AlienAliena's recent activity
-
Comment on No love for fiction or literary pursuits on Tildes? in ~tildes
-
Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
AlienAliena LinkWoke up to really good news that two Kira Muratova films are coming to the Criterion Collection in August: Brief Encounters and The Long Farewell, which is really good news because those were two...Woke up to really good news that two Kira Muratova films are coming to the Criterion Collection in August: Brief Encounters and The Long Farewell, which is really good news because those were two films that were previously unavailable in the U.S. except maybe on a shitty Amazon DVD. She's a Ukrainian filmmaker and those are hard to come by in the west.
I've been exploring a lot of films from soviet satellite states in general lately, with one being the great film Revenge from Yermek Shinarbayev, which is about a boy that has to spend his life avenging a sister that was murdered before he was ever born. It's also really interesting as a historical fiction film because it explores the little known migration of Koreans to Russian territories for work. Also, The Needle directed by Rashid Nugmanov which is like a more action oriented Requiem for a Dream with Soviet Rock in place of the techno. Really good stuff!!
-
Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
AlienAliena Link ParentIn a few US states it's not legal for both the reasons you mentioned, aesthetics and safety. Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont all banned the fuckers. I live in Missouri and the sheer amount of...In a few US states it's not legal for both the reasons you mentioned, aesthetics and safety. Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont all banned the fuckers. I live in Missouri and the sheer amount of religious and political rage bait that's on either side of the highway is ridiculous. Ruins an otherwise pretty drive, and like you said I'm spending less time looking at the road.
-
Comment on What are some global projects I can contribute to from my home? in ~talk
AlienAliena LinkThis might not quite be in the spirit of what you're looking for as it is more passive than I think you might want, however if you've got a good computer or some extra laptops lying around you...This might not quite be in the spirit of what you're looking for as it is more passive than I think you might want, however if you've got a good computer or some extra laptops lying around you could consider contributing to volunteer computing platforms.
I've personally used Berkley's BOINC, which is a general platform that has a wide range of projects you can contribute to, from tracking asteroids to climate predictions to the study of protein structures for use in developing cures for diseases. Most projects are run by academic research institutions, and as a fun bonus there's a bit of a social aspect to it as well where you can join teams of people who all contribute to similar projects.
-
Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
AlienAliena Link ParentThat's a great idea! And it also doubles as an exploration of a peoples culinary culture. I've been eating a lot of vegetable solyanka from a nearby Russian restaurant so that might be what I go...That's a great idea! And it also doubles as an exploration of a peoples culinary culture. I've been eating a lot of vegetable solyanka from a nearby Russian restaurant so that might be what I go for first. Thank you for your comment!
-
Comment on Megalopolis | Teaser trailer in ~movies
AlienAliena Link ParentIt does, yeah. I wouldn't watch the trailer if you're already interested for the synopsis.It does, yeah. I wouldn't watch the trailer if you're already interested for the synopsis.
-
Comment on Megalopolis | Teaser trailer in ~movies
AlienAliena LinkNot sure when a minute and a half became a "teaser," but here's hoping for a good film. Coppola hasn't been hot for awhile with the last film he actually directed being 2011's Twixt which people...Not sure when a minute and a half became a "teaser," but here's hoping for a good film.
Coppola hasn't been hot for awhile with the last film he actually directed being 2011's Twixt which people weren't big fans of.
The subject matter is relevant, mega millionaires wanting to build impossible and impractical utopia projects, but that could also make it dated on release. From this trailer it almost seems like it wants to be like a Metropolis origin story?
I'm weary, but excited. It's Coppola after all, when he's hot he's hot.
-
Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
AlienAliena Link ParentI would love to know some of your favorite vegetarian recipes! Particularly interesting pasta recipes, trying to make my Italian family see that you can cook a meal without pork lol. But thank you...I would love to know some of your favorite vegetarian recipes! Particularly interesting pasta recipes, trying to make my Italian family see that you can cook a meal without pork lol.
