deanb

could be interesting, though tbh some of Primes output has been a bit scattershot of late unless it's got Seth Rogen attached (though I'm feeling I should really give Reacher a go - not read the books but folks bang on about them)

I'm just gonna do a random dump: (suddenly aware I've done two A24s - but they've got interesting films). Katy O'Brian is . She's been in last few seasons of Mandalorian (tends to be in imperial officer clothing though), and was (unfortunately) in Quantumania earlier this year too. She's taking off. Always felt Kung Fu Panda never quite made the impact it should have done. Like everyone that loves it loves it, but doesn't seem to be in same league as Shrek. Honestly it'll be wild if they get to do the main trilogy. Just have a big ole wormy boy.

Wonka Watched this with my mum and her partner over the weekend. The original Gene Wilder film led to high expectations, which the Johnny Depp version completely failed on (my only thing I like in the Johnny Depp version is that they were able to show the result of the other children being "treated", which wasn't quite feasible in the 70s so they're somewhat forgiven on that). It's Paul King, who did Paddington 1 and 2, so it has that very whimsy charm to it. And while Timothy isn't trying to ape Gene Wilder (and in theory there's many decades in the guys life before we see the Wonka that Charlie meets) he does pull in a few bits. Overall it's fun and pretty. It's throwing quite a few people that it's a musical, though both previous films have been. Absolutely chocka with British acting cast too. Olivia Coleman is likely the main one folks will know, but I think Ghosts has done well in US so probably a few recognisable from that. The guard is also the writer (and shows up in Paddington as well, where also a writer), and he's local to my town so that's been cool for a few folks. It's a similar type of sweet making he has in the 70s film too (whipping cows to make whipped cream, adding a boot to provide a little kick, etc). Great little film to go see over xmas. My only beef is that they make a joke of Keegan-Michael Key's police chief getting fat from the bribes (figured we'd had that conversation a few years ago) There's a few minor plot quibbles

I know enough to get by. My main stuff is building shelves and painting; which aren't the most difficult. Had to do a bit of wiring when I moved in to change out lamps and swap out a couple switches (also tried to put in a smart switch but turn out victorian era houses don't have the right layout of mains wiring for those). The college I work at actually has been running a DIY night class and I was in the first cohort so technically I'm actually qualified in basic DIY skills. Boilers however are a fun mix of gas, water, and electricity so was a bit hair raising (though given it makes severals steps of "turn off and use a tester to check it's off" I knew it was dead while I was working on it). Not my image but a good indication of the steps it takes through (there's a neat sticker set in that they'll get you to sticker up the various wires too so it makes stages like this quite simple) This is, apart from a pen and (in my case) a mirror, is pretty much all the tools you needed. Mirror was just because my boiler is a corner and I couldn't always see. I'd normally use my phone but that was running the app. Pen was to write on the stickers.

A tado starter kit. I've been having issues with my "dumb" thermostat and particularly an issue with my brother staying on thursday evenings if the boiler heating can't kick in (and it's not particularly intuitive to turn it on). Thankfully it's not an issue with the boiler itself - I still get hot tap water and when the thermostat does properly send its signal it fires up and heats the house. Wasn't too difficult to install - the internet bridge is just USB power and ethernet port, the thermostat unit itself is just "pull tab out batteries and connect via the app". The unit that connects to the boiler is a tad more of a pain but the app was pretty good - you put the model of your boiler in and it gave you customised instructions to your boiler on how to connect the receiver up. Really the only major issue was angling screwdrivers and that I had a hangover. Got to wall mount it but it's a Sunday and I'm not an a-hole so that'll be a job for later. (I am aware that NA/EU heating styles are potentially very different)

T'was on sale. I figure I'll give it a spin because I like FF games, though I am wary on gameplay as in recent years the franchise has massively veered from its usual turn based battle system so you only get it in spin-offs like World of FF.

Yeah 5 might be best - I'll be honest off the top of my head I can't think of too many titles from 2023 that I've actually played. In fact my count for games this year will go up to two this afternoon. (Unless we count "weird" stuff like new Fortnite seasons, expansions like Phantom Liberty/CP2077 2.0, etc). Or just a vague "best games I've played this year" so like Disco Elysium would get thrown in.

