Path of Desync

So I come to it at last. Level 75 of, at least for the moment, the only other class I really had any interest in playing in Path of Exile. The Duelist. Having taken what I learnt from my Marauder and applied it to a more offensive class, I feel I have stumbled upon something that could almost be described as broken. A literal killing machine when rolling, the build I theorized being possible only truly came into affect around level 30. Funnily enough this is about the same level I changed to Spectral Throw on my Marauder. This level of epiphany is probably a combination of getting access to higher level gear (read: more gem slots), higher level gems and generally having more points to throw around your skill tree.

Anyway, I was originally planning on using Cyclone, Path of Exile's equivalent to Whirlwind from Diablo 2. While it wasn't ranged, it was both AOE and mobile. However, while attempting to become accustomed to the ability, I realised very quickly it was terrible. A huge mana cost coupled with adverse scaling with movement speed meant it would never be an ideal ability for most situations. Forcibly dropping Cyclone for something else was, however, problematic. Without resorting to a ranged/AOE ability for ... well ranged or AOE circumstances meant that viable ability options were rather limited. My experiences with my Marauder showed that using purely melee abilities in dangerous circumstances (outnumbered, mobs that charge/shock, bosses etc) was a death wish unless you were geared to the teeth.

So, I returned to the drawing board. It is probably no surprise I was drawn to the ability Flicker Strike, which, provided you are within a short range, teleports you to a chosen/random enemy and attacks them for small amount of damage. While this addressed the mobility issue, it did nothing for AOE purposes and unfortunately had a habit of putting you right in the middle of large packs of enemies. Additionally, it has a cooldown of 2 seconds, preventing it from innately being spammed. Why would anyone want to make such a crappy, unreliable ability the focus of their build?

Without going in to too much detail, the answer is quite simple: frenzy charges. More specifically, its keeping frenzy charges generating constantly. While Frenzy, a single target ability capable of generating frenzy charges is used in the build, it really only acts as the keys to the engine. Why frenzy charges are necessary is because they can be consumed to bypass Flicker Strike's cooldown. While you could continuously generate frenzy charges with Frenzy and burn them all with Flicker Strike, the process would be laborious, inefficient and dangerous in melee. Generating frenzy charges without needing to constantly Frenzy would be ideal.

Blood Rage allows you to do this, but has a negative side effect of killing you slowly, removing 4% of maximum health per second. In Normal difficulty, this self-induced damage is laughable. In Merciless however, without Chaos resistance, it becomes incredibly taxing. You can counter this Chaos damage by either getting some Chaos resistance (hard to get) or stacking life regen passively. Ideally you would do both. Additionally, you can improve the efficiency of Flicker Strike by combining it with both Multi-strike (3 Flicker strikes per Frenzy charge) and Melee Splash Damage, allowing the ability to do some decent AOE damage. Unfortunately these gem combinations make this ability chew mana ridiculously, with no feasible amount of regen, mana leech or pot chugging able to keep up with it.

While unnecessary, uniques such as this one can enhance the build further

Using Bloodmagic gems or the Bloodmagic Keystone will unlock your healthpool as a resource for casting abilities. Considering your health is already decaying from Blood Rage, significant Life Leech is necessary to retain any health at all, especially in combat. As you are of course melee and because Flicker Strike doesn't make you untargettable, you will still take damage and often considerable amounts of it. Having a high effective health sustain through regen and leech, achieved through high armour and elemental resists but not not so high on actual hit points makes this more effective and further negates the %health damage caused by Blood Rage. Finally, using the Warlord's Mark curse will give you additional life leech and a chance to gain endurance charges, further adding to your finely tuned effective health pool. Throw in Whirling Blades for defensive mobility, a couple of CWDT combinations, some extra single target Frenzy damage and some minor Life Leech gear and you can pretty much handle any situation. The end results are as follows:

Recommend watching in 1080p.

I have to say, the build is quite strong and a bit better at farming than my Marauder currently is. While it took some extensive theorycrafting and attention to detail regarding specific gems and stats, the end result is worth it. This is not to say the build isn't without its weaknesses. Running out of Frenzy charges still occurs, albeit infrequently, but has the habit of putting you in some ghastly situations. Most significantly though, the build is incredibly susceptible to desyncs and is usually the reason for the former problem. The speed and frenetic damage output of the build seems to tie up a busy server more than normal. However, it is something I have grown accustomed to and built my character to handle. Deaths are infrequent and far, far apart, if at all. Death dealing, however, is brutal and surprisingly fun. However, the satisfaction comes more from the visual result of the build and the conscious effort taken to get it working and less from the execution of the build itself.

