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Topics - Azumarill

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1
Gaming / "Kojima Explains Death Stranding Gameplay and Lore"
« on: December 12, 2017, 09:20:48 PM »
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/12/11/kojima-explains-death-stranding-gameplay-and-lore

Note: not a ton of specific info but between this interview and the game awards trailer we do know a lot more now.

Quote
Hideo Kojima on what happens when your character dies, "Timefall," and that ubiquitous baby. BY MARTY SLIVA “I’m trying to make something different. How to show that, how to have people see that, that’s something I’m trying to figure out.”

As usual, Hideo Kojima was calm and collected as I spoke to him just hours after the newest look at Death Stranding at the 2017 Game Awards. I’ve spoken with him several times throughout the past few years, from the forging of his partnership with Sony and his decision to use the Decima Engine, to the opening of his new studio deep in the heart of Shinagawa. But this time, something different happened. This time, I walked away from my time with Kojima with some actual, tangible details about the gameplay mechanics, philosophy, and lore of Death Stranding.

Death is Only the Beginning

“Games started over 40 years ago with arcades. When the player dies, it’s game over. You continue, and time goes back to before you die. You can die as many times as you want, but you always go back to a little bit before you die. That was a mechanic made specifically for putting in coins, and it hasn’t changed since then.

As Kojima spoke of the way a vast majority of games treat the concepts of life, death, and mortality, it was clear that Death Stranding was aiming to eschew this tradition. “One of the themes of this game is life and death. So I want people to realize that when they die in the game, that isn’t the end.”

“ I want people to realize that when they die in the game, that isn’t the end.

Partway through the latest clip from Death Stranding, Sam (played by Norman Reedus) watches as an explosion engulfs the giant, Lovecraftian-kaiju that projects through the fog. Suddenly we see an upside-down world submerged in water, where Sam exists among the flotsam and jetsam of the universe around him.

From the sound of it, this is where Sam, and the player, go every time they die. But don’t make the mistake of calling this “game over.” When you die in Death Stranding, you’re transported to this purgatory, where you’re free to explore in first-person. Because of some mysterious “unique” abilities Sam possesses, you can wander outside of your body, recovering items among other things. As Kojima explains, “At that point, you’re not dead or alive. It’s the equivalent of that screen that says ‘Continue?’ and a counter ticking down towards zero.”

From what Kojima told us, here's how it sounds -- when you’re ready to return to the world of the living, you can get back into your body. However, unlike most games which set you back to a point before you died, Death Stranding acknowledges your defeat, and seems to even embrace it. You’re transported back to the world after your death -- like in Dark Souls or roguelikes -- where your actions maintain an aura of persistence. The mechanic of “dying” is ubiquitous in video games, but it sounds as though Kojima is implementing systems inspired by purgatory and reincarnation as well.

"So as you saw in the trailer, you saw the crater, and when you come back, it’s still there. Most games would’ve taken you back to before the crater was made. So depending on the player, you might have a lot of craters all over the place -- depends on each player."

“Death will never pull you out of the game,” Kojima firmly stated.

Timefall

In the most recent trailer, you might’ve noticed a mystical, unnerving rain that seems to have the ability to manipulate time. It makes plants grow and wilt the second a droplet hits them, and it makes a human body age and deteriorate in a matter of seconds. That rain, which is not of this world, is called “Timefall,” and it is an integral part of Death Stranding’s story and lore.

“ That rain, which is not of this world, is called “Timefall,” and it is an integral part of Death Stranding’s story and lore.

So how does this affect Norman Reedus’ Sam? As Kojima explains, “Most people in the game are aware of the rain -- and well, Norman is quite unique in this regard… I think I should stop there. I’m spilling the beans.” When we asked if this Timefall had anything to do with the recurring motif of Sam crying, Kojima joked, “…the tears…that’s really only because he’s sad right now.”

On Babies and Robots

One of the very first images we ever saw of Death Stranding back at E3 2016 was a naked Norman Reedus waking up on a beach filled with death, and cradling a baby in his arms. Babies have gone on to be a focal point in last year’s Mads Mikkelsen trailer, as well as this most recent one. We asked Kojima if, in fact, the baby that washed upon a shore, transported into a tube, and appeared inside Sam’s esophagus was one and the same. He confirmed that it was.

