TheOnlyGuyEver

Want us to unpack that for you, or have you figured it out already? 

College is over and I'm graduating.
 
 
Now entering: Hell.

As someone who has been admining a league for a left 4 ded game, Left 4 Dead 2, it's sad that I was able to make a breakthrough that people have wished for for 10 years so late in its life cycle.
 
For the last 14 years, people operated under the assumption that you couldn't create custom ladders using a tool called "Stripper:Source", a serverside plugin that allows for the modification of props and entities on source game maps without actually editing the maps themselves in hammer (like for say, adding a barricade in the middle of dust2, Dustbowl, or adding a new weapon spawn to No Mercy). Ladders are most integral to Left 4 Dead 2 of any source game as its the Special Infecteds' main source of vertical movement in versus mode, and people just thought ladders were impossible to create using Stripper. I saw someone else found out a super omega convoluted way to create custom ladders using l4d2's vscript system, but that was unfeasible and wouldn't work on dedicated servers, making it useless. 
 
However, it inspired me to look into making custom ladders using Stripper, which is something that years of threads have said "it's not possible".
 
As a meme, I did map edits to a custom campaign called Left 4 Mario to add some extra blocks in versus mode. While looking through its entire list of entities I noticed that the ladders themselves are entities, but I didn't pay much mind to them, as their model names were "*number" (with "number" being a number starting from 1 and going up to the entity number it is). I found that one of the blocks on left mario had a model name of "*78", so I tried creating a new prop with the filepath of just "*78" and it worked. A week later, I saw that guy I mentioned earlier say that you could potentially get custom ladders using Stripper, so I tried my hand at it.
 
It took me 10 minutes and I made a custom ladder. The convoluted thing with them is that there's no documentation on the func_simpleladder entity on the valve developer wiki, and that you can only clone ladders that exist within a map, much like how I did with those blocks on Left 4 Mario. The other caveat is that their "origin" is not the true map origin, but rather how many units away from the original ladder the cloned ladder should be.
 
It's such a shame that I only found this out within the last two months, since it's something that would've been a HUGE help to the competitive left 4 dead 2 scene, and now it's going to be largely underused. It also goes to show that you shouldn't just listen to people online if they say something isn't possible.

Fucking sick. All the new additions look really useful, and I'm excited to see how P-blocks, which are essentially a entire second set of blocks  affected by P-switches, are gonna be used.
 
The Link powerup looks fucking awesome, holy shit, that's like the best powerup in the game. SMB1 Link Kaizo is gonna be fucked. I hope they give the other original styles their missing powerups soon though, SMB1 has and still is riding ahead of them.

Alright, I'm at my new house and everything is moved in now, I just have to unpack more stuff tomorrow. But boy, who knew uprooting your whole existence could be so much work? The house itself is nice though and the sun moves in a way across it that I'm really pleased with. This is actually the first time I've lived outside my hometown; this new town is like 30-40 minutes away for there. I also attended my neighbor's funeral earlier in the day before I moved, so I got to say hi and goodbye to all the familiar faces of the area one more time before I moved. This place isn't completely unknown to me cause my aunt and uncle live around here, but I don't exactly know the area. This house is near the historic downtown, and I've been there before, and it's pretty neat, with plenty of stuff to do. The thing I'm most bummed out about though is that hanging out with my brother won't be as easy as "hey wanna come over?" anymore. But, there is apparently a station nearby for the Sunrail, which is one of Florida's only two major public transit railways (I think the other one is around Miami), so maybe that could be useful if we wanted to hang out.

I just found out that one of the people I sit directly next to in one of my classes is a famous Runescape player also known for being a massive asshole and is currently causing drama in classroom chats for no particular reason.  I am now currently questioning my perspective skills since I'm apparently the one person who didn't know about this guy in the building.

