BeardyHat's recent activity

  1. Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech

    BeardyHat
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    I was running my air fryer the other day and tripped my breaker. Long story short, I went to shut down my PC and reset my UPS and while doing so, I heard a "poof-zap". Was a bit worried for a...

    I was running my air fryer the other day and tripped my breaker. Long story short, I went to shut down my PC and reset my UPS and while doing so, I heard a "poof-zap".

    Was a bit worried for a minute, but turns out it was just the UPS that blew and not any of my components. Pretty thankful for that, but I'm still not going to plug my PC back in until I get another UPS, which isn't cheap either.

    2 votes
  2. Comment on Oxygen therapy chambers have led to horrific deaths. Why are influencers raving about them? in ~health

    BeardyHat
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    Well thanks, I'm traumatized now. Had never heard of this before and I do not like the first few paragraphs.

    Well thanks, I'm traumatized now.

    Had never heard of this before and I do not like the first few paragraphs.

    8 votes
  3. Comment on Do you feel like you’ve had many lives so far? Why, why not? Which? in ~life

    BeardyHat
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    I don't think I feel like my life is any different, really. I mean, it is different and I'm different, but I don't feel fundamentally different from the little kid I used to be, the teenager I...

    I don't think I feel like my life is any different, really. I mean, it is different and I'm different, but I don't feel fundamentally different from the little kid I used to be, the teenager I was, the young adult and now the middle-aged man.

    I still an pretty obsessed with video games and computers
    still love cars
    still love the same type of music
    still live in the State I grew-up in, if 30-miles away from my original hometown

    I suppose I had eras, but they still seem like me. There was the era in early childhood/teen when I was a hypernerd; later in my teens when I was still nerdy, but got more comfortable with myself and became slightly cooler; my Metal tee-shirt years during college, living in the city years; But again, none of those feel terribly different.

    I guess I just haven't had drastic changes in my life. I never moved far away, dated the same girl for 4-years before that break-up and then have been with my wife for going on 19-years now. We own a house, some cars, have a dog, cat, two kids, I still mostly have the same friends I've had since I was a kid/teen, with some new additions. But I never really imagined my life being any different.

    Maybe I lack vision or ambition, but I kind of always just viewed myself living basically the same life my parents did. Never cared to make drastic changes and just wanted a simple domestic life.

    4 votes
  4. Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games

    BeardyHat
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    Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Interactive fiction Comedy Military/realistic shooter FPS ✅ Darkest Dungeon 2 Cozy Third-person shooter ARPG Metroidvania/search action Base building Shop...
    Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25
    Interactive fiction Comedy Military/realistic shooter FPS Roguelike
    ✅ Darkest Dungeon 2
    Cozy Third-person shooter ARPG Metroidvania/search action Base building
    Shop keeper Horror ★ Wildcard Sim racing Survival horror
    Arena/boomer shooter
    ✅ Cultic
    Action-adventure Management Walking simulator God game
    Driving/piloting
    ✅ Pacific Drive
    City builder Exploration Real-time strategy/tactics
    ✅ Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
    Soulslike

    Not much to update on my part since my last post in week 4, other than the fact that I am utterly, hopelessly in love with Darkest Dungeon 2.

    When I first bought it and started it about two years ago now, I really didn't like it. I felt like it very much didn't live up to the original game and I just wasn't having fun in the slightest over the 12-hours I played it. And now? I'm so glad I restarted it. At this point I've put 30 more hours into it and I feel like I'm constantly discovering new things to tweak about my party builds and new ways to play the game more effectively. I just started a new run a day or two ago and I was feeling very unenthused with the party build I chose; it just didn't feel like it was going well at all and I was just sort of stumbling along.

    So I decided to change up a few skills to address what I felt were some weak points in my Party and suddenly, we're just utterly kicking ass. It helps that my Heroes got a couple of positive relationship buffs, but I've also just figured out how to more effectively play them with the different skills I chose and again, they are just absolutely crushing it. I have somehow made it to the final region before the boss battle (in the second act) and I have also managed to do something apparently challenging in nearly completing the quest for the Crusader in a single run; I just need to make it to the Quest boss in the next region and I'll be golden. Only problem is, I'm notoriously bad at the bosses in this game and I've only ever won one boss battle in the many, many times I've tried.

