Durinthal's recent activity
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Durinthal LinkFinal card, no changes Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 6/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light ✅ Super Mario Maker 2 Progress Exploration Silence ✅ Zelda Dungeons of Infinity Fear Power ★ Wildcard...Final card, no changes
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 6/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision
✅ Super Mario Maker 2Progress Exploration Silence Transformation
✅ Zelda Dungeons of InfinityFear Power ★ Wildcard Connection Threshold Fleeting Uncertainty Choice
✅ Slay the PrincessRepetition
✅ Secrets of GrindeaEmpathy Tradition Increment Complexity
✅ Gundam Breaker 4Fragmentation
✅ Last EpochBeauty For better or worse this was not a month for me to explore new games and engage with difficult concepts but more of a time to mentally escape to places where I didn't need to put a lot of conscious thought into things, just execute.
For an idea of how much Mario Maker I played, I cleared 106 levels in November. Many of them only took a couple of minutes each, but several needed upwards of an hour or more.
Last Epoch is currently satisfying my periodic desire to binge an action RPG with 21 hours put into it over the past four days and I might return to it again later with different classes since there are a couple of alternate routes I haven't taken yet.
Thanks for organizing and hosting again, hopefully next time I'll be in a better position to play a broader variety of things.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 5(ish) Discussion in ~games
Durinthal (edited )LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 6/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 6/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light ✅ Super Mario Maker 2 Progress Exploration Silence ✅ Zelda Dungeons of Infinity...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 6/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 6/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision
✅ Super Mario Maker 2Progress Exploration Silence Transformation
✅ Zelda Dungeons of InfinityFear Power ★ Wildcard Connection Threshold Fleeting Uncertainty Choice
✅ Slay the PrincessRepetition
✅ Secrets of GrindeaEmpathy Tradition Increment Complexity
✅ Gundam Breaker 4Fragmentation
✅ Last EpochBeauty So this month got rather derailed for me. Ended up playing a few more games, not nearly as many as I wanted to. Had a couple of other things that I didn't even play for an hour that I left off my card.
Gundam Breaker 4 — Complexity
I got into the Gundam franchise about a decade ago, and it's a sprawling one. Dozens of anime series with hundreds of different varieties of mecha, and all of them come together here. One of the major revenue streams is Gunpla, plastic model kits of all the different mecha, and the Gundam Breaker game series brings those to life in an action game. The complexity comes from assembling your own mecha by combining parts from a variety of models with slots for head, torso, legs, and separate left and right arms along with multiple accessory and weapon options.
This chunky boy has the head/body of a Z'Gok from the original Mobile Suit Gundam along with the limbs of the Gundam Gusion (and backpack, the thing behind its head is a giant hammer) from Iron-Blooded Orphans along with twin gatling guns on both arms and extra missile pods on the legs from other models. The color scheme is copied from a Dom and it's convenient that existing palettes can be applied as a whole because I don't necessarily have the patience to select appropriate colors for dozens of sub-parts.
The gameplay itself isn't nearly as complicated by comparison but having a pair of melee and ranged weapons together along with cooldown abilities from the extra parts allows for a lot of combos in a hack and slash style akin to Devil May Cry.
I'm having fun so far and the plot reminds me of some of the Build series anime, will put more time into it in the future.
Last Epoch — Fragmentation
Now and then I like digging into an isometric action RPG like Diablo and this is what I spent most of yesterday on. The dev team are big fans of Chrono Trigger so the story is inspired by that, having you hop around to fragments of different time periods to save the world. Unfortunately I don't particularly enjoy the writing, but it's easy enough to put aside and just play through the game.
I played it for a few hours when it first came out earlier in the year but there have been a few patches since then and I went with a different class this time. I don't know if the base difficulty level is meant to be more of a training mode with the "real" game being later but so far I'm absolutely shredding through everything with my army of undead minions as a Necromancer.
Zelda Dungeons of Infinity — Transformation
Speaking of games inspired by SNES classics that I put a lot of time into, this one transforms A Link to the Past into a roguelike dungeon crawler. Rather than being a romhack it's actually built from the ground up in Gamemaker and as a result isn't quite the same but it copies as much of the look and feel as it can as a baseline. The standard enemies and gear like bombs and the bow are there but to make it work more as a roguelike there's a limited inventory and a lot more health restoration options in the form of food that you can carry with you.
