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，它在儿童教育中发挥着宝贵的作用。游戏设计师利用不同艺术领域的技巧，如故事叙述、视觉设计和音乐，为玩家创造连贯的动态体验。玩家还需要掌握一些技术技能，如使用脚本语言编程或掌握复杂的关卡编辑工具。然而，要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，以便在开放式的创意过程中工作。这个项目将调查电脑游戏设计的创意阶段，并探讨如何在整个过程中有效地支持年轻的新手设计师。之前的研究已经确定，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，培养故事写作技能和增强他们的自尊。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、反思和自我指导学习。这与其他领域的创造过程理论是一致的。项目的第一阶段将是使用基于设计的研究方法，绘制出电脑游戏创作过程中创意阶段的理论模型，以及这些阶段之间的相互作用。在当地一所学校为期三个月的实地研究中收集的数据将与创造力的理论见解相结合，以进一步了解电脑游戏创作的创作过程，并确定所需的领域和元认知技能。来自实地研究的观察和访谈也将用于确定在创作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现对新手设计师的软件支持。这个软件脚手架，基于前一阶段开发的模型，将被构建到一个名为冒险作者的电脑游戏创作工具中，使10-14岁的孩子能够创建3D电脑游戏。该软件将在项目的最后阶段与另一组新手设计师进行评估。评估将有两个目的：首先评估软件脚手架的有效性并确定未来的改进；其次，完善软件脚手架所依据的理论模型。综上所述，本项目旨在对电脑游戏设计的创作过程进行更深入的理论理解，并利用该模型开发针对新手设计师的软件支持。进一步的目标是通过识别新手游戏设计师所需的领域和元认知技能，帮助理解电脑游戏的教育潜力。

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.