The Great CT - Community Thread

[sjmartin79]

I started playing "Bowser's Fury" last night (the companion game to Super Mario 3D World", and wow! So far, I'm loving every aspect of the game. The Bowser parts are fun... and useful. Bowser Jr is an interesting companion. Graphics are great. It's definitely 3D World meets Odyssey in terms of scope, movement, and style.
The challenges to get the Shines are varied.
So if you are planning to get Super Mario 3D World, I think you'll enjoy Bowser's Fury which is truly Cat Mario.

 

[Shoulder]

@Juegos @MANGANian @Goodtwin

This I found quite fascinating:

TLW

When you're CPU bottlenecked, the Radeon cards tend to push ahead of nvidia's cards, even when compared to something like an RX 5700XT to a RTX 3070, or even 3090. Sure, many folks who buy something like a 3090 probably don't have something like a Ryzen 5 1600x, and instead are using a Ryzen 7, or even Ryzen 9. However, for most gamers, you can bet that their CPUs are older than their GPUs, and as a result, it starts to paint a picture where the driver overhead of nVidia cards is causing more CPU tasks to be wasted, and cause Radeon cards to pull ahead.

I also think this makes a difference especially if you're a competitive gamer, or if you simply strive for higher refresh rates, even at 1080p. Just going for the biggest, and baddest GPU doesn't always mean you'll get the best results. Naturally, having a good balance of CPU, and GPU is what counts. But CPUs like Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Core i3, Core i5, and in some cases, even older ones than that are probably the most mainstream of cards in most rigs.

So for most of us who have rigs that are 3-5 years old or more, but don't feel compelled to do a full upgrade, it is looking like it makes more sense to go Radeon than nVidia. Now, this video did not compare the differences in Ray-Tracing performance, although I'm sure that was not the intention of the video.

The issue based on this video is the drivers themselves are causing more CPU cycles to be wasted for the GPU before you even load up a game. In one comparison, he used Shadow of the Tomb Raider in the benchmark test, and when locking the framerate to 60fps, the radeon card caused less CPU usage when compared to the nVidia card.

Looking a little further into this, it's been a known issue for years with nVidia cards when compared to radeon cards with respect to their drivers. First time I've heard of this though, so figured I'd pass it onto you guys.

EDIT: Also looking a bit more, it would appear this affects Vulkan, and DX12 APIs compared to DX11 where nVidia pulls ahead in older APIs. Still, interesting information nonetheless.

I'm quoting my own post because I did find some other interesting things with regards to the schedulers in both AMD, and nVidia cards. To sum it up, AMD uses a dedicated hardware scheduler, which means less resources from the CPU are required. This differs from what nVidia has been doing lately as their scheduler is running in software. What this means though is if you have a CPU capable enough, it would appear this is another reason why nVidia tend to perform better in raw frame rates, and graphical fidelity, probably because of using more of the silicon on the die to be used for better graphics, and letting the CPU perform the scheduler tasks. We tend to not notice this in a lot of tech related videos, or sites because they use high-end CPUs for their testing to remove those bottlenecks, so the differences are less noticeable. Bring in the CPU bottleneck though, AMD cards tend to pull ahead in many situations, but of course not all of them naturally.

Again, this isn't much of an issue for the fastest CPUs out there, but if you have an older CPU, those precious CPU cycles become more important, and thus a more efficient graphics driver might end up being more beneficial for gamers who wish to delay a full upgrade until later.

These same guys posted a follow up video that goes more into detail:

From what they're saying, this software vs. hardware-based scheduler wasn't much of an issue during the DX11, and earlier days, but with Vulkan, and DX12, the AMD cards are showing to be more efficient because of the dedicated hardware for the scheduler. And from what some folks have been saying on forum threads, this has been a known issue for years, but it's only just now starting to be more widespread I guess.

Given I don't plan on upgrading my CPU anytime soon, AMD might be suitable in this case. Not sure I'd go all out for a 6000 series GPU, but maybe I could swing it? I guess until I can't game on my GTX 770, or edit videos on it, then it's probably not worth it right now.

*sighs*

Too bad chip shortages are a thing, so maybe not upgrading will be easier to manage at this point.

 

[Goodtwin]

Mortal Kombat 11 was on sale recently for $15 on the eshop. With all these eshop deals I am quickly "saving" my way into the poor house, LOL. I havent played a MK game since Mortal Kombat 4 on the N64. The series has changed so much over the years. My biggest surprise was just how much effort they put into the story mode. You are basically getting a two hour long Mortal Kombat movie. The combat I am still coming to grips with. Never been a big fan of the juggle combo fighters, and thats what you need to do inorder to become great in this game. The old school MK games were pretty simplistic by comparison. Learn a handful of special moves for your favorite characters and mix them in with the basic strikes. You can still do that to an extent, but there is a ton of extra depth if your willing to practice. I enjoyed the ride through the story mode, but the combat probably wont be holding my attention like Ultra Street Fighter 2 did.

