Boojum's recent activity
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Comment on What are some seemingly silly things in your life that have practical purposes? in ~life
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Comment on What are some seemingly silly things in your life that have practical purposes? in ~life
Boojum LinkSome people might argue that making your bed is a waste of time. After all, you're just going to rumple the blankets all over again that night, right? So why do I do it? For my cats! My home...Some people might argue that making your bed is a waste of time. After all, you're just going to rumple the blankets all over again that night, right?
So why do I do it? For my cats!
My home office space is next to my bedroom, so keeping the area tidy is a bonus. But the real reason is that I've found that a freshly made bed is an absolute cat magnet. I love watching them roll around on it, obviously enjoying it, right after I've made it. And they'll often curl up and snooze there, where I can spin my desk chair around and watch them through the doorway.
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Comment on What are some seemingly silly things in your life that have practical purposes? in ~life
Boojum Link ParentMy solution to this sort of thing was to simply flood the house with bookmarks. My younger daughter likes to dog-ear her books, which drives me up the wall. So one Christmas, I got her a pack of...My solution to this sort of thing was to simply flood the house with bookmarks.
My younger daughter likes to dog-ear her books, which drives me up the wall. So one Christmas, I got her a pack of several hundred blank bookmarks in assorted colors (not laminated either - these are designed to be doodled on and crafted with). So now we have a big stash of them, on top of having a bunch of them scattered around the house. No excuses.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Boojum LinkOn Friday night, I platinumed (on Steam), Dragon Quest XI S (Definitive Edition) after defeating the last super boss. I'd had no idea what I was getting myself into when I picked it up back in...On Friday night, I platinumed (on Steam), Dragon Quest XI S (Definitive Edition) after defeating the last super boss.
I'd had no idea what I was getting myself into when I picked it up back in march on sale for $20. I ended up clocking something around 165 hrs, all told, so that works out to about $0.12/hr. I'm pretty sure it's now the longest single game play-through that I've ever done. (I.e., not counting the sort of forever-games like Civilization, Unreal Tournament, or World of Warcraft.) I might have put more hours into my play through of Skyrim over the years, dinking around on random side quests when the mood strike, but I'm not certain.
This was also my first ever Dragon Quest game, so it's been interesting to see how those play. It was surprisingly easy, I'd say, and I perhaps should have cranked up the difficulty rather than leaving it on easy. I didn't actually see a game over screen until my first attempt at the last super boss. Still, considering the sheer length of the game even at that, I think I'm okay with the easier "story mode"-like difficulty.
Things that I liked about it or found pleasantly surprising:
- A quick summary of the story whenever I load my game, along with a reminder of the current goal on the map screen. And if that's not enough, there's the Party Talk, where the party characters can comment on the situation. All good for reminding me what I'm doing when I come back after a break.
- Characters can be set to auto play with different priorities. The default is to put in orders for the main hero, and let the other party members auto play - nice for e.g., just setting my healer to heal and not worrying too much about it when clearing trash. You can change this on the fly during battles.
- Speaking of battles, I can swap my active characters in and out in the middle of battles! (At the expense of their turn.) I can even re-equip them during a battle! And if my first-string group falls in battle, the second-stringers automatically step in. Neat!
- A "heal all" and a "handy heal all" on the menu. Both automatically have your party use their healing spells to heal. The difference is the former 100% tops off all characters
- Automatically purchasing crafting resources while crafting, if you've seen a vendor with them. No need to spend time chasing down the vendors and buying the exact numbers of missing items. Some rare resources do need to be farmed directly, however.
- You can pick and choose your battles. Enemies wander around on the field, and touching them starts a battle with the group of enemies represented by it. But the ones that you see wandering aren't aggressive and don't come after you in any way (unless you have a certain cursed item equiped). So if you just feel like your leveled high enough and they don't have any drops you want, you can just skip right past them.
- When mounted, if you're holding down the button for galloping and you collide with a weak (i.e., below a certain size, plus lower level than you) enemy on the field, you'll send them rag dolling. You can actually get some XP for this, though your characters won't level until you win the next battle. Still, there've been times when I've been lazy and finished off the last chunk of XP a character needed to level this way.
- Speaking of XP gains, all party members alive at the end of a battle gain XP, including the second-stringers who aren't in the active battle group. I really appreciated not having to rotate my party members just to make sure the XP was distributed somewhat evenly. Or end up in a situation where a certainly party member was mandatory but underleveled.
- The story is a fairly simple one of good vs. evil. It had some twists I didn't foresee. But it was kind of refreshing, knowing that for the most part the good guys are the good guys, the bad guys are the bad guys, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. It also felt quite episodic, especially in the beginning. Go from place to place where each town is dealing with some issue and put things right. Spend a couple of hours of play there, maybe a good gameplay sessions, and then move on and tackle the next problem the next day. It all integrated nicely with the recap when you reload. They were clearly not trying to anything groundbreaking here, but rather going for a well done, comfortable, cozy, fairy tale vibe.
