Macha's recent activity
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
Macha (edited )LinkI’m working on a farm sim/cozy game I started about two weeks ago. My attention span with these projects is often quite short but I’m actually feeling pretty good about this one. I’m using Godot,...I’m working on a farm sim/cozy game I started about two weeks ago. My attention span with these projects is often quite short but I’m actually feeling pretty good about this one.
I’m using Godot, which I’ve used for several Ludum Dare jams before this point. Up to now I’ve got a basic game loop working. You can buy seeds, plant crops, water them, harvest them and sell them, then repeat.
I think the core idea I have is it’s going to be a little like a more zoomed out big picture farming sim or a very zoomed in colony builder depending on how you look at it. You’ll use your progress in the farming/mining/fishing/etc. part of the game to build up the town and attract NPCs from a pool, while unlocking new features. This does mean the non-fixed NPCs are probably not going to be as individually deep as Stardew/Mistria NPCs but I’m aiming for deeper than Animal Crossing/Graveyard Keeper.
The art style is pixel art based but I’m going slightly more detailed than stardew (48px npcs, 24px tiles). Kind of more in line with Graveyard Keeper’s level of detail. There is a little impulse going “But what if it’s isometric” because I have a vision of a really cool looking town with lots of verticality but I’m also aware that’ll make the art more time consuming and also make the controls annoying if you need to do stuff tile aligned like placing crops. I may end up doing a POC of that before I get into bulk assets though…
This week I’ve spent time getting the core loop going but also set it up so I can load item/crop/shop definitions from TOML files in a kind of Minecraft resource pack style to facilitate addons/mods. Kind of a little ahead of a sensible time but it’s one of those things that easier to bake in than retrofit in.
Also independent world and UI scaling which was kind of an ordeal. Spent a bunch of time on that but happy where it is now.
Anyway, my short term task list is:
- getting a basic NPC dialogue system in (probably going to use the Dialogue Manager addon for this)
- getting zone transitions working so I can have buildings
- getting a first iteration of the town zone set up, currently the single vendor stands next to your bed and 5 tiles away from your crop patch
- getting a first draft of the NPC move in system going
My day job is also software development and it’s so much less engaging in these days of AI, so its feeling pretty good to have the coding bug again
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Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech
Macha Link ParentFor me, the ads 20 years ago weren’t acceptable either. Popover/popunder windows, casino-esque flash animations with “you are the ten millionth visitor”, the weight loss ads with different models...For me, the ads 20 years ago weren’t acceptable either. Popover/popunder windows, casino-esque flash animations with “you are the ten millionth visitor”, the weight loss ads with different models before and after, “hot singles in your area”, etc. That’s pretty much the time I first started using Adblock.
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Comment on What are your memorable airport stories? in ~transport
Macha Link ParentDomestic/shorthaul first/business class often are just front seats plus extra legroom (sometimes…. Lufthansa sort haul business class is the same seats as economy). The fancy and expensive first...Domestic/shorthaul first/business class often are just front seats plus extra legroom (sometimes…. Lufthansa sort haul business class is the same seats as economy). The fancy and expensive first class is mostly a long haul thing.
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Comment on Why does Opera GX rarely come up in browser discussions? in ~tech
Macha Link ParentThere was a period around Opera 8/9 where it was noticeably faster than Firefox and Chrome wasn’t out yet. The UI was also just more polished than competitors at the time. Speed Dial was part of...There was a period around Opera 8/9 where it was noticeably faster than Firefox and Chrome wasn’t out yet. The UI was also just more polished than competitors at the time. Speed Dial was part of that before other browsers copied it. I seem to recall they were also first to being able to turn arbitrary search fields into custom search engines.
The built in email client and IRC client were also pretty good.
Also as a web developer they were usually pretty on the ball with supporting new CSS features (which resulted in being the first to pass acid2 on non-Mac platforms by a couple of years), which made a lot of web devs want to support them. At the same time, I think they were also first to come up with browser fixes as a concept so they were more compatible with sites designed only for IE too.
My personal browser history is IE -> Firefox -> Opera -> Chrome -> Firefox.
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Comment on Why does Opera GX rarely come up in browser discussions? in ~tech
Macha LinkIt’s a closed source chromium fork by a company whose current owners have engaged in morally questionable business practices. That’s pretty dead on arrival. Most of the gaming features are bloat,...It’s a closed source chromium fork by a company whose current owners have engaged in morally questionable business practices. That’s pretty dead on arrival. Most of the gaming features are bloat, as well. If closed source Chromium forks doesn’t bother you and you want the Opera design vision, then there’s Vivaldi, which has a lot of the team behind the original Opera.
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Comment on Survey: The temperature in my room now is _____ and it feels _____ in ~talk
Macha LinkIt's 25C, but at this point that's mostly the fault of my gaming PC, unlike recent weeks where the outside temperature leaking in would have brought it to 28C/29C. It's an improvement, but could...It's 25C, but at this point that's mostly the fault of my gaming PC, unlike recent weeks where the outside temperature leaking in would have brought it to 28C/29C. It's an improvement, but could still do with being less. My ideal is like 19C I guess.
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Comment on The Filipino virtual assistants behind LinkedIn’s “thought leadership” content mill in ~tech
Macha Link ParentSo many job forms in tech have a mandatory field for LinkedIn profile these days even. Having been involved in interviewing, we never really looked at it because we got the actual CV which is what...So many job forms in tech have a mandatory field for LinkedIn profile these days even. Having been involved in interviewing, we never really looked at it because we got the actual CV which is what we looked at (I can't rule out HR looking at it in pre-screening though). I asked a friend that works at an ATS company why their product seems to require it and they said as far as they could tell it was because it let them populate avatars in the CV list to make their UI look better.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
Macha Link ParentHa, the praise for the house/area makes me feel kind of guilty for disappearing.Ha, the praise for the house/area makes me feel kind of guilty for disappearing.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Macha Link ParentTried that in San Jose once, we have smaller motorways than the “local” road the hotel was on.Tried that in San Jose once, we have smaller motorways than the “local” road the hotel was on.
