Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Entity Component System Game Engine; Developing Ethical AI Policy for Generative-AI-Dependent Game Features136 views
Author
Zhang, Moses, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia
Advisors
Floryan, Mark, EN-Comp Science Dept, University of Virginia
Elliott, Travis, EN-Engineering and Society, University of Virginia
Abstract
This thesis examines the integration of generative AI into game development from two complementary perspectives: the engineering realities of building a game from the ground up, and the ethical frameworks that should govern generative AI use in commercial game development. The technical component is a design document for a custom Entity-Component-System (ECS) based game engine built from scratch, serving as reference documentation for the engine's architecture, core systems, and design decisions. This engine was built to both potentially serve as a "rubric" engine for CS4730: Computer Game Design and explore deeper relevant actants within the network of game development. The STS research paper uses Actor-Network Theory to map the relationships between game distribution platforms, developers, studios, artists, generative AI models, generative AI corporations, and players, identifying how power and ethical responsibility are unevenly distributed across this network. The paper argues that current platform policies fail to distinguish between generative AI used as a cost-cutting shortcut and generative AI used as a necessity to enable features that could not otherwise exist, and proposes a framework that requires ethically sourced models, formally separates these two use cases, and shifts accountability for ethical sourcing onto generative AI corporations themselves. Together, the two components argue that responsible generative AI use in game development is not a matter of binary judgement, but an ongoing negotiation that current policy frameworks are not yet equipped to handle.
Degree
BS (Bachelor of Science)
Keywords
Entity-Component-System; Game Development; Generative AI; Artists Rights; Game Engine
Notes
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Technical Advisor: Mark Floryan
STS Advisor: Travis Elliott
Language
English
Rights
All rights reserved by the author (no additional license for public reuse)
Zhang, Moses. Entity Component System Game Engine; Developing Ethical AI Policy for Generative-AI-Dependent Game Features. University of Virginia, School of Engineering and Applied Science, BS (Bachelor of Science), 2026-05-08, https://doi.org/10.18130/7yrc-vr71.
