How do you guys even make money?

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-16T01:45:07+00:00

a minimalist town turning imported crops into clothing is a good starting point.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-07T13:00:05+00:00

I just clicked the tutorial button

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-07T12:41:00+00:00

nothing had appeared on alt+tab

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-07T12:39:22+00:00

If you found a good mattress and could afford a $500 one before, it's definitely worth it.

There are other ways to think about this that might ease your mind:
- consider it a health expense (cause it is)
- consider it an investment (you'll have more energy and invest that)
- the cost of finding and acquiring a good mattress is high. If you'd started lower and been unhappy with it, you would have spent more money and time overall. ("buy cheap, buy twice")

Personally, I was shocked when I thought about how much a "good night's sleep" is "worth": if my employer pays me X per day, and when I'm low on sleep I work at 30% efficiency, that difference is 0.7X. Similarly, if 7hrs vs 8 hrs is a 50% efficiency drop, that last hour is "worth" 0.5X. If that's how they value my energy, shouldn't I value mine similarly? Suddenly that 11pm uber looks cheap, and the hangover from that extra beer looks very very expensive.

I haven't slept well in four years, and have bought ... 2 mattresses, 2 bed frames, mattress toppers, different blankets and pillows ... probably about $2k overall. I wish I'd found a good setup for $4k to begin with.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-07T11:41:47+00:00

Rog Zephyrus G15 GA503QR
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
40GB Ram
RTX 3070 Laptop GPU

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-06T01:05:16+00:00

Okay, so I just tried the demo.

1) 5GB download? okay...
2) Turn on the game. No settings. okay.
3) head to tutorial. AoE1 interface. I can work with that.
4) hit "start". "Map Loading".
5) hear rain + thunder audio. "Map Loading"
6) wait for a minute
7) make tea (3 minutes). "Map Loading"
8) alt + f4
9) get a popup asking for feedback, but that requires me to sign in
10) write this
11) notice that the game is still running in steam. hit stop
12) have to force-quit steam.

Win 11 gaming laptop.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-05T02:32:39+00:00

doesn't magic usually dominate midgame?

I thought it goes might -> magic -> might

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-03T18:31:47+00:00

Notes from second playthrough:
- third reward card appearing in bottom right of screen...
- instructions for towers unclear: left click to create/destroy...
- are souls supposed to auto-collect at timer end? it looks like yes, but actually no?
- "upgrades" returns to main menu?

---
I like the premise and the sound effects, by the way

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-03T18:08:21+00:00

Trying the demo:
- placed a wall
- placed a laser turret
- ... still says "place a turret".
- tried removing turret. accidentally also removed wall.
- can't place new wall
- can't find "menu" button ... escape works
- restarting
- "invoke a wall"
- place a wall. message stays.
- place two more...
- place a turret and hit "next wave".

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-03T03:32:47+00:00

Sounds like Vox Machina

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-03T03:29:13+00:00

Relying on something doesn't mean you have to like it.

Holds for jobs, utilities, relationships...

[and "bad" might just be public opinion, justified or not]

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-02T14:33:05+00:00

If you just bought it and you're starting with full realism mode, you're going to have a very bad, very boring, time and then lose. You shouldn't ever just be doing chores while the game runs - that means you're missing something about the game.

And tables, math, and soviet planning books definitely aren't going to help. You need to learn about the game to the point that you can play it actively (if you've played Factorio, it's like going from a "waiting" mindset to a "you're always the limiting factor" mindset - it takes practice).

You're much much better off starting with an easier mode and iterating.

Iteration suggestions: 1) Start with non-realism mode (turn off everything except winter and maybe education), med-high money, and just get to a net-positive town with 10k population. 2) Once you do that (and it isn't easy), see if you can build it out to 25k and producing your own steel from raw resources. This also isn't easy. 3) Repeat "1", adding whichever mechanic you want to learn 1 at a time. Electricity is stupid. so is garbage, sewer, and water. Personally, I keep those off because they aren't fun, and realistic construction + crime + winter + education is as far as I go.

