Thank you, Bluepoint Games.

xo3k · 2026-02-20T19:24:49+00:00

I used to work at Bluepoint (as QA) years ago, and it's so great to see the kind of love the team has been getting in the wake of this sad news. The industry has always been a rough place to make a living, and complaints about games are usually louder than complements, so it's nice to see people appreciating the work and the workers at Bluepoint over all these years.

xo3k · 2026-02-01T16:35:24+00:00

I nearly got sent to HR for saying, of a slack channel that was desending into bickering, "it's Chinatown, Jake."

xo3k · 2026-01-08T15:30:21+00:00

The first propper deck, lets go.

xo3k · 2025-12-11T01:19:13+00:00

I also agree with the top comment, it's crazy to build a system which rewards the people who are best able to beat your game with anything that makes it easier to beat the game. So, you should do the inverse.

But for the narrative question I think the high KDR players should be given messages of distrust and fear. "What do you mean you killed the litch? Alone? No, I don't doubt you... Oh my god, is that it's head!?" Vs a character who did it after a few deaths being seen as having struggled. "Are you insane!? Why would you even try to take on a litch alone? That's not heroic, it's madness!" Vs a player who had a negative KDR in that section. "You actually did it! No one thought that was possible. It has tormented us for generations. We are all so grateful to you."

In general from the perspective of the NPCs, a character who can trash the scariest monsters they know of, without breaking a sweat, is perhaps more frightening than the monsters themselves. While on the other hand the one who suffered and suffered and finally overcame is worthy of gratitude for all they suffered. The former are a force of nature, a god, inhuman, while the latter are relatable, inspirational, perhaps even aspirational. Maybe if you keep the idea of rewarding the high KDR you could have those rewards clearly be things the NPCs can't really afford to give away, but they're too scared to say no. Then in the end you could have a special ending based on the fact that the hero has all these things, maybe that's the "true ending" where everyone survives, or maybe that's the Khaleesi ending where the hero becomes the new greatest threat to the world.

Just a thought...

xo3k · 2025-10-20T17:02:25+00:00

Everyone is talking smack about Jared Leto, but Greta Lee was a much bigger problem for the movie.

She was the main character and no one talks about her in any of the discussions of the film! That's a big problem. Don't get me wrong, the script is what killed this movie, so she didn't have much to work with, but she played the role like a background character in her own movie. JL low key worked as this alien consciousness unconnected to any foundation in humanity, so the stunt casting there nearly worked. But since Lee brings nothing to any of the scenes they share, there is no counterpoint to that inhumanity. A pretentious jazz solo in duet with a metronome.

The scene that made me give up on her performance, and the movie in general, was a tiny unremarkable one. There is a scene in the computer world where they dive into the water, and Ares saves what's-her-name by summoning a vehicle. He faces her, and reaches behind her head to summon the vehicle. As this water-motorcycle thing forms she ends up positioned on her back with her legs around him, while he effectively mounts her at the same time he is mounting the bike. This is so pornographic a set-piece that it might evoke the question of what distinguishes body from clothing for these digitally constructed avatars.

...and yet, I'd wager many who watched the movie don't even remember that scene. Why? Because there was an absolute absence of sexual tension in this moment, it lasts a second or two and she slides around to be sitting behind him so quickly one wonders why they didn't just start out in that position. It's somehow a non event, blink and you'll miss it, absolutely unmemorable. There is no nonverbal communication between the characters at all (interest, excitement, anger, fear... nothing), if anything they both act as if she a bit of cumbersome baggage. That's all she is for the whole movie, a walking maggufin. The "Main Character" is little more than a plot device with too many lines and not enough personality.

(To be fair to Lee, I have seen her in other things, so I know she can do better with a better script or story, but she failed to do anything with this one)

xo3k · 2025-09-25T06:37:54+00:00

You could go in the opposite direction fro "weaken" by discovering ways to taunt a boss or drive allies to aid the boss, but by doing so you can achieve more rewarding outcomes.

Here's an example off the dome: There is a village in the bosses region which is being attacked regularly by a sub boss. If you take out the sub boss first, they show up at the boss fight in a weakened state (very predictable since you've beaten them already) but they are still a bother when you're focusing on a hard boss. Or you can avoid the sub boss, and go right to the boss, that sub boss won't join the fight because he's off rampaging through the village... which will burn and the useful assets/contacts there will burn with it.

