BeardyHat's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on Vince Zampella killed in Ferrari crash in ~games
BeardyHat LinkUnsure how to tag this, as I don't usually post threads too often. Unfortunate news. Titanfall 2 was pretty great and one I've been meaning to replay for awhile now, as it's been several years.Unsure how to tag this, as I don't usually post threads too often.
Unfortunate news. Titanfall 2 was pretty great and one I've been meaning to replay for awhile now, as it's been several years.
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Vince Zampella killed in Ferrari crash
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, I feel like I should work and get better with HOTAS, but it stings when I'm playing the career mode and it actually costs me a fortune to repair my Mechs, because they're so heavily damaged,...Yeah, I feel like I should work and get better with HOTAS, but it stings when I'm playing the career mode and it actually costs me a fortune to repair my Mechs, because they're so heavily damaged, since I suck with HOTAS. I also have a very old Logitech G13 macro pad, which I need to use when I'm playing with HOTAS, because there's lots of keyboard functions you need access to.
It ends-up just being better for me to play with keyboard and mouse, since I'm significantly better at the game, as well as just having an intimate understanding of where all the keys on the keyboard are, so I can easily hit them while I've got the headset covering my eyes. Not so simple and quick with the Macro pad and HOTAS.
Anyway, highly recommended if you have access to a VR headset. It actually got me into the game for the first time. I really disliked MW5, but now having played it with VR, it's actually got me playing on my Steam Deck or laptop when I can't afford the time to use my desktop and VR.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentWell, if it's any consolation, my VR headset is an Oculus Quest 2, which I think my wife and I spent about $340 for maybe...a year? Two years ago? She uses it as an exercise method, playing Beat...Well, if it's any consolation, my VR headset is an Oculus Quest 2, which I think my wife and I spent about $340 for maybe...a year? Two years ago? She uses it as an exercise method, playing Beat Saber and then we also play other stuff on it together, such as I Expect You To Die via Steam; so I sit on the couch and help spot things and talk through the puzzles with her while she has the headset on and is playing the game.
I actually barely used it until I discovered this VR mod, which again, is incredible. But Ace Combat 7 is also on my list of VR-Modded games to try. I've owned it for awhile now, but haven't actually touched it ever.
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Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴☠️🏝️🍌 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI, uh, didn't even bother with it, I'm sorry to say. I did install the Talkie version and began playing, but quickly grew exasperated with it, not for any flaws of its own, but just for the fact...I, uh, didn't even bother with it, I'm sorry to say. I did install the Talkie version and began playing, but quickly grew exasperated with it, not for any flaws of its own, but just for the fact that I'm not feeling like playing a Talkie Adventure Game at the moment.
So, I really dropped the ball on this and ended-up just going back to what I had been playing in the first place, because it was hitting right for me in my limited game time. I still would like to play this in the future, although I'm beginning to come around to the idea that I may just not like Adventure games anymore. Granted, I was never an enormous fan of them, but I've played a few that I really loved, but they were many years ago when I was a different place in my life.
Anyway, I did in theory like the Talkie Edition; I thought the Special Edition graphics were absolutely hideous, so it was nice to be able to use the VGA graphics with the voice lines. My first exposure to Monkey Island was the third game which came on a PC Gamer demo disk many, many years ago and that immediately solidified the voice of Guybrush in my mind, so it was nice to hear it again, rather than just read the text of what little I did actually play.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkSo, since Thursday I have done nothing (gameplay wise) but play Mechwarrior 5, because I finally got around to installing the VR mod. It is absolutely incredible. I have been unable to tear myself...So, since Thursday I have done nothing (gameplay wise) but play Mechwarrior 5, because I finally got around to installing the VR mod. It is absolutely incredible. I have been unable to tear myself away from it, nor stop thinking about it since I got it working and I'm a person who doesn't really like MW5 nor really care for VR. My VR headset generally sits in a cabinet unused for long periods.
But my God, I can't help but play this and just be completely enraptured, awed and absolutely stunned by how much more amazing MW5 is, in spite of its flaws (of which all are still true), just piloting a mech in VR and feeling like you are there. Playing my campaign, piloting my Griffin and looking over to the left of my cockpit to see my giant shoulder mounted missile launcher is unlike any other experience I've had in gaming up to this point.
