Hello hello hello, lots of work on my blogging platform this month!
Reviews of 3 Android games I’d been plaything through in October.
A write-up of a force-updating Android app functionality I built earlier this year, as well as the almost-as-complex testing.
I spent a day studying & taking the exam for the GitHub Foundations certification, so of course wrote a detailed review.
Released minimaJake (the blogging tech my sites run on) versions 1.1.1, 1.2.0, 1.3.0, and 1.4.0, with lots of new features and optimisations! This included…
… automatic WebP conversion for Jekyll banner images, allowing much smaller file sizes & load times. It’s been on my to do list for a while, so great to get it sorted.
The new MMORPG from one of RuneScape’s original creators (Andrew Gower) came out this month: Brighter Shores. It’s very nostalgic, and I’m hoping it keeps up the early momentum (and proactive bug fixing!).
Twitter / X user @armilk88 has been creating some interesting Windows 98-y artworks, they manage to capture that late 90s Windows aesthetic perfectly.
Ever wanted to go through an electron boom irradiator? Well, don’t. But, the next best thing (a video of it, complete with footage interference) is available.
Half Life 2 is one of my favourite games of all time, and one of my first “proper” PC games. It recently had it’s 20th Anniversary, and Valve released a full length documentary, plus detailed behind-the-scenes commentary (recorded by 2kliksphilip).
Whilst I’m not particularly into the academics of gaming, I’m surprised I missed Richard Bartle’s 1996 “Taxonomy of player types”. This paper succinctly and accurately described the types of gamers, highlighting how impossible it is to create a single game that appeals to all 4 types. My “type” is undoubtedly “Achiever”, as this perfectly describes how I play / obsess over games:
Every game that can be "beaten" in some way caters to the Achiever play style by giving them something to accomplish. Games that offer a 100% completion rating appeal to Achievers
On the topic of gaming, there’s an AI-generated Minecraft available, and it’s extremely disorientating. Walls become landscapes, architectures changes the instant you look away, and materials transform without warning. It’s impossible to understand or predict, and needs to be experienced first hand. That being said, watching 2 guys trying to guide the AI is a good representation.
On the topic of AI, there was an interesting write-up recently on Breaking the 4Chan Captcha that is readable yet technically detailed. Interestingly, the final AI had a far higher success rate than humans being paid to perform the same tasks!
My music tastes tend towards depressing, so when I saw almost everyone on a Reddit thread stating “A Crow Looked at Me” as “the most depressing album”, I had to listen (Spotify). After a few listens, I can’t say I disagree at all. Obviously needs to be heard to be felt, it’s written & recorded by Phil Elverum in the 6 weeks after his wife died (& in the same room), leaving a very young daughter. To quote Anthony Fantano:
It's definitely music; what it's definitely NOT is entertainment.
As a palette cleanser, Kendrick’s latest album GNX is a much more casual / easy entertainment than anything else he’s produced, and I love it just as much.
That’s it! See you in a month for a Christmas-themed one maybe!
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