@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 random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

Just finished Sid Meier's book (it was awesome) and now I'm in the mood for something dark and gritty to balance out the wholesomeness.

Anybody have recommendations for hard-boiled or noir that's bleak, gory, and gritty... Bonus points if takes place in the 80s or 90s? Seems like most of them are set in the 40s-60s.

Emi, to random
@Emi@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

I'm looking to buy a mini PC to use on my desk (I kinda hate plugging and unplugging the laptop every time) and I was wondering what recommendations y'all have?
Don't care about the brand, just something that is quiet but won't struggle to open too many tabs on the browser 😅

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@Emi I've done WAY too many miniPC videos lately (for my tech job)... Minisforum is amazing. Geekom is also great... and khadas mind is... interesting because you can get a GPU dock for it... then have a different dock at home/work. If you tell me the budget, I can help more.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@Emi I know exactly what you mean. Most are annoyingly loud and they have that high pitch.

So, the best thing right now is the Hx100G from Minisforum, but it's not tiny... however, it has a GPU, so it's a beast... I just replaced my workstation/streaming PC with this... and I can't hear it. It's totally silent.
https://store.minisforum.com/products/elitemini-hx90g?variant=44489936666869

Otherwise, this Geekom is tiny and way quieter than the others (you can still hear it). It's also extremely fast: https://www.geekompc.com/geekom-a7-mini-pc-ryzen-7000/

ward, to PCGaming
@ward@easymode.im avatar

"We don't make decisions where we think 'this could make us the most money.' In the long run, building a community, building a playerbase, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money, that's it."

ward, to VideoGameMusic
@ward@easymode.im avatar

More old game music. Blackthorne (Blackhawk in some parts of the world) had two completely different soundtracks. The PC had a much more whimsical and melodious music, while the SNES favored mood over melody. It was all composed by Glenn Stafford. Which one did you like better?
DOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c63ZdHrA34g&t=389
SNES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjRzBOZE1HY
#videogamemusic #chiptunes #snes #dos

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

this last fm plugin for artist bios wasn't meant for video game soundtracks... but it's accidentally amazing most of the time

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

it feels good to search for my own music on soulseek and find a bunch of people sharing the files. Bandcamp is for those who can afford to support, but soulseek means everyone can enjoy it. Music is for everyone.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

The difference between creativity and theft is that creativity adds.

  • Sid Meier
ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I remember one time I was building a level in unreal and someone came into the chat and was like, "that's not how you build levels."

So I said, "How do you build them?"

They said, "I don't know, but you're doing way too much work. You should just be able to generate it right?"
Gamers have no idea how games are made. They literally think most of it is magic.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@anniethebruce @chaotin I kinda understand this. I wanted to make an RPG as big as Morrowind at first... And I'm so glad I never did a Kickstarter. I had no idea how much work it was until actually trying and realizing I needed to stop and make tiny games first.

ward, to godot
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I feel a little bad about setting this up a year ago and never streaming. Honestly there were so many things that stopped me. The main one was taking a break on the unreal game to learn stuff .. well that's not fun to watch and I didn't want back seat devs. Then the unity stuff happened, so the learning had to start again with . I'm not sure what to stream now .. world anyone watch ... I'll dj the best retro game music (and metal if I'm in a mood) too.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

"Even talented people have mostly bad ideas."

  • Sid Meier
ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

I've been thinking about this constantly this year because I've been writing some things... Remembering this is one thing... accepting this is another step, and it is huge. Your own ego can really get in your way... and it can really mess with team.

The first ideas are usually the most derivative, contrived, and simplistic... and they are terrible... however, if you chew on them for a while, you can really get to something special by the 7th idea in the same direction.

The point (for me), is to have lots of ideas, but don't insert your ego into the equation. You'll end up getting attached to a terrible idea and when the idea doesn't work, you'll take it personally.

