Maelstrom's recent activity

  1. Comment on Star Wars Outlaws is a crappy masterpiece in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    I was being lazy, but I’m going to take this as a teachable moment…

    I was being lazy, but I’m going to take this as a teachable moment…

    9 votes

  2. Comment on Star Wars Outlaws is a crappy masterpiece in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    Agreed overall. For clarity, I don’t think the final form of CP is a bad game, though I contest that CP has decent AI and I think that conflating those two items makes my original point. They’re...

    Agreed overall. For clarity, I don’t think the final form of CP is a bad game, though I contest that CP has decent AI and I think that conflating those two items makes my original point.

    They’re decent in the sense that enemies react to being shot, sure. However I found so many times where they got stuck behind a door, lost interest in a firefight halfway through, tried to shoot through a wall etc. with the end result being the average encounter is more of a shooting gallery than anything strategic.

    Whenever I see clips of the gameplay it’s always npcs being wasted by the dozen as they haplessly stand around, ineffectually shooting at the player.

    I think part of it is that open world games necessitate the AI’s capabilities to be quite broad, but what would satisfy me is if these type of games were tagged as empowerment simulator or god mode sandbox. Something to say that this game will only be challenging if you restrict your abilities and that’s not really the focus of this product.

    4 votes

  3. Comment on Star Wars Outlaws is a crappy masterpiece in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link
    This is why I don’t play AAA anymore. They’re so big on the elements that are easy to market like graphics and size of the areas, but the general mechanics and especially the AI are overlooked...

    This is why I don’t play AAA anymore. They’re so big on the elements that are easy to market like graphics and size of the areas, but the general mechanics and especially the AI are overlooked entirely. It’s my belief that the average gamer doesn’t give a crap about challenging AI and deep mechanics, hence why Cyberpunk and Starfield sold so well.

    27 votes

  4. Comment on Kerbal Space Program 2 development history in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link
    I never usually buy early access, man do I regret breaking my rule on this one.

    I never usually buy early access, man do I regret breaking my rule on this one.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Starfield: May update in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    Bizzare is the word, but also substandard AI is par for the course in open world games. Super interesting it’s there, I wonder why the implementation is so poor.

    Bizzare is the word, but also substandard AI is par for the course in open world games. Super interesting it’s there, I wonder why the implementation is so poor.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Unity appoints former EA and Zynga executive Matthew Bromberg as its new CEO in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    I’ve completed a tutorial and had a go at importing some of my own assets, seems really promising so far and im going to continue with it. Thanks for helpful nudge.

    I’ve completed a tutorial and had a go at importing some of my own assets, seems really promising so far and im going to continue with it. Thanks for helpful nudge.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Nathan Berman has helped rescue Manhattan’s financial district from a “doom loop” by carving attractive living spaces from hulking buildings that once housed fields of cubicles in ~design

    Maelstrom
    Link
    I stayed in an office building converted into a hotel in Amsterdam and hated every minute of it. Adding plumbing into an exisiting building can be challenging so they have some creative solutions....

    I stayed in an office building converted into a hotel in Amsterdam and hated every minute of it. Adding plumbing into an exisiting building can be challenging so they have some creative solutions. In this case the whole bathroom was an enclosed module with the water heater and cistern built into its floor. What this meant was very loud plumbing, very short showers and very uncomfortable toilet activities due to how audible it all was. Also the module was fairly flimsy and creaked a ton, making a night time bathroom trip sure to wake up your partner.

    My coworker’s experience was even worse as their room faced towards another office building whose lights were on all night.

    Similar story with insulation, offices and residential are just built different.

    He stressed to me that he is not particularly interested in what goes on inside the apartments, or in what the tenant experience is like.

    Speaks volumes.

    I’m sure there’s better methods than what I experienced and I’m not against repurposing buildings, though from what I’ve seen I wouldn’t want to live there unless I really had no other options.

    Given the state of Sydney’s housing supply there’s merit to implementing it here, however I expect it would be more likely to end up squeezing more service workers into substandard conditions than anything else.

    14 votes

  8. Comment on Any tips for Barcelona and Lisbon in June/July? in ~travel

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    Yep delightful cocktails, enjoy the trip!

    Yep delightful cocktails, enjoy the trip!

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Unity appoints former EA and Zynga executive Matthew Bromberg as its new CEO in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the prod, I’ll check it out

    Thanks for the prod, I’ll check it out

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Any tips for Barcelona and Lisbon in June/July? in ~travel

    Maelstrom
    Link
    I had a really nice night with my partner here: http://hemingwaybcn.com/ really inventive cocktails in a cozy little space. Also make sure to check out some Gaudi.

