T w e n t y S i d e d
That time of year has come again. I’ve lost any and all interest in the majority of games I’m playing.
I was playing Halo: Campaign Evolved, Sniper Elite V2, and a few other random indie games. I was having fun. Then it felt like I slammed into a brick wall of bleeeeeeeeeeeeehhhh. It didn’t help that I kind of made finishing Halo miserable by playing it on Legendary when I hadn’t played any of the franchise in many years, but it wasn’t solely that. I’m just on the struggle bus.
Luckily I’ve been busy helping my friends with their emergency move as well as cleaning and organizing my house. I say it’s lucky but everything hurts and I’m a screaming, whining, and crying little bitch baby. I have something that kind of bridges the gap between work and entertainment because moving everything has forced me to go through and organize my magic collection. It’s also surprisingly exhausting. After a couple of hours of sorting my shoulders feel like they’re lifting away from my body and taking the skin with it. That effort is ongoing and likely won’t reach its conclusion for quite a while.
One actually fun thing I’ve started doing now is woodworking and planning to do said woodworking. Now when I say woodworking, it’s less master craftsman and more, “Who gave that toddler a drill and why is he doing that?” But what I make gets the job done. For instance this is a shelf that I made:
Blocky. Simple. Functional. That’s all I need.
I’m also building a few other things that also meet very utilitarian needs for myself and my family, but you get the idea. I plan to get into some more demanding work in the future but slapping some stuff together that serves a purpose gives me that hit of dopamine that I desperately need right now.
Back to the regularly scheduled programming next week. Thanks for hanging in there.
Self-Balancing Gameplay
There's a wonderful way to balance difficulty in RPGs, and designers try to prevent it. For some reason.
Batman v. Superman Wasn't All Bad
It's not a good movie, but it was made with good intentions and if you look closely you can find a few interesting ideas.
What Does a Robot Want?
No, self-aware robots aren't going to turn on us, Skynet-style. Not unless we designed them to.
The Dumbest Cutscene
This is it. This is the dumbest cutscene ever created for a AAA game. It's so bad it's simultaneously hilarious and painful. This is "The Room" of video game cutscenes.
Deus Ex and The Treachery of Labels
Deus Ex Mankind Divided was a clumsy, tone-deaf allegory that thought it was clever, and it managed to annoy people of all political stripes.
Fall is supposed to be the season I like, but everything seems to pile up to make Fall suck: Barely hanging on myself. Nice shelf though. My own power tool collection is already larger than I’d ever have planned just for yard stuff, and I too can’t deny the occasional feeling of “ya know, if you just picked up some proper sawhorses and a saw you could just make x/y/z yourself.” But since my brother’s helping with the gutters we can just use his much larger pile of tools.
Yeah, the overpowering heat of summer finally fades, but then the miserable darkness, cold, and mists of autumn descend and it’s like you’ve become ill and slow. I’m finally getting to bed on time though so hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have more energy.
I go back and forth between playing video games and recreational programming for unwinding after work. In this kind of a way I find programming to be a bit like carpentry for those of us who could manage to cut their own thumb off with a hammer.
Hmm… Maybe the expected and unexpected stressors from this time of year are one of the reasons a lot of people treat themselves to pumpkin spice lattes, and other tasty treats?
Speaking of which, go treat yourself!
I got into woodworking in December last year after moving to a place where I could feasibly do it for the first time in my life. I’ve always liked creating things, but previously those things had been rather pretty than practical, and it’s so nice with woodworking to be able to make stuff like end tables or benches, or practical gifts for friends like cutting boards. Being able to make something that you can then put stuff on and organize your life is such a great feeling. All the best with your woodworking journey!
Gotta say, I don’t think you should let Cloud get that close to that shelf, he’s well in Braver range. You’re going to come home at some point to find that shelf cut in half and an experience bar slowly rising.
Damn difficult games. I’ve received my pre-ordered Collector’s Edition of Galactic Racer, but NKG and Radiance and the final boss of Jedi Survivor are hanging over my head.