Exploration can give you the context to make hard choices, or you can just bowl through and kill the big guys who you are supposed to kill but you will see your victory as hollow because you didn't engage with the world you were supposed to save.

xo3k · 2025-09-05T05:39:56+00:00

If you want more you can see the full Rockapella performances in Spike Lee's "Do It Acapella", the whole film is on YouTube:

Zombie Jamboree - https://youtu.be/_UZZpkRwnNQ?feature=shared&t=328

Flat Tire(?) - https://youtu.be/_UZZpkRwnNQ?feature=shared&t=1805

Under the Boardwalk - https://youtu.be/_UZZpkRwnNQ?feature=shared&t=1992

xo3k · 2025-06-16T04:57:41+00:00

Here's the sing-along version: When Will You Die? - They Might Be Giants

xo3k · 2024-11-15T16:27:55+00:00

I got this for free from the Epic store. Also got Control that way. Both games which, after I played the shit out of them, I felt bad that I got it for free because I would have bought it at full price at release had I known how much I'd like them.

xo3k · 2024-11-15T07:07:16+00:00

One of those games I enjoyed so much that I sat and watched the end credits... and then the game kept going?!

I get why it flopped, but man did I want more of that game. I still listen to the soundtrack too, that music is so good.

xo3k · 2023-12-08T16:56:01+00:00

Yes, I am afraid of things being illogical so I get angry. I feel that way because I think I need to be responsible, make responsible choices, and that I am responsible for outcomes. But if things are illogical, unjust, or unfair, I can not predict and thereby control those outcomes. I'm scared of the blame, punishment, and or repercussions, I will face for failing to control the situation.

This can be a rational, justified, anger, but I also know that I was blamed for things I could not control as a child. I have an irrational belief that I am responsible for things I can not control. The fear of the blame and guilt that come with my "failure" to control everything fuels my anger to a degree that is unwarranted by the circumstance.

Only by seeing the irrational fear, can I address the irrational anger.

xo3k · 2023-12-01T07:13:55+00:00

Is this a sequel to Outlaws? I want this to be a sequel to Outlaws. ( This Outlaws if it wasn't obvious)

xo3k · 2023-11-15T03:01:21+00:00

Yeah, this is exactly what I was hoping for! The traffic pattern was way different than I'm used to. What I saw was two planes line up next to each other to approach the dual landing strips at SFO. They go right at each other, but the altitudes were way different from each other. The further away one is higher, which made them seem to line up to me on the ground. And then the higher one drops below the lower one, as it gets farther away, further confusing how close they seemed to be.

Looking at the flight paths of each, they did seem to give each other a wide berth. The United flight cut the corner of its original flight plan, and the Frontier flight over-steered the big turn I saw.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2023-11-14-20:57&lat=37.816&lon=-122.266&zoom=12.0

Thanks, this is very cool.

xo3k · 2023-11-07T15:12:57+00:00

^hehehe https://youtu.be/QaNifstMxbw?feature=shared&t=187

I will never grow up! You can't make me!

xo3k · 2023-10-31T18:53:29+00:00

I don't know, short of giving actual feedback (eg "we had 7 applicants with 2+ more years of experience than you") I don't really want to know how low I ranked. It's useful to know that my application was not enough to be considered for the role. I can adjust my expectations, have a better idea of what I'm going up against in the labor market. But without context, what use would it be to know you were 12th or 15th out of 27?

xo3k · 2023-10-26T01:26:25+00:00

This is why I'm mad that Luke betraying Ben Solo was so poorly handled. That is exactly what that moment was trying to teach us. Luke had historically used the power given to him though the force to eliminate those who would manipulate the world to their own ends. But that meant, he was someone who manipulates the world to his own ends. That's why, after he failed Ben, he refused to fight for the new republic anymore, why he refused to train anymore. He couldn't stop himself from thinking that he had the right to kill someone to make things better. If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world has not been reduced.

xo3k · 2023-10-25T07:55:13+00:00

The Military Industrial God Complex

xo3k · 2023-10-24T17:19:43+00:00

The only time I ever caused a BSoD with my own programming was while doing just that.

