mox
@mox@lemmy.sdf.org
- Comment on Why can't we go back to small phones? 1 day ago:
Sony used to make compact variants of their flagship Xperia phones. Good specs. Good battery life. Good camera. Good sound. Good reception. Headphone jack. SD card slot. Unlockable bootloader, so they could be de-googled.
Sadly, the compact line grew slightly larger with each model year, and even a no-so-compact one hasn’t been released in a while.
- Comment on Firefox deletes promise to never sell personal data, asks users not to panic 2 days ago:
There isn’t a browser suitable to replace Firefox in the official Debian apt repos.
However, it’s worth noting that Mozilla’s recent Terms of Use apparently apply only to the Firefox builds downloaded from Mozilla, not to the built-from-source versions that you get from the Debian archive using apt.
- Comment on We're remaking Morrowind as a Skyrim mod. Here's a charity livestream we held on the weekend. 6 days ago:
Between this and Skyblivion (video), perhaps I’ll get to play beautiful versions of the older games. Looking forward to it!
- Comment on Atmospheric Water Harvesting With High Voltage 6 days ago:
Indeed. I could also see wind turbines charging batteries during the windiest hours, and the batteries powering the moisture collectors during foggy hours.
- Submitted 1 week ago to technology@beehaw.org | 7 comments
- Comment on Skyblivion, the fan remake of Oblivion in Skyrim's engine, nears completion 1 week ago:
I hope they manage to get it complete, and good. Giving Oblivion another try (this time exploring the rest of the world instead of focusing on the boring main quest) has been on my list for a while, and improved graphics would be welcome.
That font, though… not a good choice for quickly delivering information. Mods to the rescue?
- Comment on Rockstar has some of the most restrictive mission design I've ever experienced 2 weeks ago:
Yes, I’m aware of that justification. I like the idea in principle, but it doesn’t hold water in this game, because the mechanics they used to simulate ultra-realism are not realistic at all. Picking up a weapon in real life doesn’t impose a state of bodily malfunction where you have about as much control of yourself as a blind drunk standing on one stilt. I’ve used swords and bows. Even my very first time, there was never a point where I suddenly found my arms or legs failing to work at all. The implementation here is a ham-fisted attempt at best.
Clearly, though, there’s an audience for it
It seems so. If some people enjoy slogging through those mechanics, then I’m happy for them. I have better things to do with my time.
- Comment on Rockstar has some of the most restrictive mission design I've ever experienced 2 weeks ago:
I loved the environments in RDR2, but holy hell, the missions’ persistent denial of player agency drove me up a tree. Railroading like this is annoying in the best of cases. I could tolerate it in The Last of Us, which limited the places I could go but offered a wonderfully engaging story in those places and never dropped a 10-ton FAIL anvil on my head for trying something creative. But in an open world game (a genre that I like because I’m encouraged to find creative solutions) I find it unforgivable.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance drove me away for similar reasons. I like games where the challenge comes from learning how to work with available tools and moves, developing my skill with them, and figuring out how to use them most effectively. Making progress that way is satisfying. KC:D chose polar opposite of that, interfering with my ability to control my character until I slogged through seemingly endless “training” sessions. It had nothing to do with developing my skill as a player, but instead just arbitrarily denied me agency. I hated it, and since the reports I’ve read suggest that the sequel does the same, I won’t be buying it or anything else by those game designers.
I guess my point is just to let you know that you’re not alone. :)
- Comment on Gaming on Linux, How openSUSE Stacks Up for Gamers 2 weeks ago:
I bet someone can cook up some edge cases where the newer kernel might matter.
What desktop distro doesn’t have a new enough kernel available? Even the current Debian Stable, which is nearing the end of its run, has a recent backport (currently at 6.12.9).
- Comment on Day 206 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots 3 weeks ago:
I must say I e never played Skyrim, and I didn’t know how beautiful it could be.
Modern texture packs, replacement models, and lighting mods make it even more so.
On top of that, Skyrim’s soundtrack is outstanding, and conspires with the scenery to make it a game world not easily forgotten. I’m sure I’ll be going back.
- Comment on Rift of the NecroDancer Official Launch Trailer 3 weeks ago:
Thanks, but having finished the game with Cadence, I think I understand the mechanics.
- Comment on Rift of the NecroDancer Official Launch Trailer 3 weeks ago:
I still haven’t managed to beat Crypt as anyone other than Cadence. I wonder if this game will be even harder.
- Comment on EA releases another shameless IP flip with Sims 1/2 Legacy 3 weeks ago:
Has anyone here tried these?
- Comment on Sid Meier's Civilization VII | Review Thread 4 weeks ago:
Civ V had mediocre-to-bad gameplay on release, but was transformed into something good by the Brave New World DLC. I have read that Civ VI was similarly improved (although perhaps with a bit less success) by way of DLC.
Judging by the initial reviews of this one, it looks like a pattern is developing. I guess I’ll once again wait a few years until the “fix” DLC has been out for a while, and buy the combo pack on sale.
Unless they use Denuvo or some other anti-customer nonsense that I won’t support.
- Comment on Kingdom Come: Deliverance II | Review Thread 4 weeks ago:
The question I’ve had since this sequel was announced: Does it use the same approach to combat skill progression as the original, where players are robbed of agency instead of encouraged to figure out effective use of tools?
