Sees pill

I’m of the mind that modern hardware (w/emu) and higher internal res is enough. It lets the triangles be more triangly. Other enhancements too based on user preference or game.

Plus, most remasters seem to be bloat that strips away masterful technical features for likely needlessly-uncompressed audio/video anyway. Often glaring design issues aren’t fixed either.

Side note that there is a NFS:MW from 2005 (same box-art as meme)… I am not sure if that was intentional, or if they were unaware or if the meme was before the 2012 remaster entry.

I mentioned Spyro’s skyboxes (also used for portals+seamless level transitions), but it also used VC for the textureless LoD models which allowed incredible draw distance for the era. Random effects mostly resulting from flame breath (soot, glow) but also some other small details (like the level boundary headbutt effect). Lighting too (more obvious in the worlds with bonfires).

Also Crash Bandicoot. Here’s a video on the character design (the vertex animation and spin model is interesting as well).

VC might not be obvious especially when it was just an optimization, though it might be more obvious if it used for a specific effect (like transparency), especially when viewed with modern resolution (+unfiltered textures).

Lots of games from this era have vertex lighting (and it certainly is a cool aesthetic* on its own) but I am much more interested when it’s actually used to significantly reduce texture usage (plus introducing other benefits). In-engine cutscenes and midi soundtracks (or stuff like sfxr) are also good for similar reasons.

* Will be nice to try it when 4.4 finally drops (it re-adds per-vertex shading) especially as it is an actual optimization. I say this as someone who turns pixelation filters off.

If you’re making your own models, another option to somewhat sidestep textures is vertex colors.

At the very simplest objects can be 1* color, though it’s still quite easy to color some details on low-poly models if you keep it in mind when you’re designing your mesh (which going for an aesthetic, is the goal anyway).

Note that per-face VC is an option (in Blender: color attribute>domain:face corner, and then use selection plus the paint mask option right next to where you switched to vertex paint mode). You can also use the Spyro skybox trick to fake hard edges using your mesh.

Lots of simple options with big look changes too (unshaded vs. shaded, matte vs. plastic vs. metal, manually-painted VC shadows).

Adding even multi-use textures onto this, I’m not quite sure on especially as it requires messing at very least fixing the UV map+re-exporting. After that, object scale may be an issue (unless something like triplanar works for you).

I even tried doing my own watercolor stuff, a failed matcap texture (which might be a fault of the shader) and a maybe-fine splatter texture. It seems like going this route is a step up in one (if not multiple) skills to be an improvement rather than reduction over just VC. A generated noise normal map for metal (maybe glass/wood) is a somewhat more viable exception.

* even if you’re using CSG (or say, textmesh) and not interested in VC, it might be a good idea to use a material that allows setting a color per-object via a shader parameter (this can be done via visual shader with ColorParameter plugged into albedo, blend mode can be used to allow grayscale texture like noise). A slight step up from graybox… unless your room is a cave, having color other than gray/white is an easy way to improve the representation enough for it to be playable.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could also just get the colors by using a set of materials like a color palette (stone, wood, grass, dirt, metal?).

I’ve been curious how this sort of editor would work for non-game code

I mean software is just a game that isn’t a game, and Godot does do a decent job of it. on !Godot@programming.dev somebody recently posted* a note-taking app and someone in the comments linked to an article about Godot for GUI software development.

Bindings are nice too, and as a mostly-non-coder I’ve actually done a small sample program with Godot+Nim-lang. In a similar vein, there is Raylib (which has lots of bindings options) and paired with rGuiLayout you might get something going.

I tried a Qt editor once and it seemed a bit clunky to me, then some simple toolkits that I think have a better experience despite lacking an editor (though lack of dynamic text scaling is probably an issue here, at least it was for me as I wanted unicode symbols for a text-centric application).

TUI applications are a fun idea too, though viable ideas are chicken-and-egg for me so I’ll probably just stick to Godot if I make anything.

• 2 days ago, Post title Finished my first Godot project!, Github em-s-h/Nairu

like working in Godot and having nodes to organize behaviour but written scripts to implement it

That was the intent with Godot’s (3.X) implementation of VS (Visual Scripting) but I think most people didn’t like it (thus why it was gone in 4.X). The major flaw with that idea is that programmers probably don’t want to work on VS and… is it really better than just components with exported script variables and either way well-documented code (especially with gdscript)? Also communication on desired effects.

VS should be easy for beginners, if it fails at that a huge amount of people who aren’t in a team will find it to be useless. For comparison, UE’s Blueprints are usually what people point as better than Godot’s VS (which failed at discoverability due to lower-level workflow and IIRC wasn’t fleshed out with organization either), so this wasn’t strictly a problem with the idea of VS.

There are 3rd-party things now (Orchestrator, also Block Coding which generates gdscript) that might work better, though I don’t know.