The modders put in incredible work, remodeling great swaths of the game, including cockpits, the initial Home screen, the star map (which is awe inspiring to navigate) and all kinds of other things. The HUD, aside from stuff like your crosshair and heat, has been completely moved to be diegetic, so when you're in your mech, you're looking at screen readouts on your actual dash/cockpit panel. Your map, your weapons, your Lance, enemy targets, mission info, everything. Often, I've found myself in a mech I'm unfamiliar with cockpit wise and I have to look around to actually get my bearings and find where each of the screens are, so I can get that information as I run a mission.
Not just that, but being in different mechs actually feels different. My Griffin has this wide open windscreen where I can see around my instrument cluster, around my legs and have wide peripheral vision through the huge amount of glass. Other mechs can feel downright claustrophobic, like my little Commando's I have in my Lance, who just have a tiny windscreen in a part of the head, significantly decreasing battlefield awareness.
It's just incredible. I had been playing a lot of Darkest Dungeon 2 and was branching out into emulating Breath of the Wild again, but MW5VR has completely shut that down and I have zero motivation to play either of those games right now and simply want to exist within the Battletech universe.
One thing that is a little disappointing is that it doesn't work great with my HOTAS setup. The HOTAS itself works fine and brings an even further level of immersion, considering you can see your pilots hands on the stick and throttle, which move in-tune with your own inputs. This did make the game a lot harder for me, but it just felt so good I didn't want to stop using it.
Altogether an absolutely incredible experience. I showed my oldest, as he loves Battletech and MW5 as well and he's become similarly obsessed with it.
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Comment on Food: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~food
BeardyHat Link ParentI'll have to look into the bean sprouts, I do like them. Plus it's all a good way to introduce more veggies into my kids diet. I did find one for, I think, broccoli if I remember right, which was...I'll have to look into the bean sprouts, I do like them. Plus it's all a good way to introduce more veggies into my kids diet. I did find one for, I think, broccoli if I remember right, which was basically the same recipe, just with broccoli.
I can't find the original recipe I used for the Harira, but it's pretty similar to this, the only difference (I can recall) between this one and the other is that the other one called for sprinkling flour into it towards the end of cooking to make it more stew like. That sounded odd to me, as in my experience, flour tends to clump if you don't add it at the very start of the recipe. So instead, I dissolved some corn starch in cold water and put that in at the end and it gave a nice, thick consistency.
As for the bread, it's just this recipe.
Edit: actually, here's the original recipe I used. I think this one is better, though honestly the first one I linked was pretty damned good too.
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Comment on Food: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~food
BeardyHat Link ParentProbably the first time I ever cooked, I was making a chili for my girlfriend's (now wife) family. I had no idea what I was doing and ended up dumping half a small bottle of cayenne into it. It...had a minor disaster with the dish described above, when I tried some fresh peppers to replace the cayenne powder. The mix I bought included a habanero pepper, and even just half made the dish almost too spicy for me to be able to eat it. It tasted like a raging fire, with a slight hint of what I normally expect from the dish.
Probably the first time I ever cooked, I was making a chili for my girlfriend's (now wife) family. I had no idea what I was doing and ended up dumping half a small bottle of cayenne into it. It was so ridiculously spicy, my in-laws still talk about it as "Beardy's Butt Burner Chili."
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Comment on Food: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~food
BeardyHat (edited )LinkI've got a couple of big hitters this year, adding two new recipes to my repertoire (technically three, I guess, but I consider two of them to be part of the same dish) that my family quite likes...I've got a couple of big hitters this year, adding two new recipes to my repertoire (technically three, I guess, but I consider two of them to be part of the same dish) that my family quite likes (actually my kids complain a bit about the stew.)
First recipe being Spinach Bonchon, a Korean side dish that my kids really like, with my older one actually constantly requesting it. It's very simple, basically boiled, wilted spinach with green onions, garlic, sesame oil + seeds, soy sauce, gochugaru and salt. It's fantastic.
