The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

Do I have plugs? Oh boy...

Okay, so, in no particular order:

Pern - Did you love late Discworld? Are you tired of grimdark nonsense crowding up your shelf, and do you really just want to read some classically optimistic Sci-Fi/Fantasy? Do you want to read something that is just straight up weird and a bit outside your traditional Sci-Fi/Fantasy? Pick up Pern. It's fantastic and amazing. In particular, pick up the Harper Hall trilogy, and then The White Dragon. Those books are perhaps the most beloved of the Pern series, and they're also just... fantastic. Especially Harper Hall. This is a book about people who love music written by someone who clearly shares that love, and wow does it show. Unfortunately, you have to read Dragonflight and Dragonquest first, which... aren't as good? Okay, Dragonquest is pretty good, but Dragonflight is... not. At least, not at first. By the end, it's excellent, but the beginning is weak, if not actually bad, and you can tell it's some of McCaffrey's earliest work. There are also issues with... okay, I'm not doing any of my rants right now. Not even the Dragonseye rant that's actually about Pern being awesome. Another time.

Discworld - okay, I mentioned late Discworld above, so... right. Excuse me for a moment...

Grabs Megaphone

IF YOU HAVE NOT YET AT LEAST ATTEMPTED TO GO READ DISCWORLD, YOU SHOULD GO READ DISCWORLD.

Sorry, but I had to make that eminently clear. If that's all you need, pick one of Guards! Guards!, Wyrd Sisters, Mort, or Going Postal to start with (or any number of others, but those are the classic starting points. Go. Now, really! I mean it!

It's sort of hard to understate Discworld's influence. The series is utterly brilliant, and Pratchett has inspired more people than I can count. Also, he's a direct influence on us. As in, the PPC. Pratchett's in the blood of this place, and that's reason enough to read him. And on top of that... I mean, I said utterly brilliant, I'm not sure that's even enough. It's smart, funny, poignant, and just a delight in every sense of the word. I'm sorry if I'm going on a bit, but it's just that good.

Amon Amarth - Not a book, but a band. If you like Metal, Amon Amarth does viking metal. It's kinda cheesy. It's also sorta awesome.

Doom (1993) - In my opinion, both the first id Software game and the first FPS that stands the test of time. Sorry Twisty. Go grab a copy of GZDoom so you can rebind the keyboard controls to something sane if you want to play it now, but the fact that that's all it takes to make the game feel pretty much modern is impressive, especially compared to its forebears, and even to some of its contemporaries (lookin' at you, System Shock).

By the way, I have a fully-working Apple IIgs at home, and that was the system that id's very earliest games ran on, before they even WERE id Software. So when my data transfer cables and such come in, I intend to try a hand a reviewing some of those.

NetHack - The DevTeam thinks of everything. NetHack is the oldest roguelike still in active development. Depending on how you count it, Nethack either begin development in 1981 (one year after Rogue's release), or in 1987. Either way, it's old, deep, complicated, and extremely absorbing. Also really really really hard. But still, if you want to get a feel for what a real Roguelike is like, this is the game to try. Well, this or Angband, being as they are the primary endpoints of the two oldest branches of the Roguelike family tree. Plus, both games are totally free.

The Zachtronics Game - For while it comes in many incarnations, there is only one Zachtronics game. If you like puzzles, get one (probably SpaceChem or Opus Magnum). If you're a programmer... ho boy. Zachtronics game us basically crack for programmers.

Homestuck...'s Soundtrack - Don't read Homestuck. Really, don't. Sure, it's alright, but it's not worth the investment it'll take. Especially after Act 5 Part 2, at which point what little degree of good pacing the comic had up to that point goes to hell and the whole thing ends with the most anticlimactic final battle I've ever seen.

But if there's one thing that is actually completely great about Homestuck, no compromises or asterisks, it's the soundtrack. "Sburban Jungle." "Explore." "Descend." "Savior of the Waking World." All of "Cascade." "Black." "Midnight Crew (Acapella)." "Unite/Synchronization." And that's just off the top of my head. It's one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, and I've heard some pretty bangin' soundracks.

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor - It wouldn't be a Thoth recommendation list without SOMETHING obscure. So here you go. a mid-90s anime that parodies Space Operas and just... oh my god this show is funny. I'm not even kidding. It's one of the funniest things I've seen. Seriously, go watch it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I'm not sure I have to post this one, but just in case... Well, it's H2G2. It's brilliant. Douglas Adams is a comic genius, and so long as you don't watch the awful movie, it really shows here. If you don't know what H2G2 is, I'll be glad to explain, but only if someone asks. I'm really assuming everyone knows and just putting this here to hedge my bets.

Snow Crash - if Cyberpunk is the house Neuromancer built, than Snow Crash did a lot of work on the house afterwards. This is one of the foundational texts of Cyberpunk and Post-Cyberpunk, and it's a heck of a lot more readable than Neuromancer. And more fun. And more technologically accurate. And just... it's good, okay? Well, good if you like Stephenson. You'll see what I mean if you read it.

