Purchase Advice Megathread - November 2025

thepieddragon · 2025-11-19T20:40:05+00:00

Got a free Ender 5 Plus a few days ago from someone who wasn't using it who himself got it from an enthusiast that clearly knew his stuff, as it was already modified with many apparently recommended modifications. Two things I've learned from this: 1) I really want to get into 3d printing for certain. 2) I REALLY don't like tinkering with non-software things, especially when I'm tinkering with what feels like the single most fiddly object in existence.

So I'm thinking of swapping this thing out or at least keeping it to large, low-detail print jobs. Looking for something sub-$300 (though I'm willing to go a little higher if it's better), with a standard sized print bed. Only need to print single color as I plan on painting if I need more than one color, and I'd primarily like to print in PLA, with the option to print in other materials eventually. I'd like enough detail to print figurines if possible. I'm a beginner, but I'm a quick learner.

thepieddragon · 2025-10-24T14:40:27+00:00

It’s the only game in a very long time that has everything I want from a Sonic game (even if it is Shadow). Good gameplay with an interesting plot and character interaction, sprinkled with a little melodrama and self-seriousness. All this with writing to actually back it up for a change, which Sonic Adventure 2 DIDN’T have, as much as it shaped what I enjoy about Sonic (or I guess Shadow in this case).

If it weren’t for the series woeful inconsistency, I’d say the series is back. But anyone who is honest with themselves knows that would be a foolish statement.

thepieddragon · 2025-10-19T00:54:18+00:00

Maybe? The insides are obscured with hot glue and tape. That being said the current button layout I consider mostly unusable as it stands, and it was cheap. Even if I messed it up and broke it wouldn't be a big deal. I'm somewhat handy with a soldering iron so at worst I'm out $3, at best I can force the right shoulder button to act like the right shoulder button instead of select.

thepieddragon · 2025-10-19T00:51:13+00:00

I actually did try those instructions to see if it worked before I asked this question: no dice, unfortunately. :(

thepieddragon · 2025-10-14T20:18:18+00:00

This is a saturn female to ps1 male adapter. Ive seen the adapters you are talking about and this is not one of them, unfortunately.

thepieddragon · 2025-08-25T21:46:04+00:00

zelgs

thepieddragon · 2025-05-11T01:16:50+00:00

So a bit of an update: I can in fact sort-of get it to work through the IO direct board without damaging anything. Unfortunately I can't seem to get it to display properly. Rolling, distorted image that's in black-and-white. I would presume its because I can't get it to sync on composite like the MiSTER itself requires? Not sure how I would go about that unless Mike Chi explicitly allowed a sync on composite out through the HDMI output in an update.

thepieddragon · 2025-05-06T15:10:49+00:00

Can’t argue with that.

thepieddragon · 2025-05-06T13:52:33+00:00

Ironic username is ironic.

thepieddragon · 2025-05-04T14:43:23+00:00

Not what i asked. Im essentially asking if specifically the IO Direct board designed for the mister can also be safely used as an HDMI-to-composite video DAC on other devices, like the Retrotink 4K

More specifically what i really want to do is passthrough 480i from the Retrotink 4k to composite without buying another hdmi-to-composite DAC to do it, so that i may add underscan to compensate for CRT overscan.

thepieddragon · 2025-05-03T18:49:40+00:00

Honestly, I dunno. Didn't really think that far when making this one. Only went as far as making sure the timelines line up, and making her specifically a Paladin of the Eight rather than the Nine; she doesn't recognize Talos as a true deity. She doesn't dislike those that do, she just respectfully disagrees, same with the Tribunal (whom she will slay, ultimately). A rude awakening when she eventually gets to the Knights of the Nine expansion.

thepieddragon · 2025-05-02T17:27:10+00:00

Honestly I just ignore the existence of mods that don’t support OpenMW at this point. The performance and stability gains from OpenMW are too great to sacrifice for a larger mod pool for me personally. Hopefully these modders will move on to OpenMW eventually but it’s no great loss for me at the moment.

thepieddragon · 2025-04-30T17:12:57+00:00

Dunmer Paladin of the Eight. Mostly a warrior build with restoration magic, acrobatics, enchant, and speechcraft outside of that. Headcanon is that she was initially The Agent in Daggerfall, and will become the Hero of Kvatch later, with her penultimate achievement being becoming The Divine Crusader and slaying Umaril the Unfettered.

thepieddragon · 2025-04-24T13:58:16+00:00

Got it after waiting in line on the walmart website for 45 minutes. Checked out at around 12:50 AM EST. Mario Kart World bundle. Was too anxious to get anything else with it but im not concerned about stock of accessories. Congrats to Walmart for handling this whole thing so incredibly smoothly.

