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Skater 🌸Cherry 🍒
We have Wolfen War 2 at Home
Doom, as a franchise, needs no introduction for the same reason I don't have to explain to you what Star Wars is. The original games did so much right that it remains playable from a design perspective to this day. I never played the PC originals until I was an Adult (circa 2010), and while there are some strange choices, there was no question as to what I should be doing and how.
And, like the Elder Scrolls series, a huge part of its longevity comes from Modding.
Going through its entire library is a task far beyond a long tumblr post. There are many kinds of mods. Some are just new levels (with or without new assets), some are bigger gameplay changes, and some are complete overhauls.
There are so, so many I want to talk about, such as Walpurgis and Doomzone. But the one I really want to talk about today is Kriegsland, which is basically Wolfenstein enemies and weapons. The Chaotic Evil demons are now replaced with Lawful Evil Nazis and all the strange tech you would find in that series. But something did not feel right about it in context; Why are the Nazis keeping their own soldiers in cages and not even disarming them? Many of the demons are wild, animal like, classic for horror movies, so cages can be appropriate, but not for a military force to its own soldiers.
My solution was a map pack called Lost Civilizations. This is a favorite among fans for its more open, expansive maps, taking place in jungles, beach towns, ruins, countrysides and so on. It is a work of art as far as Doom map packs go.
So, we got the enemies/weapons, we got the maps. Last ingredient? WW2 inspired background music. The ones I listened to, testing Lost Civilizations, were maybe a little too calm and vacation-like. That wouldn't do. I was up for pulpy WW2 sci fi action, and we needed the right tone.
Oh, and I basically always play with the mod Universal Gibs regardless of what Mod combo I used. Just mentally file that under A Given.
And the result was, to my surprise, fairly cohesive.
Now, to my knowledge, Lost Civilizations was not made with Kriegsland or anything remotely WW2 related in mind. Or vice versa. But it worked shockingly well for a collection of unrelated work smashed together. What followed was a guerilla war against a famously evil regime from locale to locale, through strange portals, lost technology and interdimensional weirdness. We start in jungles, but then there are abandoned islands, more European castles (again, fits very well), and long lost temples.
Often, because the areas are so large and enemies positioned everywhere, I was scraping by, trying to use weapons that worked very differently from the classic Doom line up. I approach a corner, shouts in German just out of sight, knowing there is little sneaking around them and trying to make the first shots count. Flash backs to the OG Medal of Honor games stepped into the forefront of my mind, despite this being a newer take on an old game. Yes, this is still riding off of Doom. Yes, there are still slaughter areas where you take on an absurd number of Nazi soldiers. But the sound and assets kept the whole experience alive, despite any clashes between mods.
I do value story and characters in games, but often the heavy lifting can be done by the context alone, especially in a video game. The eb and flow of drama, in this context, comes from the combat, the resource management (even if it is just ammo) and discovering location after location on these giant maps. Environmental story telling is something that video games excel at, and it is easily one of their greatest strengths as a story telling medium. Without much dialogue or character building, having a solid context is often enough to keep you going.
I'm reminded of Inglourious Basterds, the 2009 film by Quinten Tarantino. The intro scene does not do what most WW2 dramas do; there is no grey filter over the beautiful French countryside. It is lush and full of life, farms at work and the sun shining bright. But then a car with a swastika drives up to one of the houses. Suddenly, the whole scenery feels corrupted, poisoned by the presence of fascism. Without a word of dialogue, so much is told by those touches. This is France, it is occupied by Nazis, and there are only a few reasons why a lone German military vehicle would drive up to a farm house and none of them are good.
In Lost Civilizations, you, too, are in lush, beautiful locations, very picture-esque and impressive given the Doom engines still present limitations. As I played it, it is all occupied by Nazi Germany, scouring the land and ruins for reasons you not yet know. With a pistol in hand, your role in the story is made clear. You are not here to hide; you are here to fight, resembling those stupidly fun Man's Life magazine covers. Even your starting point, alone in the bushes with one of the enemy's weapons, implies that this character has escaped captivity. And given the flow of the game, you are not here to just escape.
