{"id":50773,"date":"2020-09-21T06:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=50773"},"modified":"2020-09-21T00:20:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T04:20:40","slug":"diecast-317","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=50773","title":{"rendered":"Diecast #317: Exapunks, Oxygen Not Included, Spider-Man Preview, Stormworks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sorry my mic seems to be a little blown out this week. It sounded fine in my headphones, but&#8230; I don&#8217;t know. I try very hard not to fiddle with settings, positions, or volume levels during the week to avoid exactly this problem.<\/p>\n<p><br clear='all'><audio controls><source src='\/diecast\/diecast317.ogg' type='audio\/ogg'><source src='\/diecast\/diecast317.mp3' type='audio\/mpeg'>Your browser does not support the audio element.<\/audio><div><small><a href='\/diecast\/diecast317.mp3' download='diecast317.mp3'>Direct download<\/a> (MP3)<\/small><br\/><small><a href='\/diecast\/diecast317.ogg' download='diecast317.ogg'>Direct download<\/a> (ogg Vorbis)<\/small><br\/><small><a href='?cat=287&feed=rss2'>Podcast RSS feed.<\/a><\/small><\/div><br \/>\nHosts: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peripheralarbor.com\/\">Paul<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/\">Shamus<\/a>. Episode edited by <a href=\"http:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/profiles\/76561198087035658\/\">Issac<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/diecast\/diecast317.mp3\">Diecast317<\/a><\/p>\n<p><table class='nomargin' cellspacing='0' width='100%' cellpadding='0' align='center' border='0'><tr><td><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6eYhAiHWRsM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen class=\"embed\"><\/iframe><br\/><small><a href='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6eYhAiHWRsM'>Link (YouTube)<\/a><\/small><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n<p>Show notes:<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>00:00 Solving My First World Problem: The Keyboard lives again!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can see my Favorite Keyboard Ever in the photos below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>08:26 Exapunks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><table class='nomargin' cellspacing='0' width='100%' cellpadding='0' align='center' border='0'><tr><td><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_rOIUUVFRKc\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen class=\"embed\"><\/iframe><br\/><small><a href='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_rOIUUVFRKc'>Link (YouTube)<\/a><\/small><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n<p><strong>11:25 New Chair<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is roughly what you&#8217;d see with your human eyes if you came into my office:<br \/>\n<div class='imagefull'><img src='https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/images\/2020_new_chair1.jpg' width=100% alt='This blurriness should be 100% blamed on my camera and not at all blamed on my ancient hands and nervous system for being unable to hold the camera still.' title='This blurriness should be 100% blamed on my camera and not at all blamed on my ancient hands and nervous system for being unable to hold the camera still.'\/><\/div><div class='mouseover-alt'>This blurriness should be 100% blamed on my camera and not at all blamed on my ancient hands and nervous system for being unable to hold the camera still.<\/div><\/p>\n<p>However, it&#8217;s a bit hard to see what&#8217;s going on here, so let me open the curtain so the camera can make sense of this:<\/p>\n<p><div class='imagefull'><img src='https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/images\/2020_new_chair2.jpg' width=100% alt='Okay, I turned off motion blur, but somehow I managed to turn on bloom lighting. Maybe I should switch to Direct X12 and enable anisotropic filtering?' title='Okay, I turned off motion blur, but somehow I managed to turn on bloom lighting. Maybe I should switch to Direct X12 and enable anisotropic filtering?'\/><\/div><div class='mouseover-alt'>Okay, I turned off motion blur, but somehow I managed to turn on bloom lighting. Maybe I should switch to Direct X12 and enable anisotropic filtering?<\/div><\/p>\n<p>I realize these kinds of chairs are SUPER-common these days, but this is my first and I&#8217;m really happy with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15:17 Oxygen Not Included<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sounds like I should revisit this one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18:31 The Most Unappealing Preview Ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><table class='nomargin' cellspacing='0' width='100%' cellpadding='0' align='center' border='0'><tr><td><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bYCTWA06Q4Y\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen class=\"embed\"><\/iframe><br\/><small><a href='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYCTWA06Q4Y'>Link (YouTube)<\/a><\/small><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n<p>An expositional cutscene with no tension, followed by an introduction of some super-boring enemies, followed by yawn-inducing combat demo where the player spams overpowered spells rather than engaging with the combat mechanics, followed by a huge quicktime event.<\/p>\n<p>It has overwhelming thumbs up on YouTube. Sigh. This is why we never have nice things.