    At any rate, I've pretty much dropped everything else. I do finally want to go back to Cultic and see if I can make it past the part I got stopped-up at, but I think I'm otherwise done with Pacific Drive. As far as Advance Wars goes, that's one that I'll return to eventually, but I am feeling done with for right now. I didn't complete anything on my list nor get a bingo, but I'm happy with what I accomplished which is to find a game in my library that I'm content to stick with for awhile.

    4 votes
  5. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    Just wanted to come back and mention, I struggled to get the Ultimate Talky Edition patched on Linux. The patcher refused to find the appropriate file in my Steam folder, but in the process of...

    Just wanted to come back and mention, I struggled to get the Ultimate Talky Edition patched on Linux. The patcher refused to find the appropriate file in my Steam folder, but in the process of searching for a solution, I managed to turn up a prepatched version on Archive.org. I'm not going to link it here, but suffice to say, it made the process of getting the Talky Edition working on Linux a piece of cake.

    3 votes
  6. Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    NOLF is one I've been meaning to play since I played the demo ages ago. I just haven't found the time and when I'm looking for an FPS, I just always forget it exists. Really gotta get on that.

    NOLF is one I've been meaning to play since I played the demo ages ago. I just haven't found the time and when I'm looking for an FPS, I just always forget it exists. Really gotta get on that.

    3 votes
  7. Comment on CGA-2025-12 🏴‍☠️🏝️🍌 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link
    So far, I'm 0 for 3 on the CGA, never finishing any of the games we've played, but I'm hoping this will be the one. I've never been huge on Adventure games, but I've always loved the idea of them;...

    So far, I'm 0 for 3 on the CGA, never finishing any of the games we've played, but I'm hoping this will be the one. I've never been huge on Adventure games, but I've always loved the idea of them; the idea that they hint at a much larger, more intricate world. I think I can count on one hand how many I've actually finished (which I think is 1).

    Anyway, my first exposure to Monkey Island was on a PC Gamer demo disk with Curse of Monkey Island. I know it's a bit of step child in the series, but I was absolutely charmed by the art, animations and voice acting when I first tried it. I never did play that one either (though I own it on GoG), but I did buy Secret SE many many years ago when it first dropped on Steam and played a couple of hours of it before dropping it completely.

    I'll probably end-up with the Talkie edition, as I find the art and style of the SE version absolutely atrocious. I have no particular affection for the original graphics per se, but the smoothed out, mobile game looking aesthetic of the update is just...hideous. That said, I do love pixel art and will always lean towards it in any given game, so that's a major factor in my choice as well.

    As far as what I'll play it on, I'm going to try playing this on my newly purchased Surface Pro 7; I installed Fedora Linux on it just to get away from the Windows bloat on such an old machine with 8Gb of RAM and so far, it's going great and I'm looking forward to using the Surface a little bit more. I'll probably end-up switching to a different laptop or my Steam Deck, however. We'll see how it goes.

    Funny aside, when I was first trying to choose how to play the game the other day, I Googled which graphical style people like better. I came across a post on Reddit declaring that they liked the SE style best because it's what they grew-up with. This threw me for a loop, thinking, "Grew up with? It's only a couple years old." and then I went and saw it was released in 2009. Absolutely mind blowing. How am I so old?

    4 votes
  8. Comment on Can you live a normal life in Cyberpunk 2077? in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    My wife will even sit there and watch his videos with me. Normally if I put on anything gaming related, she's looking at her phone and checked out (I get it), but she'll actually sit and laugh,...

    My wife will even sit there and watch his videos with me. Normally if I put on anything gaming related, she's looking at her phone and checked out (I get it), but she'll actually sit and laugh, roll her eyes and actually watch Any Austin.

    6 votes
  9. Comment on US shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, power through Black Friday in ~finance

    BeardyHat
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    I spent $160 on a gaming computer for my nephew. Of course, this was in a parking lot of a Target, arranged via Craigslist. Though actually I did get a few things off Amazon, including a new...

    I spent $160 on a gaming computer for my nephew. Of course, this was in a parking lot of a Target, arranged via Craigslist.

    Though actually I did get a few things off Amazon, including a new modular PSU, 140mm fan and HDMI cable for my HTPC, as well as a head lamp for working on my cars and other utility. Think that was all about $150.

    5 votes
  10. Comment on Suggestions for uses of old computer hardware? in ~comp

    BeardyHat
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    Here's what a variety of old machines are doing in my house: HTPC - This gets used every day. My wife and I watch TV on it and my kids play games. Gaming - An old gaming laptop setup next to the...

