vili's recent activity
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Comment on CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Space Rogue in ~games
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Comment on CGA-2026-03 🕹️🐸🕌🔔 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games
vili Link ParentI actually used save states quite liberally towards the end of the game, even if I had made use of healing services (and hot springs, and wonder balls) throughout the game. After a couple of...Suffice it to say that this might have entirely negated the frustration I avoided through save states?
I actually used save states quite liberally towards the end of the game, even if I had made use of healing services (and hot springs, and wonder balls) throughout the game. After a couple of misplaced jumps that threw me out of the castle and forced me to re-repeat sections that I had already cleared, I just didn't feel like spending more time with areas that I already knew. Especially as I'm not particularly fond of platforming challenges when playing with a controller that I find somewhat cumbersome (I played the game with a Miyoo Mini Plus, which I realised is just a little too small for my hands).
Had there not been a time pressure to finish the game by the end of the month, and had this been 1992 when it probably would have been the only game that I could afford for a couple of months, I would certainly have been ok with this game design decision. But in today's world, with all the time pressures and responsibilities and competing entertainment, I'm glad I could take the easy way out. We are indeed living in the future.
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Comment on CGA-2026-03 🕹️🐸🕌🔔 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games
vili Link ParentI don't think this is the only time this game flirts with rather adult themes. It does include unemployment induced alcoholism (there actually seems to be something of a persistent undercurrent of...a coy, off-color adult joke being shoved into an otherwise kid-friendly game
I don't think this is the only time this game flirts with rather adult themes. It does include unemployment induced alcoholism (there actually seems to be something of a persistent undercurrent of class struggle satire?), features women in the bar that are if not prostitutes at least adult-only hostesses, and so on.
But probably the sequence that most raised my eyebrows is the one with the Red Riding Hood. When you find her, she breaks down crying that she doesn't want to go back to the shop as the shop keeper makes fun of her and ties her up. Or so the English translation goes. I was a bit concerned about her well-being, so I thought I'd check the Japanese original to see if she's doing better there.
Oh boy. As far as I can understand, in the original, she describes not only being tied up tight with a straw rope (あらなわでしばり上げられて), but she says that she is actually beaten with a hundred lashes of a whip (ムチで百たたき). And then, most disturbingly, she finishes with the vague and suggestive "In addition to that, he does this and that too..." (その上,あんなコトやこんなコトも‥‥)
The original Little Red Riding Hood is a folktale that is often interpreted as an allegory of rape and abuse, and may indeed have its origins in a more explicit version of such a tale. Whether the developers considered this, I don't know, but the choice of the character's name is definitely quite suggestive, considering what she is saying about her treatment.
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Comment on CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Space Rogue in ~games
vili LinkThe CGA Friendship Book Let me try something a little different for this month's topic: a thematic "friendship book". These were all the rage at my elementary school around the time Space Rogue...The CGA Friendship Book
Let me try something a little different for this month's topic: a thematic "friendship book". These were all the rage at my elementary school around the time Space Rogue came out, so I thought it appropriate to create one here.
The basic idea was that your book contained questions for friends to answer so that you could learn more about them. And you of course wrote your answers into other people's books with the singular hope that their book would somehow find its way into the hands of that one cute person you had a massive crush on and who would see your Incredibly Clever Answers and would finally come to talk to you since you were too
terrifiedcool to talk to them yourself.I'm not sure we know each other well enough to have developed secret crushes yet, but maybe this friendship book can change that!
I’d love to hear everyone’s answers to my friendship book questions. That said, I of course understand if you don't want to share too much. Feel free to skip any questions or all of them, or invent new ones. And you are more than welcome to participate in the friendship book even if you don't plan to play the game, or don't even know what CGA is!
🚀 Captain's Log
Your Callsign: What name did or will you choose for your character in Space Rogue? How do you usually choose your name in games?
Pilot's Choice: Are you a controller, joystick, mouse, keyboard, motion detection or touch screen kind of person when it comes to gaming? Something else? Has this changed over the years? Do you have a specific input device / model that you love the most?
Your Origin Story: Are you more of a slow-paced RPG player (like Ultima) or an adrenaline driven action gamer (like Wing Commander)? Space Rogue offers both: which are you more looking forward to?
