Ludological Psychometrics:

What societal and ludological issues arise

when emulating the psychological

dimensions that constitute personality and

social interaction within a video game?

An exercise in creating a video role-playing game

By Jake Hugh Reece Wilson

Student No. 500311755

MArts (Hons) Creative Practice

UXS–4099: Masters Dissertation

Submitted 29th April 2016

Declaration

‘I hereby declare that this dissertation is my own work in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the MArts (Hons) Creative Practice.’

Signed: …………………………..

Date: 29/04/16

Word count:

Practice-based research (video role-playing game)

~15000 words

Critical analysis

5349 words

Total: 20049 words

Permissions

‘I hereby give permission for my dissertation to be used for teaching purposes in the

School of Creative Studies and Media at Bangor University.’

This paper and constituent software can be used without the author’s consultation by

the aforementioned institution indefinitely for any and all academic purposes.

Signed: ……………………………….

Date: 29/04/2016

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank John Finnegan, my tutor, for advising me through the production of

this work and for enflaming my will for the next era of my life.

I’d like to thank every lecturer I have had in Bangor University since the beginning,

especially those who have helped me hone my writing abilities. I have improved

dramatically since I started and I can only attribute this to the following staff here at

Bangor:

Jamie Sherry; Rebecca Skains; Dyfrig Jones; Huw Powell; Stephanie Marriott; Gerwyn

Owen; John Finnegan; Eben Muse and Professor Nathan Abrams,

To all of you, thanks.

Four years it has been since the beginning; four years of learning, growing and changing.

The road ahead is filled with shadow and uncertainty, but, thanks to the university on the

hill and all those whom spoke within its walls, for I now have a light to call upon. I look to

the future with hope and excitement; boundless opportunities to create that which does not

exist, to create a legacy for the future. Thank you all for the means to carry on and this I

promise:

I will make you proud,

- Jake

Contents

Video Game (Practical Research) ........................................................................................ 0

Part 1: Introduction – aims and objectives ........................................................................... 2

Part 2: How can personality be quantified? .......................................................................... 4

Part 3: Psychometrics in role-playing games........................................................................ 8

Part 4: Critical analysis of Starstride Chronicles ............................................................... 12

Part 5: Conclusion – understanding through deconstruction ............................................... 18

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 20

Gameography .................................................................................................................... 25

Appendix A – Treatment of Starstride Chronicles ............................................................. 26

Appendix B – Personality traits in Starstride Chronicles ................................................... 40

Appendix C – Moves in Starstride Chronicles ................................................................... 49

Appendix D – Data of characters in Starstride Chronicles ................................................. 57

Appendix E – Final development schedule (last updated 25/02/16) ................................... 61

Appendix F – Logo of Starstride Chronicles ..................................................................... 62

Appendix G – Diagram of the Five Factor model .............................................................. 63

Appendix H – Diagrams of conversation damage percentages in Starstride Chronicles ..... 64

Appendix I – Diagram of the HEXACO model ................................................................. 69

Appendix J – Diagram of the DISC model ........................................................................ 70

Appendix K – Diagram of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator ............................................. 71

Appendix L – Character sprites of Sire and Missy ............................................................. 72

0

STARSTRIDE CHRONICLES

VIDEO GAME (PRACTICAL RESEARCH)

An original game by

Jake Hugh Reece Wilson

with music by

Emma Haf Morgan

Final Version

April 29th, 2016

© Jake Hugh Reece Wilson

31 Pendre Avenue

RHYL, Denbighshire

LL18 4NH

01745 334578

tryfanllywelyn@live.co.uk

jakehrwilson.blogspot.com

1

SEE ENCLOSED DISC AND/OR FLASH DRIVES

2

Part 1: Introduction – aims and objectives

Starstride Chronicles is an original video game, created as research for this practice-

based dissertation. The goal of this paper is to determine, though practice and critical analysis,

what ludological and societal issues arise when emulating the conditions of personality and

social interaction within the confines of a video game. In the game I attempt to simulate the

state of human personality through its quantification as a mode of gameplay, which due to the

lack of consensus (Hall and Lindzey, 1970) between psychologists in psychometrically

describing personality (Crowne, 2007), is difficult to define in absolute terms, leaving the

realm of psychometric psychology underrepresented in the medium at large. Through the

practice of game design and creation, issues that may arise from constructing a representation

of the human condition within a video game will be revealed.

A video game was chosen as the main body of research for this paper because games,

like film and prose, use audio and visual modes of relaying information to the audience, but

due to the complex nature of the human condition (Kekes, 2010), the third mode, gameplay

(Kahne, Middaugh and Evans, 2009), could provide the computational core that allows for

emergent behaviour, using coding and computation (Wellenreiter, 2015; 343 - 361) to enable

non-player characters to be procedurally generated to mirror real-life diversity in human

society. However, this complexity poses a problem, for in gameplay, the player must be able

to understand, analyse and overcome each element (Gee, 2005; 5-16; Cogburn and Silcox,

2009), including dealing with NPCs; should personality and social interaction be digitised, it

must done so that it can be understood by the player within through the gameplay itself. Thus,

the ultimate goal of this paper is to ascertain whether or not it is possible to create this system

of personality and for it to be sufficiently understandable through the game’s ludological

components.

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This paper comes in two parts: the software of Starstride Chronicles itself and a

research piece wherein Starstride Chronicles will be analysed and contrasted with comparable

games and psychometric theories. The objectives of this paper are to determine the viability of

creating a system of artificial personality and to determine what issues such a system

introduces with regards to gameplay, narrative and human society. This will be done in

reference to Starstride Chronicles and existing role-playing games, such as Animal Crossing:

New Leaf (2013), Fallout 4 (2015) and Pokémon X (2013). By the conclusion of this

dissertation, methods of emulating both personality and social interaction will be analysed

and any issues relating to psychometric systems in video games will be addressed.

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Part 2: How can personality be quantified?

Linguistically, personality is defined as a set of recognisable characteristics that

distinguish one person as an individual (Engler, 1979), but psychologically, there is

disagreement as to how such characteristics should be categorised (Butcher, 2009). This stems

from the complex nature of the human brain and challenge involved in properly describing it,

(Arendt, 1958) but in order it to be emulated even in the slightest sense, a system of

quantifying personality must be utilised. More than that, a system must be used which can be

both read and understood by both the player and the game’s logic. Computers are not

intelligent – they do not have the ‘common sense’ (Katz, 2012) that enables human beings to

judge characteristics in each other. In order for a machine to understand the variables and

labels that people are ascribed to, they must be quantified into an easily read numerical value.

Therein lies the problem; how should a machine translate a psychological trait or descriptor

into an integer that it can then use in code?

Psychometrics is the measuring of psychological attributes into numerals, usually for

the purposes of psychological diagnosis (Rust and Golombok, 1989). There are various

methods of quantifying psychological dimensions, which range in regard to scope and

purpose, with some more suitable for the medium of gaming than others. One of the most

widely used methods of measuring psychological attributes is the Minnesota Multiphasic

Personality Indicator (Camara, Nathan and Puente, 2000; 141-154), which is used clinically in

psychopathology to diagnose symptoms of mental disorders (Furnham, 1996; 303-307). It

consists of multiple phases of personality questionnaires that help determine what

psychological symptoms an individual possesses (Butcher and Williams, 2009; 105-135). Due

to the fact that this method has no less than 300 items to judge and requires a medical

psychologist (Ben-Porath, 2012), it is impractical to transliterate such a complex medical

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procedure into a mode of gameplay and even then it is limited in its scope, as it only analyses

psychopathological traits. Though it is clinically the most useful method of gauging and

quantifying personality, it simply was not meant to construct a full picture of a how a person

operates as a social individual.

The Five Factor model (Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion,

Neuroticism) is a series of five broad dimensions used to describe the human social condition

(Costa and Widiger, 1994; Digman, 1990; 417-440). The five factors in question are

physiological elements (see Appendix G) from which all personality traits and disorders can

be broken down into (Norman, 1963; 574-583); they are base construction materials which

constitute the more advanced symptoms and traits that are commonly used in speech.

However, as the data from the Five Factor model is purely descriptive, it is difficult to

quantify and replicate under identical instances with other subjects (Goldberg, 1992; 226-42),

creating a numerical volatility that makes it hard to say with certainly what an individual

numerical value would mean. As such, making clearly defined statements that are empirically

true using the Five Factor model is impossible, as there will always be disagreement as to the

numeral values and boundaries that involve them. However, with this method, it would be

possible to compress a psychological profile into five numerals, making it very easy to

program around.

