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Diecast – Twenty Sided
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Inhalt bereitgestellt von Twenty Sided. Alle Podcast-Inhalte, einschließlich Episoden, Grafiken und Podcast-Beschreibungen, werden direkt von Twenty Sided oder seinem Podcast-Plattformpartner hochgeladen und bereitgestellt. Wenn Sie glauben, dass jemand Ihr urheberrechtlich geschütztes Werk ohne Ihre Erlaubnis nutzt, können Sie dem hier beschriebenen Verfahren folgen https://de.player.fm/legal.
Videogames, programming, and videogames.
…
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43 Episoden
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Manage series 2137593
Inhalt bereitgestellt von Twenty Sided. Alle Podcast-Inhalte, einschließlich Episoden, Grafiken und Podcast-Beschreibungen, werden direkt von Twenty Sided oder seinem Podcast-Plattformpartner hochgeladen und bereitgestellt. Wenn Sie glauben, dass jemand Ihr urheberrechtlich geschütztes Werk ohne Ihre Erlaubnis nutzt, können Sie dem hier beschriebenen Verfahren folgen https://de.player.fm/legal.
Videogames, programming, and videogames.
…
continue reading
43 Episoden
Minden epizód
×While there may be a future podcast, this is the final episode of the Diecast. The mailbag is empty for the last time. Thanks for listening in over the years. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Heather. Episode edited by Issac . Diecast385 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Why End the Diecast? The Diecast was Shamus’ podcast, where he talked about stuff that he wanted to talk about. We figured it would be best to make a clean break, and close this out, instead of pivoting and keeping the name. There may be another podcast on this site, the discussion is ongoing, but for the Diecast, this is the end. Thanks for listening in everyone. 04:59 Mailbag: Encounters/intensity Die Dearcast! Wait, that sounds horrible in english! In the last Diecast you mentioned “Encounters” and how you prefer shooters because they have them clearly defined, opposed to racing games which are all encounter, all the time. I have to disagree on the latter, and I will elaborate on it further down. But to get to the meat of the question(s): Are there any games/genres out there you enjoy despite them breaking the convention of alternating high and low intesity? And, if you had to chose, would you rather play a game that is allways high or allways low intensity? And can you come up with examples for both, if they even exist? And now for the racing games: As a sim racing enthusiast, I find that racing has varying intensity. Ordinarily, you drive at about 95% of your quickest pace, which, is low intensity. High intensity for racing games comes in two ways: 1) fighting for a position, which usually doesn’t happen that often, or 2) navigating part of a track than one finds tricky. Which only happens once per lap per tricky section. And due to the repeating nature of driving multiple laps resulting flow state, I find that in racing sims, the high intensity parts are actually shorter and further between than in shooters. And as a bonus: Dorfromantik is a prime example of an addictive allways low intensity game. Kind regards, Norbert ColeusRattus Lickl 13:10 Mailbag: Thinking like a programmer Greetings Casters of Die. I am currently tutoring someone who wants to program (to make games). We encountered the statement that there’s a difference between programming and programming well, and that it has to do with thinking like a programmer. I’ve programmed for most of my life, but I’m not sure how to describe that concept. What mental habits or skills separate an excellent programmer from the merely adequate? Also are there any games that you are better at because you know how to program? Thank you, Andrew 20:11 Mailbag: Sierra adventure game remakes Dear Diecast In the age of remakes and remasters, games often have extras to make them more palatable to modern audiences, like savestates, rewind etc. Sierra adventure games are known for the moon logic and sadistic designers. Imagine if those games were remade, but then with an option to have logical puzzles and no random deaths/softlocks. Then their creativity can shine through and be enjoyed by modern audiences. What do you think? With kind regards Chris 25:41 Mailbag: Video Cable Formats Dear Diecast, Where do you guys stand on HDMI versus DisplayPort? I usually don’t care about format wars, but this is lasting long enough to get under my skin. I don’t like that new video cards offer one or two of each port and the consumer has no say in the configuration of a card. I much preferred the days where I just needed and got two VGA or two Dual-DVI ports. Thanks, Will 31:12 Mailbag: Favorite Anime Dear Diecast, Are there any anime (Japanese animated works) that you like? If so, what are some of your favourites, and why? All the best, Andrew 36:05 Mailbag: Unique game Dear Diecast, Have you ever played a game that felt fresh and unique, only to later discover they were liberally ‘inspired’ by an earlier game? If so what was the game? Best wishes Thomas 38:47 Mailbag: Weapon of Choice Dear Diecast, I hope you both are well. I was wondering, what is your favourite weapon in a video game? A shotgun that booms like the God of Thunder slamming a revolving door? An enormous maul hewn from a bone of the Demogorgon? Some fancy multifunctional laser gadget that slices, dices, and makes waffles? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Vale, – Tim 45:34 Closing thoughts Thanks to everyone offering support to the Young family. I wish there was more to say. So long for now.…
The Summer Game Fest happened this weekend. That’s like eight different events: Day of Devs, Devolver Digital Showcase, Future Games Show, Netflix Geeked Week, Epic Store Showcase, Tribeca Games Spotlight, Xbox + Bethesda Showcase, and the PC Gaming Show. It’s been… a lot. I don’t know if anyone is interested in a wrap-up post, but I might do one of those. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast384 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Ren Faire So, is there a hard line between Ren Faire and SCA stuff? Or do the two hobbies bleed into each other? 06:59 Summer Game Fest 2022 We use the term “punch drunk” to describe someone who’s feeling a little scrambled on account of taking a few blows to the head. I think we need an equivalent term for when you’ve just sat and watched 90 minutes of videogame trailers and their constant stream of screaming, strobing, rushing, flying, exploding, punching, dubstepping, climbing, crafting, and gunfire. 11:35 Diablo Immortal Here I spend 8 minutes explaining why I’m not going to waste time on the topic? Anyway, here is the post I wrote a couple of years ago where I predicted the “lootboss” idea so a publisher can route around anti-lootbox legislation. Here is an overview of the game’s monetization system: Link (YouTube) 19:18 Amazing Cultivation Simulator “Dwarf Fortress but based on wuxia instead of medieval fantasy.” 22:30 Midnight Fight Express I still haven’t figured out which way this game is going to go. Maybe this game is like Batman and I’ll learn to master it with time. Maybe the game is about to ramp up the difficulty to insane levels and I should get out now. 26:59 Mythic Tier What other bits of recent gaming jargon have you heard from children that don’t understand the original context? 29:47 Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak I can’t really fault the designers. They retained the vast open space and thoughtful pacing of the original games. But forwatever reason, that pace just doesn’t work for me in a ground-based game. 39:20 Cyberpunk spire How unexpected . 41:20 Mailbag: Collectibles and Unlockables Dear Diecast, What do you think makes collectibles and unlockables satisfying or unsatisfying? Any Do’s and Don’t’s you have when it comes to video games putting in things to find and pick up, and/or for reward systems in relation to the player’s behaviour? If you were designing a game and had to have collectibles in it, how would you know if you’re offering the player an engaging activity or a dull chore? How might you lessen the odds of the latter? All the best, Andrew 52:26 Mailbag: New experience increases appreciation of old thing Dear Diecast, Excitement tends to come from new, novel experiences but sometimes a new thing can show why an old thing is great. I tried Master of Orion 2016 out and found it slow and claustrophobic in its menu-heaviness. 40 minutes later I bailed out and hopped back onto good old MOO2…but with new appreciation for some things. Of particular note were the drag-and-drop interface and flexibility of the game’s systems. To put it simply: I realized that MOO2 was designed to be played. It facilitates play almost to the point of feeling tactile, like a physical board game. I hadn’t fully realized this. Have you had an experience where a new game or software made you see something old in a new way? Reinvigoratedly, Chris P.…
