Impression curve as a new tool in the study of visual diversity of computer game levels for individual phases of the design process

Abstract

Impression curve is a widely used method in urban and landscape design to assess visual diversity of the space. In these studies, the method is applied for game level design. The goal of conducted research was the analysis of space perception in successive design phases related to the process of game environment formation. Next steps of the design process define the space burdened with more and more information. It aims to evaluate if initial assumptions, made by a designer at the beginning of the designing process, are maintained with the increase in the number of details and the content of locations. These studies are also a background for research in automation of visual diversity assessment. This, in turn, is related to making a player focused and interested during a gameplay, by the means of space defining an action scene. By applying a method from domain of urban planning and architecture in human-computer interaction (HCI) studies related to virtual space, we show that both - defining the surroundings and its impact on recipient - are subject to the same rules in either case.