Our News Team @ 11 with host Snot Flickerman
I already have a MagicMirror and Immich set up, and I’m debating trying to fix the tablet I have, or trying to get a new one like the chap who started this thread.
However, I had nearly literally the same plan in mind for it. I have a friend who does woodworking who is open to making a frame for it once I’m done. Throw MagicMirror and MMM-ImmichSlideShow on there and it’s a digital picture frame.
EDIT: Also, if the tablet is too underpowered (like my old one) you can always run MagicMirror on a different machine/vm and just run Electron to load the page from that machine remotely, reducing the overall load on the tablet itself. If I fix my old tablet, this will have to be the solution because it’s too underpowered for MM on it’s own.
Yeah this title wasn’t begging for a remaster.
It was interesting, at the time, but far more interesting, thoughtful, and artistic indie games have popped up since.
It’s artstyle isn’t as unique as it was on release, nor is the gameplay. It’s no small wonder it did not do well.
This guy must have been huffing his own farts thinking this was a good time and market to do it in.
It’s never been tougher for indie games, and people are outright bored by linear narratives. Braid is presented with events out-of-order but it still tells a linear story.
Much more complex narratives exist now, and Braid just can’t compete on that level.
No problem, also look at atzenteol@sh.itjust.works’ comment in reply to mine. They have some info I wasn’t aware of regarding tri-band WiFi routers. I’m living in WiFi 5 land, so I wasn’t aware of this cool trick:
His router is tri-band though meaning it has 2 5ghz transceivers. With an extender usually you use one of them as a backplane for ap->ap communication so it doesn’t interfere with your performance.
So an access point is still a good solution, but it sounds like you can use it as an “extender” without an ethernet cable as long as you can use one of your spare 5ghz bands to communicate with it. Which is super cool and I was totally unaware of.
Neither router you linked to is supported by OpenWRT or DD-WRT.
Plenty of supported TP-Link routers exist, and probably for cheaper.
What you need is a cheap access point.
“Extenders” actually slow down your network since WiFi isn’t full duplex but half duplex. That’s why you can’t have really have more than one.
Run an ethernet cable to an access point and you will be glad you did.
I came back because I read a bunch about Levine’s new game, Judas… and it sounds like his approach to Judas is exactly what I’m asking for.
He talks about “narrative legos” a lot while developing this game, and I think that’s the kind of thing he really needed to implement to be able to tell the story he actually wanted to tell.
I found one interview (already forgot which one) where he described Bioshock Infinite’s linear story as holding him back, and that’s part of why it’s a weaker installment, because it can’t change the story in response to your actions. That’s clearly what Levine was trying to do with stuff like the choice of harvesting of the Little Sisters or not, or in Infinite, choosing to be a racist piece of shit or not. He was held back technologically, and I think the “narrative legos” idea is why Judas languished so long in development hell.
Here’s hoping Levine learned his lessons this time around.
I honestly felt it was weaker than both Bioshock and System Shock 2. It was stronger than Bioshock 2, but I mean… that doesn’t take a lot.
Both System Shock 2 and Bioshock built the game systems first and foremost to be fun and engaging, and then wrote an engaging story around those mechanics. Bioshock was literally taking dumbed down systems from System Shock 2 and rewriting a more engaging and thoughtful story around the familiar systems. Bioshock Infinite seemed much more like they had a story idea first and then tried to adapt Bioshock-esque gameplay hamfistedly stapled onto said story. The others feel like the gameplay came first, and the story evolved naturally to align with the gameplay.
Games like Neir Automata really show where a synthesis of game systems design and game story design are really important and become even more impactful to the story, and in this Bioshock Infinite failed in comparison to earlier installments in the series (and its spiritual predecessor, System Shock 2).
