Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (High School Final Exam Project)

For my final exam project in high school for the subject “Teknikfag (Digital design og udvikling) (Technology subjects (Digital design and development))”, I chose to investigate the concept of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) in video games. DDA is a technique used to adjust the difficulty of a game based on the player’s skill level. The goal of this project was to explore the different methods of implementing DDA in video games and to evaluate the effectiveness of these methods in enhancing the player experience.

gameplay Screenshot from the game.

The game we developed for this project is a top down shooter where the player controls a character that can move around the map and shoot enemies. The difficulty of the game is adjusted based on the player’s skill level, which is determined by the player’s performance in the game. The game changes the number of enemies and map layout based on the player’s skill level to provide a challenging and engaging experience.

The game featured a simple stealth mechanic where the player could hide behind obstacles to avoid being detected by enemies.

map Illustration of a level in the game.

The levels were designed to encourage specific playstyles and strategies, such as using stealth to avoid enemies or going out guns blazing. The game would select the appropriate level based on the player’s skill level and playstyle.

Graph showing the player's skill level over time and the corresponding difficulty level (I)

Graph showing the player's skill level over time and the corresponding difficulty level (II)

Figures showing the player’s skill level over time and the corresponding difficulty level.

The game was made using Unity and C# and was designed to be played on a PC.

The full report. (in Danish)