In any case, the Diablo III expansion Reaper of Souls is on the horizon, so it is likely I will return to it in preparation. After soloing 180 levels (75 Marauder, 75 Duelist, 33 Scion) and just as many hours in Path of Exile, I think a decent break from it is in order.

Path of RNG

I have been playing a bit of Path of Exile lately. I have apparently racked up over 100 hours, far more than I ever intended to, but a few hundred shy of my Diablo III playtime. I bring that up because there is (for some bizarre reason) a lot of competition between Path of Exile and Diablo III, despite being vastly different games. While they may both be listed as Action RPGs, the similarities between the two stop abruptly there.

First of all, Path of Exile is a very decent game, especially for something that is free. However, that doesn't mean I don't have some major criticism of it, but I will get to that later. One of the grape-vine comments you will hear, especially with regards to "why it is so much better than Diablo III", is that it is a complex game, with a much deeper ability system and has meaningful consequences to how you build your character. For the most part, the game does have an interesting skill tree and ability gems that can combine, support and rely on each other that does create some interesting offensive/defensive combinations. However, that is as far as I would take the point of view. Skill trees have always been a naivety trap in games, fooling people into thinking they have meaningful choices when, really, they do not. Admittedly PoE's passive skill tree is an impressive design, but it is still capable of restricting game play more than you would think. The illusion of choice, when you are still technically limited by your level/class/stats, is as much of a barrier to game play mechanics as traditional point/level restriction systems.

The skill gem system is also unique. While it borrows some basic ideas from Diablo II's rune system, it is a much more intricate beast, capable of changing how you think, build and play. You could turn a spell you would otherwise use for mobility into a damage dealing rapid fire nuke, provided you synergise the right gems together. With the right combination of abilities and gems you can have an immensely powerful and useful arsenal at your disposal. Getting gems as quest rewards or as drops can be problematic at first, especially when you realise you don't want to or cant use a skill anymore. Leveling gems is dangerous as their str/int/dex requirements are not based on your current base stats. Replacing gear with crucial base stats can completely disable abilities from being used as they don't downgrade to their lower level versions. It is a harsh newbie trap, but one that you will never repeat again. Additionally, gem use is controlled by a system of gem slot colours and links in main pieces of gear. It is a system I have grown to despise. Not so much the system itself, but the 'crafting' of gear to attain colours and links has been the most frustrating thing in gaming for me for a long, long time.

To explain as simply as possible: crafting isn't crafting. Everything involved in upgrading gear is based on randomness and therefore luck. While you have some incredibly MINOR control over this luck with orbs that can increase item quality, it will cost you and is not guaranteed. Despite the spawn of random mobs with the chance of dropping random gear that will have random stats controlled by random item quality, the random number of gems, colours and links on that gear that are compatible with your build result in a situation where finding straight upgrades becomes impossible. Realistically, you will need to make some modification to a non-ideal piece of gear, usually a white item with the correct number of slots and possibility of rolling colours. You will likely save hours worth of crafting materials for such a venture, spending all of it in an attempt to make an item compatible. You throw all your resources at this item, and end up with ...

... absolute fuck all. 40 chromatic (gem slot colour changing) and 10 fusing orbs (fuse links between gem slots) later and you have nothing to show. Basically the dice-roll did not favour you. Even if you did get the colours/fusings, you were still susceptible to the RNG of item stats, usually with very finite rerolls. While you could go and farm some more materials, by the time you have them you would probably have found something else anyway. It may not be as good as what you were intending to craft, but it was better than the thing you were using. This process happened over and over for me to the point where I was using gear 30 levels lower than I should have. From what I hear, this experience is normal for most players. In my opinion, it is an incredibly asinine and outdated method of upgrading gear, coming from a time where RNG systems were favourable over more difficult to implement upgrade systems. Such a system, where you spend ever increasing amounts of resources to upgrade your gear should really be designed instead. RNG being RNG aside, when you consider that so much power (i.e. ability combinations) can be granted from the simple click of a button, rewarding players with progress for being lucky instead of resourceful, committed or patient is a very big problem.

10 x fusing failure - fml...