You are not given an objective, admittedly. But Lost Civilizations was made with the idea that you are exploring long buried ruins. Mystery is weaved in the set up alone. So, you having only just escaped captivity, having zero clue why you were brought there or what they are planning, makes sense. Both you and the player character are united in that respect: Neither of you know what is going on. But both of you are going to find out.
Some games are considered completely devoid of story, and its an argument I never truly agreed with. Stories, sometimes, are that simple. What matters is making what your writing/programming important enough to the viewer/player that they stay engaged. You still need a hook, you still need context. Quake is famous for being uncommitted to explaining why the protagonist is there in the first place, or what "Quake" is, but the moods, weapons and design still hook me in. There is still the immediate context of the gothic castles and deadly mazes. There are monsters and there is the macabre theme, and its edge and commitment to the bit can be very engaging all on their own.
The various enemies in this mod set up probably should not be taken seriously as characters. But they are still serious as threats. As goofy as the set up is, there is no bathos to be had beyond that. They are armed and ready to kill you, so you better hope you shoot first. Early Id Software was particularly skilled in this tonal balance. Their games will make you laugh, but they manage to do that while maintaining the edge of the enemy threat. Kriegsland, before you get to the maps themselves, captures this quite well. The gratuitous, cheeseball German and retro futuristic designs do not take away from the tension of the gameplay.
Combined with that tonal balance, the maps do flow into a narrative of their own. Again, you start in a islands, then go further into one land with its castles, and then go deeper into ruins. There is a drug induced dream sequence at some point. Eventually, you get to more modern urban environments, which will lead you to a base with strange lost technology in an underground lab. From there, you go through a portal into a strange eldritch dimension of floating pyramids and lands being slowly consumed by lava. Escape that, and you return to the military lab, now ruined by (presumably) your actions, finding your way to another lab.
And here is where things take a turn. This lab is a smallish circular building, a control panel with a scientist standing beside it. There, you fight wave after wave of enemies while trying to deactivate a barrier shield around the scientist. With the last Nazi blown to pieces, the barrier shield is gone, and the scientist just stares at you.
Perhaps, this is the part where my whole theory takes a hit, but hear me out. For a moment, I was lost as to what to do. Clicking the Action key did nothing. I either missed or could not harm him with the combat knife. After about a minute of looking around the room, I decide to fire my shotgun at the man, and he finally reacted with a demon yell of pain. I fired again (maybe a third time) and the cry gets louder, with the wall of the room exploding. And this ends the map.
"I see," I thought. "This is a reskin of the head of John Romero, and killing it ends the level."
Because this mod was not 30 maps long (but trust me, this was not a short campaign), its last map is a small vacation spot as an elaborate "Thank you for playing" sign. And that is the ending. You have completed everything the modder set up for you.
So, I sat there, looking at the background scenery and went, in a satisfied way, "Cool."
Was what I had just witnessed a story?
This is not what the creators of either mod necessarily intended. No one intended for me to fight Nazis in an Indiana Jones-meets-Wolfenstein-esque pulp adventure through these particular maps. I have only myself to blame for that specific combination of mods. Then again, I put these two mods together not really knowing what I was in for. Authorial intent, but for my clueless actions, is not a major factor here.
Perhaps, then, we take the route of Death of the Author, and just judge this improvised cocktail for what it is rather than what it is supposed to be. Broadly speaking, this is a Wolfenstein-esque narrative where our hero chases his enemies into lost ruins, where they are clearly looking for something. Over the course, we have our dream sequence, perhaps influenced by the hero's own traumatic war experience. We make our way out of the ruins, mostly empty handed.
We return to Europe as the chase continues, and already they have their projects up and running. We go in, destroy the machinations leading to the weird portal trip from the other side. With that technology now disrupted, we escape the main base and hunt down the scientist responsible. The Nazis make one last ditch effort to save whatever tech remains, including the scientist. They fail, and the scientist just stands there, staring mockingly. We try to beckon him to follow. He doesn't, his intent seemingly to stay and continue his work, consequences be damned.
Can we assume he refuses with a slight demonic echo to his voice? Sure, let's do that. Terrified, we shoot him, and the demonic echo becomes a shout. Somehow, the scientist is still alive. Another shell is fired, the scientist cries out one more time and the lab begins to implode on itself.
