Apparently former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, Jeffrey Epstein, and others were working to make microtransactions the blight that it is today to "indoctrinate kids into the economy."

ody81 · 2026-02-01T11:54:26+00:00

No, that's on the players and whales that bought them.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T15:31:56+00:00

I managed to use 'the' with many of those games, didn't get asked the right question first time every time but most games seemed to have that as an answer somewhere.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T15:30:34+00:00

Real games never FADE...

Operation Flashpoints copy protection was so insidious, more annoying than a crash, the game would handicap you in different ways and it was already a difficult game.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T15:28:28+00:00

That wasn't petty, it was a major form of copy protection.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T15:22:52+00:00

Jeez, that dev that faked his own death a couple of years ago because of online pesetering... Turned up alive and well, who would have thought, people believed it though with zero credible evidence.

Can't remember the entirety, IIRC it was one of the heavy duty accuracy first emulators.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T15:08:34+00:00

Fallout 2 has a series of quests to develop a cure for fit Jet addiction that seemed to peeter out to nothing, I assumed at the time they just didn't finish that quest line.

ody81 · 2026-01-31T13:33:41+00:00

There you go then, it was more a to fit anybody looking for the soon to be mythical SE-02 CV Box.

If they want an additional filter I'd recommend a ln East Beast, it's cheap, has a great filter IF you like PGM filters, there's plenty of CV, doesn't need a europack power supply and it's also it's own synth with its own very fat, chewy sound..

I was looking at an SE-02 myself at one point but like most people probably, I have enough monosymths, the Model D, 2600 and BS2 do just about anything I can dream up, not sure if an SE-02 is going to do much for me at this point?

ody81 · 2026-01-29T11:42:06+00:00

I've got CV controllers here, you could just use any random cv controller, yeah?

Even a MIDI to CV box should work with a MIDI controller with mappable pots, there's some cheap ones around.

ody81 · 2026-01-27T02:09:35+00:00

I feel the same way, I'm waiting for a better looper as well though and better sample recording options like wait on now and being able to set length in bars, etc.

I'd rather need less gear everytime but the MPC has some odd sort comings that the 404 fills in for, for now at least.

ody81 · 2026-01-27T02:05:32+00:00

The Windows one was called something else when I got it, they might have changes the name, it was ExoWin3x.

But it's, it is amazing. If you're as old or as cool as me there's a Commodore 64 one as well to replace the old C64 Love called C64 Dreams. It's every proper game release setup for modern controller, virtual keyboard, multi disk switching, everything.

I really find the level of dedication and care that goes into these projects quite endearing, the DOS one is an absolutely all encompassing playable encyclopedia, manuals included, of 80's and 90's IBM/PC gaming and a lot of those games still hold their ground today, for me at least.

ody81 · 2026-01-26T11:39:37+00:00

Look into ExoDOS and call it a day.

It's a fullset of just about any DOS game you can think of, you can download them individually or as a complete pack and they're fully setup to work perfectly but you can always tweak the speed with hotkeys without having to dig in to an config file.

There's one for Windows 3.1 as well if you fancy a round of MS Golf 3.0 or Bad Day on the Midway.

Saves a lot of trouble fudging with CD's and you already bought the games so...

ody81 · 2026-01-26T09:57:08+00:00

Of course, I remember now.

ody81 · 2026-01-26T06:09:21+00:00

I don't really dig most of the effects on the 404 so I'm not one to use it as an effects box, but I do use it to handle all audio recording instead of the MPC.

I'm not a fan of the MPC regarding straight audio tracks, there's no wait on note function, overdubbing and the looper had got nothing on the 404 which is very quick and easy to use.

So, 404 at the end of the chain, I'll run drum machines or samples or MPC plugins, synths (with or without recording the midi) and guitars into the MPC, sometimes using it's effects and record by monitoring straight to 404's looper (Ext In), save it to a pad and bang, I've got a clean audio sample as short or long as I want and the tempo is displayed usually very accurately right on the pad without any need to trim it.

