#this is hell and I’m doing swimmingly (I spent 8 hours working on the same project)

[sintreaties]

I am so normal (opens the same Google Doc for the 30th time in less than 48 hours).

[hopoo]

RoR2 Q&A 12/2/17

Since we got a million asks, I’ll collapse all the answers periodically into one giant QA so it doesn’t ruin your tumblr feed. I tried to answer every question - if yours isnt there, someone else might’ve asked the same question. Expand below to read!

Q: Are you thinking about putting out a beta version to test or are you just waiting for the game to be fully released A: Not sure exactly how we want to do it – we HAVE to have some way of getting the game out to testers, especially for networking/matchmaking testing. It will most likely be some form of closed/limited beta, but we really haven’t though too much about it.

Q: Any ideas on what the system requirements could be? Will they be high or playable on most machines? Also will it work with integrated graphics? A: Most likely the game will be pretty light for GPU with our graphical style, but CPU intensive. What that actually translates to won’t be until the game is closer to launch, where we start optimizing.

Q: ROR1 most loved thing me and my friends liked to do is ruining the framerate with all the items that we had. we had lots of fun crashing the game for whoever hosted the game. might this still be able to happen? I'm looking forward to the release anyway and so are my friends especialy with peer to peer now we can connect better. A: Uhh hopefuly you won’t be able to crash the game, but the game will still scale infinitely like it did previously

Q: Could you make it so that when you use Unstable Watch and timestop, all colors in the game become inverted for the duration? And if you want to go all the way with a certain reference, have only Chef's cleavers stop in midair at the edge of a radius from an enemy, and when the timestop ends the cleavers hit at the same time. A: No memes

Q: Super excites for risk of rain 2. Im real glad i found it in a steam summer sale, bought then and after that bought it for my ps4. Are we going to see any new characters? (Bandit will always be fav so as long as hes good im happy) A: Yes, definitely new characters!

Q: can you make one of the new death messages be "HOST WHEN?" A: No memes!!!!

Q: While Vita's out of the question, what about the Switch, which basically seems to have slotted itself in the 'more powerful handheld device' niche? A: We’d obviously love to be on the switch, but that ultimately depends on A. can we optimize the game to run on the Switch, and B. do we have the technical know-how to actually get it running? Porting to consoles tends to be a much more dramatic change than people expect, even if the engine natively exports to it.

Q: Hi. I’ve been a fan of risk of rain for the past few years. I just want to ask: in risk of rain, some mechanics like heaven cracker can pierce a line of enemies and the huntress’ ability to hit and run. With the change from 2D to 3D  environment, how will they work? There are many other abilities and mechanics that i also want to ask about, but these two were the first ones that i could remember immediately. A: We’re not going to bring back any mechanics that don’t fit just for the sake of continuity – however, the Heaven Cracker I can see being actually more fun in 3D since you have to actually align yourself with the enemies. Since everyone can shoot and run in the 3D version, Huntress’ niche is sorta gone, but we have some clever ideas to make that back

Q: In DevBlog #8 you explain some of the steam integration going into Risk of Rain 2 which will make a lot of people happy but will RoR2 also be available without steam for those who prefer? For example will I be able to buy it on GOG like I did RoR1, and play LAN games without steam? A: Right now we’re focusing on making it work via Steam P2P, but (I believe) that we haven’t done anything to explicity lock out connections via IP. You just won’t get the same Nat punchthrough benefits (I’ll have to ask Jeff, our network dude about it to make sure this is correct, but afaik I think that’s right)

Q: Would you guys happen to have an idea of when you think the game would be realeased? A: Nope! Hopefully not too long!

Q: Hello! I loved Risk of Rain 1 and it is great to play with friends. I have two questions (technically three, I'm cheating). 1. I am assuming you're going to release it on steam, so that said will there be steam multiplayer integration? Like... Invite via steam, games are created with the help of steam peer-to-peer. It was a pain to get 4 people playing on one server without port forwarding. 2. Will there be a better way to keep track of items? 3. Can you add a menu to see what items you have? A: Yes, steam invites and all that are the goal. I know we talked about holding TAB to expand the item menu so you could see more at once, but we haven’t actually done that yet. I know it was a bit silly for it to be uncropped and expanding off the screen.

Q: Is this still in development? A: No we’re just pretending

Q: Are you gonna have the same soundtrack from the first game? A different soundtrack? A mix of both? (Don't get rid of the Dried Lake or Sunken Tombs songs). A: That’ll ultimately be up to Chris, but I’m sure he’s in the same boat as us and doesn’t want to cover the same ground that we did previously.

