Holochess

Project Type: Dissertation

Date: January 2026 - May 2026

As the final project at Univeristy I underwent the design and creation of a digital artefact and dissertation research that covered the design, development and creation of said artefact. This paper also includes research into the field that my artefact covered and why my project was necessary.

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"How does aesthetic framing influence player strategic decision-making in deterministic strategy games?"

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I wanted to explore how people react to the different ways in which games are presented to them. Why do different levels of abstraction in games and the presentation of game elements invoke different experiences from players? Do their strategies change and if so why?​

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This was my focus point behind the research that started the creation of the Holochess. Combined with my love of Star Wars and seeing very little representation of the game in the real world I decided to create it in 4 different versions, being as follows:

1) Textured with AI

2) Textured without AI

3) Non-Textured with AI

4) Non-Textured without AI

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By having these versions I was able to monitor the different interactions that players have with different core game elements. The meaning between textured and non-textured in this case is whether or not the players were able to see the characters they used in the game, while not using textures the players would see coloured cubes representing which side they were on.

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A major part of this study was the look into Artificial Intelligence and being able to create one that could play the game itself rather than be a npc in the game world. All aspects of the game were created by myself with the exception of the piece's designs as these were copied from the version of the game in Star Wars.

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What did I learn?

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- How to structure and create a literature review

- How to find and evaluate research papers to tailor content that is necessary to my research

- Artificial Intelligence using blueprint

- Improved ability to code in Unreal Engine Blueprint

- Artifical Intelligence from Python to C++

- Gained knowledge on how to create games in Virtual Reality and the plugins available that intergrate with Unreal Engine

- Improved my abilities in the Game Development Pipeline and keeping to deadlines

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