jtemo's recent activity
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Comment on What keyboard shortcut was a game changer for you? in ~tech
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Comment on Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid will star a Black Ariel in ~movies
jtemo LinkProbably the pessimist in me, but it feels like any more these decisions are made knowing it's going to inevitably trigger a few folks that hate on that presence of 'social justice' no matter...Probably the pessimist in me, but it feels like any more these decisions are made knowing it's going to inevitably trigger a few folks that hate on that presence of 'social justice' no matter what. A few of them will inevitably say some ignorant shit, and the internet media machine will create news, posts, memes, whatever, all pointing out those handful of people that are saying some obviously not okay things about something that's otherwise just not interesting.
If she was white, who would care? Not about the decision, but the movie. Who would be putting this movie in the news for any reason other than being another uninspired live action remake?
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Comment on What are examples of modern games that would fit in perfectly on retro consoles? in ~games
jtemo Link ParentOh, we're certainly nostalgic for soundtracks! But even something like Shovel Knight does a lot graphically that the NES couldn't. Just that like with graphics, there's no good reason to put the...Oh, we're certainly nostalgic for soundtracks! But even something like Shovel Knight does a lot graphically that the NES couldn't. Just that like with graphics, there's no good reason to put the same hard restrictions in front of ourselves that those classics had if it means taking away from the quality of the homage. The natural compromise with audio is traditionally produced music that uses a lot of motifs, sounds, rules, and feelings of the originals, all the while reaping the rewards of modern technology.
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Comment on Thoughts about novelty accounts on Tildes in ~tildes
jtemo LinkHow about something like nicknames instead? Let somebody reserve an extra name or two. Let them post under it, and on clickthrough/hover/whatever of their name it shows the original account.How about something like nicknames instead? Let somebody reserve an extra name or two. Let them post under it, and on clickthrough/hover/whatever of their name it shows the original account.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~games
jtemo LinkIt was a huuuge part of my teen years, and always seems to creep back in to my life every now and then. Dorm friends had a server, high school buddies would run one, and I ran a few myself as...It was a huuuge part of my teen years, and always seems to creep back in to my life every now and then. Dorm friends had a server, high school buddies would run one, and I ran a few myself as well. Everyone I played games with had a server. Every now and then one would just kinda pop up. Me and a few of those friends just created a new server not too long ago, maybe a month or so ago! It's nice to have a sort of place to go that has such a friendly and nostalgic presence to it.
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Comment on Should harder games have "easy modes"? in ~games
jtemo LinkI've always really enjoyed the Game Maker's Toolkit take on difficulty in games. I'm one of those people that feel a game should always encourage you to play it as the developer intended. The true...I've always really enjoyed the Game Maker's Toolkit take on difficulty in games. I'm one of those people that feel a game should always encourage you to play it as the developer intended. The true vision of the game can be muddied by the decisions the player makes to modify that experience. Were Dark Souls to just have an 'easy mode', many of the mechanics and design decisions of the game could be missed by a single decision you made before you even start.
That said, players should be able to play however they want. Some people aren't as skilled at games. Some people have disabilities. You shouldn't be denied an experience because you're physically incapable when the experience could have very well been designed with you in mind.
Assist modes, however...
Ooh baby, every game should have an assist mode. It's such a neat way to mechanically communicate that the options turned on there serve to make the game easier and more accessible, while making it clear that turning them on goes against the way the game was intended to be played. The assists can be pure cheats for all I care, like how Celeste lets you enable unlimited air-dashes, slow the game speed down, etc. Instead of making easy and hard seem like equal paths, or just giving 'difficulty toggles', an assist mode gives you the game as it was intended by default, with options to tone it down if you need it. You can challenge yourself, but it's okay if it gets hard because you can just turn on an assist. Want the pure unrestricted challenge as it was meant to be played? Don't touch that menu. Want to just experience it for the lore? Turn on invincibility, or one-hit kills.
The key, as Mark explains exceptionally well in the linked video, is communication. An easy vs. hard decision implies two equally thought out paths, two similar experiences but with various adjustments to, well, make it easier. This creates two paths that the developer has to now create, with less clarity on which is the 'intended' path in the first place.
I liken it to, well, climbing a mountain. Easy vs. hard is being given the choice of taking a staircase vs. scaling the cliff-side solo. Once you commit to the stairs, odds are you're not switching over, if you even have the option to. Not only that, but somebody had to go out of their way to make sure those stairs were there and go all the way up the mountain. Assist mode is scaling the cliff-side with option of a climbing guide. You're taking the same path, and you're still shown the clear challenges of climbing that cliff solo, but you can call for help if any of the cliffs are particularly troubling. You could even have the guide carry you all the way up!. The intended path is clear because it's the only way up, but now everybody can try it! Not only that, but it's that much more well-carved-out because it's such a focused path.
So yes, I do oppose intentionally harder games having an 'easy mode'. But that doesn't mean there aren't other options to accommodate everybody.
CTRL-WIN-<arrow> and WIN-TAB are game changers in Windows 10 if you don't yet use virtual desktops in your workflow. WIN-TAB is similar to alt-tab, but for virtual desktops. Once you create a virtual desktop in this display, you can swap between them with CTRL-WIN-<arrow>. It's especially nice if you have a mouse with extra buttons you can bind to a CTRL-WIN-LEFT and CTRL-WIN-RIGHT!
Virtual desktops are amazing for organizing different workflows. For example, I can have one virtual desktop dedicated to 2D art, another with my game engine and a browser, and one more with my discord/spotify/youtube.
Never again will you lose windows in a sea of chaos and multitasking!