Serious games can be effectively applied for learning purposes aiming at facilitating technology-enhanced education. In order to apply game-based learning for various curriculums in an easy and straightforward way, educators and pedagogues need software platforms for automatized construction and flexible personalization of such games. This speech presents an open software solution being under construction at Sofia University in the scope of the APOGEE research project. The solution is built on the Unity 3D platform and is specially designed for specification, automatic generation and easy personalization of educational video games based on mazes. Thanks to the personalization of didactic content and to the various mini-games being able to be embedded into any maze room, the educators and other non-ICT practitioners can easily intend to apply different learning scenarios using the generated maze game tailored to the age, gender, learning style, and outcomes of the individual student. There will be presented the process of construction of smart and personalizable 3D video maze games with intelligent virtual players, together with the components of the APOGEE software platform. The talk is going to include demonstrations of two experimental video maze games generated by the first prototype of the platform and used for its validation - one about the development of the carpet handicraft in Bulgaria, and the other about the Bulgarian medieval history. The initial results acquired from these experiments are very positive and encouraging with regard to the usability of the APOGEE platform by domain specialists who are not IT professionals.

1. 15th International Conference on
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES (EDUTE'19)
Towards an Automatized Construction
of Personalizable Video Games
for Education
Boyan Bontchev
Department of Software Engineering,
Fac. of Math. and Informatics,
Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria
May 27, Rome, Italy
http://wseas.org/cms.action?id=19211

2. Computer games as a new media
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 2Credits:
Hitbox Team

3. Computer
games
Video
games
Computer video games
Text
games
3
APOGEE
Audio
games
COMPUTER
VIDEO
GAMES
Tablet
games
TV/Console
games
Web
games
Handheld
games
Construction of Personalizable Video Games

4. Construction of Personalizable Video Games
4
Entertainment games
APOGEE

5. APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 5
Serious Games (SG)
Digital interactive applications that allow users to make
specific experiences that promote active and experiential paths
of learning in various domain of human existence,
 through virtual/augmented simulations
 through ludic and playing formats
“A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a
primary purpose other than pure entertainment” (Abt, 1970)
“A serious game is a digital game in which education is the
primary goal, rather than entertainment” (Micheal & Chen, 2006)
SG enable self-controlled, active and playfully learning
5

6. The three kernels of SG design
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 6Source: Serious Games for education and
training, Alessandro De Gloria et al., 2014
Theory Contents
Game design
Pedagogy
Cognition
Psychology
Flow/presence
Perception
Behaviour
Learning
Leaning domains:
Geography
History
Mathematics
Physics
Languages
….
HCI Goals A/V (audio/video)
Storytelling Rules 2D/3D graphics
AI Levels Programming
Our
focus?
Personali-
zation +
Adaptation

7. Personalizable Video Games for Education
Personalization in educational games:
 directed to the instructional design and learning
contents
 learners understands how they learn best so
they can co-designing their learning goals along
with the teacher
 the instruction is focused on learning goals
 the didactic content is tailored to learning needs
and preferences
Personalization leads to:
 games conformed to the specific interests and
needs of different individual learnersAPOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 7

8. The Personalization Model
08/07/2016
Player-centric parsonalization of video games for education
(Terzieva and Bontchev, 2019)
8
Laerning content
Learner
Learning style metrics
Learning styles
Learning
performance
and efficiency
(solved tasks, grades,
and gained
knowledge)
Preferences
(age, goals, needs,
and initial
knowledge)

9. Adaptable Video Games for Education
Adaptation in educational games:
 directed to dynamic changes the gameplay
according to the player/learner model
 the tasks’ difficulty and other game features are
tailored to the changes of the properties of the
individual player
Adaptation leads to:
 games conformed to the specific dynamic
changes of different individual players
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 9