The technology is lost, but given the wrong hands it found itself in, perhaps humanity was not ready for it.
Our hero escapes this, and travels to a remote island. It is not a military base, not even for the Allies. Nor is it a warzone. Nah, this soldier had seen enough, his job is done. The Nazis were already crumbling from the inside. It was time to return home.
What was that demonic cry? This soldier does not know, and does not care to.
From that pile of tropes, we can glean some themes from the wreckage. Obviously, there's the digging up technology that humanity is not ready for. There is destruction of old lost ruins, motivated by grave robbery, rather than archeology. There is the horrors of war, reinforced by the demonic cry and what can be interpreted as a technological circle of Hell. There is fascism as a cancer upon an otherwise beautiful land. And like some forms of cancer, the only way to remove it is painful and bloody, leaving behind a wound and terrible trauma. Yes, the Nazis are dead, but the bloody corpses remain. You could say that hearing a demonic voice for the first time, after drug induced nightmares, the best thing for our soldier was to stop. These are not intended, but these are the thoughts that this whole adventure stirred in my mind.
This is all, of course, my interpretation of an overly elaborate game of pretend. But the point of this exercise is to demonstrate how much context matters. Let's say, I kept the whole load out to be about BFGs and demons. Well, you would basically be in a hell ridden wilderness with the most conscious enemy being zombies, but never anything human. Change that to the army of a fascist regime, suddenly the enemy is alive and consciously following orders. A wild, chaotic stampede becomes active, deliberate occupation. As far as programming goes, they are very similar, even identical in most respects, but the presentation makes all the difference.
You could call it another coat of paint, but the paint still speaks. I'm here to not just fight any old monster; I'm here to fight fascists because I have a bit of an axe to grind with current events. This is the fantastical image that worst of them aspire to. Therefore, it is my own fantasy versus theirs.
This is why I turn my nose up at the idea of some games having "no story" or that, somehow, the story does not matter. Context is why we're here. What is Dungeons & Dragons without a charismatic Dungeon Master? What is without its demons? What is From Software's whole library without its environments? Role playing doesn't come from following a script, it comes from responding to what the designers put before you.
This journey, that an unknown number of players took (and maybe it was just me), was not planned. But the art of it hit me in a very unique way. And I returned with a story to tell.
If you live in the USA and you're pleading for donations to pay your rent, bills, or get food then dial 211! Please dial 211 before the last minute!
It's a toll free service with people who will help you find programs in your community to pay those bills, find food, and find housing! They will give you numbers to call so you can get help.
It is not 100% foolproof. Their job is to direct you to a program they believe will help your current issue, but it's still a step up from praying random strangers online will give you enough cash before a deadline! The added benefit of these community programs, which get funded by the local government most of the time, is if there are more people using them then they can get more money to help more people.
You're not taking resources from other people if you use your community services. Your taxes pay for them. Use them.
Dial 211 first to see if they can help, and if for some reason they can't, then make your donation posts!
https://www.211.org/
Hi I work for my state's 211 service. It really breaks my heart how many people only know to call us at the last minute. 211's can provide a whole wealth of resources to use before things ever get to a cut off utility, eviction, or homelessness!
I can't speak for all 211's but most should also have a website detailing all the agencies in their database. if you don't like phone calls, this can be something to reference instead.
If you don't have health insurance but you need to see a doctor, reference 211! We list clinics that provide free or discounted general care, vision, and dental services to low income households and people without insurance! Many hospitals also have financial aid policies that can severely reduce your bill if you had an expensive procedure!
If you're stuck in a dead end job or need educational resources reference 211! There are a lot of programs focused on providing basic adult education as well as trade skills or other high demand fields! State governments are generally more interested in funneling people into work than providing benefits, but you can still use this to your advantage especially if you have some form of disability but are still able to work. That includes if you're neurodiverse or have mental health issues! Most of these programs are extremely underutilized.
If you believe you qualify for public benefits but the bureaucracy of the process is in your way, reference 211! There are agencies specifically geared towards helping people obtain the benefits they qualify for- for free!
