Cav's Place

Now that the event supposedly announcing what’s next for Windows is approaching, I decided to check AskWoody again and saw a post asking for feedback for Windows 11… Which feedback is pointless to offer, of course, being pretty much the usual list of requests that Microsoft doesn’t care about, but on that site there may still be a significant number of users agreeing and offering some feeling of validation, I guess… And since I need a non-personal post this week, I’ll just add what I posted there here as well, but keep in mind that I wrote that as a comment and just included what came to me on the spot, so it may well be that something important is missing.

– Return to the old Windows 7 and older style updates. Allowing users to check for updates without risking to have any automatically install, and having a “disable automatic updates” setting that if selected ensures that no update will be automatically installed no matter what, is absolutely mandatory, but being able to pick and choose individual patches is the actual target. Can of course still have the bundles for all the users who just want to get it over with and don’t care, but let the rest of us do it our way, and make sure that updating will never interfere, and that any update we don’t want, for whatever reason, we can skip, even permanently.
– Ensure that there are clear ways to check and, if desired, disable any automatic behaviors and tasks, so system resources will only be used for what the user desires them to be used. Incidentally, this eliminates the need for a separate telemetry point, since it means it must be easy to completely disable its gathering, purely from a system resource use point of view, though of course those who may for some reason still want to allow it to be gathered but control what of it is sent should also have that option.
– Ensure that changes made by users, by whatever means, be it clear settings, registry edits, group policy or whatever else, are not changed by the operating system, be it after updates or at any other point. If such a change would really conflict with an update, as in truly creating unavoidable problems, not just Microsoft saying it might or coding the update in such a manner as to create them when it could have been avoided, there should be a warning, allowing the user to choose between keeping the setting and installing the update.
– Bring back the version support and updating timeline as it was, no stream of feature updates but releasing a version of Windows that gets five to seven years of mainstream support, during which time there will be one to three major updates, as in the Service Packs, that are not forced on the user, and other minor and entirely optional feature updates among the monthly patches, plus five to seven more years of extended support, with security updates only.
– Ensure that all local functions work properly without connections to the Internet, which obviously also means a Microsoft account shouldn’t be required for anything done on your own computer, and users shouldn’t be tricked or pressured into logging on that way.
– Bring back the Windows 7 start menu.
– Give users a wide range of install options and explain them properly, so the operating system will be as close to the desired state right away, without undesired components and behaviors. This would also imply more customization options, and Microsoft stopping this unifying policy and remembering that users are individuals with individual preferences even on similar devices, not to mention that different types of devices may be better suited for entirely different settings. And it also relates to the system requirements and resource use, allowing users to choose between lightweight and flashy eye candy and anything in between. And obviously also means things like the Store or ads or other such “features” can never be installed at all, though admittedly it does seem fair for this to be a feature reserved for actual paid licenses.

Yes, I did take part in Dream Trek Summer Edition 2021 today, but I won’t manage to also write about it now, yet obviously need a second post this week, so in order to avoid completely wasting this post, I’ll write about what happened before the start and after the end of the run, starting with last night, when I thought I was going to manage to start eating dinner by 3 AM, but it still was 3:05 AM when I did. Then, today, I woke up for the last time around 2:30 PM, but only got up at 3:05 PM, then had a large serving of pasta, and later also had what would be the usual stuff before a run but with both raisins in dark chocolate and almonds added to the yogurt and muesli, plus a slice of cozonac with the last bit of honey in that jar added on top, and drank all the tea. Sprayed myself with some bug spray, which I also took with me, put on the full running gear, obviously this time with some stuff in the pocket of my tights, and also the jacket, with some stuff in its inside pocket too, and left at 8 PM, not before getting pissed off by dad who brought cat food bought from Kaufland that was cheaper elsewhere, and which I was going to get from Carrefour after the run, assuming I’ll stay there until morning.
We were supposed to gather at a sports store from this mall that this Carrefour’s in at 8:30 PM and I was there a bit after 8:20 PM. Then I spent a bit of time struggling to roll the jacket in order to tie it around my waist, not quite managing it because of what I had in its inside pocket, and eventually took a moment to go pee again, considering all that tea, before finally tying the jacket around my waist and wandering around that store for a bit, while others were taking the pictures needed to enter two contests, which required an Instagram account and following the store and the organizers of the event, so I obviously wasn’t going to enter.
Eventually, after a picture taken inside the store, we went outside… And noticed that it had started raining. That was no surprise, the forecast listing showers or light rain throughout the night, and a risk of brief storms at one point, and again in the morning, but people weren’t willing to leave shelter, so Radu had to point out that we were going to have to accept getting rained on anyway, after which all but me and one other guy put jackets back on and another picture was taken before we started, a few minutes after the announced start time of 9:03 PM, at sunset.

As I already stated, I’ll now skip the run itself and move on to what happened after the end, when one of the prizes, the most expensive one, was drawn while we were doing stretching exercises. Ten other prizes were supposed to be given to participants who were there at the end, Radu being supposed to pick them and ask what their running motto is, what motivates them to run, but after he mentioned that he first sort of addressed the question to everyone, and I was next to him and muttered that in my case it’s sheer stubbornness, but he just asked another guy who was near him, then asked who was never interviewed for their site. Since nobody answered that, I didn’t either and it seemed that the moment just passed, so it remains to be seen what they’ll do about those prizes, and the others as well, since there were 31 prizes, and 11 of those were for those who ran the entire distance and those ten were for those who were there at the end, covering the entire distance not being specified in that case, and that guy Radu asked had actually arrived just before the final part, the one I didn’t take part in, and the starting picture and the fact that only two more joined later showing that there weren’t 31 participants and the picture taken at the end also shows that there weren’t 21 there at that time either.
Though Radu had mentioned food and drinks left in the car at first, he didn’t mention that again when the girls who had offered them left, and while a couple of participants went with them at that time, the rest stayed there for a bit longer and then started leaving, at which point I meant to leave as well… Only for Radu to mention that again at that point, so I turned around, along with some of the others, getting to the car and grabbing the last three of the chocolate and mint protein bars I spotted, and one with white chocolate and strawberries, though those are awfully sweet and I had one more in my pocket, since I grabbed one of each at the first refreshment point and only ate the other one. Also grabbed a bottle of water and one bottle of each kind of protein milk, so both with chocolate and vanilla, and then finally walked away, just after 6:05 AM.