October 29 2021
Team Fortress hasn't been updated for years.
Valve didn't even turn on the Halloween update in 2020
No updates to the blog
Localization files haven't even been updated
Suddenly Gabe posts an announcement on the front page of Steam
The Heavy Update is finally here!
Click on the link
Don't get sent to the TF2 page
Get sent to the Artifact Page
"That's right, after all these years Heavy is finally a playable hero card in Artifact!"

Given the status of TF2 updates, I would gladly accept this at this point.
 
Also nice profile picture.

My dog wandered off yesterday but I found her today. She's here at home now 

My dog wandered off yesterday but I found her today. She's here at home now 

My dog wandered off yesterday but I found her today. She's here at home now 

动态网自由门 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Free Unusuals 六四天安門事件 The Gravel War of 1968 天安門大屠殺 The Conga Massacre 反右派鬥爭 The Anti-Random Crit Struggle 大躍進政策 Source 2 Port 文化大革命 Optimization 人權 Heavy Update 民運 Community Servers 自由Competitive Weapon Whitelist 獨立 Community Made Updates 多黨制 r_lod 0 台灣 臺灣 Gravel Pit  Teufort 中華民國 Lt. Dan's Soup and Ribs 西藏 土伯特 唐古特 Phlog 達賴喇嘛 Administrator 法輪功 ELO Ranking System 新疆維吾爾自治區 Lead Poisoned Sub-Morons 諾貝爾和平獎 Gentlemann's Service Medal 劉暁波 Ms. Pauling 民主 言論 思想 反共 反革命 抗議 運動 騷亂 暴亂 騷擾 擾亂 抗暴 平反 維權 示威游行 李洪志 法輪大法 大法弟子 強制斷種 強制堕胎 民族淨化 人體實驗 肅清 胡耀邦 趙紫陽 魏京生 王丹 還政於民 和平演變 激流中國 北京之春 大紀元時報 九評論共産黨 獨裁 專制 壓制 統一 監視 鎮壓 迫害 侵略 掠奪 破壞 拷問 屠殺 活摘器官 誘拐 買賣人口 遊進 走私 毒品 賣淫 春畫 賭博 六合彩 天安門 天安门 法輪功 李洪志 Balloonicorn 劉曉波动态网自由门

I've been playing around with this game idea I've been having recently. It's a DKC-inspired 2D platformer and the main movement mechanics would be running and jumping of course, but also a slide which behaves similarly to DKC rolls, as well as walljumping. It's all just in my head for now, but I decided to spend the past couple weeks drawing some enemies; please note that they are not drawn to scale with each other. This is gonna be a long one- hope you like reference poses!
 
Knight:

Basic baddie who walks to and fro. A single jump or slide will defeat them.
 
Might:

A big round baddie who walks in a strut. He bounces the player off if they attempt to slide into him, following with a hearty laugh. During the laugh, a second slide into the him will catch him off guard and defeat him. You can also jump on his head to force him to turtle up into his armor for a moment, sliding him back.
 
Mightier:

A tougher variant of Might that cannot be defeated by sliding into him during the laugh. The only way to defeat a Mightier is to bounce on his head repeatedly, sliding him back into a pit or hazard.
 
Height:

 Knights equipped with springy shoes that allow them to jump high. They have many path variations, like jumping in place or along a set path, or doing a number of small jumps and then a big one.
 
Flight:

Knights that don helipacks to maintain flight. Like Heights, they have many path variations. A jump on them will destroy their helipack, causing them to activate their parachutes and to slowly descend. Another jump will defeat them, though if they reach the ground, they'll deactivate their parachutes and act like normal Knights. Sliding into a Flight will defeat it instantly. Parachuting Flights may appear in levels outright.
 
Helipack Orthographic Projection:

Busted out my old AutoCAD skills for this one. I imagine you'd tilt the stick to control direction, while the buttons would control height, with one being up and one being down. Once deactivated, the handles would retreat back into the sides, while the blades would fold up and the pole would retreat down into the top. Maybe I put a bit too much thought into the workings of this thing, but the one thing I didn't think of was how it sticks to your back! Lets just go with magnets.
 
