@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

CWSmith

@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com

Owner / Creative Lead for Mechanized Armadillo Productions and Publications

Multiple projects active but sometimes going no where.

Probably would offend most of you if I started going on about things.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

CWSmith, to retrocomputing
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

To the folks, I got a question.

I am trying to remember a service from the late 90s that allowed you to download news from selected channels and read offline, which was sort of a big thing back in the days of dial up.

I remember seeing it on Cnet when that was a show on Scifi and a decent website.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@amoroso

Nah, this was an attempt at news distribution if I remember correctly with a unified interface. It was definitely commercial as well.

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

The reason why I’m not against A.I. is because it works in the correct context.

For gaming, it’s fine. Sometimes it’s preferable. For example, I like rogue-likes—A.I. works well there.

For writing news? Bad, bad idea.

But again, this isn’t a problem of the tech but of hype. A.I. shouldn’t do everything.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

Not sure I agree with you about the writing News part. Grammer not withstanding, News is just reporting events and information of note. If we are just talking that then a News bot would be perfect.

Analysis and Editorials would be a different thing, but basic news would be a perfect use case for an LLM.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@David

@atomicpoet

Definitely.

I think News I think events, situations that all the information isn't there yet, and other things. A straight reporting of what happened when and involving who. This is where an AI reporter would work well. It's not about having it all right then, just what information is available.

Verification and fact checking isn't necessarily needed for that sort of reporting. Especially since the Fact checking is on the fly or more facts are coming in in real time.

CWSmith, to drupal
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

Prototyping my Story Archive in #Drupal, which was always going to be partially a repack of the Book module and hoping I can figure out how to do it in #WordPress.

Gonna really need it since Drupal 11 is depricating it, the module that made me try Drupal in the first place.

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

What did DOS games actually look like during most of the 80s and 90s?

Usually, it was games like Flight of the Amazon Queen.

Hell, for a good long time, adventure gaming was DOS gaming. Certain people will tell you that PC gaming didn’t really start till Doom. But having had a DOS box during the late 80s and early 90s, I can say with certainty that when you walked into most computer stores, the wall was brimming with adventure games.

That’s because adventure games – more so than platformers or FPS games – really showcased what made DOS special. All that CPU power and hard drive storage allowed truly interactive experiences that were almost cinematic.

And the move from EGA to VGA made it all more awesome. Look at that art! Even though the pixels are chonky, this still looks great.

Games like this made me feel like I was playing a Saturday morning cartoon. You had great Soundblaster music and sound effects, well performed voice acting, and there was a good story.

Flight of the Amazon Queen is about a pilot and actress getting stuck in the Amazon rain forest, having to contend with Amazonians women – transformed into dinosaur warriors by the evil Dr. Ironstein.

You get everything in this game: comedy, action, intrigue. You know, a real plot.

I played this game using ScummVM and this is a superior experience over DOSBox. Unlike DOSBox, ScummVM is not merely an emulator. Rather, it is a game engine recreation. Frankly, the results speak for themselves – Flight of the Amazon Queen is beautiful.

Of course, I haven’t mentioned the best part about Flight of the Amazon Queen yet: it is FREE! On GOG.com, you can download it – without DRM – store it on your hard drive. It is a complete playable game.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/flight_of_the_amazon_queen

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CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

The Tex Murphy series was also a good setup. My Dad got a copy of Mean Streets, but barely ever let me play it really. It's also available on Steam, but a DRM free copy from GoG sounds like a better idea.

CWSmith, to random
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

Quick question.

Has anyone connected to @Mastodon been working to switch from Redis since they went closed source? What's going to be involved in moving to a drop in replacement?


atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

RPGMaker is my lowest tier when it comes to JRPGs. I don’t hate that the engine exists – far from it. If you’re new to game development, it’s probably one of the best that exist simply because the barrier to entry is so low.

Anyone – even kids – can make a decent JRPG with RPGMaker.

But that’s a double-edged sword. Because anyone can use RPGMaker, a whole lot of low effort crap gets made that litters Steam. Many people do the bare minimum with RPGMaker and then try to sell it.

However, it’s also worth mentioning that this wasn’t always the case. At one time, if you were a PC gaming JRPG fan, RPGMaker was like mana from heaven. There weren’t a whole lot of JRPGs on PC – never mind cheap ones – so suddenly being able to try out so many fan-made productions was amazing.

When I returned to PC gaming, one of the first RPGMaker titles I tried was Destiny Warriors. In terms of story, it wasn’t much to write home about. It’s pretty much just Naruto, if you’re familiar with that anime.

Yet it had good artwork and was decently challenging. At the time, I had an itch for 16 bit-style JRPGs, this one was on sale for less than a dollar – it gave me 12+ hours of gameplay. Not going to lie, I got a lot of value out of Destiny Warriors.

Even though this game has mixed reviews on Steam, I’m glad this was my intro RPGMaker because I had legitimate fun. Sure, I’ve played much better RPGMaker games, but most of them have been worse.

All this is to say that sometimes D tier has its good points.

Destiny Warrios screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Destiny Warrios screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Destiny Warrios screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

I grabbed RPG Maker XP to play around with when it was free. Might upgrade if I actually like it.

I want to use it to try and stage some story stuff as I work on the Vtuber project some.

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

DEAL ALERT!!!

The FEAR COMPLETE PACK has a -90% discount on Steam right now, and is selling for C$5.49. This includes:

  • F.E.A.R.
  • F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
  • F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn (DLC)
  • F.E.A.R. 3
  • F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point (DLC)
  • F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate (DLC)

If you’re not familiar with F.E.A.R., it’s a classic FPS franchise that’s been around since 2005.