Well, it wasn’t raining when I got in that underground passage, but seconds later, when I was coming out on the other side, I saw rain on the stairs. So I just pulled my hood back up while accidentally walking in the wrong direction for a bit, then realized that and went the right way… Only for it to start really pouring within seconds, drenching me almost right away, so I had to stop where I had a bit of shelter and wait it out, fortunately being able to continue on my way at 6:20 AM, when it had died down enough to no longer really drench me. I was just soaked, however, so I sort of had to hold the front of my jacket away with one hand… And then somehow ended up taking the wrong road at an intersection and didn’t realize it until I found myself at Obor instead of Iancului.
Still, the plan was to go to Carrefour and Kaufland, and they’re there as well, but the problem is that the Carrefour from there opens at 8 AM and I reached the entrance of that mall a few minutes before it was even 7 AM. But at least that Kaufland opens at 7 AM, so I went there… And forgot to put my mask on when I entered, the guard warning me. And then the paper bag it had been in also fell out of my pocket, another employee pointing it out to me as well. Then I put my things in a cabinet and went to the bathroom, to pee and wash my hands… And after I finished peeing both bags fell out of the jacket’s pocket… Still, once I could stuff them back somewhere, I got what I meant to get, wandering around until I could spot some kind of cheese dad had been looking for and didn’t get when he went, three of the four that were left being hidden behind the box, and then returned to Carrefour, putting everything in a cabinet and walking in pretty much exactly at 8 AM, to get what I meant to get from there as well, getting one of the last two bags of bagels I was looking for and actually spending some time looking for an orange that was small enough to fit into the little I’d have been left with, considering the 0.50 RON coin I had to use for the cabinet.
After staying with my jacket unzipped in Kaufland, hoping that it and my t-shirt would dry a bit, even though it was cooler there than in Carrefour and the mall that’s in, by the time I went back out I didn’t feel so wet and cold anymore, and it even seemed to be getting a bit sunny for a few moments… Only for a few moments though, and it was cloudy again on the way back, and even started to rain again as I was getting close. It was only light rain though, so it wasn’t a problem, and I finally got back here at 9:25 AM… Finding dad awake and saying he had stayed up to wait for me since I gave him no sign, though he knew I couldn’t have done that even if I’d have wanted to and had told him that if I won’t abandon early I’ll go to those stores on the way back, so returning before 9 AM was next to impossible. Plus that he’s always the one seeming unable to understand when I say I’m worried or assume this or that happened when he’s particularly late, and that’s when he really is very late compared to anything he says before leaving.

Actually, he’s a bit late now as well, though nothing significant just yet, and at least it means I could finish writing this and post it before he got back and on-line, since otherwise I was planning to just stop at that point and schedule it to be posted at 11:59 PM, writing what was left off-line and editing it later, changing the time to that of the file. And this should also allow me to sleep a little in the evening, if I’ll feel like and manage to, since after getting back I was too worked up and, while I did get in bed after finishing what I meant to do and taking a bath, I woke up again after half an hour or so.

Later edit: And dad did it again… Came back at some point, I didn’t hear him, he supposedly assumed I was sleeping even though I had told him that wasn’t going to happen, and turned on the computer and got on-line. And when I happened to get out of my room, almost an hour later, and noticed, he of course said it was my fault for not unplugging his cable, because “we agreed” on that, by which he means he said it, I said I didn’t want to have to keep doing that, he ignored me and will just keep saying that “we agreed” on it, and also that he “can’t know” whether I’m connected otherwise, by which he means he refuses to learn to check. So I’ll be feeling even more on edge and insecure for a long time again… But at least this run finally gave me a reason to bake and eat the frozen pizza bought months ago, when dad asked for one and said I could get one for myself as well, so I’ll just post this and then finish it, since it and the salad I made are what I’m having for dinner tonight… Which dinner I started eating at 3:15 AM.

