Gamer Profile

A few weeks ago, someone asked me to take this test and share the results.  Here it is:

Fast-Paced, Analytical, Relaxed, and Story-Focused

"A percentile of 80% means you scored higher than 80% of gamers. Conversely, a percentile of 10% means 90% of gamers had a higher score than you. This means that a 50% is perfectly average."

The Action Components (51%)
Gamers with high Action scores are aggressive and like to jump in the fray and be surrounded by dramatic visuals and effects. Gamers with low Action scores prefer slower-paced games with calmer settings.

Destruction (34%): Gamers who score high on this component are agents of chaos and destruction. They love having many tools at their disposal to blow things up and cause relentless mayhem. They enjoy games with lots of guns and explosives. They gravitate towards titles like Call of Duty and Battlefield. And if they accidentally find themselves in games like The Sims, they are the ones who figure out innovative ways to get their Sims killed.
 

Excitement (70%): Gamers who score high on this component enjoy games that are fast-paced, intense, and provide a constant adrenaline rush. They want to be surprised. They want gameplay that is full of action and thrills, and rewards them for rapid reaction times. While this style of gameplay can be found in first-person shooters like Halo, it can also be found in games like Street Fighter and Injustice, as well as energetic platformers like BIT.TRIP RUNNER.

POPULAR GAMES
Excitement: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Battlefield Series/3/4, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, God of War, Destiny, Kingdom Hearts 2, Resident Evil, League of Legends
Destruction: GTA Series/V, Battlefield Series/3/4, Destiny, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Halo, Borderlands Series/2, Doom, God of War, Counter Strike

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The Mastery Components (52%)
Gamers with high Mastery scores like challenging gaming experiences with strategic depth and complexity. Gamers with low Mastery scores enjoy being spontaneous in games and prefer games that are accessible and forgiving when mistakes are made.

Challenge (29%): Gamers who score high on Challenge enjoy playing games that rely heavily on skill and ability. They are persistent and take the time to practice and hone their gameplay so they can take on the most difficult missions and bosses that the game can offer. These gamers play at the highest difficulty settings and don’t mind failing missions repeatedly in games like Dark Souls because they know it’s the only way they’ll master the game. They want gameplay that constantly challenges them.

Strategy (75%): Gamers who score high on this component enjoy games that require careful decision-making and planning. They like to think through their options and likely outcomes. These may be decisions related to balancing resources and competing goals, managing foreign diplomacy, or finding optimal long-term strategies. They tend to enjoy both the tactical combat in games like XCOM or Fire Emblem, as well as seeing their carefully-devised plans come to fruition in games like Civilization, Cities: Skylines, or Europa Universalis.

POPULAR GAMES

Challenge: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Devil May Cry 3, World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, Counter Strike, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, DoTA Series/2, Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3

Strategy: Europa Universalis 4, Crusader Kings 2, Civilization Series/5, EVE Online, XCOM, Starcaft Series/2, Fire Emblem, Age of Empires, Warcraft 3, Kerbal Space Program

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The Achievement Components (2%)
Gamers with high Achievement scores are driven to accrue power, rare items, and collectibles, even if this means grinding for a while. Gamers with low Achievement scores have a relaxed attitude towards in-game achievements and don’t worry too much about their scores or progress in the game.

Completion (17%): Gamers with high Completion scores want to finish everything the game has to offer. They try to complete every mission, find every collectible, and discover every hidden location. For some players, this may mean completing every listed achievement or unlocking every possible character/move in a game. For gamers who score high on Design, this may mean collecting costumes and mounts in games like World of Warcraft.

Power (1%): Gamers who score high on this component strive for power in the context of the game world. They want to become as powerful as possible, seeking out the tools and equipment needed to make this happen. In RPGs and action games, this may mean maxing stats or acquiring the most powerful weapons or artifacts. Power and Completion often go hand in hand, but some players enjoy collecting cosmetic items without caring about power, and some players prefer attaining power through strategic optimization rather than grinding.
 

POPULAR GAMES 

Completion: Final Fantasy Series/IX, Assassin’s Creed Series, Legend of Zelda Series, God of War, Animal Crossing, Elder Scrolls Series, Destiny, Pokemon, Guild Wars 2, Fire Emblem

Power: World of Warcraft, Diablo 2/3, DoTA Series/2, Runescape, Destiny, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Counter Strike, God of War, Resident Evil

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The Social Components (57%)
Gamers with high Social scores enjoy interacting with other players, often regardless of whether they are collaborating or competing with them. Gamers with low Social scores prefer solo gaming experiences where they can be independent.