That's where I am now... trying to remember that something isn't special or different just because I thought of it... I mean, it could be... but it usually requires work. Remembering this will keep you collaborative rather than combative.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

anybody have any tips on how to block ai images from google image search? It's becoming very difficult to research styles for this project I'm working on.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@jmhorner seems to be about the same... oh well.

ward, to pixelart
@ward@easymode.im avatar

WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK
wishlist soon (just need a name)... follow for info on what we are making...

ward, to pixelart
@ward@easymode.im avatar

was trying to make a logo for a cyberpunk corporation... and it accidentally turned into this... so now I gotta find a use for it!

casey, to Steamdeck
@casey@easymode.im avatar

I've encountered a strange issue where is suddenly constantly crashing on my main rig, but working perfectly fine on my . I'm not using any mods, my rig is more than enough to handle the game on high settings at 1440p, and I'm not having any issues with any other games. I've reinstalled the game several times. I've verified the integrity of the files via steam, I've even reinstalled my OS. Noting works. It still crashes constantly on my main PC. There;s no discernible pattern to the crashes either--in combat, out of combat, standing around in the world, clicking on something, doing an action, character creation...it just crashes after 5-10 minutes every time without fail. My temps are all fine as well, and no other game is giving me these issues....any idea what's up? I'm running the game on a Ryzen 5 2600 with a 6650 XT, 32 GB of ram, and nvme driven and i'm using 21.3...

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey how's the hdd health?

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey sorry... got busy and forgot to reply.

Do other games work fine? If so, I'd try something weird... install some mods:
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/944
and
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/781

I can't live without wasd controls... but if you don't want them, just put the SDL2.dll file into your /bin/ folder and ignore the NativeMods stuff

That might help... maybe?

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey It could be... but that is weird that it's not doing anything in other games... you could see driver crashes in the os and sometimes lines on the screen... I wonder if there's save game corruption. I'd put the mods back... then go into your app data folder, back up your profiles/saves somewhere... then remove them... the saves are also huge, so feel free to delete ones you will never need again. Then launch the game and let steam cloud or gog re-download the save files... maybe the ones on the server are not corrupted and the ones on your system are? that's just a guess.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey that would make me crazy... you tried vulkan and DirectX right? I'd come help if I could lol.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey YOU WENT BACK TO IT! lol. I knew you'd do it after a few days. Do you have an AMD system? If so, one thing that could be the issue is that if your XMP is 3600mhz or so, you need to set the FCLK clock the 1/2 of that ratio (so 1800 in this case). This will speed up the system too. That could also provide stability... however, it still doesn't work with xmp, then leave it off... it'll slow things down by like 1-2 fps maybe, but who knows.

ward, to random
@ward@easymode.im avatar

was talking to someone and they gave me the line: "The problem with marxism is that it doesn't account for human greed...and that isn't stupid... but their logic is usually that capitalism is the answer... which is completely ridiculous... great.. humans are greedy by nature... and this is bad... but let's live in a system that rewards sociopathic levels of greed... let's talk about this a bit more.

I do actually agree that marxism doesn't take into account human greed/evil enough... marxism is a very old idea and we do need something new... but dealing with the greedy is always a scary topic that many just fail to address. Hording wealth doesn't seem like something worthy of punishment... but I'd like to argue that it is because it can cause others to suffer. If we had unlimited everything for everyone, whatever... but billionaires actively make life worse for 99% of the population. They can't be allowed to exist and they can't be allowed to exploit the rest of us.

Some native tribes would exile or kill those who hoarded goods for themselves because it could cause others in the tribe to suffer or even die... Maybe it's my cherokee roots, but I'd wager society would be better if we took more drastic measures to stop greed/insane wealth accumulation. We need to reward the good traits of humanity... compassion, creativity, exploration, scientific innovation, etc... and I think it would be completely reasonable to strip the billionaires of their wealth... and even lock them up. Their rights are not more important than the rights of 99.999% of the population. I don't expect this to happen... but I think it's important to have ideas that are beyond what can currently happen.

OK... rant over.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@holycowman I haven't read much about this... I'd wager that a lot of our day-to-day greed is a product of our society. I think you have to beat solidarity out of people... but I also think that sociopathic greed is a mental disorder and should be looked at the same way we look at a psycho-killer.

ward,
@ward@easymode.im avatar

@casey how about... Marxism 2.0: Brutal Marxism? Lol I'm sure Fox News will love that

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