With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

crazygrox · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"But you've gotta see it. Today-. Now."

He goes to reach out to me, then stops himself. I… Walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder.

"Okay, Kurt. Take me to the rest of the team, and…"

I'll make sure that they're basically healthy and not too crazy, because one of the things I wanted to do here was avoid the crunch that other computer game companies use to rush out shoddy and unfinished products and it turns out that they basically death marched it while under the affect of the Anti-Life.

Ring, low urgency alert to the rest of the team. Ask them if they're interested in trying out a new computer game.

Compliance.

"And then you can show me the game itself."

The smile he gives me is truly disturbing.

Even odds that the Anti-life has infiltrated the game somehow.

Mr Zoat · May 17, 2024

Goldenlima said:
He actually edited fall over part 5 and replaced the entirety of the original content with the new version of the latest chapter.

Fixed that too.

Darko said:
In the spoiler box page it says 3rd April.

Thank you, corrected,

EdwardGrave said:
I had been wondering if anything happened with this thing, is there also going to be an update on his chocolate/logistics company?

There is now.

Z000 · May 17, 2024

beating existential crisis with crunch time work, Life find a way, take that Nihility

BlackCoat13 · May 17, 2024

Black Light / Anti-Life, for when you need something done in a year that's supposed to take 5.
Apparently.

FreeGod · May 17, 2024

BlackCoat13 said:
Black Light / Anti-Life, for when you need something done in a year that's supposed to take 5.
Apparently.

There is a reason Darkside can get all those statues of himself built.

I wonder if any gamers will manage pure pacifist victory? Seems impossible, but I have seen crazy things in that scene.

Chojin Patriarch · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
6th April 2013
09:57 GMT -5

Connection made to monitored phone line.

I glance down at my right with a faint smile on my lips. Been a while. This number-.

One you weren't expecting to get a call on, obviously. So it's either an unexpected journalist, or someone you've worked with in the past trying to get a hold of you. So then, who will it be?

Oh, I'd… Forgotten about-. Well, not forgotten, but I'd stopped worrying about-.

After I got back from Vega, I sponsored the formation of a computer game company with a view to making a roleplay game about the region. Talented, passionate people to whom I gave as much data on the Vega Systems as I could -along with a chunk of seed capital- and left to it. Between the Sheeda and the Anti-Life I… Honestly hadn't spared them a thought for a year or so. In fact, I'm mildly impressed that they're still alive.

Huh. Honestly, I'm amazed they'd still be operating after everything. Or maybe this is their CEO trying to call you up and say 'Sorry, we've gone bust. No game work, I'm afraid.'

Um.

Answer.

I suppose this will be a little awkward, yes.

"Orange Lantern here."

"It's… Ah. Hey. Ah."

Presumably OL will recognise the voice. Or rather, his Ring will and fill him in.

"Good morning, Kurt. How are things?"

"We're ready."

...Ready for what? I mean, games development is not quick, even the old 'annual Call of Duty' trope. Heck, those tended to alternate between two or three developers, after all.

Assuming that they were using an existing game engine -no real reason for them not to- and kept the main story relatively paired down, I suppose that they might have a first build complete after a year. It… Hm. I.. have no idea what sort of state the computer game industry is in right now. I haven't heard the others mentioning new games for a while, but it's not like I have a surfeit of spare time.

If nothing else, they might well want to have you look over the Lantern combat mechanics, perhaps offer a little experienced advice about quirks of Ring usage?

It's not like I actually need it to make money. It was… Not quite a pure ego project, but… Pretty close, if I'm honest. An undercurrent of 'if you don't like how I did it let's see you do any better'.

"Good show. Is this where you give me my pre-release code?"

The sort of thing that gets made into game show demos? That seems the most likely result.

"We're ready, sir. This is-. Everything you wanted."

There's.. something in his voice that's putting me a little on edge.

...Yeah, unless this is a pixel art game, there's something hinky going on. Anything at Triple-A level does not pop out in a year or two. Consider the decade-long gap between main-series GTA games, for example...

"Kurt, are you alright?"

"I don't know. I-I don't know. I've been-. I've just been writing and writing for… Ah…"

Ooh... I'm guessing some side-effect of the Anti-Life has been 'motivating' him in the ultimate form of development crunch-time...

Where is he?

That.. wasn't what he looks like last time we spoke, but he's still recognisable. I

step out and

I'm guessing he's lost weight, grown his hair and beard and maybe a little less hygienic...

