pekt's recent activity

  1. Comment on Have you ever had an oddly specific dream come true? in ~talk

    pekt
    Link
    I wouldn't call them oddly specific, but I've had a number of (a handful, several, I never kept an active tally but definitely more than 2) days when I dreamed about the work day I was about to...

    I wouldn't call them oddly specific, but I've had a number of (a handful, several, I never kept an active tally but definitely more than 2) days when I dreamed about the work day I was about to have, and I would make it 1/2-3/4 of the way through my day only to wake up and realize it was a dream and then have to go in. Usually the conversations would beat for beat what I dreamed about since routine and the people I worked with didn't do a whole ton outside the usual during the work week.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    Thanks for sharing! I can see that experience souring MMOs moving forward, did you ever find yourself getting in to any later or even trying them? I'm in a rush but wanted to mention the ROM hack...

    Thanks for sharing! I can see that experience souring MMOs moving forward, did you ever find yourself getting in to any later or even trying them?

    I'm in a rush but wanted to mention the ROM hack I found out about called Return to Ragol which tunes the GameCube PSO experience to be more single player friendly if you ever wanted to revisit it.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I didn't stay too long on PSO2 nad had moved on to other games. I saw the gameplay recently and wasn't that interested in giving it a try again. I might one day to try PSU since it is somewhat...

    I didn't stay too long on PSO2 nad had moved on to other games. I saw the gameplay recently and wasn't that interested in giving it a try again. I might one day to try PSU since it is somewhat similar to PSO, but I'm not sure when that would be.

    I saw a video on the PSO game on DS, and will probably give it a try on an emulator at some point. I'd love to track down a physical cartridge, but that may take some time where i Live now.

    The forst music is the music that always comes to mind since it is the music I heard the most while I played.

  4. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I know there were a ton of games that I played as a kid and wonder how I beat them since I had no idea what was actually going on or how the systems worked.

    I know there were a ton of games that I played as a kid and wonder how I beat them since I had no idea what was actually going on or how the systems worked.

  5. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I wanted to get that adapter when I saw it, but since my parents didn't buy me the game and wouldn't have let me use it to play online anyway, I didn't get it. I always wanted the giant. keyboard...

    I wanted to get that adapter when I saw it, but since my parents didn't buy me the game and wouldn't have let me use it to play online anyway, I didn't get it. I always wanted the giant. keyboard GameCube controller as well!

    I played a RAMar and dabbled in a few other classes.

    You might enjoy this YouTuber's channel, he dives in to PSO characters, I've been slowly watching his videos: https://youtube.com/@skysnotthelimit

    I mentioned in another comment, but the Return to Ragol ROM hack might be something you'd be interested in checking out. It adds some QoL to the GameCube version of the game.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    If I had some extra money to get a physical console, I'd want to pick up a Dreamcast. I've always wondered what an alternate timeline would be like if Sega had gone all on in the Dreamcast and...

    If I had some extra money to get a physical console, I'd want to pick up a Dreamcast. I've always wondered what an alternate timeline would be like if Sega had gone all on in the Dreamcast and continued on in the console market instead of becoming a publisher for games.

    That sounds like an awesome time! I remember coordinating what game we would play before heading home from school.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    Thanks for sharing! I loved playing couch co-op games as a kid and with friends in college. I only played a bit of PSO in split screen with my brother and when my friend showed me his family's...

    Thanks for sharing! I loved playing couch co-op games as a kid and with friends in college. I only played a bit of PSO in split screen with my brother and when my friend showed me his family's original characters. It seems like such a fun game to play in that mode.

    I mentioned in another comment that I saw the Return to Ragol ROM hack that makes the PSO for Gamecube version a more single player/local experience by removing the section ID and making some other changes (I believe increased drop rates). That might be worth checking out if you felt like revisiting the game sometime on Dolphin.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    The original PSO definitely has some clunkiness to it, but I'd say it would be worth giving a try if you had some time to give it a go. There are private servers that have increased the XP rate...

