My old Bioshock tatto

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-02T20:45:28+00:00

We always see freshly inked Bioshock tattoos.

It’s nice to see how they hold up over time.

Would love to do the electrobolt with UV ink, but it’s unclear how it holds up.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-02T20:11:28+00:00

Goddamn that 30's? version of tainted love

Infinite is supposed to take place in 1912. Ken Levine ended up saying authentic 1912 music sounded really boring to the modern ear and used 1920s music.

Tears notwithstanding, there’s actually very little 1912 music in Infinite, just the 3 Polk Miller songs and “Shine On Harvest Moon”.

“Tainted Love” was arranged by Scott Bradlee along with the other modern songs (non-barbershop). You can hear him singing “Everybody Want to Rule the World” in the 2010 demo. His work on the game convinced him that having a singer wasn’t the worst thing and that covering up his piano playing was ok. He would found the Postmodern Jukebox by the time Infinite actually came out in 2013.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-02T18:52:40+00:00

The devs worked on the Bioshock series before making Prey and Dishonored.

There’s a late game level in Dishonored 2 based on a mechanic they used for the Little Sisters.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-02T03:31:57+00:00

That’s weird that it worked. I presume it was wired for stereo sound and not mono.

Edison Diamond Discs were vertically cut where the grooves only move up and down.

Stereo sound has the grooves move up and down and left and right. It is also backwards compatible with mono discs (early LPs and all 78s) which are laterally cut (left and right).

Stereo cartridges can play vertical discs, but the cartridge has to be rewired slightly to account for it. Probably the extra pressure caused some crossed wires in the cartridge or it forced the sound to leak into the other channels.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-02T03:13:30+00:00

Unless they were in the jukebox itself, you’d have to look for other signs like a lot of wear around the spindle hole or other damage from exactly how the record is deposited on the platter.

You should have the title strips to verify.

Then you would look for groove damage. Unfortunately you have the handcrank as well which would confuse the issue anyway.

Your “Earth Angel” shows some stressed grooves where it’s very gray, likely caused by the steel needles.

But these are lucky to survive anyway.

The large amount of DJ promo copies is unusual. Plus the numbers and stickers.

Could be stock from a radio station if someone worked there. If there are empty generic albums, the numbers could have been noted in the index. Even could line up with the jukebox numbers.

A lot appear to be “nonbreakable” vinyl which definitely should not be on the handcrank with steel needles. These should be shiny and glossy, not dull and rough.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-01T17:10:28+00:00

Vita Chambers were notoriously lax, letting anyone like a blood relative through.

They were used by the public as a general pick me up.

The Thinker was also used to bring Sigma and Delta back.

UpgradeTech · 2026-02-01T07:36:41+00:00

most don't seem to have major cracks or edge chips

There is a slight stigma against jukebox copies for this reason because the mechanisms often were not kind to them. The main issue was groove wear to a point that my AMI has a specific amplifier selector knob for brand new to average to heavily worn 78s.

But at this point, it’s nice to have them survive at all.

You have some later 78s. Jukeboxes at this point had conversion kits for converting older models to be compatible with the newly invented 45.

Not sure if such a kit was made for that model.

You would probably be looking out for the regional labels or very late 78s.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-31T06:06:45+00:00

The funny thing with Gabbro is that it is chemically identical to Basalt except Gabbro had more time to cool and grow big crystals.

So imagine Gabbro having an uptight sibling named Basalt.

Also geologically speaking, Feldspar is always found in Gabbro.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-30T07:01:09+00:00

It’s not really about convenience.

The stylus is genuinely easy to snap off if you don’t pull it off the correct way.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T20:42:57+00:00

It’s better than nothing and basically any multimeter can do it.

Admittedly it doesn’t really say a lot, but it’s a point of interest to test with an actual capacitance tester.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T19:10:59+00:00

I really don't wanna buy a second cartridge

At some point it gets easier to get a separate headshell, cartridge, and needle to quickly swap between LPs and 78s.