6th April 2013
07:59 GMT -7

reappear five metres away from him in his direct line of sight. I didn't detect any weapons or threats-.

Te be fair, he's a games developer. I don't think there's much danger of him going postal or anything.

Someone behind me drops something. "He's here!"

I glance around-. And a walking stereotype of a programmer; thin, pallid and unkempt, stares at me through tape-bound spectacles. And to complete the picture it looks like he dropped a pack of cheetos.

I half expect this is some sort of elaborate cosplay the guy indulges in.

And then he turns and sprits through some nearby double doors.

..

I think that maybe I should have checked on them before now.

...Gee, you think? This is the drawback of OL's scattershot management style. Too many irons in the forge, it's a surprise when one melts off or sets something on fire.

"Ah. Sorry about-. Ah, Martin." I turn back to Kurt. "We've all… I mean, with everything that happened, it's a bit…" He hesitates, his gaze growing a little vacant before snapping back to me. "Y'know."

"No, I don't think I do. So let's start with the most important thing-."

Man, I get the feeling they're gonna need some serious recovery time.

He smiles. "The game!"

"Your health, and the health of the other employees." I scan him. Elevated stress hormones, but for a company chairman or someone who lived through the Anti-Life it's not that unusual. "Because you sound a little odd. What's been happening?"

I suspect he's seen a lot of people in that condition since White Light Day...

He runs his right hand through thinning hair, glancing off to the side.

"So… At the start, things were pretty normal. Good, compared to a lot of companies. Everyone… Knew their jobs. Got the basic story sketched out, and we could get the graphic artists started right away because you told us what the ships and.. people, the different species, look like."

I suppose having sources to work from made a lot of the visual development easier. No need to spitball designs only to find they're copyrighted.

"I remember that much."

"And it was good! It was… The storylines were coming together, and-. And companion characters, faction leaders… Even the procedurally generated stuff could kinda link to the story missions, 'cause they wouldn't be available unless a faction was strong enough to advance its agenda, and NPCs would try things if you didn't recruit them or kill them. And… I'd say we had a basic playable build by November last year."

Sounds like a fun game.

"That's pretty quick work."

"Yeah. And then… T-that thing."

No need to elucidate, I think everyone can understand exactly what you mean.

"The Anti-Life."

"And we lost the will to live, but… Coding's not really living."

...Huh. An interesting way to counteract it, but not a healthy one, I wager.

I tilt my head a little to the right. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"That's what we did. That was our reason for being. For the whole-. God, was it just a month?"

A month of their time, years of ours. Amazing how time decompresses, doesn't it?

"About a month, yes."

"The whole team, the artists, writers and… Backroom people, they… Cleaned up, made sure we ate enough to.. keep working." His slightly crazy eyes snap back to me. "And now we're done."

Don't let the meaner corporate execs find out about that, they'd probably try to find ways to reproduce the effect...

"Ready for beta testing?"

"I mean…" His eyes slide to the side again as he rubs his face with his right hand. "We probably should, but… It-it's done. Playable… We could add things, but it would disrupt the internal balance, and… It would be pretty gimmicky. You know?"

...Maybe have some experienced techno-heroes look it over for infection?

"Again, no, but I'll take your word for it. Internal balance is good?"

"The usual result if the AI if left to handle things is some sort of Citadel victory, which is what really happened. But exactly what happens changes every time. Some routes are harder so that works for people looking for a challenge. It's… Good. Yeah."

Lots of replay value, you're saying. Wonder how the speedrun community would take to it. Have you seen what people do with Fallout or Zelda?

"Okay, well, I'm glad to hear that. I-."

"But you've gotta see it. Today-. Now."

...Rather insistent. Definitely might want someone to look over the code in case of lingering mental contaminants.

He goes to reach out to me, then stops himself. I… Walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder.

"Okay, Kurt. Take me to the rest of the team, and…"

No doubt they're gathering as you speak.

I'll make sure that they're basically healthy and not too crazy, because one of the things I wanted to do here was avoid the crunch that other computer game companies use to rush out shoddy and unfinished products and it turns out that they basically death marched it while under the affect of the Anti-Life.

Ring, low urgency alert to the rest of the team. Ask them if they're interested in trying out a new computer game.

After you get multiple people to examine the code, I hope.

Compliance.

"And then you can show me the game itself."

The smile he gives me is truly disturbing.

