Unturned - A Reflection

If someone were to try and put Unturned into simple terms, you could say that Unturned is just a free-to-play, multiplayer focused video game published on Steam. The problem with that summary is that the game runs deep in the personalities and passion of its players. When Nelson Sexton published a simplistic version of the game in 2014, there was no telling of what the project could eventually become. It has since become a top played Steam game which at one point peaked at 112,703 players nearly three years ago.

For myself, Unturned became a pillar of my personality, hobbyist activities, and wellbeing. This is either an admission of an unhealthy obsession with the game or a positive passion that has triumphed over time. The first experience of mine in regard to Unturned would be dated around 2015, during the early access period.

While the early access period was when I first acquired and tested the game, my beginnings are more linked to a timestamp of 2018. I had become deeply invested in multiplayer PvE servers. Interacting with players while having a common goal to further our creative builds was a helpful distraction from anything going on personally with myself.

My fondest memory is when I established a player-built town out of structures with a large economy based on metal scrap. Dogfood, the creator of the More Farming Mod, granted us more items to enhance the experience. It all felt right, despite the game being incredibly unoptimized at the time.

As with any server, most die out. I used to frequent a server created by “Virex”. This server was unfortunately evacuated after the owner had what I can only assume was a breakdown due to player pressure resulting from a lack of maintenance.

Playing on that server allowed me to meet some amazing individuals. “Pappa”, who was playing from another continent, is considered a friend. The original community from the server moved over to his new project, and the longevity of the tight-knit community was preserved. At the time I was childish and felt I mattered more in the scope of things, but that was never the case. I have to give Pappa plenty of credit for his work. His own custom map, “Sweden” was hand-tailored to the PvE experience and almost felt like an official or curated map. Pappa’s willingness to set up a server and continue the community that Virex built was a clear display of loyalty and investment in the game. It is incredible that we were able to bond over such a scuffed game and still do so.

Eventually there came a time when I realized that there was more to the game I already invested hundreds of hours into. This marks the point my modding journey began, in 2019. My experience with development has to be attributed to my fellow modders on the “Common Workshop” and the official discord for Unturned. The Common Workshop was a popular modding hub at the time and facilitated the advertisement of many high-profile commissions and project showcases. Even if the reach of their discord was limited, it had lasting impacts.

I originally made simple models in Blender to begin some kind of legitimate creation. My initial models from this were fairly primitive and unoptimized, such as bamboo sticks made out of purely cubes. I also published a gas can mod that provided larger capacity and changed the texture of the vanilla model to differentiate. Afterwards, I experienced my first copyright violation from someone that was advertising a modified version of my item. The process of creating something, publishing it, and protecting it all happened within a short period of time.

Over time, I communicated more often with fellow players and developers within Unturned’s communities. I became invested in larger group projects. “Unturned Six Siege (U6S)”, became a great interest of mine. Paradox and the management team there made me a manager on the project. Being young, I promoted silly ideas. I had already made it into a position that felt higher than what most could accomplish. I felt that way at the time, but my own incompetence brought the project down and it became obvious I could not maintain its codebase. At its core, my time on the project generated passion and frustration for me.

There is a popular saying that goes: “if you want something done, do it yourself.” My failure to maintain U6S gave me the life goal of figuring out plugin development. It became incredibly apparent that I needed to learn every aspect of creation for the game besides the duties left to the actual game developer. I spent time going from network to network to gain the required experience.

MCrow gave me a chance to publish free plugins on UnturnedStore.com. Simple plugins that at their height were used on hundreds of active servers. My plugins were not complex and the work should not be considered skillful.

Finally, in 2023, “Pablo824” offered me both the supporter role and the junior moderator position for the official discord. I had been in close proximity to much of the modding and plugin development community for several years by then. After giving my recent thanks to Pablo as a result of writing this reflection, he said: “It's people like you that keep communities alive, and bringing you onto the team was one of the best decisions we could’ve made.” Admittedly, I’m not as active in individual support threads as I was then. Pablo’s offer opened up opportunities to support and contribute to the community in ways that I could not prior.

There have been plenty of misconceptions and disrespect towards Smartly Dressed Games (SDG). Call it “glazing” if you will, but I do feel as if I have a better opinion on the topic. As junior moderator, moderator, and administrator, I have had the pleasure of interacting with Molt (MoltonMontro, community admin) more. Despite the criticisms of players and creators, I can testify that Molt is still as passionate and invested in the game as he was many years ago. This may be my own opinion, but there has not been a more important contributor since him.

Our moderation team may be very specific about the enforcement of silly discord guidelines, but I have witnessed great integrity and compassion among them. The past few years have seen a shift in how the discord operates and there is more civility among our server members than back when I first joined.

Holding a moderation role naturally invites scrutiny of the person behind it. I do sometimes wonder if people have questioned whether I possibly had any controversy in terms of my personal beliefs and values. I do think SDG’s own values align with mine for the most part. I find that every human being deserves the same and proper treatment as everyone else on the basis of the golden rule. I will admit however that I have been interpreted as more blunt or grumpy. I do my best to avoid holding grudges against anyone, with the exception of anyone that shows continuous malicious intent. People whom I have found to be disruptive in the past have been given another chance as there is no reason not to try.

Despite the perceived closeness to SDG, I have avoided direct contact with them on many matters. Especially in regards to communicating with Nelson Sexton. To this day, I have focused on using the official support site or the GitHub repository like any player. Bringing up issues, concerns, and ideas through the usual means helps to give them a chance to properly address them. I know some community members have had better and more personal correspondence with SDG, but I have not gone that route for the most part. Sometimes I feel it would be to gain a proper understanding of Nelson and his vision for not only the game but the company he founded. It for sure has not been a priority in the past for me.

One of the greatest admissions to make for people who think passion is not enough to stay involved is that I have not made any revenue from my work in relation to Unturned. While I indeed published plugins on UnturnedStore.com, all revenue has either gone to my friends General Jack or Acezx in the interest of furthering server projects. I said in the past that I am fairly busy with commissions in order to avoid people contacting me about additional work. However, I have never done a commission in which I have gotten paid for my work in the end. When P9nda commissioned me for a project that I unfortunately did not complete on-time, I had no intention of allowing him to submit any form of payment to me. I did ponder having the funds going to someone else.

To close out this post, I began pursuing my degree in Computer Science. This was inspired by my work on plugins for the game. There is no denial that Unturned is to blame for who I am. Sometimes I figure Nelson himself may be scared about how his work affected others. I definitely want him to know that it seemed positive for me.

There are many adventures that I could describe. I may blog about them, but only if they provide some context for my background or contain a lesson that can be learned.

I have some discussion and opinions on selected topics. I will possibly post a follow up to this reflection.

-Jdance M.