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Comment on AI job grief in ~tech
Macha (edited )LinkThe articles assumption that only knowledge workers experienced job-as-identity seems suspect to me. Like if you look at deindustrialised regions in the UK and Ireland, or former auto workers in...The articles assumption that only knowledge workers experienced job-as-identity seems suspect to me. Like if you look at deindustrialised regions in the UK and Ireland, or former auto workers in Detroit, it’s not like these are generations that have died off and there was a lot of this career grief if you talk to them. And sure some of this may be from the material effects of these once high paying jobs going away, or for what that means for their lives and self image outside work, but plenty of it was also that they had their identities in their jobs too.
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Comment on Deltarune Chapter 5 is out now in ~games
Macha Link ParentSo after undertale became a thing, toby fox and ZUN have collaborated on remixes: U.N. Owen was Hero and more recently, NecrolovaniaSo after undertale became a thing, toby fox and ZUN have collaborated on remixes:
- U.N. Owen was Hero
- and more recently, Necrolovania
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Comment on British cities are a game design nightmare in ~transport
Macha Link ParentThe part time YouTuber might be a full time YouTuber in the near future.The part time YouTuber might be a full time YouTuber in the near future.
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Comment on Are there any video games that are/were popular in your country, that the rest of the world hardly knows about? in ~games
Macha LinkFrom Ireland here. I think what we got was always a subset of the US/UK market so the only game I think of as specifically Irish was Gaelic Games Football for the PS2. In retrospect people had...From Ireland here. I think what we got was always a subset of the US/UK market so the only game I think of as specifically Irish was Gaelic Games Football for the PS2. In retrospect people had mixed views of its quality as a game, but it was at almost as widespread as FIFA that year here and sports game fans liked it for trying to make a GAA game at least.
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Comment on Are there any video games that are/were popular in your country, that the rest of the world hardly knows about? in ~games
Macha Link ParentThey were also in the first two humble bundles which is where I learned about them.They were also in the first two humble bundles which is where I learned about them.
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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
Macha LinkFirefox, Fastmail, Discord. I mostly don’t install native apps on my phone as so many offer little over web apps and use that extra access to spam me with notifications or track me for ads. Add...Firefox, Fastmail, Discord.
I mostly don’t install native apps on my phone as so many offer little over web apps and use that extra access to spam me with notifications or track me for ads. Add YouTube Music, antennapod and WhatsApp and you’ve got the full list.
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Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies
Macha LinkI got really into cycling around 2021 - it started as trying to be a bit more fit, especially as the city I was then living in had got a bunch more bike lanes and also the reduced traffic made...I got really into cycling around 2021 - it started as trying to be a bit more fit, especially as the city I was then living in had got a bunch more bike lanes and also the reduced traffic made things less intimidating.
I started with the city's bike share bikes for about 6 months, then got my own Giant Escape 0 bike which I'm using still. I've moved more rural since and it's pretty much perfect for getting across the smaller town I live in now, and I've taken it a bit more down country lanes and similar too.
I'm actually considering getting a second gravel bike now. One part is to see what all the clipless pedals and drop handlebar fuss is about, one part is my current bike is pretty configured for town use (racks, panniers, etc) and it would be nice to not have to reconfigure it back and forth when I want something a bit lighter.
The options in local bike shops are (depending on the shop) some selection of Giant, Trek, Cube and the bike shaped objects, so I'm leaning between either a Giant Revolt or Defy for the new bike. I'm probably more leaning towards the Revolt for the less aggressive position and wider tyre support, but I already basically entirely use gears 6-12 on my escape so that has me wondering about a faster bike. Also even the tyre on my Escape is a physically strenuous activity to get on/off so I'm a little worried that even wider tyres might be worse there.
The outside option is to get a folding e-bike because the full size bike spaces on the train to the city get booked out quick these days, but given how rarely I go to the city it feels like I may as well just grab a city bike while I'm there when I can't get my own there.
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Comment on Arch User Repository compromised, 1500+ packages affected in ~tech
Macha Link ParentAlso AUR helpers are not in the arch package managers specifically for this reason - if you want to get one you'll have to at least manage to do the process manually once.Also AUR helpers are not in the arch package managers specifically for this reason - if you want to get one you'll have to at least manage to do the process manually once.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Macha LinkSo for the football manager fan: any reason for 2008 in particular? I played 2007 until I upgraded to 2011, don’t remember it being that memorableSo for the football manager fan: any reason for 2008 in particular? I played 2007 until I upgraded to 2011, don’t remember it being that memorable
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Comment on Any fellow software engineers using paid GitHub copilot? in ~comp
Macha Link ParentSo in 2021-2023 I was kind of drifting into being a manager and I want enjoying it, so I did a purposeful reset back to a more hands on role…. Just in time for that role to turn into basically the...So in 2021-2023 I was kind of drifting into being a manager and I want enjoying it, so I did a purposeful reset back to a more hands on role…. Just in time for that role to turn into basically the same focus just directed at AI but without the personal connections or advancement opportunities…
Multiplayer is something I would like. I play a lot of these games with my brother personally. I've had a brief look at Godot's high level multiplayer and it's a bit too automagical for me to trust it but also I don't want to dive into deciding a lockstep vs server authoritative model and building a lot of networking code until I get a core loop that's fun by itself.