Good evening fellow computer game enthusiasts! I'd be inclined to say that we have an amazingly special guest this time round in our beloved Community Spotlight article, Nutduster. Why so 'amazingly special' you ask? No reason actually, he's just one of the Circle Jerk Bosses that you must defeat in order to progress to the next level of Life on Forge Hub (And before you ask, no, that isn't a new reality TV show we're airing this summer). Here's a hint to help you defeat him: his kryptonite is totally a glass of Orange Juice.
Stevo: What or who got you interested in Forging and was it in Halo 3, or Halo: Reach?
Nutduster: I'm generally creative anyway - I come from an art and music background. The first shooter game I ever played was Doom on the Playstation and PC, and even back then I found myself downloading stuff that would let you make maps (though I never really mastered it - for such a basic game, the Doom editor was freakin' incomprehensible). I guess it's just my natural inclination; if there's a possibility to make something, I will. When Halo PC came out, I got it just so I could mod. I made a sort of re-skin of Blood Gulch that was like being on the moon, with different textures, a dark sky, weird sound effects and low gravity. I also customized the flags and added decals to the rocket launcher making fun of a friend of mine who was the prototype for all rocket whores worldwide. You may not know his name, but if you start every match by sprinting straight for the rockets, you owe him a debt; I believe he accepts PayPal.
So anyway... Halo 3 came along, and I didn't need to be prodded. I made a bunch of maps that were seen by very few, and in Reach I got even heavier into it.
Stevo: Ahh a young Doom enthusiast! I remember playing Final Doom during my first ever system link up. Those were the days of pure video game entertainment... So, did you by any chance call this space-style Blood Gulch Moon Gulch or Blood Moon? Actually, I really like the second one... if it never got called it: go back and rename the file, Blood Moon.
Nutduster: Ha! I have zero recollection of what it was called. I can tell you though that haters of Reach grenades would have really hated this, because I made the 'nades into near-literal hand nukes. You almost didn't want to throw them for fear of killing yourself. Not too sure how that connected to the moon theme...
Stevo: Maybe you possessed some sick childhood fantasy that one day you'd like to go to the moon and detonate a series of nuclear explosive devices to make your mark in history?
Nutduster: That is entirely possible. I also really wanted to sex up Jessica Rabbit - let's make that happen, 343i. More Jessica Rabbit in forge!
Stevo: Hmm.. ok. Where would you say you pull most of your inspiration from?
Nutduster: My anus. Not my literal anus. Let's say, the anus of the imagination. The brain anus. The brainus.
Stevo: ..."The brainus"...
Nutduster: Really, nowhere in particular. I appreciate a wide variety of maps and gametypes, and depending on the week I might be more into one thing or other. My main goal with most maps is to make something that looks like it could be on the Halo disc - something with a very classic Halo feel and a strong & unique sense of place, that supports multiple gametypes well. (That's the goal, not that I achieve it.) Every so often I like to make a weird minigame or something, too. Most of them come from concepts that I doodle on paper and aren't based on anything except a general thought: "Hmmm, wonder if that would play well?" Occasionally the thought is more like, "You know, High Ground was a fun 1-flag map... what happened to those? I should make one." I seldom lift whole map concepts from anywhere specific though; it would take some of the fun out of it.
Stevo: I have to agree. Completely designing your map before actually Forging it does ruin some of the entertainment behind 'winging it'. However, I have to completely disagree with your statement about High Ground being fun... what is all that about?! The only thing entertaining about that map is simply pressing a button which opens a gate.
Nutduster: I like being sneaky. Finding ways to infiltrate that fortress was heaven for me. Hopefully though, even people who disliked High Ground will like Terrorium (which was loosely inspired by it) - it's a lot less spawn-killy.
Stevo: If you disregard your current Forging style, and could Forge any type of map flawlessly, what type of map would you create? Would you still make the same type of maps?
