http://plover.net/~bonds/darkforces.html

This guy has some interesting ideas, and I thought I'd share the link after I stumbled across his site for unrelated reasons (he writes other thoughtful, fascinating and well written articles as well, not just about games).

TL;DR please

The article itself isn't altogether that fascinating. Rather I would say it's existence is. He seems like a really smart guy and writes quite well. Poking around his opinions page feels a little like checking out the DVD box-set of Jon`C erudition, with all the appropriate ingredients of computer science, academia, and anti-ruling class smack-down.

When I saw that he was also impressed by DF (and JK, if you look at the bottom of the page I linked to), I began to wonder, just who is this Stephen Bond? And why doesn't he post here??

why would a truly smart person hang around on here?

Come now, it's possible to be smart and still waste a lot of time on the internet!

Unless your definition of 'truly smart' entails a sort of enlightenment or personal importance which necessarily precludes the person from wasting any precious moment which could have been devoted to research or what not.

I thought it was rather interesting, but it's definitely a relic. OMFG moving elevator puzzles have re-defined what it means to GAME!

Also, level 6 was always my least favorite level in the game. I would rather play any single other one. Wasn't too fond of 5, either. As a kid those phase 1s were scary as ****.

Hmm, I remember hating level 3, since I suppose I was too dumb to figure out the puzzles. I remember going in endless circles, and eventually figured it out by luck and brute force.

And yeah, the phase 1s were pretty scary, especially when you had to fight them in the dark (was that level 5? the red one?).

The phase 1 dark troopers had a creepy sound. Also, the kid down the street from me was genuinely afraid of the 'Howie scream' that Kyle made when you jump off a cliff.

Actually, I remember feeling pretty accomplished when I beat the game. I don't remember how old I was, but it was a significant challenge for me.

Hey look, first worthwhile thread here in ages.

Nice read, definitely on-par with this one on Shadows of the Empire.

Hey FGR, I've been meaning to thank you for posting that Monty Python skit. It really resonated with me. Thanks.

i was ****ing terrified of the phase 1 dark troopers in dark forces, and would freak out any time i fought them. the ice level where you fight one in a dark pipe thing was nope-tier for a child

Thanks. I also felt pretty accomplished when I finally beat Dark Forces from the beginning to the end without cheating. In 2009. I don't remember how old I was, but it was a significant challenge for me.

And speaking of Dark Forces, here's what happens many years after you've made a successful for level pack for Dark Forces.

i made a level with 2 boxes connected with a box with no ****ed up textures in DF. i was proud

Interesting question. I don't claim to fall into that category as per whatever your definition might be, but personally I have two main reasons for still coming here. One is because I have for so long and we're still around, and the other is the presence and continued activity of several people who are smarter than me.

I'm only going to leave once someone makes and releases the ultimate TODOA KILLER.

Planet Sith 4, I'm looking at you.

Don't know if this is the guy, but there was a prolific Quake modder named Steve Bond who went on to work for Valve.

Stephen Bond is also my dad, but this article was definitely not written by him.

Tracer, when are you going to fulfill your duties as a Massassian and play through both TODOA and DXN?

When I get a computer powerful enough to run them.

Ps just read the article he spelled crux madine wrong wtf mate

Nerdfail

While that article has some nice points, it's actually getting more and more pretentious every time I read it.

Where did you find this guy, o' Reverend?

Yeah, I noticed that too. He even included a screencap that showed the correct spelling.

He also says that he hates Star Wars and George Lucas.

He's kinda like a reverse Mattias Welander.

Somebody on Scott Aaronson's blog linked to to an article of his about Bayes' theorem.

http://plover.net/~bonds/cultofbayes.html

From there I read his views on positivism, cloaked in an article about prolog:

http://plover.net/~bonds/positivism.html

It's all highly polemical, often quite bizarre, pretentious (in the best way possible), and true in too many places to ignore.

(sounds like someone from massassi)

That settles it. Mattias Welander got into an accident (what kind, none can tell) after which he was rebuilt as a Irish expatriate to Belgium. Instead of hating on America (while loving Star Wars), he decided to turn his battlecruisers (from 3000 A.D.) against Injustice™ and Doom Games (while hating Star Wars).

And if that didn't convince you, well, way to quid pro quo a coupe la fromage ad infinitum unum rectum.

Did I just get cussed out in Latin??

Well, that was more of a reference to Boris Johnson's propensity for using random Latin phrases in his arguments.

But for what it's worth... crack a window, will ya?

Crack all the windows!