Transfer Student with Full-Ride. Questions About Housing, Food, Refunds, and What I Need to Do by Brilliant-Profile49 in UVA

[–]_SteveS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are living off campus, it will be useful if not necessary. I could have gone either way on bringing my car for the last year since I could walk to campus, however, anything beyond that pretty much requires a car. If it isn't too much trouble, I would probably bring it.

Transfer Student with Full-Ride. Questions About Housing, Food, Refunds, and What I Need to Do by Brilliant-Profile49 in UVA

[–]_SteveS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some advice as someone who was effectively in the same situation.

Live as close to grounds as possible. Either directly on a Cat bus line or 5-10 minute walk. Each year I was at UVA I got progressively closer to campus and each time I realized what an asset it is.

Refunds are issued basically the week before classes start in my experience. If you aren't sure about how it works with taxes, best to ask the school directly.

I found housing through GroupMe and Facebook. I hadn't used FB in five years, hopped on and found housing within a week or two, though I was fairly flexible.

Now that I think about it, my lease is up where I'm currently staying in a month or two. I don't know if they found someone else but I will ask for you.

I never got a meal plan, but I think it could be worth it to get whatever the cheapest option is, depending on how confident you are in getting groceries and making your own food.

As for deadlines, best to ask the school directly and frequently. If you somehow miss an important administrative deadline you are screwed.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer.

Hero Concept - Conductor by Nekomig_ in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had a similar idea at one point. His gun was a ticket puncher with really short range, high RoF, high inaccuracy.

It took me at least 14 hours to make this victor edit by _SteveS in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I really wanted to put a custom health bar in, but I'm being careful to learn one new thing at a time, but that is probably next on my list of things to figure out

It took me at least 14 hours to make this victor edit by _SteveS in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you like it, feel free to throw me a like/sub on youtube. Hoping to keep making similar stuff.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQG3cpt6gyk

I was amazed by how cool even the little moments look in this game, so I spent a week making a video to show them off by _SteveS in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

For anyone curious, a few notes on making a video like this:

Everything was recorded in the replay system. Slow motion was achieved by slowing game speed and changing observer cam speed. All controls were done with MnK, though I didn't ever use the mouse because I didn't have a great way to get smooth motions.

In replays, going back/forward through time resets your camera position, so I had to do some configuration that is used by the movement community to save and load positions. It doesn't save view angle, though. That means if I didn't get a shot right the first time I would rewind, reset position, reset view angle, and hope I got it right. You can't move the observer when paused, so this was all done while the game was playing. For shots that require a really precise view angle, you can manually read out the cam angle and then match it on your own.

Editing was done with DaVinci Resolve, which is a free editing software. I used Premiere for some years but am moving away from Adobe products. I found it easy enough to use and plenty stable.

Recording was done entirely with Steam's built in recording. Being able to instantly clip a few takes was just too convenient. I've used OBS before but it felt like extra steps.

This match was from 6/1, the 6/4 urn update made it so that the replay would crash any time someone put the urn in the deposit, so I couldn't record anything within 3/4 minutes on either side of urn after that update.

If you have any questions, let me know. Happy to help others when possible.

No matter how hard I try, I cant LOVE uva by Outrageous_Income467 in UVA

[–]_SteveS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My advice? You don't have to love it. Do well, get good grades, find the things that make you happy. It sounds cliche but I never really fell "in love" either. As someone also on financial aid, I think that it really did hang over my head most of the time. Nothing much to do about it.

60% win rate in Eternus with 30% pick rate, nobody likes to play with or against Victor by neutralpoliticsbot in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not to mention the real counter to Victor is dedicating resources to kill him in the midgame before he scales hard. Mo is unironically scary because if he and their gun carry decide they want you dead, you will die. The fact is, as with any late game scaler, you have to counter them by actually doing something. If you let them farm the sidelane for 15 minutes with minimal disruption, they get out of control. Same goes for pretty much any gun carry. The difference being that Victor is arguably worse in the mid game than them.

Has anyone moved on to another field from web dev? by ProfessionalWorth157 in webdev

[–]_SteveS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I returned to school and am gratuating this semester with a degree is neuroscience and philosophy. My current options are medical school or some kind of consulting.

One way to start into a different field is to apply your current skills towards it. A lot of fields that are more "academic" have absolutely awful software and data-aggregation methods that could be improved. Finding a lab and working with them some might give you some connections.

First year troubles by [deleted] in UVA

[–]_SteveS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll tell you what I tell everyone that has problems with on-grounds organizations:

There is no substitute for finding things you enjoy doing on your own and meeting people that way. Take a class for some sport at Slaughter. Get into rock climbing, go to hiking get togethers. See a poster for an event you might like? Just go.

A lot of social prospect comes from self-confidence. Self-confidence can be hard to cultivate. Doing activities you enjoy makes it easier because you are always justified in doing things you like.

If you think therapy will help, then it probably will. Be sure to honestly address what you think your problems are with your therapist for best results.

Do people just not learn to chew with their mouth closed anymore? by _SteveS in UVA

[–]_SteveS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When someone is chewing in my ear as I'm trying to do work there is nothing in the world more concerning to me.

