dannydotcafe's recent activity
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Comment on Steam Replay 2024: Discussion topic in ~games
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Comment on Obsolete, but not gone: The people who won't give up floppy disks in ~tech
dannydotcafe LinkI'm old enough to have used floppies extensively in childhood. It wasn't until high school that we got a CD burner at home, and USB drives weren't common until a few years after that. But I have...I'm old enough to have used floppies extensively in childhood. It wasn't until high school that we got a CD burner at home, and USB drives weren't common until a few years after that. But I have almost no nostalgia for them, because my experience was honestly terrible. I had multiple school projects get screwed up because the floppy somehow corrupted between home and school. I remember my dad once accidentally erased a floppy by putting it in his shirt pocket next to his id badge (with magnetic strip). And computer speakers were especially notorious for inadvertently wiping your data.
I do appreciate why Amiga hobbyists use them, or why its essential for some very specific pieces of equipment from the 80s. But for recording scientific results, or replicating old studies? If the medium your study's data was stored on is essential to its replication, I think that means your study isn't replicable! In these cases you should really find a more dependable format!
Of course people can and should do whatever they want. I just didn't come away from the article with a sense of there being any benefits to floppies.
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Comment on What resources are available in a modern library? in ~books
dannydotcafe Link ParentTool libraries sound amazing! I live in an apartment and only very occasionally need a specific tool. So I have an overflowing tool bag of things I've bought that I use maybe once a year, if that?...Tool libraries sound amazing! I live in an apartment and only very occasionally need a specific tool. So I have an overflowing tool bag of things I've bought that I use maybe once a year, if that? A maker space sounds great along those same lines, since I'm interested in 3d printing, but definitely don't have space or need to own one myself.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
dannydotcafe LinkI've actually been holding out for another one of these topics! But when I started to write up the specifics of what I'm looking for, I found it difficult to express. That might be because its an...I've actually been holding out for another one of these topics! But when I started to write up the specifics of what I'm looking for, I found it difficult to express. That might be because its an attempt to recapture a feeling that's intrinsically tied to a place and time in my life. Nonetheless I do think there is something in the game design and presentation of what I'm drawn to, and I'll attempt to explain here.
The horribly reductive version:
I want to play 3D Fallout games modded to be very difficult. But I don't want to die so often or save scum. And I want to play on the couch with a controller.
The version with (probably too much) detail:
Around 2015 I played Fallout 3 for the second time, and fell headfirst into the modding scene. Most importantly, I discovered the Fallout Wanderer's Edition mod, which among many other changes boosts all damage making the world lethal for you and your adversaries both, while removing conveniences like fast travel to make the game's world as bleak and dangerous as it appears. And this captured me like few games have. Especially in the beginning, when all resources are scarce. I would leave town to make a run to a nearby ruin, only to be met with raiders. Ammunition and healing supplies are limited, making fights not only dangerous, but desperate. Inventory space is also reduced, so I can only bring back a small amount of loot to town to sell. And there's always a risk of another attack on the way home.
But surviving one of these missions, managing to get some high value items to sell, making it back to the safety of town barely hanging with a shred of a health bar, and being able to reinvest to make the next outing just slightly less fraught - all that made it worth it. All these factors worked together: the danger outside; the safety inside; the material scarcity; and, lets be honest, the amount free time and patience I had back then to keep going when it so frequent went wrong. All that was paired with what I already loved about the Fallout - exploring, environmental storytelling; nice songs paired with retro-futurism.
I have played New Vegas and Fallout 4 with very similar setups, and also thoroughly enjoyed them, although with diminishing return over time. Fast forward to today, and the super-difficult Fallout doesn't work for me at all. I think the reason why has to do with how difficulty, and therefore how the game's sense of danger, is manifested.
As an FPS, the challenge is in quickly and accurately shooting, along with tactically using your surroundings all in the spur of the moment. Though preparation is certainly a factor, the high-damage high-difficulty mods are all about the moment-to-moment struggle. In the real world, that translates to dexterity with the mouse.
Some of my friends are into the game Escape from Tarkov, which on some level replicates a lot of what I loved about the cycle of modded Fallout. I've spent a bit of time with it, and reached the same conclusion - its a difficult game made difficult in part via the skill of using the mouse correctly.
Maybe its because I'm now in the later half of my 30s and my reflexes aren't what they once were, or maybe its that after enough years of working all day at a desk, I can't quite handle playing a game at a desk in the evening. I want to play games on the couch with a controller. I don't want success to be determined by twitchy shooting skills. And I don't have the patience any more to die quite so constantly.
But I still want to spend time in a world that feels dangerous.
I'm sure anyone who has read this far already has a recommendation of the Dark Souls family ready to go. To which I'll say that yes - that fits my criteria. I have played a lot of Elden Ring, and I think its a spectacular game. The world is incredible and fun to explore. There is real challenge, but can be accomplished with a controller.
All I feel its missing is the level of (apologies for this particular word, but I have no other options) immersion. I attribute this mostly to the third-person perspective. I feel less like a person making my own story in that world, and more like watching another person (who I happen to control). The difference is slight, and honestly I should probably accept Elden Ring as everything I could hope for. I likely will. But this is game recommendations specifically, so I'm going to hold out for those specifics!
So please, if you can think of any games that might fit the profile of a dangerous world, safe home, immersive (so sorry to say it again!), and fun to explore but difficult, yet playable by controller, I'm dying to learn!
Edit: Platform is probably the least constraining element for me, but I have a computer, a PS5, and a Switch to work with.
I'm curious about the methodology behind the spider graph. Although it claims to show "the kinds of games you spent the most time in", I wonder if its based on discrete number of titles, not weighting by play time. My highest category was action roguelike, which honestly surprised me and didn't fit the games I spent the most time with at all. I did try out a lot of random demos this year though, many of which might fit that description.