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Brienne (pictured) and her colleague Arya are rescue cats, so they're still too skittish and fearful to get on the keyboard while I'm using it, but I hope we'll get to that point soon.

Having recently found a new job in a computer store, I barely have anything to do, exactly because of the lack of graphics cards putting a halt to almost everything in building and distribution.

My own PC and laptop are getting super old and noisy, but it seems I have little hope in changing that anytime soon.

I'm aiming to build my new rig around the new GTX 3080 series graphics card, but there seems to be zero availability for those in Finland right now, so wait I shall. At this rate they'll release a new generation of graphics cards by the time this one becomes available to the general public.
Luckily my old rig is still in good enough health to play on if I accept lower graphical fidelity and framerate.


Besides, the cats love how warm the big black box is!

I'm running a gaming PC from about 4-5 years ago, with an Intel i7-6700K and an Nvidia GTX 1080 and an odd 24 gigs of RAM. The PC was built for running games and the Oculus Rift VR headset, so it's way overpowered when it comes to doing pixel art and AGS games. I even got one of those fancy gaming chairs from a 50% off sale years ago, so I've got maximum gamer cred on my battlestation! 

I also have the PC hooked up to a Steam Link device via my home network, so I can also lounge on the couch and stream the picture and sound to the living room TV while I control things either with a wireless Xbox 360 controller or a wireless keyboard / mouse combo.

I'm actually waiting up on summer to see what new hardware comes out, as I'm looking to replace my current PC with a newer box. Sadly, it seems crypto miners are buying up all the fancy graphics cards, so availability is poor.

Just released a fix version 1.0.1.1, which replaces the previous version.
This version addresses the bug FormosaFalanster pointed out above, which turned out to be a far nastier and more elusive bug than I could have imagined. The encounters with the mermaiden should now work as intended.

Huh, I wasn't aware that sort of thing was still a major issue in the Mac world.
Gotta hand it to Microsoft in this area, they've been doing some miraculous work when it comes to ensuring backwards compatibility.

The fact that you can still run stuff from the very first versions of Windows in Windows 10 is impressive, if not all that practical in most cases.

Whoah! For some reason I thought voting was open until the end of month, so when I opened the thread and saw Slashers post I was very confused for a sec...

But holy hell! I won!

Thank you so much, everyone, for playing and voting. I really hope people have enjoyed playing the game, and I am already considering expanding upon it for a sort of deluxe version to be released more properly later down the line, kind of like I upgraded Gnrblex back in the day.

If I had to take a guess, I think it's because they want more control over their product.

Could well be true, and it'd make sense too. As someone who works for a software company, I know first hand how much of a pain in the arse it can be to try and provide support for a wide range of old versions, when you have a number of users simply refusing to upgrade to newer versions out of sheer stubbornness. Funnily enough, people still expect their software to work, even if they don't do anything to maintain it, which makes just as much sense as expecting your car to work if you never take it in for maintenance. It will keep working, until it won't. And when some old version ends up failing as other software running parallel with it change too much, one can only guess where the finger of blame on the forums and tech support sites ends up pointing again.

There is a lot to be said about having as much of the userbase running the same version, preferably the latest one.

Careful when the mermaid gives you a kiss it freezes the game maybe a glitch to fix?

There is supposed to be about a half-second pause there, depicting the time during which she gives you some extra air. Or does it stay stuck for longer? The same kinds of pauses are sometimes used for dramatic effect when Friend is talking to you.
If you can let me know the exact line of text after which the game seems to freeze, I can go in and debug a bit further.

[G R E E D !]

I see you have well and truly aligned yourself with the theme this game was built around: G R E E D ! 
I tried to craft every element in the game around the idea of pushing your luck, trying to get just a little more, and then paying the price if you push just a liiiittle bit too far.

Like I said before, it's a matter of limiting liability for them.
A lot of people will just keep clicking "later" forever and ever if you let them do that. And if you let them do that, if the proverbial turd ever hits the fan, you will be blamed for having designed an unsafe product, and the worst-case result might be countless lives ruined. Sure, for the few people trying to delay their updates forever and a day, having them forced on them at a bad time will be upsetting every now and then, but in the broader picture the damage done is far lesser than the alternate could be.

