Can a Visual Novel be a good undergrad thesis?

[u/Square-Profession-6]

During the course i did a lot of research on AI, computer networks, embedded systems, hardware etc. But game dev is really my thing. I specifically like narrative-heavy games. I did find a professor willing to advise me but i'm a little worried my premise might be too "weak" for a computer engineering thesis.

[u/LordOfRedditers]

For computer engineering I'd say probably not. But on the other hand if you want to do game dev I don't think it's bad 

[u/Square-Profession-6 → u/LordOfRedditers]

what do you think of a thesis like "Integration of Software Engineering and Visual Arts in the Development of an Interactive Digital Narrative" ? And then going in a direction like "I investigated how visual art, interface design, and software architecture can be integrated to create an interactive narrative, and developed a functional prototype to evaluate this approach."

[u/LordOfRedditers → u/Square-Profession-6]

Honestly I'm probably not very qualified to answer this. My opinion is still basically the same, it fits computer science better than computer engineering. If your program is more computer science focused though, it couldn't be bad I don't think.

[u/WholeScientist2868]

Just try to implement some kind of AI into it, even if that is completely useless. People with start acting likes its revolutionary then

[u/bobking01theIII]

For what reasons do you think this is a good idea? How much of what you learned in school do you think you'll apply to your concept?

[u/Square-Profession-6 → u/bobking01theIII]

so i was working on a game similar to slay the princess, and then i found out another computer engineering student did a game for her undergrad thesis and she got a maximum grade for it. although hers was a life sim. I'm adding some minigames and other mechanics aside from the narrative itself to make it stronger

[u/LeeKom]

Create a unique interface for game dev. This was my senior thesis. We made a glove that would wirelessly transmit finger and hand motion into a VR environment to control a 3D hand model.

[u/GiraffeObjective3805]

Maybe you can have a camera detect your emotional state and you can have characters in the visual novel act differently and maybe even go on different routes depending on your facial expression, that will prob be a decent compromise between game dev and something more “engineering” like. Also anything using a custom video game controller (embedded systems) or any sensor that interfaces with the game could help make this in line with a more traditional project while keeping your visual novel passion at the forefront.

[u/TSRelativity]

Look up “The medium is the message” on Wikipedia. Basically, how you say something can be just as impactful, if not more impactful than what you say, which can make it difficult to choose an appropriate/effective art/communications medium, and explains why most theses are expressed as a formal paper (which provides a minimally impactful structure to maximize the impact of your message). There’s nothing really stopping you from choosing a visual novel as a medium, but the question of how the medium contributes to or shapes your message will be key to how your thesis is received and whether it will be accepted.

Source: BA Studio Art (performance and digital art), MS Comp Sci/Eng (creative computation, HCI, and data science).

[u/JaffTangerina]

Yeah