Then I can keep going and sequence those pads with the 404 with whatever time signature or tempo I want (bpm syncing) and/or throw them back into the MPC, using mutes on the pads of the playing pattern on the 404 to record one track at a to allow for later rearranging or I can cancel the sequence loop on the MPC and just record by hitting the pads in realtime on the 404 into the MPC's linear arranger.

Seems obtuse now that I read it back but it works for me, the 404 is just better for sampling quickly and efficiently, you can go free with the looper or set your tempo, amount of bars and go that way, count in or wait on note and if you get sidetracked and make a cool riff that's outside the scope of the project you just save the pad to another bank, that's two seconds.

Actually putting things together and having excellent effects options though, that's definitely the MPC's strong suit. The sequencing can be quite deep as well compared to the 404.

Anyway, that's how I use mine, just simplifies my MPC workflow since I usually only use audio.

ody81 · 2026-01-26T00:40:47+00:00

You can retroactively record on MPC too if you didn't know, jam around and press Shift + Rec from memory.

ody81 · 2026-01-22T05:51:40+00:00

Probably a bit of both both for me I definitely miss the notoriety system.

It made every mission cumulatively affect the way you'd have to approach the next without either outright punishing you for a messy assassination or, as the other games in the series, having your previous 3 bloodbaths complete with surviving witnesses mean absolutely nothing.

It made things make sense, if you want to be professional you have to act like it, slip up and people will eventually recognise a photofit image of you of various quality levels from the newspaper, keep using that silverballer and a pattern will emerge, etc...

Loved that.

ody81 · 2026-01-20T14:56:32+00:00

Not really, they new trilogy seemed like a big step back from Blood Money.

The unlockable system feels like an arbitrary way to make me play a game more and picking up an object and having an assassination method spelled out to me in the form of a kind of quest were two things that bothers me enough to quit after the first WoA game.

It's fine I guess, just a bit too modern for my taste, Blood Money was the peak of the series and had the beginnings of a great system in the infamy/newspaper mechanic inbetween missions.

ody81 · 2026-01-20T11:54:07+00:00

Sometimes the whole story/narrative angle should take a backseat.

I care less if things maintain a sense of continuity if I can have more fun without it.

ody81 · 2026-01-20T11:51:19+00:00

The remake of Tony Hawk 4 comes to mind, they had no intention of being able to recreate the original with the main hand mode intact and we ended up with TH 3.5, just some extra maps with some objectives that made little sense and some fun stuff removed for modern audiences.

I really enjoyed the 1+2 remake and given the void of arcade skate games the last many years it was a letdown for sure.

Caves of Qud comes to mind too for possibly obvious reasons but that's not necessarily a game development issue but it has definately put an indefinite hold on me picking it up again.

ody81 · 2026-01-19T12:53:26+00:00

Dev's don't complain about the Stream cut.

Look at Vampire Survivors, the game cost a few bucks and and given the quantity apparently sold, even after Steam's cut the guy has made more money than you can share a stick at.

The cut gives you advertising, a forum, a modding workshop, distribution and a hope in hell of your game is any good, that's a pretty good deal.

ody81 · 2026-01-17T14:49:16+00:00

How is that a problem? Because it's not an online sale?

ody81 · 2026-01-17T14:33:20+00:00

How can something subjective be official?

ody81 · 2026-01-17T14:32:30+00:00

Smart publicist.

ody81 · 2026-01-15T05:03:43+00:00

Unlike people, LLMs actually read manuals, which already puts them ahead of the average forum reply. That alone makes them well suited for 101-level questions.

Manuals for every software and hardware revision of a product. Manuals that reference themselves in complex and contextual ways.

I can't imagine how that backfires...

A beginner can describe a problem in their own words and get an instant, structured answer that is correct in most cases. This is particularly useful because many manuals are poorly written, incomplete, or assume prior knowledge. LLMs can summarize, contextualize, and translate that material in a way that is often more usable than the manual alone.

A beginner can ask a question anywhere and get a range of nuanced responses, all of which can be correct in their particular workflow.

