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17 votes
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What does the oligarch behind the ‘Ivy League antisemitism crisis’ actually want?
22 votes -
Kyrgyzstan - The Switzerland of Central Asia
6 votes -
Making purple gold
26 votes -
Recommendations for medical history
My dad (a veterinarian by trade) is really into medical history, so I was wondering if folks had any recommendations or favorites. I know he's done a lot of reading about the history of vaccines...
My dad (a veterinarian by trade) is really into medical history, so I was wondering if folks had any recommendations or favorites. I know he's done a lot of reading about the history of vaccines and the Spanish flu epidemic, but it's really not my area of interest, so I'm somewhat at a loss for how to find him something. Ideally it would be something available on audiobook because that's mostly how he consumes books these days.
Edit: Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am not sure he has the wherewithal to do podcasts, but the book recommendations are great. I'm going with The Emperor of All Maladies and The Ghost Map, assuming he doesn't have them already.
12 votes -
Can doctors in England detain you under the Mental Health Act if they've only met you in MS Teams? (No, not any more)
14 votes -
Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to merge with Paramount Global
20 votes -
Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets
This is the place for casual discussion about our pets. Photos are welcome, show us your pet(s) and tell us about them!
11 votes -
Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of December 17
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!
Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”
Rules:
- No grey market sales
- No affiliate links
If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.
All previous Save Point topics
If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add
save point
to your personal tag filters.21 votes -
Fighting climate change via personal banking
12 votes -
Scientists explain why ‘doing your own research’ leads to believing conspiracies
42 votes -
In a win for the climate (and safety), urban US speed limits are dropping
27 votes -
‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ named Best Film by the National Board of Review
16 votes -
The personal, political art of board-game design
6 votes -
Technology is making people busier during their so called free time
34 votes -
Day 23: A Long Walk
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/23 Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it...
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/23
Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it nicely, with the code collapsed by default inside an expandable section with syntax highlighting (you can replace
python
with any of the "short names" listed in this page of supported languages):<details> <summary>Part 1</summary> ```python Your code here. ``` </details>
5 votes -
Sculptor sues Swedish glassmaker Kosta Boda for €1m in test of EU ‘bestseller clause’ – landmark case may open door to retrospective claims across bloc
6 votes -
Day 16: The Floor Will Be Lava
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/16 Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it...
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/16
Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it nicely, with the code collapsed by default inside an expandable section with syntax highlighting (you can replace
python
with any of the "short names" listed in this page of supported languages):<details> <summary>Part 1</summary> ```python Your code here. ``` </details>
9 votes -
Lapsus$: GTA 6 hacker handed indefinite hospital order
23 votes -
Mark Zuckerberg is building a top-secret compound in Hawai'i
32 votes -
‘Winning requires hard work’: Wayfair CEO sends employees a gloomy pre-holiday email following layoff-filled year
27 votes -
Colorado Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, bans Donald Trump from state’s ballot under insurrection clause
122 votes -
Eight questions for anyone who has developed a game (especially with Unity's Engine)
(I already wrote this once, but my phone didn't like it and randomly deleted the whole thing... ◕∩◕ ) I've been wanting to develop some games for a while now, and I have an overarching theme idea...
(I already wrote this once, but my phone didn't like it and randomly deleted the whole thing... ◕∩◕ )
I've been wanting to develop some games for a while now, and I have an overarching theme idea in mind. I couldn't decide on top down pixelated game or 3D style, because it's more of a visual story kind of game, where you explore, build a base (or several), meet and talk to NPCs, learn the story, etc. I want a lot of detail but I only have (minimal) experience with pixelated games. So naturally, 3D sounds better for a higher detailed, and maybe stylized environment.
I don't know much at all about code ( for example, I had to look up how to format this post). I don't even know what languages there are other than Java. I make resourcepacks for Minecraft, but that's minimal coding for the .mcmeta file. I do also make fabric mods for it, but I use MCreator for those, which I'm sure is like training wheels for coding.
I have the skills for graphics for both characters/environments and GUI/HUD elements. I have an idea for my story, and a few ideas for characters. What I know I don't have is experience in balancing things like economies, rpg skills, fighting, and weapons/armor and their upgrades. But I'm not really planning on implementing those, at least not right now. (The economy would be first if I did)
I recently saw a video on youtube showcasing Unity Engine's nanite environments, and basically, I want in on that. They're gorgeous.
The Questions
So my 8 questions are, on a scale of one to ten (ten being basically impossible for one single person to do), how difficult would it be to make these elements in a singleplayer, 3D game for someone without experience (like me):
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Sky, ground, objects (like trees, flowers, rocks, etc) and other environment visuals' 3D models for exploration? I need to be able to walk on it, and maybe hit things like trees for lumber.
