Game Development in the age of Obsolescence

remember: Sensible capitalization Is optional.

Following a binge of reading articles related to G-String (unrelated to porn addiction; that's a Half-Life 2 mod), I came across Robert What's depressing blog, reeking of his surrender and resentment of the successful, clothed in a vaguely English-like language only a True Brahmin™ would be able to comprehend. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the article, and I'll expand on some of its ideas.

(My translation of what he's saying)

Conflation of the crumbling world of G String with the death of Triple-A-esque game modding.

9 years of work, effectively just to shoot half-retarded enemy boys. As if "the look, the feel, meaning itself" becoming subservient, to shooting boys. If you remove 'em, then the haunting emptiness can really work. Shooting as a symbolic respite from the existential implications (o no i die) of depressing world. O no we die, etc etc.

Tragic, so much time spent making it cluttered. It could have come out earlier if this wasn't done. Perhaps necessary? Either way, nobody really cares. Is the developer's persistence encouraging? Possibly, or it is simply a product of their own unique character, not of any improving viability of this type of mod.

People no longer care for the Triple-A game mod, and G String is the last of this breed. Perhaps it's just a monument to its' own obsolescence.

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What occurs to me is the fascinating trend for Western culture to become obsessively enjoyed by, and often improved by, outside countries where there was no expectation that it would take off. Take Starcraft and Korea, where the mapping community is actually more skilled outside of the US, particularly involving one of the most autistically complicated techniques, EUDs, which to put simply require a program memory editor to use correctly. It's the soul of a Korean that would spend years perfecting how to use these, instead of making a game (which could be done in a fraction of the time) or simply doing it in Starcraft 2 (which isn't actually crippled by limited function). There have been considerable projects done. I've played a remake of Metal Slug, which worked quite well. I've played a zombie survival game, with functional top-down shooting mechanics. I've played a Left 4 Dead-like game, which implements closets where you can essentially switch your units. I've played an inordinate number of porn maps (wait) 

Any of these would work better if not already crippled by being in Starcraft, but yet they struggle on. Why does Korea still play it so much (even if less so), and why has the US half-forgotten it, even with the recent release of the remaster? I of course suspect it's a product of genetics. But maybe culture, maybe the West seeks novelty above the pleasure of completion, and perhaps Asperger's.

A similar compliment can be paid to Eya Eyaura, who also happens to be Korean. Again, instead of doing anything else, she struggled with the half-obsolete Source engine (releasing the 2011 version), and then with encouragement + help struggled some more when it was fully obsolete. Eventually, she releases the 2020 version, which like the Starcraft EUD Metal Slug feels more awkward than its actual counterpart, released 20 years before. Built on a 2004 shooter title, it doesn't escape its heritage as well as the 2020 shooter by any means. But it does manage a superior atmosphere, more length (despite being literally one person versus the whole of 2004's Valve) and took the about same amount of development. (The 2013 version mentions throwing out the entire project before.) It is admirable to chase the constant refinement of the modern engine and its modern quality-of-life, but eventually one has to embrace the "despite" out of mercy.

There are two sides to the question of obsolete development, either doing it intentionally, or simply unintentionally. Eya's passionate progression is of course unintentional, and it makes sense to not port over the game, to instead simply finish the old grudge on the old battleground. Whatever jank is half Source, and half the limitations of one person's overambition. Starcraft's engine was half-obsolete when it came out, and Warcraft 3 announced it was completely obsolete. Yet somehow people 20 years later still develop for it. The jank is clearly going to happen, and is clearly there. So something must explain it.

Is there not a greater statement of your love for a game, than that you make your own on top of it, despite every indication it will only make it more difficult? Since video games are fated to the asymptotic pursuit of perfecting mechanics they have plagiarized, perhaps it is time to embrace the challenge of crafting the same game in idiosyncratic, ways on top of games that don't normally support what you're trying to do. Sounds like fun, if you are a lover of warring bytes. The gamer will get the same game, the programmer will get the game of making it.