👾 Deep Space Probes
Previous Missions: Space Rogue is typically described as combining Elite and the Ultima series. Are you familiar with those games? What about the Wing Commander series that it directly influenced? Did you know about Space Rogue before CGA?
First Flight: What was the first video game that you remember making you feel like you were actually in a three-dimensional space (outer space or just a room or anything where you felt you "were there")?
A World to Call Home: Is there a planet, space station or other location in any space game, film, book or other piece of media that feels most like "home" to you?
Your North Star: When games offer you the choice between great personal gain with the detriment of NPCs' wellbeing and the opportunity to help NPCs while losing something yourself, what do you usually go for or how do you make the decision?
🌍 Mission Control
Preferred Mission Type: What flavour of scifi do you like the most? Hard science fiction, space opera, science fantasy, social and political exploration, focus on tech? All of the above? Something else?
Liftoffs: What are your thoughts about human space exploration in the real world? Do you follow current space programs? Will you be watching Artemis II's journey to the moon and back?
Docking Procedures: If you were going to be assigned to work on a lonely space station for a decade and could take just one 8-bit or 16-bit system and fifteen freely chosen games for it (plus the equipment to run it all), which device would you bring for your entertainment?
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Comment on CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Space Rogue in ~games
vili LinkCGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the diskette for Space Rogue. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing! If you would...CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the
cartridgediskette for Space Rogue. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing!If you would like to be added or removed from the Notification List, please PM u/kfwyre.
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CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Space Rogue
But First, These Brief Messages If you were a hip gamer back in 1989, your first point of contact with our game of the month, Space Rogue, might have been this video ad (timestamped) that explains...
But First, These Brief Messages
If you were a hip gamer back in 1989, your first point of contact with our game of the month, Space Rogue, might have been this video ad (timestamped) that explains exactly why Origin's new space adventure is the hottest thing in gaming right now. Or you might have marvelled at this magazine ad.
I'm starting with these ads because the game is currently on sale on GOG! The sale ends in just two days, so get it while the getting is good! And while there, consider also grabbing Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold Plus (the 1993 remake) and/or Sid Meier's Pirates! (the 2004 remake) for our next month's gaming, as both are also heavily discounted. Thanks to /u/J-Chiptunator for the heads-up!
All of these do exist on Steam as well, of course, and don't cost much even when not discounted. I will write more about platforms and general availability later. But now, back to our regular programming.
Introduction
So, this is what it's come to. You in the pilot's seat, surrounded by the vast emptiness of cold, dead space. A row of cryptic console buttons. A user interface that seems to come from an entirely different era, if not species. One wrong move, one mistaken button press, and you are probably dead. Great. Just great.
It's not even your seat, or technically your spaceship, just something that you stumbled into when the aliens blew your crewmates into smithereens. You are the sole survivor, alone on board the Jolly Roger (who the hell named this ship?) and now seriously evaluating your life choices.
Go to space, they had said. Space is exciting, it's fun, it's different, they had insinuated. You specifically remember the poster screaming that it had "everything for everyone".
Bullshit.
Instead, you find yourself hunched over the console with a thick manual in one hand and a glass of the galaxy's worst gin in another, trying to figure out how this piece of crap Jolly Roger functions. You don't feel jolly at all. Or roger.
Just as you are about to give up and slip into cryogenic sleep for the next thirty days until that vacation in the Caribbean, you notice something buzzing on a side table. It's the quiet, gentle buzz of a smallish electronic device. Friendly, inviting. You pick it up and the screen lights up. It's a warm, welcoming glow of an e-reader. It is here to help. The page it opens simply reads:
Welcome to Space Rogue
In my CGA lobbying post, I wrote that although Space Rogue was a fairly major release at its time, for modern tastes, it can feel a little clunky, perhaps difficult to get into. It is not only the oldest game that we have played so far, but also the first one on our list that was designed with a personal computer and its keyboard in mind, rather than something that would be controlled purely with a controller, joystick or mouse. If you are not familiar with this era or style of gaming, it may take a bit of a mindset adjustment to get going.
I will try my best to help you get started without too much headache. Just trust me that there really is a very good game in there, in fact one that has been voted as one of the best Commodore 64 games of all time. It is a galaxy spanning scifi RPG that mixes the space sim combat of Elite and Wing Commander with the adventuring of Ultima and Mass Effect. A game that combines some of the best of late 80s design while paving the way for what was to come.