 

[Shoulder]

Mortal Kombat 11 was on sale recently for $15 on the eshop. With all these eshop deals I am quickly "saving" my way into the poor house, LOL. I havent played a MK game since Mortal Kombat 4 on the N64. The series has changed so much over the years. My biggest surprise was just how much effort they put into the story mode. You are basically getting a two hour long Mortal Kombat movie. The combat I am still coming to grips with. Never been a big fan of the juggle combo fighters, and thats what you need to do inorder to become great in this game. The old school MK games were pretty simplistic by comparison. Learn a handful of special moves for your favorite characters and mix them in with the basic strikes. You can still do that to an extent, but there is a ton of extra depth if your willing to practice. I enjoyed the ride through the story mode, but the combat probably wont be holding my attention like Ultra Street Fighter 2 did.

Does Mortal Kombat even know what it's trying to do these days? I remember the days of the SNES MK games, so are the current games in anyway like the classic ones, or has it evolved beyond that?

 

[Goodtwin]

Does Mortal Kombat even know what it's trying to do these days? I remember the days of the SNES MK games, so are the current games in anyway like the classic ones, or has it evolved beyond that?

Well, there is far more emphasis on a story now, something that was previously very limited. The story mode took me about 5 hours to complete. Gameplay has also evolved much an emphasis on combo's. It still very much has its roots in the foundation of classis MK, but there is so much built upon it that it can feel like a departure from the simplistic mechanics of the original games.

 

[Shoulder]

Deus Ex is one of my all-time favorite video games, so to listen what Warren Spector had to say during this one hour is quite something. Highly encourage all of you to listen. Yes, it's a few years old now, but still relevant today.

A couple years ago, I did play through System Shock 2, which was also a very good game, even today, and could tell there were a lot of gameplay parallels between it, and Deus Ex. I should play the original System Shock, and when the time also comes, play System Shock 3 when that eventually comes out.

Has anyone else besides me play any of the System Shock games?

 

[sjmartin79]

Since Steve and I are both vaccinated, we decided to get out of town for the weekend to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.
Since we went to NOLA for our honeymoon, we felt this would be the perfect trip for 5 years.

This was pretty much only the 2nd weekend that things were open again in the French Quarter. There were not a ton of people, like 1/5th the amount from when we were there last time. All businesses, bars, and restaurants required masks to be worn, and no one seemed to be fighting it. Also, any outdoor walking tours also required masks since people would be near each other. It all worked really well.

The food was amazing, as usual. The weather was around 70 and sunny the whole time. We went to several non-tourist bars and met some great locals. Our AirBnB was in a quiet neighborhood of the Treme, and we were 3 blocks from the Quarter.

On Sunday, we took part in a Victorian séance, which was truly something. After, we did a renewal of our vows with a voodoo priestess. It was honestly the best vacation I've ever taken. Nothing went wrong. It was exactly what we needed after the last year to melt away all the crap.

Here's a pic from the ceremony, and one of us at Jackson Square.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

@Shoulder
I love the System Shock games. The first one is a rather clunky experience at first. Took me 20 minutes or so to get use to swapping between “action” mode and “point and click (inventory)” mode. I also remember 5-6 hours in learning how to check how much ammo you had. But it’s fantastic if you can get past it, really stellar stuff.

@sjmartin79 Wow, 5 years already? It really doesn’t feel that long ago you were telling us how the proposal went down. Crazy. Happy anniversary!

 

[Juegos]

@sjmartin79 Wow, 5 years already? It really doesn’t feel that long ago you were telling us how the proposal went down. Crazy. Happy anniversary!

THIS. WTF it's been that long already?!

Happy 5th @sjmartin79!

 

[mattavelle1]

Happy 5th Sjm!!! I can’t believe it’s been that long!

 

[sjmartin79]

Thank you all! Yeah, definitely doesn't feel like 5 years already. Crazy how times flies.

 

[MANGANian]

No comments about Monster Hunter Rise? For shame! I wanted you guys to tell me how much I'm missing out.

 

[sjmartin79]

No comments about Monster Hunter Rise? For shame! I wanted you guys to tell me how much I'm missing out.

I'm picking it up after work today. Steve2 ordered it, and I played the demo after reading such amazing reviews. I figured I would try joining the hunt for the first time.

 

[mattavelle1]

How’s it been my gents??? It’s ya boy got a chance to holla at yall. This is probably been the best full week I have had in a good long while so I’m really thankful for that. I’m still goin thru the divorce process and I’ve learned really bad things over the past month about double lives and hidden debt. I won’t go into details, the lessons I’ve learned tho will follow me to the end of my days on these fronts and how to react and not to react. For whatever reason tho and I suspect it’s because she’s so broke, she asked for the divorce in October, filed in November............but she’s still here at home and I can’t get her to leave. It’s the most bizarre situation I’ve ever been thru or lived in. My court date to move her out and get custody of my kids is way out on April 28th so still a month. I’ll make it tho.

My grandfather died last week. Got to spend a lot of time with family which was really amazing all in all. I was glad to reconnect with some, and hang with others that I hang out with a lot anyhow.

My boys and I have gotten closer thru all these things and that’s been a huge thing for me in my life. I’ve always been a good dad and close to them but our bond is even better now which I thank God for. Also Word has gotten around that I’m goin thru this and women have started to holla, so atleast I know I’m not dead. That being said I think Ima stay single for a good long while. I wanna make sure there are no hindering on doin what needs to be done for my sons if they need anything at all. I don’t wanna be a step parent and I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be a step to my boys and I’m feeling really comfortable with this idea.

