Hello, ladies and germs. (Was that funny? Am I trying too hard? Gulp. Oh God, flop sweat! Somebody get me a moist towelette!) Welcome to our newest Community Spotlight™ and my first piece as a journo. I'll try not to dampen you; just keep a reasonable distance from your monitor and we'll get through this.
Today we're talking to REMkings and Ticky, two of the founding fellas from the huge, popular infection lobby "Bloodthirst: Infection Only Customs," a.k.a. BIOC. They've been doing this for a while now (throughout much of Halo Reach's lifespan) and just recently announced their triumphant return for Halo 4. So let's get on with it!
[l-col]Nutduster: Ready to make the magic happen?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: Haha let's kick some zombie ass.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: That's as good of an introduction as any, I guess! So... you two guys are the brain trust behind popular community group BIOC, is that right?[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Well, yes and no. Cryptic is the brain child behind survival infection.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: Maybe we should explain how it all got started, Ticky.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: Yeah go ahead. [after a long pause] Big paragraph?[/r-col][l-col]Nutduster: The biggest, I suspect.[/l-col][r-col]REMkings:haha kind of, I'm trying to explain the whole thing. I'm guessing you're going to skip this part. lol[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Not likely. This interview will be 90% filler, just like school cafeteria hamburger meat.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: If I remember correctly it started with Cryptic and I playing his Mansion map. He was explaining the survival infection rules and what not, and I thought it was awesome. From there I think I talked to REM about it, and we formed the group along with Cryptic... and it just grew from there, getting TFHE [sic - He means the popular YouTube channel, The Halo Forge Epidemic] featuring it helped tremendously.[/r-col]
[l-col] Nutduster: I see. And for those dumb idiots who have never paid close attention to it - and I am assuredly not one [editor's note: Nutduster is lying] - what differentiates survival infection from regular infection?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: Survival Infection puts its focus on - hence the name - surviving rather than slaying.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: Yeah no mini games of any sort, just vanilla survival.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: That's very to-the-point. Do the rules reward staying alive over killing zombies, then?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: Not exactly. It's not so much a single gametype with specific rules, but more of a whole style of forging Infection maps. Or at least that's how I tend to look at it.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Alright, fair enough! And to reiterate an earlier point for emphasis: I am not a dumb idiot. I swear it.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: A great example, and the root of the entire mode, is Cryptic's Spencer's Mansion map. It's a very close quarters mansion map that's easy to get lost in, and emphasizes scavenging for weapons. The zombies are very slow, and take a decent amount of damage. If you don't work together, you will die.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: And it was based on the Spencer Estate from Resident Evil, correct?[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Correct. down to the last detail, actually.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: I notice when I do a little Googling of the map that Cryptic had some different gameplay in mind, vs. what you might find in the default Reach playlist in matchmaking: longer matches, more emphasis on surviving (and being afraid) than running around racking up kills.[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: The thing with Spencer's Mansion, is that it focuses on a different play style than most other Infection maps. I think that this will nail it: It focuses on fear instead of fun. What concerns me is that a lot of people forge Infection maps with the intention of imitating the typical slayer zombie movies. Lots of deaths amongst the undead, lots of shooting from the survivors. However, what I like about Infection and what differentiates it from any other gametype, is a combination of terms I like to call the 3 Big T's, starting with the first one: Thrill. I prefer scary Infection maps over fun Infection maps, with a lack of better words.[/r-col]
[r-col]About the three T's, I'm currently working on an Infection guide that will work around those, so I'll go into more depth on how to actually achieve the desired effect whenever I release it.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: It has to be fun being the zombie AND the human. You want it so no matter which one you are, you don't complain.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Good deal - I'm sure people would be interested to read your guide, REM. Infection is quite popular but it seems that a lot of people who play don't fully understand what makes it good (vs. what is merely a fun, over-in-fifteen-seconds match). And Ticky - that concern is one thing that scares me personally away from infection lobbies a lot of times. Being the zombie is usually a chore at best. You die a lot, and there's little reward to it. People actually moan aloud when they start as a zombie... Some very promising infection maps are wrecked by the fact that the zombies don't enjoy themselves, and tend to quit out of games early.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Yes exactly, that's what a good survial map should stray away from. REM said it best.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: Of course it'll still be more "fun" being a human, but changing zombies from bullet catchers into hunters is a priority in Survival Infection.[/r-col]
