Diecast – Twenty Sided

We’re reached another big round number of Diecasts, so I feel like I should… do… something. Or say something. So here’s a fun fact…

There are 79 episodes of the original Star Trek, 178 episodes of TNG, 176 of DS9, 172 of Voyager, and 98 episodes of Enterprise. An hour-long TV program in the USA is typically ~41 minutes. Which means there are, roughly, 480 hours of Star Trek television to watch. And no, we’re not counting the appalling new stuff like Discovery and Picard, which are action dramas with science words in them and not science fiction. Yes, there’s a difference, even if the dunderheads at CBS don’t know about it.

Anyway. 480 hours of trek. Diecast episodes these days are just a smidge over an hour. But back in the day when the cast was bigger, episodes regularly ran for an hour and a half. For the sake of laziness, let’s just assume the average is around an hour twenty. That means there is somewhere in the neighborhood of 460 hours of Diecast. So there’s almost as much Diecast as there is Star Trek.

None of that means anything. I just thought it was interesting.

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Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Diecast350

Link (YouTube)

00:00 Rocketeer’s Final Fantasy XII Series

So hey, The Rocketeer… I’m looking to get in touch with you. Please email the Diecast (email in the header image) so I can bug you.

For those of you who want to read his FFXII series, here it is.

05:24 Shamus is still playing Final Fantasy XII for some reason?

Currently wandering the desert. Trying to explore the entire SandSea this time instead of making a beeline for Raithwall’s Tomb. Gettin’ SUPER bored of killing Jawas, though.

Also, I don’t know what to make of the floating orange spheres[1] that can one-shot my overleveled (~30) characters, but they can piss right off.

10:40 Paul is still playing Dyson Sphere Program for Some Reason

Link (YouTube)
12:38 Mailbag: Carmack’s Coding Retreat

Dear diecast,

If John Carmack invited you to join him on his coding retreat, and offered you to teach you any of his black magic coding skills he knew, what area/subject would you chose?

With kind regards,
chris

This is the 3Blue1Brown series on Neural Networks I mentioned.

21:37 Mailbag: Erosion of Taste

Dear Diecast!

Don’t worry, this isn’t about them young’uns not liking the proper things the proper way anymore, but something I experienced personally: my taste in games kind of eroded.

To elaborate: back in my youth I was really into immersive sims like Thief, System Shock 2, stealth games like Hitman or Splinter Cell, tough round based tactics/RPG games like X-Com or Jagged Alliance 2 or the original Fallout 1+2
But nowadays, despite having very fond memories of those titles and having completed them multiple times over in my younger years, I cannot seem to enjoy them anymore. Not the originals themselves, or streamlined and modernized sequels, or spiritual successors, or even masterpieces like Prey keep me glued to the screen, or motivate me to boot them up ever again after spending a single evening with them.

How come? And do you two share similar experiences?

Greetings from Austria,
Norbert “ColkeusRattus” Lickl

P.S.: You’re saying my name well enough to be tolerable!

31:08 Mailbag: The Emotional Impact of Music

Hey Shamus, Paul, and the comments section,
I’ve been meaning to comment on last week’s post (week of July 5th) but I got sucked into the Rocketeer’s Final Fantasy XXII dialogue and have been enjoying that rabbit hole on my phone so the tab is occupied by twenty-sided is currently occupied on my phone. I guess both my question and answer tie in together: all of the games that have caused me to tear up or cry have done so through the use of music rather than just through the use of plot or character. This list includes things such as the original Final Fantasy VII (Aeris(th’s) death accompanied by the music, Mordin’s death in Mass Effect 3, and Shepherd’s revenge of Thane in Mass Effect 3 (no matter how corny the cutscene is I still tear up), Dom’s death in Gears of War 3 (to an instrumental version of Mad World), the middle ending of Hades.

Most of the most emotional scenes whether it is sadness or excitement within games are accompanied by outstanding music. And yet, gamers, reviewers, and journalists rarely bring up music within the genre. Why is there such a blind spot for this portion of our hobby? I hold The Maw from Halo: CE as one of the best examples of level design within a linear shooter, but that is largely because of the music that goes along with the gameplay. How many people would feel the emotional attachment to “their” Shepherd in ME without the theme accompanying the decisions you make?

Chris/Gautsu

Link (YouTube)

41:30 Mailbag: Accents

Dear Diecast.

As an australian I was very much amused by Shamus’s take on an australian accent, even if it did sound more like a distorted working class british accent(which seems to be fairly normal for Americans trying to sound australian). I would be very interested to hear your take on other countries’ accents as well.

Best wishes, Henry Chadban.

Link (YouTube)

52:56 Mailbag: Where do you start writing a story?

Dear Shamus!

I hope this mail finds you in good health.

It’s a question about how you start writing your fiction books. What kickstarts the whole process and what do you write first?

Best regards, DeadlyDark