What Would Blizzard Do
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The document discusses Nick Prühs's background, highlighting his education and roles in game development, including work with Daedalic Entertainment and Slash Games. It emphasizes Blizzard's game development philosophies, particularly the importance of making games playable early and committing to quality despite challenges in testing and tool usage. Additionally, it touches on various technical aspects of Blizzard games, including file formats, data structures, and examples from titles like Hearthstone and Starcraft II.
![Commit To Quality
10 / 60
Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards
_diablo_ii.php
“The task of testing a game of Diablo II's scope, with its
huge degree of randomness and its nearly infinite
character skill and equipment paths, required a
Herculean effort. […] Would a party of five Paladins,
each using a different defensive aura, be untouchable?
After more than 100 hours of play, is a fire-based
Sorceress unable to continue in Hell Mode?”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/whatwouldblizzarddo-150921062746-lva1-app6892/85/What-Would-Blizzard-Do-10-320.jpg)
![Data Structure
53 / 60
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPQ
MPQ (Mo'PaQ, short for Mike O'Brien Pack, named after its creator[citation
needed]), is an archiving file format used in several of Blizzard
Entertainment's games.
MPQs used in Blizzard's games generally contain a game's data files,
including graphics, sounds, and level data. The format's capabilities
include compression, encryption, file segmentation, extensible file
metadata, cryptographic signature and the ability to store multiple
versions of the same file for internationalization and platform-specific
differences. MPQ archives can use a variety of compression algorithms
which may also be combined.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/whatwouldblizzarddo-150921062746-lva1-app6892/85/What-Would-Blizzard-Do-53-320.jpg)
What Would Blizzard Do
- 2. About Me “Best Bachelor“ Computer Science Kiel University, 2009 Master Games Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, 2011 Lead Programmer Daedalic Entertainment, 2011-2012 Co-Founder slash games, 2013 Microsoft MVP 2015 2 / 79
- 7. Gameplay First 7 / 60 Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards _diablo_ii.php “First, we make the game playable as soon as possible in the development process. Our initial priority was to get a guy moving around on the screen and hacking monsters. This is what players would be doing most of the time, and it had to be fun.”
- 8. Gameplay First 8 / 79
- 9. Gameplay First Excel CSV XML Game 9 / 79
- 10. Commit To Quality 10 / 60 Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards _diablo_ii.php “The task of testing a game of Diablo II's scope, with its huge degree of randomness and its nearly infinite character skill and equipment paths, required a Herculean effort. […] Would a party of five Paladins, each using a different defensive aura, be untouchable? After more than 100 hours of play, is a fire-based Sorceress unable to continue in Hell Mode?”
- 16. Every Voice Matters 16 / 79
- 17. Every Voice Matters 17 / 79
- 18. Every Voice Matters 18 / 79 This is okay. (Endboss)
- 19. Every Voice Matters 19 / 79 This is not. (Intermediate level)
- 20. Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail... 20 / 60 StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
- 21. Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail... 21 / 60 StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
- 22. Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail... 22 / 60 StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
- 23. Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail... 23 / 60 StarCraft II MakeCombat
- 24. Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail... 24 / 60 Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards _diablo_ii.php “In many cases we created tools to speed up content creation, but then abandoned them. Too often, we decided to keep using inferior tools because we thought we were almost done with the game, and didn't want to take the time to improve them. Unfortunately, in most of these cases, we were not really almost done with the game.“
- 25. Genre Standards 25 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 26. Genre Standards 26 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 27. Genre Standards 27 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 28. Genre Standards 28 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 29. Genre Standards 29 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 30. Genre Standards 30 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 31. Genre Standards 31 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 32. Genre Standards 32 / 60 StarCraft II Screenshot
- 33. Genre Standards 33 / 60 Unreal Tournament 3 Splash Screen
- 34. Genre Standards 34 / 60 Unreal Tournament 3 Login Screen
- 35. Genre Standards 35 / 60 Hostile Worlds Screen Transitions
- 36. Genre Standards 36 / 60 Steam Server Browser
- 37. Genre Standards 37 / 60 WarCraft III Lobby
- 38. Genre Standards 38 / 60 WarCraft III Loading Screen
- 39. Genre Standards 39 / 60 WarCraft III Score Screen
- 40. Genre Standards 40 / 60 StarCraft II Options Screen
- 41. Open Game Sources 41 / 60 Doom 3 GPL Release on GitHub
- 42. Open Game Sources 42 / 60 Blizzard on GitHub
- 43. Open Game Sources 43 / 60 Blizzard QT on GitHub
- 44. Open Game Sources 44 / 60 Blizzard Premake on GitHub
- 45. Project Structure 45 / 60 Windows 10 - System32 Folder
- 46. Project Structure 46 / 60 > 3000 Libraries
- 48. Project Structure 48 / 60 Hearthstone Asset Bundles
- 49. Project Structure 49 / 60 Hearthstone Data Files
- 50. Project Structure 50 / 60 StarCraft II “Mods”
- 51. Project Structure 51 / 60 StarCraft Game Folder Size
- 52. Project Structure 52 / 60 StarCraft MPQ Files
- 53. Data Structure 53 / 60 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPQ MPQ (Mo'PaQ, short for Mike O'Brien Pack, named after its creator[citation needed]), is an archiving file format used in several of Blizzard Entertainment's games. MPQs used in Blizzard's games generally contain a game's data files, including graphics, sounds, and level data. The format's capabilities include compression, encryption, file segmentation, extensible file metadata, cryptographic signature and the ability to store multiple versions of the same file for internationalization and platform-specific differences. MPQ archives can use a variety of compression algorithms which may also be combined.