    The original PSO definitely has some clunkiness to it, but I'd say it would be worth giving a try if you had some time to give it a go. There are private servers that have increased the XP rate and drop rate of items, and I saw that someone had created a ROM hack for the Gamecube version of the game named Return to Ragol that is intended for a single-player experience. Though this one have a more extensive setup compared to playing on one of the private servers: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSO/comments/1dluqgv/return_to_ragol_is_here/

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I completely agree with you on the vibe for this game, even though I didn't play it a ton, I'll still occasionally put the soundtrack on in the background while I work. I'll probably be visiting...

    I completely agree with you on the vibe for this game, even though I didn't play it a ton, I'll still occasionally put the soundtrack on in the background while I work. I'll probably be visiting Ephinea when I get some time to play again. I've looked at that server every now and then, it's awesome to see it maintain a solid player base after all these years.

    When I played with my friend, I believe we played on schthack, but I can't remember any information I have on the account.

    1 vote

  10. Did anyone play Phantasy Star Online?

    ~games Ask (survey)
    I remember being young and going over to one of our neighbor's house to watch him play Phantasy Star Online (PSO) on his Dreamcast with other people over the Internet which blew my mind as a kid....

    I remember being young and going over to one of our neighbor's house to watch him play Phantasy Star Online (PSO) on his Dreamcast with other people over the Internet which blew my mind as a kid. I also remember getting my parents to rent a copy of PSO for Gamecube to play it some, but since we had to return it, I didn't get very far or get to experience much of it. Though the memory of it being awesome never went away.

    When I was in high school, one of my best friends at the time loved the Gamecube version and played it a ton with his dad and brother growing up. He found a private server to play the PC version, Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst, which includes both episodes 1 and 2 along with the PC only episode 4. ["Where is episode 3?" you might ask, that was released as a card game that was also set after the events of episodes 1, 2, and 4] and asked me if I wanted to play with him and his brother. We ended up playing together, usually once or twice a week, depending on our schedules. Sometimes we would play all evening and just chat while grinding and leveling up our characters. I think I ended up getting to level 50 out of a maximum of 200. I could easily have seen myself continuing to play for years as a way to keep up with that friend if we had stayed in touch.

    That game has sat in the back of my head for years, I'd occasionally think about it, and have the urge to play it, but never would since I usually have other stuff going on, and I couldn't remember what server my character was on or my login information. I recently saw some videos about it on YouTube, since it was the 25th anniversary that has got me looking in to it again. I think later in the year I may look in to setting it up to play on my Android phone.

    PSO has an interesting place in video game history, and something I didn't know until watching a retrospective was that the Monster Hunter series took inspiration from PSO.

    There were follow-up games made, like Phantasy Star Universe, and Phantasy Star Online 2, but I only played PSO2 for a brief period when it was Japanese only, and I kept having my translation patches breaking every few days due to updates and never went back to revisit it after it was released in the West.

    It made me curious if any Tilders played it back in the day or still play it now?
    Do you have any fond memories of the game, or stories you might want to share?
    Did you play or enjoy any of the follow-up games to the original PSO?

    19 votes

  11. Comment on Anime: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~anime

    pekt
    Link
    I only had three anime that I watched, and I posted about them throughout the year in the what are you watching/reading threads. Taiyou no Kiba Dougram - I finished this, mostly through...

    I only had three anime that I watched, and I posted about them throughout the year in the what are you watching/reading threads.

    • Taiyou no Kiba Dougram - I finished this, mostly through binge-watching it on two long flights. I really enjoyed this anime, and it worked great as the second "real robot" genre anime. I've been meaning to write up a review to share on Tildes, and plan to finish it one day as it is still in a bit of a draft stage as I've not done a series review like this before and would like to do a nice job of it beyond saying "I enjoyed this, you should give it a go".
    • Initial D: First Stage - I watched through this and really enjoyed it. The old CGI/cel animation mash up was something I found myself really enjoying. The races are action packed and it never felt like the story dragged on. The slice of life parts in between races really felt like I was experiencing some casual teenage life outside a school setting. I plan to watch the other seasons eventually.
    • Armored Trooper Votoms I'm four episodes into the series and have a draft post for my thoughts on those initial episodes that I need to complete. I'm planning to post about my slow watch through this as well, and this is my goal anime for 2026.

