken the Hammer of Light: We meet again, Oathsworn. Looks like you're in need of my assistance once more.

Jade: Yes, Urken. I'd like you to teach me how to augment my gear.

U: Yes, you've grown much stronger, which calls for augmented gear. Come, I'll teach you how to augment your gear.

…

J: I feel invincible right now!

U: Remember, gear is like your closest companion. Only when your gear grow with you can you wield ever greater power. The Corrupted Crystals are right in front of you. You must destroy it to save Astrapolis from the crisis. Go on, Oathsworn. You're now much stronger than before!

So far I have been enjoying the game, but as a beginner gamer it’s taking me a lot of time to get my bearings in the universe. I have already reached level 9 and accumulated lots of very cool-looking gear. 

Here you can see some photos from the game: https://flic.kr/ps/453GAo

[jadeatyonsei]

My favorite photos!

[jadeatyonsei]

#1 blog post

Hi everyone! Welcome to my brand-new blog. My name is Jade and I am currently doing my semester abroad at Yonsei University in South Korea. In my first post I wanted to tell you more about what kind of person I am and what I’m looking forward to in the future.

First things first, let me give you a quick backstory about who I am and what got me here. I was born in the south of Poland in a tiny countryside. I lived there up until I finished high school and moved to Austria to attend university there, where I am part of an English-taught program “Business and Economics” at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. I am currently in my 3rd and final year of university and after my adventure in Korea I will be left with writing my bachelor thesis. For my master’s degree I would love to switch fields and learn more about Computer Science, AI or related topics and move to a new country to do that. Studying abroad has been my dream ever since I can remember. I first heard of Yonsei when I was about 15 years old, and never in my life did I expect to end up being an exchange student here. I studied hard all of my teenage years to get into an international university, making sure to take part in school contests and get the best grades possible. I am really happy that every day I get to fulfill my dream and I hope I can get the most out of this experience.

Now that you know a bit about me let me tell you about some things I love. As a kid I was always told that I’m good with languages – I suppose that’s what sparked my interest in them in the first place. Apart from speaking English and Polish, I also know German and a fair bit of Korean. Once I feel confident with my command of those, I want to return to learning Spanish and Ukrainian, since I���d like to be able to speak six languages. Other than that, I love learning about other cultures – either through travelling, watching travel vlogs on Youtube, cultural exchange with other foreigners or trying out new cuisines. I also experience cultures by reading books, which is another thing I love. Given enough time, I would read pretty much any book – I read nonfiction, fantasy, contemporary romance novels and comic books alike. Right now, I’m finishing “The Poppy War” trilogy by R. F. Kuang and I absolutely love it! I am also a big fan of taking walks – ideally, I would take an hourly walk every day in a different part of the city. In this regard living in Seoul is perfect for me, since I can explore new streets and parks all the time and build my stamina by walking up all of the city’s hills. Nowadays you will often catch me at the Han riverside, on Ansan or in the various parks. I also love watching movies and series, either with my friends or by myself. In another life I would love to attend film school to learn about the intricacies of filmmaking, but I try to compensate with watching behind-the-scenes content and informational videos with directors and other professionals. Among my favorite movies are “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, “Talented Mr. Ripley” or “Little Women”, while my favorite series are “Blue Eye Samurai”, “Arcane” and “Interview with the Vampire”.

I want to share with you some dreams and aspirations of mine. I am currently in the process of exploring my fashion style, and I love seeing others express themselves with clothes. In the future I would love to attend a professional fashion show – the brand doesn’t matter to me as long as I can enjoy the atmosphere and gather inspiration. In Seoul, I want to check out smaller Korean brands and expand my jewelry collection with unique pieces. My longstanding dream is travelling all around the world. This is the first time I’m travelling outside of Europe, and I hope that I can continue doing it in the future. While I’m here I want to visit other Asian countries, but I want to continue learning about the world all throughout my life. When it comes to my career goals, I dream of running my own business and being financially independent. I hope the rest of this year inspires me to create something great and allows me to improve the skills that will be necessary to achieve that.

This is precisely why I decided to take the course “Research Methods in Cognitive Science: Human-Computer Interaction in the Post-LLM Era”. At my university I specialize in Data Science, and I wanted to get more practical knowledge when it comes to developing models and apps and understanding the user’s perspective. I am also taking the course “Introduction to Computer Graphics” and I hope that the two will complement each other well. I am looking forward to learning how to create a satisfying experience for users, how to understand them better to know what their needs and wants are. Digital media strategy is a field which requires staying on top of the current trends and developments, and I’m excited to learn about them in class and get inspired to conduct individual research and delve deeper into topics especially relevant for my future education. If I decide to open my own business, I would like to learn what I should pay special attention to and how to approach this process from a strategic standpoint.

That’s it from me today! I am looking forward to connecting with like-minded people while I’m here in Seoul and making memories for my entire life. If you want to follow me on this journey, make sure to check this blog often!

Until the next time,

Jade.