A framework for the creation and execution of location-based story-telling games

Abstract

In this dissertation, we describe the steps involved in constructing a framework for the creation of location-based story-telling games. The framework created performs fundamental underlying functions and hides complexity from the user. It gives non highly-technical users a dynamic way to create innovative location based games by simplifying major steps crucial to these types of games. The framework allows for the integration of the virtual and real worlds. The physical game play is performed in the real world, which depends on the rules described in the virtual world. The movement of the players is tracked by the users' location-tracking device and the game is updated accordingly. The system is viewed from a higher level of abstraction, allowing the user to concentrate on the game logic. Apart from this, the time needed to create a location-based game is drastically shortened. The architecture is generic and allows for the creation of a broad range of different types of location-based games. This framework is implemented on the open handset-platform Google Android.