Techwright
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Posts posted by Techwright
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One consistent hobby of mine is chasing regional history. I've had to curtail this over the last year, due to the needs of caring for an elderly relative with medical issues, but I'm hoping to get back into it after such time as we're able to place the relative with a good assisted living program.
Each Independence Day week, I've a habit of trying to visit someplace with a national historical significance, preferably a first-time visit, and all the better if it is not well-known or understood in my circle of friends. I don't only travel around July 4, but actually visit many historical places year round.
Here's just a few of them:
Star Fort (earthen remains) at Ninety-Six National Historical Park - The town of Ninety-Six, South Carolina (the 1700s SC backwoods had towns, roads, rivers, and hills named for their mileage distance from the Cherokee town of Keowee, roughly where Clemson, SC sits today) was the critical village in western SC, and was protected by a star-shaped fort. Multiple battles were fought here during the American Revolution. Only the earthen base of the fort remains ( the grass edge before the tree line), though reconstructions of the siege towers and artillery locations have been erected. Other features related to the town and reconstructions can be seen elsewhere on the grounds.
Carl Sandburg Home National Historical Site - Connemara, the last home and death site of the famous poet and Lincoln biographer, Carl Sandburg. The house can be toured, and the grounds are fairly large and are covered in flowers in spring and summer. An international, award-winning milking goat farm, founded by Sandburg's wife, resides on the property and descendants of the original herd still reside there.
Burt-Stark House, Abbeville, South Carolina - it was here that the leadership of the Confederacy ended. On May 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis and the remaining leaders of the Confederacy, on the run, met at this house for the last formal meeting. The next day, they separated, each trying to flee to Florida and escape the Union from there. It was here that Davis finally acknowledged the end of the Confederacy. Legend says that, with the dissolution of the government, the Great Seal of the Confederacy was destroyed or cast down a well somewhere nearby, though it has never been found. Ironically, the leaders of the town of Abbeville are credited with being the driving force at meetings in the state capital for South Carolina to be the first to separate from the Union, so there is a certain symmetry that Abbeville would be the site of the last meeting of the Confederate president and his remaining cabinet.
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I pop in at times to see developments. What, in your opinion, is currently the best A.I. tool for taking a screenshot of a character and converting it into something realistic, or interpreting it in a different style? I'm still trying to get an A.I. to figure out Major Ray Gunn's helmet with the fury wings, and figure if it can work from a picture, that might achieve something the others don't.
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1 hour ago, Voltor said:
I see these trailers for TRON ARES and I still can't help but hope that TRON himself will return, but Boxleitner doesn't appear to want to after the other Legacy sequel was cancelled, and the Uprising cartoon was cancelled and halted.
I'm not really sure where they are going with this movie. They keep saying that it is not really a sequel, and the ways that I've read its been said are confusing, especially when revealing "force ghost" Flynn. I'm hoping they reveal that they've been sitting on a surprise and that Sam Flynn and Quorra are in this, otherwise that's a massive plot hole to handwave. As to Boxleitner, depending on how much of a sequel this is, it might be an opportunity to recast Tron, with an explanation that his visuals have been altered, possibly in the explosion. Bruce at age 75, even willing, can't keep playing the character, and even with technology advances, it remains expensive to show another actor with Boxleitner's face. Human character Allen will age and die, and Tron will be on its own afterwards. That's assuming they ever want to work with the character again, which would be weird seeing how even the third movie is called TRON: Ares and not The World of TRON: Ares. Early on, I harbored a thought that perhaps Ares was a retooling of Tron, one in which his memory is still suppressed. Not so sure of that now.
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5 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:
…because Dave didn’t write it and have an excuse to give his favourites an outing?
Then again…
…pretty sure they’d have all shown up when the call came in.
Suppose that’d make just us wistful for what might have been. Imagine the Sequel Trilogy, minus whoever the unmemorable-and-badly-in-need-of-moisturiser dude was that Andy Serkis played for about five minutes.
Now swap Brainy Smurf in. A master tactician, paired up with that powerful but petulant brat of a wannabe Sith. Between them, no need of an Even Bigger Damn Death Star to make their point and cripple the Republic - as long as the rabble that they’ve welded back into a First Order can handle it.
First: you're right. Filoni would have turned in a greatly improved Sequel Trilogy, and probably much more closely aligned to Lucas' vision, likely incorporating many parts of the legacy books. I'll say no more as the Sequel Trilogy gets my dander up easily.
