Idle Thumbs 293: Warmest Greetings

[Jake]

Idle Thumbs 293:

Warmest Greetings
Chris buys a cup that he thinks looks like a piece of human anatomy, and against all odds, it leads to an unexpected and completely impromptu look back at some of our favorite games of the year. 

Discussed: Hitman, Super Hypercube, Planet Coaster, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Super Mario Run, Super Nintendo World, Catacombs of Solaris

 

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[Problem Machine]

Warmest Greetings!

[Atlantic]

1 hour ago, Problem Machine said:

Warmest Greetings!

 

That gif has 4.8 million views as of right now.

[ke51n]

So i tried out catacombs of Solaris, and I'm not sure what's going on. It's pretty cool though. Those colors definitely imprinted into my brain for a while.

So I figured out that you can wiggle your way into walls almost, and the tunnels inside the walls just follow the pattern of that warped wall/what you see. This can lead to really bizzare patterns or even just a single colored room if you go deep enough. I'm not sure if this is what causes the weird thing Chris was talking about to happen. At first I thought maybe turning around really fast was what made the thing happen, (all the walls look sort of like their bending in), but maybe I was just walking into a wall backwards.

[Badfinger]

I think you'll find that this is relevant to your musical interests.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbdewwtm70w

 

 

(for the impatient it's about 2 minutes in, but you really should watch the whole thing)

[Cbirdsong]

I'm sure someone has tweeted this to Chris and Nick by now, but: The holiday Hitman thing is not a limited-time elusive target, it's a fully re-dressed version of the Paris level, similar to the other bonus missions.

[Deadpan]

SL1 runs are definitely not the pinnacle of weird challenge runs in Dark Souls.

[toxicavenger04]

I'm enjoying the new segment of Idle Thumbs, "The Butthole Minute" hosted by Chris Remo.
Also, the new Hitman content is really enjoyable. I really hope that Chris and Nick stream it and attempt to lure the Wet Bandits into restrooms with overflowing sinks.

[Johnny Driggs]

So does Chris not know what ASMR is, or does he just not think that's what happened with Catacombs of Solaris?

[Chris]

32 minutes ago, Johnny Driggs said:

So does Chris not know what ASMR is, or does he just not think that's what happened with Catacombs of Solaris?

 

I just looked it up and it seems like it refers (almost?) exclusively to sensations based on audio or touch. But yeah maybe a similar principle is at work here?

[Johnny Driggs]

I think audio is what most people associate with it, but some sources seem to imply that visual stimuli can be the primary trigger.

[RubixsQube]

10 hours ago, Atlantic said:

 

That gif has 4.8 million views as of right now.

 

The slow slide of the coffee cup butt downward, jesus. 

[Dinosaursssssss]

Whoaaaa Catacombs of Solaris is cool. I will definitely second Chris' recommendation for it.

 

Here's a link to it, probably don't watch the trailer on it before playing:

https://ianmaclarty.itch.io/catacombs-of-solaris

[Paul Smith]

Catacombs of Solaris:

 

  Hide contents

I think I figured it out and as Chris says it's super simple.

 

Keep moving without stopping and all you'll get are straight corridors with bitmap textures.

 

Stop and start again, that's when things get weird.

 

[Gerretic]

4 hours ago, Dinosaursssssss said:

Whoaaaa Catacombs of Solaris is cool. I will definitely second Chris' recommendation for it.

 

Here's a link to it, probably don't watch the trailer on it before playing:

https://ianmaclarty.itch.io/catacombs-of-solaris

 

I'll also echo this recommendation; this is a really cool thing. I think the trailer would be fine to watch if you're on the fence - this might sound dumb, because there's so little to this game, but I watched the trailer and still managed to get a totally incorrect impression of what the game is and was pleasantly surprised by it. That said it's also a 2MB download so probably just play it  

[WickedCestus]

I was playing Catacombs of Solaris and...

