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So let’s talk about some Factorio theory. I should note that I’m not an expert. This post isn’t a super-definitive analysis on how to optimize your base. I’ve logged over 2,000 hours with this game, but frankly that’s chump change compared to what the seriously high-level players can claim. And despite all my time with the game, I still need to look things up on the wiki from time to time.
But I’ve never let a lack of expertise stop me from playing the game, so I’m not going to let it stop me from talking about it.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Factorio Part 2: Optimize!”
I got a question for the Diecast this week, and I really felt like I couldn’t do it justice in the context of a podcast due to the inherent complexity. Also, Paul didn’t have much to say on the issue. So here it is:
Hi Diecasters!
Thanks as always for your hard work. Random question for you — have either of you ever taken a Meyers-Briggs (aka MBTI) personality type test, such as the kind found here?
It’s possible to put too much stock in them; I think they’re a good starting point for understanding people rather than an ending point. Nonetheless, it’s nice to have a good starting point, and I’ve found that trying to understand people as (for instance) intuitive vs not, or extroverted vs introverted can really be beneficial. Talking through personality type differences has been something really fruitful for my wife and I lately, as we approach our tenth anniversary and still find there are things worth discovering about one another :)
So, the follow-up question is (assuming you’ve taken the test) what personality types you are, and whether this kind of categorization ever proves useful in understanding yourselves or other people in your lives.
Keep well!
~David F. Ellrod, Sr.
I find this topic to be really interesting, but every time I bring it up there’s always a bunch of eye-rolling and general hostility from a handful of people. The Meyers-Briggs is not much respected these days. In fact, the Wikipedia entry on it spends more time discussing the criticism of the Meyers-Briggs than actually explaining the Meyers-Briggs itself!
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Myers-Briggs Personalities”
I’m almost done with the print version of Mess Effect. The images are converted to black and white,They don’t look bad! Although I had to remove about 30 images because they were too dark / unreadable for print. Mostly these removals were from the last three games. Mass Effect 1 was lit properly all the way through. the layout is finished,I needed to move images around to avoid wasting large blocks of space at the end of a page. Wasting a couple of inches of page space is harmless in ebook format, but it literally makes the book more expensive in print. We managed to lower the page count from 877 to 809. and the front cover has been adjusted. I’m not sure why it didn’t fit. The commissioned art was 2:3 aspect ratio and the book is going to be 6×9 inches, but for whatever reason the two didn’t line up and we had to pad the image vertically to make it fit. I’m too lazy to do the measurements and figure out where the problem was. The only thing I need now is a handful of quotes for the back cover.
Also, I have no idea what the price will be. The forms on the webpage must be completed in a specific order, so we can’t find out until we finalize the cover.
Anyway, getting back to the topic of back-cover blurbs…
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “I Need Blurbs!”
Heads up: As of publishing, the YouTube version of the podcast is set to private. Paul’s in charge of that, so I can’t do anything about it on my end. I’m just bringing this up so I don’t get fifty comments telling me about a problem I can’t fix. I’m sure Paul mis-clicked and he’ll fix it when he’s available.
EDIT: It’s fixed now. Paul published the video after midnight, and thus made the classic off-by-one blunder with the publishing date. As the guy who regularly publishes the entire article to the front page and fails to learn from his mistake, I find myself with very little room to criticize.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #341: THEY ARE BILLIONS, Valheim”
Chris and I have been trying to make this happen for a couple of months, and this week finally pulled it off. If you were missing my droning voice for lack of a Diecast this week, then check out the Eh! Steve podcast where we talk about Capcom’s engine and games with an evolving meta-game.
That was fun.
This podcast is an hour and forty minutes long, and we only covered two topics. That might sound like overkill, but in reality I think we could have given either topic more time. I forgot how much more discussion there is when you have more than two people.
Yes. This is what we’re doing. I’m going to do a “retrospective” on Factorio. Rather than complaining about games that frustrate me, I want to talk about a game I love. Also, I want to somehow justify the two-week binge I just went through and this seems like the path of least resistance.
Is this a bad idea? Probably.
Factorio is part of a small list of games that remain evergreen for me. Like Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program, I can come back to Factorio again and again and find something new and interesting each time. Sometimes the novelty comes from mods, and other times it comes from self-imposed challenges or goals. You can learn the basics in a few minutes, and then you can spend years puzzling over all the layers of complexity that the game has to offer.
My reviews tend to be very narrative-focused, so let’s go over that stuff first.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Factorio Part 1: The Story”
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