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Base building and gathering the materials to build? This comes with the inventory issue as well (looking at you, Minecraft), which I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do this.
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Crafting said gathered materials for building elements and items to gift to NPCs? This will need GUI and workbench, most likely.
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Collectibles? Think koroks from BoTW or the museum artifacts in Stardew Valley. I'd like for the player to be able to display these only in/on a shelf/table/glass case inside their base(s).
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NPCs with many hours worth of randomized dialogue interaction, gifts to and from NPCs, as well as a few friendship levels and unlockable interactions/gifts?
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What would the time frame look like for me to learn Unity's Engine for these elements, or is there a better engine I should be aware of?
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What materials might you guess that I'd need to spend money on to make this game? I already have: a Mac, the Adobe Suite, a drawing tablet, all the time in the world, and ideas. Would I need a license for anything?
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What have I overlooked? 3D modeling (and not just blocky models in blockbench) is a skill I realized I'd need to learn just as I was writing this post.
The reason I'm asking so many questions is because I can't tell if trying this will be worth my time or not, and if I could afford to hire someone for parts of it, if need be. I have ADHD, so I'm wondering if this is just the "new shiny thing" that has caught my eye (probably is). I don't want to dive into a major learning session and project development if it ultimately won't go anywhere because it's too hard for my smooth brain.
Then again, I see some games (what I would consider low quality) that I'm like, "man, I could've done that, that looks so simple and easy!" So basically I have no idea whether I'm near the peak of Mt Stupid on the Dunning-Kreuger graph, or if I'm past it and somewhere in the valley.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Also, feel free to talk to me like I'm a dumb 5 year old.
6 votes -
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How do you manage kitchen towels?
Welcome to this exciting episode of "Someone Asks Basic Life Questions to the Internet"! In this installment, we ask for help from members of the audience who really know where their towel is. Do...
Welcome to this exciting episode of "Someone Asks Basic Life Questions to the Internet"! In this installment, we ask for help from members of the audience who really know where their towel is. Do we have a Betty Crocker in the house?
Right now I have 2-3 crusty and mostly useless kitchen towels strewn around my counter space. For some reason, kitchen towels just kind of evade my attempts to manage them well. I tried to keep them folded in a corner of the counter, but I never liked the idea of putting them back there after I used them even if it was just to clean a water spill. Putting them in a drawer was this but worse because they bunch up and seize up on the frame it goes into.
On top of that, I'm never sure exactly how to keep them clean. Most of the time I avoid using them to touch food or to clean up with; I clean up with sponges and use paper towels for when it needs to touch food. But I think that paper towels are kind of wasteful, so I want to stop using them. There are also some applications where paper towels simply don't work that well to begin with, especially when you need a sturdy wet towel. I'm wondering if I should just be sticking them in my weekly laundry loads, but I tend to forget about them for a day and don't want to have a need for them while they aren't usable.
44 votes -
Is the Las Vegas sphere worth it?
14 votes -
Refurbed Lenovo ThinkPads - whats the "current gen"?
I'm in the market to hurl at a wall upgrade our badly ageing general use family laptop (Lenovo V110). I've used ThinkPads in the past for work and due to their ubiquity there is a value to be had,...
I'm in the market to
hurl at a wallupgrade our badly ageing general use family laptop (Lenovo V110).I've used ThinkPads in the past for work and due to their ubiquity there is a value to be had, I believe, in corporate refurbs.
However, it's been a good few years since I used one - think it was a T440 - and am looking for some advice on what the most recently obsoleted gen is that I should be looking for, or where people have found a sweet spot on price/performance. Any pointers?
16 votes -
There's a better English alphabet
8 votes -
China announces rules on video games - sparked panic among investors, wiping off nearly $80 billion in market value
57 votes -
Mass shooting, fifteen dead, at university in Prague, Czech Republic
50 votes -
Mickey Mouse to enter public domain
45 votes -
Watch gravity pull two metal balls together
9 votes -
Inertia of evil in good faith
15 votes -
If we shoot a 140lb draw weight English longbow from a five story medieval tower, how much further will the arrows go?
13 votes -
Any Pokemon TCG players here? I just got into the game and I feel a little lost.
So I was wondering through a book store and I found the Greninja ex Battle Deck, which I thought looked really cool, and I've always wanted to own a Pokemon deck, even if I don't have anyone to...
So I was wondering through a book store and I found the Greninja ex Battle Deck, which I thought looked really cool, and I've always wanted to own a Pokemon deck, even if I don't have anyone to play with.