Overlay:

The orthographic overlaid with the enemy reference. It disregards perspective, but you get the idea.
 
Bite:

A leaping lunatic with a chomping knight helmet. They take a track stance and then lunge at the player head-first, attempting to bite them. If they miss, they'll fall to the floor, take a moment to recover, and then resume their stance and lunge again.
 
Bight:

An aquatic version of the Bite, with its jaws more resembling a squid's sharp beak. Underwater they move in a silly squid-like fashion with their arms and legs, and corkscrew forward to bite the player. Also has a variant that leaps out of water to attempt to bite the player on land or in air. If a Bight leaps onto the land, it will not act like a Bite, rather, it will just flop off the side of the play area.
 
Airtight:

Mysterious aquatic knights that wield a trident. There are two variants: ones that swim along a set path, and ones that pursue the player.
 
Ignite:

I'm actually a bit hung-up on how exactly these guys should function, so I have two versions here:
 
VER1. A combustable combatant with a short fuse. Equipped with a bomb-helmet, they'll frantically chase the player as their fuse shortens, attempting to blow up on them. Any contact (save for a jump, which will defeat them) with an Ignite will cause them to detonate, instantly killing the player. In addition to exploding upon contact, they will also explode once their fuse runs out. Once detonated, they do a cartoon "explosion in my face" animation and flop off the side of the play area.
 
VER2. A combustable combatant with a short fuse. Equipped with a bomb-helmet, they'll frantically chase the player as their fuse shortens, attempting to blow up on them. They cannot be defeated by sliding on account of the large shield plate on their chests, but for that same reason, they do not harm the player on contact, and instead only bump the player around. In addition to waiting out the fuse, they can also be defeated with a jump on the head. Once detonated, they do a cartoon "explosion in my face" animation and flop off the side of the play area.
--------------------------------------
CREATIVE NOTE: While running, their legs move in a cartoony blurry circular fashion, with a fast car noise playing. When they skid to turn around, a tire squeal sound is played.
 
Subnite:

An aquatic version of Ignite, with his helmet fashioned after a naval mine (and the fuse hence replaced with a chainlink). They swim after the player in quick bursts once they come within a certain range; any physical contact will detonate them and kill the player. You simply have to run away from them and avoid them, much like actual naval mines.
 
Fright:

Skittish enemies that pop out of the ground when the player gets near, proceeding to chase them. They cannot be harmed until they come out from their hiding spots, and their heads can actually be stood on, on account of the ground that sits on them, meaning that a jump will not defeat them. Their color palette changes to match the ground that they appear from.
 
Palette Change Example:

In this case, he's been hiding in dirt ground under a bush.
 
Sight:

A sharpshooting knight wielding a musket. They track the player's movement and fire periodically, making sure to keep the player on the move. Upon the player reaching a close enough distance, they will throw their guns up in fear and assume a cowardly bunched-up position with their hats pulled over their heads, and can be defeated safely.
 
Cannons:

Stationary cannons that fire periodically on a set path. The cannonballs move fast, but can be jumped on, though not slid into. There is however a variant that fires spiked cannonballs, which cannot be jumped on nor slid into.
 
Lord Valor:

These are more reposts than anything, because you've no doubt seen him around here before. The villain, the big boss, the head honcho. Is good-intentioned, but prideful and stubborn to a point of blindness. He likes to wear various costumes depending on the occasion; you've seen these before too:
 
Captain Valor:

My favorite of the costumes by far; the hat and collar look sick and the way the coat flares at the end because of the belt is cool. Very form-fitting coat, it is.
 
Big Baron Valor:

You may notice that Flight's outfit is borrowed directly from this drawing, which was done way before these enemies were even conceived. Anyhow, I really like the way the coat accentuates his barrel-chested-ness
 
Lord Valor the Dynamite King:

I love this one just because of how goofy the leotard looks stretched over his armor. It's completely intentional.