Regarding the Specter crew and the last battle: That's a thought I'd not previously had, and I searched for a list of Jedi voices heard by Rey in The Rise of Skywalker. Ezra was not among them. That strongly suggests to me that he's not dead at that point, as every other Jedi in that voice list is, apparently including...
SpoilerAhsoka. She'd be 71 years old if she lived during the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Last we knew, she was trapped in a galaxy far, far away at age 48, so she's got about 23 years to initiate a Jedi branch order in the other galaxy before she becomes a force ghost. That is, assuming she's dead like the others, and not doing the longest astral projection phone call in Jedi history.
Regarding Brainy Smurf: the idea of swapping Grand Admiral Brainy Smurf for Sith Lord Snoke is interesting. We've now confirmed in Star Wars that force breakthroughs are possible, even in beings with the most underwhelming potential. Considering how utterly loyal Old Red Eyes is to Old Yellow Eyes, I could have seen Palpatine taking the unusual step of seeking a force breakthrough in the Grand Admiral to forge a brilliant Sith Apprentice that is completely loyal, save for the necessity of testing his master periodically by trying to kill him. Well, in my opinion, that is what the World Between Worlds was created for. One day, we may go all Thanos on the Sequel Trilogy, and begin again.
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On 9/9/2025 at 9:57 AM, Voltor said:
If the movie doesn't do this story idea, then I hope a new TV season will:
Carl Weathers is dead and so is his character. He was one of the few people Mando would call friend.
So Mando and Grogu return after a boutny and find the colony was attacked by the pirates from the previous season. IG-11 and Greef Karga led the fight. IG-11 was damaged but subsequently repaired. Karga died in battle.
Mando IS NOT HAPPY that his friend is dead.
So, Mando begins to hunt the pirates for revenge. However Grogu is young and impressionable and is susceptible to the darkside. This quest may give Grogu a few wrong ideas about power and how to use it.
What I discuss next is from material that's been out for a couple of years, but may still be spoilers to some. Use caution.
Your concept is an interesting spin, and Mando would certainly act in at least an avenger's role were Greef to die in conflict. That said, I think the movie is intended to end the Mando & Grogu storyline, although I strongly suspect Grogu will be a major character in Star Wars lore going forward. They've explained how Grogu is not in Luke's academy, thereby likely sparing him from destruction. They've hinted that his dual upbringing of Jedi and Mandalorian is both incredibly rare and incredibly important, and with a projected lifespan of another 850 years, he's got a lot of time to influence the Star Wars universe. That said, it does leave a question of where Grogo is during the Sequel Trilogy (something I hate, but it is canon for now.)
Also, the pirates, save one, were wiped out in the battle with the Mandalorians. That one showed up in the Jude Law series, which I've not seen the latter half of, so I cannot comment on what happens to that one and the pirates he gravitated to.
We've a few variables that could influence the Grogu storyline. One of these is Ezra Bridger. As he's a field-trained Jedi, and has experienced the Dark Side, without falling to it, Ezra may be in a position to at least coach Grogu further in his training, especially in resisting the Dark Side. Ezra has also developed a force-driven melee "fighting monk" style which may be more appropriate for a Mandalorian than wielding a light saber. The big question is whether Ezra will survive further clashes with Thrawn, and if so, why is Ezra not in the Sequel Trilogy?
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On 9/9/2025 at 10:39 AM, GM_GooglyMoogly said:
There is no bright line rule that can be applied. The closer your character appears to be a copy of the intellectual property of someone else, the more likely you are to get the name and/or costume genericed.
Homages and parodies are permitted by law. But the GMs are neither lawyers nor judges, and we will take action if we think it is too close, even if a player claims it as homage or parody. When GMs get a complaint or see a potentially infringing character, we frequently do share it with the other GMs to see if we can reach a consensus. And if you feel that a GMs action was unwarranted, you can appeal the decision to a Lead GM by filing a support ticket. (https://forums.homecomingservers.com/support/ or /petition in game)
Seems like a good place to ask a question:
From time to time, I've seen characters that appear to be blatantly ripping off the trademarked character, no homage or parody about it. This will usually be in a combinations of ways: name, costume, power sets, and/or biography. But the first paragraph of the biography will state something like: "This has been approved", "This is an homage, so you can't report it" or something crazy like that. Obviously, the person could just type in lines like that in hopes of not getting dinged.
Since there is a potential legal issues, and we've been instructed to report any who appear to be violating the rule on this matter, leaving it with the GMs, how do we tell if a character has legitimately been cleared by the GMs? It seems a shame for you good folks to constantly be pestered about something you've already cleared, but I've never heard of a mark applied that would demonstrate formal approval. Perhaps one should be designed? Even so, if a character has been approved as "homage", what's to stop that player from abusing that approval, and altering the character afterwards to full copy, or adding costumes that do violate the license rule?