Overall, Path of Exile's systems can initially be seen as complex, but once you wrap your head around how things work and get seated properly, the intricacy falls away. This is not a bad thing, it is just important that people do not confuse complexity with greatness, nor argue that a game is better or more skillful because of complexity. Complexity is a hurdle, nothing more. Perhaps for more casual gamers, blissfully ignorant amongst the confusion and marvelling at the sheer overwhelming (initial) complexity of a game, the desire to pick favourites is more prevalent. A "I have no idea what I am doing, but it seems complex and therefore I am playing a better, more complex game. GG-lol" mentality. I am not sure.

Nevertheless, I played the game for over 100 hours, during which I managed to get myself a level 75 Marauder. Leveling further seems to be rather inefficient so it is likely I will park him there until Act 4 comes out. While his gear is particularly awful, I would like to think the 'build' I am running is rather strong. It is a build I have devised myself, taking no heed to the idea of copying an existing one from somewhere. I figure if you don't have a grasp on what you are doing, an understanding of the abilities and mechanics you are putting on your toolbar, you won't know how to use a pre-made build anyway. After much effort I have managed to maintain a balance between tankiness, damage and speed that I am comfortable with. While I still think Path of Exile is an incredibly clunky ARPG game, I have at least managed to get my Marauder leaping around the battlefield with some manner of efficiency. The combat can have its moments, feeling rather satisfying when you outmaneuver a large horde of dangerous enemies. Spectral Throw is a fun ability to use and Heavy Strike a strong offensive and defensive tool. Overall, without doing too much research, I feel I did a pretty good job for a first Path of Exile character. Whether or not I will make another one remains to be seen.

Recommend watching in 1080p.

Centurion

I recently hit Paragon level 100 on my Barbarian in Diablo III. It has been a relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable process, with Hellfire runs around Paragon level 20 to Crypt runs and speed farming from level 80 onwards. I have played with some great people on the way. Real life friends (both old and new), friends of friends, friends of friend's friends, complete randoms (some now friends) and even a cousin and his friends from Malaysia. I have dabbled with the AU/NZ Diablo community and made some great friends there too. It would seem that friends are one of the most important aspects of playing a game like Diablo III, especially for staying motivated throughout endgame. Hopefully the same community experience, both local and national, can continue in Reaper of Souls.

Nevertheless, after over 800,000 demon kills and an embarrassing amount of hours, I think I can finally put my Barbarian to rest. At least for the moment. A short break, if you will. Perhaps I will see what max level is like in Path of Exile in the meantime. I will need to retain my sanity if I am going to do it all again on my Demon Hunter.

Recommend watching in 720p+:

I have ridden the mighty moon worm!

Good for me, right? Oh my yes, the mighty moon worm. I could explain to you what this is and why its a wonderful, beautiful thing, but I think the only person who would read this blog and appreciate it is me. But that's totally ok! The moon worm loves each and every one of you!

So anyway, I made a video. Pretty standard reason for a post appearing on this blog. Why talk about it when you can watch it instead? The first reason for this video's existence was complete and utter boredom. Historically though, boredom has never been a bad thing. Some of the best creations in this world are the result of boredom. One need only ask their parents for verification of that.

The second reason being some criticism that my videos are always so serious in nature. While light-hearted or funny videos have never been the point of my video making, I would like to point out that some are of this nature already (for example Skyrim Space Program). Nevertheless, I'll show you, you anonymous critic you ...

The final reason is because I am still (yes STILL!!!) playing Diablo III and because the Reaper of Souls expansion nerfs are just around the corner, I thought I would make a video of some of the builds I discovered/use. All are viable in Inferno MP10, the game's hardest difficulty. Often regarded as one of the game's flaws, Diablo 3's build diversity is in my opinion one of the most appealing things about the game. The vast majority of these builds will become obsolete when the expansion comes out, so having some record of them now is nice.

Recommend watching in 720p+.

While I would stress that these builds are the result of meticulous attention to EHP (i.e. tankiness) before lolol-faceroll-DPS (as evidenced by the video's outro), I'm sure no one gives a hoot. More power to me I guess. Now then, if you will excuse me, I have a moon worm to ride, complete with cow bells.

For the confused: The original Double Tornado Barbarian build was discovered by myself and a few others back in the day. I dubbed it 'Riding the Walrus', quoted from Futurama. Now that fury generation is going to be a problem in RoS, I created a build that could still work without Into the Fray. The result was Bloodshed Tornado, potentially superior to Double Tornado and likely viable in RoS. I dub it 'Riding the Moon Worm', also a reference from Futurama.