Similar to the Five Factor model, HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality,

Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) is another series of broad

dimensions used to describe the human social condition (Ashton, Lee, Perugini et al, 2004;

356-366) and is an expanded form of the Five Factor model through the separation of

Neuroticism into Honesty-Humility and Emotionality (see Appendix I). In HEXACO, these

six factors are not elemental components like Five Factor – instead they are constructed from

a selection of facets (Lee and Ashton, 2004; 329-358), which are generated numerals

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calculated through a questionnaire, which are then used to calculate the main factors. The

introduction of Honesty-Humility is useful in analysing the moral standpoint of a subject’s

personality complex (Ashton and Lee, 2008; 1952-1962), however due to the sub-divisions of

each factor into facets, the system is much more complex than Five Factor and the desired

system used for quantifying personality must be balanced; simple enough to understand but

complex enough emulate the human condition and allow for player agency. In addition, it

could be argued that morality in ludology can more accurately come from an analysis of the

player’s actions, rather than a single volatile integer like in Fallout 3 (2009), as morality is not

a universally homogenous concept across human societies.

The simplest possible method of psychometrics is DISC (Dominance, Inducement,

Submission, Compliance) – a personality model that focuses on the social interactions

between individuals in the workplace (Dollard, Winefield and Winefield, 2003). DISC is, like

HEXACO, a series of factors calculated by facets (see Appendix J), but is limited in its scope

to classifications that rank people as resources in order to predict their interactions with others

in team-based work environments. There are numerous variations of DISC with the number of

facets ranging, but usually there are fifteen (Roberts and Hogan, 2001). Like the Minnesota

Multiphasic Personality Indicator, trying to use it to judge the whole personality of an

individual is difficult due to its limited scope. However, DISC in code could be shortened to

merge Submission and Dominance as two ends of the same factor, leaving only three

independent integers, making it very easy to understand in gameplay, however, the usage of

fifteen facets to calculate these three may prove too complicated for the player to keep up

with during regular gameplay. In addition, translating said integers into equally

understandable and accurate personality attributes would be hard due to the small social

environment DISC is meant to quantify.

7

An alternate psychometric model is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which

categorises people into sixteen different personalities (McCrae and Costa, 1989; 17-40). In

Myers–Briggs, from four dichotomies across two axes on a table (see Appendix K), with each

box having two data points, a total combination of sixteen possible combinations that

correlate to various personality profiles (Boyle, 1995; 71-74). Myers-Briggs could only ever

provide sixteen different types of characters – not enough to represent the entirety of the

psychological spectrum within the human species, making it a ‘psychological fortune cookie’

(Robert, 2007; 1055-1058), for it does little in the issue of accurately quantifying personality

traits and therefore, is unsuitable for the conditions of this research.

In order to determine whether or not it is feasible to not only implement a system of

personality accurate to current psychometric theory, but also use it in a mode of gameplay, a

method of measurement must be chosen, but before this is done, an examination of previous

comparable games is required to better understand how gameplay and personality is linked

within the medium. In the next chapter, the usage of personality in video games will be

discussed to see how other games have addressed the issue of character personality.

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Part 3: Psychometrics in role-playing games

Video games are a medium are concerned with physical expressions of time and space

(Bogost, 2007), rather than the psychological; there is a voyeuristic aspect to the video role-

playing game (RPG), as to play a video game is, mentally, to travel to a foreign land, one that

promises a narrative separate from the repercussions of reality - a fact of the medium at large

(Apperley, 2006; 6-23; Williams, 2006; 69-87). Due to this fixation with the physical, the

psychological element to games usually comes directly from the input of the player unto the

emulation of physical realm (Rehak, 2009), with the personality of the player character a

combination of the player’s own identity and the rules and states in which the game prescribes

onto the player’s avatar.

However, when an RPG has to emulate a personality through a non-playable character

(NPC), they can fall into one of these three catagories:

Faux – For characters with minimal interaction with the player, meant to only

participate in limited gameplay activity with the player and are placed in-game

usually for a specific purpose.

Fixed – For characters that are non-emergent and have more player interaction

than Faux characters and are versatile, often able to participate in several

gameplay activities with the player, such as conversations, combat and

bartering.

Fluid – For characters that are emergent and usually have the same amount or

more player interaction than Fixed characters. They are created through

procedural generation or random characteristics and can, like Fixed characters,

9

participate in several gameplay activities such as conversations, combat and

bartering.

These catagories are based on both the amount of data that can be observed from the

game itself without external data modification and the versatility of the character in question.

For example, in Fallout 4, an NPC raider (Matthew Yang King and Salli Saffioti), with no

unique name, is incapable conversing with the player and instead initiates combat, making

them Faux, whilst the character Codsworth (Stephen Russell) can converse, fight and trade

items, but is always the same on subsequent playthroughs, making him Fixed, whilst settler

NPCs (Misty Lee, Mandy Kaplan and Brandon Keener) within Fallout 4’s settlement system

are emergent and can fight, talk and participate in barter with the player, making them Fluid.

These characters were not created with the intention of emulating reality; instead they each

serve as an object placed within the world to match the needs of the gameplay (Meigs, 2003),

which in Fallout 4 is oriented towards constructing a ludonarratological world to fit the post-

apocalyptic genre (Bould et al, 2009). The raiders are character-wise, less competent than

Codsworth and settlers, since raiders are considered to be ludological obstacles for the player

to remove in order to progress with the narrative. Within the RPG, not all NPCs are created

equally.

There is little need for a game to feature a complete psychometric readout of a

character unless it is directly related to that game’s mode of gameplay. The the lack of

psychometric emulation and the trend for games such as Fallout 4 to feature physiological

emulation through combat and environmental exploration perpetuates a focus of desire

(Lacan, 2004) of the external as a means to experience that which the player cannot in reality

(Yee, Bailenson and Ducheneaut, 2009; 285-312), satisfying the player’s need for self-

actualisation (Maslow, 1943) in modern society. Games that are psychologically based, such

10

as Animal Crossing: New Leaf, tend to be ludologically less inclined towards narrative tropes

of the action genre (Kolker, 2008) and more concerned with the social interaction between the

player and NPCs. Animal Crossing: New Leaf uses a simplified model of the Myers-Briggs

Type Indicator in order to simulate personality in the game’s villagers in conjunction with

multiplying physiological variety through various animal forms. The characters are Fixed in

their initial programming but display the ability to develop their personalities by remembering

events and actions taken by the player over time, using adaptive personality over the

comprehensive, allowing characters to grow narratologically over time, making them Fluid by

the conclusion of this process. In Tomodachi Life (2013), a similar Myers-Briggs model

game, the input of the player is used to create emulations of people that the player knows in

reality; these Fluid characters, instead of drawing upon a database of possible configurations,

allows the player to extract their own characters onto the game from their real-world

relationships. Through physiological difference and adaptive artificial intelligence, even the

small number of personality profiles outlined in Myers-Briggs can be multiplied into many

times more characters, from the player’s perspective.

Ludological texts in the RPG genre have to keep more information for characters than

others due to a greater emphasis in conversation between NPCs and the player character as a

mode of communication (Lewis, Weber and Bowman, 2008; 515-518). Animal Crossing:

New Leaf and Tomodachi Life demonstrate that in order for a character to emulate social

interaction and personality, they cannot be Faux. Not only that, but in order for them to

emulate reality, they must take into account the vast range of attributes of the human

condition. Socially, individual humans vary in psychology, sex, gender, sexual orientation,

age and many other attributes (Williams, Martins, Consalvo and Ivory, 2009), and so, in order

to translate these into a game, the characters in question would need to be emergent in some

form, and therefore, Fluid.

11

In Pokémon X, each individual creature known as a Pokémon is ludologically judged

by six statistics: HP, attack, defence, special attack, special defence and speed. Like

HEXACO, each statistic is judged from multiple facet values. There are individual values for

each statistic which are generated at a Pokémon’s generation or birth, representing genetic

structure, volatile effort values which are gained from super training mode and battling,

representing physical training and experience points which are earned by battling and

catching Pokemon, representing age. Each Pokémon is statistically an individual through this

system of levels, effort values and individual values, making no two ever the same, which in

turn mean that every individual character is unique in their ludological function in battles.

Characters in RPGs range wildly from Faux to Fluid in statistical complexity and are

adapted to best suit the needs of the situation and instance that they exist for. Games are

unique as a medium because the sequence of events that occur do not have to be set and, to

varying degrees, can be emergent. In film, each image and sound plays out in order, never

straying from a set sequence and in prose, text is static and can never change, whilst games

have the capacity for multimedia usage to suit whatever physiological or psychological

instance the text vies to emulate. In the next chapter, Starstride Chronicles will be analysed to

determine what ludological and societal issues arise when a game emulates social interactions

and personality.

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Part 4: Critical analysis of Starstride Chronicles

Starstride Chronicles is a science fantasy video role-playing game wherein the player

character (referred to in this paper as Starstrider) is a resident within the rusting settlement of

Socroe City and lives alongside their feisty sister, Kara, and Hirochi, their father and leader.

