parsley's recent activity
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Comment on I wonder if years from now hand written code will be antique in ~tech
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Comment on I wonder if years from now hand written code will be antique in ~tech
parsley Link ParentFor the more complex projects we still have several people in the loop but the newer projects have as little people as possible, usually 1-2 engineers working on different areas, with little to no...For the more complex projects we still have several people in the loop but the newer projects have as little people as possible, usually 1-2 engineers working on different areas, with little to no overlap. It is actually kind of hard to argue against this setup now. LLMs are very local to the current task and do not wait to chat with your colleagues LLM sessions to agree on architectural decisions and redoing work is common.
I also use Claude for reviews. It works OK for the most part, but has a tendency to rise issues and then retract them when you ask for more details. My stack is not super common and it probably does not help either.
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Comment on I wonder if years from now hand written code will be antique in ~tech
parsley Link ParentKind of niche B2B stuff. We luckily do not have lots of operational complexity so things are working out fine. We were already working on smaller teams in greenfield(ish) projects. We are just...Kind of niche B2B stuff. We luckily do not have lots of operational complexity so things are working out fine. We were already working on smaller teams in greenfield(ish) projects. We are just kind of pushing harder and harder in that direction.
I'm kind of venting at this point, but I kind of fear that LLMs are eroding engineering culture in general. It is like we got this new rockstar hire that takes over the company because he works so fast and is always saying the right thing to his managers, but in reality is doing a mediocre job. And now the rest of the team have both the expectation of being as fast as him and fixing all the shortcuts he is taking.
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Comment on I wonder if years from now hand written code will be antique in ~tech
parsley Link ParentIn my company code review has kind of died. Most projects now have a single engineer working on them with an llm doing most of the work. We are kind of faster, but the PRs are now regularly...On the other hand, I spend a LOT more time now doing code review for other devs. I used to know the individual coding styles of the devs I work with. Now that nobody is writing their own code, it's all over the place.
In my company code review has kind of died. Most projects now have a single engineer working on them with an llm doing most of the work. We are kind of faster, but the PRs are now regularly 20k-50k lines of code each, on new codebases we know nothing about and on features we know nothing about. We tried using llms to help explain the PRs but it is a lot of effort and that is useless most of the time.
I'm sure there are lots of good teams out there that can take advantage of these tools, but I think lots of average companies / projects are going to be crushed by the weight of the technical and organizational debt llms are creating, specially when prizes get corrected and you can't just tell them to "fix it" at a reasonable cost.
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
parsley LinkMore games like Katamari Damacy, not in the sense of quirky physics based action puzzlers (although those are welcome) but in the sense of more experimental alien / outsider designs. I like...More games like Katamari Damacy, not in the sense of quirky physics based action puzzlers (although those are welcome) but in the sense of more experimental alien / outsider designs.
I like simpler rpg and visual novels but kind of wish the would experiment with the formulas a bit more:
- Rpgs with story choices that lead to shallower but wider stories, with multiple paths that explore different facets of the story
- More gameplay heavish games with vn presentation. Think King of the Dragon Pass but with other genres
- More minimalistic / concious design decisions, like removing unecessary combat, or not having items / skills that become useless over time
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
parsley Link ParentI blame game designers for this. Most of the time the items mechanic is unexplained, you never know if there are item limits until you hit them, you don't know if an item is consumable until you...I blame game designers for this. Most of the time the items mechanic is unexplained, you never know if there are item limits until you hit them, you don't know if an item is consumable until you use It, you never know if/when you will be able to acquire more, and you never know if you will need this potion against a future boss that is inmune to anything else, or to give It away in a quest or puzzle that hides an undisclosed amount of gameplay.
For me items are mostly a second playthrough mechanic.
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Comment on Code is cheap(er) in ~comp
parsley Link ParentNot when the author just forwards the comments to the llm. The amount of comment responses I receive answered with a "Good catch, you are absolutely right! [...]" is very disheartening.I think LLMs are good at code but bad at architecture. Unfortunately, many software engineers are also bad at architecture. So reviews become important, and heavy handed reviews is one of my major tasks. Unfortunately, the rate people can churn out code exceeds the rate I (and other experienced engineers) can review it, so we can't catch everything. I settle for making the things I do catch into teachable moments for the author, so eventually the other engineers may get better at architecture.
Not when the author just forwards the comments to the llm. The amount of comment responses I receive answered with a "Good catch, you are absolutely right! [...]" is very disheartening.
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
parsley LinkLast year I finally got a steam account, which led me to discover smaller / obscure indie games. I usually play puzzles, visual novels or smaller rpgs (think RPG Maker / Wolf RPG or similar...Last year I finally got a steam account, which led me to discover smaller / obscure indie games. I usually play puzzles, visual novels or smaller rpgs (think RPG Maker / Wolf RPG or similar engines), which are very common in this space. Some highlights:
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Epigraph: It is a language puzzle game about translating some archeological remains to unlock an strange artifact. There is hardly any hints beyond some known names and some images. Took me +10h to complete but it was fairly enjoyable.
