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Cake day: August 19th, 2024

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  • Bit barebones reporting. Here’s an article that at least quotes portions of the interview: https://wccftech.com/epic-games-launcher-is-indeed-clunky-admits-epics-tim-sweeney/

    I can only partially empathize with the argument that Steam is better because of 15 years of refinement. Yes, they have a big featureset, amazing APIs, developer kit, the workshop, the list goes on. There are a lot of technical challenges here.

    However, what cannot be excused with this argument is the Epic Launcher UX being this clunky, lmao. Yes, making a bunch of UI is nontrivial and takes work, but its also not rocket science. The layered and staggered loading of different UI elements and overal slowness of the whole thing cannot be explained by the lifespan of Epic Launcher. Steam was just as responsive on my old Windows XP back in the day as it is now. Throw something like Dear ImGui at a bunch of juniors and they could make something that is snappier than what the Epic Launcher is now.

    Google made a bunch of useful metrics called Core Web Vitals that represent responsiveness pretty well. I’m sure they would score awfully on all of them.





  • Wow, didn’t even go into the quality of the sticks, triggers and buttons. Fine, I guess? Anyone can put the Deck, Legion Go, Switch and even an Xbox controller next to each other to make that comparison.

    The performance issues are pretty much what I expect from any handheld that tries to push the resolution and refresh rate much farther than the Steam Deck or Switch. You won’t get any benefit out of it, just a higher price. Well, it’s nice for indie games probably.

    You could make better use of the screen if you double down on the integrated graphics and make the whole thing like €1200. I’m not big on hardware knowledge but there are more powerful chips out there that fit in a handheld, right? Battery life would probably be terrible.


  • Me and the wife played a few coop games.

    • DERU - The Art of Cooperation is a pretty puzzle game that is satisfying, not too difficult nor does it overstay its welcome.
    • We also enjoyed the snake-esque puzzler OmoTomO. Only on itch, not Steam, so you have to install it via the desktop mode. When you’re willing to dig a bit itch grants you some shiny gold nuggets for cheap.
    • In Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime you have to run around a spaceship to operate the different parts (engine, guns, shield). More straightforward than it sounds, and the pacing is such that you’re not rushed but do get some tense moments.
    • Almost forgot Pode which is a very cute 3rd person puzzle adventure game.

    Some games recommended by other people in the thread that we can corroborate

    • Trine series is good platforming fun with pretty graphics and dialog that is a little on the nose sometimes.
    • Kingdom: Two Crowns is good for a few hours at least, can’t say I cared about beating it because the levels just keep coming with only minor variations. Definitely a unique blend of tower defense and base building.

    Personally I agree on Overcooked, once the novelty wears off it gets a bit frustrating because of the difficulty. Its still fun in groups though.




  • Ah yes, solving design problems by asking players nicely.

    In a traditional MMO like World of Warcraft, it’s not like you build a base in the starter zone and leave it there for a week, because imagine how many bases would be stacking up. [But] that’s kind of how our game does work because you can end up with a lot of bases.

    I’m pretty sure most people dislike destroying their own stuff or alternatively, cleaning up. If you’re gonna let them have multiple bases instead of just one, what do you expect?

    Just speculating but: it sounds like they only tested this with small groups, and that worked. If that’s what you’re going for, you have to set up the game to play in small groups, not as an MMO… In hindsight they might wish they had put player bases in separate instances.






  • Lmao what is Synology smoking. I have used their hardware in the past, now I’m so glad that I chose a Nextcloud setup for my home storage solution.

    Also why does the nonsense reasoning for these limitations always include “security”. That’s a rhetorical question btw, I know they are just making shit up.

    This comment by Frodo Douchebaggins in the Ars Technica comments sums up my newfound disrespect for Synology pretty well:

    Suck a turd, you enshittifying sons of bitches.