Something called "mana" is used frequently in computer fantasy games, but why is it called that? Why is it always depicted as something with a dark blue color? I don't know the history of the word, but this YouTube video asks these questions and tries to answer them.

I can't vouch for its etymological accuracy, but I played lots of hours of 3 video games that it mentions as having pivotal influence in this trend. The first was Dungeon Master (1987) on an Amiga, then Warcraft 2 (1995) and Diablo 1 (1997) on pc. These are all important titles in the genre, so I grew up immersed with "mana" as the fuel for magic, and it was always blue in color.

Does anyone have a favorite wired (preferably USB-A for now, but I know everything's moving to USB-C) headset with mic for long-term wear? It also needs to be on-ear instead of cuffs that surround the ear, because cuffs dig into my eyeglasses and eventually hurt my head. My employer provided this Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000 headset, which has worked quite well for me. I need a backup, though, and I need something for use at my gaming computer. Microsoft apparently doesn't produce headsets any more, so I relied on their recommendations and ordered this Logitech H570E. I'm open to new ideas though.

I don't normally need a microphone at my gaming computer, but I've joined 2 others in a Discord chat to play in a newly-available (only in Early Access) MMO. Pantheon: Rise Of The Fallen is intended to be a game in the same vein as the original EverQuest. I played EQ1 for many years, and I'm enjoying Pantheon, despite its very rough state at the moment. I originally crowdfunded Pantheon back in 2014, but the Kickstarter failed because it didn't meet its fundraising goal. Apparently they've been limping along financially for a decade, with very slow progress using only a few developers. The prominent designer of both EQ1 and Pantheon died in 2019, which didn't help progress either. Once inside and playing, the game obviously needs a lot of work, but it also obviously takes on many of the features of the original EQ1. There are no maps, no quest markers, and you're expected to explore the world from your character's perspective. I'm still experimenting and finding things that fall short, but the "core" of EQ1 is actually there, with moderately improved graphics. This is definitely a computer game (mouse and keyboard) and not a console game (controller). It has a complex UI, with support for in-game macros, just like EQ1. It has easily accommodated my keybind changes to support my left-handed mousing and right-handed keyboarding.

If you're comfortable spending money on things that are still in development and might never reach full potential or might get cancelled, then I can recommend this one. It runs great on Linux with Steam Proton, with one glaring exception. I was confused and roadblocked for a while because selling items was literally impossible, a necessary step in game. Players on Windows computers are supposed to hold the ALT key and right-click an item to sell it at a vendor. I have to use CTRL-ALT-RightClick instead, but at least it works.

If you (or people you know) play No Man's Sky, share the information that everyone should make a backup of their save game file immediately. The game currently includes a game-ending bug that will erase/corrupt your save. If you don't have a backup, then you might have to start the game over again.

Click to read how to backup game files in No Man's Sky...

1. Steam has this community guide that explains where to find the file that you need to backup. I'm not clear on exactly which "...save#.hg" file should be backed up, so I backed up the whole folder. I relocated Steam on my Linux computer to a separate filesystem partition, so I found the necessary folder at the following location on my computer:
   /game/SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/275850/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/HelloGames/NMS/
   
   
2. Separately, I recommend at any time (bugged or not) that you make a backup of the file that records which building items you have unlocked. For some reason, it's not at the same location as the save game. If you play in Steam, you can find it on the Steam menu for the game (right-click the game in Steam, select Properties) under "Installed Files", then click "Browse", then select folder "Binaries" then "Settings". Save a copy of "GCUSERSETTINGS.MXML". On my Linux computer, I found it at:
   /game/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/No Man's Sky/Binaries/SETTINGS/

A player who was affected by this bug has asked online for help finding a solar system that they named planets, flora, and fauna in that system for memories that their dead mother would recall, as an online tribute to the memory of their mother.

Keep an eye out for the "Krasher" system, traveler.

Read about some games from the past...

There was a period of time when people were trying to recreate that classic of the city-building genre, Pharoah (and the related Cleopatra, and the prior example Caesar). I was happy to "donate" money by buying development projects in the works. Three of them are officially out now or soon, with 2025 January for the latest. Here are my ratings for them:

1. Pharaoh: A New Era
   By far the best of the lot. They practically copied the original graphics and music and narrator, although they are new resources. Definitely fun like the original.
2. Nebuchadnezzar
   A good original work. It's the same style without being such an exact replica. Worth playing.
3. Builders Of Egypt: Prologue
   Another original attempt. Not as smooth as the others.