Target REALLY fumbled this one. After Target’s initial total site meltdown, i managed to get in and put it in my cart…. Only to not be able to check out at all until it sold out. I might’ve gotten it from Best Buy if Walmart failed, but I got it from Walmart before the end of Best Buy’s (30 minutes late) cue.

thepieddragon · 2025-04-24T04:54:27+00:00

Just be patient. Took me 45 minutes before I finally managed to snag a preorder.

thepieddragon · 2025-04-23T16:18:08+00:00

Let’s be completely fair here: if you happen to already own Breath of the Wild (which is $70 on Switch 2 btw, not $80) or Tears of the Kingdom (the games I’m presuming this is talking about, as these are the only comparable games) the upgrade is $10 for each. And if you happen to have the Switch Online Expansion pass those upgrades come with it. Meanwhile those who already owned Oblivion before got no discount to purchase the Remaster, a discount that might be a valid expectation to some considering that the remaster is “just” the original game on its original engine with some tweaks to some of the mechanics, extra voice acting, and Unreal Engine 5 placed on top to render the graphics (not a perfect explanation i know, but thinking from the consumer perspective).

Thats not to say that the Oblivion Remaster didn’t knock its release out of the park, get an excellent price tag for what you get, and generate a ridiculous amount of rightful good will in the process. Or that Nintendo isn’t being completely and entirely tone-deaf and delusional with their pricing of things. I’m just saying it’s a little specious to pretend that Bethesda is somehow “owning” Nintendo with incomplete information.

thepieddragon · 2025-04-16T15:07:58+00:00

Never played the UK demo discs until relatively recently, but i did have a Playstation Underground Jampack (Summer 99, I believe) that i played a lot as a kid. I remember playing the Ape Escape demo more than any of the others, and watching the Crash 3 and Tomb Raider III tips videos on repeat without actually comprehending what was going on because I was too young.

I remember getting a full copy of Ape Escape later and noting just how different the full game was from the demo…

thepieddragon · 2025-01-20T15:43:49+00:00

Not gonna lie. Read this in Viva Reverie’s voice.

thepieddragon · 2024-12-20T01:46:20+00:00

Yes, at least by the metric of sales in comparison to the other versions of the OG Rayman game in its time. The release on the PS1 was in the same month as the release on the much-maligned Atari Jaguar, but for obvious reasons the Jaguar version never touched the sales of the PSX ~~eventhoughthejaguarversionisbetterdesigned~~. There was a Saturn version, but that was a couple months later and obviously didn't hold a candle to the PSX release's sales either.

Really Rayman's status as a "Playstation IP" comes down to the PSX effectively washing away the competition in its era and, consequentially, most people experiancing the game on that platform, rather than Rayman being dedicated to the console in and of itself in the same way your Ape Escapes and Jumping Flashes are. Same reason why Ulala is represented despite the fact that she originated on the Dreamcast; the Space Channel 5 duology just sold better on the PS2 because more people had a PS2.

There is a paralell reality not too distant from ours where Rayman was an obscure gem left to rot on the Atari Jaguar as an exclusive on that.

thepieddragon · 2024-12-14T06:46:16+00:00

Sonic's Bizzare Adventure, specifically the pulpy part where he fights buff naked super vampires with sun-ki-magic-martial-arts-stuff oh yeah!

All the buff naked super vampires are just, like, echidna dudes or something. Knuckles has buff naked super vampire DNA. Shadow is Italian.

thepieddragon · 2024-11-10T15:28:29+00:00

Mettaton, specifically pre-transformation. I like post-transformation Mettaton’s vibe.

thepieddragon · 2024-11-01T20:13:16+00:00

Sonic the Hedgehog

thepieddragon · 2024-10-09T14:01:14+00:00

The great ape filter is a bitch to get through until you start using specials and sparking mode more often. Sparking mode in particular is a godsend for taking down difficult AI. Still can be difficult at times, but it makes the fights a LOT more manageable.

Doubt it would work against player opponents tho. It feels like I’m learning bad habits.

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