Venko's recent activity
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Comment on You get to choose your favorite director's next project. What is it, and why? in ~movies
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Venko LinkTwo weeks ago I shared that I'd bought a powerful new gaming PC after over a decade. In anticipation of the new PC I've picked up a lot of free games from Epic Games, Amazon and GOG. I've also...Two weeks ago I shared that I'd bought a powerful new gaming PC after over a decade. In anticipation of the new PC I've picked up a lot of free games from Epic Games, Amazon and GOG. I've also bought bundles and have a Game Pass subscription.
In order to ensure that I don't get dragged between all of the games I decided to limit myself to just two major games at a time. I have an unordered backlog of the games that I'm interested in playing soon (Backloggery).
So onto the games...
Avowed (beaten via Game Pass)
Avowed has an interesting story and the kind of engaging, non-filler, side quests that you'd expect from Obsidian. Decisions that you make in both main quests and side quests impact the outcome of the main story. This does mean that you're incentivised to play through all of the side quests in each area before moving on with the main quest. Also Avowed is not an open-world game; it has open zones and entrance to the next zone is gated by main quest progression.There are three combat trees that you can mix together: fighter, ranger and wizard. I played primarily fighter with melee combat but the other trees offer ranged combat styles. I found the fighter combat system simple yet fun but your experience may vary if you focus on skills from a different tree.
I started playing Avowed on an Xbox Series X using a controller before I bought the new gaming PC. Playing on the controller was very comfortable so I was surprised to see how much better the game felt with a mouse+keyboard. I don't feel the same urge to replay the game that I have for Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas.
Deathloop (beaten via Steam)
On my playlist for 4 years whilst waiting for a suitable gaming PC so that I could play it with a mouse+keyboard. I'm a huge fan of the time loop stories and Deathloop has a lot more story and worldbuilding to it than is immediately apparent. The game has four zones and and four parts to each day (morning, midday, afternoon and evening). When you leave a zone the day moves onto the next part. The order in which you approach areas, actions you take in them and the time of day changes everything. You can unlock and upgrade Dishonoured style special abilities which greatly influence how you approach things. Personally I focused on a stealth playstyle and abilities but there's a lot of playstyles available.The game was really fun but Deathloop holds your hand a little too much. Presumably the developers were concerned about people being stuck for too long. There's also only one valid way to resolve the story although there are multiple endings. Also an alternate player (human or computer) attempts to kill you and reset your loop as you play. A good human player, who knows the zones well, would be very frustrating so I played on an offline mode. This was a fun compromise for me but if you're interested in playing with human players you'll find that there aren't many players anymore. I thoroughly enjoyed Deathloop and I'll most likely replay it in the future.
Atomfall (beaten via Game Pass)
This one is certainly interesting. It features a configurable difficulty system split into three categories: combat, exploration and survival. Personally I chose the difficulty preset "investigator" which features challenging exploration but easier survival and combat. Instead of selecting a preset you can customise every difficulty feature in the game. I've not seen something like this before but it was very welcome. So I can't comment on the difficulty of combat or survival because of my difficulty choice. The "challenging" exploration seemed very fair though with everything solvable without cheating/searching on the internet.I found the overall story reasonably predictable. The characters were interesting, and mostly English, with emphasised use of local dialects/slang. You have a lot of choice about who to side with each option leading to a different conclusion to the story. I feel that I chose the best final option although I explored many before deciding on it. I felt compelled to play until I finished the game and definitely enjoyed it although I do not plan to replay it.
Far Cry 5 (played via Game Pass)
This one starts off very strong with an interesting story and decent combat. Unfortunately it shares a lot with other Ubisoft titles like Assassin's Creed and I consider it to be weaker than those games in both combat and setting. The game is split into three zones and in order to progress the story in each zone you need to complete various open world activities. These are fun the first few dozen times but after I completed the first zone and moved onto the second I realised that the game was going to drag on. Maybe it's because I've been spoiled with other more focused games recently (see above) but I don't think that I'm going to finish this one. Perhaps I've played too many "open world" games at this point.What's next?
The next big game that I'm looking forward to is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 but it doesn't come out until 24th April. So until then I'll pick some other games from my priority backlog (Backloggery). I had some recommendations via replies on my earlier post but feel free to suggest games from my priority backlog. -
Comment on EU slams the door on US in colossal defense plan in ~society
Venko Link ParentAfter the first Russian invasion into Ukraine the UK trained 22,000 Ukrainian military personnel. The UK has done many other things prior to and since Russia's second invasion of Ukraine including...After the first Russian invasion into Ukraine the UK trained 22,000 Ukrainian military personnel. The UK has done many other things prior to and since Russia's second invasion of Ukraine including being the first country to provide serious weaponary. We've been voted, by Ukrainians, to be the third most-supportive country after Poland and Lithuania. Sources and more info via Wikipedia. For all of the UK's many faults it doesn't feel fair to place any blame on it for insecurity of Europe.