Whilst on a gathering mission, the city is attacked by Sire, a shapeshifting monster, who eats

Hirochi and inadvertently thrusts Starstrider and Kara across space. In the wake of this

disaster, Starstrider, now awake on the space station, Port Kreuzung, must track down Sire

and find Kara, before she is lost forever (see Appendix A for a full game treatment).

Starstride Chronicles is divided narratologically into two portions: Alpha Episode and

Beta Episode. In Alpha Episode, the player travels around Socroe City, completing manual

tasks and uses a turn-based battle system to physically fight foes, emulating the physiological

voyeurism of traditional RPGs (Jones, 2008). However, in Beta Episode the player must track

Hirochi down on Port Kreuzung by talking to native people, represented through the use of a

turn-based conversation system, which is based much more on psychological concepts, but in

a similar format to the battle system. The battle and conversation systems have been made as

outwardly similar as possible, in that they are turn-based and the player must deplete the

target’s meter to achieve victory, so that they can be compared and contrasted as research

pieces (Menary, 2007; 621-632) , which each representing the physiometric and psychometric

perspectives within the medium of gaming, respectively.

Following preliminary research, it was decided that the Five Factor model of

personality would be used in the game’s representation of the psychological statistics of both

Starstrider and NPCs. This was done because it allows for many personality traits (see

Appendix B for a full list) to be represented through the relationship between said traits and

the characters physiology and psychology (Paunonen and Ashton, 2001; 524-539) through the

13

manipulation of numerals values in the game’s conversation system. This, in conjunction with

the addition of moves (see Appendix C), representing actions within social interaction and

type modifiers (see Appendix H), representing the difference between psychological

demographics, allows for different peoples to be represented through the ludological means of

simulated conversation, for each combination of player and NPC statistics will vary the

difficulty of success for both parties.

To emulate physical actions when engaging in social intercourse with a conversable

NPC, the player can perform moves, which each have an assigned typing. To calculate

damage to the target’s will, that typing is judged against the targeted facet of the opposing

person. For example, if the player uses the open-type move ‘Hug’ and has targeted the

opposing individual’s agreeableness, then if that agreeableness statistic is over 5, it does

150% of the standard damage, but if not, it does only 50%. This combination represents that

probability that people with a high agreeableness will be more likely to accept signs of

openness (Buss and Hawley, 2011), and therefore, in conversation, will be less likely to

oppose the Starstrider’s advances. Conversely, if their agreeableness if low, they will see the

open move towards them as inappropriate and will resist in the player’s attempt to converse,

keeping their will high. Each combination of move type, targeted type, player statistics and

NPC statistics is representative of a possible conclusion to a social exchange between two

parties with those approximate values of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion,

agreeableness and neuroticism.

However, the processes that judge the effectiveness of social interactions cannot be

truly accurate to reality, due to the fluidity that Five Factor data has because of the lack of

consensus concerning the boundaries between descriptors of personality (Gregory, 1996;

Hofstee, 1994; 149-162). When does feminine deviate to masculine? Or friendliness fall to

hostility? It is impossible to be precise regarding the relationships between traits and the Five

14

Factors when emulating an inherently interpretative system. Therefore, the modifiers and

values expressed within Starstride Chronicles can only ever be indicative of a broad statement

of psychology, in that certain combinations of Five Factor variables and traits within

individuals could result in a greater or lesser success rate in communicating positively.

The world of Starstride Chronicles was made in aid of highlighting the difference

between the psychometric system created and that of the physiological systems of previous

games of the RPG genre. Alpha Episode’s Socroe City is a society that is homogenous and

isolated, focused on survival and physical struggle, whilst in contrast, Beta Episode’s Port

Kreuzung is a massive space station filled with many different types of conversable humans,

mimicking the wide degree of socio-ethnic boundaries that the spectrum of humanity

constitutes (Parcel, 1981). Alpha Episode’s linear, battle-system based objectives and usage

of Faux and Fixed characters is indicative of the traditional RPG born out of the 1970s, when

the video RPG as an attempt to replicate the Dungeons and Dragons (Rogers and Di Vito,

2011) role-playing game, substituting the human guidance of the game-controlling dungeon

master with pre-written AI (Wolf, 2008; Schroeder, 2011), autotomising the game into a

digital format. Conversely, Beta Episode, using procedural generation, non-linear objectives

and Fluid NPCs in an attempt to emulate the reality of social interactions and personality, is a

much more unpredictable experience in both ludological difficulty and scope. The more non-

linear and procedural a game becomes ludologically, the harder it becomes to understand the

next challenge that the game forwards to the player, and can create sharp jumps in the game’s

difficulty, both positively and negatively. In emulating the unpredictable nature of reality of

modern society and the vastly complex human mental state (Poole, Mackworth and Goebel,

1998) the game has sacrificed a sense of challenge fair to the player’s state of level. Whilst to

a degree this may be in keeping with the reality of social intercourse, it is much less satisfying

to player’s ludological needs.

15

When partaking in a ludological text, the player subconsciously seeks autonomy from

reality, an expression of their competence or a feeling of relatedness to others (Ryan, Rigby

and Przybylski, 2006; 344-360). Since Starstride Chronicles is a single-player RPG, which

ludologically involves the player starting comparatively weak, accumulating power over time

(Macintosh and Schmeichel, 2004; 85-97), the game inherently targets autonomy and

competence, but in placing the player within a bubble of solitude, Starstride Chronicles loses

a sense of relatedness, which is an important tool used in building relationships between

humans. If a game is made to only be consumed by single player at a time, the challenge of

creating convincing agents of personality is great, though multi-player games could provide

an environment with which individuals could socially interact (Asbell-Clarke et al, 2012; 52-

76) without the need for a replacement system. However, this would hinder player autonomy

and possibly competence, in addition to the social difference between reality and the virtual

world (Juul, 2005), making social interaction not representative of reality, so no matter what

system is use, there will be a sacrifice in the accuracy. In the process of manifesting

personality into a single-player game, player autonomy and competence are not hindered. In

order for the whole personality to be emulated, its accuracy must be compromised, for

digitising the output of the human brain into a computerised form can only ever be built on

the patterns of predictability that can be observed from an external psychological perspective

(Caplan and Torpey, 2001). Predicting the outcome of two individual personalities socially

conversing is extremely difficult, and so quantifying this into Starstride Chronicles creates an

issue of vague psychology; by simplifying psychological concepts into numbers, layers of

meaning are lost into that they represent, if such meaning exists at all.

In the narrative of Starstride Chronicles, many of the people of Port Kreuzung have

animal features and unnatural skin pigments; this was done to visually and ludologically

represent the human conditions of social and ethnic groups in a way that exaggerates their

16

physiological and psychological attributes (Hare, Borgatta and Bales, 1965), using the trope

of ‘aliens’ in the science fiction literary genre (Bould et al, 2009) to make them easily

distinguishable from each other. For example, if the player is a human and talks to one of the

equine people, there will be a natural barrier between each individual in regards to

socialisation, manifesting in the game as the difficulty in succeeding in a conversation with

them. However, to stop the player from reaching an impasse with a portion of the game,

several items were created to allow the player to alter their physiological form. In reality, this

is not possible, but as noted with the representation of personality traits, in order for reality to

become a ludological construct, it must be altered to fit the conventions of the medium.

Humans are biological organisms and are not abject beings of consciousness, for the

brain, and therefore personality, is moulded by the biological and hormonal functions of the

body (Canli, 2006). If hungry or hurt, a person’s mood will change accordingly, as is the case

should they become injured, sick or have irregular bodily functions. Starstride Chronicles is

not coded to simulate the internal biology of the characters in the game, which in turn

drastically reduces its accuracy to reality. The Sims (2001) models such moods in characters

through a series of meters that decrease with time, making the character continually altering

their actions to keep these meters as high as possible. This could have been done in Starstride

Chronicles, forcing the player to eat, sleep and perform activities to refill several mood meters

and in turn, use these meters as modifiers in conversations and even battles, and each NPC

could have their own meters that the player can analyse and use to their advantage in

socialisation. In addition, this system would have allowed NPCs to have patterns of

predictability, so the player could track certain characters down based on their needs. While

Starstride Chronicles represents long-term personality traits, it does not deal in the short-term

volatile attributes that affect regular daily life.

17

The villain of the game, Sire, is a shape-shifting intelligence that eats people and can

assume their form. This villain was made faceless and metamorphic (see Appendix L) to

cognitive distance it from the player and make it the embodiment of anti-social tendencies

within narratology (Brooks, 1984), for Sire is blood-red, shapeless and hostile – he’s the foil

to Starstrider’s conversational nature as seen in Beta Episode. The opposite is Missy, a

brightly-coloured child-size dinosaur made of toy bricks, who aids Starstrider in combating

Sire and is the game’s face of the user interface (Duncan, 2010), as she is physically separate

from the gamespace of typical characters and as she aids the player, she in turn represents

social tendencies, making Sire and Missy are polar opposites of social standing.

