In this episode, my email works when it shouldn’t, Satisfactory works better than it should, and my computer stops working right on time.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #249: Mysterious Email, Satisfactory, Outcast”
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#10 Three’s Company”
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#9 Pwnage Personified”
My column this week serves two purposes. First, I wanted to acknowledge the bad timing of my article two weeks ago when I praised Anthem just before a flood of news stories revealed that things were worse than they seemed on the surface. Secondly, I wanted to shine a light on Warframe because it really is strange how little attention the game gets.
Every week is a new discovery of something cool that Warframe does, followed by a new annoyance that makes me ragequit. I keep getting disgusted, storming off, but then coming back because I miss the gameplay. Nothing else feels this fluid. I don’t mean “it feels good for a grindathon looter-shooter”, I mean the game feels good to play, period. While you do spend a lot of time working towards long-term goals, I hesitate to call it a “grind”. I associate grind with static gameplay against repetitive enemies in the same environments, and Warframe is the opposite of that. It’s so good I keep forgetting just how annoying it is, and so I have to come back every day so I can be reminded of why I quit yesterday.
I don’t know if that’s a criticism or an endorsement, but that’s where I’m at with this game right now.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Warframe is Strange Fun”
The plan is for Ryder to return to the control center from the previous mission. I realize this is a very minor pointParticularly in a story as troubled as this one. but it feels strange to come back here so soon after our last big visit. Imagine if the Enterprise crew had their meeting with V’ger, left, and then turned around and came back for a few more words. Imagine if Neo turned around and visited the Oracle a few minutes after his first visit. It’s not wrong or anything, but it seems like an odd way to pace the story. I’d never thought about it before, but it does seem like casually re-visiting the mysterious location of revelation takes some of the mystique out of it. It’s less that I’m bothered that Andromeda does this, and more curious how it made me notice that other stories don’t do this sort of thing.
At any rate, Ryder is here to release a bunch of Remnant robots. The robots will fly through the currents of the scourge, and we can follow them to Meridian. I’m not sure why small robots traveling for ten minutes would arrive at the same location as a planetoid that’s been cruising for centuries through the ever-shifting scourge, but it seems to work out.
This is where the Archon springs his trap. He begins talking to Ryder through her SAM implant. He monologues at you for a bit, saying things like, “FALL TO DARKNESS, PATHFINDER. YOU WERE ALMOST WORTHY.” (The subtitles aren’t in all caps, but the line delivery is. This guy sounds exactly like Harbinger in Mass Effect 2, including the same pitch-shifted reverb vocal FX.) Then the Archon does…
Well, it’s not clear what he does here.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Andromeda Part 22: Actually Meridian”
It’s a bit of a weird one this week, I’m afraid. Paul and I both bought vehicles and the resulting conversation ate a third of the show. On the other hand, we’re giving away a free copy of a game, so maybe that makes up for all the car talk. Details at the end of the show / show notes.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #248: Car Talk, No Man’s Sky, Warframe”
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#8 Live Action Ramgar Pummeling”
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
What makes the gameplay of Borderlands so addictive for some, and what does that have to do with slot machines?
The product of fandom run unchecked, this novel began as a short story and grew into something of a cult hit.
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.
How does image compression work, and why does it create those ugly spots all over some videos and not others?
How did this niche racing game make a gameworld so massive, and why is that a big deal?
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2014.
From the company that brought us Fallout 76 comes a storefront / Steam competitor. It's a work of perfect awfulness. This is a monument to un-usability and anti-features.
I teach myself music composition by imitating the style of various videogame soundtracks. How did it turn out? Listen for yourself.
How did this game avoid all the usual stupidity that ruins remakes of classic titles?
T w e n t y S i d e d
