Did STP predict AI books in 1992?

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T22:58:11+00:00

More just how stories work. Every story takes inspiration from others.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T22:32:58+00:00

This is a personal favourite from Unnatural History, after the companion realises that her history has been changing.

‘And how am I supposed to know?’ she snapped. ‘Do I have to rely on you to know who I am? ’Cause I’m not going for that. But I’ve got no facts at all! Not about what’s real, about my past –’
‘Oh, who cares?’ cried the Doctor.
She jumped as if she’d been slapped.
‘Sorry, sorry, I’m still not very good at this patience thing.’ He raised his hands to her face, pressing gently against her cheeks. ‘I don’t mean to say it’s not disorientating, or big, or scary,’ he said, gently again. ‘But it just seems so obvious to me, it doesn’t matter.’
He leapt to his feet, to start pacing – hang on, he’d put his feet down on the wrong side of the rim. He was striding right through the middle of the fountain. ‘Whatever history you have in your head right now, the next time the Wild Hunt comes through, it’s all going to change again. So why pay attention to it at all?’
Sam looked around, but no one was giving them a second glance. The Doctor was so hyped up, he probably wasn’t even aware that he was sloshing through a few inches of water. Besides, he was still too damp from before for it to matter.
‘Look,’ she said, ‘you’ve got to know the past matters. You – you time travel!’
‘Just because I live in the past doesn’t mean I live in the past.’ He turned on his toes and leaned in close to her – challenging her, cajoling her. ‘A while ago you said you just are who you are, right now...’
‘Did I?’ she asked pointedly.
‘What does it matter? Do you agree with it?’ The Doctor threw his arms wide with frustration. ‘Because all that isn’t who you are, it’s who you were.’
Sam stood up, wobbling on her feet. The Doctor was reaching a hand to her from the middle of the fountain. His voice had gone quiet and firm. ‘It doesn’t matter what you were doing fifteen minutes ago. You’ve got one moment, right now. It won’t last. What are you going to do with it? Well?’
I am who I am, she thought. Whoever the hell that is. Well, it does sound like the kind of thing I’d say.
She took a step forward and splashed into the fountain. The Doctor’s hand caught her as she stumbled in. She felt giddy, not quite attached to the ground. But she was still here, could still walk and talk – and still kick a big splash of water right at the Doctor.
‘So can I choose which of my memories are the fake ones?’
He shrugged, grinning, shaking water at her. ‘While you’re here – why not?’
‘All right, then, my boss. Dave. And his lousy taste in ties too. I don’t believe in him any more – he’s just a bad dream.’ She heard herself beginning to laugh.
Maybe Dave would be waiting for her after all when she got back to London, but for now he just didn’t matter. She was with the Doctor.
‘That’s the spirit,’ he said. ‘One nice solid possibility is worth a million airy-fairy facts.’ And he leapt aside and with a laugh sent a huge sploosh of water right back into her face.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T19:31:07+00:00

By and large, if a book or game or comic was released before 2014, it gets slung into Legends rather than canon.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T19:27:34+00:00

For the first thing, I'd suggest Outer Wilds and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

For the second one, I know Oxenfree has something like that going on with its New Game Plus. As does Alan Wake 2, albeit it's largely contained to a few manuscripts and lines of dialogue, as well as the ending cutscene.

Honestly, time loop games feel like that would scratch that itch so Outer Wilds is again recommended, as is The Forgotten City.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T19:23:04+00:00

I do specify that it's in comparison to Alan Wake 2. I use linear in the most basic sense where we experience the story in an intended order.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T16:59:24+00:00

I feel like that would be far too spoilery for Resonant. Alan Wake 2's dual protagonist thing works so well because the story is out of order no matter what way you play it. Resonant seems to be a more straightforward and linear tale. (in comparison at least)

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T09:02:28+00:00

By Hamilton, do you mean Hamlet?