Turns out there's already a teaser. And gosh I imagine this would look weird without context for some bits. Kinda hoping that it doesn't white wash roles, though it shows the struggle session/cultural revolution so not totally leaving it's Chinese roots. (in the book there's like 2 Americans, only one is really a character and the other a general. Rest are Chinese.

I find them quite easy to get through, I listen to a fair few podcasts and they're a great companion when walking or doing house work. Audio books, for me, have been much the same way (and from a chore point quite good in that I'll activelly find a reason to do stuff so I can listen to a few chapters) There's a few minor quirks; there's been a part in "Three Body Problem" where the chapter is a redacted report ████ ██ and it doesn't really translate well in spoken word. Also in Dune trilogy there's (I think) a few voice actors but there's a few points where who they voice (or if they're doing the exposition) that throws you for a moment. Minor mid point edit: check your local library's website. Mine has access to Libby and Borrow ox, both have apps with ebooks, magazines and audio books. It's a freeway to check if you'd find audio books suitable. It's how I read Norse Mythology. However one issue is my local library seems to be mainly biographies and I don't much care for those. They currently have 5 sci-fi audio books, one is a David Walliams (well known for his sci-fi ) and another is, stupidly, the second book in the Three Body Problem trilogy... Also I think Spotify just put some as part of their premium subscription, if you have that. End mid point edit. Three Body Problem wise I'm quite enjoying it - it is a bit weird to start with (it starts during the Cultural Revolution) and my general unfamiliarity with chinese names did make it a bit hard at the start to remember who was who, but it's parseable now. There's some bits I'm quite interested to see how they'll work it for the Netflix show.

Picked up and enjoyed. I prefer Norse Mythology for it's "like being read bed time stories" kind of feel, and at times Fry gets a smidge academic with citations and such. Used to be into Greek myth as a kid so brought back some memories. (and tbf they're pretty pervasive in society too) Also completed the Dune trilogy too. I bet Jason Mamoa would be happy if Villeneuve was to make a full trilogy (Thought it'd be 6 films I guess based on length of just Dune). Now on "Three Body Problem".

Final video (I presume, given context) of the Frontier build. (it's a shame that given the model looks really good that it looks like a model in the final filming ) Full playlist here; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtitKU0CAejiJisqHdCX4O-1-zJzfW36

I quite like Jonathan's videos on the Royal Armouries channel and was waiting for his video on Starfield. Some good thoughts on certain weapons in space too. Bethesda games have always been a bit funky on guns - I would say this feels the most like they've had a proper thought on how these work. (this is also how I find out the Grendel is a P90, which given the SG-1 chat in Discord yesterday is something that has made me ashamed to not notice)

Soundtrack for when you're commuting to your non-space trucker job

General thoughts at 12hrs in; The instant there's a mod to change the names from "Silenced Grendel" "Modified Grendel" "Grendel" to "Grendel - Modified" "Grendel - Suppressed" I'm getting it. Explanation for the lockpicking minigame is obtuse. I think I've got the hang of it now but something that could have done with a visual tutorial. It's not as intuitive as the pick/hairpin of Fallout/TES. You kind of need to actively decide to explore. Like say Fallout you can be heading to a mission point and along the way find a library with super mutants and go explore that, then continue to your quest and stumble on a hut of cannibals and a note that activates a new quest, etc. But due to the navigation/jump drive thing it sort of means you very much go a direct to b, no Cs and Zs in the middle. I do like you can (assuming you're close enough) send stuff straight to your ship, and you can also sell stuff direct from your ship. Nice QoL. Though with the in-world thing of your ship having set storage (compared to a chest of infinite space that you get in TES/FO) Snowy really likes ensuring I'm healed up or picking the most suboptimal gun for a situation (he likes to step on my quick access keys) I'm liking the skill upgrade mechanism of doing challenges before you can upgrade to the next step. I dislike finding out that's how it works when I was wanting to spend more on carry weight They've really nailed how my home town looks. Probably needs proper maps for some of the set locations - New Atlantis is not fun to navigate. Had google so I could find out where my church was as the map for the area is just heigh dots with a few place markers. Which is fine for Random Planet Alpha III Seti with a few caves and oil rigs plopped about, but less so for major metropolitan area. Had a headache getting onto the NAT to change zones because while I could see it, it was 100ft below me behind inch thick glass and for the life of me I couldn't find it. Bonus is however: Fast travel mode of "point your scanner at a place - normally your ship - and zip straight there" is pretty neat. Do need a rover or something for planets though. I do like them cheating with the food design. Someone just said "make everything a cube, change the label to say "Apple" "Wine" "Mac n Cheese" and call it a day. Not got on to ship building and settler building just yet. I am somewhat chomping at the bit on that one but the game is happy to hold me off from that for now. Same with upgrades/mod benches too. I've got materials from casual mining but 95% of mods require base materials I've not had access to yet. Surprised there isn't a "break this item down" kind of option. Turn eggmund in plastics, circuit board, and wire or something.

