Some folks with visual impairments have enough eyesight to enjoy visual gags, but still use screen reader software, so including the digital text makes it easier for them to read captions in the image. Screen readers with optical character recognition can still fumble with handwritten fonts or poor contrast/alignment, so copying the text into the post discussion improves redundancy for readers.

NFS PU was the first ever racing game I encountered with a career mode. It was brutal in that I couldn’t drive with the same skill using just a keyboard like I did with prior titles, and that kind of dead locked my progression until I figured how to use an analog controller on PC. It felt like driving on ice.

Split screen racing was so fun back in the day! Can’t remember the most recent racing title I’ve seen that supported that. I’d take a local LAN multiplayer or self hosted server option as a substitute.

Open to cross posting elsewhere. Couldn’t really think of a better community for science content with jokes, gags, and research data in video format.

It’s so neat to see the game still receiving mods and independent patches after all these years. I wonder how many new players discover this series, who are probably born well after its release.

Multi-generational fanfare is common among other multimedia such as books and movies, but I wonder what the breakdown is for video games, or how that percentage may be changing as the game publishing industry continues devolving.

Yeah, I preferred when the franchise mostly centered around stock super and hyper cars, and performance tuning was done via the settings menu rather than mucking about with in game farming for aftermarket parts.

The voice over and picture show promos for vehicles in the selection menu was so hype for every model, even if you knew the car wasn’t even top tier in the game.

Horizontal split screen worked rather well for racing games, given the split field of view on the old 4:3 displays are quite similar to widescreen gaming today.

Haha, that’s great! What related landmarks does that track allude to?

Wow, the mods for NFS have really advanced since last I checked:

• Extra Options, but for NFS III: Hot Pursuit
  • https://youtube.com/watch?v=vvLZQKWSOR4
• Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit - Limits Unlocker Mod Menu
  • https://www.nfsaddons.com/downloads/nfshp/tools/8435/need-for-speed-iii-hot-pursuit-limits-unlocker-mod-menu.html

I had a hard time finding that game after finishing NFS3, until EA finally released a box set collection.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/10925/the-need-for-speed-collection/

I remember seeing an LGR and behind the scenes video for NFS2:

• Need For Speed II - 24 Years Later: An LGR Retrospective

  • https://youtube.com/watch?v=pycArRS0w6k

• Making of - Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 [Behind the Scenes]

  • https://youtube.com/watch?v=ywklZvWRK0M&t=50s

Porsch Unleashed was quite a bit more simulator-like, at least the steering mechanics and coefficient of friction. I always kind of enjoyed the arcade physics of the original trio, without going completely slot-car, as keeping racing lines and risking shortcuts was still heavily rewarded. They all had really good soundtracks though, with that late '90s techno and grunge. Or at least that’s what my nostalgia tells me.

Oh, Need for Speed! I still break out the originals like NFS III Hot Pursuit when I want to focus on a podcast or an audio book, but don’t want my mind to wonder. Letting my visual and motor cortex enter a flow state while doing timed laps pacifies my ADHD, keeping me on track to complete any audible reading, pun intended. It also helps having all the maps memorized from nostalgia.

Emulating the PS1 and PS2 titles is an option, but there are modern patches of the PC ports that improve the ergonomics of running them on current operating systems, including Wine and Proton:

• Need For Speed III Modern Patch v1.6.1 [2016/10/28] (HD + Widescreen + Portable)
  • https://veg.by/en/projects/nfs3/

Another racing series with a similar flow vibe could be the Track Mania titles. Forza Horizon is a little flashy, but if you create a waypoint race route and then avoid the finish line, you can then free roam without traffic making for a relaxing and scenic diving game. The Hot Wheels DLC for Forza Horizon is also rather zen once you get a grasp for the different gravity and motion model dynamics.

• Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels on Steam
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/1613280/Forza_Horizon_5_Hot_Wheels/

Additional notable zen like titles, with less arcade driving:

• Absolute Drift
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/320140/Absolute_Drift/
• over the hill (unreleased)
  • https://store.steampowered.com/app/2929250/over_the_hill/?curator_clanid=33179407

How about Elizabethan cyberpunk that is Art Deco adjacent?

• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Gankutsuou:_The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4JmsTs44lc

Takes a bit to get accustomed to the textures, but a fun adaptation.

Sometimes you can get that golden ambient light effect during a hyper localised storm fronts around mountainous plateaus, like thunder storms during dusk in the Himalayas, where the terrain cuts holes in the cloud cover. Very epic ambience:

https://stock.adobe.com/images/thunderstorm-in-the-mountains-panoramic-summer-landscape-with-enchanting-stormy-sky-storm-clouds-sunny-valley-and-small-rural-house-sunset-sunrise-landscape-with-beautiful-sky-stormy-weather/215244664

You can use a USB hub dongle which passes through power via USB C with a Google TV (4K) device. That’s what I do for mine to connect it to the rest of my GbE VLAN via wired ethernet connection and avoid Wi-Fi packet drops when streaming or casting 4K HDR content. A dongle is also handy to connect any USB web cam so I can use the TV for large family video calls with the grandparents in the living room, via Android apps like Google Meet or Zoom.

Here is the one I use that also has a combo headphone jack with GbE Ethernet and passthrough charging, so also nice for Moonlight gaming on modern android 120Hz HDR tablets where I don’t want to use low bitrate HFP Bluetooth for discord calls while also listening to game audio and music. Note, when used with the Google TV, I don’t use the USB Hub’s HDMI, opting for the Google TV’s international cord to maintain Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) functionality.

Anker 655 USB-C Hub (8-in-1), with 2 USB-A 10 Gbps Data Ports, 100W Power Delivery, 4K HDMI, 1 Gbps Ethernet, microSD and SD Card Slots, 3.5 mm AUX, for MacBook, and More (Charcoal Gray) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MF6TJLW

Can you listen to music or watch a movie while on a discord call using the hands-free microphone in your Bluetooth headset? Full duplex audio still halves the nominal bitrate for both the microphone and media playback audio; same as when the HSP/HFP protocols we’re first showcased in 1999. It’s ridiculous, especially now that very few flagship devices still include a headset jack.

Awesome to hear, and thanks for the citations! Much appreciated.

Besides the number of greater features that sunshine has added, are there any performance benchmarks to compare the two? Like for 4K HDR @ 120Hz in terms of latency or efficiency in the graphics capture pipelines? Always figured Nvidia could be leveraging their proprietary driver APIs more effectively given they can optimize and control the entire graphics pipeline, end to end.

You should cross post this c/science_memes ! Instead of cooking the average paper for call deadline, it’s nice to publish something funny every once in a while.

Just like modern cars… I wish there was some kind legislation that would limit phone-home telemetry to emergency service telecommunication frequencies, and be opt-in only. That way any OEM operating under commercial cellular frequencies would thus be unlicensed, and subject to FCC violations and import bans. Like what OnStar was originally pitched as; only auto dialing to 911, and 911 only, if you were unresponsive after airbags deployed. OEM couldn’t use the telecommunication frequencies for anything other than networking with emergency service endpoints on the same VLAN.

Anything recorded by the vehicle would be required to stay on the vehicle due privacy regulations, like the black box recorder for warranted forensic investigations. OTA updates could also be distributed offline for users to download and flash via USB, like any motherboard bios, so transactions would be write only.

Before your comment, I thought I recognized this person, but could remember from where. Then your hint referencing TwoSetViolin helped me recall this is Hilary Hahn. Haven’t seen that channel in while, hope she still does those fun informal guest appearances.