📚 Reading materials
Although the game starts with a cutscene that sets up the story, it still very much expects you to take a look at the documents that originally came in the game box. As so often with games of this era, these are not "supplementary" materials but an actual part of the game. Both Steam and GOG releases should contain the following:
- Quick Reference Card
- Novella (Stars of Opportunity)
- Manual
- Map
- Ship Models
With GOG, you should be able to download the files directly from the website. With Steam, the Manual shows up in the "Additional Content" section of the game page, while the rest can be found in the game's installation directory under the directory "Bonus Content".
The original game box also included an advertisement for the game-within-a-game arcade hit Hive!, but the GOG and Steam releases seem to not have it. You can find a copy here. And you can also find all of these documents in one package on scribd.com, although the manual there lacks colour and the reference card is for the Amiga version.
That's a lot of materials, I know. But you don't need to study them all at once. Here's what I suggest you do:
🕹️ Start by figuring out how to control the ship
Once you are through the opening cinematic, begin with the Quick Reference Card and its section titled "Commands Used in Space Flight". This will teach you how to move your ship in the cockpit view. Don't worry about the dashboard information right now, just concentrate on controlling the Jolly Roger. You should be safe to experiment at this point as you are in empty space and no one is going to be bothering you. I personally use the WASDZXC keys, but I know some prefer mouse controls.
When in the Cruise Flight mode (the default mode), the STOP key (S or 5) is very handy. It stops all of your turning and rotation immediately. Learn to use it.
💾 Saving and loading the game
Note also the Quick Reference Card's section titled "Saving the Game". In addition to remembering the keyboard command Ctrl+S, it is important to keep in mind that you can only save when you are in space. It's a good idea to save before docking at bases.
You need to give your save game a name. Remember that name because you need to type it again when you want to load it. You can only load games when starting the game. Loading a game asks a copy protection question that requires the manual.
If you forget your save file name, you can find it in the game's installation folder as a SAV file.
🧑🚀 Suggested first actions
Next, take a look at the section called "Quick-Start Instructions", still in the Quick Reference Card. It is like a tutorial, telling you what to do first so that you get used to the game's UI. For you convenience, below is what is says, together with my additional notes:
What to do first
You start the game deep in the Karonus star system, [which is the site of the magnificent Hiathra Starbase and the historic MiCon I mining station. Piracy has been virtually wiped out in this sector.] To get to the nearest starbase, follow these steps:
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Plot a course. Press N for navigation mode, then use the joystick, mouse or keyboard cluster [i.e. arrow keys] to select the CHART command. Press Return. Move the cursor across the map of the Karonus star system until you find Hiathra Starbase: the green square symbol at coordinates 13,19. Press the space bar.
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Select the HELM command. Autopilot will guide your ship to the new coordinates. [As you move, you may notice the interface telling you about messages or space ships. You should be able to ignore these and just let the autopilot move you to your destination without interruptions.]
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If a ship attacks you on the way, the journey stops. Select COCKPIT to fight the battle. Press T to target the enemy, and the space bar, joystick button or mouse buttons to fire a weapon. Consult the next section for other commands. [But I think the chance of being attacked here is very low.]
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After your ship arrives at its destination, select COCKPIT to return to the space view. Press T to activate your targeting computer. It tells how far you must travel to the starbase and in which direction. Move your ship so that the arrows on the edge of your viewscreen are centered and point inward. The starbase should appear onscreen as two pyramids connected by a light-colored axle. To dock at the base, manoeuvre your ship to touch the axle [which is the bright part inside of the station, or the top tips of the two pyramids. Don't fly too fast, as you need to be traveling at 20 m/s or less (the number next to the letters CF or NF in the bottom left of your dashboard) for docking to succeed. Also don't fire at stations as they will deny docking -- if you do it by mistake, pop out and return the next day.]
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At the base, walk around [using arrow keys or WASD or mouse], talk to everyone [pressing ENTER and selecting TALK when facing them] you meet, and buy some cargo [and inspect signs, items, closed doors and other things by pressing ENTER and selecting INSPECT while facing them]. You're on your way....
🪐 Learn more about the game world
After you have explored the Hiathra Starbase a little bit, it's a good time to learn more about the world in which the game takes place.