Through the design and creation of Starstride Chronicles, I found that while emulating

personality and social interaction within is possible, accuracy is sacrificed in order to keep the

ludological element of gameplay and player agency intact and understandable. There are so

many variables that influence personality and psychology, from our state of mind to

biological functions to external stimuli – all of which cannot be covered adequately by a

single system of psychometrics. In addition, the introduction of Fluid characters within a

ludological text is an agent of unpredictability, making it difficult to plan for every aspect of a

game’s design when, inbetween the game creator and player, the game has to make an

emergent decision on what characters and challenges lie ahead.

18

Part 5: Conclusion – understanding through deconstruction

In attempting to digitise the human condition, a greater understanding of it can be

generated, for deconstructing personality and social intercourse means to deconstruct the

nature of our society’s existence. However, because the human brain is an incredibly complex

organ, storing our personality and memories, all that we are, it is difficult to completely

understand, skewing the attempt at deconstruction with uncertain input. The computers that

house video games are simple; one is not equal to the other, thus to emulate personality is to

emulate humanity, which requires understanding of every aspect of our being, which includes

biology, identity, neurology, sociology and psychology. Trying to condense all these

disciplines into one form is extremely difficult without producing discrepancies in these

fields. The existence of the various systems of psychometrics proves that there is no

universally accepted way of quantifying who we are, for how can we assign a number to

something we do not fully understand? RPGs, as a genre of video games that depend upon the

characterisation of NPCs, shirk from fact-based psychometrics, preferring to look upon a

character’s personalities as on a case-by-case basis, as demonstrated through the Faux-Fixed-

Fluid system in previous games of the genre, only handling psychometrics when absolutely

necessary, as, unlike the physiological realm, the psychological rarely melds with the

voyeuristic ludonarratological idiom that perpetuates the genre.

Through this research, I have found that emulating personality can result in

ludological issues should the issue be involved in a mode of gameplay, but even if not used in

this way, emulated personality constructs will not be entirely true to reality due to the

deficiencies of existing psychometric systems and the fact that every individual would

interpret the values therein differently, in much the same way that psychometrics themselves

are interpreted. Even in this game, there is a bias based on my current vision of what each

19

value and trait means, which is not universally accepted in society. This bias of individual

psychological meaning is impossible to remove due to the fact that video games are made by

humans, not machines, and therefore are influenced by their social, political and temporal

views.

There are ways in which this experiment could be improved. The separation of

personality traits into the long-term traits and short-term moods could improve this system’s

accuracy to reality. In addition, biological functions could be added in reference to the human

body, allowing each individual to have physiological values that keep track of the character’s

bodily health and well-being, which could then be correlated to the short-term moods and the

conversation system. Temporal elements will too aid in establishing a character’s history and

past, which moulds every individual in reality in addition to traits and moods; this could be

manifested through a system that emulates relationships between characters. Adaptive

artificial intelligence capable of selecting adequate responses and behaviours would need to

the created as well to accommodate these systems. In the end, in order to emulate a model of

human personality, it must at least be as complex as the original form, the brain, which has

not been accomplished in this paper.

In conclusion, emulating the reality of social intercourse and personality within the

realm of games and virtual environments is extremely difficult and would be a massive

computation undertaking; until a better synergetic system of ludological psychometrics is

discovered, the sheer scale of coding and psychological knowledge required to accurately

emulate this topic is too vast to realistically exist, at least with current technology and

knowledge. It is impossible to say what future endeavours may yield, but through the refining

and expansion of similar ideas and concepts expressed within this paper and game, a greater

understanding of ludological psychometrics may materialise in the future, with the eventuality

being personality concepts that can blur the line between the virtual and the real.

20

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26

Appendix A – Treatment of Starstride Chronicles

Title: Starstride Chronicles

Genre: Science Fantasy Role-playing Game

Software Platform: Windows

Hardware Platform: Tablet, laptop and desktop computers

Description:

Starstride Chronicles is a text-based open-world

science fantasy created by Jake Hugh Reece Wilson in

GML as practical research find out what societal and

ludological issues show when emulating the

psychological aspects of personality within a video

game.

In Starstride Chronicles you start as a denizen of the

scrap-town of Socroe City. One day, your homeland is

ravaged by a mysterious squad of skinless people led by

a monster called Sire. In the after math, you and your

sister, Kara, are sent to Port Kreuzung, and you have

to gather information as to her whereabouts.

(NOTE: In this paper, Starstrider is the name given to

the player character but in-game it is the player’s, so

if the name the player typed in is John, then

Starstrider’s Legacy would become John’s Legacy)

Gameworld Description:

Set in the extremely far future, humanity has long

since colonised the stars, built civilisations, and

lived through millions of generations and hundreds of

different forms. But one by one, the stars are going

out, not to conquest or war, but to the decay of time.

Where once there were galaxies, only flickering pockets

of light remain. The cosmos is old, and so the reign of

life has reached an age of twilight before the heat

death of the universe.

This is where you come in.

You are a mysterious orphan, adopted into the people of

a settlement called Socroe City – a place built out of

the ruins of an ancient vessel that crashed centuries

ago on a rogue planet without a star. It’s a hard life,

27

living within a pocket of heat and air in a tomb of old

metal, but you have a good father, a sister and a

people that depend on you to protect and salvage what

you can from outside the City.

Gameplay Mechanics:

Gameplay is divided between several different modes of

game state, the constituents of which are:

Movement – this is the most common state in which the

game will be in. During movement mode, the player will

read the prose that makes up most of the dialogue,

descriptions and information. The player will have able

to issue movement commands in a turn-based method to

move around the gameworld.

Conversation – when the player encounters a person,

they will enter an event wherein the PC and target NPC

take turns to use moves around the TARGET and ATTACK

systems. The player can target one of the foe’s facets

and use their moves to decrease their will. Certain

combinations of facets, moves and NPCs will work

negatively or positively, and it will be up to the

player to strategise their moves to their full

potential.

Battle – when the player encounters an enemy, they will

enter an event wherein the PC and enemy NPC take turns

to fight around the FOCUS and ATTACK systems. In FOCUS,

the player can choose what part of their stats defence,

offence, speed, critical hit rate or strength of the

attack can be boosted before an attack, strategizing

their plan for a battle, and choose what part of the

enemy (head, torso, arms, legs or weapon) they should

target using the ATTACK system. Different enemies will

have different weaknesses and strengths, and require

certain combinations of FOCUS arts and ATTACK moves in

order to be defeated readily.

Simul.Nav – at any time barring a battle or

conversation the player can open the map screen and see

their location, items, equip weapons and statistics.

Story synopsis:

Alpha Episode (α) – Virulent Intentions:

28

‘In the distant future, Socroe City, a settlement born

out of a crashed starship on the planet Honshu, is the

last known bastion of humanity.

One day, the player wakes up and finds themselves

related to a young girl, Kara and her biological

father, Hirochi. However, when on a supply mission

beyond the walls, a Skinless Behemoth attacks the city

using puppet-like drones of several former Socroese

residents as a vanguard. The player and Kara return,

but in the ensuing fight, they lose Hirochi and the

resident, who are eaten by the Skinless.

Kara, in her grief, runs into the Skinless’ sight when

it imitates Hirochi’s voice. She is consumed by light

when the Skinless strike against her. The player is

struck, too, knocked out, cold. ’

Beta Episode (β) – Mistress of One Disease:

‘The player lands in a spacecraft approaching Port

Kreuzung, a massive space rotating station in orbit

around a small, orange star.

Stunned, they are taken in by Blob Boy, the vessel’s

pilot, and brought before a hearing of the Court of

Kreuzung. During a mind probe, the head of security of

the station, Ji-woo Moon, identifies Hirochi as someone

who has recently come on the station. Blob Boy, curious

of the player, drops charges and lets them search for

their adoptive father.

Delta Episode (δ) – White Cell in Black:

‘After a long trek around the station, the player and

Hirochi meet on a rusted ship tethered to the port.

Hirochi has been taken over by an intelligent

microorganism controlled by a hive mind… the same kind

that the player has been infested with since the

beginning. Missy is the hive mind of the player, whilst

Hirochi, and by extension the Skinless, are controlled

by someone else: Sire.

The two fight until Hirochi momentarily takes back

control over Sire, and, seeing no way back, opens an

airlock, sucking him and Sire out to space. Before the

end, Hirochi tells the player that their adoptive

sister is still alive and was transported to another

world in this sector of space.’

29

After killing Hirochi-Sire on the ship, Ji-woo

refurbishes the vessel and gives it to the player. The

player, with Blob Boy on the pilot’s seat, head out

into space to try and find Kara.

