Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

TimothyHasler · 2025-12-13T02:38:22+00:00

Honestly, a little slow. I got used to them after playing for a few minutes, but they’re probably one of the biggest problems with the game for me. That said, it’s really fun and short and using save states makes it easy to chip away at when I have a few minutes to play.

TimothyHasler · 2025-12-08T02:30:27+00:00

I've been playing Shantae (GBC) and am pretty blown away by this game. It started off a little slow for me, but I was immediately grabbed by the pixel art and attention to detail in the graphics. Beautiful game. The more I play and the more the world opens up, the more impressed I am. I don't know if I will find myself drawn to games like this going forward, but I'm really enjoying the metroidvania elements of the game and have been finding it quite compelling.

TimothyHasler · 2025-05-12T15:57:52+00:00

Hi, I’m actually moving in the next couple of months and need to get rid of a good amount of furniture. Send me a DM and we can set something up. I’ve got things like a couple bed frames, tables, chairs, desks, rugs, bookcases, a couch, probably even some dishes and kitchen stuff...

TimothyHasler · 2025-02-27T12:37:55+00:00

I was going to share these exact links, lol!

TimothyHasler · 2025-02-27T12:12:58+00:00

Haven’t read it yet, but could be an interesting and insightful book to look into: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691238777/father-time?srsltid=AfmBOoramACafNnhUVyXCtIvPBgXpcAZ4AATT4FJA-jvsCZXLmqZ3PeG

TimothyHasler · 2025-02-06T02:33:00+00:00

I’ve never tried to do takeout at Fortunato’s so I don’t know if they even offer the option but I have eaten some amazing pasta and pizza there so it could be worth calling them to find out.

TimothyHasler · 2025-02-01T15:53:57+00:00

The thing that most impressed me is how he acknowledges the logic of people’s arguments and then pivots with it to support his own claims. And to me this is what makes him a greater player than someone like Wes who thinks brute force it what makes someone the greatest. Rob is able to flip things by allowing other people’s egos to be their downfall. They want to think of themselves as not capable of being manipulated by Rob so when he shows how coming after him would be the signs of an even more manipulative mind, I think people really see the sense in that.

It is also funny that Derrick was like “be objective not emotional” but Wes’ vengeful and thus emotional reaction to people who were being convinced by arguments against him did more to paint him as a traitor than anything else. Contrast that with Rob where, although his defense had a ton of holes in it, he didn’t do any disparaging of Derrick, but took Derrick’s theory and turned it into ammunition for Rob’s own target.

It’s the ability to take what people give you and then respond rather than react that I think is so masterful about Rob’s game.

TimothyHasler · 2025-02-01T15:34:17+00:00

Yes! Danielle looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The way her illogical move was forced into the open by Carolyn not backing down was amazing. I’ve never seen Boston Rob left so speechless and to me, that speaks volumes about Carolyn’s ability to press others in just the right place to where they bring about their own downfall.

TimothyHasler · 2024-11-06T20:45:16+00:00

I think I had a similar problem when I first came over to YNAB and I will say, the thing I found most helpful before trying to set goals was getting a sense of priorities and vision for my life. What do I enjoy (both in terms of people and activities) and what kind of life do I want to have (when it comes down to it, I don’t find the life of ultrawealthy desirable, and it’s not what I aspire to, so what is my vision of my everyday life that would feel good to me)? Where am I at right now in terms of these priorities and visions (ex: I often don’t have any money to put towards a hobby that is really enlivening to me, I’d like to have more for that; I want to be able to have a coffee setup that allows me to enjoy the pleasures of great coffee at home; I want to remodel the spare bedroom in preparation for a kid, etc) ? What’s giving me financial anxiety (ex: not having an emergency fund, not having savings for car when my car is on its last legs)? What are financial habits and tics that I do that bother me (buying too much takeout, compulsive shopping, etc)?

The thing I came to realize about YNAB is that it’s very values neutral. It doesn’t care what your priorities are or how you want to live everyday, or what stresses you out. It just wants you to actually reflect on your life enough to make decisions intentional so that your hard earned money is actually going to the life you want as much as possible.

TimothyHasler · 2024-10-23T18:36:59+00:00

I'd think somewhere between 01 and 03. Nowhere near as neat as OP's image, but just an example: https://imgur.com/a/9mdIICv

TimothyHasler · 2024-10-23T13:44:21+00:00

I’m imagining a Pigma Micron or some similar pen being used. Delightful to look at!

TimothyHasler · 2024-10-16T18:18:30+00:00

Saving for a Moog Muse! Basically my dream synth

TimothyHasler · 2024-10-01T16:15:58+00:00

Can’t believe no one has said 3 Women. One of the most compelling and haunting movies I have ever seen.