For me, I think it’s that most common-language things that I happen to look at are 500-line+ with non-obvious short names (initialisms? might be an issue with low-level). Some of it might be down to optimization or language features/requirements, or not using libraries. Though I also don’t hate whitespace so it may just be my brain.

The other side of the coin is that interpreted languages (being more readable) are slower(+single-threaded) and have other limitations/issues. I have some hope that Python’s update with JIT and no-GIL may change that, but integrating it into other tools is still an issue so I haven’t looked into it.

The one language that has clicked for me is Nim-lang (compiles-to-C, interop). I haven’t done enough real projects, but I like the syntactic sugar and UFCS. Not sure if that’s the best way to say it, but it’s like the options that exist can be used to make code more concise. Something that seems small like how you can write conditions or loops can make a big difference.

Why & where is the video demo? :D

Was going to say something like this, but even a screenshot would be nice. Also, some bullet points on what it does (specific features).

I skipped over some bits with the war and the mining/industry, but other than that it’s neat. I could tell it was H.G. Wells, at least I got that (OG) Time Machine vibe from the split societies.

I think the most interesting bit was the mention of space. Also a few ideas that I’m not sure if were intentional commentary or

EDIT: Also forgot to say it makes me wonder about colorizing a movie (though I probably would take a more stylized approach). Maybe with EBsynth, but even then I think I’d need some tool to pick out the foundation of needed keyframes. That, and the cart-and-horse of watching said movie, unless it’s such a good movie that it has high replay value.

You an’ me baby, ain’t nothin’ but mammals so let’s do it like they do on the good cooking channels

Cannibal by Tally Hall type situation (though unlikely, as I am boring and my flesh is probably sub-par quality due to poor health), maybe with me listening to that* while zonked out my gourd sauteing a chunk of my own arm with mixed vegetables. I usually don’t cook meat though, so maybe they’d do that bit.

* Also relevant but more of an emo aesthetic, Misery Meat or People Eater by Sodikken

I lost interest enough to delete the models I had before and this headline made me look into deepseek.

EDIT: Not quite the Streisand Effect considering I already knew about it, but still an unintended source of pressure. Like someone stockpiling before a ban of something, even if they weren’t too avid about it before. I’ve had a similar thought when it comes to taking down free streaming sites.

Though this seems to have traded compute for data, so I don’t have the VRAM for it… even running through RAM, I don’t feel like downloading a lesser version with my slow-ish internet.

You sound like you’re already at higher-end, obviously not who I was talking about. Perhaps I should’ve said “for most people”, but really cost is a multiplier here so maybe similar tech will become a norm some day due to advancements (as I mentioned in the edit).

Part of my thinking (aside from not high-end) with the survey was that people could be using Big Picture mode for living-room OLED gaming, but seemingly aren’t (unless they have older OLED that is not 4k?). Some people even still like their retro stuff (even 4:3 content) on CRT tech, rather than filters and/or upscalers.

Also just saw a video (L1T) about 2 options for $180 4K HDR IPS displays, not sure if this is a new low but I’ll keep waiting (though I may be an outlier, going for free content that isn’t the highest quality even by 1080p standard) also because it’s on amazon.

There isn’t such thing as content that works well with OLED

I think you know what I mean. A daylight scene is going to look great on the display I mentioned above (and there may be higher-end non-OLED options too). Side-by-side there might be a difference, but diminishing returns for the actual experience.

Where OLED-like tech excels is darker content (near if not perfect black, which is what IPS etc will not match). I could see somebody buying this tech for horror games/content (especially Dead Space with its diagetic UI). Maybe for space content, but even then the stars need to be sparse or very under-exposed (white stars, dimmer clusters/interstellar cloud if any) to get a contiguous field of perfect black between the stars.

So stylistic choices really make-or-break it here. For an example I actually do have an OLED display (a phone I got free* because screen is cracked) and in the movie Wall-e there are just a few bits with near-perfect darkness that work really well (some transitional-moments, Wall-e’s trailer when unlit, robot PoVs where the letterboxing looks like it’s part of the mask)… but here it usually isn’t space as most of the shots of used are pretty bright (some in the intro are darker) like the rest of the movie.

My mention of burn-in was not that I think it’s a huge issue, but that it’s still a worry. Searching on it I was still seeing videos about burn-in, one of the videos from 1 year ago was about a then-new display that had it due to mismatched-aspect content causing the panel to over-drive too much (which is unfortunate as that should be a great use-case). Wear leveling still sounds a bit long-term scary to me, especially with higher cost.

Other model-dependent issues I was seeing was VRR flicker and font rendering (sub-pixel arrangement). Also saw someone complaining about the support of HDR in general (games and even creation tools, Windows etc) from that same 1yr ago (it could be better now, but I’m betting this also leaves a lot of older titles that now are unplayable unless some mod/tonemapper etc can be used).