Q: I was telling a friend how excited I was for this, and he expressed a concern I’d like to ask you guys about. He said that, being 3D, the game might end up either not as hectic as the first, or too hectic, what with the hoards coming from all around you. What’s your take on this? (I’m not actually too worried about it, but I still wanna hear your take on the matter.) A: Currently, we’re using SFX as a tool to present not only how close an enemy is, but what state they’re in and how many there are. Since I’ve also been playing the game for like a million hours I’ve also developed the ability to recognize which enemy by the frequency of their screenshake… but that won’t be relevant to most players. We’re really hoping to avoid radars or anything like that for awareness.

Q: Just wanted to say, RoR2 is looking to be coming along fantastically. I really love that you are constantly taking things in unexpected directions-- I never expected to see the game translated to 3D but you have done it and I can imagine many hundreds of hours spent playing. Will Chris Christodoulou be working on the music this game as well? A: Yes, he will be back!

Q: Have you considered calling the second Risk of Rain "Risk of Twain"? A: Not until now

Q: This is kind of a question and a half. How big will the RoR2 maps be and will all the RoR1 maps return in 3D with the additions of new maps or just overall new maps? A: Overall we’re not really looking at the previous maps for the inspiration for our new ones – we’re not making RoR 3D, but a sequel, so we don’t really want to recreate too much old stuff!

Q: Since RoR2 is moving to more dynamic network model, how will people with screwy NATs be affected? NAT Punchthrough is great and all, but if implemented incorrectly can lead to multiple users on the same NAT being unable to join servers outside of the NAT (See Rainbow Six Siege). Will users still be able to host dedicated servers like the old game? What does this mean for users buying the game through GOG/Humble Bundle? Really hope everything goes swimmingly because port forwarding sucks. A: This is the exact reason that we will have to have some form of limited beta, because this is something that we can’t recreate in office. I honestly don’t know enough to respond accurately on what would happen in that particular situation, but thanks for the heads up

Q: Relative to the first one, will Risk of Rain 2 be a sequel, prequel, completely unrelated, or even have story at all? A: Sequel!

Q: How were you going to implement artifacts this time around? Is it going to be based around areas that are randomly generated and you sometimes have access, or multiple spawn locations, etc. A:  Dunno, we haven’t implemented really any form of map permutations yet. The artifacts also ended up taking a much more important role in the game than we initially expected – not sure if the old way of unlocking is strange if it’s to be a core feature.

Q: (Big fan) I just had some curious questions; How many characters do you intend there to be in RoR2?, How differently do you plan on changing the previous characters?, Any hints on the final boss? pls, What is the estimated price of the game? and will their be any chance of PvP? Cannot wait, super hyped and keep up the great work :D A: We’re aiming for 10 characters on launch. No spoilers or hints! Definitely not PvP in any official capacity since the networking structure wasn’t designed for a good PvP experience.

Q: I've got three questions : 1) Will it be called RoR2 or will you find / have you found something else ? 2) Why the hell is there one more 'o' in the tumblr URL than in the actual 'Hopoo' name ? 3) What's the average of the team's favorite meals ? thx xoxo <3 A: I think it’ll just be RoR2. The hopoo tumblr was taken on creation of this tumblr, so we had to make it hopooo instead ☹

Q: Will RoR2 reveal why the Contact Light was carrying a teleporter linked to a planet crammed with hostile lifeforms? A: I’d like to explore what the heck is up with the humans in this game, but I sorta wish I had a better avenue that’s not just item logs and monster logs.

Q: I'm going to ask the real questions, is Sniper a man or woman? This is important because reasons. A:

Q: Theres something that confuses me alot about risk of rain 2. It's the lore. If the characters have left the planet, why would they come back? A: Canonically, the returning characters were never on the Contact Light to begin with (and presumably there could totally be like, a bunch of engineers and commando suits.)

[ketocraft]

OF WANTINGS, CRAVINGS, WILL, AND DESIRE

Warning: If you are triggered by reading about non-ketogenic foods, please do not read this post as I do describe some non-keto foods.

