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transferred or hybridised with the game world. This notion of an innate affordance
stems from the theory of situated and embodied cognition [23] [24], that states our
bodies share in part responsibility for the way we comprehend the environment. This
theory has already had some impact in the fields of human-computer interface (HCI)
[25] and is further discussed for its applicability to game play and player experience
[22] [26] [27]. Situated cognition also has interesting implications for emergent
game design and especially relates to aspects of interaction design and online player
experiences. Researchers are evaluating the possibility of developing appropriate
interface mechanics to enhance emergent play and narrative [28] [29]. Designing
appropriate affordances will encourage players to perform more like actors and
develop a level of collaborative engagement that produces more variations of
behavior and novel outcomes. Further studies into motivations and aspects of play-
style with emergent games [30] would also further techniques on how to develop such
affordances.
3
Emergent Model - Assimilate
The following section presents the application of emergent play features for the
assimilate system. The description includes an understanding of boundaries in
narrative context and fictional world construction, followed by a holistic view of
player experience with emergence and how interface mechanics support this
collaboration for online deployment.
3.1
Developing Coherence with Simple Rules
The model [31] is based on Conversation Theory (CT) [32], a cybernetic theory of
learning and social interaction, that self-organises a set thematic relationships based
on group conversation with eventual agreement on the context and meanings. As is
applicable to an emergent system, relationships are arranged from simple rules or
formalisms that scale into larger networks of meaning and may be combined or
pruned through player participation. These networks, known as entailment meshes
[33] (Fig 2.), are based on a simple formalism such that each concept is
interdependent on at least two others.
Fig. 2.
Cyclic entailment relationship