 

 

I moved in such a way as to turn the entire game red, and moving/turning no longer had any effect since the entire world was just a single shade of red. I've managed since to come up with a pretty simple set of movements that will eventually result in the entire world being turned into a single colour. It's a really cool effect! I love when the pixels get really really big. 

 

This game kind of rules. 

[eRonin]

While StarCraft Brood War tournaments in Korea did disappear for a few years, I believe its player-base in PC Bangs (Korean net-cafes) was always larger than StarCraft 2. StarCraft 2 has kinda imploded in on itself in Korea, with the only source of tournaments now being the Blizzard-funded GSL, after the discontinuation of the long-running Proleague and SSL, but also smaller online cups, one of which, the Olimoleague, recently partnered with Twitch Korea to produce a studio-broadcasted monthly finals following the regular online weeklies. Anyway, so the GSL was bought out by AfreecaTV, a Korean online streaming platform, where players like Flash and Jaedong continue to have thousands to tens of thousands of viewers. AfreecaTV started up a new Brood War league, the ASL, which is streamed on the same channel that the GSL continues to be streamed on, so it's pretty great for someone like me who enjoys watching both games.

 

Also I checked out Catacombs of Solaris and whoooaaa man it's trippy. I probably won't spend very long on it, but, neat!

[unimural]

7 hours ago, Dinosaursssssss said:

Whoaaaa Catacombs of Solaris is cool. I will definitely second Chris' recommendation for it.

 

Here's a link to it, probably don't watch the trailer on it before playing:

https://ianmaclarty.itch.io/catacombs-of-solaris

 

I also recommend watching the trailer in the lowest available bitrate for an illustrative demonstration on video compression.

[Vasari]

I don't know if this is the effect Chris got hooked on but the really fun thing to do in Catacombs of Solaris is 

 

Stop walking and turn 90 degrees to face a wall, then walk backwards and watch the wall turn into a corridor.

[Spinningmind]

I really hope they actually do Jurassic Park for piano and sax. Perfect content for the early recorded holiday show. 

[your name here]

Wow, Catacombs of Solaris is probably the least streamable game in existence. It's a good incentive to download it, because you can't really get an idea for what it looks like from watching a video.

[Synnah]

Catacombs of Solaris is rad!

 

8 hours ago, Vasari said:

I don't know if this is the effect Chris got hooked on but the really fun thing to do in Catacombs of Solaris is 

 

  Hide contents

Stop walking and turn 90 degrees to face a wall, then walk backwards and watch the wall turn into a corridor.

 

 

 

This was the closest I came to finding something it seemed like Chris would get hooked on, and it is really cool; when you walk backwards and the shapes warp slightly to form a new corridor, it's like a roller coaster drop for your eyes, and is a similar sensation to a lot of optical illusions, where your brain doesn't quite trust what your eyes are feeding it.

Also, has anyone else tried looking up or down before they do this?

 

 

If anyone liked Catacombs of Solaris and hasn't heard of or played Memory of a Broken Dimension, I strongly recommend checking it out. I've been following it for ages, and the playable demo is super-old at this point, but a really interesting proof of concept. Also, it has just about my favourite game name.

[Korax]

On 12/15/2016 at 11:17 AM, toxicavenger04 said:

Also, the new Hitman content is really enjoyable. I really hope that Chris and Nick stream it and attempt to lure the Wet Bandits into restrooms with overflowing sinks.

 

Part of Marv's initial movement cycle includes stopping at bathrooms every once in a while to plug up the sinks himself.

 

 

[eot]

I watched the old HBO intro and there's a sound queue in it that I get a strong association from but I can't place it!!

The harp at 35s-38s, it reminds me of some movie. It feels like something in space to me. Or maybe a Bond movie.

If it sounds similar to anyone else please let me know.

 

[ke51n]

Catacombs of solaris:

 

Yeah, I think it might be rebuilding the corridors around you when you stop, based on what is in your view. Turning around makes it really warped because it the patterns repeat and it's hard to see what is actually a wall and what is using false perspective.