Game Tuning

Hello guys! This week at Design Works Gaming, I was introduced to the process of tuning. This is when we adjust certain probabilities to influence another facet of the game. If you thought what I did sounded boring before (which it really isn't, it's really quite fun), this tuning would not be the kind of work that you would want to do. For this specific game we are working on, there is a variable that keeps track of what jackpots one can win. The variable increments by a amount that depends on the spin of the reels and the number of times it has spun. If this variable reaches a certain number, a specific jackpot is awarded. In order to get the distribution of awards correct along with the total payout, we have to adjust a table of numbers. One change might fix the distribution issue, but mess up the total payout. Perhaps this adjustment corrects the payout, but now it is impossible to get the highest jackpot.

As one could guess, there is a lot more statistics in this part of my job. Determining if distributions can be considered normal or if there is something anomalous occurring becomes even more important. As we continue to finish and fine tune games, I see the attention to detail that is required in a this field, and I look forward to any challenges that I can learn from in the world of programming.

Challenges: I am stuck on free game section of this game. It's funny that now as I'm getting a handle on the programming part, the tuning and math part gets hard.

Victories: I learned how to increment a jackpot outside the context of a free game, which was originally a concept I did not understand.

Until next time then! Thank you for reading.

Week 5

Hey everyone! I completed the week and everything is going well. This week was more of the same: programming games and playing facebook games. This week however, the data we were collecting for the games was of a different variety. This week, my supervisor wanted us to accumulate data on the number of free credits we could get just by initially signing in on any given day. This includes any freebies the game may provide, like daily bonuses, free lotteries, bonus wheels, etc. Now that we have the data, the higher ups will analyze it and plan the next step to take.

Challenges: The new game I am programming has line pays, scatter pays, and some sort of weird stack pays. Usually, games will have a line pay. For example, if the game has a 3x3 grid, three in a row could be a win. There are also additional patterns; these are called line wins. A scatter win would look at how many times a certain symbol appears in a row. Based on the number of times it appears, the pay changes. Then, a stack pay is a pay that awards the player for a reel containing consecutive occurrences of a symbol. I'm having a hard time formatting all my text documents and programming in order to account for all three methods of pay.

Victories: Our floor in the building is getting a lot of new renovations! Our floor finally has a restroom, which is, needless to say, very convenient. I did not really have much of a hand in this, but still it's very nice to be part of this transformation.

Thank you all for reading! Some weeks it might be a little boring (especially with this post title), haha sorry! Hopefully you learn a little something about slot machines. Until next time!

Out of the Kitty Pool

Hey guys, another week has gone by, and I am really starting to fit in at the office. I love the work that I am doing and the people I'm surrounded by. This week was mostly the same as last week--lots of programming--with a couple twists here and there. Overall, I'm starting to become more responsible for my actions and decisions as a worker. There's still a lot of hand holding, but I am starting to branch out on my own get things done individually.

I am almost done with my second game (Yeah I know, the first game took me 3 weeks and this one only like 1 week. I'm getting better!). This second game's feature or specialty was a little more difficult to put into code, but nevertheless I am almost there. Moreover, this week I learned how to program a Gaff List, which is like a separate program that helps game testers test specific parts of the game. For instance, in the Gaff List, one could predetermine which type of game is triggered for a certain spin (type of game meaning base, free, or bonus). This helps them determine if the game is working precisely how they intended it to be working in every single small detail.

I should be quickly finishing my second game on Monday and starting my third!

We finished collecting of our initial data for the other Facebook casinos, recording data relating to hit frequency, ads, number of levels, etc. This is a pretty big step for all of us, so I am hoping that the information we collected proves fruitful.

Challenges: Remembering all the minor details when it came to programming arrays and arraylists was a little frustrating, but in the end I eventually got the hang of it. I realize how helpful AP Computer Science was for the kind of work that I am doing here.

Victories: The second game is going a lot faster and I feel like pretty soon I'll be getting the hang of this! Also, I did not need as much help this time through with settings and, more importantly, Excel.

So, all in all. I am starting to work more and more on my own, becoming increasingly responsible for my own work. I am making my way out of the kitty pool and into the deep end as I learn how to get more work done correctly without the assistance of others. I look forward to updating you next week!