Google AR/VR software lead quits, heavily criticizes company on way out
kaitco @ kaitco @lemmy.world Posts 0Comments 530Joined 2 yr. ago
kaitco @ kaitco @lemmy.world
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The first iPhone with USB-C might be my first pre-order.
I use an Android as my secondary phone and I’m already primed for the USB-C switch. Can’t wait for it!
Dude! Change your sheets! Today!
Very well done! It looks fantastic!
Where did you find this or did you make it yourself? I’ve been wanting to get this painting for my own home.
The Sims 2. I’ve played a fair amount of all four Sims games including their mobile editions, and Sims 2 remains my favorite after a near (yeeesh) 20 years.
The modding community is still relatively robust, especially for a game that’s so old and out of the four, I feel like I can enjoy even the basic gameplay as a storyteller in Sims 2 more than in 3 or 4. In Sims 3, the focus was less on playing multiple families, so it had to be modded right out of the gate to get back to its foundation and I never liked the way the sims looked. Sims 4 “feels” a lot more like Sims 2, which a lot of people hated, but its expansion and content packs are a complete joke. It costs like $2K to have everything, and they’re still releasing packs. I know it’s just the state of gaming these days, but it just sucks the fun out of a lot of the game.
Half the fun these days, though, is just getting the game up and running on modern PCs. I installed a new hard drive a few months ago and it took the better part of a weekend to get the game fully installed and running. I do have Ultimate Collection, but the less time I have to spend in that stupid EA app, the better.
This is honestly my sentiment as well. I spent over a decade on Reddit practically every single day. Apollo was my first “pick up” app every morning and I’d average like 14 hours on it every week. I’d even set limits for how long I could be on it because I would spend so much time on Reddit. It’s going to take a while to fully break the addiction.
With Apollo gone, wedwef is a lovely replacement for Lemmy, but you’re right; it’s not the same, and I do still creep over to Reddit (via Safari, f—k their app) from time to time to check on the state of things and the smaller communities that will be slower to become “Lemmified”.
Here’s an “episode” I loaded earlier this year. It’s still a little rough in parts, so it’s not really a public link and I was just sending to a couple friends to get some thoughts. This is generally what I’m going for when it comes to making it into a Mass Effect “show”: https://youtu.be/TndVqwA4NBI
When I’ve finally got it polished, the plan is to put all the episodes on YouTube, but hopefully this will give you some inspiration for your own project. Cheers!
For Mass Effect, I’ve played the game enough times that I have my “ideal” story in mind each time I play. I’ve had to re-record playthroughs multiple times so that I can maximize the dialogue options and include everything that I’d like. For example, when it comes to the ME1 Virmire survivor, I decided that I liked a mix of the Paragon and Renegade responses when choosing to leave them, so I recorded with the Paragon response and then replayed that mission so I could do the Renegade response. Then, I edited the two so that it looks like a single cohesive scene.
When it comes to the combat, I’ve had to re-re-re-record some missions to ensure that I 1) didn’t die and 2) didn’t seem to be getting my butt kicked too much that it became distracting. For example, in ME2, I’ve had to record Jack’s mission a nauseating six times because I either got killed or there were just too many instances where I nearly died, even on Casual. I’ve also had to re-record missions because my first attempt had the “camera work” a little too janky and too hard to follow when just watching. I’ve since learned to play with a cinematic eye so that the combat is a lot smoother.
In the combat, I’ve also tried to minimize the “game” aspects wherever possible which meant editing around bringing up the different menus like changing weapons or directing powers/attacks. I’ve also spent a lot of time adding in some crossfades to speed up movement where applicable. For example, in ME1, running across the Citadel once can give a nice view for the first time, but there’s no reason to just watch my Shepard running back and forth across missions, so I’ll fade leaving Chora’s Den and running back to C-Sec or other places.
Overall, it’s been a pretty fun project. I’ve had to teach myself how to play with an eye for cinematography and how I’ll eventually edit things. It’s also been interesting to notice super niche things about how the games are put together because I’m observing scenes down to single frames when I’m editing.
I’ve been doing my recording off the original Mass Effect games since I’ll likely play Legendary Edition far more often than I’ll revisit the originals, so I’ll have my “show” for some added nostalgia as well. Right now, I’m in the middle of editing a full “re-record” of ME2’s combat to reduce some of the jankiness while also going through a first run of ME3. I’ll need multiple runs off what I loaded from ME2 to get all the right armor and weapons and play/record with reduced pop-ups for leveling up, etc.
If I can make a recommendation, I’d definitely recommend doing everything on PC if possible. I’ve done mine off Xbox which kept the files limited to 1 hour at a time, which has helped keep things easier to find, but it’s been heart breaking to get through a mission and then realize the recording stopped 10 minutes before I’d finished.
I’m unsure if this counts as a “hobby”, but I absolutely love the Mass Effect series so much that I enjoy just watching it as much as replaying. I love it so much that I’ve been recording my gameplay and editing it into a sort of Mass Effect “show”.
I could just watch the handful of streamers out there who play it, but few people play as FemShep and I’ve never seen anyone play a Shepard looking anything like mine let alone take the “right” choices and actions, so this Mass Effect “show” gives me a way to watch my Shepard’s story as often as I’d like.
The whole project has evolved into learning how to polish things in Premiere Pro and Photoshop, so I’m self-teaching as I go.
In some ways, abortion remains the trickier issue for Republicans, since there's no party consensus on how to message the issue or even what the party's goals are. Should abortion be a state or federal issue; should Republicans back a total ban, near-total ban, or something slightly more moderate that anti-abortion zealots will never embrace; and should GOP candidates take it head-on or try to deflect, pointing to some other issue such as the economy or immigration? What was once a unifying throwaway applause line for Republicans has become a multi-armed predator threatening to shred GOP candidates in perpetuity—a Kraken, if you will.
It would be so poetic if this were the single topic that ultimately destroys the whole party. For years, the anti-abortion rhetoric was simply saber-rattling used as a method of gaining supporters, but now that they’ve seemingly got what they want, they’ve now got to take action and there’s no single agreement on that action. Now, the decision comes down to a voting generation that is far less keen on even starting a family in the first place, let alone follow in step with forcing a lack of options.
I’m here for all of it.
That’s fair, but years ago when the first iPad was announced, the hashtag “iTampon” was trending on Twitter for days mocking the device. Now, a decade later, your doctor walks in the room with one and can AirDrop you test results.
I don’t think Stadia’s sole problem was in the bad PR, but more in that it came at the end of the last gaming generation’s cycle and then you’ve got the Google Graveyard to counter. If Stadia had come out even a few years earlier than it did, or allowed you a way to play games already purchased elsewhere, gamers would not have gawked at the idea of repurchasing all their games all over again for a product that Google would likely abandon.
I used to watch the news about Stadia from the time it was announced hoping for the best and for some momentum, but it never materialized and then Google pulled the plug when it should have amped everything up to 11 during the pandemic.