Affective Conditional Modifiers in Adaptive Video Game Music

This paper presents an application of affective conditional modifiers (ACMs) in adaptive video game music -- a technique whereby the emotional intent of background music is adapted, based on biofeedback, to enforce a target emotion state in the player, thus providing a more immersive experience. The proposed methods are explored in a bespoke horror game titled "The Hidden", which uses ACMs to enforce states of calmness in stressed players, and states of stress in calm players, through the procedural adaptation of background music timbre and instrumentation. These two conditions, along with a control condition, are investigated through an experimental study. Due to the low number of participants, the results of the user study provide limited insight into the effectiveness of the proposed ACMs. Nevertheless, the experiment design and user feedback highlight a number of important considerations and potential directions for future work. Namely, the need for consideration of the individual affective profile of the player, the audio-visual and narrative cues that may reduce the impact of affective audio, the effects of game familiarity on affective responses, and the need for ACM thresholds that are well-suited to the context and narrative of the game