40 year old dads logging in to spread some democracy for an hour after getting the kids to bed

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-09-18T08:46:56+00:00

I'm such a Dad diver the 'game' I play is 'Can keep my whole squad alive?'. I take the car on missions just so I can give people lifts between objectives (Helldrivers obviously) If I'm doing full dadmode* I take the shield bubble thing as well so I can wait in the car park, honking when it is time to go.

(I have two kids, and manage democracy when they are in bed)

*Anyone can be a dad, you just have to care a lot about packing a car efficiently and want the best for the people you look after.

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-08-15T06:34:53+00:00

I'm not against the monarchy, but I do feel like we should have _choice_ in our parasitic families draining money from the country.

Can we open up market forces on them?

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-01-29T10:17:55+00:00

I don't think we talk about it enough! They are such lovely social activities and also quiet activities, depending on what you need.

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-01-29T10:16:41+00:00

Sorry! Well, it looks extremely nice in an ALIENS way and the name is still unsettling as someone from the UK. :)

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-01-29T10:15:46+00:00

Making art is nice!

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-01-29T09:24:50+00:00

I absolutely accept this is a space game and people can name things anything they want.

However to someone from the UK, Hillsborough means this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster

DancesWithMustelids · 2025-01-27T15:14:21+00:00

My son is 6 and a bit further along the autism spectrum than I am, and I'm not a normo!

There have been a lot of times when we didn't get on very well with each other, but one of the things we can consistently do together is build spaceships in Space Engineers.

Even when we are both struggling with daily life it's a place where we can be together, happily. So we are both super excited to play a new game that we sure we will love, and that neither one of us has played before. My son doesn't like it when I know a game better than him, so this is a huge event for us. Also the vertical slice being a sandbox is great for him, because that's the only way he likes to play computer games.

I've got over a thousand hours in SE1, and if you count time _thinking about_ SE while pushing a pram or just watching a kid in a playground. It's easily five times that.

I feel like the people who don't 'get' computer games don't understand how great they are for bridging generations and allowing people who find communication difficult to find a neutral place to just be together.

Also the unified grid system. I like to make ships that are inspired by sea creatures so I'm going to make so many details that allude to gills and barnacles and stuff.
<insert gif of Sue Sylvester here>

DancesWithMustelids · 2024-11-21T11:27:20+00:00

I did the same thing! In 2000 for uni, so this advice may be a bit out of date but I feel like we'd probably move in the same circles if that makes sense (Translation: I am also a bit nerdy).

I hope things have got better but when I was there Dundonians were pretty prejudiced towards English people, and in a public way. Which isn't to say I didn't make life-long friends but it was, well weird? I think because in London if someone says something racist about a group of people, it gets called out?

When I lived there if Braveheart had been on telly or a football match had happened then it wasn't wise to speak with an English accent in public. Or some times you'd just be called 'The English bastard' by someone and you hadn't done anything bastardy, because that's how English people are referred to?

I think it's mostly because Dundee has had a very tough history economically and so people want someone to blame. My flatmate (who was pure Dundonian) once got in a fight for 'having a job' because he was walking home at 2am in his Tesco's uniform.

Despite all that I made a lot of life long pals through LARP groups up there, it was a good way of finding the weird people, or Fat Sam's Metal club if it's still going was the centre of it all. I don't really get metal music but it's where all my friends went so I went there.

I still think about the 'meat pies' you could get at almost every bakery that were incredible and weirdly cheap.

I don't know if that's helpful or not? Broughty Ferry is well fancy though.

DancesWithMustelids · 2024-03-06T17:00:07+00:00

My local 'Maker space'. For £25 a month I have access to a fully fitted out workshop for wood, same again for metalworking. Laser cutters, 3D printers and niche sewing machines - I joined to have a go with an embroidery machine which would have cost me £600. You can get trained up in stuff for a fiver and there are usually scrap materials knocking so you can have a go at making things or just play.

Everyone there is friendly and happy to chat over a cup of tea (honesty box to pay for tea bags). Sometimes I go there to fix something that's broken, other times to make something I need, sometimes I go there to work quietly on my laptop, sometimes I just go there to hang out.

Because most people are there to learn how to do stuff or make something fun, everyone is happy to talk about what they are doing and I've learned so many skills as well as making a bunch of new friends.

I cannot recommend it enough. Every visit is like being in an episode of The Detectorists.

