#Control grid

[y0ur-maj3sty]

...and don't forget THEY're also quickly moving towards a cashless society 💡

[feraltwinkseb]

September 17, 2023 - Singapore, Singapore Source: Antonin Vincent / DPPI

[pizzleyanked]

played the demo for banquet for fools (dev. hannah and joseph games, launching into early access on september 30th).

i honestly just wanted to share this since this left a very positive impression on me and has all the hallmarks of a turbo lofi production with basically no exposure. so i might as well share in case anybody else wants to check it out.

banquet for fools is a party-based arpg that takes place in a fictional island called invimona. the game casts you as asal in the first act, who immediately gets to work as the other people around them are attacked (and attacking each other, as if they are being compelled to). it is after the first act that you create your four party members who are sent to investigate what happened in the first act.

the combat is simple but an interesting spin on the arpg, formula incorporating a sort of active time battle system that sees a bar fill up until you can perform an action, letting you move around freely as you do so and switch between party members. from what i could tell, currently only basic attacks are implemented, but there seems to be an interesting magic system that allows you to create your own spells. the character creator is surprisingly beefy. you can create characters of any of 5 races that sound interesting from the blurbs. stats and traits are based on a combination of race and sex (which is a slider that features 6 or so combinations of body type and height), in a way that reminds me of morrowind. you can assign stats and skills based on predefined archetypes or you can make your own custom archetype. during conversations, dialogue choices are assigned to each party member depending on their stats and skills. and the art style is gorgeous; it reminds me of claymation. an issue is that it seems that cutscenes are pre-rendered which may be associated with the limited resolutions which i wish were expanded.

overall i found it very interesting, albeit very vague at this point. i do believe the presentation of information could stand to be improved. but there is something very unique and interesting in this title that grabbed my attention. i'll be sure to keep an eye on it!

[coupleofdays]

One interesting detail I noticed on my most recent re-viewing of Tron is that during the scene where Flynn is transported into the computer, you can briefly see that the world he arrives on seems to be sphere-shaped, like a planet. I had previously imagined that the whole digital world was just one flat plane that stretched off into infinity, with the different computer systems being locations in this landscape. But now I imagine that each separate system, such as the ENCOM system, is a separate "planet" in the "space" of the digital world. Come to think of it, the final panel of Tron: The Ghost in the Machine (don't worry, there's no spoilers!) seems to be going for this idea as well:

This would mean that communication between separate computer systems, such as via the internet or its predecessors, would be in the form of "space travel" in the digital universe (though interestingly enough, that's not how the internet is depicted in Tron 2.0). I wonder what the Tron equivalent of a spaceship might look like. Possibly like the Solar Sailer, but that was only used in the film to travel along set beams, across a single "planet".

[fights4users]

The sounds of Tron-

Something that is often looked over is the fact that Tron not only has a connection with early computing but with early gaming as well. Not just because one of the characters makes games and runs a arcade, video games are absolutely integral to the world. In fact they make up a good portion of how the system looks and functions!

For example most of the transport, ships, and weapons we see come from video games, mainly Flynn’s but extends into encoms catalog. In the vernacular it’s common to mention it as well “video game warriors” “Gonna make you play video games” “video game simulation” etc. but you didn’t need me to tell you this.

The way video games impacted and shaped the digital world of Tron absolutely plays a hand in how seamless it translates into the two tie in Arcade cabinets. Though heavy on the grid bugs they’re beautifully decorated and similar to the games as we see them on screen/would translate in real life. The music stings come straight from Wendy Carlos’s work for the film, to the extent the game contains the entirety of Anthem. [Listen]

Sound cue’s and combat-

Part of what makes the sound and style of the game so accurate to the movie is the sound design. Like in old games there is a sound for everything. Every movement has its own sound, it sounds silly as things in real life also have noise but if you’ve ever played any retro game you know what I’m talking about.

One of the best examples of this is when Flynn is tossed into the cell and stumbles around, there’s a metallic echo to his footsteps. In combat it’s the same thing —very distinct sounds to go with every action. A lot of what older games are is pattern recognition- both visual and audio, certain music loops or sound cues help you get better at the game. Another good example is Tron casting his disc, blocking throws etc- if you know what a disc sounds like you can better dodge etc. I also like how they have almost a ceramic sound when Ram plays with his.

Nothing is more video game than De-resolution itself! The death cry and slowly breaking into bits before getting reabsorbed. You can hear the noise off screen and know what happened, game over.