The second being two recipes, which would be Moroccan Harira stew with Moroccan bread to go with. Ingredients are too much to list here, but it's a very hearty stew that is vegetarian, but could be easily made to be vegan by using veggie broth (though does chicken broth count as vegetarian? I'm neither, but that's what I usually use when I make this.). It's absolutely packed with vegetables, lentils and chickpeas and really has a unique flavor that my wife loves. I'm also a big fan and as an American, it's a nice alternative to chili as something I can make a lot of and then keep in the fridge to eat over the week. The flavors only get better after a day.
When I made this particular stew, I figured I should have some authentic bread to go along with it, so I looked up a receipe for what is apparently called Khobz. I usually end up making two loaves of this Moroccan bread and we end up eating both over the week, even if we don't have any stew to go along with it; it's very quick and simple, needing only about an hour to rise, so it's easy to quickly make day of when I'm planning on making Harira.
Edit: I guess I should also say that this year I've become a baker. I've been cooking for like 18 years now, but never really liked baking much because it feels so much less loose to me than cooking and I often failed. But this year my wife and I finally started watching The Great British Baking Show for the first time and it inspired me to give it a try. I won't say it's a passion for me, but it acts as a supplement to my cooking, as I often find myself needing bread and rather than going to the store to pick up a bag of burger buns or something, I realize I can often just whip them up pretty quickly on my own and they'll taste better and not be full of bullshit like at the store. By far one of my favorite baked goods to make is Indian Naan, as it's very fast to make and tastes delicious.
It's really fun to be able to just throw something together and have some fresh baked goods to go along with dinner.
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Comment on The 2025 Steam Winter Sale is live (runs Dec 18 - Jan 5) in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI love State of Decay 2. I've only played it solo, but it's a game that forces you to make choices, so someone would have to decide what the next upgrade for your building is. Also, it would...I love State of Decay 2.
I've only played it solo, but it's a game that forces you to make choices, so someone would have to decide what the next upgrade for your building is.
Also, it would probably encourage people to go out and explore on their own, bringing back supplies, because it seems like it might be difficult to go out as a group, because everyone has to dodge the zombies then. Though it would make some special zombie encounters a little easier and you'd probably want to do that to kill hearts around the map.
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Comment on The Windows 11 crisis in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, it's just always something for me and I figure it must be with the way drivers interact with Intel CPU's and Nvidia GPU's? I just don't know. I've had similar problems in the past, where I...Yeah, it's just always something for me and I figure it must be with the way drivers interact with Intel CPU's and Nvidia GPU's? I just don't know. I've had similar problems in the past, where I had an Intel AX210 wifi card; worked fabulously under windows, but in Linux the connection was intermittent and slow. I could even Steam Stream over my local network, because it was constantly suffering really bad latency and making it unplayable.
This has just been consistent for me with whatever distro, where I encounter weird little problems and often I'll spend awhile troubleshooting them and getting them ironed out, but then it's only a skip away from another bizarre issue I have to start figuring out. After so many, I just get tired of ironing shit out all the time and move away from Linux again.
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Comment on The Windows 11 crisis in ~tech
BeardyHat LinkI don't have the bandwidth to switch to Linux. All of my PC's, with one exception are Intel/Nvidia or Intel/Radeon or just Intel/Intel. My one computer that is all AMD could make the switch, but...I don't have the bandwidth to switch to Linux. All of my PC's, with one exception are Intel/Nvidia or Intel/Radeon or just Intel/Intel. My one computer that is all AMD could make the switch, but it's my primary server/host PC and I don't feel like spending a week or more reconfiguring everything.
I would love to switch to Linux full time and have done it in the past. I even have a couple of minor, functionary PCs around the house doing tasks using exclusively Linux. But whenever I switch to it full time on any of my PC's, I run into issue after issue that causes me a complete stoppage of what I'm trying to do so I can focus on fixing that particular issue. My most recent experience was about two weeks ago, using Debian; loved the style of the OS, loved that I could configure it exactly how I wanted it to function; it was snappy, worked great. But, it doesn't handle my Intel processor correctly, which ended-up being the major issue and why I ultimately switched away from it again.
