Q&A: March 23rd, 2022

Dominik Jaworski Asks
There are some meme pics out there comparing a Doom/quake level to a Call of Duty campaign level. Basically to show that level design has declined level (or perhaps just map design). Do you believe that level design has, on the whole, gotten worse?

I'd say it's changed.

What I think a lot of people forget is how many people wouldn't finish levels of older games. I distinctly remember being a dumb kid, and not like Half Life 2, because it had a couple sections where you had to explore or solve a puzzle to move forward.

That's just me being a dumb kid?

Alright.

How about levels in DOOM where you'd have to spam the use key on multiple walls to find what opens? The chunks of levels in Tactical Shooters that no player ever set foot on? The relentless padding of bad stages in games like Thief: The Dark Project.

I think when people look back at the level design of games like this, they're thinking in the mindset of an experienced player who is still discovering new ways to tackle a stage they've played several times. That's awesome, and I do miss that myself in a lot of modern games, but that's not the normal player.

Most will only play a level once, and never touch it again after completion.

What I think matters is how much it fits the game. Call of Duty 4's campaign I don't think is crying for more open ended stages, Thief 4 on the other hand...

OzarkTempses Asks
What's your perspective on people who spend more time modding their games than playing them?

I'd rather manias have the freedom to do that, instead of being disallowed, and spreading their insanity out onto the public in person.

Nathan Tellent Asks
Can you recommend any good racing games? I'm looking for either something with really smooth snappy drift controls like Burnout or something like Blur but actually populated.

It's strange, we're in a bizarre situation where Sim Racing has more options than Arcade Racers. The best one I've played in a while is Need for Speed Heat, it starts slow, but once you get your car rating to 200ish, the driving's great, it looks magnificent, and the cop chases are genuinely tense.

However, in terms of something that's populated in multiplayer?

...I think Mario Kart is really the only option.

There was a bump in players from NFS: Hot Pursuit (2010) Remastered, but I have no idea if that's still the case.

In other words... WRECKFEST.

Buy Wreckfest.

You'll love it, and it has players...

Juhana Asks
Why do you spy on your patrons? Are you the Government?

It's fun to laugh at John.

Jorge Asks
Any interest in GT7?

Definitely, but I am disappointed to see they really bumped the prices of cars. People were looking forward to going through Gran Turismo's progression again, and it seems Polyphony or Sony decided to abuse that by raising some car prices by 18x.

RupertLitterBin Asks
What are your thoughts on the greatest movie ever ‘In Time’?

I want to recreate that movie's car flip in a Shambles race.

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