Modelling and transposition of location-based games

Design and development of Location-Based Games (LBG) are not trivial tasks due to their pervasive nature, multidisciplinary requirements, and global deployment issues. This paper presents a model-based approach to describe and generate LBGs. Our approach separates location data, game mechanics, and media content from the game implementation. We aim at allowing LBGs to be edited and deployed in many places quickly. The core is LeGaL, an extension of NCL (Nested Context Language) that models and represents the game structure and its multimedia contents (e.g., video, 3D objects). Its novel approach allows the modelling of mission-based games by supporting relationships between game elements and multimedia documents. We also present a transposition method that provides for LBGs to be deployed around distinct cities in the world by generating balanced game maps. To validate this approach, we applied map balancing measurements to compare the transposed map of an LBG. Additionally, we implemented an authoring tool and a game server that enabled us to model, generate, and to map LBGs. We assessed LeGaL using a qualitative evaluation with six NCL developers. Positive results indicate that our model-based approach has the potential to improve the design and development of LBGs.