On June 3 I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, but I had been dreaming crazy things since dad left, which he said was supposed to be at 11 AM, though I didn’t get up then to check. Thought I hadn’t even slept during that time, but I obviously had to sleep in order to dream, and the dreams were really messed up, and one after the other, and I woke up exhausted. Also, the forecast didn’t list much wind and stated that it was going to die down even more later, but it was quite windy outside when I got up, one site still stating that it was going to die down around 6 PM, but also that some risk of rain would appear then. Still, the plan was for a half marathon run, so I had the usual stuff, with both raisins in dark chocolate added in the yogurt and muesli and some more of those expired nicer biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear and left at 4:20 PM, when the reported temperature was about 20°C, supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 1:46:27, with sector times of 4:14, 5:07, 6:03, 4:34, 5:07, 6:02, 4:34, 5:12, 6:06, 4:41, 5:21, 6:16, 4:45, 5:27, 6:10, 4:49, 5:32, 6:23, 1:54, 6:14 and 1:56, making for lap times of 15:24, 15:43, 15:52, 16:18, 16:22 and 16:44, plus 10:04 for the final portion. Still well over 1:45, so it doesn’t matter, but it was the least slow time over this distance since October, so I guess I should mention this… And it was less bad than I expected, since early on I was working out times for 1:47, but also allowing for 1:48, which after lap four I thought I was going to have to settle for, 1:46:30 only becoming a possible, yet still unlikely, target after the final portion’s first sector.
Pushed at the start, but not so much, just thinking to stay safely under 4:30, so when I saw that time it gave me reasons to hope, and so did the time at the end of the lap, though I’d have hoped for a better sector three. Then I was comparing the times with those from what was at the time the last 16 km run, seeing I had gained a little on lap two as well, but lost a bit on three. Did just manage to stay under 47 minutes for the first three laps, but on sector three of lap three my body gave me multiple warnings that I had been pushing too hard and I struggled to maintain focus, and after that it was even harder to do so, lap four ending up several seconds worse than I aimed for. But I pushed on lap five and recovered that loss, falling one second behind the pace of that last 16 km run after sector two, wondering whether I’ll somehow manage to make it up on sector three and actually doing it, having the exact same time as then after five laps. Then sector one of lap six gave me some confidence, since it was just what I needed, but the time lost on sector two because of some cyclists made some doubt about staying under 1:47 return. Not much though, and sector three was good enough, so I was thinking I’ll be safe if I’ll just stay under two minutes on the first sector of the final portion. But then I saw 1:54 and started wondering about 1:46:30, thinking I may just have a shot with 6:15 on sector two, so what’s otherwise a sector three of a normal lap. Doubted I could manage that, and thought that if I somehow would, I’ll then be too exhausted on the final sector, but pushed and when I saw 6:14 I went for it, making it in the end even though some people on the final straight made me worry I’ll just miss out because of them.
There was some wind at times, but not to the point of feeling that I was fighting it, and otherwise the conditions were nice, cloudy but without any rain. Physically, a bit of pain made me need to snap my back at the start of lap two, which I managed without being too rough, then my right knee started giving some warnings from the start of lap three, and on sector three of lap three I was getting multiple signals that I was pushing too hard. The others mostly faded, but a certain need started making itself felt somewhat more notably as time passed, though never at a serious level. As for people, though some weaving and going the long way around was of course still needed, the park was relatively clear. Still, there was a roadblock at the end of sector two of lap four, under the bridge, a family on bicycles coming from the opposite direction ending up alongside the guy with a large dog I was just about to pass, then at the start of lap five I had to slow and see where to go because two kids on bicycles or scooters, can’t quite recall, weren’t making up their minds, and on sector two of lap six I had to slow several times because of other cyclists, again kids not making up their minds the first two times, but after that mostly because of a group of several young cyclists racing each other in short bursts, shouting a lot and starting, stopping and turning unpredictably, and the fact that they were going in the same direction and kept stopping and starting again meant I kept bumping into them. And then there was the issue I already mentioned, on the final sector’s straight, several people walking side by side, blocking most of it, and when I meant to squeeze through on one side the one on that side of the group moved in that direction, so I had to go to the other side of that wide path to get around them.

Moving on to June 9, considering the notification that gas was going to be off between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM, I expected to be woken up by the downstairs neighbor again after 8:30 AM, but it wasn’t even 8:15 AM when that happened. I was so sleepy, and it was quiet again after a while, but the plan was to run early if I’ll be woken up, considering the forecast, so I got up and stayed up, had the usual stuff and finished the pack of those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey, put on the full running gear and left at 10:25 AM, when the reported temperature was 23-24°C, supposed to hold steady or maybe increase by 1°C by the time I’ll finish. Some risk of isolated storms was listed after 11 AM, but it stayed sunny and, though a gust that hit me on the way was worrying, there was very little wind while I ran.
The time was 50:40.59, with sector times of 4:23.19, 5:17.65, 6:16 (6:15.21), 4:44.80, 5:22 (5:21.80), 6:16 (6:15.78), 4:43 (4:42.93), 5:27 (5:26.93), 6:17.02 and 1:55.28, making for lap times of 15:56.05, 16:22.38 and 16:27 (16:26.88). Considering how sleepy I was, I was thinking that 50 minutes would be a great time, and the first sector might have just given me a chance, but from the second I even had dizzy moments and it was clear that I had to fight to even stay under 51 minutes. So I settled into that, just pushing on the final sector, when I saw 48:45 after the three laps, to avoid the embarrassment of covering that sector in more than two minutes and stay under 50:45. I was disappointed when I just failed to stay under 50:40 though.
Other than being sleepy, just felt a pressing need for a while on sector two of lap three and then again right at the end. And there were few people on the path, causing only two notable issues, both of them on sector one of lap three. One was a broken attempted sprint on the long straight, a cyclist coming slowly on the lane and a guy walking next to her, on the side I was on, and since I didn’t dare to cut across the lane, we all met right where there’s a pole as well and I had to just squeeze through. And then I lost a couple of seconds towards the end of that same sector because of a misunderstanding with a girl on a scooter, the two of us doing the silly dance until we had to stop in front of each other and even then we both tried to step aside in the same direction, which at least meant that she couldn’t tilt the scooter to the other side as fast as I could sidestep the other way and we finally made it past each other.

