secret_online's recent activity
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Comment on The man who's spent a lifetime making one, giant map in ~games
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Comment on What is your eleventh favorite video game? in ~games
secret_online LinkThe Witness is a strange game. On the surface it's one of the most meticulous puzzle games ever crafted: you go from panel to panel drawing a single line. The lines start off easy, being a simple...- Exemplary
The Witness is a strange game. On the surface it's one of the most meticulous puzzle games ever crafted: you go from panel to panel drawing a single line. The lines start off easy, being a simple maze, but then new elements are added to the panels. The game never tells you what they mean, instead you are expected to learn by solving the puzzles.
The game is first person. For a game about drawing lines on panels. On the surface this does not make sense. The game never tells you why it's first person, instead you are expected to find out why by examining the world around you.
If you fire up the minimum number of lasers and make your way to the end, the great glass elevator flies around the island, your work is undone, and your game is reset back to the very start. You were not ready. Try again.
The Witness has a moment, an epiphany, and it's usually different for everyone. There is a place in the game that explicitly to try and get you to have this epiphany, but I have watched two friends engage with part 1 then fail to recognise part 2 directly in front of them. It's ok, they got it later. The game almost directly tells you this epiphany, in its own way.
There are audio logs with quotes from various people: philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, poets. Why would you think I'd want a sandwich? The game never tells you why these were placed here, instead you're expected to ruminate on them, their text, why they were placed where they were, and why they would be included at all in the game.
If you fire up all of the lasers and go down, you might notice a new panel is lit up. There are some tough panels behind it, with paths that wind past areas you've been in. This leads to a timed Challenge, in which you must put together your knowledge of the game's mechanics solving some of its hardest problems as either Anitra's Dance or In the Hall of the Mountain King (from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt) play. You will likely hear these pieces a lot. If you succeed, your reward is an hour long talk about... well, a lot of things. The game expects you to think about it.
Behind the Challenge is a box with a piece of paper inside. Detailed on the paper is a panel layout. It exists in the game, in one specific location. The game does not tell you where this panel is, instead you're expected to know what to do.
The Witness is Art, with a capital A. It's a game, too, but primarily Art. You could put this game in a modern art museum and it would not be out of place. You could put a modern art museum in this game and it would not be out of place. Like all good Art, the game does not tell you what it is about. Instead, it expects you to absorb it, introspect, and interpret.
The director, Jonathan Blow, is a proficient, pretentious (said with as much love as I can while calling someone pretentious. He is opinionated and loud about it in a way that comes across as a sore winner), and politically problematic (publicly anti-vax, Trump supporting, repeating anti-"woke" talking points on the ghost of Twitter) person. Their next game comes out later this year. The author of this comment does not tell you how to spend your money, but you are expeced to be aware that it is possible to obtain games without monetary transaction if you know what you're doing.
Quote pertaining to Jon Blow's political stances
"In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that Jon’s beliefs/priorities and mine are not aligned," says Alan Hazelden, developer of two of the games that Order of the Sinking Star was built from. "He’s adversarial to people talking about privilege and representation, is dismissive of diversity efforts, has dabbled in covid trutherism, and is pro-MAGA.
"I believe Trump is a self-serving authoritarian who's dismantling democracy, trying to make trans people illegal, and wanting to set up concentration camps for immigrants - whereas Jon in February called him 'the best President we have had in my entire life'."
https://www.thegamer.com/jonathan-blow-controversial-politics/
Also there's a pretty good parody called The Looker. You need to have played The Witness to understand what it does to break down and reconstruct the original game.
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Comment on Xbox is planning to shutter Peabody Award-winning Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentNinja Theory at the very least has had critical successes and won awards at the bigger shows, even if they're not mainstream games. If they are being lined up for the block, then it's likely to be...but I would not be surprised if Ninja Theory [...] is also on the chopping block.