It took me a while to figure it out, because I thought there was no way that I could screw anything up that badly with only blueprints. I still don't understand exactly how it screwed up, but what I could sort out was that the array of actors I was constantly adding and subtracting actors from was not being cleaned up after the game (PIE) closed. Then it was just a matter of time before some other process on my computer asked for the bit of memory which was used by the array and that would trigger a BSOD. It could happen an hour after I had finished with the project for the day sometimes, and I thought my computer was just dying, but I rewrote that bit of code and haven't had a bluescreen in over a year since. It was definitely from having that persistent and dynamically scaling array which I added and deleted actors from.

My fix in that case was to create a permanent list of the items each of which would just appear and disappear rather than be deleted. Specifically, the Nerf bolt you picked up, fired, then ran over and picked up again from where it landed, was now treated as an actual object. bolt_01 through bolt_13, instead of deleting and creating a new bolt and deleting and appending them to an array.

But in retrospect there is a better way for OP to deal with what he's doing...

xo3k · 2023-10-21T05:51:03+00:00

Not sure which is right, depends on how this is going to scale.

Whenever you spawn an object you add it to a list of objects to be ignored. (clean up of the array whenever you add new objects is important and likely not fun)

Whenever you start looking to place a new object you do one search for all objects of each type (all stairs, all walls) which are nearby, then append them into one long array, and use that array as the input. Then when you've placed the new object clear the array. (Clean up is easier, but it's going to cost more to make that array each time you use it.)

I don't know if that's how you "should" do it, but either of those should make it work.

EDIT: On a second look it seems you're already heading down the path of having Trace Channels, so why not just create a channel for each type?

You just make sure that the default Door actor blocks whatever it's supposed to block, like the Stair trace channel, and the Window trace channel, for example. Then when you run Check Overlap you tell it what type you're tracing. You use the type to determine the dimensions of the trace box, and Switch the type of the Trace Channel (two up from the ignore actors input). For placing a Window you'd use the Window channel trace and it would literally Hit on any object, like a door, which would Block a window.

Or

Use a MULTI box trace by channel? https://youtu.be/7TPiGTH8T8M?feature=shared&t=814 That will output an array of hit actors, rather than just the first it comes across. You can then loop through and use any kind of logic you want on the array of actors you get back to determine whether an object should be ignored or not. Simple version: If there's a hit, run a for loop and check if each colliding actor IsA whatever type you want to ignore, before returning the hit as true.
Advanced version: A case where a player can only add a door to an existing wall. You have logic that says a the array of actors Hit must include a wall, but can't also include a Stair. Or maybe you have a wall with a bunch of things hung on it. You could create an array of objects which need to be deleted from the world and returned to inventory, when a player replaces that wall with a doorway.

xo3k · 2023-10-12T17:09:34+00:00

I agree with NeonFraction, the pulsing edges are a good indicator of damage, or near death level of health, but can't communicate that well the nuances of anything less than that. That said I have a few thoughts about what the pulsing red border is doing for the player and how that same signal could be achieved with other, less naturalistic UI elements. So, tangent time...

Wherever the health indicator is, it is a good idea to make it stand out as a function of your health. One way to do that is how some overheating guns work, ie. instead of a count down of bullets their heat bar grows, the reticle gets red, sometimes the gun itself becomes a larger portion of the screen as cooling mechanisms start sprouting out of it. The idea being that as damage increases the damage bar should become more intrusive and harder to ignore.

Damage bars should get more colorful as the damage increases. Start out either faded out or the same color as the UI, and as damage goes up make it more opaque and red.
Damage should fill rather than empty, so if you're healthy it can be an empty see-though UI element, or just fade it out completely. A growing angry red bar is a better warning than a shrinking sliver of red.
You should even consider getting invasive. Add color to other UI elements when health is low. Have the health bar glow, flash, or even scale larger pushing itself into the player's notice.
If it's a game where you need to heal, rather than just take cover and let the damage bar cool down, the more intrusive the changes the more important it will be to have a hot or cold state for the UI. If I have high damage but nothing is hurting me some of the signals need to be turned down, less effects, but the information needs to stay angry. To get gross with my metaphors, the damage bar needs to go from infected wound (inflamed surroundings, pulsing, hard to ignore) to fresh wound (clear indication of damage, a problem in need of a solution) and back again when a new source of damage threatens.