E3 is cancelled this year, but we’re coming up on the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 , which should at least give us the stuff that Microsoft has to show this year. Sadly, the show begins next Sunday, which is too late for us to discuss it on the next podcast. I’m not sure how I’m going to cover it. I’m not even sure if there’s going to be anything I’m eager to talk about. We’ll see. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast383 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 An Hour-long video on Plain Text Link (YouTube) Like I said, this video is surprisingly interesting. And it managed to be educational, even for an old-timer like me. And the presenter has the same accent and emphatic delivery as the late Total Biscuit. 04:48 Invisible Inc. Paul has some thoughts on this 2016 game. 06:39 Dropped V Rising Warning that my angry tirade here is basically a preview of something I’ll post in the next couple of weeks. 18:00 Real-time Browser-based Ray Tracing: Try it . It’s fun! 19:43 Surviving Mars This game is here to say that if we work hard, if we work together, and if we use our resources wisely, then someday humanity will have what it takes to put a complete loser on Mars. I think the takeaway here is that when we do eventually go to Mars, I shouldn’t be in charge. 31:12 Mailbag: Kids, Heartstrings, and Video Games Hi Diecasters, I think we’re all familiar with the ways threats to children can be used to jump-start pathos in fiction – and the ways it can be mis-used, as with the brute force or over-the-top usage in Prey 2006 and the infamous Sum Kidd of Mass Effect 3. Shamus, I thought one of your effective criticisms of the latter case was that the kid was conjured up out of nowhere, as an obvious cypher, without buildup, characterization, etc. My question: What do you think of the famous/infamous Dead Island reveal trailer as it keys into this topic? It was (and remains) very well-received for its artistic and non-dialogic story – but, similarly, introduces a kid with no other characterization than as a fatal victim. Do you think that the Dead Island trailer is just a more slick application of the same brute force effort at pathos, or that it might operate on a different scale because it’s a trailer, and trailers are by definition low on characterization? Thanks, David F. Ellrod, Sr. 38:12 Mailbag: Perfectionism in a Coder Dear Diecasters, While listening to old episodes I heard Shamus self-identify as a perfectionist. How does this trait square with being a programmer? Is Paul a perfectionist too? Within scanning distance of perfectly, Chris P. 43:47 Mailbag: Racing Games Dear Diecast, I’m not much of what you might call a ‘racing/driving gamer’, but there are a few I’ve played and really enjoyed and I’d like to branch out in the genre some more. (Recently, I’ve gotten into “Distance” and that’s largely been fun.) So I was wondering if there are any racing or driving games that you really liked, what you liked and/or disliked about them (and the genre), and if there are any on Steam that you’d recommend. Kind regards, Andrew…
I think things are slowly getting back to normal around here. I should probably do a little write-up for those that are following my health, but the short version is that dialysis is helping a lot and I’m doing ok. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast382 Link (YouTube) 01:35 Blizzard Sylph I can’t believe I haven’t heard about Sylph until now. I’ll keep my eye out for one of those glossy mailers. 04:13 Sleep Transitions I used to wake up sluggish, but in the last couple of months the transition between sleeping and waking is much more gentle. It’s so gentle that sometimes I can’t tell if I slept without looking at the clock. Weird. Related: This now-ancient post from 2006 where I talk about being a warm starter vs. cold starter. 08:48 V Rising I spent so much time complaining about the lack of pause that I forgot to mention the combat, which is the strongest aspect of the game. This isn’t another Diablo-esque clickfest. You get a dodge move and your foes get interesting abilities that punish careless button-mashing. The whole thing feels pretty good. 22:10 File Extensions Microsoft Word is the Internet Explorer of word processors. 29:41 Deus Ex: Pandora’s Gun I know it’s been a while since I posted anything meaningful. This Friday I’ll start the new series. I hope you like it. 31:55 Mailbag: Save Systems Dear Diecast, How important do you think save systems are in a video game? Obviously, this will vary depending on the length of the video game. For instance, arcade games are so short that they seem like a redundant feature there. Whereas in RPGs, they’re generally considered a basic necessity. (I’d be interested to know if you can name one where it isn’t.) Are there any other factors and examples you can think of that would inform/justify the decision to omit a save system, or include a particular kind of save system (e.g. checkpoints, limited anytime, unlimited anytime)? And were there any games you played and thought, “Why does this NOT have a save system!?” or “Why is the save system like this!?” Kind regards, Andrew 43:16 Mailbag: Blogging Dear Diecast, Do you have any advice for those of us just starting out blogging (via WordPress)? Whether traction-wise, or to do with hosting options and precautions, and whatever else you think are important things to do and consider, I’d be interested to know what wisdom you have to share on the subject. Kind regards, Andrew I did think of some advice once the show was over: I have generally avoided using the built-in WordPress system for uploading images. WordPress ends up storing the images in its own file structure. I dislike this because I want to KNOW where stuff is and how to find it. When I make backups, I want to be able to confirm I’ve got everything. I’ll often upload a dozen images in a week when the site is going strong, and if you multiply that by 52 weeks a year, and you’ll quickly have way more files than the WordPress media browser was designed to handle. For the curious, this morning I just uploaded the 9998th image to the site. It would be horrendous if I had to scroll through that ocean of images every time I wanted to add a screenshot to a post. The WordPress tool is good if you’re the sort of person who likes to pretend that files exist in the ether and can be summoned by whimsey. But if you’re the sort who knows how to use an FTP client, then I suggest managing your own images. 46:26 Mailbag: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Dear Diecast Considering it just had its digital release last week, has become A24’s highest grossing film, is already a contender for movie of the year, and has become an all time favorite for a lot of people, have you guys seen “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” and if you have, what are your thoughts on it? Love Pumpkin 47:43 Mailbag: Boycotts Dear Diecast, I just realized that, with Microsoft having acquired Zenimax, I can purchase Bethesda/Zenimax games again! My boycotts: Ubisoft and EA – single player games. Always-online DRM. Proprietary launchers. Zenimax – Backstabbed and then tried to acquire a weakened Human Head Studios during production of Prey 2. Diablo 3 – always online DRM for single player. Do you guys practice boycotts that you want to talk about? Have you ever given up on a boycott? I’m beginning to feel that I’d have to boycott almost the entire gaming industry with my stance against always-online requirements vs. Google Stadia and Microsoft Xcloud. Might have to bend on that one eventually. Curiously, Chris P.…
