Website rebranding + minor re-design

Howdy!

In case you weren’t aware, I recently started putting together a prototype for a possible new game. News on that are coming way later, though. Anyway, following that occurrence, I decided to rebrand my website.

It’s not a huge rebranding – mainly I just removed the “Level Design” and “Writing” sections. The respective pages still exist for archiving purposes, only they’re not immediately accessible.

My reasons as to why I decided to rebrand the website are really quite simple. As far as level design goes, after finishing Deliverance 2600, I started taking an increasing interest in game development. Hence I’ve also been putting together the game prototype. As for writing… well, I just don’t consider myself a serious enough writer for it to be worth including.

I also re-designed the website ever so slightly by changing up the layout and fonts. And I added a “Follow via E-mail” button if you wish to be alerted of new posts on the website by e-mail, so that you never miss them. So that’s an option now.

With all that said, I have a literal fuckton of new creative ideas I hope to make a reality at some point. Hopefully you’re as excited as I am!

Stay tuned!

Abisso Oscuro is out…-ish!

Howdy!

Now, chances are you remember jackshit about me mentioning this project called Abisso Oscuro months ago, so before I give you today’s news regarding it, allow me to give you a little recap.

Abisso Oscuro was a Doom community project initiated by a guy named Darsycho over at a community site named Explosive Nachos (formerly known as Abyss Tower, hence – I assume – the project’s name). Back when I initially mentioned the project, I said I’d be contributing a map or two into the project.

The project was frozen-ish for a long while, but now it appears as though Darsycho finally put together and released a beta version of sorts. Below is a link to the thread, where you may also find the download link:

http://explosivenachos.enjin.com/forum/page/1/m/10422991/viewthread/5456268-abisso-oscuro-packed-up-done

Do keep in mind, though, that the project is not in its final version as of yet. I’m not sure if I’ll write another post once the final version is out, but I’ll post a small update on Twitter and Facebook at the very least.

So there you go. Bye!

POST-PUBLISH EDIT: Also, my map is MAP11.

Announcing Crystalline Dreams!

Howdy!

Now before I get to the actual news of the day, I should mention that I’ve updated the website’s design again. Essentially what I did was changing up the theme and reorganizing the menus. I really like the design now, and I hope you do as well.

And now for the actual news: another goddamn project announcement. Geez.

Anyway, if you visit my site on a regular basis, you may have noticed the almost-brand-spankin’-new Game Design page. On that page, you can see something named Crystalline Dreams. Crystalline Dreams is an RPG game I’ve been designing with RPG Maker VX Ace for just over two weeks now. While the amount of work I’ve already done isn’t all that substantial, the game has definitely grown at a steady pace.

Among the essential things, I also plan to compose a full original soundtrack for the game. As of yet, it’s impossible to estimate how many tracks the OST will include. But I do wish for it to consist of about 15-20 tracks, if not more.

I’ll shortly be putting up a GameJolt page for the project and will let you know once it’s live.

With that, stay tuned!

DOOM Reveal Impressions

Howdy!

If you’ve been following me for a long time, you should be aware that I’m an avid lover of the DOOM franchise. (Or even if you haven’t, it should become obvious enough from the amount of custom maps I’ve created for the classic DOOM titles.) Ever since my first experience with DOOM 3 back in 2007, there hasn’t been a single instance where DOOM has disappointed me.

And neither did the latest DOOM reveal, naturally. It was streamed live on Bethesda’s Twitch.tv channel yesterday, but sadly I wasn’t up to watch the livestream. Hell, it was 5AM on my time zone at the time it started! I did intend to stay up to watch it, but I would’ve needed a thermos bottle full of coffee in order to survive the night.

Anyway, although I missed the livestream, I watched the VOD on YouTube just a few moments ago. In fact, come to think of it, I was glad that I opted to watch the VOD – I could just skip the shit I wasn’t all that interested in. And that was basically everything else than DOOM.

