Boojum's recent activity
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Comment on CGA-2026-07 🕹️🔥⚔️ REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals in ~games
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Comment on How do you live simply/save money? What does your lifestyle look like? in ~talk
Boojum LinkProbably the most common for me is asking myself "Do I really need this now?" when considering a purchase.Probably the most common for me is asking myself "Do I really need this now?" when considering a purchase.
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Comment on Of course viewers are giving up on Netflix shows in ~tv
Boojum Link ParentFor me, it's kind of like the way 17th century natural philosophers would embed anagrams in their current papers to claim priority on new work before it was published. It's a sort of proof that...For me, it's kind of like the way 17th century natural philosophers would embed anagrams in their current papers to claim priority on new work before it was published. It's a sort of proof that the writers are thinking ahead and not just flying by the seat of their pants. (Or if they are, then at least they're really good at it!)
I think my favorite show for this is Babylon 5. It's been a while, but as a recall, there's stuff there even in Episode 1 that doesn't pay off until a few seasons later. Rewatching, knowing the answers to the little mysteries that might seem like plot holes or dropped threads on a first viewing is a lot of fun.
More recently, my family and I had some fun re-watching parts of Widow's Bay like that after the first season finale. (I'm glad that Apple, at least, is good with renewing its shows like Widow's Bay, Pluribus, and Severance.)
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Comment on Of course viewers are giving up on Netflix shows in ~tv
Boojum LinkCancellations is a big part of it. I'm still quite annoyed that they cancelled Lockwood & Co. after just the first season when it had a good viewer reception. And the book series it was based off...Cancellations is a big part of it. I'm still quite annoyed that they cancelled Lockwood & Co. after just the first season when it had a good viewer reception. And the book series it was based off (of which I am a fan) was already complete, so no chance of a Game of Thrones fiasco there! They could perhaps have gotten through the remaining books in two more seasons or so. Why should I get invested if they're going to rug pull? I'd much rather them just not have bothered.
The other thing is the idea of optimizing for "second screen viewing". This offends me deeply. Maybe I'm just older and out of touch, but if I'm going to bother to sit down to watch a show, I'm going to watch (and if someone else doesn't want to pay full attention, that's on them), and I prefer a show that's clever itself and doesn't insult my intelligence. Half the fun is paying attention to clues and guessing! (And if the show is really good, rewatching for clues in earlier episodes that are recontextualized by later episodes.)
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Comment on CGA-2026-07 🕹️🔥⚔️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals in ~games
Boojum (edited )LinkI've been looking for to this. I remember playing it on emulator 20 years ago or so and getting decently far but never finishing it. (Avoiding walk-through spoilers by asking Google's LLM based on...I've been looking for to this. I remember playing it on emulator 20 years ago or so and getting decently far but never finishing it. (Avoiding walk-through spoilers by asking Google's LLM based on what I remember of how far I got, it sounds like I had made it perhaps 65% of the way through the game.)
But definitely I do remember enjoying it at the time (especially things like the music theme for the titular Sinistrals), and I've thought of revisiting it. CGA seems like a good opportunity to do so. And this time around, instead of being tied to my desk for the emulator like I was then, I've got my Steam Deck all set up for emulation, along with the dock and a wireless controller. So I can enjoy it both in portable form and from the catch. Should be fun!
Edit to add: Okay, fired it up on my Steam Deck the other night after writing the above. Looking at my old saves carried over from probably the early 00's, I'd gotten about 20ish hrs. in on that first play through attempt, with my party leveled to around 50ish. Starting with a fresh game, I made it to Jelze in one sitting. Some of this is definitely coming back to me! Especially the overworld and the battle music. I'd also forgotten how elegantly efficient the cross-shaped d-pad UI is for battles. I'm hoping I can finish the game this time.
FWIW, I'm playing using the official Steam RetroArch on a docked Steam Deck with an 8BitDo controller, using the bsnes emulation core, and the ntsc-256px-gauss-scanline shader preset. This is my go-to for SNES emulation.