The novella gives you background information about your character and the world. Unlike the intro cutscene, the novella also gives you a goal. It's worth reading not just for the flavour but also for the information and guidance that it provides.
The manual also gives you background information about the universe. Take a look at these three sections to better understand the world that you inhabit:
- Information about the setting (41-46)
- Descriptions of location types available to you and hazards to avoid (36-38)
- Information about game mechanics (47-48)
Additionally, take a look at the map provided and figure out where you are.
🚀 Master your ship
After you have an idea of the world that you inhabit, start to learn everything you can about your spaceship. While this is an RPG, you will actually not be levelling your character; instead, you will be upgrading your ship. So, sooner or later you should know the Jolly Roger inside out. At the very beginning, avoid combat and hazards and instead get accustomed to:
- Your cockpit view (pages 3-7)
- The two flight models (page 8)
- How to dock at bases (pages 10-11). Keep in mind that you cannot land on planets.
- Navigating within a solar system (pages 21-23)
- Wormhole travel between systems (pages 24-25)
- Space hazards to avoid (38-39)
It is also a good idea to leaf through the rest of the manual, and to check out the hand-written notes that the previous owner of Jolly Roger jotted down. Once you get the hang of flying and docking and encounter some enemies, pause and read the remaining sections about combat and ship types.
👍 Early game tips
In case you feel a little aimless and/or overwhelmed, here are some further tips for the early game:
I can't buy weapons or shields for my ship!
Before you can purchase those, you need a pilot's licence. You can get it from the Imperium Representative at Hiathra, the station you docked at first if you followed the quickstart instructions.
Where do I find the answers to the pilot's test?
The game just assumes that you know these things. It's not a copy protection measure or anything. The answers are:
3.26, O, F=ma, Imperium
How can I get more information from the people I meet?
In addition to the dialogue options that are given, you can sometimes (if the option "Other" is given) ask people about topics using keywords that you type in. Try to ask about places and people you have heard of. Sometimes people can have interesting things to say.
What to do after Hiathra Starbase?
In addition to the Hiathra Starbase, the system you are in at the beginning also has the MiCon I mining station. It might be a good idea to visit it. Maybe you can even make some money ferrying cargo between the two?
How can I afford anything?
There are various ways to make credits:
- Trading: identify places where certain goods are cheap, buy those goods and take them to other places where the same goods are more valuable. Ka-ching.
- Piracy: You can raid merchants and other ships and steal their stuff (but see below).
- Bounty hunting: Instead of or in addition to bothering merchants, you can hunt down pirates for bounties (but also see below).
- Professional gaming: In theory, you can make quite a bit of money playing the game-within-game Hive. However, it takes a long time, so I wouldn't bother.
My name's Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!
Yikes! Don't sneak up on me like that!
Now, Thriftweed, keep in mind that your actions have consequences. There are factions in the game (Imperium, Merchant Guild, Pirates) and those factions react to what you do their members. Attack a merchant ship, and merchants won't be happy about it. Same with the others. This affects how other ships interact with you and what NPCs are willing to say to you.
At the same time, the more battles you win, the higher your reputation will be. People will know about you. Admire you. But also perhaps hunt you down to increase their own reputation.
Where the hell is the main story?
You won't really stumble into the main story until a little later in the game, so feel free to explore the world at first on your own. But if you want to get to the main plot quicker, the novella offers a hint.
You might remember that your character is slightly fixated about Duchess Avenstar. You also happen to know what system she is in. Perhaps go and find her?
However, you need to be "a seasoned warrior" before she takes you seriously. You need to have some reputation. So do also read those combat pages in your ship's manual and practice your space fighting skills.
Nebulae and other space hazards keep destroying me!
Well... Space Rogue sort of exists in a universe that conforms to Berkeley's ontological theory of subjective idealism. By which I mean, things only exist if you perceive them. And you only perceive them in front of you. Which means, hazards only get generated in front of your ship. Therefore, if you fly backwards, you can't really bump into hazards. Just keep in mind that this is clearly a philosophical statement and not a tech limitation or a bug.
🎶 Music
Space Rogue has little sound and no soundtrack, apart from the Japanese versions which are no longer available. In case you would like to listen to some music while adventuring, I have put together a Spotify playlist of tunes that might work. You can find it here. I hope you like it. You might be able to convert it to your preferred streaming service somehow.
