MaartenVC
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Posts posted by MaartenVC
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Which are your favorite LateNightTales / Late Night Tales artist-curated compilation albums?
I really like the Badbadnotgood and John Hopkins compilations, but I haven't listened to most of the other compilations.
Any other really good ones you can recommend?-
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Rumor: Returnal, the PS5-exclusive dark sci-fi shooter, might be coming to PC (steam).
Beware though, it's a roguelike/roguelite: not easy, restart if you die, evade waves of incoming enemy fire, explore ruins for upgrades, piece together bits of story,...
I'm mostly interested in it for the environment art, creature art, and atmosphere though. (I suck at roguelites.)
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Spitballing here:
It might have been done by an autonomous covert military department with elevated levels of command, relying on predictions from supercomputers using machine learning algorithms. The orders were then executed to the letter by reliant actors. Nobody knows exactly the how and why of the operation, but the super-computer does. It's only goal is to win the endgame satisfyingly accordingly to the operators, which might be allied to nato/usa/eu/... (This might as well have been an episode in the Ghost in the Shell manga)
(but it might also have been Putin being Putin)-
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Not space, but high-tech news from Tesla AI / Musk:
More precisely about the humanoid robot Optimus they're developing. (a bit like Atlas from Boston Dynamics)
Article on CNET:
https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/tesla-unveils-optimus-a-walking-humanoid-robot-at-ai-day-2022/
Cut of the live stream of the event:
My opinion:
Crazy.
Not sure how I feel about humanoid robots, but the technological advancements are truly amazing.
In my opinion they could come in very handy in exploring/expanding/exploiting space.
They can be used in environments not suited or a bit too dangerous for humans.
Or they can perform boring/repetitive/harmful physical tasks.
They might eventually also be used in war.
This is a moralistic/ethical pitfall, but unavoidable, looking at the military advancements over the last decade(s).
Getting shot by a humanoid robot. Although both combatants and innocents already get killed by drones.
I'm also still a bit conflicted about personal use though. A lot can go wrong there.
It is the future though. No doubt about it.
But of course there are still a lot of hurdles to overcome, thus it will be quite a while before a fully trained one is sold to the public.
I'm sure early versions will be sold to the public though (and to the military and to organizations), knowing Musk wanting to make profit beside advancing technology.
This feels like a cyberpunk story. Is it dystopian or utopian? It's probably both.-
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Some more info on DART:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-first-ever-planetary-defense-test
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/pdco/index.html#dart
Graph:
Video of the impact starting at 1:15:50:
Photos:
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4 hours ago, luke viia said:
Love this. Great video.
Instantly subscribed to the channel.
Thanks!-
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4 hours ago, o00o said:
Researched Metroidvania games and got Axiom Verge and Carrion. Any must have suggestions besides Ori and Owlboy?
Is Hollow Knight worth a shot? I got in on steam some years ago and found the monochrome graphics quite dull but maybe its different on the switch?
I highly recommend Hollow Knight.
It's my favorite metroidvania besides the original Metroid- and Castlevania-games. You could emulate these old ones easily, but apparently there's also a Castlevania Advance Collection available on steam which includes Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. There are no Metroid games officially for sale on PC unfortunately. However there is/was a really good fan remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus called AM2R Another Metroid 2 Remake.
Some other great metroidvanias on PC besides Ori, Owlboy, Axiom Verge, and Carrion:
• Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night
• Ender Lilies - Quietus of the Knights
• Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
• Cave Story
• Iconoclasts
• Steamworld Dig 2
• Dust - An Elysian Tail
• Yoku's Island Express
• Salt and Sanctuary
• Guacamelee!
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
• Tunic
• Wuppo
• Momodora - Reverie Under the Moonlight
• Blasphemous
• Grime-
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https://www.idmdiscovery.com/new-releases only has 4 reviews, all from may 2021.
So my guess is that it's an ambitious passion project (though now-abandoned) or a school assignment / graduation project from someone really loving IDM.
On the forums https://idm-discovery.tribe.so/ there's someone called Ruby Hoad aka Ruby Violet https://idm-discovery.tribe.so/user/rubyviolet, who's description says "Level 28 music nerd from Australia." and a post says "Hey everyone! I'm Ruby, the owner of IDM Discovery, lets foster a community of fellow music nerds.
"
Anyway, it's a cool website. Good job for the person(s) who made it. Awesome.
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and a period
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It's still unclear who targeted her or him and why.