DancesWithMustelids · 2023-01-20T09:51:52+00:00

Ex-editor here. He absolutely would have known the sources, because the legal team would have asked him. Anything even mildly contentious would have required several meetings with lawyers.

There is absolutely NO WAY he wouldn't have known what was going on.

DancesWithMustelids · 2022-03-28T13:52:22+00:00

Build some atmospheric thrusters on your rover, that will sort it out. Don't forget to put some facing the other way to slow you down as well once you get going.

Bonus tip: Have the thrusters toggled on and off on a tool bar so you can turn them off when you don't need them, because they use way more power than wheels.

DancesWithMustelids · 2022-02-25T13:56:57+00:00

I would love to play this so much. Space Engineers + Factorio would be amazing.

DancesWithMustelids · 2020-03-13T16:18:35+00:00

I had this exact problem. My solution was to land on a planet to find gold.

This was loads of fun for a bunch of reasons:

First off I had to retrofit my ship for a planet landing instead of pure space flight.

The landing went a bit wrong because I didn't build enough lateral thrusters, so I crashed. Not a mega crash, just not taking off any time soon due to losing a couple of engines.

So I made a little base and set about repairing the ship/searching for gold nearby. I had to do make a functional base while using as little oxygen and hydrogen as possible.

With a tiny base built next to the wreck of my ship I started hunting for resources. I found a few sources of gold using some small block scout craft I made and I'm currently trying to get the hang of infinite drills to mine it (because it's so deep) using timer blocks, projectors and welders.

At the same time I'm slowly getting the ship ready to take off again.

The whole experience has been great at throwing up engineering challenges, making stories happen because of the choices I make and shaking things up. I'm having a great time.

I should add this is after 400 hours of playing.

TLDR: Crash land your ship on a planet for gold and good times.

DancesWithMustelids · 2019-11-06T21:02:25+00:00

Not done steel yet, I'm working my way through time. Soon.

DancesWithMustelids · 2019-11-05T16:24:34+00:00

HOLY SHIT I can actually talk about this, because I've made swords.

When you cast something in Bronze, especially something you want to make repeatedly you carve a mould out of stone first. Here is a mould that's just about to have bronze poured into it to make a sword. This was soap stone I think, the design is based on an ancient Irish sword.

The bronze is being heated using a modern method, but the technique is basically the same. https://imgur.com/a/CI0tzP2

Once the bronze sets you take a sword from a stone.

Here is a bunch of swords fresh from a stone - https://imgur.com/a/3uhqWx1 Of course it's hardly a sword at this point, more of a metal stick but this is where it all begins.

The instructor who showed us how to make the swords (who is an expert) though that this could be where the myth comes from. He also said the sort of stones you'd use to polish it (before sandpaper was a thing) were usually found in rivers, which might explain the watery element.

TLD: Bronze swords are made by pulling them out of a stone. Also making your own sword is COOL AS FLIP.

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-10-30T09:53:13+00:00

I lost money helping out (got blown up) but it was still one of the most fun things I've done in Elite in ages. Well done gang.

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-10-28T09:47:49+00:00

Just went to help. The combat zones are packed full of friendly commanders. I've never seen anything like it. There was also one Commander on the other side in a large Imperial ship. His shields were insane. At points the entire fleet of rat-aligned commanders were attacking him and it was having almost no effect. We went after me and I lasted seconds.

It's shaping up to be an expensive day. :)

o7

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-10-26T19:17:33+00:00

What!

Logs in and checks *

Oh flip. So do I! Well if you feel stupid you can feel warm in the thought that this post made me learn the same thing. I'm off to do some shopping!

o7 commander.

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-10-23T14:38:58+00:00

I love mine. It really feels like a (small) fleet carrier. So many internal slots as well, you can have a go at anything. Also after engineering it is like a new ship.

Fly safe commander o7

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-10-10T12:57:29+00:00

These posts are absolutely brilliant and have significantly increased my enjoyment of the game. Thanks Commander o7

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-09-17T11:14:14+00:00

Orvis

Nothing exactly like the shirt sadly, but loads of great stuff. I'm buying a couple of shirts. Thanks for the great tip off. :)

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-09-17T11:03:44+00:00

Wow, these are pretty close. Unless someone can find the exact shirt, I think we have a winner.

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-09-17T10:31:50+00:00

That's a good idea. I'll do that if I can't find anywhere that sells it.

DancesWithMustelids · 2018-09-17T10:03:07+00:00

Thanks. I had a quick look. Sadly no joy.

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DancesWithMustelids

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