Competition (48%): Gamers who score high on this component enjoy competing with other players, often in duels, matches, or team-vs-team scenarios. Competitive gameplay can be found in titles like Starcraft, League of Legends, or the PvP Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. But competition isn’t always overtly combative; competitive players may care about being acknowledged as the best healer in a guild, or having a high ranking/level on a Facebook farming game relative to their friends.
 

Community (64%): Gamers who score high on Community enjoy socializing and collaborating with other people while gaming. They like chatting and grouping up with other players. This might be playing Portal 2 with a friend, playing Mario Kart at a party, or being part of a large guild/clan in an online game. They enjoy being part of a team working towards a common goal. For them, games are an integral part of maintaining their social network.
 

POPULAR GAMES 

Competition: Counter Strike Series/GO, Super Smash Bros. Melee, DoTA Series/2, League of Legends, Street Fighter, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty, Battlefield Series/3/4, FIFA
Community: Final Fantasy XIV, Battlefield Series/4, Destiny, Guild Wars Series/2, EverQuest, League of Legends, Monster Hunter, World of Warcraft, Counter Strike, DoTA Series/2  

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The Social Components (57%)
Gamers with high Social scores enjoy interacting with other players, often regardless of whether they are
collaborating or competing with them. Gamers with low Social scores prefer solo gaming experiences where
they can be independent.
 

Competition (48%): Gamers who score high on this component enjoy competing with other players, often in
duels, matches, or team-vs-team scenarios. Competitive gameplay can be found in titles like Starcraft, League of Legends, or the PvP Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. But competition isn’t always overtly combative; competitive players may care about being acknowledged as the best healer in a guild, or having a high ranking/level on a Facebook farming game relative to their friends.

Community (64%): Gamers who score high on Community enjoy socializing and collaborating with other
people while gaming. They like chatting and grouping up with other players. This might be playing Portal 2 with a friend, playing Mario Kart at a party, or being part of a large guild/clan in an online game. They enjoy being part of a team working towards a common goal. For them, games are an integral part of maintaining their social network.
 

POPULAR GAMES 

Competition: Counter Strike Series/GO, Super Smash Bros. Melee, DoTA Series/2, League of Legends, Street Fighter, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty, Battlefield Series/3/4, FIFA

Community: Final Fantasy XIV, Battlefield Series/4, Destiny, Guild Wars Series/2, EverQuest, League of Legends, Monster Hunter, World of Warcraft, Counter Strike, DoTA Series/2  

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The Immersion Components (45%)
Gamers with high Immersion scores want games with interesting narratives, characters, and settings so they
can be deeply immersed in the alternate worlds created by games. Gamers with low Immersion scores are
more grounded in the gameplay mechanics and care less about the narrative experiences that games offer.

Fantasy (21%): Gamers who score high on Fantasy want their gaming experiences to allow them to become
someone else, somewhere else. They enjoy the sense of being immersed in an alter ego in a believable
alternate world, and enjoy exploring a game world just for the sake of exploring it. These gamers enjoy games like Skyrim, Fallout, and Mass Effect for their fully imagined alternate settings.

Story (70%): Gamers who score high on Story want games with elaborate campaign storylines and a cast of
multidimensional characters with interesting back-stories and personalities. They take the time to delve into
the back-stories of characters in games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and enjoy the elaborate and
thoughtful narratives in games like The Last of Us and BioShock. Gamers who score low on Story tend to find dialogue and quest descriptions to be distracting and skip through them if possible.
 

POPULAR GAMES

Fantasy: Dragon Age Series/Inquisition/Origins, Elder Scrolls Series/Morrowind, Dishonored, Mass Effect Series/2/3, Skyrim, Fable, Fallout New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic, Journey, Legend of Zelda

Story: Dragon Age Series/Origins, Mass Effect Series/2/3, Persona 3/4, Tales of Symphonia, Xenogeras, Final Fantasy VIII/IX/X, Knights of the Old Republic, Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts, Series/2, Planescape Torment 

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The Creativity Components (38%)
Gamers with high Creativity scores are constantly experimenting with their game worlds and tailoring them
with their own designs and customizations. Gamers with low Creativity scores are more practical in their
gaming style and accept their game worlds as they are.
 

Discovery (13%): Gamers who score high on Discovery are constantly asking “What if?” For them, game
worlds are fascinating contraptions to open up and tinker with. In an MMO, they might swim out to the edge of the ocean to see what happens. In MineCraft, they might experiment with whether crafting outcomes differ by the time of day or proximity to zombies. They “play” games in the broadest sense of the word, often in ways not intended or imagined by the game’s developers.
 