- There's a place you can go to rewatch any of the cut scenes! In games that give me enough save slots for it, I often like to have a group of saves at the ends of acts or just before other plot-critical so that I can rewatch those story moments if I feel like it. But it was pretty cool during discovering that nearly every single cut scene was organized by "episode" and available to rewatch in-game once I reached a certain point.
- And speaking of the cozy fairy tale vibes, the "cute" monster design was kind of fun and a nice change from grim-dark JRPGs.
Still, after nearly three months I'm a bit burnt out on it. I think I tend to favor 10-30 hr games as my sweet spot. Long enough to do something interesting with their ideas, but not so long they overstay their welcome. On the shorter side, I started Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for CGA over the weekend, and I'm making pretty good progress, I think, judging by the map percentage (now at about 70%). It's been a nice change of pace.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI still find myself randomly whistling bits of Happy Parade, Delightful Parade all these mumble mumble years later. I consider it easily one of, if not the, most infectiously happy pieces of video...I still find myself randomly whistling bits of Happy Parade, Delightful Parade all these mumble mumble years later. I consider it easily one of, if not the, most infectiously happy pieces of video game music ever! Listening to it's always good whenever I need a pick-me-up. (And I'm so glad they got the original composer back for the remake.)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI got my 10 year old son hooked on Factorio as of a few weeks ago, as an alternative to the games he usually begs for. Every now and then he proudly shows me some new advancement on his base -...I got my 10 year old son hooked on Factorio as of a few weeks ago, as an alternative to the games he usually begs for. Every now and then he proudly shows me some new advancement on his base - solar arrays (and the power supply graph), trains, drones, nuclear energy...
What's funny is that the first evening, as I sat with him through the tutorial and watched him play, I found myself explaining backpressure to him. (Which, funnily enough, was something I'd been discussing with a colleague just the day before.) And pointing out how his first drillers and smelters look just like functional units, and the need to probably balance them. Or how he could assemble parallel belts into busses, and the importance of physical placement and floor planning. I'm a software engineer turned chip architect at a semiconductor company these days; there's a reason I haven't actually touched Factorio myself, even though it looks like a fantastic game. :-)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI've got Pentiment in my Steam backlog. This is a good reminder that I really should give it a go.I've got Pentiment in my Steam backlog. This is a good reminder that I really should give it a go.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentYes! ALttP is such a comfort game! It always feels like the perfect length to me whenever I replay it. It's big enough to have plenty to do, but small enough that I can roughly remember where...Yes! ALttP is such a comfort game! It always feels like the perfect length to me whenever I replay it. It's big enough to have plenty to do, but small enough that I can roughly remember where everything important is and what a fun order to do things is. It's also fun when I hazily remember some minor detail or that there's something important about some spot, check it out, and then discover that I remembered correctly.
Anyway, I'm hosting it for CGA this August, and I hope you'll be able to join us. As part of that, I'm planning to roll and share a seed on the randomizer for those of us who have already played it many times. I've never tried the randomizer before, but I think it could be fun to mix things up and have a laugh at it as a group.
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentDo you understand what I'm saying? At all? Does any of this make any sense? Just tell me, 'Yes'.
Okay. What you're doing there is jumping. You just... you just jumped. But nevermind. Say 'Apple'. 'Aaaapple.'
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentI get that. For RPG-like games that give me the option to be a jerk to an NPC or to be the good guy, I find it almost painful to choose the former. Yes, I will help you out, good NPC, and...I get that. For RPG-like games that give me the option to be a jerk to an NPC or to be the good guy, I find it almost painful to choose the former. Yes, I will help you out, good NPC, and undertake your side quest. No, I will not go retrieve your fancy equipment from the dungeon, only to keep it for myself.
I also like to play 4X games as the biggest side in town and with the largest, most advanced military. But I've also got a no-first-strike rule and will usually accept a surrender. Domination games are kind of boring to me - I find it much more fun to try to do runs where I win without ever actually going to war with anyone. "Si vis pacem, para bellum."
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentI have a rule like this regarding fast travel. If there's an in-universe explanation for it - like it's a spell or a Shieka gizmo thing, or teleporter stations - I'll use it. But in Skyrim where...I have a rule like this regarding fast travel. If there's an in-universe explanation for it - like it's a spell or a Shieka gizmo thing, or teleporter stations - I'll use it. But in Skyrim where there's no spell involved and you just suddenly turn up at your destination and the clock has jumped, I stuck to manually running everywhere.