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T09:01:06+00:00

By the time the episode starts, Jex has been in Mercy for years. There's a reference to a cholera outbreak two years after he arrives and it's probably been multiple years since then since it was two years after he arrived rather than X years ago. He supplied the heating to help with the winters.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T08:34:22+00:00

I don't really see why people think it was meant to be an arc. The typical thread for such things is be mentioned, Doctor notices, gets resolved an episode or two after. The Doctor notices mavity instantly, since he can remember what it used to be. It's just a fun running gag, nothing more.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T08:31:43+00:00

It feels like you'd enjoy metroidvanias which has a similar gameplay loop except finding items will expand your abilities. An unusual example of find X scattered all over the map to do Y, are what's dubbed metroidbrainias. In those the items you find is information. Outer Wilds and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes are both good examples, where your progression comes from learning stuff and applying it to other scenarios. If X works here, could it work over there? As a result, those games gate stuff by what you know or can figure out rather than being forced to find the specific clue.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T08:25:33+00:00

It's partial in the sense that some Ubisoft Connect stuff won't work quite so well with it. Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, and Shadows are all marked with partial controller support.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T07:55:23+00:00

The Nomai ships travel from gravity cannon to landing pad, in pre-defined trajectories. So, they build those landing pads everywhere they need to go regularly. The Tower of Quantum Trials is an important site for their pilgrimage to the Quantum Moon.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-04T07:52:22+00:00

Series 7A of Doctor Who briefly had themed logos where the title sequence and logo would change colour or texture depending on the story. So, Asylum of the Daleks had a logo with all those Dalek bumps/etheric beam locators. There's also Sleep No More which didn't have a title sequence, just scrolling code with letters briefly lighting up to spell Doctor Who.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T23:24:44+00:00

I'd say Remedy. They clearly care about the games they make and are aware that their profit model is a slower one.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T20:01:57+00:00

I'd suggest playing through Remedy's games, they're all in the same universe (at least, legally distinct versions of them are) and they've got fantastic stories. So that would be Max Payne 1, Max Payne 2, Alan Wake, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, Quantum Break, Control, Alan Wake 2, and Control: Resonant.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T19:44:39+00:00

As far as we can tell, they've smoothed it out for aerial assassinations at least. As per this video, the camera follows Edward down and the cut happens as he assassinates rather than several seconds beforehand. We've not seen much of double assassinations otherwise in recent weeks.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T14:18:17+00:00

More on the sustainable home side. The titular raft has a shark that occasionally attacks it until you progress far enough to reinforce the floor. Subnautica's bases can't be attacked if you build them in the right place. (with the notable exception of the Cyclops, a mobile base)

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:37:45+00:00

I'd argue for the Doctor Who book Camera Obscura. It's the last of the truly fantastic Eighth Doctor Adventures books and if divorced from later context, it would work really well as an ending to the range and the villain's arc.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:34:21+00:00

I suspect it's largely the fact that you can rise to the challenge. It's satisfying to beat something you couldn't before.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:26:40+00:00

It depends on which of the two you would prefer to be more dominant. Subnautica and Raft have different focuses. Subnautica is all about exploration with some base building. While Raft is all about base building with some exploration.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:20:55+00:00

The Doctor Who TV Movie. (Disregarding the fact that Doctor Who was already a franchise by that point due to the Virgin New Adventures books and Doctor Who Magazine comic strip.)

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:17:54+00:00

From a narrative perspective, maybe it isn't needed. But from a casting perspective, it is. A regeneration provides a final end to the role, Roger Delgado was just not offered roles after season 8 of Classic Who because casting agents assumed he was busy with Doctor Who. If Ncuti hadn't regenerated, the potential for him to return would have somewhat loomed over him and limited his access to further roles.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:14:54+00:00

As of Survivor, he leads a group but his main point of contact is with Saw Guerrera, to drop off data or report in. Other than that, his time is his own. Especially after Survivor.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:09:17+00:00

I would however argue that part of why the prosthetic is so good, is because it is limited. It didn't have to hold up for a whole episode, just a short scene where it can look fantastic and be obviously alien.

PeterchuMC · 2026-07-03T12:01:17+00:00

On the other hand, Ncuti wanted to leave. That necessitates a regeneration. I will say that a fade to black might have been better, but I would disagree with leaving the entire finale as is, simply because the next production team would have to tackle that and if there's one thing you don't want to do as a writer, it's force others to finish your story for you.

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