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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 1st, 2023

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  • Bethesda did a good job. I have played SC and SB2 and while I like how they do space travel, the rest of their game sucks by comparison. Bethesda really knocked it out of the park.

    This. Just exploring the first POI after leaving the tutorial I thought to myself, “This is how SC, NMS, and ED should have done their ground FPS exploration and combat.” The FPS gameplay is much better than Fallout 4/76, Bethesda improved that aspect a good amount. And with any Fallout/Scoll game, I love the clutter loot. I’m now 42 hours into the game, lots of new Bethesda style detailed POIs to discover and explore. People complaining about empty moons/planets are ignoring the hand crafted content and focusing on the unpainted mod canvas… or to give them a bit of a pass they have never played ED, NMS, or SC as those have lots of empty moons as well.




  • Going to dump my initial impression. Note my bias, I love clutter looters and this is a Bethesda clutter looter in space with a bunch of additional systems resting on top of that genre.

    It’s a space clutter looter

    Played 8 hours last night so this is a very early impression. I love clutter looters and didn’t expect much else from Bethesda’s Fallout/Scrolls main studio. The Bethesda crafted areas are excellent if you are looking for what I call a Fallout / Elder Scrolls clutter looter. Lots of stuff to loot, the FPS combat is much better than Fallout 4 or 76. Don’t expect a space sim like SC or NMS this is a Bethesda Fallout/Scrolls style game with a bunch of additional systems on top of it.

    First person combat

    I’ve played both SC and NMS. While exploring a station in Starfield I thought to myself… this is what SC should have been for their foot exploration. The derelict stations in NMS are rather static environments and never cared for them much. What surprised me about the Starfield AI is they will “flee” or “flank” by running past you at times. I’ve lost track of enemies at times because of this and have had to go hunting for them. If I had to compare a more recent rpg shooter I’d say the combat is sort of close to Remnant 2 but where Remnant 2 combat is more deliberate and paced, Starfield fire fights are more erratic and frantic. I did find myself enjoying hunting down the AI that will run off and setup elsewhere.

    Ship travel

    There is fast travel. If you are looking for a space flight sim this is not for you. I don’t have an issue with fast travel as I get no thrills from traveling in space 1:1. There is simulation and there is stupid… SC leans a bit too heavy into the latter. Don’t expect 1:1 space travel in Starfield, it isn’t made for that.

    Ship combat

    Again this is not a space flight sim. Most recently coming off Everspace 2 I do miss the strafing controls and pedal usage, but that game is star fighter like combat. Starfield does have a ship editor and seems to be more about load out than fighter style combat. Think a bit more like Expanse style combat. I don’t have much time in this area of the game so I can’t say a whole lot more about it.

    Additional systems

    I haven’t played enough to have an impression on the other systems but they are there: ship building, research, resource gathering, surveying, and base/output construction.

    Initial impression

    I love Bethesda clutter looters and this one is in space. The first few locations are fantastic in their detail, interactivity, and clutter; I going to eat up the Bethesda crafted clutter looter areas. The 1,000 worlds will likely function as a massive canvas for future mods.


  • It’s a space clutter looter

    Played 8 hours last night so this is a very early impression. I love clutter looters and didn’t expect much else from Bethesda’s Fallout/Scrolls main studio. The Bethesda crafted areas are excellent if you are looking for what I call a Fallout / Elder Scrolls clutter looter. Lots of stuff to loot, the FPS combat is much better than Fallout 4 or 76. Don’t expect a space sim like SC or NMS this is a Bethesda Fallout/Scrolls style game with a bunch of additional systems on top of it.

    First person combat

    I’ve played both SC and NMS. While exploring a station in Starfield I thought to myself… this is what SC should have been for their foot exploration. The derelict stations in NMS are rather static environments and never cared for them much. What surprised me about the Starfield AI is they will “flee” or “flank” by running past you at times. I’ve lost track of enemies at times because of this and have had to go hunting for them.