The player searches through dead stars, stations, ships

and planets for a sign of her whereabouts, until, on

the edge of known space, the player finds a planet in

orbit around a white dwarf that is teeming with life,

Khana.

However, a Skinless ship is in orbit.’

Epsilon Episode (ε) – An Oasis of Health:

‘The player and Blob Boy land on a vast savannah and

are immediately captured by the native Centaur people.

Taken to Oola City, capital of the Grasslands, King

Waak demands the player and Blob Boy to stop corrupting

the land. After explaining of the nature of the

Skinless, Waak’s daughter, Alaaya, is dispatched with

the player to investigate the Skinless incursion on the

Grasslands.

After trekking across savannah, forest and mountain,

the three arrive in the Corrupt Canyon – a stretch of

land drained of life, grey and barren. A giant red

tumour, made of the mass of all the former life forms

in the area, morphs into a gargantuan 100-metre

Skinless Colossus.

In order to save the Oola Grasslands, the player, Blob

Boy and Alaaya lure the monstrosity to a volcanic area

and cause it to break the crust of the planet, making

the beast fall into lava and pyroclastic ash.

Having stopped the Colossus from taking over Khana,

Alaaya decides to go with the player to help save the

universe from the Skinless.’

Lamda Episode (λ) – Necrosis of the Heart:

‘The player, after travelling all over the universe,

finds the remains of Socroe City.

The player lands and finds the ship blasted wide open

by the Behemoth’s spaceblast. The settlement has not

been lived in for years and years, leaving Blob Boy to

30

conclude that the player must have jumped through time

and space during the blast. The player makes their way.

However, the player is interrupted when the Rustbuckets

attack, more desperate for parts than ever before.

They successfully cut off the player’s arm… which the

player then uses to beat up the androids and free

themselves, Blob Boy and Alaaya. The fight over, the

player notices that one of the Rustbuckets has a pair

of familiar goggles on their head. When questioned, the

Synthetic explains that a bounty hunter called Nix came

to Socroe a few years ago and gave it to her.

The player then decides to either take the

dysfunctional Synthetics to Port Kreuzung for repairs

or to kill them.

The player leaves Honshu for good with a target clear

in sight.’

Theta Episode (θ) – A Dance of Cellular Decay:

‘The player finds out that Nix is a rarely seen hunter

having only a few sightings on record, and that she is

based on KC-981, a rogue planet on the edge of the

universe.

The player arrives on KC-981 and finds a dead ship in

orbit, well lived in. Nix’s belongings are all over the

place, with the most prominent item being a rusted,

ancient call-sign reading in distanced letters: Socroe.

Using data from Nix’s home, the player lands on a world

known as Rou Si – a jungle world filled with hostile

life forms. After a hard trek across the sweaty jungle,

the player finds a woman, waiting for them.

It’s Kara.

She’s in her thirties and well-equipped as any good

bounty hunter should be. Like the player, she too has a

companion – Mister, who saved her from being absorbed

by Sire. She woke up years before the player on a

distant world but knew, because the player was further

from the blast, than they would take longer to appear.

She developed skills and has been tracking the Skinless

for a while, .

The player and Kara hug, reunited.’

31

Zeta Episode (ζ) – Countdown to Terminus:

‘The player, Kara, Alaaya and Blob Boy go back to Port

Kreuzung and inform the Parliament of the Skinless’

progress in assimilating the universe. Kara gives the

Krezungians a machine she made that can detect whether

or not someone is infected with the Skinless organism.

Ji-woo uses it and find that a tenth of the population

of the station has already been infected.

The leaders of the city decide to corral the Skinless

under the guise of a pandemic quarantine but Sire

realises the deception and every infected person

transforms into monsters and attacks others, spreading

the infection. Doors slam shut and lockdown as a

station-wide emergency is declared.

The player and Kara are charged with stopping the

Skinless from escaping.

After running around the exterior of the station,

halting Sire-forms from getting onto ships, several

Skinless all sublimate into a liquid form and take over

the machinery of the station, opening the doors and

granting Sire full control of all systems.

With little resistance, the Skinless and Sire begin to

devour the station and its inhabitants. The Skinless

begin to drain Kreuzung’s star of energy using the

station’s Dyson Ring and channel that energy into

Sire’s mind.

Hirochi-Sire appears from the chaos and begins to

assimilate the player.’

Omega Episode (Ω) – Terminal Flatline or Lightspeed

Inoculation:

‘Hirochi-Sire and the player battle with their minds

and will. Sire’s cells try to consume the players

whilst the player’s fight back like white blood cells

battling bacteria.

After a gruelling conflict, the player on the verge of

defeat, Sire others them a chance of uniting – becoming

one. Should the player choose to unite, they will

become a Skinless and Missy will disappear. Should they

32

defy Sire, they will be strengthened by Missy and

Hirochi-Sire will die.

If the player united, they will travel across the

station, assimilating everyone with the power of the

sun. If they didn’t, they will travel across the

station cleansing it of all the Skinless.

After the battle is over, the player will fight either

Sire’s true form or Ji-Woo in the control chamber of

the port.

If the player united, the star of Kreuzung will go

supernova, extinguishing the life source for human-

forms and giving Sire complete control of the future of

the human species with Kreuzung’s power at his hands.

If they didn’t, Sire, reduced to the form of Hirochi,

will be placed at the player’s mercy. The player and

Kara, with the strength of Missy and Mister, destroy

Sire and reinstate Hirochi has the hive mind of his

body. A new companion, Missus, emerges from Hirochi

like Missy and Mister.

The game ends with the player, Kara and Hirochi

entering their ship and heading for space, striding the

stars for new life, new places and a new home.’

Character Outline

The Player [Starstrider]

A person who is adopted by the Kimiyama family and,

before being taken over by Sire, is rescued by the

being Missy, leaving them with biological powers.

Can be of varying sex, gender and age.

Kara Kimiyama

Your adoptive sister, daughter of Hirochi Kimiyama,

your father. Sent across time and space after the

attack on Socroe City by the Skinless. When the player

re-encounters her the second time, she is a full-grown

woman with similar powers to the player.

When young she’s plucky and a prankster, when older

she’s serious and loyal [can be recruited].

Hirochi Kimiyama

33

Your adoptive father, Leader of Socroe City. Stoic,

confident and tough, though a little over his head at

times.

Missy

A playful, mischievous being in the form of a toy-brick

dinosaur. She controls the player’s powers through a

symbiotic relationship.

The Skinless

A superorganism that takes over living cells with

imitated replicants, the Skinless is controlled by

Sire, its intelligent overseer. Skinless can change

shape and form, now bound by the biology of whatever

they are imitating.

Sire

A malevolent, greedy intelligence that controls all

Skinless. He wants to unite all life into a single

entity, controlled exclusively by him. He can talk from

the mouths of any assimilated by the Skinless,

including Hirochi.

Brutbox

Chieftain of the Rustbuckets – a group of Synthetic

people that live outside Socroe City.

Blob Boy

A deep-space trucker made of nanorobotic paste and the

first person to find you after the attack on Socroe

City. He’s optimistic and honest, following the player

out of a sense of kinship [can be recruited].

Ji-woo Kun

The tough head of security of Port Kreuzung. Initially

sceptical of the player, she grows to like or hate

based on their actions.

King Waak the Strong

King of the Centaurs of the Oola Grasslands, father of

Alaaya.

Alaaya Ol-Coalheart

A member of the Centaurs from the Oola Grasslands,

daughter of the legendary Coalheart clan, Alaaya is a

warrior. Bred and raised to strike down Oola’s foes,

Alaaya is very cold and distant, jumping at the

opportunity for battle with the invaders of her world.

She wants to find new foes amongst the stars, which

only you can give [can be recruited].

34

Soundtrack Outline

Length of each song: 1-2 minutes

Estimated OST length: 30 minutes

1. Title Theme

Plays during – title screen

“A song saddened by the twilight of the universe – the

end of all things. Few stars remain the in the sky, and

those that are left are dying. The doomsday clock for

life everywhere is ticking down to midnight, but in the

blackness of space, there is a single light that

shines – a hope for the future. But will the player

take that hope, or use it for their own ends? A

sweeping majestic piece that emerges from a despairing

to a hopeful crescendo.”

2. The Stars Are All Gone

Plays during – character creation

“The universe is at the 11th hour. The player is being

eaten by a virus, but is saved by the dinosaur, Missy.

She gives them life to embark on a journey across space

and time to save the universe from collapse. Inspiring

and awesome to get them pumped for the adventures

ahead.”

3. Socroe City

Plays during – Socroe City overworld (Alpha episode)

“Safety, that’s what Socroe is. A safe haven amidst a

barren world. Built out of scrap and falling apart at

the seams, Socroe City is a well-lived in wreck. There

is an air of sweetness to the metal city, one that

makes the player feel calm, relaxed and emotionally

reinforced. A safe place for the player to get to grips

with Starstride Chronicles’s mechanics.”

