Diecast 380: Mailbag Mania
Channel: Paul Spooner
Date: 08/05/2022

Listen to all the Diecast episodes with Shamus Young here: https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=287
Mailbag glut means the letters are all trunkated. Read the blog post for the full text.

Show Notes:
00:00 Uremia!

01:24 Mailbag: Prey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAYYN_tus10
Do you think it's possible for a game to really be "too well crafted for its own good"? Have you ran into such a thing before (well, besides Prey, I guess)?

08:02 Mailbag: Modding vs Unity
And are you nostalgic for discovering mods?

13:00 Mailbag: Character transposition
If you could take any single character from any game and put them in another game, who would you put in which game?

22:13 Mailbag: Pro-Factorio
What are your views on using a SAT solver to play Factorio?
https://github.com/R-O-C-K-E-T/Factorio-SAT

27:02 Mailbag: Changing moral compass
Have you had shifts in your life that affected your moral compass in a way that made it perceptible via the moral choices in games?

33:59 Mailbag: Star Trek Picard
Have you considered doing an analysis of the Star Trek Picard series?

40:20 Mailbag: More Rocketeer?
I'm really enjoying the long-form critique from The Rocketeer on FFXII (despite having never played the game)... I was wondering if there were any plans or possibility that he'd do more write-ups for the blog afterward, Final Fantasy related or otherwise?

41:36 Mailbag: Moon Knight
Considering the season finale is this week and while I'm not sure when you guys record, what are your thoughts on Marvel's Moon Knight show?

46:47 Mailbag: The Blogosphere
Does Shamus still read other blogs? If so, any suggestions? (Namely to do with gaming and storytelling, but other recommendations are also welcome.)

49:24 Mailbag: SqEnix Yard Sale
Squeenix just sold its Western franchises to the company that owns THQ Nordic and Saber Interactive. Did Squeenix do the right thing - especially at that low price point? Are you optimistic about the future of these series?

54:35 Mailbag: Worldbuilding
I was just wondering what you think makes for good worldbuilding? Do you think there any fundamental principles or good rules of thumb for stories in general in this regard, if worldbuilding is to be taken seriously?

Also, I came across a video that used the term "silent worldbuilding". From that alone, any idea what that means to you?

Kind regards,
Andrew

1:04:54 Outro
1:06:43 Stinger