knocklessmonster's recent activity
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Comment on "Why was I invited to Beast Studios?" - A comprehensive investigative analysis of YouTube's biggest channel in ~tech
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Comment on The Dealer's Tarot - Modern games to play with a tarot deck in ~games.tabletop
knocklessmonster LinkHaving not bought this, I do find the idea interesting considering the history of cards as playing cards, originally, then the superstitious side coming later.Having not bought this, I do find the idea interesting considering the history of cards as playing cards, originally, then the superstitious side coming later.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentMy point was more that his content is more open than I expected.My point was more that his content is more open than I expected.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentScaling, mostly. I can't break green stake on red deck because I can't get any builds online by the time the stakes jump too high. I tend to do builds on higher stakes with the Abandoned Deck,...Scaling, mostly. I can't break green stake on red deck because I can't get any builds online by the time the stakes jump too high. I tend to do builds on higher stakes with the Abandoned Deck, using a lot of "Ride the Bus." Usually if I get something online it's money based (Bull + Bootstraps tends to be a favorite combo, or Golden Egg + Buccaneer).
It's definitely a skill issue, on my Android and PC installs I have a fully unlocked profile and still struggle.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster (edited )Link ParentI specifically try to avoid creators like Balatro University because I don't want to watch a prescriptive approach to a game. Various game subreddits (STS, Balatro) tend to have weird arguments...I specifically try to avoid creators like Balatro University because I don't want to watch a prescriptive approach to a game. Various game subreddits (STS, Balatro) tend to have weird arguments about how "This is the way to play!"
That said, Balatro 101 has been pretty great on a deeper understanding of the basics, and confirming what I know so I can take some load off the early game and build better going forward.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkBeen slow on games but: Hades II: I'm using God Mode so I don't have to sweat too much. Without spoilers as it's a bit newer, I took and got to the end of the third overworld stage and it was fun....Been slow on games but:
Hades II: I'm using God Mode so I don't have to sweat too much. Without spoilers as it's a bit newer, I took and got to the end of the third overworld stage and it was fun. Even the underworld wasn't as fun for some reason, but I was laughing and grinning the whole time. I just got to the final bossfight on the underworld route, as well, with 48% resistance. I can fairly consistently get past Scylla, and Hecate's fight is nothing to me now, so I think I'm doing pretty good.
Starfield: Terran Armada: Been pretty low energy, and even with my hard-won level 10 Starborn powers the combat in this gets tricky and intense so I'm going slow. I'm level 101, so I'm fighting enemies up to 135, basically using powers the whole time in combat (mostly Phase Time) It's tricky, but also feels necessary since the enemies are a bit smarter than I expected. It feels more like Superhot than Fallout, which I'm sort of enjoying. I also have a Hornets Nest Coachman, which is pretty great for lower-level enemies, and a Magsniper, which I'm using to work over the bigger enemies. Once I finish this DLC and the bounty hunter collection, I'll probably go back and explore the new game mechanics with my "younger" character, who is barely starting the MSQ.
Balatro: I'm trying to dust off my Balatro skills slowly, but keep getting stuck, and can't really understand progression past where I am. But I'm mostly just playing a game here and there for something quiet and chill.
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Comment on Which Linux distro do you use, and why? in ~tech
knocklessmonster LinkDebian, with their KDE task through the netinstaller. It's stable, both as a project and an operating system. Open, democratic, and works very well with minimal fuss. I don't need to add...Debian, with their KDE task through the netinstaller.
It's stable, both as a project and an operating system. Open, democratic, and works very well with minimal fuss. I don't need to add third-party repos to enable wifi or multimedia generally (especially more recently), and is generally supported by most software vendors.
Distrobox and flatpak correct the issue of outdated software as I can update the parts I want on this solid base.
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
knocklessmonster LinkMy take is pretty simple. Do what you gotta, don't BS yourself and everybody by justifying it beyond "I just don't want to pay." You don't want to pay Paramount? Still don't wanna pay. Don't want...My take is pretty simple. Do what you gotta, don't BS yourself and everybody by justifying it beyond "I just don't want to pay." You don't want to pay Paramount? Still don't wanna pay. Don't want to pay a problematic author? Don't wanna pay.
I try not to pirate independent artists (movies, games), try to support where I can, but I stream so much music anyway it's basically piracy.
I use ultracc for a seedbox so I don't have to worry about securing my home connection, but I can't upload so I'm pretty sure nobody wants me in their private trackers for that. I'm cool with finding random torrents as I have a buffer. Not going to go into actual content sites publicly, and the ones I used to use for anime and cartoons are shut down.
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Comment on Esoteric Ebb | Fully Ramblomatic in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentYou know... I feel like I knew he was a Brit... But forgot.You know... I feel like I knew he was a Brit... But forgot.