Seriously. Something is definitely reading as not right about all this.

OL, I hope you can see all these red flags. There's more waving than the average communist rally. I really hope you have a computer expert in your rolodex of capes. Ideally a technopath. And even if it's clear of harmful mnemonics, releasing it might be trouble, depending on how addictive it might be. Don't want to spawn a Cult of the Lantern or something...

Stsword · May 17, 2024

crazygrox said:
Even odds that the Anti-life has infiltrated the game somehow.

There was a storyline in which the Calculator was looking for virtual crystals in Not Second Life that were representations of pieces of the Anti-Life Equation.

He had crystals carved in real life to gain ALE power which he intended to help his daughter who was comatose, but while his ALE crystals allowed him to order people to get better, it also completely destroyed their immune system.

Azure Mirage · May 17, 2024

Holy shit. Just, holy shit. Those poor coders. Heaven help us if the big game companies learn of this and anti life their work force.

In DC I can see that shit happening. Heck I can see them having coded the Anti-Life into the game somehow.

thebishop8 · May 17, 2024

What's the next April Fool's day episode going to be about? Assuming you have an idea for it seems fair given that we knew year 3 would be about the Power Rangers before year 2 was even written.

BlackCoat13 · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"The usual result if the AI if left to handle things

Ai is left

Vanbers · May 17, 2024

So, uh, they made an AI while under Anti-Life?

...Did they mean 'real life game pseudo-AI bots' or 'actual artificial life', because that is likely an important detail.

Also, Anti-Life basically being crunch time squared is hilarious. And sad. But mostly hilarious.

Signaller · May 17, 2024

This sounds like something Canis might be able to help with?

Darko · May 17, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Don't want to spawn a Cult of the Lantern or something...

He honestly may have a cult or two.

Maybe on the planet with the eyeball god he killed.

Darko · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
result if the AI if left to

"is left"

Mr Zoat · May 17, 2024

FreeGod said:
I wonder if any gamers will manage pure pacifist victory? Seems impossible, but I have seen crazy things in that scene.

Depends what definitions of 'pacifist' and 'victory' that you're using.

Chojin Patriarch said:
If nothing else, they might well want to have you look over the Lantern combat mechanics, perhaps offer a little experienced advice about quirks of Ring usage?

Lanterns are not playable characters. Some route have one as a final boss, but that's it.

...Huh. An interesting way to counteract it, but not a healthy one, I wager.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

thebishop8 said:
What's the next April Fool's day episode going to be about? Assuming you have an idea for it seems fair given that we knew year 3 would be about the Power Rangers before year 2 was even written.

Harem anime.

BlackCoat13 said:
Ai is left

Thank you, corrected.

Vaermina · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
6th April 2013
09:57 GMT -5

Connection made to monitored phone line.

I glance down at my right with a faint smile on my lips. Been a while. This number-.

Oh, I'd… Forgotten about-. Well, not forgotten, but I'd stopped worrying about-.

After I got back from Vega, I sponsored the formation of a computer game company with a view to making a roleplay game about the region. Talented, passionate people to whom I gave as much data on the Vega Systems as I could -along with a chunk of seed capital- and left to it. Between the Sheeda and the Anti-Life I… Honestly hadn't spared them a thought for a year or so. In fact, I'm mildly impressed that they're still alive.

Um.

Answer.

"Orange Lantern here."

"It's… Ah. Hey. Ah."

"Good morning, Kurt. How are things?"

"We're ready."

Assuming that they were using an existing game engine -no real reason for them not to- and kept the main story relatively paired down, I suppose that they might have a first build complete after a year. It… Hm. I.. have no idea what sort of state the computer game industry is in right now. I haven't heard the others mentioning new games for a while, but it's not like I have a surfeit of spare time.

It's not like I actually need it to make money. It was… Not quite a pure ego project, but… Pretty close, if I'm honest. An undercurrent of 'if you don't like how I did it let's see you do any better'.

"Good show. Is this where you give me my pre-release code?"

"We're ready, sir. This is-. Everything you wanted."

There's.. something in his voice that's putting me a little on edge.

"Kurt, are you alright?"

"I don't know. I-I don't know. I've been-. I've just been writing and writing for… Ah…"

Where is he?

That.. wasn't what he looks like last time we spoke, but he's still recognisable. I

step out and

6th April 2013
07:59 GMT -7

reappear five metres away from him in his direct line of sight. I didn't detect any weapons or threats-.

