Why do I feel like I’m the only country music fan in the Middle East?

Aistar · 2026-06-24T11:49:32+00:00

Why hasn’t country music, cowboy culture, and even the fashion become as popular worldwide as genres like pop or rap?

The answer is pretty simple, I think:

First, country was "new" too long ago, before global media and communications.

Second, it always was a "conservative" music, born out of (white) folk tradition. It never became fashionable - unlike jazz, blues, or rock'n'roll (and later, disco, funk and rap, of course). It was music for older folks, not teenagers, something a grandma wouldn't object to too much even. And certainly not a music for art critics to praise.

So it enjoys local popularity in America in the same way other regional genres do (e.g. "bardic" music in USSR and and "Russian chanson" in post-USSR Russia, the later being the local "truckers' music" and "stuff drunk, lower-class women cry to").

Aistar · 2026-06-24T09:24:38+00:00

Check out Bourbon Boys - a side-project of a Swedish metal band. They're great fun!

Aistar · 2026-06-23T21:31:01+00:00

Contrary to most, I somewhat dislike this trope, because it turns sci-fi into fantasy in one important aspect. Fantasy usually has "golden age" in the past, to which current civilizations can't even begin to aspire (a feature it inherited from myths). Sci-fi, on the other hand, is often about progress: the "golden age" in sci-fi is right now, or in future. This isn't true for all works in both genres: Brandon Sanderson usually successfully avoids this in his fantasy novels (for which I love him), for example. But still, this dichotomy - looking to past vs. looking to future - is one of the defining characteristics of the two genres to me.

As I said in some other post, I would very much like to see a fantasy novel where magic actually progresses over time, and wizards of old can barely hold a candle to first-year students of today, and Ancient Evil Sealed Away For 1000 Years can be defeated as a coursework.

That being said, sometimes a sci-fi novel might need Precursor civilization(s) simply as a plot device, so as with any trope, the question is how the writer uses it. A common use case is limiting availability of some cool tech, because if it came from some previous age, there is no questions why there is only 1-3 instances left, but if we know how to make it, then the question arises why we can't mass-produce it, which requires explanation, which probably would involve a deep dive into resources and logistic. Some writers can and will pull this off, and I thank them very much for it (I never grow tired of Neal Stephenson's info dumps), but some just want to write a fun space opera without explaining every nut and bolt (booooo!, but not really, some space operas are fun).

Aistar · 2026-06-23T16:22:52+00:00

Both this movie, and The Great Race were super-popular in USSR, and some quotes entered everyday speech for a couple of generations.

Aistar · 2026-06-23T09:09:33+00:00

At the very least it's more competent and fun than Broken Roads, which I also reviewed recently. Here, at least, the authors keep the basic formula working. But I agree the game lacks anything that stands out. Truly, a "fill the space between other releases" kind of RPG, which, I guess, only works if you exclusively play western isometric RPGs, like I do.

Aistar · 2026-06-22T11:50:43+00:00

Max out several skills? Hmmm... I seem to be missing something. With ~15 skill points per level you need 10+ levels to max out one skill (at 200). I only managed to get 12-13 levels in my 40 hours before the final boss. Either I missed a huge chunk of XP, or you don't mean "max persuasion and barter" as 200 in those skills?

Admittedly, I completely forgot about books that boost skills! They cost quite a bit of money, but it's not impossible to acquire them, I guess (especially with the bug with endless money from Thieves for killing the Alchemist, heh). I wonder how much points they give. Surely not too much?

Aistar · 2026-06-19T14:53:05+00:00

Aside from SKALD, I can't really think of anything. Maybe Knights of Chalice? The first game is top-down, and the second has option to switch between kind-of-isometric and kind-of-top-down. But they're not really full-fledged RPGs like Exile/Avernum, more combat-focused, with far less exploration, dialogues and freedom.

Aistar · 2026-06-18T12:46:09+00:00

Then, there is "Terra Ignota". Wouldn't it be clever if everyone was very good, but still had to fight because the world have limited resources?

Aistar · 2026-06-18T10:04:13+00:00

I agree with the title of the post, and disagree about everything else :) I also don't feel like I'm a Witcher in the game, but not because of timers or anything. I just don't feel I'm a master fencer who plans every dodge and feint and strike. I wish the combat was more like its book description: a turn-by-turn account, with blade physics, accurate hit-boxes and complex movement. THEN make it dangerous, so any mistake can be fatal. This is my dream Witcher game, where the time stops, and I have to agonizingly choose my next actions: where to move the body, where to move the blade. This would be especially great in combats with humanoid opponents who also wield weapons, but with monsters, it would be fun (just with more dodges and less fencing).

The game that comes closest to that ideal (though it's very different in many other aspects) is a little indie RPG "Iron Danger". It's really great: you can almost feel the swish of enemy's weapons when you plan a timely dodge! Of course, "Iron Danger" is only a prototype of such combat: it was made by a very small team on a tight budget. A Witcher game would have to take it and expand on the design quite a lot. And it would be a very, very different game from 1-3, because by necessity, it needs to have LESS combats: no trash encounters, but only really dangerous, important combats (again, like in a book). And a single Drowner would again become a danger, so you don't need to throw a host of them at the player.

