's blog
's blog
Hello!
After over a year of not posting anything, I'm finally ready to make a status update! I am making this status update post be on this month partly because of my last status update also being on this month last year.
Just a reminder, although I am starting to use this blog more and more, it might not be as active as my social media. If you want to follow me, also follow me on social media! Links are at the homepage.
That's right! You've probably stumbled and saw this post through the homepage if you see that I've changed the homepage! It now contains more stupid stuff that no one is interested in! Wow! But in reality, there isn't really anything more to add, so I think to be "cool", I'm going to add my "activity log" that only updates once every half hour!
Obviously, there will many other cool things that I may or may not add later, as future updates to this website are still coming up (especially if a major version just released) as bug fixes are needed.
Nothing much. As stated in my "Plans for 2024" post, my #1 priority, just like most high-schoolers, is to still get in a good university, so the things that I'm currently up to are still what I've said in said post.
I guess, that's all for this blog post, but, in interest of not making this blog post give the feeling that I've wasted your time...
Camp 2 for Informatics (i.e., competitive programming) for the 2023 Academic Year started on March 18, 2024, and lasted until April 3, 2024 (for Bangkok, at least.) It is held in one of the four university centers. If you just want to see the results, check my certificate display, or scroll down (to avoid spoilers, I made you check the certificate display to see the results only if you've just reached this part of the blog.)
I scored a 80.5% on Camp 1, making it enough to place me in the Top 30 and allowing me to attend Camp 2. According to a professor there, Camp 2's material is "second-year bachelor's material", so, in essence, I've already got a head start if I manage to get in a CS-related major.
The dorm that I stayed in (yes, a dorm, because no one is driving for 2 hours per day just to get there) is probably the best type of dorm in the university I was in, complete a table, a bed, free air-conditioning, a convenience store just across the dorm buildings, and of course, free internet connectivity per room.
On every learning day, it is a 3-hour lecture, followed by a break, then a 3-hour "lab"/practice session. But let's be real, no one actually paid attention for the full 3 hours or did the "lab" for the whole 3 hours, especially in later days, when, for me, the amount of information is "too much" and of course, sitting in front of a computer, in a computer lab, cases of going off to a non-related website or browser game website has happened, which both I and many others did.
Content of Camp 2 (in my center) ranges from basic C++, to breath-first search and depth-first search, and all the way to maximum flow algorithms. Of course, it is hard, as university-level material is being taught to middle-to-high-schoolers. I believe many centers (both in and out Bangkok) have posted on what is going to be in their Camp 2 material, so a quick search on Facebook should give a good result on what is being taught and tested.
The judging system for my center was actually a custom made one, and actually broke on the first test-day, but was fixed quickly, so no big deal there. But sadly, due to some brain issues on my side, I'll admit that I did not do to well on the first team selection exam, scoring only 150 out of the 300 points, but of course, I didn't give up.
On the second team selection exam, I actually scored 300 out of 300 points, getting full score. But of course, there was a twist after the exam: more test cases after exam has concluded, and the scores are only from the "visible" test cases or the example test cases (reminds me of Codeforces Div. 1 and Div. 2 judging), and obviously my score fell down to somewhere around 200 points (probably because the number of new test cases added was so few that getting a WA in one of them could get you a 20-point deduction, for each problem it was 100 points split equally into each test case.)
The professors and lectures there were actually quite nice and fun, and on the first day, a lecturer came up to me and asked me to take a selfie with him so he could "send it to a high-ranking teacher" at my school (he was an alumni at the school I'm currently studying at), and obviously, that made a fun story that I can tell my other school friends now that I'm back.
While in the dorm, I just played Minecraft and watched silly videos. Nothing much. But there was this time where I tried to unclog my dorm's toilet with a bottle, as it won't flush. I won't get into the deep details of this one, as it might be too dumb and "immature" to state. I did find a shop that sold plungers about an hour after I tried unclogging the toilet with a bottle. (I didn't know there was a shop that sold plungers in the dorm.)
In the closing ceremony, a very powerful person handed out our certification certificates, and of course, we heard a speech of the Dean of the Science faculty inviting us to continue to "upskill" ourselves at the faculty.
Now for the big reveal.
