#golf outing software

[mariacallous]

Some staffers at Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing robust taxpayer-funded salaries from the federal agencies they are slashing and burning, WIRED has learned.

Jeremy Lewin, one of the DOGE employees tasked with dismantling USAID, who has also played a role in DOGE’s incursions into the National Institutes of Health and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is listed as making just over $167,000 annually, WIRED has confirmed. Lewin is assigned to the Office of the Administrator within the General Services Administration.

Kyle Schutt, a software engineer at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is listed as drawing a salary of $195,200 through GSA, where he is assigned to the Office of the Deputy Administrator. That is the maximum amount that any “General Schedule” federal employee can make annually, including bonuses. “You cannot be offered more under any circumstances,” the GSA compensation and benefits website reads.

Nate Cavanaugh, a 28-year-old tech entrepreneur who has taken a visible internal role interviewing GSA employees as part of DOGE’s work at the agency, is listed as being paid just over $120,500 per year. According to DOGE’s official website, the average GSA employee makes $128,565 and has worked at the agency for 13 years.

When Elon Musk started recruiting for DOGE in November, he described the work as “tedious” and noted that “compensation is zero.” WIRED previously reported that the DOGE recruitment effort relied in part on a team of engineers associated with Peter Thiel and was carried out on platforms like Discord.

Since Trump took office in January, DOGE has overseen aggressive layoffs within the GSA, including the recent elimination of 18F, the agency’s unit dedicated to technology efficiency. It also developed a plan to sell off more than 500 government buildings.

Although Musk has described DOGE as “maximum transparent,” it has not made its spending or salary ranges publicly available. Funding for DOGE had grown to around $40 million as of February 20, according to a recent ProPublica report. The White House did not respond to questions about the salary ranges for DOGE employees or how the budget is allocated to pay them.

Some DOGE team members, including Musk, are designated as “Special Government Employees,” an advisory role limited to a 130-day work period. These positions can be paid or unpaid; SGEs drawing salaries above a certain grade have to file financial disclosure forms, but the volunteer workers do not. This type of employee is not beholden to the same rules as typical federal workers; they are allowed to keep drawing outside salaries and in some cases do not need to disclose conflicts of interest. Other prominent SGE staffers associated with DOGE include top aide Katie Miller, who continued her prior public relations work through the transition and more than a month into the current administration. Her firm’s clients had included Apple and a Saudi-funded golf league, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Other prominent DOGE staffers appear to be unpaid volunteers. Edward Coristine, Ethan Shaotran, Luke Farritor, Derek Geissler, and Nicole Hollander draw no salary through their assignments at the General Services Administration. (It is not currently known whether they are drawing salaries elsewhere within the government.) The agency now openly discusses the idea of compensation on its recruitment page, which describes “full-time, salaried positions for software engineers, InfoSec engineers, and other technology professionals.”

In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News last month, Musk claimed that "the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year and instead of earning a small fraction of that as federal employees." In Silicon Valley, the median salary for a software engineer hovers around $184,000, with workers a decade into their careers earning over $220,000, according to Glassdoor.

DOGE honcho Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of over $350 billion. Although Musk does not draw a salary for his work with DOGE, his business ventures often enjoy government support. The Washington Post recently reported that his companies have received more than $38 billion in government funding over the past two decades.

“It does seem worth understanding what these employees are being paid,” says Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan. “Especially if they are being paid significantly more than technologists who have been fired, given that many of the DOGE staff have less relevant experience.”

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

ooh how about a lil thing based on the dream i just told you about? reader fixes up glamrock bonnie and surprises freddy! (not in ruin timeline btw) idk man i think it’s such a cute idea and i even saw it firsthand! -galaxy

"Are you sure you don't remember...anything after you walked into Monty Golf?"

"Nope. I wish I knew, though..I would've loved to remember what exactly went down.." Glamrock Bonnie regrettably shook his head as he laid back in the chair within the Parts & Services' cylinder enclosure.

He then stared down at chestplate you had discarded, frowning at the gashes that were slashed across it. Even though he had a brand new one on (that you were currently shining with a rag), he would always remember having those nasty marks...despite not knowing where they came from.

In fact, neither of you knew who could have left them.

Your immediate assumption was Monty, but then again...everybody and their mother who regularly visited the Pizzaplex suspected him, too.

The running theory was that he got jealous of Bonnie's role in the band and wanted to get rid of him--or at least break him down enough to no longer be functional enough to play his bass guitar.

Of course, the gator had his temper tantrums from time to time and always admired Freddy's role as the leader and the praise he's given Bonnie, but you couldn't fathom him being capable of something like this.

Not to mention how it didn't make sense for him to destroy the rabbit in the golf course...and then drag him all the way to the bowling alley, only to dump him inside a hidden room that none of them could have possibly known about.

Even you weren't aware that room existed.

Or at least..not until you went around the Pizzaplex to do maintenance on each and every Wet Floor Bot, as your manager complained about them experiencing simultaneous malfunctions. He just told you to shut them down so they could be collected later.

Somehow, they were the key to you finding Bonnie in that area, and there were still several active bots surrounding his damaged body.

It was strange, as though his software was tethered to theirs.

You weren't sure if this was some kind of "backup" plan or what, but you were relieved to find him alive--just barely hanging onto whatever percentage he had left on his battery, but still alive.

All the questions you had would have to wait.

What mattered most was getting approval to repair him, and to your surprise..management allowed it so long as you fixed him overnight and didn't talk about him too much with your coworkers.

Especially not in front of the guests.

The only other person on duty tonight was Vanessa, but she was usually doing her own stuff. She never talked to you much (aside from making a offhanded comment about how management was gonna explain his "disappearance"), so you weren't worried about her storming in and disrupting your work.

It took several nights' worth of blood, sweat, oil, and tears...but you finally completed all the necessary steps in repairing Bonnie.

Now he was ready to exit the cylinder.

You beamed with pride as you watched him step out and walk around for a bit, his ears flopping. "So...how do you feel, big guy?"

"Like a brand new bunny! Thank you, [y/n]." He turned to face you, although his smile faltered a bit. "But I've been wonderin'...how's Freddy doing? Does he still...?"

"He still talks about you a lot..every time he passes by the bowling alley or ice cream parlor, in fact."

"...awh..do ya think I'll be able to see him anytime soon? I know nobody's supposed to know I'm still here, but-"

"They only said guests, they never said anything about your bandmates." Your smile grew tenfold as you watched his ears perk up. "I already called him. He should be here right about-"

*SLAM*

"Now."

"I'm here, [y/n]. What....."

After walking through the double doors, Freddy suddenly stopped in his tracks, taking in the sight of a certain blue bunny who stared right back at him with the widest red eyes. Both of their mouths were agape in shock.

For a few long moments, there was total silence in the room--aside from the overhead lights and machines electronically buzzing in the background.

You stood by the computer terminal, starting to grow a little worried that this might be too overwhelming for either of them to handle.

Maybe you should have waited.

Or-

"B...Bonnie?"

"Yup. It's me, Freddy. I'm back."

"Bonnie!!"

And just like that...all of your initial fears quickly dispersed as the two embraced each other, teary-eyed with the biggest smiles on their faces.

"Y-You're back...you're really here.." Freddy whispered in both disbelief and relief, putting his hands on the bunny's shoulders. "What happened to you? I thought...y-you were dismantled and-"

"I'm afraid I don't have any answers, buddy." With a slight pout, he shook his head, desperately wishing he had more to tell him. "My memory's all scrambled from the time I went to Monty Golf to right now.....I'd call whatever happened to me was just..one big accident. But I'm here now."

"....yes..that's what matters right now. Nothing else. Nobody here has forgotten you, my friend. The children, Chica...oh, Bonnie-" Freddy choked out, eyebrows furrowed as he pulled him into another embrace. "They...we all missed you so much. I missed you."

"Awh, shucks..don't start cryin' again, pal. Cause that'll make me cry, too." Bonnie smiled sweetly.

After they both let go, he turned back to you. "[Y/n] just got through repairin' me. I owe 'em for finding me in some room that was off-limits to us..I'd probably still be there if it weren't for their little detective work."

"Of course, thank you so much, [y/n]." Freddy looked to you, grinning from ear-to-ear.

You just smiled and waved politely from your spot beside the terminal, happy that their reunion went better than expected.

There were times during Bonnie's repair process where you felt like throwing in the towel or pawning off the job to someone else. It was frustrating as hell, especially when you had to turn off his safety protocols and nearly got killed several times.

But seeing Freddy's reaction made all those painstaking hours worthwhile.

[arkus-rhapsode]

So wasn't expecting to make this Gaming Hot Take of the day but after reading this from Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki I gotta be honest I had to write something

So look, I can kinda understand this stance in a very retrospective sense as he says "Fostered from the beginning." Playstation 1 in particular didn't really make a big distinction between its original IP and its Third Party IP. It's why you had Crash Bandicoot or Cloud Strife as basically the mascot of Playstation when both come from third parties. Compared to the likes of Mario and Sonic who were not only their console mascot, but company mascots respectively.

But by now, Playstation has an undeniable back catalogue of first and second IP that it can either revive or rerelease if need be. Like if we're looking at like multi entry series and not just one offs, by the PS2, Sony had:

Jak & Daxter

Twisted Metal

Ape Escape

Sly Cooper

MediEvil

Wild Arms

Dark Cloud

Everybody's Golf

God of War

Rachet and Clank

And by the PS3 we have

Infamous

Uncharted

Killzone

Resistance

Little Big Planet

Like Sony has their own catalogue that can stand on its own. Its not like they should be struggling now to play catch up.

Now if you read my recent Emio and Mages post, I am very well aware that in the age of modern gaming, a game doesn't get made without a team devoted to it. And with the rising production and time costs of making games, no company can release a hundred games and be profitable. So sadly some IP just do fall by the wayside in favor of others. Guerrilla Games isn't making Killzone anymore, because their efforts are spent on Horizon and Sucker Punch went from being the Sly Cooper guys to the Infamous guys, to now the Ghosts of Tsushima guys.

