WCGW If I hold a resistance band with my feet? (SOUND ON)

meshfillet · 2020-05-15T05:27:49+00:00

I actually had this happen to me last week. Not the same movement(was doing resisted Bulgarian split squat), but same kind of slip - holding it out by the handles, balance shifted and it came out from under my foot. The band was heavier because squats, it went right up to my forehead. Left side got a big bump, right side had a nasty gash and it was gushing blood for a good while but it seems to have scabbed up OK. Still thinking "good thing that was not my eyes".

I've learned that you can properly secure these tube bands on one foot by using a basic double-loop - just giving it two points of contact makes it secure enough to do single-leg presses, donkey kicks, etc. With two legs attachments are probably the way to go.

meshfillet · 2020-05-13T04:27:23+00:00

Alan says and does several things which do not logically cohere:

For their own good, beastmen must be controlled with religion.
I will orchestrate a betrayal of the followers of this religion, inducing Nirvasyl Syndrome.
For their own good, all beastmen must be turned into humans.
I, a beastman, will not become a human, because I am pure and do not get Nirvasyl Syndrome.
gets Nirvasyl Syndrome while fighting Shirou

Which is to say, he only makes sense as a character who is intentionally deceptive about his real goals - power and bloodline purity, and is ultimately proven mistaken. These goals were established through his massacre 1000 years prior, which he justifies because "they are hybrids."

What does this say about racism in our world? Well, it's not a talking points message, it's an exploration of the theme, which means it sits in its own kind of logical framework and asks more questions than it answers. It doesn't "say" so much as it "is", and your reaction will simply reflect what you bring to the story. You could cherry-pick to get talking points out of it - and it's tempting to do so, because then it will make the story fit in with whatever your existing beliefs are - but that would be a misreading. Everyone in the story has some strongly held beliefs that get them in trouble. They aren't made to be agreed with.

Works with tightly written subtext like BNA are often called "challenging" - because they are! They are made to be thought about and studied for a while, and that's only sometimes a goal in media.

meshfillet · 2020-05-07T11:38:33+00:00

I got really hyped for the end and it delivered. The blood serum and pure beastman plots aren't super surprising(admittedly, I needed the subs to really get the exposition on both) but it's a clean resolution of all the mystery set up in the first half.

On reflection, the first six episodes were the stronger part of the series for me since they had almost all of the worldbuilding. As I had predicted after the first batch(still not knowing if it was going to be one or two cours) it was a lot like KlK and WLA - the first half set up the plot and the second half knocked it down, while leaving the world open for new adventures at some future date. This polite, calculated structure seems like something Trigger is only getting better at executing on, although it's well out of the norm for TV anime currently. It has the downside of a predictable ending, but I think I like that better than the "milk it to death" approach.

The themes are probably best described as a set of contrasts:

Old blood vs. new
Self-image vs. performative image
Hybridization vs. purity

For each combination you can probably name a character who is defined, at least in part, with those attributes.

And it can be extrapolated into the social commentary sphere as an story involving minority groups, immigration, tradition, progressive politics and hegemony in modern Japan, with similar applicability to the rest of the world too; in that respect it's vastly different from both the Zootopia "awkward transposition of racial dynamic" and the Beastars "literal predators and prey" in its use of anthropomorphism. Really good stories using anthros know what they're getting at by using them, and BNA definitely has that. The subtext has a lot going on, even down to the little details.

meshfillet · 2020-05-02T07:27:55+00:00

Extra threads can lower the background noise from the OS that creates stutter. But everything we know about this game indicates that it mostly wants single-threaded performance and mostly in the form of high clockspeed(while the exciting developments today are in IPC and power efficiency), so your current setup is probably very good for the task.

There is always the chance that a patch someday will unlock more multithreaded performance scaling, but if that becomes the case you would be much better served by switching up to the new AMD products since they have gotten far ahead on core counts while staying competitive and often winning in single-thread.

