vili's recent activity
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Comment on Robert Redford, golden boy of Hollywood, dies at 89 in ~movies
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Comment on What's your go-to hot sauce? in ~food
vili LinkFrom milder sauces (like Tabasco level), Tapatio and Secret Aardvark work with pretty much everything for me. I'm not a huge fan of really hot sauces, they just don't tend to taste very good to...From milder sauces (like Tabasco level), Tapatio and Secret Aardvark work with pretty much everything for me. I'm not a huge fan of really hot sauces, they just don't tend to taste very good to me, but Zuzu's 7-Pot Sauce by Dawson is an amazing, complex taste that has kick.
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Comment on Silksong’s real final boss: The translator who broke his NDA and wrote like a dead poet in ~games
vili Link ParentI'm not in the software field but some of my work has involved commissioning and coordinating translations of stage plays for theatre productions, so I can tell you how translation approvals are...I'm not in the software field but some of my work has involved commissioning and coordinating translations of stage plays for theatre productions, so I can tell you how translation approvals are done in that context.
The most costly and time-consuming option is the so-called "back translation", where after a translator has translated the play from its source language to a target language, some other professional translator then comes in and translates the translated play back into the original language for comparison. Fortunately, this is a less typical requirement these days, and if a licensor requires it, they are usually now content also with machine back translations, which are both faster and cheaper.
Which brings us to automated translations. You mentioned Google Translate, but I suggest looking around a bit more widely. Now, I must admit that I haven't used Google Translate for ages so I don't know how good it is these days, and a translation tool can be great in one language pair and horrible in another, but for years at least, DeepL was much better for my needs, especially when I wanted to translate longer documents. That said, AIs have become increasingly useful in this kind of work and I recently cancelled my DeepL subscription as I get just as good, if not better, results from Kagi's AI based translator, Gemini and ChatGPT.
If a full back translation is not required, licensors often instead ask for a list of changes. Just a table of notes and short explanations of parts where the meaning or expression of something has changed from the original, like for instance cultural references, puns, or other things which wouldn't work in the target language. The assumption then is that everything that is not pointed out in the notes is as it was in the original, just in another language, and that saves everyone's time.
With this, of course, the licensor places more trust on the translator to create a faithful report. Naturally, you can also shift that trust somewhere else: you can hire someone who speaks both the source and the target language to comment on the translation and give their approval.
These days, it is also starting to be possible to use AI for this (again). Both Gemini and ChatGPT, for instance, can take an original text and its translation and give you fairly meaningful feedback on the differences and similarities, both on a general scale and with more detail oriented evaluation. They aren't yet a replacement for a qualified reader, but they are getting there.
Finally, I suppose it's also important to note that all of this is governed by the licensing and/or translation agreements. Such contracts will in almost all cases stipulate that the translation must be faithful to the original in meaning, content and spirit, and that for any changes the translator must seek approval in writing. If the translation contains any changes that weren't approved, the translator has breached the contract and can be held liable for damages. Not that I ever remember that happening in the cases I've dealt with, and I must have been involved with something like two hundred translations over the years. Sure, there have been issues with some translations, but things can always be fixed one way or another.
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Comment on Study finds Rotten Tomatoes scores inflated by 13% compared to ten years ago in ~movies
vili LinkThis is interesting, and I don't want to complain, but I can't help myself. Looking at the graph at the bottom of the article, isn't the difference actually much more than 13 percent? It looks to...This is interesting, and I don't want to complain, but I can't help myself. Looking at the graph at the bottom of the article, isn't the difference actually much more than 13 percent? It looks to me more like 13 percentage points, which would be somewhere around a 25% increase, give or take?
Also, isn't comparing Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic in this context like comparing apples and tomatoes, or something? One is the percentage of a binary recommendation / no recommendation question, the other is a weighted average of more gradient scores. The two are very different things.
Or have I completely misunderstood?
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Comment on CGA-2025-09 🕹️🚂 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Last Express in ~games
vili Link ParentIn case anyone picked up the mobile release like I did: if combat sequences are painfully slow for you, try tapping the top right question mark icon and then close the hint. At least on my Android...In case anyone picked up the mobile release like I did: if combat sequences are painfully slow for you, try tapping the top right question mark icon and then close the hint. At least on my Android tablet this seems to return the game back to normal speed, while every tap during combat slows the game down. For me it got to a point where it started to be a minute between each action in combat until I noticed that the speed resets by opening and closing the help dialog. So I did that after every action and the combat became a little more bearable.