Business is really good right now, and my cousin and I our relationship is probably better than it’s been in years which also is a huge blessing. On that front also I love coming here and continuing to see you guys talking and gaming. I did get MH so I know things are gonna turn around for me here soon where I can catch my breath and kick it.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

How’s it been my gents??? It’s ya boy got a chance to holla at yall. This is probably been the best full week I have had in a good long while so I’m really thankful for that. I’m still goin thru the divorce process and I’ve learned really bad things over the past month about double lives and hidden debt. I won’t go into details, the lessons I’ve learned tho will follow me to the end of my days on these fronts and how to react and not to react. For whatever reason tho and I suspect it’s because she’s so broke, she asked for the divorce in October, filed in November............but she’s still here at home and I can’t get her to leave. It’s the most bizarre situation I’ve ever been thru or lived in. My court date to move her out and get custody of my kids is way out on April 28th so still a month. I’ll make it tho.

My grandfather died last week. Got to spend a lot of time with family which was really amazing all in all. I was glad to reconnect with some, and hang with others that I hang out with a lot anyhow.

My boys and I have gotten closer thru all these things and that’s been a huge thing for me in my life. I’ve always been a good dad and close to them but our bond is even better now which I thank God for. Also Word has gotten around that I’m goin thru this and women have started to holla, so atleast I know I’m not dead. That being said I think Ima stay single for a good long while. I wanna make sure there are no hindering on doin what needs to be done for my sons if they need anything at all. I don’t wanna be a step parent and I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be a step to my boys and I’m feeling really comfortable with this idea.

Business is really good right now, and my cousin and I our relationship is probably better than it’s been in years which also is a huge blessing. On that front also I love coming here and continuing to see you guys talking and gaming. I did get MH so I know things are gonna turn around for me here soon where I can catch my breath and kick it.

My condolences Matty.... Much love bro....

 

[mattavelle1]

My condolences Matty.... Much love bro....

Very much love LSB, thank you so much

 

[Shoulder]

How’s it been my gents??? It’s ya boy got a chance to holla at yall. This is probably been the best full week I have had in a good long while so I’m really thankful for that. I’m still goin thru the divorce process and I’ve learned really bad things over the past month about double lives and hidden debt. I won’t go into details, the lessons I’ve learned tho will follow me to the end of my days on these fronts and how to react and not to react. For whatever reason tho and I suspect it’s because she’s so broke, she asked for the divorce in October, filed in November............but she’s still here at home and I can’t get her to leave. It’s the most bizarre situation I’ve ever been thru or lived in. My court date to move her out and get custody of my kids is way out on April 28th so still a month. I’ll make it tho.

My grandfather died last week. Got to spend a lot of time with family which was really amazing all in all. I was glad to reconnect with some, and hang with others that I hang out with a lot anyhow.

My boys and I have gotten closer thru all these things and that’s been a huge thing for me in my life. I’ve always been a good dad and close to them but our bond is even better now which I thank God for. Also Word has gotten around that I’m goin thru this and women have started to holla, so atleast I know I’m not dead. That being said I think Ima stay single for a good long while. I wanna make sure there are no hindering on doin what needs to be done for my sons if they need anything at all. I don’t wanna be a step parent and I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be a step to my boys and I’m feeling really comfortable with this idea.

Business is really good right now, and my cousin and I our relationship is probably better than it’s been in years which also is a huge blessing. On that front also I love coming here and continuing to see you guys talking and gaming. I did get MH so I know things are gonna turn around for me here soon where I can catch my breath and kick it.

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandfather, Matt. Sounds like he was a good man. My sympathies.

Also, I'm glad things are at least moving with regards to getting the divorce finalized, and eventually moving on with your life. It's too bad things ended up turning out this way, but I'm glad to hear the boys are staying with you. And also glad to hear the business is doing really well, and you appear closer with other members of your extended family.

And yes, you will be catching a break when you dive into MHRise. I just got myself started yesterday on my first basic hunt, so it's all downhill from here in terms of your time being invested into this.

TNE Wonderful Ones, Unite up!

 

[sjmartin79]

How’s it been my gents??? It’s ya boy got a chance to holla at yall. This is probably been the best full week I have had in a good long while so I’m really thankful for that. I’m still goin thru the divorce process and I’ve learned really bad things over the past month about double lives and hidden debt. I won’t go into details, the lessons I’ve learned tho will follow me to the end of my days on these fronts and how to react and not to react. For whatever reason tho and I suspect it’s because she’s so broke, she asked for the divorce in October, filed in November............but she’s still here at home and I can’t get her to leave. It’s the most bizarre situation I’ve ever been thru or lived in. My court date to move her out and get custody of my kids is way out on April 28th so still a month. I’ll make it tho.

My grandfather died last week. Got to spend a lot of time with family which was really amazing all in all. I was glad to reconnect with some, and hang with others that I hang out with a lot anyhow.

My boys and I have gotten closer thru all these things and that’s been a huge thing for me in my life. I’ve always been a good dad and close to them but our bond is even better now which I thank God for. Also Word has gotten around that I’m goin thru this and women have started to holla, so atleast I know I’m not dead. That being said I think Ima stay single for a good long while. I wanna make sure there are no hindering on doin what needs to be done for my sons if they need anything at all. I don’t wanna be a step parent and I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be a step to my boys and I’m feeling really comfortable with this idea.

Business is really good right now, and my cousin and I our relationship is probably better than it’s been in years which also is a huge blessing. On that front also I love coming here and continuing to see you guys talking and gaming. I did get MH so I know things are gonna turn around for me here soon where I can catch my breath and kick it.

Matt, I'm so sorry about the loss of your Granfather. I know how rough that is. But I do remember that time spent with the rest of the family while grieving can be wonderful for all those there.

Definitely sorry for all you are going through in your marriage. My thoughts and prayers are with you and the boys. You're a strong person, and you will come out even stronger on the other side.

Congrats on the business things!

 

[sjmartin79]

I started playing MHR this weekend, and I'm hunting monsters for the very first time.
It's a lot of fun, and I'm sad that I'm late to the game.
I did some online hunting with Steve2 yesterday, and we did great as a team.
Definitely getting the hang of it all.

Did anyone else get Monster Hunter Rise over the weekend?
I feel like I saw a TNE crew member name pop up on my screen that they were playing too.

 

[Goodtwin]

@sjmartin79 im pretty sure half of the regular TNE members are playing MH Rise right now. While I was playing yesterday there had to be another half dozen people on my friends list playing. I have been focusing on single player so far, but will be moving to the online hub quest soon. There is some pretty big differences in how various members here approach MH. @Koenig and Drew go all in and generally focus on building great armor and weapons. Then there are members like @EvilTw1n who are looking to take there time and wont worry too much about armor and weapon builds until later on. I built some low rank armor early on because it took no grinding. Defeated a monster twice and I had what I needed.

I always make sure to keep my side quest que loaded up. Most of them are easy to do while out on hunts and will give you Armor Spheres. I will probably rock this armor until I get into some real High Rank quest. Once you can be one shotted, its time to consider building good armor.

The wirebug and Palamute are tremendous upgrades to the MH experience. I love the feeling of getting blasted and just as I hit the ground use a wirebug to bounce right back up into the fight. It changes the pacing into a much more fluid experience. It takes no time to get right back into the fight. Loving this game so far.

 

[Shoulder]

@sjmartin79 im pretty sure half of the regular TNE members are playing MH Rise right now. While I was playing yesterday there had to be another half dozen people on my friends list playing. I have been focusing on single player so far, but will be moving to the online hub quest soon. There is some pretty big differences in how various members here approach MH. @Koenig and Drew go all in and generally focus on building great armor and weapons. Then there are members like @EvilTw1n who are looking to take there time and wont worry too much about armor and weapon builds until later on. I built some low rank armor early on because it took no grinding. Defeated a monster twice and I had what I needed.

I always make sure to keep my side quest que loaded up. Most of them are easy to do while out on hunts and will give you Armor Spheres. I will probably rock this armor until I get into some real High Rank quest. Once you can be one shotted, its time to consider building good armor.

The wirebug and Palamute are tremendous upgrades to the MH experience. I love the feeling of getting blasted and just as I hit the ground use a wirebug to bounce right back up into the fight. It changes the pacing into a much more fluid experience. It takes no time to get right back into the fight. Loving this game so far.

I'm going for a similar approach for progression. I got some slightly upgraded armor, and weapons that make the initial monsters easier to take down. I haven't dived much into side quests, but I'll have to consider that now. I would be playing this for hours and hours a day, but time is currently limited, so if I can sneak even an hour at a time, I'd be happy. My progress will undoubtedly be slower compared to others, but would still like to play some online once I get a more stable footing of things.

 

[sjmartin79]

I'm going for a similar approach for progression. I got some slightly upgraded armor, and weapons that make the initial monsters easier to take down. I haven't dived much into side quests, but I'll have to consider that now. I would be playing this for hours and hours a day, but time is currently limited, so if I can sneak even an hour at a time, I'd be happy. My progress will undoubtedly be slower compared to others, but would still like to play some online once I get a more stable footing of things.

I get about an hour a day right now with it. I've got a good weapon that's been upgraded twice, and I have decent armor that I'm upgrading. I'll be taking things slowly as I get the hang of all of it, figuring out the grinding aspect and the progression.

I'm having a blast though. I wish I had jumped on the MH bandwagon sooner.

 

[Shoulder]

I get about an hour a day right now with it. I've got a good weapon that's been upgraded twice, and I have decent armor that I'm upgrading. I'll be taking things slowly as I get the hang of all of it, figuring out the grinding aspect and the progression.

I'm having a blast though. I wish I had jumped on the MH bandwagon sooner.

The best time to start MoHun was yesterday. The second best time to start MoHun is now.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Getting caught up in the CT. You're a stronger dude that me @mattavelle1. It makes me happy that you're being a great father in this time.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I just watched Godzilla vs Kong. The fight scenes were unreal, I don't think I ever seen a Godzilla move this fast and be this animated. No joke, I let out a few gasps in the climax. The cinematographer who does these movies also needs a huge bonus or something, cause they movies and their framing are beautiful.