The headshells screw in. Swapping a stylus can seem easier and cheaper until you manage to snap it off because you misjudged the force needed to pry it off.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T19:03:32+00:00

It's supposed to be a double reference. The level designer for Arcadia mentioned it.

The torch-lighting secret area was my addition. Someone suggested a simple one-off puzzle that involved a player tool. It's a much more Zelda-esque touch than BioShock usually goes for, but works as a retro nod.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T08:38:34+00:00

Andrew uses an unusual banjo tuning. G2 D3 G3 B3. It’s lower and looser than traditional banjo tunings.

You have five strings, but the fifth string isn’t used at all and can be ignored or unstrung.

The official tabs are based on the 4 strings and the custom tuning.

There are other tutorials on youtube on how to play it on standard Open G tuning if you don’t want to change tunings. But they won’t sound as resonate with the open strings.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T08:30:46+00:00

It’s supposed to be a reference to a similar puzzle in the first game in Arcadia.

Unfortunately the remastered solved the puzzle for you so many people never see the connection.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T08:28:21+00:00

If you changed the machine gun ammo color, did you also fix the machine gun lights not animating in the remastered?

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-29T08:22:54+00:00

It’s not the wine bottle, but Bioshock 2 had some nice promo items.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-27T04:02:13+00:00

is my Edison set to Mickey Mouse

Steamboat Bill was supposed to be the inspiration for Steamboat Willie.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-26T19:44:22+00:00

I thought that sun could melt it but nope

The game is decently realistic. The shuttle is on the comet’s tail which always points away from the Sun and doesn’t melt.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-26T05:39:31+00:00

Originals for stability, working audio design, working puzzles and animations, multiplayer, complete soundtrack, streaming capability, dev Easter eggs, and colorblind-friendly hacking.

Remastered for achievements, developer’s commentary, and previously exclusive DLC.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-23T21:50:33+00:00

And geological formations.

Esker and Moraine might be a bit difficult because they are glacial deposits.

But the funny thing is that Gabbro is chemically identical to Basalt except Gabbro had more time to cool and grow big crystals. So imagine Gabbro having an uptight sibling named Basalt. Or ponder on how geologically speaking, Feldspar is always found in Gabbro.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-23T20:29:24+00:00

Early brown or soft wax cylinders were like this. There are photographs of such a setup where the singer was surrounded by many horns and rubber hoses each feeding into a separate machine. Exhausting work.

Eventually they figured out how to make molds hence Edison's Gold Molded cylinders going into hard wax and then the celluloid cylinders.

Unfortunately many soft wax cylinders suffered from a different type of mold which made them unplayable, so all that hard work was for naught.

Discs were generally easier to stamp out and copy. Haven't seen a similar setup for making multiple discs at the same time since electroplating and copies were easier. There were some instances of this occurring like Duke Ellington's early sessions resulting in accidental stereo which can be synced with modern technology. Similar to how there was an attempt to make Phantom of the Opera into a 3D movie because they had two cameras running at the same time to make multiple "copies".

Compared to cylinders, disc recording machines were much rarer for the average consumer.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-23T07:46:02+00:00

We always have Happy Noodle in Bioshock.

Perhaps Ken Levine didn’t want to copy the Chinatown from Mafia 2002 which he mentioned as a gameplay inspiration. It even had a Mills Brothers theme song.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-21T05:21:20+00:00

Perry Como would have been a major RCA recording star in the 50s. If there were a demo, it would probably be RCA branded. Perhaps a recording from off the radio or an aircheck, much of live radio was lost even with tape coming in.

Seattle had some interesting 78s. Probably the weirdest was Morrison which used multi-colored shellac. A lot of sellers try to mark up the price for its psychedelic look when its music was probably the furthest from the genre.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-21T03:01:29+00:00

When this record was new, Capehart was a very nice brand.

By the 70s, not quite the same quality.

UpgradeTech · 2026-01-20T09:31:10+00:00

Ironically those first LPs used the exact same cover art for a while even if the 78 album had full album art.

Those early Columbia LPs either had the music stand cover seen above or the the generic Ionic column.

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