    Here's what a variety of old machines are doing in my house:

    1. HTPC - This gets used every day. My wife and I watch TV on it and my kids play games.

    2. Gaming - An old gaming laptop setup next to the HTPC so both kids can play Minecraft together or just whatever game they want at the same time.

    3. PiHole - Running alongside my network equipment for adblocking

    4. Arcade cabinet - I have a Cocktail Arcade. Admittedly, this one isn't in use yet because I need to disassemble the cab and take out the old hardware, which is currently in use. But the computer is all setup and ready to go in.

    5. Garage PC - For research and checking shop manuals while I work on my cars. Paired with a cheap thrift store monitor and keyboard that I don't care about getting greasy or nasty.

    This isn't including my other regular PC's I use, such as my desktop which is my File Server/AI Server/Gaming machine and also my laptop and Surface Go. Plus I have two quite old machines, a laptop and a desktop that are currently sitting, which I haven't found a use for yet. A lot of this stuff has either just found its way to me or back to me after getting rid of it (giving it to family) many years ago, so I just try and find random uses for things.

    I do highly recommend a PiHole. It takes some configuration, but it's 100% worth it.

    12 votes
  11. Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    Roadwarden is one that's been on my wishlist for several years now and I keep looking at it everytime it's on sale, given it's usually only like $1.49 or whatever. I just haven't taken the jump...

    Roadwarden is one that's been on my wishlist for several years now and I keep looking at it everytime it's on sale, given it's usually only like $1.49 or whatever. I just haven't taken the jump yet.

    Interesting to hear that it's got a little bit more to it than I expected, given you can choose classes and the like. Seems like it would be a comfy game to play on Steam Deck.

    3 votes
  12. Comment on CGA-2025-11 🔴🟡🔵🟢 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ PlayStation WHAT? in ~games

    BeardyHat
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    Alright Teach, so... I didn't do the homework. I tried Parappa and I tried Vib Ribbon, but that was as far as I got. I really didn't like either of them and then just never bothered firing up the...

    Alright Teach, so... I didn't do the homework.

    I tried Parappa and I tried Vib Ribbon, but that was as far as I got. I really didn't like either of them and then just never bothered firing up the ROMs for the other three games. It just...wasn't my style and with the Backlog Burner also this month, I just felt a lot more interested in playing other stuff that is more appealing to me. I'm not sure I should even really be making this post given I didn't do the homework, but I figured I'd at least add a little something rather than staying completely quiet.

    I'll probably leave the ROMs on my various systems and maybe fire them up in the future, but I'm not sure that'll actually happen or not...

    2 votes
  13. Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link
    Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Interactive fiction Comedy Military/realistic shooter FPS ✅ Darkest Dungeon 2 Cozy Third-person shooter ARPG Metroidvania/search action Base building Shop...
    Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25
    Interactive fiction Comedy Military/realistic shooter FPS Roguelike
    ✅ Darkest Dungeon 2
    Cozy Third-person shooter ARPG Metroidvania/search action Base building
    Shop keeper Horror ★ Wildcard Sim racing Survival horror
    Arena/boomer shooter
    ✅ Cultic
    Action-adventure Management Walking simulator God game
    Driving/piloting
    ✅ Pacific Drive
    City builder Exploration Real-time strategy/tactics
    ✅ Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
    Soulslike

    I wouldn't call this my "Burner" event, so much as just my play whatever the hell I feel like and invest lots of time into it...event.

    I'm still at it with Darkest Dungeon 2, nothing really new to say other than I really like it now. I think the storytelling is pretty good and I appreciate that it's almost sort of comical? Like I just unlocked a little bit more of the Plague Doctor's story, which involves a standard "fight", except you're in class with a Professor and other students and if you use your ability to argue with the Professor, he shuts you down and you take stress damage. So you need to figure out when the optimal time to is to argue with the Professor to ultimately win the fight and progress the story; I'm not sure if you can fail these or not, but they're pretty easy.

    I've managed to "beat" the game once so far, but given it's Roguelite structure, that's only the beginning. This unlocked the second chapter of the game, but I've only given it one try so far, as I feel like I should do the "easier" first chapter and continue to unlock abilities for my Heroes via the story, as well as more trinkets and just general understanding of the game. I've now played about 24-hours of the game and I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon.