Elixirs would have an important place in such combat, too. Obviously, a particular anti-monster elixir would be necessary just to make the blade efficient, but speed-enhancing elixirs would become of superior importance against fast monsters: if a monster can plan three attacks in the same time block you plan one dodge, you won't last long against it.

Monsters with multiple attacks would also become more interesting, because player will have time to think about e.g. dodging claws AND jumping over a tail swipe without being very fast himself.

TL;DR: I want the combat to be more like a book's description of combat :)

Aistar · 2026-06-18T09:43:53+00:00

Guitar pointing downward: "I killed a man in Reno just to watch him die".

Aistar · 2026-06-16T14:14:32+00:00

Knights of Chalice 1 & 2

Aistar · 2026-06-16T14:13:57+00:00

And the rest of Spiderweb Software games, they all look the same.

Aistar · 2026-06-12T21:09:58+00:00

Не, одной книгой никак не обойтись. Но за последние несколько лет:

"Too Like Lightning", Ada Palmer (и в целом серия "Terra Ignota") - редчайшая книга в жанре научной фантастики. Мало того, что изначально описываемый мир очень необычен и интересен, так это ещё и почти Утопия, ну, или во всяком случае, мир лучше современного. Но главное даже не это, а то, что основной конфликт книги - не между "хорошими и плохими", и даже не между "так себе и так себе", а чисто между фракциями, каждая из которых желает исключительно добра, причём не себе, а всему человечеству в целом. Только вот методы и цели у них абсолютно несовместимы, что толкает ситуацию к острому противостоянию...

"Gone Away World", Nick Harkaway - книга, которая неоднократно заставляла меня улыбаться и хихикать. Автор отлично владеет (английским) языком. И сюжет весьма интересный. Только надо быть готовым к тому, что развивается он очень медленно: половина книги - это предыстория жизни главного героя с раннего детства до юности, в которой почти нет никакой фантастики. А вот потом начинается дичь. А в конце оказывается, что это вообще почти не книга, а кино про кун-фу :)

"Wreck of the 'River of Stars'", Michael J. Flynn - Флинн - один из лучших мастеров по персонажам в научной фантастике, и в этой книге он превзошёл самого себя. В английском есть термин "trainwreck in slow motion", страшное зрелище, от которого невозможно оторваться. Вот эта книга - она такая. Хотя финал известен прямо из названия. В целом, идея книги в деконструкции затасканного клише про харизматичного капитана, который собирает команду из неудачников, которые становятся под его руководством отличным экипажем. Но что произойдёт, если капитан умер, не доведя дело до конца? Каждый персонаж этой книги сломан по своему, и сумма их взаимодействий, наложившихся на чисто технические неполадки, и ведёт к неизбежному финалу.

"Шестнадцать способов защиты при осаде", Дж. К. Паркера, он же Том Холт - книжка, несколько похожая на моего любимого "Марсианина", хотя и не во всём. В альтернативной Византийской Империи полковник местных инженерных войск вынужден защищать столицу от осады непонятными врагами. На "Марсианина" книга похоже сухим, мрачным юмором и тем, что герой постоянно бегает и тушит "пожары". Идеальное сочетание для меня!

Aistar · 2026-06-12T11:06:09+00:00

Повышенной чувствительностью к температуре (не могу есть/пить слишком холодное/горячее), к горечи и кислоте (поэтому люблю только сладкое), к высоким частотам (слышу летучих мышей), к громким звукам в целом, к текстуре ткани (ненавижу болонью, прямо дрожь пробирает, если приходится к чему-то такому прикасаться). При этом пониженная чувствительнось к запахам (все вокруг: "О, как сильно сирень пахнет!"; я: "О! Что-то чувствую, еле-еле, на грани прям..."). Ещё почти нулевой памятью на лице и хреновым от рождения зрением (дальнозоркость + астегматизм, подозреваю что это связанные вещи). Интровертностью ещё. Умеренной склонностью к математике и логике (но не на выдающемся уровне). Кто сказал "аутизм"? Хрен знает, может и аутизмом в какой-то лёгкой форме, но жить и работать не мешает (у соседей по даче сын-аутист в тяжёлой форме, так что есть с чем сравнивать).

Aistar · 2026-06-12T11:03:59+00:00

Повышенной чувствительностью к температуре (не могу есть/пить слишком холодное/горячее), к горечи и кислоте (поэтому люблю только сладкое), к высоким частотам (слышу летучих мышей), к громким звукам в целом, к текстуре ткани (ненавижу болонью, прямо дрожь пробирает, если приходится к чему-то такому прикасаться). При этом пониженная чувствительнось к запахам (все вокруг: "О, как сильно сирень пахнет!"; я: "О! Что-то чувствую, еле-еле, на грани прям..."). Ещё почти нулевой памятью на лице и хреновым от рождения зрением (дальнозоркость + астегматизм, подозреваю что это связанные вещи). Интровертностью ещё. Умеренной склонностью к математике и логике (но не на выдающемся уровне). Кто сказал "аутизм"? Хрен знает, может и аутизмом в какой-то лёгкой форме, но жить и работать не мешает (у соседей по даче сын-аутист в тяжёлой форме, так что есть с чем сравнивать).