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Comment on Esoteric Ebb | Fully Ramblomatic in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkI played the demo and watch this and was completely turned off the game. I know Yahtzee's style well enough to pick the source material out of his jokes and have basically been informed that this...I played the demo and watch this and was completely turned off the game. I know Yahtzee's style well enough to pick the source material out of his jokes and have basically been informed that this game isn't really gonna be for me. I didn't like DE, either, when I tried it. It... "Insists upon itself" in a similar way to Esoteric Ebb.
Not that I at all think it's a bad game. But it was a hard bounce for me. I find it funny that even a snarky aussie hopped up on caffeine and the aural equivalent of jump cuts can also accurately distill a game to its core points in an entertaining and mostly accurate way.
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Comment on MOUSE: P.I. For Hire | Official launch trailer in ~games
knocklessmonster Link ParentHalf the time I play games with Linux ports through Proton because they work better there anyway.Half the time I play games with Linux ports through Proton because they work better there anyway.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster (edited )Link ParentThe biggest weakness of Starfield is its overworld exploration, which is usually the hook in Bethesda games. Their procedurally generated overworlds and previously samey assortment of generic...The biggest weakness of Starfield is its overworld exploration, which is usually the hook in Bethesda games. Their procedurally generated overworlds and previously samey assortment of generic buildings (and God knows how many "unique" POIs that replicated like Muybridge) reflected the issues in Starfield.
I did just fine with it, and loved the hell out of it, because I'm very goal/questline oriented. I tend to lock into a questline and allow distraction, rather than engage fully with an open world, then I start exploring when the main quests are done. I did the MSQ, then had to redo it with a new character as I didn't realize noclipping put the [M] tag on my first (got stuck). I burned out after 300 hours, roughly 30-40 being me grinding out max Starborn powers (which you can now just get with Quanum Essence from Starborn encounters).
I did finally have my first Zero-G encounter after 90-hours of total gameplay
Another disappointment for me. There are like six or seven events I can remember with zero-G, two random encounters, the rest are questlines. Hopefully with the Free Lanes update and more space POIs we'll see more random encounters with it. It's underused, but hopefully Free Lanes and Terran Armada bring more (TA brings at least one opening encounter with it, but I'm only two quests in).
where I'm not feeling like playing a game that is heavy on dialogue.
Yeah. Starfield's strength is its characters and story, but if you're not up for that that's totally valid.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkStarfield: Terran Armada I bought the Premium edition for launch so I get it for free, for transparency (technically I just paid ahead of time for the DLC). I was disappointed that it broke...Starfield: Terran Armada I bought the Premium edition for launch so I get it for free, for transparency (technically I just paid ahead of time for the DLC). I was disappointed that it broke Watchtower, which I had just gotten started on, but I'll throw it back into my load list when kinggath gets it fixed.
The Free Lanes update (free with the game) is really great. It adds a faster travel system that analyzes your distance to a location in lightseconds, and sort of ramps up your speed so traversing the system feels more like crossing an overworld. Using this system you can traverse the system in a way that feels a bit closer to No Man's Sky, rather than other Bethesda games, where POIs will appear and you can interact with them. You'll drop out of "Travel" mode for encounters that occur along the path, as well (my level 99, maxxed-out NG+ has had to deal with level 72 Guardians). If you wanted a more RPG-y, less load-screeny Starfield, this is a big improvement (you still get loading screens between systems, but so do most games with similar systems AFAIK). They also added a feature to let you use Quantum Essence to upgrade your powers so you don't have to do NG+ a bunch of times (I was like 16?) to max the powers out, meaning you could, theoretically, finish the game, NG+, then start cranking quantum essences in the next universe and only go through once.
I didn't have many complaints about Starfield, but the ones I did have been shored up mostly. Now I need to go through with a normal character and see how many Muybridge Pharmaceuticals I encounter.
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Comment on Indie Pass, a PC subscription service for indie games to launch on April 13, 2026 in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkThey better have a hell of a compensation rate for featured games. Indies are usually harder up for money unless they can get sufficient hype, and Gamepass has already demonstrated that it...They better have a hell of a compensation rate for featured games. Indies are usually harder up for money unless they can get sufficient hype, and Gamepass has already demonstrated that it generally negatively affects profitability of games in a way similar to streaming for musicians (while also creating a minimal profitability for certain experimental games that might have never happened but for gamepass, like Pentiment).
Not to come across as a cold cynic but I always felt indies were generally priced well enough to not need this sort of service.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
knocklessmonster LinkHades 2 Still getting the itch, even with STS2 out. Something about the 20-30 minute run time, tight loop, and narrative structure of these games just makes me want to keep going. I'm now...Hades 2 Still getting the itch, even with STS2 out. Something about the 20-30 minute run time, tight loop, and narrative structure of these games just makes me want to keep going. I'm now consistently getting to Scylla and beating her half the time, so that's nice.