It's not entirely like this as the GPU has been replaced (presumably that was the part that was cream crackered) but it otherwise pretty dang close. Nice bright white. Looks pretty slick. Has a glass side panel (wasn't expecting it, but hey ho). Specs as follows: Case: FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (WHITE) Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600KF (Up to 5.1GHz) 24MB Cache Motherboard: ASUS® PRIME B760-PLUS D4 (LGA1700, PCIe5.0, USB 3.2) Memory (RAM): 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (1 x 32GB) Graphics Card: 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 - HDMI, DP, LHR 1st M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W) Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY Power Cable: 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead) Processor Cooling: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition Thermal Paste: STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) Network Card: ONBOARD LAN PORT Wireless Network Card: WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 Gonna transfer my Blu-Ray drive over at some point too.

Snap. Unlocks 1am UK time so I won't get to it until after work tomorrow, but also due my PC back Saturday (I'll post about that proper once I get it back and hopefully not DOA this time) so I'm umming about whether to do that start on my min spec laptop for the start, or wait until PC is in and play from the start in full glory.

Currently listening to Dune. Got some free Audible credits in the Prime Day thing, so figured I'd make use of them. I tried reading Dune a while ago but couldn't get too far into it but a "free" audio version sort of hit my method for the moment and given I'm halfway through (I'm in "Part 2" and coming up to where the first film ends. Also 11hrs left of 21hr audio book). As an audio book it's pretty good - got a broad range of VAs*, and done various sound effects for environmental elements and each of the chapter starts with the various scriptures of Prince Irulan. Bookwise quite enjoying it, and interesting to see where the film has removed a couple things (though really not much) and added in a few bits ahead of time, or things from other peoples viewpoints. There's a lot of internal monologue though, especially Paul and Jessica, that are somewhat missing from the film though - but that's always a difficulty. Certainly is a source of a lot of common tropes, in the same way LotR is for fantasy. *I've also had Guards Guards! from the recent releases (the original audiobooks - back when they were more for blind people) was by Tony Robinson (Baldrick in Blackadder if you watch that). Whereas the new one is by John Culshaw, a British impressionist (and "Footnotes" voiced by Bill Nighty, and Death by Peter Serafinowicz - who I don't particularly rate as a good Death tbh). Culshaw does most of the voices; putting on different voices for each of the characters. I think I like Dunes more play style, though I can see where that might be difficult/expensive to pull together. I know there was an audio play done of Sandman, with a pretty solid cast (I think some made it into the TV series) that might be worth a listen, though I'm not sure how well the medium of comic would translate to audiobook. I actually got Neil Gaimans Norse Mythology from my local library (worth checking if they have an audio book service - mine has two, the services also do ebooks and magazines too. Though both are quite shallow except for Mills & Boon types and biographies). It was read by Neil Gaiman in full and was really quite good - sort of felt like he was reading you various bedtime stories. Also meant I got this joke too. (the lyrics are from a Panic at the Disco song, in case you're more familiar wit the myth). Got one last credit - thinking of picking up Three Body Problem, though the synopsis didn't wow me. Though it has been recommended in various channels, and there is the show out soon-ish. (I do have it on Kindle actually from one of their many 99p sales). If there's any audiobooks any of you have really enjoyed happy to take suggestions (might not utilise them though)

Yeah, it's sweet but clunky in ways that annoyed me after a while. And looking up my playtime, it's just shy of 10hrs for me, and a chunk of that will be me having a crack at wrapping up the final quests, so I'd say 8-9hrs long to get to the "end" with the namesake cloud catcher.