I learnt the deck is meant for absolute beginners and that it doesn't stand a chance against meta decks, but I expected that (it's the same for Yu-Gi-Oh structure decks, you usually need to buy 3 and add a bunch of staples to get something slightly competitive).
Now since I can't play with anyone IRL, I hopped on Pokemon TCG Live, scanned the deck's QR code and built a better version of the deck using this video from LittleDarkFury. Except I replaced 2 Starmie and 1 Staryu with 1 Comfey, 1 Pyukumuku and 1 Lapras because I don't have anything else that synergizes, and I ran out of credits. (I can share the decklist if needed.)
Mostly because I dumped all my credits into building a Giratina Lost Zone deck because I felt cocky and then I realized I have no idea how to play it. That was a mistake.
My problem right now is that I feel really aimless, I have 2 decent decks but I can't really seem to get the hang out of them. I do understand their main win conditions (get Giratina VSTAR out, respectively get Greninja ex out) but besides that I don't really know how to play them. It does feel like I just need to get a bunch of games in, to see what decks other people play, and what situations I need to adapt to.
Locally there are no game shops I could go to, but I would have loved to play with someone IRL and have them guide me through everything. This means I'm stuck with online resources, but most of them are aimed at players that already know the game.
What do you think I should do? I'll keep playing games in hopes something will click with me, but until then, I'd appreciate some guidance (feel free to ask me anything in case I didn't give enough information).
13 votes -
The Kikkoman soy sauce bottle is priceless
22 votes -
Beeper - Moving forward
41 votes -
Reindeer combine sleeping and digesting, Norwegian researchers found after extracting reindeer brain data
9 votes -
Armored Core VI discussion
Gaming has been a mostly stale experience for me over the last few years, even with friends. But this game is the one that stands out; it's addictive in the best ways. The soundtrack? Slaps. The...
Gaming has been a mostly stale experience for me over the last few years, even with friends. But this game is the one that stands out; it's addictive in the best ways.
The soundtrack?
Slaps.
The storyline(s)?
Slaps.
The fact that creativity is rewarded?
Slaps.
The weird micro style of storytelling?
Slaps.
Iguazu being a whiny bitch the whole time?
Hilarious.
Anyways let's talk about it.35 votes -
How two US pharmacists figured out that oral phenylephrine decongestants don’t work
32 votes -
Ethiopia's Nile dam [continues to] anger Egypt
7 votes -
A new AI model can predict human lifespan, researchers say. They want to make sure it’s used for good.
13 votes -
A survey for those who don’t celebrate Christmas
When did you stop celebrating? Why did you stop celebrating? How have family and friends responded? What do you do instead, if anything? Disclaimer - I am not aiming to shame or undermine those...
- When did you stop celebrating?
- Why did you stop celebrating?
- How have family and friends responded?
- What do you do instead, if anything?
Disclaimer - I am not aiming to shame or undermine those who do celebrate, this is just friendly a discussion for those who don’t.
30 votes -
James Webb Space Telescope captures high-resolution image of Uranus
56 votes -
What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
3 votes -
African ports may be overwhelmed by Red Sea reroutings
7 votes -
The myth of the unemployed US college grad
31 votes -
I want to learn Android (with Kotlin) ... should I focus on Jetpack or the old XML style?
I am an experienced programmer (mostly M$ stack -- C#, etc). I started learning mobile Android development a few months ago, learning both Kotlin and the larger Android development environment at...
I am an experienced programmer (mostly M$ stack -- C#, etc).
I started learning mobile Android development a few months ago, learning both Kotlin and the larger Android development environment at the same time. I got bogged down in tutorials and guides, because half of them teach Jetpack Compose methodology and half teach XML layout ... and, often enough, don't bother to mention which method they're using.
Which should I learn first? I am initially interested in learning Android dev for my own hobby/fun/side projects, but I would--ultimately--like to be able to put "Android developer" on my resume.
Jetpack definitely looks better, more modern, more OO, and I expect it will eventually become the new standard ... but that could still be many years down the road. Also, while it might be "better"--especially for larger projects--it also smells more complicated.
So, ultimately, I guess I should learn both if I actually intend to become an Android dev ... but I should definitely get comfortable with one, first ... so, which one?
11 votes -
Day 21: Step Counter
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/21 Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it...
Today's problem description: https://adventofcode.com/2023/day/21
Please post your solutions in your own top-level comment. Here's a template you can copy-paste into your comment to format it nicely, with the code collapsed by default inside an expandable section with syntax highlighting (you can replace
python
with any of the "short names" listed in this page of supported languages):<details> <summary>Part 1</summary> ```python Your code here. ``` </details>
6 votes -
Hammarskjöld | Official trailer
9 votes -
The invisible tech behemoth [Microsoft] (2021)
8 votes