David Will @Trashbang@mastodon.social

embrace fragile ideas, embrace flawed user-generated content, embrace multiplayer games as platforms for fleeting never-to-be-repeated moments, embrace the Hammer editor

Multiplayer is an incredibly rich space for novel experiences and I think it's healthy for people to create/play maps with shallow gimmicks. Secret doors, moving parts, surprise traps. If they create a single memorable experience before being discarded, they *are* worthwhile.

And obviously there are good reasons for that—the time it takes to bring a concept into being, the base competitiveness of players, etc—but when greeted with a massive amount of player-generated content, I think most people become more receptive to the idea of 'disposable' maps

something I think about a lot while poking around in old multiplayer maps is the sort-of unexamined belief that the only 'good' map concepts are those that meet a minimum level of... robustness? It's not enough to be fun for one or two rounds, it has to be fun for 10,000 rounds

it's only a boomer shooter if it conforms to TeamTNT's 1998 source port design spec, otherwise it's just sparkling limit removal

the new Skin Deep AI lets guards investigate 'interest points' (read: changes in the environment that seem out-of-place or suspicious) and it brings me no small joy to watch one dude meticulously following my path of destruction like a trail of breadcrumbs

respect no crossovers but those devised by garry's mod workshop teens

*gestures around at the dim grimy break room*

would the baddies really live like this?

I think if you view it through a cyberpunk lens of a world wracked by wealth disparity, the shittiness of the bunker confers a warmth and honesty upon it that wouldn't be there if it was more glamorous—a short-term antidote to the forthcoming question of "are we the baddies?"

I think part of why UNATCO HQ still resonates with me is that it's just so achingly bureaucratic and unimpressive. A concrete bunker furnished with the most mediocre government office decor that the 90s could muster -- the absolute last thing you'd expect from the player's 'base'

the hardest question in video game AI: "is this unwanted behaviour funny enough to justify leaving it in?"

anyway,

People have a vague idea of what fair use *should* look like—but it hinges on courtesy, and small communities where things can be resolved case-by-case, and a web built on foundations that aren't constantly shifting. All of which we left behind the possibility of long ago.

And... that's obviously a flawed system, right? Artists should have a say in how their work is used. But I think it speaks to people's gut feeling that if the system permits sharing of media, then media should be shared. What mattered was maintaining a link back to the source.

Something that Hypnospace Outlaw put in my head—and that sifting through CS maps has reminded me of—is how people used to hold the informal belief that all intellectual property issues could be safely navigated if you just put a little note somewhere saying "I got this from..."

*sobbing* I don't have much space to work with, leave my 10:8 catwalk alone

being roasted for the unconventional rise-over-run incline of my flight of stairs, in an incident known as "getting ratioed for my ratio"

the children of to-day know too much of "rom hacking" and too little of "rome's sacking"

I *WILL* refuse your offer of a handkerchief

it *WILL* be deeply uncomfortable for all parties involved