On Wednesday, March 8, I made my way to my parents’ house where I would be staying for two nights and going home on Friday the 10th… Today March 11th. Unfortunately, that is not how things worked out. I don’t say unfortunately because I don’t like being here or anything, I only say unfortunately because it really has been an unfortunate experience. My first week being ketogenic went swimmingly. No cravings no wantings nothing. I didn’t really eat much, and didn’t have anything pulling me to “cheat” at all. I felt I was doing great! Along with this greatness apparently came the hubris that I could not be tempted and I would be just fine at my parents house. All I can say is that I should have known better and I should’ve planned better for this experience. When I set off, in my Keto arsenal I had the following: F bombs, protein powder, um… yeah that’s it. I didn’t think that I would need anything else but bulletproof coffee and protein shakes to get me through my day. I was going to bring some pork rinds but thought better of it because I didn’t want them to get smashed on the way there and I figured I wasn’t really hungry most days. I love my family, but I absolutely have hated this experience.

Day 1: I arrived on Wednesday and that was a pretty easy day. I had my protein shake, my dad made me chorizo spam, I explained to him a little bit about my ketogenic diet, and for dinner he made chicken with deliciously seasoned skin. So when I got to the house and I put my protein shake in the freezer to cool, I immediately saw the Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake that they had purchased for him for his birthday. “We saved you a slice from my birthday party.” Great. Just flipping great. These are my favorite types of cake. That’s OK, I had already prepared for this, I put my shake in the freezer and didn’t even give the damn thing a second look. I had already decided that I was not going to break my budding ketosis over ice cream cake. I politely thanked my dad and never thought of it again. So I scraped by day One with my ketogenic diet firmly intact. Even though I knew there were old temptations there (The fruit I always ate, Hawaiian sweet rolls, ice cream, chips, soda, etc.) I was doing fine and I felt like just maybe I had prepared myself mentally enough to go into this war zone. I was greatly mistaken.

Day2: Every other morning that I have been at my parents house at some point in the early morning my mom will tell me that there’s coffee. Usually 15 to 20 minutes later I’ll stumble into the kitchen get my favorite coffee mug… “My” (as in I bought it for their house) coffee mug… pour myself a cup and go about my day. This morning was not the case. This was the beginning of every goddamn thing that could go wrong, did. I got up fairly early when people were still getting ready for school and work and walked into the kitchen. My dad said there was coffee but then kind of shook the coffee pot like well, there’s not much coffee sorry. So there went my first meal. I was already kind of feeling beaten down by all the things I had turned away from, so having a bulletproof coffee really would have helped that morning. As the house begin to clear I begin the first bout of the hangrys. I was acting like a child inside. Whining about all the stuff I couldn’t have, angry that there was no coffee left for me, angry that my mother threw out my coffee mug for no reason! I just had had it, but I couldn’t be angry at my family because it’s not their fault or their problem. Usually making another pot of coffee is no big deal, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to use their coffee maker. So after even more kicking screaming and tantruming in my head, I finally asked my dad just to make me some coffee. After a bulletproof coffee I was back on my game again. I hid out in my parents room most of the day watching movies while my dad and his friends hung out in the livingroom. That night, I heard my dad say something to somebody about making lasagna and I flipped out. I thought fast and called my mom and told her that Dad was going to make lasagna but I can’t eat lasagna. I told her not to tell my dad, because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I had explained keto to my dad already, but I don’t think he quite understood. My mom called my dad and told my dad that instead of making dinner we would go out to dinner. Music to my ears let me tell you! Went to a local place called Johnny’s Shrimpboat. It’s been a restaurant we have gone to for years, and I always get the same thing… A hamburger. This time however, I would keep it Quito and get it with out the bun wrapped in lettuce which I only ate some of. The burger was delicious and I had been wanting a burger for a while, so this was good. I thought I was going to go home at some point on Friday because either my mom would take the day off to take me to the station or home, or I would just Uber to the station and take the train home. I however found out that that was not to be the case because my train had been discontinued (this is a common Metrolink practice and I wish they would stop).

