A Juxtaposition of Cultures: The Local CS Effect

The phenomenon of customisation and Mods has come a long way from the hardcore geek's world to become every kid's dream. Many never fulfil that dream, or even come close, but those that do can sometimes have some very spectacular effects. In the case of the CS genre, such modifications often manifest themselves in the form of maps, models and sounds that are inspired by the game and its related media, in a sense, creating a closed community centred around its associated content.

While content closely linked to the original in-game content is not particularly unusual, it often draws upon the stock-syndrome, where a stock content base is often used as inspiration, or better, as a visible base upon which a modification is built. Such often results in the uncanny resemblance to the original content.

This resemblance is the basis for the formation of the feel of the game. While a good variety of content of which to play upon exists, they will always have the feel of the stock map regardless of the objective, strategies and theme. This invariably leads to a feeling of distance, as the in-game setting is as alien to one as a movie is. Given that such content is often inspired by movies, news and such related sources, very little attempt is made to bring it closer to home. This is where the juxtaposition of the local culture on the genre comes in - to bring the game home, and not the gamer to the game.

Walk into any LAN shop and observe: On a busy hour, almost all terminals are full, with a lot of them occupied by kids that in virtual space run, jump and bunnyhop around with the sole intention of winning the round, often by the killing of the opposing team. Most of these kids have their favourite maps, and often these favourite maps are of the stock in-game content. The player graphics that prance around the screen are that of foreign special forces and the like, and over the speakers, one will almost always hear the gunfire and radio commands of the stock variety.

Take a while to consider and one will most certainly realise that these kids are immersed in the culture far distanced from their own. In a way, it makes sense because it distances the violence from home, but also forgets to deliver the message that the places such content is based on is as real as home. Graphics are obtained from photographs, architecture is resemblent of at least a building somewhere in the world, and the only thing that is fictional is the actual location and layout.

From a Singaporean perspective, local content is hardly the best place to begin. By the way local culture has distinguished and derived itself from its varied roots, the heartlands and its associated imagery presents a unique challenge in representation where it must be presented uncorrupted and yet in a form that is most appropriate to the game.

So by this basic requirement, local content therefore strives to present a juxtaposition of the heartlands and its culture in all its familiarity in a cosmopolitan setting that is as foreign and alien as the latest war thriller from Hollywood - in essence, blurring the line between cosmopolitan and heartlander.

This unification of a potential divide also serves to deliver a subtle but important message to the uninformed: that in this world where borders are shrinking, we find ourselves increasingly subject to the same threats that the rest of the world faces, violence being one of them. If it can happen somewhere in the world, why can't it happen here?