I can also report that the game is fully playable to the end with the Android app, having just finished it.
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Comment on CGA-2025-09 🕹️🚂 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Last Express in ~games
vili Link ParentI haven't run it with ScummVM (I opted for a mobile release) but as I understand it, you need a daily build to run The Last Express, and the Gold Edition of the game is not supported. Here is...I haven't run it with ScummVM (I opted for a mobile release) but as I understand it, you need a daily build to run The Last Express, and the Gold Edition of the game is not supported. Here is their announcement from June.
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Comment on CGA-2025-09 🕹️🚂 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Last Express in ~games
vili LinkIf anyone is thinking about the game's mobile versions, I can report that I bought it for my Android tablet and at least the first part has played reasonably well. It might be a lesser experience...If anyone is thinking about the game's mobile versions, I can report that I bought it for my Android tablet and at least the first part has played reasonably well. It might be a lesser experience on a phone sized device, but the touch controls on a tablet screen feel very responsive and natural.
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Comment on CGA-2025-09 🕹️🚂 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Last Express in ~games
vili (edited )LinkJordan Mechner is truly an inspiration. Karateka (1984), Prince of Persia (1989), The Last Express (1997) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) are all incredible, innovative and truly...Jordan Mechner is truly an inspiration. Karateka (1984), Prince of Persia (1989), The Last Express (1997) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) are all incredible, innovative and truly unique games. I have very vivid memories of playing each, from struggling to make any progress in Karateka on my C64, to struggling to make any progress in Prince of Persia with my friend on his PC, to struggling to make any progress in The Last Express on my own PC, to never finishing The Sands of Time on my Xbox.
As much as I love Mechner's games, I can't say I actually enjoy playing any of them. And so, after numerous attempts over the years, I have made my peace also with The Last Express. I know I adore it, but I also know that I don't want to play it. It's clunky and annoying and repetitive and makes me anxious, but it's also so very beautiful, immersive, mysterious, unique and simply one of the greatest
gamesexperiences ever created.And so, the moment I saw that it was nominated for CGA, I of course had to vote for it. Because it is a brilliant game. Even if I really don't want to play it.
Coincidentally, it's not the only title in CGA's starting list that I have very little interest in playing. There are two other titles that got selected that I have given what I think is their fair share of my time over the years to know that I just don't enjoy them.
But I think CGA will be as good an opportunity as any to check out all three once again. I've been wrong before.
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Comment on Deep in the Swedish forest lies one of Europe's hopes for a spaceport that can ultimately compete with the United States, China and Russia in ~space
vili Link ParentThis is true if you are targetting an equatorial orbit or a geostationary orbit. With those, as you are launching eastwards, you can use the earth's rotation to your benefit. This isn't the case...- Exemplary
The closer you are to the equator, the less fuel you need to get into orbit.
This is true if you are targetting an equatorial orbit or a geostationary orbit. With those, as you are launching eastwards, you can use the earth's rotation to your benefit.
This isn't the case if you are targetting polar orbits or sun-synchronous orbits, which launch northwards or southwards. With them, you are more interested in just finding a safe launch corridor, an area that you can launch over without endangering anyone or anything if things go boom. Launching over the arctic is quite a good option, hence Kiruna and other potential Nordic launch sites.
If you look at the US, the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida has traditionally been the country's main launch site for equatorial launches, while the Vandenberg Space Complex in California has been the place for polar orbit launches. The former presents a stretch of sea to the east, the latter to the south.
There are also geopolitical considerations at play, and Nordic countries are generally good and safe options for a lot of things.