Military investments, spending and capability are reciprocal in Europe. British companies own roughly a third of many European arms manufacturers. It's in everyone's interest for Europe to have strong defences but it's also in everyone's interests for the UK to too.
Of course a defensive pact between the EU and UK must and surely will happen. This will lead to further investments and spending in both directions. It's just frustrating to hear that some member states, mainly France, are placing their own financial interests over that of Europe as a whole by delaying and potentially derailing the defence pact. These things that France wants can absolutely be discussed and agreed with the UK as part of wider treaties with the UK.
Personally, I don't see the UK in any way as an enemy, nor do I think any EU country sees the UK as an enemy. I've been looking into moving my various concerns that currently funnel money into the US, out of the US, since it feels immoral to contribute to the american economy (and especially big tech) at this point. Currently I think I will be mostly relying on UK companies. But when I have a choice, I want to support the EU, which is where I actually am!
That's a perfectly valid view although it's a little disheartening to me as a Brit who builds software. The majority of us in the tech world voted to remain in the EU, want wider cooperation and eventual reunification. Moving further apart makes that less likely. It makes rogue nations like the USA more powerful and is exactly what the current American administration are aiming for.
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Comment on EU slams the door on US in colossal defense plan in ~society
Venko LinkEU to exclude US, UK and Turkey from €150bn rearmament fund In short the EU would prefer to exclude the United Kingdom, Ukraine's biggest ally, from European rearming and defence. We are the...EU to exclude US, UK and Turkey from €150bn rearmament fund
In short the EU would prefer to exclude the United Kingdom, Ukraine's biggest ally, from European rearming and defence. We are the manufacturer of many of Europe's biggest defense systems including most of its missiles: MBDA (see owners). It seems very strange that the EU is prepared to jeopardise the safety of the whole European continent over fishing rights for France and pushing further immigration.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Venko LinkIt's been after almost 11 years since I built an NVIDIA 970-based gaming PC and it is really showing its age. I tried to buy a new GPU - either an NVIDIA 5070Ti or an AMD 9700 XT for, or close to,...It's been after almost 11 years since I built an NVIDIA 970-based gaming PC and it is really showing its age. I tried to buy a new GPU - either an NVIDIA 5070Ti or an AMD 9700 XT for, or close to, the listed recommended retail prices. Unfortunately they all sold out in less than a minute in the UK which left me struggling to build a replacement gaming PC. So I decided to buy a prebuilt PC which didn't work out much more expensive than sourcing parts myself in this climate. I now have an NVIDIA 5070Ti GPU, AMD 9800X3D CPU and 32GB RAM gaming PC and can finally start to work through my backlog and wishlist of computer games.
In order to ensure that I don't get dragged between all of the games I decided to limit myself to just two games at a time. I created an ordered backlog of the games that I'm interested in playing afterwards.
So onto the games...
Avowed (via Game Pass)
I've been a huge fan of Obsidian Entertainment games ever since I played Fallout: New Vegas. I have almost 300 hours of playtime across countless playthroughs with many different modsets. Avowed is not New Vegas but it has an interesting story and the kind of engaging side quests that I've come to expect from Obsidian. The combat system is simple but fun and the exploration is very good albeit not quite Bethesda level. I think I'm around two thirds through the story and plan to finish both the side quests and main quest.Deathloop
This game has been on my to-play list since it released late in 2021. Unfortunately I didn't have a suitable gaming PC until now and I wanted to wait until I could play it with a keyboard and mouse. I'm a huge fan of the time loop stories and Deathloop has a lot more story and worldbuilding to it than is immediately apparent. The day is split into four parts: morning, midday, afternoon and evening and there are four areas to visit. The day moves onto the next part when you leave an area. What's happening in each area varies based on the time of day that you visit and actions that you've taken in other areas earlier in the day. You can unlock and upgrade Dishonoured style special abilities which greatly influence how you approach things. This game is really fun and keeps pulling me away from finishing Avowed.Ordered backlog (subject to change, order is merely indicative)
Here are the things that I'm currently thinking of playing next:- Eternal Threads
- Age of Mythology: Immortal Pillars expansion campaign
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Far Cry 5
- Against the Storm
- Shadow of War
I'd be interested in hearing arguments for games within my ordered backlog - but please, no spoilers.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
Venko LinkI'm in the UK and I get 28 days of annual leave that I can take whenever I want and 10 bank holiday days that are fixed. The minimum legal amount for a full-time worker in the UK is 20 days annual...I'm in the UK and I get 28 days of annual leave that I can take whenever I want and 10 bank holiday days that are fixed. The minimum legal amount for a full-time worker in the UK is 20 days annual leave plus the 10 bank holidays. If you work part time then both legal minimums are reduced pro-rata.