Someone behind me drops something. "He's here!"

I glance around-. And a walking stereotype of a programmer; thin, pallid and unkempt, stares at me through tape-bound spectacles. And to complete the picture it looks like he dropped a pack of cheetos.

And then he turns and sprits through some nearby double doors.

..

I think that maybe I should have checked on them before now.

"Ah. Sorry about-. Ah, Martin." I turn back to Kurt. "We've all… I mean, with everything that happened, it's a bit…" He hesitates, his gaze growing a little vacant before snapping back to me. "Y'know."

"No, I don't think I do. So let's start with the most important thing-."

He smiles. "The game!"

"Your health, and the health of the other employees." I scan him. Elevated stress hormones, but for a company chairman or someone who lived through the Anti-Life it's not that unusual. "Because you sound a little odd. What's been happening?"

He runs his right hand through thinning hair, glancing off to the side.

"So… At the start, things were pretty normal. Good, compared to a lot of companies. Everyone… Knew their jobs. Got the basic story sketched out, and we could get the graphic artists started right away because you told us what the ships and.. people, the different species, look like."

"I remember that much."

"And it was good! It was… The storylines were coming together, and-. And companion characters, faction leaders… Even the procedurally generated stuff could kinda link to the story missions, 'cause they wouldn't be available unless a faction was strong enough to advance its agenda, and NPCs would try things if you didn't recruit them or kill them. And… I'd say we had a basic playable build by November last year."

"That's pretty quick work."

"Yeah. And then… T-that thing."

"The Anti-Life."

"And we lost the will to live, but… Coding's not really living."

I tilt my head a little to the right. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"That's what we did. That was our reason for being. For the whole-. God, was it just a month?"

"About a month, yes."

"The whole team, the artists, writers and… Backroom people, they… Cleaned up, made sure we ate enough to.. keep working." His slightly crazy eyes snap back to me. "And now we're done."

"Ready for beta testing?"

"I mean…" His eyes slide to the side again as he rubs his face with his right hand. "We probably should, but… It-it's done. Playable… We could add things, but it would disrupt the internal balance, and… It would be pretty gimmicky. You know?"

"Again, no, but I'll take your word for it. Internal balance is good?"

"The usual result if the AI if left to handle things is some sort of Citadel victory, which is what really happened. But exactly what happens changes every time. Some routes are harder so that works for people looking for a challenge. It's… Good. Yeah."

"Okay, well, I'm glad to hear that. I-."

"But you've gotta see it. Today-. Now."

He goes to reach out to me, then stops himself. I… Walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder.

"Okay, Kurt. Take me to the rest of the team, and…"

I'll make sure that they're basically healthy and not too crazy, because one of the things I wanted to do here was avoid the crunch that other computer game companies use to rush out shoddy and unfinished products and it turns out that they basically death marched it while under the affect of the Anti-Life.

Ring, low urgency alert to the rest of the team. Ask them if they're interested in trying out a new computer game.

Compliance.

"And then you can show me the game itself."

The smile he gives me is truly disturbing.

I hope he checks the game with his ring before playing it.

Because this has all the hallmarks of a "sucks you into the game" or "or "oh god it's become sentient" adventure.

Lord Ernest · May 17, 2024

I might be thinking too much, but it sounds to me like there might be something weird with the game. Is there a chance that we might be about to see a Jumanji sceneario, with the Team experiencing a video game version of the Illustres' Vega Adventures?

WereDragon · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
because one of the things I wanted to do here was avoid the crunch that other computer game companies use to rush out shoddy and unfinished products and it turns out that they basically death marched it while under the affect of the Anti-Life.

So which result would be better: Them needing three months of rehab then another three months to fix all the stuff they rushed… or the Anti-Life actually resulting in a superior product?

Very nice to see one of the old plot threads picked up. So much has just faded into the background and been forgotten. The chocolate company, the Purple Healing ray trials, Vulcan possibly emigrating to another planet, KF's magic research…
Oh and the galaxy spanning war that Paul is theoretically involved in. How is that going?

Mr Zoat · May 17, 2024

WereDragon said:
Oh and the galaxy spanning war that Paul is theoretically involved in. How is that going?

It's only 'galaxy-spanning' in the sense that it's on the other side of the galaxy from Earth.

It's going pretty well. N.E.M.O. affiliates are entering into full war production faster than the Reach are adapting to actually having to make an effort. Infiltrators are generally rousted out before they can do much damage.