<\/p>\n<p><strong>31:25 Not Junk Mail<\/strong><br \/>\nAbout twice a week I get emails from people who want to do &#8220;sponsored posts&#8221;. That&#8217;s where I let them post their garbage advertisements to my gaming blog. You know, stuff like diet pills, SEO schemes, oregano oil, and un-accredited trade schools with no web presence. Exactly the kind of content you come here for. In return, they&#8217;ll <del>vanish without paying me as soon as the post gets indexed by Google<\/del> give me $50.<\/p>\n<p>There are only a few templates they use and I&#8217;ve seen them all multiple times. I&#8217;ve flagged every one as spam, and Google keeps delivering them because they&#8217;re coming from a new email every time.<\/p>\n<p>For contrast, my website sends me an email every single week, from the same address, letting me know the backup is done and I can download it. Every week I tell Gmail the message is legit, and every week Gmail throws up a big yellow danger sign telling me that the message looks like a scam.<\/p>\n<p>Current odds of AI dominating the world: Not bloody likely.<\/p>\n<p>(Unless the AI&#8217;s goal is to just annoy us. In which case it&#8217;s working really well.)<br \/>\nAnd here is the promised image from the DMV website:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"images\/diecast_how_tall.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>37:25 Stormworks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><table class='nomargin' cellspacing='0' width='100%' cellpadding='0' align='center' border='0'><tr><td><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oD3lRfqmiRE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen class=\"embed\"><\/iframe><br\/><small><a href='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oD3lRfqmiRE'>Link (YouTube)<\/a><\/small><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n<p><strong>42:18 Mailbag: Books About Games<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In honor of the publication of Sid Meier&#8217;s Memoirs!, a book of, uh, Sid Meier&#8217;s memoirs, I must ask: do you ever read books about video games or video gaming? If so, what are some of your favorites? Mine is You, a novel about game development and the history of game development by Austin Grossman.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;John<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We talked about a few books on the show, including <a href=\"?p=43523\">this one<\/a>. Also, The <a href=\"https:\/\/matthewseiji.itch.io\/twwds\">Writer Will Do Something<\/a> isn&#8217;t really a book, but it&#8217;s an amazing short-story that FEELS true if you&#8217;re frustrated with the state of AAA games these days.<\/p>\n<p>Any other recommendations?<\/p>\n<p><strong>53:48 Mailbag: Satisfying Prescience<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Shamus when you write these long series [Jedi Fallen Order], do you get some satisfaction when you see people talking about something in the comments and you\u2019ve already written an in-depth piece on that and it\u2019s coming down the pipeline?<\/p>\n<p>Thomas<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"?p=50753#comment-1274577\">Original comment<\/a> for context.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, this question is a bit meta and naval-gaze-y. I knew you&#8217;d say that. Also, I said &#8220;naval&#8221; instead of &#8220;navel&#8221;. I knew you&#8217;d notice that too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>59:28 Mailbag: Problems with Scale<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Hi There,<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m playing through Outer Worlds and have noticed that it makes me feel a little claustrophobic. At first I thought it was the level design. But then I thought maybe the player height was different or the models were too big but I can&#8217;t put my finger on it. Do you have any idea why this game might feel &#8220;smaller&#8221; (even the outdoor locations feel small)?<\/p>\n<p>Thanks,<br \/>\nRob Lundeen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The classic problem when designing 3D models for first-person experiences:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Okay, I&#8217;ve measured a real-world couch, and I&#8217;ve built this 3D couch to match. Oh, but this couch makes the coffee table look like a toy. So I&#8217;ll make that bigger. Oh, but now the TV looks tiny. I can make that bigger, but now the room is way too crowded and the floor lamp is sticking inside the couch. So let me spread all these things out a little. Oh wait, I need to make the room bigger. Ugh. Now the front window looks wrong. If I fix that, then the front door will look weird.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>An hour later your boss comes in and demands to know why you built a furnished airplane hangar and he also wants to know why you&#8217;re currently measuring your trash can and suddenly you notice he looks much too large for the room and the printer looks too small and your cubicle is the size of a phone booth and you&#8217;ve lost all ability to perceive distance or proportion at any scale.<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe that was just me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sorry my mic seems to be a little blown out this week. It sounded fine in my headphones, but&#8230; I don&#8217;t know. I try very hard not to fiddle with settings, positions, or volume levels during the week to avoid exactly this problem. Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac. Diecast317 Link (YouTube) Show notes:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[287],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diecast-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50773"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50794,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50773\/revisions\/50794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}