!!Con 2021 - How layers upon layers of hacky abstractions turned Doom II into... by Kimberly Wilber

How layers upon layers of hacky abstractions turned Doom II into the best kart racer!! by Kimberly Wilber How does one build a “modern” kart racing game on top of the 1994 Doom engine? The answer: layers upon layers of terrible hacks! Like enumerating the rings of an ancient fossilized tree, I’ll be giving you a lovingly detailed look at the 25-year creative history of my favorite racing game (SRB2Kart). Passed from designer to designer over the span of multiple decades, an iconically bloody shooter game became a Sonic the Hedgehog fangame, a third-person skateboarding sim, and then an incredibly underrated open-source kart racer! We’ll look at the clever hacks, the egregious workarounds, and the wonderful community that makes it all possible. Kimmy is a trans engineer in New York City. She likes to read books, sip tea, and work on doom mods. She has been a part of the SRB2 community off and on since 2003.