Raccoin. Exactly what it is on the tin: "Raccoin: The Coin Pusher Roguelike." It's kinda cute, a lot of fun, and also just happens to be based on my absolute favorite machine in any arcade so it checks all my boxes.
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Comment on Backrooms | Official trailer in ~movies
knocklessmonster Link ParentThat was actually the game I was thinking of. I forgot it was a whole-ass meme genre for a bit.That was actually the game I was thinking of.
I forgot it was a whole-ass meme genre for a bit. -
Comment on Backrooms | Official trailer in ~movies
knocklessmonster LinkChiwetel Ejiofor was a bigger hitter than I expected in this. I like the Backrooms mythos from the games (watching lets plays, I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole), so I'm definitely down for...Chiwetel Ejiofor was a bigger hitter than I expected in this. I like the Backrooms mythos from the games (watching lets plays, I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole), so I'm definitely down for a fringe jank game film adaptation into a serious motion picture.
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Comment on How to turn anything into a router in ~comp
knocklessmonster LinkI started trying to tighten up my homelab network after realizing that my router (slash-AP) was bouncing bridged Podman traffic. The first setup I did was a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB I had sitting around...I started trying to tighten up my homelab network after realizing that my router (slash-AP) was bouncing bridged Podman traffic. The first setup I did was a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB I had sitting around with a spare dongle I bought initially for work to provide LAN/WAN, and OpenWRT (which runs on ARM, 32-bit and 64-bit PC platforms as well!). After the lockdown, I quickly ordered the BananaPi-manufactured OpenWRT-designed ONE router just to have something in my back pocket. I also have a couple of routers (a GL-iNet running my homelab, a GL-iNet I kept vanilla and another I don't remember running OpenWRT) as spare/travel routers.
Heck, virtual network appliances are just VMs with customized OSes that route traffic around without having a physical box in cloud environments to provide firewalls, routing, etc. Once you start to see everything as just inter-related software systems with the same hardware guts, certain rules and regulations get kinda funny and sad.
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Comment on Welcome to a multidimensional economic disaster - the AI boom wasn’t built for the polycrisis in ~tech
knocklessmonster Link ParentIt's already looking like, with Google's acceleration of memory compression for AI systems, things aren't as bleak as they look. I feel you, I've been needing to get another 32GB of DDR5 memory...It's already looking like, with Google's acceleration of memory compression for AI systems, things aren't as bleak as they look. I feel you, I've been needing to get another 32GB of DDR5 memory for my PC (for virtualization/etc locally), but haven't been able to stomach the recent surge in pricing. However, I've directly worked on cloud infrastructure that utilizes similar technology for analytics and machine learning systems, and we're seeing the inclusion in things like AMD's AI CPU lines with NPUs dedicated to this in relatively baseline (if higher-end, but consumer-grade) models suggests we will be able to do this mostly locally surprisingly soon. More responsible companies like AMD will likely still be bearing this torch after the inevitable bubble burst comes, as well.
To a point all it takes for a relatively basic computer to have is this capability is a separate processing utility so you don't blow your GPU on a 120b model (did that once) or suffer with CPU-only AI computation. The chips that enable this are currently cutting edge, but things move quick, and they'll be relatively normal in a couple years.
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Comment on Any beginners advice or resources on developing a 2D RPG/Puzzle video game? in ~comp
knocklessmonster LinkGodot is a world-class engine. So much good stuff has been coming out on it. @all_summer_beauty's links seem solid. I've done some dev in it, mostly prototyping on like 3.4 to make a Zelda-style...But I'm not sure where to start. I'm looking into Godot because it's free and open source and has a lot of community resources, but also wanted to see if anyone had any ideas here.
Godot is a world-class engine. So much good stuff has been coming out on it. @all_summer_beauty's links seem solid. I've done some dev in it, mostly prototyping on like 3.4 to make a Zelda-style movement demo and it's probably the best thing going for free. It should be able to handle the sort of context switching you want like any other engine as well. Just check out Casette Beasts for a commercial, large-scale, multi-modal offering. Even Sega used it for a remaster of Sonic Colors. It's hitting the mainstream as a respectable engine similarly to how Blender is finally getting its flowers.
I watched both videos today in a weird day-off fever dream (not really) of exploration on why Folding Ideas, of all people, first was invited to the Beast Games set (he explains, they seemed to have chosen critics), and then his breakdown of the season which was basically poorly-constructed games for reality TV.
I watched quite a few of his videos years ago and sort of walked away from video essayists, but I had the right combination of time and curiosity for the two+ hours this journey took and it was definitely interesting. He's not negative, usually never is anyway, but it was informative, and I felt informed the whole thing, especially from the perspective of somebody who has never given two hoots about Mr. Beast, aside from being severely disappointed by his candy bar.