    I've also been playing a bit of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin on the side. Though this is something I've been playing off and on for months now and just recently started-up again, having done a mission or two, but now I'm sort of feeling a little burned out on it again having tried T29 a few times, which I'm finding a little frustrating. The mission isn't essential, it's just a fun side thing, so I could continue with the story rather than ram my head against the wall on this side mission, but I feel like I need to finish it.

    But that said, I have limited time and I'm pretty enamored with Darkest Dungeon 2, so I'm just going to continue on with that.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on What are the simple things in your life that you are thankful for? in ~life

    BeardyHat
    (edited )
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    I'm healthy, my wife is healthy, my kids are healthy, I still have a lot of friends (probably more than ever at this point in my life, which is weird) that I see frequently. I have a large...

    I'm healthy, my wife is healthy, my kids are healthy, I still have a lot of friends (probably more than ever at this point in my life, which is weird) that I see frequently.

    I have a large extended family I like, who are also happy and healthy and I generally want for absolutely nothing. I've been able to be a stay at home parent for 7 or so years now, though I'm looking for work and we've still been able to pay all our bills.

    5 votes
  15. Comment on Want to get a 3D printer for miniatures that work well with open source software in ~hobbies

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    I'm tempted to just give it to my brother in law who has a resin printer, though he tries to print functional parts with. After I got my new FDM, he's asked me to print a few things for him with...

    I'm tempted to just give it to my brother in law who has a resin printer, though he tries to print functional parts with. After I got my new FDM, he's asked me to print a few things for him with PETG, which is fine, but he could use the FDM.

    I would just like to see if I could get even $100 for it, because I'm otherwise on a very limited income.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Windows: Linux GPU gaming benchmarks on Bazzite in ~games

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    I should try Bazzite. I liked Mint well enough on my laptop, but had these little issues consistently and one which I felt was a major issue (fans not spinning up during one particular game) and...

    I should try Bazzite. I liked Mint well enough on my laptop, but had these little issues consistently and one which I felt was a major issue (fans not spinning up during one particular game) and so I eventually went back to Windows, since I was just constantly investigating and solving issues, rather than playing games.

    5 votes
  17. Comment on Want to get a 3D printer for miniatures that work well with open source software in ~hobbies

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    I believe they're still selling that upgraded versions! At least, last I looked at Microcenter and bought my Elegoo Centuari Carbon. I did think about the Creality K2, I think it's called, my...

    I believe they're still selling that upgraded versions! At least, last I looked at Microcenter and bought my Elegoo Centuari Carbon.

    I did think about the Creality K2, I think it's called, my friend has one, but I wanted to avoid Creality. The Elegoo has been ok so far, sans a few minor issues (has errors if I do too many prints without a power cycle) and apparently the AMS for it is no longer coming, which wasn't a selling point for me, but would have been nice to have.

    I'm unsure what to do with my Ender 3 now. I put a new motherboard in it and upgraded it to a BLTouch (or CRTouch? Whatever is the latest), but it needs a new bed and I'm just...I don't really want to deal with it. I don't feel the need for 2 FDM printers when the Centauri is plenty fast enough to bury me in plastic models to paint.

    1 vote
  18. Comment on Want to get a 3D printer for miniatures that work well with open source software in ~hobbies

    BeardyHat
    Link Parent
    My printer is older, but I have it in a box that's vented out the window. This seems to largely solve the smell issue, but if I didn't have it in there, it stinks up my entire house. That said, if...

    My printer is older, but I have it in a box that's vented out the window. This seems to largely solve the smell issue, but if I didn't have it in there, it stinks up my entire house.

    That said, if FDM was my only or preferred options, I'd just buy resin printed minis off Etsy and eBay. Like @mat says, it's not really worth it on FDM with minis.

    1 vote
  19. Comment on Want to get a 3D printer for miniatures that work well with open source software in ~hobbies

    BeardyHat
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    For myself, as someone who prints minis on a resin printer and terrain on an fdm (as well as RC car parts), the last thing I want to do is futz with and spend time dialing in my printer. My buddy...

    For myself, as someone who prints minis on a resin printer and terrain on an fdm (as well as RC car parts), the last thing I want to do is futz with and spend time dialing in my printer.

    My buddy gave me his old Ender 3. I ended up putting some money into it and getting it working, but I was having to mess with it periodically and dial it in. I got tired of that especially when I just wanted to print some stuff to paint and play with.

    3d printing is not a hobby unto itself for me, in spite of owning 3 3d printers, it's a means to an end and I just want the simplest process and methodology

    4 votes