Meet the Team

E Vail Scott

Founder and Owner/Operator of Golden Character Design, Vail Scott, is a true Jack-of-all-trades, and brings a long history of different experiences to the company as it begins its journey of growth and development. He serves as the designer and developer for each of the products and services currently available and under development with Golden Character Design.

Background with Games

Strategy board game play has been a passion for Vail since he was a very young kid. He learned and played games like Chess, Bridge, and Gin Rummy before he was a teenager. As a teenager he played games like Risk, Stratego, and Star Fleet Battles. The Atari 2600 game console with classics like Asteroids and Missile Command were a weekend pastime to get introduced to computer games, and Strategic Conquest on the Apple Macintosh, became a favorite. As a young adult, the computer games that captured his interest and time included titles such as Sid Meier's Civilization II, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, StarCraft (video game) - Wikipedia, and Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares. On the table-top side of things, he began to compete in conventions with some of the previously mentioned games and others, winning consistently in some groups and falling well short in others.

Through one of the game conventions, Vail was introduced to Magic: The Gathering, which quickly became a passion all on its own. Not only did he play the game and collect extensively across every new set and language that was released, but also traveled to compete in tournaments and Pro Tour Qualifiers. He became a Level 2 Certified Judge for Wizards of the Coast and served as one of the judges in the debut Pro Tour event as well as local Qualifier events. He established The Light Side, a retail game store in Denver, Colorado, for selling products (95% of which was MtG) and hosting daily sanctioned tournaments, including a Pro Tour Qualifier event.

Vail’s gaming passion shifted to Poker for a very long time, primarily because of the ROI on time investment. He played in friendly games, competitive home games, and casino environments, as well as multiple-table and multiple-site play online. He took a position as a Floor Supervisor for a casino poker room, and among other duties, was responsible for hosting regular tournaments and enforcing gaming regulations. He has played in four World Series of Poker tournament events, cashing in two.

More modern day favorites include Civilization VI and table-top games like Puerto Rico and Carcassonne, although not much time has been given to game play the last few years, as he finds even more enthusiasm in creating than in playing.

Background with Game Development

Since childhood, Vail has been creating games of all kinds and genres. At 12 years old, he took third place in a game design contest with Poli-Tacks, a game using pushpins on a bulletin board map of the US that centered around winning the United States Electoral College votes needed to be elected President. The Stick Figure Game is a newly revamped computer version of a game that Vail and his brother created and played as kids on graph paper. He and his friends developed their own adventure game structure that was about exploring ancient and mysterious temples, most closely resembling a Dungeons & Dragons type feel, as well as a detailed tactical combat game played using simple structure maps. Instead of creating blueprints, Vail would use tools like AutoCAD to create SSD (Ship System Display) sheets for Star Fleet Battles and create “mods” with new races. He began creating complex data and probability world-domination games that became notebooks full of stat sheets and manual calculations. He often created alterations to existing games or game concepts that combined multiple games. One such example had players trying to win poker hands to exchange their chips for adding new systems on their starship, while trying to learn clues as to which of the other player’s was their mystery target once battle began.

On the computer side, Vail dabbled in BASIC programming starting at the age of 11. He would anxiously await the new issue of his computer magazine subscription, which would include the code for a game that could be manually copied. From these programs, he would make modifications and original code to create text-based adventure games and applications. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that Vail really began revisiting this avenue, and the programming lane had changed so much, it was starting from scratch.

Background with Spreadsheet Dashboards and Computer Software Development

Microsoft Excel became a staple tool for Vail over the years. He put everything into spreadsheets, from game outlines and rules, to-do lists, stats, fantasy sports team information, scriptures and quotes, inventory catalogs, and most notably, poker records. Vail kept meticulous session notes every time he played the game, from information on locations, time-of-day, buy-ins, stakes, rebuys, tournaments, ring games, minutes played, notes on opponents, and more. Analyzing this data and using it to guide decisions as to where and when to play and at what stakes, provided a bankroll management system that surpassed other approaches, allowing him to make guided decisions based on data and not just memory, feelings, or impulse. It was the desire to simplify, speed-up, and improve the process of analyzing data that led Vail back into the throws of programming.