Exactly what I needed

There are times, particularly under great stress, that you will find me playing games for the simple things. Simple things such as the colours, the sounds, the explosions and the basic pleasure that can arise when said elements combine into an overwhelming synesthesia of light and sound. A much younger me would have considered this ensemble reason enough to enjoy a game, but the older, more cynical me often looks past it unappreciatively. It is often beneficial to revisit said levels of expectations, if not just for the relaxing and carefree game play that can arise. When there are much more serious and darker things clouding the mind, playing a game of this nature can be exactly the thing you need.

With a bit of effort, Strike Suit Zero has become one such game for me, and conveniently so considering current PhD circumstances. I say effort as part of the way to enjoying this game's potential laser show requires abandonment of inhibitions a more careful and sensible me would usually employ. Barrel rolling at terminal velocity, your complete arsenal of weaponry ablaze, into the unfortunate victim of your targeted demise is not exactly a practical or healthy thing to do. But damn, it sure is fun!

Interestingly, I have found that performing these rather dangerous maneuvers have considerably increased my competence at the game. Homeworld style fighter trails and music (same composer) aside, my initial impressions were rather disappointing, finding the game to be slower and less chaotic than I was hoping. However, pushing the Strike Suit to its limits and brutally attempting to take down more than you should be capable of puts you in some ridiculous situations that, after some failure, result in you learning to play better. In some ways it almost clips the skill ceiling of games such as oldskool arena shooters where reaching one's maximum control potential is limited only by the player and not by the game. It is funny as I am yet to see a rated video reviewer play the game anything like is possible, again lending my disdain of the profession.

The following video (recommend 720p+) was originally intended to be a heavily filtered and edited composition, experimenting with some new video editing techniques I have thought up. However, upon performing a first pass of the video using traditional techniques, I thought the resulting short sequence did the job well enough. Maybe next time.

Nevertheless, I do hope my need to indulge in the simpler pleasures of gaming are not necessary in the months to come. While I should try and dedicate as much of my time as sanely possible to finishing my research, there are times when overdoing it can distort your view on the matter, especially when trying to complete a deadline. That is where games like Strike Suit Zero will come in handy, to unconsciously reset the reality of the situation and allow one to cheer up about it.

When Pigs Fly

Flying Wild Hog, the developer of two games (Hard Reset and Shadow Warrior) that I have been playing recently are an interesting company. They are not quite indie, nor are they exactly AAA, but are somewhere in between. This in-between-ness seems to allow them to create games that they as developers want to make and not what some out-of-touch business man or woman in a suit who has dollar signs for eyes wants to. The reason I say this is that their games have a distinct flavour for fun derived from raw gameplay, paying homage to the oldskool FPS gameplay mechanics lacking in so many modern FPS games today, much to the detriment of the genre. You don't see this today because it is risky to not make games that cater towards the lowest common denominator. However, their games also have the visual quality and production values of a game you would typically have to fork out $80 for, but are instead available for a fraction of the price ($30 for Shadow Warrior on release). The only way I can see companies like this existing is if they are unhindered by at least some of the bullshit plaguing much of the games industry these days and are allowed free reign over IPs that they actually care for (unlike Gearbox with Aliens: Colonial Marines). Part of this can at least be discerned from FWH's main website regarding their design philosophy:

"We do not believe in corporate management and corporate ways. Our studio is managed without producers and we try to employ as many anti-corporate management ideas as possible. Such a flexible structure allows us to limit all the obsolete bureaucracy and hierarchy to minimum. We do not believe in managers or leads who themselves don’t create real content of a game. People who are responsible for management in our studio also work as programmers, artists or designers. We do believe that people who are given freedom, both for their ideas and use of their skills, work better and more effective. We don’t complicate things that are simple."

Personally I find the stance they have taken to be quite admirable and as long as they maintain this perspective and continue to pursue and produce games in the vein of their most recent ones, they will likely stay on my (incredibly short) list of game developers I have any faith in. Along with Croteam, Riot Games and Valve, any games made by them will instantly be on my radar.

