Community Spotlight - Jerem
In the last few weeks we’ve seen many pirates take to Twitter to share their Sea of Thieves knowledge. But these aren’t the usual ‘things you may know’ or pub quiz questions – what’s sparked this sudden burst of showing off is an addictive little fan game called SoT Guessr, where players have to guess the location in Sea of Thieves from a single snapshot of an island. We figured it was time to learn a little more about its maker, so we headed off to find Jerem…
[Q]: Can you tell us a little about what got you into gaming?
[A]: I think one of my first games was Pokemon Ruby on GBA SP that I got for Christmas, it’s such a good memory. Also, in my childhood, my father played videogames, so he bought my brother and I a GameCube and PlayStation 2 with a lot of the classics: Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Jak and Dexter etc.
[Q]: Were you a Rare fan before Sea of Thieves? Do you have any favourite Rare games?
[A]: I discovered Rare with Sea of Thieves, but I definitely need to play some of their best games like Banjo-Kazooie in the future.
[Q]: What other games are you currently playing? Any favourites?
[A]: I am a big fan of The Legend of Zelda license, I started playing Breath of the Wild again after the last trailer for the sequel, I really can’t wait for it next year!
In general I like to support indie games, I discovered and loved Hollow Knight this year and I can’t wait for Silksong to be released. One of my dreams would be to create my own game. Maybe one day.
Jerem knows the Sea of Thieves map well and wanted to see who else shared this knowledge!
[Q]: What brought you over to Sea of Thieves and its community?
[A]: I heard of Sea of Thieves back at the very beginning with the E3 announcement, I was really hyped for a new pirate game which sounded amazing. In a way it reminded me one of my favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Since I started playing the game years ago the environment has changed a lot, as with Golden Sands recently, or the other new additions – the seas are not the same as they were the day I first set sail. Over time I’ve learned to appreciate every detail of the islands, and I’ve come to know them inside out. Therefore, I decided to share this geographer’s passion with the whole community, a game offering a fun way to test their knowledge!
[Q]: How did SoT Guessr come into creation? What pushed you to make it?
[A]: I was with members of my crew, the Memento Mori, and we were looking for minigames to organise an event for the French community, like Rowboat race, musical chairs etc. Zakzer suggested making riddles like Sudds in the Legend of the Veil Voyage. I remembered a recent tweet from the Sea of Thieves account asking people to “Name this island” in which we had to recognize the island, and I had a Eureka “Let’s make a Geoguessr in Sea of Thieves!” moment, and that’s how it all started. Months ago I had created an interactive map for a test so I already had a good basis to work with.
[Q]: How did you go about capturing all the images used and how long did it take?
[A]: At first I was alternating between programming and capturing the images but it was taking me too much time, so Cheshire Grin, Swalkit and Mkz helped me capture the images and test the website. I made a tool for them to easily list all existing locations on a map and associate the new images with coordinates, and they divided the remaining areas between them.
After a week we had more than 300 screenshots from all around the seas. It took approximately three or four hours per day for my three crewmates to take them all.
Jerem has been inspired to add to SoT Guessr after the community received it so well.
[Q]: Do you expect to be updating SoT Guessr in the future with more images for people to test their wits against?
[A]: Absolutely, considering the feedback from the community. It really motivates me to add a lot of new things. Like a hard mode, a timer, infinite play for those who want to play more, even more images, a seeding system to play the same games with friends and more! Don’t hesitate to suggest more ideas if you have any.
[Q]: Thinking back, are there any standout moments for you in Sea of Thieves since you started playing?
[A]: One moment I remember is how I discovered the Discord community. I was just chilling on my Sloop and I saw five boats coming towards me – at first I was afraid that they’d come to sink me, but they explained they were all on a Discord and they were in an Alliance. After that, I joined their Discord and it became my first crew on the seas.
Another moment I will definitely remember is the release of SoT Guessr, I wasn’t expecting the community to engage with it so much. I find amazing the way that the community is so kind to people who create content, like me or others. I would love to say a huge “Merci” to all the people who play SoT Guessr, share it and message me with their encouragement and lovely messages. It really motivates me to continue.
Jerem has sailed with many crews after discovering the lively Discord community.
[Q]: What are your favourite additions to Sea of Thieves over the past year?
[A]: I think the Season Six additions were what brought me back into the game, it’s really cool to see the world and the lore evolving over time. It’s an interesting idea to let the community decide the future of the game in Adventures like ‘Lost Sands’ and ‘Return of the Damned’. I hope the war between Legends and Reapers will continue to an extraordinary finale.
I also like the ship customization, before that I was always playing with the basic skin because it was taking me a lot of time to find and select the skin I wanted every time. Now I can have my Megalodon-themed ship and I appreciate that a lot.
As I write this, Season Eight hasn’t been released yet, so I’m really excited to see what the new update will bring to the game!
[Q]: What are your greatest achievements in a game, Sea of Thieves or otherwise?
[A]: I am what people call a completionist, I really like to complete all achievements in the games I play. In the case of Sea of Thieves, I spent a lot of hours completing all achievements and Commendations, and that wasn’t easy. (Except the white shark that probably doesn’t exist.)
I was also nicknamed ‘The Fisherman’ by co-workers because I was using my break time to fish.
[Q]: If you had to choose a pirate and ship name, what would they be?
[A]: My boat is named AFK Megalodon because I spend the majority of my time looking for the Shrouded Ghost, either by just AFK on the high seas or just by hunting without success, for now.
My pirate doesn’t have a name yet, I asked my crew and they suggested Blue Sam, Bill Sam, Black Bill… well, something about my jacket and hair colour.
The AFK Megalodon searches the seas for the elusive Shrouded Ghost.
[Q]: What kind of other hobbies do you enjoy outside of gaming?
[A]: I like to code stuff, and when I have an idea I can spend days working on it until it’s finished. I also like to play chess, as I played for 6-7 years in a club when I was younger and took part in a lot of tournaments. It’s always nice to play a game with some friends.
[Q]: Share a fun fact about yourself. Anything is fair game!
[A]: One thing that made me want to become a developer was a French cartoon I was watching at the time called Code Lyoko, in which there is a character with programming skills who has the same name as me, Jeremy.
That’s a wrap for another Community Spotlight! Thank you so much to Jerem for taking the time to talk to us and share some insight into the creation of SoT Guessr. We’re off to check out today’s challenge and test our own Sea of Thieves location knowledge. Meanwhile, if you can’t wait for the next Spotlight, you can check out our previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights and take a look at our Community Hub to see what else the players have been up to. Until next time!