10. The Adaptation Model
APOGEE
Player-centric adaptation of video games for education
(Bontchev, 2016)
10
Game dynamics
Player
Player style metrics
Playing styles
Playing
performance
and efficiency
(abilities, skills
and knowledge)
Emotions
(flow, immersion &
intrinsic
motivation)

11. Workflow of emotion-based
game dynamic adaptation control
APOGEE
(Bontchev, 2016)
11
Implicit
Emotional
Indicators
(via sensors &
other devices)
Facial expr.
EDA
Heart Rhythm
ECG
EEG
Pressure
…
Change
Procedures
Time
Velocity
Acceleration
Route
Size
Defeat range
Luminosity
Contrast
…
Real-Time
Explicit
Player
Feedback
through
Adaptation
Control Panel
Analysis
Change
Visuali-
zation
Triggering
Events
on Behavior
Templates

12. Serious Problems with the Serious games
 Higher development cost
 Lower attractiveness compared to entertainment games
 Transition between instructional design and actual game
design implementation - how Game Mechanics impact
and interact with the Learning Mechanics
 Assessment - effectively tracking and analyzing of the
right parameters related to learners’ progress
(knowledge gain, reflection and application)
 How psychological theories should be used in the design
of realistic and convincing NPCs?
 How different pedagogical paradigms relate to SG and
SG mechanics - reference framework needed!
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 12
D1.6 GALA Roadmap 2, Nov. 2011

13. The greater challenges:
 Higher development cost …
and, on the other side,
 … lack of enough free and customizable platforms
for automatic creation of serious games …
are addressed by the APOGEE project (2018 -2020)
funded by the Bulgarian Fund of Scientific Research
and aiming at creation and practical validation of
an innovative open software platform for creation of
smArt adaPtive videO GamEs for Education
(APOGEE).
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 13
http://www.apogee.online/

14. The APOGEE Project: Goals 1/2
 construction, automatic generation and
customization of educational video games based on
formal descriptive model including semantic
structuring of both game and didactic content – this
ambitious issue addresses the current lack of such platforms
and tools in global aspect. Especially for a effective usage of
the platform, a methodology will be created for facilitating
non-IT professionals in creation of video games for
education;
 dynamic adaptation of features of created
educational video games according to outcomes,
arousal and emotional state of the individual player
– the platform will allow game rules, dynamics and audio-
visual effects to be tailored to the changes in the player
model inferred in an implicit way at run time;
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 14

15. The APOGEE Project: Goals 2/2
 3D virtual players in the game (so called non-
player characters, or NPCs) will apply intelligent
agents answering player questions using
knowledge and facts extracted from lexical corpuses
with didactic contents as learn books and Web pages;
 the validation of both the methodology and
platform for creation of smart adaptive video
games will make use of practical experiments
with construction of games for education in
Bulgarian medieval history by educationalists and
teachers, for assessing the usability of the game platform
in terms of being used by non-IT professionals and, on the
other hand, playability and learnability of the smart
adaptive video games constructed by the platform.
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 15

16. What type of educational games will be
generated? 1/2
Our choice – educational labyrinths (mazes), because:
 Mazes are broadly used in entertainment games and that
makes them very appropriate for interactive
representation of content, like virtual museums and other
interactive environments
 Mazes can be used in various 3D role-playing action/
adventure games applied to specific scientific or cultural
domain - the player explores the educational content in
the maze and moves from one place to another by:
 choosing one of the several options for an action
 solving didactic tasks located in maze rooms
 Mazes are good for procedural content generation
 Maze graph, nodes, tasks, audio, etc… - in an XML doc
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 16

17. What type of educational games will be
generated? 2/2
 Furthermore, mazes can be enriched with board/logic/
word games such as quizzes, puzzles, or other mini-
games situated at appropriated places into the labyrinth
that makes them suitable for game-based learning in any
learning domain
 The connecting graph of the labyrinth is to be designed
by the educator, according a given learning curriculum,
i.e. aligned with pedagogical goals and methods
 Good for personalization and adaptation - while passing
from a room to another, the player has solve additional
didactic tasks appropriate to his/her current knowledge
and outcomes
 Mazes may have intelligent NPC for tutoring/helping the
learnerAPOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 17