At the top of the show I joked that we weren’t going to have an editor because Issac was feeling sick. But he bounced back quickly and was able to edit the show, so this episode isn’t unedited chaos as I anticipated. Oh well. Better luck next week. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast381 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 No editor Issac is better, although I think he used my joke as an excuse to cut some corners. We’ll see. 01:14 Tin Can Link (YouTube) 08:53 Archive Arcade I see a lot of people say thing like, “That was my childhood!” when looking at the Nintendo 64 or the Gamecube. But for me, this stuff was my childhood. I remember sitting at one of the tables at Village Pizza, hypnotized by the demo on the “1943” machine. How can the machine make the ENTIRE SCREEN scroll like that? That must take an unimaginable amount of RAM and processing power. Computers are getting so powerful these days! Check it out: The Internet Arcade . 10:44 Planet Crafter Link (YouTube) 20:29 Linux gripe, The alt-tab Great. Another terrible shortcoming with Linux. 26:26 Mailbag: Game and Real Life Overlap Dearest Diecast, The appeal of video games is in how they intrigue human psychology with puzzles, competition, adventure, satisfaction, etc. When I’ve spent a year not gaming, I’ve always adapted by picking up hobbies. It was in these periods that woodworking became appealing. Perhaps this was because, like a game, a hobby offers possibilities, projects that progress to conclusions, opportunities to compare oneself to others (including aspiration to achieve what they achieve), and all that sort of thing. Video games and hobbies have much overlap in how they tickle our monkeybrains. What do you think of this idea? Do you put gaming on hiatus when you need to get a big work project done? Does gaming artificially satisfy and pacify us, leading to a society of people who don’t know which end of a hammer is used to unscrew the staples? Health and happiness to you, Chris P. 29:15 Mailbag: Niche Game Interests Darn Diecasters, Once in a while gaming regresses. Perfect Dark allowed players to create customized bots to fight against, leading to some of the favorite memories from my teenage years. We felt joy and despair in our wars against the hyper-accurate glass cannon bot army. Worse, FIFA Soccer games disposed of the control scheme that they’d used up through FIFA World Cup 2002 on Playstation 2. This allowed for the player to use the controller to intricately control: a.) the power of a kick by holding the button to charge up power and release at the right moment (there were different buttons for different kinds of kicks) b.) the angle of the kick with one of the joysticks. You could kick the ball to any of the 360 degrees c.) the curve of the kick, modified with the shoulder buttons, allowed the player to swerve a ball around a defender or away from a goalie. It was a skillful game, especially enjoyable if sharing a team with a buddy while making amazing plays. The ball went where we were skilled enough to put it. Every pass had to be aimed and weighted appropriately. If you’re curious, here’s a clip with a timestamp. Every kick that you see the player implement here is sent to a spot on the field. If his teammate is at that spot, then he earned that completed pass. The game didn’t automatically aim passes for him. It was glorious. I miss it. Is there a game, series, control scheme, or genre that you lament as being lost to the past? Something that was just OBJECTIVELY better and is inexplicably gone? Yours, Chris P. 32:53 Mailbag: Game AI Dear Diecast, Did cover shooters kill the good enemy AI in shooters? What are some of the late 90s/early 00s game with the best AI? Are there any games after 2010 that had great AI? Thanks, Will 43:23 Mailbag: AI Shamus Dear Diecast Since AI generated writing technology seems to be developing at a fast rate. How would you feel Shamus if in like 10-20 years, people could compile all your Twenty Sided posts and throw into an AI app or site that can write articles that seem like it was written by you? Sort of like how we might still see old celebrity actors in 2050 movies because of improving deepfake technology. Maybe you could even do this with all the audio from the podcast and use it to make an AI Diecast? Eternal Shamus Young content! Love, Bumpkin 46:18 Mailbag: Fantasy Epics Dear Diecast, On a friend’s recommendation, I’ve been reading Brandon Sanderson’s Storm Light Archive books. Each of these books is over 1,000 pages, and there are 4 books out with 10 planned. There are dozens of developed characters. Do you like stories setup like this? Or do you prefer when books are brief and the characters are mostly ordinary while the exceptional ones are left mysterious? Thanks, Will…
I’m spending most of the day asleep. And even when I’m awake I’m still grouchy, distracted, and befuddled. Things are rough, but hopefully they’re about to get better. With any luck, I’ll have better news next week. Anyway, this is it. The mailbag is finally clear. If you still have unanswered questions now, it’s because you didn’t send them in. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast380 Link (YouTube) 00:00 Uremia! I do not recommend. 01:24 Mailbag: Prey Greetings, Paulmus (Shaul?) So, I assume you have already seen this video by Yahtzee on Prey, from a couple of days ago: While you’ve already discussed this game and the possible reasons for its failing to find an audience, Yahtzee here introduces the possibility of it being too polished for its own good and as such not really having anything memorable to latch onto. Weird West has now released (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1097350/Weird_West/), made by a few of the developers of Prey and being marketed as a non-first person immersive sim, and while first reviews were less favorable due to strange design choices and bugs, it has been garnering more and more positive attention as the days go by, seemingly giving credence to this whole theory, going by what the Steam reviews say. Do you think it’s possible for a game to really be “too well crafted for its own good”? Have you ran into such a thing before (well, besides Prey, I guess)? 08:02 Mailbag: Modding vs Unity Dear Mr. Young and Mr. Spooner! I hope these lines reach you and your families in good health! To cut to the chase: you mentioned that Warcraft 3 spawned several genres, like Mobas and Tower Defense. That made me reminisce about the late 90ies and early oughts, where mods like the ones already mentioned, but also Counterstrike and Team Fortress and several others hade huge impacts on gaming. Often, that was attributed to the tools made available with the base games enabling the creation of mods. But if it were only the tools, we should have a similar era of experimental games that might blow up into industry defining hits, due to the availablity of tools like Unity or the Unreal engine. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Now here’s my hypothesis on why that is, and I hope that might spark a little discussion: I think it’s because mods already have had a congregated audience of buyers of the base games. If you played HL or WC3, you might seek out mods to either give you more of the same gameplay, or to check out what crazy different stuff people wrestled out of the mod tools to contrast with the original gameplay. On the other hand, small, experimental games made in Unity or the Unreal engine kind of get thrown into a vacuum, almost impossible to be discovered or garner a growing audience. The only time that felt somewhat similar were the early years of consumer level VR in 2016/17, where small teams would experiment what was possible, and there was a small target group of owners of VR hardware that were hungry for games and curious to try out anything. So do you have any thoughts on that? And are you nostalgic for discovering mods? regards Norbert “ColeusRattus” Lickl 13:00 Mailbag: Character transposition Dear Diecast, I hope you are well. If you could take any single character from any game and put them in another game, who would you put in which game? You could put Seymour from FFX in Mass Effect 3 so he and Kai Leng can compete over who is the best villain. You could put Duke Nukem in Silent Hill 2 so he could give Pyramid Head the mighty boot. You could even put Mahbu in Nyan Nyan ga Nyan – Light Fantasy Gaiden, the possibilities are endless. Looking forward to hear what you come up with! Vale, – Tim 22:13 Mailbag: Pro-Factorio Hello Shamus and Paul, What are your views on using a SAT solver to play Factorio? https://github.com/R-O-C-K-E-T/Factorio-SAT Is this heresy, or is this a word from the gods beyond? Is this the advent of a dark age, or the new enlightenment? Is this an evil of the old world, or the virtue of a new future? Take care, Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn 27:02 Mailbag: Changing Moral Compass Dear Diecats! (Yes, I’m gonna leave that amusing typo in!) We all know the phenomenon of replaying player/moral choice heavy games and still always picking the same options we did on our first play-throughs. But me being on a bender of playing choice heavy games like “Yes your Grace” and “The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante” (which I can both recommend), I replayed Banner Saga. Now excuse my slight spoiler to a six year old game, but the end of the first game has you make a somewhat hidden decision which either had the main character Rook or his daughter Allette survive the final battle. When I played it first in 2016, I remember reloading an earlier save so Rook survived, since I identified