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Low-level optimization is the process of handwriting key parts of applications in assembly code that is better than what can be generated from a higher-level language. In performance-intensive applications, this is key to ensuring efficient code. This is generally something that is taught in on the job training, but knowledge

Low-level optimization is the process of handwriting key parts of applications in assembly code that is better than what can be generated from a higher-level language. In performance-intensive applications, this is key to ensuring efficient code. This is generally something that is taught in on the job training, but knowledge of it improves college student’s skill sets and makes them more desirable employees I have created material for a course teaching this low-level optimization with assembly code. I specifically focus on the x86 architecture, as this is one of the most prolific computer architectures. The course contains a series of lecture videos, live coding videos, and structured programming assignments to support the learning objectives. This material is presented in an entirely autonomous way, which serves as remote learning material and can be easily added as supplemental material to an existing course.
ContributorsAbraham, Jacob (Author) / Meuth, Ryan (Thesis director) / Nakamura, Mutsumi (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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This project was a long form article talking about the struggles the competitive fighting game community had with poor online multiplayer during the pandemic and how rollback netcode aims to remedy that problem as well as provide easy online play for everyone.

ContributorsVan Ligten, Connor (Author) / Boivin, Paola (Thesis director) / Kurland, Brett (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to grou

A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to group students effectively with some universities opting to market this inefficiency as a normal part of the college experience. For our thesis as a part of Founders Lab, we created our company, RiZing, to tackle this inefficiency. RiZing addresses the student-housing gap and proves that the lack of effective matching can be solved with the right people and of course, video games. Both students and higher education institutions are desperately trying to solve this problem. General event service vendors are racing just as quickly to serve this collegiate market and are extremely motivated to work with anyone who does. As the world today is becoming increasingly digitized, the founders of RiZing believe that the solution to building and maintaining strong connections with peers is possible through leveraging technology such as video games to create strong personal bonds.

ContributorsTopasna, Eric (Author) / Menna, Grace (Co-author) / Schmidt, Alexius (Co-author) / Williams, Jordan (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Satpathy, Asish (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Description

A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to grou

A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to group students effectively with some universities opting to market this inefficiency as a normal part of the college experience. For our thesis as a part of Founders Lab, we created our company, RiZing, to tackle this inefficiency. RiZing addresses the student-housing gap and proves that the lack of effective matching can be solved with the right people and of course, video games. Both students and higher education institutions are desperately trying to solve this problem. General event service vendors are racing just as quickly to serve this collegiate market and are extremely motivated to work with anyone who does. As the world today is becoming increasingly digitized, the founders of RiZing believe that the solution to building and maintaining strong connections with peers is possible through leveraging technology such as video games to create strong personal bonds.

ContributorsSchmidt, Alexius (Author) / Menna, Grace (Co-author) / Topasna, Eric (Co-author) / Williams, Jordan (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Satpathy, Asish (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Description

A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to grou

A significant sub-market within student affairs has been long ignored and broken: Student housing success. Research shows that strong relationships between students that live together are crucial to the well-being and academic success of that student. The problem is that universities have not figured out a standard way to group students effectively with some universities opting to market this inefficiency as a normal part of the college experience. For our thesis as a part of Founders Lab, we created our company, RiZing, to tackle this inefficiency. RiZing addresses the student-housing gap and proves that the lack of effective matching can be solved with the right people and of course, video games. Both students and higher education institutions are desperately trying to solve this problem. General event service vendors are racing just as quickly to serve this collegiate market and are extremely motivated to work with anyone who does. As the world today is becoming increasingly digitized, the founders of RiZing believe that the solution to building and maintaining strong connections with peers is possible through leveraging technology such as video games to create strong personal bonds.

ContributorsMenna, Grace (Author) / Schmidt, Alexius (Co-author) / Williams, Jordan (Co-author) / Topasna, Eric (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Satpathy, Asish (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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For my thesis, I developed an educational video game titled Cannon Quest. Based around a thought experiment proposed in 1687 by Sir Isaac Newton, Cannon Quest allows players to explore a miniature, 2-dimensional solar system using real physics and gravity. My principle goal was to create an interactive model of

