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3 yr. ago

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  • Andromeda. Yeah, the Kevin Sorbo show.

    The premise is actually great, and the overall plot until Robert Wolfe got pushed out showed a lot of promise. The poisonous factor largely came from Sorbo wanting to intentionally turn the show into campy trash, and TV executives who somehow agreed with him.

    Reboot the show, get actors who won't sabotage production, and hire some half decent writers who want to do a Star Trek-like new franchise.

  • Following the rules established by the setting is a big one. If I'm constantly thinking "Wait what? That's not how that works?" I'm getting pulled out of the story. The rules can be fantastical but they should be consistent. If the established rules are broken, it should framed as or acknowledged as such. Breaking established rules can be a plot point, that's fine, but just fudging it to move the plot forward is a problem.

    Characters acting in line with their characterization. Characters obviously change, and that includes making choices that are otherwise out of character- but those should be treated as such. I'm talking about the more mundane, unacknowledged flip flopping that obviously just pushes a plot forward.

    Characters in entirely fictional settings should have some thought put into their values. A character from a post-apocalyptic setting that's reformed into a medieval type culture should not talk like or have the values of an American in 2026. Or, an American teenager in 2026 who talks like an out of touch Boomer (because they were written by one) is similarly distracting.

    In anything other than pure comedy having restraint with quips and humor. Not every character should be a snarker, and snark shouldn't be used to undercut moments meant to be taken seriously. The tone depends on the characters, and too much tonal whiplash is immersion breaking.

    In positives, if it is an entirely fictional setting, some thought to how it works goes a long way. I don't need to know the math on logistics, but if a small isolated fictional settlement has an obvious food and water source that passes the eyeball check for plausibility then it removes a potential distraction for someone wondering how it works. This applies to money, governments, currency, all sorts of things. There doesn't need to be a total breakdown how it all works but creating at least the appearance of functioning systems makes a setting more real.

    A lot of this is subjective, and almost all stories can be criticized for some of this, but there's a breaking point which a majority of audiences is probably going to find themselves not getting into the story.

  • That's the good stuff. You can round it out with the Cain books.

  • I've watched them all, and none of them really felt elevated for me. Ad Astra per Aspera was fine, but I didn't come away with any new interesting thoughts about anything from it.

  • I watched a few episodes of Lazarus and just couldn't get over how convoluted and bizarre in a bad way the premise was.

  • 7-TFA was too afraid to establish a new status quo in the Star Wars universe. It was just the Empire up against the rebels again. It didn't feel like any of the struggle and victories from the previous movies mattered. The New Republic technically existed but we never really saw it enough to get invested. We just saw the confusing Resistance. Han Solo was still a smuggling bum wearing a vest. It was vapid nostalgia bait.

    8-TLJ was made by someone who seemed to actively hate Star Wars. Somehow a Star Wars movie starting with a Yo Mama joke managed to just get worse and worse.

    9-TROS isn't even worth discussing. I don't think anyone wanted to make or see it, but it had to be pushed out by obligation.

  • SNW can be ok, but it leans pretty heavy on the action, and the moral quandary episodes are hit or miss to a high degree. I can't think of a single high concept scifi premise episode of SNW that made me say "Wow." and stuck with me. The war PTSD episode with the transporter buffer triage was very good, but more emotional and less scifi high concept. And I've already seen MASH.

  • Freelancer.

    I know everyone hates games publishers but this was a perfect example of a publisher untangling a mess. Microsoft bought Roberts' company and immediately dialed back the unworkable ambition, put Roberts in a consulting role where he didn't have a final say over anything, and actually got the game finished and released.

    Star Citizen is what happens when the same guy who made such an intractable mess of development discovers an infinite money glitch as long as he never stops developing and never releases a full game.

  • Senator Michaels took a folding chair from the top rope to the proposed highway grading study budget!

  • I camped out in front of a Blockbuster so I could buy a copy of Modern Warfare 2 on launch. I was one of the first people in the store so I got the special limited edition version that came in the the tin box.

  • I'm referencing Campaign Evolved. As a full remake, it is making a lot of changes- sprint by default, 32 round assault rifle, weapons from sequels brought in. It's on Unreal5 and so far the visuals are very Unreal5.

    There's lots of complaints, some of which I'd classify as nitpicks, but those nitpicks add up. Then major complaints like changing how combat works so much that it can't possibly recreate the feel of the original.

  • They should have just kept replicating Tuvix with the transporter and using him as fuel.

  • The Halo CE remake blew the lid off this debate. So many "modern" changes have split the fandom between OG players and players used to and supportive of modern game design.

    (I am firmly on the OG side.)

  • I watched a video on this recently which was able to demonstrate that Engineering was shown in different locations in TOS. So the answer is, "Don't worry about it."

  • Easy, depends on the tone. If it's supposed to be grounded and realistic with speculative evolution elements- probably not.

    If it's rule of cool, yeah sure.

  • I've done both. NMM is normally thought of as a skill flex, and it can be that. I've used NMM more realistic figures meant to look grounded, like WW2 infantry. Metallic paints can look too shiny for bare, but dull metals, and techniques like rubbing graphite are too subtle for me. I'll paint bare metal items with a simplified NMM so they are easily visible on the table, but it's not flashy so people rarely consciously notice.

    TMM can look better than many people end up doing it by actually layering different shades of metallic and treating it like painting any other part of the mini instead of a single color + black wash.

  • It is driving me crazy that in the 2nd and 3rd panel the setting perfectly aligns, but on the first panel the trees align but not the water. So close to a perfect panorama set of panels.

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  • Counter-Strike 1.6 days, getting kicked for using an aimbot when you're not using an aimbot.

  • 2025, The Book Of Mormon. I'd actually seen it before, but went with some people who hadn't. Hit just as good as the first time I saw it.

  • cats @lemmy.world

    Cold

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world

    What's your pitch for a brand new cryptid or local legend?

  • FoodPorn @lemmy.world

    Classic eggs Benedict

  • FoodPorn @lemmy.world

    Half sweet and half spicy plate of pierogis

  • cats @lemmy.world

    Dealing with cat

  • cats @lemmy.world

    High level shrimping

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world

    Is there any unedited conversation podcast you actually recommend?

  • cats @lemmy.world

    Pictured in mid leap

  • cats @lemmy.world

    slep

  • cats @lemmy.world

    Sofa cats

  • Lemmy Shitpost @lemmy.world

    True art is polarizing

  • cats @lemmy.world

    She has many towers and beds, but her favorite spot is a pile of old cardboard

  • cats @lemmy.world

    The neon demon

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world

    Is Bigfoot a sovereign citizen?

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world

    You're being sold as an action figure. What 2 accessories do you come with?

  • Fallout @lemmy.world

    Fallout Wasteland Warfare Super Mutant Skirmisher Done, by Kuribos Painting

    kuribospainting.com /2025/05/10/fallout-wasteland-warfare-super-mutant-skirmisher-done/
  • cats @lemmy.world

    Orange shrimp

  • Technology @lemmy.world

    Replica Of 1880 Wireless Telephone Is All Mirrors, No Smoke

    hackaday.com /2025/04/15/replica-of-1880-wireless-telephone-is-all-mirrors-no-smoke/
  • cats @lemmy.world

    No thoughts but of Armageddon

  • rpg @ttrpg.network

    'Blackpowder & Brimstone' - Dark Fantasy Swashbuckling and Demons Unleashed

    www.belloflostsouls.net /2025/03/rpg-blackpowder-brimstone-dark-fantasy-swashbuckling-and-demons-unleashed.html