
ABOUT
I play StarCraft II and various other games. I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy books (list), learning new things, some coding, photography, running, orienteering and rock-climbing. I have a good knowledge of StarCraft II editor and some videogame QA experience. This blog is focused on games and their design.- Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman, 2011)
Favorite scientists:
- Sean M. Carroll
- Leonard Susskind
- Robert Sapolsky
What I write about:
1. StarCraft II Co-op Debugging
I have made a series of posts that went over ~100 bigger bugs in Co-op over the past year (~10 bugs per post). The goal was to explain them in an interesting way to public audience, while also diving into the editor, finding underlying causes and testing ways how to fix them.Eventually a Zerg brood was named after me in the recent Mengsk release. One hundred bugs is apparently enough for a brood.
2. Modding
(custom maps, twitch integration, chatbot, replay interface, survival mode)
> Custom maps
I have my version of all Co-op maps on StarCraft II arcade. They contain many additional features, UI/UX enhancements, debugging commands and statistics.
I have designed and implemented my own 16 mutators (on top of Blizzard's 61 mutators). Mutators are special game modifiers that change the game and challenge players. Also, Blizzard's Heroes from the Storm mutator was eventually changed to be more like my variant.
~ ~ ~
> Twitch Integration
Recently, I added twitch integration to my maps that works together with a chatbot I wrote in Python. This lets viewers join as units or send messages directly in-game – making the viewing experience more engaging. If the streamer allows it, viewers can even spawn units, enable mutators or modify player resources.
https://www.maguro.one/2020/01/fluffy-chatbot.html
https://github.com/FluffyMaguro/FluffyChatBot
This bot has also an image recognition ability – it identifies mutators on-screen, post them the chat with their descriptions, and calculates mutation statistics.
~ ~ ~
> Custom replay interface
I wrote a custom replay interface that lets you view many additional statistics in co-op replays. Also, keybinds were added that let players hide various UI elements.
https://www.maguro.one/2019/10/replay-interface.html
https://github.com/FluffyMaguro/ReplayUI
> Survival mode
I have created a prototype of a survival mode for Co-op, which is something that has been unfortunately missing in this mode. It's currently playable on Temple of the Past map.
https://www.maguro.one/2020/01/survival-mode.html
3. Various analyses
- Mutator
compendium – aggregates information about mutators from
players and game code
- Replay analysis with Python – various statistics (pickrates, winrates, mastery choices,..)
- Analysis
of Brutal+ mode (and follow up) – explanation, statistics
and suggestions
- StarCraft II performance analysis – look
at graphic presets, resolution scaling, various types of
bottlenecks, effects of game speed, and look at the engine
- DRAM performance analysis in StarCraft II
– this time focus of DRAM scaling and various situations (rendering
vs simulation bottlenecks)
4. game design posts
- Popularity of mirror matchups
- Pushing forward and rewards
- Progression and strategies (First Order Optimal Strategies vs True Optimal Strategies)
- Feedback loops in StarCraft
- Skill curves and flow
- Achievements
- Wheel of Misfortune
- Upgrades in Co-op
- ...others