4. Wild Wastes

Plays during – Starboard Forest, Grey Garden (Alpha and

Epsilon episodes)

“For when the player leaves Socroe City with Kara. Now

they’re in the frying pan proper. Metal monsters lurk

the wastes outside the City, looking for humans to

35

carve up, and with all the rubble around, they could

pop up at any moment. Danger, anticipation and dread

before an inevitable battle; this place is not a safe

place to be.”

5. Battle!

Plays during – battle during an ordinary random

encounter

“The player is in combat with a foe! Plays during

common battles. Lively, upbeat and exciting to fuel the

player through the battle.”

6. Peace! / Relationship Builder

Plays during – conversation with an NPC

“A non-combat computer character wants to talk to you!

For the relationship mode, wherein the player engages

with an NPC in a peaceful alternate to a battle. Should

be calm, a little bit jumpy and light-hearted to fit

with the friendly nature of this mode of play. Probably

the most mellow song in the game!”

7. Massive Battle!

Plays during – story-related battles and Socroe City

attack (Alpha episode)

“Grave danger is all around the player. The player is

in a hostile environment with an enemy of great

strength! Plays during the attack on Socroe City and

boss battles. Elements of the previous theme (5.

Battle), can be used here. The player should feel fear,

awe and apprehension; everything that could go wrong,

has.”

8. Port Kreuzung

Plays during – Port Kreuzung overworld (Beta episode

and onwards)

“The player has arrived in a giant new world. A

massive, ancient space station built around the only

burning star in existence. Magnificent and shining,

Port Kreuzung is at the height of technological

advancement. Home to millions of people of all species,

this is the last, best hope for everyone, everywhere to

live a full life at the end of the universe. Grand,

36

epic (good place for a more orchestral approach,

perhaps) and inspiring.”

9. Blob Boy’s Theme

Plays during – conversations with Blob Boy

“Blob Boy is a young man made of nanites – tiny

machines. He was abandoned as a child in Port Kreuzung

and has been homeless ever since. If the player wants

to, they can take him on their ship as a crew member.

He’s l0yal to the player like a dog and wants nothing

more than to please the player and their friends.

Innocent, with a tinge of sadness from his unknown

past, BB is one of the few people who will be at your

side no matter the situation.”

10. Exploring the Stars

Plays during – player ship overworld (Delta episode and

onwards)

“The player is on their ship, wandering space for new

worlds and new opportunities. Dark, lonely and

isolated, they, and their crew, are at the frontier of

known space, searching for an unnameable something, be

it life, resources or adventure. Slow yet grand, this

music plays when the player is between worlds on the

map screen.”

11. Oola Grasslands

Plays during – Oola Grasslands overworld (Epsilon

episode and onwards)

“A world of an endless savannah under a white sun, home

to various tribal peoples, most of whom morphologically

diverged from humans long ago, including a town of tiny

Feline merchants, a mighty Centaur kingdom and a

mountain range inhabited by Dragons. This is the single

largest region of the gameworld and the music should

signify grandness and the many opportunities for

adventure in the Oola Grasslands.”

12. Alaaya’s Theme

Plays during – conversations with Alaaya

“Alaaya Coalheart, daughter of King Waak, is a

brilliant centaur warrior hailing from the Oola

37

Grasslands. After she and the player cleanse her world

of the Skinless, the player can take her aboard their

ship as a crew member. She is a calculated killer,

trained from birth to fight for her people. She has

lived distanced from others for so long, and as a

member of the player’s crew, she will take some time to

open up. Hard and brazen with a wild flair to her

personality, Alaaya is a powerful soldier who’s

indivisible from the battlefield’s call. As she

prefers players who are somewhat roguish, warn the

player that she is dangerous and not exactly kind. ”

13. Skinless Planet

Plays during – Rou Si Jungle overworld (Lamda episode

and onwards)

“A world infested with Skinless, so much so that the

surface is a puerile crimson from space. They are using

it as their base of operations in the Local Worlds, and

the player must land on it to track Kara down. Awfully

humid, alien and hot, the planet is uncomforting and

foreboding, with monsters all around – a dangerous and

gruelling challenge for the player.”

14. Kara’s Future Self Theme

Plays during – conversations with Kara Future Self

“Kara’s future self is a human woman whose body has

been modified by the Skinless. Her skin is red and

looks burnt, and she has a robotic right arm and left

leg. She’s a gentle soul who had her family (the

player) taken from her when the Skinless captured her

and she desperately wants to reunite with them. She’s a

firm mother-hen character who enjoys caring for those

in need and is old enough to impart knowledge when

needed. As she prefers good-hearted players, her music

should be sweet and comforting.”

15. Lush World

Plays during – exploration of a life-filled world

(Delta episode and onwards)

“The player has landed on a world perfect for life and

if exploring the surface. This is a place of safety and

plenty – there is nothing to worry about here.

Calmness, serenity and soothing, this plays on safe

38

worlds filled with life and items for the player to

stock up on.”

16. Lonely World

Plays during – exploration of a dead world (Delta

episode and onwards)

“The player has discovered a world without life, lonely

in the black of space. Though there is no-one here,

there are resources, allowing you to carry on

exploring. Slow, empty, perhaps with elements from (10.

Exploring the Stars), this song represents the vastness

of space.”

17. Emotion

Plays during – various emotional moments of sorrow in

story

“Something terrible has happened. This music plays

during moments of tragedy and despair – like death

scenes and certain dialogue segments. A sad, sweeping

piano piece to hit home during emotional points in the

story.”

18. Missy’s Theme

Plays during – conversations with Missy (Alpha episode

and onwards)

“Missy is a being that follows the player throughout

their journey. She can manipulation the player’s cells

to her own end, often helping the player with their

goals. She is a bit of a prankster, though, and likes

to get her way. She means well, though, and has the

demeanour of a ten-year-old kid. She is the

intelligence that saved the player from being eaten by

Sire.”

19. Final Battle!

Plays during – battle for Port Kreuzung (Zeta episode)

“The final battle against Sire. Sire is the man

responsible for the attack on Socroe City and tries to

invade Kreuzung. Made from the compressed flesh of an

entire species long since dead, he looks like he came

straight from hell. Shining red with blood, yielding a

morning star and shield, he is all that stands in the

way of the player and the fate of the universe.

39

Grandiose, orchestral and massive, the music should

dwarf 5. Battle! and 7. Massive Battle.”

20. All For One (Evil End Theme)

Plays during – ‘unify’ end scene (Omega episode)

“(Dark remake of 1. Title Theme) The player has joined

with Sire and has condemned the human species to a life

of servitude under his control. He/she has forsaken all

life in the universe for their own selfish end. Dark,

foreboding and melancholic – a reflection of a haunted

past and of a ghostly figure.”

21. One For All (Good End Theme)

Plays during – ‘defy’ end scene (Omega episode)

“(Heroic remake of 1. Title Theme). The player has kill

Sire and saved Port Kreuzung from falling to the

Skinless advance. The universe will end one day, but

thanks to the player, it is not today. A sweeping,

heroic piece that screams victory and hope for all

peoples.”

40

Appendix B – Personality traits in Starstride Chronicles

Here is a segmented list of personality traits that are

present in Starstride Chronicles, along with their

perspective actions within conversations. The lists

cover positive, ambiguous and negative traits.