I crowdfunded Dwarven Delve on Kickstarter back in 2013. While I got a playable version on Steam (usable on Linux with Steam's Proton), they stopped updating their Kickstarter in 2020. I assume it's an abandoned title now. :(

I crowdfunded Star Citizen on Kickstarter back in 2012. Their funding page says they've collected over US$721 million during development. That figure is not a mistake. High quality games are as big a business as Hollywood. More, actually. This game definitely is far along in development, but it's still not "out" yet in 2024. While it certainly has playable gameplay and impressive graphics, the UI in it is just awful. I first complained on the forum about a decade ago, but I can't tell that there's been any improvement at all in the UI. Despite all the money that I gave them over the years to fund their development (and I attended their CitizenCon convention in 2018), the UI still hasn't improved. I probably won't play it much, if the UI stays in its current form. :(

The games that I keep returning to, instead, are No Man's Sky for the exploration, Oxygen Not Included for the base building (and I recommend the Spaced Out expansion), and Timberborn (a game I keep mentioning, most recently in 2022) for the adorable city-building beavers.

A huge update became available yesterday afternoon for No Man's Sky. The patch notes are incredibly long. It's all good news. The small bit that impresses me the most, however, is that your spaceship can now make a soft landing on water. No more skimming across the surface of a water planet, hoping to spot a near-surface bit of land that you can use to set down your spaceship.

But what I'm posting about is that the Twitch drops are live starting today. (Use their "Get Started" button to jump to the section where you pair your game account to Twitch.) Watch someone play No Man's Sky on Twitch, and get free item unlocks in your game. It's all stuff that you'd undoubtedly be able to get anyway, but it's fun to see how other people play the game, and get yourself some rewards at the same time.

I've got this stream playing right now (but I've watched this one and this one before, and you can find others here), while the workers are here installing my 4 new windows upstairs.

Tomorrow is my last day off from work, then students move in for the semester start. That means it is time for "hell week" all over again, despite so many mini-hell-weeks since the fall semester started a few months ago. Anyway...

I noticed a few days ago that some (only a few) trees on my block are putting on buds, thanks to the warmest December on record in Minnesota. I didn't take a photo, then last night we got a dusting of snow, so the buds are probably covered up at the moment.

Here, though, is a photo of the fire dragon maiden grass that I bought in spring of 2021. It's finally large enough to notice, although the red has muted since they first died back for the winter season. The tassles, though, do look nice over the snow. Notice that peculiar and scraggly plant in the foreground? That's the tallest bayberry plant I've got, which I planted back in 2016. I've yet to see a single bayberry fruit, though, so I may never get to craft my own bayberry candle for a winter holiday season.

I had my house viewed by a salesperson for the possibility of installing a heat pump from Daikin for ductless a/c and heating. The sales rep said they operate down to -24C/-12F, so there would be days in winter when it wouldn't operate at all, leaving me on the coldest winter days with only electric blankets. I can live with that, if it means being able to turn off my gas heater. Unfortunately, the heat pump costs about $7k per "head" for the main unit, which feeds a pipe that snakes along the outside of the house to a small unit that can heat/cool a single room. I want at least the 2 upstairs bedrooms covered... and preferably the ground floor living room too. So, that's not going to happen this year. Instead, I should focus on saving money to replace the windows upstairs, so any hot/cold air can be contained indoors. I can live easily with a single window a/c unit for another year.

More later on the Steam Deck OLED, Steam Dock, PowerA wired X box controller, and the game Coral Island. That game is clearly a direct rip-off from classic Stardew Valley, which is why I like it so much, I think. Anyway, I splurged on myself for gifts last month, and I've enjoyed it very much this week. Suffice to say for now that the Steam Deck (a Linux pc in game box format) is an engineering marvel.

The Baldur's Gate 3 developers recommend you delete any save game files you have, delete any mods, and then also delete the entire early access program from your machine.

I don't know what problem they're anticipating with the game's release tomorrow, but I've followed their instructions. I'm ready to begin downloading 122GB when it's finally available.

The Steam platform tells me that I've played only 20 hours of games for the last 2 weeks. That's a small amount, for me. Higher numbers are a better indicator of my mental health. During summer gardening season, it usually drops, but I've been indoors because of bad air this season. Anyway...