Historical Context
Developed by Origin Systems towards end of the golden age of the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Space Rogue was something of a pioneering hybrid that bridged the gap between the space flight simulator genre, led by titles like Elite, and the deep narrative-driven RPG systems found in Origin's own Ultima series. The game was marketed as the first of Origin's "cinematic experiences" and while I don't think Origin ever used that marketing term again, their wildly successful and quite cinematic Wing Commander series launched a year later and in many ways stood on the shoulders of Space Rogue.
Space Rogue was created by Paul Neurath, who later went on to found his own company that developed a number of influential titles such as Ultima Underworld I & II, Thief I & II and System Shock 1 & 2. Meanwhile, a young Origin Systems designer by the name of Chris Roberts was quite influenced by Neurath's work and took its combination of 3D space flight and cinematic storytelling to create the Wing Commander series. These days, Roberts is perhaps even better known from his crowdfunded in-progress magnum opus Star Citizen, which in many ways seems to continue the Space Rogue legacy.
Game Information
Platforms & Versions: The game was originally released for Commodore 64 and Apple II. It was later ported to Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, FM Towns, Macintosh, PC-9801 and X68000. The versions are largely the same, with minor graphical differences, apart from the Japanese releases, which feature some music and improved cutscene visuals.
Genre(s): Space combat simulator, RPG
Stores: GOG and Steam. Note that the game is sold as "Space Rogue Classic". Don't confuse with the unrelated game from 2016 called "Space Rogue".
Game Setup
The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game.
On Windows and Linux, the game should run directly from Steam and GOG without problems.
On a modern Mac, you likely need to extract the DOS files and run them in a DOSBox emulator.
For other versions and platforms, I'm afraid you are on your own. But do tell us if you decide to do something funky like run it on a C64 or hunt down and emulate an FM Towns or a PC-9801 version!
It's recommended that you:
- Share which version of the game you're playing
- Share what hardware you're playing it on
- Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
- Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
- Ask questions if you need help
Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:
- Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
- What about its system or era?
- What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
- What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
- What are you expecting from this game in particular?
Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:
- Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
- Ask for help if you get stuck.
- Offer help to others.
It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.
Important
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Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.
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Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.
<details> <summary>Spoilers</summary> Spoiler text goes here. </details>
FAQ
What is CGA?
Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.
Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!
Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.
What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!
It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.
Do I have to sign up?
No. Participation is open to all.
There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.
Are there restrictions on what/how to play?
Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!
This means:
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Choose whichever version of the game you want.
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You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.
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You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.
If you have already played a game and want a different experience:
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Try a randomizer or challenge run.
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Play a different version of it.
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Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)
There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.
What is the schedule?
Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 28th.
Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).
Schedules are also posted then.
All CGA topics are available using the
colossal game adventuretag.What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?
Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.
The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.
The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.
There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.
11 votes -
Comment on Fan-translation projects - thirty-three years of history in ~games
vili Link ParentOur last two CGA games have in fact relied on fan translations! We played the RPG racing game Racing Lagoon in February, and this month's Game Boy title Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for...Our last two CGA games have in fact relied on fan translations! We played the RPG racing game Racing Lagoon in February, and this month's Game Boy title Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) also needed a fan translation, as it has never been officially released outside of Japan.
Which reminds me, if there are any Japanese speakers here, some of us have been scratching our heads about the game's closing lines and would appreciate any help understanding the text!
It's incredible to see the love and passion of people translating these games.
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Comment on CGA-2026-03 🕹️🐸🕌🔔 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games
vili Link ParentApologies for the faux pas of replying to my own comment but I woke up thinking that there is an interesting dimension to Polnareff’s statement that I hadn’t quite appreciated earlier. In many...Apologies for the faux pas of replying to my own comment but I woke up thinking that there is an interesting dimension to Polnareff’s statement that I hadn’t quite appreciated earlier.
In many ways, how you feel about the relationship between the Princess and Mandola is connected also to how you perceive the Prince. He too transformed, multiple times, into a frog and a snake. How does that thought influence the Princess and her feelings towards him?
But more importantly, you as the player transformed into the Prince through the act of playing. Is there a difference between you two? Are the choices made in a video game separate from you as a person, or is it still you, either way?