My name wasn't on the team selection results announcement roster, and I am therefore unable to complete in the 20th Thailand Olympiad in Informatics. Only five campers passed. Those who didn't pass can retake the team selection exam, provided they are still in the grade range. Unfortunately, I was already out of the grade range allowed to retake the team selection exam, so I can't retake the exams anymore.
Still, I was grateful of this opportunity and had lots of fun, and sometimes posted my experiences on social media. Maybe if you visited them, you could find some stories about it?
Obviously, this was a non-exhaustive review because I don't want to write about what happened each day (as it would be too much both for me and for you reading the blog), nor did I write about the other problems while in the camp (e.g. the dorm's elevator losing power). Overall, I think this was a fun experience to test myself, to learn more CS, and to meet new friends.
See you in the next blog post/Mathematical Base Defenders update/whatever!
Since 2023 is coming to an end, I am doing what people are doing: setting New Year's resolutions. There will probably be more aside from this, but I don't really know what else to set more. I'm also writing to my blog so that this doesn't feel empty again.
By the way, I have decided that my blog posts will be under the CC BY 4.0 license, so you are free to share/distribute/adapt my blog posts, as long as you give me credit by (e.g.) providing a link back to the respective blog post's URL, or by mentioning my name.
Right now, I am in high school, so my #1 priority (just like most high-schoolers) would probably to get in a good university. I've taken the Digital SAT (Aug. 2023, 1460) and IELTS (Dec. 2023, 7.5, Academic on computer), and I'm quite satisified with my scores. I do not plan on retaking the Digital SAT or IELTS again because I already retook those once, but since my (or the objective) #1 university (in Thailand) also wants to see a science aptitude test score, I might need to study for that as well. I've never really studied for any school test for the past 1.5 years, but still managed to pass (that is, 50% or above) over 80% of the time if I remember correctly.
If you've been OSINT'ing be on my Facebook/Instagram account or on my certificate display, you might also notice that I passed the สอวน. (POSN) Training Camp 1 (Computer) selection test and passed another selection test while in said camp for eligibility to enter Training Camp 2, which I will be attending in March 2024. I really hope that I can somehow get a spot in the Thailand Olympiad in Informatics (TOI), so I'm mainly studying computer science algorithms right now. A reason why I'm trying really hard to get a spot (or even better, a medal) in the TOI is that I can use that instead of my test scores to apply to university, and another reason why I'm trying is that I get to brag to my friends about how smart I am.
(Explanatory Note: If you don't know what the TOI is, it is basically the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), but on the national level, so the TOI isn't that prestigious as the IOI, but most Thai universities only need a TOI medal (or a medal in another subject's Thai national olympiad, or for some universities, diploma from Training Camp 2) for higher/guaranteed chances of acceptance in TCAS's Round 1.)
I do not frequently post stuff on social media, and that includes not posting stuff that promotes/tries to get more players into Mathematical Base Defenders. I want to change, so that I can be described as "more expressive" and "less-introverted" person in real life, and maybe to get more followers like my friends who post everything they do on their Instagram stories (no offense to them).
I switched back to using GNU/Linux. I would also like to contribute to open-source software, but the #1 reason I'm scared to do so is that it might backfire(???), and the #1 reason I can't do it is that I do not think I have anything useful to add to existing FLOSS. I would also like that mindset to change, but I have great difficulties trying to express myself (because I might be an introvert or something). Additionally, I would also like to talk about my plans for my projects:
I plan to really put in the effort to market/advertise Mathematical Base Defenders in 2024, so it can get more players, and maybe use the fact that I am a powerful person in Mathematical Base Defenders for my university application(???). On a side note, if you want to play Mathematical Base Defenders, click here. I am also waiting for feedback from potential users/testers, so that I can improve from it.
As for my personal website, I don't need to add anything on the apex domain itself (since it's just a project listing page), but I might add some new subdomains on my domain in 2024 to spice up my website. I would also like to improve the "stability" of my domains, as well as adding new features to existing domains.
These are some of my New Year resolutions for 2024. Share this blog post with other people so more people can laugh at me if I fail my New Year resolutions, and thank you for taking the time for reading!