The baby relates to game mechanics as well as the story as a whole.

From the newest trailer, it seems like the baby is more than just a plot device. As Kojima explained, “The baby relates to game mechanics as well as the story as a whole.” It seemed like the shoulder-mounted robotic arms attached to Sam and his Corpse Disposal Team 6 pals sparked to life when that person came in possession of the baby.

And like the baby, it seems like the mechanical arm is going to play an integral part in Death Stranding. We asked Kojima if the robot had a name (of course it does) and if he would be willing to tell us the name now (of course he isn’t).

The Stick and The Rope, Revisited

Throughout his career, Kojima has cited the work of Japanese author Kobo Abe as aninfluence on his games, and Death Stranding is no exception. While discussing Death Stranding at E3 2016, Kojima referred to Abe’s The Man Who Turned into a Stick: “In this short story, Abe states that the first tool mankind created is a stick,” Kojima told IGN back at E3 2016. “He states that the stick is the first tool that mankind created to put distance between himself and bad things — to protect himself. He states that the second tool mankind created is a rope. A rope is a tool used to secure things that are important to you.

“Most of your tools in action games are sticks,” Kojima continued. “You punch or you shoot or you kick. The communication is always through these ‘sticks.’ In [Death Stranding], I want people to be connected not through sticks, but through what would be the equivalent of ropes… But of course you will be able to use the sticks too.”

“ That’s also one big part of the game I can’t talk too much about, but I definitely want to try something different for online.

Flash forward to PSX 2017, and we asked Kojima if the stick and rope allegory might pertain to multiplayer, especially given its presence in some of his past few games. “That’s also one big part of the game I can’t talk too much about, but I definitely want to try something different for online.”

Despite the fact that he’s focused 100% on the continued development of Death Stranding, that doesn’t mean he isn’t up to date with the latest controversies in the gaming sphere. “I think there are a lot of people out there who still enjoy single-player games, aside from some microtransactions,” he explained with a smile.

Kojima Hears Your Theories, and He Loves Them

Whenever new Death Stranding footage is released, every second immediately dissected by rabid fans hungry to glean any minute detail. And you know what? Kojima loves it.

“I think it’s fun, I really think it’s fun. It’s one of the unique things about games, that you can start having fun with people before you release the game. There are things I intentionally put there so that I can start this back and forth process with players, because I think it’s fun for everyone.”

“ There are things I intentionally put there so that I can start this back and forth process with players, because I think it’s fun for everyone.

“You can find bits, clues and information, once every five seconds or so. And by people pointing to these discussions and analysis, and with each trailer, there are also connections created there.” We asked him about a few of those theories and questions that have bubbled us since this week’s trailer, including whether the word “Porter” on Sam’s uniform is his last name, or his job. “There’s some truth to it, and there’s some part that isn’t necessarily true to it,” he responded in the exact way we expected.

For a more concrete answer, he explained that the newest trailer, which ran on the Decima Engine, is the earliest thing we’ve seen from the game chronologically. In fact, it occurs shortly after the game’s prologue, which would explain why Sam doesn’t have the pronounced C-section scar that was in the initial reveal trailer.

So Let’s Talk About 2017...

2017 was a tumultuous year for many reasons. But for Kojima and his team’s progress on Death Stranding, one of the major stings was the SAG-AFTRA strike. “Last year, SAG AFTRA went on strike, and we expected it to end really soon. The strike started in November last year, and just finished in October. We weren’t able to do any performance capture or voice over, so in that aspect, we were delayed.”

What made it worse was that his stellar cast were eager to get to work. “I also had a hard time because I had Norman and Mads texting me asking what we were doing and I’d say ‘There’s a strike, there’s nothing I can do about it!’” With the strike finally over, Kojima and his crew commenced full performance capture sessions last week.

“ We’re waiting for the right moment to show gameplay, but right now we’re on track with the project.