Now as far as I’m concerned, DOOM couldn’t have seen a better envisioning than the one I saw in the reveal. The first thing that caught my eye was, of course, the overall look. It looked real fucking pretty, and the essential DOOM aesthetics were captured perfectly. It also appeared a whole lot more colorful than the previous DOOM incarnation (aka DOOM 3). Make no mistake, though – it was not by any means DOOM: Kid-Friendly Edition. No, it was mature, brutal, visceral, and – most importantly – it felt like DOOM.

And of course, how could you talk about DOOM without talking about demons? The hellspawn in the latest incarnation appeared to stay faithful to the quintessential DOOM look. Every demon looked distinct and instantly recognizable. If there were any new demons, though, I completely overlooked them.

Finally, let’s talk about the weapons. From what I made out of them, they looked truly powerful and satisfying to use. Alongside the iconic boomsticks such as the Super Shotgun and Plasma Rifle, there was at least one new weapon that I noticed: the Heavy Assault Rifle. And I just have to mention the Chainsaw. Oh, the Chainsaw… That was incredibly satisfying to watch.

As far as gameplay goes, it was definitely a nod to the right direction. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about the gameplay when I first heard it would be old-school, but with the reveal, my doubts were proven futile. You weren’t limited to carrying a maximum of 2 guns at a time – instead, you’d be able to carry every weapon you happened to pick up all at the same time. You also picked up items by simply walking near (or over) them. And of course, demons swarmed in from every direction.

I was also relieved to know that the new DOOM would include multiplayer game modes and modding tools. The multiplayer side of things sounded like it was heavily influenced by Quake Live, with game modes such as Clan Arena and Freeze Tag. From what little I caught of it, it was quite easy to tell that the multiplayer would be fast-paced AFPS action, just like back in the day.

The modding tool, then, looked intuitive and relatively easy-to-use. (The modding tool is called DOOM Snapmap, I thought I should mention.) And that’s really all I can think of to say about it.

If the 90-second gameplay trailer that accompanied the reveal is to be believed, the new DOOM should see an early 2016 release date. I pray to every deity ever worshipped that it doesn’t get delayed or scrapped this time. The reveal left me simply too excited.

And with that, I leave you with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteAPGprDJk

And this:

http://www.troll.me/images/sad-guy/thank-you-so-much.jpg

Regarding the toxicity of the Internet

Having had to endure some shitstorms that happened to stir up these past few weeks, I now feel the need to address the central issue I have with being on the Internet.

As we all know, the Internet is a global, universal medium. Full of information, websites, different types of media… Unfortunately, even a phenomenon as widely recognized as the Internet is not without its scapegoats. A host of different viruses roam in its depths. Now in this context, I don’t mean computer viruses – I mean the biological being that calls itself human. I mean individuals. I mean the scapegoats of the Internet that use it.

To get my point across, I will tell a few stories about shit that happened to me this past week (and a little earlier).

So here’s the first thing: the teaser that Bethesda posted about DOOM being revealed at this year’s E3. I was already hyped up about it, having seen an earlier teaser from last year. So I watched the teaser on YouTube. Then I took the risk of looking at the comments.

FALLOUT 4 GALORE!

Look, I understand that you want a Fallout 4 and all, but come on. DOOM was just teased and these individuals can’t shut the fuck up about Fallout. Literally every comment I dared glance at was someone bitching about the lack of Fallout 4 announcements or teasers. I was so pissed off that I wrote my own comment, which was as follows:

So much bitching about Fallout 4. Just face it, you fucks: it ain’t happening.

And the shitstorm was ready to start brewing up. Now to be fair, I could have phrased my comment better before going ahead and posting it, but at the time, I wasn’t thinking straight. Nevertheless, the responses were just as toxic. I won’t even post every single response I got here, but one such response was as follows:

Maybe it isn’t happening, but atleast my face doesn’t look like a randomized oblivion character.

See what I’m getting at here? Insults. Slurs. Et cetera.

Now then, another story. And I assure you that your brain will be frozen for a week after reading this one.

So this happened yesterday. I was watching a YouTube video by one Hannah Witton. I usually thought she looked perfect in all of her videos, but on this particular occasion, there was something about her lipstick that didn’t quite suit her. I recall thinking the shade was a little too dark for her.