Eike Cramer from IGN Deutschland seems to have my answer:
The game design is annoying with forced stealth on top of a frustrating save system. That’s especially true for some of the longer story missions. On top of this, the combat mechanics are extremely inaccessible and, with their mercilessness, put far too many obstacles in the way of the players, especially at the beginning. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is nevertheless an utterly unique, ambitious and, in large parts, very good adventure. But it’s also a video game that misses important points a little too often in the gameplay details and does not respect the player’s time in certain places.
Thank you Eike, and thank you OP for posting those quotes.
- Comment on Random Screenshots of my Games #57 - Aperture Desk Job 4 weeks ago:
I started playing this on PC, but at a certain point, it persistently crashed. A bunch of other folks reported the same problem. I guess non-Deck hardware wasn’t a priority for Valve this time.
- Comment on Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked 4 weeks ago:
Linux is one of the few impactful tools available to maintain (or reclaim) the sovereignty of our communications, data, and access to the online world. Those things lie at the core of practically everything in our lives, from employment to education to laws to basic human necessities. Given how significantly freedom is being eroded lately, I can’t think of many things more important in the long run.
- Comment on Day 195 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots 4 weeks ago:
Ever since playing and liking Tomb Raider (2013), I have noticed it being compared to Uncharted, which made me curious about the latter. However, the clips I’ve seen made Uncharted’s characters seem focused on being macho men, rather than being humans exploring dangerous environments. Is it like that throughout, or did I just randomly find video clips that happened to highlight a single minor aspect of the games?
- Comment on Ubisoft announces studio closure as it lays off 185 staff 5 weeks ago:
Practically all game publishers do. Sadly, it’s the industry standard.
But the complaint was about Steam, not Valve.
- Comment on Ubisoft announces studio closure as it lays off 185 staff 5 weeks ago:
It’s not Steam’s decision to make. The statement you’re referring to is just Steam clearly stating a decision made by the game publishers. Even if Steam didn’t highlight it, it would still exist, as you would see if you read the games’ license terms before paying.
Ubisoft is a game publisher. They actually make the decision that you don’t own the games you pay for.
- Comment on Reviewers giving high scores to poorly optimised games really grinds my gears 5 weeks ago:
Throwing another example on the fire: The Last of Us Part I PC port. The people who released that code ought to be brought up on charges for climate destruction.
- Comment on Can We Build Tech That Is Not Oppressive? 5 weeks ago:
You’re right, I’m not really sure if I understand what the article is about. And how it translates to the title and us, the people.
Unfortunately, the headline is misleading. It’s possible that the author chose it because gathering an audience by criticising “tech” is easy. It’s also possible that she misunderstands the root of the issues she discusses. shrug
The only way I know of to solve the problem is to reclaim our governments, and reform them. Historically, that has been done through democracy and through revolution. The former approach is getting harder, and the way things are going, might disappear if we let it go for too long.
- Comment on Can We Build Tech That Is Not Oppressive? 5 weeks ago:
Did you read the article? It’s not about spyware in the devices we “own”. That’s just a minor detail.
The problem being discussed is about governments, laws, and capitalist motives being allowed to systematically exploit people who can easily be exploited. This takes place mostly outside of our devices, so although putting safer software on our devices is absolutely worthwhile, it cannot fix this problem.
- Comment on Can We Build Tech That Is Not Oppressive? 5 weeks ago:
Libre software is important, and relates to the article insofar as it can help keep our own devices from spying on us, but software is but an incidental detail within a larger problem. This is about abusive power structures, bad actors with too much influence, and profit taking precedence over human rights. No software license will solve it.
- Comment on What is AI good for? (derogatory) 5 weeks ago:
Didn’t Edwin Starr sing something about this?
- Comment on ~118% of players support LAHF [Steam Survey] 1 month ago:
I hear people wondering, “WTF is LAHF?”
It’s a CPU instruction.
- Comment on Day 183 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots 1 month ago:
I suggest trying out a few distros using live bootable images, and picking one you like for regular user stuff. There is no “best” for gaming; all the major distros can do it just fine.
- Comment on Day 183 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots 1 month ago:
Wow. I feel like i’m really experiencing California Traffic. It’s just as bad as the real thing.
I hope California drivers aren’t as bad as the NPC drivers in this game. Any minor obstacle has a 50% chance of sending them into panic, ramming other vehicles and wedging their own into positions from which they cannot easily escape, when they could have just steered around it. It gets so laughably bad that I have sat and watched them try for more than a few minutes at a time.
- Comment on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's dedication to letting me be a drunk, boorish oaf is so committed, it honestly left me astounded - preview 1 month ago:
Does it have the same skill-leveling mechanic as the first one, where the player has about as much control of their body as a drunk standing on one stilt, and sometimes has to fight with actions failing to work at all, until they slog through hours of mind-numbing training sessions?
I wanted to like KC:D. There were parts of it that I found really appealing, but I found that mechanic bloody intolerable, so I ended up deleting it and never looking back.
- Comment on Any Roguelike/Roguelite suggestions? 1 month ago:
If you love roguelike games, I suggest playing a great one that was directly inspired by the original: Nethack.
If you want fancier graphics, Shattered Pixel dungeon.