Are you expecting a review on the สอวน. training camp that I promised over a month ago? Well, I don't really have any in-depth review of it, since it's a come-and-go-home camp (not an overnight camp). So here is a very short summary of it: Learn, eat, learn more eat, learn more, go home. Except for the middle and the end of the camp, where the teachers gave me the Training Camp 2 selection test. (สอวน. Training Camp 2 for Computer will probably be an overnight camp, as shown by social media posts from previous years.) But at least there's a better chance of an actual review (i.e., a dedicated blog post) for Training Camp 2 because of the more advanced material, and also the fact that it's an overnight camp. So if you want a review, you might have to wait until Camp 2 starts. Sorry...
I will tell you how to boost your Instagram post likes by 400%, from 1 like to 5 likes. The secret is simple. But first, where did the 400% come from?
In preparation for the upcoming 1,000-day anniversary update for Mathematical Base Defenders, I made a series of obligatory posts, i.e., X days until a big event is happening.
Here they are: 8 days until 1,000, 4 days until 1,000, 3 days until 1,000. These have generic what-mistertfy64-would-write-style captions. Notice these only got 1 like at the time of writing (2023-07-11).
Now here is the 7 days until 1,000 post. Notice this got 5 likes at the time of writing (2023-07-11).
Do you want to hear the secret? If so, read on... .
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Joke about online gambling websites. In the 7 days until 1,000 post, the caption mentions online gambling websites, but in a "mocking" way. This is the part where it does that:
Speaking of the number 7, 777 jackpot break slot machine many dollar gamble online😂😂😂💵💵, because get it? The number 7 appears on slot machines, eh? นี่คือLnมคณิตศาสตs์|ม่ใช่เว็uwนัu
Well, now that you know the secret, this is what to do.
This is a joke. Gambling online in Thailand, where I live (and many other countries) is illegal. I did make an April Fools post that "introduced" gambling mechanics to Mathematical Base Defenders, but I still said that gambling online is illegal.
The word joke is in bold because it is important. If you decide to do what I do, please do not actually say stuff like "go to this gambling website for 100% bonus: [website here]" I'm joking about gambling websites, NOT promoting, endorsing, or implying that I run one. Promoting/inviting a gambling website, and running one, is illegal in Thailand.
The online gambling website joke probably isn't the main reason this post got 5 likes either.
But I still don't know if joking or making fun of gambling websites is legal in Thailand, might have to do more research on that...
The 1,000-day anniversary I mentioned early is no joke. Mathematical Base Defenders will turn 1,000 days old on July 13, 2023 (development started October 16, 2020), and there will be an update to both the play subdomain and this website (which hasn't been updated for ~2.5 months), so see you in 2 days or something. I don't know. See you in the game, I guess?
It's finally here! 16 days ago, I released the first test-build for Mathematical Base Defenders: Reversal. Now, the website portion is complete (I didn't test it throughly), and I am ready to "confidently" say that Mathematical Base Defenders: Reversal is finally in public testing!
On 2023-01-20, I finally realized that the game isn't that playable due to there being tiles, or limited resources [1]. I tried playing it, and it has caused problems even to me (the creator). I finally realized I did something wrong, and I wanted to redeem myself.
So instead of making math equations, you now solve them! This means there will be no more tiles. Instead, you are free to type anything you want!
Having limited resources when you want/should have/need unlimited could also be breaking the flow, making the game unenjoyable. There will be no more resources, instead, you just have to solve math equations as fast as possible! This is easier to get in the flow on.
For the 20 registered players (as of writing this), don't worry, your experience points (and level), game rank, and join date will not be reset. However, your scores will be reset sometime later, making the leaderboard clean and 100% filled with new-style submissions.
Since Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, you can visit the GitHub organization to view "raw" source-code upates! You can also find the game's social media accounts at the footer of the non-play subdomain.
I would like to thank the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand for hosting the annual National Software Contest! Without it, Mathematical Base Defenders probably wouldn't have been thought of back in 2020. Thank you for funding making Mathematical Base Defense (and then Mathematical Base Defenders) exist, and funding it with 5 figures (THB12,000 to be exact)!
While on the topic of National Software Contest, I would also like to thank KG07, Muq1937 and my project advisor for helping me with Mathematical Base Defense during the competition! (The original version of Mathematical Base Defense was made for NSTDA's National Software Contest, the persons listed here were in OG Mathematical Base Defense's development.)
