Category Archives: Nostalgia

Each Person is Their Own Country

Idle Speculation, Nostalgia, Thoughts on Thoughts, Words!

I was in London during the summer of 2000, and one of the expats I met there described the inhabitants as “Each person is their own country”. This was their way of describing how the inhabitants of London (didn’t) interact with each other.

My experience there then was similar, with the only friends I made were other travelers, people from small towns, expats, and a most excellent MSF gentleman from Germany. I also had an experience I regret at the Church of Scientology, but we will speak no more of that.

More relevantly, we were talking at lunch today about large agglomerations of people vs. small towns, and wondering if there is something inherent to large cities that makes people colder or more distant.

AM suggested that it the interactions you would expect in a small town, acknowledging each other as you walk down the street simply become impractical when you encounter thousands of people each day. It’s also possible that people become more and more indistinguishable once there are so many of them, that it becomes a blur, and your mind automatically groups them or filters them out, as they’re too close to the average of ‘how much do I need to pay attention to this person today’. People whom you have befriended, family, co-workers all fall outside this category, but you can even see some of the effects of this if you’re working in a large organization of tens of thousands of people. Your brain will automatically take shortcuts, and group people, whether you want to or not; you have to actively fight this if you want to think of all of them as individuals.

Other possibilities include concerns for safety, concerns that the only reason people approach you on the street is to ask for money or to save your immortal soul, or just that the brain is set up to see 100-200 people as ‘your tribe’, and all others become NPCs*. Once again, this is something you have to fight against, or train your brain out of doing.

Finding “The conversation I can only have with you” can be non-trivial when your brain is full.

But still worth it. šŸ˜€

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-player_character

The Six Answers to a ‘Yes or No’ Question

Analysis, Idle Speculation, Internet Culture, Nostalgia, Puns, Thoughts on Thoughts

There exist the traditional five answers to a ‘Yes or No’ question:

– ‘Yes’, indicating complete agreement
– ‘No’, indicating complete disagreement
– ‘Maybe’, indicating something in between on that axis
– ‘I don’t know’, indicating a lack of relevant information
– ‘Mu*’, or ‘unask the question, it contains an incorrect assumption’

Recently, J EB (nee K) mentioned that ‘like’ is a new answer to a yes/no question. (On my post ‘No Spoilers Awaken’)

The Facebook ‘like’ seems to mean a number of different, sometimes overlapping things…
– ‘I like this post and I want you to know’
– ‘I agree with you’
– ‘I’m curious to hear the answer to this question’
– ‘I support you’
– ‘I understand your feelings’

It is very clear (to me) that ‘like’ is a valid answer to a ‘Yes or No’ question, and it is most delightfully ambiguous. It feels more discovered than invented, as we’ve always had ‘interesting question’, it was just rarely expressed by random people around the world, in response to a conversation they are not explicitly a part of.

*For those who wish a slightly more formal treatment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_%28negative%29 specifically: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_%28negative%29#.22Unasking.22_the_question

You may also be interested in the somewhat related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-valued_logic

But my favourite is probably: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong (Thanks DJ!) This is one way to say ‘Mu’, but usually only if you’re trying to be insulting.

The Spoilers Become More Awake

Idle Speculation, Internet Culture, Nostalgia, Reviews, Space!

Earlier, I talked a little about fear and redemption in The Force Awakens:

The Spoilers Awaken

This post is more a bunch of scattered thoughts…

The movie was all about Han Solo, and that was a good thing. Harrison Ford has really matured as an actor (I should see how he is in American Graffiti), where you see the gravitas, which smoothed out the ‘scruffy-haired nerf-herder*’

There’s probably something about having actors of varying ages and maturity levels, and how it smooths things out. (Even though the young actors in this movie are more skilled (or better directed), they still have the very young energy, attractiveness, and rushing intensity, all of which can do better with guidance…)

‘Droids’ is an excellent example of good ‘in universe’ lingo**.

Seeing the characters old and the death of Han Solo was not just the passing of the torch to the next generation of Star Wars, but also perhaps a passing of the torch to us, that it’s time for us to step up (similar to when Jack Layton died)…

Leia’s dress with a New Republic neck was a nice touch.

Some people have said that Leia was not the most convincing actor, but her acting worked fine for me. Her scenes with Han were very touching, along with the scene near the end with Rey. I also found her convincing as a general, who ‘went back to what she knew the best’, and seemed to fit well in that role.