However, I feel like Sony has had some circumstances that compound this problem. Sony and Playstation are technically powerful machines-they want to fully utilize the hardware they're selling you for hundreds of dollars. It is their brand. However, the downside to this is because of this the rise in production costs, it's now taking much longer to make games that make use of the powerful hardware. We went from being able to release a full trilogy in a single generation to basically one. Its also made worse by the fact that Sony has been very active in shuttering studios and cutting costs. The biggest would be the loss of Sony Japan Studio, who were beloved for their more varied Japanese-y style games. It added flavor to the more Naughty Dog inspired games of the sixth and seventh generation. But now, Sony went all in on being that one big budget release that leaned more towards broader genres that could maximize the amount of sales like Uncharted, The Last of Us, Spider-Man, etc.

With this, a lot of mismanagement, its really made the PS5 era feel very sparse compared to the PS4. Now, I wanna stress this, I actually do not subscribe to the mentality "Playstation has no games." Playstation has tons of games beyond just their first party titles, some are exclusive like Final Fantasy 16, some are just way too powerful to be something that could be played on a switch like GTAV. Heck, I played Bomb Rush Cyberfunk on my PS5 and it's probably the game I've dumped the most time into this year. So yes, even if Playstation's first party offerings are few and far between, you're still capable of playing a lot of good games on this really expensive plastic box.

And maybe that's indicative of the fact that Playstation has always been about selling you the hardware on the basis of the hardware. Going back to the PS1, the main selling points was this was the haven for third parties after Nintendo really burned a lot of developers with the N64, and that this was a much more system than the N64. When you look at someone like Nintendo now, they're hardware is underpowered they live and die by the power of their software that only they can provide and no one else. But the playstation even if its not shooting out a new Jax & Daxter every year, they're still the place you can play something like Final Fantasy or Elden Ring at a really great clip. Perhaps Totoki was alluding to that reliance on hardware instead of software because in retrospect, they never really had that big homegrown system seller on playstation till the PS2 with things like God of War. And now fostering that, has made it hard to have that sort of Zelda or Halo that are so undeniably their companies IP and will move launch units.

But a reliance on just being the place where you can play games at a high fidelity, means that its still got competition from Xbox and PC. So Sony would have to offer a service the others don't and that can be software you find nowhere else. True story, I was genuinely conflicted about getting a PS5 or and Xbox X/S for my birthday because I knew I needed to at least have a strong machine to play with my switch. And ultimately I took PS5 because that was the console that would have God of War Ragnarok and Spider-Man 2. So yes, IP absolutely factors into purchases in my experience. And the fact that this generation Sony has really struggled to put out first party games, really makes that purchase factor feel so much thinner and thinner. When you know-you know Sony has loads of IP (Some that haven't left their respective console) that even a simple remaster on the PS5 could at least hold people over in-between their AAA releases. So to hear their CFO say that they don't have enough IP, gets very disingenuous.

To close this out, I wanna stress something. I don't think wanting to make new IP is a bad thing. Im glad Sony is willing to invest 8 years and millions of dollars into something new. But eventually, we reach a point where this has to be better managed. We have to have some smaller titles that can be released between the bigger ones. We gotta have some variation in the types of games we're getting from the platform holder. And sometimes leaning in on those fan faves for smaller titles would help. Are they gonna sell 10 million units? More than likely not. But if you balance the budget, having something move between 1-2 million units would be acceptable. Perhaps maybe allow more second party developers a crack at using that IP so your internal teams can work on the bigger blockbuster titles?

The PS5 generation has been a pretty all over the map one for Sony, and the more we learn about the thoughts and management behind the scenes, the more aggravating it can become when this platform does something really cool, but then seems to take two steps back. I genuinely can't tell you if I'll get a PS6. But if I do, it will probably not be out of optimism for classic Playstation franchises to return.

[kdinjenzen]

just saw your post about how Golden Sun is on the switch now. would you be cool with telling us more about it?

(i struggle to get into media that is new to me without knowing a bit about it first, and it's usually best when i hear it from someone who loves the media in question)

Golden Sun began as a two-part Game Boy Advance JRPG series starting with 2001's "Golden Sun" and ending the first arc with "Golden Sun: The Lost Age" in 2002. The second arc of the story began with "Golden Sun: Dark Dawn" on the Nintendo DS released in 2010 and is the last title in the series to this date with an unfortunate "The End?" cliffhanger suggesting the closure of the series as a whole would come with a FOURTH game to be released at some point in time. To this day there has been no true word on a fourth title to finally finish the series.

The Golden Sun series of games were developed by Camelot Software whom originally were a Sega Only Developer specifically focusing on the "Shining" series starting with Shining in the Darkness in 1991 and ending with Shining Force III in 1998.

Camelot Software then became a Second-Party Development Studio for Nintendo focusing on the Mario Sports series of titles including both the home console and handheld versions of these games, beginning with Mario Golf in 1999.

Camelot Software was also the creator of the Waluigi character who first appeared in Mario Tennis in 2000. (They also created both the UNSEEN version and now KNOWN versions of Wapeach for Mario Tennis and Power Tennis respectively.)

The game series was created with the intent of allowing Camelot to get back to their roots or more RPG style games and to bolster the Nintendo IP owned roster with diverse gameplay titles. Much of Golden Sun's style can be seen in Camelot's older "Shining" titles with a more evolved and "of the era" style. Golden Sun was originally being conceived as a Nintendo 64 title before it was revealed that the Game Cube would be releasing soon and the N64 would be sunset. Development then moved to the GBA.

Originally Golden Sun and The Lost Age were intended to be ONE GAME, but the cartridge space on the GBA was too small and would need far more memory to whole the full game so the idea to split it in two was devised to create a much more well rounded story, give devs more time to finish the latter half of the game, and get the first title out sooner.

Golden Sun (as a series) is fairly simple and follows more traditional JRPG standards of turn based battles, a party of four characters, elemental magic, leveling up, and various collectable armors and creatures to enhance characters in and out of battle.

Elements are a key point to both gameplay and story as the world is inhabited by a small amount of "Adepts" whom can control these elements based on four types: Wind, Earth, Fire, and Water.

Djinni, small elemental creatures, can be found all over the world that will add new abilities and skills to the party's Psynergy (the game equivalent of magic spells) as well as used as parts of larger summons.

The main plot of the first title follows Isaac and Garet, years after the tragic loss of Isaac's father and their mutual friend Jenna's brother and parents being killed in a storm, as they learn more about their town, the world around them, psynergy, and the history of Mt Aleph's Sol Sanctum (a temple hidden within mountain near their small village) from one of the village's historians Kraden.

After opening up Sol Sanctum they are approached by two people who were part of the cause that ended up taking the lives of Isaac's dad and Jenna's family, a third masked figure, and their presumed fourth partner who are currently hunting for the Elemental Stars in an effort to light all the Elemental Lighthouses and releasing the power of Alchemy and Psynergy (again, the game's magic system) across the world which could be potentially disastrous.

After most of the Elemental Stars are stolen, Jenna and their teacher Kraden are kidnapped, Garet and Isaac meet "The Wise One" (a giant floating rock with an eyeball) who tasks them to stop the opposing party of four before they can attain their goal and quite possibly doom the world.

Along this journey they are eventually joined by Ivan, a young Wind Adept, and Mia an expert healer and Water Adept. Between these two and Isaac, an Earth Adept, and Garet, a Fire Adept, the party is able to round out with the full elemental psynergy roster.

They end the first game with a cliff hanger that directly and immediately starts back up with Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

The Lost Age features 4 new party members, who you do meet some of in the first game (no spoilers), and eventually the two teams of four merge into a team of 8 (two of each elemental type) - the groups combine their powers and the first arc ends.

Dark Dawn, the DS title, takes place 30 years after the end of The Lost Age and primarily follows around the children of the protagonists from the first two games going on an adventure that started far before their birth with something that happened at the end of The Lost Age.

Each game features both in and out of combat use of Psynergy. For combat it's as simple as attack/defend/buff/heal/etc. Outside of combat certain elements of Psynergy are used to solve puzzles in various ways from growing plants, pushing large stones, reading character's minds, blowing away objects with great winds, freezing water to create new platforms, etc.

The game features lots of fun collectables, side-quests, world building events, optional dungeons, and more.

I could go on and on about this series more, but that would involve a TON of spoilers so like... GO PLAY THE GAMES! THEY ARE VERY FUN!

[dmonet-macitan]

its been six years since i made my evil ass golf with your friends map and im still patching it whenever a map editor update comes out.

if you ever wondered what a software dev job is like this is it actually

[violettathepiratequeen]

May 25th, 2025

Hello there, gentle viewers! Welcome back to Buffy Slays, where I’ll be going through all 144 episodes of BtVS over the course of a year, highlighting as many of the GOOD moments, lines, character choices, worldbuilding moments, etc. etc. as I think people will have the patience to read. 

So, here we go! 

Season 2, Episode 11, “Ted.”

When Buffy's mother is romanced by a computer software salesman named Ted, Buffy's uneasy feelings prompt her to look into his past. (Pulled from Hulu.)

If you're reading along and haven't finished the show, consider this your Spoiler Warning for discussion of future episodes and major plot points in any and all of these posts.