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentI liked that in Trails in the Sky: First Chapter and Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter, part of the information UI is presented as a combination of a scrap book (basic background and world...I liked that in Trails in the Sky: First Chapter and Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter, part of the information UI is presented as a combination of a scrap book (basic background and world mechanics, list of spells, attributes, etc.) and a log book written from one of the MC's point of view (quest log).
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentLeft. Always left. And I greatly appreciate games where the designers take care to ensure that nothing is missable. Or at the very least, provide very clear indications about points of no return.Left. Always left.
And I greatly appreciate games where the designers take care to ensure that nothing is missable. Or at the very least, provide very clear indications about points of no return.
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentClair Obscur: Expedition 33 also had a nice solution too. The ones you find in the wild just upgrade the maximum you can carry. And resting at a flag automatically replenishes all of them.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also had a nice solution too. The ones you find in the wild just upgrade the maximum you can carry. And resting at a flag automatically replenishes all of them.
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Comment on CGA-2026-06 🦇🧛♀️🔥 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow in ~games
Boojum LinkThis should be fun! I've played the O.G. Castlevania in several forms (did you know there was an MS-DOS port?), as well as Super Castlevania IV. But I've never played any of the Castlevanias of...This should be fun! I've played the O.G. Castlevania in several forms (did you know there was an MS-DOS port?), as well as Super Castlevania IV. But I've never played any of the Castlevanias of "metroidvania" fame, so I'll be curious to see how this goes.
I'm also just finishing up a very long game that unexpectedly ended up taking up most of my gaming the last few months (I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up DQ XI S on sale). So I'm looking forward to a bit of a cooldown with what appears to be a short and sweet game, judging by HLTB. Compared to the last two CGA games, I think it also helps that this should be very docked Steam Deck and controller friendly.
I'm planing on Steam Deck (likely mostly docked), Retro Arch, and a nice LCD shader.
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Comment on Emacs bra size calculator in ~comp
Boojum Link ParentI'd call it the Discworld Igor of text editors: loyal and hardworking, with no two instances ever quite identical, since parts are always getting added, removed, and swapped around among them...I'd call it the Discworld Igor of text editors: loyal and hardworking, with no two instances ever quite identical, since parts are always getting added, removed, and swapped around among them as-needed. And it even
has a lisphath a lithp. -
Comment on Clanker: A word for the machine in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentI feel like treating everything I can, even mechanical things, is good for my soul. The machine may not care, but it just makes me feel better about myself. Part of that is that I feel like it's...I feel like treating everything I can, even mechanical things, is good for my soul. The machine may not care, but it just makes me feel better about myself. Part of that is that I feel like it's good just to stay in practice and keep in the habit. It generally costs me so little. It's just part of being a good steward.
But I also worry that if I go the other direction and start abusing machines, then I'm one step closer to something like the "Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things" philosophy from Terry Pratchett. If you mistreat things and start to dehumanize people, now you've created an excuse to mistreat people. No thank you. I'd rather stay on the safe side and treat everyone and everything well.
(My family does like to joke about misbehaving machines knowing to "fear" me, though, but they mean it in the healthy respect sort of way - their tendency to suddenly start working again as soon I walk into the room to troubleshoot, before I've even sat down to examine them!)
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Comment on Clanker: A word for the machine in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentEww! That's just depraved. I do think that really says something, though, about the mentality of the people doing that. Like they'd be the type to kick puppies and kittens, because "Who cares?...Eww! That's just depraved.
I do think that really says something, though, about the mentality of the people doing that. Like they'd be the type to kick puppies and kittens, because "Who cares? It's not like they're people."
(Regarding games, yeah. I personally find torturing Koroks and Sims distasteful, and I prefer to play my 4X games with a no-first-strikes policy and a top-ranked military as a deterrent.)
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Boojum Link ParentHey now! Pride and Prejudice is awesome. It's one that I've read multiple times and happily will again. (Especially since I just received The Annotated Pride and Prejudice as a birthday present...Hey now! Pride and Prejudice is awesome. It's one that I've read multiple times and happily will again. (Especially since I just received The Annotated Pride and Prejudice as a birthday present this weekend.) The key for me is really the dry humor and social satire combined with a nice happy ending. It's a pure comfort read. And since I'm very much not in the traditional demographic of Austen readers, I don't really gain anything by signalling my enjoyment of it.
"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Boojum Link ParentNot the one you asked, but the version I read was the Burgin/O'Connor one. My copy of it was a gift from my Russian language-major spouse, FWIW, and I've seen it recommended elsewhere now that...Not the one you asked, but the version I read was the Burgin/O'Connor one. My copy of it was a gift from my Russian language-major spouse, FWIW, and I've seen it recommended elsewhere now that look it up.
The ones I'd ordered were these.