Apart from video game comparisons I do have such a genuine love for the sound design of the film and how much it fleshes out the world. The blips and bloops of energy flowing through the system. The sounds of a working computer. There’s a dial up esc noise when Flynn is beamed in and judging by the guards reactions it’s not different from a how a regular program would enter/travel between systems. Programs get to make funky little computer noises in my heart 💕(another inhuman attribute I think they deserve, they’re like us in so many ways but then… aren’t.)

I know it’s probably just because it’s older recording equipment but occasionally programs will get a grainy feedback/radio style grain to their voice. I’d like to think it’s intentional- especially considering Legacy does this too (going so far for it to be what some sound like all the time)

The way sound is utilized in the movie is a incredibly underrated aspect of what makes the movie so good.

[moonshynecybin]

for the ship ask game: enea/marc

marc getting to indulge in his bossy side every once in a while in bed is good for him

[wingedqueenlynx]

”Look Foxy-“

Grid has less than ideal suggestions of dealing with broken criminals does not go unnoticed lol

Hog just needs therapy and a hot chocolate ;<;

[spilling-blood]

Spent multiple hours playing sims and upgrading and semi rebuilding my current sim's house now that he had 20k saved up only for my game to crash and I lost it all. The little I tried to accomplish today was not even allowed lol.

[duckapus]

So I figured out some of the story for Mega Man Chaos. And why Roll finally decided to get upgraded after all this time.

The gist of it is, Wily worked out how to transport things between universes, but his method only drags things in, so he can't use it to travel. So, he decided to search the multiverse for robots that had managed to actually defeat their version of Mega Man (or at least an equivalent), and then steal and reprogram them to finally conquer the world with.

One of these robots was a girl named Staccato. She's from a universe where the Emerald Spears (the anti-robot terrorist group from the Archie Comics run) eventually decided to fight fire with fire and create their own series of nine Robot Masters (though they called them Execution Units) programmed to destroy every robot and robotics engineer on Earth and then themselves (that last bit is how they justified the blatant hypocrisy of the situation).

Staccato was ESN-009, the last and most powerful of her series, as well as their leader, and was the Spears' answer to Mega Man. She's equipped with a Variable Weapons System, as you'd expect, is made of future tech like Quint thanks to the Spears somehow getting their hands on the Time Skimmer (they even based her face's design on Roll like how Quint was designed to look like Rock as a form of psychological warfare. she's not programmed to think she's Roll from the future though), and instead of having a Buster as her primary weapon she can swap her hands out for what are essentially lightsaber battleaxes. And as you might expect, creating a robot who's mind is almost-but-not-quite equivalent to that of a human child and building their code on a foundation that they and everyone remotely like them shouldn't exist and it's their sole purpose to enforce that doesn't exactly lead to the most stable of Artificial Intelligences.

As you'd guess from the whole "specifically grabbing robots who managed to beat their Mega Man" thing, the Execution Units proved very effective, and eventually Roll was the last member of the Light family left, and one of the very few Robot Masters left on top of that. In one last Hail Mary play, she turned to Wily (because of course her Wily managed to survive. it's what he does) and asked him to turn her into a weapon powerful enough to avenge their families (to Bass's credit as the self-proclaimed Ultimate Robot Master, he lasted longer against Staccato than Rock and Blues combined). He did so, transforming her into Neo Woman, and she tore through the Emerald Spears and the first eight Execution Units like a force of nature.

When Staccato and Neo Woman finally clashed, they pretty much ended up ripping each other apart since they were both hellbent on killing each other with no real desire to survive themselves. Base Universe Wily's dimension snatcher grabbed what was left of Staccato, and as an unforeseen side-effect of the two robots' proximity some of Neo Woman's memories were imprinted on Base Universe Roll. Not anything she can consciously recall, just some weird moments of deja vu, some occasional trauma responses she has no idea of the source of, a terrible sinking feeling that prompts her to insist on getting upgraded so she can watch Rock's back, and somehow knowing who Staccato is despite never having met her.

For Staccato's part, being reprogrammed to be loyal to Wily on top of her horrible base programming is Really Not Fun. Fortunately after she's defeated Quint shows up, snatches her away from both sides, then repairs her and removes both Wily's loyalty programming and the Spears' everything, so now instead of being a genocidal/suicidal axe-murderer she's just Incredibly Traumatized, absolutely drowning in guilt, and lacking any true purpose!

...Look it's a start. And arguably already a massive improvement.

