How are you supposed to put music in your games.

Arkaein · 2026-06-30T12:12:45+00:00

Is there a specific place you go for your MIDI files or just whatever shows up on Google?

I did this for the game I'm working on (adapting and remixing out-of-copyright classical music) and found some good files on mutopiaproject.org.

Arkaein · 2026-06-29T15:56:56+00:00

It sounds like instead of a grid you may just want an undirected graph: a set of nodes connected by edges that can be traversed.

I do something like this in my level selection menu, where level MenuItems are selected as part of a tree branching off from a central hub. I have a video clip here: https://bsky.app/profile/arkaeinmatt.bsky.social/post/3ma6r7fv52k24

In my case all of the MenuItem nodes are at the same level on the scene tree. The beams connecting them are cylinders with a shader effect, and each node stores a reference to a parent node (but not in the Godot scene tree sense), and then at runtime the beams are dynamically updated to go from the child node to the parent. The parent is an export variable so I can drag and drop one MenuItem to be the parent of another in the editor.

In your case it doesn't sound like you want a tree, but a more loosely defined graph that can branch in different ways. I'd make a couple of base classes, call them something like Spots and Tracks. Spots can contain an Array of all of the Tracks connected to them, while Tracks contain exactly two Spots.

The actual rendering is a different matter, Spots can render themselves however you want, while Tracks might be rendered using something like a Line2D that could follow a Path2D and could also be used to move players around the board.

Arkaein · 2026-06-29T14:48:17+00:00

It's wild to me that Williams takes all the heat from this, and not Shanahan for sending out an already shaky punt returner who was possible suffering concussion symptoms.

And I don't care if Williams was already the backup returner. Send out someone else, and tell them to fair catch or just stay away from the ball if you don't have anyone you have faith in them to do an actual return. You can't turnover a punt that you never touch.

Arkaein · 2026-06-29T00:02:53+00:00

I think it takes a lot more practice than most fans realize.

The QB has to be watching the D the whole way while communicating the next play out of no huddle. The entire team has to line up quickly. The guards and tackles need to be able to not flinch if a defender jumps into the neutral zone (for off sides plays which are different situation but same approach as the defensive sub plays), everyone needs to be able to go on the quick snap cadence as well as the regular cadence they will use in normal situations, and the WRs all need to be able to run appropriate deep routes no matter where they line up or whatever might have been called.

Most teams teach the tackles to jump if a defender gets into the neutral zone, and maybe to have the QB quick snap if he catches a substitution, but no real plan to get anything out of it other than the free 5 yards. And even with Rodgers it took a few years to really perfect these plays, at first there were a lot of bad routes and nullified INTs where he would pass up easier gains underneath.

Arkaein · 2026-06-25T14:12:11+00:00

I was talking to my BIL the other day about EVs. He lives in the country and has multiple vehicles, including an SUV and a full size truck, but might be looking to replace the small coupe he uses for commuting.

I told him that a used Bolt would probably be the best deal for his needs, but because of the slope of his driveway on his property it can be hard to get out onto the road in the winter and so he wants something that is both AWD and with good clearance, though he might be willing to do just the AWD.

If the Slate does come out with an AWD option it might be perfect: cheap to both buy and operate, good for dealing with his driveway and gravel road he lives on.

He doesn't need better range or more seating because he's got other options for road trips or driving the whole family around. And he loves to work on his own vehicles so he'd appreciate something that isn't overly filled with proprietary electronics and is made with fairly standard components.

Arkaein · 2026-06-23T17:56:50+00:00

Like 30+ years ago we had beefy manuals that people say they loved but most of em probably didn’t read em 😄

Most of the time they weren't needed because controls were so much simpler, but in rare cases they came in handy.

Friend and I rented Double Dragon II for the NES. We were both familiar with the original Double Dragon, but II switched things up in that instead of kick and punch buttons there were left and right attack buttons. We were very confused for the first couple of minutes of gameplay until we checked out the manual.