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On 9/11/2025 at 1:19 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:
Update trailer, kicking off with an intro to Flynn and a recap of the other two movies.
Gives a couple of new things away, including that Flynn is a literal ghost in the machine.
Whether that's the original Grid or he's been forked along with the base code into the new system isn't clear at this point, but he's definitely gone full Obi-Wan.
Eve Kim (Greta Lee, The Morning Show, Spider-Verse) is more heavily featured as ARES's human partner, but her full role is not yet revealed.
Gillian Anderson is now credited as Elisabeth Dillinger (Julian's mother). Hopefully she gets more to do than the Voice Of Conscience.
I've been thinking this one over and I think of all the changes, upgrades, etc., there is really just one change that matters. In the first two movies, humans (users) were the equivalent of Greco-Roman gods or demi-gods once they entered the digital world. They could potentially be killed, but it would be very hard (once they fully realized their situation), and while they lived there, they could develop remarkable abilities. Even by the end of the second film (and I suspect the animated series, though I've only seen small bits of that), it was clear that humans were dominant.
This film changes that. Now it appears that they're saying that it is the crossing over into the alternate realm that makes the top predator: humans in the digital world, programs in the real world.
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There is a way, I've been told, though it might be a bit of a challenge, at least, that's what I gathered. A discussion of this came up briefly back in April, I think it was, over on the Discord channel for base builders. I think @Easter Bunnyprovided some of the info. I never pursued it as there were options already in play in my base design that allowed me to work around this.
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"Lists" would be more like it. They can be found under "Item Type" in the unofficial wiki here:
https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Base_Items
We probably should compile a modern list as some items with functions no longer can exercise that function. I refer to the Base Defense Items which were designed for PvP competition between supergroups, but that concept has long ended. They do make nice kinetic decor, though, even if they no longer are fed targets.
Several of the Base Control Items also fall into this category, though something like the Pillar of Ice and Flame do still function.
Base Energy Items tend to fall in this category as well, though I think it is still necessary to have a few to power a few items? I don't recall that clearly, and I know the wiki says they're not necessary, but I seem to recall having issues with a couple of items while I didn't have a generator. Your experience may vary.
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2 hours ago, mechahamham said:
Ugh... like choosing between the Galactic Empire and the Borg.
Look at it this way: which offers you a mess hall instead of a nutrient-rich infusion? Go with that one. They might even have coffee and dessert.
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3 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:
There's not many trailers make me go "oooh, what the hell is this?"
So I'm fairly sold on this kind of movie just by having Mads in it.
But I'm genuinely intrigued: is this an out and out fantasy movie, or - maybe better yet - a standard Leon: The Professional type plot, seen from the perspective of a traumatised kid a la American McGee's Alice...?
Or something in between?
Pretty sure David Dastmalchian was in that trailer. Expect Baba Yaga. 😉
Is that yellow track suit a reference to Kill Bill?
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No longer a fan of 2D platformers. I left that behind when I exited the arcade scene in the early 1990s. I simply lost all taste for that style when 3D became a possibility.
That said, I did watch the game trailer and for a 2D platformer, it does look quite polished. I've no doubt that had it dropped with this quality into the 1985 arcades, I'd have been playing it, rather than, say, Super Mario Brothers.
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On 9/5/2025 at 4:18 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:
I hear you. I wasn't proposing a retcon - although that has happened more than once in this game, many times.
As I continue to read of confusing bits, half-baked concepts, etc. from the original game, I've lately been leaning into the idea of a retcon, not on the scale of say, a DC Comics "Crisis" arc, but more like a "Flashpoint": much stays the same, but those troublesome things the Homecoming team doesn't have the time or resources to craft (or worse, fix) get pruned, freeing the Homecoming team to lay down a neater, tighter future on a scale they can work with, and that still advances the game in a satisfying way.
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8 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:
A flea circus, you say:
I should have realized you'd pipe up. 😁
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2 hours ago, Oklahoman said:
Not to get us off topic, but does everyone else talk about this with people IRL as "The Game"?
Yes, and let me tell you, for such a quiet little game, the chess professionals I spoke with got seriously violent.
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On 9/7/2025 at 6:29 AM, Maagic said:
If you have a really tiny character to begin with vs a Hulk type, do the sizes scale down in mini mode or they all generally the same mini size?
