#Eternal Movement

[bacchuschucklefuck]

theme of laura | theme of laura II

[gothyanki]

I still kind of think Maia’s ultimate mission should have been to assassinate Tekēhu.

[rainfallwrites]

I get goosebumps every time I remember Rafal's speech to Nowak. The boy truly placed all his trust in meaning and inspiration that brings forth said meaning.

One will think of this as madness, as we saw Nowak claim, but to the boy, it had been the first time he felt the need to act on a certain matter.

I just get filled with so many strong emotions thinking about this. Rafal grew up as a homeless orphan until he found a way to live a better life, one he was good at maintaining too. The better his life was, the more touching his sacrifice is.

"You are living a good life so why would you throw that away?"

He had finally reached an answer and felt that it served a purpose that is even bigger than his own life, moved enough to give his life for that purpose, isn't that just insane to think about?

When people grow up in poverty and then begin to live a humble and comfortable life, in most cases, they will do everything to hold on to that but he gave it up for meaning.

His life was perfect and yet, he longed for meaning. I am going to crash out bro.

[a-typical]

At almost any location in any major city on Earth, you are likely standing on thousands of bodies. These bodies represent a history that exists, often unknown, beneath our feet. While a new Crossrail station was being dug in London in 2015, 3,500 bodies were excavated from a sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cemetery under Liverpool Street, including a burial pit from the Great Plague of 1665. To cremate bodies we burn fossil fuel, thus named because it is made of decomposed dead organisms. Plants grow from the decayed matter of former plants. The pages of this book are made from the pulp of raw wood from a tree felled in its prime. All that surrounds us comes from death, every part of every city, and every part of every person.

Death avoidance is not an individual failing; it’s a cultural one. Facing death is not for the faint-hearted. It is far too challenging to expect that each citizen will do so on his or her own. Death acceptance is the responsibility of all death professionals—funeral directors, cemetery managers, hospital workers. It is the responsibility of those who have been tasked with creating physical and emotional environments where safe, open interaction with death and dead bodies is possible.

— From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, Caitlin Doughty

[thepandalion]

the syntax is infecting my brain

[trans-estinien]

i love being autistic cause sometimes i get a glimpse into how regular people perceive things and its like. what the fuck. what the fuck is that? you live like this? and its normal?? i think YOURE the weird one actually. im fine. thanks though.

[mistressrissa]

[ableedingpromise]

It's the time where I get paranoid about horrible things again

[pikkish]

Hm. I admit I'm. Cautiously optimistic about Dark Ages. Looks like it has cool designs, and id software at least has a reputation for good gameplay, if not good story. I just really, really hope they at least stick to the story they established in Eternal and don't completely mutilate it.

[infamousbeans]

If orlan ears can move, then orlans should also purr actually, and while we're at it, maybe some have tails

[lonelysheepling]

My favorite background audio for when I’m working or I need to wind down is no commentary Doom Eternal gameplay; something about it is very satisfying. My second option would be Outer Wilds speedruns. They both have fun sounds and people are moving real fast. What more do you need?

[whumpacabra]

3. How much autonomy are they given?

5. How obedient are they? Are they defiant or more compliant?

10. Are they a favorite? Are they precious or replaceable?

For Wolf and Moses?

3: Wolf has very little. He honestly wouldn’t know what to do with himself if left to his own devices which makes recovery a long road to travel. The most he can decide in the Bunker is how he kills the people he’s told to kill.

Moses…as far as the higher ups know, very little, but in reality, Moses gets far more slack than you would expect. While he can’t choose missions or give orders, Moses is free to engage anyway he sees fit in the field, which includes disobeying handlers so long as the mission is successful.

5: Wolf’s obedience waned over time. He tried defiance for a long time, and it never got him anywhere in the long run. When he first started to willingly comply, it was just for show, just to recover, to earn trust, but in the end…well, what good ever came from causing problems on purpose? He already causes enough by accident.

Moses’ obedience ebbs and flows. He’s maliciously compliant for a very long time, slowly realizing more and more he can only mitigate so much damage that way. He lulls his handlers into complacency long enough to do something brashly and boldly defiant, and he pays for it. After, Moses doesn’t disobey unless he has no other choice.

10: Wolf isn’t replaceable but he’s not a favorite. His handlers think he’s pathetic and far from what the project was supposed to make but they don’t tell the people paying them that. They went through all the work of getting Wolf to an acceptable state and don’t really want to do that again; and judging by the flash in the pan nature of Wolf being ‘a good weapon,’ they couldn’t replicate him if they actually tried. But honestly, losing him would be a minor pity and inconvenience at worst. No one would remember him.

Moses is a favorite. Mechanically he’s replaceable, just another gun, another grunt to give orders to, but to his handler? He’s the prize. The golden goose. The symbol of success and victory over their enemies. (How can you better represent the failure of the man that killed your father than by making his son loyal to you?) To the other weapons, Moses is both enviable and reluctantly admirable. If they ever lost him (if he ever escaped) all hell would break loose.

