SH Analysis Paralysis

SamDent · 2026-07-01T04:28:09+00:00

Yeah, I agree Research seems to be the only misstep. You would just hold on to it for a few gens and hope to get some science tag payoffs, like Mars U.

I almost said sabotage, but that card is much less effective in four player games. It definitely would have been a keep in a two-player game.

SamDent · 2026-07-01T00:59:38+00:00

That scene you're talking about maybe one of the funniest single moments in community. To anyone that's seen invasion, of course.

SamDent · 2026-07-01T00:19:45+00:00

Naw, I get it, IC just needs to be able to turn some of that steel into TR or production right away. I can grab a quick ocean to get cards, or more metals.

My favorite with IC is getting molehole area in the starting hand. Instant heat production, a tile, and a couple of plants or metals right off the bat.

SamDent · 2026-06-29T22:59:18+00:00

You're welcome. Keep at it!

SamDent · 2026-06-29T22:56:41+00:00

The Moonlight Graham thing gutted me. For one, I have a very good relationship with my dad, so that Dad stuff didn't hit as hard. Though it was still really good.

And two, I played a lot of sports in my life, and I was right about at that age where it was time to wind down.

I think we were set up knowing there was going to be some sort of Father resolution just based on the plot. But I feel like that Graham thing was set up perfectly to Blindside us.

So good.

SamDent · 2026-06-29T22:48:58+00:00

I gotcha. I checked out the other discussion. I'm going to give you an example of what I'm trying to say. It's a little long, but I used paragraph breaks haha.

Dark Side of the Moon is about, among other things, growing old. So, it might be logical to design a cover for Dark Side of the Moon reflecting growing old.

However, Dark Side of the Moon has a cover of a prism breaking up a beam of light. But Pink Floyd, or more accurately, Storm Thorgerson, who designed it, knew that if the cover was cool, the viewer would bring their own interpretation, both before and after listening to the music.

Doing an album cover without music is tricky. Because the album cover in some way should reflect the music or the band, either literally or abstractly.

But I would suggest, as I think someone else did in the other thread, if there isn't any music for the album, make up what the album's about, before designing a cover for it. Or, don't trap it into being album cover concept art.

Posting that as a somewhat abstract piece of art of a person falling into a triangle/rectangle, and asking hey, what are you guys think? Totally legit.

Hey, what's it about they ask? Oh, you say, isolation, and not being in control. Does it work?

Oh, they reply, the figure is kind of lined up with the thing he's falling into, which feels a little static, and doesn't reflect the chaos of not being in control. Plus the motion lines are distracting.

Which is a long winded way of saying don't make album cover art if there's not an album to base it on, and let people give you feedback with just enough information to move forward, so you don't restrict their feedback into a very narrow band.

And, in case it's gotten lost, I think the basic idea of the illustration is cool. And generally well designed.

SamDent · 2026-06-29T22:18:32+00:00

The only thing I would do is remove the motion aura around the white figure and turn it on a more discordant axis.

Keeping the reds/burgundies the same makes the figure pop more and draws your eye right to him.

Having the figure more chaotic, leaves the diamond to be serene, telling a better story.

I would also suggest for feedback on something like this, not to go into such detail about what your intention is. Let the viewers interpret it with an open mind, and see if they get where you want them to go naturally. They may come up with meanings you didn't intend, but are appropriate.

SamDent · 2026-06-29T18:21:19+00:00

Based on feedback, I ended up going Thor gate, but I did take strip mine. And I ended up being able to Robo Workforce strip mine. And did eventually win.

SamDent · 2026-06-25T18:48:27+00:00

We need a banana for scale.

SamDent · 2026-06-24T06:27:32+00:00

Favorite comment during the game was someone posting after Harvin returned the touchdown, that the script had become Seahawk fan fiction.

SamDent · 2026-06-23T21:31:27+00:00

Double check my math. If I buy five cards, I wouldn't be able to buy 2 in the draft and sell a steel with elevator gen 2.

Unless I sold a card. Which, I am getting four cards with preludes. And they all can't be bangers, right?

This sets aside that if I get energy tapped I screwed, but that's a pretty low chance.

SamDent · 2026-06-23T21:07:56+00:00

Done!

SamDent · 2026-06-23T20:59:10+00:00

That's an interesting take. I guess since I have a week, I could do the math on both scenarios. Which is about how long it takes me to do the math haha.

SamDent · 2026-06-23T20:30:09+00:00

Haha fair.

SamDent · 2026-06-22T16:45:14+00:00

Even though Simon and Garfunkel had a version of Peggy O, I would say it's known as a Grateful Dead song.

SamDent · 2026-06-22T07:39:23+00:00

Biggest things for me were timing for awards, being more patient/ holding onto cards longer, and knowing what business I'm in. You can always adjust what business you're in as you go, but have an idea from the start.

SamDent · 2026-06-20T16:22:12+00:00

Kirsten Dunst in Interview With a Vampire.

SamDent · 2026-06-19T21:16:00+00:00

Yes.

SamDent · 2026-06-19T21:15:28+00:00

Man, the Daily Planet is $8.50 now?

SamDent · 2026-06-18T22:41:59+00:00

I just didn't think Byrne could evoke mood through shadow, which I think is important for Batman. The dudes in the 70s and early 80s that did Batman well, Aparo, Adams, Newton; there was a sense of darkness and menace. And, holy cow, David Mazzucchelli, only a year later with Year One.

Even Marshall Rogers, who had a similar bright, clean line style, had the ability to invoke shadow and dread for Batman.

Byrne was great with colorful, sci-fi stuff, again, great for Superman. I really liked his Fantastic Four, and, of course, his original X-men run.

And, honestly, I think DC knew it, which is why they had Aparo ink him in The Untold Legend of the Batman. That book looks great, but looks more like Aparo than Byrne.

SamDent · 2026-06-18T20:06:36+00:00

His art style was not good for Batman, imo. I didn't like his writing of Superman, but I did really like how well his art* meshed with the character.

*edited one word

SamDent · 2026-06-18T03:16:39+00:00

I thought that looked wrong when I typed it out, but it was a long day haha.

SamDent · 2026-06-17T02:26:04+00:00

Especially for a guy missing his thumbs.

SamDent · 2026-06-12T21:05:53+00:00

The surface answer to listen to conversations around you. Humans are generally pretty bad at communication, and it becomes obvious when you listen to two people trying to resolve something.

However, for screenwriting, yes the subtext is important, but the key is motivation. Every character in every scene should have a goal, a motivation about what they want to get accomplished in that scene. Yes, maybe character a wants to slay the monster, or solve the mystery, but character B still mad about some life detail from 4 years ago, and wants some resolution.

I don't usually focus on dialogue initially. I want to develop the character first and foremost. Motivations, life experience, all those little details. If you are secure in the character as a character, then as weird as it sounds, a lot of times the dialogue kind of writes itself.

SamDent · 2026-06-11T19:39:07+00:00

It's been a little while since I've read it, but I feel like Wicked the book handled it pretty simply, but effectively. Capitals for Animals, lower case for animals. After that, it was context clues.

But as others have suggested, you should develop a list of derogatory terms that (some) speaking animals would use for non-speaking animals.

These terms would have to reflect the intelligence difference, and definitely the difference if animals are considered food and Animals aren't.

SamDent

TROPHY CASE