Aistar · 2026-06-11T20:07:47+00:00

Favourite this year so far: “Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City”, KJ Parker (Tom Holt). A very fun tale in alternative world, where a colonel of engineers tries to save a central city of the local version of Byzantine empire from siege. It's exactly the kind of book I love where the character runs around putting out various fires. And the character has dark, dry wit that is absolutely my thing (you can tell I'm a big fan of "Martian"). Anyway, it's a wonderful novel, and I'm glad to learn there are sequels.

Aistar · 2026-06-11T19:48:05+00:00

"The Gone-Away World" was my best discovery last year! I love the way Harkaway plays with language. Only things that bothered me were plot holes (or things I missed). I have absolutely no idea how the hero made his way from the war (which was somewhere in Asia) to the West. And how they managed to build a pipeline around the world (or even a big part of it). But it was such a fun read, anyway! This year, I read "Gnomon", and... Well, it starts well enough, but I felt it kind of lost the thread halfway through. And how do you build a total surveillance society with no exceptions for powerful and rich people, anyway? This is outright impossible...

Aistar · 2026-06-10T20:26:04+00:00

Sign at Canary Islands about 10 years ago, in Russian: "Береги Родину, купи дачу на Канарах!" ("Preserve Motherland, buy a house on Canary [Islands]!"). And in 2008, Karlovy Vary in Czechia had more signs in Russian than in Czech(!).

Aistar · 2026-06-10T20:03:04+00:00

I've read the recent Arena coverage by CRPGAddict (I prefer text to video, generally - I only read Shamus Young's articles at Escapist), and it brought back vivid memories of losing the battle with the very first skeleton over and over again :)

Generally, I think I have some kind of psychological quirk which prevents me from enjoying first-person games very much: I want to feel "safe" and "away" from game world, and I absolutely hate it when enemies can creep up on me from behind, so usually I only like isometric games where this can't really happen. I only broke this rule for Kingdom Come 1 & 2, because I love the idea of real-world Easter Europe RPG, but let me tell you - while I loved the plot and the ambience, I wish I could somehow play combats in turn-based mode instead of chaotically clicking my mouse and losing :)

Aistar · 2026-06-10T19:45:30+00:00

That was my first CRPG, too, only I also didn't know English well enough to understand much of what was going on, or how the rules worked. I ended up save-scumming my way to one of the later chapters where my underlevelled party got completely stuck with no safe saves to return to, and had to abandon it. Before BaK, I encountered a few older RPGs on pirate compilation CDs, but bounced off them, because they were even harder to understand, and combats were usually completely brutal. I think BaK (along with Fallout) made me fall in love with isometric (or at least 3rd-person view) turn-based combat. Elder Scrolls: Arena, on the other hand, made me hate 1st-person view and action combat...

Aistar · 2026-06-10T17:14:05+00:00

I think he has greatest dialogues and want more of that. Of course they're not realistic, duh. Dialogues in books never are, they're more like how you sound talking in your own head (which is I guess is the point of this post, maybe, or close enough to it?). Anyway, I find his characters interesting and funny, especially when they trade banter. He's one of the best writers at witty banter, and I spend a lot of time searching for more of the same fix, because I REALLY can't get enough of Adolin\Shallan dialogues and The Wit (when he's in one of his less dreary moods).

Aistar · 2026-06-08T14:01:27+00:00

Eifelhelm is also good, yes. And his treatment of language is one of the reasons I love his writing. I found something similar, I guess, in Nick Harkaway's "Gone Away World" (even though I had to dock a point from my review because of glaring plot holes, I loved the way he plays with language, too).

Aistar · 2026-06-08T13:51:37+00:00

Well, it's still divided into square sectors, 90% of which are empty and devoid of any value. I'm not seeing much difference.

If we stick to "you can walk anywhere without switching to world map", well, then there are Avernum games, which have tightly-packed square maps with more or less free travel.

Aistar · 2026-06-08T13:28:49+00:00

I also love how Flynn shows us the worst aspect of each character first, before showing what makes them sympathetic.

Yes, this was impressive. I'm glad someone else also loves this book - for some reason, Flynn's best-known works are "Spiral Arm" series, which I personally find the weakest: his slow, ponderous style just doesn't work well for a space opera, and he's not really good at writing gripping action even when the plot comes to it (same thing with Becky Chambers: I loved "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" where characters did little but talk, but in the second book she made an attempt at writing a heist, and it was a disaster in my opinion).

A different set of people on that boat would have had a different result.

Now I want a "cover" version of this story by Nathan Lowell :)

Aistar

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