Trying to play a simple game, the processor would run briefly, then suddenly throttle itself down to 200mhz and lock itself there. It doesn't do this in Windows; using the same software, the CPU will throttle to 800-1000mhz, which ends-up making what I want to play completely functional and playable.
Or on my other laptop (Intel/Nvidia) running Mint. MOST stuff works, but random odds and ends crop up, where I spend hours troubleshooting and looking for solutions. For some reason in one particular game I happened to be playing at the time, the fans just straight-up refused to go over 2000rpm, resulting in massive throttling and performance loss. These issues abound anytime I use Linux, it's constantly one little thing after another that I end-up spending hours on trying to figure out and not doing what I actually want to be doing.
I don't hate Linux; in fact, I quite like it and I want it to an alternative to Windows, but it just always feels halfbaked. Thrown together by too many cooks, so there's always an issue here an issue there, something that never gets resolved. Windows notifications and nags don't bother me; I can turn most of them off and even when they do pop-up, it's a simple click and they're gone. Linux issues bring everything to a complete halt for me and I need to focus on getting that task sorted before I can move on to doing what I actually wanted to do in the first place.
Again, it may just be a hardware issue. My Steam Deck works great and I'm regularly interfacing with the desktop and doing stuff within there; I have an AMD/AMD desktop PC and I could throw a 1tb disk in there just to try out Linux on it and see how it goes, but it also means reconfiguring lots of things, not because Linux, but just because it's my primary server that does a lot of the work in my house. I'd love to have an AMD only laptop just to experiment with, but that is far outside my budget at the moment.
So until then, I'll continue to deal with the Windows nags and annoyances, because it's still the fastest way to do what I want to do on my PCs.
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Comment on Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options. in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentThis is all I do. I've had my TV for about 5 years now and it's never been connected to my network and is specifically blocked from doing so. It's a little slower to interact with than my old dumb...This is all I do. I've had my TV for about 5 years now and it's never been connected to my network and is specifically blocked from doing so.
It's a little slower to interact with than my old dumb TV, but it works just fine as a monitor for my HTPC. It turns on and off easily and doesn't give me any fuss.
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Comment on Reading my first Stephen King novel - What are your favorites? in ~books
BeardyHat LinkI've read IT, The Shining and Running Man, out of those, I enjoyed The Running Man most, but The Shining is definitely a close second.I've read IT, The Shining and Running Man, out of those, I enjoyed The Running Man most, but The Shining is definitely a close second.
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Comment on Twenty years of digital life, gone in an instant, thanks to Apple in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentI do my backups very basically. 8tb storage drive in my PC, another external drive connected via USB that backs up every night. That same 8tb is just a network share that I can connect to with any...I do my backups very basically. 8tb storage drive in my PC, another external drive connected via USB that backs up every night. That same 8tb is just a network share that I can connect to with any of my other devices. Super simple and maybe not super robust, but it does the job and I'm not worried about data loss.
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Comment on The dapper daredevil who documented America’s skyline in the making in ~arts
BeardyHat LinkThis is super cool, but also gives me anxiety just looking at any of these photos. Adrenaline junky I am not.This is super cool, but also gives me anxiety just looking at any of these photos. Adrenaline junky I am not.
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Comment on I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it in ~life
BeardyHat LinkI have just straight up banned YouTube in my house. It's far too addicting and just gets into weird stuff all the time; I banned it many years ago and then we steadily reintroduced it relatively...I have just straight up banned YouTube in my house. It's far too addicting and just gets into weird stuff all the time; I banned it many years ago and then we steadily reintroduced it relatively recently, strictly under our supervision, but even then when stuff isn't necessarily outright objectionable, a lot of the stuff aimed at kids has this addictive property to it.
We were letting our oldest watch about 20-30 minutes or so each night before bed, but every time we turned it off and told them it was time for bed, they would exhibit what I would call withdrawal symptoms. Begging and pleading not to shut it off and then refusing to go to bed and generally just having a meltdown. This happened consistently for a week and then I remembered it was the exact same behavior they exhibited years ago before I initially banned YouTube. So I told my wife it's going back on the ban list, at least partially. No longer will they have control over it, but instead we, the parents, get to choose what is watched, so now we're able to watch a little bit, but we watch strictly Educational or Edutainment content.
