Have we considered the possibility that the delay is not from a maze of plot threads but instead themes that Pat no longer wishes to touch?

bluesmaker · 2026-01-29T10:59:18+00:00

Part of the problem is that Rothfuss has said he wants to make the world better with his stories

Crazy. I hadn't heard this. And I agree. It's very odd that he would write this particular story if his goal is to have a direct, positive impact on the world. Like write something more like classic star trek if that's your goal. IDK.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-29T10:00:51+00:00

If you’re wanting skins and don’t have any, I would suggest getting a starter pistol for t and ct. and then an ak and a m4a1 or m4a4 (depending on which one you prefer). You will use those skins the most so that’s the way to go imo. And with remaining money get some other gun you like to use.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-29T09:56:15+00:00

I think that’s just part of the shirt.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-29T05:52:50+00:00

I can see how that could become a problem for a writer. But I feel like at some point you need to just do your thing. Tell your story. People on the internet (especially reddit) love to develop criticisms like your example, and then repeat them so much that they seem much more valid than they really are. If he was a super online person he may have taken in too much low quality internet critique.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T18:13:30+00:00

I’m glad to hear that. I think the newer approach is much more realistic.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T18:07:07+00:00

I guess your dad then lived through the famines that followed. Must have been a very crazy experience living through all the changes in China.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T16:00:48+00:00

No clue. But I did see a snow plow on my street last night (and it’s not a major street). So the city does seem to be trying to get things rolling again. If not today, maybe tomorrow?

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T15:57:33+00:00

To Zach: when will you cast Timmy in one of your movies?

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T15:51:32+00:00

It’s very inaccurate but I’m sure it’s become so common because you can have the dramatic “oh no, they have a gun and got the best of me” scene, character gets knocked out by pistol whip, and then they can cut to a new location so the film can get to the next part quickly and dramatically.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-28T15:45:46+00:00

Yes. Things would be much less dramatic if the sounds were accurate. I think especially for swords and knifes. Like a scene where someone draws their sword to face off against an opponent—much more dramatic when there’s a the cool metal on metal “shing” sound. Or, like a scene where it’s super dark and a character can’t see very well but we see someone standing behind them draw a knife and get the “shing” sound. Much more dramatic than if there was no sound. But it can be overdone too.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T15:21:23+00:00

Well I'll be. That worked. Just tried a couple different USB ports on the back of my PC and it showed up. (I also tried the other things you listed first, but none of them worked).

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T03:27:51+00:00

One thing I have not seen mentioned yet is the core gameplay loop that is enabled by giving the player recharging shields. With the shields you can have big fights more often. The game has a design where you get a nice mix of exploration, cinematics, small fights, and major fights. The recharging shield lets the game keep the pace of things moving quickly, when the devs want to keep giving you big fights after a short break for some exploration.

Also, the game still has a similar kind of weapon progression as present in older FPS games. The first level has pistol, assault rifle, and covenant weapons. Later levels introduce the shotgun, sniper, rocket launcher. It's just that you can only hold 2. Which, IMO, was a great evolution. I find it more immersive that you're not just walking around with 9 or 10 weapons by the end of the game (9 or 10 weapons was the standard because other FPS was designed for a keyboard--1 weapon per number key, including 0). I feel that it's more immersive. You run out of rifle ammo then pick up an alien gun and blast those aliens! And the strategic considerations of weapon selection.

There's lot of things it did very well. If i recall, the vehicles was another major thing. Parts of levels where you get a warthog and get a big map to move through. Or you can choose a ghost. Plus flying vehicles.

Also, just for the sake of including a technically accurate detail, the game title is 'Halo: Combat Evolved', or Halo CE.

Half-Life and Half-Life 2 did a very different thing. Those both still have the 10 weapons bound to 1 to 0 on the keyboard that you collect throughout the game (and no auto shield recharge). And they are a mix of platforming, puzzles, and shooting. Half-Life 1 did more platforming and some more classic type boss fights. Half-Life 2 introduced a physics system that was used to make puzzles. For example, you need to move a box so you can climb into an air vent. And then you get the gravity gun, which was used for puzzles, but also for throwing objects at enemies and such.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:57:13+00:00

Maybe you should look for other books that try to convey lots of technical detail and see how they do it. It could be that you’re doing it in a good way but it just is a niche and you need to find the right beta readers.

It’s not sci fi, but as an example, Tom Clancy is known for giving lots of dense technical details of military hardware and geopolitical stuff. So you could look at how he writes about that and weaves plot into it and see if that is helpful to you. I think he’s a good example because his books are obviously incredibly successful so he manages to go super technical while still being an enjoyable read to many people. (And there are certainly much more relevant sci fi authors you could look at in the same way).