Design (65%): Gamers who score high on this component want to actively express their individuality in the
game worlds they find themselves in. In games like Mass Effect, they put a lot of time and effort in the
character creation process. In city-building games or space strategy games, they take the time to design and
customize exactly how their city or spaceships look. To this end, they prefer games that provide the tools and
assets necessary to make this possible and easy to do.
 

POPULAR GAMES 

Discovery: Elder Scrolls Series/Oblivion/ Morrowind/Skyrim, Fallout Series/3/New Vegas, Fable, Legend of Zelda Series/Ocarina of Time, GTA Series/V, Minecraft, Earthbound, Kerbal Space Program, Metal Gear Solid 3, Metroid Prime
Design: The Sims Series, City of Heroes, Animal Crossing, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Age Series/Origins, Mass Effect Series, Monster Hunter, Pokemon, Elder Scrolls Series/Oblivion/Skyrim

Game Update: 2015's tough love.

I had hopes of writing blogs on a monthly basis but that certainly isn't working out.  2015 has been a rough year for my project.  "Tough love" is probably the best way to put it... I should probably write the blog about that.  Hang on, let me go back a few steps:

2013 is when I started working on a prototype which, after a few iterations, evolved into a multi-player build in 2014.  Throughout the year 2014, there were a few features that got implemented (although in primitive state) such as climbing, lighting torches, going underwater, traveling to different areas, character stats, "combat".

During the various iterations, I got into the habit of working on two simultaneous builds:
- Build-A kept the art up-to-date (so that we could troubleshoot and build assets).
- Build-B is basically a rewrite of the entire thing for a cleaner, more organized code and faster performance.

Once in a while (every 3 months or so), I'd replace the code of Build-A with Build-B's.  That way, Build-A would inherit new features and Build-B would be rewritten from scratch yet again. The process isn't really linear and how much time I dedicate on each build varies.

In December 2014, I got involved in the Beta of Unity 5 to get acquainted with it as early as possible.  So, Build-A was in Unity 4.x and Build-B was a rewrite in Unity 5b.  To give you guys an idea, I wrote a blog post about Build-A's "stress test" in March 2015 and I wrote a blog about Build-B's progress on world building in February 2015 (with an update in June).

In March 2015, problems started to arise.

Visually, the team and I started to notice oddities with how we handled natural rock formations on the walls when light would hit the surface from extreme angles.  Because of the random nature of the game, we couldn't completely avoid it without taxing the video cards too much by adding more polygons.  So we had to brainstorm alternatives.  The solution we found involved locking myself up in my appartment and write more complex code for days/months.

With Build-A's success, retooling how we'd handle the visuals wasn't such a big deal.  I mean, most of the core functions were already working (despite the bugs) so where's the harm?  Especially if the solution would help with other aspects.  Well, it turns out that Unity v5.2's patch made drastic changes to how the engine would handle multi-player; making most of the multi-player code I had written until this point "depricated" or obsolete.  I had to adapt when very little documentation could be found.

So I had to rebuild the visual component as well as restructure the multi-player...

... Shit.

This was a year ago.  Feature wise, nothing changed.  Which makes it look like we did absolutely nothing in 2015.  Under the hood, however, it's like we're building a completely different game.  Time well spent although it was at the cost of sweat, blood and tears.

So what are we working on now?

Art wise, we've come to the surface and started the ground-work on trees and (more recently) grass.  I think the artist went overboard with the grass, though:

If you look closely (because it's not obvious with all the grass), you'll notice that the trees in the foreground are merely stumps.  This is because this area is identified as a village... so, eventually, houses and a few shops would be filling up the scene.  Idealy, not all trees in the area should be razed but that's balance for another time.

As far as game systems and mechanics goes, AI is being worked on.  NPCs need to be able to participate in a conversation so I've been brain-storming ideas for the UI while scripting behaviors.  I'm expecting this to take a full year to implement.  Eventually, I'll make the AI move around.

We got the wind back in our sails.  Lets hope that 2016 is kind.

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So what have I been playing lately?  I got back to my "roots" and started playing more rogue-likes.  Dragon Fin Soup and Hieroglyphika are the new additions to my collection.

Fridays and Saturdays are my "game days" now and, when I'm not recording Elder Scrolls, I've been meaning to showcase more rogue-likes in my streams:
- Rogue (the original).
- Tales of Maj'Eyal.
- Brogue.
- Eldritch.
- Delver
- FTL: Faster than Light.
- Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.
- Crypt of the Necrodancer.
- Caves of Qud.
- Darkest Dungeon.
- Dragon Fin Soup.
- Hieroglyphika.