Doccer · May 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
smile he gives me is truly disturbing.

This could be the greatest and most horrifying thing to happen.

Clell65619 · May 17, 2024

Vaermina said:
I hope he checks the game with his ring before playing it.

Because this has all the hallmarks of a "sucks you into the game" or "or "oh god it's become sentient" adventure.

Well, OL hasn't had a chance to ride light cycles yet...

BartlettMagic · May 17, 2024

Vaermina said:
I hope he checks the game with his ring before playing it.

Because this has all the hallmarks of a "sucks you into the game" or "or "oh god it's become sentient" adventure.

this is kind of what i was thinking. if there's anti-life in the game, could it infect the ring? also, i wouldn't be surprised if Hell crept in through the game.

but yeah every single one of these employees should be whisked away and treated both medically and psychologically before anyone touches anything in their lab. get them in the best health possible, debrief them on what exactly they did, and go from there.

Wivk · May 17, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
This wasn't what I was expecting, and now I'm worried about what they've created. Is there any chance that the game will come to life somehow?

From consuming alot of media I would say the odds of a game "coming to life" are pretty good, depending on exactly how you define it. Like obviously the ai itself can go rogue, but also you could have the characters sucked into the game world, or characters from the game materializing in the real world. I'd say most times a game is mentioned it is some kind of plot point, but sometimes the intended point is to avoid escapism or the danger of technology rather than out right magical isekai stuff. I'm not expecting it to be an anti life weapon that brainwashes anyone that plays it, or an anti anti life escapism device that protects users by making their new purpose to play the game, but I would still say those things are possible and even somewhat likely just based on tropes and patterns.

Prince Charon · May 18, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Huh. An interesting way to counteract it, but not a healthy one, I wager.

To be fair, I suspect that the only healthy way for most people to deal with the Anti-Life is to not be in it.

Mr Zoat · May 18, 2024

6th April 2013
09:34 GMT -7

Richard frowns at his screen. "Space combat feels kinda slow."

I give the unsteady-looking game designers around us a quick look, but they don't seem to be offended. Returning my eyes to Richard, I shrug.

"That's a bottom-of-the-market hauler. They are kinda slow. It's not even a computer game thing to justify upgrades."

From reviewing the plot outlines, I know that Richard's done the quickest route to getting control of a ship: start as a gordanian with the pilot background, then get a job doing routine supply runs on a ship whose captain is over the hill and is happy to let you run the thing. That leads to getting attacked, and there're plot threads for if you manage to escape or if you don't.

I'm just doing the same thing I did with Morrowind: staring at the character creator and failing to progress to the actual game. Richard jumped in with one of the default builds and Wallace picked a well built female Tamaranean scientist.

Okay, so I don't think I want to play as a Citadelian, which leaves…

Ah, bite the bullet. Crown Imperium engineer it is. Generically handsome male, ah… Lallan, that's a reasonably common name.

Wallace wiggles his control pad. "Wait, how come I can't fly? I should be able to escape this easily."

"Tamaraneans need to feel joyful to fly." I glance at his screen. "And I don't think being auctioned as a slave is making her joyful."

"Ah… She won't have to… Do..? Stuff, with-."

"No. Technically skilled slaves are too valuable to be used as sex toys. Though that sort of thing probably wouldn't actually bother a Tamaranean all that much."

"It would bother me. I think it would bother most people, Oh El."

"That's probably why 'whore' isn't a template."

"Not for player characters." We look around at the developer who just spoke. "Your records made it pretty clear that prostitution is pretty common in the Vega Systems with most species, there just weren't enough ways to get one involved in the main plots."

Richard pauses his game. "What sort of rating were you going for?"

"Mature, but there's a toggle to turn the blood and gore down or off. Oh, ah, any sex happens off camera."

Wallace snorts as one of the guards at his slave auction is shot dead, giving him space to run for it. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but we've got this thing called 'the internet'."

"Oh no, this game doesn't need an internet connection to run. Orange Lantern had that as one of the original requirements."

"Heh. Well, I have a girlfriend now, so I should be okay anyway."

Richard smiles. "You think something like this could encourage the space program?"

"It wasn't the main reason, but-. Maybe we could add an 'explore modern Vega' mode..?" Huh. "Did either of you think of starting with a branx character?"

Wallace shrugs. "Not really into playing as the bad guys."

