Stovetop

Plugging one more forest track for Final Fantasy 5 (Pixel Remaster):

Legend of the Deep Forest: https://youtu.be/9Od3BQQ-7Mo

Inside was better than Limbo for me, if that helps. Limbo was cool, but Inside had crazy atmospheric storytelling.

Crazy that this studio went on to create Grand Theft Auto.

The worst part is that I am getting paid a salary I could have only dreamed about years ago, and yet I still can't afford anything with how drastically everything went up in price.

Wages in general have gone up a little bit, but it's crazy to me that I'm earning more than 5x as much as I used to 15 years ago and feel like my buying power has not noticeably improved at all. I'm still stuck living in crappy apartments because that is all I can afford.

Politically? Way worse.

I'd say yes and no. 30 years ago was not long after the likes of Reagan and Thatcher. Things are very much not okay today, but more people were okay with worse stuff back then. I'd argue some parts of politics have certainly gotten worse, but others have nevertheless gotten better.

I think the core issue is that the political systems of some countries are beginning to show their age, and people today are becoming more cognizant of their failings over time. I think it wouldn't hurt to look at all of the data available to us now and go back to the drawing board on a lot of key components. But in saying that, it's impressive to even have so many consistent political systems that have remained relatively stable for centuries when countries used to just have revolutions and regime changes to shake things up all the time.

I do agree we are quickly approaching a major economic downturn, though. I feel like the writing is on the wall that we are already there, but for some reason economists have their heads buried in the sand. I'm reminded of videos I've seen (ignore the edgy V for Vendetta splash screen before it) shortly after the 2008 recession where a small handful of economists anticipated a significant downturn only to be derided by the majority of "experts" who said everything was going great. Because I keep hearing things today like the economy has never been stronger, but no one around me seems to be feeling that. Scaled for inflation, I'm making more money than my parents did when they bought a house, but that feels like an impossibility for me today.

Depends on how far a species advances, I'd guess. It wouldn't surprise me if advancements set us (and other potential life out there) on a trajectory where it's possible to just get most nutrition needed via passive intravenous implants, maybe only with a requirement to drink water to maintain fluid balance. Or we just get to the full cyberpunk cyborg option and all you need is an occasional battery recharge or something.

With the resources available today, mankind has the ability to solve world hunger, but that still keeps the dependency we have on various global supply lines for food. Few nations are truly agriculturally independent. Lenin once said that society is no more than three missed meals away from chaos, and I believe the only permanent solution to that issue would be if a society no longer needs to eat.

That is exactly where my current home base is set up, those iron nodes are GOATed.

Agreed, especially on the psyops front. It's no secret that Russia has been manipulating global politics for a long time now, and France is another European country which has seen a rising Russia-friendly neofascist movement in Rassemblement National. They've just barely been kept out of power the past few election, but as their numbers keep growing, one must only wonder how much longer that can be the case.

Similar with Germany and AfD. Europe is being worn down from within and no one seems to be inclined to do anything about it.

Kirby is shaped like a frand

🫘

Mk 4 belts is definitely the time to get serious about builds. Until then, you're basically just making the best with what you've got, and belt upgrades/other QoL features are coming pretty frequently.

Once you get Mk 4 belts, you have opportunities to actually make some highly productive factories. Still 2 levels below the highest possible belt speed, but it's good to start "early endgame" types of builds that you ride with the rest of the way through, because a lot of things don't really require faster than Mk 4 belts until you get to true endgame builds. And that means it's a good time to disassemble and optimize all those early copper/iron assembly lines because you're going to start needing a lot more throughput to start later builds. Screws will always be something of a bottleneck, though.

This is also where the game slows dramatically, and it might be a while before you go up to the next space elevator phase where you get aluminum going. You just unlock refineries, you just unlock manufacturers, you just unlock trains, and it's a lot to try to figure out all at once. So the Mk 4 belts are going to be in use for a while as you get everything else up and running to be able to proceed.

TL;DR: speedrun until you get Mk 4 belts (raid crash site parts for milestones and MAM research if you have to), then start big project planning once Mk 4 belts are available.

if you get to this interview it means you're essentially hired baring you being a complete asshole or similar.

Also worth mentioning that there might also still be others in consideration at this stage, and if they have 3 candidates and 1 opening, it's still a game of who seems best. And that's where things can get frustrating, because it could easily come down to an acknowledgement that you are very qualified for the job and they liked you, but someone else just seemed like a better fit.