I just bought the bundle. 🙂

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

Same, though I wish I could find a good spot to pull a copy of the old Prey from 2006.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

I think because Bethesda got the Copyright and made their game, but the one I like is Abandonware now.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

It shouldn't, but it is. And I am trying to get a copy I found on Archive.org to function in wine but I keep running into issues. Might see if it runs in Win10, but who knows.

CWSmith, to drupal
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

Working on my community sites some. Creating an type in . I want to make sure I get all the important information an entry should have for this, prompt, models, things of that nature.

I especially want to be sure I can offer stuff for people to play with from the fan sites and my own projects. I started trying to use AI Image Generators to kick start my brain for ideas for writing.

The prompts will eventually be open for people to use for anything of course.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@Archnemysis

A Image and the Metadata, maybe a second file type for json workflows.

Having a self-generating image would require me being able to setup StableDiffusion on server to run each time, and that would just be beyond my ability both technically and with how much a base server would cost.

CWSmith, to threads
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

So, I am gonna start posting links to my Mastodon posts on Threads. Maybe I can convert some folks to a federated group that way, or at least encourage them to concider it.

I would prefer to get folks off Meta platforms.

But is it worth it at all folks?

BeAware, (edited ) to threads
@BeAware@social.beaware.live avatar

Hmmm...wonder how long this has been a thing...if it's fairly new, I wonder if Threads is further along in their AP implementation than they're letting on...

To be clear, I'm talking about how Fedi handles show up as links on Threads. They don't actually link to anything yet, but they do show up as links.🤔

Edit: Not necessarily so. Here's a GREAT explanation on how this (probably) works by @m https://thias.hellqui.st/objects/bef3ad92-a688-4c69-80e5-a2e343877e10

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@BeAware

I mean, it's not THAT hard to code in. It was probably part of the initial setup due to having to format user names so people like us can search accounts on Threads.

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

I love the DOS version of Mortal Kombat 2.

But word of advice: change the keyboard controls as soon as you can because the default keys are horrendous.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

Never knew there was a pc version.

Where could I find this and how will it work in Proton on Linux?

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet

Thanks

BeAware, to fediverse
@BeAware@social.beaware.live avatar

Ya know...all the fear mongering on Fedi is starting to tire people out...

Lots of people just don't want to be here anymore because of the way a lot of Fedi users treat normal everyday things as EVILLLLLL!!!

You're doing the very thing you fear the most when you talk shit about Threads (and other things most of you deem evil) and pushing people to those platforms.

I am on both and literally seeing it. I have users that follow me on both platforms that say they're considering leaving Fedi because of how normal it is there.

No brigading. No blatant misinformation. No bullshit drama about Fediblock. Just normal, SOCIAL media.

So, those defederating from people that federate with Threads are literally and already killing the platform you claim to love so much...🤦‍♂️🤬

A lot of you need to look in the mirror.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@Btph

@BeAware

I was warned by some friends about the political leanings of most servers. I don't lean that hard one way or the other, but I do try to not let the sociopolitical chatter overwhelm me.

Cause I like this, and unlike X/Meta I actually feel like someone hears me at times.

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

I am not a fan of the Evercade VS. At one time, I would have been. But when I look at what this is, I’m genuinely disappointed.

This is just an emulation machine. It’s like a RetroPie but worse. At least with a RetroPie, the sky’s the limit. You can even run PICO-8 games if you like.

The Evercade VS, though, will only play cartridges. To many people, this is the appeal. They like the Evercade VS because the games are officially licensed, and they come in a box.

In other words, the audience is collectors. As a result, it’s limited because it’s a device for collectors – for it’s only collectors that care about official licensing and how stuff is packaged.

For good emulation, a RetroPie blows this out of the water.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@ohbutt

@atomicpoet

I have a Retro 5 in storage, can do a ton of older cartridge games. Even uses original controllers.

Just feels a bit easier to get running.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet @ohbutt

I frankly have been exploring that on my laptop lately. Picked up a Nintendo type retro controller and it works pretty well in Linux emulation.

Might try a Retro pi project one of these days.

atomicpoet, (edited ) to fediverse
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

President Joe Biden’s Threads account @potus is federating on the Fediverse!

And I’m following him from atomicpoet.org!

Wow! This is as monumental as Barack Obama joining Twitter! A truly historic day for the !

@fediversenews

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@gme @fediversenews @atomicpoet @potus

Have you ever known a Politicians X, Meta, or whatever account to answer commentors like us?

It's post the statement, get it out there, set and forget.

I don't remember any account talking back and not causing the politico more problems.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@atomicpoet @gme @potus @fediversenews

Agreed. It's why I spun my own instance in the first place.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@gme @fediversenews @atomicpoet @potus

That's a completely different discussion.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@gme @fediversenews @atomicpoet @potus

Do you need it? Our politicians take every opportunity they can to push out whatever their message is at any time. If anything we need them to do it so we can at least know what they are saying and keep track.

And it doesn't defeat the social part of social media. Making a statement and letting the masses discuss is just as socially valid as answering every post.

CWSmith,
@CWSmith@social.mechanizedarmadillo.com avatar

@gme @fediversenews @atomicpoet @potus

The one directional nature of the Threads Federation right now is just out of everyone on Threads hands. That's gonna be on Meta to eventually address and put up. Otherwise there is no benifit for a Threads user to hit that Fediverse switch. Why would they care what people they can't see think or how many follow them if they can't even follow back?

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