The field of sketching interface design in regards to video game is relatively young and has not been investigated in great depth. Freepad is a custom paper-based MIDI musical interface. We describe an extension to Freepad that supports user customization for real time strategy games. Using only a webcam, a pen and a sheet of paper, players can design their own interface by drawing shapes and linking them to simple or complex actions in the game. In an user study, we use this extended Freepad to explore the potential of sketching interfaces in strategy video games. Our results indicate that using Freepad improves the efficiency of players and their enjoyment in this kind of games.

1. ENGAGING THE WORLD
Can a Paper-Based Sketching Interface
Improve the Gamer Experience in
Strategy Computer Games?
Matthieu Macret Alissa N. Antle Philippe
Pasquier
mmacret@sfu.ca aantle@sfu.ca pasquier@sfu.ca

2. • Conquest: The player has to destroy the
enemy bases, take the resources and expand
her territory.
• Exploration: The player has to explore the
game map to find new resources and locate
enemies.
• Economy: The player has to exploit resources,
develop her bases and trade.
Real Time Strategy Games (RTS)
3
Challenge: Deal with these activities
simultaneously and in real time.

3. • Starcraft I and II
• Warcraft III
• 3.5 millions of players weekly online.
• E-sport (world championships)
• New challenge for gaming AI
• Challenging for HCI community
RTS- Why bother ?
4
© Blizzard Entertainment

4. • Can an paper-based sketching interface
improve the gamer experience in strategy
computer games?
– In this work, we focus on paper-based
sketching interfaces.
– A user study is presented.
HCI in RTS
5

5. • Paper MIDI interface developed by the
Metacreation, Agents and Multi-Agent
System (MAMAS) lab:
– Chun, S. and Hawryshkewich, A. and Jung, K. and Pasquier, P.,
Freepad: A Custom Paper-based MIDI Interface, Proc. New
Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference, 2010
Freepad: Paper MIDI Interface
6

6. Freepad: Paper MIDI Interface
7

7. • Link shapes to keystrokes instead of MIDI
notes
• Advantages:
• Provide
users
with
op/ons
regarding
the
design
of
their
custom
interface
• Examples:
– Basic
ac/ons:
build
3
marines.
– More
advanced
ac/ons:
» Rush:
Build
10
marines
and
5
firebats
and
send
them
in
the
enemy
base.
» Siege:
Build
3
tanks
and
deploy
them
around
the
enemy
base.
Freepad extension for RTS
8

8. Quality
Descrip3on
For
RTS
Accessibility
Requires
only
a
webcam,
a
sheet
of
paper
and
a
piece
of
soFware.
No
extra
hardware
needed
to
play.
Simplicity
/
Flexibility
Draw
your
interface
and
set
it
quickly
using
a
GUI.
-­‐
Don’t
add
too
many
unnecessary
configura/on
steps
before
playing.
-­‐
The
interface
can
evolve
in
the
same
/me
than
the
player’s
level.
Customiza3on
Infinity
of
different
possible
interfaces.
One
interface
=
one
game
style
Why Freepad ?
9

9. Freepad setup process
10

10. SET
11

11. DRAW
12

12. SET SHORTCUT AND PLAY
13

13. In-game
14

14. • KM: Keyboard and Mouse
• KMF: Keyboard, Mouse and Freepad
User study design: Configurations
15

15. • Ns: number of units produced by second
• Game replays are analyzed from:
– http://www.starcraft-replay.com/
• Data shows that Ns is significantly higher
for winners than for losers.
We use Ns as a metric to measure efficiency
Efficiency: Measurement
16

16. • Gameflow (Sweetser et al.)
«In RTS, player enjoyment pivotes on mastering,
scheduling and coping with the numerous
tasks. »
Freepad has the potential to better distribute
the player’s focus on the numerous tasks
of the game.
Enjoyment
17

17. 1. The player will be more efficient playing
the game in KMF configuration than in KM
configuration.
2. The player will find the game more
enjoyable to play in KMF configuration
than in KM configuration.
User study design: Hypotheses
18
KM: Keyboard and Mouse
KMF: Keyboard, Mouse and Freepad

18. Map: “Steppe of war”
19

19. • The participants received a presentation of
the game and how to use the different
controllers.
• They were asked to draw their own interface.
• Each participant was asked to play the map
twice once in KM configuration and once in
KMF configuration.
• Finally they were asked to fill up a Likert scale
questionnaire.
Procedures
20

20. Study - Figures
21
Mean
SD
Nb
of
par3cipants
11
Age
24.76
2.53
Player
experience
2 3 4 51Novice Expert

21. 1) Using the Freepad, I am more efficient in
the game.
2) It is more enjoyable to play with the
Freepad than only with the keyboard and
the mouse.
3) I am interested in customizing my own
Freepad interface to play in a strategy
video games
7-points Likert scale questionnaire
22
2 3 4 5 6 71
2 3 4 5 6 71
2 3 4 5 6 71
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
agree
Strongly
agree

22. Efficiency: Results
23
Ns
Mean
SD
KM
0.22
0.08
KMF
0.4
0.12
Wilcoxon → t(15) = 33.000, p < 0.01
Players
using
Freepad
are
more
efficient
in
the
game
than
players
using
solely
the
keyboard
and
the
mouse.

23. • Keyboard rarely used in KMF configuration.
• Most participants used common shapes
such as squares, circles or triangles as
provided as example.
Observations and questionnaires
24

24. • Better distribute most of the different
tasks the player has to perform (Conquest
and Economy) between the keyboard, the
mouse and Freepad.
• More parallelism in the actions the player
can perform.
• Player more efficient when using Freepad
Conclusions
25

25. • Freepad
– The sheet of paper can’t be moved (but can be reused).
– Limited to closed shapes.
– Keystrokes triggering technique does not get access to
advanced game functionalities (Ex.: micro-management,
etc.)
• Experience design
– Within-subjects design
• problem
of
asymmetric
skill
transfer
– The metric is likely only appropriate in this very specifically
constrained game type
– User study size (although stats do not lie)
Limitations
26

26. • Study interface customization for RTS.
• Used new kind of customizable interface
(Kinect, Leap…)
• Apply the same principle to other tasks
than RTS (word editing softwares, graphic
editing softwares, etc.)
Future works
27

27. • Freepad software available at:
– http://www.metacreation.net/freepad
Matthieu Macret Alissa N.Antle Philippe
Pasquier
mmacret@sfu.ca aantle@sfu.ca pasquier@sfu.ca
Questions ?
28