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

Main Characters:

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.

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!

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!