Sunday I actually managed to get myself to finish that review for Venetica… And then I saw that the forecast for Monday would, maybe, allow me to run, so I planned accordingly, setting the alarm to 2 PM. Got up when I woke up and saw 1:30 PM, however, and had the usual stuff, for the sweet thing actually going back to what used to be normal way back, those wheat things, with added honey. Then I put on the full running gear, wanted to leave at 4 PM… And couldn’t. There were some clouds, and it had rained for a little while earlier, but just as I was about to leave there was a gust of wind and it started raining again, so I had to wait it out, since the clouds seemed to be clearing, and the forecast did list the risk as dropping as time passed. I finally left at 4:20 PM, once the rain ended, the reported temperature being about 20°C, supposed to hold quite steady.
The time was 1:19:58, with sector times of 4:17, 5:04, 6:03, 4:34, 5:15, 6:01, 4:40, 5:18, 6:10, 4:42, 5:24, 6:19, 4:45, 5:22 and 6:04, making for lap times of 15:24, 15:50, 16:08, 16:25 and 16:11. Aimed to stay under 15:20 on the first lap and thought I’ll manage it after two sectors, thinking I could stay under six minutes on sector three, but didn’t, and that made me realize it was going to be hard to stay under 1:20. Then I feared already getting to 16 minutes on lap two, so that 15:50 was a relief, but after that I was hoping for 16:05 on lap three and 16:10, or at most 16:15, on four, so I failed even on lap three, and way more on four. That meant I started lap five thinking I had no chance to stay under 1:20, but just pushed, despite that lack of a chance seeming even clearer after the first sector, and even more so after the second, just giving it everything on that last sector, my body wanting me to stop on or at least after the last straight but somehow just keeping it up and seeing that it was just enough after all. Still disappointing though, considering the conditions and the effort.
There were relatively few people, but on top of some weaving and going the long way around, and also squeezing through, there were a few notable issues. Had to slow once on the very first sector, when a guy on an electric scooter appeared in front of me in a blind turn, and then a few times on sector one of lap four, first on the long straight, two kids on scooters getting in my way after stopping and then going to an old man, and then when two others on bicycles were coming from behind and I meant to make room, but one was on the path and one on a parallel route and they seemed to want to stay level, so the one behind me took a while to get past, and when he did other kids on scooters and their parents were coming from the other direction and I had to pick my way through. Another moment was on the long straight of sector two, I think on lap five, when a woman with a pram turned said pram right in front of me after getting something from a stall, so I had to quickly avoid it and feared that the loss of time was going to put me over that target that already seemed highly unlikely. And I was worried one last time at the end, other kids on scooters turning in front of me right before what I consider to be the finish line, but I managed to calculate a good path and avoid getting blocked. Otherwise, the clouds did clear after that one bringing the rain moved away, and it was sunny while I ran, but there were some areas where I had to push against the wind. As for how I felt physically, a certain pressing need appeared on sector three of lap two and kept making itself known on and off after that. Otherwise it seemed fine until my body wanted to me stop just before the end, and my nose was irritated after I was done.
To finish with that day, there was a power failure that, according to the logs, started just before 11:20 PM, in which case it means it took me almost ten minutes to notice. That’d be odd, but not impossible at that moment, and the fact that there was a recorded message about the problem when I called, after a few minutes, seems to confirm that it hadn’t just failed at the time I noticed it. Either way, if the logs are correct, I shut down the computer after 15 minutes on battery and the power was back pretty much exactly one hour after failing, and I also started the computer again pretty much exactly one hour after shutting it down. There was another failure, at 12:56 AM, but that only lasted a little over a minute. And I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM and got in bed at 5:30 AM.

Tuesday I left at just after 1:15 PM, when the rain, which had been rather heavy earlier, was down to just some drops, and it pretty much died out for good after that. Also took the recyclables, including the stuff I drop off at Kaufland… And somehow forgot to drop off said recyclables nearby, so I had to look for other bins on the way, crossing the road again and then crossing back when I spotted one. Either way, I then first checked the Mega Image near the farmers’ market for the butter that was on sale and bought it, then got a bundle of green onions and apples from the market. When I had pretty much decided where to buy the apples from and had stopped at that stall, the seller, who was at another stall, called to me to ask whether I wanted something, but I wasn’t prepared for that interaction and didn’t answer. She eventually came over when another man also came and started looking around, and said she had shouted at me, but I just replied that I had headphones, which was true, and I even showed her, but I wasn’t listening to anything at that point and had clearly heard her. But I was just struggling to hold it together long enough to get the apples, not even managing to get myself to give her my own bags to put the apples in.
Got to Kaufland after that, first quickly checking another store from that area, then dropping off the things I drop off there and going in, getting what I meant to get, though the emergency was food for Liza and they seemed out of the kind I was looking for, even though it’s their own brand, so I just got a few of two other kinds, so she’ll have something for the next few days. There were no issues with the self-checkout, and as I was leaving a guy using another machine walked away without taking the coins given as change, some of them having probably already been left there by previous customers, so I muttered that I thanked him for leaving them and grabbed what was almost 1 RON in coins. The move was rather too obvious, and the guard was probably looking, and the person walking behind me definitely was, but I did it anyway.
As I was leaving, it smelled like rain, but it wasn’t raining and it didn’t really look wet either. So I got to Carrefour without issues, getting what I meant to get from there as well, including something for dinner, which I had somehow forgotten to also look for in Kaufland. And I guess the time I spent looking around and deciding what to get was just long enough to spare me from coming out under a pouring rain, since it was really wet when I did, with plenty of puddles, and a storm cloud was just moving away, so I didn’t have to deal with anything more than some scattered drops until I got back here, a few minutes after 6 PM. Carried some 14 kg, including clothes and bags and the usual stuff in my pockets, but a part of that weight was just added in Carrefour and I had the backpack and sturdy bags, so it was easy.

As for Wednesday, I did the laundry, both the whites and the colored clothes, also cooked pasta in between, eating some of it after that, and then started eating dinner in the kitchen before 3 AM, though I then only continued in my room at 3:20 AM. And the reason why I cooked pasta was that, despite being in such a poor shape and the weather being as it is, with the forecast listing continued rain and storms, I signed up for Dream Trek Summer Edition this time around as well, so I’ll be going there next evening and then I’ll see what I’ll manage. The complete route supposedly has 54.6 km, but we’ll again be offered things to eat and drink and the route is again split in four loops, the first starting from this mall this Carrefour’s in, so it’s not a problem to walk there, and each ending, and all but the first obviously also starting, at University Square, so I can stop there at some point, maybe even after two parts, though if I’ll manage three it’ll mean about 40 km again, so it’ll be nice if I’ll manage that again… Just hope there are no issues with my computer though, since as I was writing this in LibreOffice, it crashed with a “Bad allocation” error, which I never experienced before, making me worry about RAM or some other problems.