[ask game here]

[a-typical]

In Toraja, during the period of time between death and the funeral, the body is kept in the home. That might not sound particularly shocking, until I tell you that period can last from several months to several years. During that time, the family cares for and mummifies the body, bringing the corpse food, changing its clothes, and speaking to the body.

The first time Paul ever visited Toraja, he asked Agus if it was unusual for a family to keep a dead relative in the home. Agus laughed at the question. “When I was a child, we had my grandfather in the home for seven years. My brother and I, we slept with him in the same bed. In the morning we put his clothes on and stood him against the wall. At night he came back to bed.”

Paul describes death in Toraja, as he’s witnessed it, not as a “hard border,” an impenetrable wall between the living and the dead, but a border that can be transgressed. According to their animistic belief system, there is also no barrier between the human and nonhuman aspects of the natural world: animals, mountains, and even the dead. Speaking to your grandfather’s corpse is a way to build a connection to the person’s spirit.

— From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, Caitlin Doughty

[alertarchitect]

So! A new Doom game got announced!

Here's the trailer for those interested, it will help with what I'm about to go into:

As a bit of a Retro Throwback Shooter Shitter myself, I have some Thoughts. Read on if you're interested.

So, first of all I like the premise of exploring the time the Doom Slayer spent fighting demons alongside the warriors of Argent D'Nur. It's a time period that was purposefully left pretty damn vague in Doom Eternal, and the Slayer's lore before waking up again wasn't even really talked about much - if at all - in Doom 2016 from what I remember, since they were trying to play it a little safe due to Doom 2016 being a soft reboot of a series that hadn't gotten a new game in 12 years at that point, with the last title (Doom 3 and its various editions that attempted to improve it a bit) being a pretty big departure that had a wealth of issues, such as it being a Doom game with one of the worst shotguns ever put into a shooter. So it's a cool idea to explore this time frame of the Doom Slayer's history, and possibly show the events leading to the Slayer's imprisonment in Hell before he was rediscovered and subsequently awoken by Samuel Hayden in Doom 2016, including the Makyrs' fall from grace.

Second, I'm actually kinda hyped to see id Software still working on making retro throwback shooters. I was worried they'd get shuttered and their IP sold off after Rage was such a flop back in 2011, and they didn't make anything after it for 5 years until Doom 2016 came out, so it's nice to see they've found their groove again - making some of the best examples of the retro throwback shooter subgenre. Doom 2016 started the BoomShoot Renaissance, and Doom Eternal is still one of the best examples of the genre, mechanically. They are masterclasses in using an old formula while keeping the level design and visuals fresh with modern game design principles that have improved a lot since the 90s, along with new game mechanics to keep the moment-to-moment gameplay feeling fresh as well (such as the weapon / stat upgrade systems, the movement abilities you get in Doom Eternal, etc.). Seeing them pushing that even further is a treat to behold, and I'm confident it's going to be a pretty damn fun game, as long as it doesn't get forced into being $70.

Final point, though, is a bit of a downer for me personally. Why in the fuck are they making a game in the Doom series that's going for a more medieval-ish feel, when the Quake franchise is right fucking there and begging for a better modern entry than goddamn Quake Champions?? Seriously, making a Quake game calling back to the first game in the franchise - with the Lovecraftian inspirations, the more medieval-ish setting, the unique monsters like the Shambler you didn't see much of past Quake 1 - would be a fucking money printer. But no, Microsoft wants them to play it safe so they can get a guaranteed blockbuster because Quake Champions hasn't done very well since it came out of early access in 2022, which is definitely a fault of the Quake franchise not having any consumer interest and 100% for sure not because Quake Champions pivoted into being a fucking hero shooter trying to emulate the feel of old arena shooter deathmatching!! It's not like a soft reboot wouldn't be sorely needed after the goddamn disaster of a story that was the Quake 4 campaign! It's not like a modern Quake game that actually relies on having a fun weapon sandbox instead of relying on taking your opponents off guard with fucking superpowers on cooldowns is something the fanbase they're trying to pander to would nut in our fucking pants over or anything!!!!

TL;DR: This game looks really good and fun, and I like to see id is still making banger games, but I'm actually kinda angry that they'd rather make a Doom game with medieval vibes rather than using that other fantastic retro shooter IP they own to make something that kind of vibe would actually fit into better.

[lynnbecks-mainblog]

Thinking about how many of Ranger's cosmetics in Quake Champions are essentially just HD versions of Quake I enemies and wishing that Id would just do a Quake I remake/reimagining.

