Optimizing Play

Optimizing Play
Author: Christopher A. Paul
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2024-05-14
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0262378329

An unexpected take on how games work, what the stakes are for them, and how game designers can avoid the traps of optimization. The process of optimization in games seems like a good thing—who wouldn’t want to find the most efficient way to play and win? As Christopher Paul argues in Optimizing Play, however, optimization can sometimes risk a tragedy of the commons, where actions that are good for individuals jeopardize the overall state of the game for everyone else. As he explains, players inadvertently limit play as they theorycraft, seeking optimal choices. The process of developing a meta, or the most effective tactic available, structures decision making, causing play to stagnate. A “stale” meta then creates a perception that a game is solved and may lead players to turn away from the game. Drawing on insights from game studies, rhetoric, the history of science, ecology, and game theory literature, Paul explores the problem of optimization in a range of video games, including Overwatch, FIFA/EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Clash Royale, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends. He also pulls extensively from data analytics in sports, where the problem has progressed further and is even more intractable than it is in video games, given the money sports teams invest to find an edge. Finally, Paul offers concrete and specific suggestions for how games can be developed to avoid the trap set by optimization run amok.

Optimizing Ace King

Optimizing Ace King
Author: Adam Jones
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2018-10-08
Genre: Gambling systems
ISBN: 9781726162531

Ace King is a massively profitable hand. In fact, AK is in the top-5% of winning hands and accounts for a good chunk of your winrate. But despite that fact, many players are confused about how to approach this hand. Should you 3bet it preflop, or just call it? Should you play the suited and offsuit versions the same, or differently? Should you c-bet with air, or check instead? And how many streets of value is top pair really worth?Most players struggle with AK due to small leaks in their strategy. So Optimizing Ace King (OAK) doesn't look to give you a bunch of memorized plays and tactics. Instead, OAK shows you how AK fits within your strategy and ranges. This prepares you for playing AK, among other hands, in a variety of spots and under a variety of conditions.James "SplitSuit" Sweeney and Adam "W34Z3L" Jones co-wrote this book to take an in-depth look at poker strategy through the lens of a single hand. Concepts include 3betting, 4betting, cbetting, barreling, GTO vs. exploitative play, and deducing lines from GTO solver output. You will play AK 99.9% of the time you are dealt it, and since it makes up such a large chunk of your winrate, doesn't it make sense to strengthen your approach with it? Each chapter builds upon the last, walking you through preflop play, flop play (when you hit, miss, and flop draws), and turn + river play. Plus there is an entire chapter full of examples and a chapter dedicated strictly to tournaments. If your winrate with AK could use a boost, invest a few chips and see the ROI in no time at all!(The foreword is written by legendary poker author Ed Miller)

Windows XP Registry: A Complete Guide to Customizing and Optimizing Windows XP

Windows XP Registry: A Complete Guide to Customizing and Optimizing Windows XP
Author: Olga Kokoreva
Publisher: БХВ-Петербург
Total Pages: 534
Release: 2001
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 193176901X

Targeting IT professionals, system administrators, and experienced users moving to the Windows XP platform, this book enables the user to master registry concepts and architecture, provides a historical overview of the registry, and outlines the differences between Windows 9x/ME and Windows NT/2000/XP registries. Special attention is drawn to the enhancements in registry architecture introduced with Windows XP, such as faster queries and removal of the registry size limitation. Covered in depth are how to properly use registry features, how to plan and implement the most appropriate registry backup strategy, and how to monitor and modify the system registry according to the administrative requirements and individual needs of the users.

Postsecondary Play

Postsecondary Play
Author: William G. Tierney
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2014-06-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1421413078

Games and social media can improve college access, attract and support students, and boost rates of completion. The college application process—which entails multiple forms, essays, test scores, and deadlines—can be intimidating. For students without substantial school and family support, the complexity of this process can become a barrier to access. William G. Tierney, Tracy Fullerton, and their teams at the University of Southern California approach this challenge innovatively. Using the tools of online games and social media, they have developed ways to make applying for college much less intimidating. While the vast majority of college students use social media and gaming in their everyday lives, colleges and universities have been slow to recognize and harness the power of either. Postsecondary Play explores the significance of games and social media in higher education, and particularly how they can be used to attract, retain, educate, and socialize students. Tierney, a past president of the American Educational Research Association, has gathered some of the best research on the emerging role of games and social media in the classroom and how these tools can boost student confidence and increase college access. Scholars writing from a wide variety of disciplines—college access, social media, game studies, and learning sciences—provide concrete examples to illustrate the new and complex ways in which students learn in response to social media and games. Tierney and the contributors find that, although games can be powerful tools for encouraging underserved students, quality game design and mastering the concept of play—the ability to develop skills while engaging in the game—are essential in the effective use of serious games in teaching and learning. Summarizing a decade of research in game design and learning, Postsecondary Play will appeal to higher education scholars and students of learning, online gaming, education, and the media.