I also get up to 10 sick days at full pay whereas in the UK there's essentially no legally required sick pay (technically you can get a tiny amount of money from the state after first 3 consecutive days unpaid but it's so tiny that nobody could actually miss work). My experience is that large and some SMEs offer paid sick days but most smaller companies do not.
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Comment on AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT reviews and launch in ~games
Venko Link ParentI'm also running a 970 still. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy a 9070 XT before the stock vanished in all UK stores though so I'll be sticking with my Xbox Series X for gaming for the...I'm also running a 970 still. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy a 9070 XT before the stock vanished in all UK stores though so I'll be sticking with my Xbox Series X for gaming for the foreseeable future.
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Comment on AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT reviews and launch in ~games
Venko Link ParentThis community made model information sheet seems to say that only the Sapphire Nitro+ will have the dreaded 12VHPWR connector.This community made model information sheet seems to say that only the Sapphire Nitro+ will have the dreaded 12VHPWR connector.
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Comment on AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT reviews and launch in ~games
Venko LinkI failed to pick up an NVIDIA 5070 Ti for the UK MRRP. Since then I've been waiting to see what AMD's offering is and, to a layman like me, it looks like a very attractive option. I'm strongly...I failed to pick up an NVIDIA 5070 Ti for the UK MRRP. Since then I've been waiting to see what AMD's offering is and, to a layman like me, it looks like a very attractive option. I'm strongly considering picking one up at 2PM tomorrow when it supposedly launches and then building a new gaming PC around it.
I don't have any experience with AMD though. There are many manufacturers and it's difficult for me to understand what the differences are between the MRRP models. In the UK the MRRP models that I've seen are:
- Asrock Radeon RX 9070 XT Steel Legend
- PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper
- Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming
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AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT reviews and launch
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT launches tomorrow (6th March) for a MRRP of: $600 USA before taxes £570 UK after taxes Reviews: Have They Finally Done It? - Hardware Unboxed Review & Benchmarks vs. 5070...
The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT launches tomorrow (6th March) for a MRRP of:
- $600 USA before taxes
- £570 UK after taxes
Reviews:
- Have They Finally Done It? - Hardware Unboxed
- Review & Benchmarks vs. 5070 Ti, 5070, 7900 XT - Gamer Nexus
- Nvidia in Trouble? The RX 9070 XT has great potential - der8auer
- AMD Radeon RX 9070 / 9070 XT review: back to winning ways - Eurogamer
- AMD, I Could Kiss You - 9070 and 9070 XT Review - Linus Tech Tips
- AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT is the most exciting GPU to launch in years - XDA Developers
Bonus:
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Comment on The UK and other regions are running suspiciously low on Xbox Series X console stocks, why is PlayStation still widely more available? in ~games
Venko LinkDuring the covid GPU shortage I bought an Xbox Series X. That was just over four years ago. Since then I've maintained a Game Pass Ultimate subscription and played many, many games on it. At £450...During the covid GPU shortage I bought an Xbox Series X. That was just over four years ago. Since then I've maintained a Game Pass Ultimate subscription and played many, many games on it. At £450 for the console itself plus the subscription cost it's offered me some incredibly good value gaming.
I've tried to pick up a GPU to build a new gaming PC recently but that's not gone well. The 5070 Ti sold out in seconds in the UK and is now selling for £150 over its supposed retail price. It looks like the new AMD offering may offer a credible alternative if it actually has stock at the supposed retail price.
There's just no competition value-wise when compared to the Xbox Series X though and I suspect that there never will be again.
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Comment on As Internet enshittification marches on, here are some of the worst offenders in ~tech
Venko Link ParentI really want to get an Apple TV but I've been waiting patiently for Apple to release the next model. MacRumors is currently suggesting that it will release around the end of the year.I really want to get an Apple TV but I've been waiting patiently for Apple to release the next model.
MacRumors is currently suggesting that it will release around the end of the year.
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Comment on A surprising immigration raid in Kern County foreshadows what awaits farmworkers and businesses in ~society
Venko LinkFrom the article it sounds like 75% of the workers aren't legally working in USA. If the employer is aware of that then how do they get away with employing them? In the UK an employer faces up to...From the article it sounds like 75% of the workers aren't legally working in USA. If the employer is aware of that then how do they get away with employing them?
In the UK an employer faces up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine for every single incident of employing an illegal worker.