    I enjoyed the animes I was able to watch and I have a feeling I'll be watching anime from the 80's-00's for the next couple of decades at the pace I watch. There's great anime being made now, but with my limited time for watching I prefer older anime and letting time filter out the best of a genre for me instead of watching what is airing.

    Looking forward, I think 2026 will be dominated by Armored Trooper Votoms and after finishing that I think it's finally time for me to watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes which will easily take up the rest of 2026 and probably in to 2027 if I also watch the Gaiden.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on Moving back to the US (after 7+ years living in Germany) in ~life

    pekt
    Link
    I moved internationally 3 years ago, and found the cheapest option for the move was less than container load (LCL) shipping container where your items are places on pallets and you pay buy volume...

    I moved internationally 3 years ago, and found the cheapest option for the move was less than container load (LCL) shipping container where your items are places on pallets and you pay buy volume of the number of pallets used.

    I would recommend you the company we used, but it only supports shipping from the US to other countries. I've included a link for your reference: https://internationalshippingusa.com/home.aspx?m=1&af=p100906_01-8lxj6xAH

    Best of luck with the move! If it's alright with you if I think of something later I'll send you a quick DM since it may be a while later due to end of the year/start of the year craziness.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Anime: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~anime

    pekt
    Link Parent
    If you don't mind me asking, about how much time do you spend each day watching anime? Also, how quickly do you end up dropping animes or decide that you don't feel like continuing? I'm definitely...

    If you don't mind me asking, about how much time do you spend each day watching anime? Also, how quickly do you end up dropping animes or decide that you don't feel like continuing?

    I'm definitely going to be coming back to take a look at your lists later this week since I'm rounding out work and need to go dive in to the post move craziness my life has become.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games

    pekt
    (edited )
    Link
    I wrote a list out and then deleted the draft since it ended on a bit of a downer note with me reflecting on how my hobbies have changed after becoming a Dad and that I questioned how much I still...

    I wrote a list out and then deleted the draft since it ended on a bit of a downer note with me reflecting on how my hobbies have changed after becoming a Dad and that I questioned how much I still enjoy gaming. After a night's sleep, and giving it a bit of thought, I definitely do still enjoy gaming, and I'm sure that I'll come back to it in the future. I'm at a point in my life that I've accepted for a while now where gaming isn't a priority for me and while I could fit it in if I really wanted to, I'm okay with where I'm at now.

    Some games I could think of for the 2020s:

