Game Update
We waded into a new problem in which deleting characters sometimes creates new ones that have gone from level 1 to level 9. It’s a really strange, and I’m not sure all the machinery that might be causing this. It’s likely tied to a script that automatically levels up enemies in a stage when we start so we can start with templates for them. Then again it might just be some sort of data scumming that’s really screwing things up. Data integrity is super important for programs.
I fixed another issue all on my own. It would seem that changing classes was not updating the “leader” field correctly. Right now that’s supposed to be tied to which class (job) the troop is. I did start thinking about this and it’s possible that in the future I will change it to be a promotion the player will pay for which will also increase the cost of the troop permanently. Maybe being a leader shouldn’t be tied to the job of a troop. That said it might also be important to not allow most creatures to be leaders if we allow the players access to them. I’m not sure how I would use the systems I have to allow the player the ability to recruit creatures right now however.
I also thought this week about a way that I could possibly make random stages. I should be able to make a pool of stages and a special map button and then add a small portion to the script that executes when the button is pressed to spawn one of the stages at random. The only thing that would need to be added would be a way to control the level of the enemies on those stages. It shouldn’t take to much to do that much. If we want to go full random we would need to do things with the landscape, set locations for enemies along with way points, and cities. If I could build multiple small areas that could be linked together that would also work. Something like fitting nine pieces together that are selected randomly from a pool would work well.
Personal Update
Some stressful issues came up this week, and I’m a little concerned where things will end up. Still I’m fighting to keep everything normal and moving forward. Still sometimes life doesn’t go the way you expect and you get surprised. Sometimes life isn’t about the problems we have, it’s about how we react to them.
I had an interesting conversation this week about mentors. I mentioned that this person should look into getting a mentor and paying them. I’ve said this pretty often to people interested in game development. This time I got an interesting response however and it made me think. The response was that they felt mentors should not be paid. They should be doing it because they want to.
I would say that for me paying my mentor does help keep me on track while validating the work that he does with me. If anything I’m not paying him enough. After paying for training, and also for artwork for the game I found that I rather enjoy it. I guess it’s one reason that I want the game to do well. I want to compensate those people that were instrumental in the project better.
On the flip side I see where my friend is coming from. We both had previous experience in the military and so I could see where they were coming from. With money in the picture there could be an ulterior motive, or other dynamics that are less than preferred.
Game Development Insight - Dark Patterns Premium Currency
Premium currency is when a player purchases in game currency with real money for the purposes of buying in game items. The issues are that this often hides the amount of money the player has spent. Additionally, spending more money often nets more in game currency for the player which tempts the player to spend more. Reading some more of an entry from the darkpattern.games website it also would seem that it’s a key component to waste aversion and loot boxes. Just like before I’m not against in game currency if the game is solid.
Waste aversion is an interesting concept. The idea is that people want to use all of their in game currency and they don’t want to have any left over. Knowing this the developers purposefully create situations in which the players have left over currency. This makes them want to re-purchase more to attempt to use it all up.
One of the biggest controversies in the games industry is that of Loot Boxes. Loot boxes give the players additional content randomly. This plays on the Skinner Box mechanism inside everyone’s brain. This behavioral conditioning of players which can cause addiction to dopamine which could be compared to drug addiction.
Here’s how the Skinner Box works. B. F. Skinner placed a rat in a box and allowed it to get food when it pressed a button. This was fine, and so next he tried setting the button to a set number of presses. This also worked well and didn’t interfere with the rats typical behavior. However, when he made the button hand out random rewards the rat became obsessed with the button. Pressing the button and not knowing when the food is coming creates an expectation. It’s the same reason that people gamble, roll dice, open packs of cards, or buy lottery tickets. Everyone believes they will win and get what they want, and when they don’t they try again. Even failure serves to reinforce the need to try again.
Seems pretty evil, and I feel that for some people with addictive personalities it is a way to take control and exploit those players. On the flip side I’ve been in the position of having had a bad day or week and suddenly pulling a very rare card from a pack, and feeling how good it felt to get that result. There are times when it does feel really good to get that, but it’s important for players to know what they are getting into. Sadly most players are likely pretty ignorant to what’s happening inside of them.