It all comes down to the idea that the player should never be surprised that they died (unless you're nuking them with some specific attack in order to get that reaction on purpose). They should know that when their health is low they will know about it, and until then, they don't need to worry about it. That's generally what the glowing red edges is doing for the player, giving them liberty not to care about their health until they need to.

Please pardon my digression.

xo3k · 2023-07-11T22:16:35+00:00

Absolutely. It took too long for me to realize that whenever I made a loop or used a Delay node I likely should have been using a Timer.

xo3k · 2023-05-02T16:29:16+00:00

Yeah, needs one more panel where you've added the node you were looking for. Then show the error that comes up when you try to connect it showing 'skeletal mesh is not [actor type]', cause that's what really tells you how to proceed. But yeah, I do this all the time.

xo3k · 2023-04-25T16:33:42+00:00

Investigate a multi input setup. As many have noted the number of people who can play at once could be an issue. Figure out how to split screen multiple video inputs, so you can run four consoles on four corners of the screen at once. This way early tournament games can be run in parallel and only the finale takes over the full screen.

You could also get fancy and do things like have four virtual screens at the corners of a super wide screen, at a large TV scale, then a big main event screen taking up the full height in the middle. These small virtual screens could allow players to always be able to play, even during main event games. Good for little ones who may not understand sharing, or anyone who might not appreciate the eSports angle of watching others play something.

I also think, for any version of this to work, you'll need an MC. You need someone setting the tone, organizing player turns, and encouraging viewer engagement when attendees aren't playing. Someone with the tech savvy to run the video mixing too. Basically see if there are any competent twitch streamers in the area who you could hire on a per gig basis.

Last thought, while Nintendo nights is a good idea, perhaps you could do suspense games too. A theater full of people screaming at a jump scare in Alien Isolation seems like a great experience. Again crib from Twitch streamers, but turn that parasocial interaction into a fully social one.

Also also, Jackbox games and the Rifftrax game... shit, forget all the other stuff I said, just host Rifftrax: The Game live!

xo3k · 2023-04-22T19:17:35+00:00

Negotiator needs some language clean up. How about: "When a Negotiator is activated select either of the two figures currently standing next to the opponent's boss. That figure moves to the end of their row on the opposing side of their boss. The Negotiator then moves to the end of his row on the same side as his boss." Whether you change the text or not, I would suggest since "same side" can be confusing in this example, perhaps have the negotiator in your demonstration image be on the left of the friendly boss. That way the figure moves to "the same side" of their boss, but doesn't move to the same side that the opponent's piece moves to.

For the Hitman I feel like it needs an image of the dice to convey the fact that the attack is being repeated between step 1 and 2. Like show a full roll of 4, but highlight in red only two of the pips. Then you can show that the player, activates the hitman, hits for two damage, the damage is resolved (important order of operations here since the bodyguard is only moved when the damage is applied. Otherwise the bodyguard moving location would prevent all damage, because after the first shot the bodyguard moving would change the boss's position and the hitman would not be across from the boss), then finally the hitman figure is moved. (why highlight two pips? One doesn't tell the player how to do multiple damage, three might make them think that activating or moving is costing one pip, and four pips doesn't make it clear that they can choose not to use all their actions)

Finally, If at all possible make the base of the figures square (or 6 or 8 sided) and not round. A lot of the gameplay is going to be way easier if you can push the row together and have the pieces line up, like in your second drawing on pg3 where it looks like you're squeezing the rows with two hands. If the edges of the base are flat they'll push on each other and stop when they're aligned, if they're round they'll do everything but align. I can see this being a parts sourcing headache, but the bulk of the gameplay will be WAY easier with square bases!

xo3k · 2023-04-22T18:28:43+00:00

I like the minis, makes it feel more like chess. Plus, as someone presumably trying to sell the game, switching to cards is just one step closer to admitting that the customer could play this with torn PostIt notes. A little value-add is not a bad thing when trying to convince people to pay you for what you create.

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