What is Supcom FA?

[SeraphimLeftNut]

Technological breakthroughs have always been the result of humans searching for ways to express who they are. These have been the islands of freedom carved out by the minds, in the ocean of dull mediocrity created by pimps looking for fresh excitement to sell to the masses. Those brief moments in history when the mind runs away where it cannot be reached and judged, far above the world with the world resting in the palm of one’s hand great works of art are created. The sculptures that seamlessly connect the mind and reality, the holy temples that remind those longing for freedom that at some point, long ago it was possible. The creators of language whose poems united the masses, where forced to write religious texts. New continents discovered by the explorers were raped and pillaged. Jazz replaced by rock’n’roll replaced by pop, with any golden age in music lasting only as long as the creators of the new instruments could hold on to them. The internet revolutionizing communication, only lasted a few years before being turned into a massive surveillance system, poised. With new technology, comes new art and imitation isn’t just suicide, it is murder.

The creation of video game art was always kept fresh by new advancements in technology, until technology stopped evolving. The greatest works took place when the developers were given freedom to create exactly what they wanted by the publisher, something that almost never happened. A great example of this is the original Deus Ex, created by a team that was allowed to do whatever they wanted. Warren Spector and Harvey Smith have given some extremely interesting interviews on this topic. In RTS Total Annihilation was a game where Chris Taylor was able to create exactly the game that he wanted, limited only by his ability to implement technology of that day. Supreme Commander became a follow up where Chris Taylor’s vision went beyond the technology available in 2006. However, his unwillingness to compromise his vision even in the face of impossibility, meant that one day as technology finally caught up his creation could see the light of day. The fact that THQ gave him 13 million to do what he did with his team, is a statement about that great publisher (no matter what happened since). The opposite of this can be seen with Supcom 2, with a shitty publisher and 3.5 million in funds.

What we have in Supcom FA is a monument to the golden age of video game art. Those who keep on waiting for Supcom 3, don’t understand that the time has passed for this technology to give rise to new artists. New artists will find freedom in something that has not been taken over by publishers and their teams of lawyers, waiting for a paycheck that will never come. FAF is the shrine, where followers of Supcom FA are reminded of the Gods that unite us with the artists of yesterday. And what is Supcom FA, but a technology, that hasn’t been sold, and how much freedom is there on Seton’s Clutch, and who are the Gods and the artists among you? At the very least we are not slaves t0 the UI.

[Flynn]

How is it down there, in your moms basement? Okay, that was a bit harsh. Good article and good point. 2007 was a golden year not just for gaming, for I was 17 and I wish I could be again.

[SeraphimLeftNut]

I wish I was in my mom's basement. She could cook me some food.

[Hawkei]

It is a game. It costs about $20 and you can install it on your computer. Once you have mastered the mechanics and gameplay it can become a highly mentally stimulating pursuit. It can be somewhat addictive.

It is not a god, nor need it be worshipped. It is a hobby which one uses to fill the time when they have nothing better to do.

[Nombringer]

It is a game. It costs about $20 and you can install it on your computer. Once you have mastered the mechanics and gameplay it can become a highly mentally stimulating pursuit. It can be somewhat addictive.

It is, of course a god, and should be worshipped. there is nothing better to do.

Fixed.

[Hawkei]

I will not have my name associated with that statement. Please remove it.

[Nombringer]

I will not have my name associated with that statement. Please remove it.

Sorry, fixed again

[SeraphimLeftNut]

It is a game. It costs about $20 and you can install it on your computer. Once you have mastered the mechanics and gameplay it can become a highly mentally stimulating pursuit. It can be somewhat addictive.

It is not a god, nor need it be worshipped. It is a hobby which one uses to fill the time when they have nothing better to do.

"You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly creations of an imagination that is not conscious of its freaks - in a word, that they are a dream, and you the maker of it. The dream-marks are all present; you should have recognized them earlier. It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought - a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!"
Mark Twain

[Flynn]

It is a game. It costs about $20 and you can install it on your computer. Once you have mastered the mechanics and gameplay it can become a highly mentally stimulating pursuit. It can be somewhat addictive.

It is not a god, nor need it be worshipped. It is a hobby which one uses to fill the time when they have nothing better to do.

Where do you draw the line though. Someone might say Chess is "just a game" but is it though? It is something more complex and beautiful than a game. It takes a high IQ to even compete in this game.

[Golol]

It takes a high IQ to even compete in this game.

sorry, but no. stop circlejerking