Thank you for reading, have a nice day, and I'll see you in the game!
Note: Multiplayer will be released later.
I kinda need help for something. I can't seem to find the perfect enemy speed. Can you help me? I might give you a reward.
Finally! Another progress report! This one is about the new Mathematical Base Defenders update, titled "The Reversal Update".
Since my final exams are over, this means that I will have a lot more time to work on the project!
Don't forget: Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, so you can see what I've been working on to see if I actually worked on something. The project is currently being worked on at the reversal branch.
The original Mathematical Base Defenders (and Mathematical Base Defense) had a very complicated gameplay flow (in my opinion, as explained here), so I've decided change how the game is played, from making equations with limited numbers (which was inspired from math games/activites like the "24 Puzzle" and IQ 180) to just solving equations as fast as you can like a number-cruncher game because in my opinion, it's a true test of mental math speed.
I also believe the new gameplay would be much simpler and hopefully self-explanatory, as well as allowing for easier keyboard input (the original versions required users to remember which key corresponds to which tiles, and then it becomes a problem when there is no more of that tile you need for the expression, breaking "the flow" of speed).
This is what the new gameplay looks like. You can now just type in numbers that are the answers to math problems that you see, making it easier to get in the "flow".
Of course, Easy mode is still available, and I'm still waiting on feedback for the ideal enemy speed!
(Answers are in the range [-100, 100], which is subject to change.)
The original Mathematical Base Defenders (and Mathematical Base Defense) had a user interface where the buttons are extremely small. I've decided to fix it by making the buttons really big and have pictures, with colors!!!
The "playfield" for the Reversal update is now vertical and has "definite" borders, which is now easier for people to see which is which (during Multiplayer). I also got inspiration of the new UI from (e.g.) TETR.IO and Jstris, which are stacker games I've played in the past which I like the gameplay and also the UI of (and think that it's easy to implement for my project.)
Also, I've also made it so that the score number has "dumb animations" like this (it can be turned off if you don't like it, of course):
Note that UI is subject to change.
I plan on finishing and releasing the Reversal Update before my birthday (March 9), which is a difficult thing to do, but since finals are over for me, it might be a little bit easier. Note that I will probably miss the deadline due to my incompotency and laziness.
I haven't been doing much advertising on the game's social media accounts either too.
But thank you for reading, and have a great day, and see you in the game (when it gets released!)
Yeah. I made it myself. Custom mistertfy64 software that might will break again, and if you're interested, I made the RSS "part" of my website public under the MIT license: https://github.com/mistertfy64/TextFeedBridger.
Once again, RSS will break, and I will change how my RSS feed works in the future. As of releasing (2023-02-01), my blog's RSS feed only show the 10 most recent blog posts.
And now it's time to go back to Mathematical Base Defenders: Reversal. How did I not notice I misspelled announcement for over 3 weeks?
IMPORTANT: Mechanics in this page may NOT be final.
After over a year, I have finally come to the realization that how Mathematical Base Defenders is played (<0.3.0-beta) is pretty... complicated. So, that is why, I have decided to plan an update after a 10-1 vote (among my friends as of 2023-01-20 15:00 UTC) saying that I should create a new "gameplay flow" from scratch. That is, Mathematical Base Defenders will have an entirely new gameplay mechanic, possibly replacing the old one.
Instead of trying to be different and "cool" by making this math game make you form problems instead of solving expressions/equations, it will just be solving expressions and equations, just like every other math game.
Other notable gameplay changes include:
You will still be "defending your base from enemies", hence the name.
Other notable gameplay similarites include:
When the Reversal Update is released, these things MAY happen:
Other non-gameplay-related statistics, such as rank and join date, will be kept.
Probably around 2023-02 to 2023-03. These new features take time to design and work out.
However, if you're impatient (like me), you can check the reversal branch on the repository
There are many reasons that led me to this decision. The main reason is that the game is inaccessible and too hard to play, as pointed out by some of the playerbase. Another reason is that the source code is extremely poorly written, because that's what happens 1 year ago. Files containing 1000 lines, functions being 300 lines and doing multiple things make me look stupid, just like technical debt.
