Supporting creativity in computer game authoring

设计电脑游戏是一项复杂而富有挑战性的创造性任务，它可以在儿童教育中发挥宝贵的作用。游戏设计师利用不同艺术领域的技能，如讲故事、视觉设计和音乐，为玩家创造连贯的动态体验。还需要掌握一些技术技能，例如使用脚本语言编程或掌握复杂级别的编辑工具。然而，要想成为一名成功的设计师，新手还必须学习必要的思维(元认知)技能，以便在开放式的创作过程中工作。这个项目将调查电脑游戏设计的创意阶段，并探索如何在整个过程中有效地支持年轻的新手设计师。之前的研究已经发现，电脑游戏创作在教育背景下具有潜力，例如，通过向儿童介绍计算机编程，发展故事写作技能，以及通过增强他们的自尊。初步研究结果表明，游戏设计任务也可能培养元认知技能，如计划、反思和自我定向学习。这与其他领域的创作过程理论是一致的。该项目的第一阶段将使用基于设计的研究方法，制定一个理论上知情的模型，说明电脑游戏创作过程中涉及的创作阶段，以及这些阶段之间的相互作用。在三个月的时间里，从当地一所学校的实地考察中收集的数据将与对创造力的理论洞察相结合，以进一步了解电脑游戏创作的创造性过程，并确定所需的领域和元认知技能。实地研究的观察和访谈也将被用来确定在创意过程的不同阶段支持新手设计师的有效策略。在项目的下一阶段，将使用以学习者为中心的设计方法来设计和实施为新手设计师提供的软件支持。这个基于前一阶段开发的模型的软件脚手架将被构建到一个名为Adenture Author的计算机游戏创作工具中，该工具使10-14岁的儿童能够创建3D计算机游戏。该软件将在项目的最后阶段与另一组新手设计师一起进行评估。评估将有两个目标：一是评估软件脚手架的效果并确定未来的改进方向；二是提炼软件脚手架所基于的理论模型。最后，本项目旨在加深对计算机游戏设计创意过程的理论理解，利用该模型为新手设计者开发软件支持。另一个目的是通过确定新手游戏设计者所需的领域和元认知技能来帮助理解计算机游戏的教育潜力。

Designing a computer game is a complex and challenging creative task which can play a valuable role in children's education. Game designers draw on skills from different artistic domains such as storytelling, visual design and music to create a coherent dynamic experience for the player. There are also a number of technical skills to be acquired such as programming with a scripting language or mastering complex level editing tools. To be a successful designer, however, the novice must also learn the necessary thinking (meta-cognitive) skills to work within an open ended creative process. This project will investigate the creative stages of computer game design, and explore how young novice designers can be effectively supported throughout this process. Previous research has identified that computer game authoring has potential in an educational context, for example by introducing children to computer programming, developing story writing skills and by bolstering their self esteem. The findings from preliminary studies suggest that game design tasks may also foster meta-cognitive skills such as planning, reflection and self directed learning. This is consistent with theories of the creative process in other domains.The first stage in the project will be to use a design-based research methodology to map out a theoretically informed model of the creative stages involved in the computer game authoring process, and the interplay between these stages. Data gathered from a field study in a local school over a period of three months will be integrated with theoretical insight into creativity to further understanding of the creative process of computer game authoring and identify the required domain and meta-cognitive skills. Observations and interviews from the field study will also be used to identify effective strategies for supporting novice designers during different stages of the creative process.In the next phase of the project, a learner centred design methodology will be used to design and implement software support for novice designers. This software scaffolding, based on the model developed in the previous stage, will be built into a computer game authoring tool called Adventure Author which enables 10-14 year children to create 3D computer games. The software will be evaluated during the final phase of the project with another group of novice designers. The evaluation will have two aims: firstly to assess the efficacy of the software scaffolding and identify improvements for the future; and secondly to refine the theoretical model on which the software scaffolding is based.In conclusion, this project aims to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of the creative process of computer game design, using this model to develop software support for novice designers. A further aim is to contribute to an understanding of the educational potential of computer games by identifying the domain and meta-cognitive skills which are required by novice game designers.