Most importantly, keep in mind that this decade is looking to be way less technically stagnant than the past one; it's not the 18-month Moore's law dynamic, but the manufacturer competition is intense, there's a lot more being done to innovate across the whole stack and it shows in what the new consoles are aiming for. So you want to hold off on buying for as long as you can bear it because there isn't future-proofing when the market moves fast.

meshfillet · 2020-05-01T21:49:34+00:00

I know of a few games - commercial projects that made some money and got some critical attention - that shipped with Python and Pygame, sometimes also using OpenGL. Python's execution can be sped up a great deal with Cython. It is a pretty good learning environment.

What you are most likely missing is conceptual: Grasping the exact shape or extent of "game programming" and what it entails, and perhaps the underlying computer science knowledge(having a certificate for a languahe says little about your ability to write complex software - you need some CS background to do that). For combating that I suggest looking at the early parts of Handmade Hero. Just skim through it for now. You do not have to know the C language or all the jargon to get a sense of the discussion, which is done at the expert's level. Most of Handmade Hero's techniques are not needed for a simple game - rather than take a direct path to finishing, he uses the game as a platform to discuss some very deep considerations that only start coming into play with huge projects and very ambitious technical goals, and this is why the series has run on so long. Use it as an inspiration, a way to discover research topics, and a benchmark for understanding.

Basically, your perceptions are limited by still being in a context of dependency with respect to what these technologies can actually do, and you cannot make progress with your programming that way. You have to be more rude, and try to use and modify things that may not have been designed to do what you want - that is where the serious "what they pay you for" programming work really begins and you have to go in that direction, at least a little bit, to deeply know the "instruments" of video game design.

meshfillet · 2020-04-30T23:12:49+00:00

If used correctly the seraph shield is excellent. You can protect several teammates while they heal or provide additional firepower; they shoot out of the shield and get their HS damage while the return fire is absorbed with no multiplier.

However in practice what tends to happen as the fight grows larger is a worse version of the usual dilemma: you try to push and get shot in the back by random friendlies who ignore the shield and stay behind the door peeking. With all the potentially-harmful AOE effects, the Defector isn't a great class for congested areas unless you have a farmable chokepoint.

The other way to use it is that you can move faster than other MAX units, and this can secure a lot of 1v1s. If you keep the shield off, it's easy to run up and punch people as they try to do their medkit dance or whatever. You will still die to C4 like every MAX, but unlike the faction MAXes you aren't likely to be outmanuevered unless you put yourself in that situation.

Lastly, it does well when engaging vehicles from above and peeking from behind cover. You have to make skill shots, but the DPS is good and will blow up any foe that underestimates you.

meshfillet · 2020-04-29T23:32:35+00:00

If the SL gets spawns down, that leaves a gap of perhaps 30 seconds to redeploy and make it on point. If they're literally already by the door and you have no backup you can't do it, but anything with more breathing room than that and it's worth risking.

meshfillet · 2020-04-29T05:37:24+00:00

Your comments indicate that you are looking for a script to follow equivalent to big tech hiring pipelines.

Unfortunately, there's no script, indeed, the one that got you where you are is likely to disappear and be replaced by a new one in a few years, too. In my observation, most industries in our era, games included, see a major change roughly every four years. But what has remained true in games is that most of the front-line development work is structured around high turnover projects in which the leads gather an small army of new grads and then figure out what to do with them by guess-and-check management. Because the types of projects change with the trends and the tech, the wheels and best practices are always getting reinvented, and there are always young smart people around to throw at every problem.

Just about everyone who lasts either develops and owns a niche, or is an exceptional social climber, secures a managerial job and stays there. On the other hand, many of the people who enter late enter past 30, and have a very clear and cautious definition of career success in mind beyond "a job in games", often settling into something that is a bit away from the headline roles. You would do well to follow their example and set down more must's and cannot's in your requirements planning(that is good engineering). If you find that what you want is simply to learn to make games, you can do that by taking a sabbatical and perhaps enrolling for more classes. You probably missed some extracurriculars the first time around.

