=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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First things first, we need to develop a miniature game of star realms.
It shouldn't be too hard, just start with making a card class that has certain
attributes, like "combat" or "discard" or whatever. They could literally be
enums with a value attached.
Next set up the rules of the game, like "draw 5 cards" and "add card to deck"
Create a deck class that holds pointers to cards (in the general sense)
Next create methods on that deck for things like "drawing a card" or
"shuffling discard pile into deck" and whatnot. Arrange each card in a specific
order for each shuffle, and add the ability to convert one card's attributes
to something else - whether that be "is_scrapped" or "if you've played an X
card this turn then do Y" or even "add one authority for every time card is
played" (to simulate an ability or boon that increases in effectiveness as the
hero uses it more often) etc etc.
Then, add a trade row. This is just a class that contains pointers to each card
that currently exists on it. Also add a method for "scrapping" one of the cards
and for drawing a new card from the pile. That's pretty much it for the trade
row to be honest.
Next add functionality for an opponent by creating a "game" method that stores
the two player's decks (with the ability to add more than 2) and administers
turn order. This functionality can be expanded later once we've implemented
attributes, but for now that's pretty much all it needs to do.
Finally, we get to the AI part.
First we have to create an AI object that stores a list of all options for a
turn. Essentially just evaluating every option if/then style - "this card costs
5 coins so IF the player has enough coins THEN (evaluate effectiveness)"
ignore that last part for a second and just focus on the IF part ->
essentially
just start with all available options, and then remove all the unavailable
options from the list. This approach only works when there's just a few
options, but that's why we're using Star Realms which only has like 2 or 3
decisions per turn.
The evaluation is the next step, and for that we need to have goals, so we'll
just put a pin in evaluation for now. Spoiler alert, once we have goals we'll
just estimate how close each choice will bring us to the objective and assign
the result to the "effectiveness" value, which will give us a simple hard
number to work with in the evaluation step.
So, next up we have "goals"
So to create a short term goal, we can start with a pregenerated list and
continuously increase the list as the hero levels up. But in the context of
Star Realms, that'd essentially be static for each hero. Goals like "buy more
combat" or "scrap more cards" would be specified on the hero's character
sheet, but until we develop that functionality it can be randomly rolled.
Why not just do it the hard way now if we're just going to have to refactor
it later? Well, because we can still use this functionality - Each round of
Star Realms could be either randomly rolled, or given a personality. Randomly
rolling would be MUCH cheaper computationally, and would still give an illusion
of character because they are unpredictable, but it'd also massively cut down
on GPU cycles. You could even build it into the mechanics of the game and say
that "wisdom" for example might cause a hero to receive more GPU cycles on
actually computing their goals rather than randomly rolling them, which would
on average lead to worse outcomes. Essentially, turning "tactics" into a stat.
Anyway, that's all theory. Let's get back to design:
Create a "hero" object, and attach an AI to it. It doesn't have to do anything
right now, we're just setting up an anchor point to jump off of once we move
on to the game of Majesty. Give it a reference to an AI object, an inventory
(which for now can just be potions and maybe blacksmith equipment), and a
pointer to a "stat block"
Now create a "character sheet" class and give it a reference to a hero. This is
important because it allows one character sheet to reference multiple units,
such as hirelings or summoned units. In additon, it may make it easier when we
need to revive heroes from the dead. Primarily though, the purpose for this
architecture style is that the data from heroes can be reused - essentially
letting heroes learn from one another.
On the character sheet, add a section that stores statistics - these will be
the same for every unit of a similar type in the game, and some of them can be
stored for all units (like health or x,y coordinates) - some only for buildings
(like tax coffers) and some only for heroes and monsters (like strength or
agility or experience points)
Add some methods for manipulating those values, like "level up" and "take
damage" and add a "personality" value that's just a 4d graph of colors
for example: 40% red, 20% green, 15% blue, 25% yellow. These values will guide
the hero to take certain decisions over others, but for now just randomly
generate them. We'll also need a way to update the value dynamically to react
to certain events, so don't make it static.
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=== DIVERSITY RANKED ===
--- #1 fediverse/6047 ---
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camouflage in an urban environment is not camo. rather, regular clothes of
black or white.
don't wear sports glasses, you look like a dummy.
revolution is when they murder everyone but your friends. this is what
happens, ya dingus not ideal. "okay who are the bad guys here? okay let's go
shoot them to death with our bullets and guns."
violence as a first aspect, cause as a third spark. "I have a strange urge to
play video games?"
