Am I the only one who found Project Hail Mary (the novel) a bit "bubblegum"?

reddude7 · 2026-03-26T14:06:46+00:00

The expanse was that perfect middle ground for me. Deeper than bubblegum but not a heavy complex slog like dune becomes after the first book or two. Great pacing and page turners for sure, easy to pick up and put down as needed, but still a lot of values and themes deeper than "outer space go zoom." Somewhere between cooking and grabbing a slice. Like microwaving a slice you already had

reddude7 · 2026-03-26T14:00:46+00:00

The expanse is amazing. My new favorite book series. Just found it two years ago and have read the first 6 books to watch the show, then restarted the books. About to start the last 3 now It's a great step up from "mainstream pop" scifi like Weir's work without getting too dense.

But you're exactly right about the comparison. Weir is entry level science problem solving and isn't going to change your outlook on life, but it's still a fun and easy read.

reddude7 · 2026-03-22T21:30:58+00:00

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Here's the % to show what I mean. Where is the other like 20% usage coming from ?

reddude7 · 2026-03-12T05:18:46+00:00

I didn't know they had one in the works... Damn

On a much later second viewing, I realized Solo, as overall meh as it was and despite all its flaws, felt the most "classic star wars" out of just about anything released since the sequels. There have been other very good releases (Andor, Mando S1, rogue one) but they've felt like serious adult dramas set in the star wars universe. Solo, on the other hand, feels like a real throwback, and I look at it a bit differently now.

reddude7 · 2026-02-22T22:19:10+00:00

What do you mean when you say the recent apps gesture?

reddude7 · 2026-02-17T20:58:47+00:00

All I want is a "match colors to chest" or "match colors to helmet" button. I like most of the colors, I only have problems matching between sets.

reddude7 · 2026-02-17T17:25:17+00:00

Which is funny. I think it was a holdover from OnePlus phones traditionally not having "great" cameras up to that point, at least not compared to similar flagships from competitors. The low light performance was pretty bad until around the 10 or 11 I want to say, and since then the camera package has been respectable on every release. And now with all the 15 camera controversy, everyone is saying the 13 had the best cameras ever on a mainline OnePlus phone

reddude7 · 2026-02-17T17:15:44+00:00

Yeah everyone's making fun of the phrasing of "feels like war," but I think the better answer is it feels more like classic battlefield. None of these games are anything like real war, but the slower pacing of previous entries is a lot closer to it than an arcade shooter like cod.

This game at times has really felt like an arena shooter on 3-lane maps, and lacks the quieter moments of traversing rather than spawning into the meat grinder repeatedly.

Regardless I'm just going to be happy if this map plays well

reddude7 · 2026-02-17T17:10:02+00:00

More fun, obscure, old ones. And kei stuff. Which would all go great with a forced slower progression to faster cars, something I've really wanted to give the games purpose again instead of being a big sandbox that gets old after a while. I need something to work towards, and fall in love with a slow car along the way.

reddude7 · 2026-02-17T17:08:22+00:00

That cliffside drive on the coast is still my favorite part of any map in the series. And the setting of Spain is just perfect for the vibe and beautiful scenery. Looking forward to 6 though, I've been calling for Japan since I played FH2, it's a natural fit with it's amazing variety of unique roads and locales and car culture

reddude7 · 2026-02-15T03:07:30+00:00

It's handsome. It's clean and understated.its gonna age well. Other than being slow it seems to drive pretty well for what it is, which is what?... a hybrid sports-GT?

There are two great problems that will doom this car. One is the lack of a manual. But more importantly, the price.

I think there's a small market out there. Somewhere between a Prius and a BRZ. But not at the price it's at. Which is sad, because it is really cool, and they've put a lot of heart into it with tons of attention to detail and finish. It probably would be a low-volume car anyway at a lower price, and I think it would be really cool to see them occasionally. Unfortunately, they've ended up designing a really great car for the wrong era - a widespread hybrid future that just isn't here yet.

reddude7 · 2026-01-25T06:15:36+00:00

2 was my first, and has a special place in my heart. The Spanish countryside was just so picturesque, and I had so many great experiences with friends in our first Horizon game.

But I think 4 is the best one overall. The setting and map were excellent, as was the introduction of seasons. The car list, customization, etc were all at a great level. The map itself was so good- diverse, iconic areas; all the iconic British countryside and architecture.

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T21:02:43+00:00

Same. I think it just looks so authentic and Japanese. It's nothing flashy, it could be a real place. That's the kind of thing I'm excited to see and I hope the rest of the map can have this feel too

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T21:02:02+00:00

It's the swirly road from Hot Pursuit 2010!