It's a shame though that since Kong Skull Island that the human characters aren't as interesting. This one may be the lowest point in terms of human characters. Humans are important in kaiju movies to give context and drive the plot forward, but there is a group of characters who literally could be cut and nothing of value would be lost. They achieve one thing at the end, but it could be tweaked in a way where they weren't needed. Big shame. When I think back to Godzilla 2014 and Kong, on top of the fight scenes, I think about that scene where on the coast of Seattle an EMP goes off, it goes quiet, the fog rolls in, all we hear is the rain, a nuke is being prepped, then jets start falling from the sky, the music swells and the monsters arrive. I've seen it 5 or 6 times and it still gives me chills. Or in Kong when Sam Jackson's characters is starring down Kong with the helicopters being destroyed around him. Seeing events through the eyes of people we can relate to, or even just being placed in their shoes, can add some much to these movies. Sadly this didn't really have that, buuuuut the fights were so good, it's still a blast to watch.

I think my favorite movie is still Godzilla 2014. I just love the tone and more slower pace of introducing the monsters. It legit feels epic, I get goose-bumps watching this movie. I honestly think it's fantastic the way it is. Despite being Team Godzilla I think Kong is probably the better movie overall. Again, the characters are the best in the series, there's some stuff to analyze like how Kong can represent the Vietnam war, the rush to get off the island creates another layer of agency, the cinematography, it all just comes together so effortlessly.

Why yes I just did a mini ramble on why human characters matter in a movie where a giant ape and lizard punch each other.

 

[MANGANian]

I just watched Godzilla vs Kong. The fight scenes were unreal, I don't think I ever seen a Godzilla move this fast and be this animated. No joke, I let out a few gasps in the climax. The cinematographer who does these movies also needs a huge bonus or something, cause they movies and their framing are beautiful.

It's a shame though that since Kong Skull Island that the human characters aren't as interesting. This one may be the lowest point in terms of human characters. Humans are important in kaiju movies to give context and drive the plot forward, but there is a group of characters who literally could be cut and nothing of value would be lost. They achieve one thing at the end, but it could be tweaked in a way where they weren't needed. Big shame. When I think back to Godzilla 2014 and Kong, on top of the fight scenes, I think about that scene where on the coast of Seattle an EMP goes off, it goes quiet, the fog rolls in, all we hear is the rain, a nuke is being prepped, then jets start falling from the sky, the music swells and the monsters arrive. I've seen it 5 or 6 times and it still gives me chills. Or in Kong when Sam Jackson's characters is starring down Kong with the helicopters being destroyed around him. Seeing events through the eyes of people we can relate to, or even just being placed in their shoes, can add some much to these movies. Sadly this didn't really have that, buuuuut the fights were so good, it's still a blast to watch.

I think my favorite movie is still Godzilla 2014. I just love the tone and more slower pace of introducing the monsters. It legit feels epic, I get goose-bumps watching this movie. I honestly think it's fantastic the way it is. Despite being Team Godzilla I think Kong is probably the better movie overall. Again, the characters are the best in the series, there's some stuff to analyze like how Kong can represent the Vietnam war, the rush to get off the island creates another layer of agency, the cinematography, it all just comes together so effortlessly.

Why yes I just did a mini ramble on why human characters matter in a movie where a giant ape and lizard punch each other.

I actually didn't care for Godzilla 2014 as much. Too many humans, too little kaiju battles. I think Kong: Skull Island was the only movie where I enjoyed the humans and wasn't pissed off that they got screentime, mainly because the humans are a direct and constantly active antagonist/ victim towards Kong, other humans, and other giant beasts and they aren't just the third-wheel fodder to be immediately killed or exist just to fill in the runtime or just to give us exposition and just stand around doing nothing else. It was also the only one where I noticed a perfect balance between humans and monsters.

Godzilla King of Monsters basically gave me more of what I wanted from Godzilla 2014 and less of what I hated, so I really love this movie. I just wished the humans were cut entirely from this film because they somehow made what little focus they had on the humans worse than anything from all the other movies combined. The plotline for the human characters was just awful, and it didn't help that the majority were unlikable and uncompelling. I'm looking forward to watching vs Kong next week.

On an unrelated note, why do these non-mechanical keyboards feel like shit? My 13-year-old keyboard bit the dust this week. I'm currently using a temporary replacement at the moment and I'm hating every single moment of it.

 

[mattavelle1]

A lot of bad things have happened, but my anchor still holds in this day I celebrate that Jesus my Lord has risen from the grave!!! Happy Easter TNE

 

[sjmartin79]

Did my first Monster Hunter Rise Rampage last night! (Steve2 already finished the main story. I'm taking it at a slower pace.)
That was a lot of fun. Tower defense meets hand combat.

Having a lot of fun with it, but I have to do it in bursts. Like 3-4 missions at a time, then call it a night.

 

[mattavelle1]

Did my first Monster Hunter Rise Rampage last night! (Steve2 already finished the main story. I'm taking it at a slower pace.)
That was a lot of fun. Tower defense meets hand combat.

Having a lot of fun with it, but I have to do it in bursts. Like 3-4 missions at a time, then call it a night.

I feel that, there’s a ton of action and a lot on screen sometimes it’s exhausting.

 

[Shoulder]

After my wife built her Murphy bed earlier this year, we had some leftover plywood, so what better way to use it than to make some shelving for it! And besides, wood is fricking expensive right now, so anything you can reuse, and recycle into new things is always a good thing.