stronger with him than with Allette, which was more of a side character in the story, and I didn’t want to “lose” him for the sequels. Between then and now, I have become a father of two, and it became impossible for me to even entertain the thought of sacrificing Allette in my most recent play-through. So, have you had shifts in your life that affected your moral compass in a way that made it perceptible via the moral choices in games? Kind Regards Norbert “ColeusRattus” Lickl 33:59 Mailbag: Star Trek Picard Dear Diecast / Shamus, It is surely low hanging fruit, and apologies if you have already mentioned this, but have you considered doing an analysis of the Star Trek Picard series? I have been indulging in watching reviews (by e.g. RLM) and it seems the writing issues and tonal shift from classic Star Trek are Mass Effect sequels levels of nonsense. I found myself wondering about what technically has been done to the type of story and its telling, vs TNG or other Trek, in terms of your ‘details first vs drama first’ and ‘character driven vs plot driven’ analyses. It occurred that it would be good to hear your story/writing-analysis on the series. All the best PPX14 40:20 Mailbag: More Rocketeer? Dear Diecast, I’m really enjoying the long-form critique from The Rocketeer on FFXII (despite having never played the game). Like Shamus’s retrospectives, it’s been a deeply interesting and insightful read that’s opened my eyes to/helped illuminate a number of useful concepts and mental models, clothed in highly amusing snark and wit. So I was wondering if there were any plans or possibility that he’d do more write-ups for the blog afterward, Final Fantasy related or otherwise? Hope Shamus is doing better and is getting what he needs to help recover. Warm wishes, Andrew 41:36 Mailbag: Moon Knight Dear Diecast Considering the season finale is this week and while I’m not sure when you guys record, what are your thoughts on Marvel’s Moon Knight show? Love, bumpkin 46:47 Mailbag: The Blogosphere Dear Diecast, Does Shamus still read other blogs? If so, any suggestions? (Namely to do with gaming and storytelling, but other recommendations are also welcome.) All the best, Andrew After recording the show, I remembered that I used to follow developer Jay Barnson. I’m not sure how I lost track of him, but it looks like his site is still going . So I’ve got some catching up to do. 49:24 Mailbag: SqEnix Yard Sale Dear Diecast, Hope you’re doing well! I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Squeenix just sold its Western franchises to the company that owns THQ Nordic and Saber Interactive – https://fortune.com/2022/05/02/square-enix-sells-tomb-raider-embracer-microsoft-activision/ Most notably, the deal includes Tomb Raider, Thief, Deus Ex, and Legacy of Kain. The last name in that list is what I’m personally most excited about. In fact, it’s the only gaming news of recent years that’s made me excited! But what do you think? Did Squeenix do the right thing – especially at that low price point? Are you optimistic about the future of these series? Keen being Awesome, Lino 54:35 Mailbag: Worldbuilding Dear Diecast, I hope you are doing well. I was just wondering what you think makes for good worldbuilding? Do you think there any fundamental principles or good rules of thumb for stories in general in this regard, if worldbuilding is to be taken seriously? Also, I came across a video that used the term “silent worldbuilding”. From that alone, any idea what that means to you? Kind regards, Andrew…
I don’t know why Paul and I get such joy out of dunking on No Man’s Sky. The game received over a dozen major updates since it was released six years ago. You’d think that, “Oh wow. The new content is awful and doesn’t address the core problems with the game!” would get old. But I guess not. I will never forgive this game for the way it spurned its own potential to give us a game about inventory sorting and bar-filling. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast379 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 01:26 Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Is this game an expansion, a sequel, a re-release, a remake, or a spinoff? According to the Narrator, “Possibly.” 06:30 NMS:Outlaws It’s almost heroic how far the game designer is willing to go in pursuit of doing the wrongest thing possible. 27:48 The Batman Bruce Wayne and The No Good Very Bad Town. Like I said on the show: I prefer my heroes to be more heroic than this, but I still really enjoyed this one for the wonderful art design. The Christian Bale Batman movies were always so preoccupied with “realism” that they never really captured my imagination. But this dirty, twisted version of Gotham was captivating. 38:03 HyperRogue Link (YouTube) 40:10 Dorfromantik Link (YouTube) 45:00 The Universim Link (YouTube) 48:06 Mailbag: Relationships with games Dear Diecast… I mean, hi. I noticed that I tend to have adversarial relations with games. Meaning that I usually put a higher difficulty (for some reason) and when the game gives an unfair challenge I get “oh, you want to play unfair? All right I’ll play unfair too” and start cooking up exploits or some cheap tactics within game rulesets. So it’ll become a battle of who can outcheat each other at this point as two bitter rivals. So what’s your relationships with games tend to be? Best regards, DeadlyDark 55:01 Mailbag: Good habits Dear Diecast, I hope this early spring finds you in good humour. I recently started my umpteenth playthrough of Neverwinter Nights 2 and noticed I have gained a new habit and lost an old habit. Like most of us do in our daily life, I have started to close doors behind me in game. There is no practical purpose for it, I just found myself doing so. I have also stopped rifling through cupboards, desks, and so on for small change like the average video game protagonist. Do you guys have any habits you brought to video games from real life? Closing doors, keeping things organised, and so on? Do you usually rifle through drawers and closets for random loot? Wishing you all the best. Vale, -Tim 59:16 Mailbag: Bonus Bugs Hi Diecast, Do you recall some bugs and glitches that were so funny/awesome that they made the game better for you? Cheers, Darek…
Once again, I was sure the show was running long. And yet again, the resulting podcast is just under an hour. I guess I underestimate just how much ends up on the cutting room floor. Between segments Paul and I frequently stop and talk about what topic we want to jump to next. Or we pause while one of us looks up something on Google. In my mind, these take only a few seconds. But apparently we spend five to ten minutes on this sort of stuff. Weird. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast378 Link (YouTube) 00:00 Leah’s Mojang Migration It can be done! 02:17 Shamus Fixed his email I’m still working my way through the backlog. 04:46 Sending request to Facebook.com According to Linkedin, Facebook currently employs approximately 8850 software developers. And yet… when was the last time you saw a new feature? Those coders must spend at least some of the day coding. Where is the output of those 8k+ people going? What does their code DO? And how much of it needs to exist at all? 07:11 Oli Oli World They added characters. And a story. And lore. And I have no idea why. 12:18 The Captain Link (YouTube) 21:23 Coding is very hard now Alas. Hopefully things turn around soon. 27:42 Mailbag: Which Minecraft is Best Dear Diecast, I hope you’re doing well! Recently, I exposed the joys of PC gaming to my 5 y/o sister. Up until that point she’d only played mobile games, and while there are some good ones out there, most of them are… well… mobile games. On the PC we mostly play story games, but I know that she also likes watching Minecraft Let’s Plays. Which is why I want to show her how to play Minecraft. But I’ve never played it myself, so I was wondering – which version of Minecraft should I get – the Java version or the Microsoft store version? E.g. I know that the Java version is free, and has all the mods. What’s the Microsoft version got going for it? Anyways, take care, and keep being awesome, Lino 32:29 Mailbag: Waiting for Windows (NICK) Dear Diecast, I admit I have no comprehension of program or operating system design. Despite this, I find it hard to comprehend why – in the year 2022 – I still find myself in the same dumb situation I found myself in during the 1990’s, where I would double click on an executable, and then must wait some arbitrary period from 5 to 30 seconds, waiting for any kind of response. During those fleeting seconds my mind can play cruel games with my heart: “are you sure you double clicked correctly? The computer might not have registered your input, and now