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Comment on CGA-2025-09 🕹️🚂 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Last Express in ~games
vili Link ParentDo you happen to know how to get the GOG version to run on a modern Mac? Neither GOG Galaxy nor Heroic Launcher allows me to install the game on Mac and the store page only lists Windows as a system.Do you happen to know how to get the GOG version to run on a modern Mac? Neither GOG Galaxy nor Heroic Launcher allows me to install the game on Mac and the store page only lists Windows as a system.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentYes, it's a backdrop insert. I believe there is some mirror magic happening in there as well to create depth. I don't know if all upright cabinets had this, could be that just some of them did. I...Yes, it's a backdrop insert. I believe there is some mirror magic happening in there as well to create depth. I don't know if all upright cabinets had this, could be that just some of them did. I guess there were also plenty of pirated cabinets around as the game was so popular.
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Comment on The Qweremin (a theremin built with a Commodore 64 and a clamp) in ~music
vili Link ParentAlso, if anyone is interested in the history of theremin, Episode 146 of the History of Rock Music in 500 Songs podcast is a great listen. It features the instrument's history, a spy story, and...Also, if anyone is interested in the history of theremin, Episode 146 of the History of Rock Music in 500 Songs podcast is a great listen. It features the instrument's history, a spy story, and the story of the Beach Boys song "Good Vibrations". It's one of my favourite episodes of 500 Songs.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentOh, I'm definitely going to watch that whole video, thank you for sharing! I hadn't heard of the Metal Gear Solid Thing before. The game came out at a time when I had largely stopped playing video...Oh, I'm definitely going to watch that whole video, thank you for sharing!
I hadn't heard of the Metal Gear Solid Thing before. The game came out at a time when I had largely stopped playing video games until I rediscovered them about a decade later. From what I gather, what it's doing is somewhat similar to what Pirates does, although in Pirates the answer differs from one game session to another, and you need to cross reference the manual. Monkey Island also had a particularly fun copy protection thingie, the Dial A Pirate Wheel.
It's wonderful that MAME and related projects have preserved arcade games, but I totally agree with you that cabinets had a physicality to them which emulation often doesn't and cannot reproduce. As a personal anecdote, I was born in the early 80s so wasn't around when Space Invaders was a thing, and it was only a few years ago that I for the first time in my life came across an actual original Space Invaders arcade cabinet. I was quite shocked that the game doesn't look like it does in an emulator but is actually quite beautiful when you see it in a cabinet with a background panel.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentFor many games of the era, the printed materials that came with games were essential components of the experience. There were fewer tutorials and games didn't explicitly teach you things. Instead,...- Exemplary
For many games of the era, the printed materials that came with games were essential components of the experience. There were fewer tutorials and games didn't explicitly teach you things. Instead, you were kind of expected to read the manual that came with the game. And many of those manuals were works of art themselves. Take for instance the book that came with the C64 version of Sid Meier's Pirates!. It's almost 90 pages long and tells you not only how the game works but also describes the world in which the game takes place.
Then there were the official guide books that you could buy, the phone numbers that you could call, and the addresses where you could send a letter asking for help. Adventure games in particular relied on these and that's one reason why something like Zork can take forever to finish. These days, you kind of expect that a well designed game doesn't present a progress wall, i.e. that you can always do something or progress in some way. With older games, this isn't the case and you accepted that you might be stuck in a game (particularly an adventure game) for days or weeks or even months, until you heard a solution from a friend, bought a hint book or called or wrote to the official helpline.
Not that I have any personal experiences with official helplines. The country I grew up in didn't have them. But I did read game magazines and those often had hint sections as well.
The Infocom boxset that I mentioned is a retrospective collection of 20 games that the company had released and it comes with their official hint books. The way those usually work is that you have a question like "What do I do with the monkey?" and then there are a series of hints under it, each giving you more information to solve the puzzle. Sadly, the boxset I have has just plain old printed hint books, but when the games first came out, those guide books often used a technology that they termed "InvisiClues". Basically, the answers were written in invisible ink and if you wanted to reveal any of them, you used a pen that came with the hint book to do so. I think Sierra, the other major adventure game studio, did something similar with their games.
Games that you bought often also came with other physical contents. Infocom again was particularly known for this. For instance, their game The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (co-designed by Douglas Adams himself) came with a Don't Panic pin, peril sensitive sunglasses, pocket fluff, a microscopic space fleet (really an empty plastic bag), the order for the destruction of Arthur Dent's House, the order for the destruction of Earth, an advert for the guidebook Hitchhiker's Guide for the Galaxy, and no tea whatsoever.