    I had a really nice night with my partner here: http://hemingwaybcn.com/ really inventive cocktails in a cozy little space.

    Also make sure to check out some Gaudi.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Unity appoints former EA and Zynga executive Matthew Bromberg as its new CEO in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    I heard it was limited in 3D, but I’m not getting anywhere with UE, maybe I will give it a shot.

    I heard it was limited in 3D, but I’m not getting anywhere with UE, maybe I will give it a shot.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on Starfield: May update in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link
    They mention difficulty improvements, but it looks like bigger and smaller numbers (albeit with quite granular control) and no mention of working on actual challenging enemy AI. Staying on the...

    They mention difficulty improvements, but it looks like bigger and smaller numbers (albeit with quite granular control) and no mention of working on actual challenging enemy AI. Staying on the junk pile for me.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on Unity appoints former EA and Zynga executive Matthew Bromberg as its new CEO in ~games

    Maelstrom
    Link
    I spent a lot of time learning Unity and had two projects that I started to believe I might one day might actually release, then all that bs @EnglishMobster referenced went down and I realised I...

    I spent a lot of time learning Unity and had two projects that I started to believe I might one day might actually release, then all that bs @EnglishMobster referenced went down and I realised I definitely didn’t want to be hitched to such a capricious company.

    I switched to Unreal Engine, but I’ve found it a much more uphill learning process and struggled to troubleshoot let alone make progress. I haven’t forgiven Unity and at this point in time it doesn’t feel like I’m going to get that motivation back any time soon.

    15 votes

  14. Comment on What would you recommend for a single, minimal, "overview-of-the-world" news source? in ~talk

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    Like Tildes you can narrow what you’re looking for using topics or tags (I usually read the main page, then search Australia then environment). What I like is if you see an interesting headline...

    Like Tildes you can narrow what you’re looking for using topics or tags (I usually read the main page, then search Australia then environment). What I like is if you see an interesting headline it’s usually quite descriptive, you click it and you can see how outlets have spun that headline, find an unbiased source and read the article. Sometimes just seeing several article summaries tells you what you want to know.

    I also like seeing which articles don’t get coverage. E.g. new climate milestone, no right wing reporting. Left wing politician puts their foot in it, no left wing reporting. Very eye opening as to why morern news is so polarising and sometimes explains why my coworker (kiwi) is obsessed with AOC and not interested in ice sheets.

    The interface is super busy, especially on mobile. I usually use it on my laptop.

  15. Comment on What would you recommend for a single, minimal, "overview-of-the-world" news source? in ~talk

  16. Comment on What would you recommend for a single, minimal, "overview-of-the-world" news source? in ~talk

    Maelstrom
    Link
    Maybe https://ground.news/. It’s an AI news aggregator that also grades the left / right wing biases of the sources and their truthfulness (though I’ve never looked into how that’s calculated)....

    Maybe https://ground.news/. It’s an AI news aggregator that also grades the left / right wing biases of the sources and their truthfulness (though I’ve never looked into how that’s calculated). When I want that 5 minute snapshot of world affairs it’s my go to. Also fascinating to see which stories get traction where.

    Downside is it wants a subscription for some of the more interesting features.

    8 votes

  17. Comment on Meta starts licensing headset OS in battle with Apple in ~tech

    Maelstrom
    Link
    Hard to oversell how little I personally want a Meta made anything. Does the OS still require a Facebook account when licensed?

    Hard to oversell how little I personally want a Meta made anything. Does the OS still require a Facebook account when licensed?

    14 votes

  18. Comment on Taylor Swift adds fifteen songs to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ with surprise release ‘The Anthology’ in ~music

    Maelstrom
    Link
    Thank you for posting this, gained gf credit.

    Thank you for posting this, gained gf credit.

    16 votes

  19. Comment on ‘Heroes’ reboot in the works from series creator Tim Kring in ~tv

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    I really enjoy Invincible despite the show releasing into a totally over saturated superhero landscape. Heroes’ focus on regular, limited people I think sets it apart enough to get some traction...

    I really enjoy Invincible despite the show releasing into a totally over saturated superhero landscape. Heroes’ focus on regular, limited people I think sets it apart enough to get some traction with me.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on ‘Heroes’ reboot in the works from series creator Tim Kring in ~tv

    Maelstrom
    Link Parent
    They sort of did that with Heroes Reborn. Wasn’t that good though

    They sort of did that with Heroes Reborn. Wasn’t that good though

    1 vote