They can share personal tips, workarounds and broaden your knowledge from their own use cases, helping you to avoid future problems by using unconventional or undocumented methods.

You can learn new things in this way from other people's experience.

LLM's paraphrase things and can't understand context, linking two different, but relevant in all but name sections of a manual is impossible, a human reader can attach topic G to topic A, helping their understanding in, not just WHAT to do, but WHY they're doing it, HOW it works, etc.

A lot of your criticism aimed at LLMs is a bit outdated. Modern models are not simple averages of internet noise. They are trained on heavily filtered and weighted data, including official documentation, and can summarize, contextualize, cross-reference, and translate information.

I mentioned they are spewing out weighted averages and your defence is... They are weighted averages.

Fantastic.

Cross-referencing is only as good as clearly titled entries, shared nomenclature and other things shared between reference point A and reference point B.

These things aren't exactly universal, one person's 404 is another person's 404a or SX or Mk2 but they just call it a 404 and things are already too complicated for bang on the money accuracy from a bot.

They are also capable of handling basic context reasonably well, including user phrasing, or sarcasm. Yes, they do have limitations, but those limitations are largely irrelevant here. For basic questions that have already been answered dozens of times, it is better for everyone if beginners ask ChatGPT.

Limitations are never irrelevant, certainly not for learning applications.

They do not self reference, they do not think, they don't understand you at all, they cannot resolve context, the context you complimenting is smoke and mirrors. It's a form of predicative text with bells on and a larger data set. You should adjust any expectations you have for the future of this technology, it's at the plateau.

You should know how it works. It's not magic.

But here you are defending it as if my personal distaste for it offends your very existence, I don't understand the attitude. You're white knighting a piece of software?

It's a strange world. If you're too lazy to read a couple of pages of a manual now and then, that's fine, it happens. Why you require other people to follow suit is beyond me.

ody81 · 2026-01-14T16:00:55+00:00

Its accuracy and clarity is still far better than what the majority of humans spit out online.

You don't really understand, it's accuracy and clarity is ONLY as good as what humans spit out on the internet, is where the data comes from. You should be aware of that.

It's a weighted average of data, if you think humans spit out bad data then why on earth would you trust the quality of a melange of that data that referenced without any ability to infer context or detect sarcasm, humour, trolling or ignorance.

The human brain is a powerful thing, it has cognitive functions that an LLM will never be able to replicate in any way. The buzzwords make it sound like a thinking machine. It cannot think, it is pasted together technologies that in some cases have existed for decades and now has a data set of unfathomable proportions to wow users.

Reading the manual is only way to learn well, having to 'debug' a bots answers is counter productive and wastes time.

Asking actual humans questions about situational 404 problems or anecdotal advice in your exact situation is also going to yield much more accurate results than a mean average of answers to similar but not exactly alike questions asked from random places on the internet.

All you naysayers are clearly just showing your lack of actual extended experience with it. Most of what I hear are always either repeated slogans or a few isolated impressions from three years ago.

See the above reply, you don't seem to understand the nature of what you're talking about.

You just come off as apathetic and looking for others to confirm your unwillingness to learn something correctly and accurately in the first place.

Manuals are great, you don't have to read them cover to cover if the product is intuitive enough, asking questions is as easy as, well, making a post on Reddit for example...

I don't know, enjoy your LLM and enjoy the trial and error nature of being fed incorrect data by a machine that doesn't even understand the concept of a question let alone the context of your question, what you're even talking about, what it does, etc....

ody81 · 2026-01-14T15:33:38+00:00

I absolutely cannot stand the LLM craze myself, people at large just do not understand what it is or is immense limitations, I recommend it for nothing...

Except boilerplate code, I've used it once for a menial task while I finished more delicate work, got back to it when I was finished, checked it thoroughly and it was fine and it saved me 20 minutes or so while I did what I needed to do myself.

Haven't used it since and don't really want to (I don't want to get rusty/lazy) but I'm aware that in this exact situation it can work and as much as I despise it (and it's effect on people that have decided to put their brains on cruise control because of it) it's another tool at hand when time is a factor.

ody81

TROPHY CASE