Hard Reset - Final Boss Battle

But enough of the fanboy talk. This short post is really about the games Hard Reset and Shadow Warrior. In many ways they are similar, taking the good parts of classics such as Duke Nukem and Doom but adding RPG elements from a game like Skyrim for good measure. Intense oldskool combat (without regenerating HP and optional ironsights), crude but enjoyable humour and exploration are welcome elements in any FPS game I play. Additionally, they both have upgrade/perk systems that you expand upon as you play, making weaker weapons and different playstyles relevant throughout the course of the games. However, this is where Shadow Warrior really shines, going one step further by introducing a deep and powerful melee and offhand combat system which is crucial for success in harder difficulties. Up to 7 additional sword and offhand abilities can be used, 3 specific to the katana, allowing you to tank, heal or cause mass crowd control for extended durations. Combined with the primary and (unlockable) secondary attacks on all the 7 weapons as well as shurikens, demon heads and hearts and you have a formidable arsenal of weapons and attack combinations. While overwhelming at first, with a bit of practice it flows into regular combat naturally and beautifully. If this is not the correct and logical evolution of the FPS genre then I don't want to know what is.

Shadow Warrior - Astoundingly pretty and high performing Road Hog engine visuals

Perhaps expectantly though the press have somewhat mixed reviews on FWH's most recent game, Shadow Warrior. Usually I couldn't care less about the subjective opinions of a 'professional game reviewer', but this time the ignorance and stupidity of remarks are astounding. While Shadow Warrior has received some stellar reviews, even from some of the more mainstream and criticised sites (e.g. IGN), there are reviews floating around that seem like the reviewer was playing a completely different game. Gametrailers gave the game a 6.2/10, remarking that the combat system is simply button mashing (note: he doesn't perform a single combo in the video) and claiming the game doesn't bring anything new to the genre. While I would like to say the reviewer was having a bad day or that maybe the game was too confusing for him to appreciate, I unfortunately cannot write off the fact that these surface-level reviews can and DO affect the sales of games. That is definitely a shame, as Shadow Warrior is, honestly, brilliant.

But enough talking. Why post words and pictures that can say a thousand words when a moving picture can say a million? The following video is my playthrough of the final arena battle against demons in Chapter 16, arguably one of the toughest sections of the game. The difficulty is Insane with EX mode on and all upgrades, perks and skills unlocked. Worth mentioning is that the combat in these kind of arena battles are more about endurance, timing and positioning as much as they are about strategy and skill. One ill timed move in the wrong place can make you very dead very quickly. If not for the Soul Harvesting perk (last stand) not being off cooldown on two occasions, I would have died horribly. This fight actually lasted more than 20 minutes in actuality, but I have taken out the less interesting parts for clarity's sake.

DOOM

Every now and then I find myself returning to various games from the past to remind myself of certain things and to learn from them, purely from a game design perspective. Sometimes games from the past can provide an important perspective on things, such as what qualified as game play and fun. I find this is especially true, for me, regarding First Person Shooter games. It is not unknown to people who know me that I am not a big fan of the direction that modern shooters have taken. Mechanics such as regenerating health, two weapon systems, insta-kill melee, chest high wall cover systems and entire arsenals of brain dead hitscan rapid fire weapons have, in my humble opinion, degenerated the genre into a shell of its former self. At least regarding pure game play and especially true when catering for the console market. Amongst classic games such as Half-life, Quake II and Unreal, Doom still stands as not only one of the most influential shooters regarding my FPS design philosophies, but also one of my favourite games in general.

Doom. A simple name for a very straightforward game, one that I still enjoy playing today more than certain games that come out. Pretty much my first real PC game, the first time I played Doom I ended up with a huge migraine and was sick for an entire day. I didn't play it for several months after that, but when I did I was gifted with some of the most memorable gaming experiences of my youth. For hours my sister and I would attempt to clear the first 'Act' of Doom, Knee Deep in the Dead, on Normal difficulty. I would move and she would shoot, keyboard controls only, scared out of our minds. We were probably about 7 and 9 years of age, far below the recommended age for the game. After many an evening of skipping our chores, we eventually got to the end of the Act and killed the two Hell Knights that appeared in the red penta-star arena. Then screamed in horror when you walked through the next portal and got raped by monsters. Good times.

