Protected's recent activity
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Comment on Hollow Knight: Silksong will cost $20, releases Thursday at 7 am PDT/10 am EDT in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentBut there was an arcade machine in Day of the Tentacle that contained the full Maniac Mansion! Or was that only the specific version I had?totally oblivious that it is a sequel to Maniac Mansion
But there was an arcade machine in Day of the Tentacle that contained the full Maniac Mansion! Or was that only the specific version I had?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected LinkI'm half way through my second run of Freeride, which is a very whimsical indie adventure game. And I love whimsy! At the beginning of the game, a girl invites you to hop on a train and go on an...I'm half way through my second run of Freeride, which is a very whimsical indie adventure game. And I love whimsy!
At the beginning of the game, a girl invites you to hop on a train and go on an adventure. The train, which contains a variety of non-human passengers, immediately takes to the skies and into the spirit world. You learn you're in one of the Fate Trains, which follow the Schedule of the Station Master - who is the god of Order - in order to keep Chaos at bay. The girl who invited you is the train's Conductor, a prestigious and respected position. So when she almost immediately disappears, leaving you with her badge of office and her powers of telekinesis, everyone's understandably upset and suspectful of foul play. Worse, cracks in the fabric of reality are gradually swallowing everything, and a massive war threatens the real world as well. You'd better do something about all of that! No pressure.
Telekinesis is your main way of interacting with the world of Freeride. Every location is full of all kinds of clutter, much of it humorous, which you can pick up with the power of your mind, move around, store in your limited size inventory/cell phone, eat (you can't eat everything, but you can eat more than you'd expect), gift to any character, or throw at enemies, which is your only way of winning/affecting combat encounters. This type of clutter-oriented gameplay reminds me -just a little- of other equally charming games I've played in the past, such as Mayhem in Single Valley or Going Under. Items have attributes that dictate what they're "good" for, and characters have preferences that determine how effective an item is when gifted to them.
Narratively, Freeride is highly non-linear, although there are a number of overall chapters and unavoidable events dictating progression. You don't have unlimited time to make choices (or to choose not to make them), and doing/saying one thing often makes another impossible. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say you are supposed to play through multiple times, and thanks to some different choices my second run is going very differently from the first one. One chapter became much shorter, while another became much longer, unlocking content I hadn't seen yet and new insights into the varied cast of characters. There is the odd seam in the fabric of the narrative when you realize something a character had said before makes more sense now that you've seen a scene that just hadn't happened before.
Freeride makes a big deal of how it collects all kinds of fun statistics about your gameplay. At the end of each chapter, a narrator character will discuss the choices you made with you (the player) and tell you how they compare with other players' on average, which is nothing unique - in fact, Catherine, the previous game I played, had a similar thing going. At the end of the run, the narrator summarizes your choices and tells you your personality type, which seems very unnecessary and Gen Z - though it doesn't really get in the way either way.
I'm not a huge fan of having to replay narrative games multiple times, but the story only takes a few hours and the big divergences in what happens are sufficiently interesting to me. Reminds me of certain old point and click adventure games in a good way!
For some reason I couldn't figure out how you're supposed to play this with a gamepad, but it works great with mouse and keyboard.
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Comment on Refusing LinkedIn's ID verification is costing me my job in ~tech
Protected LinkIt could be 1 or 3. Or a browser extension blocking a call to an endpoint, or even certain browser settings? Unfortunately I think you're going to encounter this sort of thing, if not on Linkedin,...It could be 1 or 3. Or a browser extension blocking a call to an endpoint, or even certain browser settings?
Unfortunately I think you're going to encounter this sort of thing, if not on Linkedin, at least definitely on Google, so you're only moving the issue around. I'm not sure how you're going to solve the problem without having to expose yourself (eventually) to this sort of invasiveness.
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Comment on Should C be mandatory learning for career developers? in ~comp
Protected Link ParentAh, you're describing my university degree. I like that I have a decent understanding of all that stuff, but it was very intensive and took me a long time to get through.Does it make sense to teach C without assembly, or assembly without raw machine code? Does this keep recursing down to individual logic gates and beyond?
Ah, you're describing my university degree. I like that I have a decent understanding of all that stuff, but it was very intensive and took me a long time to get through.