I've been playing around with this game idea I've been having recently. It's a DKC-inspired 2D platformer and the main movement mechanics would be running and jumping of course, but also a slide which behaves similarly to DKC rolls, as well as walljumping. It's all just in my head for now, but I decided to spend the past couple weeks drawing some enemies; please note that they are not drawn to scale with each other. This is gonna be a long one- hope you like reference poses!
 
Knight:

Basic baddie who walks to and fro. A single jump or slide will defeat them.
 
Might:

A big round baddie who walks in a strut. He bounces the player off if they attempt to slide into him, following with a hearty laugh. During the laugh, a second slide into the him will catch him off guard and defeat him. You can also jump on his head to force him to turtle up into his armor for a moment, sliding him back.
 
Mightier:

A tougher variant of Might that cannot be defeated by sliding into him during the laugh. The only way to defeat a Mightier is to bounce on his head repeatedly, sliding him back into a pit or hazard.
 
Height:

 Knights equipped with springy shoes that allow them to jump high. They have many path variations, like jumping in place or along a set path, or doing a number of small jumps and then a big one.
 
Flight:

Knights that don helipacks to maintain flight. Like Heights, they have many path variations. A jump on them will destroy their helipack, causing them to activate their parachutes and to slowly descend. Another jump will defeat them, though if they reach the ground, they'll deactivate their parachutes and act like normal Knights. Sliding into a Flight will defeat it instantly. Parachuting Flights may appear in levels outright.
 
Helipack Orthographic Projection:

Busted out my old AutoCAD skills for this one. I imagine you'd tilt the stick to control direction, while the buttons would control height, with one being up and one being down. Once deactivated, the handles would retreat back into the sides, while the blades would fold up and the pole would retreat down into the top. Maybe I put a bit too much thought into the workings of this thing, but the one thing I didn't think of was how it sticks to your back! Lets just go with magnets.
 
Overlay:

The orthographic overlaid with the enemy reference. It disregards perspective, but you get the idea.
 
Bite:

A leaping lunatic with a chomping knight helmet. They take a track stance and then lunge at the player head-first, attempting to bite them. If they miss, they'll fall to the floor, take a moment to recover, and then resume their stance and lunge again.
 
Bight:

An aquatic version of the Bite, with its jaws more resembling a squid's sharp beak. Underwater they move in a silly squid-like fashion with their arms and legs, and corkscrew forward to bite the player. Also has a variant that leaps out of water to attempt to bite the player on land or in air. If a Bight leaps onto the land, it will not act like a Bite, rather, it will just flop off the side of the play area.
 
Airtight:

Mysterious aquatic knights that wield a trident. There are two variants: ones that swim along a set path, and ones that pursue the player.
 
Ignite:

I'm actually a bit hung-up on how exactly these guys should function, so I have two versions here:
 
VER1. A combustable combatant with a short fuse. Equipped with a bomb-helmet, they'll frantically chase the player as their fuse shortens, attempting to blow up on them. Any contact (save for a jump, which will defeat them) with an Ignite will cause them to detonate, instantly killing the player. In addition to exploding upon contact, they will also explode once their fuse runs out. Once detonated, they do a cartoon "explosion in my face" animation and flop off the side of the play area.
 
VER2. A combustable combatant with a short fuse. Equipped with a bomb-helmet, they'll frantically chase the player as their fuse shortens, attempting to blow up on them. They cannot be defeated by sliding on account of the large shield plate on their chests, but for that same reason, they do not harm the player on contact, and instead only bump the player around. In addition to waiting out the fuse, they can also be defeated with a jump on the head. Once detonated, they do a cartoon "explosion in my face" animation and flop off the side of the play area.
--------------------------------------
CREATIVE NOTE: While running, their legs move in a cartoony blurry circular fashion, with a fast car noise playing. When they skid to turn around, a tire squeal sound is played.
 
Subnite:

An aquatic version of Ignite, with his helmet fashioned after a naval mine (and the fuse hence replaced with a chainlink). They swim after the player in quick bursts once they come within a certain range; any physical contact will detonate them and kill the player. You simply have to run away from them and avoid them, much like actual naval mines.
 