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Comment on CGA-2026-06 🦇🧛♀️🔥 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow in ~games
Boojum LinkThis was fun, and my first time playing this game, or for that matter, any of the Castlevania games that lend their name to the Castlevania half of the Metroidvania genre. (I have played and beat...This was fun, and my first time playing this game, or for that matter, any of the Castlevania games that lend their name to the Castlevania half of the Metroidvania genre. (I have played and beat the original linear Castlevania and Super Castlevania IV games, back before Metroidvanias were a thing; so this wasn't my first Castlevania title; just my first of the later era.)
Time-wise, I very much appreciated that this was a shorter game. I'd just come off of a 160 hr play through of Dragon Quest XI S, so this was a nice palette cleanser.
I just finished it last night, rushing through the last few zones to Graham, Julius, and Chaos in one setting. Oddly of the three, I found Julius the hardest. He killed me a couple of times and I had to burn a ton of potions and consumables on him; mostly because he was fast and could be hard to hit. By comparison, Chaos was super easy - there were so many little things that I could attack for hits that I was getting a constant health infusion via the Succubus soul. I think I ended with something like a 99.8% map completion; I'm not sure what I missed.
The difficulty curve was interesting. There was a fun point mid-game where I accidentally found the Claimh Solais once I'd found my way past the waterfall. (Okay, yes, I had to look up the waterfall - it was obvious that there was supposed to be a way past it, given the armor sitting there under it.) That, plus that armor made the game feel brokenly easy for a little bit midway through, until late game the enemies started to catch up again - somewhere around the Arena. And speaking of the Arena - grrr... that one long room with the conveyor belts, spikes, and medusa heads... I can honestly say that room killed me more than any of the bosses! But yeah, that sword carried through the second half of the game. (The chain sword was my main weapon through most of the first half.)
The soul switching mechanic was interesting, but got a bit tedious. I think I like games slightly better where you outright get key powerups rather than having to farm them until they randomly drop. Sure, most of the key ones are given to you outright for defeating certain bosses. But things like the Gargoyle soul sure helped when I finally got it late game and made it easier to revisit areas with medusa heads and cockatrices. I also found myself really wishing the the Skula soul was just one of those automatic permanent upgrades (like the Hippogryph soul which was pretty awesome, but came so late in the game that I didn't real have any use for it, nor did it have any puzzles built around it, which was a shame).
I loved the sprite work/animation and some of the sound design. There was something about the fluidity and style of the sprite work that made me think that I could easily have been playing an arcade game. Especially little details like when you the knock-back as you destroy a torch or sarcophagus and it falls to pieces that bounce a little, with a nice bass thump. Likewise the colors and the shadows. It seemed like it could would have been suitable as a Neo Geo game a few years earlier.
Oh! One thing I did find odd and a bit of a miss was the cut scenes and dialogues with NPCs. I'm not sure what was up with the translation, but I felt like I was getting half the story, and that garbled through a game of telephone or something. So many stilted and random disconnected-feeling sentences. Usually I love a good story-heavy game and savor the dialogue. But on this one, I just kinda started skimming through it, which I pretty much never do. Oh well. It was mostly about the action anyway.
Anyway, those were my first-time impressions.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in to use old.reddit.com in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentI should probably just move to that, yeah. But no, just vanilla Firefox Mobile in perma-private mode and a blank profile.I should probably just move to that, yeah. But no, just vanilla Firefox Mobile in perma-private mode and a blank profile.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in to use old.reddit.com in ~tech
Boojum LinkBleh. I'm a weirdo like to use private browsing on my phone for everything, just as a way to help limit my screen time and also in case I ever lose my phone. New Reddit sucks, so now I'll less...Bleh. I'm a weirdo like to use private browsing on my phone for everything, just as a way to help limit my screen time and also in case I ever lose my phone. New Reddit sucks, so now I'll less likely to visit it.
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Comment on I'm looking for an adage or "law" (like Conway's law), but for dealing with AI slop in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentHah! You've just given me a great idea for a new AI startup: a service you can hire to take the mandatory training on your behalf. Let it run your browser to read through all the boring modules...Hah! You've just given me a great idea for a new AI startup: a service you can hire to take the mandatory training on your behalf.
Let it run your browser to read through all the boring modules and transcripts, wait out the tediously slow narration (always generically about "our company"), watch all the videos, and then take the silly quizzes on your behalf while you go get some real work done. :-)
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Comment on Steam Summer Sale 2026: Hidden gems in ~games
Boojum LinkCan I plug one that's not on sale (because it's free) and has more than 1000 reviews, but still seems like it deserves to be better known? Moonring (2,062 reviews currently) This game is basically...Can I plug one that's not on sale (because it's free) and has more than 1000 reviews, but still seems like it deserves to be better known?
