Offensive material in old-fashioned computer games

[AnonConfession]

I am a big fan of a certain computer game from the 1980s, and have been participating in an online community: we write and share our own modified versions of this game.

I have two separate areas of concern here:

• our games contain offensive material (the subject of this thread);
• copyright issues (I have created a separate thread to discuss that).

I believe that some of our games offend God’s goodness in the following waysa) blasphemy in the names of the levels (e.g. parodies of Christianity, irreverent use of the names God and Jesus);
(b) references to non-Catholic religions;
(c) hand-drawn, low-resolution (16×16 pixels) graphics depicting genitals, sexual acts, drugs, weapons and violence;
(d) games or levels whose names contain swear words, or refer to sins such as drunkenness, drug abuse, fornication, and homosexual relationships;
(e) references to morally offensive books, TV programmes, movies and music.
Additionally, some of our games are accompanied by stories that are offensive in all of the above ways (with sordid textual descriptions rather than graphics).

For each of the above categories of offence, I am trying to determine whether it is an objectively grave sin to: 1. **continue to share my own games with the community **(without cleaning up my back catalogue);
2. share a list of all the games that I and the others have written, with a link to download each one.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

What game are you working on? PM me if you don’t feel comfortable saying it on here. I am a fan of older games as well

As to the question, if it’s tweaking your conscious, then that problem means that it’s not entirely on the up and up. If it’s being downright blasphemous, then I would either remove those aspect, or edit them so that they are not blasphemous.

There’s nothing wrong with it containing non-Catholic religions, especially if it’s a fantasy game. People know that this stuff isn’t real… or… I hope they do. I’ve never heard of anyone worshiping The Nine, and they are probably the most well know video game gods. (Elder Scrolls)

The sexual sprites you could probably do without…

D is tricky…I would not distribute the ones that present homosexual relationships as valid, but the rest of it is kind of up to the user. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with the game containing the other things, so long as they are not the main focus of the game.

The last one… well… I don’t think it’s morally wrong to just have references, but I’m not sure on that one.

 

[BcuzISaidSo]

I guess I’m out of touch. Was trying to figure out what objectional material was found in games like pong, frogger and donkey kong!

 

[dshix]

I am a big fan of a certain computer game from the 1980s, and have been participating in an online community: we write and share our own modified versions of this game.

I have two separate areas of concern here:

• our games contain offensive material (the subject of this thread);
• copyright issues (I have created a separate thread to discuss that).

I believe that some of our games offend God’s goodness in the following waysa) blasphemy in the names of the levels (e.g. parodies of Christianity, irreverent use of the names God and Jesus);
(b) references to non-Catholic religions;
(c) hand-drawn, low-resolution (16×16 pixels) graphics depicting genitals, sexual acts, drugs, weapons and violence;
(d) games or levels whose names contain swear words, or refer to sins such as drunkenness, drug abuse, fornication, and homosexual relationships;
(e) references to morally offensive books, TV programmes, movies and music.
Additionally, some of our games are accompanied by stories that are offensive in all of the above ways (with sordid textual descriptions rather than graphics).

For each of the above categories of offence, I am trying to determine whether it is an objectively grave sin to: 1. **continue to share my own games with the community **(without cleaning up my back catalogue);
2. share a list of all the games that I and the others have written, with a link to download each one.

Point ‘b’ is not a concern, but the other four could be gravely sinful to play (points ‘a’ and ‘c’ particularly) depending on the individual’s inclinations towards the game features provided.

Points ‘d’ and ‘e’ may or may not be mortally sinful depending on severity.

If you don’t clean things up, the sin will be passed on to your soul.

 

[Myqyl]

Disclaimer : This post is my opinion, which is very possibly wrong.

{B} is no issue at all…

The rest I believe would be a grave sin to distribute to minors, or adults without giving proper warning of objectionable content. “Sin” is far too complex to give a yes or no answer. Too much depends on the state of mind and intent. Is it sinful to watch an R rated movie? For one person it could be perfectly alright while for another it could be a grave sin. To expose people to material that could lead them to sin without warning them of the content, I believe is sinful. Letting them decide that they will not be driven wild with lust by looking at an unclad cgi set of pixels is perfectly ok.

I’m a fan of these games as well and am curious what you’re working on. Could you toss me a PM with the names of the games your working on?

Thanks

God bless

 

[Iron_Donkey]

Portraying immorality may or may not be sin, depending on how and why and to what extent it is portrayed.

If you present what is bad as though it is good, that is bad.

If you present what as bad as bad things that people do but should avoid, that may even be good.

If you present a thing that is certainly bad without any comment about it’s morality, but with the expectation that people will revel in and enjoy its badness, that, I think, is bad. (Eg excessive gore, sexual stuff.)

So depending on how you present things, it could certainly be gravely wrong.

As a side note, not all having fun with religion is bad. Blasphemy certainly is, but it’s possible to have a little fun with things without descending that far. Ex:
some website:

The new priest is nervous about hearing confessions, so he asks an older priest to sit in on his sessions. The new priest hears several confessions, then the old priest asks him to step out of the confessional for a few suggestions.

The old priest suggests, “Cross your arms over your chest and rub your chin with one hand.”

The new priest tries this. The old priest suggests, “Try saying things like, 'I see, yes, go on, and I understand, how did you feel about that?”

The new priest says those things, trying them out. The old priest says, “Now, don’t you think that’s a little better than slapping your knee and saying, ‘No way! What happened next?’”