<< Secret Agent >>
In the office one afternoon,
you are preparing to get up and make a cup of coffee.
The Characteristics Of The Suspect
He is breathing heavily, as if he has been running. He takes a moment to catch his breath, adjusts his glasses, and then speaks to you:
“
Hello boss, I am your assistant.
We have been investigating the unauthorized opening of a portal to alternate world.
Here are the photos I took while infiltrating the suspect’s house: ”
“
Most of them are books and magazines related to games, covering everything from production to design.
There is a significant portion dedicated to the fields of Anthropology, Design, and Psychology.
The remaining books cover over 20 research fields, all related to game studies.
I doubt if he really has the time to finish all these books?
I have been observing this guy for several days, and I’m almost inseparable from him.
This guy is often alone, looking like he’s thinking about something.
Sometimes he suddenly bursts into laughter.
He’s definitely a strange person.
The two books he often carries with him are The Art of Game Design and Rule Of Play，both of which he has almost worn out from reading.”
“
Do I need to continue reporting the information about the suspect?”
The Educational Background of The Suspect
“
His undergraduate study was completed at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK, majoring in Animation, and he obtained a Second Class degree.
It’s quite a luxurious journey for a Chinese person to study abroad.”
“
I infiltrated his previous residence and found some other items related to his educational background.
There were a bunch of old-looking paintings at his home, along with some junior high and high school graduation certificates.
I was afraid of missing any useful information, so I took pictures of everything.”
“
These certificates all look like they are about to get moldy.”
After some sifting, he put some documents back on the desk, took out one of the graduation certificates, and said:
“
10 years ago, he studied for 3 years at a Chinese university called Jiangnan University in China.
His major was digital media art.
This university was established by the Chinese government to meet the challenges of the new technological revolution in the 21st century.
His graduation project at that time was an independent game.
It’s quite sad that after 10 years, he still hasn’t produced a successful work. ”
“
I have also collected some self-study materials he pursued after starting work.
There are some similar online courses.
Do you want me to show them to you? ”
“
He obtained a master’s degree in game design from Kingston University London London in the UK.
I think this is the most impressive diploma he has.”
Criminal motive:
“
In order to understand his motive for the crime, I visited his former supervisors.
Here’s how they evaluated the suspect:
”
“
I acknowledge his passion for gaming.
He once said to me:
‘Game design is the best tool for materializing ideas in this era.
This exquisite tool is worthy of dedicating a lifetime to research and iteration,
to present ideas that are worth being passed down for a thousand years.’
How wonderful it is!”
A subtle hint of disdain flashed across your face, barely noticeable, but the assistant caught it.
He immediately changed his posture and said:
“
Clearly without any achievements, it is quite overestimating oneself!”
Achievements and Honors
“
I have not collected any information about achievements. It’s my negligence.
However, according to his friends, he has won many awards.
But this person seems to attach little importance to fame and status.
He once gave away the medals he had won, exchanging them for a cup of coffee with his friends.
This incident was confirmed by the owner of the coffee shop downstairs from his house.”
After a moment, you nodded to indicate that he should continue.
Suspect’s Personal Skills
He operated the computer, opened the command line, entered some commands, and then turned the computer towards you.
“
After accessing the projects he has worked on and integrating multiple assessment tools, I analyzed his most proficient skills and put them into this pie chart.”
Pie Chart
“
Since the boss seldom visits, I need to present some more valuable information.”
Independent game project
“
As shown in the flow chart.
He currently has two completed independent game projects.
One is a Tetris variant, and the other is a match-three variant.
The Tetris variant has not been released, but has been playtested offline and received some player feedback.
The match-three variant has been released, but has not gained much attention.”
Flow Chart
What appears in front of you is an introduction to the first game.
Since it's a mobile game, you stand the assistant's computer vertically on the desk.
1 Project development cycle :
"
November 2023 - December 2023
"
2 Project purpose :
"
One-time project.
Game design theory in practice.
A tactical variant of match-3 gameplay.
"
3 Player operating rules :
"
Tactical thinking => Drag and drop deployment => Observation results
"
4 Implicit rules of game :
"
Real-time operations, tactical emphasis, multi-unit management, and environmental utilization
"
5 Project source code :
"
https://github.com/SJX1994/DemoAfterWeplay
"
6 Project formal identity :
"
A real-time tactical variant of match-3
"
7 System Constituative Rules :
"
Players have 185,794,560 possibilities for their actions in a 10 * 20 discrete space,
with the ultimate victory or defeat determined by the number of squares occupied.
"
8 The derivation process of Constituative Rules :
"
In battle, there are 6 different unit types.
During the battle, a total of 6 * 12 squares can be occupied, with each square having two states: occupied and unoccupied. Since half of the squares belong to the opponent and dealing damage calculates the number of squares that can be occupied to be 6 * 6.
Because each square has different tactics for being occupied or unoccupied, there can be up to 2^36 possibilities, which is 68,719,476,736 possibilities.