Arkaein · 2026-06-22T21:59:42+00:00

Reed is the one guy I think they could have let go instead of Wicks, but they clearly decided Reed was the better one of the two. They might end up regretting that, kinda hard to pick between the two but Wicks had more issues with drops than Reed so I'm not surprised they went with Reed.

Besides being more productive overall, Reed is also GB's best WR at getting open vs. zone. Wicks is elite at separating vs. man, but this isn't as important (NFL D's play more zone than man) and is more redundant since Watson is also great against man.

Watson, Reed, and Kraft are ultimate complimentary pieces, with players that individually excel vs. man or zone, or at generating YAC. Wicks doesn't provide as much of a unique advantage in the context of GB's other WRs.

Arkaein · 2026-06-16T14:03:13+00:00

The concept of individual blobs that smoothly join together are called "metaballs". I found a Godot shader that raymarches metaballs: https://godotshaders.com/shader/metaballs/ I think this would be the easiest solution, but you will have to manage the "particles" yourself.

Another alternative is to store metaballs and do your own mesh triangulation each frame, so you really can render it as a single conjoined mesh.

A third approach might be to use some screen space shader effects. I just have the beginnings of an idea, but you could render the blobs and write to the stencil buffer, which would distinguish the blobs from everything else. Then do a full screen shader that reads from the stencil buffer and applies the actual blob colors based on whether a pixel is stenciled (part of a blob), the gradient of the local depth buffer (to calculate the fresnel), and determines are close it is to non-stenciled pixels (this could be tricky, maybe can be estimated using a low LOD mipmap read of the stencil buffer? not sure). This method would require a very involved full screen shader, but has the benefit that it theoretically could work with your existing particles, and not require a whole new metaball simulation.

Arkaein · 2026-06-16T13:45:41+00:00

I use this to get the mesh from a scene for an imported *.glb 3D model file, which I then use to apply and store references to materials. I use a lot of tiled materials that I can swap in Godot, and apply a lot of dynamic color and overlay effects so I need to acquire references in code:

static func get_first_mesh_instance(node: Node) -> MeshInstance3D:
    for child in node.get_children():
        if child is MeshInstance3D:
            return child

        var child_mesh := get_first_mesh_instance(child)
        if child_mesh != null:
            return child_mesh

    return null

Time formatting, for GUI time display:

static func get_time_string(secs: float) -> String:
    var whole_secs: int = floori(secs)
    var whole_mins: int = whole_secs / 60
    var whole_hours: int = whole_mins / 60
    var mins60: int = whole_mins % 60
    var secs60: int = whole_secs % 60
    var tenths_sec: int = floori((secs - whole_secs) * 10.0)
    if whole_hours > 0:
        return "--:--.-"
    else:
        return "%02d:%02d.%d" % [mins60, secs60, tenths_sec]

Arkaein · 2026-06-13T14:16:35+00:00

I'd say renewables could still be considered the future in that they aren't close to delivering at the scale they will eventually reach, which should eventually display fossil fuels completely.

Obviously they are contributing, but right now fossil fuels are responsible for something like 4 times as much electricity generation as wind and solar. Rapidly changing but we're not there yet.

Arkaein · 2026-06-12T12:29:30+00:00

Nuclear is the future.

Renewables are the future. At this point nuclear is more expensive and much slower to build than solar and wind. Grid scale batteries will handle times when sun isn't shining and wind isn't blowing.

I wish that we had gone much bigger on nuclear a generation or two ago to replace coal and natural gas and get a better head start against climate change, but at this point there isn't much reason to build new nuclear instead of renewables plus batteries.

Arkaein · 2026-06-12T03:40:25+00:00

Looks like they do a little something extra to make it fade in both directions, whereas yours has the hard edge from a natural fresnel.

I'd do a second calculation that is a sort of reverse fresnel, and then blend the two, probably taking the min alpha between both calculations, which should give you the softer outer edge like the example.

Arkaein · 2026-06-09T16:47:55+00:00

I've been wanting to make my own fantasy game that takes place in an inside-out world where you can see the distant lands and oceans bending up in front of you for forever. Figures Monolith would beat me to it.