you could be wasting time waiting for a program that will never start”. But then, of course, if you were to double click again, you might risk opening the same program twice, simultaneously. Even if modern technology did still require such extensive start-up times, couldn’t there at least be some basic signal from Windows to tell you that your computer is in fact doing something… anything?! As I have no experience with Linux or Mac, do those platforms handle this problem any better? Yours inconsistently, Nick 42:55 Mailbag: Weird West Dear Diecast, Firstly, hope you guys are doing well. Have you seen Weird West by Devolver? I was tempted to get it, but it’s so outside of my usual wheelhouse when it comes to games that I didn’t know what to think. Jennifer Snow 45:17 Mailbag: Quicker Quitting (NICK) Dear Diecast, TL:DR “Many gamers have busy lives where they may be required to drop what they are doing at a moment’s notice, to do something else unexpected (e.g. parents of young children). Yet many games still seem to lack a reliable way to quickly save and exit a gameplay session. Not being able to pause or re-watch a critical cutscene can also be frustrating. Could this be considered as a “quality of life” oversight?” I’m sure you don’t remember when you answered my Diecast question in Episode 301 regarding my wife and I considering parenthood. Either way, your advice must have been good, because our son is due to be born later this month! Whilst I am sure I have no idea what I have gotten myself in for, at the very least I am sure that if I still find the time to play videogames, then they ought to be the sort of games that can be paused or exited at a moments notice, when real life requires my attention. Which is why I am surprised that so many games these days do not seem to have a reliable way to quickly save and quit a gameplay session. I get that this would not be feasible for all games (online multiplayer being an obvious example), but even many single player games seem to dictate special circumstances for when and where you are allowed to save and quit. If the rationale is that being able to save anywhere may result in an unfair advantage for the player (e.g. temptation to use “save-scumming” tactics), then my rebuttal would be that I have played games with an “ironman mode” like X-Com Enemy Unknown, where the game is perpetually saving your progress, but only allows you to load the most recent save. As a side note, as much as we hate it when cutscenes are unskippable, I find it even more ridiculous when they cannot be paused or watched again later. Don’t game designers realise that some people may need to step away from their game quickly and at a moment’s notice? Yours prenatally, Nick 48:17 Mailbag: Cover Systems in Shooters Dear Diecast, Do you think cover systems ruined shooters? (Not trying to be dramatic, so feel free to interpret however severely you feel is appropriate.) Or elsewise detracted from the storytelling or experience of a narrative-driven game? Kind regards, Andrew…
I forgot to mention it on the show, but I got a community award from Steam this week. I didn’t even know that community awards were a thing? The award also came with a prize! I received 100 Steam points, which were added to my 177,085 total. I’m rich! Or something. More details below. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast377 Link (YouTube) Show notes: So about that award. Is it for some content that I made? Maybe the Portal 2 level I posted a few months ago? Or those Distance tracks I made back in 2016? Who nominated me? Who voted for me? I’m flattered, really. This is just so… Oh. Apparently, the award was auto-generated by the system because I posted a review that got lots of upvotes. So this isn’t an award given by people in recognition for an artistic creation, this is just some output from the social-media server because I did some bitching and moaning that played to the momentary mood of the crowd. “Such poetry!” Steam tells me. Shit, Gaben. If you think THAT dashed-off whining is poetry, I got 186,000 words of bellyaching that will knock your socks off. I got nitpicks for days. I’ve got more grievances than General Grievous. I’ve got enough salt to make Canada drivable in winter. I do this shit for a living. So… thanks for the 100 points, I guess? Anyway, here are the show notes: 00:39 Aria I forgot to ask Paul if Aria IS Omega. Missed opportunity. 04:06 Xbox for Windows doesn’t understand either Xbox or Windows Game pass is financially a good deal, but it wouldn’t be a Microsoft PC gaming product without an imperial assload of jank and metric arseload of terrible UI. [1] 09:54 Beautiful Desolation Link (YouTube) 20:06 Penny Arcade Remix How fun . 24:31 Mailbag: Migrating Mojang accounts for Minecraft Dear Diecast, Have any/either/all of you on the show this episode tried migrating your Mojang account to a Microsoft account so you can continue playing Minecraft, as required after March 10? Might make some great fodder for another of Shamus’s rants! (No fewer than five emails from Microsoft [including three different one-time codes], and the process got stuck on the final “yes I really do own this email address that was already tied to my Mojang account” verification step and had to be manually restarted…) May your diamonds be ever plentiful, Daniel “Philadelphus” Berke 29:13 Mailbag: Shooting in statsdriven FPS RPG Dear Diecast, In a statdriven shooter, some games make the guns deal little damage, leading to a situation where shooting someone in the head 5 times doesnt seem to do anything. Others give the player bad accuracy. But these systems can make the gunplay feel bad, which turns off a lot of people (which is why human revolution got better shooting than DX). And if you just have worse sway or something. A skilled player can compensate for it. In the end a character, supposed to be bad at shooting, can shoot very well because the player compensates for it. How can you make a system where a character not skilled with guns cannot shoot well, but the guns don’t feel like toy guns? With kind regards, Chris 37:39 Mailbag: Diecast Listening Habits Dear Diecast, I know Shamus enjoys hearing about the weird ways we consume his blog content. With regards to the diecast specifically, the first episode I listened to was episode #200. At that point I decided to go through the back-catalogue, starting with the very first episode, whilst also listening to each new episode as it was released. Do many listeners consume Diecast content either out of order, or years late, like me? Does Shamus have access to any statistics? Now, after listening to every diecast episode at least once, I feel qualified to summarise my entire diecast experience into the following 4 short questions: After it was suggested to you on multiple different episodes over the years, by both Chris and Paul (and possibly also Josh?) did you ever get around to playing Frog Fractions? Did the Satisfactory developers ever get around to patching in correct inverted mouse controls for driving vehicles? Do you have Minecraft open in another tab right now? And of course, the obligatory question… Hey Shamus, did you hear the RSS feed is broken? Yours cumulatively, Nick 43:04 Mailbag: Deliberately Subverting the Level Designer Dear Diecast, When playing a linear game with collectables or secrets to find on each level, it is not uncommon to find the path ahead split off in more than one direction. At that point I ask myself, “which path is the game designer most likely trying to direct me?”, and I then proceed to ignore that path at all costs until all other side paths have been searched. Just one of those things I’ve found that I have conditioned myself to do over the years, like always checking behind the character when a new level loads in, due to the occasional secret that level designers like to hide behind you at the start. I find it funny that the intention of good level design is to subtly lead the player in the correct direction through the level, and yet so often I find myself actively fighting against the will of the designer in order to play the game in the optimal way. Have you gentlemen experienced a similar phenomenon? Oh, and can we all please just agree that when a branching path inexplicably leads to a cutscene and checkpoint that won’t let you backtrack, that is a crime against humanity that should not go unpunished?!?! Yours contrarily, Nick 48:26 Mailbag: Videogame Logic in the Real World Dire Deercast, Have you ever caught your subconscious trying to use videogame logic in the real world? The best personal example I can think of relates to Metal Gear Solid 5, which had shipping containers in the open world map that your character could capture for resources. For a while after playing that game, whenever I spotted a shipping container in real life, for the first half-second my subconscious would try to tell me to run over and capture it, before my brain would wake up and gently remind me that I am not – in actuality – a legendary soldier. Another example would be me imagining the best way to rack up points by skating through the local urban landscape (Tony Hawk style), even though in real life I’m sure I would struggle to even stand on a skateboard. Yours disassociatively, Nick…