[an-aussie-button-masher]

I Like to Move It, Move It - Five Games With the Best Movement

   Can’t stay for long, got places to be! Something as simple as just moving around is surprisingly tricky for video games to make enjoyable - it can often be slow, clunky, twitchy, or just boring. Then, there are the games that do it right; whether they introduce unique mechanics, feature a variety of mobility options, or just really nail the basics in a way that feels satisfying. Reaching high speeds for the adrenaline rush, executing a complex manoeuvre a hundred times until it’s second nature, or just roaming around enjoying the feel of exploration - sometimes, the movement alone is the best part. Get a move on with these five games I’ve collected here that feature the best mobility and movement mechanics!

Spider-Man 2    In a game about everyone’s favourite web-slinging wallcrawler(s), getting Spider-Man’s distinct movement style right is crucial - and Insomniac Games nailed it. Swinging through Manhattan feels incredibly satisfying and realistic as the city whips by you, and the physics of the Spider-Men have real dynamic weight to them so you can build up speed with short rapid swings nearly brushing against the roads or reach the highest rooftops with longer, slower arcs. The sequel introduced web-wings for gliding on the winds, and other new tricks like slingshotting yourself across the city or using abilities in midair to gain height and momentum. Thwipping from one end of the city to the other to chase after criminals or violent mutated scientists gives a huge adrenaline rush; it’s a sign of a perfectly-executed movement system when it’s actually more fun to manually swing around instead of using the slightly-quicker fast-travel points.

Wavetale    Behold, a game with actually enjoyable water movement. Skating across the ocean surface in a flooded post-apocalyptic shanty town in Wavetale is just as creative as it is fun, building up speed as young Sigrid skims around, diving under and leaping out like a supercharged dolphin, and grappling onto hooks for massive speed boosts. Zooming around the waters from one corner of the map to the other, Sigrid can even outrun boats chugging along as she dodges the creepy shadow monsters threatening the town of Strandville! There’s pipes and funnels dangling above the waves to use as waterslides, launching you across the sea and keeping up your momentum - perfect for the challenging races that put your coordination to the test on lightning fast obstacle courses that snake around the drifting houses and shallow islands. For extra challenge, the game’s gigantic bosses will keep you on your toes as you duck and weave on the waves around their attacks that rain from above.

Super Mario Odyssey    Mario’s jumping talents get an overhaul in Odyssey, adding loads of fancy new moves and tricks to learn in this sprawling open-world adventure. His new companion, Cappy, allows for stylish leaps and bounces from one end of the kingdom to the other as well as “capturing” just about any creature Mario encounters. Capturing things transforms Mario into the target, granting unique abilities for even more new forms of movement - stretching into the air, blasting over the water, jumping over high obstacles, and dozens of other powers. It’s highly satisfying to master all of Mario’s moves and being able to sprint, roll and dive at Mach speed with perfectly-executed button combos. Speedrunners and players that really learn all the movement techs are rewarded with hidden coins and other goodies stashed away on seemingly impossible to reach areas, accessible only to those able to clear enormous gaps and scale sheer walls with expert timing and coordination.

Sunset Overdrive    Enter the high-energy “awesome-pocalypse” with a city hand-tailored for jumping, sliding and parkouring all over it. Sunset City has been overrun by the OD - aggressive mutants caused by a radioactive energy drink - and only a small handful of stubborn survivors remain in the locked-down city to enjoy the chaos. In SSOD, the player is constantly on the move from one jump to the other - bounce off that fan into sliding down a powerline into grinding along a handrail into bouncing off a car hood followed by dashing over a slobbering mutant and onto the next fan to bounce off, and repeat in a nigh-infinite chain of possible routes across the city. As you move, you’ll be blasting away at the hordes of OD, earning style points for fighting while performing sick tricks throughout the colourful mayhem. There’s precarious platforming and obstacle courses that take you high into the sky surrounding the tallest towers - don’t look down! The city also features replayable challenges scattered around for those that really want to test their mobility skills, parkouring across the chaotic cityscape as fast as possible.

DOOM Eternal    In the fiery arenas of DOOM Eternal, movement is key and staying still is death. Double-jumping, dashing, climbing and swinging through the air, Doomguy treats the devastated Earth and the plains of Hell as his own personal playground! The developers compared the movement in Eternal to flying a fighter jet, constantly dashing and weaving through enemies and their attacks - the demons can’t hit what they can’t see. The new Meathook attachment to your trusty Super Shotgun allows you to zip across the battleground, latching onto some poor demon on the other side of the fight and pulling yourself towards it to deliver a face-full of buckshot. Eternal features a higher emphasis on platforming compared to previous DOOM entries, with many levels consisting of winding obstacle courses with combat encounters in-between all the jumping and climbing. Staying on the move as you blast through demons gives a huge adrenaline rush, feeling almost desperately aggressive as one mis-timed dash could be the difference between the demon’s death and your own.

   Now that we’re up to speed on some of the best movement systems in games, which is your favourite? Got any other games that would fit the list? Let me know! Feedback, reblogs and likes are all much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher