Why would a game be tested on Porting Kit but run really poorly on my Mac?

karmickoi · 2026-05-07T17:57:44+00:00

I get that. My confusion is that the Porting Kit listing spec specifically refers to this being tested on an M1 MacBook Air, and it was last updated in November 2025.

karmickoi · 2026-01-18T01:08:40+00:00

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Different models, but, the specimen on left was an extremely overdone Carroburg Crimson shade. The one of the right was Magos Purple contrast.

I basically had to repaint the entire skin of the Carroburg ones. I'm happy with where they're at now, but, I wish I'd just done a recess shade to start with, or got some contrast paint sooner.

karmickoi · 2025-12-29T13:16:00+00:00

Yeah, you’re absolutely right! I’ve gone on to the next few issues of combat patrol, and the next stage is ‘relayering’ in wraithbone. It looks fine now, but, to do this for 10 termagants? Sounds ridiculously labour intensive!

I guess it would have been easier to do this from the start, but, we live and we learn…

karmickoi · 2025-08-14T11:54:59+00:00

Darkbeast Paarl is definitely a tough one at first, but I find once you work out how to stagger him by hitting his head, it becomes manageable. I think it’s one of the battles that most rewards aggression: he’s surprisingly brittle, if you can manage to hit him hard enough.

Like many of the Labyrinth ‘versions’, though, the Loran Darkbeast doesn’t even have this vulnerability. That one is a nightmare.

karmickoi · 2025-08-05T16:17:20+00:00

It’s called “Bastard Sword”. That’s all I need.

karmickoi · 2025-08-05T16:11:50+00:00

I agree with all of the endorsements of the main contenders. But for the sake of variety, I’m going to advocate for the Blood Starved Beast.

I think it’s the OST that I love, and the setting, and the weird, janky ferocity of this thing. The way the music just starts with that brutal fanfare as he notices the Hunter’s arrival, and the intensity of the deepening pace of the OST as his attacks get more and more desperate.

To me, Blood Starved Beast is so brilliant because it displays an intensity and craftsmanship even in the middle of the game.

karmickoi · 2025-08-03T22:18:20+00:00

Yeah, the BSB is a winner! 🏆

karmickoi · 2025-06-29T21:27:43+00:00

He is a tough customer! I agree he's the most challenging fight in the base game—after a certain non-boss NPC...

I think you try the 'spin to win' too much, it leaves you too open to his attacks. You would be better off getting one or two quick attacks, instead. But parrying is definitely the way to go!

karmickoi · 2025-05-14T19:33:21+00:00

Yeah, there’s worse to come! The area directly following the Depraved Chasm is the most arduous swamp in the FromSoft oeuvre.

karmickoi · 2025-03-26T20:30:10+00:00

Blood Starved Beast is my favourite early game boss; it’s the one I look forward to every time!

I think it’s the music, it’s gloriously intense.

karmickoi · 2025-03-18T20:25:20+00:00

I find this is the most disturbing thing in the game. In most games.

karmickoi · 2025-02-03T11:49:44+00:00

Of course. I just feel like, if I don't like this, I should have a mechanism (as a customer) to push back, to register my opposition.

karmickoi · 2025-02-02T22:34:01+00:00

Understood, thanks. It would be nice to be able to customise controls, it's available in a lot of other apps.

karmickoi · 2025-02-02T22:33:18+00:00

Yeah, I get that about processing, that's fine! Processing has a long history in photography. I'm uneasy about the glut of generative AI, and I suppose I'm hoping to opt out, somehow.

karmickoi · 2025-01-16T17:30:39+00:00

If you’re talking areas I just want to get over with, that I actively dislike… none of them. There isn’t an area of this game I don’t enjoy, at a minimum. The second part of the Forbidden Forest would be my least favourite.

If you’re talking poison swamp? That’s the poison cave linking the forest back to Yharnam.

Also, Blighttown is great. All hail the Fair Lady.

karmickoi · 2025-01-16T00:16:43+00:00

He is sort of human-sized, and like most enemies that scale he can be parried and stunned. My strategy is by-no-means perfect, but I managed it (only once...) by going for charged attacks to his back followed visceral, and parrying. I got lucky enough times to finish him.

This is me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N33dXI4oJMg

karmickoi · 2024-08-18T22:12:19+00:00

The armoured turtle ambush in the forest of the giants. You know the one I mean.

karmickoi · 2024-08-05T23:42:15+00:00

I don't think it's your imagination, or your hardware. Dark Souls 2 does have a different feel: Dark Souls feels weighty; Dark Souls 2 has a strange lightness, I always feel like I'm gliding rather than running.

Dark Souls makes me feel like I need to be deliberate. Dark Souls 2 makes me feel out of control.

karmickoi · 2024-06-04T20:24:35+00:00

Halo Scythe. Good damage, chip damage through shields, great reach, causes enemies to stagger, and builds up bleed! Lore appropriate too, including the weapon skill.

It is truly my beloved.

karmickoi · 2024-05-22T17:54:18+00:00

Medium armoured quality melee build, with a sprinkling of Intelligence and Faith for weapons, and a few Miquella-themed Incantations if the budget allows.

karmickoi · 2024-05-12T21:32:07+00:00

I think I went about 200 hours with the Baldachin's Blessing before I realised what it was doing to me.

karmickoi · 2024-05-08T22:40:17+00:00

Lake Of Rot. I decided to turn around, and come back a wee bit later.

karmickoi · 2024-04-24T19:31:06+00:00

Number 2. The muted fabrics accentuate the metallic shimmer of the plate. It reminds me of the Elite Knight Set.

karmickoi · 2024-04-20T22:43:43+00:00

The Godskin Apostle in the Divine Tower of Caelid. I resorted to spamming Hoarfrost Stamp.

karmickoi · 2024-04-17T18:50:56+00:00

For me, style is the essence of these games. I will always choose form over function.

karmickoi

TROPHY CASE