I simply took some 3/4" plywood, and cut it up into the triangle pieces you see here, but we also had leftover 1/4" plywood, so I used that as a front molding of sorts to give the shelves a bit more thickness to them. I then, using some leftover plywood from the scrap pieces that I cut for the shelves, created some beams that are attached to the wall via some wall anchors. I screwed in the shelves to the beams from underneath so as to not ruin the top of the wood. You can just barely see them under the top shelf. You can also see I made cut-outs so for things such as an alarm clock, wires can be routed behind everything for a more cleaner look (in the future, we will be relocating the outlet so it's closer to the corner for an even more cleaner look)

Lastly, I sanded everything down going from a 60 grit to a 240 grit, and used a maple stain we had lying around the house, followed by a poly clear coat. While plywood isn't exactly a pretty wood, it cleans up nicely when sanded, and stained.

For something that was leftover from scraps, and thus no additional funds were required, I think it turned out quite well. My wife is at least pleased with it. So much so that she now wants ME to do all the woodworking...even though she has the Cabinetry and Millwork degree.


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/448610598507380756/829165559597760512/image0.jpg

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I actually didn't care for Godzilla 2014 as much. Too many humans, too little kaiju battles. I think Kong: Skull Island was the only movie where I enjoyed the humans and wasn't pissed off that they got screentime, mainly because the humans are a direct and constantly active antagonist/ victim towards Kong, other humans, and other giant beasts and they aren't just the third-wheel fodder to be immediately killed or exist just to fill in the runtime or just to give us exposition and just stand around doing nothing else. It was also the only one where I noticed a perfect balance between humans and monsters.

Godzilla King of Monsters basically gave me more of what I wanted from Godzilla 2014 and less of what I hated, so I really love this movie. I just wished the humans were cut entirely from this film because they somehow made what little focus they had on the humans worse than anything from all the other movies combined. The plotline for the human characters was just awful, and it didn't help that the majority were unlikable and uncompelling. I'm looking forward to watching vs Kong next week.

On an unrelated note, why do these non-mechanical keyboards feel like shit? My 13-year-old keyboard bit the dust this week. I'm currently using a temporary replacement at the moment and I'm hating every single moment of it.

I do sometimes feel like I'm the only one who enjoys the slow pace and build up of Godzilla '14 haha. I can see why people wouldn't like it as much. I do really like the original 1954 one which is similar in how little Godzilla there actually is so I don't mind the occasional slower pace one. Also helps there's a ton of Japanese ones with insane plots and set pieces.

 

[MANGANian]

I do sometimes feel like I'm the only one who enjoys the slow pace and build up of Godzilla '14 haha. I can see why people wouldn't like it as much. I do really like the original 1954 one which is similar in how little Godzilla there actually is so I don't mind the occasional slower pace one. Also helps there's a ton of Japanese ones with insane plots and set pieces.

On the other hand, I do love King Kong 2005, and that movie is long, slow, and self-reflective. My interests are as random as that.

 

[MANGANian]

Sometimes I struggle with stimulation overload, all the time. I know I should be doing something. I know I'll like what I should be doing, but I don't. I put it off so many times until it's almost time for me to get back to work, the hours of my time I originally schedule for sleep, I end up using up with my indecision and finally committing to at least one hour of doing something I should've done hours ago at an inconvenient time for my body. I've had a format that worked earlier this year, but because I made the decision to break the schedule just once, I'm now stuck breaking every single schedule I had, because I feel like I'm not doing enough of everything, so I end up doing multiple things at once, and constantly beating myself up that I should be spending more doing another thing that I'll also feel like I should be spending time doing another thing that I-

Well, you get the point. I'm always feeling like I don't have enough time.

I know that this only ends with me, but I just need to tell at least someone.

 

[Mr-Chris]

Man what the HECK is up TNE. For some reason I found myself browsing IGN forums earlier and the old Zelda board there and my old 10K celebration thread haha so weird looking back on things. Then I thought to pop by here. Hope we're all getting by. The past year for me has just been work, exercise, and guitar/games/etc. Not been travelling to any Smash tournaments of course so been looking at other things in life. I started streaming casually last september now and then (twitch.tv/mistacrispy) since I built a computer last May iirc; money saving in a pandemic for me haha ups and downs for real. Self reflection, growing up, thinking about the future and so on. I also have longer hair and a beard now lmao.

Is the discord a popular thing? I'm in there but don't check it until Fried does a @here smh. I'm active on twitter if anyones on that @CrispyJM but yeah I be online just not in the old places I suppose

I've just drifted away from my old internet homes but thought I'd check in, much love <3

 

[mattavelle1]

Man what the HECK is up TNE. For some reason I found myself browsing IGN forums earlier and the old Zelda board there and my old 10K celebration thread haha so weird looking back on things. Then I thought to pop by here. Hope we're all getting by. The past year for me has just been work, exercise, and guitar/games/etc. Not been travelling to any Smash tournaments of course so been looking at other things in life. I started streaming casually last september now and then (twitch.tv/mistacrispy) since I built a computer last May iirc; money saving in a pandemic for me haha ups and downs for real. Self reflection, growing up, thinking about the future and so on. I also have longer hair and a beard now lmao.

