@ward@easymode.im
@ward@easymode.im avatar

ward

@ward@easymode.im

Interests: #gamedev #chiptunes #indiedev #retrogames #tabletop #dandd #osr #dos #pcgaming #cooking #pixelart #gamemusic #photography #hiking #metal #fedi22

I make music (#chiptune, retro, #midi, #symphonic, #piano). ward@midnightdojo.com (messaging me here is best)
I make games (finally): https://wardhale.itch.io/
pronouns: any

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ward, to Windows11
@ward@easymode.im avatar

my Windows 10 taskbar vs the Windows 11 24H2 taskbar... I hate this so much that it's unhealthy. They have removed all the hacks that allow you to make it smaller (other than paid apps like Start11)

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey I think open-shell will be ok because it's not just restoring legacy code that is still in windows. It's a new shell (if I understand how it works correctly). This is why Start11 also works. They don't rely on any of the legacy systems in Windows 11... But explorer patcher is broken because lots of the functionality they were restoring has been removed from the latest version of the OS. So, hopefully devs will start working on alternative shells... it'll be more difficult because it's all closed-source... but still.

ward, to microsoft
@ward@easymode.im avatar

This closing game studios shit is part of a bigger problem with art in general... Executives and money bros started calling it all "content." Then they forgot that artists are the ones who create the art... then they started thinking that they were actually smart when it comes to art. They are not.

Their job is to enable artists, fund artists, and let them create new pieces of culture... They forgot about this, so we get cancelled games, closed studios that were awesome, sequels forever and fear of new IPs, cancelled shows that were good, shelved movies that were completely finished, etc.

Fuck every single rich asshole who thinks they know anything about art. They need to learn their place in society, because the cultural implications of having them behind the artistic decisions is bleak.

ward, to retrogaming
@ward@easymode.im avatar

If you like #DOS, #SNES, or #dungeonsynth inspired music... well...
It's Bandcamp Friday (meaning the artists keep 100% of the sale). So, Let's do $3.33 for the latest album.
https://zweihander.bandcamp.com/album/ranger-of-the-old-woods
#videogamemusic #chiptunes

ward, to linux
@ward@easymode.im avatar

people... how is Windows these days in a VM? I am about sick of the direction Windows 11 is going in... but I am stuck because my music software and VSTs do not work in Linux. Also, windows is just better with sound. I also run a Sound Blaster for EAX support in old games. Before I start messing around, does anyone know how well all this will work in a Windows VM? My main rig has a 5950x (16 cores/32 threads) and 128GB RAM... and an Nvidia 3080 Ti.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

For reference, I'm familiar enough with Linux... I have several servers (mostly Debian) and a laptop with Debian 12... and I'm using distrobox to have never versions of some software... but my laptop isn't powerful enough for VMs. I run proxmox for some stuff, but again... that's not a desktop.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@MrBungle That's what I was afraid of. The last time I tried I found that I was spending 90% of my time troubleshooting and tinkering. I might have to have a separate music PC when I have extra room.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@gsthnz I use an audio interface called the SSL 2+ and it has it's own ASIO. So, I'd hopefully be able to pass that through... it's USB though. So who knows.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@gsthnz Your posts are really helpful... I'll look into these things. I haven't done virtualization with pass-through because I just use Proxmox for simple things... actually using virtualization for music editing is something I haven't tried yet. I've only tried to get VSTs to work on Linux with very mixed success rates.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

#Boeing

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

this stellar blade sexy nonsense is all over the internet... I don't seem to have much of an opinion on it though. How does everyone feel about Stellar Blade being condemned for sexy outfits while more mature games, like BG3 are praised for nudity?

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

All I see is that one is pandering sexy stuff that doesn't fit the plot... while the other is more explicit sex and sexiness, but in an RPG with extremely well-written characters... but I don't know if one is more correct than the other. I'm not sure what the deeper ideas are here, but I must be missing something... or I just don't care enough either way.

ward, (edited ) to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I seem negative on AI, but I actually want AI to help me with my music... but not the way the AI bros think...The AI bros are like, "hey music nerd, we made a thing that can actually make the music for you." NOOOOO!
I want Salieri to be my music AI... just like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USe-wZ0AOQQ

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

This this this you ai shitheads... give me a tool that let's me score this way. I hate writing sheet music. https://youtu.be/USe-wZ0AOQQ?t=208