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Comment on US Supreme Court unanimously backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company in ~tech
Venko Link ParentConsidering how close the referendum was I think it's reasonably likely that Meta was the deciding factor in Brexit. Up until now the political party in power in the UK was made up of an...Considering how close the referendum was I think it's reasonably likely that Meta was the deciding factor in Brexit.
Up until now the political party in power in the UK was made up of an increasingly large number of Brexit supporters. Now that's changed I wouldn't be surprised if foreign companies responsible for electoral interference that's caused horrific damage to the country are held responsible.
Especially considering the war that Twitter/X is waging on the British government and how politically aligned Meta is. These companies appear to be deeply political and their interests don't align with those of the British public.
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Comment on US Supreme Court unanimously backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company in ~tech
Venko LinkI wonder if this will be used as justification to ban Twitter and Meta apps in other countries. They've both already demonstrated the impact that they have on foreign populations and on elections....I wonder if this will be used as justification to ban Twitter and Meta apps in other countries. They've both already demonstrated the impact that they have on foreign populations and on elections. Then recently they showed their strong links to the American government. I can't really see a difference in terms of risks.
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Comment on US Food and Drug Administration to revoke authorization for the use of red no. 3 in food and ingested drugs in ~health
Venko LinkThis kind of thing is why I'm so uneasy about food safety when visiting USA. The UK passed legislation in 1995 based on an EU directive to ban E127 in almost all cases. In other words, Americans...This kind of thing is why I'm so uneasy about food safety when visiting USA. The UK passed legislation in 1995 based on an EU directive to ban E127 in almost all cases. In other words, Americans have been eating E127 for almost thirty years after Europe banned it (except for cherries) for safety reasons. For many other artificial food colours we have mandatory safety warnings.
See this NYTimes article for some other potentially unsafe food additives that are common in the USA. Even bread is potentially dangerous in the USA and, even if you were to try and make your own, lots of flour is unsafe because it contains the same ingredients used in store-purchased bread.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Venko LinkOrwell: Ignorance is Strength - the sequel to Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You. Much like the original game you play an agent using a super spyware network called Orwell. Your job is to investigate...Orwell: Ignorance is Strength - the sequel to Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You. Much like the original game you play an agent using a super spyware network called Orwell. Your job is to investigate citizens and form a version of truth alongside another agent. The twist in these games is that whilst you have access to lots of information on citizens the only action that you're able to take yourself is sending datachunks to the other agent by adding them to the Orwell database. Doing some unlocks other documents that relate to those datachunks. Although the other agent can message you you cannot message them yourself. This means that you can control the "truth" by controlling which datachunks you send. I really enjoyed both the original game and this sequel. There's some crossover between the stories in both games so I suggest anyone interested start with the first game.
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Comment on Nvidia announces four next-gen RTX 5000 GPUs in ~tech
Venko Link ParentThanks for the heads up. It sounds like the recommended retail price isn't realistic in the UK and the card will be a lot more expensive then. It may be a lot cheaper to get the 5080 founder...Thanks for the heads up. It sounds like the recommended retail price isn't realistic in the UK and the card will be a lot more expensive then. It may be a lot cheaper to get the 5080 founder edition from Nvidia than buy a 5070 Ti and this will push the price of my build up drastically.
As for the 1440p high refresh rate monitor I plan to do exactly that - swap one in months later when I see a good deal.
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Comment on Nvidia announces four next-gen RTX 5000 GPUs in ~tech
Venko Link ParentHere's my draft PCPartPicker parts list based on PCPartPicker's "Magnificent AMD Gaming/Streaming Build" with changes following suggestions from you, @infpossibilityspace and swapping out the GPU...Here's my draft PCPartPicker parts list based on PCPartPicker's "Magnificent AMD Gaming/Streaming Build" with changes following suggestions from you, @infpossibilityspace and swapping out the GPU to the yet unreleased 5070 Ti.
Considering the UK list price for 5070 Ti, assuming I can get a founders edition from Nvidia, this lands near my £2,000 target price. If I'm unlucky with stock/checking out quickly then I'll probably have to pay extra for a third-party 5070 Ti. -
Comment on UK users: Lobsters needs your help with the Online Safety Act in ~tech
Venko LinkWhen Ofcom's rules come into play on 16th March then will a geoblock for the UK also be applied to Tildes?When Ofcom's rules come into play on 16th March then will a geoblock for the UK also be applied to Tildes?
Josh Sawyer to direct Fallout: Two Vegas (or a similar Fallout game in another setting). Ideally reporting into Microsoft instead of Bethesda with assistance from IDSoft to improve the Starfield engine. Abandon everything that Bethesda has done to the Fallout universe since New Vegas and reintroduce stats and skills.
I realise that you may have been talking exclusively about films but video games are also a medium with a director.