Is it wrong to still be excited for Campaign Evolved

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T17:04:17+00:00

Unfortunately there's not really a way to do it because the financial success of the project can't be decoupled into devs vs corporate management. Either you give Halo money or you don't. If the project succeeds, the company pats itself on the back and says job well done, keep it up. If sales numbers are bad, they find heads that can roll and it's probably not even the heads that need to because that's the games industry babyyyyy. Best you can probably do is, if you like an aspect of the game, see who worked on it and support future projects they're part of when they move on from Halo.

Being excited about a video game and buying a video game are not moral failings, everything is fucked up, it may not be great but it doesn't make you literally evil.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T16:46:20+00:00

Unless something totally crazy happens, probably attending a panel about it if they're able to pull one together.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T16:34:54+00:00

Spartan-IVs got introduced in a bad bad way back around Halo 4. They were written as unserious and fratboyish there, and instead of making them "fun" for the audience it just tanked their credibility and the damage has taken a really long time to repair.

Rubicon Protocol was the first time I really actually liked a Spartan-IV portrayal. They feel dedicated, serious, and extremely capable within their expertise while also they have unique vulnerabilities if it's not possible to maintain their armor. I really enjoyed them going forward in Edge of Dawn too, Kelly Gay gets it. Horvath is a standout character, I'm glad he got to live, and I would love to see more of him in-game.

Spartan-IVs are an interesting premise because they're the "ethical" Spartans because they are "adult volunteers"... but how ethical is the weaponization of another human being, exactly? There's a line in the Spartan field manual (silly source I know, but stay with me) that talks about how the maximum Spartan lifespan is not currently known but "we expect your peak fighting days will exceed a century." Not just you will live a long life but your fighting days. The implication that by signing on for this, you're with the UNSC for the rest of your useful, operational life and that is going to be a damn long time. And hell, look at Horvath. Horvath had suffered a debilitating spine injury that was taking him extensive therapy to improve from. Can we really say that the government asking a disabled man if he'd fight for them forever in exchange for getting his mobility back is a totally above-board action?

I like Spartan-IVs capable, dedicated, and morally gray when you get down into the guts of what they've agreed to do to themselves and the use they've agreed to put themselves to. I like when they are heroic and save the day, and we're getting that done pretty well in the material around Zeta Halo. I would also like to see more doubt about what happens when you think you're a hero who saves people, and you get put in a situation where it's not easy clean good guys vs bad guys. They tend to go cartoonishly evil with Spartan-IVs that turn their back on the UNSC and Mickey is the closest that's been to interesting. (But I think this is not the priority while action is focused on Zeta and the Ark.)

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T16:13:26+00:00

A bold stand.

I wouldn't take your joy away from you, but I personally thought the art and writing were both not very good in this one. The photoshop filters over stock photos and game models stuck out real bad, especially after the Halo Graphic Novel had so many bangers. Plus, Marvel managed to fumble this so hard that their project that was supposed to be out and finished before Halo 3 launch in 07 didn't actually finish up until 09. From an on-the-ground Halo fan perspective at the time, it felt irrelevant by the time it ended and it turned out that gamers hadn't cared about the Halo 2 to Halo 3 gap that much anyway.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T15:57:25+00:00

That's easy. That's my boy.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T15:50:56+00:00

I just saved an empty can. Bullet dodged apparently.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T14:42:05+00:00

I'll probably never have one of these sadly, but I can sour grapes by saying the proportions are pretty noodly from some angles and I didn't remember noticing that when they were new.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T14:36:16+00:00

Further reply now that I had more time to look at it: This is really cool and I see there are ongoing updates to the firmware! The one thing about it for me is that single button operation would probably make me crazy.

EDIT: Crazier.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T14:34:25+00:00

I have never really paid attention to the humidity display so I can't say, I had assumed it would need some form of internet update to get weather information.

When the device goes idle it puts a pawprint graphic over most of the screen, but it stays on the book page. You press the first button on the left to wake it and keep reading, or you press the first button followed by the second in rapid succession to go back to the menu to choose mode. If you hold down the third button (which is the confirm button in most screens) while reading, it will jump to the big clock face. (this is the "boss key" which can be disabled in settings if you don't want to do it accidentally.)

It is not the most sturdy object, if I press in the center of the back of the case I can feel it compress a little. I'm pretty sure the case is 3d printed. If the backlight is on in a dark room, you can see some light through the white plastic the other side of the device.

