MimicSquid's recent activity
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Comment on Homes on stilts built above parking lots ('Hope Rise', Bristol) in ~design
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Comment on What is your "when I found out about 9/11" story? in ~talk
MimicSquid LinkI was in the rec room on my college campus watching it on the big TV that was mostly used for Smash Brothers. I don't recall if I had any classes I missed for it, I just sat and watched. I don't...I was in the rec room on my college campus watching it on the big TV that was mostly used for Smash Brothers. I don't recall if I had any classes I missed for it, I just sat and watched. I don't know that I really understood what it would do to the American psyche. Mych as it was a time of loss of innocence for me as a person, so too was it a change for the country. I don't know how to untangle adulthood from post-9/11 America.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentThis description changed my mind about trying it out. That seems like a very reasonable system.This description changed my mind about trying it out. That seems like a very reasonable system.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 nominations topic in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentOh, yes. Sorry about that. I was conflating it with its sequel, the 13th hour. Thank you for the correction.Oh, yes. Sorry about that. I was conflating it with its sequel, the 13th hour. Thank you for the correction.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: September 2026 nominations topic in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentThe 13th Guest is very old and clunky, but fits the vibe.The 13th Guest is very old and clunky, but fits the vibe.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
MimicSquid LinkI played a fun little trilogy of games by MathanGames, a solo dev: Side Scape, Xanthiom Zero, and Xanthiom 2, (yes, in that order.) The first is a zelda/metroid mashup, where the trick is that you...I played a fun little trilogy of games by MathanGames, a solo dev: Side Scape, Xanthiom Zero, and Xanthiom 2, (yes, in that order.)
The first is a zelda/metroid mashup, where the trick is that you can transition back and forth between the two contexts/characters on the same screen. It doesn't change perspective, only context. What is the background for the metroid-like is the ground for the zelda-like, so if you swap in some places you'll drop to the bottom of the screen to your new floor. It's a fun mechanic, and a nice little game, taking about 4 hours to 100%. It's all of $8, and very worh it.
The second is a more focused Metroid experience. Tight controls, good world and map design, a fun weapon mix and match mechanic. If you liked swapping between beam types in Super Metroid, this is that, but a more robust system. Another four hours to 100%, but for $5 it's absolutely worth it.
The third is more of the second, but bigger and more willing to step beyond the Super Metroid template. It includes the ability to save snapshots of a given screen to the map, and expects you to use it, as there are sometimes significant distances between clue and puzzle room. There are zones that undergo multiple extensive changes as you complete things, and a broader selection of mechanics to play with. If you get Xanthiom 2, it comes with a remake of Zero, so the higher price of $15 is pretty good. It was notably longer than Zero, at 6 hours.
All in all, they're each a fun time, and short enough that you can enjoy one in a day. I recommend all three.
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Comment on Norway's $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund has proposed significantly cutting its exposure to US Treasuries as part of a wider shake-up of its bond investments to improve returns in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentI would say that it's indicative of a desire to insulate themselves from the uncertainty surrounding the federal governments' choices while remaining invested in the US as a whole. Increased...I would say that it's indicative of a desire to insulate themselves from the uncertainty surrounding the federal governments' choices while remaining invested in the US as a whole. Increased federal borrowing to give tax cuts to the rich and run an unnecessary war has done poor things to the USA's credit rating, and this move by Norway is a sign of weakening desire of other countries to provide financing to the USA.
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Comment on Ig Nobel Prize winners 2026 in ~science
MimicSquid Link ParentAnd cockroach milk is very nutritious. So many new insect facts!And cockroach milk is very nutritious. So many new insect facts!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
MimicSquid LinkI've been playing Project Zomboid with a ton of mods, and having a mostly good time. But looking for new mods has become a slog. AI has come for game modding in a terrible way. People turn cool...I've been playing Project Zomboid with a ton of mods, and having a mostly good time. But looking for new mods has become a slog. AI has come for game modding in a terrible way. People turn cool ideas into mods, and then put them out for the public to use seemingly without ever having actually booted up the game with their own mod installed or doing the smallest bit of QA on the output. It used to be that a big mod was one that someone had been carefully growing and tending for months or years, showing a commensurate care about and cohesive vision for the game. But now the quality signal between size and effort has been broken and I'm wading through dozens of vibe coded cool ideas to find anything that comes from a person with something interesting and cohesive to say.
Like, a mod with a whole additional level of quests and scavenging, searching for arcane relics and strange beasts? That sounds amazing, if a tonal shift from the base game. But when the 3d models are thirty times larger than anything else, the equipment cannot actually be equipped, and the five new skills are entirely unbalanced... why did you put this out in this state? It feels like the person who asked AI to create it in the first place now wants other people to do their basic testing to ensure the mod is usable. Sure, being the idea guy is fun, but that's only the first 5%. It's unreasonable to outsource all of the rest of the process to AI and other people.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
MimicSquid LinkIt was lovely. I hadn't played through it in a decade or more. but found I remembered it fairly well, even through the randomization. On the topic of the multiplayer randomizer, I think it would...It was lovely. I hadn't played through it in a decade or more. but found I remembered it fairly well, even through the randomization. On the topic of the multiplayer randomizer, I think it would be best played in sessions that everyone could join. That way you can coordinate, and the hints spread across games about where given key items were hidden could be immediately moved upon. It's a small enough world that it's only a few minutes to anywhere once you have the flute.
I feel like LttP is a lovely little toy box of a game. Even with the randomizer it only took 15 hours to beat, and that wes just about perfect.