    Ship travel

    There is fast travel. If you are looking for a space flight sim this is not for you. I don’t have an issue with fast travel as I get no thrills from traveling in space 1:1. There is simulation and there is stupid… SC leans a bit too heavy into the latter. Don’t expect 1:1 space travel in Starfield, it isn’t made for that.

    Ship combat

    Again this is not a space flight sim. Most recently coming off Everspace 2 I do miss the strafing controls and pedal usage, but that game is star fighter like combat. Starfield does have a ship editor and seems to be more about load out than fighter style combat. Think a bit more like Expanse style combat. I don’t have much time in this area of the game so I can’t say a whole lot more about it.

    Initial impression

    I love Bethesda clutter looters and this one is in space. Going to eat up the Bethesda crafted clutter looter areas. The 1,000 worlds will likely function as a massive canvas for future mods.



  • Lab cotton could, hopefully, be efficiently grown

    While there are not many details this is hopefully a great step toward more efficient cotton production. There are a number of possible reductions from this method (hard to know without full details though), that being lower usage of land, water, pesticides, herbicides, and shipping.

    Longer term what I find exciting is the some of these lab grown systems may work well “closed loop” which mean they might work off planet at some capacity or another. That is a much longer term vision though and we have a long way to go before we master that aspect.





  • We have had good luck with our Katchy for over a year now; 1 year 8 days. It has worked great in the kitchen and in the office. Just recently a large number of small moths got into the office through a window, they were all over the ceiling. Placed the Katchy in there overnight which caught all of the moths; had to replace the sticky pad because it was so covered.

    No clue on how long the device will last. We mainly use it on the 3rd speed setting (out of 5) and most often have it set to auto which turns the device on when light is low enough. We’ve likely replaced the sticky pad 4-5 times during the year we have had it.

    This is the model we have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TKG5M4S








  • Thief Deus ex (you can choose stealth in this game but it isn’t specifically a stealth game imo) Dishonored (superb)

    Was surprised to not find these games in the main list. Thief and Deus Ex (I play it stealthy as much as possible) have been my go to stealth games. And no matter how you try to play Skyrim it always ends with stealth archer. 😅



  • Developers have been trying to put themselves out of their own jobs since the beginning. Automating/scripting things, creating tools, IDEs, etc.

    As a developer I always thought this was sort of the point. If the mostly automated system doesn’t require less maintenance, make life easier for the user(s), or require fewer humans, I’m doing something wrong. Always feels a little bit like undermining your position, but when things do break you are also the person most likely to know the fix and fix it quickly.


  • I listen to NPR but their impact statement is weak sauce… I’m sorry it sounds like 6 figure speak.

    Impact: Roughly 1 in 8 Americans will have to restart loan payments as soon as September.

    Nothing to see here folks, just move along. No, the impact is people choosing between food and meds, the mental burden of loans on their neck (after being told by every fiber of the US that education = more income), further inability to purchase housing, choosing between rent and living in a car.

    But irongamer student loans didn’t cause all that! No, they are just another shovel load of dirt on the grave of the American dream. Many of these individuals are increasing their education so they can afford food AND meds, or afford to own a home let alone rent these days. Many other individuals are increasing their education to move humanity forward in technology, humanities, and sciences.

    But irongamer they took the loans on themselves! Sure, with the pressure of just about every fiber of the US saying get an education to make a difference or make more money. Worse yet are those that are attempting to help the country by continuing their education, only to have the system (honestly mostly republicans) spit on them during an event like a pandemic.

    The timing is perfect for republicans to play their economic down turn card when repayments start late this year. Watch for that card late this year or early next year after 43 million repayments start.

    So, folks get back to making payments to your yacht lord. Think of the poor fellow with 4 houses and the inability to exist in all of them at once! Weep for the individual that can already put food on the table and afford the meds to treat their ills.

    It is just a loan restart… nothing to see here.