Game Quality Assessment Using Developer Engagement Time
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Identifying the quality of electronic games without actually playing them is difficult due to variations in developer skill and motivation, leading to inconsistent gaming experiences.
Innovation Solution
Determine game quality based on the time spent by developers using a game development tool, tracking actions within defined time frames and attributing duration to total developer time, with thresholds for action counts to infer quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If game quality is assessed by actually playing the game, then assessment accuracy is improved, but time consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by tracking developer engagement metrics, time spent on development activities, and iteration history before the game is released. This preliminary data collection and analysis allows quality assessment to be conducted without requiring actual gameplay, thereby resolving the contradiction between assessment accuracy and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary metrics (developer engagement data, time spent on development tasks, iteration counts) that serve as mediators between the development process and quality assessment. These intermediaries provide indirect but reliable indicators of game quality without requiring direct gameplay evaluation, thus reducing time consumption while maintaining assessment capability.
2Measurement precision
If game quality is assessed by actually playing the game, then assessment accuracy is improved, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses intermediary data sources (development tool logs, version control systems, project management platforms) that already contain detailed development process information. By leveraging these existing intermediaries, the system avoids the complexity of implementing direct gameplay assessment mechanisms while still achieving quality evaluation through analysis of development metrics.
Solution Approach 2:
The assessment system utilizes data that is already being collected and stored by development tools and project management systems during the normal development process. This self-service approach means the quality assessment leverages existing infrastructure and data without requiring additional complex measurement systems, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining assessment accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If developer engagement metrics are tracked in detail, then game quality determination is improved, but data collection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages multi-functional development tools and platforms that already perform multiple functions (project management, version control, task tracking, communication). By extracting engagement metrics from these universal tools, the system avoids building separate dedicated tracking systems, thereby reducing data collection complexity while achieving precise quality determination through comprehensive metric analysis.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A technique determines a quality of an electronic game based at least in part on the time spent by a game developer to design the electronic game. While operating a game development tool during the design of the game, the number of actions taken using the game development tool are counted for a plurality of time frames. If the number of actions for any particular time frame meet a threshold number of actions, then a duration of that time frame is added to a value of a total developer time for the electronic game. Other time frames, in which the number of actions fails to meet the threshold, do not have their time frame durations added to the value of the total developer time. A higher quality rating corresponds to longer total developer time.