Got interested in Venetica since I read the review in the March 2010 issue of what was at the time the last remaining gaming magazine from here, which I had just bought because it came with Gothic 3… Which I’m actually yet to play. Back to Venetica, it was only in October of 2019 that I got and started playing it, but by the end of November I stopped and only returned to it this January, finally finishing it in April… And it took me until June to review it as well, as you can see.

Much of the game hangs on combat and fortunately that works out quite well. I liked how they seemed to take inspiration from The Witcher and make fighting flow in a similar manner, even to the point of offering the same cue for the right moment to click for the next strike in the chain. Maybe it doesn’t work quite as well, but it works well enough, and it’s definitely much more forgiving, clicking at the wrong time not breaking the chain, which is something that many seemed to have a problem with in The Witcher.
Then again, there are plenty who look for a challenge in games and those will likely have a different view of Venetica’s combat. However, I personally liked how forgiving it was in general, because most fights are quite easy in themselves once you learn a few things, finding beds isn’t an issue early on and keeping yourself healthy should hardly be a problem once you get the skills to absorb HP, and, if all of that fails, as the game progresses you’ll get to resurrect more times. That doesn’t even include phase two of the boss fights, where being killed just means starting over right away, without it counting as a death or bringing any penalties, but the fact that being killed in any other more difficult battle or if you happen to get surrounded when you can’t use the skill again just yet will actually put you at an advantage, as you’ll be able to move to a better position while the enemies, with the exception of those ghosts, can’t see you, then continue the fight on your terms, likely starting with a sneak attack. And then you just need to use the Moonblade for the kill to regain the lost Twilight energy.

Character development may be seen as forgiving as well, even if you can’t undo earlier choices. On the one hand, all attributes increase by one point when you gain a level, so even if you concentrate the points you can freely allocate, Scarlett won’t be left as weak in other aspects as may otherwise be expected. On the other, the forgiving combat means you can make do with few skills until you decide which to train, and I didn’t train many at all until the end of the game, while at the same time the lack of a hard level cap and the respawning of the enemies from certain areas, and of those that appear on city streets at night in particular, mean that if you do feel the need for more points, you can always obtain them without the respawns becoming too annoying if you don’t need them. Yes, enemies do seem to stop respawning after you reach level 31, and in some areas even earlier, but on top of any quests not yet completed and areas not yet cleared at that point, if you want to go even higher there’s still the Necropolis in Africa, likely in combination with the weapon that grants additional experience. And Scarlett does learn awfully fast, doesn’t she?

Otherwise, liked the unlimited inventory, and being able to instantly loot bodies, including during combat, helps as well. Combat music also struck me as quite fitting, though I’d say that the nicest piece of music in the game is the Skullbreak Tavern song, which also has a point, as seen towards the end. And, since it can be said that I’m at odds and ends, I’ll also mention that the bard in the Outer City Marketplace is a nice touch, even if his performance is likely to no longer serve a practical purpose by the time you’ll feel completely comfortable paying for all of it. Oh, and I might also point out that at least the plate armor actually looks protective, so the developers were at least capable of moving away from the “female armor” trope for one of the suits… Does look odd when Scarlett swims so well while wearing it though.

If I started the positive aspects with the combat, I’ll start the negative ones with something that affects it, which are the problems with hit detection and clipping. You can strike or be struck through walls or have strikes pass through enemies without registering. Enemies, and possibly also NPCs, can fall through floors or get stuck in walls or water or scenery, or sit on nothing. Scarlett can also fall through, or end up walking above the ground, and once I seemed to have ended up in a noclip situation, walking above the floor and through everything. Much of the time, these problems appear in combat, when a strike knocks an enemy, or Scarlett, back and through something, but ladders can also cause such issues with Scarlett, and at other times they seem to just happen, possibly because characters are occasionally created at a wrong location.

The AI also seems rather rudimentary, enemies mainly following attack patterns, but that’s quite clearly intentional and fits with the combat that’s forgiving once you learn a few things that I mentioned above. Another clear issue that negatively affects combat, on the other hand, is the camera. In short, it’s quite a pain, causing problems even when simply moving, and worse ones in combat. It can get backed up against walls or scenery, too close to let you really see what you’re doing or pushed to a wrong angle, which obviously changes everything when the direction of movement and the target are relative to the camera’s position. And it’s also annoying that it faces you after changing areas, making you turn around if you go forward, which may well lead to unintentionally returning to the previous area if there’s no door and you’re uncertain of your bearings, or are rushing and don’t notice.

Speaking of returning, getting back to San Pasquale when you need or want to is tedious… And you’d think they’d have rebuilt at least a little bit by the time you need to go back for the dress, or that they’d recognize that they’re under attack by Necromancers in some way. But those are little issues, a worse one, if I’m to stick to what’s tedious to get around, is that this can be said about Venice itself as well, especially when you’re above street level. And it’s annoying how restricted movement is, that Scarlett can’t jump or even lift a leg except on stairs, or squeeze anywhere, that she’s blocked by all sorts of things that shouldn’t normally block movement… Using ladders can be frustrating as well, on top of potentially triggering the bugs I already mentioned.
The even bigger problem, however, is that after a while there’s little reason to put up with all of this, exploration no longer feeling sufficiently rewarding, and after a certain point I found myself no longer really caring to find everything anymore, which is very odd for me. But if you’re not thorough you can miss plenty of things, many of the more important ones obviously late in the game, so just when you may have a harder time caring.

