#i play too many bad games

[pooepw]

i have traveled the ends of the world

i have played and talked about the greatness of arcanum, and now, in a masochistic fever dream, i played a bit of starfield. i am midway through the story, and i have not paid attention to a single thing that is happening. yet somehow, i still comprehend what is happening: acquire many mcguffins. omg! now there is someone here to take away our mcguffins! oh! we have to steals the mcguffins? the story mode is just a bunch of glorified fetch quests. you know the story is bad when at some point you are playing the single player of among us as one of the quests. i just click random shit with every dialogue prompt since nothing really feels like it matters. characters still interact with you regardless of what is happening. the quest where you were supposed to steal an artifact? i was so done with the bs that i just immediately went for attack and kill. does barrett still team up with me? YES.

though i have not gone through the entire game, i assume that there are no intelligent alien races that the player interacts with (otherwise the player could have had the cool choice to BE those races). it is disheartening that bethesda decided to choose the hyper realistic approach to sci-fi in assuming that there are next to no aliens that humans could interact with within a large sect of the galaxy. what is the point of constructing a game around sci-fi if one of the coolest parts of the fi is absent? dumb ass game.

the story and the lack of cool aliens is really small pebbles to the big boulder that is the content held within the game. and when i say big boulder, i mean the crater that such a boulder would cause upon impacting a surface. this game is empty. with this game, bethesda seemed to be determined to top their previous huge empty world, daggerfall, only, when i play daggerfall, i can at least instant transmission wherever i want to. now every single thing is a cutscene. enter chair of cockpit? cutscene. go into space? cutscene. sit in chair inside office? cutscene. the ingenious thing about the cutscenes is that the skip cutscenes mod cannot even skip some of the cutscenes because the game breaks when you try to skip them. i recall that the landing cutscene COULD be skipped if you pushed certain buttons, but doing this would crash the game.

back to the subject matter of emptiness, planets can be summed up into two categories: ones with life and ones without. ones without life are pretty bland; obviously if there are no signs of life on the planet, that has to be boring. however, the ones with life are functionally equivalent to the ones without life because all alien life in this game is the same. just animals varying from small to large. and all of them feel like they simply come out of the game spore. plant life already becomes inherently samey because of the materials being mostly the same across planets, but did they have to go ahead an copy and paste them across different solar systems? did plants discover the perfect form to take in any environment?

the final thing i have to say before i enter truly unhinged territory is that the procedural generation used for the planets is garbage. the content of the planets outside either lifelessness or existence of life can easily be categorized as follows: cave, raider place, worthless structure with shit held inside of literal shit. the caves in this game are the worst things i have ever seen. they are equivalent to the mines in skyrim, except there are no npcs within them. just ore. on the off chance there is a lifeform within, it is usually an easily dispatch-able spore creature. there is no point in entering these randomly. going a bit out of order, the worthless structures are a slight step above caves; rather than going into a chamber placed behind a loading screen, the player can find resources by looking for the local dung pile in these structures. you can also get experience from these, but the reason i dub them as worthless is because they parallel the experience of the plants and the animals. they are copied and pasted across the galaxy, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally. if i am to believe that there are no sentient beings for me to interact with, then why are there so many structures that are shared across the galaxy? there is probably some dumb reason like a human did it, but it would have been cooler to interact with aliens. finally, the raider places are the only other part of planets. i would have said interesting, but these are completely copy and pasted. once the player has completed a single uc base, they have done all of them. enemy npcs in this game are stupid and boring, and the experience of going into these places reflects that.

i actually lied when i said that those were the three categories. there is a 4th category for areas on a planet, and that final category is the places where npcs exist. with the big towns, there is some amount of fun to be had doing the quests. but the real issue with the big towns is how few and how harsh it is to be in them. this game is not well optimized; every time i enter new atlantis, the experience is either that my computer has no trouble, or that my computer thinks this is crysis. i AM in fact using high power specs, but also i am not running this game with super high graphics: no raytracing, no 4k; just 2k with ultra.

so if there are few huge towns to get immersed into, how else do i interact with npcs? the other way is to find the preston garvey like settlements that need your help. i cannot believe i have to say anything good about fallout 4, but, by some miracle, settlements in fallout 4 are more interesting than the ones in starfield. where fallout 4 forces the player to go to an interesting location in the world, starfield's npc settlements will send the player to one of the many copy pasted structures on the planet to do dumb bullshit that can easily be messed up. my experience can be summed up by this anecdote: i was given the quest to find someone in a random spot on the planet (i believe it was a cave), and when i found them, they followed on me. walking back (yes indeed the adventure is over already, nothing interesting happens in this game), the guy i had to save dies to the local wildlife. when i say dies in this scenario, i really mean, walks headfirst into danger and pauses so that it may take him. it was not even funny at first, just aggravating.