2112 - Rush's Magnum Opus, 2112 is a great album start to finish, and is absolutely required listening for anyone who likes prog rock. Or anyone else for that matter. How many albums have their entire first half dedicated to seven-part rock opera detailing a story set in the distant sci-fi future? It's awesome!

1974 - Now's my chance to plug someone REALLY obscure. 1974 (not to be confused with The 1974) is a local band. As in, local to my state. I stumbled across them selling their albums in a tiny booth at a Con, shrugged, said, "what they hell, I like Prog Rock," and bought a copy of "1974 & The Death of The Herald," which the band recommended as the first one to pick up.

And that was arguably the best purchase I made at that con. We'll get to the other thing I bought fighting for that title next on this list, but I have listened to that album waaay too many times. It's stupidly good. Better than anything by just some random local band has any right to be. And it's another prog-rock sci-fi rock opera! (man, I love those things)... I think it's about... human clones revolting? Or not? And there's a galactic war that ended? Maybe? It's... really confusing. I'll have to ask the band when I see them again.

Atomic Robo - This is a comic book series about a sentient robot powered by nuclear power created by Nicola Tesla in the 1930s, that takes place all over time and space following Robo on his adventures. It also includes the line "When you return to you unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin... tell them Carl Sagan sent you." (in The Shadow From Beyond Time, a good adventure to start with, and one of the best ones period so far) If that doesn't sell it, I don't know what will. It also has a spinoff called "Real Science Adventures", which shows adventures set in the same universe that don't involve Robo.

Did I mention that the writing's by the guy who did 8-bit Theater? It is. And that's great. Also, the comic's philosophy: "No Angst, No Cheesecake, No Reboots, No Filler, The Main Robot Punches A Different Robot (or Maybe a Monster)." That should tell you what sort of fun this comic is.

Take this Aperture Science Companion Cube with you. Make sure to take good care of it. It will most assuredly never attempt to stab you in the back.
Also, have a link to the discord server.

Have cup of endless tea! Be careful to put it back up on it's feet quickly if you knock it over unless you want to flood the entire room.
Also, feel free to join the PPC Lounge, our Discord server. Here's an invite.

Because my favorite musical (and current obsession) is Hamilton.

Embarrassingly enough, I only got into this one earlier this year. I dunno why, I guess I wasn't that interested... but then I finally took a listen and it all just clicked. I love the combination of clever lyrics and awesome music, and being a bit of a history buff doesn't hurt.

But don't take my word for it, I'll link to someone who can explain how good it is better than I can: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6sziLDcwSRQ

The more people I can get interested in this the better!

(And boy, do I wish I had snow for real...)

I don't know my 5D's, mainly because I don't know my Yu-Gi-Oh, but yeah, all of that reeks of Sue. That, and from skimming through the first chapter, I caught this little number:

Besides being a signer like himself, Ellie was also psychic like Akiza, biggest difference being Ellie could control her powers... Somewhat.

So... yeah, that instantly rubs me the wrong way. We're saying that Ellie can control her psychic powers better than Akiza, who is older than her and thus would've most likely been dealing with them longer. If that isn't powers for the sake of speshul, I don't know what counts.

Have this plasma pistol, straight from the wastelands of Fallout! Although, quick warning... someone thought it funny to change the plasma it shoots from green to a nasty shade of bleen.

Also, have a pack of Small Energy Cells to fuel it with!

(Warning: Massive amounts of silly in this vicinity).

I notice you seem to have forgotten to share with us what fandoms you might be a part of. Care to share?

In the meantime, have this recharger rifle from the Mojave Wasteland! Don't worry about silly things like feeding it ammo, its microfusion breeder can feed it indefinitely! (Or, well, up until it breaks...)

How dare you set my snowballs on fire? This means WAR! *grabs a massive armful of snow*

E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy is one of the strangest games I've ever played. If you fail to hack a system, such as other players, the system hacks you and turns you on your allies. At high levels you get a revolver that can take down attack helicopters. Notifications in the upper left corner constantly tell you that "you gain brouzouf" and "my legs are OK." It has 32 player co-op.

It can be purchased on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/9170/EYEDivineCybermancy/

There’s nothing wrong with making two Board posts in quick succession, Skarm. Posting multiple thrreads of the same topic, we don’t like, but you’ve been around long enough to know multiple threads of different topics isn’t an issue.

Well, I'm going to plug some more obscure indie games that I love, in order to get them spread around.

Lichtspeer, also known as "the only ancient Germanic future lightning action game you need in 2016", is a humorous, wave-based action game where the main mechanic is a cool-looking light spear that the player throws at things. It takes place in an "ancient Germanic future" that looks a little bit 80s, full of enemies such as Hipster Ice Giants, Penguin Vikings, and Das Skater Walrus. Now, why are you up against these things? For the glory of the Lichtgods, of course! (And the Lichtgods are bored. That's the real reason.)

