thechineseroom
adventures in first person gaming
(the research page of dan pinchbeck, games researcher, uk)
This site contains information about my work, which ranges from building experimental mods and game content analysis, through to archiving and emulation of obsolete games and authoring an undergraduate textbook on computer game research.
My research work focuses upon first-person gaming. I'm particularly interested in game content, and the relationship between game content, gameplay devices and player behaviour.
In the past year, I've led a development team building three experimental mods, all of which have been released for free download over at www.moddb.com. Antlion Soccer is a sports-based deathmatch; Conscientious Objector is Doom 3 with non-lethal force; and Dear Esther is an interactive story built in Source. We're currently working on a fourth, Korsakovia, exploring ambiguity and lack of anthorpomorphic cues.
I've also just completed a doctorate which is all about story and first-person games, particularly looking at the gameplay function of story, and includes a detailed analysis of major FPS titles from 1998-2007. This includes looking at the types and characteristics of worlds, agents and persistent NPCs, avatars and plots. At some point in the near future I'll upload the raw data and the thesis here, please contact me if you'd like to see any of it.
I'm also part of a the KEEP project team. This is a European consortium who will be constructing a virtual machine over the next three years to emulate any existing or obsolete digital platform, enabling a higher degree of archiving than has previously been possible. Other partners in the consortium include the European Game Developers Federation and the Computerspielemuseum in Berlin.
contact me via email
or via moddb
i said come in, don't just stand there...