18. Existing platforms for automatic creation of
serious games
Criteria/
Solution Quandary Qedoc Quiz
Maker ADAPTIMES Maze Builder
Distribution Web Desktop Desktop Desktop/Web/
Mobile/Console
Type 2D 2D 3D 3D
Game platform None None None Unity 3D
Programming
language None None Python C#
Learning
resources
slides, test
questions
slides, test
questions,
learning games
slides, test
questions,
arranging images
slides, test
questions,
arranging 3D
objects, hidden 3D
objects
Customization
images,
music,
video, font
images, font,
sound effects Textures, rooms Textures, images,
music
Open code No No Yes Yes
Price Free Free Licensed Free
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 18

19. Manually
created XML
document +
audio/video
content
Unity3D API
Unity3D Game
Editor
Didactic
game tasks
Maze Builder Online games
Unity3D game
engine
(browser plugin)
Game
managers
3D maze
Maze Builder: the APOGEE platform for
construction of 3D online video games for
education – the current version
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 19

20. Note: blocks in dotted line are under construction
Textual content
Graphics
Audio content
Generated
XML +
multi-
media
content
Unity3D API
Unity3D Editor
Didactic
game tasks
Metadata
(XSD)
Connectivity
Editor
Didactic tasks
Property Editor
Maze Editor Maze Builder
Virtual
players
Intelligent Q&A
agents
Online games
Unity3D game
engine
(browser plugin)
Personalisation
and adaptation
Virtual players
3D maze
Maze Builder: the APOGEE process for
construction of rich 3D maze games for
education
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 20
Automatic
game
generation

21. Games Construction
Smart Services
Game Creator
User Management
Authentication
User Profile
Learner Profile
Player Profile
Asset ManagerMaze Editor
Maze Validator
XML Builder
Maze Creator
Game Builder
Play Games
Learning Analytics
Gaming Analytics
XSD XML Unity
Project
Files
Unity
Game
Files
Asset
DB
Game
DB
User
DB
Game Player
Presentation Layer
User Analytics

22. Timings in the game creation
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 22
Unity 3D
Game Platform
Maze Builder
Custom
Package
XML Maze
Description
Game Assets
(text, images,
audio)
3D
Maze
3D Maze
Game
Read
Import
Generate
Build
Import
Arrange
4 min
2 weeks
5 min
4 days 2 s
20 s
4 h
12 min
Shown timing are for
creating a six room
maze game

23. Importing the Maze Builder package in Unity 3D
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 23

24. After the import: Custom panel of the
Maze Builder platform in the Unity editor
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 24

25. A Sample XML maze description
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 25

26. The maze is generated just after the XML
import
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 26

27. Example 1: Educational 3D Maze Games
for Carpet Handicraft in Bulgaria
 Target: vocational training and education in Bulgarian
ethnography
 Focus: the game is dedicated to the fabrication of carpets in
Bulgaria since 17th century to the present times
 Maze connectivity graph: six halls interconnected by doors
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 27
RoomCenter
Intro
RoomNorthWest
Tciprovtzi - 2
RoomWest
Tciprovtzi - 1
RoomEast
Kotel - 1
RoomNorth
Sliven
RoomNorthEast
Kotel 2DoorE
DoorE
DoorW
DoorW
DoorS
DoorNDoorN

28. RoomCenter
Intro
RoomNorthW
est
Tciprovtzi - 2
RoomWest
Tciprovtzi - 1
RoomEast
Kotel - 1
RoomNorth
Sliven
RoomNorthE
ast
Kotel 2
DoorE
DoorE
DoorW
DoorW
DoorS
DoorNDoorN
The maze from top camera view in Unity
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 28