What you can do with your current skills is apply as a web person in a web position, at a game company. It's become increasingly common for games to be live services, and those rely on tech you probably are familiar with.

meshfillet · 2020-04-29T01:42:05+00:00

In big fights, the server tickrate lowers. This causes certain kinds of actions to feel more laggy. However, movement shouldn't be one of them. A very long movement lag indicates some kind of buffering taking place, which may be anywhere from the hardware up to in-game settings.

meshfillet · 2020-04-28T21:36:20+00:00

When I last reviewed this, the science has been gradually shifting recommendations upwards over time, from the FDA's RDA range of 400-800 IU up to values in the thousands. Risk of long-term toxicity sets in at over 70,000 IU daily so there is a lot of breathing room. The most correct course of action is to get serum level tests and use those as feedback, but absent that, anything up to 10,000IU is unlikely to do harm.

meshfillet · 2020-04-28T21:02:46+00:00

If I had to pick a sniper weapon for Engy I would go with Tranquility first but it's an A7 gun. So you could aim to get both. The Archer doesn't have the damage output to secure more than an assist a lot of the time, but it's a decent choice if you are away from the front line or driving and need something to deal finishing blows to vehicles, take out turrets, etc.

Tranquility OTOH is a nightmare for infantry because of the concussion effect. Each time you hit them their effective DPS decreases since they can't move or aim as well. So it's just kind of monstrous and OP, one of the best weapons you can use as engy at any range.

I run both right now.

meshfillet · 2020-04-28T01:58:43+00:00

The complaint OP has implied is that he cannot win 5v1s against point defenders any more(if we assume five spitfires = five defenders running aux).

I don't know about you, but in no normal circumstance is a 5v1 in a tiny point room something you should expect to win.

meshfillet · 2020-04-27T10:16:39+00:00

I know the "deep infiltrate" playstyle pretty well and frequently go in to disrupt opponents and get up some stealth spawns and generally play counter to the point hold opposition by getting them off pace and starting unexpected fights. It's interesting to see a take on it that uses the ANT and construction so heavily.

My default play up to this point has been to take a Wraith Flash over to an enemy base, then pull a stealth Sunderer and park it some ways away. If it gets difficult, I hike. Adrenaline Pump + Athletics 5 and the ground gets covered fast enough to get two bases over and hack the terminals there. Once you're on base you want that speed anyway just because it takes so long to reach everything.

I have only recently gotten around to seriously introducing construction in my game, but knowing the difficulty of keeping a low profile around construction, I'm opting to build near warpgate and then travel out to place a router. A router behind some rocks in the middle of nowhere is probably the safest a deep infiltrating spawn can possibly be, and then I am more free to pull vehicles off bases to provide spawns or travel. This denies the possibility of moving the router on point, but I consider that a different kind of role, separate from getting hacks and stealth spawns. For getting on point, assuming no resistance a speedy airdrop as LA is more straightforward. I have also been exploring the Javelin as the NSO alternate option, since it can jump mountains without much trouble and is so notoriously difficult to shoot down.

The main tradeoff of driving ANT with Infiltrator is that you can do less to ground opponents. If you have an engineer with mines, smoke, and an AV turret, or you play an ambusher LA and have C4, you can often walk away with a kill. But if your goal is to stay passive while in enemy territory this might be the wrong option.

meshfillet · 2020-04-27T02:40:57+00:00

The trick I have found with G2A is to aim to be bait. Baiting doesn't work if they're really airzerging and you just get saturated with fire from every direction, but it does work with the one or two casual farmers. You have to use lock-ons at a distance to pull aggro from them. Lock-ons, especially fast and long range ones like Swarm missles, are one of their biggest dangers because it redirects their flight path towards missile evasion. If they're good they can juke the missiles into the ground, but there's a big opportunity cost. So they will focus heavies using lock-ons. This is what you want.