No Man's Sky released another expedition. I completed it in less than 10 hours, which makes this expedition one of the shorter versions they've done. It has a nice story to it, though. Your character helps to create a new artificial lifeform. The leader called Nada (itself an artificial life form), who runs the spaceship that players use for refuge, comments nicely on this event: "Our home is a lifeboat, Traveller-Entity. Nada will welcome one more." As I said on my Steam upload of this photo, "Life is good when you have infinite resources to share across infinite realities, led by a kind soul."

Oxygen Not Included has item "unlocks" in their new supply closet. You unlock 3 more items each week when you play the game. Unlocks usually are generated randomly. I don't know if it occurred because of Pride month, but I happened to unlock the Rainbow wallpaper pattern the first time I played in June. I can use this item to decorate the rooms in my bases. It's a nice, subtle addition, if it really was intended for Pride month.

Ships That Fight Underground (yes, STFU) will arrive sometime this year. I originally Kickstarted this game back in 2015. They had some legal trouble with the intended "Descent: Underground" game name and license. They posted about it a few months ago, and supposedly they are back on track now using their original temporary game name instead. This game's other claim to fame is that it grew from developers who left Star Citizen, another Kickstarter game that I funded back in 2012, and it still hasn't published yet either.

Baldur's Gate 3 is due in about 5 more weeks. I've played the beta occasionally for the last 3 (that long?) years. I've avoided it except when they asked for people to test new features, so I've put 100 testing hours into it over those 3 years. I'm looking forward to a proper playthrough.

Cities: Skylines 2 is due in October. I'm looking forward to it too. Now that I have income, I've already pre-ordered my standard edition copy.

These aren't exactly "Good News" items, but some are at least evidence that trends have the opportunity to move in the right direction.

1. Linux market share on Steam keeps increasing. The November results of their hardware survey showed Linux at 1.44% of their platform base. That doesn't sound like much, but it's more than 50% of the way to overtaking the MacOS share.  The trend line is very clear, and it seems to be accelerating thanks to the popularity of the Steam Deck which is opening in new eastern markets soon.


2. For the first time ever, the "eOD-GT8 60mer" HIV vaccine induced broadly neutralizing antibody precursors. Everyone's hoping that booster shots will finally put us "over the line" for this critical immunological milestone. That's something that doesn't even happen with infection, or so the rumor goes, which is why HIV+ people should still practice safer sex even with other HIV+ people. There's more than one variant out there.


3. It's not on their website yet, but the Minneapolis Monkeypox Task Force is having more free vaccine events, no appointment needed. The next ones are scheduled for December 8th and January 5th, 4:30-7pm. They are happening at my local Cub grocery store here in the warzone. I'm not sexually active (haven't been for much more than a decade), but I do sometimes socialize with other gay men who are. Monkeypox is still transmissible even in social settings, so I think I'll get one since they're openly available. I've programmed the dates into my phone calendar, so I don't forget.


4. I've mentioned the game Oxygen Not Included before. It's the hardest base-building game that I've ever played. This Canadian company keeps making good free updates to the game, but they also issue fundraisers like this Kickstarter plushie toy of an amusing in-game animal. The effort is already very successful, with only 24 hours left remaining. I'd absolutely spend money on it if I had income right now. I'm a little sorry that I'll miss out.

It was almost 2 years ago that I started playing No Man's Sky at someone's suggestion. On Linux.

There were issues. At first, I couldn't even escape the gameplay on the starter planet. The game would crash whenever I tried to approach a 2nd one. I got past that problem, then I couldn't play multiplayer. I got past that problem, then there were others introduced with each new game update, it seemed. It's stable now, though. It plays quite well. And it's making some of those lists of recommended games on the Steam Deck, a Linux device.

I pre-ordered a Steam Deck long ago when they were first available on Steam. I got the notice a few weeks ago that my order was ready. Unfortunately, I had to cancel it, since I have no income at the moment and I need to stretch my money as far as possible until I find a new job. That's disappointing. I was looking forward to it. But the Deck is still out there making news and bringing Linux further into the mainstream.

Cancelling that order is not my biggest Steam regret, though.  For a brief window in time long ago, it was possible to buy Neverwinter Nights 2 on the Steam platform.  The last expansion, "Storm of Zehir" from 2008 is one of my favorite games, although some critics disliked it.  I'm still playing it today... a lot in the recent week in my antihistamine haze.  I wish I'd bought it on Steam long ago, but I bought it on GOG instead.  I have to use Lutris to get it to work on my Linux system now.  I wish it was still available on Steam.  Imagine playing that one on a Deck!