In a galaxy with hyperdrive and even reasonable astronomy and astrogation, how could you not tell where a sector was, if there was a map of it that included 5-10% of the galaxy? Even with 300 billion stars in a galaxy, you wouldn’t need very many to be narrow down a sector, if the map had any reasonable level of accuracy…

So much regret for time past with problems remaining unresolved…Like Tron:Legacy…

Good use of X-wing quad lasers in ground combat against stormtroopers (apparently they added an under-blaster-cannon in the updated model for the movie), similar to R2-D2’s method for dealing with Joruus C’boath (even a jedi master cannot deflect startfighter-sized weapons, and/or they cannot predict what droids will do). Also, I liked the new X-wing colours. Apparently the shape is slightly different, but I didn’t notice that. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/T-65B_X-wing_starfighter#Behind_the_scenes

It was very fitting that the new death star reformed back into a sun…

The art department had many scenes of groups of aliens, just doing their thing, ‘world building’ as S says.

The establishing shots were really well done (you should do Comic Book Boot Camp http://comicbookbootcamp.com/).

The force continues to be weak in dealing with droids…The light side of the force more often appears with empathy, so they they can use that to interact with droids

A very tech-savvy force user…Anakin, perhaps Luke, for sure Rey…Either a force ability, or something about growing up on desert planets. If it’s a force ability, interesting that it allows much easier repairs and jury rigging, but not sensing or understanding the motivations of droids.

A small complaint about Cineplex showing spoilers in the opening ‘pre-movie games’

Also, the imperials just sound better with English accents.

Interesting the ‘order’ vs. ‘freedom’ contrast between ‘The First Order’ and ‘The Resistance’.

*Similar to how the last few vestiges of Garath the thief were the only differences between Belgarath the Sorceror and Aldur…

**The counterexample I always use is ‘Argonians’ and ‘Kajhit’ in Oblivion, where no matter how racist the character, they always used the official names, which I always found jarring and unrealistic.

New Year, New Beginnings

Administrivia, Nostalgia

2016. It feels like the future. As I write this, it is. I feel like this is the first time I’m really conscious of what I want to do next (at least from the perspective of having the ability to have that decision).

When this is published, this will be #8 in a row of daily posts. My goal is to keep this up indefinitely. I also have other resolutions which need a little more work before I share them. Anything you want me to write about this year? Comments below!

Cineplex: 100 Years

Nostalgia, Reviews, Space!

This trailer, “Cineplex – 100 Years of Movies” which currently shows at the beginning of all Cineplex movies (at least, the ones I go to), always makes me tear up:

There’s something about the nostalgia, the ‘humans trying so hard, with whatever they had at the time, all sharing the dream of flying’, going from the first tentative flights, to biplanes, to the first propeller planes where it was important enough to have retractable landing gear, to the first jets, to fighter jets, to the Space Shuttle*, to some type of Interstellar-like FTL ship.

It’s the “we’ve been here, helping you tell stories all the way through this, and we’ll still be here, helping you tell stories when we reach the stars.”

Even though multiple iterations of the planes are fighter planes, there is no violence in the trailer, and it feels very hopeful.

“If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.”

*Probably not quite on a trajectory the Shuttle would take, but that’s reasonable dramatic license.

Class Divisions

Analysis, Character Classes, Games!, Nostalgia

There are many computer games out there which have or purport to give the player the fighter/mage/thief* experience. The canonical examples for me are ‘Quest for Glory’ (Sierra) and ‘Keef the Thief’, probably because they were the first ones I played in the genre.

Most of these games will have different skills you can use to overcome the various obstacles the games throw your way. I’m interested in looking at these skills, and seeing how much each of the games actually lets you play a fighter, mage, or thief, and also how much each of the skills falls under one or more of these categories. But for this, well need some definitions…

The mage/non-mage division is probably the easiest to define, good canonical examples are ‘Ars Magica’ and the ‘Might and Magic’ series, where there are various types of magic users various types of non-magic users.

Mages:
– Basically, a mage is someone who can do things that are outside of what a human could do at a medieval tech. level**.
– They also have some sort of internal power reserve which they use to perform these feats, a power reserve which recharges over time or when they rest. This power reserve is sometimes the same as ‘stamina’ (GURPS), ans sometimes not (D&D, TES, etc…)

‘Fighters’ and ‘Thieves’ have skills that one could conceivably acquire as a very well-trained human. The main difference is in the techniques used to solve problems.

