Author: aabicus

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Differentiating Maps Through Gameplay, part 2

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Previously I used Left 4 Dead 2 to showcase “thematic gameplay“, a development philosophy whereby each map in the game gets a subtle tweak to the core gameplay loop to make it feel different from the rest the game has to offer. Payday the Heist is actually another masterclass in this philosophy, so to reinforce my point I thought I’d discuss how a second title used thematic gameplay to create very memorable and distinguishable heists. 1. First World Bank First World Bank doesn’t really have any gimmicks, as it’s setting the baseline for the rest of the game. One after… [Continue Reading]

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The Sticky Jumper: Looking Back

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Every September 16th, The Daily SPUF honors Jump Day, a memorial holiday celebrating the pre-nerf Sticky Jumper which was cruelly taken from us in 2013. Last year’s Jump Day was a poignant milestone as it was our sixth, meaning we’d had one for every sticky that Valve deleted from the clip. This time next year, we’ll hit a nice round eight and the entire clip will be accounted for. Older articles have discussed why the nerf was unwarranted, unneeded and ineffective at solving the actual balance problems that TF2 suffered from back in the day. This one instead wants to… [Continue Reading]

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The Best (Upcoming) Mega Evolutions in Pokemon GO

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Mega evolutions have finally (to an extremely limited degree) come out! While people aren’t super happy with the execution right now, I’m confident they’ll become more practical and available over time. That’s Niantic’s tried-and-true strategy; bait the whales by releasing new content with incredibly low odds and high barriers to acquisition, then make it more common once they’ve made all their early money and nobody cares anymore. So this article is looking to the future; now that we know how Mega Evolutions work, which ones are worth looking out for when they inevitably enter the game? Here’s my shortlist: 1.… [Continue Reading]

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Payday 2: On Perk Decks

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I wanted to write a quick article about perk decks in Payday 2, because I find them pretty fascinating as a concept. Not the fact that they exist (they’re identical in function to the level-up trees from Payday the Heist) but that they exist in conjunction to the standard character classes, each of which has a ton of random abilities and playstyles with different weapons, equippables, armors, and concealment levels. As someone who loves game design, I’ve spent way more time than I should trying to figure out what criteria Overkill put into deciding when an ability is worthy of a… [Continue Reading]

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Left 4 Dead 2 Announces First New Campaign in over 8 Years

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Well, this is certainly a surprise! Left 4 Dead 2 is getting a new campaign! The announcement came on Valve’s long-dead Left 4 Dead blog, and the full text is rather cryptic: It has been many years since the infection first hit. Radio silence, no sign of life, nothing but lingering hopes… CEDA is not going to save us. But there is hope! A few brave souls have continued the fight against all odds, and soon we can all benefit from their resilience. “The Last Stand” is an update for Left 4 Dead 2, created by the community, for the… [Continue Reading]

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An Odd Interaction Between TF2 Weapon Sheens and Decorations

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I noticed something unusual (pardon the pun) after I added a violet killstreak sheen to my Totally Boned Scotsman’s Skullcutter. And before we continue, I shamelessly admit this is one of the most minor observations I’ve probably ever made in TF2. It’s not quite on the level of 500 characters on the wind you can only notice during a single taunt, but it would fit comfortably into that list of nitpick articles in the final paragraph. Anyway, after a couple different times visiting my Demoman loadout page, I realized the Skullcutter’s inventory icon was occasionally showcasing the purple sheen. It’d… [Continue Reading]

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The SPUF of Legend Hits 1,000 Subscribers!

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On July 13th, Tarun Chahal subscribed to the channel and we officially passed 1,000 subscribers on The SPUF Of Legend! Medic and I are both completely blown away that you’ve all decided to join us on this little channel, and I don’t think either of us ever suspected from the beginning that we were going to hit the quadruple digits on subscribers. We just want to give you a big thank you not just for subscribing, though, because actually you guys add a lot of value to the channel, and really, it’s not just the two of us. In a… [Continue Reading]

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Trying EverQuest in 2020

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Despite not considering myself an MMO kind of guy, I’ve somehow put in hundreds of hours in both World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14, mostly because they’re great games to play while plowing through my TV backlog on the second monitor. Both of them were highly influential games for their generation of MMOs, cornering the market by setting the standards many of their competitors would try and (for the most part, fail to) surpass. But they’re only two parts of the triumvirate. There’s a third game, one that first put 3D MMOs on the map. Most of the earlier… [Continue Reading]

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Portal Stories: Mel Review

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Part of me feels unsure about writing an article on Portal Stories: Mel, because it’s the sort of game that’s best played by leaping in without knowing anything beforehand. That was how I did it, and I’m very glad I didn’t perform my usual pre-game research. Not because there are twists or spoilers or anything, this isn’t Doki Doki Literature Club or Undertale. The game is very straightforward, but the player character has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, and ideally you should be in a similar state if you give the game a try. The Portal series will… [Continue Reading]

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A Beginner’s Guide to Shoutcasting

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I’ve been amateur shoutcasting for 3 years, and I recently got voted by League Zero to cast the grand finals, but I’ve also never peaked beyond low gold in my game of choice. So don’t worry about your in-game talent level, you’re fine! Shoutcasting has almost a completely different skillset from actual playing (just like how most chess commentators aren’t grandmasters) so don’t feel discouraged about your own personal heights. (This goes for other possible esport positions as well, there are tons of options other than playing for breaking in!) If you’ve ever watched a shoutcast and thought it would… [Continue Reading]

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