If you need help with your taxes-
If you need help finding a pro bono lawyer-
If you need help finding affordable housing/section 8 housing-
If you need help finding food pantries-
If you need help paying for your prescriptions-
If you need help obtaining disability aids or assistive technology-
If you need help finding transportation options-
If you need help following a natural or personal disaster (like a home fire)-
If you need help repairing a home you or your family owns or it needs modifications to be accessible-
If you need Queer resources-
Reference your 211!!!!!
I had no idea what 211 was before working for it but I wish I had. I've learned so much about what resources are actually available to the community even in a ho hum area of the country like my state. I've saved my partner literally thousands of dollars just from the medical resources I've gathered.
Not enough young people know about or utilize these services but they are there for you!
P. S.
This isn't an intended use of 211, but I like to reference the agency listings when I look for jobs. Many of the agencies listed are non-profits which, while they certainly are not perfect, generally have lower barriers of entry to decent paying jobs with benefits. The work environments tend to be much kinder and at least pretend to be forward thinking. You're more likely to find jobs without as many people applying as well, especially if they're only advertising their positions through their own website.
More Homebrew nonsense! Tonight at 7:30 EST!
harris vs trump debate is good
"We cannot get out." "They are coming!"
Yesssss, want.
https://www.twitch.tv/cteamlive Day off, so I'm gonna try streaming Solasta.
Still my favorite line in all of John Carter
What's Daggerfall like?
Daggerfall is the kind of game where you can ride on a levitating horse in werewolf form, right when a courier gives you a letter as though the first half of this sentence didn't happen.
Been doing randomized dungeons with myself for #fifthedition #dnd #dnd5e. They are at level 8. Left to right: Canim Drake (Battle master), Atalanta Solguard (Paladin) and Aeolis Starpath (Eldritch Knight). Those are images of the models I made through #heroforge #heroforgeminis .
This Friday, 12/1/23, at around 7:30 PM EST, I will be demonstrating a d10 game system I had been working on for the last couple of years. Feel free to come in!
𝗑 - 𝗑 / 𝗑 - 𝗑 / 𝗑 - 𝗑
I live for this.
Tonight at 7:30 PM EST, we will be streaming Amid Evil's prequel expansion, The Black Labyrinth! See everyone there! https://www.twitch.tv/cteamlive
(Link is there, because Tumblr is being weird about it.)
Final Fantasy for MEN™
Final Fantasy XVI was released recently, and I think it’s fair to say that the reaction had been mixed. You can count on Square Enix to make a compentently functional game, and I’m sure it plays fine. But the style and gameplay change had been a subject of debate.
Now, the gameplay is a subject in and of itself, as well as Final Fantasy’s overall identity. Personally, it fell out of favor for me when everyone looked like supermodels and dressed like a fashion designer was given too many belts. But let’s put my ranting points about the series aside to address another issue.
And that subject is thus: making a series veer toward adults. People have remarked about the tonal shift that FFXVI has had, feeling more like Game of Thrones rather than a proper Final Fantasy game. The upcoming Dragon Quest game is going for the darker and edgier route as well, with only a fiery number to show for itself so far. Yuji Horii, the series creator, had apparently had unspecified issues for aiming the series at adults.
But I would just like to point something out: I only started playing Dragon Quest games as an adult. While I bounced off IX, I fell in love with VIII when it came out on the 3DS, played through I and II on my phone, and XI became our evening play-and-watch (as in my wife watching and enjoying the characters) after Ys VIII and Tales of Vesperia. In fact, I’m not sure I would have had patience for them as an idiot, edgy teenager. I had enough of turned based games at the time and wanted fast, twitch based combat. I also insisted on darker themes (though I appreciated Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for lightening things up).
But there is the ironic thing about “aiming things” at certain audiences. You know who took up most of the theater seating in Team America: World Police? It was not adults; teenagers took up most of them. The South Park movie was quoted all the time back when I was in middle school. And I’m pretty sure the creators know this. Despite the R-Rating most of their material gets, teenagers make up their primary audience.