But thank you for this comment:
Bread becomes such a joy. Wheat, yeast and water transformed into deliciousness. Beans and rice are the cornerstone of so many dishes from every corner of the Earth. Pasta and noodles paired with sauces and veg. Fruits, nuts become such yummy snacks.
Spices and seasonings open up a huge panoply of flavors and combinations. With some basics: garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne, ancho, cinnamon, thyme, tarragon, oregano, fennel, bay leaves; you can make almost any dish by blending to create Mexican, Italian, Carribean, Greek, Indian, etc.I've been slowly making the transition away from meals where the main ingredient is meat so that my only real intake of meat is the occasional turkey and cheese sandwich and sushi, and otherwise everything is plant-based or just flat out plants (small steps). Lots of mushrooms and pasta! My biggest fear starting this transition was losing access to so many flavors, but really it's been opening me up to soooo many new tastes that I'd never experienced before. I've fallen in love with every ingredient on my spice rack when I used to not be able to stand spices like fennel seeds or bay leaves, I've even started gardening my own herbs and spices on my balcony.
I've been able to get so much more creative in finding way to make vegetables the main course rather than having it be meat every time, but it's also taken a lot of time finding out that vegetables and other greens COULD be a main course. You put all that discovery in a really pretty way and I appreciate it!
-
Comment on Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave's stirring letter about ChatGPT and human creativity in ~arts
AlienAliena Link ParentI completely agree with your point about "copying" (I wouldn't call what you describe even copying), I'm a very large fan of the statement "everything is a remix." Look up every work that went...I completely agree with your point about "copying" (I wouldn't call what you describe even copying), I'm a very large fan of the statement "everything is a remix." Look up every work that went into inspiring your favorite Shakespeare play and you can see that the dude was never some anomaly of originality and creativity, but just well read. They just remixed the texts they knew and used them to create their own unique works. It's how humans do, we build off each others knowledge to create new knowledge.
Kind of a jump from Shakespeare, but going with your music analogy Death Grips uses a million samples in their songs, yet when Exmilitary came out I was probably one of the most unique sounds I heard.
The argument could be made that Generative-AI is doing just this, remixing the knowledge that it's been fed to create it's own works and responses. However, I'd still argue that that's not really what's going on here. It reminds me of the question about if Koko the ape could understrand ASL. There was a bunch of unrelated tom-fuckery with that experiment, but the principle question was if Koko could actually use sign language, or it's just a case of monkey-see monkey-do. The consensus today is that it was probably the latter, she was just responding to positive reinforcement when making, or responding to, correct signs. We wanted to believe that she could sign because, well, that's something that we do and we like to think our way of communicating can be replicated in other species, that we don't need to understand them, but teach them to understand us. Really, she just wanted a banana.
Similarly with Chat-GPT, we've fed it information and given it enough positive reinforcement that it knows what do when someone asks it a question. It strings together words like this, it gets bananas. Shakespeare, or MC Ride, didn't do what they did for banana's, but because they made an intelligent thought to combine ideas they were familiar with into new ideas. imitation isn't intelligence, and when a user uses Chat-GPT they're only getting an imitation of what GPT's sources look like, and even then we'll never have access to those sources. It's answers will always lack the crucial step from imitation to remix, which is understanding it's sources to craft a new idea, because it doesn't understand anything except for how to get more banana's. When you use Chat-GPT to write something creative, you're basing what you write off of a second-hand copy, which is too far away from sampling others work to ever really get something original out of it in my eyes.
I think I've run out of ways to incorporate banana's into this semi-response/addendum/clarification-to-my-original-comment... thing. To connect it more directly back to my original comment about comparing using Chat-GPT to plagerism, you don't have the context needed to create something worthwhile when doing it this way. You're robbing yourself of the practice and knowledge it takes to remix ideas into something original, and instead leaning on something that could never do that because it's just not capable of that.
