Welcome to the Fractal Arcade Wiki!
This is an exploration of unique algorithms and technical designs in games - sometimes beautiful, sometimes hacky, sometimes lazy - all of which make them a herculean feat of creativity and enjoyment.
The Fractal Arcade
An algorithm must be seen to be believed. โ Donald Knuth
The name โFractal Arcadeโ, at its root, was inspired by fractals and chaos theory, often associated with infinite procedural generation. Just like fractals, the controlled chaos and beauty in games can be found in the details.
In this blog, I explore:
- ๐ง Computer science innovations
- ๐ฏ Game mechanics
- โจ The brilliant combinations that make gaming so interesting
Iโll also have some posts here that are pure scientific conceptualization and intuition for my own learning!
๐ A bit about me!
Iโm Justin Tam, a CS/bioinformatics researcher and PhD student, and a video game nerd! I love games but know little about what makes them tick. So this is my exploration of unique algorithms, innovative ideas and technical designs in games.
My top 5 games of all time:
- Dark Souls 1 (and by extension, most of the souls-like games but if I included them, my top 5 would all be souls games)
- Modern Warfare 2019
- League of Legends (aram/arena only player nowadays)
- Valorant
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
๐ฎ Current obsessions:
- Battlefield 6
- Nightreign
๐ Featured Articles
Explore these deep dives into game design and mechanics
- ๐บ๏ธ Path of Exile - Same Map, Different Experience In Progress
- ๐ Portal (2007) - A Spatial Illusion
- ๐ฆธ Marvel Rivals - Or Portal 2.5 In Progress
Explore some science conceptualization notes I took for my own understanding - it contains my intuition if I were to teach it
- ๐ง AI & LLMs - Notes from Stanford CS229 on large language models
- ๐ Linear Algebra - Intuition from 3Blue1Brownโs series on linear transformations
- ๐ Laplace Transform - Conceptual understanding from 3Blue1Brown