2024 - in review
It’s the end of 2024
Things Are Always happening.
Societies are maturing. Frictions always bubbling.
I’m getting older. My 20’s have propelled me well. Decade 3 begins.
But all in all. Life’s good.
Of Note: Video Games of 2024
Factorio - Seablock Mod, The “End Game” Videogame
Base Facorio is level 1. Seablock Mod is level 10
Seablock has destroyed me. No other Game goes this hard. It’s Coop. LAN, & has mac client. Seablock has consumed both of us.
This is the last game you will ever play. You will not win.
[update, space age dlc is a beast, but around level 6. Seablock is still 10 ]
Oxygen Not Included
ONI - Base building colony sim. Great game design, sim complicated but not overly deep. you need to restart about 10 times to get good. and 30 times times to even reach the midgame. I haven’t beaten it, 250 hours in. Good Mac version. Single player. If I was stuck on a plane, I would play this.
Spyro - Reignited Trilogy, Retro Dive
Mostly this is nostalgia, but this is a great remake. If you want to go back to the dawn of 3D, and feel what it was like when all the possibilities of the genre were yet unrealized. Things were simple, and things were fun. Play this. It’s got plenty of hours of beauty in it.
Sun Haven
Coop Stardew clone with more combat focus. Deeper mechanics.
You may need a spreadsheet.
King Of Crabs
Forget Fortnite. The only battle Royal you should be playing is King of Crabs.
Astroneer
It’s not punching trees, but it’s voxel crafting. It’s neat, It’s tight. It’s not endless. Good Coop play.
Scorn
Play it in the dark.
Control
Remedies’ Black Mesa. Slick. Atmospheric. AAA. Lots of Shooting.
Impressive how they have quests, but almost don’t.
Of Note: TV shows
I’ve watched almost Everything at this point, meh, the best is behind us.
- WestWorld. If you liked Lost. You will like this. I grew to hate it.
- The Expanse. I enjoyed. Flaws but loveable.
- The Mole, & The Traitors. Humans Distrusting Humans is good drama.
- Gold Rush,
- Look, this show is for me, you don’t need to watch it ok.
- Freddy and Juan steal the show with their 10/10 side-series. Tv-Gold.
Hustles, Quests, and Updates
I’m got Married. Lots of spreadsheets and emails. Putting on an event is a Fun Project. What was always important to us was that this was a Celebration, not a ritual.
I shared a great day with the love of my life, and a lot of friends. Life’s good. Spread Love. Find someone who will stick by you, and stick by them. Adventures are better shared.
Waterworld 2
The sequel. Yellow Slides haunt my dreams, I wake in a chlorine fever, It must be made.
I will prevail.
We will swim again.
Work - Gamedev.
I’ve managed to be around a fair few game projects now as an Engineer.
Knowledge of how computers even work seems to be my key value.
I sometimes write C++, I Mostly write python, I Frequently write docs, and I’m always thinking about Strategy.
My Secret Super tools:
- obsidian - Note taking. Sync it to iCloud/OneDrive.
- jupyterlab - Python Laboratory.
- eveything - windows: The answer to “where’s that file”?
- Slack or Discord: If a company isn’t on slack. It’s falling behind.
- ChatGPT & Claude - Where you can legally use these. Do so. They aren’t perfect but they are fast
- LLMs are Knowledgeable, but not very smart.
- Refactor 2000 lines in 20 seconds. Yes please. Never writing code by hand ever again.
- Freeform & Miro - Infinite Whiteboards break us free from A4-Documents.
Professional Gamedev is close to the hustle. Things matter, you get rewarded for making good choices. You are part of a team. You can rely on your teammates, and together you make some art. It’s a good gig. Stress is ever-present, but easy things are rarely fun.
To work in Software is to work at or for a Business; Cooperate Leadership Decisions & Financial priorities will always clash with your own enjoyment. Maintain an eye on your own priorities. Don’t turn down better offers.
In Review
WORST Thing 2024 awards
- The accepted farce that is Politics
- Humans manufacturing reasons to hate each other
- Health Insurance now a requirement in the UK
- Still no Ridge Racer on PS5
- Rising bills from my privatized water company who put petrol in my drinking water
- Windows 11.
- Worst Burger of the Year - Jonny Rockets,Vegas.
Best things of 2024
- The 15-inch MacBook Air.
- Midjourney, and LLM chatbots
- Proxmox hypervisor.
- LGBT rights, while still a target, slowly moving to an accepted fact.
- 🌿 is now legal in the UK (with a prescription)
In Review
We’re all in this together. Sooner or later we will realize we’re all on the same team. The universe is a mystery, life is a one-shot adventure, it’s better shared. Compassion is a default strategy you can trust.
Capitalism is running out of steam. Buy what you can now.
Software is rarely robust. If it was, I wouldn’t have a job fixing it.
One Love.
Sam