Diecast 375: Mailbag Desk Job
Channel: Paul Spooner
Date: 2022-03-13

Listen to all the Diecast episodes with Shamus Young in here: https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=287

Show Notes:
00:00 Aperture Desk Job
04:39 New Vegas Mod: The Frontier
19:41 Mailbag: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Dear Diecast,

Have you seen Spider-Man: No Way Home? What did you think of it? I'm curious to know if anything about it bothered Shamus in particular, but also interested to hear if you thought it did anything impressive or interesting.  (I'll spare you my thoughts on it.)

Have a beautiful wonderful day,
Andrew

20:16 Mailbag: FIFA vs Andrew Wilson
Hey Diepals,

So, it might be negotiating posturing, but Andrew Wilson seems to be open to gutting the most profitable sports franchise in history. 

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/eas-ceo-tells-staff-its-been-impeded-by-the-fifa-brand-its-four-letters-on-a-box/

I know sports games aren’t your cup of tea, but FIFA is by far the best selling video game sports franchise. According to Wikipedia, it’s sold more copies than Minecraft. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises

The stated reason is FIFA is “holding EA back” from implementing other game modes and making the franchise somehow more popular. 

This seems to me like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs yet again by not understanding your customers. In my experience, the reason people buy annual updates to sports franchises is the latest stats and players, not “gameplay innovation.”  

Thoughts?

ContribuTor

25:09 Mailbag: Stupid Premise
Dear Diecast,

If you make a game with a deeply stupid premise, is it better to spend lot of narrative time and effort trying to make the premise seem less stupid or to do nothing and just quietly hope that people don't think about it too much?

Also, which one of these two things does Batman: Arkham City do?

Thanks a bunch,

John

32:36 Mailbag: Home TV & Movies
Dear Diecast,

What home theater setup do you have for TV & movies?

Do you think there will ever be a need for anything over 4K?

If not, how can we improve our viewing experience?

I am just now getting around to buying blu ray versions of my favorites that I currently own on DVD.

Thank you!

Will

43:36 Mailbag: Accessibility in Games
Dear Diecast,

How would you define "accessibility" in relation to video games? 

People generally seem to discuss it as 'considerate options for people with physical impairments', such as colour blindness, deafness, etc.

Do you agree with this narrow view of the term, or would you extend the meaning further? If so, to what end?

Kind regards,
Andrew

55:00 Mailbag: nested loops in DSP
Dear Diecast,

Have you ever had interaction in a game that turned into a
logic/programming problem you could not shake?

I know you both have tried Dyson Sphere Program since you talked about
it back on Diecast369. Paul posting about it is what introduced me to
it. A recent update added the 'Automatic Piler' which stacks cargo.

This addition has created a nested logic gate programming puzzle in
the game. I'd love answer to that if you have one, but my Diecast
question is:

You are both programmers. Has a game ever put a pointless logic bug
into your head in way that crashed your brain?

- Steve C.

BTW The puzzle in DSP that has stuck in my head is; If it is possible
to output a fully saturated belt stacked to 4 with fewer than six
Pilers using nested loops?

---

I know it is possible to fully stack a belt with six Pilers. Or output
full stacks on a partially full belt using two Pilers and loops. I
feel that it has to be possible on a pure mathematical basis. But I
can't figure it out. Nobody else has either. I've looked.

Assuming infinite belts, splitters, sorters or whatever else, is it
possible to get a full 4 stacked belt using 5 or less Pilers?

The logic of the Automatic Piler, is as follows.

 1.  1st item/stack enters the Piler
 2.  The Piler looks at the next item on the belt. If the items can
stack, it tries to stack them up to max height, and outputs the
resultant stack. If they cannot stack or there is no next item (empty
belt segment), the currently held item/stack is output.
 3.   If the total of the current stack and the next stack is larger
than the maximum stack height, the remaining items are retained.
Return to step 2.

59:30 Outro