Sburb Discussion

[boqol]

I thought we could just have a SBURB discussion thread just to exchange cool facts, debate, share theories, and answer questions relating to SBURB!!!



I’ll just kick this off with a question:

I’ve heard some stuff about how the Horrorterrors were SBURB players themselves at some point? Something in that ballpark. Wondering if anyone has any information regarding this theory? Or the theory itself I guess.

[Auntie]

I believe the horrorterrors as former SBURB players came from the whole "48 player squiddle session" thing? Which to the best of my knowledge, may or may not actually have happened, but with regards to the horrorterrors the theory follows that they were squiddles who played SBURB and created the troll universe, and in the process became horrorterrors.

I'm not sure what the exact mechanism of transformation is since I don't think it's ever been elaborated on? Suppose it could've been a result of godtiering but who knows? Maybe someone but not me.

[aspiringWatcher]

I believe the horrorterrors as former SBURB players came from the whole "48 player squiddle session" thing? Which to the best of my knowledge, may or may not actually have happened, but with regards to the horrorterrors the theory follows that they were squiddles who played SBURB and created the troll universe, and in the process became horrorterrors.

I'm not sure what the exact mechanism of transformation is since I don't think it's ever been elaborated on? Suppose it could've been a result of godtiering but who knows? Maybe someone but not me.

Maybe horrorterrors are the "wing" equivalent to squiddles.

[Daz]

I believe the horrorterrors as former SBURB players came from the whole "48 player squiddle session" thing? Which to the best of my knowledge, may or may not actually have happened, but with regards to the horrorterrors the theory follows that they were squiddles who played SBURB and created the troll universe, and in the process became horrorterrors.

I'm not sure what the exact mechanism of transformation is since I don't think it's ever been elaborated on? Suppose it could've been a result of godtiering but who knows? Maybe someone but not me.

I kinda see it as a "Skaia vs horrorterrors" on a similar sense as "prospit vs derse", but on a larger scale. And considering that the guy ruining their day pretty much the result of Skaia, you can kinda understand that.

And if they were the ones who created the troll's universe, wouldn't the human universe be inside the troll's then?

[rookie1978]

How does a general game of Sburb normally progress? A lot of the sprites minus Davesprite and Nannasprite have been basically entirely useless, even though they're supposed to give the players information and is one of the only ways that players actually learn how the game works in the first place. But that just begs the question, if they don't already have knowledge of how the game works (like reading a guide online) how the hell are you supposed to know what to do?

Even prototyping a sprite seems difficult to figure out. The game doesn't tell you and you don't have a sprite that tells you to do it. With how much experimentation you'd probably need to do with all the different machines the games give you, I can only imagine how many players die at the first meteor showers.

And even then, with the sprite's limited knowledge, how to players figure out how to god tier? Or stoke the forge? How many 'fail' at their given lands/quests and end up stuck? The number of 'doomed timelines' compared to 'winning' ones must be staggering.

[Daz]

How does a general game of Sburb normally progress? A lot of the sprites minus Davesprite and Nannasprite have been basically entirely useless, even though they're supposed to give the players information and is one of the only ways that players actually learn how the game works in the first place. But that just begs the question, if they don't already have knowledge of how the game works (like reading a guide online) how the hell are you supposed to know what to do?

Even prototyping a sprite seems difficult to figure out. The game doesn't tell you and you don't have a sprite that tells you to do it. With how much experimentation you'd probably need to do with all the different machines the games give you, I can only imagine how many players die at the first meteor showers.

And even then, with the sprite's limited knowledge, how to players figure out how to god tier? Or stoke the forge? How many 'fail' at their given lands/quests and end up stuck? The number of 'doomed timelines' compared to 'winning' ones must be staggering.

I guess Sburb goes with the old-school game design as being obtuse as possible and letting the players figure everything out. Think of it like Wizardry 5, except if you die in game, you die for real. Why do you think it got only 1.5 hats out of 5?

[Sokota]

How does a general game of Sburb normally progress? A lot of the sprites minus Davesprite and Nannasprite have been basically entirely useless, even though they're supposed to give the players information and is one of the only ways that players actually learn how the game works in the first place. But that just begs the question, if they don't already have knowledge of how the game works (like reading a guide online) how the hell are you supposed to know what to do?

Even prototyping a sprite seems difficult to figure out. The game doesn't tell you and you don't have a sprite that tells you to do it. With how much experimentation you'd probably need to do with all the different machines the games give you, I can only imagine how many players die at the first meteor showers.

And even then, with the sprite's limited knowledge, how to players figure out how to god tier? Or stoke the forge? How many 'fail' at their given lands/quests and end up stuck? The number of 'doomed timelines' compared to 'winning' ones must be staggering.

I guess Sburb goes with the old-school game design as being obtuse as possible and letting the players figure everything out. Think of it like Wizardry 5, except if you die in game, you die for real. Why do you think it got only 1.5 hats out of 5?

