[RANT] Pre GMOD 13 and the return to normalcy. G-MOD since 2008-

[Agito]

Dear reader,

This is not intended to be a piece about bragging that I am an old user of Garry's Mod or trying to discredit people whom have joined the Garry's Mod world. I simply am providing insight to what Garry's mod was like in the past, how much I miss these days, and how I think someone should attempt to make servers based upon a classic Garry's Mod look.

I started playing Garry's Mod when I was about 13 years old. I cannot remember exactly because it was so long ago, but that is the time that I began playing. My brother had a rig built by our uncle who said it could play video games kind of well, so we decided to start gaming. It started with games like Combat Arms (back when it was simple and actually F2P). Then we started to watch more youtube as that got popular, and we started to notice a youtuber making video's called G-Mod Idiot Box. If any of you are familiar, those are basically videos of funny skits using Garry's mod. We became so loving of the videos, we decided to buy garry's mod.

Picture of my account with 8000 hours and a VAC BAN 6+ years ago to prove I played that long/
[url]https://i.gyazo.com/69cfe5b23378cf6bbe190317a62e671a.png[/url]

We were disappointed. We had no idea how boring a sandbox game could be, and the limitations we had to single player. We didn't even know there was a multiplayer mode. Yet, when we discovered it, everything changed. We started out by just finding open sandbox build servers. We had no idea what we were doing, but the small community was willing to teach us. They would help us learn how to weld, use Shift+E to make props perfect ect. Such a difficult game to understand became more and more easy. Back then, there were only a couple gamemodes scripted, some being Sandbox and a very old DarkRP. This is where nostalgia hits.

We found some friends on sandbox to introduce us to DarkRP. This was its simplest forms with the basic format that usually comes with every base build of DarkRP. Even the vanilla lua code of it is not comparable to how it is today. The map? rp_downtown_v2. This was the version of map that is no longer seen today. Its like a dinosaur, with its underground network of tunnels and roads not big enough to support cars (cars were not a thing in 2009 except for jeeps and jalopys from hl2). The jobs were simple as can be. Gun Dealer, Black Market Dealer, Mafia, Cops, Mayor. And a bit more, but that was it. No complicated donator lists or vip jobs or filler jobs. Just the basics. It was simple and it was... fun.

It's kind of like how call of duty evolved from a basic FPS to a complicated combo of classes, perks, killstreaks ect. It was a simpler time... The map was smaller, the servers were 30 slots, and the community was driven off of cooperation rather than cash grab. It wasn't serious roleplay, but it was playfully crafted roleplay. Gun dealers actually would provide useful service, the Mafia and Cops would stage wars. It was so new to the whole world that it was like picking up Call of duty 4 for the first time. It was a change.

People were not worried about money or cars or killing each other. It was the fun of being a part of a town bigger than yourself that made you feel good.

Gamemodes from CS:S started to be coded into Garry's mod, yet in a simple form. Deathrun, Bunny hop, and climb started to pop up. If anyone can remember, Sassilization was the biggest and most fun minigame community I have ever been a part of. The use of dough and a simple UI was utilized in their servers, and it was optimized for maximum performance. The dough concept was the first sight of a system that rewarded players for playing a game in Garry's mod. People loved it. You could buy hats, trails, ect. I know that servers have that now, but the way they did it made it simple. It wasn't over the top. It wasn't easy as a donation. It required time and work and love for the game.

I soon joined a community called TaV-Clan back in 2009 ran by a group of people that still work on GMOD to this day. I will not disclose who they are now, but they were a part of the most influential and large RP community in the past 5 years. If I named their previous names, you'd know who they are. Trust me. They ran a Build-RP server, 32 slots. It was simple jobs yet again on the older version of gm-construct. It was such a beautiful sight. They had simple tools added and simple coding, but they made it so easy to be creative. Gun dealers had automatic dispensers, People held bases on top of the skyscrapers and would look down upon the rest of the building community in peace. It was so long ago, I can't explain every detail, but if i could recreate that very server, I would.

When the fretta contest hit, another gamemode that you all play today swept the gmod nation. Trouble in Terrorist Town. My buddies I met on TavClan would go on the 20 slot servers and playfully toy with the confusing gamemode. There was no detective, no crazy donator lists, no crazy traitor weapons. A base TTT for everyone to get creative around. I always choose Vanilla TTT because it provides the most base experience for fun. Nothing crazy that appeals to (sorry if I have to say it) "Younger generation" of Gmod Players. We would enjoy the memories made playing with such a neat gamemode.