-
Comment on Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave's stirring letter about ChatGPT and human creativity in ~arts
AlienAliena Link ParentI don't know, I mean we shouldn't all aspire to have ghost writers, should we? I feel as though, having used Chat-GPT a few times as a writer, the effects that it has on me are almost identical to...I don't know, I mean we shouldn't all aspire to have ghost writers, should we?
I feel as though, having used Chat-GPT a few times as a writer, the effects that it has on me are almost identical to if I were to commit an act of plagiarism. Sure, I can switch the words around from the source I'm taking from some so it sounds like me, and reflects what I want to say, but I still didn't say it. I'd argue that I barely even thought it. I just agreed with it. Put my name on it.
What's absent in that process is the work that goes into doing anything at all. Fine for like, an invitation or an email, sure. But for a creative pursuit taking away the mental work of first figuring out what you want to say, then putting it into your own words, it takes away the entire reason we write in my view. Makes us lazy, don't want go looking for tubers.
-
Comment on Grand Theft Auto VI | Trailer 1 in ~games
AlienAliena Link ParentI echo this opinion a lot. People think it's funny, but some of my favorite experiences with GTA have been with the story. IV is my favorite because it had that more grounded and darker story. It...I echo this opinion a lot. People think it's funny, but some of my favorite experiences with GTA have been with the story. IV is my favorite because it had that more grounded and darker story. It was like a serious world that funny things could happen in, which made the funny things a little funnier imo.
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentOh gosh, yeah I hadn't done any research into it myself, just thought they were strange "features" to have in a video game. Glad you looked into it! Saves me from giving the devs the satisfaction...Oh gosh, yeah I hadn't done any research into it myself, just thought they were strange "features" to have in a video game. Glad you looked into it! Saves me from giving the devs the satisfaction of a download =p.
It's a shame too, there aren't a lot of total conversion mods for Fallout in general. Probably a few more for New Vegas, I can't think of any notable ones for F3. There is a Fallout Online engine (.ru extension) based off Fallout 2 that someone made and actively maintains that people develop game modes for, but from my personal experience with it you're gonna really have to have a deep knowledge of Russian to even begin to play it. And Russian insults, so many insults.
Anyways, can't wait to hear what you think! Everyone tends to have their own opinions on them so each one is always interesting to hear
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentI don't know if I necessarily agree that the productions are comparable in quality, but I do recognize I have a heavy set of hype goggles on and may not be able to have the most objective opinion....I don't know if I necessarily agree that the productions are comparable in quality, but I do recognize I have a heavy set of hype goggles on and may not be able to have the most objective opinion.
Speaking as someone who has worked on an Amazon production before, albeit as a low-level PA (still on-set every day they were in my city), Amazon Studios has a tendency to rush through productions extremely quickly, favoring duct-tape solutions over well thought-out plans. At risk of repeating myself, and realizing the pretentiousness of citing myself as a source, I'll just link to my previous comment on the subject. I include some links from there which talk about costume design on the Lord of the Rings series they made, and how it suffers from similar issues I think you might be seeing here.
tl;dr the Amazon production that I worked on, and from what I hear a few others, suffer from the commodification of an art form. Or assembly-linification as I put it in that comment. But it's impossible to tell if that's a similar case with Fallout, or if additional, (presumably) passionate about-the-material producers, writers, directors, etc. give this project a little more room to be special. Guess we'll see in April!
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena (edited )Link ParentOh yeah, it's corpo marketing 100%. No argument from me there. I always love going to film festivals specifically because, while directors are usually the main subjects of Q&A's, they'll also...Oh yeah, it's corpo marketing 100%. No argument from me there. I always love going to film festivals specifically because, while directors are usually the main subjects of Q&A's, they'll also bring more leaders of different crew departments on stage to answer specific questions about how they actually produced their area of expertise. Kinda wish for segments like "meet the costume designer" or "meet the prop master" were more common, kinda like how they do with interviewing actors leading up to the films release. I was more giving what I thought was the rational behind the choice as I've heard it from other fans talking about the show in other spaces. I'm not one to watch a lot of trailers anyways for that reason, they often misrepresent the style and feel of the show, or overplay one persons importance over another just because they have a bigger name, so if you're expecting an experience similar to something else that trailer name made but get something different it can be disappointing. In general I feel like trailers always make a product a little worse for the viewer.