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Anode Heart: An open world creature collector game which the reviews say is very similar to digimon games. You go around the world looking for people to help and monster to collect and raise. There are lots of unlockable subsystems like breeding, equipment, a battle arena, a collective card game, etc. Recently completed the main quest and I'm trying some of the post game. There are also lots of challenge modes.
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Final profit: A shop management RPG in a fantasy world but it is very different from recetear and the likes. You are a fae that is trying to infiltrate the business world of a ruthless empire that is threatening your kingdom. That is the premise, but the moment to moment is full of absurdities like animal civilizations, fruit cults and weird haircuts. I played to the end of the current content and it was fairly enjoyable, although the endgame is a bit less great. There is a sequel in the works in a different part of the world.
Another big discovery this year was touhou fangames. Touhou is a long running series of bullet hell shooters set in a fantasy world (so you are a magician/priest fighting fairies or weird demons instead of spaceships). The interesting thing about it is that the developers allow others to use their characters / setting in their own games, so there is a wealth of fangames in lots of genres, from other bullet hells to strategy games, rpgs, plataformers, etc. Again some highlights:
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Artificial Dream in Arcadia: SNES-era Shin Megami Tensei where you capture touhou characters. It is fairly well done and is very enjoyable even if you do not know either franchise. I got one of the three endings and I'm going for the second one.
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Mystia's izakaya: You manage a small foodcart and serve dinners all around the touhou world. You befriend famous characters by completing quests and preparing custom dishes they like. The dinning sections can get a bit hectic but it is otherwise fairly laid back.
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Fantasy Maiden Wars: Super Robot Wars but with touhou characters. This one released recently in english. In SRW fashion, the story is a mishmash of other touhou games. Liking it so far.
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Comment on MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing in ~tech
parsley Link ParentNot sure about pilots/PoCs but failure rates for software projects in general is fairly high. I don't have a source for this number but I think that about 3 / 4 projects end up failing to some...Not sure about pilots/PoCs but failure rates for software projects in general is fairly high. I don't have a source for this number but I think that about 3 / 4 projects end up failing to some degree.
Honestly, considering how much of a moving target genai is (every week there is a new model, or framework, or api, or tool, ...), the quality issues and fear that we probably are in the middle of a bubble, 5% sounds very good.
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Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games
parsley LinkI think these are relatively obscure: Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia: A dungeon crawler in the vein of earlier Shin Megami Tensei games, but the demons are replaced with touhou characters....I think these are relatively obscure:
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia: A dungeon crawler in the vein of earlier Shin Megami Tensei games, but the demons are replaced with touhou characters. Looks like a snes game. Very gameplay focused with the typical smt features (demon fusion, emphasis on buffs and weaknesses, floor traps, etc). Made me fall in the touhou rabbit hole.
Natsumon: 20th century summer kid: You are the child of the owner of a small circus that is spending summertime in a small japanese village for work. You spend a month visiting the mountains, playing with the local kids, meeting the town folks, and looking for adventures. The vibe is very laid back and enjoyable, and you can parkour around a la breath of the wild (so I've read, I have not played BotW) and there are multiple mysteries and quests to do. I enjoyed it a lot.
Little Kitty, Big City: Natsumon but you are a small cat that fell off his apartment and now has to get back up with the help of the local fauna. The scope is much much smaller than Natsumon but it does not have day-night cycles. The parkour puzzles are also a bit more enjoyable. It is also very cute and funny.
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Comment on Level-5 CEO says games are now being made 80-90% by AI, making “aesthetic sense” a must for developers in ~games
parsley LinkThe number are probably greatly exaggerated to jump into the AI bandwagon, otherwise it is fairly terrible. It is saying the value his company provides over the tools they use (assistants but also...The number are probably greatly exaggerated to jump into the AI bandwagon, otherwise it is fairly terrible. It is saying the value his company provides over the tools they use (assistants but also engines, middleware, etc) is about 10~20%, otherwise I guess they are a marketing firm for those AI generated games.
The entertainment market is fairly saturated already. If games standardize to whatever is cheaper to produce using AI, very many game companies are about to dissapear / get absorved by AI companies (like ms or tencent)
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Comment on Leaker claims that a PlayStation 6 Portable is in the pipeline in ~games
parsley Link ParentThe Game Gear ate 6x AA batteries every play session, it was not really portable. It was very fun to play in my room, plugged to the wall. Once I got access to a tv it was was not that great.The Game Gear ate 6x AA batteries every play session, it was not really portable.
It was very fun to play in my room, plugged to the wall. Once I got access to a tv it was was not that great.