In around 2019, Vail began studying and experimenting with Visual Basic for Applications. He learned to develop personalized tools within Excel that felt more like computer software, than a spreadsheet. First, by using VBA to create complex calculations and algorithms for studying odds, probability, and optimal strategy based on multiple conditions. Secondly, by being able to create user-friendly dashboards which allowed him to create great aesthetics, functionality, and speed in delivering dynamic results from constantly changing data, even while playing. This led to the creation of the Budget Tailor and Cash Flow DIET (Deluxe Income and Expense Tracker), a financial record keeping, tracking, and analytical budgeting tool. He then started developing a computer version of a board game all from within Excel.

Knowing there was an opportunity to expand the limitations of programming within Excel and VBA, Vail began studying Java in 2020 and created HyperFocus, a time-management tool geared towards allowing users to focus on just the one next thing they need to do, rather than being overwhelmed by their entire list. A new and improved version of HyperFocus, to allow functionality across multiple devices is currently under development. He then proceeded to begin the creation of The Stick Figure Game, but in trying to build the game from scratch in Java, again found a barrier to what he wanted to accomplish.

In 2023, Vail discovered Unity and transitioned his Java knowledge to coding using C#. He started both HyperFocus and The Stick Figure Game from scratch using this platform and has fully embraced the world of game development, with roughly a dozen projects currently underway at various stages between concept design and publishing.

Background with Digital Marketing, SEO, and SEM

Vail served for over three years as the Ad Operations Team Lead for an international digital marketing company responsible for overseeing the day-to-day creation, data-collection, data analysis, and optimization of many advertiser accounts, including large national and international brands. He trained and supervised the team in setting up and maintaining Search Engine Marketing campaigns and tactics for these companies to ensure desired traffic volume and measured performance against various KPIs, as well the responsibility of directly optimizing accounts and campaigns across multiple sources and publishers. He resigned from this position in order to found Golden Character Design.

Background with Audio and Video Production

Working in video had the same early life start as gaming. Vail was making his first home video at the age of 11. In middle school, he was the head of the audio/visual department and taught teachers how to use A/V equipment. Starting out with a VHS camcorder he received as a teenager, he initially just made goofy skits and mock commercials with his brother.

At around age 20, he was hired as a camera operator for an in-house television studio at a family entertainment complex. He began learning editing and broadcasting and soon became the studio manager.

Vail then transitioned from television into broadcast radio. He spent five years as an on-air personality for a Contemporary Christian music radio station in the Denver market. While there, he also did work for two sister stations and did audio production work, creating promos, commercials, and program segments.

In 1999, Vail took his interest and experience in video to the next level by returning to school and earning an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Video Production.

Towards the completion of his schooling, he returned to television as a Master Control Operator, monitoring and operating logo insertions, commercial breaks, program transitions, and such. This time also included editing international news segments and adjusting broadcast schedules.

Spotlight Creative Services Incorporated, was a video production company founded by Vail which did a variety of projects from commercials, weddings, audition tapes, photograph montages, and high school sports events and scouting reels. He also produced a short segment documentary on smokejumpers for an extreme sports television series.

Personal Life

Vail currently lives, along with his girlfriend, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Born in 1971, he spent most of his life in the metropolitan area of Denver, Colorado, but has lived and worked in Las Vegas for the past 17+ years. He has six children and four grandchildren. His days are spent primarily in front of his computer at home, and seeks to create fun games and useful tools to share with any who can appreciate them.

Personal and professional character are very important to Vail. He is a born-again Christian who believes that being of service to others is perhaps the greatest thing one can do in life. He will be the first to tell you that he is not a master of doing so, but continuously grows in following the example set by God’s Son.

Likewise, Vail does not believe himself to be the best in the industry at any specific skill or service, but strives for excellence in every task, project, and undertaking. This is the jack-of-all-trades characteristic at work. By having background, knowledge, and experience in so many different aspects, he can bring them together in a unique way and perspective that you can’t get from someone who is an expert at just one thing. The one thing you can be certain of, is that he has high standards and expectations for himself when it comes to his products, services, and individual interactions.