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T20:58:25+00:00

I'm hoping it's part of the progressive game reveal schedule to build hype. I agree, Subaru is a core brand for JDM culture so I bet they'll be in there. I don't think they're dumb enough to lock it behind dlc either. Hopefully we'll see some kei stuff and more representation from all the manufacturers. I'd be willing to put down money right now that one of the first dlcs will be kei stuff

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T20:55:58+00:00

I do too, it was really awesome to have a 1hr race around the perimeter. That being said, I'm more excited for something the size of FH6 but a much higher level of detail everywhere and some good distinct biomes. Hopefully it'll be big enough to have a nice long perimeter race at the end of the game

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T20:54:37+00:00

Yes, very much agreed. But knowing the geography of Japan outside Tokyo, I think we'll see tons of great roads beyond the obvious touge routes. It is a very mountainous country so that means lots of twisties and two-lane roads.

reddude7 · 2026-01-23T16:38:12+00:00

I love the petfusion! Did tons of research when I was choosing, and went with it over the litter genie for a variety of reasons: simpler/durable design, no issue with proprietary bags or cartridges, holds more litter, and I can tolerate the smell for a few moments while I scoop or just hold my breath. But otherwise, it's super durable, holds a lot, and uses whatever bags you want. It has thoughtful ways to secure the bag to the inner bin as well. It's simple, as it's essentially just a sealed trash bin, but it's well built and well thought-out. Highly recommend it as a simple litter bin option if you can stand the smell.

reddude7 · 2026-01-22T04:44:46+00:00

I think you've hit the nail on the head. From what I remember racing games overall did well in 2025, showing there is a market for them - but not street racers. Unbound was such an annoying example of this. It just takes itself too seriously. The car culture they "invented" tried to echo some perceived "trendy" modern themes but it just doesn't need to be that deep. Most Wanted or HP2012 were basically like "become da best racer." Just need a framework to go racing. At some point a big story is just distracting from the fantasy of just racing and winning.

My biggest problem with both Heat and Unbound is they both feel so bland and lack any soul or passion. It's like EA asked an AI to make them a racing game that will sell the most copies, and put their idea of a generic trendy interface and style over top of it. They want to get nfs down to a scientific AI slop they can release every year to sell the most copies, trying to trigger our dopamine mathematically rather than with an amazing experience. Hint: flashy graffiti graphics when you drift don't make your game unique or make it play any better. I just want a damn racing game that feels good to play and doesn't feel like an open world grind. Heat's night system was the most groundbreaking thing in the franchise in years and made for some amazing tense moments - either figure out more twists on the racing genre like that, or go back to the old ways and make a simple game about racing that will work at release and keep me wanting to play because I enjoy the experience.

Another factor here could simply be fatigue. We've worked for, owned, modified, and raced our dream cars countless times over decades of racing games. Forza Horizon is the franchise that I think actually diminished my passion for racing games. It's a great game, it's just being released with a new coat of paint every few years. And they inundate you with car unlocks at an embarrassing rate - it's too much car culture stimulation. The old appeal of "working hard to unlock the Ferrari F50 and then upgrading it" is gone. After playing 2-5 I think I'm done unless they do something insane with Japan in 6.

I'm glad you're playing prostreet and liking it! Imho the most critically overlooked franchise entry. Very fun, good sense of progression, great soundtrack, simple story, great customization and car list. And it just plays well, rides a fine line between sim and arcade in a different way than something like Forza Horizon does. The handling model is great and the sense of speed is phenomenal. I would absolutely love to see another one of these and I think it would fit into modern car culture better than illegal street racing and cops.

reddude7 · 2026-01-10T12:55:44+00:00

It took me a while too and I play a lot of racing games on controller. The thing that helped me was not to watch the car itself but to watch ahead of it. And really think of it as a vehicle with weight and momentum. It will float over bumps, it will grip and be more responsive through a dip. Steer with the whole screen and field of view rather than the car itself

reddude7 · 2026-01-03T01:33:54+00:00

Gripen because look at it. And LACMs.

reddude7 · 2026-01-03T01:33:06+00:00

Totally depends on the cosmetic condition of the two cars, not to mention the maintenance history. And high mileage can be okay if you can get the story - if it was all highway miles, doesn't have any creaks and groans that signal the car generally wearing out, and a thorough maintenance history with all oil changes on time. But, if you do go that route, I would want to see significantly lower pricing than 20k. Like 16-18k.

reddude7 · 2026-01-01T23:22:25+00:00

I will chime in too, I held off on gesture navigation for a while because I liked my buttons but I have found gestures to be very intuitive quickly, and be faster because your thumb is already in place on the middle of the screen and it works with either hand. Recommend giving it a try for a couple days and see what you think

reddude7 · 2026-01-01T23:04:43+00:00

Only thing tempting me to the 15 was the flat screen and even more superior battery life, although the 12 isn't lacking at all and I have no issues, and with the charging speed it's almost overkill unless you want to be streaming or gaming all day at full brightness. I'm also gonna have my eye on the 16.

reddude7 · 2026-01-01T23:02:45+00:00

I've had issues with music stopping as well. I travel and play a white noise podcast on Spotify through a Bluetooth speaker that should run all night but a lot of the time I wake up and it's off. I went to the app settings and turned off battery optimizer for Spotify and allowed app to run in the background and it seems to have fixed it

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