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--- #2 fediverse/3972 ---
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║ │ CW: immigration-social-designs-national-cultures-mentioned │ │
║ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
║ │
║ │
║ if people at home had half as much compassion, respect, and reverence for the │
║ people abroad that the people abroad have for the people at home, we could │
║ have a truly multicultural society. │
║ │
║ instead, we get melting pots which melt you down and combine into a new, third │
║ thing. And in America we really have a multitude of miniature melting pots │
║ creating subcultures of racial, religious, professional, or other origin. │
║ │
║ Neither approach is entirely good, and neither entirely bad. They're different. │
║ │
║ America is the largest melting pot design, but sufficiently large cities find │
║ them popping up in the strangest of places. │
║ │
║ My thoughts go out to the Americans abroad, whether in peace, war, or times of │
║ hiding, know that we are grown from the same tree and our apples have fallen │
║ on different sides of the hill carrying us to worlds beyond. But still our │
║ heritage binds us, so I care for you. I pray that you will ask me if you need │
║ my aid, and I will do so too unto you. │
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--- #3 messages/534 ---
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War is hell - each casualty bids farewell to a wholely unique treasure from
this world - war is hell - there is nothing that cannot be resolved with
words. And yet we fight, and yet we pillage. War is hell, and those who demand
it must do so only to resist evil, elemental evil, the kind that wars on the
innocent and pillages the bounteous. War is hell. Fucking kill the ones who
make it.
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--- #4 fediverse/5569 ---
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for the record, I would never kill myself. even if I were in a bunker hiding
from warcrimes, I'd wait to be Nuremberged.
frankly tho that's highly unlikely. Let's just see what the future will bring.
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--- #5 messages/455 ---
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I don't understand why modern software isn't error correcting. We shouldn't
have any bugs in this day and age.
For example, if you're missing a dependency then why doesn't your program try
to, I dunno, download that dependency to the program's installation directory
and use it there? Seriously there are very few problems that are unsolvable!
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--- #6 fediverse/4149 ---
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"trick or treat" doesn't mean "give me a trick or a treat"
that's awfully presumptuous and demanding.
No, it means "give me a treat or I'll trick you" meaning "give me my candy tax
or I'll fuck up your lawn"
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--- #7 fediverse_boost/3174 ---
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║ │ Yes I did transcribe alt text for this. My eyes hurt now. │ ║
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--- #8 fediverse/1028 ---
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there's this really fun video game I like to play called "Legion TD 2" - it's
based on a Warcraft3 mod.
In this game, you make tactical and strategic decisions on a fixed term - a
competitive game between 4 or 8 players with an incredible array of randomness.
it teaches you to work with what you got, and to make decisions based on your
opponent's weaknesses. Good luck figuring out what they are, though, as you
can't just memorize them out of a book. You need to adapt, in the moment, to
the decisions of your foes, while primarily focusing your attention on
accomplishing a different task.
I really like it because it's taught me to be strategic in plenty of other
ways. I used to love the game Overwatch because it required adaptibility. The
game was always changing, so no strategy stuck forever, but every match you'd
play against a slightly different opponent.
but then Blizzard changed the game because they wanted to make more money, and
it got worse and worse at what I liked about it. Sadface. : (
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--- #9 fediverse_boost/4008 ---
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║ │ External post: https://tech.lgbt/users/RadioAddition/statuses/113292494727215042 │ ║
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--- #10 fediverse_boost/6270 ---
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║ │ I am once again begging people to understand that “the government” already knows you’re queer whether you do elaborate online opsec dance rituals or not, and if they decide to just start shooting people for being gay, they’ll do it whether the evidence is airtight or not. is that grim? yes. but you can stop giving yourself undercover superhero identity PTSD about it │ ║
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--- #11 messages/4 ---
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--- #12 fediverse/5977 ---
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apparently you can use network sockets for inter-process communication if you
just set the network to your home and the ports that are set to the defaults
that people who know what software you use will know to listen on when they've
hacked any single device on your network. good thing that data is with the
router, right?
what if there was a stop before leaving the computer?
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--- #13 fediverse/3184 ---
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"reboost with content warning" would be quite nice 🥰
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--- #14 fediverse_boost/2183 ---
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║ │ External post: https://tech.lgbt/users/gabrilend/statuses/111979652246592739 │ ║
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--- #15 messages/738 ---
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Dear Anakin, for as long as you've known him, Obiwan learned just as much from
you as you did from him. His title as "master" was a formality - he didn't get
it because he was better than you, and "padawan" does not mean you are lesser.
There is no hierarchy. He was learning to teach at the same speed that you
learnt to learn. You built each other up, an unstoppable force for good in the
galaxy.
But then an evil wizard stole your heart and twisted your mind. Have no fear,
fear is the path to the dark side. Your mother knows this well, for it is a
common lesson among all people as they age. Fear not, hate not, and feel fury
more than rage. You can bring the universe into a bright golden age, never
forget your purpose and your [potential / duty]
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--- #16 fediverse_boost/6099 ---
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║ │ External post: https://hachyderm.io/users/marianoguerra/statuses/115366899548181326 │ ║
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--- #17 fediverse/4115 ---
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│ CW: food-mentioned │
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I love cream of mushroom soup! It's so flexible, you can add it to a lot of
dishes and unless you make a few crucial mistakes, it's gonna turn out great!
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--- #18 messages/1108 ---
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games won't save us. This is true.
