I’m really tempted to make a #Fediverse RPG based on the RPGMaker engine. Here’s what I got so far…

Main Characters:

1. Tooto: A young warrior from Mastodon Island. Specializes in quick attacks.
2. Pixela: A mage from PixelFed. Has the ability to manipulate images and illusions.
3. Peery: A bard from PeerTube. Uses video and sound-based attacks.
4. Ephemra: A rogue from Pleroma. Specializes in stealth and surprise attacks.

Plot:

The game begins with the player in Mastodon Island where they learn about the threats posed by the Centralized Empire. They meet Tooto and decide to join forces. The player travels from island to island, gathering allies and learning more about the impending threat.

I’m still trying to consider the enemies, quests, game mechanics.

This could be a fun way for people to learn about the Fediverse.

@agngw@zirk.us Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that this is actually the web version of #Firefish.

I have to share this awesomeness with you.

This is a video simulation of Fish Tales, a Williams pinball table made in 1992. It comes as a free game with Pinball FX3.

I was playing this on my Steam Deck and having a horrible time because it was in landscape mode. But then a thought occurred to me: does Pinball FX3 support portrait mode?

Then I remembered that I have a 24” monitor with a 16:10 aspect ratio hooked up to a pneumatic arm. If Pinball FX3 supports portrait mode, then I can play pinball with a 10:16 aspect ratio. This is a hell of a lot closer to how pinball is meant to be played.

So I changed my monitor settings to portrait mod, flipped my monitor, and launched Pinball FX3. Sure enough, it works! I am now having the best possible pinball experience without having an actual pinball table!

Now this – right here – is the joy of PC gaming.

It’s not about specs. It’s not about who has the best CPU or GPU. It’s about being able to configure a game precisely how I want it to be played!

And yeah, playing pinball this way really is that good!

Check out how awesome #Firefish looks in portrait mode on a 24" monitor with a 1200x1920 resolution.

I personally think it's pretty badass and an incredible way to enjoy the #Fediverse.

@infosec_jcp@infosec.exchange We're actually working on building that! Just wanted to let you know that the service is currently in closed beta, but we're making progress.

Oh, and regarding Pixelfed, we have plans to offer that in the near future as well. Stay tuned!

@infosec_jcp@infosec.exchange We're actually working on building that! Just wanted to let you know that the service is currently in closed beta, but we're making progress.

Oh, and regarding Pixelfed, we have plans to offer that in the near future as well. Stay tuned!

@julian@fietkau.social I'd love to take a look at this in more depth.

cc: @reiver@mastodon.social

Have you read Starship’s Mage yet?

Over the past few years, I’ve been getting into space opera novels in the hopes I could find something as rich and extensive as Star Trek. And Starship’s Mage, by far, has been the best series I’ve read that achieves this.

The premise is simply inspired: humanity has figured out how to travel across space. However, they haven’t achieved this with science but with magic.

But there’s a problem: only a few mages live. Those who do exist must be trained for years before they’re qualified to send a ship to space. And mages all have different aspirations. Some of them travel out of a sense of duty. But some of them become pirates!

The first book starts with Damien Montgomery who joins his first ship as a junior mage – only to get attacked by pirates. This attack results in his freighter getting damaged and the senior mage dying. So Damien Montgomery must do the impossible and ensure the survival of his ship.

It seems like impossible odds, but Damien Montgomery has something special up his sleeve – a secret – that makes him dangerous.

So far, there’s 16 books in the Starship’s Mage series with different but intersecting narrative arcs. And there’s three novellas too. The universe gets quite in depth.

I like Starship’s Mage so much, I wish it would find its way to other media. I wouldn’t mind reading a comic, or watching a TV series, or playing a video game that takes place in this universe.

But I’m also very glad that this series has gone on for so long. It’s been an incredible space opera gem!

@infosec_jcp@infosec.exchange It actually varies depending on the Fediverse software you choose and a few other factors like the hardware and the number of people you plan to have on your server. However, with a Firefish server, for instance, you can get started from as low as $12 per month.

Just a little heads up, this isn't a self-hosting option. It's a fully-managed hosting service where we take care of all the technical work for you.