For my thesis, I developed an educational video game titled Cannon Quest. Based around a thought experiment proposed in 1687 by Sir Isaac Newton, Cannon Quest allows players to explore a miniature, 2-dimensional solar system using real physics and gravity. My principle goal was to create an interactive model of orbital motion, with some game/simulation elements. This allows players who are totally unfamiliar with orbital mechanics to gain at least a rudimentary understanding simply by playing the game. While the educational model was my primary goal, care was taken to ensure that Cannon Quest functions as a playable simulator. I developed my own user interface (UI), control setup, and art, as well as integrating music and animation for a more complete user experience. I also spent a significant amount of time balancing the gameplay aspects with the real physics, occasionally sacrificing reality where needed to ensure a better experience. The resulting product is simple and straightforward, while retaining much of the nuances of actual orbital motion. I also developed a website to host Cannon Quest, and better direct my playtesters from a single hub. You can visit this website at www.cannonquest.carrd.co. Alternatively, you can visit https://possiblymatthew.itch.io/cannon-quest or https://github.com/matthewbenjamin22/Cannon-Quest to play the game.
ContributorsBenjamin, Matthew (Author) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Thesis director) / Feng, Xuerong (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Mark is a creative project to showcase the storytelling potential of video games and explore the unique narrative tools at their disposal. In particular, the mechanics are crafted to spotlight the ludonarrative—when the gameplay adds to or even tells its own story. In addition, the short, non-linear progression of collecting

Mark is a creative project to showcase the storytelling potential of video games and explore the unique narrative tools at their disposal. In particular, the mechanics are crafted to spotlight the ludonarrative—when the gameplay adds to or even tells its own story. In addition, the short, non-linear progression of collecting a different assortment of friends with each playthrough explores player agency and its role in the emergence of narrative from a series of loosely-scripted events.
ContributorsHoward, Rachel (Author) / Hill, Retha (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Pokémon is one of the most profitable multimedia franchises of all time, yet few have endeavored to examine how it has reached such a status. The story of Pokémon is not only the story of its many media ventures and the people who create them, but the story of its

Pokémon is one of the most profitable multimedia franchises of all time, yet few have endeavored to examine how it has reached such a status. The story of Pokémon is not only the story of its many media ventures and the people who create them, but the story of its fans as well. Through a comprehensive analysis of developer interviews, contemporary news articles, fan blogs and forums, and existing scholarly work, this thesis presents the history of the Pokémon franchise and its fandom as never before, emphasizing four main themes of technology, nostalgia, community, and capitalism as key to understanding how Pokémon has become the titan of popular culture that it is today and how its fandom has developed alongside it.
Created2022-05
Description
This thesis details the importance and evidence of medieval and modern fantasy’s influence on modern video gaming. This influence is examined through the lens of three primary themes found in fantasy: magic, the bestiary, and chivalry. These themes are traced using medieval texts including The Prose Edda, The Quest for

This thesis details the importance and evidence of medieval and modern fantasy’s influence on modern video gaming. This influence is examined through the lens of three primary themes found in fantasy: magic, the bestiary, and chivalry. These themes are traced using medieval texts including The Prose Edda, The Quest for the Holy Grail, and The Death of King Arthur, modern texts including A Wizard of Earthsea, The Eye of the World, and The Way of Kings, and modern video games including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, God of War, and Elden Ring. The reasons why they are so prevalent and useful for developers and companies is a constant question that this thesis seeks to answer with primary attention focused on increasing gameplay length and player immersion as key strategies that allow for advanced monetization. The overall consensus of this thesis is that not only is fantasy an influential genre but that its primary themes lend themselves very well to the format of video games and that game developers and companies are using this to increase their chances of creating successful video games.
ContributorsFoley, Ethan (Author) / Cruse, Markus (Thesis director) / Jakubczak, Laura (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2023-12
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In modern America, as well as the world, violence and extremist ideologies are taking an increasingly central role in affairs. Students are struggling to learn and lack basic analytical skills. In the age of social media, the values of examining literature, critical thinking, and contextual understanding are disappearing. Yet these

In modern America, as well as the world, violence and extremist ideologies are taking an increasingly central role in affairs. Students are struggling to learn and lack basic analytical skills. In the age of social media, the values of examining literature, critical thinking, and contextual understanding are disappearing. Yet these skills nevertheless remain necessary for life. In taking on civic duties as adults, students must be able to understand and engage with the increasingly complex and dangerous world they live in, particularly one where the threat of terror haunts everyday life. It is thus important for young adults to be exposed to violent or otherwise disagreeable material. Extremism is a reality of today’s society, and younger generations must be prepared to process and respond to it. Critical thinking skills, which are often insufficiently developed, are crucial to this. The goals of this project are to provide a mature, appropriate, and thoughtful approach to violent or radical ideologies, allowing students to hone critical analysis skills and understand how to respond to a world where extremism is becoming increasingly prevalent. This thesis provides an introduction to the idea of terror and extremism, its history, and its impact on American culture and curriculum. This sets the stage for a discussion on critical thinking, emphasizing the importance of such a skill and how it can best be taught. In light of this, it is important for controversial or mature materials to be read in class, as they not only help students understand what goes on in the world but also provide opportunities for students to develop strong critical thinking skills in a safe and encouraging environment.
ContributorsNicholls, Meredith (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Carlson, John (Committee member) / Haner, Murat (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05