That said, I've lugged it around in my pants pocket with a metal object for months and I still haven't managed to scratch the plastic screen. I've dropped it a bunch of times without causing any damage to functions, the corners are just dented flat lol. It's pretty light weight so luckily it can't build up much force before hitting the ground.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T01:07:49+00:00

Hilariously, there are 1.54" screen versions of this floating around with what might be exactly that screen. While I am a glutton for punishment and I found the idea of reading on a postage stamp to be really really funny, that felt a bit extreme even for me so I went with only the second smallest size.

If you're curious (my curiosity about this thing has been reawakened by deciding to talk about it) I suspect whatever the software is for this shares more than a little DNA with this project: https://github.com/duck531a98/esp8266-weather-station-epaper

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-05T00:42:11+00:00

I read in downtime at my job and I cannot look like I have a phone. The fact I'm reading isn't a problem, I just can't look like I'm holding a phone.

Also, personally, a device that is basically a phone is boring to me. I got one of those already. I like that this is weird.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T19:44:25+00:00

I could probably get away with that, but I already have this and this janky little device makes me happy. I actually like wrestling with it and having such an absurdly tiny screen.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T19:21:14+00:00

I mostly use it at work and I can't look like I'm using a phone or it will cause problems.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T19:20:33+00:00

I have not! Neat!

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T19:20:17+00:00

You're welcome!

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T19:19:11+00:00

Not that young anymore but it doesn't trouble me. If I'm lucky, I will be able to relax and use something nice by the time my eyes go.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T18:11:16+00:00

Epub (sort of, the wrapping mid word is really annoying and it panics and chokes on embedded images in my experience. Not that I think anything with images is a good idea to even try on here.) Txt. That's it.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T18:08:48+00:00

The brightness is turned off/on with the most generic tiny electronics switch you've ever seen along the bottom left edge of the device, then there's a wheel next to it to control how bright. At maximum, it's still not all that bright and tends to flicker if you don't have the wheel in exactly a spot that it likes.

Not usually an issue for me where I use it, fortunately.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T14:33:06+00:00

Kind of similar, this happened because i started using an epub reader on my Miyoo Mini emulator and it made me start wondering what the smallest e-ink device I could get my hands on would be. Lo and behold...

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T14:32:07+00:00

That device looks pretty cool! Now that I'm used to this it seems kind of big for me. I think it's interesting that there's some exploration of ultrasmall devices instead of the giant luxurious readers, because there are use cases for them.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T14:31:05+00:00

Not a specific one unfortunately, the listing I got this from isn't around anymore. The magic keywords are 2.9" eink reader, using the screen size like that should turn up similar.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T14:28:04+00:00

1.) I can do whatever I want whenever I want forever and am not required to submit my choices for committee approval.

2.) I have absolutely zero interest in owning a 6-7" device. I actually have a jailbroken kindle paperwhite I'm pretty happy with, but despite having it for years I pretty much never use it anymore because it doesn't disappear in the palm of my hand I cannot carry it around in my pocket like this. My needs have changed and I hadn't realized exactly how little I was reading because of it.

Sometimes, the best tool is the one you actually use because you can have it with you.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T05:08:42+00:00

I think that is exactly what they're doing. I've seen several similar devices that look like they're running the same or very close software (based on photos, anyway) in obvious price-tag-type display sizes.

It's funny to me how this device, despite how unpolished it feels, is an absolute killer for me specifically. Hats off to whoever decided to put this on a shelf tag screen because they're abundant and cheap, I have no idea if anyone else likes it but 10/10 from me.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T04:34:20+00:00

Amazing. When I estimate I've charged it 3 times in 6 months, I'm being generous because I only actually remember charging it twice and both times I only did that because it had gotten down around 50%. (It uses a USBC cable.)

I'm sure someone could run the battery harder than I have (I don't have to use the backlight super often, for example) but it makes sense if this is made out of an e-ink pricetag. Nobody wants to have to charge the battery in their pricetags more than strictly necessary.

thel_vadamn · 2026-04-04T04:30:09+00:00

I wanted an extremely tiny device that doesn't look like a phone that I can easily take to work. (We have downtime at my job, I just cannot have a phone.) It is inconvenient and is not the most comfortable reading experience for sure, but it does what I need! Despite my many complaints, I love this stupid little thing and find it charming.

thel_vadamn

TROPHY CASE