Yeah, good point, hadn't thought of that.

I think capacitor sensors might make better dead-man switches here, especially with chords (requiring both being active at the same time), as holding the grip buttons feels kinda tiring quickly and awkward to my hands.

But it's still so cool.

Can't believe I'm about to find out what happened to the rest of the world outside Australia in the MAD MAX universe by living through it myself!

Battlefield + Counter-Strike.

Battlefield for scale and gameplay, Counter-Strike (like, 1.6) for paying for everything on your loadout, including guns, attachments, grenades, ammunition, other utility, and whatever vehicular stuff goes into this, because of the Battlefield aspect.

Gotta be so careful with what your mat says...

Is The Talos Principle old enough to end up here? If it is, then I'm recommending it with great ease. Feels like such a great puzzler with little to no action or reflexes required, a lovely magnitudes of secrets to hunt, both apparently tied to progression and just Easter eggs, and a lot of optional reading if you're into lore-diving.

It's from Croteam, the people behind Serious Sam, although I can't say how much of the original crew worked on The Talos Principle. Still, their own engine offers itself very well to puzzle-solving and exploration through walking (or sprinting).

Such a gem.

Times are tough, but I think a security architect is one of the positions that lets you choose an employer based on morals as well, because it pays well, and if Flock is already considering you, you probably have experience and money to pursue some integrity.

Pretty much this. I've been living under authoritarianism my whole life and such things are just clear as day.

Same reason so many social media or tech CEOs don't really let their kids use the product: they know it sucks and it's not good for you nor does it respect you or your data, they know how important privacy is - just not for you your privacy and data.

I'm finding the progression to be very smart - earlier levels felt more difficult actually because I wasn't accustomed to the way the developers set things up. I can't describe it too well, but as you keep solving stuff, you kind of know what to expect and have the idea of the what the solution might look like sooner, and you sort of work backwards from there.

If you want more puzzles, The Witness is also a great title. Although I found it to be downright maddening at times despite being able to beat it. I really like the variety of puzzles there, realy unique in that regard and its design. Hunting for secrets and extra stuff there takes lot, tol, though, but it's all so beautiful and rewarding.

I'd pad it out with praise for the picks. Maybe ask them how they got it so on point and throw your concern as to whether it's an AI recommendation in as a joke.

I'd prefer to leave the ambiguity completely out of the equation here!

Given how trigger-happy THE FINALS is with the ban hammer towards gyro players, I really doubt I'd be taking my chances with flickstick in that game.

But I've been thinking about for a while for singleplayer games, yeah. Thinking about the new DOOM trilogy for this.

Steam Deck.

The Talos Principle. It's actually my first time playing the game despite having learned about it near launch and having seen some footage and just wondering at this mysterious puzzle-solving adventure set in such beautiful locations... And it's every bit wonderful, much more than I had expected. And there's so much reading, too! I actually love that part and how it's executed, because it allows me to choose whether to go lore-learning, puzzle-solving or secrets-hunting. The latter is especially amazing here: I love spending days on trying to get to something only to learn that the solution lies in a different direction and turns out to be much simpler. I wonder if that's intended or it's just me.

Half-Life. A while ago I tried playing THE FINALS with gyro only and quickly found out that I gravitate towards the dual-trackpad control scheme, allowing me to achieve more and do less. However, a fast-paced online shooter that is also as demanding wasn't the perfect choice for every time I grabbed the deck, so I tried finally beating Half-Life on Hard - and got humbled. I had thought I was kinda good with gyro, but apparently not. All the better, as it led to me mixing mouse input on the right trackpad combined with gyro as opposed to committing to gyro entirely, the latter doesn't being that much comfortable or precise on a Steam Deck, essentially rotating your controller with your screen.

I will probably pick up THE FINALS on the Steam Deck again, too, with S11 introducing bot matches. Could be a great and fun way to practice or warm up before joining someone's team and contributing a fraction of a fraction of what I can with mouse and keyboard at least semi-predictably.

If you can't make the decision for yourself, especially such a inconsequential one, probably just rolle the dice or something. It can even be fun when you define multiple criteria and roll of each, ending up doing something that you already might have anyway, because it's in your pool, but there's still kind of discovery here, like you stumble upon something from your own collection.

Solid advice, thanks!

I was thinking of the pressure difference and a spacesuit that allowed enough dexterity to do combat.

And again, with Xenonite, shooting it even in the right spot is kinda too tricky for the terrans.

There actually might be no war at all, because some things make warfare between these two species that much more difficult.

Behind the spoiler are details from Project Hail Mary, so if you're planning on reading/watching it yourself, best not to look there.

::: spoiler Spoilers

• There is a massive difference between Earth's and Erid's atmosphere requiring so much preparation and war engineering from either party
• That said, Rocky was able to make a sort of a spacesuit that worked extremely well, at least in the Hail Mary spaceship's atmosphere (which wasn't 1:1 earthlike, I believe)
• That suit was made out of Xenonite, which is a substance Earth cannot compete with, probably making damn good armor
• Earth has little to nothing to survive Eridian atmosphere in warfare circumstances: no material or tech that can be used for a spacesuit here, certainly not in the amounts for planetary combat, especially given the air supply that would be required

Either side's troops seem so fragile in the enemy condition and so unconquerable on their own turf.

Honestly, Earth and Erid could make formidable allies more than anything, because a war between the two would be very stalemate-y attrition-type deal. :::

The many that don't realize either actually do realize and play the game because they don't see or believe in another way, or they're also ghouls. Temporarily embarrassed millionaires and all that.

If Devolver Digital actually goes back to being private and uses the money they claim it will save well, that'll be a good story of choosing lasting value and client relationship over short-term monetary gains, which is rare and and hopeful, but especially awesome with these guys, because I love the games they publish.

But you're so right - I, too, wish the rest of the world would do the same. Maybe that'd lead to a more stable world that wouldn't seem impossible to thrive in without excessive hoarding and hostility to anyone else.

There are already comments, even here, saying that it's okay for filler NPCs and non-crucial interactions. And with the executives, this might be the perfect start, an Overton window that they slowly (if that) push open further and further, replacing more and more of the human in the art process in the name of profit.

The latter is especially disappointing, not because these people don't care or understand art, but because the profit here is illusory, almost entirely upstream, lies in pure speculation, and kills the planet and economies at a pace that's practically unseen. They only do it because they think everybody else is doing it and they can't be left behind, lest the line doesn't up and they don't talk about the current trend on another bullshit meeting.

The corporate world is such a mistake.

Am I just stupid for not believing that any of the models actually did any of that on their own? I feel like the companies behind them start claiming crazy shit like this every time people start questioning "AI" more and/or losing interest. Isn't that how OpenAI dropped Sora amidst the dwindling hype to keep the investors hooked? Now it's back to scary stories about "AI" being so good and advanced that it's about to hack everything and what, actually think for itself?

There is no X big enough for me to press to doubt this enough.