How else are they going to make a cylon detector?

It was originally about gas masks, they don’t seal properly when you have a beard. That’s why a mustache is ok.

Granted, that’s not what this is about.

It is one of the most addictive games I’ve played, and yet, I have learned more from it than almost any other.

Programming has been a core part of my career for about 20 years, and I can’t think of any other time I’ve had such leaps forward as I did in the first few months playing factory.

It really is a great visual representation of large scale systems management.

That said, it can be one hell of a time suck.

Kerbal Space Program changed how I understand space flight.

Factorio changed how I approach programming

Modding original Doom and GTA vice city taught me 2d and 3d graphics as well as hacking and programming.

Pulled over on the highway in Chicago. This just when phones started being hot spots, and I got an emergency service call about a software glitch, had to write and upload a fix from my car.

The enemies in far cry 2 behave unlike any I’ve seen in gaming. They lose you, get lost, run right past you while searching. Fights in that game always feel so chaotic.

I haven’t played F.E.A.R., but have read about the AI, may have to give that a try.

In the vast majority of games, when the AI detects you, they just magically know where you are, and will just zero in on your position no matter how much you break line of sight and flank. It is always a frontal assault.

Out flanking an enemy and stalking them from behind as they peak around cover looking for you is something I don’t think I’ve seen in any other game.

They rescue downed buddies, so you can use sniper shots to lure them out, they will crawl for cover when down and shoot you in the back with a pistol when you think they are dead. Mixed with the lack of HUD and mini map means they could be anywhere and in any number.

Highly recommend it even with it’s jank for anyone looking for a unique and brutal FPS experience.

I’d be happy loading a backup copy from around 2012.

Is the world large and empty just for the sake of being open world? Are there meaningful traversal mechanics at the short, medium, and long range? Are there interesting locations, missions, and pick ups that make exploring interesting? Do diverse systems interact in random ways to produce unique and exciting emergent game play moments?

All of these things for me can add up to an amazing experience, or a boring slog.

Ghost recon wild lands, far cry 2, fallout 3, new Vegas, GTA in general, elden ring, breadth of the wild, assassin’s creed black flag, just cause 2 and 3, are all games that for me meet or exceed the goals and are some of my absolute favorites.

Assassin’s creed and far cry are the worst offenders for me, because of what games they came from.

Leveled weapons, gear, enemies, are the most immersion breaking elements in modern games.

I shot someone in the head, and because I used a level 4 gun against a level 6 enemy it does nothing?

I hit level 15 and can now magically use this shotgun, when it’s functionally identical to the one I’ve been using for hours?

This is just an extension of bullet sponges as a difficulty scaler, and a cheap way to force a player into and out of certain parts of the map, all in place of what could be done through better game design.

Games like far cry 2, assassins creed black flag, and ghost recon wild lands got it right.

Balance comes from weapons hurting both me and the enemy. Progression through the world can be gated and guided through literally dozens of other methods.

If the skill tree makes me too powerful for the base enemies, then let me mow them down like a god, or adjust the skill tree for a better balance.

In dark souls, git gud really just meant grind and level up till you were powerful enough for your personal skill level. Next time through if it’s easier, you can play at a lower level.

I don’t hate all games that have this mechanic, but many modern games go way too for in relying on it in place of other game design options.

From what I understand, the black flag remake is going to use modern assassin’s creed leveled weapons and combat systems, which means I likely just won’t buy it and play the original.

Don’t even get me started on modern HUDs.

See, I’d still have to see, hear, smell the thing.

There is no element of a child under the age of say 10 that I enjoy at all.

That horrible shriek they make, happy or sad sounds exactly the same to me, makes my skin crawl.

No babies, not ever. Death before diapers!

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can convince me to have a child.

Motorcycle, bass guitar, kitten.

I am so glad I’m too old to worry about any of this shit.

Just boggles the mind how little science has to do with the CDCs decisions.

If my company is looking at my Lemmy posts all I can say is what a huge waste of time and resources.

I did it for a few years, and blew through all my savings in the process.

Had to start an actual business, LLC, and deal with all the parts that as an engineer I absolutely hate.

Had done about 15 years in the industry with a small tech company, had all the skills, leads, etc, and wanted to do it on my own.

Way underestimated how much time and effort the running of a business part takes, and while I had projects, I didn’t have the time to do them right, payment was always late so my profit shrank, and I burned out in two years.

Hired an admin to help with managing the projects and clients, but it was too little too late.

I’m not saying don’t do it, I’m saying be sure to have all those other elements well in place, cause the actual time spent programming was pretty small.

In the end I took a role as the on site guy for a very large company, making decent money, and I’m back doing the parts I enjoy.

Best of luck to you.

Makes me think the time is right for a dedicated Luke game series.

I take great pride in my work. The results are appreciated by the whole company. I’m lucky that now I’m on a small team of good people, but that isn’t always the case.

I tend to ignore the dead weight when it’s there, because I know I’ll get my part done, and if I have to work extra to pick up the slack, I’m not shy to draw attention to it.

My whole chain of command knows what I do, and not being in management, dealing with lazy ineffective people isn’t my problem.

Focus on you, talk to management about the issues you face, but don’t point out others failures, just let it be implied.

Why is there a next target? Are we at war? We used to declare war on everything, drugs, poverty, crime, but we didn’t send in the Marines.

This can’t be the new normal.

It may never wash away, I’m just hoping we get a chance to paint over it.

I’ve been playing a lot more with sushi buses versus main buses.

Start out with basic hand feeding till I get coal belted to power and red science automated. Then start right in building a sushi belt mall.

Early red, green, and mil science are part of mall until I have enough military to start pushing out and claiming land. Usually when I get red ammo, or I’ll wait to get rockets depending on enemy settings and map layout.

I’ve moved to very much an offensive vs defensive play style, with a focus on keeping nests out of the cloud and just not having any static defenses until artillery.

Then I end up making separate locations for various builds, I like a dedicated sub bases for chips, science, etc, usually linked with trains or a bot network depending on layout.

I tend to build what I need on site, delivering raw resources to each location.

Each play through I tend to focus on learning about a different aspect. Circuits, trains, bots, efficient ratios, just in time resources versus packed buses, etc.

Next time I think I want to make dedicated outposts and a robust train network. Taking what I’ve learned about sushi buses and making sushi trains

Don’t think I’ve launched a rocket from the starter base in a while though.