Fighters:
– Tend to use very straight-forward methods to solve problems, often involving combat.
– Fighters will tend to have more combat skills and options than others

Thieves:
– Thieves tend to use more stealth, trying to find an adversary’s weak points, and using more non-combat skills, many of which have less than legal uses.
– Thieves will tend to have a wider variety of skills than others

There are also various skills which any ‘adventurer’ would require to get by in a fantasy world. Depending on the particular game and its game balance, these skills may fall under any one of the ‘classes’ above.

*I’m stepping somewhat away from the D&D Fighter/Mage/Cleric/Thief paradigm, but may revisit this in the future. There are a large number of games which merge all magic users into one, and that’s what I want to explore. Also, the idea of a separate class of ‘healers’ is an interesting concept/conceit, and it may be interesting to see how this is reflective of a society where people damage themselves all the time, and rely on one member of the group to heal them, rather than doing things in a more sustainable/mindful manner…

**’Tech. levels’ were first codified (that I saw) by GURPS: http://gurps.wikia.com/wiki/Tech_Level. Most fantasy-type games feel like between 2 and 3 on this scale. Game balance wrt different ‘magic spells’ and their resepective tech. levels is a whole different interesting topic.

“That’s Not Funny!”

Idle Speculation, Nostalgia, Puns

Scene: I’m in a conversation with two students, one male, one female, probably high school age.

The male student says: “How many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”
Me, not missing a beat: “That’s not funny!”
Female student: “Yes!”

For those of who don’t see the joke, “That’s not funny!” is often the punchline to “How many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?, playing on the perception of the sense of humour of feminists and feminism*.

As it turns out, both parties took my comment at face value (which was mostly what I intended), and it turned into a small teachable moment.

*This feels like a whole long discussion, mostly sad, about how people felt that making ‘punching down**’ jokes about women no longer socially acceptable was a ‘bad thing’. I feel like much has been said about this, and I have nothing useful to add.

**Perhaps more interestingly, it feels like this whole concept was aired and discussed long before the words ‘punching down’ (meaning making fun of those less fortunate or less privileged) entered the vernacular.

Tenagra, on the Ocean

Idle Speculation, Internet Culture, Languages!, Nostalgia, Space!
Pooh and Piglet at Tanagra
“Pooh?” said Piglet.
“Yes, Piglet?” said Pooh.
“Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” said Piglet.
“Shaka, when the walls fell.” said Pooh.
Pic by Cathy Wappel
Words by Michael G Munz

The above pic came across my fb feed this morning.

Some random thoughts about this.

1) There exists this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Tenagra/ which is, in the internet way, developing a similar-type language.

2)

TEXT OF COMIC:
Hi, Abby. How are you?
Spockā€™s response to his motherā€™s question at the end of The Voyage Home.
Huh? Whatā€™s up with your communication skills today?
The aliens in ā€œDarmok and Jalad.ā€
Youā€™reā€¦ communicating only in obscure references to Star Trek.
Deckerā€™s answer to Kirk saying ā€œYou saved the shipā€ in The Motion Picture.
And WHY exactly are you doing this?
The 74th Rule of Acquisition.
ā€œKnowledge equals profit?ā€ Okay, what the heck are you trying to build your knowledge for?
Kirkā€™s exclamation after Spockā€™s death.
Oh, thatā€™s right. Youā€™re going to a con.
MOUSEOVER TEXT: whenever I want to get laid, I just tell John ā€˜Spock in Amok Timeā€™ and he knows EXACTLY what I mean
http://www.johnanderikaspeak.com/an/2012/05/12/1168/

3) The title of the post is somewhat ambiguous. It could be a reference to Dylan Thomas’ ‘A grief ago’, in its use of parts of speech, saying something deep about Tenagra, and the myths behind it leaving us behind on the seas of fleeting cultural memory… Or it could just be commenting that Tenagra was an island.

If you don’t understand the reference, this might help:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmok

Buck Rodgers: Countdown to a Better Ship

Games!, Idle Speculation, Nostalgia, Space!

So, when I was growing up, I played all of the gold box games. One of the ones I don’t remember if I finished or not was Buck Rodgers: Countdown to Doomsday. One of the things that rankled was that you couldn’t upgrade or otherwise modify your ship. Also, in the course of the game, depending on how you play, you could destroy or capture dozens of enemy ships, many more powerful than yours. But you couldn’t fly one of them instead…

I did a couple of modifications which allowed you to have higher ship hitpoints (your ship has hitpoints in 6 areas: ‘Hull’,’Sens’,’Ctrl’,’Life’,’Fuel’,’Engn’), and more ship weapons. At the time, I wasn’t able to determine the hex location for the ‘current’ hitpoints, so I could only modify the maximum. This seemed reasonably game-balancing for me, as your party would salvage parts, then have to repair them themselves. (The one irritating part here was that when you went back to base for free repairs or fuel, they would ‘repair’ the current status back to the original values, so you had to fight space combats and repair it all the way back again.)

