[ZaidH]

Oh dang, I missed seeing this post of yours! I was not aware that Dave the Diver was this kind of game. Does the base game include those 2D beat 'em up sections? The trailer itself is fantastic and oozing with vibes!

After some sparse reading sessions here and there, I finally finished The Light Fantastic. The Color of Magic wasn't a mediocre book by any metric, but wow, TLF is a substantial improvement over it. Many thanks to both @DoctorEldritch and @CandelaSynth for introducing me to the Discworld books!!! Will definitely read the next book after a short break.

What are you guys reading these days?

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Not as far as I remember about the base game. It has many things, but beat 'em up is not one of them. This is what they outsourced to Ichiban Holdings 😉

Glad you like TLF. And it only gets much better from there, too! As for me, currently, I am in the middle of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. I picked it up because a new book is supposed to come out in 2025. I am liking it so far.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Indie games proving once again that they’re leading the charge when it comes to innovation 😄 Never would’ve expected something like this in a diving game 🙌🙌 Ichiban Holdings 🙌🙌

Oooh very nice! Did you end up finishing that Tower-sumthin book by the Witcher author? If you enjoyed it, I’ll definitely add it to my list.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Indeed, though indie can be a bit broad. For example, Expedition 33, which is very successful right now, was made by Sandfall Interactive. They may be a bit too big to qualify as indie, but they are partially made of Ubisoft veterans, and I remember reading somewhere that one of them mentioned that it would take ages or could be impossible even to make a game like that in the current Ubisoft, because of all the processes and appraisals and hoops you need to jump through, it became a behemoth. So yes, indie studios are on the frontline of gaming innovation, but so are some of the veterans, too.

Ah, no. I think I was already reading the Thursday Next series when I found that Tower book, and I am still in the middle of that. I am on book 5 now (there are 7 out now and the 8th planned for 2025). So I can't say how good Tower is yet, but I'd vouch for Thursday Next.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Sandfall Interactive’s success story is one for the ages. Hopefully, the rest of the industry follows the standards they’ve set, especially when it comes to proper dynamic game pricing. Looking at you MS, PS, Nintendo, and Randy Pitchford 😒

The synopsis of The Eyre Affair sounds really intriguing! I never used to vibe with British literature much, but the Discworld books definitely eased me into it. I’m definitely looking forward to diving into the Thursday Next series whenever I need a solid British fix 😄

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH That's true, the pricing of games these days is getting as much attention as their quality. I think I read that some are hoping GTA 6 will be priced over 100$ and create a precedent for the increase in prices to be followed, but meanwhile, games like Expedition 33 is cheaper and doing very well, and Ihear that the developers of Mafia: The Old Country want to cap it at 50$ and no more to make it affordable for as many people as possible. It is interesting to watch it all unravel and see which pricing strategy leads to what.

Thursday Next is very British indeed, and a bit lit-nerdy, you need to have read a lot of English books to get all the references. It becomes less so in later books though, moving more towards adventure in an original setting, but even then, there are a lot of homages for books and you can feel author's love for the literature. I found it an enjoyable read.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Seeing people advocate for the $100 price point for GTA 6 makes me so furious. Rockstar doesn’t even need a PR team at this point because diehard fans are out here doing the job for them. It’s wild that both the Mafia and Borderlands studios fall under Take-Two, yet they’re on completely opposite ends when it comes to consumer-friendly pricing.

Ah, sounds like a series I should probably save for my 30s 😅 I’ve barely scratched the surface of British literature.

A little reading update: I just finished A Short Stay in Hell, and holy moly, what a unique read! Bonus points for being something you can knock out in just 2-3 reading sessions 😄

An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones after death in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH We are in a time when hobbies experience a change in cost. I recently read an article where the author described how, with the recent increase in clay manufacturing and ammunition prices, clay pigeon shooting now costs almost double what it did 10 years ago, thus moving it from "middle-class hobby" to "upper-middle-class hobby". Some hobbies are more typical depending on the level of income. Like golf is more upper-class hobby, and fishing is more middle-class, and reading is one of the most affordable, as instead of expensive memberships, or gear and licenses, all you need is a book or a library card. It seems gaming as a hobby may be moving up the ladder a bit too, lately...

You will probably get more out of the series if you read it later, but in case you want to, so long as you "get" English literature, the pillars of it like Shakespear, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, etc, even if you did not read most of their books, you should still be able to enjoy the story and references in it.

A Short Stay in Hell is good, but a bit too deep for my current mood. I prefer something more light-hearted lately 😅

Now that you're done with it, what will you be reading next?

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Excellent analysis! I imagine more hobbies will fade into obscurity with how the recent tariff fiasco is affecting nearly every industry. Aside from gaming, I’m into web development and like to work on personal projects from time to time. Since the start of the year, I’ve seen some hosting providers either pull their free tiers or heavily downgrade them. Many more are expected to follow since cloud data centers rely on a ton of imported parts to function. So now I either have to switch hosting solutions frequently or take down my projects 😅

And oh, even reading hasn't escaped this madness. The real estate market in this region has surged like crazy. So how did bookstores and vendors tackle this? Ofc, by raising book prices to cover the rising rental costs. Thank god I have a Kindle, otherwise reading would’ve become an out of reach hobby for me 😆

Yeah, I think I’m sorted when it comes to the mystery genre thanks to Agatha Christie, but I still want more exposure to books by British authors to really get a feel for their style.

Oh yeah, even though A Short Stay in Hell is more of an “idea” book than a heavy emotional journey, it still has some harrowing moments. As for what’s next, I’m knee-deep in job hunting right now, so reading’s on pause for the time being 😶

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Ah, well, history operates in cycles, and it's always darkest before the dawn. After every fall should follow the inevitable rise, so we can at least take some solace and comfort in that. What else can we do 😅

What about public libraries? Where I am, you can get a card for free if you live in the area, so even if books cost more, you may be able to borrow them from the library for free.

A noble pursuit, just keep in mind that, with how many authors there are now, it may take quite a while to even scratch the surface 😅

Ah, I see. It can be tough, best of luck to you! What type of job are you looking for?