there is a slew of other issues with the game that i have not gone over yet like the lackluster spaceship usage, the lack of good npc combat, the lack of cool weapons, etc., but i wanted to enter unhinged territory with this last point. i rarely play sci fi games. the biggest one i enjoy is fallout, but the game does not lean into sci fi involving space for the most part, but rather post apocalypse. a game that i do enjoy that is entirely about space is star control. so it was to my great dismay that when i entered the procyon star systems that there was no reference to the chmmr, chenjesu, or the mmrnmhrm. not even the smallest thing like silicon based life or a seemingly abandoned space station. instead this game had references to among us (yes i consider the quest where you do chores on the eye to be a reference to among us; heck the imposters come soon after and kill a main character (trying not to spoil)!). and for this reason, i consider this game to be below the mariana trench in terms of quality. every turn where bethesda had the choice between making a good decision and a bad decision, the company chose the bad path.

i implore you, do not buy starfield. this might be one of the moments where it is more ethical to steal this game rather than pay for it if you really want the experience, and i reserve this action for few games (actually it is just one game: the sims 4 and all of its dlc; also, just wait for starfield to go on a huge sale before purchasing it. a game of this caliber does not deserve to be $70 when games like arcanum and fallout 1 are single digit prices.). (I WILL ALWAYS STAND BY THE CONCEPT THAT IT IS MORALLY CORRECT TO STEAL ALL OF SIMS 4. IT IS SIMPLY EVIL THAT A COMPANY CAN CHARGE LITERALLY OVER A THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR WHAT IS FUNCTIONALLY A COUPLE OF MODELED ITEMS, MAPS, AND CLOTHES) the hinge on the door is broken now.

edit: just in case there is one last screw on the hinge holding the door, i am going to leave a batshit insane prediction on what bethesda is going to do with the game with its dlc. after the absolute tease that is the several mech ruins, but the lack of mechs in the game in general, bethesda is going to release a dlc that lets you have a mech, but it is not going to be interesting in any way since there is nothing interesting to kill with such a cool mechanic. it will use the same system as the spaceships in terms of constructing them and will have the same issue in that there is nothing interesting to do with them. if you want to have the illusion of fun, you better pay more!

[gazkamurocho]

暑い日 "Hot day"

[necrotic-nephilim]

i personally have very complicated feelings on the Gotham Knights video game and the routes it takes with characterization. i think it has a charm to it and it goes in an interesting direction with everyone (especially within the confides of the plot of the game) but it does have certain moments that veer painfully fanon for me. (such as: the dialogue where Tim drinks too much coffee) it's an interesting story for what it is but i don't view it comics-based for characterization and therefore don't care to interact with it much for like. fanfic purposes.

that *said* though. i do have to give the game some kind of credit for giving one of the top five JayTim moments that lives rent free in my mind. every since i played the game, the cutscene lives in my mind daily. it's the specific cutscene where Jason and Tim are arguing about whether or not Jason's non-lethal bullets are too dangerous for the field, and the argument leads to TIm *standing in front of the target* Jason is shooting and telling Jason to shoot him. it lives rent free for me. i never stop thinking about this.

the absolute certainty Tim has that he is in no danger standing in front of Jason, who has a loaded gun pointed at his face. the way Jason *hesitates* for just a moment before lowering the gun. he thinks about it for just a second. Gotham Knights JayTim seem to get along very well and can rely on each other, but Jason still clearly holds a bitterness about his death and Tim that flickers through in some lines of dialogue under the guise of jokes. especially since this game deals *heavily* with concepts of Pit Madness causing an altered state of consciousness, i think it's believable that occasionally, Jason fights the urge to fight and hurt Tim for the feeling of being replaced.

i like their tension so much in this canon. they get along but you can *tell* Tim is afraid of addressing Jason's trauma or even addressing Jason head-on, and Jason leans into spooking Tim about it. which isn't very comics feeling in their dynamic, but it is an interesting way to place their dynamic if you're playing with a more timid Tim who's newer to the role of Robin. (which he seems to be in-game) he really doesn't want to offend Jason, or worse, piss him off. but he'll still face Jason head on for things like this, while completely aware of what Jason could be capable of.

and Jason seems very protective of Tim and respecting Tim as a Robin in typical Jason fashion. if Tim pushes, Jason *will* relent. he knows this is a kid who's proved himself and should be treated with equal respect, sometimes even more than Dick and Babs do in-game.

so for all that to culminate in Tim stepping in front of Jason's loaded gun that he *knows* is on the edge of being too dangerous, just to force Jason to listen? it's the most unhinged way Tim could've gotten his point across in this scene. he was literally daring Jason to hurt him and playing with a very dangerous fire. but he did it anyway bc he believed he could make Jason heel just at the thought of hurting Tim. and he was *right*. they're gay and i'm feral ty.

