Spyke

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post your techno-mage conspiracy theories

Behold, my list of theories that have almost no basis in reality:

  • Gensokyo exists in the Analog Nowhere universe, and of course MATACORP had to build a bus transit system there.
  • The CEO of MATACORP doesn't exist in the physical sense. At least, not anymore.
  • The MATABOTs were made primarily as propaganda, and MATACORP's actual primary method of counteracting the Techno-Mages are spies in the Wild.
  • MATACORP is currently having an existential crisis.
  • The food the FISH feeds Girl is made up of floppy disks.
  • OpenBlade has hidden functionalities that will only be revealed when thrown.
  • MATACORP turned the moon into a supercomputer. Thus, one can hack it.

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What is your dream incremental game like?

I don't have a precise idea of what my dream incremental game is. There are usually minor changes to it from one day to the next. However, there are a few traits that pop up most of the time. I'll list them down, in no particular order.

Long-term and 'open-world' - I like the feeling of discovering mechanics and how to use them in incremental games. I like it when an incremental game allows me some flexibility in my play style. I generally want to feel like my save file is 'mine', that it represents a journey that is uniquely mine. Subtle storytelling and thematic cohesion - This is good in general. However, the thing I'm particularly looking for is a sort of story-focused representation of progress - that as I progress I'm exploring more of a world or growing something. 'Easy to learn, hard to master' - My dream incremental game tends to have a decently sized set of mechanics introduced at the start, and accumulates new mechanics very gradually. However, there is lots of room for optimization and discovery with just the core mechanics. Each newly introduced mechanic should act as a natural extension to existing mechanics, broadening the range of possibilities and altering your optimization process (so, paradigm shifts). Small numbers - The game shouldn't need to use big number libraries. If no numbers ever have any chance to go beyond a quadrillion (which I consider dangerously close to Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER in JavaScript), even better. Distinct art style - Even just simple graphics will do, that makes it stand out from most incremental games already simply by virtue of existing. Just don't let it Either really idle or really active - It should either be really active in the sense that no progress can be made without direct player interaction, or really idle in the sense that the game can still progress at a significant rate can even after a month or so of idle time (Still allow some player interaction, of course. See Gooboo for an example of what I'm trying to convey.)

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Weekly Incremental Check-in

I've been continuing Derivative Clicker (web desktop-only). Numbers are starting to get big, though the pace of the game remains the same as ever.

I've started SC2FMFR (web desktop+mobile) just yesterday. It's a fan-made game based on Scrap Clicker 2 (android, ios). Contrary to the title, both this and the source material are mergers instead of clickers. It's been rather active so far, and I have to be careful with my wrist. (EDIT: I forgot to mention this, but the game uses up a lot of system resources by default. I recommend tweaking the performance settings. I personally set the frame rate to 15 FPS and set the barrel image quality to Ultra Low.)

On mobile, I've picked up Grimoire Incremental (android, ios). I'm primarily doing this because at the end of the game you get to restart with a tiny boost. As far as I know, these boosts can be stacked indefinitely and so I want to see how 'powerful' I can get with them.

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Weekly Incremental Check-in

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My interpretation of this after some thought is that "gameplay" here refers to any part of a game that sacrifices part of its message and/or "creator's mark" (vague, I know) to make it more appealing to a more general (gaming) audience. In this case, even a small community dedicated to a really niche genre counts as "more general".

I don't know if there is a proper term for it. I'm guessing "gameplay" is used because it's what people expect to find when playing a game. So "killing gameplay" could mean making players abandon the expectations they acquired from prior experience with games. (Like games being fun, as a particularly cynical example.)

I'm not sure how correct I am with this.

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What mechanics stay with you recently?

I've been thinking of how to handle the issue of accessibility of Cavernous II, which is a game in which you are in control of multiple agents and need to find optimal routes to goals using them. After a lot of thought, I concluded that the best way to resolve this would be to abandon the idea of multiple timelines entirely, instead opting for a single timeline where all agents can be controlled. This is rather similar to how most games handle fine-grained control of multiple characters. I don't think this system would work well for the game as it is though since a: such a method would lessen the benefits of existing routes from boosts, forcing one to rewrite routes just to make minor edits b: the routes in cavernous are quite long and this system makes creating routes more time-consuming.

I've also been thinking about the primary mechanic of a somewhat old mobile (non-incremental) game called Robotek, which is choosing a slot machine, pulling it, and then performing actions based on the results. There's a significant amount of luck but also a significant amount of control. I feel like such a mechanic can be transferred rather seamlessly into an incremental context. Dunno Dice has a similar mechanic (the primary difference being that you gain resources instead of taking actions) and I find it to be a fun game.

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Weekly Incremental Check-in

This week I replayed NekromantiK, a game in the vein of Antimatter Dimensions. It was mildly enjoyable though I found some parts to be tedious. Aside from that, nothing has caught my fancy. I'm simply replaying old games at this point.

Non-incremental or even gaming-related, but I've been trying to find ways to reduce my screen's eye strain. I've settled upon some combination of greyscale, low color temp, and low brightness but I fear these may not be enough (and also that I've misconfigured something along the way). If only e-ink devices were more popular...

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Weekly Incremental Check-in

I decided to install the Android version of Antimatter Dimensions just to see what Reality looked like. I'm currently at early Eternity. I also decided to replay FE000000. The first half of it is almost exactly like Antimatter Dimensions, but after that there are original mechanics that I like. Also currently at this game's Eternity layer, although a bit later.