Anyway, so I wrote a comment on the video:

Sorry, Hannah, but that lipstick doesn’t quite suit you.

Now this morning, I saw that I’d gotten a reply on my comment. The reply read:

Sorry, but that attitude doesn’t quite suit you.

Yes. That actually happened. All I did was provide my honest opinion about Hannah’s makeup, and this fucking douchebag came and replied to my comment, which was not intended as an insult.

You see what I mean now? Safety is a fragile concept as far as the Internet is concerned. No matter what you say, chances are there’s at least one fuckwit ready to give you backlash for it.

Anyway, I hope I didn’t come across as a complete dick. If you managed to read the whole thing, I thank you for your patience.

TOXIKK & Disco Dodgeball Misadventures

Hi!

Yep, another “Misadventures” post after a while. This time, I won’t be covering only one, but two games!

The first one is a game that goes by the name TOXIKK. It is a fast-paced multiplayer FPS game much in the vein of Unreal Tournament and other such old-school titles. Launched on Steam Early Access on January 22nd, TOXIKK has seen a few updates and gained a reasonably good community around it.

Most of the time, I’ve been playing botmatches in TOXIKK. While I have also looked at the multiplayer side of the game, I’ve stuck to botmatches mainly for the sake of unlocking achievements in relative safety. That’s not to say the multiplayer is by any means bad – it’s essentially identical to single-player and equally enjoyable.

The second game is called Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball, and it is, similarly to TOXIKK, a multiplayer FPS game. But it boasts a rather unique concept – instead of shooting recklessly at anything that moves, you defend yourself by picking up dodgeballs scattered about on the map and throwing them. (And by praying to God that you don’t miss – else you’re fucked.)

Disco Dodgeball, unlike TOXIKK, has a single-player arcade mode in which you complete as many matches as you can without dying. Well, you do have 5 lives, but anyway… But where Disco Dodgeball absolutely shines is the multiplayer. Thanks to the various game modes and the unique concept, the multiplayer side is insanely fun and, to an extent, even addictive.

And that’s basically it for today’s post. Bye!

Starcraft 2 Misadventures

Howdy!

So I bought Starcraft 2 recently. I got a bundle including both Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm for about €35. Now the funny thing is, I had been pondering buying SC2 for at least two years, but I always ended up postponing the purchase. But now that I finally got it and have played it a – *ahem* little (okay, I admit I did play it for 2 hours on the first day alone) – I figured now would be a good time to tell you about my experience with the game so far.

Before I start talking about it in detail, I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of RTS games, hence why I’m not really good at them. I had played the first Starcraft game briefly before buying SC2, though, so I’m not the most inexperienced Starcrafter either. Anyway, I’ve mainly been playing the Wings of Liberty campaign and skirmish matches against AI, both on the easiest difficulty setting available, of course.

The campaign of Wings of Liberty follows Jim Raynor and his fellow men on the road to… whatever lies at the end of it. So far, I’ve completed 5 missions in the campaign. Truth is, I can’t think of anything interesting to say about it. Other than “NOT ZERG!” Now what I mean by this is not that I have a deep hate for Zerg – on quite the contrary, Zerg is my favorite race in the game, and I hate to see such magnificent creatures getting slaughtered as Jim and the Terran army wipe them out.

As I already mentioned, I also tried my hand at skirmish matches against AI. And since Zerg is my favorite race, I have played exclusively as Zerg. Apart from two out of the three matches that I played in order to be skill-matched, I have wiped out the enemy every time. Of course, playing on Very Easy difficulty, it should not come as a surprise, seeing as I’m not an RTS veteran.

Out of curiosity (and stupidity), I also went ahead and played two unranked matches against human opponents. In contrast to the mostly successful skirmish matches, in the unranked matches I got my ass handed to me – even within only the first 10 minutes of the game. By the time I was only building up my forces, my opponents had already built up a force half the size of an army. This was only to be expected, but seeing as I was already skill-matched by this point, I didn’t expect to be going off against who were evidently veteran players. So yeah, I’m staying the fuck away from that.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling for one post. Bye!