29. A screenshot of the initial view of the
game (the central room)
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 29

30. Current types of didactic game tasks
1. Answering a question for unlocking a door to
another room
2. Rolling balls marked with given content to
specific positions on the floor map
3. Rolling balls marked with given content to
specific rings on the floor
4. Finding/discovering hidden semi-transparant
objects and gaining points
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 30

31. Answering the question for unlocking the
door to the west room
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 31

32. Rolling a ball to the location of the town of
Tsiprovtsi
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 32

33. A game task for rolling three balls (right) to
their correspondent rings (left)
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 33

34. Finding a semitransparent hidden object
(in this case, hanging from the top)
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 34

35. A view of a sample generated game
(http://adaptimes.eu/carpetgame/)
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 35

36. Example 2: a historical game
Asenetsi (a game about the medieval history of the
Bulgarian Kingdom in 12-13 century) -
http://apogee.online/games-en.html
APOGEE
Construction of Personalizable Video Games
36

37. Video
Asenevci (an educational video game
generated by the APOGEE platform), with
subtitles in English
https://youtu.be/mI9NwiZOrB0
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 37

38. Didactic game tasks under development
 Answering several questions (a quiz) about the didactic
content presented in the hall;
 Arranging a 2D puzzle (generated from an image);
 Solving a ‘word soup’ puzzle (searching specific words in
rows, columns, or diagonals) – in all directions;
 Detection of invisible objects hidden in larger visible
objects by moving the large objects;
 Ordering and classification of found objects by specific
feature;
 Memory development game – the player has to
remember and match equal images or texts;
 Shooting on moving objects (e.g. balloons with a 3D
didactic object attached to them).
APOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 38

39. Towards an online game generation platform
of intelligent and adaptive online games
 Automatic online maze generation using a metadata-
driven XSD-based maze editor with a Web-based
visual graph editor and checker, used by non-IT
professionals for creation of video games for
education, based on a generation of the XML maze
description
 Creation of intelligent agents for question answering
based on extraction of facts from domain content (e.g.,
Wikipedia)
 Smart services for content personalization based on
the learner model
 Dynamic adaptation of features of created educational
video games according to outcomes, arousal and
emotional state of the individual playerAPOGEE Construction of Personalizable Video Games 39

40. Results from a survey: “Do you think that educational video
maze games are an effective tool facilitating education?”
APOGEE A Video Game Generation Platform 40
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
definitely no more likely no I can't say more likely yes definitely yes

41. Results from a survey: “The idea to use text in XML format for describing
video maze games is very good and has future”
APOGEE A Video Game Generation Platform 41
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
definitely no more likely no I can't say more likely yes definitely yes

42. Results from a survey: “The utilized learning tasks, answering
test questions for unlocking doors and finding hidden objects,
are very appropriate for educational games”
APOGEE A Video Game Generation Platform 42
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
definitely no more likely no I can't say more likely yes definitely yes

43. Results from a survey: “The time spent on game and
amusement obtained is GREAT”
APOGEE A Video Game Generation Platform 43
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
definitely no more likely no I can't say more likely yes definitely yes

44. Conclusions
The impact of serious video games will be higher
thanks to their synergy of story, art and technological
achievements including affective and adaptive
gameplay.
Applied maze games for education will be used more
and more for immersive cultural presentations,
teaching, assessment and training
Open and free gaming platforms will be a must
Personalization and adaptation will bring a better
motivation, engagement, and outcomes
Intelligent virtual players (NPCs) will bring to a higher
player motivation and engagement
APOGEE
Construction of Personalizable Video Games
44

45. Thank you for your attention!
 Questions ?
 Proposals !
 Remarks …
 Disappointments 
 Doubts 
 Congrats 
 Donations €
 Sth else ®
Write to:
 Boyan Bontchev, bbontchev@fmi.uni-sofia.bg
 http://www.apogee.online/
APOGEE
Construction of Personalizable Video Games
45