Nutduster: A mid-sized (4v4) competitive map that you can play any gametype on, but is especially good for team slayer and multi-flag, as those are my bread-and-butter gametypes. It would be the same type of map as what I make now... just better. And more ambitious. And free of framerate problems. I think forge itself limits me more than I do... not that I'm perfect or awesome, but my ideas are consistently bolder than the maps I end up being able to make from them. I've always wanted to make a map with an urban/city background - basically just having buildings in the distance as aesthetics, outside the playable area of the map. Can't really do that now, but maybe in Halo 4..? My fingers are crossed - all of them. Toes too.
Stevo: I couldn't fantasise anymore than what you just did right there. It'd sure be nice being able to create your own atmospheres in Forge, but it doesn't appear like it will realisticly happen without lowering the performance in game. With that said, 343i have yet to announce what Forge has in store for us, so I'll cross my fingers, toes, arms and eyes for you too!
Nutduster: Thank you, I need all the help I can get.
Stevo: So, what persuaded you to become a TGIF host?
Nutduster: A TCOJ host! Or maybe a TGIT host since we play on Tuesdays. (TGIT sounds a little perverse.) It was pure self-interest at first - I had made a pile of maps and most of them hadn't been tested at all, and my friends list was thin. A lot of my real-life friends are Halo ex-patriots, the traitors. I put up a thread in the customs lobby (which is a great tool) looking for people who wanted to test maps. GrenadeGorilla8 replied and said he had an informal weekly group going with some friends of his, and I was welcome to attend. I did, enjoyed myself immensely, and proposed to Gorilla that we started running something a little more regulated, and invite other Forge Hub people. It was good for us to get our own maps tested, but we also figured other people could benefit. You scratch my back, I promise not to fuck your girlfriend behind YOUR back. Or something like that.
Captain Smartass... er, Overdoziz... was one of our first regular attendees and quickly integrated himself as our third co-host. And basically, we just keep doing it because it's fun, and because there's a lack of other ways for people to test their maps if they don't already have an active friends list. I remember how it was before TCOJ and Forge Hub filled my own list to capacity. Hopefully our attendees are happy that we do it.
Stevo: Ahh, this mysterious TCOJ that keeps popping up here and there on the site. What exactly does TCOJ stand for?
Nutduster: The Circle Of Jerks. Because we're all eleven year olds who think that kind of joke is the height of comedy, y'see. Obviously the name is just for laughs - we're not really jerks. (Except Overdoziz.) And we don't usually form a circle - typically it's more of a tetrahedron.
Stevo: Wait... you're serious? It's actually 'The Circle Of Jerks'? No serious acronyms like T...C... hmm O...J.... Test..?...??!? The hell is wrong with you guys!?!
Nutduster: Fine, I'll make something up. Testing... community... orange juice.
I suck at that.
Stevo: Is that because you'll be serving Orange Juice while you play? I sincerely hope so, otherwise that wouldn't be a very accurate title for such an event.
Nutduster: That is 100% correct. By which I mean, false. We only serve beer and pretzeled bread.
Stevo: Then I am afraid I must decline your title proposition. Speaking of titles, what the hell is a Nutduster?
Nutduster: It's a magical device that cleans your various nuts: almonds, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, testicles, pistachios, etc.
Stevo: Somehow I figured testicles were involved. Anyway, are you psyched for Halo 4, or are you just seeing how things go?
Nutduster: Hard to answer; maybe both. I've been playing Halo since CE was new (yes, I am old - so very, very old. I look like Yoda, on a good day) and I've put serious time into every iteration of the game. Halo 4 has a new developer and a new direction; remains to be seen whether either will fully agree with me, but I definitely expect to buy it on release day and play it quite a bit. Whatever concerns I do have right now would be mitigated by a kick-ass forge announcement soon.
Stevo: Agreed. Some juicy Forge information wouldn't go a miss right now...
And with that said, I picked myself up in a tired manner, conserving energy so my mad dash to the convenience store to purchase orange juice, would be as fast as it could potentially be. So to wrap up, we have an unordinary fellow, that may or may not be eleven years old and operates a not-so-secret underground community consisting of Jerks in a Circular motion which may or may not be actually a tetrahedral motion...
...I told you this one was extra special.
If you think someone has what it takes to blow your mind in the next Community Spotlight article, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll pounce on them unexpectedly like I did our dear friend Nutty.