"A really tiny character": see Circus Ringmaster, head of the Flea Circus SG, below. All FCSG characters are built at the smallest scalable size. I, unfortunately, do not have a max-sized character with mini mode to compare it to, but maybe someone can place theirs next to Matthew in Atlas Park for comparison.
@smnolimits41, you may want to take the entirety of your avatar creation into account before going with the mini mode. Some parts may NOT scale. Now, if you'll excuse me...
Serge! You got some 'splainin' to do!
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I could have sworn I saw a really cracking attempt at making an Aliens movie xenomorph in this forum years back. One with the posture angled at a more bestial tilt. I thought it was in this thread, but I've yet to find it, and at 323 pages, I might have accidentally zipped past it while trying to look through everything in a "reasonable" amount of time.
Does anyone else remember that, and know where to find it, in this thread or elsewhere?
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9 hours ago, Ultimo said:
However, if you're on the 2nd floor, it lists Aleph Point (1st floor) first, then Kaph point (attic) second. This makes it look like Kaph point is LOWER. I would rather Kaph Point be listed ABOVE Aleph, but I don't know how to make it do that.
Hmm, so far, I've only had to work with a one-to-one connection. For whatever reason, it's my understanding that portal lists, be they zone portals or interior portals, follow the game's design (poor as it may be) rather than any pattern the player would attempt. Assuming that information given to me is accurate, I'd suggest laying out all the portals that will eventually represent each level onto the floor close to the activation point, first. Then tie them all to the activation point. This should give you the game's demanded listing of order, top to bottom. Once you know that order, pick up each portal and take it to the corresponding level to be used as the door there. You may have to forgo Aleph as the ground floor, but a visitor will see the right pattern. Then, theoretically, you should be able to add the access points for other levels on each floor, and the game will sort it into the same order it showed before using the ground floor access point. Of course, I've never had to try this. It's possible the game's design is so borked that you get a differently-ordered list with each access point. If that is the case, there's not much you can really do except add a floor directory next to each stairwell door.
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Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Richard Dreyfuss: 'nough said.
Fatalism at its funniest. The script is brilliant, the actors completely in tune with it, and the verbal badminton scene would have been worth the price of admission if it was all I saw. It does help to have seen the play Hamlet, since this "behind the scenes" story weaves in and out with the Shakespearean play as it unfolds.
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2 hours ago, Ultimo said:
I should have said, apologies. I play on Excelsior.
Thanks for that.
I took a very quick look around, and realized quite quickly that you've likely run out of internal portals for moving between rooms and floors. I'd like to suggest an alternative to putting up a static door, and leaving a gap up top to fly over to see the next room.
These are two shots from my competition base, Action Figures, from earlier this year. By the time I got to creating the On-Call team dorm, I was running low on internal portals. So I created these. The format does take a bit longer to construct, and you have to deal with the gap above the doors (the walls, and a higher, crossing wall form the passage framework), but it does allow for characters to slip into the next room while also suggesting a closable door for privacy.
If I may also point out, you've done a great job of placing your zone portals close to the base portal for quick access, but then you have to run inside and around in order to get your vendors. Consider placing copies of your vendors in, or close to that little front garden. You'll not have as much running around. Likewise, try to find some way of disguising other interactables either in the front courtyard, or close to it indoors, so you'll have everything handy. Some items have a limited number, admittedly, like salvage storage, but those that can work with duplicates might make your pathing a lot easier if a copy is near the front porch.
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On 7/4/2025 at 2:58 AM, Mini-Mega said:
Thanks for posting these. Hopefully, exactly what I've been looking for to get a human-only build.
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Was it ever discussed as to why recipe storage was never added to bases? I suspect it had something to do with supergroups. Now that bases are often crafted for the player's characters, I wonder if the reason is nullified. Even having a personal vault for recipes as well as salvage would be a boon, especially when collecting the expensive sets.
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On 8/4/2025 at 3:20 AM, Ultimo said:
So, I've been designing a base that's meant to be something like the X-Mansion, or Avengers Mansion, or what have you. I'm kind of happy with how it's working so far, but there is an issue. There are many alcoves that are meant to be ROOMS. Ideally, there would be wall segments I could fill the opening with, that have normal sized DOORS in them. Obviously there's no such thing in the game... so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions?
The base entry code is "MetaMansion-30895" if anyone wants to look around... I'm delighted to get some feedback.
Which server is this?
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Pillar of Ice and Fire (Ouro pillar)
in Base Construction
Posted
List: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Base_Control_Items
List: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Base_Energy_Items
Control and Energy items were more or less present to add strategy to the original concept of having bases that could be damaged during supergroup PvP taking place in the bases. That aged as well as milk on a hot tarmac.