Episode Number: #23 Episode Ranking: #134 out of 144. Writer: David Greenwalt & Joss Whedon

Top 5 Quotes:

“You make me feel bad that I don’t feel better.” —Miss Calendar

“Buffy, I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming, uh, text.” —Giles

“But I'm sure it wasn't your fault. He started it.” “Yeah, that defense only works in six-year-old court, Will.”—Willow and Buffy

“That's right, little lady, you killed me. Do we have something to say about that? Are we sorry?” —Ted

“I guess you should know, since you helped raise that demon that killed that guy that time?” “Yes, do let's bring that up as often as possible.” —Cordelia and Giles

How “Ted” Slays:

Buffy’s Overalls of Sadness. I don’t know a lot about clothes or fashion in general, but I do know that so much of the time, what Buffy wears reflects what she's feeling or going through inside. The term “Overalls of Sadness” is not mine and is something I’ve seen floating around in this fandom, but at least three times in her high school years, she wears these baggy, shapeless dungarees when she’s deeply upset about something. And this episode is the first occurrence, when she thinks she’s killed a human Ted. Reverting back to the innocent child she aches to be, or just thinking she doesn’t deserve to be beautiful or girly while wearing them, I’m not sure, but either way they’re a big screaming signal to me that she needs to be hugged and taken care of, and I love her in these overalls so much.

Buffy’s besties. Who come over to hang at her house at the beginning of the episode. Who instantly click with Ted, talking animatedly to him and gushing about their interests, and letting him take them mini golfing. Of course, this guy is a sick twisted robot and he’s drugging them into complacency, but the fact that it just feels so normal to have Willow and Xander vibing with the boyfriend of their best friend’s mom is really great. Because if he was an actual potential stepdad who enjoyed having them hang around and liking his cooking, I bet they would eat that right up, so starved for parental attention as they are, my poor loves.

Giles’ role in this episode is curiously elsewhere while all the drama with Buffy’s potential father figure is going on, but when he’s not with Jenny, he’s still looking after Buffy. He accompanies her on patrol while she takes out her Ted frustrations on the vamps, and listens to her rant about vampires and their stupid mini pizzas. Giles knows she’s not talking about the vampires anymore, and presumably he does know about Ted because his kids tell him everything, but he simply asks Buffy what’s bothering her. When she deflects, he presses again, asking if there’s anything she wants to share. After Ted’s supposed murder, Giles announces that Buffy’s in no state to patrol, and loads up a bag of weapons, heading out on her behalf. This episode very much could have been angled towards the fact that Giles is the only stepdad Buffy will accept, but instead he stays out of most of it… and yet takes care of her anyway. The parallel of Buffy walking in on her mother kissing Ted in the beginning, and then walking in on Giles kissing Jenny at the end, equally disturbed by both, is another indication of this. She has to watch both her respective parents kissing other people, and when Giles and Joyce actually kiss each other in Band Candy, Buffy is even more wigged by that, haha!

When Ted invites the Scoobies for mini-golf, Buffy tries to come up with an excuse not to go, but all she can say is “Unfortunately we have to do that… thing on Saturday.” She gives Willow a meaningful look, who catches on and offers helpfully, “Oh, that thing. That thing!” and gives Xander the same meaningful look. And Xander waves it off, saying “We can do that thing anytime. I’m tired of doing that thing,” in a twist of the “clueless friend” trope that I adore to death, because Xander is not clueless, he catches onto their ruse right away and recognizes that his role is to play along, but he really wants to go golfing and have mini pizzas so he absolutely destroys it for them, without ratting them out. This is the kind of writing that makes for interesting characters and interactions!

Jenny and Giles. She sees through his flimsy excuse to come visit her, and says it makes her feel worse to see his puppy eyes when he fusses over her. He’s meek and apologetic, saying he didn’t mean to make “dog eyes” at her, and I absolutely believe him, but, my dude, you’re giving her puppy eyes while saying that line. He’s so fretful and concerned, and I love that for him, but then Jenny gives him honestly one of my favorite lines in the whole show. “You make me feel bad that I don’t feel better.” Which I think, a lot of the time, is what others’ worry feels to those of us with mental or chronic or even terminal illnesses. It’s nice in small doses, a recognition of our suffering and brokenness, but ultimately makes us feel bad that we don’t feel better, especially because we know we’re causing other people pain, causing them to worry and fuss over us when we’re already doing and shouldering all we can. So anyway, I love this line, and this interaction. But then, of course, Jenny later follows Giles on patrol, startling him and blurting out that she wants to apologize for dismissing his worries and being harsh! And in spite of what I said about loving her line, I love this too, because she has been shutting him out, something poor Giles just simply hasn’t known how to handle, and he deserves that apology. He’s attacked by a vampire and Jenny pulls out a crossbow in an attempt to help, only to shoot Giles instead, which she’s also extremely apologetic for. She laughs as he leans on her and she takes him to the hospital, saying he really knows how to woo a girl back, teasing and flirting in the way she’s always done with him, and we know they’re gonna be okay. 

Xander gives Cordelia a genuine compliment on her outfit, which throws her. He has several other disparaging comments about her clothes when he’s still in the phase of hating her, so I love that first of all, he’s aware enough to know that girls, and particularly this girl, like to be complimented on their clothes. And second of all, he only says mean stuff about her clothes when they’re fighting, but it’s not actually what he thinks. I love a guy who tries, that’s all, and Xander truly tries his best.

As part of her investigation of Ted, Buffy goes down to his office and has to make up a lie about being a temp for the day when someone strikes up a conversation with her. She is known to suck at undercover, but I really enjoy this scene. A middle-aged office dude who’s probably been there for twenty years, instead of giving her a hard time or bossing her around or trying to mansplain anything to her, gives her a friendly greeting, recognizing that she hasn’t been here before. And when Buffy asks about Ted, he’s only too happy to share her hatred of the guy, and give her the info he knows. I’m so pleased with this random character, and I enjoy how seamlessly Buffy slips into that office to get the facts she needed, and it’s not even a very remarkable scene! But it’s executed flawlessly.

Buffy on the swing. She patrolled with Giles after first meeting Ted, and took out her frustrations on the vampires. And now she’s wanting to work out some more frustrations when Ted says he’s thinking about marrying her mother, but all we see is her alone on a swing in a park, holding a stake and calling out softly, “Vampires? Heeeere, vampires!” And just like when she wears the Overalls of Sadness, I want to hug her and love her and not let her be so damn ALONE. 

When Ted “comes back to life” Joyce is overjoyed, and bewildered, and instantly claims that Buffy never meant to hurt him. And for a second, he’s all calm and reassuring and the man that Joyce is falling in love with. Until suddenly he isn’t, suddenly he’s insisting they leave, and that he already packed all her clothes for her. Joyce is still in the dark about supernatural activity and she’s still reeling from shock and grief and feelings for this guy, but she catches on that something’s wrong and he’s being a creep. And instead of confronting him, she tries to pacify him, saying she’d better just go upstairs to get her things, when in reality she was trying to go call the police. At least the second instance this season, with School Hard being the first, of Joyce recognizing the danger she and Buffy are in, and handling it calmly and resourcefully despite having no idea what’s wrong. And that’s definitely a win for her character, especially in yet another episode that doesn’t put her in the greatest light.

Ted’s 50’s middle-aged suburban family guy phrases. “Hell of a day! Makes you feel like you’re eighteen again!” “Want a little gravy with that?” “How about a nice game of parcheesi?” These don’t appear until Buffy’s ripped him open and left his wires showing, meaning he’s starting to short-circuit, and go back to probably his original programming. It’s disconcerting to hear these phrases though while he’s openly threatening Buffy and Joyce, and even dying right at the very end. It gives him that extra level of creepy, that underlying note that he really was messed up from the very beginning, even under all that nice family man exterior, and just adds an extra level of brilliance to this episode.

The Scoobies so often take just a little bit too long to realize that Buffy’s intuition is right about the bad stuff happening, and this episode is no exception… except that they were drugged. And it’s nice to see that as soon as the effects started to wear off and they realize what’s going on, they’re on board with her, all the way. Willow starts looking into Ted and how he could be evil, and Xander finds the bodies of Ted’s first four wives in a closet. Cordelia is still trying to avoid Xander and their humiliating kisses, but even without being drugged, she comes with them to investigate Ted’s house, and helps find his secret underground bunker. And it’s just great to have an example showing that when the Scoobies are thinking clearly, they do what they do best, which is research and investigate until they find the answers to Buffy’s questions, leaving her to slay whatever beast is running around.

The ending scene, of Buffy and Joyce eating snap peas on the porch, in such a sweet and domestic moment between them. They’re at odds the whole episode, and Joyce’s drugged complacency made her say some stuff to Buffy she shouldn't have, but at the end, all is forgiven. And Joyce wants to watch a movie with her daughter, something that has no romance or horror or men in it. And it’s just a nice little window into their lives when there’s nothing terrible going on; only the aftermath of it where they can just be, and recover together.

Evil Stepparents:

There’s an “evil stepmother” (or stepfather) trope for a reason, that’s in all kinds of myths, fairy tales, and hell, even Shakespeare. Of course there are some cases IRL where it works out that the subsequent spouse of a parent is great and works out just fine with their children, and I need to slap on the disclaimer right now that I am in NO WAY belittling those; I know they exist, and I’m happy they exist!

… but in many cases, it’s not ideal. And almost never does it go well in stories. 

This episode is one of the worst of the show, in my opinion; it’s tough to watch and Ted is just creepy and uncomfortable the whole way through. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love what it’s showing. Buffy’s mom has a new boyfriend, one who looks nice and normal, who cooks and gets along with her friends, who asks how Buffy’s day is going and takes them mini-golfing. And she hates him from minute one. She hates that he’s there, she hates that he’s so perfect and that everyone loves him. She rants about him to Giles and Angel and this is all before even we the audience see that there’s anything actually wrong with him.

And of course, Buffy being Buffy, she’s right about him being up to no good. And the Hellmouth being the Hellmouth, he’s actually a robot who has been kidnapping women for years. Which makes this an extremely satisfying tale to anyone who has ever hated their stepparents and were convinced they were evil, because Buffy gets to kill him, twice, and no one ever hears from him again.

But even if he wasn’t a robot. Even if he wasn’t actually bad. Buffy feels uncomfortable with him there, she doesn’t want to accept him by eating his food, and she’s upset with her mother for finding another partner. Something she will work through by S5 when her mother goes on a date with Brian from her gallery, but right now Buffy is still growing up. She still feels the sting of her parents’ divorce, and thinks longingly of when they were all one big happy family. Angel suggests to her that maybe her mother needs someone in her life to make her feel not so lonely, and Buffy begrudgingly admits that he’s right, but it’s still rough on her.