POSITIVE TRAITS

1. Adaptable = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases as conversation persists

2. Admirable = No bonus

3. Androgynous = No bonus

4. Aspiring = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's level of conscientiousness

5. Athletic = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's musculature

6. Calm = No bonus

7. Caring = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's openness

8. Charming = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is lower than

the user's extraversion

9. Cheerful = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's agreeableness is lower than

the user's agreeableness

10. Clever = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's neuroticism is lower than the

user's neuroticism

11. Compassionate = Provides a bonus to will damage

that favours those of the fairer disposition

12. Confident = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's conscientiousness is lower

than the user's conscientiousness

13. Courageous = Provides a static bonus to will damage

14. Courteous = Provides a static bonus to will damage

41

15. Creative = Has a 50/50 chance of providing a

randomised bonus to will damage

16. Cultured = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's openness

17. Debonair = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's extraversion

18. Dignified = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's conscientiousness

19. Dramatic = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's neuroticism

20. Educated = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's agreeableness

21. Elegant = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's extraversion

22. Energetic = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's conscientiousness is lower

than the user's extraversion

23. Feminine = No bonus

24. Firm = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is lower than

the user's conscientiousness

25. Forgiving = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's will is higher than the

user's will

26. Freethinking = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's agreeableness is lower than

the user's openness

27. Friendly = Provides a static bonus to will damage

28. Fun-loving = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's neuroticism is lower than the

user's agreeableness

29. Generous = No bonus

30. Gentle = No bonus

42

31. Honest = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's conscientiousness

32. Humble = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is higher than

the user's neuroticism

33. Humorous = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's agreeableness

34. Incorruptible= Provides a bonus to will damage that

favours those of the stronger disposition

35. Independent = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is lower than

the user's agreeableness

36. Intelligent = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's neuroticism

37. Kind = Provides a bonus to will damage that favours

those of the neutral disposition

38. Leaderly = No bonus

39. Logical = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's neuroticism is lower than the

user's conscientiousness

40. Loyal = No bonus

41. Masculine = No bonus

42. Mature = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's conscientiousness that increases if the

target's age is lower than the user's age

43. Modest = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is higher than

the user's extraversion

44. Passionate = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's agreeableness is lower than

the user's conscientiousness

45. Patient = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's conscientiousness is higher

than the user's conscientiousness

43

46. Patriotic = Provides a bonus to will damage if the

target and user are of the same species

47. Peaceful = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's extraversion is higher than

the user's extraversion

48. Persuasive = Provides a static bonus to will damage

49. Playful = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's conscientiousness

50. Popular = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's agreeableness is lower than

the user's extraversion

51. Rational = No bonus

52. Reflective = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's conscientiousness

53. Romantic = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's extraversion if the user is over 21

54. Selfless = Provides a static bonus to will damage

55. Sensitive = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's neuroticism

56. Serious = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's conscientiousness

57. Sexy = Provides a bonus to will damage based on the

user's extraversion if the user is over 21

58. Sociable = Provides a large bonus to will damage

based on the user's extraversion

59. Sweet = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's agreeableness

60. Tolerant = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's openness

44

AMBIGUOUS TRAITS

61. Aggressive = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's offence

62. Ambitious = No bonus

63. Competitive = No bonus

64. Conservative = Provides a bonus to will damage

based on the user's defence

65. Cute = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the user is below the age of 16

66. Deceptive = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's openness is lower than the

user's neuroticism

67. Emotional = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's conscientiousness is lower

than the user's neuroticism

68. Frugal = No bonus

69. Glamorous = Provides a static bonus to will damage

70. Intense = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's speed

71. Irreligious = No bonus

72. Maternal = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's agreeableness if the user's age is higher

than the target's age

73. Mystical = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's openness

74. Paternal = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's agreeableness if the user's age is higher

than the target's age

75. Predictable = No bonus

76. Proud = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's conscientiousness

77. Pure = No bonus

45

78. Quiet = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's extraversion

79. Religious = No bonus

80. Sensual = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's openness

81. Solitary = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's neuroticism

82. Stubborn = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's power

83. Soft = No bonus

84. Tough = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's critical hit rate

46

NEGATIVE TRAITS

85. Abrupt = Provides a small static bonus to will

damage

86. Argumentative = Provides a bonus to will damage

based on the user's neuroticism

87. Arrogant = Provides a static bonus to will damage

88. Brutal = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's extraversion multiplied by the user's power

89. Careless = Provides a negative bonus to will damage

90. Cautious = Provides a negative bonus to will damage

based on the user's agreeableness

91. Childish = Provides a bonus to will damage that decreases with the user's age

92. Clumsy = Provides a negative bonus to will damage

that is multiplied by the user's conscientiousness

93. Cold = Provides a large bonus to will damage based

on the user's openness multiplied by the user's offence

94. Crazy = Provides a bonus to will damage that is

totally wild and unpredictable

95. Cruel = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's extraversion subtracted by the target's

extraversion

96. Cynical = Provides a significant bonus to will

damage

97. Delicate = Provides a small negative bonus to will

damage

98. Devious = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the user's neuroticism

99. Dull = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a small bonus

to will damage

100. Fanatical = Provides a large bonus to will damage

based on the user's agreeableness subtracted by the

target's neuroticism

47

101. Foolish = Provides a large negative bonus to will

damage

102. Forgetful = Provides a negative bonus to will

damage that can range from small to very large

103. Frightening = Provides a large bonus to will

damage based on the target's agreeableness

104. Greedy = Provides a static bonus to will damage

105. Grim = Has a 50/50 chance of providing a small

bonus to will damage

106. Hateful = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's neuroticism

107. Hostile = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the target's openness

108. Ignorant = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the target's conscientiousness

109. Lazy = Provides a bonus to will damage based on

the target's extraversion

110. Malicious = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a

significant bonus to will damage

111. Miserable = Has a 50/50 of providing a bonus to

will damage based on the user's neuroticism

112. Naïve = Provides a small negative bonus to will

damage

113. Nihilistic = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's neuroticism

114. Obnoxious = Provides a static bonus to will damage

115. Paranoid = Has a 50/50 chance of providing a bonus

to will damage

116. Passive = No bonus 117. Perverted = Provides a bonus to will damage that

increases if the target's gender and user's gender are

different if the user is over 21

118. Prejudiced = Has a 50/50 chance of providing a

large bonus to will damage if the user's species is

different than the target's species

48

119. Quirky = Provides a static bonus to will damage

120. Repressed = Provides a bonus to will damage based

on the user's extraversion

121. Sadistic = Has a 3/4 chance of providing a bonus

to will damage

122. Selfish = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a bonus to

will damage based on the user's neuroticism

123. Shallow = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a bonus to

will damage based on the user's agreeableness

124. Shy = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a bonus to

will damage based on the user's openness

125. Silly = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a bonus to

will damage

126. Slow = Has a 2/3 chance of providing a bonus to

will damage based on the user's conscientiousness

127. Stupid = Provides a negative bonus to will damage

128. Submissive = Provides a negative bonus to will

damage

129. Superficial = Provides a small negative bonus to

will damage

130. Superstitious = Provides a unstable bonus to will

damage that could be either negative or positive

131. Thievish = No bonus

132. Timid = Provides a static negative bonus to will

damage

133. Vulnerable = Provides a large negative bonus to

will damage

134. Weak = Provides a very large negative bonus to

will damage

135. Willful = Provides a very large static negative

bonus to will damage

49

Appendix C – Moves in Starstride Chronicles

Here is a list of moves that are present in Starstride

Chronicles, along with their perspective attributes and game

data.

1. "Hug"

Power = 30

Accuracy (%) = 70

Type = Open

Power Points = 3

Description = "Grips the target in a friendly and loving hug."

2. "Charm"

Power = 20

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 5

Description = "Charms the target and smitten them towards the

user."

3. "Focus"

Power = 5

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 15

Description = "Brings the user's mind into a sharp focus."

4. "Concentrate"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 25

Description = "The user cuts off their negative thoughts and

concentrates on the conversation."

5. "Moan"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user moans at the target, annoying them

greatly."

50

6. "Nag"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 95

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 15

Description = "Gripes at the target for some minor reason,

annoying them."

7. "Kiss"

Power = 50

Accuracy (%) = 50

Type = Open

Power Points = 3

Description = "The user quickly pecks at the target with a

gentle, sweet kiss."

8. "Compliment"

Power = 30

Accuracy (%) = 70

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 10

Description = "Praises the target, loosening their will to

argue with the user."

9. "Captivate"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 95

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 15

Description = "Instils the target with a tale that intrigues

and captivates them."

10. "Psych Up"

Power = 30

Accuracy (%) = 75

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user self-excites themselves into a

conversational fury."

11. "Quip"

Power = --

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 40

Description = "Anticipates the target's move and retaliates

with the remark. Strength varies randomly."

51

12. "Greet"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Open

Power Points = 25

Description = "Welcomes the target with open arms. Later in

conversation, the user will restate their welcome."

13. "Flirt"

Power = 25 + Player’s Extraversion

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 10

Description = "Using the user's sexual charm, the target is

hit with a teasing remark. Stronger depending on user's

extraversion."

14. "Smile"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Open

Power Points = 25

Description = "The user smiles warmly towards the target."

15. "Frown"

Power = 10

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 25

Description = "The user frowns darkly towards the target."

16. "Acceptance"

Power = 20

Accuracy (%) = 95

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 15

Description = "The user channels their inner calmness and

pushes that through to the target."

17. "Calm Down"

Power = 5

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 40

Description = "The user calms their mind with deep breaths."

52

18. "Rile Up"

Power = 5

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 40

Description = "The user agitates themselves through malicious

thoughts."

19. "Confess"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 95

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 35

Description = "The user apologises to the target."

20. "Cry"

Power = 30

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user cries, making the target feel guilty."

21. "Laugh"

Power = 20 + Player’s Openness

Accuracy (%) = 95

Type = Open

Power Points = 15

Description = "Laughs at one of the target's remarks.

Increases in strength with openness."

22. "Shout!"

Power = 5 x Player’s Mouth Level

Accuracy (%)= 90

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 5

Description = "Shouts at the target very, very loudly. The

better the mouth, the louder the shout"

23. "CloseContact"

Power = 5 x Player’s Hand Level

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Open

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user warmly contacts the target, subtly

calming them down. The better the hands, the more power this

move has."