Now, with my recent success understanding and modifying the Pool of Radiance series (and probably more diligence now that I’m older), I’m going to try these games again, and see how it’s different with a snazzier ship (and different with the passing of time).

Poolrad

Character Classes, Games!, Nostalgia

Pool of Radiance. The name conjures up that magical time, when you opened your first ever PC game as a christmas present. That magical time when you were still figuring out how games worked, and min/maxing was not something you did as easily as breathing.

My parents were kind enough to get me Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds as a Christmas present probably in 1990 (when the third game in the series, Secret of the Silver Blades came out), and I immediately set out to play probably for the rest of the holidays. I remember making my first journey with a lead character with the same name as myself. It was incredibly jarring to have the game tell you that you have died when it’s using your name. I quickly restarted with my name reversed. (This has been my online handle ever since.)

My first party was FFFCMT, all human, complete with names out of legend: Arnold, Conan, Merlin, some names not quite so famous: Keef, and some you have probably never heard of: Nayrb, Bogarth. (Zigomar was a late arrival to the party, probably in Curse or Secret.)

We ran through the game, confused by the pyramid, missing all kinds of things, and eventually meeting and conquering the big bad after the big reveal.

I have so many nostalgic memories of this. Figuring out how the Manual of bodily health worked, mostly by accident, maybe thinking that waiting would work if my character was ‘reading’. Then also accidentally discovering that regeneration was possible for my characters, stumbling around Valjevo castle with only that character at close to full health.

Being endlessly confused by the pyramid, possibly until I prevailed on my dad to take me shopping at the computer store where I chanced upon the Clue Book! (I still have it on my shelf, with some of the same notes in it.)

Pool of Radiance was the first game I cracked. (I think I couldn’t find the code wheel, although I still remember the codes for ‘BEWARE’ and ‘TEMPLE’, with the ..- and strange Leo-constellation-like figure.) I did it by the simple expedient of hexediting zeroes over the part directly after where the game asked for the code. I have no idea why this worked.

It was also the first game where I hex-edited characters (I think). This will be important later.

All this is as a long-winded way to say that this is the final playthrough, to finally make right by the Forgotten Realms, to complete the original Gold Box four once and for all with the same characters.

Some rules I set for myself:

Since the point of this runthrough is to make it through all 4 of the original gold box games (Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, and Pools of Darkness), and most importantly the final battle in PoD…

The characters can be edited for attributes and class.

The plan is to have them edited to 25/25/25/25/19*/25. I don’t think all of these work properly (the spell immunities for Int/Wis >19 for sure don’t), but the large amount of fighting in the game is much more bearable this way.

*This is so I can copy Manuals of Bodily Health, and gain regeneration for each of them. My experience is that regeneration, at least in PoolRad is not exactly correctly handled, but science will have to be done.

I’m currently only planning to copy the Manual of Bodily Health, as well as spell scrolls. (The first because regeneration is so much easier (and cooler!) than healing, especially in PoolRad, before FIX, the second is because it makes more game sense to be able to copy scrolls between characters.)

I won’t be using cheats like “give all your gems and jewlery to an NPC, then kill them”, or “restart to get lots of gold” or “restart to make the initial quests easier again”. I’ll also try not to copy the dust of disappearance in Curse. (I discovered the item copy cheat first in Curse by accident when removing and adding characters to my party. I think I had been restarting to get a LS+3, Frostbrand for each of my characters when I discovered it.)

(I also tried ‘long sword + 100’ while doing Death knights of Krynn, just because the half-damage-from-swords skeletal knights were so annoying. A fun reversal of this was ‘The Summoning’, which had weapons break if they did too much damage, so that if you hex edited the damage of one of your weapons, it would just break.)

Other than that, I’m not planning to copy items. I may or may not cheat to bring my items through Limbo. We’ll see how the large bits of Moander are.

One last thing. I always found it constraining that you couldn’t be more classes at once, or that you had to have such low levels. I’ve done some experimentation, and it seems that race and class are saved separately in the savegames for all four games.

(Interestingly, the PoolRad savegame (which I will cover fully next post) has one hex for class, and 4+ others for level in each class. So, you can be a Fighter/Mage/Thief with Cleric levels. I’m not sure exactly which skills are dictated by each of these. Again, science. The other games seem to have these totally independent, probably because it was easier than dictating all of the many options with Ranger being added to the mix.)