The designer shakes his head. "Oh, no, you don't need to. In-game it's more profitable for a branx character to be ruthless, but there are legitimate-. Legitimate by our standards, jobs they can take."

"Kid Flash, was that a speciest remark?"

"Whu-?" He looks around in surprise. "No, I just-. I figured that even if they weren't particularly bad individually, they were still working on the evil side. Even the guys just manning the ore freighters are supplying the Citadel, right?"

"Yes, most of them. That's part of the whole moral conundrum that the game presents."

Richard looks curious. "Why did you ask about the branx?"

"Market research. In World of Warcraft, ugly races get played a lot less than attractive ones. And the whole Horde is ugly, so the player base was overwhelmingly Alliance until the Blood Elves got added in. Since this is a single player game I guess it doesn't matter; there's no population balance issue…"

Wallace presses buttons with unnecessary vigour. "Fighting's-. Maybe I shouldn't have picked a scientist."

"Her arms are still chained together, and those guards are gordanians."

"I didn't see a key..?"

"But you did see the sniper shoot the guy next to you. They were there to free the slaves-."

"So do I go back-?" He turns the camera around and sees that the market's security force is pushing through the area, trading fire with the attackers. "I guess not."

Richard leans in to look at his screen. "Dude, those guys are dying so you can get away. Maybe you should actually try getting away?"

"Ah, yeah?" He moves his character into cover-.

And there's… No clipping. The character isn't wearing all that much, but her skin deforms naturally to fit in the available space rather than phasing through the virtual wall. I can't… Think of a single game that does that. Some switch the character to a different pose to cut down on it, but phasing limbs has been a feature of every game I've ever seen. I used to shoot guards' arms through the doors they were standing next to in Goldeneye.

I pause my character's briefing from their factory supervisor and turn to the programmer. "What engine did you end up using?"

"Oh, it's custom. None of the ones on the market could handle the switch between space combat and ground combat in the way we wanted. You can actually stand on the outside of a ship's hull while the ship to ship combat happens around you. None of it's pre-rendered."

Okay, no. I've heard that 'Obsession makes better'; I'm an Orange Lantern. But I refuse to believe that even top tier programmers could create an entirely new engine and a full game in a year. Certainly not with only a month of death marching.

"Did you outsource any of-."

"No! This is all-. All our work."

I take my runestone out of subspace and…

Ah. A glow. Well, it was that or telepathy. Wallace and Richard pause their own games, getting ready to follow my lead.

"And… Did someone join the company? Since last time I got an update, I mean?"

"Did-? Did someone..?" His eyes go a little glassy. "I mean… People join, people-. People left-."

"Someone you remember as being unusually enthusiastic? And made everyone else more enthusiastic by being around them?"

His face… Sort of brightens up, then falls again. Then it brightens up, then falls, looking confused. Then he frowns. "What?"

Richard pulls out his own runestone, and I nod.

"We'll start in the basement. Stick together. We'll call in Zatanna once we have confirmation."

Two nods, and I lead the way through the crowd of enchanted game developers towards the exit.

"But what did you think so far!"

BlueMangoAdea · May 18, 2024

Literally magic video game.

I'm kinda envious.

Vaermina · May 18, 2024

Now that I've seen their characters I'm kind of sad they didn't get sucked into the game.

Because Wallace as the busty Tamarian scientist would have been hilarious, and OL without his cheats would have actually been interesting for once.

Bigking321 · May 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Market research. In World of Warcraft, ugly races get played a lot less than attractive ones. And the whole Horde is ugly, so the player base was overwhelmingly Alliance until the Blood Elves got added in.

Huh...

When I played wow a long time ago I didn't give the alliance a second thought. I thought they all looked kinda lame with bad characters.

The horde had these radically different looking monster people. So I picked them because I liked the characters more and thought they looked much cooler.

Guess I'm a outlier.

Chojin Patriarch · May 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
6th April 2013
09:34 GMT -7

Richard frowns at his screen. "Space combat feels kinda slow."

I give the unsteady-looking game designers around us a quick look, but they don't seem to be offended. Returning my eyes to Richard, I shrug.

Despite what 'Star Wars' has trained people to think, space combat will not be a whoosh-bang-kapow dogfight. At least, in anything bigger than a snub fighter, anyway. Big ships would do the naval thing of slowly circling trying to get shots to hit just by dint of mass. And capital ships would be barely-moving fortresses. And you wouldn't even be able to see each other unless there's some hinky physics justification like Minovsky particles...