Sword spins and the ability to keep your sword held in front of you to poke at enemies aren't implemented yet, so with just slashes it's a bit harder than in ALttP. The combat was never a strong suit of the original game for me so I don't think I'll give it much more time, but I'm glad I checked it out.
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Comment on Sony is in talks to buy media powerhouse Kadokawa in ~games
Durinthal LinkOh hey the comment I wrote up for /r/anime comes in handy here too. I think the keyword here is vertical integration for Sony. Kadokawa owns several anime studios (ENGI, Dogo Kobo, and part of...Oh hey the comment I wrote up for /r/anime comes in handy here too.
I think the keyword here is vertical integration for Sony. Kadokawa owns several anime studios (ENGI, Dogo Kobo, and part of Kinema Citrus) and was involved in the production of a lot of anime, often just as an investor, but it cannot be stressed enough just how much of the printed media market — especially light novels — is controlled by them.
In their 2023 fiscal year Kadokawa's publishing business had sales of 139,990 million yen (≈1.03 billion USD). There's still major competition with Shueisha (209,684 million yen FY2023) and Kodansha (172,002 million yen FY2023) ahead of them in the publishing market but this would be a way for Sony to jump in without trying to build from a smaller foothold.
All that said, I'd guess the main benefit for Sony would be gaining full control of the IP that Kadokawa has rather than the publishing market itself. The pipeline from web novel -> light novel -> anime has been something Kadokawa's been pushing for the past several years, even if it's likely contributed to the ongoing crisis in anime production. That's one of the main factors behind why there are so many isekai anime these days and Sony could take full control of that to give them more options in anime without needing to make an external deal.
Outside of manga/novel publishing Kadokawa owns other platforms like Niconico for streaming, Book Walker for e-books, and Newtype magazine which covers the industry. For overseas investments they also have Anime News Network, J-Novel Club, and half of Yen Press.
In the end Sony could have their hands on every part from the initial light novel release in Japanese (Dengeki Bunko) and English (J-Novel Club) through the anime production (Doga Kobo), streaming (Crunchyroll), and Blu-ray (Aniplex) of its adaptation along with any articles about it (Newtype & Anime News Network). They might have already consolidated the anime distribution side but this would give them a big chunk of the manga/light novel industry with a massive number of IPs.
Two more write-ups on the anime industry side: Animenomics and Animehunch.
And a short list of some of the many different magazines/novel imprints Kadokawa owns:
Under ASCII Media Works there's Dengeki Bunko which has published literally thousands of light novels as well as Dengeki Daioh, Dengeki G's Comic and Dengeki Comics for manga.
Under Enterbrain there's Famitsu Bunko for LNs and Comic Beam and Harta for manga.
Under Fujimi Shobo there's Fantasia Bunko for LNs and Monthly Dragon Age for manga.
Under Kadokawa Shoten there's Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko for LNs and Monthly Shounen Ace, Young Ace, Asuka, and Gundam Ace for manga.
Under Media Factory (which is also more directly involved with anime) there's MF Bunko J for LNs and Monthly Comic Alive, Monthly Comic Flapper, Monthly Comic Gene, and Comic Cune for manga.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Durinthal Link Parent#207? It's "Wun Dum Guy" there with spaces. I was trying to avoid work so I started clicking through all of them.#207? It's "Wun Dum Guy" there with spaces.
I was trying to avoid work so I started clicking through all of them.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Durinthal Link ParentDurinthal wasn't my first username but I came up with it maybe a year or two later, the earliest ones I can recall were something like Silverfrost (roleplaying as an elf rather than a dwarf) and...It would be hilarious if everyone had to use their usernames from when they were kids.
Durinthal wasn't my first username but I came up with it maybe a year or two later, the earliest ones I can recall were something like Silverfrost (roleplaying as an elf rather than a dwarf) and Swordskid.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Durinthal Link ParentI got first initial last name on Gmail, similarly uncommon surname, and also get emails like that from time to time that I need to delete/unsubscribe. By sheer coincidence earlier this year I...I got first initial last name on Gmail, similarly uncommon surname, and also get emails like that from time to time that I need to delete/unsubscribe. By sheer coincidence earlier this year I encountered someone that tried to get the same address a few months after me (different first name) but found it was already taken.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Durinthal Link ParentIt's a real star that's fairly close to us at 7.86 light-years away so it's a good option for science fiction if you don't want to use Alpha Centauri which has several things named after it already.It's a real star that's fairly close to us at 7.86 light-years away so it's a good option for science fiction if you don't want to use Alpha Centauri which has several things named after it already.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Durinthal Link ParentThis might be the first time I've come across someone with the same origin story years later. I was also in AOL roleplaying chat rooms and needed a name for a character, in my case I was aiming...This might be the first time I've come across someone with the same origin story years later. I was also in AOL roleplaying chat rooms and needed a name for a character, in my case I was aiming for a dwarf and Durinthal sounded appropriate.