I intended to mention it on the show, but it slipped my mind: I actually have a new video coming out this week. Look for it tomorrow. It’s about boomer shooters. Or baby boomers. Or something like that. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast376 Link (YouTube) 00:00 Terra Nil Link (YouTube) 01:28 Stories that use Judeo-Christian ideas as worldbuilding details. Oh no. Demons from a vaguely Biblical hell have entered our world. Again. Luckily, they seem to be vulnerable to swords / shotguns. 04:57 Ghostwire Tokyo It’s not often that I get to say this, but I’ve honestly never seen anything like this before. 09:26:48 Hyperbolica It’s not brilliant in terms of gameplay, but the non-Euclidian space really tickles my brain. 15:55 So many games! Elden Ring, Tina’s Wonderland, Ghostwire Tokyo, Gran Turismo 7… a lot of big stuff came out this month! [1] 18:26 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition 20:32 IXION & Startopia What if we took an inherently fun and silly premise and took it super-seriously: Link (YouTube) 23:18 The Next Major RTS Will Fail. This Is Why . Brilliant analysis. Link (YouTube) 31:11 MFA Redux: Updating Autopay Why do they do this when there are better systems available ? 33:56 OOP and PHP 8 I realize that the show notes this week are just a bunch of YouTube links, but here is one more: CppCon 2014: Mike Acton “Data-Oriented Design and C++” 40:55 Mailbag: Protagonist Agency Dear Diecast, There was a lot of discussion on the blog over the past week about Protagonist vs. Main Character, and who is what, etc, Isn’t there an inherent problem with Video Games compared to other media in that the “Author” often doesn’t want the Main Character to have agency? Although it doesn’t *have* to be this way, video game designers often choose to assign agency to other characters who tell the Main Character what to do. Shamus spoke of the player in NWN 2 as roleplaying the world’s biggest doormat. Gordon Freeman is constantly dictated to and doesn’t have an arc. The PC in WarCraft/StarCraft/C&C etc. is likewise a silent figure ordered around. MMOs are notorious for PCs barely being characters in the stories being told. What would be the best games you can think of that *didn’t* go this route, and actually allow the player character to have agency in the game by not having an NPC order them around and that still told a good story at the end? I guess mine would be Planescape -Torment. 44:55 Mailbag: The Game Theorists on Acti-Blizz Acquisition Dear Diecast, I hope you’re doing well! I remember Shamus talking about how he’s working on a piece about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. I recently saw this video that he could use as part of his research – it brings up some good points I see a lot of people overlooking – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1utYXzKqM Fair warning – it’s by Game Theory, which means it’s excessively aggressively annoying. But as much as I despise MattPatt’s style, he’s been in the consulting gig for quite a while, and in these sorts of topics he usually has something interesting to say (his recent piece about TwitchTV is also interesting). As far as turning this into a question for the show… I guess this isn’t really a question. Maybe I should rename this email. Oh, no, wait – I do have a question: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?! Keep Being Awesome, Lino 47:32 Mailbag: Presenting probabilities Dear Diecast, High-profile tactics games like XCOM and Civilization have found that if you tell players they are 80% to win something, then they will feel like they should win basically all of the time and complain that the numbers are off if they lose one out of five times. To solve this issue the games lie: if your actual chance is 80% the game reports it as 70% and this feels about right to people. Similarly if you’ve lost several times in a row the game will cheat and give you a bonus to break your losing streak because perfectly normal runs of bad luck make players complain that the dice are loaded against them. How do you feel about this practice? Is there a better way to convey information, and if players are persistently bad at probability, should designers give them fake numbers that line up with their intuitions? Ninety-Three percent to hit Is there a term for when the GM has you roll for stupid stuff? Player: (Half-joking) Okay, while these guys are talking my character is going to go outside and take a piss. GM: (Not joking) Roll. Player: I got a 1. GM: You slipped and pissed all over yourself. I’ve never encountered it personally, but I hear about this often enough in anecdotes that I wonder if there’s a term for it.…
This week I felt like I couldn’t do a normal Diecast episode. I’ll have a post about that tomorrow. In the meantime, Paul decided to record an episode with a special guest. I won’t spoil it except to say I really enjoyed it and I hope you’ll give it a listen. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . diecast375_shameless Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Intro 00:16 Minecraft 04:28 Townscaper 06:10 Voltron 08:05 Everspace 2 Demo 13:22 Hyperbolica 15:20 VR Games 16:43 Nandgame 22:55 Scribblenauts Unlimited 25:00 Minecraft Again 27:02 Mailbag: Question for Paul Door Dipcast, Hi Paul. Of all your experiences as a freelance 3D modeler (if that description is accurate?), what is the most interesting/unusual request you have been commissioned to produce? or the most interesting/unusual intent for your finished product? Yours geometrically, Nick Here’s the 3d stuff Paul has made . 35:58 Outro Outro Music is Metroid “Kraidzy Dance” OC ReMix by Dirty Delay…
It’s time for our twice-yearly ritual of clock-fiddling. Which means I once again have to go around the house and remember how each clock works. This usually involves holding down two or three needlessly stiff buttons, labeled in tiny print, using black-on-black color scheme, to manipulate the clock one hour in either direction. The analog clocks are generally easier to adjust but harder to reach. At least I don’t lose an hour of sleep like most people. What a dumb system. Anyway, here’s a podcast about videogames… Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast375 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Aperture Desk Job Link (YouTube) 04:39 New Vegas Mod: The Frontier I’m not sure how I missed the buzz surrounding this thing when it came out. 19:41 Mailbag: Spider-Man: No Way Home Did we answer this one before? I can’t find it in my list. 20:16 Mailbag: FIFA vs Andrew Wilson Hey Diepals, So, it might be negotiating posturing, but Andrew Wilson seems to be open to gutting the most profitable sports franchise in history. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/eas-ceo-tells-staff-its-been-impeded-by-the-fifa-brand-its-four-letters-on-a-box/ I know sports games aren’t your cup of tea, but FIFA is by far the best selling video game sports franchise. According to Wikipedia, it’s sold more copies than Minecraft. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises The stated reason is FIFA is “holding EA back” from implementing other game modes and making the franchise somehow more popular. This seems to me like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs yet again by not understanding your customers. In my experience, the reason people buy annual updates to sports franchises is the latest stats and players, not “gameplay innovation.” Thoughts? ContribuTor 25:09 Mailbag: Stupid Premise Dear Diecast, If you make a game with a deeply stupid premise, is it better to spend lot of narrative time and effort trying to make the premise seem less stupid or to do nothing and just quietly hope that people don’t think about it too much? Also, which one of these two things does Batman: Arkham City do? Thanks a bunch, John 32:36 Mailbag: Home TV & Movies Dear Diecast, What home theater setup do you have for TV & movies? Do you think there will ever be a need for anything over 4K? If not, how can we improve our viewing experience? I am just now getting around to buying blu ray versions of my favorites that I currently own on DVD. Thank you! Will 43:36 Mailbag: Accessibility in Games Dear Diecast, How would you define “accessibility” in relation to video games? People generally seem to discuss it as ‘considerate options for people with physical impairments’, such as colour blindness, deafness, etc. Do you agree with this narrow view of the term, or would you extend the meaning further? If so, to what end? Kind regards, Andrew 55:00 Mailbag: Nested Loops in DSP Dear Diecast, Have you ever had interaction in a game that turned into a logic/programming problem you could not shake? I know you both have tried Dyson Sphere Program since you talked about it back on Diecast369. Paul posting about it is what introduced me to it. A recent update added the ‘Automatic Piler’ which stacks cargo. This addition has created a nested logic gate programming puzzle in the game. I’d love answer to that if you have one, but my Diecast question is: You are both programmers. Has a game ever put a pointless logic bug into your head in way that crashed your brain? – Steve C. BTW The puzzle in DSP that has stuck in my head is; If it is possible to output a fully saturated belt stacked to 4 with fewer than six Pilers using nested loops?…