In my opinion, Fallout 3, NV, the originals, 4, are all extremely fun games on their own without mods. The mods themselves just add an extremely high level of replayability. I played them all originally vanilla and got a majority of my playtime that way (When I was still gaming on an Xbox 360, so no mods available). Just for ease of playing (these games do crash, especially 3 and NV), there are probably some QoL mods that run without ever being seen by the player that I would recommend. I can only really speak to 3 since that's the game I've spent the most time in, aaand had the most trouble getting to work properly. Check out Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch (has all of the bug-fixes from Tale of Two Wastelands without TTW. Also general performance improvement and crash prevention) and Games for Windows LIVE Disabler (If you get the issue outlined here, this is the best and easiest way to fix it). Also if you get in and the green tint makes you wanna puke, no one would think less of you for installing Fellout... it makes a world of difference. Of course you can do your own research here for Fallout 3, and here for New Vegas. A mod manager of your choice would also just further make sure the mods are installed correctly and don't cause any extra issues of their own.
I have not heard of that mod! I've been itching for another Fallout OG-like, though some lines on that website make me a little... questioning of how the games subject matter is handled. Particularly:
Choose a skin color instead of a gender. This affects possible ways of solving some quests.
The skill “Gambling” is replaced by “Casanova” – the ability to convince women
Nothing inherently bad on it's own, it's an apocalypse setting so I expect, and to some level want, some darker tones and themes, but without this being a professional development team I do wonder if these mechanics are gonna be implemented in a tasteful way. But hey, can't judge a book by it's cover! Maybe I'll take some time off Starfield to play this over my winter break!
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentThat's a good question! More people need to be made aware of Nuka Break imo. I saw Nuka Break (and the short film that inspired it, Red Star) waaaay back when they were first coming out, I think I...That's a good question! More people need to be made aware of Nuka Break imo.
I saw Nuka Break (and the short film that inspired it, Red Star) waaaay back when they were first coming out, I think I hopped on right at the start of season 2 and watched everything from there. They were probably some of the best made and executed series produced just for YouTube back in the day.
Looking back they do show their age a bit, but you can't help but be kind of amazed with the level of quality on the platform before it was ever taken seriously as a place to invest productions into. So there's also a lot of passion behind the project and it shows. I doubt we'll get the same charm from the Amazon series, but it's also hard to recreate the magic of something like Nuka Break. Right time, right place, right people.
-
Comment on Whats a drug that you would never try? in ~talk
AlienAliena Link ParentIt's actually pretty easy and accessible nowadays for the average grower. I won't link it here, but a simple search for "Uncle Ben Tek" will take you to some Reddit threads that outline a really...It's actually pretty easy and accessible nowadays for the average grower. I won't link it here, but a simple search for "Uncle Ben Tek" will take you to some Reddit threads that outline a really hands-off process with a low buy-in so the expensive clean-boxes and subtrate are eliminated. Spores themselves are very cheap too for how much you get out of them. Great entry point for those interested.
-
Comment on The Boys | Season 4 official teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentI'm with you, everything in moderation. Like, in season 1 there was a genuine fear of all the violence because you got the feeling that these things could easily happen to the main characters. It...I'm with you, everything in moderation. Like, in season 1 there was a genuine fear of all the violence because you got the feeling that these things could easily happen to the main characters. It was gore perfectly used to build tension. But now, four seasons in, and so many bloody fights have happened between the main show and Gen V, it's just an expectation that the main cast gets blood-soaked.
In something like Ash vs. Evil Dead the over-the-top blood and gore works great because the show is meant to be silly and gorey. But, when it comes to The Boys where there's a large power imbalance between the humans and the supes, part of the experience is that we know how underpowered "The Boys" really are when compared to their opponents. Having regular scenes where everyone is evaporated into a red mist except them takes away the tension.