Sure, just take the option of choice away.
No matter if you're in a meeting/presentation for 2 hours and your computer/laptop just shutdown on it's own for an update... for the next 1,5 hours!  (this is not a hypothetical case, it happened to me!)

PS - Plus, if you're on a laptop and shut it down cause you're almost out of battery, you really don't want windows updating at that time...

PPS - And I'm sure it's a serious security risk, that people were playing the inbuilt windows cards game offline. "Oh no, that can't be! We can't push our adds, lets just update and make it so it can only be played online!" Result? Waste of space on the HD, and me installing the old version (win 7) of the games. 

The forced reboot only happens if you haven't rebooted and installed updates for a very long time, so that seems like it'd be your own fault for not having taken care of the issue before. My guess is you most likely just always hit "later" when Windows suggests it needs to update, as that would definitely result in the scenario you describe. Same for the low power situation, as it implies either poor planning or just very bad luck. The latter we all have, sometimes, but being upset about that is no different that being upset that you ran out of gas on the highway because the fuel station you're user to visiting was out of order this time. And if you were just playing a card game offline, this would also not be an issue, since if you were always offline you'd never have updates to install. Not really sure what you were trying to get at with that one?

A home PC or laptop is designed around the idea of being shut down for the night, at the end of a user session, and not kept on or active 24/7. Even in corporate environments shutdowns are required on a regular basis, by any IT department worth its salt, to ensure up-to-date software systems.

And that's the problem; you're not having a real choice, you're stuck between an awful default option or having your system fail if you refuse it.

It's a real choise just like taking your car to get its oil and filters changed every year is. Sure, the car might run for years without doing it, and it might feel kind of like a pointless waste of time, but you have every right to make that call if you want.

Think of this from Microsofts point of view: if they did not push the updates, and some attack against a vulnerability in Windows stole peoples data, ruined lives and wrecked finances all over the world out of the blue, how many lawsuits do you think they'd be facing? How many claims for damages because "they could have done something, but didn't".

This is something we were actually kind of taught in IT class back in the day: IT and software support and maintenance work is always thankless. If you do something and everything goes to plan, people think you are a waste of time. If you don't do anything and something goes wrong, people will fault you for not doing anything. Software updates are exactly the same.

EDIT: Besides, it's mostly a matter of "how is it meant to be used". Workstation operating systems are expected to be shut down at the end of the day, which allows them to install updates during the shutdown / startup process. Even server side operating systems are usually rebooted once every 1 or 2 weeks to install updates and keep them up to date. If you're running your home computer for 2+ weeks straight without a reboot, it's not really how this particular software product is meant to be used.

Anyone can stop their Windows from updating if they really want. You can just kill off the Windows update service and force it to not work anymore.
You'll be happier for it precisely up until the point where some issue screws you over and you can only blame yourself for not having your operating system up to date.

I would not advise doing so, but hey: it's an option.

The question is, why wouldn't you do that? You're supposed to keep Windows up-to-date, like any other app or OS.
Just turn on automatic updates.

This. Unless one is working with a pay-per-megabit internet connection, I never understood why some people avoid software updates.

Pig in a Poke:

Spoiler

I love some of the dialogue on offer, but other than that I was left a bit underwhelmed. I don't mind some lack of animation or visual quality, but the mismatched styles of certain characters feels off putting to me. What felt even more off putting was the protagonist, though I feel this was the intention. I couldn't help but cringe over and over as he just DEVOURS things no sane man should put anywhere near their mouth! Bleugh!

All in all, a suitably humorous little collect-'em-all game with very light puzzle elements and a gut twisting protagonist who effectively reminded me to refocus on my diet.

[close]

EDIT: A friend playing my game discovered a couple nasty little bugs in my game, so I'll release a new version this weekend that fixes them. One can cause the game to lock up and become unplayable, forcing the player to load a save, which is not very nice...

ANOTHER EDIT: Update released with a bugfix.

Since this is a MAGS game, keep in mind there is still plenty of time to play and to vote.
Check out February's other contestant: Pig in a Poke by Slasher!
And don't forget to vote in the MAGS thread.

