Music As a Fundamental Element of Gameplay Interaction

Music is a fundamental part of human culture and day-to-day lives, but largely exists only as an accent in modern games. While arguably music can deepen and intensify in-game experiences, music is rarely an integrated part of the available mechanics in game worlds. Unlike any other MMORPG or music-based game currently available, this project will look at the social and communicative elements of music that can be leveraged in game as a social network and primary game mechanic. This will involve research into interaction science, drawing from current psychological and cognitive science research in how people play, interact, as well as how people respond to music. For the industry partner, this internship contributes towards its re-imagination of the MMORPG genre through musical gameplay.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Richard Smith

Student:

Kai Ting Yen & Teng Lyu

Partner:

String Theory Entertainment

Discipline:

Interactive arts and technology

Sector:

Digital media

University:

Simon Fraser University