With some games, "feelies" like these were very much part of the game itself and you needed them to progress. Many also used them as a copy protection measure. Sid Meier's Pirates! in fact requires you to have the manual, at least for the C64 version. At the beginning of the game, the game asks you a question that you can only answer by referencing the manual. If you don't know the answer, the game will still allow you to play, but the difficulty level is maxed and you
die(correction: get captured) very easily.Of course, these days you can find all of this online. Well, not the feelies, but the rest.
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Comment on The Qweremin (a theremin built with a Commodore 64 and a clamp) in ~music
vili LinkIf you haven't watched this channel's videos before, I highly recommend also checking out The Commodordion and C=TAR. I find these projects incredibly creative. He has also released many...If you haven't watched this channel's videos before, I highly recommend also checking out The Commodordion and C=TAR. I find these projects incredibly creative. He has also released many performance videos, as well as blowing many C64 programmers' minds with this magic trick.
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The Qweremin (a theremin built with a Commodore 64 and a clamp)
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentThanks for the compliment! And I'm very much going to be using save states and other help as well. Like I mentioned, I'm ready with my Infocom hint books. :) The point I was just trying to put...Thanks for the compliment!
And I'm very much going to be using save states and other help as well. Like I mentioned, I'm ready with my Infocom hint books. :)
The point I was just trying to put across was that the HowLongToBeat numbers for older games are often somewhat unrealistic.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentI don't think you have anything to be sorry about, you have done an amazing job putting things together! It's also a learning experience for all of us, and that's surely part of the fun. I would...I don't think you have anything to be sorry about, you have done an amazing job putting things together!
It's also a learning experience for all of us, and that's surely part of the fun. I would say that HowLongToBeat is not always a very good source for older games. Sure, you can probably play Zork through in 2.5 hours, if you know what you are doing or just follow a walkthrough. But if left to your own devices, it will probably take weeks. And may well be impossible without a hint book.
Note that the website also says that you can beat Super Mario Bros in 2 hours. I challenge anyone to do that going in cold and without using save states! This is one of the major changes in how games function now compared to how they did 30-40 years ago. Nowadays, a game often contains 100 hours of content, of which you play 50. Back in the day, games contained 2 hours of content, of which you also played 50.
In related news, I found my Lost Treasures of Infocom box set yesterday, which I bought sometime in the mid-90s and seem to have deemed important enough to keep all these years. The floppy disks are probably unreadable but I have the official maps and hint books, including for Zork if it happens!
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili Link ParentJust a heads-up to those who mentioned Zork in the suggestions thread and haven't noticed: it seems to have found its way into The Grue That Binds special now. I feel putting three interactive...Just a heads-up to those who mentioned Zork in the suggestions thread and haven't noticed: it seems to have found its way into The Grue That Binds special now. I feel putting three interactive fiction titles into a single pack is a bit ambitious, as I don't think I'll be able to finish one title within a month. :D Those games take their sweet time to puzzle out.
@kfwyre: Just a heads-up that the link for Lord Monarch seems to be pointing to the wrong game. The title of Sid Meier's Pirates! in the voting list also lacks the exclamation mark that's part of the game's official title, but I guess if you CTRL+F without the exclamation mark, you'll get the correct results regardless. Thanks so much for putting all this together!
Also, that splash screen is brilliant, @Boojum!
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
vili LinkSid Meier’s Pirates (3) Sid Meier’s Covert Action (3) The Last Express (3) The Colonel’s Bequest (3) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2) The Grue That Binds (2) Fixated on Fixed Screen Shooters (2)...Sid Meier’s Pirates (3)
Sid Meier’s Covert Action (3)
The Last Express (3)
The Colonel’s Bequest (3)
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2)
The Grue That Binds (2)
Fixated on Fixed Screen Shooters (2)
Scroll Lock-on (2)
A truly wonderful actor and director who seemed in total control of everything that he did on screen. And yet, I would say that Redford's most important contribution to the world of cinema was his championing of independent film through his Sundance Institute and the film festival that it organised. It created a platform that helped directors like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith, Todd Field, Darren Aronofsky, Jim Jarmusch and many others to break through.
Without Redford, I think the history of American film since the early 80s, and especially American independent film, would have been very different indeed.