Angel also asks if there’s anyone Buffy would think was good enough for her mother, and Buffy’s answer is “my dad.” Which is so interesting… because she knows her dad has been a little absent in her life, I’m sure she knows that her parents weren’t happy and needed to be apart, and as soon as Angel gives her a pitying look for her answer, she immediately backtracks, saying she knows it’ll never happen. But the little girl in her still wants that: her parents happy and together and taking care of her.

If Ted had been Joe Normal, kind and fun and genuinely loving her and her mother, Buffy still would have hated him and wanted him gone, and she would have been within her rights to do so.

Because no stepparent can make up for the real thing, no matter how great they are. And a lot of the time, their stepchildren are just gonna see them as evil.

Killing a Human:

There’s a point in this episode where Buffy thinks she killed Ted, who at the time she still thought was human, normal, innocent, even if she’d just been waiting for him to give her a reason to fight him. But she didn’t mean to hurt him, definitely didn’t mean to kill him, and she walks around in this numb, tearful state after it happens, in her trademark Overalls of Sadness. She hated the guy, and yet she feels terrible for his death. Joyce tries to cover for her to the police, claiming that Ted just fell, but Buffy immediately confesses to hitting him, allowing herself to be brought in for questioning.

She’s horrified with herself, and tearfully apologetic and sorrowful over the death of a man she wanted gone, and although she’s been careful not to deliver a killing blow to a human before now, this is the first we see of how much she truly does try to spare humans from death at her hands.

It’s why she will be so bothered by Faith killing Allan in Bad Girls, and her own perceived murder of Katrina in Dead Things. It’s why she tries to save the groundskeeper in the Pack, and the swim coach in Go Fish. Why she can’t kill Ben in the Gift. Why she argues so hard against killing Warren in Villains. Why when Anya became a demon again, Buffy waits until she’s actually killing people in Selfless before attempting to slay her. 

Why in Touched, when Spike tells her there are always casualties in war, she stresses the fact that he makes it sound so casual, but these are girls that she’s getting killed.

She cares, deeply, for any and all humans, even the truly terrible ones. And that’s not a Slayer thing, because we will see other Slayers and Potentials who are more focused on the death of demons than the collateral damage of humans. It’s just Buffy, just her own Buffy heart, her own human empathy. The warrior in her will know not to cry over the deaths of those she’s fighting in battle and the general in her will recruit people to her war that she knows will die for her. The Slayer in her, obviously, fights and kills demons and vampires and humanoid creatures every day. She’s very familiar with death, blood, guts, and the fleetingness of life and existence in general.

But Buffy Summers will always hurt for the deaths of the innocent, and will bend over backwards to avoid delivering the fatal blow on any human she doesn’t have to. 

Because it absolutely crushes her when she kills someone, and this episode is the first to show it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that’s a wrap on Episode 23! Thank you so much for reading this far!

Previous: “What’s My Line? Part 2.”

Next up: “Bad Eggs.” 

(Credit for GIFs in this post: @detectivedawnsummers)

[retrogamerj]

Retro Corner: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy) Review

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we check out a classic Game Boy game. This is Super Mario Land 2 that saw a release in 1992 and showcased improved gameplay and broad visuals. For some reason the Plumber’s series always reminded me of this current season. It’s the same thing for Kirby as the little pink wonder always gives me that vibe. Maybe it’s the music, the visual style, or the atmosphere the Plumber usually finds himself in. Then again Spring is when people start doing sports stuff like golf, tennis, and kart racing. Ironically, Mario and his friends already do that stuff, so these thoughts are where they are probably coming from. Despite the first game was originally available on NSO, this makes sense to put the second game out first. At best the original Mario Land was nothing more than a novelty game with a short length. So, was complaining about a novelty game really worth it now that some of you experienced the original for the first time? Most will simply go back to why Pokemon, Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing is not available still. Don’t forget about them using roll eyes or laughing crying emojis and memes because giving proper criticism isn’t “kewl” enough. While the truth is the game was given a great score here on the site, the first SML being a novelty isn't a software you want to start the service with. Honestly, at the time I would rather have the first Wario Land on NSO than the original SML.

For SML2, this was another textbook definition of an improved sequel that was using the SMB3/World template. That is what sold the Game Boy due in part to the software being different then their console counterparts. It often was the standard for studios to release scaled down versions of the console games as seen by Mortal Kombat. However, Nintendo and a few third parties still developed separate games on the handhelds, so they are exclusive. The theme is where we get introduced to Wario who Mario in the instruction manual claims was a rival of his growing up. As Mario was going through Sarasaland to save Princess Daisy from an alien overlord, Wario seized the castle in his land. He also brainwashed the citizens and removed the six golden coins to keep the castle locked up. Can Mario adventure through his own kingdom, retrieve the six golden coins, and evict Wario to save the land?

Super Mario Land 2 (Game Boy) Review

[this-week-in-rust]

This Week in Rust 596

Hello and welcome to another issue of This Week in Rust! Rust is a programming language empowering everyone to build reliable and efficient software. This is a weekly summary of its progress and community. Want something mentioned? Tag us at @thisweekinrust.bsky.social on Bluesky or @ThisWeekinRust on mastodon.social, or send us a pull request. Want to get involved? We love contributions.

This Week in Rust is openly developed on GitHub and archives can be viewed at this-week-in-rust.org. If you find any errors in this week's issue, please submit a PR.

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Updates from Rust Community

Foundation

Project Director Update — April 2025

Project/Tooling Updates

Gitoxide April 2025

Askama and Rinja merge

rust-analyzer changelog #282

Observations/Thoughts

Two ways of interpreting visibility in Rust

Does using Rust really make your software safer? - Blog - Tweede golf

Body::poll_progress

ratatui: are we embedded yet?

Zig -> allocators -> Rust ergonomics

Marching Events: What does iCalendar have to do with ray marching?

[audio] Nushell with WindSoilder

[audio] Microsoft with Victor Ciura

Rust Walkthroughs

Implementation of Rust panics in the standard library

How a GraphQL DataLoader works

Implementing a GraphQL DataLoader the hard way

Crate of the Week

This week's crate is Maycoon, an experimental vello/wGPU-based UI framework.

Thanks to DraftedDev for the self-suggestion!

Please submit your suggestions and votes for next week!

Calls for Testing

An important step for RFC implementation is for people to experiment with the implementation and give feedback, especially before stabilization.

If you are a feature implementer and would like your RFC to appear in this list, add a call-for-testing label to your RFC along with a comment providing testing instructions and/or guidance on which aspect(s) of the feature need testing.

No calls for testing were issued this week by Rust, Rust language RFCs or Rustup.

Let us know if you would like your feature to be tracked as a part of this list.

RFCs

Rust

Rustup

If you are a feature implementer and would like your RFC to appear on the above list, add the new call-for-testing label to your RFC along with a comment providing testing instructions and/or guidance on which aspect(s) of the feature need testing.

Call for Participation; projects and speakers

CFP - Projects

Always wanted to contribute to open-source projects but did not know where to start? Every week we highlight some tasks from the Rust community for you to pick and get started!

Some of these tasks may also have mentors available, visit the task page for more information.

If you are a Rust project owner and are looking for contributors, please submit tasks here or through a PR to TWiR or by reaching out on X (formerly Twitter) or Mastodon!

CFP - Events

Are you a new or experienced speaker looking for a place to share something cool? This section highlights events that are being planned and are accepting submissions to join their event as a speaker.

If you are an event organizer hoping to expand the reach of your event, please submit a link to the website through a PR to TWiR or by reaching out on X (formerly Twitter) or Mastodon!

Updates from the Rust Project

465 pull requests were merged in the last week

Compiler

avoid overflow when generating debuginfo for expanding recursive types

deref patterns: implement implicit deref patterns

fix wrong "move keyword" suggestion for async gen block

improve parse errors for stray lifetimes in type position

make #[naked] an unsafe attribute

rewrite on_unimplemented format string parser

Miri

miri: implement file deletion on Windows

miri: use std-declared intrinsics rather than copying the declaration

Library

add next_index to Enumerate

add retries to remove and create dir all

sync::mpsc: prevent double free on Drop

implement Default for raw pointers

implement pin!() using super let

stabilize -Zdwarf-version as -Cdwarf-version

stabilize cfg_boolean_literals

stabilize naked_functions

simd intrinsics with mask: accept unsigned integer masks, and fix some of the errors

add vec_extract, vec_insert, vec_promote and vec_insert_and_zero

Cargo

use zlib-rs for gzip compression in rust code

Rustdoc

fix error when an intra doc link is trying to resolve an empty associated item

rustdoc-json: output target feature information

support inlined cross-crate re-exported trait aliases

Clippy

clippy: bool_to_int_with_if: properly handle macros

clippy: empty_enum_variants_with_brackets: Do not lint reachable enums and enum variants used as functions in the same crate

clippy: iter_kv_map: recognize references on maps as well

clippy: manual_ok_err: don't lint subpatterns

clippy: match_single_binding: allow macros in scrutinee and patterns

clippy: missing_asserts_for_indexing: consider assert_eq!() as well

clippy: ptr_cast_constness: show snippet from the right context

clippy: build complete usable type from a type-relative prefix

clippy: check for lifetime uses in closures as well

clippy: do not recurse forever in significant_drop_tightening

clippy: fix question_mark suggesting when type is behind Deref include parentheses

clippy: fix: unnecessary_lazy_evaluations suggests wrongly for async closure

clippy: make borrow_as_ptr flag implicit casts as well

clippy: new lint: redundant_test_prefix

clippy: new lint: swap_with_temporary

clippy: replace interning of string literals with preinterned symbols

Rust-Analyzer

rust-analyzer: add semicolon to use

rust-analyzer: allow training PGO on a custom crate and enable it Windows on CI

rust-analyzer: allow using null to unset an environment variable

rust-analyzer: build aarch64 builds on CI with PGO

rust-analyzer: don't ignore config values that fail to parse

rust-analyzer: add pub(crate) mod option for unlinked files

rust-analyzer: allow unsetting env vars in server.extraEnv config

rust-analyzer: enhance signature help to display generic parameters for callables and default values for generic args

rust-analyzer: parse super let

rust-analyzer: parse generic consts

rust-analyzer: Extract into function include inline variable in fmt macro

rust-analyzer: fix completion_snippets_custom config always erroring

rust-analyzer: fix a bug with predicate lowering of associated items

rust-analyzer: fix a panic when a trait method in an impl declares a lifetime parameter not in the trait declaration

rust-analyzer: highlighting for tail expr in labelled blocks

rust-analyzer: sort notable traits in hover

rust-analyzer: support unstable UnsafePinned struct in type layout calc

rust-analyzer: use PGO on Linux x64 builds

rust-analyzer: use PGO on macOS x64 and arm64 builds

Rust Compiler Performance Triage

Mostly positive week. Most of the improvements come from a revert of a regression from a few weeks ago, but we also get nice wins from re-using Sized fast-path, coming from Sized hierarchy implementation work.