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Comment on Don't trust Firefox to backup your session in ~tech
parsley Link ParentI use sidebery mainly for vertical tabs and tab groups, but it also does session snapshots regularly / on demand. It is not perfect but the snapshots are very convenient.I use sidebery mainly for vertical tabs and tab groups, but it also does session snapshots regularly / on demand. It is not perfect but the snapshots are very convenient.
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Comment on Bash++: Bash with classes in ~comp
parsley LinkWe have bash with classes, it is called perl/raku. It died long ago because mostly because it is very hard to read. I think the biggest plus of scripting++ languages like perl, python or...We have bash with classes, it is called perl/raku. It died long ago because mostly because it is very hard to read.
I think the biggest plus of scripting++ languages like perl, python or powershell is that they provide access to libraries / system capabilities directly. Bash and scripting languages in general are more meant to be the glue that connects tools written in more capable languages, like sed, find or grep. It is very hard to provide meaningful enhancements to bash without changing the way all these tools produce / ingest data, or how terminal emulators work. Powershell got there by being built by the owner of operative system, perl and python have big library ecosystems built over time. Bash does not have that much room to expand.
EDIT: It is still fun idea to explore, though
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
parsley LinkFinished Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia recently (ending B). It was overall a very fun Megaten/SMT experience, although the last dungeon / levels had some annoying bit (that I could have...Finished Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia recently (ending B). It was overall a very fun Megaten/SMT experience, although the last dungeon / levels had some annoying bit (that I could have mostly bypassed if I bothered to use some my items...). It is the worst ending and still have two more endings to unlock. I'm currently debating whether to start over right now or give it some time.
Natsu-mon: 20th century summer kid. I mentioned this one in the cozy games thread. It is a very nice game about exploring your small vacation town as a kid. The game is very japanese, though, so lots of word puns, hunting insects, etc. So far is very enjoyable, relaxing game. Has a vibe similar to early harvest moon / stardew when you are just checking out the wilderness and the town, before your life becomes tending dozens of crops and animals. I kind of get the feeling that hunting for the last bugs / fishes / etc is going to be annoying, but so far it is fun.
Slowly playing though ABI-DOS. It is a free game in the vein of space chem, but you manage signals in some kind of computer. It is getting very hard very fast!
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Comment on Cozy video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety in ~games
parsley Link ParentI've mostly played the ps2 - ps3 games (the ps3 one being a collection of levels from previous titles). I'd say yes, but its kind of more of the same, so it does not have the same impact. Pedantry...I've mostly played the ps2 - ps3 games (the ps3 one being a collection of levels from previous titles). I'd say yes, but its kind of more of the same, so it does not have the same impact.
Pedantry corner: If I'm not mistaken, the song you are singing is "Qué será será" and actually says "I wanna wad you up into my life" https://katamari.fandom.com/wiki/Que_Sera_Sera
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Comment on Cozy video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety in ~games
parsley Link ParentUntil you get to the cow-bear level, or the hot-cold level.... (actually I'm not sure if those levels are in that specific title)Until you get to the cow-bear level, or the hot-cold level....
(actually I'm not sure if those levels are in that specific title)
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Comment on Cozy video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety in ~games
parsley Link ParentI played Graveyard Keeper a while ago! I remember enjoying it for the most part up until a part where you had to guess recipes. I'll give Littlewood a look. Thanks! I'm currently trying Natsu-mon,...I played Graveyard Keeper a while ago! I remember enjoying it for the most part up until a part where you had to guess recipes.
I'll give Littlewood a look. Thanks!
I'm currently trying Natsu-mon, 20th century summer kid. It is based on an older video game series where you are a young kid enjoying summer vacation in a small town. It is mostly exploring, meeting people and collecting stuff. The game has timed days but the whole game is fairly short and you are meant to do newgame+ runs. It is very laid back so far.
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Comment on Cozy video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety in ~games
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Comment on Cozy video games can be an antidote to stress and anxiety in ~games
parsley Link ParentMy pain point is time passing too fast (it is too fast no matter how slow it actually is), events happening on certain dates once every 80 day cycles and things like that. I really wish these cozy...My pain point is time passing too fast (it is too fast no matter how slow it actually is), events happening on certain dates once every 80 day cycles and things like that. I really wish these cozy games did not build upon Harvest Moon so much and instead let you engage with mechanics when you want.
I've mentioned this before, but for me Factorio is a great cozy game. If you disable enemies / know how to deal with them, you build and explore at your own pace and things are as complicated as you want. It is not fluffy or cute, but it is very rewarding mechanically.
Transportation games are also very good at this if you disable competitors and you don't need to fret about profitability / rating too much. Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe (ottd) is great at just letting you build stuff however you want. Lots of mods give you extra buildings to "decorate" your stations and cities.
We do, actually, but spec languages like gherkin are very verbose so you end up generating the specs anyway.
It is hard to justify putting effort in things that the agents can do, even if agents absolutely need this extra effort in testing / specs to work properly.