Therefore, there are 68,719,476,736 * 6 = 412,316,860,416 possibilities in a single turn.
"
Without waiting for the assistant to explain, you select a node with faster internet speed and drag the progress bar:
Displayed in front of you is the introduction to the second game.
1 Project development cycle :
"
June 2023 - November 2023
"
2 Project purpose :
"
One-time project.
Practical application of game design theory.
This is the predecessor of the first game.
I found that the match-three gameplay is a simplified variant of Tetris.
That's why I attempted to challenge the variant of match-three gameplay.
"
3 Player operating rules :
"
Tactical thinking => Click to deploy => Observe the results
"
4 Implicit rules of game :
"
Real-time operations, tactical emphasis, multi-unit management, and environmental utilization
"
5 Project source code :
"
https://github.com/SJX1994/UC_Mirror.git
"
6 Project formal identity :
"
A real-time tactics variant of Tetris
"
7 System Constituative Rules :
"
Players have 185,794,560 possibilities for their actions in a 10 * 20 discrete space,
with the ultimate victory or defeat determined by the number of squares occupied.
"
8 The derivation process of Constituative Rules :
"
In the construction phase,
due to 4 blocks with 4 unit options each that can be repeated,
there are 4 * 4 * 4 * 4 = 256 combinations.
During the construction phase,
up to 4 units can be deployed in a 3x3 grid.
The first block has 9 placement options,
the second block has 8 options,
the third has 7,
and the fourth has 6.
Therefore, the total number of placement methods is 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 = 3024.
During gameplay,
there are 4 possible block orientations.
During gameplay,
there is a time limit of 180 seconds.
A new block appears every three seconds,
allowing for a maximum of 60 blocks to appear.
In summary,
there are 256 * 3024 * 4 * 60 = 185,794,560 possible permutations.
"
Is this the 'alternate world' entrance created by the suspect?
Based on your experience, there are still many issues even when looking at the core mechanics of the game, and you began to contemplate where the problem lies.
You gestured for him to continue.
Suspect’s work experience
“
I visited all the companies where he had previously worked, all of which were related to game technology, except for a six-month temporary job in the UK, he had been working in China.
It’s strange that every time he reached the pinnacle of his performance, he would jump to the next company.
Combining this with his later independent game studio work, it’s easy to see that he was treating his jobs as stepping stones, very selfish indeed.
But surprisingly, every company gave him very high evaluations.
His last monthly salary reached 30,000 RMB, which is a very high salary in China in 2023.
This is the suspect’s own description, and below is the information I have compiled.”
Company Name: "Wuxi Yanmeng Network Technology Co., Ltd."
Duration: November 7, 2022 – March 31, 2023
Address: 30 Yunlin Furong West Road, Xishan District, Wuxi City
Title: "3A Game Studio Producer and Head of Nanjing Office"
Department: Game Department
Responsibilities: Lead the design and development work of a 3A MMORPG game.
Company Name: Thunder Soft (Nanjing Zhongke Chuangda Software Technology Co., Ltd.)
Duration: June 21, 2021 – November 4, 2022
Title: Kanzi/OpenGL Engineer
Address: 11th Floor, Building A, Yihua Center, No. 50 Andemen Street, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province
Phone: 025-83291677
Department: Research and Development Team 3
Responsibilities: Led the rendering research and development for the 2023 in-car systems (Ford, Lincoln, Mustang) under Ford North America; established rendering workflow; researched and applied graphics technology and algorithms.
Company Name: ADIA DIGITAL ART (Aidiya Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
Duration: October 9, 2020 – May 31, 2021
Title: Game Engine Engineer
Address: 4th Floor, Dexun Technology, No. 21 Huashen Boulevard, Qixia District, Nanjing
Phone: 025-86330855
Department: Game Engine Engineering
Responsibilities: Led the construction of the company's database front-end rendering; developed automation software for the workflow; fulfilled client requirements (Konami, Capcom, Ubisoft).
Company Name: WebEye (Nanjing WebEye Software Co., Ltd.)
Duration: April 2, 2019 – September 15, 2020
Title: Unity3D Development Engineer
Address: Room 311, DongRuan Building, No. 86 Huashen Avenue, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing City
Phone: 025-86980686
Department: Vega Studio
Responsibilities: Unity3D game programming and asset production.
 
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When he saw that you had finished reviewing the materials, he began to speak as he continued to tidy up.
“
However, from the recent investigation into the suspect’s financial transactions, it appears that his savings have been depleted in order to run the studio.
Nevertheless, his passive income covers his living expenses each month.
Despite this, he appears happy and relaxed every day, continuing to develop independent games.
It’s truly puzzling.
With his unwavering dedication, it seems that someday he will succeed in opening the gateway to alternate world.
That’s all the information I have on his investigation.
Is there anything else I can help you with?”
The assistant then stood up, bowed to you, and left the office.
You stared at the documents he left behind,
the suspect you had constructed in your mind.
You looking thoughtful.