shu's recent activity
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Comment on Are there any video games that are/were popular in your country, that the rest of the world hardly knows about? in ~games
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Comment on Tildes Survey #9: How optimistic are you about the future? (Results) in ~talk
shu Link ParentWow, that are way more pessimists than I expected after reading the comments here. Maybe because it's somewhat frowned upon to share ones own negative outlook on the future. (I voted 'very...Wow, that are way more pessimists than I expected after reading the comments here.
Maybe because it's somewhat frowned upon to share ones own negative outlook on the future. (I voted 'very pessimistic', too.)
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Comment on Are there any video games that are/were popular in your country, that the rest of the world hardly knows about? in ~games
shu LinkI haven't played them myself, but around the year 2000 there was franchise called 'Moorhuhn' (or Crazy Chicken in english), which was very popular in german speaking countries. The original was a...I haven't played them myself, but around the year 2000 there was franchise called 'Moorhuhn' (or Crazy Chicken in english), which was very popular in german speaking countries. The original was a very simple 2D shooter in which you had to shoot chicken, but it was an early example of a viral marketing success. From the linked wikipedia article:
It became wildly popular in German-speaking Europe, to the point of being described by various media outlets as a threat to the bottom line of businesses, on account of the number of hours wasted by employees playing the game due its ease of accessibility and shareability (the original game only had a file size of approximately 2 MB, meaning it could be sent via email).
[...] on launch day, a free version was reportedly downloaded 180,000 times per hour; a rate high enough to completely crash some of Germany's main IXPs in Frankfurt and Hamburg.
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Comment on What do you think the top three most used apps on your phone for the past week are? in ~tech
shu LinkProbably the alarmclock app, the sms/rcs chat and a meditation timer. I barely use the phone for anything.Probably the alarmclock app, the sms/rcs chat and a meditation timer. I barely use the phone for anything.
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Aldous Harding - I Ate The Most (2026)
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
shu Link ParentWorkers & Resources: Soviet Republic goes also in the right direction, it's probably the most complex city builder right now. But I'm not really a fan of its theme (russian vassal state), so it...Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic goes also in the right direction, it's probably the most complex city builder right now. But I'm not really a fan of its theme (russian vassal state), so it hasn't really clicked for me.
Whoever gets to it first though could be making something truly unique.
Yeah, I agree! Although the gaming market is so crowded, this particular niche has not been served yet. I hope we'll see more citysims in the future.
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
shu Link ParentLooks good! It's not quite what I had in mind, but it's very cool that they've set a focus on the simulation aspects. I put it on my wishlist, maybe I'll check it out some time. Thanks for sharing!Looks good! It's not quite what I had in mind, but it's very cool that they've set a focus on the simulation aspects. I put it on my wishlist, maybe I'll check it out some time. Thanks for sharing!
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
shu (edited )Link ParentA citysim to explore in first person sounds cool too, but I'm basically looking for something along the lines of a classical sim like the SimCity-series, only in modern and complex. The...A citysim to explore in first person sounds cool too, but I'm basically looking for something along the lines of a classical sim like the SimCity-series, only in modern and complex.
The Cities:Skylines games go in that direction, but are quite simple and game-y; they're more like 'city painters' where it's basically impossible to fail, and their simulation is quite shallow. I would love something with much more depth and variety (and less DLCs š).
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Comment on What's a game you're dying to play that doesn't exist? in ~games
shu LinkWhat I would really like to play is a modern 3D citysim with interesting & deep-ish simulations of society, politics, infrastructure, commerce, industry, transport, traffic, etc.. Ideally very...What I would really like to play is a modern 3D citysim with interesting & deep-ish simulations of society, politics, infrastructure, commerce, industry, transport, traffic, etc.. Ideally very optimized and self-published by an independent studio.
But that's very hard to make and basically impossible for a single developer.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
shu (edited )Link ParentThat's probably very wise. š And yeah, Factorios mechanics really work like a visual representation of many programming principles. Not to mention that it even features its own logic circuits via...there's a reason I haven't actually touched Factorio myself, even though it looks like a fantastic game. :-)
That's probably very wise. š
And yeah, Factorios mechanics really work like a visual representation of many programming principles. Not to mention that it even features its own logic circuits via combinators.
Your job description reminded me of this: a few months ago someone held a presentation at a hacker congress in germany, describing how they built a RISC-CPU inside Factorio. They then build an operating system and also Minesweeper and Snake with their own assembly (live-demo here).
In case you're interested:
Here's the deepl-translated youtube-description of the talk:
Factorio is a factory simulation game with a built-in logic system. This allowed me to build a CPU consisting of, among other things, a 5-stage pipeline, a forwarding logic unit, interrupt handling, and an I/O interface. Using an assembler I wrote myself, I was able to integrate my own operating system and programs like Minesweeper and Snake.
