Protected's recent activity
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 18: Stateside Scramble | Trailer in ~hobbies
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 18: Stateside Scramble | Trailer in ~hobbies
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Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games
Protected LinkWorms: Armageddon was maintained and improved by community developers for many years. Mods, some of which were later folded back into the main game, improved the already highly versatile built in...Worms: Armageddon was maintained and improved by community developers for many years. Mods, some of which were later folded back into the main game, improved the already highly versatile built in scheme system, allowing for the creation of all kinds of goofy game modes.
My community played this game for many years. One of my friends made a repository software for installing additional content across our group, which we loaded with additional sound banks, maps, etc. Some of us made many custom schemes. We ran tournaments. It has been around a decade now since we stopped playing, but some of us played a few matches last weekend for old times' sake and it was a lot of fun (though we're not roping nearly as well as we used to...)
We might play again one of these days. Would anyone like to join in? This game supports up to 6 teams per match and 7 connected players (those not playing can watch). It costs €3 on Steam this week.
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 18: Stateside Scramble | Trailer in ~hobbies
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Comment on What is your eleventh favorite video game? in ~games
Protected LinkOh, come on! I could sort Steam by playtime, let's see... Starbound?? Perhaps, but this is a poor list, as the top includes such "videogames" as... OVR Advanced Settings (#1)... Tabletop...Oh, come on!
I could sort Steam by playtime, let's see... Starbound?? Perhaps, but this is a poor list, as the top includes such "videogames" as... OVR Advanced Settings (#1)... Tabletop Simulator... RAD Closed Beta... VRChat... Maybe playtime isn't a very good indicator of quality anyway?
In the other thread I claimed I could easily choose 20 favorite games. If all of that counts as my #1 game, then what if I check position #30? Can of Wormholes, pretty good actually. Very representative of the kind of semi-obscure game that, without being my favorite, I rather liked (100%ed) and is really well designed too.
What if I check #11 on GOG? My GOG catalogue has much more consistent quality (and videogame-ness). Here the result is Pyre, which feels a lot more right. It's sandwiched between Death's Door and Hob, both of which would also be good candidates.
There's also my internal categorization system on Steam. For all that I've recently argued on Tildes against the utility of 5 star ratings, I hypocritically keep my own 5 tier ranking for every game I play, which isn't biased against shorter games. Assuming 5 stars accounts for all of the "20 favorites", what if I pick something I assigned 4 stars to? There are many, but A Highland Song feels right. Or maybe Haste.
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Comment on Xbox is planning to shutter Peabody Award-winning Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight) in ~games
Protected Link ParentIt's my hope and belief that Double Fine can survive something like this. They have a core of people who have been working together for a very long time, highly skilled industry veterans who have...It's my hope and belief that Double Fine can survive something like this. They have a core of people who have been working together for a very long time, highly skilled industry veterans who have created many amazing games. And they've been through lean times before, for years at a time! No matter what happens to the companies and trademarks, if they want to keep working together, I'm sure they will.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentClick to expand spoiler. I have read about how Renzo Nero thought movies should be art that exists for themselves, projected in empty movie theaters untainted by the expectations of human eyes, or...it wasn't built for you.
Click to expand spoiler.
I have read about how Renzo Nero thought movies should be art that exists for themselves, projected in empty movie theaters untainted by the expectations of human eyes, or something. Was this game designed by Renzo Nero too? Is this... meta?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentWould you be willing to go into further detail regarding this philosophical decision? As a player, I feel like (so far) these controls are bad design. I keep accidentally going to the status...Would you be willing to go into further detail regarding this philosophical decision? As a player, I feel like (so far) these controls are bad design. I keep accidentally going to the status window when I'm trying to interact with something and going into menus when I'm trying to go back. That's a non negligible amount of unnecessary interruptions and associated frustration. Brief, but very much noticeable.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected Link ParentWere you involved with the development of this game?Were you involved with the development of this game?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Protected LinkI started Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, a recommendation from my brother. It's an investigative game! Caught me a little by surprise coming from him, especially as this game is not all that casual...I started Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, a recommendation from my brother. It's an investigative game! Caught me a little by surprise coming from him, especially as this game is not all that casual (though still not as hard as the heavyweights of the genre).
The visuals are very stylish, almost entirely in black and white, and cherry red highlights. Vaguely (I don't want to spoil anything for you) the protagonist is a woman called to a small, remote hotel by an italian filmmaker with an eccentric, disturbing personality. This hotel is bristling with padlocked doors, cryptic messages, all sorts of clues and - probably - ghosts.
Like in any good Myst-like, you must read in-game books (booklets, I guess). Old timey computers are available in-game, and do double duty by both letting you save and load (no autosave!) and read floppy disks you find in the hotel. At one point you also acquire a totally-not-a-Game-Boy-please-don't-sue-us. Fortunately, the protagonist has not only a vast inventory capacity, but a "photographic memory" - all the clues you find are carefully catalogued and acessible from this menu no matter where you are (phew!) There's also a detailed "task list" (quest log) containing anything even remotely mysterious you have encountered. Good stuff! The puzzles also seem fine. No one has made me play "simon says" so far, but I have had to do math.