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentIt's really not. There's a whole philosophical component and mystery apart from the gameplay, but most of the actual puzzles are very straightforward affairs about moving parts around in a 3D...It's really not. There's a whole philosophical component and mystery apart from the gameplay, but most of the actual puzzles are very straightforward affairs about moving parts around in a 3D environment (sometimes it's possible to "break" the intended solution if you're clever about using the 3D space).
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentStarting over? What are you having trouble with?Starting over? What are you having trouble with?
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Comment on Make new friends here! in ~life
Protected Link ParentSpiritfarer was very memorable for sure. I'd never have thought I'd be so invested into feeding fries to a mushroom child whenever he wanted.Spiritfarer was very memorable for sure. I'd never have thought I'd be so invested into feeding fries to a mushroom child whenever he wanted.
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentI'll take it! It's The Talos Principle 2! East 3, I think? @velosol @trim @Asinine -
Comment on How to get a backpack sold by Decathlon in EU to the US? in ~life.style
Protected LinkI found this well-sourced post with the up to date status on current shipping difficulties from the EU to the USA . Anyone in the US considering having anything shipped from the EU at this time...I found this well-sourced post with the up to date status on current shipping difficulties from the EU to the USA . Anyone in the US considering having anything shipped from the EU at this time should get an update on this first.
(Note: Portugal not listed but our postal service, CTT, has also announced suspension.)
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentIt's a puzzle solving game! (but not Myst or Riven)It's a puzzle solving game! (but not Myst or Riven)
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentVery good guess, but no! Wrong time period!Very good guess, but no! Wrong time period!
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentThese are so cool! And there are lots of them!These are so cool! And there are lots of them!
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentIncorrect! But it's not an old game for sure.Incorrect! But it's not an old game for sure.
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Comment on What's your current PC wallpaper? in ~tech
Protected LinkIt's always a vista. Often it's a landscape photo I photographed or created (panoramic). Sometimes it's a screenshot I took from a game, such as right now (can you tell which game this is from?)....It's always a vista. Often it's a landscape photo I photographed or created (panoramic). Sometimes it's a screenshot I took from a game, such as right now (can you tell which game this is from?). Rarely it's art released as a wallpaper.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentLuckily I'm plenty experienced at puzzle solving, so the biggest source of frustration for me are the janky controls. All it takes to move around and climb up and down is to tap the analog stick -...Luckily I'm plenty experienced at puzzle solving, so the biggest source of frustration for me are the janky controls. All it takes to move around and climb up and down is to tap the analog stick - no button presses required unless you're pushing/pulling blocks - so imagine tilting the stick just slightly wrong and launching yourself to your death after 50 moves!
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Comment on Medieval Europeans were fanatical about a strange fruit with a vulgar name that could only be eaten rotten. Then it was forgotten altogether. Why did they love it so much? And why did it disappear? in ~humanities.history
Protected Link ParentOpen Ars, the new... fediverse... art portfolio platform...?Open Ars, the new... fediverse... art portfolio platform...?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected LinkI'm half way through Catherine. This was a generous gift from @cheep_cheep ! The protagonist of this game, Vincent, is in a long term relationship with a woman called Katherine. At the beginning...I'm half way through Catherine. This was a generous gift from @cheep_cheep !
The protagonist of this game, Vincent, is in a long term relationship with a woman called Katherine. At the beginning of the game she starts dropping hints that she wants to get married, and also informs him that she's pregnant. More or less at the same time, a drunk Vincent meets a woman called Catherine at the bar where he drinks and hangs out with his friends and they end up sleeping together. Henceforth, when he falls asleep, Vincent is transported to a nightmare world in which he is a sheep and has to climb an endlessly collapsing tower of blocks, sometimes chased by aggressive giant monsters made of female body parts or marriage-related stuff. The towers are populated by other escaping sheep representing men from Vincent's life who cheat on their partners, and news start coming out of men dying in their sleep...
This is an Atlus game, and their DNA is all over it. Like in Persona, the game progresses from day to day, and there's a distinction between the waking/daytime sequences, in which Vincent frequents his usual haunts and participates in conversations with acquaintances and cutscenes, and the nightmare sequences which contain all of the gameplay. The tower climb is very much a puzzle platformer, with Vincent having to open his way up by pushing and pulling blocks and dealing with various types of blocks.