You see, with Doom, it's all about the game play. Even at a young age, as incompetent as I was, I could see the amazing potential for fun that a game like Doom offered. The strategy behind dodging projectiles, managing your resources (ammo, health, armor), realising when you should fight or run and overall, the impending ... Doom ... of dying to a relentless horde of monsters. It was exciting and terrifying and still is even today. Speaking of which, today I play Doom and Doom II in the glory that is both GZDoom and Brutal Doom, two mods that bring mouse axis life and further game play enhancements to the franchise. Observe (recommend 720p+):

I often think about what Doom 4 should be like after the slight disappointment that was Doom 3. Doom 3 got a lot of things right, but missed a beat regarding the game play and general theme of the game. I have always thought the Doom series to be a survival horror based shooter, but not in the form of unnecessarily dark rooms and monster closests. Nay, the pure dread of going toe to toe with the endless forces of hell with a ridiculous arsenal of weaponry, using nothing but your reflexes and willpower to survive. Being low on health with almost no ammunition left, knowing that the next battle may result in your intended demise. To push yourself further into the fray, splattered and flaming demon remains abound, ever closer to the end, whatever that may be. That is the essence of Doom. I surely hope ID can capture that essence once again.

You only have to click once, fool!

The Howling Abyss, the All Random All Mid (ARAM) map and game mode is, as of writing this, a fairly recent addition to League of Legends. Matches are usually pretty quick taking roughly 20 mins on average. If you like teamfighting and generating gold faster than a sloth picks its nose, then ARAM is the game mode for you. Having taken an extended break from LoL for just over a year and a half, I find myself mainly playing ARAM and little else these days.

Admittedly this return was spurred by a number of things, one of which was a desire to see what has changed in LoL, coming back to what honestly felt like a completely different game. Another was the fact that recent LANs demonstrated that it is still a fun game, provided you don't take it overly seriously and become obsessed (like I did for a time). Finally, and possibly most importantly, several friends of mine, both old and new, are playing it as well. These friends, one of which I have watched become incredibly competent at LoL in the last few months, are the real reason I bother to play LoL at all these days. If not for them LoL would still be sitting in a proverbially dusty closet even now. Which would be a shame because presently, LoL is a hell of a lot of fun.

Anyways, ARAM. This acronym based brunt of a terrible, repeated household mum joke is something that is bordering on being overplayed. I have made a frag video which, if anything, will give me reason to maybe ease off a little bit or even explore the other game modes I liked a bit more (Summoner's Rift, Dominion). Although, knowing me, this is probably an absurdly quixotic thing to expect.

As per normal with any video on this blog, I recommend watching it in 720p.

The video itself I am ... how should I say ... slightly disappointed with. I have been video editing a LOT lately due to my other work commitments so I maybe didn't quite find the energy to make this a serious production. While I am usually the first one to criticize my own work, I think maybe due to the nature of ARAM, the frequency of truly awesome, video worthy occurrences are incredibly rare. You are almost constantly teamfighting/poking, which while fun, is maybe not the best spectator sport for the average person with ocular sensory organs. For the most part, things that occur in ARAM are an absolute clusterfuck at best and discerning what is happening amidst the chaos is probably quite strenuous on first watch. The choice in music is a new experiment for me, but honestly something I have tired of having listened to 50+ times while editing. I also realise that most of the frags are performed by me which is probably a bit boring. Alas, that is the nature of the recorder also being the editor. Still, I hope the video portrays some of the amusing moments that have occured in ARAM and that will hopefully continue to.

ThreatBot

Like the game content I produce for personal or tutoring purposes, I have been incredibly reluctant to bring up my PhD research in any public place. Even a blog. However, as my PhD is (hopefully) coming to an end in the next few months, I do not see the harm in bringing it up in the form of a video I made for conferences and speeches.

My PhD is based around modeling certain player-like behaviour that is lacking in FPS bot AI and implementing it in games in a way that does not fundamentally change how typical AI systems (e.g. Finite State Machines) work. Within a plethora of possible player-like activities to improve on, such as my honours focus on a bot aiming system, I chose the somewhat vague and confusing idea of the 'threat' that players experience in games. For some reason, some people have difficulty understanding and swallowing what it is that I am talking about when I talk about threat in games. Maybe it depends on the type of games you play and how you think you play them. Hopefully this video shall aid in the digestion of the topic.

While this video talks primarily about the theory and design of the bot AI I have created, it should be noted that the entire game environment the AI exists in was designed from scratch too, as well as the default/base AI behaviour. This was not a game I just dumped my finalized ThreatBot AI into over an existing AI system, but developed from the ground up with attention to detail. This is a personal design choice, to see if a game can be developed from scratch to support the technology, but also to practice solo game development. Even now, with Australia's failing games economy, it is something I would love to get into.