INFLUENCE OF A PLATFORM GAME CONTROL METHOD ON A PLAYER’S EFFECTIVENESS

The aim of this research is to check which of two devices the keyboard or the controller – has a positive effect on a player's game-play in a platform game. Four parameters are defined: death count, error count, game time, learning time. A custom game is designed and implemented specifically for the research. The conducted experiment is divided into thirty-minute sessions, during which one player participates in the game after getting acquainted with the game’s mechanics. After completing the game, he/she fills out a survey in which he/she can express his/her level of satisfaction while using the assigned device. Each player has only one attempt. 16 players agree to participate. They are divided into two groups of 8 people each. Participants in the first group use the keyboard while those in the second group use the controller. In order to determine final results for the tested devices, the AHP method is used. The importance values for all pairs of measured parameters are determined in order to calculate their priorities. The priorities allow for distinguishing important from less important parameters. For this purpose, a survey of experienced players is conducted. They help to identify parameter importance. After trials and analysis of responses from the game-play satisfaction and parameter importance surveys, it turns out that players using the keyboard achieve better results, and the keyboard is more satisfying to use.