Ninja Theory at the very least has had critical successes and won awards at the bigger shows, even if they're not mainstream games. If they are being lined up for the block, then it's likely to be after 2027 as a new Hellblade game (simply titled "Senua", despite being the third in the series?) has been announced in this year's Xbox Games Showcase.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentTo whoever put The Talos Principle, I love you. It doesn't make my top 5, simply because there are many games that have become important to me, but it has to be in the top 10 for sure. I remember...To whoever put The Talos Principle, I love you. It doesn't make my top 5, simply because there are many games that have become important to me, but it has to be in the top 10 for sure. I remember a time I was talking with my dad about stories in video games (in particular puzzle games that would stand as good games in their own right but are made complete by their story) and Talos was the example I gave. Pre-pandemic pandemic stories just feel different.
It's also a damn good puzzle game.
It's interesting that releases from the late 2010s seem to dominate the list. Some of those games are coming up a decade old at this point, so there almost certainly is an aspect of nostalgia to them. The world was different then, before COVID. I wonder what a similar survey would be like in another decade.
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
secret_online Link ParentThere's a commonly repeated phrase in the Factorio community: The corollary to this is that you can call anything that doesn't have concrete your "starter base" and make it as messy as you like.There's a commonly repeated phrase in the Factorio community:
It's not a real base unless it has concrete.
The corollary to this is that you can call anything that doesn't have concrete your "starter base" and make it as messy as you like.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentPull out translator SOLANUM: The universe is, and we are. I have to say, the DLC for Outer Wilds got me properly. I do not deal well with being spooked, and I had to stop playing for a while. For...Pull out translator
SOLANUM: The universe is, and we are.
I have to say, the DLC for Outer Wilds got me properly. I do not deal well with being spooked, and I had to stop playing for a while. For anyone like me, it is worth it.
Echoes of the Eye spoilers
During gameplay, finding out it was a simulation helped a lot. I still hated it and found absolutely no joy or excitement or adrenaline in making my way to the libraries, but it did flip a switch in my mind that made it bearable.
After the game, realising that the strangers were afraid of the Eye and that's what held them back meant so much more when I was nearly held back by them. Their scan of the Eye showed both the destruction of this universe and the birth of a new one, but they were so terrified of losing everything (after having destroyed their home moon) that they blocked the signal. I could have given into that same fear and stopped playing the game, but then I would not have seen the beauty in the story being told.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentThere's a lot that will feel familiar, but it really is a different game. The biggest shock to me was that status effects are all chance based, rather than being blocked by physical/magic armour...I purchased D:OS recently but haven't gotten to it yet
There's a lot that will feel familiar, but it really is a different game. The biggest shock to me was that status effects are all chance based, rather than being blocked by physical/magic armour in D:OS2. There's also this mechanic where your two main party members will have a conversation, and the answers you choose will affect their stats. I found it interesting, but poorly implemented and some of the options just don't make sense.
I feel like the game's development was very much rushed towards the end, and a couple of end-game fights didn't feel like they were tuned quite right. But there was still something to be enjoyed in seeing what led to D:OS2.
Oh, and the story is basically completely separate. There are some allusions to it in D:OS2, but for the most part it was all left behind.
I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention that Blackpits fight.
Ah, my nemesis. I don't want to think about how many times I had to try to get past that...
I remember starting that fight and thinking "they're going to do the thing, aren't they". When that last wave spawned I celebrated. Then died. On all future playthroughs, especially ones where I'm shepherding a friend through the game, I always respec a character into hydro before this fight.
The start of the Blackpits was where I fully fell for this game. I was really enjoying the game beforehand, but this ended up where I had the realisation that this was my favourite game, and I just sat around for a few minutes to enjoy the music before moving on and saving the family from the magisters. My love for it had been building up until this point, this is just where it tipped over.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online (edited )LinkDivinity: Original Sin II is not the best game ever made. It is flawed, the story has only just enough momentum to get it to the finish line by the end, it is so easy to make a character build...Divinity: Original Sin II is not the best game ever made. It is flawed, the story has only just enough momentum to get it to the finish line by the end, it is so easy to make a character build that is suboptimal (and you will be punished for it), and systems are rough around the edges. But I love it.