Back to bugs, there were also crashes, albeit mostly early on. When it constantly crashed in a certain spot if I tried to turn back from Windmill Tavern, on the way to Venice, I worried I’ll never be able to get back to San Pasquale, but at least that issue fixed itself once I finished the chapter and the map changed partially. The crash caused by talking to Leon about reputation remained constant, however, so don’t lose reputation and end up in a situation where you’d need to regain it in this manner to advance.
The major bug that you need to be aware of throughout the game, however, is that NPCs may vanish if you load a save from an area where they exist. I saw the warnings about it and also experienced it when I wasn’t careful, and depending on which NPC vanishes the severity may range from irrelevant to game-breaking, so don’t risk it and only save in areas where there are no NPCs, which also means no skeletons. I “managed” to make one NPC vanish in another way as well, but that was when I tried something I probably shouldn’t have, and there’s no reason to do so, yet that obviously can’t be said about saving and what makes it worse is that the early part of the game, when you’re at your weakest and may need to save more, is just when finding a “safe” place to save is hardest. Later, secret rooms, cleared Rogue Quarters, caverns and a few other places are available to you, so it may be tedious and cause you to lose some time, but it’s a less serious problem if you’re careful.
Another bug I experienced was that I bought some treasure maps from that vendor, then reloaded once I realized I already had one of them, and when I got back there I saw that the maps I had purchased were no longer available for sale, and of course they weren’t in my inventory either, so I had to quit the game and try again to be able to purchase them again. Still, I tried several times to reproduce the bug with other vendors, buying a number of items, then immediately reloading and going back, and couldn’t.
Otherwise, I had the impression that bugs were piling up in the Arsenal District, but that may simply be the result of having advanced in the game. Once ghosts appeared they tended to remain stuck where they spawn, not moving and with bodies and “flames” never removed after I “killed” them, but they also appear in the Outer City and I noticed the same thing there too. Back to the Arsenal District, when I reentered one of the Rogue Quarters I got that dialogue again even though it was cleared, and at least that didn’t happen in any other place. That noclip situation I mentioned above was in the Arsenal District as well. Also, in Skullbreak Tavern, the rebels say they’ll let the people know after you complete their quest, which suggests a reputation increase, but there is none, then the Juma clanspeople remain there even after they also get back to their homeland, and the workers also remain there after they agree to go to the mine, though I guess it’s somewhat less certain that this is a bug, since they may be meant to be lazy. But, to again point out that such issues appear in other places as well, though these may be considered minor spoilers, I’ll also add that in the Inner City rogues kept appearing at least from one of the Quarters even after clearing out both, alongside the marauders, and that it’s not just that the guild headquarters don’t look burned at all after they should be, but the marauders are still at the entrance after it’s done, and if you talk to them you’ll automatically tell them to burn it down, at least in case of the Net of the Mask, since I wasn’t in the others to know for sure.

Speaking of marauders, they respawn way too quickly, so while I mentioned these limited respawns as a positive aspect, nights become rather annoying in the Outer and, especially, Inner City once they appear. Then, to continue with the issues that mar the positive aspects, once an attribute reaches the maximum of 100, that point that should be automatically added each level is lost, so putting too many points in one attribute, or even in two of them by the end, will result in a somewhat less powerful character after a certain point. And I’ll also mention here that some sorting of that unlimited inventory wouldn’t have hurt… And the additional attributes of the weapons that have them should have been clearly specified, yet in some cases they’re not listed at all, while in others they may be included in the description, but in a way that may still be unclear, and certainly doesn’t provide the actual details. And I also thought that there were too few types of armor available, and the fact that most are meant for specific uses means that there are even fewer armor upgrades.

Otherwise, there are plenty of differences between speech and subtitles, and also some moments when the speech cuts early and moves on to the next part, so you have to read the subtitled text ahead. There are also times when the speech is even entirely wrong, and a few conversations with lines in an entirely different voice, showing that they were added later. But the bigger annoyance for me is the fact that Venetica also follows this trend that has been going on for a long time now, games no longer displaying what the character will actually say if a dialogue choice is selected and what each choice actually means may well be unclear if you go by what’s displayed. Worse, in Venetica’s particular case, the ending is determined by many choices made in dialogues throughout the game, and you’ll only see what it all added up to at the very end. And I also made a note about the real options for the last stage of gaining the Steward’s trust and what follows, which are definitely unclear, and the journal entries don’t quite fit what happens either, something seeming messed up. But the Palace seems rushed in general…

While I’m at it, I’ll add that the quest that opens the Western Villa really seems thrown there in a hurry as well. And, to continue with the issues I couldn’t quite fit elsewhere, some quests have wrong information or markers, or markers are missing, which also means that much of the time that skill can’t be used. A couple of treasure maps are also very misleading. And, on the topic of maps, it seems unintuitive that the map only moves when you move the mouse to the edge, not if you click and hold and move the mouse, or maybe also with the direction keys, especially when you often need to click it first, as otherwise moving the mouse to the edge won’t do anything either.

Overall, Venetica is probably hurt by a lack of resources during production, certain bugs, most of all the one with the vanishing NPCs when you load a save, are inexcusable, and there are various other reasons for frustration as well. However, if you know what to watch for and aren’t particularly looking for a challenge, it can be a quite enjoyable game that doesn’t make you feel pressured and features decent combat, a few interesting ideas and a setting with a fair amount of potential. That the developers couldn’t exploit this potential even better is a pity but, again, assuming that they had limited resources to work with, it’s a decent enough game if you take it for what it is.