But that wasn’t all that troubled him this year. In a surprising moment of honesty and vulnerability, he explained how a rabid fanbase armed with the megaphone of social media can be a double-edged sword. “I’ve been reading a lot on the internet of people saying I’ve spent the last year just traveling around and having fun. A lot of people saying I’m wasting time and money. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.” It was clear that this weighed heavy on his shoulders. “We’re waiting for the right moment to show gameplay, but right now we’re on track with the project.”

So what has the team been doing this past year? Well, they've been making strides with the Decima Engine. As Kojima explains, "So, over this past year, we’ve been working on Decima. There are things we don’t know, we ask them, we make some requests. On our end, of course, we use the Decima engine very differently from the way they use it, especially when it comes to the cutscenes. So we make our own things there, and send it to them, show it to them, get their feedback. We are at that pace, currently."

Fans often bemoan the fact that we get a brief tease of Death Stranding, followed by months of radio silence. In typical internet fashion, the reaction can be extreme. Kojima isn’t immune to that. “There’s been a lot of stuff going on through this time, so it makes me pretty sad when people say ‘Oh, you’re just having fun and joking around and wasting money.’ You could ask so many people, but I really think that I’m doing this pretty fast. If you have a company, if you already have an engine, you already have the tools and the team together, and even then, it’s pretty standard for a AAA game to take three to five years to develop their games. For some games, it can take up to 10 years.”

The Long Road Ahead

2017 is sunsetting, and 2018 is almost upon us. Approaching the new year, Kojima seems confident in the progress being made on Death Stranding. The strike is over, mechanics and tangible details are starting to emerge, and with each new look at the game, fans of his vast library of work get more and more excited.

“ Everything makes sense. Everything will come together.

“A lot of people have been telling me, ‘You’re crazy like Stanley Kubrick...like David Lynch,’ and I’m honored, but these are all elements that play into the game design, and they do come together and they’re in line.”

As an auteur who’s been synonymous with PlayStation for the past 20 years, it’s impossible to pinpoint a single moment that defines Hideo Kojima. From breaking the fourth wall on the PS1, to providing one of the most impactful twists in our medium’s history on the PS2, to pushing the PS3 to its limits early in its lifecycle, to releasing an undisputed masterpiece on the PS4, Kojima is an artist who’s earned our trust in his method. So when asked about the public response to something as surreal and enigmatic as Death Stranding, Kojima is confident in his response.

“Everything makes sense. Everything will come together.”

2
The Flood / cross ange
« on: December 07, 2016, 01:43:13 PM »
have any of the other sep7 weebs watched the sunrise series cross ange? im four episodes in and not sure if i want to keep watching. i like the mech design and the dragons look cool and obviously fanservice is cool but the MC is insufferable and this show is entirely too rapey for my tastes so far. does it ever actually get good

3
The Flood / atlanta the tv show
« on: September 21, 2016, 06:43:18 PM »
anyone else been watching?

4
The Flood / the killing joke movie
« on: August 02, 2016, 12:40:10 PM »
i have a question for anyone in sep7 who has seen the killing joke. ive been holding off on seeing it, not for any particular reason mind you, but i want to know if the animation framerate in the film is as bad as it looked in the trailers

5
The Flood / tim kaine
« on: July 25, 2016, 07:14:14 PM »
was pretty hot when he was younger



that is all

6
The Flood / i have a question
« on: July 16, 2016, 05:28:49 PM »
why do chanfags like "studying" WWII so much

7
The Flood / american cheese
« on: June 02, 2016, 01:22:15 PM »
y/n

why/why not


my answer: shit like kraft singles are fucking gross but the american cheese tex mex places use for dip is p good.

8
Gaming / question for street fighter players
« on: June 01, 2016, 06:21:08 PM »
does the input command for shoryuken feel unnatural to you

why/why not

9
The Flood / plug.dj is back up
« on: May 31, 2016, 07:35:50 PM »
public FYI, i know lots of people here used to use plug even though the community was split between official server and noelle's.