Is the discord a popular thing? I'm in there but don't check it until Fried does a @here smh. I'm active on twitter if anyones on that @CrispyJM but yeah I be online just not in the old places I suppose

I've just drifted away from my old internet homes but thought I'd check in, much love <3

Much love Mista Mista Great to see you! And yes the discord is still poppin

 

[Mr-Chris]

Much love Mista Mista Great to see you! And yes the discord is still poppin

Eyyyy matt good to still see you around; yeah I'll be checking the discord a bit more now!^^

 

[sjmartin79]

Sometimes I struggle with stimulation overload, all the time. I know I should be doing something. I know I'll like what I should be doing, but I don't. I put it off so many times until it's almost time for me to get back to work, the hours of my time I originally schedule for sleep, I end up using up with my indecision and finally committing to at least one hour of doing something I should've done hours ago at an inconvenient time for my body. I've had a format that worked earlier this year, but because I made the decision to break the schedule just once, I'm now stuck breaking every single schedule I had, because I feel like I'm not doing enough of everything, so I end up doing multiple things at once, and constantly beating myself up that I should be spending more doing another thing that I'll also feel like I should be spending time doing another thing that I-

Well, you get the point. I'm always feeling like I don't have enough time.

I know that this only ends with me, but I just need to tell at least someone.

I used to deal with this a lot. It was a side effect of my anxiety/depression. Once we found the right medication for me to help with the anxiety, things like the project situation began to correct themselves naturally.
I'm not saying you are also struggling with mental health, but for me, medication did help my projects/scheduling/overthinking/sleep issues/etc.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

That's something I have to think about. My doctor told me I can go on meds if I want/need too, I just gotta think about it.

@Mr-Chris Good of you to pop in!

 

[sjmartin79]

Going on meds was the best thing I ever did for myself. I held off for awhile because I had an internalized stigma about it.
But once I did, I was a better person all around. I was less quick to anger. I slept better. I worked better. Gaming was even better for me.
I know that surviving 2020 after the disaster of the almost adoption and the virus itself was only possible because of my meds and the support of my family and doctor. I personally would have been in a much darker place after the last year if it weren't for my Lexapro.

 

[MANGANian]

Welp, we're back to a 3-week lockdown, this time with some questionable choices as to which areas of our society should be locked down. I'm half-bitter, half-relieved over it. Oh well.

I beat Sekiro today. Started the game hating its gameplay, adoring its level design, and then hating its gameplay all over again, until loving it all over again. If there's one thing Sekiro has over the Souls games is that its main bosses are very well-designed. If it wasn't for the top-tier level design, I would've considered the main boss battles the best part of the game. I still prefer Bloodborne and Dark Souls over it, as having no RPG elements makes the game feel somewhat lacking, and the skill and weapon upgrades feel mostly useless. In fact, I think these optional move-list upgrades in Sekiro are probably the worst of any action game.

Sekiro's mini-bosses are kinda hit-and-miss. They all sorta teach you how to do one specific thing, but you're left figuring this out and feeling frustrated when nothing else works but that one thing you must figure out. It's either you do that or go the tedious route and Dark Souls your way through their health (hit and run), which is not fun in this game, and will keep you from actually learning to play the game the way they want you to play it. The game also has this bad habit of swarming enemies around these mini-bosses which makes dying and having to re-trek to these minibosses extremely frustrating.

At the beginning of the game, the game mechanics are built to heavily punish you for dying. I really wouldn't be surprised if no one bothered with the game before the third main boss. This is a shame since the game gets more fun after that point.

Anyway, I recommend it, but only if you're already comfortable with Souls games. Sekiro is an easier game, but it has the most difficult starting areas of all of them combined.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Going on meds was the best thing I ever did for myself. I held off for awhile because I had an internalized stigma about it.
But once I did, I was a better person all around. I was less quick to anger. I slept better. I worked better. Gaming was even better for me.
I know that surviving 2020 after the disaster of the almost adoption and the virus itself was only possible because of my meds and the support of my family and doctor. I personally would have been in a much darker place after the last year if it weren't for my Lexapro.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I don't have any stigma for meds, but I'm still a bit nervous cause I heard from some people it can be difficult starting off, finding the right brand and dosage. My doc said I would most likely need to have them for the winter months since that's when I'm worse. I did speak to a therapist in January as well, so right now I think I'm gonna wait and see what I'm liked next October when we can, hopefully, put all this lockdown stuff behind us. March was our second lockdown and it was not a good month, so hopefully next winter will be better from that alone.

 

[mattavelle1]

I also started seeing a therapist back in November. She has help me a metric crap ton! She has taught me a lot about why my marriage has been the way it has been. She has been extremely supportive in my changes and has lead me to some very great books that I needed to read.

I believe I’m comin down to my last month for this nightmare to be over with. Once all the dust settles I will let you all know how everything landed.

 

[Shoulder]

I also started seeing a therapist back in November. She has help me a metric crap ton! She has taught me a lot about why my marriage has been the way it has been. She has been extremely supportive in my changes and has lead me to some very great books that I needed to read.

I believe I’m comin down to my last month for this nightmare to be over with. Once all the dust settles I will let you all know how everything landed.

Glad to hear you're doing better, Matt! I'll be thinking of you this month in the hopes everything goes well in this unfortunate transition in your life.

 

[mattavelle1]

She moved out yesterday and didn’t let it be known to anyone. We came hone from my moms and half of all the small stuff was gone. I woke up feeling rough this morning, I will make it outta this tho and get back to being and finding myself.

 

[MANGANian]

She moved out yesterday and didn’t let it be known to anyone. We came hone from my moms and half of all the small stuff was gone. I woke up feeling rough this morning, I will make it outta this tho and get back to being and finding myself.

