Cav's Place

Another really quick one, just here to have something posted this week. Still nothing about the tooth, the next appointment being Tuesday, since I really want dad to go with me this time if it’ll be a matter of discussing options, and costs, and making a decision, and he was away for some days last week and for most of this week the dentists aren’t working. Not that there wouldn’t be plenty to say before the decision, but I just don’t want to. No clue what I’ll do.

Another reason for this to be a quick one is that I started reading another book and it’s a big one, and reading on the computer makes it even worse, so I’m spending quite a lot of time reading these days and I guess I’ll continue to do so for quite a while. Had grabbed it back in 2013, it had one update, or at least one update, since, and now I guess I just decided I’ll give it a go. Was initially quite sure I’ll only finish it the week after the next, since I started it Sunday and it has 21 chapters, so was thinking one per day for three weeks, but I read six in four days so far, so there may be a chance I’ll just manage to finish it by the end of next week instead.
Will be an odd one to write a quick review for though, since it’s a huge and diverse world presented in detail and even using some rather ingenious methods, the worldbuilding is just stunning, but I get nothing from the characters or action, it’s all completely flat and artificial, and the guy has some very specific sexual fantasies that are the very core of it all and presented in great detail and, well… While I actually support the points it makes against monogamy and think I likely stomach the rest better than most as well, I don’t feel particularly comfortable when so deep in quite nasty BDSM even if I must commend him for explaining it in ways that generally make sense, I definitely take issue with the raping, let’s just say I really wouldn’t want him around any little girls, and overall it’s just way too much of that.

Other than that, since my mother scrubbed the kettle I used to make tea in yet again and likely got a good part of the enamel off even if I keep telling her to leave it alone and in fact got this one years ago after she did that to the old one, I said enough is enough and looked for another, this time a stainless steel one. The problem is that these tend to be small, and are also usually made specifically for coffee and with a wider beak, and I want a one-liter one that I can then pour straight into the bottle I keep in my room from. And I thought I had found just the one and knew a hypermarket that carried the products distributed by that firm, so went there and bought that one yesterday, also finding it discounted… And then found that, though the label on the bottom says one liter, it actually holds 900 ml when completely full, so even less if you also want some room for the water when it starts boiling. But I got it now, so I’ll see what I’ll do with it I guess.

And this was far less quick than I meant it to be, so let me just also add this week’s run here, which was Monday and great and disappointing at the same time. Was initially wondering whether I’ll even manage to stay under 35 minutes again and was even more worried after that very fast first sector, thinking I pushed too hard too soon and will get too tired later because of it, but ended up managing 34:01, making this the second fastest time on this route but just missing on it also being the second one under 34 minutes.
Sector times were 4:26, 5:13, 6:00, 4:33, 5:05, 5:51 and 2:53, making for lap times of 15:39 and 15:29. So fastest second lap time and fastest sector three of lap two, which really was when I actually started pushing. Had actually set conservative targets for the second lap, just meaning to stay under 35 minutes after seeing the first lap time and only considering it to mean that I had 20 seconds to spare, and was completely surprised by that sector two time, not having felt as if I had pushed like that at all. Then, as I said, decided to give it everything on those last two sectors, but needing to go around a woman and her child and dog right on that steep slope at the start of the final sector definitely didn’t help and in the end I fell just short.

The author created an interesting world here and the book does take you through a significant part of it. Does so by using a lot of shortcuts though, so I’d quite like to explore and understand more of this world, The Joined Realm being a pretty short single book that focuses on what a single character knows and sees in a relatively brief span of time. There’s much that’s not shown and, despite some information dumps that I’d say are more necessary than jarring, plenty not even told.
There’s also the matter of the series of fortunate events that allow the characters to keep going and the fact that, in spite of a number of less typical elements, the action is steered down a pretty cliché path. Still, it is enough to keep you interested throughout and overall makes for a decent read, even if the writing style is a bit rough. There’s a fair need for more editing though, to get rid of quite a number of obvious mistakes.