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

The point is that I am still writing the music this way... coming up with the melodies, stating when there should be a crescendo or whatever... I'm just removing the incredibly tedious part: writing the sheet music... which is so massively slow that it takes me out of the creative space. If AI could listen to me as I say, "OK... cellos come in after a rest with this," then I hum their part... that would be liberating. I could hire someone to sit here and do this... but that would probably cost me hundreds per hour and would be way slower.

rysiek, to random
@rysiek@mstdn.social avatar

A few days ago @ward tooted about how it's somehow "AI art", but if it's human-made, inexplicably it's just "content":
https://easymode.im/notes/9s9fhdg8jh3gi3h7

His toot has been living rent-free in my head ever since.

I had ranted a few times before how "content" is a corporate-y way to devalue art. How "user-generated content" is a term designed to make it easier to deny the significance (not just monetary) of the amazing stuff people create online.

Contrasting this with "AI art" is jarring, and spot-on. 👀

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@rysiek @leadegroot it's all from the Bill Gates take on what would rule the Internet: content is king. Which is true when it comes to ad revenue... Just cranking out junk will make you more AdSense revenue, but it won't guarantee it's value. But all the money people focused on the content grind. YouTube changed the creators dashboard from "videos," to, "content." Netflix executives call their shows, "content." This wasn't exactly a calculated thing. It's basically just how they see art. They can not make art, but the can monetize content.

But suddenly there's ai... And now the think they are making something so they just ignorantly call it, "ai art." I think it's all part of their twisted psyche. They are patronizing to real artists because they see them as content cannons who create stuff for them to monetize... They do not see value in the art though... But if they generate stuff from a prompt, they think it's magical and valuable art because they "created" it.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I lose sleep thinking about how much I want to delete the tech youtube channel... I want to delete my source of income. I guess this is normal for people who like to create art.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey My music makes $500-$800 per month and I do nothing except release an album every year or two... so maybe I'd be ok. The videos do make more, but the store makes a LOT more than the YT page does.

I think the thing I hate most is that when I meet people (like tonight I met someone at a bar who said they build their first computer with my help)... well, they know a false version of me... I'm much weirder and darker than I am in the tech videos.... but the first impression is always weird.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

mother of god it's perfect

ward, to gamedev
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I've seen people say that Baldur's Gate 3 was lightning in a bottle, and I think that's totally incorrect. It's pure and simple, Larian Studios did the work. The work they did on their previous games (Divinity: OS 1 & 2) built the foundation that allowed them to create BG3.

Larian is NOT a typical AAA dev... I still consider them indie, despite their size. Indie simply means that they do not have to answer to a publisher. While this was D&D, they simply purchased the rights and Hasbro did not have any input in the creative process.

Larian works on projects they love. They create what they want to create. They seek community feedback after a certain point, but ultimately, they are in charge. They do not focus on monetization schemes or addictive mechanics... they just make good games. They earned this. It isn't lightning in a bottle... it's math.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@the_skotts I honestly think the stock market and boards of directors are the two worst things to ever happen to production and the economy

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

Everybody knows somebody who's made Costco their entire personality

ward, to aiart
@ward@easymode.im avatar

Let's stop using the term, "ai art," and start saying, "ai content."

They want us to call our work, "content," and they want us to call their junk, "art." No.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

oh damn... check out my mix tape... (and maye hire me to do chiptunes, dos midi, or symphonic stuff for you game)
https://zweihander.bandcamp.com

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@sabik @shanesemler I can agree to an extent. However, it has to be more than typing words into a prompt. If I send a paragraph to an artist and ask them to draw something for me, I am not the artist... they are... but ai isn't human, so that same paragraph given to ai means the content was created by nobody... ai has no artistic input... if a human takes that and transforms it into something of their own, then we can talk about that being art... I'm not interested in it, but maybe we can call it art of some sort.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@LucaManciniDrummer not the same thing. digital painting and digital music require a significant amount of human input. It's the human expression in the creation of the art that make it art. Typing things into a prompt means you are good at creating ideas... but the "ai" creates the content, not you... and ai does not understand what it is doing, does not have it's own experiences or ideas to draw from, and is void of expression. So, it's not the same as something created by a human. Even if it is visually appealing, I'm more interested in something created by a human. When ai becomes real ai and can think... reason, etc. Then maybe I'll be curious to see what it expresses.

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