Josh

Agghhhhh congratulations!!

at a certain level of any creative or intellectual collaborative job the main task is sin-eater: to fix what you can and get blamed for what you can’t, secretly knowing how much worse it would have been if you hadn’t done what you did.

Front of a Simpsons arcade cabinet. Marge Simpson is wearing a neutral smile next to a red button labeled "ATTACK"

This is such a powerful image

Instagram post of Rachel Brosnahan and Ernie from Sesame Street. Brosnahan is wiping a tear from her eye, but it looks like she’s doing the “look at my engagement ring” pose

Saw this and momentarily thought Rachel Brosnahan had gotten engaged to Ernie.

Never heard of this! Ooh! That art!

Every time a motif was hinted at or returned, it REALLY hit. Like oh this part again, I love this part, I missed this part.

They performed a Tchaikovsky symphony that I really love that same night and it did nothing for me. It's funny how hearing something live can be such a different experience.

YouTube video by hr-Sinfonieorchester – Frankfurt Radio Symphony Brahms: Violinkonzert ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Hilary Hahn ∙ Paavo Järvi

By far my best live music experience was seeing the TSO perform this with the soloist performing on a 1700s Stradivarius.

It was a surprise how much I loved it. Recordings of the piece have never done much for me. In person, the recurring motifs REALLY stick out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFl9...

YouTube video by EuroArtsChannel Prokofiev – Symphony No. 3, Op. 44 (Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Valery Gergiev)

I had the pleasure of seeing this performed live by the TSO recently. It sticks out as a top live music experience.

They also performed selections from Romeo & Juliet, including Dance of the Knights. That's long been a fav piece and was incredible to hear in person.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGgq...

Glory's my fav too. Eiger just feels like such a flag being planted though because of how immediately aggro she is with you and how useful it is to read Monika's file on how to deal with her.

Eiger in Dragonfall has one of the most satisfying arcs of any game companion: a prickly asshole who absolutely hates your guts at first, who gradually comes to deeply respect and open up to you only if you pick the opposite of the kinds of choices that usually make game companions do that.

Also these are some of the only games I've played where your relationships with all your companions feel as deep, satisfying, and dynamic as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or Baldur's Gate without having any romances.

These games are just very underrated across the board in terms of how they construct quests, set up/pay off choices, and draw out character arcs across many choices. The companion relationships are fantastic. I wish more games were copying these in scope and execution, frankly.

If you're trying to get better at writing interactive dialogue, it's hard to beat the Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes as a reference point. Every dialogue has some element of conflict and tension, and some interesting choice about which way you push the relationship with the NPCs.

Tower Behind the Moon You are already an archmage–can you become an immortal? Use magic and cunning to thwart rivals, fight demons, and outwit gods so you can join their ranks.

Trapped with your terrible family today? Not cool enough for the cousin walk? Try text adventures! Text adventures: they let you ignore people you don't like!

They're very episodic which I think is actually a plus for a lot of people. They're basically cozy magic hangout stories. I think that's one reason the final book has a much more mixed reception, that "quest" structure it has. I do think the mysteries in them are fairly well constructed.

Remember: no matter what game you're working on, you'll end up making about 25% of it in the end. The key is to choose the correct 25%.

#gamedev #indiegame

I do hear the Sorting Hat and houses thrown around occasionally in story discussions, but I don't know if it can really be claimed it originated that kinda thing.

I think its aesthetic and vibes have been more influential than the narrative. More than Star Wars, I think the fantasy of Harry Potter is about being in that common room, buying the treats at the shops, etc. I think that's also why it lends itself to a theme park area better.

I spent the first day of my post-expansion launch staycation getting a ton of writing done on my side-project, then building backlog Lego sets while rewatching A-tier Buffy eps (School Hard, The Wish).

The last part is really reminding me how much story we used to be able to pack into 44 minutes.

Wow, this is wild. It has to have been much, much harder to code this way and I can't imagine this protects against 90% of typos.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons' winter update isn't here yet, but this cozy Disney Dreamlight Valley DLC adds even more Stardew Valley flair to tide me over until Nintendo's release Wishblossom Ranch is a wholesome delight

www.gamesradar.com/games/simula...

Huey: USE THIS SAME MATHEMATIC STUNT TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS THEIR AGE AND MONTH OF BIRTH... TELL ONE TO WRITE DOWN HIS AGE .. DOUBLE IT AND ADD 5 ... MULTIPLY THAT BY 50... THEN SUBTRACT THE NUMBER OF DAYS IN THE YEAR.AND ADD THE NUMBER OF HIS BIRTH MONTH. TO THE ANSWER YOU ADD 115. THE FIRST TWO NUMBERS WILL BE HIS AGE; THE LAST TWO, HIS BIRTH MONTH! HAVE FUN!

"Have fun!"

It's interesting to have a male rock singer who is both Good and also Feels Somehow Important again which I don't think was a thing throughout the whole 2010s

YouTube video by From The Basement Geese - Getting Killed | From The Basement

Oh man. These kids have the juice.

music.youtube.com/watch?v=qIol...

The epic highs and lows of game dev are all worth it to see everybody's custom horse designs

Disney Dreamlight Valley Wishblossom Ranch review – Reawakening my inner horse girl with an expansion that gallops ahead of the rest A joyful, polished addition that makes the valley feel new again.

www.destructoid.com/disney-dream...

Disney Dreamlight Valley's Wishblossom Ranch DLC is as whimsical as the game gets There's a new home to find in Wishblossom Ranch.

Disney Dreamlight Valley: Wishblossom Ranch is rolling out on all platforms now!

It's time to get your yee-haw on.

www.pcgamer.com/games/life-s...

Geese are doing a From The Basement version of Getting Killed and it releases tomorrow on one of the most stressful days of my year. The universe does love me.

Frequently, when looking through digital storefronts trying to decide on a new game to play, I find myself describing in my head the exact game that I want to play, and honestly underneath all the intellectualizing, it's almost always just Mass Effect 2 that I'm describing.

I'm playing Yotei having not played Tsushima and it works on its own.

That said, from what I've seen, Yotei is enough of a visual&UI/UX upgrade that I could see playing Tsushima after feeling more like a downgrade than the other way around. If you think you MIGHT play both, maybe do 'em in order.