"That's a bottom-of-the-market hauler. They are kinda slow. It's not even a computer game thing to justify upgrades."

From reviewing the plot outlines, I know that Richard's done the quickest route to getting control of a ship: start as a gordanian with the pilot background, then get a job doing routine supply runs on a ship whose captain is over the hill and is happy to let you run the thing. That leads to getting attacked, and there's plot threads for if you manage to escape or if you don't.

Figures Robin would figure out the 'easy' mode that quickly. Because I doubt he went for the reptile guys out of interest.

I'm just doing the same thing I did with Morrowind: staring at the character creator and failing to progress to the actual game. Richard jumped in with one of the default builds and Wallace picked a well built female tamaranian scientist.

Okay, so I don't think I want to play as a Citadelian, which leaves…

Ah, Wally's one of those guys. The kind that like to watch a nice feminine avatar running around, eh? Not throwing any shade, I do the same thing, especially in stuff like 'Mass Effect'. It doesn't help that the male Shepard voice is... Bleh. I can sympathise with OL's conundrum, though.

Ah, bite the bullet. Crown Imperium engineer it is. Generically handsome male, ah… Lallan, that's a reasonably common name.

Wallace wiggles his control pad. "Wait, how come I can't fly? I should be able to escape this easily."

So OL has the closest thing to a 'heroic outsider stumbles in' role. How English of him.

"Tamaranians need to feel joyful to fly." I glance at his screen. "And I don't think being auctioned as a slave is making her joyful."

"Ah… She won't have to… Do..? Stuff, with-."

Plus, it's the tutorial, and games tend to limit abilities to make it easier to ease people in.

"No. Technically skilled slaves are too valuable to be used as sex toys. Though that sort of thing probably wouldn't actually bother a tamaranian all that much."

"It would both me. I think it would bother most people, Oh El."

Well, that says more about your own masculinity than anything.

"That's probably why 'whore' isn't a template."

"Not for player characters." We look around at the developer who just spoke. "Your records made it pretty clear that prostitution is pretty common in the Vega Systems with most species, there just weren't enough ways to get one involved in the main plots."

But someone could go get a 'person of negotiable affection' for a bit of de-stressing, I bet.

Richard pauses his game. "What sort of rating were you going for?"

"Mature, but there's a toggle to turn the blood and gore down or off. Oh, ah, any sex happens off camera."

Okay, that makes it more reasonable.

Wallace snorts as one of the guards at his slave auction is shot dead, giving him space to run for it. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but we've got this thing called 'the internet'."

"Oh no, this game doesn't need an internet connection to run. Orange Lantern had that one of the original requirements."

That's not what he means. Though I shudder to imagine the inevitable rule 34 that springs up if it got released.

"Heh. Well, I have a girlfriend now, so I should be okay anyway."

Richard smiles. "You think something like this could encourage the space program?"

Ah, yes. The classic lure of the stars: Alien babes with an interest in 'Boldly Going' with human spacers.

"It wasn't the main reason, but-. Maybe we could add an 'explore modern Vega' mode..?" Huh. "Did either of you think of starting with a branx character?"

Wallace shrugs. "Not really into playing as the bad guys."

What, they couldn't have written them as an unusually empathetic individual? Then again, that's probably just Wally's assumption.

The designer shakes his head. "Oh, no, you don't need to. In-game it's more profitable for a branx character to be ruthless, but there are legitimate-. Legitimate by our standards, jobs they can take."

"Kid Flash, was that a speciest remark?"

Also, four hands would come in handy in combat scenarios. Unless they wimped out and made them stock humanoids with rocky skin.

"Whu-?" He looks around in surprise. "No, I just-. I figured that even if they weren't particularly bad individually, they were still working on the evil side. Even the guys just manning the oar freighters are supplying the Citadel, right?"

"Yes, most of them. That's part of the whole moral conundrum that the game presents."

And there's the opening for the 'heroic' Branx player character. Besides, some people like playing the bad guy. Not me, I struggle to run a Renegade Shepard... On the other hand, playing The Boss in 'Saint's Row'...

Richard looks curious. "Why did you ask about the branx?"

"Market research. In World of Warcraft, ugly races get played a lot less than attractive ones. And the whole Horde is ugly, so the player base was overwhelmingly Alliance until the Blood Elves got added in. Since this is a single player game I guess it doesn't matter; there's no population balance issue…"

That's also why the females of each race tended to be more of the 'colourful monster girl' than their male equivalents. But I see the point. I expect the heroically attractive Crown Imperials and Tamaraneans will be the more popular choices for most.