And it’s not just comedies; teenagers are a mix of emotions, growing up, and trying to find their identity. They want validation and part of that is finding where they are in the world at large. And that includes confronting the worse parts of human society. When I was a teenager, videogames were mocked as nerd and kid’s stuff, when we were “supposed to be” listening and watching edgier things. Diving into the adult stuff was not just a point of pride for a teenager, but also a point of mockery if you didn’t.
I imagine things have shifted in the last twenty years, but the human experience of a teenager is still there; searching for purpose and validation in an ever changing world. Interest in the more adult themes and stories do not start after you’re 17. They start younger than that. There is certainly some maturity needed to understand graphic violence and racier topics, and I’m not about to show a six year old Scorn, but interest in adult subjects happen at varying ages for different people.
So, when a creator of a long running game series starts going on about how “they are aiming at adults”, I feel like they are missing an important point about fiction and culture. And it comes from the same dimwitted attitude adults in the US had toward both cartoons and videogames when I was growing up: That they are kids stuff to grow out of. But with communities growing with the internet, and validating the Strange and the “Nerdier” interest, I think it’s fair to say that the better of us have moved past that notion.
Both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest have adult fanbases. Final Fantasy in particular hit big time back with VII and was already exploring adult themes. It had you following a trail of blood, to find the corrupt president of a mega corp impaled with a sword. Considering all the sequels, spin offs, older games getting western releases, and Kingdom Hearts, they are already appealing to adults.
Being an adult does not mean only watching dramas and staring at sales reports. Or only bloody violence. To not reinvent the wheel, I’ll just go ahead and quote CS Lewis:
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
I feared discussing my favorite games and cartoons as a teenager. And even in college to some extent. But during college, I was free to connect with like minded people and enjoy things openly, rather than pretend to be something I’m not. This led me to my lifelong friends and, eventually, my marriage. That is the mark of adulthood; finding your people and your own style, not just copying what a bunch of olds expect of you. Culture has become far too varied for that.
I imagine part of the tone change has to do with Dragon Quest’s record of success in the west. While Final Fantasy regularly makes bank here, including the two MMORPGs, Dragon Quest has yet to release its MMO officially in the States. While, yes, the rest of the series would eventually get released here, it took a longer time to get there and I imagine digital distribution gave them more confidence. Dragon Quest XI was a shot in the arm for the series, but I imagine it still struggles with its competitors.
The idea of “aiming at adults”, however, is a fallacy in understanding its audience. Adults are already playing the series, and abandoning the light hearted nature of the series will likely turn off part of the audience they already have. There’s a difference between “light hearted” and “kiddie”.
No, Dragon Quest VIII isn’t a dystopia like Final Fantasy VII’s Midgar. But we are also chasing a murderous clown possessed by a demon king. The first boss is a creature concussed by the same item we are trying to find, but our mode of airborne transportation is the ghost of a murdered child of a spirit bird. And there’s something about Akira Toriyama’s art style that makes the shift from sillier moments to down right heart breaking moments work very well, where the living dolls that are Bravely Default’s heroes doing over the top heroics just feels off. I love this style, I love its humor, and I love its characters, and none of that makes me feel like I’m being talked down to like I’m a kid.
After eleven games, I guess a style and tone change is bound to happen at some point. And I don’t feel a franchise should be forced to do the same thing over and over again. But the point I’m making is that you’re not making it more appealing to adults. Or less appealing, for that matter. It is a change, neither better nor worse, and might be subjectively received favorably or ill-favorably depending on timing and climate. But, Horii, don’t feel that you somehow owe the gaming community a “darker” game now to show you’re grown up.
You’ve been appealing to adults for a long time now.
okay i just realized they meant "fascist" and not atleast 2 other words i can think of that are funnier
#happy pride!
I mean, I’ve been calling him a fuckhead for at least 8 years now.
Welcome to the C-Team! We generally do Elder Scrolls and FPS's but let us know if you have any suggestions for us!
Tomorrow, on 5/31, 7:30 EST, we will be doing a New Game+ character in Elden Ring! Hope to see you all there!
I GOT A FUCKING RAISE THE POTATO WORKED WTF
This potato works. Every. Fucking. Time.
Reblogging because it’s a damn potato and I want to encourage people to assume potatoes are magical.
w-what if potato is actually lucky
Hey, what could it hurt?