【日期】11月16日

【时间】14:00—15:00
【主题】Optimal Sequencing in Single-Player Games

【主讲人】Prof. Yifu Li

【主持人】Prof. Tianhu Deng（邓天虎）

【语言】中文

【参加方式】腾讯会议Tencent Meeting，会议ID：633 368 699

【讲座介绍】An important problem in single-player video game design is how to sequence game elements within a level of the game. Each element has two critical features: a reward and a degree of difficulty. The latter property is a distinctive feature of video games. Unlike services or passive entertainment, video games often require a concerted effort to consume. We study how to sequence game elements to maximize overall experienced utility subject to the dynamics of adaptation to rewards and difficulty as well as memory decay. We find that the optimal design depends on the relationship between rewards and difficulty, leading to qualitatively different designs. For example, when the proportion of reward-to-difficulty is high, the optimal design mimics that of more passive experiences. By contrast, the optimal design of games with low reward-to-difficulty ratios resembles work-out routines with ``warm-ups'' and ``cool-downs''. Intermediate cases may follow the classical ``mini-boss, end-boss'' design where difficulty has two peaks. Numerical results reveal optimal designs with ``waves'' of reward and difficulty with multiple peaks. Level designs with multiple peaks of difficulty are ubiquitous in video games.  In summary, this paper provides practical guidance to game designers on how to match the design of single-player games to the relationship between reward and difficulty inherent in their game's mechanics. Our model also has implications for other co-productive services such as training programs.

【主讲人介绍】李宜福博士，现任中国科学技术大学管理学院副教授。李博士毕业于香港科技大学，获得工业工程与物流管理博士学位，本科就读于大连理工大学并获得物流管理与计算机科学双学士学位。李博士的论文发表于国际知名期刊《Management Science》,《Manufacturing & Service Operations Management》与《European Journal of Operational Research》，其研究获得了多个学术论文奖项。他的主要研究兴趣为行为调度与决策。