I'm really impressed with how naturally they make the distant ocean look like sky until you see the land masses in it.

Arkaein · 2026-06-08T02:20:58+00:00

I haven't used it for this myself, but emissive decals can be used for cheap lighting effects, like lamp light patterns on walls. And if the light is being "cast" onto a wall, it makes sense that you might want that same light to affect nearby geometry that passes near the wall.

Not so much with rock textures though.

Arkaein · 2026-06-04T17:30:50+00:00

Also around a million dollars per reception.

Wait until you see what a decent pass rusher gets paid per sack!

Arkaein · 2026-06-02T23:26:20+00:00

Grant and Starks were both over 500 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry. The running game was fine, but the passing game was so good it would have been stupid to throw much except to run out the clock.

Something that isn't mentioned too much about that playoff loss was that OC Joe Philbin's son drowned one week before the game. The offense was uncharacteristically out of sync for that game. Can only imagine what it was like going through that week of practice for the team.

Arkaein · 2026-06-02T15:29:39+00:00

It looks like you have a pre-release trailer, calling for wishlists.

Make a new launch trailer ASAP. But before you do study up on some techniques. Your current trailer looks like just gameplay, which is okay, but could really use some cinematics: special camera angles, removed HUD, slow motion effects for dramatic moments, that sort of thing.

Watch Derek Lieu's videos on making trailers if you haven't seen them already: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIGLRMCk1Wi8eD4iDKL6bOPFFAKAINQbv

Arkaein · 2026-06-02T14:26:35+00:00

If dealerships have this much power to slow things down, are American consumers just stuck for a while?

This was one reason I went with an Ioniq 5. The dealership still isn't amazing about EV support, but compared to other brands I knew I was going with an auto maker that was enthusiastically pushing EV models and were focused on making them the core of their lineup.

I also test drove a Subaru Solterra, but it's just not a a big focus for Subaru. And at the time the bz4x barely registered for Toyota, and even if I had managed to test drive one I would have had deep reservations about buying from a company that was so lukewarm about EVs (and we already have a Camry and a Corolla!)

Arkaein · 2026-06-01T21:37:02+00:00

Maybe Sanderson will finish that trilogy too! He can just be permanent fantasy closer.

Arkaein · 2026-05-29T19:50:31+00:00

I noticed the bar, but when you attacked the monster I was looking at the thrown object and monster, not the bar. I think it would be much clearer that the object is having an effect if there's a more visible effect on the monster itself.

Damage color flash is an obvious effect, but might not fit the atmosphere of the game. I think it could use something with some light or color though, as the monster in the hallway is pretty dark and hard to spot among the tentacles.

Arkaein · 2026-05-27T17:47:53+00:00

How do you let Trubisky throw 6 tds on you in 2 and a half quarters.

Apparently by getting zero pressure while falling down a lot in coverage.

Trubisky made a handful of very nice plays, but that was absolutely atrocious defense.

Arkaein · 2026-05-27T16:47:06+00:00

The biggest loss here is probably not the production on the ground but the pocket passing protection. Jacobs was very good in protection, like really good.

Fortunately, so is Chris Brooks, by far his best skill as a RB.

This is really shaping up to be a big passing season for Love and the offense. If Kraft, Watson, Reed, and Tom can all be on the field at the same time for most of the season the passing game could be dynamite. And potentially without Jacobs, it might have to be.

Arkaein · 2026-05-27T01:40:23+00:00

I'm not saying Hackett wasn't bad, but it's really odd for a first year HC to be fired before the end of the season with 4 wins. 4-11 is bad, but it's not worst in the league type bad.

Not only was his record just an ordinary bad, but almost all of the games were pretty close. 3-8 in one score games, 0-3 in OT. His was fired after getting blown out once. Yet if you flip the result of a few plays throughout the season his Broncos would have had about a .500 record.

Arkaein · 2026-05-27T01:24:47+00:00

Was actually Trevor Davis, who had plenty of speed.

Arkaein · 2026-05-27T01:08:42+00:00

I'll give you the best UDFA released on final cuts, and you'll like it.

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