Legacy Server Iteration

Achilles

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I need to preface this by saying this is not an actual suggestion and not something I'm trying to say nebulous should actually do but it's something that crossed my mind.

There is a history of both game companies and Garry's Mod servers doing re-releases of previous iterations of their servers for a myriad of different reasons (WoW Classic and SWFO come to mind). I had a discussion with a friend of mine the other day, both of us having been Lemonpunch/Neb players since the days of Clockwork, and we had quite the time talking it over.

Imagine if you woke up to find that your favorite previous version of the server (be that the Clockwork Iteration or IX:1 timeline) was up again. There's several different schools of thought regarding how well or how poorly they would play out. Nostalgia is a hot ticket commodity across any medium for sure, but I believe it to be something that struggles to stick long-term, meaning that the practicality of success is there, but all be it temporary. This was present in the case of not just SWFO, but several other servers that tried to go back to that 'early day' feeling.

You also have to consider that a majority of what made earlier iterations of the server what they were are less so mechanical/development wise (like you see with WoW classic) and more so player culture/philosophy oriented. Things like server/faction policy and roleplay structure which are not hardwired into any particular iteration and are capable of coming back in any future iteration, but are pushed aside for new takes and creative visions.

This point of my discussion with my friend caused us to shift our focus, "If it isn't a technical concept causing people to look to previous iterations with desire, what are the specifics that would draw someone to such?" Of course, there was just generic nostalgia, but I wanted to try to find the specifics, because I knew that they were there, but they were also different for a variety of reasons. I might add onto this post to share my own specifics but I wanted to hear about yours, what was your favorite iteration and what specifically makes you wish you could go back to it?
 
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Chezburger

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I deleted all neb clockwork repos when helix launched
images
 

Bio Junior

Nucleus
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I deleted all neb clockwork repos when helix launched
Damn. Despite CW's flaws, it was a damn good framework while it lasted, good memories made with it, as well as with it's bugs hahaha
 

alex

I do things.
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I always felt like way clockwork would run so poorly and clunkily added to the experience of HL2RP
Unironically when Helix was first released, I spent far too long asking people why they claimed it felt "less serious"; after talking to like 60 people, it came down to having lower FPS.
 
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abcdefg

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Unironically when Helix was first released, I spent far too long asking people why they claimed it felt "less serious"; after talking to like 60 people, it came down to having lower FPS.
Probably more down to nostalgia than anything. Memories play back better at a cozy cinematic 15fps
 

MaXenzie

Sexually attracted to robots
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To me, things felt heavy.

From the scripts, to the characters, everything had weight to it. Quite strange.

this is effectively horror game design

if you look at a modern RPG game where picking up an object is just pressing E and then it instantly goes into your inventory and auto-sorts, you immediately stop thinking about that object. it doesn't exist to you anymore

if you're playing Amnesia the Dark Descent and want to carry something, you physically have to drag it across the floor with your cursor, and if you move too fast you risk it slipping out of your grip and THUDDING against the floor. you think about that item far more because it takes more work to interact with it

if you've ever seen discussions about why Silent Hill 2's clunkiness, bad controls, and weird camera angles are good things, this is basically where that idea stems from; making you have to work more to get things done, which invests you more in what's happening
 
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Antloin

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To me, things felt heavy.

From the scripts, to the characters, everything had weight to it. Quite strange.
- CW's font with an apocalyptic theme to it
- Old GMod UI
- UI sounds + tons of sounds when interacting with things
- Pickup animation
 

hewrrra

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Probably more down to nostalgia than anything. Memories play back better at a cozy cinematic 15fps
i doubt fps have to do with anything, it was the bleak design of the UI, the dark colours, sounds and the font. even looking back now, i feel like helix was way too 'arcade-y' for my own liking due to the amount of bright colours and the blocky font
 
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