What D:OS2 has is character. The game focuses on both the big and the small in ways that I just love. In the grand scheme of things, the world is fucked, the Voidwoken invasion is unwinnable, and there are rumblings of future wars between powers. But at the small scale there are still people, there is hope, there is humour. D:OS2 is simultaneously a very serious game that by the end will have you feeling down because damn is its story dark, but it's also incredibly goofy at times. You'll go from killing a witch who was driven mad by the magisters who has given into the force of evil and now hurts everything around her, to a skeletal boatman who will take you across the lake of deathfog for a fee, omitting the fact that he will be sailing straight through the deathfog until you arrive on the other side. Whoops.
Your companions are a huge part of it too. They have stories that you will be going through as you play, because you kind of need to do everything to ensure you're at the right level for everything else. Their stories are so incredibly grounded in the world. Some have ties directly to the plot or side plots you'll be encountering as you play. Some even conflict with each other. And each of them have their own bits of character growth, and by the end you'll understand them. They are so well done.
Mechanically, the game holds up because the surfaces+clouds system that so many abilities are built on is actually really good as a foundation (well, all roads lead to necrofire, but otherwise it's implemented so well). Almost every ability will interact with the environment in some way, so the battlefield keeps changing. And no two fights are the same. There are many instances of an enemy type only being used a single time, and when they are used multiple times then the arena you're fighting in is different enough that it changes the feel. I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention that Blackpits fight.
Oh, and the soundtrack. I think it is truly underappreciated. There are pieces that didn't make onto the official OST release that I think set the mood(s) of this game so damn well.
When I heard that Larian was going to be making Baldur's Gate 3, I had every confidence they would do a good job of it. And they did. I think BG3 is a better game than D:OS2. They got better at storytelling, the engine allows for fully 3d maps with layers (Moonrise Towers is them showing off what the updated engine can do, and I love it), and everything is just a little more polished. But this is a question about favourites, not best. D:OS2 was the right game at the right time for me.
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Comment on Friday Facts #441 - Space logistics improvements in ~games
secret_online Link ParentThe mixed rocket launches and priority for platforms and cargo bays are definitely welcome. For large platforms I was keeping two blueprints, one for the platforms and cargo bays and the other for...The mixed rocket launches and priority for platforms and cargo bays are definitely welcome. For large platforms I was keeping two blueprints, one for the platforms and cargo bays and the other for everything else. They mentioned that there's a request priority API, so I wonder how mods will end up using that.
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Comment on The problem that built an industry in ~comp
secret_online Link ParentYeah, I almost didn't post it here for that reason, but as you said if you skim and pay attention to the ideas rather than the presentation then there is something interesting in there.Yeah, I almost didn't post it here for that reason, but as you said if you skim and pay attention to the ideas rather than the presentation then there is something interesting in there.
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Comment on The problem that built an industry in ~comp
secret_online LinkThis is the first of a six-part series on a lot of the behind-the-scenes of air ticket booking, with a focus specifically on Amadeus since that's what his tickets went through.I was going to speak at ContainerDays 2026. A conference about containers, orchestration, and cloud-native infrastructure: the kind of modern, ephemeral, stateless systems I spend my working life thinking about.
The irony only hit me on the flight over.
The infrastructure that booked those flights traces its design to the 1960s. It still runs on lineages that predate Unix and speaks command languages built for teletypes. The implementations, hardware, and surrounding software have been replaced and upgraded many times. What persists is the data model, the protocols, and the transaction semantics. None of that happened in a single rewrite: it accumulated while the system kept flying, and at peak it still handles on the order of 10,000 transactions per second.
This is the first of a six-part series on a lot of the behind-the-scenes of air ticket booking, with a focus specifically on Amadeus since that's what his tickets went through.