I want to "refresh" the game, while adopting more best security and privacy practices along with it as well. I also have plans to rewrite the game content to be in TypeScript, as well as making it easier to selfhost if you want to.
I believe this would also make the game more easy to play, therefore attracting more players, as I want this game to be one of those "easy to learn, hard to master" games or something like that. I also want this game to be "accessible" (where you don't have to learn any complicated rules) and non-grindy.
Yes. It will only go down when an update comes.
Probably yes.
I am currently not accepting applications for the moderation team. However, contributions to the repository are welcome. If you do happen to contribute, you may be considered for a position on the team. You can also donate.
Probably around an hour. (but obviously more because im stupid an incompetent)
Happy New Year to Everyone! (I'm 21.5 hours late in my timezone, UTC+7). But I'm pretty sure at least some of you are still here waiting for me. So what happened? What's next for me? Where do I see myself 5 years from now? Here are the answers (not to some of these rhetorical questions)
I'll confess right now. I started to lose interest on developing Mathematical Base Defenders. I have finally come to realize that the game may not have the easiest controls or the best gameplay or enemy generation. However, I might come back to developing it, if some of you can give me some ideas by messaging me.
I feel like the game is already "complete" and that it needed only bug fixes and minor improvements. Singleplayer is done, multiplayer is done, and settings is done.
But if you want to see the game thrive on, feel free to contribute to the one of the repositories! Even though I may have lost interest, but having someone being interested in the project really motivates me into continuing (I will also take a look at your pull request)!
The game was originally created for a "software contest" (more precisely: NSTDA's National Software Contest). The initial, first, prototype version was developed in 2020, when said iteration of the competition took place. I used Java for the language, but I found out that it might not be the best for me now. So I switched to JavaScript with an incomplete TypeScript migration. After the competition and having receiving THB12,000 in funding, I wanted it to be able to be used commerically. But obviously due to my incompotency, it failed. However, I won't be giving up on the project.
Speaking of NSTDA's National Software Contest, I (and one of my friends) have submitted another proposal to NSTDA for this year (2023)'s National Software Contest! The results on whether it will be accepted will come out on 2023-01-20 during the day. If it gets accepted, the development on that "new game" will start! But if it doesn't, well... I'm not sure what to do.
2023-01-20 Update: It wasn't accepted.
The game will be similar to Mathematical Base Defenders, but much easier to play and to survive longer. This game would also be a more "simple" game than Mathematical Base Defenders, containing less math, less RNG, and more speed and skill!
Of course, for my personal website, there will still be updates! I may or may not open-source it in the future (I can't really recall whether I committed sensitive information in). I will also be updating the Prayut Counter if there are news about Prayut once again, you know, just to make things more i n t e r e s t i n g .
Remember when I said I wont be answering some of the questions in the first line? Well, I lied, and these are just rhetorical questions (I don't know if they really are). But if you want to see updates on my life, check out my social media account (not just my GitHub account) where I have a 5% of posting something every 2 weeks!
That's it for this blog post. Thank you for reading this and have a great year!
Welcome to a series of blog posts where I might (will) forget to make a new post about this series every week.
This is about progress reports for Mathematical Base Defenders.
So let's get right in to what I did.
Don't forget: Mathematical Base Defenders is now open source, so you can always see what changes I've made after this blog post.
The first progress report will be about better frontend and data presentation. Other progress reports may be of mixed content.
Let's dive in!
I've spent the last couple of days allowing for "player instances" (i.e., the gamefield) to move and scale.
These are created for better multiplayer game experiences, so you don't have to stare at a small gamefield on 2 player games.
Note: This may not be implemented in the direct next update. At the moment, these transformations are only used for debug/development purposes, but if you want to see it faster, make sure to contribute!
These are just some touch-ups to the user interface.
These include (but aren't limited to):
...and I've also made other small changes, including fixing some bugs (and creating new ones), attempting to better code quality, and attempting to get more players.
Finally, I'd like to end on a note that I fill the game is too hard for players. I realized that just because I can play it doesn't mean you guys can play it. I'm sorry. But you can help by finding the right enemy speed. Feel free to suggest the right enemy speed (or new mechanics that make the game easier) in the game's Discord Server! You can also directly add a feature by contributing!
There isn't much to say in this blog post, but thank you for your time, and see you in the game!