    • Slay the Spire: This game has been consistently my most played game during the last several of years, in that I'll play a few runs here and there on my phone randomly. Perfect format for me as a dad where I can drop it at any time to do something else.
      Rating: 10/10 - the sequel is the only game I actually plan to buy in 2026
    • Slay - Created by Sean O'Connor: A small strategy game, this solo dev has been porting to different platforms for the last 30 years. I picked it up for Android ~7 years ago and really enjoy it for what it is. Great game for parents since you can pick up and put down whenever I'm slowly playing through all the maps on Master difficulty. I emailed Sean and asked him if he would add a small leaderboard for the maps so you can compare your fastest clears, and I think that would keep me going for a bit more.
      Rating: 8/10 - Worth it on a sale
    • Factorio: This game is crack. I haven't been able to play Space Age yet, but if I had more time for gaming, I'd put a few thousand hours in to this one. I had a friend where we would play 1-2 hours a week every week for a couple of years. We were working through Bobs + Angels before I became a dad and stopped being able to play regularly.
      Rating: 10/10 - worth every penny
    • Creeper World: I bought 1 and 3 on a sale and enjoy the slower paced RTS where you fight "creep" and not an actual opponent. I was plying through the first game to beat all the maps before I moved to the third game, but if my data didn't cloud save I'll be going to number 3 when I do get back to it.
      Rating: 7/10 - The first game isn't amazing, but it's fun and worth the small amount charged for it on sale.
    • Custom Robo: This is a Gamecube that I would borrow from my friend growing up. The gameplay consists of different arena battles with an "overworld" plot that I enjoy. I started playing through it in college again but lost my save data. Got it going on my phone last year and have beaten 1/2 of the main story. I play it incredibly infrequently and slowly and usually use the touch screen controls on my phone so I mainly use cheesy builds since the touch screen controls aren't the best for an actiony arena battler. I saw there are fan translations of the original games on N64 so I'd like to try those one day.
      Rating: 9/10 - this includes nostalgia, also you may enjoy the game more if you talk to every NPC avaiable between missions or segments of the game. The side stories/dialogue can be entertaining
    • Old School Runescape: I "play" this by hopping on a few different F2P accounts and do some flipping on the GE, mainly high volume item flips so I can slowly acquire more GP. I plan to eventually buy a bond and actually play some of the members content. My goal is to have 100M across my accounts so I can buy a bond and not feel like I'm in a rat race to get more GP to buy more bonds. I do slowly poke at raising more accounts to the minimum requirements to do the high volume trades without GE restrcitions. I played F2P as a kid and have only played maybe 5-6 months of members content throughout my life, so there's a ton I'd like to try and do. I could buy membership, but I'd rather spent the money on my family at this point.
      Rating: not giving a proper one, hard to rate this game since I've played it since I was a kid. Give it a try since there is always F2P to get a taste
    • Logitistcal game series - A series of games made by a solo dev where you deliver goods to towns and build up supply chains. The gameplay is deceptively simple, and is a bit of logistics puzzle type game. There are a bunch of different versions of the game called "modules" essentially their own map/puzzle usually adding a regional tweak to the gameplay or just a different challenge. I've poked away at the few different modules I have for years. I plan to eventually get Logistical 3: Earth which is his magnum opus of the series and years of development. The game is huge and includes two modes, the traditional puzzley type mode and a "zen mode" where the game becomes almost a puzzle idle game.
      Rating: 10/10 - if it clicks for you it is easy to lose hundreds of hours across the game series. I've recommend the games before, and you can try a few of the free modules he's released to see if the gameplay works for you.

    There are tons of games I want to play, and hopefully I will, but we'll see how things look. We still plan on having more kids, so I'm guessing me taking the time to play games more regularly is going to start back up in my late 30s or early 40s.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I organized a Factorio LAN at the end of college, and of the 4 people I invited, only 1 was able to make it. We booted up a fresh save and played for 18 hours straight, stopping for bathroom...

    I organized a Factorio LAN at the end of college, and of the 4 people I invited, only 1 was able to make it. We booted up a fresh save and played for 18 hours straight, stopping for bathroom breaks and a bit of cooking/eating.

    From that point on I would either set an alarm/timer or place a stop watch where I could see it while playing because it was so easy to play for hours at a time and not notice.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    pekt
    Link
    I finished Dust of Dreams. I wasn't expecting anything major to happen since this book is essentially part 1 of a 2 part final volume. I was very wrong and the last couple of chapters hooked me so...

    I finished Dust of Dreams. I wasn't expecting anything major to happen since this book is essentially part 1 of a 2 part final volume. I was very wrong and the last couple of chapters hooked me so I had to finish it to see what happened.

    I've started The Crippled God, but I've been busy with Christmas and the final stretch of my move so I haven't made much progress.

    It'll take me a bit to finish this last volume, but I keep going back and forth on it I'll just keep reading Malazan stuff right away or something else. It's all been coming together and I can see why people so strongly recommend it.