TLDR: Wily's stealing robots from other universes this time, one of them was a super-powered clone of Roll named Staccato made by militant robophobic conspiracy nuts, Roll's haunted by the alternate version of herself from that universe and that's why she got upgraded, after the game Staccato got rescued by Quint and is now free from both Wily and her creators and the healing can begin.

[dellovestorant]

Some people need to realise that if not for maverick running up the grid without a bike the race wouldn't have been red flagged

[jouska-the-deer]

Sometimes I hate Minecraft.

If you know what problem I was having based off of this picture, but also believe this is how the game should work, you have a vitamin D deficiency, and also I hope that when you're burning in hell, Satan punishes you with the frustrated screams of all the novice Minecraft players that gave up ever trying to figure out redstone because they were too busy having a life to ever learn what "quasi connectivity" is, making it impossible for them to know why their logically built contraption isn't working.

BTW, my problem was the piston being extended despite not being directly powered. This is how I fixed it:

In case you're confused about what changes actually solved the problem, here's what you're missing: I had to move the topmost redstone line over so it'd stop powering the air above the piston.

Yes; All you normal Minecraft players read that correctly. The piston. Was being powered. By air.

And! There are people that would lose their minds if Mojang ever considered fixing- oh I'm sorry, changing it to work more intuitively. I mean, it's only like this because of a bug that treated certain blocks as if they were doors, and it's only still in the game because a bunch of pasty grown men whined that if it was changed then it'd break their ludicrously overcomplicated builds, but... whatever. Shut-ins screech more loudly than children I guess.

[ogerpon]

grid paper is the superior sketchbook/writing medium. my current little notebook/journal i carry around is lined and it's simply just okay.

[castlebyersafterdark]

At the Meet and Greet Finn apparently said trailers is his fave song he’s written. Very sus if you ask me

Needs to serenade his man with the song Noah was the muse for live and in person... I think more than any other hyper specific scenario dream for these two is wanting to see Noah at a Finn concert. CAN YOU IMAGINE?

[elprupneerg]

the worst part of any creative project is when someone else sees what you're doing and goes "hey, i know a better way to do that, using this tool that will make it easier for you!" and they're so excited to help, and they take a bunch of time to show you the tool and how to use it to make things easier, and you sit there and nod and smile and try it out for yourself. and wait for them to go away and get distracted so that you can go back to doing it the original way because the tool did not make things easier and maybe is even more difficult due to not having a feature of whatever original tool you were using that helped with your personal process. and you don't wanna hurt their feelings about not using whatever method they spent all that time out of their day showing you

[coupleofdays]

One "plot hole" in Tron that I've wondered about for a while is: Why the hell did they put a computer terminal in "the laser target area"? Isn't that an incredibly dangerous place to sit, right in the path of a laser capable of pulling objects apart into their molecules? Of course the real life reason is to have an excuse for Kevin to get shot and enter the digital world, but it feels like a pretty weak excuse.

So I came up with a slightly sinister headcanon: When the Master Control Program became aware of the laser digitization research that ENCOM was planning to do, it realized the potential of this, and began wondering if it could be used to capture a User to experiment on. So the MCP subtly altered the digital blueprints of the new research facility, moving a planned computer terminal to a new spot, to make sure that there was a reason for someone to occasionally sit still in front of the laser. Then it waited, biding its time, for an opportunity where it could try out the laser on an unsuspecting User, perhaps excusing it as an unfortunate accident if anyone else noticed, or perhaps planning to mindwipe the User and putting them back before anyone noticed.

Of course, when the MCP's old chess opponent Kevin Flynn broke in, it couldn't resist the temptation to try the laser out on him. And it got far more than it had bargained for. I would like to think that after Kevin came back and became boss of the company, he made sure to remove the terminal from the laser target area.

[fights4users]

Confirmed on the skin

So it’s been a long fandom accepted thing that circuits/light lines are not just a part of the suits but are on programs skin. This is a little thing I absolutely adore in art and fics, and do myself.

But I was never completely sure if there was anything in canon considering light suits are pretty conservative (until legacy). But there is!!

Sarks  Lieutenant(?) Appears to have a shorter neck on his suit than is standard, or extra circuitry on the neck. (It could simply be a coloring error but I don’t think that’s true as we also see it black/uncolored/unilluminated) in multiple shots. When I started to notice it was towards the end of the movie.

I just love that really fun little details like the “mood ring” circuits (shining/diminishing with emotion) and them being on the skin itself are a completely canon thing. It adds so much to the world, it’s fun.