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Outside
Inside Nest
Find Food
Pick up Food: 3
Find Spider
Run Away: 5
Triggers Urges (and
Weights)
Resulting Urge
Pick up Food: 1
Pick up Food: -3 Pick up Food: -3
Pick up Food: -2
Resulting Urge
Figure 7: A negative urge results in desired behavior.
This system of triggers and overlapping positive and negative urges allows the player to
quickly establish a robust system of urges based on many triggers at once. Since clicking on an
ant will select all of that ant’s active triggers, the player is able to create basic patterns of AI in
relatively few clicks, and refine them later using the more precise icon interface.
The Game Design Process
Adaptation From Biology
Leafcutters was designed as an adaptation of a natural system into a game system. The
game system is as true to biology as possible, with necessary simplifications and omissions. By
maintaining a depth of accurate content, the game is designed to inspire the player to engage with
and explore the subject matter.
Game design began with research into ant biology. The system of castes, urges, and
triggers is inspired by Wilson and Hölldobler’s descriptions of ant castes, tasks, and roles, in
which they go so far as to divide worker behavior into 29 discrete tasks, from which emerge the
entire behavior of the colony.48 Wilson and Hölldobler write that the emergent behavior of an ant
26
48 Hölldobler, Bert, and Wilson, Edward O. The Ants. Belknap Press, 1990. 299. Print.
Object Description
| Title | Leafcutters: life simulation gameplay designed to evoke engagement with real-world subject matter |
| Author | Graner, William B. |
| Author email | granerw@gmail.com; bill@bgraner.com |
| Degree | Master of Fine Arts |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Interactive Media |
| School | School of Cinematic Arts |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05-05 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-05 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Gibson, Jeremy |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Fullerton, Tracy Anderson, Steven F. |
| Abstract | Leafcutters is a life simulation game about leafcutting ants which is designed to evoke engagement with real world subject matter. In this game, players shape the behaviors of a colony of ants in order to establish complex behaviors such as foraging and fungus farming. The game system in Leafcutters is adapted from existing biological research on ants, with an emphasis on the accurate adaptation of a natural system into a game system. This project draws on previous works in artificial life, life simulation games, swarm games, virtual pets, and virtual ants. Leafcutters is a work of expressive AI, an evocative knowledge object, and an educational game. |
| Keyword | simulation game; evocative knowledge object; educational game; video game |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3919 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Graner, William B. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Graner-4578 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Graner-4578.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 31 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | Outside Inside Nest Find Food Pick up Food: 3 Find Spider Run Away: 5 Triggers Urges (and Weights) Resulting Urge Pick up Food: 1 Pick up Food: -3 Pick up Food: -3 Pick up Food: -2 Resulting Urge Figure 7: A negative urge results in desired behavior. This system of triggers and overlapping positive and negative urges allows the player to quickly establish a robust system of urges based on many triggers at once. Since clicking on an ant will select all of that ant’s active triggers, the player is able to create basic patterns of AI in relatively few clicks, and refine them later using the more precise icon interface. The Game Design Process Adaptation From Biology Leafcutters was designed as an adaptation of a natural system into a game system. The game system is as true to biology as possible, with necessary simplifications and omissions. By maintaining a depth of accurate content, the game is designed to inspire the player to engage with and explore the subject matter. Game design began with research into ant biology. The system of castes, urges, and triggers is inspired by Wilson and Hölldobler’s descriptions of ant castes, tasks, and roles, in which they go so far as to divide worker behavior into 29 discrete tasks, from which emerge the entire behavior of the colony.48 Wilson and Hölldobler write that the emergent behavior of an ant 26 48 Hölldobler, Bert, and Wilson, Edward O. The Ants. Belknap Press, 1990. 299. Print. |
