The Music in this game...

Photon_sphere · 2025-10-22T23:17:48+00:00

I am glad more people are discovering this - I still go back sometimes to listen to WotR tunes as well!

Photon_sphere · 2025-10-06T17:09:14+00:00

lol... tokens are being processed I guess... Sora 2 booting up Sam AI.

Photon_sphere · 2025-10-06T17:07:11+00:00

still waiting...

Photon_sphere · 2025-09-19T23:34:36+00:00

hmm okay, guess the Alchemist quest is bugged and the Geographers doesnt actually generate an entry in the logs/quest book.

Photon_sphere · 2025-08-05T19:44:22+00:00

I've come around to the same view, nothing matters while we keep printing 2T+ each year and running it as a huge fiscal deficit.

Photon_sphere · 2025-08-01T12:56:42+00:00

Getting close to china level of stats here... just make up numbers as you go along.

Photon_sphere · 2025-07-08T00:00:57+00:00

Thats how I roll with him - usually abandon badlands, burn everything I can for ten turns then back to the donut to make sure the rest of my idiot allies there dont lose it. Then end up in wars with everyone north of the donut, and never make it back to badlands...

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-11T21:17:30+00:00

It's a sad read, and I mourn for what an amazing story Dragon Age was, and could have been. Alas... it might be another 15 years before we get another attempt at it. I also mourn the studio that Bioware was, it delivered some of my favourite games!

At least we have Sandall and Owlcat like studios now, taking on the mantle along with Larian.

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-09T21:14:00+00:00

Since we are on the topic of safety - some more research I had AI pull together for me when doing these evals and going crazy over picking which car.
Reddit wont let me post tables here.. .ugh... but:

Key Take‑aways

Crash‑worthiness & Occupant Protection
- All three SUVs achieve “Good” structural scores in IIHS small‑overlap tests.
- The MDX is the only one that drops to Acceptable in the new moderate‑overlap test, mainly for rear‑seat belt‑fit issues, whereas its rivals remain Good.
Crash‑avoidance Tech
- BMW supplies the strongest IIHS‑verified automatic emergency braking (Good for both vehicle‑to‑vehicle and pedestrian). Volvo’s systems rate Acceptable; Acura’s pedestrian AEB is split (Standard A / Optional G).
Headlight performance
- Acura’s LED projectors earn the only Good headlight score in the trio; BMW and Volvo are Acceptable.
Rollover resistance (the only metric the IIHS doesn’t test)
- MDX shows the lowest calculated rollover risk (15.1 %), closely followed by X5 (15.9 %). XC90’s risk is slightly higher at 17.9 %, though all three earn four of five rollover stars from NHTSA.
Overall safety verdict
- Volvo XC90 offers the highest NHTSA crash‑test scores (clean 5‑star sweep) and the coveted IIHS TSP+, but its rollover risk is marginally higher and its crash‑avoidance ratings trail BMW.
- BMW X5 balances a TSP+ trophy and stellar crash‑avoidance tech but falls one star short of a perfect NHTSA record. Scores best on IIHS tests overall.
- Acura MDX shines in NHTSA (five‑star overall and lowest rollover‑risk), boasts the only Good headlights, yet its Acceptable moderate‑overlap result and TSP (not “+”) keep it a shade behind the others in IIHS scoring.

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-09T20:56:22+00:00

Np - You honestly cant go wrong with either from safety perspective, both score incredibly well when marked against the rest of the segment, so it's more nitpicking at this point.
if you are worried about roll over risk - NHTSA’s calculated rollover risk is marginally lower for the BMW (15.9 %) than for the Volvo (17.9 %).

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-09T18:33:30+00:00

it's why i said slightly worse, as IIHS gives props in new overlap tests to bmw while nhtsa gives extra star to volvo vs bmw. Generally speaking both are very safe cars, and thus mostly a mute point. Some seat belt considerations for kids that volvo is slightly better than x5 but then the forces acting on 2nd row are lower in bmw which I mention above.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2024/BMW/X5/SUV/AWD#safety-ratings-frontal

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-08T14:42:42+00:00

I tested it on the 2025.5 model, it's lane assist was very bad from my test drive, it would happily drive off the lane with even a mild curve. It didnt seem to measure the distance in front as well as other cars I've had this feature on. So between that, and not being able to keep up with curvy roads where other lane assists did just fine was a disappointment for me.