*= the person who gave it to me seemingly didn’t even know what OLED is, and forgot me pointing it out

I used to hate the texture, but if cooked right they will be tender (canned mushrooms are probably better added near the end of cooking). Gumminess can also be masked by balancing it with other food (particularly meat, vegetables like potato/squash/broccoli) to chew against/alongside it.

Probably doesn’t help if you don’t like the taste, though that could just come down to mushroom variety if not also what dish it’s in (spices etc).

Make Minesweeper

Similar (I don’t know how much more difficult/different it’d be to implement):

Somebody recently made a newer version (free on Itch) called Dragonsweeper. I never really understood the appeal of Minesweeper, but this version makes it click for me (aside from more elements, the math and piece logic allows for more deduction). That, and it probably helps that you can make informed guesses (particularly further into a game) as the mines are not the main focus.

Their version is highly engaging, though does not currently include configuration or even a replay (after win) button.

It’s got me thinking that I want to make my own version, half as an excuse to make polygonal* art.

The first-step oversimplified version of this would be like normal minesweeper, though you:

• sum the value of cells (not just checking if full/empty)
• allow marking with numbers, not just a flag
• have mines be a value of 100 instead of 1
• add smaller-value tiles and a system to pace their removal (some freedom, can still lose here)
• re-sum neighboring tiles when a tile is removed

*= I have done 2D in-engine, 3D via blender+vertex colors, plus general material/shader tinkering.

Alright sure, maybe. But LCD screens are ubiquitous, and most people probably aren’t looking to buy more displays. In a similar vein, early 4K adopters probably don’t have much reason… if they can just be happy with what they already have.

It is good enough to be the last thing to upgrade, especially looking at the chunk of cost it’d be when lumped in with PC/console cost. (also, selling is probably not for everyone even if less-modern HDTVs had any resale value, and at ~42" you might even not get any quick takers even if free)

A quick look at the Steam survey, ~56% of users are still using 1080p and ~20% are using 1440p. If OLED is almost exclusive to 4K and/or 240Hz many will likely continue to ignore it.

Also if you don’t have the hardware+content, it also doesn’t really make sense. That’s additional cost, and you may even need to look specifically for content created that works well with OLED (if not created with it in mind). Higher-speeed broadband availability/cost and streaming enshittification(+encoding quality) may be factors here too.

And burn-in seems to still be a thing, at least with some types/models.

So I see this as a long way off for mass adoption, similar to VR. And more to my point that it’s more of an exception than a norm.

EDIT: Also just saw QDEL, seems a year away still but may fix burn-in and cost (especially if it is pushed to lower end, print manufacturing may allow it). Though who knows, I’m also seeing tandem OLED (except it seems to make cost worse).

TVs very much so

Very much so… what? A quick glance, they’re expensive AF (riddled with “smart” features and now AI, gigantic on top of 4K etc) too.

Sure I guess there’s actually a chance a few impulsively bought one at a big-box store (or “on sale” for the full price of a non-OLED TV), but it’s more likely they bought “LED” which is marketing speak for local dimming (not even close to OLED turning pixels off).

OLED displays (which are definitely a thing for desktop computers and TVs)

Probably not for most people, due to cost. More realistic for portable devices where battery saving is a thing, as it doesn’t seem like there’s much mainstream push for OLED (or similar equivalent) monitors that aren’t top-end (on newegg, I could only find 240Hz options).

That and often search results are for other panel technologies (IPS/TN/VA). Lower spec stuff seems to exist but you really gotta scrape the bottom of the barrel (portable monitors) to find some niche product.

My Aesthetic (by Subterranean Losers)

I don’t see patient as “letting it slide [off]”.

These days I don’t really buy things ever, I mostly play free games if even that. Less hopeful of the industry, feel like I wasted money. Later purchases were more patient, but disappointment there only slowed it even further.

This is a me problem (and a lack of income), but I sort of see it as being patient to a fault.

something gets done and completed

I am talking within the context of mental/physical health issues and never having made anything close to a game. Personal despair, isolation, lacking viable options, collapse.

So it’s more of an existential crisis. I am guessing there are probably some idioms about learning/practicing survival skills when the ship you’re on is already sinking.

The topic and community have an unfortunate overlap for me, “patient” probably means I’m not doing it beyond some scattered attempts.

I have lurked with the ideas on different low-resource solo-dev specializations. I feel like the pieces are mostly there for me (Godot 4.4 will be closer to that), though I still need to put a lot of work in for no clear end-goal (I don’t really want to really sell something, even if I could).

And thinking about the future (gestures broadly) just makes me feel like

Personal issues sure don’t help.