Garry's mod was at its peak for me at that very moment. Donation lists started to rise more in 2010, but it still was unseen because people didn't have a bigger clue how to utilize MySQL and databases similar to it. Things were changing.

Does anybody remember Pulsar Effect Roleplay AKA PERP? That was the newest addition to TavClan back in 2010-2011. It was this crazy new serious gamemode where it was a whole step forward from DarkRP. It made things... more realistic... more challenging. A crafting system, a more difficult task of gaining cash, requirements for jobs/weapons. Skill leveling. It was a whole new level. Pulsar Effect was the only server to have PERP until it was leaked and or could be bought. I can't remember how we acquired it. Regardless, PERP became the next big thing.... Yet I think this was the demise...

I'm now going to stop with the history lesson and go more general about why I'm posting this. Garry's mod was so different back when it was Gmod10/11. It was a monster that was on the rise to 1000000 buyers, and it was becoming bigger than it could handle. My clan started to worry more about donations, aquiring profit, using Pay to win schemes. Servers were making it more about cash than about players. I know this is a big generalization, but its how I see it. PERP was the biggest perpetrator (lol). It wanted to use big benefits from buying VIP like physgun use and money. Garry's mod became about money, stealing lua code, unoriginality, and similarity between every server trying to one up each other. This is how it is today.

Every server is now using coderhire and similar means of gaining hard-worked on LUA code to make their servers "custom" and "cool". Addons upon Addons in a attempt to drive players in for "customization". Point shops to encourage people to play on their servers for cool toys and clothing items. The gamemodes are also blandly played out. Every DARKRP server runs the same version of evocity or downtown because of competition. TTT is all minecraft maps. PERP died... Deathrun and other minigamemodes are cluttered with coderhire script and overusage of pointshop items.

I could go on and on.

I am coming on to 20 years old. I have admined and ran a divison for Garry's mod for a clan named XenoGamers. I use to code Lua, but am dry as hell.

Here is my plea to the community in hopes my nostaligia goggles can be fitted with a revival of vintage Gmod. This is my idea and I am openly suggesting to whoever wants to pursue it. Please, bring back old school gamemodes and maps. Bring back originality and creativity based gaming, rather than doing it for them. Use CS:S weapons and HL2 weapons, rather than outsourcing high res models and over the top weapons. Make TTT actually vanilla with vanilla maps.

Think of it as Old School Runescape. Look at how much runescape evolved, and how m

[timz9]

Interesting story but I don't get what you want people to do now that you've written it up

[Agito]

Use older maps. Dig for older versions of DarkRP. Re-code said versions to work with the new updates. I guess I kind of want revamp like Old School Runescape. Thats my best comparison.

It really is a tough feat, I agree, but if it could be done that'd be great.

Also remember, this is a rant. I don't expect much to be done. Just kind of reminiscing.

[Sestze]

From a sandbox player's perspective, the game has evolved over the years, but hasn't really changed in a "bad" way. Limitations that were imposed when OrangeBox came out have been somewhat overcome over the years, but we're also seeing the playerbase change over time.

Once you're exposed to the better means to build, you don't really crave to go back to the older methods of building. I remember building and manually mirroring things with a physgun, using ropes and elastics to make a pair of mech legs or a steering column, playing before the weight tool or the duplicator was a thing. I have fond memories of it, but a lot of that time was wasted and the process was tedious. Even comparing contraptions made that way with newer building techniques feels bad.

Some change is good.

[Agito]

It is building and things that are still intact today... But it was that vanilla original feeling of garry's mod that I thrive for. Its so easy to get cars and benefits in servers nowadays... Where's the challenge?

[Oldrid]

[QUOTE=Agito;50694552]Where's the challenge?[/QUOTE]

Being a 10 year old and trying to convince your parents to grant you access to their credit card in order to bloat your generic XYZ-RP server with countless SF bullshit.

And Sestze got a point there. I even dare to say, as a guy who started at the end of December 2013, that Build Sandbox is the only thing that hasn't gone to total shit on GMod nowadays.
Well, except for its damn awful spawn menu...