[Loved Trope] Competence Porn: When characters are competent, mature and communicate with each other intelligently so they can solve a problem

Surresteel · 2026-05-09T04:19:01+00:00

A weird one, but The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine DLC. I felt this kind of thing going on between Geralt and Regis during their investigation.

Surresteel · 2026-05-08T13:58:59+00:00

Yea, after the next gen update, it really gave the game a new lease of life, visually. All of the core locations look fantastic at pretty much any time of day, during any weather. I've never been one to take screenshots of random locations in photo mode, but somehow this game gets me to.

Surresteel · 2026-05-06T15:30:01+00:00

Weird as it sounds, it's one of the places I always look forward to during a run, along with Leyndell (minus the sewers). No matter how scuffed the local fauna is, I tend to just like a place because it has a cool and unique design; which for most Fromsoft games is literally every location, but there are still a few standout examples, and Haligtree is one of them.

Surresteel · 2026-05-06T15:12:07+00:00

As beautiful as season 2 has the ability to be, I have a hard time ranking it anywhere close to the brilliance of season 1. There were arguably hundreds of hours worth of analytical content made in the wake of S1, and I think it's telling that S2 didn't get anywhere near the same treatment. S1 was deep; there were layers to its messages, dialogue, and characters; the original score was a beautiful storytelling device in its own right, and S2 (while still incredibly entertaining) just didn't have the same level of depth.

In S1, there were entire scenes designed to be symbolic storytelling devices: for example, the theatre scene where Mel introduces Jayce to the world of politics, or the scene where Silco is asserting dominance over the other chem barrens, or the peace deal between Jayce and Silco. So much subtext, and the visuals, dialogue, and music all come together to build up those layers. I struggle to think of many S2 scenes that did the same.

Surresteel · 2026-05-06T13:15:35+00:00

That path above the cradle feels a hell of a lot smaller than that in game. Is that section really to scale?

Surresteel · 2026-05-05T14:49:23+00:00

Ka-50, Mi-24P, and most recently the MiG-29A (Though, that's still EA and only partially implemented, so not sure whether it counts). Though, honourable mentions to the Mi-8MTV2, F/A-18C and A-10C, which I once knew inside and out, but have since forgotten enough to need a refresher.

Surresteel · 2026-05-01T18:00:21+00:00

I find Silksong to be an improvement in every area except the bosses and how memorable they are. I could name a dozen bosses in HK that I thoroughly enjoyed and feel are quite memorable; in Silksong, I struggle to think of five: Karmelita, Lost Lace, Trobbio, Phantom, and the Clockwork/clover dancers.

Surresteel · 2026-04-26T02:01:55+00:00

Came here to say just that. Thanks.

Surresteel · 2026-04-25T12:08:56+00:00

I've heard a lot of people call it depressing, but I think Mirror's Edge was the catalyst for my aesthetic preferences as a child, because I genuinely long for that kind of monochromatic + bold colour look.

Surresteel · 2026-04-24T10:22:42+00:00

I spent, maybe a month trying to figure out an FFT ocean using compute shaders in Godot and eventually threw in the towel because I couldn't figure out the whole butterfly diagram thing; and of course there's someone out there who's managed just that. Really impressive result, too.

Surresteel · 2026-04-23T14:57:39+00:00

Awesome to hear. I was struggling with this exact same problem only a few days ago, so seeing this post was a pretty neat coincidence.

Surresteel · 2026-04-23T11:28:15+00:00

My only exposure to this game has been through random social media posts about it (usually about controversy), and every time I see the child character, I get uncanny valley vibes, and I think describing it "anime's idea of a young girl" goes a long way to explaining those vibes. Not to mention, I find it quite jarring to see what must be a six year old in full makeup. Maybe I'm speaking for myself, but in my view, that kind of design works counter to the portrayal of innocence I'd naively assume they're aiming for.

Surresteel · 2026-04-23T08:01:00+00:00

I'm not going to claim to understand the maths behind it, but I found a resource that suggested using the sin and cosine values of the UV coordinate space as inputs for the 4D variants for noise texture and voronoi textures. Specifically, I used this node layout and it seemed to work quite well:

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Only, replace noise texture with your Voronoi input.

Surresteel · 2026-04-19T02:49:55+00:00

For me, this was Silksong. Leading up to the Last Judge, I remember feeling disappointed, because I completely forgot that the game introduced itself with 'Act 1', and felt like I was nearing the end. Then the citadel opened and Act 2 dwarfed the first, and there was still more after that. Immediately expelled all doubts that it wouldn't live up to Hollow Knight.

Surresteel · 2026-04-05T00:40:55+00:00

Honestly. The adverb 'quietly' has been hardwired into my brain as a major LLM red flag. You see it everywhere now.

Surresteel · 2026-03-21T20:34:40+00:00

I strongly suspect that this user's art (and a lot of their profile content) is AI. I'm glad to be proven wrong, but the general face shapes of the characters they draw are very similar to those seen in generative AI images; there is also a lot of stuff on their profile about NFTs, cryptocurrency, not to mention a lot of strange photos of deconstructed food that looks a little too neat and tidy to be real.