Turns out Durin is a name for some dwarves in Middle-earth's history and those came from Norse mythology, but I don't recall being directly inspired by them at the time. I hadn't read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings or watched any adaptations of them yet (and the Peter Jackson movies were still a few years away) but I had a family member who was into the series so they might have mentioned Durin before to stick it in my mind.
Similarly, it's been my online name most places since then and it's as much a part of my identity as my legal name is now, if not more so because it's a name I chose for myself rather than what I was given.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 3/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light ✅ Super Mario Maker 2 Progress Exploration Silence Transformation Fear Power ★...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 3/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision
✅ Super Mario Maker 2Progress Exploration Silence Transformation Fear Power ★ Wildcard Connection Threshold Fleeting Uncertainty Choice
✅ Slay the PrincessRepetition
✅ Secrets of GrindeaEmpathy Tradition Increment Complexity Fragmentation Beauty Perhaps unsurprisingly I was going for a couple of games that didn't need a whole lot of thought from me this week.
Super Mario Maker 2 — Back on the grind for Team 0% with the goal of ensuring that every uploaded level is beaten by someone. I don't have great technical skill at the game, due to a lack of practice if nothing else, but there's still a decent amount of precision needed in platforming with lots of dodging enemies and other hazards. For the most part it's straightforward to figure out what needs to be done to beat a level with the help of external tools that can show the full layout of a stage including any hidden power-ups or secret shortcuts to the end, so once routing is done it's just a matter of execution and it's a good way to zone out for a while.
Secrets of Grindea — An action RPG reminiscent of Secret of Mana and similar games of that era, as one may guess by the title there's a lot of grinding to be done for full completion. The repetition here is again a nice distraction and it's set up to encourage sitting in one room repeatedly killing respawning enemies if you'd like, with rewards of permanent power-ups coming after you kill enough of each type of monster. The story's rather simple and writing's somewhat snarky which feels like a common thing in indie RPGs these days (maybe just the ones I've played) so it's easy enough to ignore. Not something that I'd call a positive most of the time but here it's exactly what I needed.
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Comment on Looking for DRM-free book recommendations in ~books
Durinthal LinkFor anyone that's into anime or related media J-Novel Club has DRM-free epub downloads for the novels and manga they publish.For anyone that's into anime or related media J-Novel Club has DRM-free epub downloads for the novels and manga they publish.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI considered flipping my Flow card to Golf mode, getting 100% on one game and then declaring a blackout with just that since I think I could argue it for every square I have (some better than...I considered flipping my Flow card to Golf mode, getting 100% on one game and then declaring a blackout with just that since I think I could argue it for every square I have (some better than others).
Slay the Princess is a game I first played in May's event, but with a new update out last week I wanted to return and continue my exploration of its many paths. Each choice leads you down a different route, with the complexity of the game coming from how many branches exist by in total and what you need to do to reach each.
I feel like it's a story best experienced with as little foreknowledge as possible so I'll put the rest of it under a spoiler tag.
Slay the Princess spoilers
As I mentioned with my first time through it's a game built on repetition where you're meant to play through it multiple times and pick different options the next with the progress coming from your increased understanding of the characters rather than anything mechanical.
Your decisions lead to a transformation of the Princess, each chapter a new increment in that particular journey. For example if you want to display empathy toward her and don't bring a weapon when first encountering her, the Princess is one of tradition, the kind of beauty you'd normally show up to save rather than slay. If you think you're following a path of justice and try to free her, you may end up with a love that is ultimately fleeting after the light of a smothering love is (quite literally) extinguished. For once the Princess passes the threshold and leaves her prison, she cannot remain in the world.
Aside from the damsel you may choose a path where you enter the cabin in silence and kill the Princess outright. Or depending on how you engage in the struggle she may emerge with an incredible power over you if you give in to fear, able to command your body against your will. That kind of friction can be fun too.
The path of uncertainty is an interesting one as well, as leaving her locked up for eternity is something you can try. The resulting connection between you in the following chapter can be rather nightmarish.