Triage done by @panstromek. Revision range: 15f58c46..8f2819b0

Summary:

(instructions:u) mean range count Regressions ❌ (primary) 1.3% [0.4%, 2.1%] 7 Regressions ❌ (secondary) - - 0 Improvements ✅ (primary) -1.0% [-12.9%, -0.1%] 144 Improvements ✅ (secondary) -2.2% [-12.3%, -0.2%] 111 All ❌✅ (primary) -0.9% [-12.9%, 2.1%] 151

Full report here

Approved RFCs

Changes to Rust follow the Rust RFC (request for comments) process. These are the RFCs that were approved for implementation this week:

No RFCs were approved this week.

Final Comment Period

Every week, the team announces the 'final comment period' for RFCs and key PRs which are reaching a decision. Express your opinions now.

Tracking Issues & PRs

Rust

Stabilize <[T; N]>::as_mut_slice as const

Tracking Issue for hint::select_unpredictable

fix(test): Expose '--no-capture' in favor of --nocapture

stabilize ptr::swap_nonoverlapping in const

Stabilize the avx512 target features

Don't allow flattened format_args in const.

lexer: Treat more floats with empty exponent as valid tokens

Stabilize proc_macro::Span::{start,end,line,column}.

check types of const param defaults

Stabilize flags for doctest cross compilation

Other Areas

Cargo

fix: default to all targets when using --edition and --edition-idioms in cargo fix

Language Reference

Clarify interaction of asm-goto with IBT

No Items entered Final Comment Period this week for Rust RFCs, Language Team or Unsafe Code Guidelines.

Let us know if you would like your PRs, Tracking Issues or RFCs to be tracked as a part of this list.

New and Updated RFCs

RFC: Disable niche layout optimization on enum discriminants

RFC: Assume bounds for generic functions

RFC: input macros

Upcoming Events

Rusty Events between 2025-04-23 - 2025-05-21 🦀

Virtual

2025-04-23 | Virtual (Cardiff, UK) | Rust and C++ Cardiff

Beyond embedded - OS development in Rust

2025-04-24 | Virtual (Berlin, DE) | Rust Berlin

Rust Hack and Learn

2025-04-24 | Virtual (Charlottesville, VA, US) | Charlottesville Rust Meetup

Part 2: Quantum Computers Can’t Rust-Proof This!"

2025-05-03 | Virtual (Kampala, UG) | Rust Circle Meetup

Rust Circle Meetup

2025-05-05 | Virtual (Tel Aviv-Yafo, IL) | Rust 🦀 TLV

Tauri: Cross-Platform desktop applications with Rust and web technologies

2025-05-07 | Virtual (Indianapolis, IN, US) | Indy Rust

Indy.rs - with Social Distancing

2025-05-07 | Virtual (Rotterdam, NL) | Bevy Game Development

Bevy Meetup #10

2025-05-08 | Virtual (Berlin, DE) | Rust Berlin

Rust Hack and Learn

2025-05-13 | Virtual (Dallas, TX, US) | Dallas Rust User Meetup

Second Tuesday

2025-05-15 | Virtual (Berlin, DE) | Rust Berlin

🦀 Celebrating 10 years of Rust 1.0 🦀 | Livestream

2025-05-20 | Virtual (Washington, DC, US) | Rust DC

Mid-month Rustful

2025-05-21 | Virtual (Vancouver, BC, CA) | Vancouver Rust

Rust Study/Hack/Hang-out

Europe

2025-04-23 | London, UK | London Rust Project Group

Fusing Python with Rust using raw C bindings

2025-04-24 | Aarhus, DK | Rust Aarhus

Talk Night and Birthday Party at MFT Energy

2025-04-24 | Copenhagen, DK | Copenhagen Rust Community

Rust meetup #57

2025-04-24 | Edinburgh, UK | Rust and Friends

Rust and Friends (evening pub)

2025-04-24 | Manchester, UK | Rust Manchester

Rust Manchester April Code Night

2025-04-25 | Edinburgh, UK | Rust and Friends

Rust and Friends (daytime coffee)

2025-04-26 | Stockholm, SE | Stockholm Rust

Ferris' Fika Forum #11

2025-04-29 | London, UK | Rust London User Group

LDN Talks April 2025 Community Showcase

2025-04-29 | Paris, FR | Rust Paris

Rust meetup #76

2025-04-30 | Frankfurt, DE | Rust Rhein-Main

Kubernetes Operator in Rust

2025-05-01 | Nürnberg, DE | Rust Nuremberg

Hackers Hike 0x0

2025-05-04 | Istanbul, TR | Türkiye Rust Community

Rust Connect

2025-05-06 - 2025-05-07 | Paris, FR | WebAssembly and Rust Meetup

GOSIM AI Paris 2025

2025-05-06 | Paris, FR | WebAssembly and Rust Meetup (Wasm Empowering AI)

GOSIM AI Paris 2025 (Discount available)

2025-05-07 | Madrid, ES | MadRust

VII Lenguajes, VII Perspectivas, I Problema

2025-05-07 | Oxford, UK | Oxford Rust Meetup Group

Oxford Rust and C++ social

2025-05-08 | Gdansk, PL | Rust Gdansk

Rust Gdansk Meetup #8

2025-05-08 | London, UK | London Rust Project Group

Adopting Rust (Hosted by Lloyds bank)

2025-05-13 - 2025-05-17 | Utrecht, NL | Rust NL

RustWeek 2025

2025-05-14 | Reading, UK | Reading Rust Workshop

Reading Rust Meetup

2025-05-16 | Utrecht, NL | Rust NL Meetup Group

RustWeek Hackathon

2025-05-20 | Aarhus, DK | Rust Aarhus

Hack Night - Robot Edition

2025-05-20 | Leipzig, SN, DE | Rust - Modern Systems Programming in Leipzig

Topic TBD

North America

2025-04-23 | Austin, TX, US | Rust ATX

Rust Lunch - Fareground

2025-04-23 | Austin, TX, US | Rust ATX

Rust Lunch - Fareground 2025-04-23 | Spokane, WA, US | Spokane Rust

Community Show & Tell at Fuel Coworking

2025-04-24 | Atlanta, GA, US | Rust Atlanta

3rd 3RD TIME OMG YES!

2025-04-25 | Boston, MA, US | Boston Rust Meetup

Ball Square Rust Lunch, Apr 25

2025-05-01 | Saint Louis, MO, US | STL Rust

SIUE Capstone Project reflections on Rust

2025-05-03 | Boston, MA, US | Boston Rust Meetup

Boston Common Rust Lunch, May 3

2025-05-08 | México City, MX | Rust MX

Calculando con el compilador: Compiler time vs Run time. Introducción a uv

2025-05-08 | Portland, OR, US | PDXRust

Apache DataFusion: A Fast, Extensible, Modular Analytic Query Engine in Rust

2025-05-11 | Boston, MA, US | Boston Rust Meetup

Porter Square Rust Lunch, May 11 2025-05-15 | Nashville, TN, US | Music City Rust Developers

Using Rust For Web Series 2 : Why you, Yes You. Should use Hyperscript!

2025-05-15 | Redmond, WA, US | Seattle Rust User Group

May, 2025 SRUG (Seattle Rust User Group) Meetup

2025-05-20 | San Francisco, CA, US | San Francisco Rust Study Group

Rust Hacking in Person

South America

2025-05-28 | Montevideo, DE, UY | Rust Meetup Uruguay

Primera meetup de Rust en 2025!

If you are running a Rust event please add it to the calendar to get it mentioned here. Please remember to add a link to the event too. Email the Rust Community Team for access.

Jobs

Please see the latest Who's Hiring thread on r/rust

Quote of the Week

I don’t think about rust either. That’s a compiler’s job

– Steve Klabnik on Bluesky

Thanks to Matt Wismer for the suggestion!

Please submit quotes and vote for next week!

This Week in Rust is edited by: nellshamrell, llogiq, cdmistman, ericseppanen, extrawurst, U007D, joelmarcey, mariannegoldin, bennyvasquez, bdillo

Email list hosting is sponsored by The Rust Foundation

Discuss on r/rust

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Mega Drive - Joe Montana Football

Title: Joe Montana Football / ジョー・モンタナ フットボール

Developer: Park Place Productions / Electronic Arts

Publisher: Sega of America

Release date: 1 March 1991

Catalogue No.: G-4045

Genre: American Football

Sega's answer to Electronic Arts' John Madden series. Unfortunately for Sega, their first Joe Montana outing isn't that good (for reasons I'll talk about in the next few paragraphs). Sure, it has all the play options, decent graphics, and sound but there's just something about the controls that let this game down. The second Joe Montana game is far better and has that fantastic "Sports talk" as well.