Wallace presses button with unnecessary vigour. "Fighting's-. Maybe I shouldn't have picked a scientists."

"Her arms are still chained together, and those guards are gordanians."

And not all Tamaraneans have innate super-strength on the levels of a Royal like Starfire.

"I didn't see a key..?"

"But you did see the sniper shoot the guy next to you. They were there to free the slaves-."

And this is the frustrating thing about going in blind for some people. 'I'm missing out on content? Lame!'

"So do I go back-?" He turns the camera around and sees that the market's security force is pushing through the area, trading fire with the attackers. "I guess not."

Richard leans in to look at his screen. "Dude, those guys are dying so you can get away. Maybe you should actually try getting away?"

And no doubt the game will offer some measure of leeway in the early moments. A sort of built-in plot armour thing for the tutorial.

"Ah, yeah?" He moves his character into cover-.

And there's… No clipping. The character isn't wearing all that much, but her skin deforms naturally to fit in the available space rather than phasing through the virtual wall. I can't… Think of a single game that does that. Some switch the character to a different pose to cut down on it, but phasing limbs has been a feature of every game I've ever seen. I used to shoot guards' arms through the doors they were standing next to in Goldeneye.

...Okay, that seems... Impressively coded. There's no glitching in the fabric simulation either? No capes or scarves flapping randomly upwards at certain camera angles (Which I've seen happen in the Superhero MMO I play.)

I pause my character's briefing from their factory supervisor and turn to the programmer. "What engine did you end up using?"

"Oh, it's custom. None of the ones on the market could handle the switch between space combat and ground combat in the way we wanted. You can actually stand on the outside of a ship's hull while the ship to ship combat happens around you. None of it's pre-rendered."

Now we know something's not right. Game development doesn't work that way anymore.

Okay, no. I've heard that 'Obsession makes better'; I'm an Orange Lantern. But I refuse to believe that even top tier programmers could create an entirely new engine and a full game in a year. Certainly not with only a month of death marching.

"Did you outsource any of-."

I mean, some of it, you could use custom plugins for a licensed engine...

"No! This is all-. All our work."

I take my runestone out of subspace and…

Oh hell, did they manage...

Ah. A glow. Well, it was that or telepathy. Wallace and Richard pause their own games, getting ready to follow my head.

"And… Did someone join the company? Since last time I got an update, I mean?"

...Magic software. Of course. So, Demon, Angel or New God? Place your bets?

"Did-? Did someone..?" His eyes go a little glassy. "I mean… People join, people-. People left-."

"Someone you remember as being unusually enthusiastic? And made everyone else more enthusiastic by being around them?"

Yeah, he's been mind-whammied somehow. That kind of confusion is a good sign of memory manipulation.

His face… Sort of brightens up, then falls again. Then it brightens up, then falls, looking confused. Then he frowns. "What?"

Richard pulls out his own runestone, and I nod.

And even he realises something's wrong, if he's getting stuck in that sort of mental loop.

"We'll start in the basement. Stick together. We'll call in Zatanna once we have confirmation."

Two nods, and I lead the way through the crowd of enchanted game developers towards the exit.

"But what did you think so far!"

Dude, I don't think you're getting the okay to go Gold.

I have the feeling whoever did this is younger. Why else would a sorcerer stick their oar into a videogame about a space adventure otherwise? Though I can't think of any candidates off the top of my head. As for the game itself, Why do I get the feeling the code is creating a detailed illusion, if the description of the graphical style is anything to go by?

Multiple occurrences of 'Tamaranian', Mr Zoat... Those should be 'Tamaranean', yes?

Even the guys just manning the oar freighters are supplying the Citadel, right?"

Even the guys just manning the ore freighters are supplying the Citadel, right?"

Wallace presses button with unnecessary vigour.

Wallace presses buttons with unnecessary vigour.

Chaoswind · May 18, 2024

Bigking321 said:
Huh...

When I played wow a long time ago I didn't give the alliance a second thought. I thought they all looked kinda lame with bad characters.

The horde had these radically different looking monster people. So I picked them because I liked the characters more and thought they looked much cooler.

Guess I'm a outlier.

Horde had no female players, thus it had a lot less players even if 1v1 pvp was mostly equivalent.

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