10
The Flood / You're 8 Years Old
« on: May 26, 2016, 10:06:48 PM »

11
Gaming / A Case Study in Polling
« on: May 20, 2016, 08:46:09 AM »
K, some background/baseline knowledge for context. League of Legends ranked queue organizes people into 7 leagues. They are, from lowest to highest, Bronze->Silver->Gold->Platinum->Diamond->Master->Challenger. Bronze through Diamond are further stratified into 5 divisions, the lowest ranking within a league being division 5 and the highest rank being division 1.

http://www.leagueofgraphs.com/rankings/rank-distribution

Here, we see a pretty good representation of how many people sit in each individual ranking. Bronze plays host to about 1/3 of the population, or 33.4%. Silver as a whole hosts another 38%. Gold hosts 19%. We've already sorted out 91% of the playerbase, but let's keep going. Platinum hosts 7.5% of the population, and then it drops off drastically as Diamond hosts 2%, and the amount of Master/Challenger players is so low that it doesn't register as a meaningful percentile.

Sounds par for the course for competitive video games, we nearly always see bottlenecking like this. But poll results on the most popular League of Legends forum tell a different story. Here are some highlights.

What division are you in?


What division should you be in?


Why should you be, or why aren't you in that division?


Now, I'm no expert in maths, but something in those results seems a little off to me. Which brings me to my point, which is more of a question- what do you think contributes to the odd results here? Statistically speaking it should be extremely unlikely for a full 19% of the playerbase on the Reddit sub to be in Diamond+. Extend that to plat and apparently we have 45% of the playerbase on Reddit.

One possibility is that people don't take the poll seriously and just kind of answer whatever or answer that they're in a much higher division than they are to fuck with the results. Maybe they're just insecure liars. What are some other possibilities, Sep7agon? Do you guys have any insight into this?

12
The Flood / Roland of motherfucking Gilead
« on: May 17, 2016, 03:35:49 PM »

13
Gaming / when you walk away, you dont hear me say
« on: May 15, 2016, 03:54:00 PM »
YouTube


please, oh baby, dont go
simple and clean is the way that youre making me feel tonight
its hard to let it go

sep7 do u have a special emotional attachment to any older video games/video game ads/songs associated with video games

14
The Flood / tfw human too hard so am goat now
« on: May 14, 2016, 03:15:11 PM »
http://www.npr.org/2016/05/14/477964010/when-being-human-got-his-goat-this-designer-became-one

Quote
To be human is to worry about getting by, doing better, finding love and accepting the march of mortality. Thwaites decided to try to escape the burden of being human — and he would do it by becoming a goat.

"Human life can just be so difficult," he tells NPR's Scott Simon. "And you look at a goat and it's just, you know, it's free. It doesn't have any concerns."

a pretty goat idea if you ask me

15
Serious / Cruz's "major campaign announcement"- Fiorina ??
« on: April 27, 2016, 01:53:18 PM »
dont click on the link below im just putting it there for formality's sake and ill link their sources after the quote, which contains the entirety of the story

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/04/27/ted-cruz-to-announce-fiorina-as-vp.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page

Quote
Ted Cruz is set to announce former Hewlett-Packard CEO and failed presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his running mate should the GOP nominate him, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday. Fiorina endorsed Cruz on March 9 after withdrawing her own candidacy and has become a fixture on the Texan senator's campaign trail. She flew to Indiana, where Cruz is scheduled to speak, on Wednesday morning, fueling further speculation that she will be his selection.

https://twitter.com/JoshMcElveen/status/725350618773250049

the other source was also a twitter page and seems to have been deleted.

edit: grabbed a more credible source http://www.npr.org/2016/04/27/475894723/in-unprecedented-move-cruz-will-name-fiorina-as-his-vice-presidential-pick?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160427

16
The Flood / sausage party
« on: March 15, 2016, 01:29:38 PM »
YouTube


sausage party

17
The Flood / Godzilla 2016 (Toho) pics
« on: January 04, 2016, 05:21:55 PM »

18
The Flood / alternative humor
« on: December 20, 2015, 08:32:05 PM »
YouTube


do you like alternative humor

19
The Flood / h'yump
« on: December 11, 2015, 08:06:48 PM »


y'all best be tuning into the neon joe finale at midnight tonight on [as], h'yump sayin?