[r-col]Something that will add greatly to giving your map the typical Survival Infection features is to encourage or even force Teamwork. Teamwork, as you may have guessed, is actually another one of those mentioned T's.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: To change directions somewhat - how long has BIOC been in existence?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: It started this year, back in February.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: So partway through the life cycle of Reach, in other words. How frequently did you run lobbies, and was the focus on playing the maps made by participants, or was it more driven by map/game choices made by you guys who run BIOC?[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: We'd run them every other week I believe, as many days as we could, and for your second question, both. But I'd say more map choices that we made.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: We're trying to give participants both a place to play established classics, as well as a place to test their own maps. In the end, there weren't too many people that used that option though.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: As the main TCOJ guy I frequent the Customs Lobby sub-forum and haven't seen the red BIOC prefix much lately. Are you running lobbies now that Halo 4 is out? I know you had a farewell-to-Reach session just like we did...[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: Not yet, but we're working on it.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: I'm sure people will be happy to hear it. Any idea when?[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: I think we could get it going asap, since flood is perfect for survival infection, but it's also up to everyone else's time frame.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: That leads me to where I wanted to go next: how are you liking Flood mode in Halo 4?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: Meh. I like the skins, but adding a bit more options would be fair.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: It creates a nice atmosphere, but the amount of customization is lacking.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: I feel they're forcing us to play the gametype according to how it's currently set up.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: Hopefully in the near future we can change the loadouts, as that's very restricting at the moment.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: I think a lot of people are hoping for and waiting on that. Are either of you working on maps to play on? How about Cryptic?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: I do have some plans but haven't started any yet.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: I have several projects in the works.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: I'm going to work on a linear map with Elliot, another member of the BIOC staff, in which we will be trying to incorporate multiple features that have been used in previous maps by ourselves or by others.[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: I don't know about Cryptic, I talked to him the other day and he didn't sound very pleased with the environments, as I asked him if he had any plans to make another mansion type map.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Here's an easier question: what does BIOC stand for? Here's your chance to make up something ridiculous. Or just answer the question in a grim, non-comical manner. It's up to you.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Bloodthirst - Infection Only Customs.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Ha ha, hilarious! ...Oh wait, that was the straight-laced version. I forgot, this is supposed to be a scary interview, not a fun one.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Yup, and I have no funny abbreviations up my sleeve.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Fair enough! One last question, which comes from our previous spotlight interview: fuck/marry/kill: Halo 3/Halo Reach/Halo 4?[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: I could probably both fuck and kill one of those. I'm talking about Halo Reach here.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Disturbing words from the organizer of a disturbing lobby. Ticky, I'll let you off the hook since REMkings gave an answer that will haunt our dreams. Finally, you guys have to come up with a ridiculous question to ask our next interview subject. What shall it be?[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Oh boy.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: Hm. Let me think.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Bear in mind, the quesion before this one involved a walrus.[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: We could both do half of the question?[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: That would be perfect. And ensure that it makes no sense at all.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: What kind of cake would you...[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: You did the easy half. That's not fair. Alright. I watched The Hobbit yesterday. So...[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: I'm frightened of where this is going. Hold me, Ticky.[/l-col][r-col]Ticky: Uhhh...[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: ...rather have? Orcish, Hobbitses precious, Elvish or Presley?[/r-col]
[r-col]Ticky: Alrighty then.[/r-col]
[r-col]REMkings: I know. One does not simply answer to a question about cake.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: That will indeed confuse and dismay our next victim. I mean, honored guest.[/l-col][r-col]REMkings: I hope he'll burn well.[/r-col]
[l-col]Nutduster: Thanks for your time, gents - I join the rest of the community in eagerly awaiting the return of BIOC.[/l-col]
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