[somegrumpynerd]

I felt like drawing the boys just hanging out, because what is the point of living in your boss's huge castle with your new teammates if it's not a slumber party every day

Also I might colour in that last one cause I like how it turned out c:

[robotsafari]

redrawing my favorite gba chain of memories scenes with my own interpretations part 1(?):

“You’re thinking about me… You’re afraid of the darkness I command.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Collection of edits from this comic with Disco Elysium dialogue.

[legionofpotatoes]

star wars outlaws

[finelyagedlemons]

did some late nite doodles figuring out how i wanna draw erika before i get back into working on more polished pieces again...there is something very fun to draw about her stupid haircut

[dykedvonte]

Ty for answering my asks! Recently, I saw some fanart of the gender bendered crew and it got me curios, how much would the plot change if Jimmy was a woman. I mean, she would still be emotionally abusive (esp to Fem!Curly), but at lest, I guess, the crash would've never happened (?)

Also, her relationship w/ Anya: if she was assulted still, it prolly would've been dissmissed, since it's between 2 women. Or, if Anya is male in this scenario, he couldn't really be able to talk abt it, since society decided that "women can't r*pe men", so it's not serious and he should suck it up. Man, it's just sucks to be Anya in any scenario my poor girl 😭

What do you think? If you have an opinion on that at all, that is

-💀

I think the scenario's where the gender was flipped or any level of gender based intersectionality is expanded makes it so much more complex.

If this is the scenario with fem!Jimmy, it comes with the territory of questionable internalized homophobia. Does Jimmy brush it off in this scenario because she doesn't think lesbian encounters are real ones? Is she struggling with her identity and taking it out on Anya who may be openly queer compared a fem!Curly who is either straight or just not interested in Jimmy? Perhaps it's a sort of weird entitled that can occur in female dominated spaces "We're both girls, I know what you have, it won't matter." It's still is something I don't see Jimmy denying in this scenario, he never really denies it in canon just talks around it with Curly. Here I can see it's less about the pregnancy and more so about the internalized homophobia. Not seeing Anya as anything but an unwanted aspect of her femineity and the allure of it, there's a lot more objectification of both Curly and Anya in this alteration as I would believe feels better thinking of them in that light if they are just fodder in her mind. Guilty pleasures that no longer bring her such. It's a careful situation because I don't want this to fall into predatory lesbian stereotyping, Jimmy is just a person who does not respect other people or their choice, if it conflict with what he wants or perceived is owed.

The idea of Curly having to report it and outing her not only as a rapist but queer and the denial, especially in the case Anya and Curly are both out as she feels a sort of resentment she can't be secure with herself that way. If it is masc!Curly, there could be the jealousy of him being able to actively pursue relationships he wants while she feels she can't, Anya and Curly playfully flirt, its casual but it's something she longs for in the same way she doesn't. She obsesses over Curly because she wishes she could be Curly in a social sense in both aspect male or female Curly.

If it's fem!Jimmy and masc!Anya? It's a much more delicate situation. In this scenario Jimmy gets pregnant. Maybe Anya does a blood test after the incident and finds out Jimmy is pregnant. It's a very sensitive matter because if it's fem!Curly her first assumption is Anya may have done something. That is just the immediate assumptions in cases like this. I think the fact that Anya is telling her would make Curly think it's not that simple, especially since Jimmy isn't brining it up or really caring but everyone reacts differently. Jimmy is pregnant however, and that's a big deal, she'll figure that out eventually on her own but how will she react? Curly knows it won't be good, Anya knows too.

I think the crash is instigated in this scenerio by fem!Curly actually doing more, refusing to sweep it under the rug because she can conceptualize that fear, likely she and Jimmy are the only girls on board. She trusts everyone, well did trust everyone, but it's just something you live with. She can't just live with that double standard but I feel like she really doesn't know how to address it. How does she bring it up to superiors without implicating Anya? What does she do with Jimmy, it still feels like she's catering to Jimmy but now the concern is primarily focused on the life this baby will be born into. If it is born at all. I don't think Jimmy would try to kill Anya in this concept but try to spin the narrative it was mutual up until she got pregnant. Curly doesn't really buy it but it's a lot of processing, a lot more he said she said but what Jimmy is saying just doesn't make sense. It gives Jimmy too much time to really settle with the fact she's pregnant and likely can't support a kid nor wants to give birth out in space. Jimmy feeling like she's being othered from the only other woman could also be a factor, maybe even starting into her thinking Curly is behaving like a "pick-me" for siding with a guy over her. The crash is more spiteful in terms of having to protect herself alone, due to Curly not outright supporting her delusions.