I feel like it’s hard to talk about Bioshock as a series at all without discussing System Shock 2, because that’s where Levine first pioneered his story with the engaging antagonist who speaks to you through a radio, and Bioshock is where he refined it into what comes close to literature. Bioshock Infinite marks a regression, more worried about the story that Levine wanted to tell than the gameplay to support it. Due to that the story falls flat, feels stilted, and Levine’s generic take of “everyone can be a bad guy” feels hollow, because it’s not backed up by compelling gameplay that supports it.
As McLuhan put it, “the medium is the message” and video games inherently work better through a synthesis of gameplay and story, without one dominating over the other. Games that lean too far in one direction or the other (Metal Gear Solid’s interminably long cut-scenes for instance) take you too far out of the gaming medium and too far into other, more detached mediums.
Do you have any input on whether running your Pi-Hole as your DNS service versus how you have it, with pi-hole in front of a standalone DNS server, as to which is functionally “more better?”
I had been toying with making my pi-hole into a full DNS server using Unbound, but I had been debating if it would be better to have that service running seperately.
OpenWRT should have VLAN support out of the gate. Probably has an admin page for it.
Unless you want to go full wireless I would strongly suggest at least one USB ethernet dongle and a cheap managed switch (managed so you can take advangate of VLANs. Unmanaged switches are cheaper if you decide VLANs aren’t for you).
This universe came about because they would design fun gameplay first and then write an absurd story around it.
The “reasons” for things were usually dictated by gameplay and the stories reflected that.
It’s why Katamari Damacy is one of my favorite games, because it took that notion and really ran with it. It’s story is as absurd and over-the-top as the gameplay of rolling up objects to make stars in the sky. The gameplay is absurd and not in any way reflective of any reality except the reality of the game world itself.
The Mario series has always kept that ethos as well. The stories have grown and changed as long as the Mario gameplay has, each a response to a new set of moves, and at one point the move from 2D to 3D, all of it forever changing the path forward and the details of the canon Mario universe.
Super Mario Land also gave birth to Wario as an enemy and then eventually his own gameboy Spin-off Warioland (subheaded as ‘Super Mario Land 3’), which went on to have more installments than Super Mario Land itself!
Wario is one of Nintendo’s best characters and deeply underutilized (along with Waluigi).
You know, you bring up a really good point, honestly.
My friend had a similar complaint about Baldurs Gate III.
“Why so much body horror and gore? When I was growing up and playing DnD, we were never exploring that kind of stuff. DnD can be so much more than just body horror and gore.” Not verbatim, but you get the idea.
As much as I love BG3, I don’t actually disagree with his sentiment at all.
There should be an opportunity for people to play similar style of games that aren’t so gory or depressing or both. Not every stealth game needs to be cyberpunk and depressing.
System Shock 2 is begging for a remake with actually functioning netcode for multiplayer way more than the original.
Bioshock would eventually iterate on this, but the RPG systems of System Shock 2 are so, so deep, and I always appreciated that you could still get attacked by enemies while trying to hack machines. It made doing things like hacking feel very dangerous. Bioshock literally pauses time for you it’s so weak by comparison.
Everyone needs a Gary in their life.
I’m happy to be the Gary for my less technically inclined friends. Their lack of knowledge would get me kicked off private trackers if I invited them so they could curate their own collections, so it’s just easier to be the guy who makes it easy for them.
Be like Gary, sharing is caring.
Like… which scene groups or individuals?
Don’t really have a particular favorite, although Subsplease is pretty snappy for anime if you want it as-it-releases.
Otherwise, for groups focused on US/UK/European media, whatever’s got the quality range I’m seeking and preferably a season pack all from the same group/same quality.
For sure, a fridge is a really bad one to be using on an actual ungrounded GFCI, exactly for the reason of risk of expired food.
I like my homeserver but if something trips and its offline for a while it’s not gonna ruin my day.
The battery can be recharged eventually unless it’s already be discharged many times or it’s left alone and dead long enough to kill any ability to recharge it.
I have never read much of game reviews and game news nor “top” listicles, so maybe that’s why I’m less aware of the critical acclaim.
EDIT: and to be clear, it’s nice to know my opinion is in good company and not weird.