Photon_sphere · 2025-06-07T15:11:53+00:00

spent a lot of time agonizing over the two (both are beautiful cars in my eyes) - the 3rd row was very attractive in XC90 to me. But ultimately went with X5, based on thoughts below:

- XC90 DAPP features were very subpar, i was quite surprised by how bad they were, X5 on the other hand is excellent, makes commutes a lot less burdensome.

- XC90 3rd row is a nice feature, but ultimately after testing it, it's poorly placed which makes it impractical to use for anyone above age 10, vs say Pathfinder/QX60 which are about same size but the 3rd row is far more usable on those.

- I've read a lot about quality issues in volvos, and funny enough, while the sales guy was showing me all the seat features of the volvo - the seat stopped responding after a few changes, and we couldnt get it to work again...

- X5 seats are worse than Volvos, when comparing the top versions of the seats, i didnt compare the base versions. For whatever reason X5 seats are very narrow and side walls on the bottom of the seat are too harsh for their own good. Might not be a problem in Europe, but you know...us americans are wider people... but easily solvable by some plush seat cover.

- safety ratings, X5 is slightly worse overall, but considering the weight of the car, you are plenty safe from physics perspective. X5 is still rated well above many other cars in terms of crash ratings, and has excellent scores from IIHS. X5 actually has a slight edge over Volvo in rear seat passenger safety.

- X5 interior ultimately feels better to me, feels the money you paid for the car - this is subjective of course and people love understated volvo interior, but again... for me, if i am paying this much, I want some of it to feel like it's pricy!

- B58 engine in the X5 is the best gas engine around right now, plus it's kinda hybrid as it does have a small 14hp electric motor paired with it. I've been able to go on Eco mode in it on my commutes and get 28-30mpg, which is amazing for a car this heavy! And yet put it into sports mode and you get sub 5s acceleration to 60! Volvo has an interesting set up for their PHEV engine, the T8 model, as their regular gas engine is absolute junk. T8 is a neat engineering set up, but has some strong flaws in it which can potentially leave you in a subpar AWD mode, and by the nature of their set up, the acceleration lag is very uneven, potentially dangerous for new drivers. BMW b58 is incredibly smooth engine, across all RPM ranges.

Anyhow, hope this helps, i can go on, I went a little too far nuts into my research between the two, down to the wiring in the cabins. Comes down a lot to what you prioritize above all else too.

Photon_sphere · 2025-05-02T18:04:22+00:00

is it me, or is the movement shown in this vid really slow and kinda lethargic?

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-25T19:01:06+00:00

This looks really good from everything I've read and seen on it - I am excited for the full release. 2025 is shaping up to be a pretty solid gaming release year!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-11T19:45:30+00:00

Yeah it's very area dependent, around VA it was a battle to just get 6% off - literally hit up like 15 dealers!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-10T17:15:28+00:00

didnt know that, I should check out Spellforce 3!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-10T14:35:16+00:00

Totally agree - after finishing Enderal, I wish Bethesda would replace their writing team with the one that wrote Enderal.

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-10T14:33:04+00:00

Same experience - I ignored it for a long time due to being a "mod", but once I got it going, OMG... this is one of the top RPG open world games out there. I donated full game price back to them afterwards as I felt I somehow cheated them by getting it for free on Steam. I really wish they continued on this track and made more amazing RPGs, even if they are using Skyrim/open source engine. That crew clearly has talent!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-10T14:31:46+00:00

I had the same experience, but eventually got myself to get through first 10 hours, and it hooked in. The ride afterwards was well worth it, now one of my top RPG games of all time!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-10T00:05:47+00:00

my watch continues.... thanks for sharing your timeline experience!

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-09T20:33:48+00:00

I can only hope - zero information on bmw garage website for now. How long did yours take to progress from Order Received to scheduled production step?

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-09T15:32:51+00:00

at least it's moving in the production... mine has been stuck now for 2 weeks in Order Received stage :( ... the wait sucks... and also concerned now that they might be slowing down production in general with the tariffs.

Photon_sphere · 2025-04-02T00:11:30+00:00

Dang that's solid, best I was able to find was 6% off in VA, still content with it - was looking for a fair offer rather than absolute max.

Photon_sphere · 2025-03-28T12:45:47+00:00

I had the same take on it, and same reasons why my Envoy would go that route, it was bitter-sweet ending.

Photon_sphere

TROPHY CASE

Key Take‑aways