To be fair, Game Bro didn’t even play the game before reviewing it :p

[boqol]

And if they were the ones who created the troll's universe, wouldn't the human universe be inside the troll's then?

well no, im pretty sure universes are sort of strewn about the furthest ring similarly to other junk like the dreambubbles, servers, the green sun, you get the point

[boqol]

How does a general game of Sburb normally progress? A lot of the sprites minus Davesprite and Nannasprite have been basically entirely useless, even though they're supposed to give the players information and is one of the only ways that players actually learn how the game works in the first place. But that just begs the question, if they don't already have knowledge of how the game works (like reading a guide online) how the hell are you supposed to know what to do?

Even prototyping a sprite seems difficult to figure out. The game doesn't tell you and you don't have a sprite that tells you to do it. With how much experimentation you'd probably need to do with all the different machines the games give you, I can only imagine how many players die at the first meteor showers.

And even then, with the sprite's limited knowledge, how to players figure out how to god tier? Or stoke the forge? How many 'fail' at their given lands/quests and end up stuck? The number of 'doomed timelines' compared to 'winning' ones must be staggering.

yeah, sburb is just really hard i guess!! the kids session on earth, for example, was likely just meant for the four kids due to stuff like other people receiving cruxite artifacts identical to the kids iirc so its already kind of narrowing who could play and win to begin with, even then who knows how many iterations of the kids ended up failing in doomed timelines


also, multiple sources exist in sburb, including skaia, the horrorterrors, consorts, sprites, and denizens. i wouldnt exactly say that sprites are useless unless the player has some sort of prior knowledge of sburb, theyre like a beginning tutorial usually in my eyes and are pretty indispensable at first at least so i somewhat agree—even then all of the kids sprites saved their lives at some point pre and post entry!! theyre not just guides but protectors at first, i think

so i dont think it matters how hard sburb is, the idea is that SOME timeline out there some iteration of a kid will somehow figure it out even if its by a stroke of luck, like a video game with extra lives (this was probably intended) the way i see it. also id say the first kid to enter would have by far the most figuring-out to do if they all communicate with each other, if the first one figures things out i think the rest of the party should have something to go off of.

[rookie1978]

I wonder a lot about who 'made' Skaia. The game doesn't necessarily have a 'purpose', since creating the universe is just called the 'reward'. I don't think Skaia has any actual purpose. If the 'game' genuinely cared about creating new universes it would just eliminate the chance of doomed timelines to happen in the first place. Skaia's basically written as an anti-plothole, because much like the force just makes things 'happen' in star wars, things happen in sburb because skaia 'willed it' or made it that way. Which means that if Sburb really is just a fun little game meant to be played and treated like a GAME despite the mortal peril it put's its players in, there's some kind of incredibly powerful ultra-realized race from beyond even the horrorterrors(?) gaze that made Skaia, and has presumably made other reality-altering devices. At that point reality is your plaything.

Here's a very, very vague theory with absolutely no backup- Horrorterrors feed off of life itself. Sburb and it's variations were created to give birth to new universes which would ultimately be 'eaten' by the horrorterrors. That's why there's no going back after you enter your new universe, and why there's so many doomed timelines. The horrorterrors are basically eating everything left behind and they bide their time waiting for the next meal. It could also explain why they bother helping players in the first place.

Sburb is just a renewable food source?

[boqol]

I wonder a lot about who 'made' Skaia. The game doesn't necessarily have a 'purpose', since creating the universe is just called the 'reward'. I don't think Skaia has any actual purpose. If the 'game' genuinely cared about creating new universes it would just eliminate the chance of doomed timelines to happen in the first place. Skaia's basically written as an anti-plothole, because much like the force just makes things 'happen' in star wars, things happen in sburb because skaia 'willed it' or made it that way. Which means that if Sburb really is just a fun little game meant to be played and treated like a GAME despite the mortal peril it put's its players in, there's some kind of incredibly powerful ultra-realized race from beyond even the horrorterrors(?) gaze that made Skaia, and has presumably made other reality-altering devices. At that point reality is your plaything.

Here's a very, very vague theory with absolutely no backup- Horrorterrors feed off of life itself. Sburb and it's variations were created to give birth to new universes which would ultimately be 'eaten' by the horrorterrors. That's why there's no going back after you enter your new universe, and why there's so many doomed timelines. The horrorterrors are basically eating everything left behind and they bide their time waiting for the next meal. It could also explain why they bother helping players in the first place.

Sburb is just a renewable food source?

i actually really think its an interesting theory!! while sburb also plays the role of making players “grow up” into who theyre meant to be, that could also maybe not really be whats going on
someone had such a theory on their blog about this and i thought it was a pretty interesting take, id elaborate but i cant necessarily find said blog anywhere for some reason

[Prime]

I wonder a lot about who 'made' Skaia. The game doesn't necessarily have a 'purpose', since creating the universe is just called the 'reward'. [...]

Sburb is just a renewable food source?

