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One of my biggest frustrations is dealing with so many poorly designed UIs in all the products I have to interact with.

Unity comes to mind. I generally prefer development tools that don't have GUIs because there's no such thing as a good GUI.

Also as part of Xanadu we are launching our own network/publishing platform which also has a UI, I can get you a key if you want.

We've already interacted over email. I'm the one with the adult-oriented FPSRPG centered around the Catgirl Revolution.

[michaelplzno]

Oh yeah, lol, cool, I didn't connect the dots.

[michaelplzno]

Trying to get some detail work done for SWGIO.com, just little inconsistencies and confusing bits.

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I like dark mode too. Serious question: Why 2-month sprints? I've met collaborators who wanted to work at that pace, and I worry about burnout. There is a lot one can do in a 40-hour week or 2 20-hour weeks. If you have to wait months for a big batch of features and fixes, a lot can change in that time.

[michaelplzno]

I asked the developer how long it would take to make a list of features and he said 2 months, so I said I'd give him a bonus if he did it all on time and that's that. But this is totally set by the guy who is doing the work.

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I wouldn't want the web development job, so I respect the pacing that people set for themselves.

If you list specific features, then it takes how long it takes. I prefer the idea of timeboxed weekly goals, but that's just my way of staying focused.

[michaelplzno]

I would do the web dev if I knew how to. I never learned proper back end web development. So I'm really lucky that I have a guy who wants to work on this project, and he's really a great guy. He used to be the "designated troll" on our server but then he turned the corner and helped us out.

[michaelplzno]

The list of features I wanted was in this thread, and I just sent it over and said "how long" that's how we got 2 months. I assume he is organizing it into smaller weeks of dev time where each feature is a few days or a week or whatever but I don't micromanage.

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I guess what people consider micromanagement is somewhere along a continuum. I've worked in places that do meetings every day early in the morning and constantly ask you what you're doing. I hate that. I've also had collabs where there have been weeks of silence and nobody pushes code. I hate that too. A zen development experience is somewhere in the middle where everybody is an expert and contributes frequently because it's what they want to do. Rarely have I had that, and even more rarely in game development.

[michaelplzno]

I really don't know why this guy disappeared, he seemed nice.

[michaelplzno]

(I'm trying to do some more writing, I always wanted to do a screenplay, though I always imagined I would be making some kind of comedy film. My writing on this topic isn't very funny, though maybe people who are "serious writers" will get a laugh from it?)

The only thing that matters is the system's ability to sustain itself. God, magic, love, freedom, these are just an arrangement of letters that only have a meaning because of a system of rules. Why do we do it? Keep fooling ourselves that somehow it gets better. That maybe some day before we die we can stop competing for scraps of green paper. Only take a step up the tower if you are conscientious enough to add another brick down at the bottom.

We fight each other. Trying to get our place in the sun. Because a piece of cake is nice, but if someone else wanted it, isn't it  sweeter? As long as the rules of the system allow it. A world where people think differently cannot be systematized. It is simply too dangerous to the structure. How can one climb when the question of "what's up?" has a meaningful answer? And if you don't want to climb, what is wrong with you? A person is either right or wrong, or we are dealing in trivialities. Comfort, safety. The system means we have coffee in the morning, and that coffee is something we can talk about because it isn't challenging. A tower of higher and higher padded cells, each one with a barista asking how you take your latte.

But what of Xanadu, what would it be? To be in a world without competition would be boring, no sport, no glory. The crown means nothing if no one else wants it. Why be king if you can't rest your feet on other's backs? If we are all big men, then how do we know we are big? Relative to what? Big cannot exist without small. Perhaps the only reason some people have less is so others know they have more?

Imagine a world on a grid: every house identical, every person the same height, the same features. Every few blocks in the grid there are coffee stores, and bus stops, and grocery stores, all evenly spaced out perfectly so that no one house has an advantage. A collective of drones with the same appearance and the same resources, so much sameness. Would such a world not be more fair than a world where people live in the penthouse apartment on the top floor?

So what of Xanadu? A place outside the system? Could something so audacious exist? A world where we are not cogs in a machine? If Xanadu is to be a computer game, it must be built on rules as all computer code is just more rules. Everything pre set in stone. If we are to code a game to be Xanadu, it must be definitionally a system.

Edit:

Just as this writing is made from letters, the system will have its way: I cannot express words without using words.

[michaelplzno]

God was tired of being perfect. He could do anything, make anything work, have anything he wants, the result: boredom. An eternity of a world that was as predictable and over designed as a pocket watch. Every piece perfectly in its place, everything in harmony. About as dull as vanilla pudding.

"What about decay?" God thought. The planets and stars spin forever, eternally moving in predetermined patterns, what if there was some sort of force that caused the pieces to fail after long enough. "Rest, peace... death"

And so decay, death, and destruction came to be, but this was still really boring and also kind of a bummer. The perfect universe slowly crumbled. But does the concept of "slow" exist to God? Presumably one could imagine going through time with a fast forward button, one of God's powers given to American couch potatoes. So, with decay, the perfect universe simply disappears in a puff of smoke.