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Comment on CGA-2026-03 🕹️🐸🕌🔔 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games
vili Link ParentThe Japanese I think reads: Which I think would literally translate into something like: Take that with a grain of salt, though. My Japanese is poor so I don't know exactly how much to trust my...The Japanese I think reads:
ポルナレフどの。つかぬことを うかがうが‥‥
「ティラミス姫」が「マンドラ」に 変身して おられたのだな？
よもや その「はんたい」.... では あるまいな？はははははは....
ナニかと おもえば そのような .... 王子サマ。
そのようなコトは どちらでも -- 同じ -- ではありませんか！Which I think would literally translate into something like:
Lord Polnareff. I must ask you something...
Princess Tiramisu transformed into Mandola, didn't she?
Surely... it wasn't the other way around, was it?Hahahahaha!
So that's what's on your mind... your highness*.
For something like that, it’s the same either way, isn’t it?* I believe the Japanese expression used is somewhat dismissive, indicating that Polnareff first thought the Prince had something important to ask but after hearing his question considers it trivial. Maybe he adds "your highness" to course correct when he remembers that he is talking to a social superior.
Take that with a grain of salt, though. My Japanese is poor so I don't know exactly how much to trust my abilities or online translators, especially when it comes to nuances.
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Comment on CGA-2026-03 🕹️🐸🕌🔔 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) in ~games
vili LinkThis was a fun game. Maybe also the first Game Boy game that I have ever completed. "Interactive storybook" is a good way to describe the game. There wasn't much challenge, even if there were some...This was a fun game. Maybe also the first Game Boy game that I have ever completed.
"Interactive storybook" is a good way to describe the game. There wasn't much challenge, even if there were some interesting game mechanics. Midway through I thought that the various mechanics were going to be put together into a puzzle-heavy second half, but that never materialised. With the final boss, I again thought that I would need to put everything I knew together and puzzle my way into victory, but in the end it was basically just a long cutscene with a simple quicktime sequence.
The ending was subversive also in another way. The final, post-credits bit of dialogue puzzled me in its English translation, so I checked out the Japanese original. If I understand correctly, the Prince seeks clarification to the question whether it was Princess Tiramisu who transformed into Mandora, and not Mandora who has actually transformed into Princess Tiramisu. The answer he gets is that there is probably no difference, as the two are the same.
It raises interesting questions about identity, trust, romantic love and sexual interest. Can the Prince live happily ever after, as should be the convention, if he is simultaneously both attracted and repulsed by the woman he is to marry? Can he trust her, knowing now that she has manipulated him through his adventure for her own needs? And, most interestingly, does it indeed actually matter if she is Mandora who transformed into the Princess or the Princess who transformed into Mandora?
It’s a creative little game with plenty of attention to detail both in design and narration. Lots of quirky little jokes and nudges. My main criticism would probably be that the last third of the game felt a little samey and repetitive. It never quite evolved or ramped up to reach a “next level”, whatever that could have been. Still, it absolutely was a fun experience and something that I had never even heard of before CGA. Thank you everyone who voted for this one and huge thanks to @J-Chiptunator for being such a great host (just like everyone else who has hosted CGA — those are some big shoes for me to fill)!
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
vili Link ParentInteresting, thanks! Perhaps my brain handles English spelling somewhat similarly to how yours does colours or your childhood room. If that makes sense? Mine doesn’t typically pronounce logos or...Interesting, thanks! Perhaps my brain handles English spelling somewhat similarly to how yours does colours or your childhood room. If that makes sense?
Mine doesn’t typically pronounce logos or think of the name of the company when it sees a logo. The name is certainly accessible if needed, but it is not automatically activated by a logo. Again, I wonder if this is perhaps similar to how you can access the name of a colour if you need to, even if that’s not the sole or primary quality of a colour for you.
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Comment on According to a poll, Finns now trust the US as little as Russia and China and overall social trust is on the decline in ~society
vili LinkFinland was recently named the "happiest country in the world" for the 9th year in a row by the University of Oxford's World Happiness Report. Looking at the results of this poll about social...Finland was recently named the "happiest country in the world" for the 9th year in a row by the University of Oxford's World Happiness Report. Looking at the results of this poll about social trust and confidence, I wonder if a large part of that happiness derives from the apparent fact that Finns feel they can trust people around them in their everyday lives, the national defence, local order (police), scientific information (university research) and the head of state (president). To me, they all seem like markers of stability.