Since there was a good sale on a kind of cat food at Mega Image, before leaving to get the vaccine I looked for locations I’ll be able to check on my way back, but found one that was near the clinic, albeit in the other direction, and decided to go there first. So I did that, quickly glancing at a confectionery and a pastry place on the way and eventually spotting it after turning away pretty much from the door, thinking that it was the building on the other side of that road, crossing, realizing it wasn’t and seeing it when I turned around. And after crossing back and going in, I realized it was a particularly large Mega Image as well, which also included a full “Equilibrium” area, so after looking around for a while I grabbed those mustard seeds that are only available in the few locations where that’s the case.
I was there for cat food, however, so I grabbed that as well, but the problem was that the price listed on the shelf was still the full one, so after looking around for a scanner and not finding any, I eventually asked an employee and she directed me to another one, at the self-checkouts. So I went there, but said other employee was pulled in multiple directions at once, having a couple of other employees as well as another customer asking for her help while she also seemed to be the one selling cigarettes, and having to stop anything else she was doing whenever a customer came to her for that. But, after waiting for a bit, I managed to get myself to catch her attention as well and ask about that price, saying that their catalog lists that food as discounted… And finding myself rather at a loss when she said she thought that discount had been in the previous catalog, so ending two days before instead of starting the previous day. But she did start checking the current catalog for me, the problem being that she kept being pulled in every direction and after a couple of attempts still couldn’t even get to the page where pet food would be, so I eventually spotted the place where other catalogs were and picked one up as well, and when she noticed that she got back to me, apologized, started looking again and I spotted it as she was flipping pages, pointing it out to her. So she asked for the store card, and I had dad’s just for this purpose and gave it to her, but hurried to add that I had no card to pay with when I saw that she was scanning the cat food at one of their self-checkouts, which don’t take cash. But she said she was just checking and confirmed that the price was the discounted one, making me wonder why hadn’t she done that from the beginning.
Either way, after another quick look at some expiring products, I went to the checkouts, first picking a line to stand it but then noticing that the one next to it had no line, only an old couple, and they were just paying. So I glanced at the light, and when I didn’t see an indication that the checkout in question was closing, I moved there, not realizing that anything was unusual, and in fact being relieved, when the cashier didn’t say anything at first, and then tapped a bag and looked questioningly at me instead of asking whether I wanted one. I only realized that she was mute when I gave her the money and she showed me a bill and a finger, making some sort of sound to get my attention, meaning to ask whether I had one 1 RON bill, to make it easier for her to give me my change. But I didn’t, so she gave me the change she had to give me and I could be on my way. Wondered whether there had been a sign to indicate that she was disabled and that was the reason for the lack of a line, but I didn’t see one and, if anything, was relieved by the lack of any unnecessary communication.
From there I went to Kaufland, quickly glancing at a couple of other places on the way and then peeing before going in. Then I had a quick glance at fruits and vegetables, including the many spoiling ones that a few employees were struggling to rearrange while asking each other how to make room since they had even more, and moved on to yogurts, seeing that one of the kinds my mother had asked for was already discounted and wanting to check to make sure that the day’s discount, 30% for all yogurts, applied to it as well, since the announcement I heard seconds after going in stated that it did not apply to products already discounted, though they always say that and it always seems to apply to everything. So I left everything else for later and just bought that pack, confirming that the full discount did indeed apply and adding it in the cabinet I had placed the other things in.
Since I also wanted to get some pastries, before going back in I made another detour to the bathroom, to wash my hands. Then I got what I thought was everything else, including a lettuce that was cheaper than announced and lemons that were also on an unannounced discount. In case of the lemons, the large majority were that kind with a very thick peel, but I dug through the boxes and found a handful that weren’t like that, and as I did so first an older woman and then a younger one stood around to grab any I was uncovering and not taking, since they were looking for the same kind I was. Also dug through a bag of onions to find a few that were better, making several smaller tears and reaching in after failing to pour them out of it, and an older woman was waiting after me there as well.
When I got to the self-checkout again, a couple with a kid seemed to just block one of the machines that accept cash, the kid just putting in coins that the machine spat right back out while the two of them seemed to discuss what else to buy, and one 0.50 RON coin fell and rolled under a machine on the other side while I was waiting for someone else to finish, since they quite clearly weren’t going anywhere… And instead of “taxing” them for their behavior, not to mention for breeding, I found myself retrieving it for them. But at least there were no issues once I did get to use a machine, and then I bought myself a cake from that confectionery… While another child was crying and screaming his lungs out, making everyone struggle to hear and be heard. Oh, and earlier, as I was going to look at the pastries, there was another couple, with two children riding in the cart, talking in English, and things got loud and annoying after one of them asked for a cake and the woman told her it wasn’t good, which made the girl first plead for a little while and then start shouting “I want, I want, I want” repeatedly, which resulted in the other kid doing the same.
So it was a bit of a relief when I walked out of there… But all the stuff I had to carry and the fact that I just had bags, not my backpack as well, was an issue. And yet I first made another detour, returning to a pastry place I had seen on the way there, to get a pretzel as well… And realized on the way back that I had forgotten one thing dad had asked me to get. But I was going to pass through Kaufland’s parking lot anyway, so I stuffed my things in two cabinets and ran back in for that last item, wondering what the guard and employee at the self-checkouts thought if they realized I was there the third time. But at least nobody said anything and I had finally gotten everything, so I then peed one more time and was finally on my way back.
Had considered having a look in the Carrefour from the park on the way back, but by that point I had no intention of doing so anymore. Still thought of passing through the farmers’ market, however, to see if some of those selling apples were still there, which does happen even if it’s supposed to close at 6 PM and it was going to be almost 7 PM by the time I’ll get there. But I decided against that as well and just came straight back, getting here at 7:10 PM, having carried 18 kg, including clothes and the things in my pockets, after getting the vaccine and without the benefit of a backpack.
A stupid thing I did after getting back was that I wanted to microwave that cake a little, and for some reason placed it directly in the microwave, as in not on a plate, just leaving it on that bit of cardboard it comes on. I was watching it, but for a few seconds washed something, and when I looked again it had fallen apart and was spilling, so I turned the microwave off and just grabbed it, placing it on a plate, but some of it was already on the microwave’s glass plate, which is quite dirty. I still tried to take a bit of what had spilled as well, but then washed away the rest. At least the fact that it was melted like that actually made the cake better, but it’s a pity I lost a bit of it. Either way, I then had a late lunch, finishing after midnight, admittedly taking a long time since while eating I played and won another Fantasy General scenario, the first on the second continent, and then wrote the notes about this day. Started dinner around 3:20 AM, and got in bed at 5:25 AM.