I have a No Man’s Sky rant for you this week. Yes, I realize I’ve cooked you this dish before. Yes, I’m aware that you’d prefer something novel instead of leftovers from 2016. Like I said on the show, we really need another procgen space game because I’m going to lose my mind if I keep coming back to NMS in search of what I want. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast374 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Valheim It’s the classic conundrum when a new update comes out: Do I use my existing endgame save, and thus stroll through the new content overpowered? Or do I start a new game and spend hours grinding my way to the midgame to experience the content as intended? Paul chose the first one for Valheim, while I chose the second when returning to… 01:53 No Man’s Sky I want to stress that I’m not complaining about broken promises. I’m basically in agreement with Internet Historian that the last five years of free expansions have cleared Hello Games from the charge of being liars and con artists. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this is a horribly designed game with a monstrous interface, a self-defeating gameplay loop, and a progression system that was designed by an alien that’s never played a videogame before. It’s not a con. It just sucks. 22:18 Elden Ring Link (YouTube) A new Dark Soulsian game is out, so it’s time for another cultist recruitment drive . This time around the general public is apparently asking for a quest log. And like everything else they ask for, they’re being told that they’re trying to ruin the game and shut up you just don’t understand git gud . I totally get why you wouldn’t want a Ubisoft-style quest log and waypoint markers cluttering up the HUD. I agree that modern games are way too eager to vomit a to-do list onto your screen. I can totally see how putting a waypoint marker in Elden Ring is like putting markers in Portal to show you where the portals should go. On the other hand, I can also understand why someone might ask for a journal screen or whatever. Jason Schreier suggested keeping a pen and paper handy while playing the game. That’s a great idea! Only instead of paper, I want to keep track of things in a text document. And hey, rather than pausing the game so I can alt-tab over to my text document, wouldn’t it be cool if the game could just populate the text document for me? Let’s call it a “log” of quests. And wouldn’t it be cool if there was a button I could use to quickly look at this log from within the game? Wouldn’t that be more immersive than putting down the controller and turning away from the screen to consult a notebook? On the other hand, there’s value in the player not knowing something is a quest. If someone mentions praying at a “fiery door”, I might think they’re just sharing their backstory. But if my quest log suddenly gains an entry for “Find the fiery door and pray at it” then I know this is a quest. And maybe having that entry would deny me the chance to make the connection on my own. It’s an interesting debate, but like all Dark Souls criticism it quickly devolves into a weird sort of orthodoxy where it’s assumed that only True Fans understand the game well enough to criticize it, and the only people who are true fans are the ones who recognize the game as unassailable perfection. Also worth noting is this video on Returnal , which I mentioned during this segment. Link (YouTube) As someone who would find the game too frustrating to play, I really appreciated this all-spoiler breakdown. Highly recommended. 35:57 Mailbag: Shades of Colourlessness Dear Diecast, I hope this mail finds you both hale and hearty. Continuing my old man spree I dug up some games that I used to play a lot on Windows 3.1 (e.g. Hocus Pocus). I was struck by how differnt they look in colour. Maybe this is just the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia talking, but when I used to play them on my old black-and-white monitor they looked far more striking. Do you guys think games look better in black-and-white compared to in colour? How do you feel about games with dedicated B&W modes, like L.A. Noire and Tsushima? Am I just being an old curmudgeon yelling at clouds? Vale, -Tim 43:12 Mailbag: TV shows Dear Diecast Two new and popular TV shows ended fairly recently, The Book of Boba Fett and Peacemaker, have you seen them and if so then what are your thoughts? Best regards from Bobby T. 50:54 Mailbag: Save Scumming Dear DieCastles, The practice of save scumming is pervasive in video games, and is a problem for any game designer whose game has a save system. What measures do you think that designers should take to deter players from (ab)using the system? Can you think of any examples of games that you’ve played where you you were tempted to reload after dealing with some adversity, but you avoided doing so, and why? Or do you think that save scumming is an acceptable practice, and not worth worrying about from a design perspective? Curious about your thoughts either way. Regards, Zeta Kai…
I’m a cynical guy, and even I never predicted anything this bad. The modern gaming industry is one where you use a privacy-invading storefront to buy a DRM locked game where you use an in-game storefront to buy lootboxes to gamble for NFTs. I love this hobby, but I would experience orgasmic levels of schadenfreude if we had another gaming crash like back in ’83. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast373 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 No Man’s Sky? Oh well. Maybe next update. 00:53 Tough as Nails Minecraft I really do think that “Don’t Starve, but in Minecraft” is a good idea. But I haven’t found it yet. Several mods have tried, but balancing Hunger / Thirst / Temp / Sleep systems is tricky. Make it too easy, and caring for your needs becomes routine busywork. Make it too hard, and it dissolves into comical nonsense. Stuff like, “I finally got some food, but then I starved to death because I fell asleep before I could eat it.” Or “I ate ten grapefruit and then died of thirst because the fruit only fills your food meter, not hydration.” Part of the problem is the reliance on the standard “fill the bar” style mechanics. When it comes to consuming stuff, you can’t just use a single bar. With just one bar, you can go from “starvation” to “fully nourished” in a single meal by just clicking on a lot of food. What you need is a sort of two-stage system where you have a cap on how much you can absorb at once. I think the biggest challenge is communicating all of this complex state [1] clearly to the player without adding too much clutter to the HUD. I’m sort of tempted to take a swing at it myself, [2] but I really don’t enjoy programming in Java. 11:14 The Mushroom Village and Paste Security Here is the site , if you want to try it yourself. I realize my take on this might be kind of controversial. “You can’t save ignorant people from falling for scams.” [3] And yes, I realize that when one rube gets duped into installing malware, we all suffer because their machine joins a destructive botnet. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to help people make smarter choices, I’m just saying that that locking the user out of their own operating system and haranguing every user with endless warning messages is a lousy way of dealing with this problem. 17:59 Dreaming About Games I tried to make this as minimally cringe as I could. Still, we’re talking about dreams, so a little cringe is likely. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Who else has dreams where the dreamworld seems to run on videogame logic? 