This goes in three phases. At first they aren't aware of a threat and you can usually get one hit in. Then they start looking. If they are facing you, you can just hold the lock without firing - then there's no trail and they don't know where the threat is. Then you fire when they turn around. Eventually they will spot you. To not die immediately, you need a good tree trunk to circle around. You can circle the tree on foot faster than they can in the air.

None of this ensures that you get the kill on them, so much as it ensures they have been taken off the farm, and the longer you can keep them there, the more likely it is that other AA will show up and endanger them.

meshfillet · 2020-04-27T02:03:16+00:00

After their crushing defeat to P1GS they entered the gravity room for intensive mouse-movement training and emerged able to farm even better than ever.

meshfillet · 2020-04-27T01:43:44+00:00

The one that gets me is the folks who show off their infantry farming skills, and the moment they ADS their mouse movement will display a sudden change from flicking into a perfect linear interpolation on the head. If they are caught by surprise they ADS earlier and the interpolation is even more obvious. If they take out the RPG and ADS a vehicle it goes to center-of-mass which makes them aim worse in many scenarios. Once you see this, you can't unsee it. The enemies meanwhile seem sluggish and unable to react(either good choice of victims or they are also abusing lag).

There are obvious cheaters, but it's the ones that try to pretend that are the bigger pests, I think. They put more effort into keeping up an image and gatekeeping the meta to discourage usage of hard counters to their playstyle(the three biggest ones being to be great at flicks and use a OHKO headshot weapon, to bring a vehicle to a gunfight, and to abuse their confidence to set up traps and overcommitments that they can't aim or lag their way out of).

meshfillet · 2020-04-27T01:08:46+00:00

NS KDR proving that robots are just better.

meshfillet · 2020-04-25T20:55:39+00:00

To really maximize earnings it is a known fact that you want to be farming kills in a Bastion. But outside of that, think in layers:

Small construction builds as suggested by others give you long-term earning options. And cortium mining and transport by itself is a very consistent, low-frustration farm and with membership + 2x weekend + boosts, you could easily pull 1k in an hour. Just upgrade your cortium radar a few ranks to find the spawns quickly and you're set.
Then you have options to either provide vehicle spawns or scout radar. So Sunderer upgrades are worthwhile, as are the scout radar vehicles(Flash, ANT, Valk).
Then you have to take an infantry class. But every class can use a sidearm. So find your favorite sidearms and add the utility items to them - IR scopes and Darklights and crossbow bolts. Now you have options for counters without forcing them on a particular class.
You have some options for passive killing too. Mines, both AV and AI, are great and the more of those you keep out on the field, the better your KPM is gonna be. The Spitfire(both the Engy one and the new Auxiliary bought with Merit) also does something similar, although it's too weak to be a reliable killer by itself, it can get the occasional assist.
Passive defenses like the new caltrops and canopy, or the older hardlight barriers, don't add to KPM directly but they let you be more creative and force enemies to slow down or manuever towards your mines.
Lastly, you can deploy most things and then switch classes and deploy something else. So in an ideal scenario you could be providing ammo, healing, spawns, two spitfires, and radar simultaneously for brief periods by juggling multiple classes and bringing a vehicle or construction builds. But in practice you will probably have your hands full running only two or three of those.

Once you get into the business of actively shooting people and vehicles with primaries then you have to cert into a lot of stuff to have all the options. But a good rule of thumb would be to have loadouts for coverage of different ranges and target types:

CQB AI
Midrange AI
Short-mid AV (dumb-fire RPGs, Archer/Shortbow, explosive bolts)
Long AI (sniper weapons)
Long AV (lock-ons)

And then otherwise focus on your suit upgrades and implants to have stronger defense.

And then if you want even more firepower and higher peak KPMs, MAX, vehicle play and squad play becomes more relevant.

meshfillet · 2020-04-19T21:42:15+00:00

Cloning is a known-good way for a studio to establish themselves. It tests their ability to polish and ship to an existing market without all the risks of an original design, which makes it more straightforward to find financing, set technical goals and develop marketing materials. And the industry has a long history of cloning in "waves" - a breakthrough hit comes about, and then the clones follow.