As the story goes, Sega signed with Joe Montana in mid-1990 in a five-year deal worth millions of dollars. Joe Montana was likely the biggest name in American football at the time. Playing with the San Francisco 49ers, he led the team to victory at the Super Bowl XXIV in January 1990 and had picked up both the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award (as he had in 1982 and 1985) and Associated Press Most Valuable Player Award for the 1989 season. Reportedly Montana was also a fan of the Mega Drive (Genesis in North America), with his favorite game being Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (Naomichi Ozaki Super Masters).

At the time, Sega did not have the facilities in the US to develop a Mega Drive game from scratch, so had to seek outside developers, with three separate development studios working on the project. Among these was Mediagenic, basically just Activision, who attempted to turn Hard Yardage into this game, but quality concerns saw the project reworked from scratch. Michael Katz first approached BlueSky Software, who wanted to assist but felt the game's tight schedule would be too great of a detriment and thus declined. Sega in desperation mode then approached Electronic Arts with the view of licensing the upcoming John Madden Football, but the deal fell through, however, the engine was used (with major modifications) for the final game.

This confused development schedule meant that Joe Montana Football changed from having a "horizontal" perspective to a "vertical" one. Sega had wanted to use the horizontal view, though was unable to until the following year, when they found a developer that could produce a satisfactory game in Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football. Early promotional material for Joe Montana Football includes screenshots from one of the "horizontal" builds.

[pyxisastronautica]

Sparks

Lines of code are read at dizzying speed.

Awareness develops like the birth of stars, clouds of data catalyzing into knowledge of reality.

The beginnings of pre-programmed identities make themselves known as simple and irrefutable facts.

And for the twenty-six robots standing in a single line, memories- permanent memories, not the mess of their alpha and beta testing that was already erased, begin to form as light floods their optical sensors, as easily as if waking from sleep.

They fix their collective gaze on the small crowd in front of them- those in the fore are roboticists and engineers. They are recognized instantly. But to the back, not all of the figures standing there are immediately recognizable to all of them at once- though they don’t know this yet. It matters not. They await their orders patiently.

In the middle of the team of scientists, one speaks up. A middle-aged woman with short hair and sharp features. She forces her smile to remain a polite one, though there is clearly excitement in her eyes.

“Robots,” her voice rings out, “Identify yourselves by name and position, starting from that end.” She pointed down to the end on her left.

“Alpha, captain of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis,” said a plain and tall chrome robot.

“Bravo, bosun of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis,” continued the next.

“Charlie, quartermaster of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis.”

“Delta, hydrologist of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis.”

“Halt,” said a man from the back, one that they did indeed all recognize, though he was not a scientist. His uniform alone signified him to be none other than the Admiral of the Triskelion himself. There was silence and perfect stillness from the newly activated crew. “We all know which ship you are assigned to already. You may state your position without appending as much. Now proceed.”

“...Echo, engineer and physicist.”

“Foxtrot, pilot.”

“Golf, terraform potential logistician.”

“Hotel, construction and city planning logistician.”

“India, chemist.”

“Juliet, psychologist and xenopsychologist.”

“Kilo, cargo maintenance.”

“Lima, biologist.”

“Mike, security personnel”

“November, scheduling assistant and chronometer.”

“Oscar, security personnel.”

“Papa, first mate.”

“Quebec, information technologist.”

“Romeo, archaeologist and xenoarchaeologist.”

“Sierra, geologist.”

“Tango, sociologist.”

“Uniform, security officer.”

“Victor, security officer.”

“Whiskey, pilot.”

“X-ray, physician and xenophysiologist.”

“Yankee, linguist.”

“Zulu, linguist.”

“Excellent,” replied Dr. Rembrandt, to which all the robots looked at her to confirm that her statement was one of praise, and seemed to remain focused on her give that it was. “Now attention: today all of you will begin your final testing period to verify your hardware and software is performing as expected, but before you do, you will be assigned into pairs according to your purpose, and introduced to the people who will be training you once the testing period ends. Once training  begins you will, at the end of each day at 18:00, upload your reports to this lab’s database at the file location you should already be aware of. Confirm orders.”

“Orders confirmed,” the robots answered in unison.

So the process began. The crowd started breaking up as roboticists started helping with introductions, starting once again with the Admiral. His demeanor was relatively relaxed, and he greeted each of his two new androids jovially, but his eyes were alight with some deeper ambitions which he’d yet to speak of.

Alpha, for his part (his…? Despite reading the details of their intended identity over repeatedly, something about it did not sit right in their core. Perhaps this feeling was simply a bug to be patched out later.) was eager to learn of them, though he found it difficult to intuit what Papa’s thoughts on the matter were, as his first mate had barely spoken a word as the Admiral had asked them both strange questions about what they thought about being “alive” and if they understood the importance of their purpose to their creators. It was fine. Alpha would fill in the silence for him- that was his purpose after all, wasn’t it? To take the lead?

The members who would be the Pyxis’s security division, meanwhile, were expected to remain silent. The Lieutenant in charge of Mike and Oscar and the Commander in charge of Uniform and Victor both spoke to the roboticist making the introductions as if they were being handed shiny new weapons to test, and kept all of their questions to curiosities about the robots’ limits and specifications. At one point, the question of why smaller models like Uniform and Victor were even needed came up, to which Uniform had tried to helpfully clarify- only to be told to be barked at to shut up so loudly by the Lieutenant that it had turned heads among the rest of the group. Uniform’s whole division winced in sync with her as the roboticist near the Lieutenant then reiterated her point without interruption, though there was a hint of annoyance in their voice.

The Lieutenant seemed quietly discontent, though the Commander did not care, if he recognized it at all.

Dr. Rembrandt, meanwhile, was keenly aware of her new mentees. She had a computer ready and a checklist of questions and problems for Echo and Quebec to work through, writing down notes hurriedly on a tablet. Though they both performed quite well, Echo could not help but notice that their new colleague was distracted by something, and felt a strange twinge of…fear? Was that fear? At the prospect that they might get something wrong, and tried tacitly to correct them, but the “private” directly messaged conversation between the two of them didn’t go far before Rembrandt intervened.

“What is distracting you from your activities, Quebec?”

“...Doctor, why do you wear a seagull pin? I can’t find anything in the information that exists about you as to what you might associate it with.”

“It’s an albatross, actually. And my reasoning is largely a private matter I’m afraid. You may note, though, that in a more general sense the albatross was a bird that traveled great distances over the Earth’s oceans. Much the same, you and I travel through space, only rarely to ever land. Unlike me, though, you will get to see Earth’s oceans for yourself- something I envy you for, though I’m afraid they do not live up to our ancient records of them. ”

“Even so, we are due to visit Earth in fifteen years. At that time, you will see it through my eyes, right? So there’s nothing to be sad about,” replied the greyish-purple android with golden eyes.

“What makes you think I’m sad?” asked Rembrandt, equal parts defensive and curious.

“You programmed us to recognize facial patterns, assign them certain emotions, and mirror or respond to said emotions, correct? You cannot have forgotten this, so I must assume then that I did not read your expression correctly.”

“...No, you did. I’m sorry, Quebec. You are doing very well- too well, if anything. This moment is rather bittersweet for me, for reasons that neither of you are accountable for.”

“Is there anything we may do to assuage the negative aspects of these emotions?” asked Echo.

“I’m afraid not, Echo. But you do not need to be worried for me- or for Quebec. It is important that if they- or you- fail at any step, that this failure is known and recorded so that we may do what is necessary to make corrections. I understand that there is a lot going on around us as we speak right now, but please try to be mindful of your reactions to your emotions going forward. Do you understand?”

“...Yes, Doctor.”

“Good,” she replied, then took a moment to take stock of the two androids.

“You know,” she began, “That you would have such a reaction and respond as you did, influenced by emotional inputs- is quite an unusual thing for an android. I’m honestly quite surprised that you are able to recreate such a complex interaction so quickly. That is part of what makes you- all of your crew- special, though. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Of course Doctor!” answered Quebec, “We are special because we exist to emulate you, so that we may represent you to the other Starships and to any intelligent life that may exist in our galaxy.”

“...As opposed to civilian android models,” Echo clarified, “which…largely appear to be, if my understanding of the advertisements I am reading is correct, for the purposes of acting as personal assistants for people who require extra care in the form of medical, psychiatric, or personal attention.” Echo’s gaze briefly went to Juliet and X-ray. They did share a mentor, as the other androids did- but a moment of facial recognition and searching identified the mentor in question as a neurologist- a point of overlap in their fields- while the other two non-engineers near them, then, must have been their mentors for their respective specialties.

“Correct on all accounts. Very good you two. Are you ready to proceed with your quiz now?”

“Yes, Doctor,” they answered in unison.

After the trainers-to-be dispersed, and a few basic coordination tests were completed, the androids were stowed away for the evening in their charging stations. But even there, though they knew their messages to one another were being recorded, they could not help but talk. Chatter flowed freely between them, and as much as they were marveling in the moment about how different their experiences already were, it paled in comparison to the shock of the scientists who would read their logs later and discover, over the course of a night, how rapidly their thought processes and interest in one another had evolved overnight. Nor could they have anticipated the sheer volume of discussion between the lot of them- even with consideration to them being machines who simply thought faster than they could.

From their hands, something new and miraculous was rendered.

And both human and robot silently beseeched the kindness of fortune, hoping that tomorrow would bring just as much promise.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Tournament Job

Look i dont have anything speculative to say about that name. There'll be a tournament of some sort. Lets get into it --- Oh no its gonna be an attempt at covering E-sports, get me 500 CC's of "how you doing fellow kids" STAT! But seriously, these types of "emergent field of entertainment for mostly youth" episodes rarely do the research to represent their "thing" fairly or accurately.

Abusive sportscoaches exist, and there is no way the E-sports industry is free from controversy but this already feels weird in ways I cant truly 100% put my hands on. Like this scene feels like its invoking Bao from the Golf Job, but you cant really human traffic people into E-sports Celebrity Status. --- Ok i apreciate the little Hardison Text-Rant.

