A softlock is a savestate in video games where you are placed in an inescapable situation, preventing progress forward in the game, and also preventing backtracking, leaving you stuck in a particular position with no hopes of escaping. This is usually the product of design flaws, overlooked mechanics or levels, or simply glitches embedded in a game.
The most common way to escape a softlock is to restart the game from the beginning.
Examples of a softlock may include but are not limited to: death on spawn, spawning inside a wall, a game autosaving right the instant before you die, etc.
Gamer1: "Dude, the yesterday I reached the hardest level in the game, but the game autosaved while I had 1 HP and a monster was shooting at me. Now everytime I load my save file I die right away!"
Gamer1: "Dude, the yesterday I reached the hardest level in the game, but the game autosaved while I had 1 HP and a monster was shooting at me. Now everytime I load my save file I die right away!"
Gamer 2: "Wow that sounds like you got softlocked bro. Better create a new save file and hope it doesn't happen again!"
Gamer 1: "Damn it! I had so much progress in that save file!"
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An anti-softlock is a resource used to prevent or get out of an apparent softlock in a videogame (which has been put there by design). It provides the player with a way out of the designed softlock by providing an exit or a way to kill their character in order to return to a previous save state.
Unlike softlocks, anti-softlocks are placed by design and are not effective in true softlocks from by faulty design, death on spawn, spawning inside a wall, or a game autosaving right the instant before you die.
Gamer: "Oh, shit. Where's the anti-softlock? How do I kill myself?"
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In Mario Maker, an anti-softlock is a particularly potent, enraging mechanism to troll a player - by giving them a way to die, while making it as difficult as possible to obtain the sweet release of death.
Typically, anti-softlocks will only be utilized after a player has obtained a checkpoint, meaning that if the player were to restart the level, they would have to play through the entire level again. Thus, the player feels compelled to complete the anti-softlock, diminishing their sanity in the process.
"Holy shit, what is this anti-softlock?" - carlsagan42
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When you done something so wrong to a person that is in love with you, that she/he will never want to be into a relationship with you / to progress with you in relationship.
Dude, I slept with her sister. I'm softlocked with her now, she won't want a relationship anymore with me.