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Latest Comments by kaiman
Complex 2D train management sim Iron Roads hits Early Access in January 2025
28 October 2024 at 6:12 pm UTC

Looks neat. I have not really played a game like this since the original Railroad Tycoon, but I've been looking for something focused on laying tracks and watching the trains zip around for some years now. Something like Rail Route, perhaps, but less abstract. Or like the free play mode of Station to Station, but with more gameplay.

Iron Roads actually seems the closest so far to my ideal train sim game. I'll keep an eye on it!

Drova - Forsaken Kin is an impressive pixel-art action-RPG for you to check out
20 October 2024 at 3:11 pm UTC

While it does look fantastic overall, the combat system has me worried a bit. If it requires more than mashing buttons as quickly as possible (and it sounds like that), it's likely not for me.

Steam Next Fest - October 2024 edition is now live with lots of demos
15 October 2024 at 5:18 pm UTC Likes: 1

Loco Motive is the only game from my wishlist that has a demo up.

This is an expanded take on the game jam entry of the same name. I liked the game jam version, and I'll certainly get the expanded version, too.

29 games are getting delisted from GOG
18 September 2024 at 3:50 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: Cyba.CowboyI used to buy all of my games through them, but there's so many games they just don't have these days
I still would love to continue buying all my games there, but even (or especially) many indie titles that might be a good fit will not show up there, or they will show up much later.

Nowadays I often end up not buying games at release (and full price), as I wait and see if they make it to GOG eventually. If it becomes clear they don't, I've either lost interest by then, or buy during the big sales, as a couple more weeks or months of waiting doesn't make a difference anymore. Which means I get my games cheap and in the most polished state ... so maybe I should be happy!?

Canonical bring more Steam Snap improvements, also hiring more Desktop Software Engineers
20 August 2024 at 7:35 pm UTC

Quoting: dziadulewiczOh geez come on!
I'm pretty sure there are plenty of advantages that snaps or flatpaks have over traditional packages, but what I notice is mostly how clunky things are:

- Want to update your browser while it's running? Tough luck! (Never noticed that issue with the .debs.)
- Want to use extensions with a native component? Finally can do that again! (Took only two years to sort it out.)
- Want the snap store to update itself? Again, tough luck! (Can be done from the command line.)

And that's on a system that only has 10 snaps, I really dread the day when that number increases. Though maybe a do-release-upgrade will be safe for now ...

Quoting: dziadulewiczUnity was a huge step forward for Linux desktop when introduced. To this day a lot of people want it back
Me included. But as it's not returning, that's one less reason to remain on Ubuntu.

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of stuff to like about Ubuntu, otherwise I would not have stuck to it for such a long time. But if something keeps nagging me constantly, maybe it's time to look for alternatives. If I had not done that in the past, I might still be using Windows or macOS after all ...

Canonical bring more Steam Snap improvements, also hiring more Desktop Software Engineers
20 August 2024 at 5:02 pm UTC Likes: 6

I'm always a bit surprised to see so much effort spent, just to return to the status quo. How much further could the Linux Desktop be along if those people tackled unsolved issues instead of just re-inventing the wheel ... and especially Canonical seems to be quite infected by the "not invented here" syndrome.

Honestly, after having spent at least the last 10 years on Ubuntu, I'm actually contemplating switching to something else instead of upgrading to 24.04.1. And the main reason is Snap. I understand that there's the need for 3rd parties to package "universal" Linux binaries, and I don't think it's bad that there are several choices for that, including Snap. But why would the maker of the distro go that route, especially if it goes hand in hand with a degradation of the user experience!?

Steam Next Fest - June 2024 edition is live with lots and lots of demos
10 June 2024 at 6:28 pm UTC Likes: 1

Megacopter reminds me of Desert Strike. Quite the fantastic game on the Amiga (at least graphically). But not something I feel overly keen revisiting, though ...

Sid Meier's Civilization VII arrives in 2025 with a teaser
9 June 2024 at 6:34 pm UTC Likes: 1

I liked Civ I and II and played them a lot, played perhaps one or two campaigns of both III and IV, skipped V, and played VI mostly in coop when the opportunity presented itself.

As much as I like the game's underlying concept, after more than 30 years, it all feels a bit worn out to me. I guess history holds no surprises anymore, and making the mechanics more convoluted every time does not necessarily make for better gameplay.

But if it came with native Linux support, I'd probably give it a try, though maybe not day one.

Morriton Manor Stories: Nordic Whispers mystery detective RPG announced
3 June 2024 at 5:04 pm UTC Likes: 2

I was sold on this, until I read "timeloop". While I don't want to jump to conclusions, games where you have to fail to figure out how to succeed do not appeal to me at all. I'm d'accord with a branching narrative where I might not get the best outcome if I decide wrong, but I no longer have the time nor patience to repeat the same story beats again and again.

Too bad, as I really liked Unforeseen Incidents, and this one gives me Disco Elysium vibes, too! I really hope timeloop in this case doesn't mean what I think it means ...

No leaving a Steam account in a will after you die according to Valve
28 May 2024 at 5:45 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: PyrateI've seen the criticism about GoG before, but I never got it. They're selling you the game, and once you download it, it's yours, truly. [...] If we want to be unnecessarily specific and explicit: yes, digital is never going to be as good as physical, but with GoG I think we're almost there, it depends on how much you really care about EULAs and whatever other crap designed specifically to fuck you over and protect their bottom line.
Agree. It's one point why I prefer GOG over Steam. Though lately I've been a bit lazy to download every game (not to mention every updated version), and if I would, I think I'd run out of space before even half of my current library.

So in the end, it's probably easiest even in GOG's case to just pass down the account credentials (or just the master password to the password safe).

As for GOG vs. physical media: when it comes to inheritance, I don't think physical media is ideal either. Would any potential heir really be able to still read or use my Amiga floppies? Or some CD-ROMs with DOS games? Or that disc with Civilization: Call to Power for Linux? Would they even care for that stuff or just throw it in the trash unseen? With GOG, at least there's the chance the games might still work, though who knows if that's still true in 20 or 40 years?

Though hopefully, it's still a bit early to worry overly much about all that. And if not, well, at least I won't have to worry about it!