This talk aims to show you how classic computer architecture can be implemented in a completely different technical context and where surprisingly real problems in CPU development arise in the process.
Join me on this journey: From a view of the entire computer all the way down to the individual logic gatesāitās just a mouse scroll away!
Factorio is a game about factory automationāconveyor belts, steam engines, and production lines take center stage. While the gameās internal logic system (āCombinatorsā) is primarily designed to control the factory, it also allows for the development of complex hardware.
In this talk, Iāll share my story of how I created a complete RISC-V architecture in Factorio using only vanilla combinators:
The CPU operates with 32-bit words, has 32 general-purpose registers, 128 KB of RAM/persistent storage, a 5-stage pipeline with forwarding and hazard handling, and a logic unit for branches and interrupts. A display controller manages console output and a color display, while a keyboard controller enables input via physical in-game buttons.
On the software side, the hardware is complemented by the FactOS operating system, which provides a simple file system as well as system calls (for example, to print a string in the terminal). In addition, the operating system restricts the running user program to a fixed area of RAM, thereby preventing direct access to the hardware.
In this talk, Iād like to guide you through all layers of this architecture:
From the fundamentals of Factorioās signal physics, through CPU design and pipeline hazards, to the toolchain and the operating system. Iāll also provide insight into how Factorioās limitationsāas well as its advantagesācompared to conventional logic simulators can influence CPU design. Iāll wrap up my talk with a live demonstration of the system.
I am making the complete CPU, including the assembler source code, blueprints, and sample programs, publicly available. This allows anyone interested to load the architecture into Factorio, expand upon it, and develop their own software for it.
There will be a self-organized session where Iāll give a hands-on introduction on how to load the CPU into Factorio, how to write programs, assemble them, and integrate them into Factorio. Youāre also welcome to chat with me about the project thereāI look forward to all your contributions and comments :)
PhD (Philipp)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
shu Link ParentSeveral things: I think the simplest aspect is just the typical progression that many games share. Factorio has several layers of progression systems. In the beginning of a playthrough the player...Several things:
I think the simplest aspect is just the typical progression that many games share. Factorio has several layers of progression systems. In the beginning of a playthrough the player moves quite slow, building is a bit cumbersome, there are obstacles like cliffs, lakes and alien 'biters' that stand in the way of progress, some machines are slow, everything is just a bit basic. But over time players get access to many different tools and items that make basically all aspects of the game easier, quicker, simpler, more efficient or they open up completely new ways to design the base, and that's definitely very rewarding, especially in the bigger overhaul mods that take a long time to progress.
Factorio also gives its players a lot of freedom in the ways of building their bases. Every production chain is a small puzzle that can be solved in many ways, and all the small building blocks are simultaneously part of a larger puzzle, the question of logistics, or how we move items from one place to the next where they are needed. In parallel there's also an aspect of 'architecture', how to organize all the different production chains in the sense of space. All that gives a lot of options for creativity to build small/big or efficient/weird or spacey/crammed or organized/chaotic or just design for some kind of beauty or aesthetics. And these aspects also play a role when designing train networks or space platforms in the DLC. There are many parallels to programming in that regard.
But the thing that I really get lost in is just the growing complexity of a base, and the 'gardening' š , keeping it all running somehow, and just watching trains zipping, bots flying, belts moving and having the feeling of sitting inside this huge nearly organic thing that now moves millions of items around and that I build myself over dozens of hours. It's just kinda fascinating and very satisfying to 'grow' a base like that. š
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Comment on Tildes Survey #8: What is your favorite video game? (Results) in ~talk
shu (edited )LinkIt's Factorio. For me it's the best game ever made, with probably the best DLC ever made, and a mod community which creates so much fantastic content (from small QOL mods to massive overhauls)...It's Factorio. For me it's the best game ever made, with probably the best DLC ever made, and a mod community which creates so much fantastic content (from small QOL mods to massive overhauls) that the game is basically endlessly replayable.
It's also a technical marvel. The devs (Wube Software) optimized the game like no other and try to fix even the tiniest bugs. And - although I only play solo - the fact that a complex and systems heavy game like Factorio allows multiplayer maps with more than 500 players just blows my mind. I understand why it works, but it's still just super impressive.
Over the past nine years I spend many sundays happily focussed on building production chains and train networks, forgetting about personal and global woes and sorrows. And I still have a great time playing. Just a very special game.
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Comment on Clanker: A word for the machine in ~tech
shu LinkIt's interesting to me that so many here feel that 'clanker' is a slur. English is second language for me, and when I recently heard the expression the first time, I thought it sounded like a -...It's interesting to me that so many here feel that 'clanker' is a slur. English is second language for me, and when I recently heard the expression the first time, I thought it sounded like a - maybe even somewhat affectionate - term for retrofuturistic robots, which was now used for LLMs.
