T w e n t y S i d e d
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#11: You Can’t Lead From The Rear”
#11: You Can’t Lead From The Rear
Setting a PC up for Work
This week’s lack of a Spider-Man post is brought to you by my now-dead solid state drive. After 6 years of heavy use, it finally gave up the ghost. Considering that it spent most of those 6 years with 220+ of its 250GB in use, I’d say the device performed admirably and died gracefully. In the end, I could still read from it, even though I couldn’t write to it. This prevented Windows from booting up, but it let me rescue my dataActually, I didn’t need much from the drive. I backed up my old /Users folder, but I haven’t needed to retrieve anything out of there yet..
I originally blamed this mess on Windows Update, since the machine died just a couple of minutes after installing an update. But I think the patch was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. The machine was probably destined to die at some point that day. It was just a question of which program would attempt the final write that exhausted the drive.
I’ve since replaced the drive with a 500GB SSD and re-installed Windows. The machine is mostly back to normal now, but I’m still missing a few bits and pieces of software and working to get caught up on some of the other bits of writing I have to do.
I will say this new Windows 10 install feels very snappy. Either SSDs slow down as they reach the end of their useful lifespan, or Windows 10 still suffers from the long-running problem where a particular install will accumulate boot-time cruft that eventually erodes the system performance.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Setting a PC up for Work”
Experienced Points: Why Too Much Success Is Bad for Crowdfunding
My column this week is a bit on the Phoenix Point controversy and why it’s destructive to the crowdfunding scene. I talked about it on the podcast this week, but this column is a text version of that rant for those of you who aren’t into the whole multimedia thing.
The problem is that developers are using crowd money to make demos so they can shop their project around and secure more traditional funding. I don’t have a solution for this. Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe this is an inherent flaw in the crowdfunding scene. Backers wind up being investors with no ability to hold the studio accountable, and that makes them vulnerable.
Lots of game projects die / get canceled before they reach release. Most of them vanish without us ever knowing they existed. Unless the project was based on established IP or the team featured a famous industry name, we don’t usually care. If the investors lose their money, nobody really sheds a tear for them because:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Experienced Points: Why Too Much Success Is Bad for Crowdfunding”
Andromeda Part 23: A Pretty Good Slog
Our heroes reach Meridian, which they discover is a kinda Dyson sphere type thing, except roughly the size of a moonIt’s got a sparkly lens flare or whatever at the center instead of a full-sized star.. Ryder and her crew race after the Archon to reach Meridian. He’s going to Meridian to… activate it? But I thought the space station was the control center for the network? Whatever. We’re basically repeating the previous chapter where we have to stop the bad guy from gaining control of the alien superweapon, except now he actually has the means to operate the superweapon. Also he’s got Scott as a hostage, which ups the stakes if you care about him. Also, Meridian is a lush habitable world and would make a good home for the Initiative.
Meridian
Scott and the captain are just sitting in these chairs, but the animations make it look like they're restrained. It's odd.
The Archon has hijacked the Human ark and is piloting it to Meridian. He’s got Scott and the captain on the bridge as prisoners and he’s monologuing at them, because that’s literally the only thing this idiot ever does. He talks so much and says so little it’s infuriating. He yammers at Ryder. He jabbers to these two. He leaves long-winded datapad messages lying around. The whole thing would be unintentional comedy if his dialog wasn’t so tedious.
Ryder is chasing the Archon in the tempest. And for no reason whatsoever, Ryder decides to leave her spaceship, jump in the Nomad, and race after him on the ground.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Andromeda Part 23: A Pretty Good Slog”
Diecast #249: Mysterious Email, Satisfactory, Outcast
In this episode, my email works when it shouldn’t, Satisfactory works better than it should, and my computer stops working right on time.
Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #249: Mysterious Email, Satisfactory, Outcast”
#10 Three’s Company
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#10 Three’s Company”
#9 Pwnage Personified
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#9 Pwnage Personified”
From The Archives:
id Software Coding Style
When the source code for Doom 3 was released, we got a look at some of the style conventions used by the developers. Here I analyze this style and explain what it all means.
Free Radical
The product of fandom run unchecked, this novel began as a short story and grew into something of a cult hit.
Spoiler Warning
A video Let's Play series I collaborated on from 2009 to 2017.
The Mistakes DOOM Didn't Make
How did this game avoid all the usual stupidity that ruins remakes of classic titles?
The Terrible New Thing
Fidget spinners are ruining education! We need to... oh, never mind the fad is over. This is not the first time we've had a dumb moral panic.
Zenimax vs. Facebook
This series explores the troubled history of VR and the strange lawsuit between Zenimax publishing and Facebook.
The Death of Half-Life
Valve still hasn't admitted it, but the Half-Life franchise is dead. So what made these games so popular anyway?
Twelve Years
Even allegedly smart people can make life-changing blunders that seem very, very obvious in retrospect.
This Game is Too Videogame-y
What's wrong with a game being "too videogameish"?
Trashing the Heap
What does it mean when a program crashes, and why does it happen?