9781422272916

The movement of flames is one of the hardest things to depict accurately for game programmers.

PSYCHOLOGY Game designers try to create the most realistic-looking humans possible, and part of that is creating real human expressions. Programmers generate a long list of rules that determine the different expressions and emotions a game character must show. They use a taxonomy of 60 basic facial actions that was put together by psychologists Wallace V. Friesen and Paul Ekman. Programmers determine the facial and eye movements needed to create happiness, sadness, frowning, and more. Getting the eye movements right for each expression is especially difficult.

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GAMING