research-article

Evaluating the benefits of software product lines in game software engineering

Authors:

Jose Ignacio Trasobares,

África Domingo,

Carlos CetinaAuthors Info & Claims

SPLC '22: Proceedings of the 26th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference - Volume A

Pages 120 - 130

https://doi.org/10.1145/3546932.3546998

Published: 12 September 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Video game development is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The use of software product lines (SPLs) has proven to be effective in developing different types of software at a lower cost, in less time, and with higher quality. There are recent research efforts that propose to apply SPLs in the domain of video games. Video games present characteristics that differentiate their development from the development of classic software; for example, game developers perceive more difficulties than other non-game developers when reusing code. In this paper, we evaluate if the adoption of an SPL in game software engineering (GSE) can generate the same benefits as in classic software engineering (CSE) considering the case study of Kromaia. As in other disciplines dealing with human behaviour, empirical research allows for building a reliable knowledge base in software engineering. We present an experiment comparing two development approaches, Clone and Own (CaO) and an SPL in terms of correctness, efficiency, and satisfaction when subjects develop elements of a commercial video game. The results indicate that the elements developed using the SPL are more correct than those developed with CaO but do not indicate significant improvement in efficiency or satisfaction. Our findings suggest that SPLs in GSE may play a different role than the one they have played for decades in CSE. Specifically, SPLs can be relevant to generating new video game content or to balancing video game difficulty.

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Cited By

Navarro SIglesias APérez FCetina CFont J(2024)Phylogenix: Bringing phylogenetics to UnityProceedings of the 28th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference10.1145/3646548.3676604(38-41)Online publication date: 2-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3646548.3676604
Castro DWerner CXexéo G(2024)Extending Educational Games Across Product LinesVideogame Sciences and Arts10.1007/978-3-031-51452-4_10(134-149)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51452-4_10
Chueca JTrasobares JDomingo ÁArcega LCetina CFont J(2023)Comparing software product lines and Clone and Own for game software engineering under two paradigmsJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2023.111824205:COnline publication date: 17-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2023.111824

Index Terms

Evaluating the benefits of software product lines in game software engineering
1. General and reference
  1. Cross-computing tools and techniques
    1. Empirical studies
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Software development techniques
      1. Reusability
        Software product lines

Recommendations

Comparing software product lines and Clone and Own for game software engineering under two paradigms: Model-driven development and code-driven development
Abstract
Game developers often face more challenges when reusing code compared to non-game developers, and Software Product Lines (SPLs) have been successful in addressing this issue. In this study, we compare different approaches to code reuse ...
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- The use of Software Product Lines over Clone and Own in Game Software Engineering.
Integrating Software Product Line Engineering and Agile Development

Software product line engineering (SPLE) delivers significant economic benefits through planned reuse of the product platform and the effective management of variations across products. However, dynamic market conditions demand the use of software ...
Engineering Service-Based Dynamic Software Product Lines

A service-oriented approach that com- bines feature-oriented analysis with a self- managing quality-of-service framework addresses the challenges associated with dynamic software product lines.

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cover image ACM Conferences

SPLC '22: Proceedings of the 26th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference - Volume A

September 2022

266 pages

ISBN:9781450394437

DOI:10.1145/3546932

General Chairs:
Alexander Felfernig
Graz University of Technology, Austria
,
Lidia Fuentes
University of Málaga, Spain

Copyright © 2022 ACM.

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SIGSOFT: ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering

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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 12 September 2022

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Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

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SPLC '22

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SIGSOFT

SPLC '22: 26th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference

September 12 - 16, 2022

Graz, Austria

Acceptance Rates

SPLC '22 Paper Acceptance Rate 14 of 41 submissions, 34%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 167 of 463 submissions, 36%

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Cited By

Navarro SIglesias APérez FCetina CFont J(2024)Phylogenix: Bringing phylogenetics to UnityProceedings of the 28th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference10.1145/3646548.3676604(38-41)Online publication date: 2-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3646548.3676604
Castro DWerner CXexéo G(2024)Extending Educational Games Across Product LinesVideogame Sciences and Arts10.1007/978-3-031-51452-4_10(134-149)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51452-4_10
Chueca JTrasobares JDomingo ÁArcega LCetina CFont J(2023)Comparing software product lines and Clone and Own for game software engineering under two paradigmsJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2023.111824205:COnline publication date: 17-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2023.111824

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