NoisyOwl [he/him]

I make indie games.

  • 16 Posts
  • 30 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: September 18th, 2023

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  • Since this is happening inside a multiplayer game, where other players might not be doing automation gameplay, I want to be mindful of how much server horsepower an automation player uses. So giant Factorio-style megafactories aren’t a good fit (It’ll still be possible as a self-directed challenge, especially if you’re running a single player server, but it’ll need a hefty computer since I doubt I’ll optimize it as well as Factorio.)

    Which means I can’t do Factorio’s thing where an X requires 10 Y requires 10 Z and the massive scale causes problems you need to work through, so I need to add complexity elsewhere to make factory play still challenging. Machines that require inputs from multiple different transport mechanisms are one way to do that. Another might be time-sensitive parts.

    I’m up for suggestions on more ways to make particular machines a nuisance to work with.


  • I’m working on a 3D voxel game, where I plan to have automation mechanics eventually, so this has been on my mind.

    In the current (very possibly changing) plan, the first automation tier will be conveyors that go straight into buildings, but later materials will be too delicate for conveyors and need to use pneumatic pipes, and the final tier will include materials that must be handled with Opus Magnum style swinging arms (which are also inserters).

    I like changing the transport system is the best way to do progression in one of these games, because it’s directly tied to the map, and thus has the most options for subtlety and cascading changes. And having multiple separate systems feeding into the same process is of course good for adding complexity.







  • I use DDG, but I use the !g (google) bang a lot, either for site: search, or when my query gets complicated enough that DDG will get confused and Google will still actually look for something useful after ignoring half my terms. The bangs are useful in general though; even just !w makes it more useful than Google. (I mean I could set up quick searches in my browser, but nobody has done that since 2008.)

    I’ve been thinking of trying out Kagi, a paid premium search engine. A bunch of people on hackernews say it’s good, but what’d really sell me on it is a recommendation from someone who isn’t on hackernews.






















  • One of these is near me, and my parents fell for the bullshit. So now they’re incrementally more afraid for me, because this store is making shit up, and the media is uncritically parroting it.

    That target was within a block of two grocery stores and a drug store, all three of which had bigger signs and more parking. Also it was inside a building whose doors locked two hours before the Target closed, so nobody could get inside it. Also it’s a fancy building that almost certainly charges them higher rent than their competitors are paying.

    Yeah I’m sure it’s theft, and not the fact that you decided to open a store nobody could get to on expensive land surrounded by competition.