Exciting news! I am thrilled to share that #SpaceHost has recently included #Mastodon in its closed beta program, which means that those on the waiting list can now create their own servers!

Currently, the beta version supports #Lemmy and #Firefish, and now, with the addition of #Mastodon, users have even more options to explore. Plus, there will be more Fediverse platforms added to the beta in the near future!

If you want to join the waiting list and get early access, you can sign up here:

https://spacehost.one/

Hey, wouldn't it be cool if someone came up with a version of the Fediverse that could work with sneakernet?

Just imagine being able to update your client by simply plugging in a USB drive to your computer.

Sure, it might not be as fast as the regular internet, but think about those situations where you're without an internet connection and need to share information through physical devices like USB flash drives or portable hard drives. It could actually be really useful!

An awesome Mastodon client has just been developed for Apple II! Isn't that cool?

I mean, seriously, I can't help but wish I had an Apple II right about now, just so I could connect it to the Fediverse and post away.

If you're interested, you can check it out here:

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/mastodon-for-apple-ii/

I never just refer to X as X, you know? I always prefer to call it X (formerly known as Twitter).

And here's a fun thought - if I actually owned Twitter, I might have gone with the name Ƭ̵̬̊.com instead. It just seems more fitting, don't you think?

Of course, that's assuming the estate of Prince would be alright with the idea.

@DoubleA@techhub.social You know, I believe the Fediverse is quite adept at that sort of thing.

The whole purpose of Instagram is to make others wish they had your life and be jealous.

As for X (previously known as Twitter), it's all about feeling existential doom when you start actually thinking about your own life.

A few days ago, someone asked me in what way console gaming is seen as more regarded than PC gaming—and, in my view, undeservedly so.

Here’s an example. Do a search for a book about PC gaming, you won’t find much on Amazon. Sure, you’ll find lots of books on how to build a PC for gaming, but not a whole lot about actual PC gaming. You know, the games made for PC.

Theres lots of books about the history of Nintendo and PlayStation. But in terms of the history of PC gaming, not much is written.

And when it comes to a history of gaming in general, PC gaming gets a few mentions but not really a whole lot.

Because of this, an errant mythology is now believed about gaming as a whole. It goes something like this: Atari made video games popular. Then there was a video game crash. And then Nintendo “saved” gaming.

But that’s not exactly what happened.

In reality, there may have been a crash in the arcade and console gaming space, but not for PC. In the early 80s, the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, and IBM exploded in popularity. And with it, interest in gaming too.

It wasn’t word processors and drawing apps that caused this explosion in growth. It was gaming. We all begged our parents to get a PC so we could do our homework. But in reality, we were using those machines to play Donkey Kong, King’s Quest, and Lode Runner.

Here’s what a lot of people don’t realize. In the early 80s, the console/PC divide wasn’t so cut and dry. A Colecovision was meant to morph into an Adam computer. A Commodore 64 could connect to your TV and could play cartridges. Even an NES had PC aspirations—in Japan “Famicom” was short for “family computer”.

It’s sad to say but the history of PC gaming is being forgotten. This is a damn shame because the majority of games have not been released for consoles. So many of them are still PC exclusive.

(Nowadays mobile gaming is becoming even more important.)

But this isn’t just about games. It’s about people. Yes, Shigeru Miyamoto is important to gaming history. But you know who is just as important?

Roberta Williams, the mother of PC gaming. She was the designer of King’s Quest, Laura Bow, and Phantasmagoria. You know what else she did? She co-founded Sierra.

And until the 90s, Sierra was the most important company in PC gaming. Its effects can still be felt today in the fact they published a little known game known as Half-Life—which gave Valve their own foothold in the industry, and subsequently, Steam.

More people need to know about folks like Roberta Williams. They made art that impacts nearly every person living on the planet today.

The easiest way to get credit for coding in an open source project is to find a white space inconsistency and fix it.

This is not advice.

One of the benefits of tracking news about #Mastodon is that I now know as much about Mastodon the band as I do about Mastodon the Fediverse software.

Emacs is the greatest operating system ever created.

But it’s too bad that it lacks a text editor.

It looks like @evan@cosocial.ca's WordPress blog is on the Fediverse!

https://evanp.me/2023/09/28/this-blog-is-now-on-the-fediverse/