in Half-Life, improv

In Half-Life’s improv scene, anyone can speak for Gordon Freeman, Ars Technica

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In Half-Life’s improv scene, anyone can speak for Gordon Freeman, Ars Technica

      It’s all an act –

             

How a new generation of actors is creating a new kind of performance using games.

      

           Emily Rose         –

  

           

A MUD running in a telnet client. These were often free-to-play and easily ran on even the worst (connections prior to widespread broadband adoption.)
, then, strangely enough, the pastime started making the move to first-person shooters and real-time strategy games.

In these genres, many early server-based multiplayer titles offered plenty of downtime between skirmishes. Bored youths everywhere were happy to fill that time with vibrant interpretation of in-universe lore spun from their imaginations. It’s hard to trace the precise origins of this phenomenon, but it’s A MUD running in a telnet client. These were often free-to-play and easily ran on even the worst 56k connections prior to widespread broadband adoption. easy to
(find

first-hand accounts

of it in games like

Warcraft , Jedi Knight / Outcast ,

Life , and many others.

The veritable Cambrian explosion of modding communities online would eventually offer these player-actors as many or more means of self-expression as could be found in contemporary MMORPGs . With violent props, fantastical environments, and stockpiles of worldbuilding at their disposal, there was no limit to the kinds of stories late ‘ s and early ‘ s kids could unfold through a then-modern first-person shooter.

() (Enlarge) A very normal pizzeria. , Garry’s Mod would drastically change the scene. . The comprehensive
Half-Life customization tool enabled anyone who could afford the hosting fees (and had the scripting know-how) to assemble dynamic rulesets and enforce new gameplay mechanics that would foster more immersive storytelling: property ownership, electable public officials, emote systems , and a speech engine that limits your words to those within earshot, to cite just a few examples. Many readers likely have fond memories of late-night, absurdly hysterical antics found in these user-made role-playing add-ons.

by Ross Scott. Send in the streamers

Wayne’s version of Freeman tromps through the halls of Black Mesa with his cavalcade of fools, turning the entire self-serious narrative of Half-Life

on its head. Once regarded as an apex horror experience with few peers, Valve’s shooter masterpiece has now become a vehicle for the wackiest of memes and sublime comedic timing. Who knew Half-Life