Goodness, hang in there.

 

[sjmartin79]

I also started seeing a therapist back in November. She has help me a metric crap ton! She has taught me a lot about why my marriage has been the way it has been. She has been extremely supportive in my changes and has lead me to some very great books that I needed to read.

I believe I’m comin down to my last month for this nightmare to be over with. Once all the dust settles I will let you all know how everything landed.

Sending you love and support, my friend. I'm glad you're seeing a therapist, and I'm glad it is helping.
I know this is so rough on you and the kids, but I know you're being the rock they need.
When the dust settles some, you need to make sure to take some time for self-care for you.

 

[sjmartin79]

I've been playing "The Outer Worlds" recently, and I have to say how much I love that game. I'm enjoying the comedic aspect of the story, as well as the story itself. I enjoy the exploration and the sidequests. It's exactly the game I needed right now.

 

[EvilTw1n]

It's alive! I swapped to DuckDuckGo as my phone browser, and it wouldn't let me log in here for some odd reason. Now it works today, and I find that the CT has been a busy place.

I go in for vaccine dose 2 today. Can't wait to start putting pandemic life in the rearview.

Did my first Monster Hunter Rise Rampage last night! (Steve2 already finished the main story. I'm taking it at a slower pace.)
That was a lot of fun. Tower defense meets hand combat.

Having a lot of fun with it, but I have to do it in bursts. Like 3-4 missions at a time, then call it a night.

Duuuuuude. I miss checking the CT and didn't see you on my friend's list. We gotta hunt sometime.

Going on meds was the best thing I ever did for myself. I held off for awhile because I had an internalized stigma about it.
But once I did, I was a better person all around. I was less quick to anger. I slept better. I worked better. Gaming was even better for me.
I know that surviving 2020 after the disaster of the almost adoption and the virus itself was only possible because of my meds and the support of my family and doctor. I personally would have been in a much darker place after the last year if it weren't for my Lexapro.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I don't have any stigma for meds, but I'm still a bit nervous cause I heard from some people it can be difficult starting off, finding the right brand and dosage. My doc said I would most likely need to have them for the winter months since that's when I'm worse. I did speak to a therapist in January as well, so right now I think I'm gonna wait and see what I'm liked next October when we can, hopefully, put all this lockdown stuff behind us. March was our second lockdown and it was not a good month, so hopefully next winter will be better from that alone.

Covid has been hell on mental health. Long, lonely winters can make even good months a challenge, but pile a freaking pandemic on top and it's big-time choppy waters.

My best friend here just noped out on the area. He had been on and off meds for depression and anxiety, but the long winter and no contact with people lit a fuse under him. Moved out west. But you gotta do what you gotta do for noggin health.

 

[sjmartin79]

Hello TNE!
How is everyone doing?
May is quickly coming to an end, and we're headed toward Memorial Day Weekend.

Thanks to the vaccine, many more people will be getting together this year compared to last. Any plans?
What games are you guys playing now?

E3 is right around the corner.
What are you hoping to see?
What unannounced title would you love to see?

 

[Shoulder]

Hello TNE!
How is everyone doing?
May is quickly coming to an end, and we're headed toward Memorial Day Weekend.

Thanks to the vaccine, many more people will be getting together this year compared to last. Any plans?
What games are you guys playing now?

E3 is right around the corner.
What are you hoping to see?
What unannounced title would you love to see?

Doing well overall, thank you.

Since my wife and I are both fully vaccinated, plus the two weeks, we were invited to the retirement party for the county Sheriff as I’m best friends with his son. Certainly saw a lot of high profile people there. Even one of our State Senators was there. We didn’t spend too much time there though, but had some drinks, talked with my friend and his fiancée for awhile, and listened to the retiring Sheriff reflect on his career in law enforcement over four decades. He’s a good guy, and we'll miss him as our County Sheriff.

Later today, we were also invited to a friend’s baby shower, which we’re not particularly excited about, but it’ll be a good way to catch up after having not seen them since 2019.

As far as games go, it’s been sporadic as work has been busy, plus I’ve been tackling house projects, and working on one of my cars giving it some much needed maintenance. It’s been frustrating at times with bolts breaking, or realizing you don’t have the correct tool, and you either endure, or simply buy the tool, and make your job so much easier. that all said, I have been dabbling here and there with MoHun Rise, and I have some PC games I’ve been meaning to play/finish for a project I’m working on. We’ll see if I actually stick to it...

E3 I don’t expect a lot of megaton announcements, but from Nintendo's side of thing, I am hoping for trailers for both BOTW2, and Metroid Prime 4. I would also like to see a reveal trailer for Bayo 3, as well as Monolith's new game. Realistically though, Prime 4 might not get details, yet I could see Prime a trilogy finally making its way to Switch with Prime 3 getting the same type of treatment as Skyward Sword HD. Optional controls for either dual analog, or gyro.

I haven’t kept up much with what the other systems are having as far as games go, but I want a PS5 for the ability to play any PS4 game at full tilt, and play some of the games I missed on PS4, but I want a Series X for complete backwards compatibility for the entire Xbox ecosystem. Series is more PC like in that way, and I love that.

I would love it if Sony made an emulator for PS1-PS3 games that would allow any game to run on the system. I would pick up a PS5 immediately.