25:50 Mailbag: Hard to play games (for story reasons) Dear Diecast, I hope this February finds you well. I find myself with a bit of a conundrum: I love the gameplay of Breath of Fire IV. Now, this may not seem like much of an issue, if I like the game, I can just play it, however… I can’t play Breath of Fire IV. There is a scene later into the game where (spoilers), the bad guys shoot a magic cannon at the emperor and it is the saddest, most heartbreaking event in any game*. Not satisfied with that utter gut punch, from the time the emperor (he’s fine, by the way) reaches the imperial capital the game drags the player through one tragedy after another. Merely thinking about it gives me a stomach ache. So I was wondering, are there games that you guys love playing but simply can’t bring yourself to play because something the story does? This can be something the game does very well that you simply don’t have the bearing to withstand, or something the game does very poorly that ruins the experience for you. Vale, – Tim P.S. Warning: tragedy lies ahead. * The way said magic cannon works is by drawing power from someone with strong loving feelings towards the target. Preparing the… “ammunition” for the procedure involves torturing them to near-death. They tend not to survive the experience. 32:06 Mailbag: Video Game Worlds Dear Diecast, What are some of your favourite fictional settings in video games, and why? What distinguishes them from other ones in the medium that you do not look so favourably on? And are we greedy or too demanding for wanting rich settings without a whole bunch of jank and inconsistencies souring the experience? Have a wonderful day. – Andrew 37:12 Mailbag: Logic Artists Hi Diecast, There is this game company that I liked, Logic Artists. They are known for their Expeditions series (tactical RPGs) and have recently released the third title of that series: Rome (after Conquistador and Viking). When the game was released, they announced that they won’t be doing any RPGs anymore and instead will focus on creating NFT games. So here are my questions: 1) What the hell? 2) Do you think there will be more companies that will do the same thing? 3) Could you make them stop? Thanks in advance. Cheers, Darek Here is the video I mentioned in this segment: Link (YouTube) Like we said on the show, Paul and I disagree with this video (at different points, and for different reasons, I think) but I think we both agree that Dan’s eventual breakdown of NFTs is pretty good. If he’s right, then this is a problem that should solve itself. Sooner or later the pyramid collapses. And once enough of them collapse, new ones won’t have any way to get off the ground. I normally wouldn’t care. I don’t mind if wealthy folks devise bizarre new ways to try to hustle each other with new financial technologies. I can just not buy NFTs and it doesn’t really affect me. But now Ubisoft is putting NFTs into their games , and suddenly it’s something I have to worry about. 49:00 Mailbag: Age Math Dear Diecast, I hope you’re doing well! Do you ever forget how old you are? I know, it sounds weird, but as I’ve gotten older I sometimes find myself in a position where when I tell someone my age, I have to quickly do the math in my head to make sure I didn’t lie to them. I’m embarrassed to admit that last year on my 28th birthday for a minute or two I thought I was actually turning 29, until I actually did the math! So, my question is – has this ever happened to you, or am I just really weird (I mean, people always tell me I have a great memory, but maybe I’m just surrounded by even bigger freaks)? And if it has happened to you, is it something you’ve grown out of? Keep Being Awesome, Lino…
If I had a sign in my office that read, “WE HAVE GONE ___ WEEKS WITHOUT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE ENDING OF MESS EFFECT 3,” then that blank would have at least a 15 in it. Until today, when I’d have to erase that number and replace it with a 0. Your browser does not support the audio element. Direct download (MP3) Direct download (ogg Vorbis) Podcast RSS feed. Hosts: Paul , Shamus . Episode edited by Issac . Diecast372 Link (YouTube) Show notes: 00:00 Cave Story To answer the question I asked on the show: The original Cave Story came out in 2004, several years before the indie revolution began. 02:06 Minecraft 1.18 I didn't build this house. The modpack I'm using generates structures like this, so I just moved in. For the curious, I’m playing Better Minecraft [Forge] 1.18.1 . Although I had to add a few mods to get what I wanted. I prefer to play with fancy shader packs that do real-time lighting, and I also insist on having tools for mining 3×3 blocks. I really miss Tinker’s Construct , but that mod hasn’t made it to 1.18 yet. 10:50 Minecraft Server Shenanigans Again, I don’t want to link the video because I’m not looking to shame anyone. But apparently there’s an entire genre of YouTube channels where kids spend dozens of hours grinding away to build giant complicated lag machines in order to “punish” heavily monitized pay-to-win Minecraft servers. 17:18 NMS update 3.8 What do Paul and I think of the latest No Man’s Sky versions? 29:13 Mailbag: Death and Relationships within Games Hey Shamus and Paul, After recently suffering a couple of losses in the real world, it got me thinking about death within video games. I know a lot of people will probably pop in some Mass Effect and Final Fantasy answers, but what are some games that actually treat the death of a character with the respect it deserves, and have it serve as more than a mere plot device? What are some of the deaths of characters in games that actually affected you? One that hit me, even though it is from a game that doesn’t serve as a stellar example of writing is Dom’s death from Gears of War 3. The music, the dialogue, the cinematography all combine to hit me in the feels. To go along with that, relationships as well very often serve only as a plot device for our protagonists. What games would you say have included good examples of relationships? Very rarely do we see marriage, children, parental, or even friendly relationships that feel complicated enough to be real. Garrus from Mass Effect would probably be an easy example of a well written friend, I would be bro’s with him irl. Anyway, thank you for fielding this two-parter, Thanks, Chris/Gautsu Heads up: Spoilers for Telltale’s The Walking Dead . Also, we once again beat the dead horse that is Mass Effect 3 . Because I have no self-control. 40:51 Mailbag: Japanese Spider-Man Thoughts on Japanese Spider-Man? How does he compare to the original? https://youtu.be/LFYIRZoyavw Here you will learn why I am not a drummer. 46:19 Mailbag: Detention Video Game Deeeeeear Dyecast! Have either of you watched the movie Detention? It is based on the Taiwanese survival horror game of the same name and I think it is one of the best and most faithful video game movie adaptions while also being the best Silent Hil movie we’ve ever had! It works on it’s own, but for fans, scenes and iconography are taken directly from the game without feeling forced or jarring, and it has that wonderful blend of dread and melancholy that defines this type of horror! Thanks for reading and have a pleasant day, Jolt 48:47 Mailbag: Dream Anime-ified Game Dear diecast, I was going through the archives and found shamus’s top 64 games. He mentions that tetris was not for sale on steam in any way or form (well at the time of writing I assume). So i did a quick search and found you can buy tetris on steam now. Including anime tetris. So wondered, what anime-ified game would you like to see? COD modern warfare, anime edition? anime lord of the rings? With kind regards, Chris For the curious, here’s that Top 64 Games series . Also: I looked it up after the show and discovered that Robotech and Macross Saga are two different things! Robotech re-used the Macross animation to tell a different story. Actually, three unrelated OVAs were mooshed into a single story, because you needed to have 65 episodes in your series to fit the syndication schedules in North America. The party from the third Robotech saga. The guy on the right is Lancer, who we talked about on the show. You know, I really loved Robotech. I kind of forgot just how much I was into it until I did the above research and it all came flooding back. I’m willing to bet this had a big impact on how I connected with JRPGs. When I think back on The Third Robotech War, main characters feel sort of like a proto JRPG party. So anime fans: What’s the consensus on the Robotech Saga these days? It was mind-blowing 1984, and came off as a hundred times smarter and more sophisticated than western shows that ran in the same block, but I don’t know how it holds up today. Do people even remember it?…
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