Fright:

Skittish enemies that pop out of the ground when the player gets near, proceeding to chase them. They cannot be harmed until they come out from their hiding spots, and their heads can actually be stood on, on account of the ground that sits on them, meaning that a jump will not defeat them. Their color palette changes to match the ground that they appear from.
 
Palette Change Example:

In this case, he's been hiding in dirt ground under a bush.
 
Sight:

A sharpshooting knight wielding a musket. They track the player's movement and fire periodically, making sure to keep the player on the move. Upon the player reaching a close enough distance, they will throw their guns up in fear and assume a cowardly bunched-up position with their hats pulled over their heads, and can be defeated safely.
 
Cannons:

Stationary cannons that fire periodically on a set path. The cannonballs move fast, but can be jumped on, though not slid into. There is however a variant that fires spiked cannonballs, which cannot be jumped on nor slid into.
 
Lord Valor:

These are more reposts than anything, because you've no doubt seen him around here before. The villain, the big boss, the head honcho. Is good-intentioned, but prideful and stubborn to a point of blindness. He likes to wear various costumes depending on the occasion; you've seen these before too:
 
Captain Valor:

My favorite of the costumes by far; the hat and collar look sick and the way the coat flares at the end because of the belt is cool. Very form-fitting coat, it is.
 
Big Baron Valor:

You may notice that Flight's outfit is borrowed directly from this drawing, which was done way before these enemies were even conceived. Anyhow, I really like the way the coat accentuates his barrel-chested-ness
 
Lord Valor the Dynamite King:

I love this one just because of how goofy the leotard looks stretched over his armor. It's completely intentional.

You see Dr. Ben Dover too?

This is probably the fakest image I've ever seen:

 
But it's real.

I'm glad we all agree that infinite scrolling is fucking awful.

Big fan

Before I went down my current career path, I considered working in some computer field.  I have a degree in CS where I wanted to focus on theoretical algorithm design/analysis, but those classes were always canceled due to low demand.  To finish the degree I had to take courses aimed at web design and database/systems management.
 
The classes I took all stressed usability, stability, and efficiency.  They weren't against having fancy aesthetics or trying new things, but there was a huge stress on having things be easy to use for most application.  A lot of the analysis for web pages was stuff like seeing how long the most common applications take, and if its even a couple of minutes that's too long.  For example, for a university webpage you should consider things like:
A visitor wanting to come to campus (who wants to find maps and information about the university. A prospective student who wants to know about your programs and wants to apply. A prospective employee who wants to find your HR page and job applications. A current student who needs information about classes or other important university functions. A business contact who just needs your address and phone numbers/e-mails for important members of administration. The idea was that any of these five people should be able to find what they are looking for within at most two minutes, with the information either being on the front page or being on obvious page linked from there.
 
Go to any university webpage and see if you can do this for all five applications.  I've never found a university webpage where it is possible.  Usually at least one application is straightforward (most commonly information for prospective students.)  It's almost never possible to find where to apply for a job in less than ten minutes, and sometimes even finding a campus map is a nightmare.
 
Seeing how far away the (pretty sensible) theory was from the (idiotic) practice was enough to chase me away from wanting to work in the computer industry.  Especially after I heard the explanations for why sites are designed this way from members of management.  (You hear things like "we have a search engine, so why should it matter how easy it is to find anything?", "we don't need maps because people can look that stuff up on their phones anyway,"  "we need the site to look new so that people think we're innovative; if we wait to get everything properly tested we'll be too far behind what is popular," or my favorite "sure maybe that works but people have been doing that for years.")

I'm glad we all agree that infinite scrolling is fucking awful.

I'm glad we all agree that infinite scrolling is fucking awful.

Big fan

There's been a lot of Half-Life 1 videos lately:
 
 

Big fan

I actually feel this when I dream, but with locations instead. I really cant tell if I had a dream about this particular house (that I never went) like 4 times, or I had one long dream that gave me a permanent sense of deja vu about that location.