If you are looking for software you might want to look for websites that list open source projects.

I can’t really think of decent mega lists though. The FMHY one does have a lot of simply free things but it is mixed in with a lot of pirated content.

Pretty neat considering the mod released yesterday and much like Gnarly’s Tale of Two Wasteland repack I imagine this will save some time when it comes to setup.

Sorry about the formatting by the way I couldn’t figure out how alphacyberranger does their nice formatting or if they have a custom template.

When you say upgraded do you mean changed to a new device or just updated the OS?

If it’s the former you might be able to extract the app and transfer it and crack it yourself.

What is it exactly? Some kind of developer mode to bypass the login screen?

Some people use Usenet for that kind of thing. I typically stumble across things I have been looking for on other social sites. For example someone makes a post with Adult Swim pilots and specials and other people will add additional material they happen to have. Sometimes it can help to think of what category what you are looking for is under then lurk around there for something like a bundle or a mislabeled version.

Probably not the answer you are looking for but thought I’d mention it

Good to known I thought there would be other giveaways like not having the DLC registered to your account but somehow having the achievements for it.

In that example though there might be some ways that could happen legitimately like having Fallout New Vegas on Steam but using DLC acquired from a physical copy or GOG.

I feel like I heard before no one has gotten banned for it yet but it just seemed a bit too easy to me

I don’t even like connecting to the net with pirated games. Always feel I’ll get banned and I used game piracy to test drive them.

Pirated games wouldn’t be associated with your Steam account so I don’t think you would be banned.

Even using the Steam API I don’t think you would unless you were sharing it openly or were making an obscene amount of requests.

That said I don’t know a ton about online fixes or using CreamAPI to unlock DLC for games you own so maybe it would be possible to get banned in that regard.

• Are free tier VPNs (like Proton VPN) good enough?

Other people have already answered this but keep in mind a lot of them are browser based. Even if you are using a web UI for your torrent client that’s not going to protect you. I’ve seen a few people here make that mistake.

• I don’t want to pay much or anything for a VPN, is a way I can get a good free one, or set one myself somehow (I have experience with selfhosting) ?

Have you considered looking into direct downloads?

They are a bit more work but if you are motivated on going in without protection it’s a safer alternative.

If it helps you rationalise the cost of a VPN you can always think about how much money you save compare to paying for subscription services.

You might be interested in Portal on the N64 while you’re at it.

I’d check out Narbacular Drop. Pretty sure that’s the game that I’m talking about that became Portal, in a way, later.

There was a good YouTube video about it a while ago but I think it had a clickbait title that makes it hard to find.

I’m not sure. Portal and Team Fortress both have really interesting back stories that I think have a bit to do with Valve acquisitions

I don’t think it’s required by law for a publicly traded company to increase profits. I think that’s a side effect of shareholders voting.

If Microsoft held a vote on whether or not disclose a report covering diversity I feel like the board would recommend against it and a majority of voters would agree because it could mean decreasing their stock’s value.

There is a thing called ethical investing but that can mean investing in stocks that will see lower gains.

All-in-all I feel like it depends a lot on the core of the company and what percentage of the company belongs to different people.

To be clear: I am not a professional and am drunk. This is just my two cents on the topic.

Another catalyst is one company buying another. I cannot think of one example where the acquired company’s product/services got better after a M and A.

I feel like there have been some positive outcomes of mergers and acquisitions but I am having trouble thinking of them. What comes to my mind is Meta acquiring Oculus, Activision merging with Blizzard, and Microsoft acquiring Minecraft. All of those have led to a shitty Russian nesting doll of launchers and DRM.

The positives might be harder to note though. There must have been a couple times where some kind of acquisition has brought a series into the mainstream.

I know a lot of people prefer the classic Fallout games but I do wonder how people would be aware of the series if it weren’t for Bethesda buying the right to Fallout for example.

Even without that I’ve never encountered OPs issue

A very good point. I had forgotten about I2P and I don’t know a ton about how hosting an onion site works

Isn’t CPG repacks in the megathread? It has visual novels

Even if there was a multinational effort to stop P2P file sharing I feel like other methods would just be adopted or become mainstream

I could probably look this up but can’t you play Gothic with just a keyboard?

Reminds me of ASCII Star Wars

Yeah if you check the post you’ll see that I linked to an article about it that explained how it came to be and has a few example clips.

It’s a bit like “Turkish Star Wars”. It wasn’t intended to be a joke or a meme but that’s kind of legacy it’s stuck with.

Part of the reason I posted it here specifically is because you wouldn’t need to worry about the limitations of online DRM.

If you wanted to you could read a book, watch a TV show, or play a game. A lack of internet doesn’t need to be all that limiting.

No worries HowToBeat is a good website if you want to gauge how long a game might take you.

Every so often I feel fatigued by long games so I’ll look for something shorter.

Fair enough. I’m not sure what’s in your backlog but there are some gems that can be beaten in a single play session. Titanfall 2’s campaign for example only takes 6 hours.

Someone further down did mention the 3D GTA games. I’m assuming they mean 3 and VC

Would you use engine recreations or the original versions of the games?

That’s a show that’s been on my watch list for years now

I checked Steam to see the minimum requirements for Factorio and they are quite low. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be one of those games that seems like it wouldn’t be demanding but actually is or it slows down significantly as your advance further into the game

Any reason why? Nostalgia?

I feel like I had that or the Open Season game at one point

Also, what do I get from this, anyway?

You don’t kill your family or get arrested if you are in this person’s position I guess

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/10506722

Speaking of, I wonder what the mid-00s performance for decoding HEVC.

That’s a good question. I hadn’t thought of how that would play into things

You’d rather spend the 12 hours just using whatever is on the computer than bring in some of your ill-gotten gains for some guaranteed entertainment?

Was Deus Ex pretty good on low-end PCs?

Would you being in the GOG version or the open source engine recreation GemRB?

Would you bring the GOG version or the data files and something like Fallout-CE?

What a ride. Someone asked what they get for doing this. I guess the answer was not killing your family or being arrested.

Is it anything like MDickie’s Wrestling Empire?

You don’t have 12 hours to grab anything. You’re stuck in the room for 12 hours

Civ is a good one. I have done the same. Would you prefer 3 over 4 if the computer could run it?

But what would you play? Or is this an !sbcgaming@lemmy.ml thing where you’d spend the 12 hours tinkering with emulators?

Sorry I forgot to put 12 hours in the title. I made the edit.

What was that?

That’s a neat approach. I suppose I have seen it done to a lesser extent with YouTubers doing Mystery Science Theater style commentary now that I think about it.