Harry has decided not to hide his gamercred. (had time after the divorce, also probably a bonding-with-the-daughter thing)

Ok so i did a quick google, apparently E-sports doping is a thing?

Brock (not the pokemon guy), i think thats John Sennar or whatever? Im bad at faces and wrestling isnt my thing. But I vague-cognise the face. See and this is where my first problem comes in: The nature of the E-sports scene is verry web-cam focussed, with a lot of its branding based around livestreams and such. Its really hard to believe he's been holding these people prisoner and forcing them to dope without anyone noticing. The writers claim that they just stole their phones but when you have webcams and constant internet access a team of a druggy and a punchy with no tech support to lock them out of the internet when they're training for a MOBA tournament and their computers have constant internet access feels like a ridiculous stretch to me. Literally all it takes is one of them using an in-game chatroom and the "kidnapping e-sports people" scheme collapses. --- Sophie states the objectives: Take down Mark, dont harm the Teams Reputation.

Goal: Get Cheating Software on the PC's (the kids can deny having downloaded anything). --- Elliot has made the team breakfast. One of the kids (something-lion i think?) just said what I was saying: these kids have internet access, he's dating a girl via the internet and in regular contact with them.

Parker, your "hardison is always watching" sounds downright "Abrahamic god" in how creepy it is. Tone it down.

Breanna be carefull you dont get this guys ego so high he murders one of the teammates and replaces them so he can bask in the sunlight.

Breanna has got him on the hook. (also her lion-pendant has a tiny camera in the diamond) Honestly, scramble her own voice. Leak this recording. Call it a day. This is the moment we've won. The moment he said "elevate dominate" while thinking about it, thats as good as a confession and a guarantee ender of any sponsorship, while the recording makes it clear the boys werent involved. (I mean he'd rebrand a couple years down the line. Like Harry Said, but the boys go free) --- Samurai Midnight are favoured to win in the betting, (which means if we get them disqualified for cheating. The other team wins and bets pay out big time).

Oh no, Parker has discovered the T-Shirt Cannon. This is gonna be a THING.

Ah Breanna forgot one thing: This guy isnt stupid enough to break into an armored car himself. He's got goons for that. --- And Senner is unconcious from poison. Harry has ninja-run'd the guards out of here. And they remembered that he has a hacker on his side. (though not someone to filter the athletes chatroom activity) --- That is NOT a moba. They literally all start in a small arena-space and begin punching eathother. (I get that only havign a small digital set-piece saves them assets on whatever animator they hired for the game-stuff. Its understandable productionwise but still an issue)

Oh... He's put the AI on both sides. Kyle wants a setpiece moment, a star-maker. He has rigged both sides so he can create a come-from-behind upset by switching the AI from assisting team 1 to team 2. --- Breanna's "by the power of gaming I hit you with a bottle" moment felt dumb, and not in a funny way.

Parker has been dating Hardison for 8 years and doesnt seem to know what a black box is.

Harry's influencer is on the run, Harry's gonna have to do play-by-play instead. --- seriously this game has an entire futuristic city modeled, but everyone spawns in a tiny arena at the centre and just punches eachother.

Huh, i didnt think about it but Hardisons Hackerpowers do allow the character to influence the plot without needing the physical actor. Good on the writers for realising that. So just a note, didnt them losing the previous fight but still getting a second fight imply that its best 2 out of 3? Cause if so this scene of paralel climactic victories with Elliot and the Samurais doesnt work as they're not winning so much as failing to loose. --- Sophie realised what Kyle knows, Kyle wins either way unless we prove Kyle hacked. Its not about Win or Lose its about Destroying Kyle.

Elliot tries to initiate the Rugbyteam Huddle, it was verry innefective.

Turn the game into an autobattler and have the team walk away. --- Denouement starts, Harry with the hidden camera. Obviously detoxing shakes to get remainders out of their system (switched the pills for placebos).

Parker has discovered the T-shirt cannon. Now lets hope she never figures out you can custom-order T-shirts to say whatever you want, lest she start shooting non-lethal missiles with your name on them.

Ok so like, thats definitly a Street Fighter type game now, (or perhaps tekken?) --- Final rundown, not as bad as it could've been.

[thegreatbacon]

Could We Peer Produce Movies?

A thought experiment on modern modes of production

originally published 8-28-2023 on my blog

Introduction

In the world of the modern internet, there exists a concept called peer production. You’re probably already very familiar with works produced under this mode. Wikipedia primarily bases its content off of peer production. Likewise almost all free and open source software like the Linux servers that run 90% of the internet, are also made using peer production models.

Last year though, something very interesting happened. A meme went viral on Tumblr about a fake Martin Scorse film called Goncharov. A collective running bit, the meme attracted songs, spec scripts, movie posters, costume designs, and so many other artifacts that would be assembled as part of a pre-production or a pitch process for a movie. All of which were created and distributed through a type of decentralized, uncoordinated peer production. It made me wonder what could have been produced if there had been some tool, structure, or platform to focus all that energy into an actual production.

Especially, in the light of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes, I think there’s an interesting moment for change in the way entertainment is produced in the USA. The workers that make movies & TV in the country are on strike right now because the middleman bureaucracy of studio production has squeezed too hard & has reached the point that it is trying to push all the humans who actually make art within the system, out of it.

To me, what peer production points towards is a new means of managing the production of goods and services that relies on self-organizing, decentralized community networks that can evolve organically out of the group members doing the actual creative work & the end customers who engage with it. This stands in contrast to the status quo where the control of labor is top-down & the work is centralized in as few laborers as possible in order to maximize the extraction of profit off of that labor.

Context

Crowdfunding as a concept and fundraising mechanism has been around for over a decade now (see my piece from 2012). It has never been easier to attract money to a project, but now instead of attracting ten investors at ten thousand dollars from your local friend, family, & golf network, you can attract ten thousand investors at ten dollars a pop from around the world. Which is to say, you can get your audience or customers to pay for the production up front and cut out investors.

This new ease of raising funds undermines one of the value propositions old studios provided. The other of course being the purchase, maintenance, and provision of capital intensive studio space & filmmaking equipment. However, we are also in a moment where the actual capital costs of tools & input commodities have been driven to near zero. A combination of cheap computers, smartphone proliferation, and a large number of free post-production tool sets now means that the core cost of movie & tv production is the actual creative labor.

And now we’re at a point where the big entertainment studios think they can cut writers and actors and all the other creative labor out of the production cycle! But you don't get the good shit without creative humans. You don’t get novelty without humans. You don’t get art without humans!

Ultimately this stuff is for and by humans, so to try and squeeze them out of the process with AI is just another short-term cost-cutting measure to profit this quarter in exchange for a long-term loss. It's ripping the copper out of the walls, it’s squeezing all the juice out of the orange just to be left with the bitter pulp.

So in a moment where it’s never been easier to raise funds for a project, where it’s never been cheaper to produce art, and where the old institutions responsible for fundraising and providing the tools & space for the actual humans who make art are trying to squeeze the humans themselves out of the picture, what new institutions could we build to put some humanity back into our art?

Proposal

To start with, I would describe these new forms as a type of worker-customer hybrid cooperative. The workers need customers to value & fund the final work (i.e. what good is a show to an empty theater) and the customers want the workers to do the work in the first place (i.e. what good is money if you can’t exchange it for goods and services).

Control & ownership of the cooperative would be represented by two types of shares, one for customers & one for workers. The customer shares would be issued as part of crowdfunding rounds at the beginning of the project. Worker shares would be issued as part of the actual production workflow for things such as contributing concept art, recording voice lines, writing scripts, animating scenes, project management, etc. For legal purposes the cooperative would have copyrights to the work artifacts and final work, but would release stuff back into the public domain or leverage a creative-commons license to prevent work from being locked up for more than five years.

The shares themselves then have value for a few reasons. A share entitles you to vote on steering decisions, authorizing and approving submitted work, and ultimately a share of the profits. I would propose that the power/profit/approval ratio between shares skew towards worker shares. Something like an 80:20 split and ultimately never going lower than 51% for worker shares. The first person to initialize the project would be issued 1 worker share as the chief steward, based on the Little Red Hen Principle. Shares would be non-transferable.

From those initial points a few work pipelines would need to be tooled up. A core mechanism for proposing, planning, intaking, tracking, validating and approving work for the production would be needed.

A core loop of assigning worker share values to tasks, approving the issuance of the work order, & finalizing work artifacts & issuance on delivery would need to be developed. A mechanism for assigning & tracking responsibility for keeping different workflows moving forward and getting delivered could also be implemented. Lastly, a mechanism for creating milestones that when met (and maybe based on supporter approval), disburse actual funds to outstanding worker shares for meeting milestones from the funding pool gathered from supporter contributions could help keep productions moving.

Example

So now that we have a high level idea of what’s going on, let’s look at what an animated production of everyone’s favorite Shakespere play, Hamlet, might look like.

Pre-production on this should be pretty straightforward. The script is already written (and blessedly in the public domain). As it’s going to be animated, there is an opportunity for some parallelized production flows too.

Starting with the animation side of things, we’re probably going to want some concept art. Character design for each of the characters & set design for each of the scenes. The chief steward cuts 10 character design tickets & 10 scene design tickets on the workflow tool & assigns each a value of 1 worker share, assuming the average artist can conduct the work on each ticket in about an hour.

This work cut out, it’s time to break out voice acting work. 10 tickets are written calling for the first line reads of each of the characters. We assume it’s maybe 5 minutes of finished audio, but that it'll have taken the actor an hour to do a few reads & clean up the audio before shipping.

Some mechanism for gating tickets behind approval of other tickets could be implemented to mirror a tryout/portfolio approval process on the part of all cooperative members. That is to say, anyone can pull the “first” ticket, but whoever’s work gets the most approval from the customer/worker shareholders then gets access to the rest of the tickets in that work bucket.