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Comment on France is open to cooperating with Sweden on building a next-generation fighter jet – Sweden expects to decide on the next steps for its warplane program by September 2027 in ~society
MimicSquid LinkFrance is open to it the way they were open to collaboration with Germany. But France needs a carrier-capable nuclear bomber and Sweden (much like Germany before it) does not. What will be...France is open to it the way they were open to collaboration with Germany. But France needs a carrier-capable nuclear bomber and Sweden (much like Germany before it) does not. What will be different this time?
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Comment on How rigid/fluid is your LGBT identity? in ~lgbt
MimicSquid Link ParentIs anyone a real anything all alone? No one is an island, and we are all shaping ourselves around the people around us.Is anyone a real anything all alone? No one is an island, and we are all shaping ourselves around the people around us.
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Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentNah, probably the early development and prototyping is already done on GTA 7. 6 took a decade+. I'm sure their plans are already in motion for the next one.Nah, probably the early development and prototyping is already done on GTA 7. 6 took a decade+. I'm sure their plans are already in motion for the next one.
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Comment on Norway's King Harald dies aged 89 in ~news
MimicSquid Link ParentAlso, the degree to which the monarchs actually run things is generally very low. Some places with good quality of life want a mascot family, and that seems ok as long as those mascots don't...Also, the degree to which the monarchs actually run things is generally very low. Some places with good quality of life want a mascot family, and that seems ok as long as those mascots don't suddenly try anything antidemocratic and it's not dragging down the country.
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Comment on Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario" in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentRight? It's just everpresent. It's not that trying to change the name of a body of water isn't offensive, but on the scale of issues this is like the books being reshelved wrong in a house where...Right? It's just everpresent. It's not that trying to change the name of a body of water isn't offensive, but on the scale of issues this is like the books being reshelved wrong in a house where someone is lighting more fires.
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Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
MimicSquid LinkIt's a power fantasy. 1 and 2 were sheer "What could you do if you could do anything?" brutality. Just do whatever you want. There wasn't a ton of persistence yet, aside from zones to move...It's a power fantasy. 1 and 2 were sheer "What could you do if you could do anything?" brutality. Just do whatever you want. There wasn't a ton of persistence yet, aside from zones to move through, but you could just drive around and be a terror. There was also a huge amount of responsiveness for the time. Pedestrians actually jumped out of the way, or got run down! This was basically unparalleled. It felt so much more alive than other games of the time.
Three was the real shift. It gave a (for the time) huge sandbox to play around in. It held on to the liveliness of the world while shifting to 3d, and the world was even bigger and you were more anchored to it, in as much as you had roots in the world.
As we're coming up on 6, the series has gone from big to biggest. It's likely to have a world of unparalleled size, complexity, and reactivity. You're going to be as close to a real person anchored in a real world that you're likely to experience outside of real life. If you ever thought that if you had your shot at the big time you might be able to end up on top, this is the story for you. It'll be a wild story set in a wild world.
I'm not likely to get it, but I have deep nostalgia for the series.
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Comment on Tim Curry, outlandish star of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ dies at 80 in ~movies
MimicSquid Link ParentIt felt like at least a quarter of the really good bands of the 80s and 90s had a member die one way or another. I really wish I could see what Kurt or Bradley were going to have made if they'd...It felt like at least a quarter of the really good bands of the 80s and 90s had a member die one way or another. I really wish I could see what Kurt or Bradley were going to have made if they'd made it a little longer.
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Comment on Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario" in ~society
MimicSquid LinkAs frustrating this is, it's another example of Trump flooding the zone so people are distracted from talking about things like his elective war on Iran that's consumed our stocks of munitions or...As frustrating this is, it's another example of Trump flooding the zone so people are distracted from talking about things like his elective war on Iran that's consumed our stocks of munitions or his continual war on the poor that's stripped millions of their benefits. Is this the important thing to be focusing on right now?
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Comment on Stop Killing The Internet: No digital ID and no age verification in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentThings I saw online while I was a child, behind a spoiler for people who don't want to know, or already do. I was twelve when I first saw an image of a man's distended anus, both hands used to...Things I saw online while I was a child, behind a spoiler for people who don't want to know, or already do.
I was twelve when I first saw an image of a man's distended anus, both hands used to hold it open. It had been behind a link purporting to be something else. I was claiming to be an adult and engaging in erotic roleplay online before I had ever kissed anyone. I was fourteen and had been involuntarily exposed to videos of horrific murders that had claimed to be episodes of a TV series. I was fifteen and involuntarily saw two women eating their own intermixed feces from a cup. A man whose anus was shredded when the glass he was penetrating himeself with shattered. A group of elderly men engaging in a piss orgy. Sexual organs with horrific absesses. Home invasion killings. Sexual acts that said they were consensual in the description but almost certainly were not. Abuse of people when the description said they were of age, but they probably were not.
I didn't seek these things out. They're just there, the poison in the waters in which we swim.
I'd like to think that I grew up to be a relatively well adjusted person. But if I got to choose between an Internet where no child would encounter goat.se or any of the other horrors I listed or one where it was a possibility, I would say that even 18 is young to be exposed to a firehose of all the horrors of the world.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of August 23 in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentAnyone who has any nostalgia for Brutal Legend, pick it up now. The licensing for all the music has had this thing tied up and unavailable for ages.Anyone who has any nostalgia for Brutal Legend, pick it up now. The licensing for all the music has had this thing tied up and unavailable for ages.
As someone half a world away in a region known for its earthquakes, my first impression was that these were designed to pancake as soon as the first bad quake hits. But the UK is probably fine? I suppose homes on stilts range from entirely necessary to entirely deathtraps depending on the particular flavor of disasters your region gets.
Irrelevant disasters aside, I'm always glad to see options for increasing housing density. It's not as robust as replacing a parking lot with a larger building with internal parking, but it's a lot faster.