Saturday night, after a late lunch, going to the kitchen 15 minutes later than usual and having more to do there as well, I started eating dinner at 3:30 AM even though dad worked that night, and got in bed at 5:20 AM. As for Sunday night, after having lunch earlier in the evening and struggling to wash everything except one burned pot and one lid out of the piles of things left again by dad after he cooked, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, actually eating a fair bit in the kitchen before moving to my room.
As for how I felt, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are already covered in the previous posts, so I’ll just add here that on Monday there was still some pain in my shoulder, a little occasional muscle pain in other places as well, and my legs also felt rather heavy, but Tuesday I could finally say that the vaccine’s side effects, or at least the obvious ones, had passed. And yesterday I also reported the side effects on-line.

Back to Monday, the forecast listed it as the week’s one good running day, but since I was still experiencing some of those side effects and my running gear was still in the laundry basket, I checked the time when I woke up, saw 11:08 AM, decided to get up and just went to buy some things instead, leaving just after 1 PM. Made a small detour to have a look in a Mega Image, then went to Kaufland, getting bread for myself and for dad, bread being 33% off that day and the next, also something else for dad that was among what was 30% off that day, and a few more things. The self-checkout again asked me to scan the product before placing it on the scales after I had selected and placed my bread, but I called the employee over and she logged on to override that error, then left me to continue and there were no other issues. Then I checked that Carrefour as well and grabbed a few products that were discounted as if they were expiring soon, though that was in fact only the case for one of them, plus some more garlic, and was back just before 4 PM, carrying some 13 kg, the fact that I also had the backpack ensuring that it wasn’t an issue.

Skipping to yesterday, I experienced that issue with downloading larger files with Vivaldi again, and it was particularly bad because I tried to let it get through it on its own and it didn’t. The downloads got to 100%, but didn’t show up as completed, the partial files weren’t replaced with the proper ones, and it just kept creating new processes for a long time, quickly filling the RAM and eventually the virtual memory as well. The logs listed a message that the virtual memory had to be increased, though I wasn’t in my room at the time and didn’t see whether it actually showed up, just seeing when I got back to check on it that Vivaldi had closed and my computer was responsive again. The logs listed other errors as well, however, including Emsisoft Anti-Malware having stopped and restarted, so I switched the paging file to custom and reduced its size, rebooted and tried again, experiencing the same behavior but watching it and eventually finding a way to force Vivaldi to close after I realized it wasn’t going to recover. Then I switched the paging file back to system managed, rebooted again, tried yet again and the issue only reappeared towards the end of the download, when I finally selected the location, since I thought that might have something to do with it, so the download finally completed before the memory filled up and it finally recovered on its own.
By the time I rebooted the first time, the system uptime was 46 days and a little over one hour, which is barely over half the record, from 2017, but possibly the second longest amount of time I went between reboots. Either way, I’m obviously worried about any potential consequences and was glad that I had just backed up a couple of days earlier, after not doing so since March, but at least everything seems fine at the moment and checking the system partition and the one I was downloading to revealed no issues. And the reboots seemed to have fixed the window resolution problem for Bound by Flame… Only for it to reappear now, and I still don’t know why. But, if I’m to play anything at all over this next period, during the Euro, I’m likely to focus on Fantasy General and may even set Bound by Flame aside completely anyway, plus that playing it in a window and having it remain at the proper size is relevant for taking screenshots, which I can’t do otherwise, and the idea was to select the highest possible settings while doing so, the limit again being memory, and at the moment I really don’t care to risk ending up with similar problems because of that.

Either way, to return to yesterday, I had lunch in the evening and started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, though I could have started earlier, likely even before 3 AM, in the kitchen, while saving another thing dad left to spoil, but I decided to still prepare everything and take it all to my room again, even if it took a fair bit longer. However, Tuesday night, again after having lunch in the evening, I did start eating dinner in the kitchen, albeit also at 3:20 AM, before moving to continue in my room. Also made the tea for the next day that night, since I correctly assumed I was going to be woken up, in which case the plan was to run in the morning, the forecast listing a risk of storms later, and the gas was supposed to be off between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM.

I did run early on Wednesday, the time being as embarrassing as I feared, but I’d rather post this now, so I’ll leave that for another post, just like I’ll once again leave last week’s half marathon run as well. In fact, this is the main reason why I’m also leaving this week’s run out of this post, because I’d have probably managed to add it here by midnight, but adding this one and still skipping last week’s, which I have much more to write about, seems wrong. At least it’s a good thing I still have a couple of “slots” left for personal posts and can do this, though I really shouldn’t waste them in this manner, since from now on the Euro will make it even harder to write, and to write non-personal things in particular. But maybe, depending on exactly when and for how long dad will be away or otherwise not connected between or before matches and when I’ll wake up, I’ll somehow manage to at least add a few more “New Finds” posts… Or that Venetica review, eventually, adding to it bit by bit. But that seems quite unlikely.