- 54. Data Structure 54 / 60 Hearthstone Localization Files (GAMEPLAY.txt) TAG TEXT COMMENT GAMEPLAY_COIN_TOSS_LOST You get an extra card GAMEPLAY_COIN_TOSS_WON You go first GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_TITLE Fatigue GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_TEXT Out of cards! Take {0} damage. GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_HISTORY_TEXT Trying to draw from an empty deck deals increasing damage to your hero. GAMEPLAY_END_TURNEND TURN GAMEPLAY_ENEMY_TURN ENEMY TURN GAMEPLAY_YOUR_TURN Your Turn GAMEPLAY_ERROR_PLAY_REJECTED Too late! Your turn is over. GAMEPLAY_MOBILE_BATTLECRY_CANCELED Battlecry canceled. GAMEPLAY_MANA_COUNTER {0}/{1} 0=unused mana 1=current total mana
- 55. Data Structure 55 / 60 Hearthstone Data Files (BOARD.xml) <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <Dbf> <Column name="ID" type="Int" /> <Column name="NOTE_DESC" type="String" /> <Column name="PREFAB" type="AssetPath" /> <Record> <Field column="ID">1</Field> <Field column="PREFAB">Assets/Game/Boards/STW/STW</Field> <Field column="NOTE_DESC">Stormwind</Field> </Record> <Record> <Field column="ID">2</Field> <Field column="PREFAB">Assets/Game/Boards/ORG/ORG</Field> <Field column="NOTE_DESC">Orgrimmar</Field> </Record>
- 56. Log Files 56 / 60 Hearthstone Log File Platform assembly: D:GamesHearthstoneHearthstone_DataManagedICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll (this message is harmless) Loading D:GamesHearthstoneHearthstone_DataManagedICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll into Unity Child Domain Platform assembly: D:GamesHearthstoneHearthstone_DataManagedPlayMaker.dll (this message is harmless) Loading D:GamesHearthstoneHearthstone_DataManagedPlayMaker.dll into Unity Child Domain
- 57. Log Files 57 / 60 League of Legends Log File Function: Spell::Effect::SpellFXRenderer::Update Expression: false 001567.413| 0.0000kb| 0.0000kb added| ERROR| Assertion failed! File: E:/jenkins/workspace/game-code-Releases-4-18-public- win32/code/Game/LoL/Spell/Effect/Client/SpellFXRenderer.cpp Line: 854
- 59. World of Warcraft LUA UI API 59 / 60
- 60. Art Guides 60 / 12
- 61. Development Blogs 61 / 60 Post-Mortem of Campus Buddies
- 62. Development Blogs 62 / 60 Post-Mortem of WarCraft
- 63. Developer Conferences 63 / 60 Post-Mortem of Ochestrator
- 64. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 65. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 66. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 67. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 68. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 69. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 70. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 71. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 72. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 73. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 74. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 75. ... but don’t copy blindly!
- 76. There might even be cookies. 76 / 60 Source: UTWeap_LinkGun.uc (August UDK 2010) /** Holds the list of link guns linked to this weapon */ var array<UTWeap_LinkGun> LinkedList; // I made a funny Hahahahah :)