ElectroVagrant

I understand the hesitation, which is why I've been trying to monitor its developments closely. Hence why I linked the example of someone testing out a small network ATProto relay, and why I also dug up this post about self-hosting different parts of the ATProto infrastructure the other day.

From what I've observed, there's no pushback against people doing so, and the only things stopping people are the usual: time, costs, knowledge, motivation, etc. For the first step to really happen at all there have to be people with the resources and motivation to do so, which is always the tricky part. In a small way part of my OP is intending to encourage anyone with both to give it a shot, as I lack some of the necessary resources to try it myself.

It's not so much that ActivityPub can't scale up, so much as that for one, as I've understood it that's not really been desirable anyway (undermines the point of decentralization/distribution), and for two, it starts getting bogged down as you already recognize. It also runs into similar, if not worse, cost problems to operate as ATProto's full network approaches are now.

ActivityPub is more suited to scaling across multiple instances/sites than up, and I'd argue that's its strength. It unintentionally has an implosion threshold to counter centralization in terms of cost and performance.

On the other hand, ATProto's advantage is that it enables scaling up while also enabling better data portability. I'm aware of work on this with ActivityPub as well, but it's still very early stages. My thinking is that there may be some ways to work with both to push towards their similar shared aims in terms of an open social web, with more flexibility in moving between spaces and adjusting experiences to better find what one wants from these different spaces.

Ideally they would be compatible, I agree.

Also you're right regarding the capacity to scale up, and frankly, while ATProto makes it feasible, I don't think it's necessarily desirable even with ATProto. Part of the point of it is to have various independent relays that would better distribute the load, and enable people's mobility when any of them go bad. Setting that aside, they don't all have to be full network relays, in fact someone is already toying with running a small network relay.

I also agree regarding moderation problems at a larger scale, and that ActivityPub's various software should take this as a wake-up call to improve the user experience, not so much for "big social media vibes" but for a better, less finicky experience.

However I also think there are potential benefits to ATProto, which blended together with ActivityPub, could make both better overall. The technical literacy and insistence on independent servers of the ActivityPub culture could make ATProto properly distributed and federated, which would be far better than letting it languish in corporate hands. Meanwhile the openness to optional transparent, customizable algorithms and preference for a smoother user experience of the ATProto/Bsky culture could make ActivityPub a more accessible, and livelier feeling space for more people.

Both can improve from one another, so long as both communities choose to try to learn from one another.

For a light, simplistic open source editor that's easy to get into, Goxel has been my go-to. I'd liken it to a voxel sketchpad with how easy it is to load up and simply mess about with.

For a more robust open source editor that's kinda rough around the edges, there's VengiVoxEdit, which I've honestly only scratched the surface of personally.

For a similarly robust editor that's less rough around the edges, the standard recommendation is MagicaVoxel. It's a solid choice, but I'm not sure if the developer is continuing work on it or not, which makes a difference here as it's not open source. It still works fine right now though, so if you're on Windows/Mac, it's a good option for a smooth, feature rich editor.

Mainly games built for replaying, so arcade puzzlers like Super Hexagon/Tetris Effect/Mixolumia/Equaline/etc, roguelikes such as FTL/BrogueCE/etc, or strangesims like Powder Toy or Vilmonic. Although even with those it's more occasional, like when I'm uncertain of what I'm wanting to do.

That's a fun mix, Gemini Rue was a pleasant surprise to see!

You might also enjoy Primordia given that.

obligatory but entirely sincere addition for those looking for palate cleansing games: Outer Wilds

and for those after a variety of others, in particularly no order, that may or may not come up as much:

• The Powder Toy
• Heaven's Vault
• Vilmonic
• Intraquartz
• Interior Worlds
• Mixolumia
• Thousand Threads
• Mu Cartographer
• Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams
• Jazzpunk
• Crossniq+
• BrogueCE
• Heart&Slash
• Umurangi Generation w/ Macro
• NeonXSZ
• Paradise Killer

But this is all from a flipside of a flipside, so each is as likely to appeal as repel, quick slide to catch clicks and clunks

I should finally get into that. I keep putting it off for silly reasons that will never be addressed by putting it off. Can't get better at making models if I never make any, much less texturing a model if I never texture anything.

Also one of my favorite finds in a related area were voxel editors. Highly encourage anyone into voxel art from games like VoxeLibre or Minecraft to look into them. All the fun of building with blocks with a lot more flexibility.

No, since there is only the PowerPC bits on the disc, there is no way to play the game on a newer x86 cpu without downloading the x86 bits

Something worth adding here, if you happen to know, would be if the games still work after download & install while offline. Microsoft's been rather inconsistent with this over the years (which is part of why Xbox One fell behind PS4 at launch).

There have been a few titles that I think reach that potential, but most of them are quite old now.

Don't leave us hanging! Quality endures the ages, well, mostly.

maybe CDPR (hopefully the cp2077 release was just a fluke but we’ll see).

Cyberpunk 2077 was Witcher 1 repeat tbh, people forgot Witcher 1 was a mess at launch since they patched it up a bunch and some other stuff to try to make amends

Saw where you mentioned being into fighting games, action games, & shmups, so I wonder which games you find yourself bouncing off of more.

Along with reasons other have mentioned that are similar to my own (many games demanding a lot of time, better finding what games really click with me, etc.), I've also been put off by other details (hyper-monetization, big budget photorealistic & cinematic styles, etc.). Personally it's less being into very few games, and more being into more specific kinds of game design and creative style, which are sometimes harder to find.

Like not being into drawn out progression systems immediately narrows one's options pretty significantly, especially among many recent games.