The time limit imposed by the tower progressively collapsing from bottom to top means speed is of the essence, and especially in boss levels the timing can be pretty tight. Controls are a little janky, often changing from camera-based to tank controls depending on where Vincent is; levels typically have one single checkpoint, and since you can freely push blocks off the tower it's not only possible but easy to put yourself in an unwinnable position (or just fall off), which means a single mispress can result in having to repeat a very long sequence. Levels typically end up requiring you to memorize all the moves needed for making your way to the top and pulling them off perfectly. Luckily it's also very easy to gain extra lives (at least so far), so you will rarely have to reload from save.
The story of Catherine is obviously oozing with subtext. The "problem" I have with it is that I kind of... hate every character? Vincent is obviously the worst, too indecisive and cowardly to be honest with either woman (or both) and seemingly content to live each day on a razor's edge, constantly lying to himself and everyone. But I can't say I like Katherine or Catherine either, for reasons I don't want to spoil (and I suspect they're only going to get worse).
Visuals are pretty decent; there are 2D anime sequences by Studio 4°C, but even the 3D cutscenes are well animated, with some great facial expressions on the characters. I'm playing in japanese; unfortunately some of the lines are missing subtitles for some reason, but I do recognize some of the top voice talent that they used from various animes. On the one occasion in which I died, there was no checkpoint; I had to reload from save and replay through a bunch of cutscenes, which was rather annoying. You have to remember to save before leaving the bar, as there's no way to save at the beginning of a nightmare!
The game has only crashed once so far. Could be worse!
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Comment on Make new friends here! in ~life
Protected (edited )LinkHere's one fact about me: I've had terrible experiences with these friend catalogue style exchanges in the past and am extremely cynical and distrustful of them. To the point where I've thought,...Here's one fact about me: I've had terrible experiences with these friend catalogue style exchanges in the past and am extremely cynical and distrustful of them. To the point where I've thought, perhaps unkindly, wow, no wonder this person is short on friends. Doubtless others have had their reasons to think the same about me, but at least I can confidently say I've never treated others as poorly as I felt I have been treated. Maybe I'm just bad at choosing who to contact? Maybe things can work better here.
Now that I've pre-intimidated you a little: I'm a middle aged geek with a variety of interests. Variety is the spice of life, after all, but this might disappoint a lot of people who like to go all in on one specific interest. I keep busy, but I'm happy to chat or participate in activities with others, it just might require some advance scheduling. I don't care about your age, but preferrably don't be a child, please (it's the Internet - you never know who's behind the username!) [EDIT: Clarified that you can have children, just don't be one!]
I'm a bachelor and software developer who currently does some self-employed contract work. I also have various personal projects, sometimes with years long backlogs. I've been programming since I was 8 (QBasic). I have a low opinion of the software industry and especially big tech. We can bond over that! I've been running a remote dedicated bare metal server for more than 20 years for all kinds of projects, and have had experience with many ISPs in several countries (those suck, too).
I've arrived on the internet before virtually everyone from my generation. I was intimately familiar with IRC as a youth. I frequented ActiveWorlds, but never really got into Second Life. I started playing Minecraft when it was still in alpha and ran a server for a dozen friends for years. I wrote some of the first Bukkit plugins and other mods, but I haven't played at all in a few years. I'm enthusiastic about VR and have a pretty good VRChat friend group; I participate in a few weekly events (always in full body VR) - I'll be happy to show you around if you are interested in VR. I'm also familiar with Blender and Unity if you're interested in making your own avatar for it.
I sing karaoke online. I have a small youtube channel in which I publish karaoke videos I create. I'd say I'm fairly good at it.
Another VR activity I favor is Beat Saber, my favorite workout, which I've been playing for years. I don't get to do it as often as I'd like, especially in a year like this one when I keep getting hammered by diseases. I miss when the pandemic forced people to keep their gross germs behind masks; I've never been so healthy as I was during those years. I should probably go for more walks outdoors; it was easier when I lived in a walkable neighborhood (which is no longer the case).