It really adds a certain horror to Jimmy's pregnancy hallucinations because after the crash they are about her, her symptoms the sign of showing. She doesn't want the child either and considering what being pregnant can do to your mental/physical state, especially some of the more negative symptoms, I doubt she is handling it well. A lot of Anya's struggles are with the stigmas around male victims. His body reacted so did he want it? He's gonna be a father and courts likely will make him pay or care for the baby even if they take Anya's side, their world is just like that. Would the other's blame him for not doing more, he is a man after all? Should he be considered lucky a woman was that into him? It's eating away at him because not only does he not feel safe, he actively blames himself.

In the case Curly is still a cis guy, its that weird feeling guys often get when talking about male victims of assault. I don't think he'd victim blame but he likely asks or thinks about how it could've happened, why wouldn't Anya just overpower Jimmy? Maybe he couldn't? Maybe Anya didn't have it in him to strike a woman. He wouldn't. Now he thinks of what he would have done if Jimmy did something like that to him. SImilary to my trans!Curly post, he's wondering if it could've been him. It's likely one of the first times in his life he has to think of that type of vulnerability in terms of himself and other men and against likely his girl best friend. I think that arm pat right before Jimmy crashes the ship would really make him feel weird, not like he'd have the time to really dig into those feeling but y'know WERE GONNA CRASH!!!.

In terms of Jimmy and Curly's specific relationship, it just gets messier if they aren't both guys or girls. There's a lot of misogny on Jimmy's side with fem!Curly. He often points out she's a woman captain or makes a point of her being one of the few independent woman in her field and how certain men hate that. It's insidious but Curly doesn't think about or like to cause she likes to believe Jimmy isn't one of those guys. He can be a bit antiquated, maybe a bit of a pig but no ones perfect! Here a lot of his resentment is more gear toward a woman having that power over him as Captain/filling the typical male roles he fails at. He can't stand that she's above him in almost aspect and he likely takes it out on other women. Similarly, fem!Jimmy and cis Curly is just as bad. It's a fact of not knowing if she wants to be him, wants him or wants to destroy him. It's obsession without anything positive. She feels entitled to his space and life and time and he has a hard time setting up boundaries cause, well, Jimmy's a girl, his bestfriend and it comes with all the stigmas around boygirl best friends. To him it's a sort of oppressive doting, he feels wrong telling her not to pick and like he's being controlling. That's how she'd spin it whenever he'd try to make boundaries with her.

They are still just friends but most people can't tell even if they can tell it's not healthy, in both cases. Either way I feel like if they were opposite genders to each other there would a specific infatuation Jimmy would have with Curly that would be less hidden but sort of unaddressed because the idea of Curly rejecting them would make them lash out in a way Curly may just leave for their safety. It's also Jimmy wouldn't want to be with Curly specifically but just want what would consistently provide/available.

If they are both girls, its envy. It's that sort of hate that someone fits the standards you don't, wanting them to be picked second or crack. She likes to get into Curly's head, point out flaws and act like it's just her being helpful. She wants Curly to be a girls girl but only for her. There's a sort of possessiveness like purposely jeopardizing relationships because why would a man come first? That girl hates me and is a pick me, why are you friends with her still, Curly? Like this is silly but think about how Regina George treats Gretchen Wieners and that's effectively how fem!Curly and fem!Jimmy would work but technically Curly has the sway of Regina.

I believe the crash would always happen. Jimmy would try to escape responsibility or really thinking about what they did in any world, any gender. It's about facing the consequences, losing things he refuses to let go of or having to deal with responsibilities he's not ready for. The switching of sex or gender really doesn't change those core aspects.

[caffeinatedopossum]

Istg if we don't get this chronic fatigue under control I'm gonna have to resort to some kind of substance abuse

[ratatatastic]

happy our team makes the kitties react to EA ratings on a yearly basis on this edition on NHL 25

EA Ratings | 10.1.24 (x)

[shesmore-shoebill]

oh im so glad courtney came in to explicitly say "this is an AWFUL game to try to learn controls from" because its true. and to hug amanda. and provide fnaf insights.

[duthea]

been playing the funny fire emblem game

[shokupanda]

me when time moves forward at a steady pace: how the fuck is it more than halfway through july already. this fuckers rapidly sprinting when im not looking huh

[cicadatree]

tortimer island details

[robinmage]

quick sketch bc i had brainrot that wouldnt leave me alone