Could be Ukraine, as Dugin is a radical a**hole actively supporting Putin's invasion into Ukraine. Or really, it could be any other victim of the radical groups Dugin supported over the years. But I actually think it could also be Putin himself, for whatever reason.
Anyway, back to Ukraine: It seems, past month, there have been some covert/guerrilla counteroffensives (most likely by Ukraine, maybe with some help from allied resources) in Crimea damaging Russian military positions and infrastructure.
Some photos:
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8 hours ago, cruising for burgers said:
Was it good?
Masaaki Yuasa has got that Midas touch.-
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Really liked the THQ Nordic showcase:
Lots of games I'm looking forward to.
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8 hours ago, zkom said:
I was around the Nordics, Germany and the Baltics in July and basically the only place where people were wearing masks anymore was the German public transport where it was mandatory. Also in Germany as soon as the people got off the vehicle most of them took the masks off which was a bit silly because there can be hundreds or thousands of people at the station but then if you're the only passenger in a local bus the driver ogles at you for not wearing a mask. (I did it by accident once because I didn't remember the rule coming from Denmark).
Anyway, I don't know what's my point. No masks in Northern Europe I guess. I don't know how the rest of Europe currently is.
Belgium:
Since 01 October 2021 masks were no longer required at work.
Since 18 February 2022 most restrictions were lifted.
Since 23 May 2022 masks are only required in hospitals, at the doctor's office and in pharmacies.
There was a small wave peaking about a month back. Mostly Omikron BA.5. Right now Rt is back below 1.
https://datastudio.google.com/embed/reporting/c14a5cfc-cab7-4812-848c-0369173148ab/page/ZwmOB
78,5% vaccinated. 62% 1st booster. 4,9% 2nd booster.
Actually the heat/drought might become a bigger concern the next week. -
SpinLaunch
Kinetic energy space launch system. (instead of 1st stage chemical rockets)
The technology uses a vacuum-sealed centrifuge to spin a payload (a satellite with a small rocket) on a carbon tether and then hurl it through the Earth's atmosphere to space at up to 5,000 miles per hour (8,000 km/h). The rocket for the satellite then ignites its engines at an altitude of roughly 200,000 ft (61,000 m) to reach orbital speed of 17,500 miles per hour (28,200 km/h). Peak acceleration would be approximately 10,000 g.
So like a space-sling, or better a yeet machine. Very cool.
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I played: Rain World
I really wanted to love this game... But sadly it's not for me.
In short: Beautiful and unique, but unpleasant and unrewarding.
Positives: Beautiful art style, gritty atmosphere, interesting concept, finding new alien environments, trying to outsmart enemies, cute/sad story, interesting enemy AI and physics, no hand-holding, challenging,...
Negatives: Unrewarding exploration, janky menus, unresponsive clunky controls, no resolution options, no upgrades, too little guidance, frustratingly hard, no aiming, no health, quite unfair at times, tedious at times, unclear map, slow and limited movement, on a hidden random timer, dubious frustrating shelter/savepoint/death/karma-mechanic, long repeated cut-scenes, repetitive grinding for karma, no moving camera, creatures bugging out,...
Unfortunately I can't recommend this one.
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I played: The Forest
Good indie game. Recommended.
Genre: Open-World Survival Crafting Horror
Setting: An island. You're a survivor of a plane crash.
To do: Chop trees, gather plants, hunt animals, build camps, craft gear, explore dark caves, make friends with the local cannibals, pretend the mutants don't exist, look for other survivors along the way, and maybe more importantly find your son.
Tips / Guide: Loot the plane crash site and get out of there before night falls. You'll now have the axe, meds, food, drinks, alcohol, cloth,... Also gather stones, sticks, and leaves. Look up a map of the island online. The local cannibals have regular patrol routes. Build a hunting shelter and a firepit in a safe spot the cannibals don't patrol near. Save. It's actually safer to build more smaller camp sites spread across the island and run from place to place, than it is to building one big base, staying there and having to defend it endlessly from increasingly harder attacks. The patrols get larger as days go by. Nights are especially dangerous (and scary) as the cannibals will be looking for any fire light source. Craft a bow and arrows and/or a spear. Go hunt. Drink from puddles. Eat from bushes. Build some more shelters along the way. Craft the warmsuit armor, as it makes you immune to cold and wet. You're now prepared to explore the island, the cannibal villages, and the caves. Good luck on your adventure,... I mean your search for your son Timmy. -
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Social Media's Effects On Our Minds & Lives
in General Banter
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TL;DR