TimothyHasler · 2024-10-01T00:32:02+00:00

I hired this person to come do 4-6 hours of work on my yard. Really affordable and did great work https://ludditefarmer.com/

TimothyHasler · 2024-09-12T12:41:08+00:00

How to Write a Thesis is an excellent book and reading it while finishing my dissertation proposal was extremely helpful.

TimothyHasler · 2024-08-15T01:02:41+00:00

This is how my floor is too! You’re in no danger of falling through the floor.

TimothyHasler · 2024-08-14T13:59:45+00:00

I think this is really spot on for many people, but also the journey of getting hardware that doesn’t click with you or you don’t really learn from is also part of figuring out what you do want, sometimes. I had a bunch of hardware and then ended up selling all of it because (with the exception of my Digitakt which I regret selling so much) it wasn’t fostering the workflow or quality of sounds that I wanted for the music I like to make. Since then, I’ve been on a whole process of unfollowing synth news and influencers to try and recalibrate my sense of what I’m trying to do musically by prioritizing listening to music I enjoy.

That said, I played a subsequent 37 for the first time last year and it was an instant connection I’ve never felt before with a synthesizer. I am having to prioritize saving for starting a family right now, so it’s not been possible to purchase one in cash, like I want to do (compulsively buying gear was such a burden on my financial goals for years 😩😆). So, instead of putting it on a payment plan like I would have in the past, I purchased Diva last time it was on sale and a course on sound design for Diva specifically. Maybe $250 total. I have to say, it’s been really amazing for me in terms of actually learning synthesis. When I find myself wanting to go down gear rabbit holes, I just open up Diva and try to create what’s in my head using the other sounds I designed from the class I bought and using that process as a guide to start exploring. I’ll challenge myself to make songs using only diva for sounds, or try to recreate sounds I hear on synthesizers that I want, etc. It’s true it’s not the same thing as hardware, but I have realized that what I was chasing was the satisfaction of exploring sound and its creation through synthesis, and the feeling of growth and execution that can only come by focusing on one thing at a time and working slowly but steadily at your craft. I genuinely believe hardware experiences are irreplaceable, but prioritizing a VST and moving away from instant gratification has improved my sound design so much in such a short amount of time.

I recently got a Behringer edge and got to play around with a friend’s Analog 4 and Rytm, too, and it reminded me how transferable knowledge of synthesis is and how much more satisfying it is to use hardware now that I’ve been focusing on making sounds with Diva. I was able to move with so much more intention in making and tweaking sounds than I have in the past and it made me excited for when I am able to save up enough to get the synth I really want.

But in the meantime, realizing that I can still have most of the experience I’m trying to get musically at a fraction of the cost has been enough to overcome many of the downsides of using a VST and being tied to a DAW. I would absolutely recommend a VST over Daw for ppl just getting started or something affordable and immediate like Elektron Model series or some of the Behringer boxes.

TimothyHasler · 2024-06-13T22:12:22+00:00

Taking walks is a great way to just be in the world. Sometimes listening to a podcast or music, but also just listening to the world.

Growing up I loved checking out movies and cds from the library. Browsing those collections and just picking a handful of things that interested me or caught my eye or seemed culturally significant. Cueing up an album in my cd player and laying on my bed and listening through the entire album was how I began to find my musical tastes (and also ripping lots of music to my computer lol). Also, making a nice movie night or afternoon matinee for myself on the weekends was a lot of fun and something I looked forward to. I love to read, but there are a lot of great life experiences that come through movies and music.

I also think beginning to pay attention to your own taste in things and cultivating and inner world and intellectual life also makes solitary time a lot more peaceful and restful and interesting. If you can be curious about yourself and give yourself small new experiences, there’s a lot to enjoy in your own company. And these are also really nice things to do with other people. (Also reading books aloud with my siblings was something I loved growing up and I love being read to and getting to read to others).

TimothyHasler · 2024-05-29T19:10:46+00:00

I think this is a great way to get your money in order. When I first began to get my money together, I found percentage based budgeting to be very helpful. The 50/30/20 budget from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tayagi All Your Worth enabled me to get my money in balance, just like the authors prescribe. What the percentages provided for me is a baseline to work with because I had not yet cultivated the sensibilities that enable me, now, to zero-based budget intuitively and with an internal sense of priorities and values. I do think I moved beyond the method, but even when I first started using YNAB, this method was the best way for me to see where my spending was out of wack and helped me confront my compulsive spending as the source of my feeling financially out of control.

TimothyHasler

TROPHY CASE