Not that my enjoyment of the show is really lessened, I still kinda love it actually, I'm more thinking that the tension created by the gore in the first season was the hook to create a series more about it's social commentary than the danger it's characters put themselves in. And I think the commentary is strong, so it keeps it going. Not to say the characters and their drama isn't still fun too.
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentAn integral part of playing Bethesda games is spending an entire week creating a modlist that your PC can barely handle... and then spend another week trying to make those mods work together so...An integral part of playing Bethesda games is spending an entire week creating a modlist that your PC can barely handle... and then spend another week trying to make those mods work together so the game doesn't crash every five minutes. And THEN spending 500 hours in a single save. This is the way.
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentIt's an amazing series, I hope you like the games! I have a little more of a controversial take in that I think Fallout 3 is the best in the series, but obviously it's all subjective. 1 & 2 are...It's an amazing series, I hope you like the games! I have a little more of a controversial take in that I think Fallout 3 is the best in the series, but obviously it's all subjective. 1 & 2 are also amazing, but very different experiences since the BGS reimagining of the universe with 3. In any case they're all a big time sink so enjoy the next while of gaming =D.
For the "Acclaimed 'human' Todd Howard" bit, his name is pretty giant in Gaming. I'm a really big Bethesda Game Studios fan, I've been on the forums (when they existed) and other social mediums related to the developer for forever now and his name is pretty much synonymous with the company and the Fallout franchise at this point. The fact that he is an executive producer (which, to clarify, is his official capacity on the production) on the show will be a selling point for a lot of people. Especially since the show is based almost entirely off the style of Fallout 4 which he lead production on. I personally didn't get the impression they were trying to pose him as the director of the project, but others may have gotten something different from that.
Todd is the creative director on every mainline BGS game. So, similar to a movie director, he doesn't do the writing, art, soundtracks (not to imply film directors don't sometimes do those things themselves), what-have-you himself, but all of those things are created under his creative direction. From what I hear he is the guy who gives the final go-ahead to anything that gets put into the games. If that's for better or for worse is up to the individual, but the final product of the game we can assume is in large part created in Howards vision (created by a hugely talented team under his direction, to clarify). Having his name in the trailer is sort of like an assurance to fans that the show will be faithful to the look, feel, and narrative of the modern games.
Anyways, just a probably-too-lengthy clarification from someone who is waaaayyy too into a single developer. The trailer has me sold as well and I'm super looking forward to having weekly discussions on the newest episodes like we used to have for Star Trek: Strange New World and a few other popular shows!
P.S., these games have huge modding communities so you're in for a treat there! I highly recommend A Tale of Two Wastelands which merges Fallout 3 and FNV into one game, so they both use Fallout: New Vegas' engine and more in-depth systems like weapons mods and faction stuff. Plus you can travel between the two game-worlds with just a short loading screen! Note: this does make Fallout 3 itself a lot less moddable since there isn't a ton of compatibility between Tale of Two Wastelands and other mods, which is why I don't often use it for new playthroughs, but a lot of people love it.
-
Comment on Fallout | Teaser trailer in ~tv
AlienAliena Link ParentI feel you. I don't have any subscription services except Amazon Prime because I've got a low-price student account anyways, as well as Criterion Channel because that's just great stuff....I feel you. I don't have any subscription services except Amazon Prime because I've got a low-price student account anyways, as well as Criterion Channel because that's just great stuff. Everything else is on the DVD & Blu-ray shelves in my apartment, or pirated onto my Plex server. I'm probably gonna catch Fallout on Prime, but for others I don't think there's any shame in setting up a SickChill account =p
Heyy, I remember this thread! Was that really 7 months ago? I was wondering what happened to it, if I just took too long a break from Tildes and missed all the fun. Glad to know that you're still thinking about it!
I have an in-person workshop group now, however having two places to bring my work to would be even better and I've got a little more experience under my belt for running these types of things (again, in-person but could be fun to try and translate that to online).
Let me know if you want any help with this!