Moonring
(2,062 reviews currently)
This game is basically a love letter to the Ultima, Wizardry, and the various other CRPG games of the 80's. Retro-inspired sprite work with stark vivid colors on a black background and a scanline effect, and turn-based with rather little handholding (and no quest markers)! On the other hand, it still does have some modern touches like a built in automatic notes systems, a rather forgiving penalty for death, the ability to respec., and so forth. It's a labor of love by one person, the co-creator of the Fable series. He's described his goal as wanting it to feel like the CRPGs of the 80's, but how you remember them instead of how they actually were.
It definitely has one of the stranger and more unique fantasy world backstories compared to other games that I've played: "Five hundred years ago, the land of Caldera was plunged into endless darkness. Decades later, five moons rose in the sky, bringing light to the world and strange Gods with it." And without spoilers, I'll just say the whole story line flows from this.
The game play is turn-based rogue-like. The overworld has a static, hand-crafted layout with encounters occasionally spawning. The dungeons are all procedurally generated. If you die on the overworld, you just respawn at the last town you exited. And if you die in a dungeon everything resets to just as it was right before you entered it (i.e., you get your consumables back), with the dungeon being re-randomized if you should enter it again. There's no XP or leveling system. Instead, as you do tasks for the gods you gain skill points to spend on abilities. Or you find better equipment. And that's all.
I mentioned it being free. It really is free, no strings attached. The developer explained: "Life is hard, COVID sucked, everyone's poor and stressed. I don't need the $300 this would make me: I'd rather take the goodwill." He later added an optional DLC with a 100 floor mega-dungeon for $5, mostly as a sort of tip jar for those whom requested a way to pay him something for the game.
I played and beat it entirely on my Steam Deck last year, so I vouch for its compatibility there. And being turn-based makes it a pretty good pick-up-and-set-down game.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentSuch a quotable song! And part of the fun of being a parent is getting to use that particular line (and some of the others) on my kids. :-) Fun personal trivia: for my birthday this year, I chose...Such a quotable song! And part of the fun of being a parent is getting to use that particular line (and some of the others) on my kids. :-)
Fun personal trivia: for my birthday this year, I chose a Black Forest cake from the local bakery chain that inspired Valve. And yes, it was delicious and moist.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentI mentioned in my list that I have a spare one to gift on Steam, so if anyone is looking for that other copy...I mentioned in my list that I have a spare one to gift on Steam, so if anyone is looking for that other copy...
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentGreat! You're first to ask, so you get to choose when you wish to claim it.Great! You're first to ask, so you get to choose when you wish to claim it.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June 2026 in ~games
Boojum (edited )LinkI've got a few games sitting around in my Steam inventory. I suspect anyone who might be interested in these has them already, but if you want any or all of them, they're yours: Frozen Synapse...I've got a few games sitting around in my Steam inventory. I suspect anyone who might be interested in these has them already, but if you want any or all of them, they're yours:
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentI'd argue that multi-word prediction is still effectively word-at-a-time, just accelerated with a cheap model front-running the main model to break dependency chains and allow for parallelizing...Also important to remember is that an LLM is a machine that generates only one word at a time.
I'd argue that multi-word prediction is still effectively word-at-a-time, just accelerated with a cheap model front-running the main model to break dependency chains and allow for parallelizing the main model. But yeah, when I saw that my mind immediately leapt to diffusion models. That's definitely a different beast.
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
Boojum Link ParentWe've seen reasoning before from classical expert systems, planners, Prolog, etc. What makes things like coding agents new to me is how resilient they are now in the face of fuzziness and...We've seen reasoning before from classical expert systems, planners, Prolog, etc.
What makes things like coding agents new to me is how resilient they are now in the face of fuzziness and ambiguity when engaging in that reasoning. I can make a request quite sloppily rather than using precise language that might as well be its own DSL, and they'll generally still be able to follow the intent of my request. Or, as they're running along doing my bidding, they might encounter stuff that's inconsistent/contradictory, implied/unstated, etc. and they'll be able to work around that or otherwise do the right thing. They don't require the whole world to be manually reduced to a consistent set of propositional logic axioms to be able to reason about it and problem solve. It's how well they seem to reason in the face of that fuzziness that I marvel at.