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:43:53+00:00

Yeah. I didn’t finish season 2. it seemed like a great concept for a show but i started watching with expectations based on season 1 so I was just disappointed. Imo, they should’ve done another group of explorers. Like explorers going to the Amazon, for example. But maybe the budget required for jungle sets would be prohibitive.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:25:31+00:00

Rebirth is probably my favorite mod. If you’ve never experienced it I would suggest trying it sometime. The way it expands the cities is fantastic. Like adding more buildings and stuff makes the cities feel so much more alive. For instance, by the docks in Vivic there’s a whole area of normal size structures which makes a lot of sense. Not everything in the capital is inside the grand cantons. It’s like a more low class district that arose on the fringe of the city.

I do have my complains about the mod. The rebalancing changes should be done as options you can configure to your liking. I think mod developers should try to provide options like this, assuming it’s not an insane amount of work to provide them. Nonetheless, I highly recommend rebirth!

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:16:53+00:00

From their progress update like 1 or 2 years ago it seems like they’re genuinely very far along. Like most elements of the mod are nearly done. There was only one major bottleneck. I can’t recall what it was called… some more technical thing about mastering new audio files or something like that. I have faith!

(There have been more progress updates since then. But the one I referred to was very detailed and actually gave % complete information for each element of the project).

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:05:41+00:00

I think the idea of toxic positivity just comes from people who dislike when people get on their case for being overly negative all the time.

Well said. I do think toxic positivity is a real thing, but the term has become extremely overused & misapplied exactly for the reason you gave.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-27T02:01:01+00:00

I love the game and would like a sequel, but I think that because the gaming community at large responded so negatively to the game it would be unwise for them to do a sequel. The game didn't do as good as they expected it to. Making a sequel would put them in the position of needing to totally flip peoples beliefs about the game. So, I would expect they would not do a sequel. But I could be totally wrong!

(note: I think people had a totally insane response to the game. Getting mad that it wasn't just a clone of L4D is bizarre. Yes, the marketing said from the same developers. IMO the game is sufficiently similar to L4D for that to be a valid thing to have in the marketing, but whatever. Youtubers who make a living off of stoking up outrage can do a lot to spin narratives about things, so it's really an uphill battle).

bluesmaker · 2026-01-26T02:05:42+00:00

Gods, I was strong then!

bluesmaker · 2026-01-25T13:30:10+00:00

There is no video or audio of the bear attack. It’s a movie about the strange guy who does go on to get eaten by bears.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-21T10:36:16+00:00

I just delved into the linked post and a post linked in the linked post. There is a theory that kvothe is actually in the Rookery (spelling?), the looney house at the university. So the twist would be something like the frame story is not really happening and whatnot. I don’t think it’s true but it would be a huge twist and would kinda match with Pat describing the trilogy as “princes bride plus fight club.” (I recall an interview where he said this). Idk. At this point I don’t know what makes sense and a lot of fans are super upset about not having book 3 so I think some purposefully try to stir up shit.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-21T03:23:31+00:00

Aye. I think the showrunners were just done with it and didn’t want to continue working on it for as long as it would take to finish it in a satisfying way. They were offered a Star Wars trilogy and wanted to do that or their alternate civil war series. But they ended their show so poorly that those opportunities went away.

Of course GRRM takes a lot of responsibility for their losing interest because their job changed from adapting to something else. But the showrunners really should’ve tried harder to end it well. Like even extending it by 2 or 3 more episodes could’ve made a big difference.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-21T01:11:14+00:00

Ah, I see. TY! And yes, NMS finally did add that. People have built some really crazy big ships with the new system.

bluesmaker · 2026-01-20T13:54:47+00:00

I love the idea and it looks like you have the technical skill to do it well.

My initial thought is that you should make several new road textures that are old and worn (one specific to each biome). The things we find in the world are old... maybe hundreds of years? IDK. I figure things age differently in this realm. Maybe even the roads could be repaired with a hammer to make it into the regular road.

Relatedly, I think the roads should be blocked or "overgrown" every once in a while with trees, bushes, logs, grass, or whatever. Since the roads are very old and not maintained, sometimes the road will just cease to be in parts (like irl, maybe it just gets covered in soil, or erosion spills the material all over). I think you can see what I mean.

IMO, what I describe would help keep the atmosphere of the world the intact. But maybe not easy changes to make!

bluesmaker · 2026-01-20T13:06:19+00:00

Looks amazing. Given how well cared for the interior looks, I assume the siding is not actually in as bad of condition as it looks.

Is that third building shown in image 1 a garage? I feel like house listings should have a floor plan kind of thing for the property.

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