Horrorterrors are one thing, but my pet theory for the longest time (even when homestuck was ongoing) is that cherubs are somehow responsible for creating SBURB. If not, they certainly seem connected to it even if just tangibly. Think of the god tier clock, of how it has reptilian features in it's design. Those were added in by the big man himself (I can't source this off the cuff, sorry). Hiveswap bolstered the feeling in my gut that cherubs are somehow involved with the giant fucking cherub portal in attic. And I was particularly intrigued with Calamity re: forbidden lore and how she knew enough to totally play Condie in the long game.
Cherubs may just be a race that have figured out how to take advantage of a system that promises unlimited territorial expansion.
There's no physical evidence, or course, so nothing adds up. But there's something up with those green space snakes.

[rookie1978]

I wonder a lot about who 'made' Skaia. The game doesn't necessarily have a 'purpose', since creating the universe is just called the 'reward'. [...]

Sburb is just a renewable food source?

There's no physical evidence, or course, so nothing adds up. But there's something up with those green space snakes.

Oh, definitely, they seemingly came outta nowhere in the comic and whatever the cherub portal is in Hiveswap (that Dirk now owns in HS^2) and the judgement clock definitely hint that they've got some kind of 'high order ultimate being' thing going on. I'm excited to see if Hussman ever tries going deeper into Cherub culture/lore, maybe even getting a new set of twins in HS^2. INB4 the planet Dirk crashes on is some kind of cherub homeworld and that's why his Sburb game is gonna be so important.

[Sahxyel]

I'm excited to see if Hussman ever tries going deeper into Cherub culture/lore, maybe even getting a new set of twins in HS^2. INB4 the planet Dirk crashes on is some kind of cherub homeworld and that's why his Sburb game is gonna be so important.

This is something that bothered me for a while. Homestuck proves that Cherubs are antisocial and liable to kill each other so how the hell did such a species develop anything remotely resembling a society with cultural norms, legends, or iconography that isn't just biologically inspired?

[rookie1978]

I'm excited to see if Hussman ever tries going deeper into Cherub culture/lore, maybe even getting a new set of twins in HS^2. INB4 the planet Dirk crashes on is some kind of cherub homeworld and that's why his Sburb game is gonna be so important.

This is something that bothered me for a while. Homestuck proves that Cherubs are antisocial and liable to kill each other so how the hell did such a species develop anything remotely resembling a society with cultural norms, legends, or iconography that isn't just biologically inspired?

Maybe they only moved to being nomadic walking terror-bombs after a societal collapse of some sort, like an awful adaptation method to ensure survival.

Or, all the strange cherub artifacts we found were just made by various different cherubs that either died or lost them. Cherubs are on a naturally higher power scale than humans, trolls, etc. and probably have an easier time making weird shit like that.

But, why make a portal from earth to Alernia? Is that specifically how the weird cherub portal thing functioned? What cherub visited both planets and decided they should be linked?

Actually, HOW are they linked? Didn't the human universe only exist after the Trolls created it? How is Joey jumping back into a universe that doesn't exist anymore? Not even god-tier time god fuckery can do that.

[Sahxyel]

Maybe they only moved to being nomadic walking terror-bombs after a societal collapse of some sort, like an awful adaptation method to ensure survival.

Now that would be REALLY interesting to learn more about. Societal collapse of a species that can survive in space and turns into solar system spanning giant space snakes must have had a hell of a society prior to whatever incredible event forced them into their aggressive binary nomadic lifestyle.

ZillyWHY are the Cherubs like this?

[rookie1978]

Maybe they only moved to being nomadic walking terror-bombs after a societal collapse of some sort, like an awful adaptation method to ensure survival.

ZillyWHY are the Cherubs like this?

To be frank, the likeliest answer is because Huss wanted to introduce skull people and didn't think too hard about their actual existence or upbringing, and the cherub portal/clock looks like they do because the cherub aesthetic is cool. Also, funky juju stuff, which is inexplicably related to cherubs specifically.

I wonder if cherubs can come in different color pairs, of if it's always red/green?

[rookie1978]

What's the point of the Exiles and how exactly do they get to the old player's planet? Each player has one, right? Do the command stations just spontaneously appear after Exiles reach the old planet? How do the command stations and the Exile's input actually help players? It's not like they know how Sburb works, or that they're just game characters.

[frogmoss10]

I wonder a lot about who 'made' Skaia. The game doesn't necessarily have a 'purpose', since creating the universe is just called the 'reward'. [...]

Sburb is just a renewable food source?

There's no physical evidence, or course, so nothing adds up. But there's something up with those green space snakes.

Oh, definitely, they seemingly came outta nowhere in the comic and whatever the cherub portal is in Hiveswap (that Dirk now owns in HS^2) and the judgement clock definitely hint that they've got some kind of 'high order ultimate being' thing going on. I'm excited to see if Hussman ever tries going deeper into Cherub culture/lore, maybe even getting a new set of twins in HS^2. INB4 the planet Dirk crashes on is some kind of cherub homeworld and that's why his Sburb game is gonna be so important.

Um. Hold up. Dirk has the cherub portal ? I can't find that anywhere in the comic.

Also, so much for Hiveswap being an unrelated storyline.

[Flame_Warp]

I'm pretty sure they were assuming that was what was under the tarp Terezi nearly looked under. But there's really no evidence of that.