NCAlt: Alternatives and Difference Visualizations for Behavior Trees in Game Development Learning-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

NCAlt: Alternatives and Difference Visualizations for Behavior Trees in Game Development Learning

Published:2022-10-25 Issue:CHI PLAY Volume:6 Page:1-31
ISSN:2573-0142
Container-title:Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
language:en
Short-container-title:Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.

Author:

Hossain Md. Yousuf¹,Zaman Loutfouz¹

Affiliation:

1. Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON, Canada

Abstract

When learning how to develop AI behavior it is common for students to test different ideas before settling on a desired outcome. This functionality is not available in modern behavior tree systems beyond the traditional methods of duplication and conditional execution. We present NCAlt - a visual behavior authoring framework for exploring multiple game AI behaviors. The system also allows selective merging of nodes between multiple behavior tree alternatives and their visual differencing in the game scene and behavior tree views. We present two worked examples which demonstrate how NCAlt can improve the workflow of game development students. We have conducted a user study where NCAlt was compared against NodeCanvas for creating and using alternatives with moderately skilled game development students. Participants rated NCAlt 15% higher than NodeCanvas on the System Usability Scale (SUS). NCAlt was also rated higher on a self-developed questionnaire. We also conducted a semi-structured interview and a detailed longitudinal follow-up and obtained mostly positive feedback for NCAlt. The results suggest NCAlt has a potential to improve the types of workflows with behavior trees that involve exploration for game development students and facilitate learning, as a result. NCAlt was built on top of NodeCanvas - a plugin for the Unity Engine.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Subject

Computer Networks and Communications,Human-Computer Interaction,Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Link

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3549508

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