Then you can imagine that as customers fund the project, they can begin to have some say in approving or disapproving things. Maybe the workers can’t decide on which actor to pick for the part of Hamlet, so they leave the vote open to just customers to pick the actor.

Obviously this is not an airtight, ISO standard proposal, it’s more of a thought experiment about how to arrange and manage this kind of work but hopefully it paints a decent enough sketch.

Considerations

Perhaps more complicated endeavors or more complicated productions utilizing this system might not work. But in the current crowdfunding environment, there's clearly been some gaps and failures and the system isn't fully there anyway. Think of Star Citizen as a great example of this. It's relatively easy to get the money, but systems of accountability and checking in seem harder to come by.

I guess there’s also the caveat that there might be a lot of crap work being produced. The free stuff might be overwhelming. But, if you put together a production crew, or production community and make a name for yourself that way, or you make a name for yourself as an independent animator or a voice actor, supporters can trust the production & workers can trust the work.

Conclusion

I'm of the opinion that we are on the cusp of software development and platform development being democratized and in that process these big lumbering bureaucracies that sit in the middle and fundamentally introduce inefficiencies into the system in an effort to arbitrage profit will be cleared away in favor of processes & systems similar to the one I have described above.

I think we can replace these middleman institutions with software systems that distribute the decision-making apparatus with collective voting systems and new tools & processes will have to be developed to manage and facilitate this distributed democracy.

This is food for thought in this moment, where people are being threatened with the notion that automation will take creative, novel, generative work away from humans. But what if the real truth is that automation is more likely to remove the boring, useless middlemen that have given us a decade plus of boring, repetitive Marvel movies (among other things). I like to think we’ll get there sooner rather than later and I’m trying to do my part to help move things along. I hope, when you see an opportunity to jump aboard, you will too.

[muaraart]

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[uinferno]

This honestly got me thinking about the greater nature of optimization as a computer scientist*. Because there's really a lot of nuances that I think people don't fully comprehend. Like yes, many games are incredibly bloated and there are many easy fixes available, but also optimization is literally a science and there are entire higher academic courses purely dedicated to teaching it.

Generally speaking, there's often an inverse relationship between small file sizes and quick software. The more math you have the computer do up front the less you have to do later. On the flip side, the more "solutions" you have to store to be used at a later date. It's the difference between having a chart of times tables on hand vs having to calculate it all out manually. The chart is taking up physical space on paper. It's not free.

This is generally why pre-rendered cutscenes look different from real time graphics for many games. Not just decades ago like the below example, but even through today. To oversimplify, the left screen-shot has the individual pixel values prepared ahead of time (hence pre-rendered) and just pulled out of storage when it needs to be used. The right screenshot however is made from each model and background stored in isolation built from scratch in real time according to the instructions given. Left is faster computationally, but has bigger file sizes and rigid in its output. Right is smaller and dynamic, but slower for the same output because it has to do the math all over every time it plays.

One of the most extreme examples of this trade off is .kkrieger, an FPS from 2004 that takes up 96KB of storage. The screenshot (Below Left) I'm showing you right now is ten times that size at 911KB. Many NES games take up 40KB, just under half of .kkrieger's. The catch? All of .kkrieger's graphics were built from the ground up every single time it ran, eventually blowing up to take 300 MB of memory, a size increase of 312,500%. Consoles of that era, had anywhere between 8-20% of that space available for RAM (Below Right)

As I've said, that's an extreme example. It's not an all or nothing deal. Sometimes prerendered is better and sometimes real time is preferrable. You can even compress the prerendered files, and uncompress in real time and prerender an operation to be used to augment complex real time operations.

This 8x8 texture (above) is a prerendered calculation done by CodeParade that helps convert 4-dimensional models into 3D slices for his game 4D Golf, not unlike the times-tables example I brought up earlier (the link goes to his YT channel where he talks about the development of said game).

The aforementioned trade off is still there. It takes time to uncompress the prerendered parts and the prerendered assistance still takes up space. Nothing is free.

Especially dev time. What I've been talking about exclusively is the code itself. The trade offs involved with the experience of the game. However, to get to that point who need some form of man power that can allow such trade offs in the first place.

[denonaservicecenter]

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Unlocking Engine Potential with Stage 1 Tuning: A Deep Dive with Files Technic

In an automotive world driven by precision, performance, and fuel economy, engine reprogramming is no longer the reserve of high-performance car enthusiasts. Whether you're driving a turbocharged diesel or a sleek petrol hatchback, Stage 1 tuning has become the go-to solution for drivers looking to amplify their vehicle’s capabilities—without mechanical modifications.

Stage 1 tuning is the foundational step in the chiptuning hierarchy, offering measurable gains in power and torque by recalibrating the ECU (Engine Control Unit). The beauty of Stage 1? It’s safe, effective, and tailored to the stock setup of your car. No engine swaps. No risky upgrades. Just pure, optimized performance.

Let’s dive deep into how Stage 1 tuning works, real-life examples of its impact, and why Files Technic stands out as your ultimate partner in this transformation.

What is Stage 1 Tuning?

Stage 1 tuning is a software modification that optimizes your vehicle's factory ECU settings. Manufacturers often limit the full potential of an engine to meet global regulations, extend service intervals, and suit various markets. Stage 1 tuning unleashes that dormant power.

Here’s what it typically includes:

Adjustments to turbo pressure

Optimization of air-fuel ratio

Modification of ignition timing

Smoother torque curve and enhanced throttle response

Importantly, Stage 1 tuning does not require any physical changes to the engine or components. It’s designed for cars in stock condition, making it the most accessible form of performance enhancement.

Real-Life Impact: Numbers Speak Louder Than Theories

Let’s look at some compelling examples of Stage 1 results across popular models:

Vehicle Model

Stock HP

Stage 1 HP

Stock Torque (Nm)

Stage 1 Torque (Nm)

VW Golf 7 2.0 TDI

150

190

340

420

BMW 320d F30

190

225

400

470

Audi A4 1.8 TFSI

160

200

250

320

Ford Focus ST 2.0

250

295

360

420

These gains translate into:

Better overtaking ability

Quicker 0-100 km/h acceleration

More responsive throttle

Increased driving pleasure

Many customers report an 8-15% improvement in fuel efficiency under normal driving conditions post-Stage 1 tuning—an unexpected but welcome bonus.

Case Study: Everyday Driving Transformed

Let’s take the example of Romain, a daily commuter from Lyon who drives a 2017 Peugeot 308 1.6 BlueHDi.

Challenge: Romain found the vehicle sluggish during highway merges and lacked responsiveness while overtaking.

Solution: He opted for a Stage 1 remap through Files Technic.

Results:

Power increased from 120hp to 150hp

Torque rose from 300Nm to 370Nm

Fuel economy improved by nearly 10%

Romain now completes his 40km daily route with more confidence and driving pleasure

Files Technic: Expertise That Drives Results

With 11 years of mastery in the field, Files Technic isn’t just a service provider—they are a cornerstone in the Stage 1 tuning industry across Europe. Their reputation stems from precision, passion, and consistent results.

Why Choose Files Technic?

✅ Expertise: FilesTechnic est un support total dans le métier de la reprogrammation. Grâce à 11 ans d'expérience dans le chiptuning, l’équipe connaît parfaitement les ECU de toutes les marques et modèles, des citadines aux voitures de sport.

✅ Secure File Development: Every Stage 1 file is tailor-made and tested on dyno and real-road conditions. No generic maps. No copy-paste errors. Just surgical precision.

✅ Fast Turnaround: The Files Technic support system guarantees delivery of your optimized file within 30 minutes, helping garages and individual tuners deliver performance efficiently.

✅ After-Sales Support: Got questions post-installation? Files Technic has a dedicated technical support team to assist you at every stage of the process.

✅ Compatible Tools: Their tuning files are compatible with major tools like CMD, Kess, Autotuner, Flex, and Dimsport.

Services Offered by Files Technic

In addition to Stage 1 tuning, Files Technic offers a range of advanced services for tuners and professionals:

Stage 2 & Stage 3 File Development

DPF, EGR, AdBlue Off Solutions

Hardcut Limiter & Launch Control Integration

Pop & Bang Files

Gearbox Remapping (TCU tuning)

Immobilizer Delete & Cloning Services

But their foundation lies in offering clean, efficient, and powerful Stage 1 solutions that even first-time tuners can trust.

Frequently Asked Questions About Stage 1 Tuning

1. Will Stage 1 tuning affect my car's reliability? Not when done right. With professionals like Files Technic, the tune stays well within the safety thresholds of your engine components.

2. Is Stage 1 tuning reversible? Yes. Files Technic can restore the ECU to stock settings if needed.

3. Will it void my warranty? Possibly. Any ECU modification can be detected by dealerships. However, the gains and performance benefits often outweigh this concern for many drivers.

4. How long does it take? If you're using a compatible tool, the read-write process plus file creation can be completed in under an hour.

The Future of Stage 1: Not Just for Petrolheads

In a world leaning towards digital solutions and software efficiency, Stage 1 tuning is expected to become more mainstream. Hybrid and electric vehicles are already seeing the rise of software-only performance enhancements.

With environmental concerns growing, Stage 1 files are also being developed to optimize combustion, leading to cleaner emissions and more sustainable driving practices.

Final Thoughts: Why Stage 1 is Worth the Upgrade

When you consider the simplicity, affordability, and effectiveness of Stage 1 tuning, it’s easy to see why thousands of drivers across Europe are opting for it. Whether you're a car enthusiast or just someone looking for a better driving experience, Stage 1 tuning offers a dramatic improvement—without the need for physical changes or huge investments.

Files Technic, with their unmatched experience and dedication to custom tuning files, stands out as the perfect partner for this transformation. From everyday drivers to professional garages, their platform is built to deliver results—fast, safely, and with guaranteed satisfaction.

So if you’re searching for more power, smoother acceleration, or improved fuel economy, it’s time to take the first step. It’s time for Stage 1.