I’ve completely disconnected from online life that doesn’t revolve around gaming or Hashtag-related shit, I can’t even with things right now.
However, in completely stellar news, IT’S COLD. OUTSIDE. RIGHT NOW.
Like…I wore a hoodie today. All fucking day. You know what the temp is right now? You won’t even guess. It’s 64. 6-4. It’s going to be 45 overnight. YOU CAN’T EVEN HEAR DRONING AC UNITS ANYMORE.
Just a shit ton of insects.
But, still. I’ll take it.
Musings
Here’s something random and interesting. Devs of The First Berserker: Khazan learned players would literally quit the game before ever sliding difficulty down to “Easy.” Their data showed folks would rather nope out entirely than swallow pride and click the (baby mode) button.
(In response, they reworked difficulty—adding both a “Beginner” mode, because apparently their Easy was still brutal as hell, and a new Hardcore setting.)
Call something “Normal” and nobody wants to touch “Easy,” but slap “Hard” on the default and suddenly “Normal” feels acceptable.
It’s kinda tricky to draw parallels with survival games, because difficulty usually just means yanking something that’s already broken to be more broken. Like food/water systems that aren’t remotely realistic, and then on “hard” you have to attach your mouth to the lake just to not dry out. I think The Long Dark does it right. When I started, a hundred years ago, I scoffed at the baby difficulty and started in Voyageur, but soon swapped to Stalker because there was too much loot. I dip in and out of Loper: sometimes I love it, sometimes I get a shit spawn and toss myself off a cliff. (Literally.) I haven’t played since Misery was introduced (way before, actually)… probably time to go give that a whirl.
So what about you—when it comes to survival games, do you crank it up, keep it comfy, or just see where the spawn dumps you?
Gamer Stack
Winter Survival posted a preview of Act III
Pretty stoked for Moonlighter 2!
You can sign up for the Pre-Alpha testing for God Save Birmingham
Haemimont Games and Paradox Interactive announced that they are remastering their sci-fi strategy city builder, Surviving Mars. Titled Surviving Mars: Relaunched (really working hard on the new name, I see), the “new” version of the game boasts: "enhanced graphics," a new UI, and new content.
Anyway, they tried to make a happy times announcement on their Subreddit, and people immediately began to argue over whether it was good or bad.
NEVER CHANGE, INTERNET.
Creator Stack
Coffee & Code
At Gamescom, it felt like the industry now has a plan: make games quicker | Opinion
Looks like someone’s exploring starting a community for game industry freelancers and consultants — focused on the realities of going independent: feast/famine cycles, pricing, and not feeling so isolated.
Anchorpoint: Collaborate on game development, animation, and any other real-time project using the simplest, Git-based solution for creative people.
Take a Look at This Smooth Matrix-Driven Arm Rigging Setup
Baldur's Gate 3 dev says AAA is "perversely fascinated" by indie games, because those devs still understand how to make good ideas that aren't reliant on data.
Hashtag
Take a mental journey back with me to last week’s newsletter, where I mentioned an unfinished article. Well, turns out that wasn’t just me running my mouth—“LEGO MY SURVIVAL” is now a real thing.
Take a look if you want my thoughts on digging into survival games with your own grubby little paws.
Additions: Steel Ark, Frostrail, All Will Fall, Droppoint, Dandelion Void, The Last Caretaker, Dark Switch, The Apocalypse, Crosswind, Long Gone, After Inc. Revival, Guardians of the Wild Sky, Atomfall
Yanno. I came across Honeycomb: The World Beyond while rambling, and I swear I fucking added this game to Curator after trying it at Next Fest ages ago, but there’s no blurb. And then I was worried I was crazy, so I was going through the Curator backend (where there’s like 40 games that Steam doesn't display on the front end because they’re dead or delisted or have cooties or whatever) and I didn’t see it there either. So. Mystery.
Anyway, I was too disheartened to sit and add it (also, I want to tool around in my old emails and see if I find a note of it somewhere), so I’ll “officially” add it next week.
Have a Tab
Finding My Balance: How Trekking Poles Changed My Life After Vision Loss
Markiplier is paying expert researchers to figure out if AI can be Real Good for humanity
LadiesGamers is a family-friendly site spotlighting indie and wholesome games — from sims and puzzlers to cozy city builders. Founded by a woman in her sixth decade, it especially welcomes older female voices while covering titles often overlooked by mainstream outlets.
A ‘Game Capture Director’ Is The Person Who Gets The Gameplay Footage For A Video Game Trailer
Random
Big thanks to folks who chipped in to help the stray! She’s officially feline aids/leukemia negative, she’s had her first round of vaccines, and is scheduled to be spayed. Also, picked her up a swanky bowl and some quality snacks to help her gain weight; she’s already looking less bedraggled compared to a week ago!
I’ve got a five-day weekend coming up and I’m fucking stoked. (Saturday-Weds) If we keep up with these awesome mornings (literally 50s or lower when we get up at 5), I’m definitely going to put aside the mornings for hikes. But! Hopeful to be plenty productive for Hashtag, too.
Anyone have any holiday/weekend plans?
BYE BYE BYE SUMMER!
- Jordan
