Week 1 Questions Dillon

In your opinion, what should every game have? Why do you like your favorite game?

• I believe the most important element a game could have is replay-ability. If you are able to play the game, enjoy it, and then come back to it later and still enjoy it just as much as you did the first time — that’s a well-designed game. Replay-ability is important because, without it, the game would lose momentum after the first few months following release; the longer a game can remain relevant the better.
• My all-time favorite game is and has always been Minecraft; I started playing when I was a young child and have watched the game evolve over the last 15 years while it simultaneously dominated the gaming industry. My favorite part about Minecraft is that it gives the player the ability to, quite literally, do WHATEVER they want. Of course, it’s an imagination-based sandbox game with random finite generation that ensures every world you play is different from the last, but beyond the confines of the base-game, Minecraft allows (and even encourages) their players to mod and customize their game however they please. CurseForge, the most popular website for the Minecraft modding community, reached 100,000 unique player-created mods in 2022. I am personally a member of the that community and I enjoy using Minecraft as a creative outlet where I can develop new features and mechanics for my community server.

List the games you have played or currently played.

• Currently Play: Creativity: Minecraft, Terraria; Shooters: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite Battle Royale, Platformers: Ultimate Chicken Horse; Other:
• Have Played: Creativity: Stardew Valley, The Sims, Roblox; Shooters: Destiny, Destiny 2, Overwatch 1, Paladins, Apex Legends, Fortnite Save the World, Darwin Project, Ironsight, Splitgate; Platformers: Hollow Knight, Little Nightmares, Little Nightmares 2, Portal, Portal 2; Other: Stranded Deep, Skylanders Series, Rayman Legends, Firewatch,

Can you apply the three-act structure to your favorite game? What is its pacing and how long do you find yourself in each act?

• Minecraft’s standard Survival mode could be broken into 3 acts.
  Act 1: Early-Game
  The player begins by spawning in a new world with absolutely nothing in their inventory. Players are supposed to secure shelter and protection against the enemies that come out at night using accessible resources such as wood and stone to craft gear. Players will typically start an early-game food source, like an animal pen or a crop farm. The early-game act takes up a majority of Minecraft’s gameplay; it is the slowest paced act of the three due to limitations on your character like weak tools and armor. In a typical playthrough, the first act usually takes me a few weeks, but that’s due to my methodical playstyle. If you were to focus on completing the game in one sitting, I would estimate around 5-8 hours for extensive completion.
  Act 2: Mid-Game
  Once the player has finished acquiring basic tools, armor, and a base of operations, they will begin mining and adventuring for resources. Players must descend into the dangerous caves below them in search of non-renewable resources such as iron, gold, emeralds, and diamonds, all used to further improve their gear. They will encounter hostile monsters and natural hazards like lava that will impede their progress. Players will want to acquire obsidian for an enchanting table to enhance their tools’ stats and a nether portal to travel between dimensions. The mid-game act takes up the second-most amount of time as it has the most amount of different objectives, each necessary for the end-game preparation. In my personal playthroughs, I spend the most amount of time (typically a month or more) in the second act because it is my favorite. If you knew what you were doing and were to focus on completing this act in one sitting, I would estimate around 4-7 hours.
  Act 3: End-Game
  After the player has acquired powerful enchanted weapons and armor, their next step is locating the Stronghold, home of the End Portal. Players will hunt rare monsters to acquire Eyes of Ender, a necessary item for locating and activating the portal. Once fully prepared, the player will cross dimensions to The End where they will battle the final boss of Minecraft, the Ender Dragon who, once defeated, rolls the game credits; however many will argue that this is not the end of Minecraft, as there is a plethora of content still available and being released every year for players to enjoy. For me, I savor this act. The end-game act can take between 2-3 hours depending on whether or not you want to proceed with your playthrough following the Ender Dragon, and I always choose to continue.

When coming up with ideas where do you find your start, with the metaphor or the mechanics?

• When I am drafting ideas for my custom Minecraft additions, I always start with mechanics. I will factor in things like “how will this work”, “how is this acquired”, and “how would i create this with code?”. Once the mechanics are fleshed out and they function, then I go back and work on the aesthetics.

Over the course of this semester, who would you like to collaborate with and why?

• I’m open to collaborating with anybody.