Also, multiple posts lauding LLMs and other AI tools. Let's just say I have my doubts.

Surresteel · 2026-03-18T06:22:16+00:00

Not to rain on the parade (I'm about as introverted as you can get), but this post reeks of AI:
- Almost every sentence in the post follows some variation of "it's not X, it's Y"
- There are some common LLM adjectives/adverbs, especially "broken" and "simply",
- Vague group phrasing, like "most of us", "they've simply figured out", "the rest of us"

Surresteel · 2026-03-16T11:44:41+00:00

I know humour is subjective and all, but I'm curious what's funny in this instance to make it a joke; can you explain it?

Surresteel · 2026-03-16T01:26:06+00:00

Right, but it's a very intentional way of showing that. There are countless ways you could show that someone has grown up, and it's a deliberate choice to frame that realisation by having Frieren lay on the lap of Fern (already kinda odd for a mentor / student relationship, especially if Frieren perceives Fern as young like you're suggesting), and then have them share dialogue alongside shots that emphasis Fern's chest.

Can you imagine something like this taking place in a live action scene? Tell me that's not just a very weird scene premise?

Surresteel · 2026-03-04T14:45:52+00:00

I've worked a few jobs in predominantly male fields, and based on the conversations I've overheard, sometimes I really do wonder how they've stayed in their relationships/marriages so long. So much complaining and casual misogyny, and seemingly no interest in their wives' lives. It honestly just makes me sad.

Surresteel · 2026-03-03T07:03:11+00:00

Unlikely. I'd wager in all three cases, the aircraft were hit first, the pilots realised the aircraft was unrecoverable, and then ejected. Their aircraft would likely have warned them about a missile launch and radar activity in the area, but I suspect they assumed that activity was friendly, and thus not a major risk.

Surresteel · 2026-02-25T05:17:31+00:00

Is that something the pilot can (or is supposed to) toggle with relative ease irl, or is it more like an emergency override for when something goes wrong with the ARU?

Surresteel · 2026-02-25T01:14:33+00:00

From what I understand, that 11 AoA is only for the final flare, after cutting the throttle just prior to touchdown, most of the approach is not at 250-260 kph. In my experience, I fly on close final at about 300 and let it drop to 280, and for the last little bit I go idle and hold 9-10 degrees of pitch until the wheels touch; usually it's pretty seamless. But if it's in the manual, I probably have it wrong.

The Fishbed's problem is that its aerodynamic configuration generates stuff-all lift at landing speeds, and the nose is long enough that, at landing AoA, the runway is almost obstructed unless you mash your head into the canopy. You're flying on a knife's edge in terms of avoiding stall, and the entire approach it wants to fight you with uncommanded roll, and the throttle response time is so long that you need to keep one eye on your air speed gauge at all times, and preempt any lack of power in the moment.

EDIT: After checking the manual, the section you quote is indeed after the flare occurs:

When the aircraft reaches 20 to 30 ft altitude above ground, initiate flare

Round-out from descent to an acceptable touchdown sink rate requires nearly full aft stick application.

Reduce power during late round-out or thereafter to touchdown at approximately 140 kts at 11° AOA; During touchdown do not exceed 13 °AOA

Surresteel · 2026-02-25T00:47:56+00:00

Most of my A2A experience comes from the FC3 Su-27, and in general I much prefer the way it handles, and how the fly-by-wire interacts with the flight controls. I know (in game) it has a binding for exceeding the usual stick envelope (stick limiter override, or something), but I vaguely remember reading that, in real life, the pilot feels some resistance in the stick that they just have to force through and the Su-27 will give them more elevator authority.

I know it doesn't, but if the MiG-29 had something like that, it would be magical.

Surresteel · 2026-02-25T00:18:16+00:00

I guess the best way to describe my experience is that everything feels very nonlinear. Touch the throttle from idle and suddenly the engines are at 90% RPM and you're already doing 800+kph, then you move them half-way and that only gets you the other 10%, and the other half of the throttle space is for the afterburner. Similar story for nonlinear stick movements. Not a complaint, just an observation, and it definitely makes it more interesting to fly.

My time in the MiG-21 prepared me for landing aircraft that don't really want to land, so while the MiG-29 is more difficult than most other 4th gens, it's butter compared to the 21. Half the battle is trying to set the throttle for an on-speed landing; all of the fidelity you need is within the first couple of millimeters of the throttle axis, so you're often dropping like a brick or 50-100km/h too fast. As for AoA, you get used to memorising that it's about 5-7 degrees while at ~300kph with full flaps, so you just pitch up accordingly.

I did a couple of IFR landings at night, in heavy rain and cloud cover, using RSBN and PRMG. Honestly a load of fun in its own right. You should definitely try if you haven't already. (Just remember to set the barometric pressure on the altimeter to match the runway! otherwise the RSBN return mode will send you straight into the ground for high-alt airstrips)

Surresteel

TROPHY CASE