This article presents results from a study of work practices in a Norwegian game development studio. Identifying key challenges faced by the company, the article argues that the combination of project management issues and a lack of human and financial resources led the company into an unfortunate situation where they were simultaneously working on two overlapping projects and thus were forced to cancel one of the projects. Further, the article also discusses how welfare measures related to cultural policy support system and work environment legislation may have impacted upon the process.

No abstract

No abstract

Mateusz Kominiarczukdoktorant Wydziału "Artes Liberales" UW. Jego zainteresowania naukowe obejmują "gry w grach" , historię RPG i koncepcje Gerarda Genette' a. Obecnie zajmuje się badaniem złożonych artefaktów ludycznych i gier kompozytowych. Publikował w czasopismach "Homo Ludens" oraz "Literatura i Kultura Popularna" .

This article discusses the relationship between the user interface (UI) and the game world in computer games, with point of departure in qualitative studies including players and game developers. The developers' evaluation of the relationship from a design point of view will first be presented, before the article goes on to discuss the degree to which the players accept the presence of UI features within the game world. We will see that developers find it challenging to balance between functionality and fiction, but see system features as a necessity that must be present for usability purposes. From the point of departure of players, they rarely consider system features intrusive to the game world, but accept them as integrated to the conventions established within modern computer game aesthetics.