Day 3 Day three just seem like one folly after another. So let’s be perfectly honest here, so I have been dodging temptations left right and center and I live in California and occasionally, especially around my boys, get high. So I’ve been dodging all of this crap completely stoned sometimes and rather than eating I’ll just go to sleep because really there’s nothing else to do there. So most of the day I spent hanging out on my parents couch with my family (those who indulge in such activities) hanging out watching movies kicking back. Unfortunately, this was to be the day that I would be the most tested. Early in the morning I made my bulletproof coffee getting through my first meal. Well I was sitting on the couch, my dad came into the living room and asked me something about how to make cornbread. In the old days, I used to make it for him a lot for special occasions. It’s one of his favorite things to eat. This time, I think it was his first time making it. I didn’t make it, but I advised him where he needed advising, and went back to my happy little stoner land. Then, I found out that there would be lasagna for dinner. The expletives that ran through my head had to be made up because there weren’t enough to say all of the ones I thought. So here I am completely mellowed and sitting on the couch and my dad comes up to me with a napkin and what I knew was piping hot cornbread off of the oven pan. Without even hesitating I looked up at my dad and politely said “no thank you I’m good” kind of proud of myself, and kind a wondering how the hell I had just done that. We all set around and I worked on some of my sudoku for a while and then dinner time came around. For the past couple days I really haven’t had much to eat except for the occasional piece of turkey bologna which had no carbs. Mind you, I really hate bologna, but it was acceptable to my diet so I went with it. So even though I’m hungry most of the time, it wasn’t enough to throw me into a spiral… Until dinner. So there was a big pan of lasagna on top of the stove along with the cornbread and I think my dad had even made garlic bread to go with dinner. I thought it would be fine as long as I stay out of the kitchen so I relegated myself to the dining room because my parents were eating in the livingroom. By this point I was cranky, hungry, and really not handling things well. I was sick of being tested, sick of being tempted, sick of not being able to cook for myself and give myself a proper meal plan. I took full responsibility for my lack of preparedness and swore not to let it happen again (just for context, I started writing this at their house and I’m just finishing it now). I was hungry and I had to do something so I went into the kitchen, cut up a lemon, and decided I would eat that. Got three pieces into my lemon and then I decided to log it on MFP. I didn’t expect that a lemon would be any carbs, because the lemon juice that I use is zero carbs. Somehow however, a lemon is five carbs and that just really took a baseball bat to what was left of my resolve. I told myself if I went into the kitchen as long as I didn’t look at the stove I was fine just fine. At this point my hangry must’ve been showing like a battle flag because my mom pointed it out to me that I apparently had a problem. So as to not argue with my family and try to enjoy the last remaining hours there, I decided I would take a shower and go to bed. So I took a shower, and came out pretty relaxed, but still hungry. I had already had my protein shake for the day and couldn’t afford another. I went to throw my towels in the laundry room and I looked at the goddamn stove. I felt like I had turned to stone as I said fuck it and grabbed the piece of cornbread that have been offered to me earlier. It was a 2 inch piece of cornbread which I logged into MFP and it said 18 carbs, but I don’t know if that takes into account the fact that it was made with sucralose. I ate it, somehow felt vindicated, and went to sleep. I think I had had it and I was done. I woke up the next morning to my mom tapping me on the shoulder and telling me they were taking me home. I guess my hangry episode the night before gave them the hint that I needed to be out of there because when I open my eyes and looked around, they were both already showered and dressed and ready to go. I love my parents, I love going to their house. Being around my family gives me a sense of balance especially when I feel off kilter. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a horrible experience there, and I know that it was due to me being ill prepared. I don’t cook at my parents house because frankly I don’t feel comfortable. I didn’t really spend much time in that home and it doesn’t feel like home to me. I kind of feel like an out of town guest when I’m there and it’s not anything they’ve ever said to me, but more the fact that I’ve never felt that place was home. I take full responsibility for the hell that I had to go through there, and I know that next time I will be better prepared. I’m still a keto rookie, and I’m still going to make mistakes. I refuse to give myself hell for that piece of cornbread because it’s over and done with and it’s not like I make a lifetime habit out of cheating. I think the fact that I made it through as long as I did with as many old habits as there were laying at my feet is still something I am proud of. It has long been my motto that failing to prepare is preparing to fail and I should have heated that warning a little more closely. Since this incident, I have not had any extra cravings or anything, I just kept on with business as usual. Now, in the middle of my third week of keto, I still don’t have cravings for the things I used to eat, but I know now that when they are around me in droves I need to have something to combat them. I’m fortunate enough that I live in a home where I buy my groceries and so if I don’t wanted in my mouth it’s not in my house. I can’t control the food in other peoples homes, so I need to control myself in other people’s houses. It was a learning experience and I’m glad for it, I know more about myself now, and I know more about my will to stay on this diet. This experience was also full of distinctions: wantings versus cravings, between will versus desire, between mouth hungry and stomach hungry. There were so many lessons and distinctions rolled into this experience I really just needed some time to sort them all through. This is my first mistake, but it won’t be my last. I will write about another (totally keto friendly) mistake I made later. I hope this blog post can be a help to somebody somehow, because then maybe it’ll make this experience worthwhile. Thank you to everybody who has followed me thus far and thank you to everybody who is taking the time to read my blog posts. I really appreciate everyone of you!