Diecast – Twenty Sided

I’m a cynical guy, and even I never predicted anything this bad. The modern gaming industry is one where you use a privacy-invading storefront to buy a DRM locked game where you use an in-game storefront to buy lootboxes to gamble for NFTs. I love this hobby, but I would experience orgasmic levels of schadenfreude if we had another gaming crash like back in ’83.

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Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Diecast373

Link (YouTube)

Show notes:

00:00 No Man’s Sky?

Oh well. Maybe next update.

00:53 Tough as Nails Minecraft

I really do think that “Don’t Starve, but in Minecraft” is a good idea. But I haven’t found it yet. Several mods have tried, but balancing Hunger / Thirst / Temp / Sleep systems is tricky. Make it too easy, and caring for your needs becomes routine busywork. Make it too hard, and it dissolves into comical nonsense. Stuff like, “I finally got some food, but then I starved to death because I fell asleep before I could eat it.” Or “I ate ten grapefruit and then died of thirst because the fruit only fills your food meter, not hydration.”

Part of the problem is the reliance on the standard “fill the bar” style mechanics. When it comes to consuming stuff, you can’t just use a single bar. With just one bar, you can go from “starvation” to “fully nourished” in a single meal by just clicking on a lot of food. What you need is a sort of two-stage system where you have a cap on how much you can absorb at once. I think the biggest challenge is communicating all of this complex state[1] clearly to the player without adding too much clutter to the HUD.

I’m sort of tempted to take a swing at it myself,[2] but I really don’t enjoy programming in Java.

11:14 The Mushroom Village and Paste Security

Here is the site, if you want to try it yourself.

I realize my take on this might be kind of controversial. “You can’t save ignorant people from falling for scams.”[3] And yes, I realize that when one rube gets duped into installing malware, we all suffer because their machine joins a destructive botnet.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to help people make smarter choices, I’m just saying that that locking the user out of their own operating system and haranguing every user with endless warning messages is a lousy way of dealing with this problem.

17:59 Dreaming About Games

I tried to make this as minimally cringe as I could. Still, we’re talking about dreams, so a little cringe is likely.

I’m sure I’m not the only one. Who else has dreams where the dreamworld seems to run on videogame logic?

25:50 Mailbag: Hard to play games (for story reasons)

Dear Diecast,

I hope this February finds you well.

I find myself with a bit of a conundrum: I love the gameplay of Breath of Fire IV.

Now, this may not seem like much of an issue, if I like the game, I can just play it, however…

I can’t play Breath of Fire IV.

There is a scene later into the game where (spoilers), the bad guys shoot a magic cannon at the emperor and it is the saddest, most heartbreaking event in any game*.
Not satisfied with that utter gut punch, from the time the emperor (he’s fine, by the way) reaches the imperial capital the game drags the player through one tragedy after another.
Merely thinking about it gives me a stomach ache.

So I was wondering, are there games that you guys love playing but simply can’t bring yourself to play because something the story does?
This can be something the game does very well that you simply don’t have the bearing to withstand, or something the game does very poorly that ruins the experience for you.

Vale,

– Tim

P.S.

Warning: tragedy lies ahead.

* The way said magic cannon works is by drawing power from someone with strong loving feelings towards the target.
Preparing the… “ammunition” for the procedure involves torturing them to near-death. They tend not to survive the experience.

32:06 Mailbag: Video Game Worlds

Dear Diecast,

What are some of your favourite fictional settings in video games, and why?
What distinguishes them from other ones in the medium that you do not look so favourably on?
And are we greedy or too demanding for wanting rich settings without a whole bunch of jank and inconsistencies souring the experience?

Have a wonderful day.
– Andrew

37:12 Mailbag: Logic Artists

Hi Diecast,

There is this game company that I liked, Logic Artists. They are known for their Expeditions series (tactical RPGs) and have recently released the third title of that series: Rome (after Conquistador and Viking). When the game was released, they announced that they won’t be doing any RPGs anymore and instead will focus on creating NFT games. So here are my questions:

1) What the hell?
2) Do you think there will be more companies that will do the same thing?
3) Could you make them stop? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Darek

Here is the video I mentioned in this segment:

Link (YouTube)

Like we said on the show, Paul and I disagree with this video (at different points, and for different reasons, I think) but I think we both agree that Dan’s eventual breakdown of NFTs is pretty good.

If he’s right, then this is a problem that should solve itself. Sooner or later the pyramid collapses. And once enough of them collapse, new ones won’t have any way to get off the ground.

I normally wouldn’t care. I don’t mind if wealthy folks devise bizarre new ways to try to hustle each other with new financial technologies. I can just not buy NFTs and it doesn’t really affect me. But now Ubisoft is putting NFTs into their games, and suddenly it’s something I have to worry about.

49:00 Mailbag: Age Math

Dear Diecast,

I hope you’re doing well! Do you ever forget how old you are? I know, it sounds weird, but as I’ve gotten older I sometimes find myself in a position where when I tell someone my age, I have to quickly do the math in my head to make sure I didn’t lie to them. I’m embarrassed to admit that last year on my 28th birthday for a minute or two I thought I was actually turning 29, until I actually did the math!

So, my question is – has this ever happened to you, or am I just really weird (I mean, people always tell me I have a great memory, but maybe I’m just surrounded by even bigger freaks)? And if it has happened to you, is it something you’ve grown out of?

Keep Being Awesome,
Lino