[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

A bit of good news! Last week, just before International Women's Day, a nice little game was released: it's Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley!

You get to play as Snufkin and explore the Moominvalley. And like the fictional (and real!), it seems to be a very calm-paced, friendly and meditative experience akin to Stardew Valley or Spiritfarer (though probably not as melancholic as that one 😅), and a nice change of pace from more active games like HELLDIVERS™ 2 😉

Not to mention the style of the game follows that of the books closely making the whole experience a nostalgia trip treat for many of us who read and/or watched those stories as children. Early Spring is a good time for reminiscing, after all. Though not sure how a complete novice unfamiliar with Moomin stories would fare with this game...

@Saka you may appreciate the art in this game, and it could go so well with those Moomin mugs I remember you showing. To make it all complete, you'd only need to make some oven-baked pancakes with jam and whipped cream 😉

I put this game on my list. Is anyone else tempted to try it out and visit the Moominvalley?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Oh oh. I will actually have to play this game now, because my spouse bought it for me on Saturday after I spent the whole day in the kitchen sanding the countertop.

Renovations are hell and especially doing it without tools murdered my already complaining shoulder and arm.

At least now the counterproof is water-resistant again and has much better colour than before. There are scuffs all over it, but generally looks a lot better. Especially in the pictures the flaws manage to hide very well, so I got a lot of compliments from the pictures I shared.

I have 2 shelves full of Moomin mugs and currently I am in a spot where I have to resist buying new seasonal ones, because I don't know where I would store them. 😅

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka That is considerate of him, and well-deserved on your part, too! What kind of countertop do you have?

Maybe your tabletop is like Kintsugi and all the scuffs mean that it is well used? There is something comforting about a tabletop that you can tell sees a lot of cooking. Sterile tabletops that look like they've never been used are actually a bit sad...

I am not too into renovating, I am not that good at working with my hands. Well, no, this is not entirely true, I am as good as the next person, I guess, not terrible or anything, but I get very...fixated...on exact measurements. Everything needs to be even and symmetrical and calculated and the slightest deviation makes me unsatisfied.

So things like sanding tabletops are better to be left to someone else (unless you want me to sand through the tabletop), but if you need symmetrical furniture built or some paintings hung just right, then I am your guy.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Yes. The marks definitely show a lot of use. That's okay though, as it's meant to be used. The renovation project was because of water damage and mold starting to be present. I got those under control now, the mold was luckily just on the sealant and hasn't spread to the wood yet. Some parts of the countertop are swelled up or have greyish marks, but it does look a lot better after sanding and applying new oil.

The worst scuffs look like this:


And cleaner areas are more like this:


The wood is a bit of mystery as the previous owner didn't leave any information about this, but we suspect it's from ikea. They have a middle priced product which is made from smaller oak planks to give the surface a texture, but not actually solid wood. Still, they could be sanded down enough to do the renovation.

On another topic, I started playing the Snufkin game and it was flickering a ton. I got a headache (I have a chronic migraine, so the pain is easily triggered. Was about to stop playing but thought "are there settings for refresh rate?" and yes. Turns out it defaulted to 30. That explains why it felt really bad and unsmooth. I set it to unlimited and oooh suddenly I can follow the movement of the character without feeling like my eyes were bleeding.

I must be a spoiled member of PCMasterRace.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Mold is bad and can be dangerous, it is good that it did not spread. And I feel you on the water damage, how did you get it? Last month my neck of the woods had a flood. Did not reach my house, but most communal areas and riverside parks were flooded completely. But at least now I know why many benches around have that damp feel and green shade even on the sunniest of days.

I like that your tabletops are wooden, somehow it makes them feel more homely. Mine are polished stone or marble or something. They are fine, but one of the things I for some reason find unnerving is when I place cutlery on the tops, especially food-cutting knives, the sounds they make are...ugh, I don't know, make my teeth hurt a little.

Interesting about Snufkin, I have not tried it yet, it is good to know that if I get the same problem when I do try it, this is why. Still, it's odd that this is the default setting. Doubly so for a game like this, you know, with the whole calm childhood vibe.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I guess yours might be granite. It's a common material for nearly indestructible kitchen tabletop. I agree that dropping cutlery or plates on such surface makes the little hair on your neck stand up. Yuck.

I was surprised by the default settings, in the game, it isn't a resource-heavy one, so why limit to 30? Even very basic monitors for desktops are at least 60Hz.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Yes, I think you're right, must be granite. It has those little shiny bits in some places, marble does not have those. But I never tested how indestructible it is, though now when you mentioned it, it became strangely tempting to do.

That is an odd default setting, yeah. Could it be that their Nintendo settings are there by default for every platform?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Yes, shiny bits are in granite! I used to have that in my previous place and my parents also have granite. Especially the one at my parents' place is over a decade old and doesn't really have any noticeable marks on it despite suffering a fair bit of abuse. Dogs regularly climbing the cupboards? Nope, only the wood will get marks. Dropped pots? Yeah, the pots are more likely to get dents. To a certain extent you can even skip using chopping boards, when I lived at my parents I sometimes was quite lazy when cutting bread because you'd have to actually try to make cuts in it.

About copying settings from console editions, maybe?

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka I salute the toughness of your family's granite, though I am a bit concerned about the "Dogs regularly climbing the cupboards" bit, isn't that unhygienic? Then again, who am I to say, I allowed my cat free reign on all kitchen surfaces back when she was still around 😅 But I took care to wipe everything clean before cooking. And we did not have granite, I am not sure what that cover was, some sort of special plastic alloy for kitchens, I think.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch We were wiping down the surfaces before cooking. Even now without any pets I do that because of dust and random leftover crumbs.

Pets don't necessarily care about your opinion on the tableclimbing. :D