20
The Flood / beautiful world leaders
« on: November 22, 2015, 05:18:36 PM »
who are the most beautiful world leaders?

queen rania of jordan:
Spoiler

the royal couple of bhutan:
Spoiler

these beautiful leaders dont necessarily have to be contemporary. show me the eye candy!

21
The Flood / yogurt
« on: November 07, 2015, 07:56:16 PM »
do you like yogurt

do you prefer greek yogurt

whats your favorite yogurt flavor?

i like key lime pie, lemon meringue, and strawberry yogurt. not a big fan of most of the greek yogurts ive had but every once in a while i find a great cup of greek yogurt.

22
The Flood / Warcraft Trailer-Blizzcon 2015
« on: November 06, 2015, 01:49:21 PM »
YouTube



hype exceeding safe levels

23
The Flood / Dragons
« on: November 03, 2015, 06:44:03 PM »
dragons are fucking awesome. what are your favorite dragons from fiction? are there any dragons you think are complete fuckboys?


here are a few of my favorite:
Deathwing
Spoiler

Balerion the Black Dread
Spoiler

Hooktail
Spoiler




24
The Flood / just what is a peon?
« on: November 02, 2015, 12:00:00 AM »
YouTube


Orc Peons- the laborers of the Horde. Without them, the Horde war machine would fall flat on its face. Or its back, depending on how far it's leaning forward or back.

The point is, they're a necessary part of the Horde...but just what is a Peon? What demotes them to their physical labor? And why do they seem to be as intelligent as a common ogre?

Peons are obviously well built, despite being less than adequate for combat. All that labor doesn't go to waste for their buns and thighs. Peons also seem to be smart enough to follow instructions on assembling constructions, buildings, or weaponry. During the 3rd War, Peons were also called upon for last minute defenses in the Horde's burrows, showing that they appear to have some skill with either bows, or throwing javelins.

And yet they're cited as weak, unintelligent and, outside of the laborious tasks, useless.

I'm confused by the Peon's place in the Horde. They're an important part, taking up the physical labor needed to keep the Horde afloat. Yet their traits show them as equal or superior to some of the grunts around them. Is it mere fear of combat that drives Peons to their station? Is there a common birth defect among Green Orcs that causes lack of brain function? Or is it some kind of political system that decides who works, who fights and who does whatever else?

So, just what is a Peon?

25
The Flood / jurassic world
« on: October 27, 2015, 12:35:26 AM »
why was it worse than sharknado

26
Serious / Heightism
« on: October 25, 2015, 06:51:00 PM »
Heightism is prejudice or discrimination against someone based on their height.

Sep7agon, have you experienced heightism in your life? Do you believe there is a "heightist" culture in the first world, one in which short people (especially short men) are at a social disadvantage because of their height? Do you think it's a crock of shit and there's not enough empirical evidence to support the idea that certain first world cultures have a vendetta against short people?

27
Serious / Ben Carson on Marketplace- Interview with Kai Ryssdal
« on: October 07, 2015, 11:50:13 PM »
On October 7, 2015, Ben Carson sat down with Kai Ryssdal on his American Public Media radio show Marketplace. This was a long form interview that took about 30 minutes- luckily, they have a transcript of the exchange on their website, so those of us who would rather read may do so.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/elections/full-interview-dr-ben-carson-economy

28
The Flood / lets share some desktop backgrounds ITT
« on: October 07, 2015, 09:33:32 PM »
alright folks its that time again. lets share some cool desktop wallpapers with each other and mix our shit up a bit. ill kick things off

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

29
Gaming / sep7agon mario party
« on: August 25, 2015, 12:18:52 AM »
who, in your opinion, would be the best people in sep7 to play mario party with

id pick verb, lemon, and deci

30
The Flood / movies like john wick/drive
« on: August 13, 2015, 03:23:04 AM »
So I watched Drive and John Wick for the first time today, and I gotta say, I absolutely loved both movies. Fantastically stylish and moody with great soundtracks. Does anyone have any recommendations based on these two movies? I'm planning on checking out some old John Woo stuff but I need more. Much more.

YouTube


YouTube

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