    In the mean time I've started reading The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. It's one of those books I've heard about and seen referenced for ages and since it's a short read I thought it'd make for something to read while I'm doing my move and unpacking.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on How do you want to define 2026 for yourself? in ~talk

    pekt
    Link
    I'm looking at 2026 as a year for improvement. We're moving to a new city at the end of this year, and it'll be a sort of fresh start since we only know a few people there and need to get plugged...

    I'm looking at 2026 as a year for improvement. We're moving to a new city at the end of this year, and it'll be a sort of fresh start since we only know a few people there and need to get plugged in. I'm planning on making this a year of growth, both professionally and personally.

    • I'm aiming for a promotion and planning to negotiate for a decent sized raise
    • I plan to rotate in more books for growth in some area instead of purely reading for entertainment
    • I want to work on improving my physical fitness, this includes being more regular with taking a couple of minutes to get up and move around/be physical during my work day since I sit most of the day otherwise
      * I may run a half-marathon, but I'm waiting to see how our schedule is at the new place before I commit to that
    • Get connected in a new church in the city we live in and start serving there
    • Become conversational in Malay, I've been putting this off for too long and I need to get my permanent residency in the next couple of years and this is a requirement
    • Finish a professional development course, I'm already 1/3 of the way through one, so I want to make this a regular thing that I'm doing to continue to grow in my career
    • General be a good husband and father improvements. This is an area where being complacent is easy and something I have found myself easily falling into a routine

    All of this can seem like a big list when I put it up front, but some of these are one offs, while others only take small changes in my scheduling or habits to build up on them. I'm planning to get SMART with all the goals and get them in a place where I'm reviewing them regularly.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    pekt
    Link
    I'm getting close to being done with Dust of Dreams, book 9 of Malazan Book of the Fallen. The book feels like it just keeps dropping lore bombs and that I'm building up to something big, but I...

    I'm getting close to being done with Dust of Dreams, book 9 of Malazan Book of the Fallen. The book feels like it just keeps dropping lore bombs and that I'm building up to something big, but I also know that there probably won't be any huge payoffs at the end of this book since it is essentially part 1 of a giant final volume that ends this 10 books series.

    I know that I'm going to immediately dive in to book 10 The Crippled God because I want to know how this ends!

    I do plan to post a mainline series discussion thread for anyone who wants to talk about the main 10 books. I do plan to read the rest in the series, but I'm going to take a break before diving in to them and read some other series next year. I'll probably read some of the The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas in between other books I read and will pick up the Novels of the Malazan Empire in 2027. That being said I may get the itch later in the year and start reading them sooner, but I'd like to read some non Malazan fantasy for a bit.

  19. Comment on Steam Replay 2025 in ~games

    pekt
    Link Parent
    I one upped you with a hefty 4 games played, but only 12 achievements. I think this year may have been my lowest ever for how much time I spent on Steam. Between my laptop having issues caused by...

    I one upped you with a hefty 4 games played, but only 12 achievements. I think this year may have been my lowest ever for how much time I spent on Steam.

    Between my laptop having issues caused by a swelling battery, which I took to a shop to replace and some other minor repairs since I didn't want to deal with finding a place to dispose of a swollen battery here, and having less time over all, I just don't feel like doing much gaming. There are tons of games I want to play, but I don't end up actually playing them, since I'd usually rather read a book or spend time with my wife/kids once everything is done for the day.

    I hold out some hope for playing a bit more next year, but we'll see how that goes.

  20. Comment on Gift recommendations in ~life

    pekt
    Link Parent
    Thank you for the recommendation, I put the first episode on my playlist, so I'll listen to it some time soon. I have more podcasts I'd like to listen to then I'll ever have time to listen to, but...

    Thank you for the recommendation, I put the first episode on my playlist, so I'll listen to it some time soon.

    I have more podcasts I'd like to listen to then I'll ever have time to listen to, but it's still fun getting recommendations and immediately going "that is definitely something I'd like".