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Comment on ‘Donkey’: Eddie Murphy ‘Shrek’ spinoff sets summer 2028 release in ~movies
Boojum Link ParentEven before Shrek, the irreverent fairy tale thing had already been done by the Fractured Fairy Tales segments from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show back in the 60's.Even before Shrek, the irreverent fairy tale thing had already been done by the Fractured Fairy Tales segments from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show back in the 60's.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentThat's good to know between you and Bullmaestro. I've had Mina the Hollower on my wishlist, but I've been taking a wait-and-see approach to actually getting it because I remember some obnoxious...That's good to know between you and Bullmaestro. I've had Mina the Hollower on my wishlist, but I've been taking a wait-and-see approach to actually getting it because I remember some obnoxious difficulty spikes on Shovel Knight, particularly near the final area somewhere between here and the crushing block sequence that followed shortly. It was one of those things where I just ended up pulling up a YouTube video of those last two levels and the boss fight to see what was coming up and then decided right there that that was good enough and I was done with the game.
I love a good 2D Zelda-like, and a like a challenge, but I don't enjoy pain.
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Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games
Boojum LinkBack in the early '00s, I played a ton of Unreal Tournament 99, 2k3, and 2k4. I ended up as co-leader of an Instagib Capture the Flag (iCTF) clan for a while. I loved the purity of the instagib...Back in the early '00s, I played a ton of Unreal Tournament 99, 2k3, and 2k4. I ended up as co-leader of an Instagib Capture the Flag (iCTF) clan for a while.
I loved the purity of the instagib mode. No pickups (weapons, armor, power ups, health, etc.) to worry about. If you got killed and respawned you immediately had just as much of a chance to return the favor. Since everyone was using the same weapon, it was all about your skills at aiming and dodging vs. theirs, combined with how well you know the map.
And occasionally if I felt like something really crazy, I'd go on a server running 150% LG iCTF - 150% speed, low gravity, instagib capture the flag. Everyone would be zooming around like crazy, jumping like fleas, and blasting each other out of the air. Good times.
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Comment on What do you think the top three most used apps on your phone for the past week are? in ~tech
Boojum LinkFirefox by far, then Messages, then maybe Camera, Clock, or Keep. Yeah, the day-by-day activity suggests that's about right. Totaling up the last seven days (rounding up the <1 minutes to one...Firefox by far, then Messages, then maybe Camera, Clock, or Keep.
Yeah, the day-by-day activity suggests that's about right. Totaling up the last seven days (rounding up the <1 minutes to one minute), I get: Firefox, Messages, Camera, Clock, Maps, Phone, Droid48, and Keep. Maps and beyond I used for less than 10 minutes each this week. So the bottom ones are definitely things that can easily rotate. The majority of my usage is clearly Firefox and to a lesser extent Messages.
I generally just run stock, with a few exceptions like Firefox and Droid48.
Speaking of which, I'm really pleasantly surprised at how popular Firefox mobile is here on Tildes!
Hmm! I thought I'd be behind here, since I started a little late and then was occupied with business travel and illness. But reading through the comments, maybe I got farther than everyone but @zod000?
Anyway, my last play session ended at the door to the Tower of Sacrifice. So I basically got far enough to see the time skip, the aftermath of that, and then get access to the Ancient Cave and finally make it to the eastern continent. My party's around level 31-33ish after just under 14 hours played. (So I didn't get to the end like I'd hoped or even surpass my original playthrough from the early 00's where I'd got up to level 50ish after 20 hours, I think. But that's okay; I can still finish on my own time at some point.)
Probably the most interesting thing of my play through was beating the first Gades fight (which you're scripted to lose) at the top of Gordovan West Tower with a level 25 max party and everyone alive at the end. Granted, it took liberal use of emulator save state scumming to allow for some precognition on where to target my healing each round. But I did it!
Some things I enjoyed, or at least thought was ahead of it's time:
Some negatives
Anyway, despite my complaints, I've still enjoyed my time playing it and I'd like to beat it one day. And maybe even try the Ancient Cave.