The controls are weird and infuriating. The same action button is used for interacting with things and people, opening your status window and navigating menus, depending on where you are and which direction you're facing. There is no "back" button; instead you have to select a "return" menu option in whichever window you have open if you wish to return to the game, and these are not consistently designed or placed. Maybe the game was made for iOS? I didn't look into it. The status window has various stats which may or may not come into play later. I think I will be able to make coffee at some point.
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentI don't know if I'd have enought time to participate much but you never know! I just think it still sounds similar enough to Tildes at the moment. On Tildes when I open a comment section all...I don't know if I'd have enought time to participate much but you never know! I just think it still sounds similar enough to Tildes at the moment. On Tildes when I open a comment section all branches without new posts that I've read before are collapsed by default (this behavior is configurable). Maybe you can just add a setting for people to have a fixed depth beyond which branches are collapsed by default even when unread? That would solve your problem with keeping comments closer to the root more visible.
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentWere you ever on Slashdot in the early years? That sounds similar to Slashdot's system. I thought about that when writing my earlier response but I figured in 2026 this would encourage a lot of AI...Voting requires a reason
Were you ever on Slashdot in the early years? That sounds similar to Slashdot's system.
Sort longer comments to the top
I thought about that when writing my earlier response but I figured in 2026 this would encourage a lot of AI slop as a means of manipulating the system.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
Protected Link ParentYeah, I got it earlier, from the original Gametap (the other massively important game I played on Gametap was Myst Online, aka Uru, etc.) I believe this pioneering, definitely-before-its-time "pay...Yeah, I got it earlier, from the original Gametap (the other massively important game I played on Gametap was Myst Online, aka Uru, etc.) I believe this pioneering, definitely-before-its-time "pay a monthly subscription for many games" service, operated by TBS, was only available in North America. Fortunately they weren't geoblocking, so I could ask a friend to subscribe on my behalf.
Of the nearly 1000 games they had (which included Sega's entire classic catalogue) if I remember correctly Psychonauts was the #1 top rated, which is why I played it.
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentI don't subscribe to the "upvote for like/correct" mindset, I'm more of an old-fashioned "upvote for good contribution to the discussion". I like systems that don't have symmetrical downvotes...I don't subscribe to the "upvote for like/correct" mindset, I'm more of an old-fashioned "upvote for good contribution to the discussion". I like systems that don't have symmetrical downvotes because they are more harmful when misused, effectively functioning as a "censorship" of sorts that mobs use to bury contributions they dislike.
Upvotes on the other hand can reduce noise and facilitate and encourage dialogue. In an ideal world, people comment if and only if they have something to add to the discussion, including opposing viewpoints, and contributions judged valuable are voted up.
Obviously that's not quite what happens even here. But I think Tildes does a good job of mitigating the issues reddit has with upvotes by removing bad incentives such as karma counters and using labels for comment demotion.
If you aren't using votes for comments, how do you solve the sorting problem? The better the culture is, the less it matters, regardless of the design of the platform. But assuming the culture is bad, is there a sorting system that can't be exploited? Because let me tell you, no matter where you are, whatever gets seen first gets seen more, and whatever gets seen more will have compounding approval.
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentBut you function on a platform that has openly shown their hostility to people like you. You don't ultimately have any control over your discourse, nor do your users. You are tolerated because (I...But you function on a platform that has openly shown their hostility to people like you. You don't ultimately have any control over your discourse, nor do your users. You are tolerated because (I suspect) you and your users generate profitable data for reddit and monetizable engagement.
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Protected Link ParentI suppose you could fork the tildes code base and implement your ideas about moderation transparency and such.I suppose you could fork the tildes code base and implement your ideas about moderation transparency and such.
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Comment on Google Chrome to fully remove legacy support for manifest v2 in ~tech
Protected Link ParentFirefox for Android has uBlock origin though?Firefox for Android has uBlock origin though?
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 18: Stateside Scramble | Trailer in ~hobbies
Protected Link ParentClick to expand spoiler. Fun start! I wasn't expecting Hot Ones express. Looks like the timing for winning that first challenge got pretty close, and the river challenge segment was pretty funny....Click to expand spoiler.
Fun start! I wasn't expecting Hot Ones express. Looks like the timing for winning that first challenge got pretty close, and the river challenge segment was pretty funny.
Amy saying some of those people are very generous (...) cracked me up.
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 18: Stateside Scramble | Trailer in ~hobbies
Click to expand spoiler.
Ben is such a good drunk!
Amy always has some great lines.
There's a really big imbalance caused by the luck of the draw in this game that's a little unfortunate. I initially thought the design of this game seemed balanced enough but that was assuming that fair randomness would yield fair results, which is of course not necessarily the case.
We'll see how it goes for Sam and Amy in the next episodes - not all is lost yet, I guess. The biggest problem is that if the right cards come up in the wrong order, the time and budget constraints might become insurmountable...