It seems to be working better so far, but if that becomes a problem I will again ban it completely.
My kids are 5 1/2 and 8 for reference.
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Comment on Whatever happened to _____? in ~talk
BeardyHat Link ParentThis honestly could be other developmental stuff. My youngest son was born in April 2020 and he's doing great; ahead of his class as far as work goes, his Kindergarten teacher actually asked us if...This honestly could be other developmental stuff. My youngest son was born in April 2020 and he's doing great; ahead of his class as far as work goes, his Kindergarten teacher actually asked us if she could give him harder things to do, because he's often done with his work before she's done passing it out.
He's smart, funny, clever and a little emotionally volatile, but that's due to the genes between his Mom and I than anything to do with being a COVID baby. I also don't know a single kid who could read by 4, so you were definitely ahead of the curve there.
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Comment on Whatever happened to _____? in ~talk
BeardyHat Link ParentAnecdotally, I have two nephews, a niece and a family friend that all had to do this, roughly ages 7-10 at the time and they're all doing pretty well. They're all smart kids, involved in various...Anecdotally, I have two nephews, a niece and a family friend that all had to do this, roughly ages 7-10 at the time and they're all doing pretty well. They're all smart kids, involved in various clubs in school, well spoken and not particularly different than I remember during my time as a teenager 25+ years ago.
Online school looked absolutely miserable (one nephew and my sister in law lived with us at the time) and completely useless, but the kids I know seem to have come out pretty alright.
Actually, I also know some other family friends who were between 15-18 at the time and they also seem to be doing very well. One is an active duty military member and other has worked odd jobs (not unusual for someone their age) and is now working on starting their own hair stylist business.
To address some of your questions and caveats, here's my experience with it:
Glasses are no problem with my Quest 2. I wear thick ones, have been wearing glasses since Kindergarten and my vision has only gotten worse, so I get the highest index available when I get new ones. No trouble at all there.
Haven't had any issue with the framerate on either of my machines I've used VR on and both are exceptionally midrange. The main one I use it with is a Ryzen 5 5600, 32Gb RAM and 6700XT. I've also used it on my HTPC, which is an i7-7700, 16Gb RAM, 6650XT. So far, no issues at all getting sick. For myself I can feel a bit sick/woozy if I'm playing a game where movement is by a stick or WASD, such as Half-Life.
Frame seems like a solid piece of hardware and I'm excited about it if only for the potential compatibility between ARM and x86. But yeah, a Frame would be much appreciated over the Meta stuff. I find the Quest 2 can be a bit fussy and I intentionally avoid doing much with it that would allow Meta to harvest the data. I've bought three pieces of software on it and I don't intend to buy a single one more; I primarily use it to connect to my PC's and play my Steam library.
Yeah, ours doesn't get used much. It's nice to have around for those rare times you see something that looks cool (such as MW5), but I'm glad we didn't spend more than $400 on it, because it's just generally too much of a faff to use with any regularity. I might use it more if I had more native VR games, but ultimately, I haven't found anything that really speaks to me as a lifelong gamer. Plus it's just...most of the time I don't feel like sitting down and putting a headset on, sequestering myself from the world and being immersed like that. I'd rather just jump on my laptop or Steam Deck and play something, as I tend to play games in short bursts and then am done for awhile. I have a family, so it's like locking myself off from them. But it works for me in this case because I rarely use my desktop for the same reason, so it's basically like setting aside time to do that, I just happen to be able to use the VR while I'm also using the desktop.
I will say it's been fun to play stuff like I Expect You to Die with my wife. We've also been meaning to get back to Half-Life: Alyx, but by the time the kids are in bed, I don't particularly feel like standing for an hour to play a game, especially considering I have bad knees, so it just...hurts.
I very much was in your position before we bought this headset and I won't say I regret it, but it certainly doesn't feel essential.