Watch the trailer, purchase, etc. at http://lichtspeer.com/! (Warning: Trailer contains flashing lights.)

I may have discovered Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime just a few days ago, but man, it's cool! If you're into the "cooperate to pilot a spaceship" genre, or if you're like me and are just addicted to quirky futuristic games with glowing neon colors up against a dark background, this game is for you! This game can be played by up to 4 players working together to rescue stranded animals and fight constellations that have come to life through the power of something called Anti-Love. The more animals you help, the more you get to upgrade your ship to fight those glowing monsters! What's not to love?

Learn more here: http://www.loversinadangerousspacetime.com/

*Gasp* I see a pattern here! Can't get enough of those neon colors on a black background, but maybe rhythm games and (hey, like Undertale) bullet hell are more your thing? What about Just Shapes And Beats? This game can also be played by up to four players, and has a variety of game modes, ranging from Casual Mode, to a Story Mode that'll surprisingly tug on your heartstrings, to Party Mode, where the game plays itself! It's all about the music in this game, and thankfully it's not all dubstep.

Learn more at http://www.justshapesandbeats.com/

So yeah, these are three good titles with a common aesthetic, ordered (if I have it right) from most obscure to least obscure, as well as from "I love it and I will protect it forever" to "I'd love it more if I could tolerate the cranked-up bass better." Check 'em out. I'll send more plugs up this way as soon as I evaluate more games.

-Twistey

Generally speaking, we don't make more than one separate thread on the Board in succession if we can help it. The typical result of this is that other more important posts may be pushed off the front page by accident or otherwise obscured when people look through it for the most recent conversations. If you wish to talk about another topic immediately after you've made a post, there's always the option to reply to your previous post with "OT: [other topic you want to discuss]" or something. It's not that hard, really!

Anyway, I'd like to give a hand to a game I've recently downloaded called Rodeo Stampede, which comes to us from the same publishers who released Crossy Road and has a similar mechanic except much faster paced and more geared towards property management on the side. It's a quirky and surprisingly addictive endless runner that I'd highly recommend, if only because of SO many visual puns as unlockables and the occasional pop culture reference (and yes, Pop Vulture is indeed a thing in this game XD). They've even got dinosaurs in one of the unlockable worlds, and mythical creatures (including DRAGONS) in another!

Read more about it here: https://www.player.one/rodeo-stampede-crossy-road-publisher-lassos-fun-twist-endless-runner-games-541949

And oh, you read my mission involving THAT old cringewreck of mine? X'D Nice! I'm happy to see that people still appreciate our older stuff. I've currently got four spinoffs with published content (the Galeforces mission is from the first one I came up with) if you wanna check thosse out, and other people I'd recommend are Herr Wozzeck's Florestan and Eusabius and Voyd's Valon and Kala (though the latter is no longer active, they had a good run while they were still here).

Have one of my own shed feathers and a complimentary kit of Spikes!

Have one of my own shed feathers and a replica Smash Ball that doesn't break when you hit it too much! Perfect for playing catch, but don't let it float out of reach!

*dons decoy robes*

...Oh wait. I already have some fire powers left over from that one Shipfest. Guess it's time to go berserk.

*basically magically lights self on fire*

*runs into the snowball barrage screaming loudly*

-twistey

(Pun totally not intended.)

Some missions take whole decades to finish writing - whether or not the badfic is complete, or gets completed over the course of mission-writing - or even if the whole fic gets missioned, if the agents can gather a minimum amount of charges.

So, it's no big deal what you set as your first fic. ^^

*And also one at Skater, to make things fair.*

Shamelessly plug your favorite games, TV shows, movies, books, and fanfics here!

For example, UNDERTALE is an RPG where a human child falls into an underground world full of monsters and must survive. But here's the twist: It's the friendly RPG where nobody has to die! The unique battle system allows you to fast-talk your way out of fighting and show mercy to the monsters. With a quirky cast, great music, and a great story, UNDERTALE is sure to capture your hearts!

Get it here right now! https://undertale.com

Also, the game is best played blind other than the information I just gave you, so don't look it up. You shouldn't spoil yourself.

This one's a Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's fic titled "Sixth Signer". The link is here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10250024/1/Sixth-Signer

She's the Sixth Signer (That's basically the 5D's equivalent of a Tenth Walker), Yusei's younger sister (Let's charge ahead of time for Yusei having a younger sister in the first place: his parents died when he was just a baby in the meltdown that split New Domino City and the Satellite apart, and he survived because he was launched into Satellite in an emergency escape pod. His parents didn't survive to have another baby.), a very powerful psychic with weather powers (Psychics exist in this continuum, but this is obviously an excuse to make her more speshul), and she just jumps in halfway through 5D's without explanation (If she's Yusei's sister AND the sixth Signer, where was she during the whole Dark Signer fiasco?). A Mary Sue if I ever saw one.

*makes another snowball and throws it at Scater*

Bleeprin, anyone?