"There must also be birth." God thought. Its almost a matter of economics: if 10 things fail a year and nothing is created to replace it, the universe will vanish. "What a bore.", like watching a giant firework for all eternity. If 10 things fail and 10 things are created the universe will be in equilibrium. "I guess that could be more interesting?" But when you think about it, if the death and birth are in equal opposition, there is again harmony. Harmony can be interesting for a while, like watching waves go in and out, but eventually becomes a pattern. Growth and decay, up and down, black and white, birth and death. A treadmill. So the most interesting option is to grow, for 10 things dead 11 or more things must be created "On average, of course, to make it a bit more interesting. There has to be a net gain over the course of eternity to alleviate predictability and boring patterns."

And so it was that the universe grew, more stars, more planets, a big bang of cosmic growth if you will. So now we have something to work with, an infinitely growing space with variety and decay, but would this be enough to satisfy an omnipotent being? Just because we have an infinite universe that grows and grows doesn't make things that interesting, I've noticed. Beyond just infinity, there must also be variety, the more the better of course. Strange new worlds, phenomena, nebulae, something new!

But what is new to God? Everything God creates God knows already, and God knows all, so everything is going to be seen. Even in the "Everything" universe, one would imagine a growing expanding mass of everything that could ever be. The void of chaos, no structure, no pattern, just more and more stuff. Like static, noise, a hum that gets louder and louder till its too much even for God.

[michaelplzno]

So I watched "The Platform"

Spoilers.

They set up the problematic prison quite well. The main character's motivation could use more explanation: why did he sign up for this thing? Was he fully aware of what would happen? They seem to make it clear that he's a little clueless as to what the actual prison even was, which I'd like to get more info on. The platform prison exists in a world where apparently getting accepted into it is difficult. And I don't think anyone would sign up for that experience with the reward of an "advanced degree." A million dollars wouldn't get me to sign up for that experience, I'm not sure anything would if I knew the gory details. So how are they trapping people in there?

So the exposition is good with his obvious roommate on level 47 a decent level. But apparently there are criminals who are put in this platform as well as people who are trying to get in there? I assume its some sort of allegory.

Then the roommate turns on him and it gets a little contrived that the woman who rides the platform just happens to save the day. I guess we are talking about some kind of allegory, like she is the Madonna or something? IDK it starts to jump from literal to figurative in a disjointed way.

[michaelplzno]

I guess in the platform, I'm one of the people on level zero who tries to make immaculate food cooked to order for each person in the prison, and then the distribution just goes to literal shit.

What could someone who cooks for the people in that world do? Make a ton of potatoes and chicken wrapped in tinfoil so that there is a lot of really basic food? Would the head chef allow that?

[michaelplzno]

I think in the platform if the chefs just cooked 2 servings of chicken breast and a potato and wrapped it in tinfoil for each prisoner - each package was identical, it would solve all the problems. It would be easier for the chefs than trying to make sure every fancy dish is served, and the inmates would realize pretty quick that there is no reason to take more than your share.

Maybe plastic wrap or ziplocks would be better so everyone can see that its the same.

[michaelplzno]

Fool's Gold - By Michael Silverman

Once upon a time a business man had a very clever idea. He was going to take common rocks and chip them down to be shaped like gold bars and paint them gold and sell them as trinkets. So he got a loan and set up a factory and started manufacturing and selling his product.

And the economy grew!

People liked the trinkets, and kept them as good luck charms. And so other people started factories and started taking out loans and manufacturing the trinkets and so the price of the little toys dropped and even more people bought them.

And the economy grew!

But eventually people stopped buying the toys. Did everyone who wants one have one? Were they tired of the fad? The business men did not know, but they started making noise that they were going to lose their businesses and could not pay their loans. "Defaulting on loans is bad for the economy!" They shouted. Since the businessmen were powerful and knew the president and the government, the government stepped in and decided they would help bail out the businessmen to prevent the economy from shrinking.

And the economy grew!

As the manufacture of the golden trinkets continued, the debt the government took on got bigger! No one was buying the toys and they were piling up in warehouses. Eventually the government couldn't afford to pay for the factories, and so the government passed a law: everyone would have to purchase a gold trinket and keep it with them at all times. So it was that the storehouses full of trinkets were emptied as everyone kept buying them to obey the law.

And the economy grew!

But some people didn't follow the law, and eventually the sales of the fake gold started to slow down again. So the government created a special police force to check if citizens were following the law and had their piece of gold on them at all times. The punishments for being caught without your gold was harsh and horrible, so more and more people bought the trinket instead of breaking the law.

And the economy grew!

But eventually every single person in the country had a gold trinket and they carried them at all times to make sure they weren't caught by the police. So the government came up with a new law: everyone must carry 2 trinkets at all times.

And the economy grew!

But once everyone in the country had 2 trinkets, the growth stopped so the government passed a law that everyone must carry a backpack full of the golden stones at all times under penalty of death.

And the economy grew!

And with carrying all the stones around, there were secondary markets that popped up: people would escort you around and carry your stones for you. Businessmen created special braces to help you lift the weight. Doctors prescribed painkillers for everyone carrying the stones so they wouldn't be hurt by the weight of the load.

And the weight of the stones, and the economy grew and grew and grew forever.

[michaelplzno]

Some more real Xanadu Work with perlin noise for the height-map that the terrain is based off of:

[michaelplzno]