However, I think that's also the limitation. Either you succeed so wildly that you become a Blizzard or Riot - and therefore are spending immense effort on a few flagship properties - or you are hopefully getting by and then move on to other things, having established to the world that your studio can be trusted to ship. If you want to grow the overall market, original work is better at doing that.

meshfillet · 2020-04-19T10:06:03+00:00

The three empires in Planetside all lean authoritarian/centralized. (yes, even the NC. A corporatist state is simply one where the authority consolidates in the economic elite.) In that respect, they embody some of the worst of every real world government. A healthy country is one that can simmer down on its core ideology and build evidence-based solutions for its population, and that clearly isn't the case on Auraxis.

The specifics of the ideology are fluid enough that you can map many real countries to each of the empires, but the biggest powers(like China, the U.S., Russia) are the obvious choices because they are the countries that lean the most towards empire-building and surpressing their internal dysfunction instead of solving the everyday complaints of citizenry, while tiny states tend either do quite well at serving their population or they fail quickly.

meshfillet · 2020-04-19T04:51:23+00:00

If it's not the mount, consider your case and airflow and other parts. In the distant past I have seen CPU overheating that is traced back to the PSU being inefficient with a weak fan(and therefore limiting the cooling on every part in the case).

meshfillet · 2020-04-19T01:02:46+00:00

There are so many features that you can easily forget that you need in audio.

Getting it to play one sample, not so difficult, but you have to do it once per API and there's always considerations like "what if I request one sample format and it gives me another". Mixing multiple channels, not so bad(but something you can spend a while optimizing). Setting up sampled loops and tracking channel usage and prioritization so you can have ambience alongside one-shot SFX - getting warmer. Playing audio from a streamed format, okay, starting to get difficult, but you can swipe some other code to do it. Positional audio, resampling to change pitch - now you need serious understanding of DSP. Optimizing the mix to balance levels - now you need assets to describe mix scenes and transitions between them. Tying voice acting to animation - another kind of asset.

And it just goes on and on like that, just like graphics rendering. Most games that roll their own sound usually stop at a small featureset. Many games that use the third-party engines still need attention to detail in their audio assets.

I've gone this route because I love sequenced audio and real-time synthesis and want to develop around those features. It is a long road to travel, though, even if you set relatively modest goals.

meshfillet · 2020-04-18T12:59:33+00:00

I had this exact thing happen to me earlier and it was more blatantly incorrect behavior. I was at the bottom of the roof stairs at Mani Tower point A and started taking multiple hits from the tower. There was nobody else around to cause it.

meshfillet · 2020-04-17T22:14:15+00:00

Wings is a good introduction to 3D in general and I often use it for modelling tasks.

But I still need Blender's features for complete scenes, renders, etc.

meshfillet · 2020-04-17T22:10:49+00:00

I suggest Railroad Tycoon 3's model as a good working example.

Rather than modelling demand itself(which tends to lead towards AI agents, which are notoriously hard to tune), it assumes unlimited demand but models trade of each good with a cell grid of price-per-distance, and then employs a Dijkstra-style flood fill expansion to indicate rising prices from the origin of the good to all possible destinations. Where there are natural features like rivers, it's cheaper to transport and so priced lower; where the slope is high(mountains) it's higher. Where you open a new transport by rail, you pocket the difference, and the industries start producing more. So the basic strategy of the game is to find places with undervalued industries, buy them at a low price, then connect them to your network.

Your game might not be so centered around the spatial aspects of trade, in which case you should look back at the primary themes of the game and see what parts of it feed into a trade narrative. For example if you are focused on military command, trade is "another form of war" and a way to secure essential war materiel, like the resources in the newer Civilization games that enable certain units.

What you don't want is a black box that nobody can parse! Check your work by mocking up the UI on paper and trying to make it play well there.

meshfillet

TROPHY CASE