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According to a poll, Finns now trust the US as little as Russia and China and overall social trust is on the decline
A Finnish language news article at the Finnish public broadcasting company's website notes that 4% of Finns currently feel that the US inspires confidence in them. 1% of respondents say the same...
A Finnish language news article at the Finnish public broadcasting company's website notes that 4% of Finns currently feel that the US inspires confidence in them. 1% of respondents say the same about Russia and 3% about China. Looking at it from the opposite angle, 88% said that Russia decreases their confidence, 73% said the same about the US, and 59% about China.
The poll had a little over 1000 respondents and was carried out before the war in Iran started. The question for the above data was (my translation) "Do the following entities inspire confidence in you at the moment?" which, I suppose, is a way to measure social trust. The pollster's own report, also in Finnish, can be found here. They calculate their statistical margin of error at approximately ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. In addition to "increases confidence", the possible answers were "doesn't increase or decrease confidence", "I don't know", and "decreases confidence".
According to the poll, more Finns gain confidence from Nordic countries (59%) than they do from Finland itself (46%). Nato (44%) ranked highest as an international organisation, with the EU second (30%).
Of domestic and social entities, the defence forces ranked highest (67%), with the president second (52%) and the police third (51%). Less than 10% of respondents felt that these three decreased their confidence (or, I suppose, social trust). Social media (2%), influencers (2%), and political parties (3%) ranked lowest as sources of social trust.
Other results that I found interesting are that 84% of the respondents either fully or partially agreed that Nordic countries are the best countries to live in and 78% fully or partially agreed that they can trust fellow humans in their everyday lives. 75% of the respondents either fully or partially agree that Finnish universities produce trustworthy information. 36% agreed either fully or partially that Finnish companies take social responsibility seriously and don't just look out for their owners' interests, while 15% felt the same about international corporations.
Overall, the report suggests that the state of social trust in Finland is on the decline.
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Comment on I made a word association game - Noun Sense in ~games
vili Link ParentIn case it helps, I did some testing and it seems that the issue is related to the capitalisation of words. If I start typing a word on the iPhone keyboard with capital letters (e.g. NAT) and then...iPhone has been a bit notorious for having some issues with auto-complete. I messed around with it again this morning with mixed results. Doesn't seem to have any issue at all on Android; I'll keep trying to fix it but no promises as I've already spent some time on it.
In case it helps, I did some testing and it seems that the issue is related to the capitalisation of words. If I start typing a word on the iPhone keyboard with capital letters (e.g. NAT) and then select a suggested all-capital word (e.g. NATIONAL), this gets added into the input field without issues. However, if I do the same with lowercase letters (e.g. type "nat" and then select "national"), the word doesn't get added.
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
vili Link ParentJust to avoid any misunderstandings: I’m not the person you have been exchanging comments with in this thread, I’m the person who replied to your top level comment. No arguing from my side, I’m...Just to avoid any misunderstandings: I’m not the person you have been exchanging comments with in this thread, I’m the person who replied to your top level comment. No arguing from my side, I’m just very curious about the different ways people’s brains handle language and writing systems!
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Comment on I made a word association game - Noun Sense in ~games
vili LinkNot sure if this has already been mentioned, but on my iPhone (iOS 26.3) with Safari and the default iPhone keyboard, when typing in the words, if I use predictive text and select a word, nothing...Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but on my iPhone (iOS 26.3) with Safari and the default iPhone keyboard, when typing in the words, if I use predictive text and select a word, nothing seems to happen: the selected word doesn’t show up in the input field.
The more I play, the more I like this. But the more I would also like to have a clear idea of what the dataset is. Who I’m trying to emulate.
Thanks again for the game!
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
vili Link ParentTo be honest, I'm a little confused here as well. To clarify, I was referring to orthographic word recall in my first comment as that's what I took your top level comment also to refer to, i.e....To be honest, I'm a little confused here as well.
To clarify, I was referring to orthographic word recall in my first comment as that's what I took your top level comment also to refer to, i.e. that you store an incorrect pronunciation of a word in order to be able to derive the correct spelling. (But perhaps I misunderstood?)