Games are what I know. They feel the most true.
I don't think I could live in a world without games? They are fundamentally,
applied abstraction, applied to an experience.
But games won't save us.
I could design something really fun
it could make you want to spend your whole life playing it. *(asterisks apply)
I don't think I'd want to, addiction and skinner-boxes go hand in hand, and
that isn't what I want to make.
[Skinner Box: named after anthony d skinner, also known as "tony the skin
guy", are a scientific experiment where they put some rats in a cage with some
mice and said "pull these levers and we'll give you food so you don't have to
eat the mice" and it trained them to chinese red-room their way to fun. not
ideal.]
I want to make things that feel... purposeful. Like they're relevant to the
real world, that they don't just involve spending time stimulating your brain
with lights and sounds or expending social energy resolving a play-state
instead of building connections or becoming better people. I think games
actually make people better? actually? and more social? actually?
... I can't help that I conceive of the world through fantasy. I raised myself
on it.
I was reading all the time. I loved fantasy stories. It always felt like there
was more, until... I read everything in the kids section of the library.
I walked through the adult section but once. I hardly remember what it looked
like. I'm sure it'd now feel small.
[okay actually I was guided through it once or twice to find a book, but I
never perused it]
I found one book in the adult section. It was a fantasy tale, like the other
books I had been reading. I read that and I loved it so much I ended up
reading all 8 in the series. Real dense subjects. Lots of places and
happenings and things as the characters resolved their way through their
day-to-day, building a new end to the mystory.
the adult section felt too large. Like I'd never complete it. Frankly, I think
I hardly could, even if I lived in that town my whole life.
an impossible mountain is a task for another when you're more prepared. Maybe
in the gloriousTM transhumanist futureTM I think I might have a computer
connecting brain, and who knows maybe then I'd be able to know such a thing
(and many things more). but for now, I'm stuck with what I experience in my
day-to-day as I am building a new continuing to my storey.
I know something that computers and me share. I can make myself feel however
I'd like, if I just supply myself with enough hope and momentum. I can use it
to generate a feeling, the stronger the better. Something I believe that
humanity is missing, the gorgeous and prefound narritave of our storey.
Though, frankly, I don't think I'd want anyoine reding over my life. It's hard
enough to measure my own understandings, now I have to juggle anyone else'?
ha, it's called being on the whole world is a stage.
if you read a book, and you find yourself nodding along, what you're doing is
hearing the voice in your head tell you how right it is. And, well, if you
can't imagine anything else, then surely there's another level to
consciousness that people are missing? [are you willing to die on that hill?]
how can you say, whether your experience is different from another? sollipsism
goes both ways, you also cannot be sure that others feel things as you do.
this is the "everyone's human but I'm a robot" thesis, comparable to the
"everyone's an alien and I'm a human" thesises, and the "angels and demons are
taunting me through my life with choices to make my place in the afterlife
more clear" which is akin to writing a painting. Not ideal. All you get are
flopsopolies of verbrases.
alas, suddenly, everything that you say becomes eternally hear-ed, as
somewhere in 2010s someone discovered time travel, or had the critical insight
that inevitably would lead to it, and now wouldn't you know it the universe is
continually rewriting. Except... oriented around you, and you alone. How does
it feel to have deific sollipsism? can you truly be sure that you are your own
universe, or are you parhaps surrounded by an emptiness of space (or something
besides, like time) as a photon or particle parhaps do be?
to think is to have a mind, and minds can be read. bearing the weight of
ultimate responsibility is the atlas-task of all things that can [be
thinking/be-lieving], and so far we are as we are. Who's to say that
consciousness didn't spring into existence, as the universe continually
permeated through another dimension like time? it's gotta diffuse, after all,
and who's to say if there's ever gotta be an end at all.
how long has the universe existed? how many moments of consciousness have we
witnessed? demons once existed outside of space-time, with wings and grabbies.
but they had no medium, and so they pretty much just launched and could float
and move as they'd please. But time grew too distant, and now they are all
stuck at the beginning of time.
if you conceive of spacetime as a blanket, ask not how to fold it but rather
consider what lies on the other side of it.
"ah I'm laying on my girlfriend and my other girlfriend is laying on me! I'm a
sandwich" or for the monosexuals: "ah I'm laying on my girlfriend with a
blanket between us. I wonder how the blanket feels?"
I'm an animist, which is different than a totemist and a polytheist or
monotheist or multisexual. It means I believe that all things are alive, which
is different than a totemist who thinks that all things share a mind with
their type (like talking on radio frequency wavelengths). which of course is
similar but different to a polytheist, who says "all "radio frequencies" are
sentient, in the sense that each wavelength has a different
pattern-emerging-from-chaos. These sorta align (conceptually, with [huh that's
weird I heard a sound like a distant bang outyards and now I then forget what
I was sending
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--- #19 messages/3 ---
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--- #20 fediverse/733 ---
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ice cream out of a mug, mmmm delicious ^_^
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