53

24. "I Spy"

Power = 5 x Player’s Eye Level

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user observes the target and makes a

remark. The better the eyes, the more astute the remark."

25. "Smell"

Power = 5 x Player’s Nose Level

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user smells the target. The better the

nose, the more sincere the compliment."

26. "Eavesdrop"

Power = 5 x Player’s Ear Level

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user listens carefully and makes a witty

remark. The better the ears, the more power this move has."

27. “Vast Mind"

Power = 20 x Player’s Conscientiousness

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user expands their ambition towards the

target. Increases in strength with conscientiousness."

28. "Cheer On"

Power = 20 x Player’s Extraversion

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user compliments and boosts the target's

morale. Increases in strength with extraversion."

29. "Love"

Power = 20 x Player’s Agreeableness

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user expresses their love towards the

target. Increases in strength with agreeableness."

54

30. "Negativity"

Power = 20 x Player’s Neuroticism

Accuracy (%) = 90

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 5

Description = "The user shares their negative thoughts with

the target. Increases in strength with neuroticism."

31. "Heartpour"

Power = Player’s Openness + Conscientiousness + Extraversion +

Agreeableness + Neuroticism

Accuracy (%)= 100

Type = No Type

Power Points = 3

Description = "The user combines all their psychological

traits and ushers them unto the target."

32. "Heartbreak"

Power = 50

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = No Type

Power Points = 3

Description = "The user devastates the target with revelation

and newfound thought."

33. "Joke"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Open

Power Points = 30

Description = "The user tells the target a joke."

34. "Ready"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 30

Description = "The user focuses their mind."

35. "Lookatme!"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 30

Description = "The user gets the target's attention."

55

36. "Sympathy"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 30

Description = "The user expresses their pity to the target."

37. "Irritate"

Power = 15

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 30

Description = "The user irritates the target."

38. "Creativity"

Power = 25

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Open

Power Points = 20

Description = "The user expresses a newly thought concept to

the target, making them awestruck."

39. "Order"

Power = 25

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 20

Description = "The user expresses their internal schedule to

the target, confusing them."

40. "Empathy"

Power = 25

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 20

Description = "The user sees through to the target's heart and

touches them emotionally."

41. "Kind Heart"

Power = 25

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 20

Description = "The user softens up and expresses fellowship

towards the target."

56

42. "Sad Heart"

Power = 25

Accuracy (%) = 100

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 20

Description = "The user breaks in front of the target, tearing

up on their shoulder."

43. "Open Up"

Power = 35

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Open

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user opens up to the target's words."

44. "Perfection"

Power = 35

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Conscious

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user uses their perfectionism to wow the

target."

45. "Jubilee"

Power = 35

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Extravert

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user makes the target happy with a great

big cheer."

46. "At Ease"

Power = 35

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Agreeable

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user entices the target into easing up on

their defences."

47. "Moodswing"

Power = 35

Accuracy (%) = 80

Type = Neurotic

Power Points = 10

Description = "The user rapidly changes in mood, disturbing

the target."

57

Appendix D – Data of characters in Starstride Chronicles

Characters in Starstride Chronicles are split

internally into three different catagories (note that

data in-game is stored via integers which are then

correlated to strings, so for clarity, this written

data uses those strings in place of integers):

FAUX – Characters not intended to participate in

conversations, only battles. Examples include the

Rustbuckets in Starboard Forest.

Example data:

Name = Dying Rustbucket

Health = 100

Will = 100

Fatigue = 0

Species = Rustbucket

Sex = Male

Age = 57

Offence = 9

Defence = 7

Speed = 7

Critical Hit Rate = 8

Power = 10

FIXED – Characters that have their statistics pre-set

for the purposes of this research. Fixed characters

constitute all of those in Alpha Episode’s Socroe City.

Example data:

Name = Shinkuku Oka

Health = 100

Will = 100

Fatigue = 57

Is Female? = True

Is Male? = False

Is Male [2]? = False

Age = 67

Gender = Female

Openness = 3

Conscientiousness = 9

Extraversion = 7

Agreeableness = 5

Neuroticism = 7

58

Offence = 9

Defence = 7

Speed = 7

Critical Hit Rate = 8

Power = 10

Height = 172 centimetres

Weight = 65 kilograms

Muscles = 36/100

Head = Human

Torso = Human

Left arm = Human

Right arm = Human

Upper Left Arm = Null

Upper Right Arm = Null

Hands = Human

Feet = Human

Legs = Human

Left Hand = Human

Right Hand = Human

Left Foot = Human

Right Foot = Human

Head = Human

Mouth = Human

Eyes = Human

Ears = Human

Nose = Human

Teeth = Human

Skin Type = Skin

Personality = Kind

Tail = Null

Eye Colour = Hazel

Hair Colour = Black

Skin Colour = Tan

Clothing = Raggy Clothes

Hair Variety = 2 (out of 5)

Trait 1 = Friendly

Trait 2 = Null

Trait 3 = Null

FLUID – Characters that are procedurally generated from

a variety of assets. Data-wise, fluid characters are

identical to the player, save for the absence of moves

(see Appendix C). Fluid characters constitute the

majority of those in Beta Episode’s Port Kreuzung.

Example data:

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Name = John + Smith

Health = 100

Will = 100

Fatigue = Value between 0 and 50

Is Female? = Either True or False

Is Male? = Either True or False

Is Male [2]? = Either True or False

Age = Value between 8 and 120[for organic people] or

240[for artificial people]

Gender = Either Male, Female or Neither

Openness = Value between 0 and 10

Conscientiousness = Value between 0 and 10

Extraversion = Value between 0 and 10

Agreeableness = Value between 0 and 10

Neuroticism = Value between 0 and 10

Offence = Value between 0 and 10

Defence = Value between 0 and 10

Speed = Value between 0 and 10

Critical Hit Rate = Value between 0 and 10

Power = Value between 0 and 10

Height = Value between 80 and 280 centimetres

Weight = Value between 30 and 120 kilograms

Muscles = Value between 0 and 100

Head = One out of any species

Torso = One out of any species

Left arm = One out of any species

Right arm = One out of any species

Upper Left Arm = One out of any species

Upper Right Arm = One out of any species

Hands = One out of any species

Feet = One out of any species

Legs = One out of any species

Left Hand = One out of any species

Right Hand = One out of any species

Left Foot = One out of any species

Right Foot = One out of any species

Head = One out of any species

Mouth = One out of any species

Eyes = One out of any species

Ears = One out of any species

Nose = One out of any species

Teeth = One out of any species

Skin Type = Either Skin, Fur, Silicone, Hair, Chitin,

Scales, Membrane or Metallic Skin

Personality = Either Kind, Neutral or Bad

Tail = One out of any species

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Eye Colour = One out of the eye colours

Hair Colour = One out of the hair colours

Skin Colour = One out of the skin colours

Clothing = One out of the clothing options

Hair Variety = One out of the five hair styles

Trait 1 = One trait from Appendix B

Trait 2 = If allowed two, one trait from Appendix B

Trait 3 = If allowed three, one trait from Appendix B

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Appendix E – Final development schedule (last updated 25/02/16)

Production timeframe: October 2015 – April 2016

Due Date Objective Importance Status

31/10/15 Complete executable

mainframe and UI

HIGH Done

31/11/15 Implement method of

personality categorisation

for character data

HIGH Done

31/12/15 Create character and

world graphical

components

MEDIUM Done

30/12/15 Finish all scripting for

Socroe City (World 1)

HIGH Done

15/1/15 Complete character

generation program for

NPCs

MEDIUM Done

22/2/15 Create player symbol

creator

LOW Cancelled due to

change in narrative

31/2/15 Finish scripting for Port

Kreuzung (World 2)

HIGH Done

15/03/16 Finish minimal level of

additional content

LOW Done

Entirety of

04/16

Bug testing, edits and

extra content – month of

reflective review

N/A Complete

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Appendix F – Logo of Starstride Chronicles

Present logo (as of April 2016):

English

Welsh (literally translated as Star-Journey Chronicles)

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Appendix G – Diagram of the Five Factor model

Green indicates a high value, whereas red indicates a low value

64

Appendix H – Diagrams of conversation damage percentages in Starstride Chronicles

Green indicates a high value, whereas red indicates a low value

65

66

67

68

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Appendix I – Diagram of the HEXACO model

Green indicates a high value, whereas red indicates a low value

70

Appendix J – Diagram of the DISC model

Green indicates a high value, whereas red indicates a low value

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Appendix K – Diagram of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator

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Appendix L – Character sprites of Sire and Missy

Sire:

Skinless Behemoth textbox sprites

Skinless People textbox sprites

Missy:

Textbox sprites

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Full sprites (view from front)

Full sprites (view from right side)

74