I never used the word myself, but I would never have guessed that it has these very negative connotations and is even associated with racial slurs.
Regarding politeness when dealing with LLMs: I wonder if there are certain biases that are triggered by the way people communicate with LLMs.
Since humans typically react to rudeness with some kind of resistance in the form of being uncooperative, and since these models were trained on hundreds of thousands of texts in which humans reacted negatively to rudeness or even oppression, I wonder if these emotional reactions find their way as hidden biases into the weights of LLMs during training.
Especially if an LLM is then instructed to act as a personal assistant - to mimic a human being - I could imagine that these biases get triggered when being 'mistreated', and as a result the model basically 'cosplays' some form of human opposition by being less helpful. Like another form of what Anthropic calls agentic misalignment.
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Comment on People who want less AI are breaking up with Google Search in ~tech
shu Link ParentI'd guess they are confused by the DuckDuckGo Browser or the DDG browser extensions, since they also mention "DuckDuckGo [...] has experienced an increase in downloads". That's maybe what they...I'd guess they are confused by the DuckDuckGo Browser or the DDG browser extensions, since they also mention "DuckDuckGo [...] has experienced an increase in downloads".
That's maybe what they think of when they say "download a search engine".
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Comment on Updates to store tags: additions, removals, and edits in ~games
shu Link ParentI can think of two titles that kinda fit: Zach-Like since it's "a book of behind-the-scenes design documents from Zachtronics." Double Fine PsychOdyssey is an actual 33 episode documentary series......I am genuinely, sincerely curious what games could be tagged "Documentary".
I can think of two titles that kinda fit:
Zach-Like since it's "a book of behind-the-scenes design documents from Zachtronics."
Double Fine PsychOdyssey is an actual 33 episode documentary series about the process of developing Psychonauts 2.
And some games have optional modes with developer commentaries while playing (IIRC the Half-Life games do), which also kinda fits the tag.
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Comment on HOPE | Official teaser in ~movies
shu LinkWikipedia: Hope (Korean: ķøķ) is a 2026 South Korean science fiction thriller film written and directed by Na Hong-jin. The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell,...Wikipedia: Hope (Korean: ķøķ) is a 2026 South Korean science fiction thriller film written and directed by Na Hong-jin. The cast includes Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender. The film centers on a village police chief and his officer who must defend an elderly community from a mysterious beast after wildfires sever all communications, while a local hunting party finds itself being hunted in the mountains.
Pretty great trailer.
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HOPE | Official teaser
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Comment on Bun has been rewritten in Rust in ~comp
shu Link ParentThanks for the info! I just think if I had worked diligently on efficient Zig code for this project as a contributor before, I'd feel completely deflated after this move. Jarred Sumner allegedly...Thanks for the info!
I just think if I had worked diligently on efficient Zig code for this project as a contributor before, I'd feel completely deflated after this move. Jarred Sumner allegedly llm'd all this in a few days, and if I had been a (non-AI) contributor to this project, I'd be absolutely demotivated to work on this now.
Also this can't be good Rust code, right? A 1:1 port from Zig has to have thousands of unsafe sections, circumventing the borrow checker and Rusts philosophy. I can't imagine that Rust devs would want to work on a project like this.
But yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it pans out.
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Comment on Bun has been rewritten in Rust in ~comp
shu LinkEffectively Bun is now 'open source' in name only since no sane human being will review or work on a million lines of AI generated code. The whole project can now only be worked on with LLMs. In...Effectively Bun is now 'open source' in name only since no sane human being will review or work on a million lines of AI generated code. The whole project can now only be worked on with LLMs.
In some sense it's the open source version of "Flood the zone with shit".
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Comment on I think that we wonāt see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore in ~games
shu (edited )Link ParentRegarding AR: I have no idea when, but at some point we'll have very lightweight glasses or contact lenses that will be able to project stable high definition images (say 4K or higher) on any...Regarding AR: I have no idea when, but at some point we'll have very lightweight glasses or contact lenses that will be able to project stable high definition images (say 4K or higher) on any surface in our rooms or the environment, while simultaneously allowing us to control e.g. embedded UIs with our eyes and hands.
Should that ever become affordable I'd guess that conventional screens will be dead, because we'll be able to have as many screens as we want in whatever sizes we want everywhere around us.
When all this works without friction it should have a huge impact on games. We could just use huge virtual screens with conventional controllers or keyboard/mouse and it would be like gaming on a cinema screen. Or we go outside, lie down and play on the clouds in the sky. We'll also be able to add virtual control elements to control games with our hands, or project a game world all around us.
I think when that arrives it will change completely how we work and play with computers because it enables a transition from conventional screens on the wall to simulated 3D environments all around us (without isolating us like VR does).
Oh wow, in Iran! Then the franchise was much more widespread than I thought. Cool!