--

A few people have already commented on the game page for One More Fathom, and seem to be mostly positive about the quality of such a quick little project.
Here are a few back-of-the-box blurbs I nabbed from the games database (recommend checking the full comments out there):

The gameplay looks a bit slow in the beginning but it quickly gets addictive.
And the art is cute too. A very good game!

Even though I'm not a big fan on this game genre, I enjoyed this because there are interesting events happening apart from the main treasure hunt.
The game reminds of MicroProse games from the 80s like Sid Meier's Pirates.

I really felt there (the dive, the decision on when to go up, the encounters!) and this is the best compliment I can make to a game.

Cause I mean, why doesn't a man get a paternity leave, lol, be serious.

Men do get paternity leave, although it was just renamed to parental leave. The number of leave days are split 50-50 between both parents, unless they themselves agree to redistribute them differently.

If this is your actual belief, I find it terrifying and appalling. If it's not, then you're a disingenuous troll.

I do not believe any human being has the right to kill another human being, and I find it terrifying and appalling that is a stance you seem to disagree with. I won't go so low as to accuse you of being a troll, however. I just consider you too prideful to accept that there might be any flaws in your worldview.

If there is a stage in the life of a child where the mother has a right to shut out the father and make calls on their own, then wouldn't that be a prime example of inequality between the genders?

Finland is currently just processing a major legal case regarding a loosely related situation, that this conversation has just reminded me of. A married couple conceived a child up to the age of over a year old, and only after that point did the mother admit she'd cheated and the child was not the husbands. This was later proven via a DNA test as well. However, due to how the law is written here, the father is now hooked up to the child and has to pay for its upbringing up to the age of 18, because he did not think to dispute his fatherhood early enough in the child's life.

If, prior or during the pregnancy, the mother makes decisions that the father disagrees with, the law always comes down on the side of the mother. Want to terminate an unborn child even if the father wishes to raise it? Tough luck, mother has her rights. Want to carry a child to term despite the father not wanting it? While I'd agree the father would have no right to demand termination, the law still says the father has to pay up because the child is his. Want to cheat, bring some other mans child into the marriage and hook the husband up to pay for its upbringing? Go for it, as long as you don't get caught too early!

If the goal was equality between the two genders, then this all seems rather skewed one way. Small wonder western societies are having less and less children on their own...

EDIT: Also, a wonderful apples-to-oranges comparison there.
I previously made the point that the way people create entertainment is based on biological principals, and somehow that is then read to mean I think laws should be written as unequal because of those same principals as well, when I've specifically pointed out that law and culture are two very different things.

This all comes back around to the whole legality-of-abortion question, to which there are varied different answers around the world, and thus no single right answer. The easy answer would be to just say "the mother has 100% control" and that's that, but it shuts out both the rights of the father to their mutually conceived child, as well as the rights of the child itself, if handled so simplistically. I used to be open to the idea of unrestricted abortion for women when I was younger, but have since read up more on the matter and now find it a far less simple a matter, and thus am no longer quite so open to the idea.

WHAM, people here have repeatedly explained why the things you say are inflammatory and dehumanizing, do everyone a favor and stop trolling this thread.

If you're looking for a private bubble where everyone blindly agrees with all you say and never challenges your views or ideas, then an open forum with everyone free to speak is probably not the right place.
I find the thread interesting, educating and in some parts most entertaining, and will be around if I see anything worth commenting on.

At the risk of kindling an inflammatory subject - I can't think of any real-life situation where a man's claim to an unborn child overruling a woman's wouldn't lead to inhumane consequences. It's true that some men can develop an emotional connection to an unborn child and suffer from the loss, and women should be aware of this when making a decision. But it must be their decision.

I quite agree. For instance, outside rare forms of cases involving violent crime, I see no situation where a man could, for example, will their partner to terminate an unborn child against the mothers wishes. However, for the sake of equality in the eyes of the law, I think there are some cases where that right to terminate, if the father opposes it and there was no crime involved, should be restricted until there is a mutual agreement or there is a natural solution to the matter.