1. Senior Project – Computer Science – 2015 Effect of Display Size on a Player’s Situational Awareness in Real-Time Strategy Games Peter Miralles Advisor – Prof. Fernandes Times New Roman – pt 99 Times New Roman – pt 82 Times New Roman – pt 74 Times New Roman – pt 66 Times New Roman – pt 58 Times New Roman – pt 49 Times New Roman – pt 41 Times New Roman – pt 37 Times New Roman – pt 33 Font Arial – pt 132 Font Arial – pt 115 Font Arial – pt 99 Font Arial – pt 82 BOLD Font Arial – pt 74 Font Arial – pt 66 Font Arial – pt 58 Font Arial – pt 49 Font Arial – pt 41Font Arial – pt 41 Font Arial – pt 33 Note these color combinations are hard to read – ALL BOLD Font Arial – pt 99 Font Arial – pt 82 Font Arial – pt 74 Font Arial – pt 66 Font Arial – pt 58 Font Arial – pt 49 Font Arial – pt 41 Font Arial – pt 33 First a few DOs: Consult with your advisor about the appearance and content Use a portrait layout for your poster because of the orientation of the hallway poster boards Under "Page Setup" set the PowerPoint slide size to be 33 x 44 inches Use areas of color for visual separation and emphasis Use contrast between text and background – but certain color combinations are difficult to read Properly credit with a small font size any image or graph or text that is not your own work Now a few DON'Ts: Do not create a solid color background for the entire poster - it uses too much ink to print Do not use too many different fonts - it's too distracting to read Do not use your individual PowerPoint slides from your presentation - the poster is a different form of communication Poster info site: http://orzo.union.edu/poster To get your POSTER printed email it to Tom, Stan, or Gene, depending on your department, at least 48 hours before your presentation Design your Poster inside this frame and then remove it at the end. This poster is setup as: PORTRAIT 33w x 44h Font sizes are based on that setup size. Get a copy of this file from the Poster Info site. Introduction If someone were to use a computer for everyday use such as checking email or writing papers or similar tasks they would do well to have a large display. They would be able to spread out their work so that they could see all of it at once instead of needing to switch between various pages. It is also easy to take whatever they are focusing on and put it in the middle of the display where it is easier to focus on it. There also is very little penalty for taking slightly longer to determine what information is needed at any given time. This however is not the case when it comes to video games where almost none of these traits hold true. What is a Real-Time Strategy game In a real-time strategy game the player controls an army which consists of small characters the player controls called units. In addition to controlling the units the player must also keep track of the terrain and various resources which allow for the creation of more units or upgrading units to make them stronger. Situational awareness Situational awareness refers to a player’s ability to quickly retrieve Information, along with their ability to know what is the most important thing to do at any given time. The ability to retrieve information quickly and knowing as much about the game at any given moment while playing a video game is critical. How to test Situational Awareness Participants are given a situation in which there are multiple pieces of information that are spread across the screen that can be used to determine what the most important thing to do at the moment is. One piece of information they will want to keep track of is how much health units have left and if an enemy that is approaching has an advantage over individual units and if they should be repositioned. Results \ Wave 2 3 4 Vital information There are rocket attacking the Tank unit There are rockets and you are being attacked off screen You are being attacked off screen How many noticed the information How many didn’t notice this information Results Important information boxed in blue Validity Threats Small sample size Units have difficulty pathfinding when bunched together Computer used had difficulty running the game Only one participant had any experience with the game Units AI didn’t always behave the same way WaveVital InformationHow many subjects noticed the information How many subjects didn’t notice the information 2There are rocket units attacking the your tank unit Large- 0 Small- 1 Large- 4 Small- 2 3There are rockets attacking your tank unit and you are being attacked off screen Large- 2 Small- 3 Large- 2 Small- 0 4You are being attacked off screen Large- 3 Small- 1 Large- 1 Small- 2