One of my favorite routes is one of absence where you choose to not visit the cabin at all. That ultimately leads to a fragmentation of reality as the Princess doesn't know which form to take and instead becomes every version possible. The same goes for you on your inevitable journey to reach her and you're both lost to infinity.
While it is just a visual novel and the only inputs you have are selecting an action for your character, at one point you're presented with a long list of actions to choose, all identical aside from one. My first time playing through my precision was off and I accidentally bumped my joystick to select one of the many same options rather than the unique one I wanted, which lead to an interesting outcome in its own right.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 1/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 1/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision Progress Exploration Silence Transformation Fear Power ★ Wildcard...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Standard/Flow, 1/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 1/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision Progress Exploration Silence Transformation Fear Power ★ Wildcard Connection Threshold Fleeting Uncertainty Choice
✅ Slay the PrincessRepetition Empathy Tradition Increment Complexity Fragmentation Beauty Updating this over the course of the week as before, I got an early jump on a game that I wanted to revisit from May's event.
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Comment on Announcing the Tildes Backlog Burner event for November 2024: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI like the Flow idea! A couple of words on my card immediately brought certain games to mind and I'm looking forward to exploring that with the other themes.I like the Flow idea! A couple of words on my card immediately brought certain games to mind and I'm looking forward to exploring that with the other themes.
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Comment on Announcing the Tildes Backlog Burner event for November 2024: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Durinthal LinkI'm back after participating in the May event and already set up a new bingo card: Durinthal's bingo card (standard, flow) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 0/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light...I'm back after participating in the May event and already set up a new bingo card:
Durinthal's bingo card (standard, flow)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 0/25 Friction Absence Justice Lost Light Precision Progress Exploration Silence Transformation Fear Power ★ Wildcard Connection Threshold Fleeting Uncertainty Choice Repetition Empathy Tradition Increment Complexity Fragmentation Beauty I initially rolled flux a couple of times but kept getting squares that I had in my previous card (could have disabled them, I know) so I switched over to flow for something different. It's gonna be fun to figure out some games to fit the abstract concepts over the next couple of days before I get started.
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Comment on New largest prime number found! 2¹³⁶²⁷⁹⁸⁴¹-1. See all 41,024,320 digits. in ~science
Durinthal Link ParentNotably that list is for a specific kind of prime number (and that 2018 Mersenne prime was the largest prime number before this new one), but discovery of new primes in general is more common and...Notably that list is for a specific kind of prime number (and that 2018 Mersenne prime was the largest prime number before this new one), but discovery of new primes in general is more common and several others currently among the 20 largest known primes were found in the past year.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Weekly in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI love the high altitude ones, they remind me of satellite imagery. I can almost see my house from there.I love the high altitude ones, they remind me of satellite imagery. I can almost see my house from there.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentSorry, I was looking at the spacing between roads and the house next door rather than chunk borders. I haven't actually checked to see if the shulker unloader is in one chunk. I had also been...Oh, and Durinthal, I'll never forgive you for building your big chest NOT IN A SINGLE CHUNK! j/k
Sorry, I was looking at the spacing between roads and the house next door rather than chunk borders. I haven't actually checked to see if the shulker unloader is in one chunk.
I had also been thinking I could make the building structure a double chest since it's just small enough to fit between roads (or at least I'm assuming so; single chest is 14px/blocks and the gap between the roads is 30 blocks so I figured there would be a 1-block gap on both sides) but then the furnace couldn't do the same and wouldn't be able to align with one side or the other.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentIf you wanted to make it extra complicated, I think it would be possible to use a comparator to see how full the chest of items to be smelted is and then pick the appropriate fuel based on that?...If you wanted to make it extra complicated, I think it would be possible to use a comparator to see how full the chest of items to be smelted is and then pick the appropriate fuel based on that?
Of course that would require building the infrastructure for both kelp and bamboo and then probably have a hopper cart route to one or the other for fueling the furnaces, so it's a lot of extra work for not much gain. I think it would be a neat challenge though.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI believe there's a witch hut at 950, -1640 but haven't waited around long enough to see if that's actually the case.I believe there's a witch hut at 950, -1640 but haven't waited around long enough to see if that's actually the case.
I hadn't considered it that way but it really does fit the ethos of Team 0% as a whole since the goal is tackling levels no one's beaten yet, so it's a backlog for the entire community that slowly gets whittled down.