Figure I'd make a thread for this (surprised I hadn't already). Comes out in a few days (early release at least). I'm kinda hype (I am using it as a reason to get a new PC), I get that Bethesda stuff can be clunky but I kinda like the largeness of the worlds and coming across little weird bits and just immersing yourself in something for hours and hours. There's signs in some of the videos (especially their deep dive) this is likely still on Creation Engine (aka Gamebryo) so I'm sure it'll have some cute little bugs like being launched into space by putting down a sandwich (and not because you hit the "launch my ship into space" button). I'm curious to see what they'll do with the planet side of things - I'm figuring it'll be sort of in-betweens Mass Effects planets and No Mans Sky - they're many many planets, and some auto-generation for a few and some set pieces on others. figure that the auto-generated ones will be an evolution of the auto-quest thing they had in Skyrim and (annoyingly done) in FO4 with Garvey and his settlements in distress - so you'll have like "Bognor Regis III" with a space complex being attacked by pirates but it'll be nameless pirates and auto-cobbled together base. Looking forward to building my own space ship - it looks pretty intuitive and high customisable. And I'm enjoying they're not really pushing the main story side of things with the alien artefact ring things; I'm sure by now they have a ton of data that says no one ever found Shaun or got rid of Macho Man Randy Savage the dragons. Regular trailer: Deep Dive Tested (Adam Savage from MythBusters) has an ongoing series where they build up the default ship. It's been pretty fun so far. Especially if you're into prop building stuff - it's been broken into various steps so like 3D printing, lighting, painting, and is to culminate in them doing a motion control shoot with it.

Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicles Bought it in the recent "chill games" sale. It's one without any combat; all the beasties on the island are just for luring to your farm, and the "Murk" which is the bad stuff in the game is just an environmental obstacle. I'd say I've completed it purely because I got to the end of the story, but there's still loads for a completionist (got like 16 side quests still open, and one pretty much requires each part of the island to be 95% happy - which means building up all the farms, completing most the quests, and finding all the fairies) Overall an enjoyable fun game - one for if you're wanting nothing too intense or one for younger gamers. I'd say it could have done with a few bits of QoL improvements that make it a tad clunky (and definitely driving me off from completing the game as it'll just be purely grinding). A big one is you have various tools - hoes, hammers, sickles, pickaxe, seeds to plant, etc. But they're all on a row so if you're cracking open a stone with a hammer then go to pickaxe some ore you need to cycle through seven or so tools. Annoyingly it knows what tool you need for each as you get a thought bubble pop up each time you're near one - so not sure why it couldn't just have you auto-use that tool for that interaction. It has no fast travel per-se - but it's such a smallish interwoven island that it's kind of fine. There's some day/night activated beacons that connect to opposite ends of the island, and you can also do quests to unlock "sage stones" which take you to a hub world. They're not named so it's a bit hit and miss sometimes to come out at part of the island that you intended to (as you can't open the island map in the hub world). Farming isn't too complex - mainly involves kiting animals to your farm. I had only one farm set up though as it takes an inordinate amount of resources to be able to build any of the animal pens (resources required to do anything is basically why I have the quests left that I do. There's a bit of the island I'd like to visit but Iv'e already had to build a couple bridges and they use hundreds of "stone" before even turning that into the components of a bride). So yeah, it's chill for the main story. Not too difficult, but becomes a nightmare for the end game. Worth picking up for £10-15. It's on most platforms - a good gift for the younger gamers in your life (and they're probably fine with the grinding aspect. Gosh I know I was as a kid)

I remember Enslaved being quite fun. It's basically the "monkey king" story but with a western sci-fi twist. Also a wild as hell cameo at the end.

I've being binging a bunch of GMTK lately (apols to those in the Discord), and one series he has is around accessibility. It was flabbergasting when he highlighted that nu-Dooms "colourblind" solution was to apply a filter that emulated colourblindness... I'd say he has a pretty balanced view of where games might not entirely work and be expected to have accessibility options but dang is there a few egregious examples. It's more for the other thread but I do like and make use of the sound effect hints for Fortnite, and he's spot on about highlighting for all folks might rag on Ubisoft they do have audio accessibility enabled by default - like even when you disable the setting because it's baked into the game the newer ones will do their screen reader-ness until you're loaded up (and therefore your settings are applied).