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The problem that built an industry
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Comment on Tildes Survey #6: Vote for the next four surveys we do! (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentI would have gone with a doughnut, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯I would have gone with a doughnut, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Comment on Why airlines are always going bankrupt in ~transport
secret_online Link ParentBecause it is :) To be honest, I don't know how many other places will be in a similar situation to NZ with our country being long and, as you noted, not having good rail connections. That's not...Sounds a bit like Air New Zealand.
Because it is :)
To be honest, I don't know how many other places will be in a similar situation to NZ with our country being long and, as you noted, not having good rail connections. That's not even including the fact that we have a body of water between the larger two islands, and building a bridge between them is not feasible thanks to high and variable wind and strong currents.
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Comment on Why airlines are always going bankrupt in ~transport
secret_online Link ParentDo many people think it's profitable? Granted I live in a smaller isolated country where air travel is really the only way to/from it, and visiting family in different cities is usually much more...But it's not the money printer that people think it is.
Do many people think it's profitable? Granted I live in a smaller isolated country where air travel is really the only way to/from it, and visiting family in different cities is usually much more convenient via flying, so it's not uncommon to hear news about how unprofitable our flag carrier is.
To use something from the article, we really only have enough demand for 1.8 airlines (or so). It has been pretty stable for a decade with the flag carrier being decent and often propped up by the government (and that's when it's most often in the news), and a budget airline still isn't all that budget (and is also foreign owned and operated). There are also a couple of teensy tiny airlines that run incredibly small planes on very few routes that aren't served by the other two, but they can't be making money from it.
There's an old joke, which I think is apt:
Steps to becoming a millionaire:
- Be a billionaire.
- Buy an airline.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentI believe Eth was using the Build Guide mod (with catenary curves) for the wiresI believe Eth was using the Build Guide mod (with catenary curves) for the wires
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentGetting the roses in and making a killing gallery around the edge (where the can't walk to or spawn, but we can reach them). Piglins and blazes can't spawn in the wither roses, so you only get...Getting the roses in and making a killing gallery around the edge (where the can't walk to or spawn, but we can reach them). Piglins and blazes can't spawn in the wither roses, so you only get skellies. It is a pain to place, because if a blaze does spawn then they can burn the place to the ground. Also depending on which design of farm we go with (like a manual farm) then we might actually want to swap the soul sand with soul soil so they walk faster.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentOh yeah, soul speed is essential in there. It's actually why I made it of soul sand and not soul soil, so I could dodge easier while placing it all down.Oh yeah, soul speed is essential in there. It's actually why I made it of soul sand and not soul soil, so I could dodge easier while placing it all down.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentYeah, I know that design. I was thinking of doing something similar but smaller, but the way I was going about it was starting to balloon in size and also just didn't work. We could always fall...Yeah, I know that design. I was thinking of doing something similar but smaller, but the way I was going about it was starting to balloon in size and also just didn't work. We could always fall back to that kind of design.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
secret_online Link ParentThis was mine. I was in the process of putting together the materials to make an actual farm, but then stopped working on it when Eth started taking a break. I was trying to come up with a...This was mine. I was in the process of putting together the materials to make an actual farm, but then stopped working on it when Eth started taking a break. I was trying to come up with a collection system design with minecarts, but had no good way of ejecting the skeletons (I tried a lot) so gave up.
If someone wants to make a simpler farm then feel free. It should be easy enough to get the roses using the slime or silverfish potions and a wither underneath the end portal.
I think the impermanence is a feature of it, an opportunity to start fresh but with some history. Quite often we treat existing art as untouchable, and the void is a systematic way of breaking that barrier. We already see that to an extent in his work already with all of the layering he's already doing. The void feels like an extension of that, but with opportunity for a completely fresh start integrated into the world. We see that with the void city, and the new lore (love that he learned that term) that came with it.
With that in mind, I think laying out the full map showed just how much had been consumed by void, and I suspect he'll be changing the deck to reduce the amount of void in the future. And that's part of the process.