Expanding the Game: The Semantics of Standalone

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

Expanding the Game: The Semantics of Standalone

The concept of expansion packs has changed a bit over the years, to the point now where "standalone" expansions are all the rage. Yahtzee examines the semantics.

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[Lagslayer]

Wow. I've never been there the moment something popped up. Noon on the dot. It's oddly satisfying.

 

[CaitSeith]

It's weird to have a remembrance of old expansion packs, and not to include the countless Doom mods out there. I still have a CD full of those. But I think one of my favorites was the Simpsons mod for Doom 2.

 

[maffgibson]

It's like surgically removing a large ovarian cyst and referring to it as a 'standalone human expansion'.

Hey, some standalone human expansions really stood the test of time: HeLa cells were taken from a cervical tumour way back in 1951, and are still going strong! Like, 20 tons of biomass and invading other samples in biological research labs strong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa

 

[blackrave]

It's like surgically removing a large ovarian cyst and referring to it as a 'standalone human expansion'.

Hey, some standalone human expansions really stood the test of time: HeLa cells were taken from a cervical tumour way back in 1951, and are still going strong! Like, 20 tons of biomass and invading other samples in biological research labs strong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa

Ok, that's creepy :/
But still- SCIENCE!

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

I'm not sure I understand this piece: Is Yahtzee bothered by the fact that AAA studios are making expansions that do the same thing amateur programmers used to do? Because there's still plenty of remakings of games by fans; one of my favourite things to do is see what the community does with each iteration of Total War.

While the gulf of money definitely exists, the modding community has only grown in recent years. And if companies want to take their engine and cover it with new ideas, I say go for it; they can do some pretty amazing work, and it's just more variety.

 

[maffgibson]

It's like surgically removing a large ovarian cyst and referring to it as a 'standalone human expansion'.

Hey, some standalone human expansions really stood the test of time: HeLa cells were taken from a cervical tumour way back in 1951, and are still going strong! Like, 20 tons of biomass and invading other samples in biological research labs strong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa

Ok, that's creepy :/
But still- SCIENCE!

Yeah, science does sometimes throw up stuff that sounds like the concept for a b-movie

 

[Evonisia]

Gat out of Hell really does seem like fanfiction, but in all honesty I think I'll take it over some real fan's fanfiction (as cruel as that sounds). Though I suppose the real fan's ideas are missed out on unless the game is on PC because mods.

 

[Thanatos2k]

Remember Diablo Hellfire? I was mad when I found out that wasn't made by Blizzard.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

 

[Ambitiousmould]

I feel like Falskaar is something relevent to mention here. For those that don't know what it is:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37994/?
It's a Skyrim mod. An incredible one. At least as big as Bethesda's own Dragonborn expansion and far, far better.
Maybe what Yahtzee misses in this article is just what we now call the Modding Community.

 

[ryukage_sama]

Where would Majora's Mask fall in this discussion? Is it just too good of a game for people to think of it as an expansion to Ocarina of Time? They developed new assets for it, but the same can be said for the rest of the games on this list.

 

[lordloss217]

I feel like Falskaar is something relevent to mention here. For those that don't know what it is:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37994/?
It's a Skyrim mod. An incredible one. At least as big as Bethesda's own Dragonborn expansion and far, far better.
Maybe what Yahtzee misses in this article is just what we now call the Modding Community.

You forgot the fact you have to pay the nexus forums to download it.

 

[Gretha Unterberg]

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

Who was first?

Bravestarr? Saber Rider ? the Galaxy Rangers ?

 

[RJ Dalton]

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

Who was first?

Bravestarr? Saber Rider ? the Galaxy Rangers ?

I cannot remember off the top of my head. I just remember it being brought up in a film class I took back in college. Some film back in the late seventies was pitched to the studios as a western in space (though I can't even remember which film was specifically named, I need to go back and see if I can find it in my notes). You didn't get the "cowboys in space" as a running theme in Sci-Fi anime until the mid 80s.

 

[Falterfire]

On topic: Eh, to me this reads mainly as a nostalgia rose-eyed view of the past. Mods are still a (huge) thing. Cheats weren't killed by DLC, they were killed by the achievement craze. DLC may not be as big as expansions, but it's also usually much cheaper and you can grab just the pieces that interest you. The good companies still do good work, the bad companies still price gouge over minor additions.

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

I think that was supposed to be a surprise swerve away from a Firefly mention, but I could be wrong.

 

[Alex Baas]

I feel like Falskaar is something relevent to mention here. For those that don't know what it is:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37994/?
It's a Skyrim mod. An incredible one. At least as big as Bethesda's own Dragonborn expansion and far, far better.
Maybe what Yahtzee misses in this article is just what we now call the Modding Community.

You forgot the fact you have to pay the nexus forums to download it.

Really? So when I downloaded it without paying it was piracy?
(You do not need to pay to download mods off Nexus)

 

[Gretha Unterberg]

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

Who was first?

Bravestarr? Saber Rider ? the Galaxy Rangers ?

I cannot remember off the top of my head. I just remember it being brought up in a film class I took back in college. Some film back in the late seventies was pitched to the studios as a western in space (though I can't even remember which film was specifically named, I need to go back and see if I can find it in my notes). You didn't get the "cowboys in space" as a running theme in Sci-Fi anime until the mid 80s.

late 70s.... moss eisley ?

 

[oldtaku]

'Standalone' is just an awkward word for 'smaller version of the main game with a few tiny tweaks'. It sets expectations. If you bought Gat out of Hell expecting SR5 you'd be outraged, but you know it means 'it's a mini SR4'. That you have to start from scratch and most your content doesn't carry over from the main game are fairly important things 'standalone' also conveys.

For the rest of it I'm a bit lost - third party unofficial mods are still going strong; we haven't lost anything there. Even full conversions, though fewer since it's just so much content work now. So it's a bit lazy for AAA, but I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with something that produces Blood Dragon.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Do people really say, "I preferred this when it was Cowboy Bebop"? I mean, I love Cowboy Bebop, it's one of my favorite animes, but . . . I mean, do people not realize that Cowboy Bebop was not the first show ever to do cowboys in space? Hell, anime wasn't even the first medium to do cowboys in space, despite them doing it a lot.

Aaaaaaaand . . . I really have nothing else to say.

Who was first?

Bravestarr? Saber Rider ? the Galaxy Rangers ?

I cannot remember off the top of my head. I just remember it being brought up in a film class I took back in college. Some film back in the late seventies was pitched to the studios as a western in space (though I can't even remember which film was specifically named, I need to go back and see if I can find it in my notes). You didn't get the "cowboys in space" as a running theme in Sci-Fi anime until the mid 80s.

late 70s.... moss eisley ?

No, it definitely wasn't Star Wars. Star Wars was the Hero's Journey in space. And also that professor was adamant about not talking about Star Wars in class.