Diecast #375: Mailbag Desk Job

Diecast – Twenty Sided

It’s time for our twice-yearly ritual of clock-fiddling. Which means I once again have to go around the house and remember how each clock works. This usually involves holding down two or three needlessly stiff buttons, labeled in tiny print, using black-on-black color scheme, to manipulate the clock one hour in either direction. The analog clocks are generally easier to adjust but harder to reach.

At least I don’t lose an hour of sleep like most people. What a dumb system. Anyway, here’s a podcast about videogames…

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Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.
Diecast375

Link (YouTube)

Show notes:

00:00 Aperture Desk Job

Link (YouTube)

04:39 New Vegas Mod: The Frontier

I’m not sure how I missed the buzz surrounding this thing when it came out.

19:41 Mailbag: Spider-Man: No Way Home

Did we answer this one before? I can’t find it in my list.

20:16 Mailbag: FIFA vs Andrew Wilson

Hey Diepals,

So, it might be negotiating posturing, but Andrew Wilson seems to be open to gutting the most profitable sports franchise in history.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/eas-ceo-tells-staff-its-been-impeded-by-the-fifa-brand-its-four-letters-on-a-box/

I know sports games aren’t your cup of tea, but FIFA is by far the best selling video game sports franchise. According to Wikipedia, it’s sold more copies than Minecraft.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises

The stated reason is FIFA is “holding EA back” from implementing other game modes and making the franchise somehow more popular.

This seems to me like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs yet again by not understanding your customers. In my experience, the reason people buy annual updates to sports franchises is the latest stats and players, not “gameplay innovation.”

Thoughts?

ContribuTor

25:09 Mailbag: Stupid Premise

Dear Diecast,

If you make a game with a deeply stupid premise, is it better to spend lot of narrative time and effort trying to make the premise seem less stupid or to do nothing and just quietly hope that people don’t think about it too much?

Also, which one of these two things does Batman: Arkham City do?

Thanks a bunch,

John

32:36 Mailbag: Home TV & Movies

Dear Diecast,

What home theater setup do you have for TV & movies?

Do you think there will ever be a need for anything over 4K?

If not, how can we improve our viewing experience?

I am just now getting around to buying blu ray versions of my favorites that I currently own on DVD.

Thank you!

Will

43:36 Mailbag: Accessibility in Games

Dear Diecast,

How would you define “accessibility” in relation to video games?

People generally seem to discuss it as ‘considerate options for people with physical impairments’, such as colour blindness, deafness, etc.

Do you agree with this narrow view of the term, or would you extend the meaning further? If so, to what end?

Kind regards,
Andrew

55:00 Mailbag: Nested Loops in DSP

Dear Diecast,

Have you ever had interaction in a game that turned into a
logic/programming problem you could not shake?

I know you both have tried Dyson Sphere Program since you talked about
it back on Diecast369. Paul posting about it is what introduced me to
it. A recent update added the ‘Automatic Piler’ which stacks cargo.

This addition has created a nested logic gate programming puzzle in
the game. I’d love answer to that if you have one, but my Diecast
question is:

You are both programmers. Has a game ever put a pointless logic bug
into your head in way that crashed your brain?

– Steve C.

BTW The puzzle in DSP that has stuck in my head is; If it is possible
to output a fully saturated belt stacked to 4 with fewer than six
Pilers using nested loops?