Terms of Play

Terms of Play
Author: Zach Waggoner
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2013-06-06
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0786469706

This edited collection of new essays is devoted to the terminology used in the fields of videogame theory and videogame studies. Videogame scholars provide theoretical critiques of existing terminology, mount arguments for the creation of new terminology, articulate terminological gaps in the current literature devoted to videogame studies, and share phenomenological studies of videogames that facilitate terminological theory.

Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games

Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games
Author: Christopher A. Paul
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2012-03-15
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1136343059

In this timely new book, Christopher Paul analyzes how the words we use to talk about video games and the structures that are produced within games shape a particular way of gaming by focusing on how games create meaning, lead to identification and division, persuade, and circulate ideas. Paul examines the broader social discourse about gaming, including: the way players are socialized into games; the impact of the lingering association of video games as kid's toys; the dynamics within specific games (including Grand Theft Auto and EA Sports Games); and the ways in which players participate in shaping the discourse of games, demonstrated through examples like the reward system of World of Warcraft and the development of theorycraft. Overall, this book illustrates how video games are shaped by words, design and play; all of which are negotiated, ongoing practices among the designers, players, and society that construct the discourse of video games.

Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control

Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control
Author: Dimitri Bertsekas
Publisher: Athena Scientific
Total Pages: 613
Release:
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1886529434

This is the leading and most up-to-date textbook on the far-ranging algorithmic methododogy of Dynamic Programming, which can be used for optimal control, Markovian decision problems, planning and sequential decision making under uncertainty, and discrete/combinatorial optimization. The treatment focuses on basic unifying themes, and conceptual foundations. It illustrates the versatility, power, and generality of the method with many examples and applications from engineering, operations research, and other fields. It also addresses extensively the practical application of the methodology, possibly through the use of approximations, and provides an extensive treatment of the far-reaching methodology of Neuro-Dynamic Programming/Reinforcement Learning. Among its special features, the book 1) provides a unifying framework for sequential decision making, 2) treats simultaneously deterministic and stochastic control problems popular in modern control theory and Markovian decision popular in operations research, 3) develops the theory of deterministic optimal control problems including the Pontryagin Minimum Principle, 4) introduces recent suboptimal control and simulation-based approximation techniques (neuro-dynamic programming), which allow the practical application of dynamic programming to complex problems that involve the dual curse of large dimension and lack of an accurate mathematical model, 5) provides a comprehensive treatment of infinite horizon problems in the second volume, and an introductory treatment in the first volume The electronic version of the book includes 29 theoretical problems, with high-quality solutions, which enhance the range of coverage of the book.

Highly Efficient Thermal Renewable Energy Systems

Highly Efficient Thermal Renewable Energy Systems
Author: Vikas Verma
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2024-05-21
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1040020518

The text comprehensively highlights the latest methodologies, models, techniques, and applications along with a description of modeling, optimization, and experimental works in the energy sector. It further explains key concepts such as finite element analysis tools, hybrid energy systems, mechanical components design, and optimization, solar coupled systems, and vertical heat exchanger. This book • Discusses the role and integration of solar, geothermal, and hydrogen‐based thermal energy storage (TES) technologies in different sectors for space heating and cooling applications. • Covers mechanical modeling and optimization of hybrid energy storage systems for performance improvement and focuses on hydrogen production, storage, and safety measures. • Explores the integration of IoT and global energy interaction technologies, highlighting their potential benefits in driving the transition toward a sustainable and resilient global energy system. • Explains different aspects of clean technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, ground energy storage, solar thermal system, and the role of green hydrogen in decarbonizing sectors like transportation and energy. • Showcases a clear idea of sustainable development using renewable energy, focusing on policymaking, challenges in transition from conventional to renewable energy, and future directions in energy sector. It is primarily written for senior undergraduates and graduate students, and academic researchers in the fields of mechanical engineering, production engineering, industrial engineering, and environmental engineering.