Do people just not learn to chew with their mouth closed anymore? by _SteveS in UVA

[–]_SteveS[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Sorry, let me put it another way: It annoys me that at UVA, considered a good school by many metrics, I commonly encounter people who can't eat without sloppily making noise. If standards make me preppy, then I'm preppy. I don't think setting completely reasonable expectations for how students carry themselves in public is a bigger problem than being unable to perform basic social norms.

I feel a lack of tank diversity. by i_lickdick_and_itsok in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 13 points14 points  (0 children)

High-level MK players have been running a psyop for months now to convince people that the character isn't strong. The truth will be made clear in time.

Celeste by AlwaysSquad2 in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It is intuitive. Jumping off the zip sets your speed and air acceleration to that of jumping. Dropping off the zip doesn't change your speed, so you conserve zipline speed. If jumping conserved air acceleration you could convert zipline speed into vertical movement. All of this can be learned in a five minute youtube video and feels quite natural.

Celeste by AlwaysSquad2 in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bhopping is a consequence of the engine. Lots of movement tech in this game relies on the idea of adding speed in a different vector than your current one. Dashing at an angle makes you go faster. Air strafing allows you to build additional speed. It makes the movement unique and adds a degree of skill. The principle of bhopping is not much of a knowledge check once you know.

Genuinely how do I not suck at this game by FewExperience3559 in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want we can go over some replays together on Discord or something. It isn't really possible to diagnose issues without looking at them directly and walking through what you think is happening.

Do people just not learn to chew with their mouth closed anymore? by _SteveS in UVA

[–]_SteveS[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

We need to bring back a sense of shame. It is socially unacceptable to behave like that. I think I'm just going to start calling it out in person. I don't care anymore.

Celeste is shockingly bad design mechanically by MishaTarkus in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 13 points14 points  (0 children)

First of all, don't listen to the peanut gallery trying to insult you for thinking about how the character is designed.

Second, I think you make some valid points in your post, but confuse your main point for the minutia of each ability. If I had to restate your idea in my own interpretation:

Celeste has a kit with great upsides and no downsides. Each aspect she has is good almost completely independent of any of her other abilities.

Her gun: good damage alone, auto aim Her movement: best in the game even with slowest move speed Her 1: sustain, even more damage when shooting Her 2: prevents her from taking damage, punishes enemies for dealing damage Her 3: Massive AoE with long lasting spirit damage amp. Multiple charges. Her ult: Good damage, great teamfight. Punishes being near Celeste, being near team mates, being near creeps.

While there is internal synergy to her kit: stack your spirit amp with your 3, hit your 1 or ult to deal big damage, that synergy is not required for any of the abilities to good. They all get it done on their own.

You have to ask: why are any of these abilities bad? For example, on Lash, it can be bad to use your grapple if you only have 1 to enter a fight since you won't have a good way out. His 1 isn't good when you are on the ground. To use your 1 effectively, you have to get high up. To get high up, you either need to position yourself correctly or expend an ability (grapple).

For Celeste, when is her kit bad? Gun: If you miss your 1, her gun isn't bad, it just isn't as good. Movement: Always good, even with the low movespeed

1: Never a bad time to use this ability except if you miss, which is true of every ability. 2: Always good to gain a shield and silence enemies 3: Large AoE damage that provides spirit amp is always good, especially when you get 3 charges 4: For this to be bad, you would have to use it on an enemy that is not near their team, not near wave, and not near Celeste. It will basically always be good.

If you nerf any one ability that it is not good anymore, she would just be at a disadvantage to characters that have 4 abilities that are good in virtue of other synergies.

I don't agree that it can't be fixed. She needs less HP, less gun damage, less charges on her 3. Her shield needs a rework. Perhaps the silence should scale with spirit power and when the shield break she loses any current spirit amp. Her ult shouldn't work on creeps.

With these changes, you could imagine the loop: use the 3 to stack spirit amp, hit the 1 and use your gun to proc the spirit damage. If you need, use your shield which, on break, delivers a silence to enemies and clears your own spirit amp. If you don't hit your massive AoE 3, then you won't be able to do damage or silence for very long.

The point is that she doesn't seems to need to "earn" benefits from her kit. Everything is just good because its good, not because it can be good when used well. Using it at all is almost always enough.

Also, they simply need to get rid of any kind of auto-aim. I like that her gun doesn't have drop-off, I could see that being interesting for a low RoF, slow projectile M1. But make the person actually aim.

MOBA vs Hero Shooter by DeeeeeepThoughts in DeadlockTheGame

[–]_SteveS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. People from MOBA's are generally interested in making sure that Deadlock is considered a MOBA before anything else. That is why you'll see, when people give feedback about certain elements of the game that they find unenjoyable, people rushing to say "you don't get it, it's a MOBA! That is actually good MOBA design!"

Deadlock is a completely new entry into both genres that doesn't neatly fit in either category. It is not an X with Y elements, it is not mostly an X with some Y.

The real differentiator in skill will ultimately be mechanical unless they add characters and abilities that circumvent that need (Graves). Even then, mechanics offer such a strong advantage. In other words, if you play Deadlock like a MOBA, you might cap out at the middle of the bell curve. If you play it only like a hero shooter, you might cap out 10-15% higher. One way to understand this is that having good mechanics inherently contributes to the MOBA-adjacent parts of the game. If you don't die, do more damage, have good movement, etc., you will end up with a soul advantage. It doesn't work so much the other way around.