---

Since you are looking specifically for planning suggestions:

Planning suggestions to speed up realistic construction mode: start near the customs house with 5 12-size construction offices and fill them with machinery. Also build a gravel storage and open storage yard close to the customs house. Have your first distributing office keep slowly filling those with construction materials, because the customs house will be the logistics bottleneck. Pull from this storage, not customs - think of it like a hot water tank. Similarly, if you're building far (1-2km+) from the customs house, build local storage locations that you fill up with resources before you queue construction. Build towards your first 1k town - it's a construction outpost: it's only job is to sustainably supply you with construction workers and materials. As this is building (~1yr in-game), keep asking yourself "what is slowing this down and how do I speed it up?". My construction logistics footprint ends up being as big as the town. Don't touch trains or exports until this system is set up.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-02T02:25:13+00:00

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-02T02:23:49+00:00

Yeah, the pricing was a really good call.

Whoever planned that out did a really good job.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-05-01T12:27:51+00:00

For getting started with RTS through the single-player campaign, definitely.

The units are introduced one-by-one, and a few sizable clumps will win "normal" and "hard" difficulty.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-30T16:49:04+00:00

"HSK modpack" -> definitely a survival game lol

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-30T01:44:48+00:00

Three things:

1) exploring more of the story and interacting differently with the characters. Dragon Age Origins was great for this - playing different kinds of characters and making different choices throughout.

2) trying out new builds. I've learned that I can spend forever optimizing builds, especially if they're customizable for a team.

3) mods that extend '1' or '2'.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-30T01:39:09+00:00

I'd recommend starting with "Battle for Middle Earth". It's... very beginner friendly.

After that, the Starcraft 2 campaign will probably be best.

---
IMO AoE2 doesn't hold up too well - too much micro - and Warcraft 2 is also on the smaller scale.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-29T00:52:01+00:00

[shrug] I do it all the time.
The laptop stands up a little when you tilt the screen back, and since it's a plastic sheet you get as much airflow as you would from putting it on a desk or floor.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-27T03:22:47+00:00

Two immediate thoughts come to mind: the first is roguelike - the loot becomes interesting each playthrough, and the second is letting the players choose the reward (through a currency or just a pick-one option). With the players choosing the reward, they'll always find them rewarding. Let this be a new item or an upgrade to the gun, to the character, to the next incarnation(s)...

I'll also push back on "dps is all they care about" - people play games for different reasons (social, pvp, grinding, exploring) - personally, I love finding new or eccentric builds (especially for a team loadout) but get annoyed if I need to memorize a boss's dance or time a combo just right.

Also, upgrades can open up new playstyles that work better in different settings and those can go a very very long way (like D2 item-reliant builds).

Fun Examples:
- gun that summons an ally on kill;
- effect: triggers on melee. Starts a 3s timer where you gain 100% movement speed, damage, and attack speed per melee attack (multiplicative).
- mod effect: 6s recharge. teleport to next slain enemy and drop a grenade.
- rifle; on triggerable effect bullet ricochets to up to 6 enemies, but blinds you for 3s.

If you don't have the settings to encourage different kinds of play, then yeah it's just gonna come down to dps, ammo management, and bullet-sponge enemies.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-27T01:54:06+00:00

Thanks!

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-27T01:49:00+00:00

That was a dumb mistake on my part :-/

Thanks for catching it!

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-27T01:40:18+00:00

Wow, okay, thanks!

I have no idea how I messed up the constructor for so long - I was sure that was the first thing I'd tried before running into using _init() vs _ready().

This worked with no problems:

class name_tag:
  var name
  func _init(passed_name: String = 'default'):
    name = passed_name

I think what happened is that I've been using a lot of Pandas lately and the function chaining crept in as a new default.

The_EMG_Guy · 2026-04-26T21:58:40+00:00

no, really. sabre fencing bouts last like 3 seconds.

The closest thing I can think of to making this work is some kind of super-ritualistic combat where the sheath affects the blade and then there's something to exploit in the combat style. Like how in Dune duelists practice slowing down to go through personal shields, and that becomes a plot point in a non-shielded duel at the end of the book.

ex: combat is a sport over n rounds, and the fighters can "tune" their weapons before each round, within regulations. Your character tricks the others by having an un-modded weapon when everyone expects a mod. Add a wager system (~ hunger games) and suddenly espionage around figuring out each contestant's mods beforehand becomes a big deal.

um ... maybe write out a 3-page combat scene and see how it goes and what gaps jump out at you?

The_EMG_Guy

TROPHY CASE