In my case, for English my brain seems to typically store the written form of a word detached from its pronunciation (as it does with Japanese). So, when I try to recall the (written English form) of TILDES, I literally "see" the individual letters. I don't have any sound attached to those letters. But it's still not exactly how @fxgn writes above: rather, when I need to spell something, while the spelling itself comes without pronunciation, I still typically "pronounce" what I write in my head to make sure that things actually make sense. Similarly, if I read any English text, I do pronounce the words in my head. But crucially, as far as I see, this pronunciation is a reaction to the spelling, and does not come together with the spelling when I write words, if that makes sense?
This is different from how I spell something like Finnish, where I actually do pronounce the word that I want to write in my head and then transcribe it. Finnish spelling rules are phonemically very consistent, so I guess my brain has made the decision that there is no need to store the spelling of words, as I can always just derive the spelling from the pronunciation. Also, as a native speaker, I learnt to speak Finnish before I learnt to write it.
I don't have any pronunciation or narrator or words at all when I'm thinking about or observing things that are not connected to language.
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Comment on Quentin Tarantino and Sylvester Stallone are teaming for a 1930s-set series filming in black and white with “1930s cameras” in ~tv
vili LinkWhile not using vintage cameras, I believe the black and white 2019 film The Lighthouse was shot on film using lenses from the 1920s and 30s. It’s a great film, I would say one of the best black...While not using vintage cameras, I believe the black and white 2019 film The Lighthouse was shot on film using lenses from the 1920s and 30s. It’s a great film, I would say one of the best black and white films of the modern era, yet I feel it doesn’t visually quite reach the heights of the best black and white films of old. And how could it, if the know-how of lighting and composing shots for that aesthetic has largely disappeared as it hasn’t been done for decades.
That said, knowing Tarantino’s encyclopaedic passion for cinema, he might just be the right person to pull off the impossible.
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
vili Link ParentRight. When you see or think of a logo that has no text (Mercedes, Apple, the McDonald’s arches, etc.), do you pronounce those as well in your head in some way, or do you associate them silently...Right. When you see or think of a logo that has no text (Mercedes, Apple, the McDonald’s arches, etc.), do you pronounce those as well in your head in some way, or do you associate them silently with their meaning?
What about if you think of a colour or hue for which you don’t have a specific word?
Or if you think of your childhood room, does your inner voice somehow narrate or pronounce that as well?
I’m just curious since for me those are all non-linguistic associations. Some sort of networked combinations of images, feelings, positions, associations, sounds, smells and so on. It is the same with a non-syllabic Japanese character or, it feels, the spelling of most English words. Although, like I wrote above, this is just my feeling and I don’t know what my brain is actually doing. These are the type of questions that, when I start to think about them, I quickly get very uncertain about what is actually going on.
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Comment on Paintings of paintings in ~arts
vili LinkWhenever I see paintings or early pictures of galleries and exhibitions, I’m struck by how crammed those spaces used to be. Paintings on top of paintings on top of paintings. Then I start to...Whenever I see paintings or early pictures of galleries and exhibitions, I’m struck by how crammed those spaces used to be. Paintings on top of paintings on top of paintings.
Then I start to wonder, what would the artists of the time think of the way we hang their works today in largely empty, minimalistic, sterile museum spaces. Would it be just as alien to them?
And going further back, before exhibitions were really a thing, when someone like El Greco painted one of his works, what did he have in mind for the environment in which it would hang? How often were artists in fact painting (on canvases) just targeting some specific spaces at their patrons’ houses? What is lost when paintings are removed from their intended locations?
Thank you for writing into my (our) friendship book, Iceman! We seem to be quite similar gamers. I just remembered that in my school we used to give stickers as thanks, so you will get this beautiful yellow star sticker as a sign of my appreciation: ⭐️
If you like Elite: Dangerous but have never tried the original Elite, I would definitely recommend giving it a go one day. It's remarkable how similar the two are despite the 30 years that stand between them. While Space Rogue's flight systems are also pretty good (for their era anyway), there is something magical about the original Elite. That the whole game can fit into just 22kb is also simply mind blowing. For comparison, my insert cartridge post for this topic is also about 22kb.
An IBM compatible DOS computer is a perfectly valid answer, although I think the 80286 (Intel 286) from 1982 was the last 16-bit processor that Intel developed, so you'd be limited to something like that. You couldn't run the original Doom, for instance. Space Rogue might still run on it though, so you'd be all right. In the early 90s, about half of the computers in our school's computer room were still 286s.