Since I like to eat well and live mostly alone, I cook all sorts of things regularly (and bake - some people have pointed out to me this is different?) People seem to think my cooking is pretty good, so they'd probably be surprised by how clumsy and amateurish I really am. I also fix things around the house; despite not being a dad, I come from a long line of dads and know my way around a power drill and a pair of pliers ;)
I love to read fiction. I read almost every day, have read a lot of books and will certainly read a lot more until the day I die. I am currently reading The Book That Held Her Heart by Mark Lawrence. I'm familiar with the most popular authors of Science Fiction and Fantasy but I'm certainly happy to learn about new ones. Sometimes I rest my brain by reading lowbrow garbage and don't always regret it ;) I've made several attempts at writing my own novels and short stories, but I'm my own worst enemy there - I always end up putting too many activities on my plate and having to stop until I untangle the mess (I am currently in the middle of one such intermissions, but I hope to pick writing back up in 2026).
Language learning is an even harder commitment. Over the years, I've been slowly and painstakingly learning a bit of japanese, although I've never got to a point where it "sticks" in my mind. Last year I learned a lot of kanji that next year I'll have to refresh my knowledge of. At least you can still talk to me in portuguese, despite the abysmal state of our publishing industry meaning I rarely ever read the language anymore.
I like western and eastern comics (and webcomics too!) During my university years I belonged to a scanlation group. Among other things, we were at one point the only people in the world translating the latest One Piece chapters to english, and we helped popularize a few other things. I hope by this point you're starting to pick up on the pattern of how I manage to turn everything I like into more work for myself ;)
I live in a beautiful place (whose politicians seem hell bent on ruining it with poorly planned mass tourism, but that's a different matter). During my college years I used to go out a lot and take landscape photographs. I'm still a big fan of landscapes and always try to get a few good landscape or cityscape photos whenever I travel. I haven't been out of the country since the pandemic, but in the past I've traveled all over western europe (multiple times to some countries) as well as to the US, Canada and Brazil. I've also been to the Azores and Canarias islands. Hopefully I will travel again in the future.
I'm a huge fan of indie games. I'm happy to play some real obscure stuff sometimes. Some of you might have encountered my rambling, annoyed writings on the subject in the weekly what have you been playing threads. They can get almost as long as this post. I assure you, I'm having fun playing those games! Favorite genres include puzzle solving, narrative (story heavy) games, platformers and metroidvanias, roguelites, occasionally base building and rhythm games. In the past I played a lot of little multiplayer games with friends, ie Duck Game, Ultimate Chicken Horse, that sort of thing. My problem with multiplayer games is that I'm not super skilled - especially on a timer!
I love a lot of board games and play weekly online with a little group (I'd be happy to play in person, if we weren't all in different countries/states). Board Game Arena is our platform of choice, but Tabletop Simulator has also been used many times. I favor strategy and worker placement games, and good catch up mechanics; randomness can irritate me a little unless the game is really well designed (like, say, Dice Forge or Splendor). Social/party games are fine too!
I watch western TV shows and anime, although it's not a priority. My brother finally reminded me enough times that Wednesday s2 is out for me to start watching it this week. I love dumb shows for teenagers but I can also get sick of them fairly quickly. In recent years my viewing preferences seem to be best met by Apple TV shows (and Only Murders in the Building I guess!) I probably know more anime than most, which is probably why I refuse to make recommendations before asking 20 questions about your tastes.
I enjoy a smattering of various genres of music. Notably I enjoy prog rock and prog metal, including modern bands (I disagree with the fans who seem to think music ended in 1979). Unfortunately I don't have enough time to put into listening to music to be as well-informed as I'd liked or to keep up with all new albums. Oh well!
I multitask often. I'm likely to have streams or long form videos playing in the background while I do other things. I watch GDQ and have been a Desert Bus for Hope participant in... well, almost since the beginning?
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Comment on Remedy Entertainment will be blowing out thirty candles on the birthday cake in August – celebrating thirty years of independently making video games in ~games
Protected Link ParentI had no idea Death Rally was developed by Remedy. I played that game a lot in school with my classmates. Good memories.I had no idea Death Rally was developed by Remedy. I played that game a lot in school with my classmates. Good memories.
I often wait for the obscure indies I play to be discounted down to something like €20.
That said, Silksong will sell more copies than those games by several orders of magnitude, so they don't need such a big price tag to make a profit... It's sad that, these days, it feels odd that anyone wouldn't do all they can to make as much money as possible.