Rating: 3/5

Not sure it was the best idea to wait until today for this week’s run, since it was quite cold, the reported temperature being 6°C, but on the other hand it was sunny and only noticed some wind at the very start, while on previous days the reported temperature may have been a few degrees higher but it was cloudy and there was some noticeable wind. Either way, while it didn’t feel particularly cold once I got going, obviously with my jacket just rolled up and tied around my waist, it was a bit of a struggle and there was something of a cramp in my left leg for most of the second lap, followed by some pain in both legs after I was done. And it won’t get better from now on, so I’ll need to see how to pick my way through this second winter and when to make use of my buffer so I won’t be behind, or at least no more than a couple of weeks behind, in March.
Still managed to just barely stay under 35 minutes though, even if I had to both take a somewhat tactical approach and really push, at least starting with sector two of lap two, for it. The time was 34:58, with sector times of 4:39, 5:20, 6:08, 4:35, 5:13, 6:01 and 3:02, making for lap times of 16:07 and 15:49. Lost a couple of seconds on the first sector when a tiny dog charged my legs, but even so that time was quite worrying, but at least it acted as an early warning that allowed me to work out a suitable approach from then on.

Otherwise, been down, scared and angry, mostly for the usual reasons but also for a couple of new ones. Don’t feel like posting about any of it though, even if one reason for anger made me wander around for a while yesterday, after dropping off the recyclables. And no, still don’t feel like posting about the tooth situation either, so this is pretty much here just so I’ll have something posted this week and now that I decided I won’t be going anywhere tomorrow, waiting until then would have made me feel like I should write more and I don’t care to. Right now, I really have to get back to reading The Joined Realm, since I’m just barely on pace to finish it by the end of the week and at this point I’m wondering how I’ll finish it early enough on Sunday to also post a quick review by midnight.

There’s a fair bit more to say about the tooth issues, after going to the dentist twice this week and having three of them give an opinion, but things are obviously quite nasty and I just don’t want to deal with that anymore, so I’ll leave it for later. Probably won’t go again next week, so I guess there’s time to do that then without really having more stuff to add, while now I can just throw something else here quickly enough to avoid a Sunday update yet again.

One thing I really want to post now is that I ran yesterday, and went for ten kilometers again, not that I actually planned to at first. I just came from the dentist, went to the toilet, changed and went back out to take advantage of the almost complete lack of wind and sunny day with a temperature around 10°C, so a bit too chilly but otherwise good conditions, and likely better than I’ll find again before spring. And I did rather mean to try to run away from the panic I was experiencing about the situation with the tooth, so I just started running and wondering whether I’ll stick to the usual seven kilometers or try this, only really deciding to go for ten when I started sector three of lap two.
That was because I only meant to do this if I’ll manage to get under 50 minutes for the first time and at that point I knew I could do it, and I did, the final time being 49:28, with sector times of 4:33, 5:16, 5:55, 4:29, 5:08, 6:02, 4:40, 5:20, 6:13 and 1:52, making for lap times of 15:44, 15:39 and 16:13. Making a note of that second lap, since it’s the second fastest second lap and the sixth fastest lap overall, and yet I could keep going just fine after it, and had a little more left at the end. Not sure if giving it everything would have gained me those 29 seconds needed to get under 49 minutes as things were, but on a clearer track even that should have been possible.

Otherwise, Tuesday went to a debate about Trump’s victory, why it happened, what it may mean for us here and for Europe as a whole and what can be done, and discovered an interesting place, since the location was some sort of mix between a bar and a library, as there are a fair number of books available for clients, plus board and card games.

And then today I went to the march organized as a reaction to the initiative to change the Constitution to clearly specify that marriage can only be between a man and a woman and support the “traditional family”, signed by nearly three million people and waved through the following stages up to the point that there were serious talks of organizing the referendum at the same time as next month’s Parliamentary elections. That didn’t happen, but there now seem to be signed agreements with nearly all parties to hold it in April, and nearly all parties also explicitly support this initiative. Mind you, neither same-sex marriage nor civil partnerships of any kind are currently allowed in Romania, so this initiative is meant to strengthen an existing ban and pretty much ensure things won’t change for the better in the foreseeable future.
But enough about the issue itself for now, since this is a personal post. If you’re interested in more, there was an article that was shared for those looking for some more information in English, and there are also the pictures I took and what I said in the album description about the actual march. I just want to ask how to allow people who aren’t my friends to tag either themselves or their friends in those pictures though, since somebody asked and I think my settings are about as public as they can be, so if it’s still possible to do that and you know how, care to share?

There was also a discussion scheduled after the march and I did sort of intend to go there as well out of curiosity, but after the run and having to wake up at noon both today and yesterday, which obviously means I didn’t get enough sleep since I normally fall asleep around 6 AM and these days it may have been even later, I was feeling quite sleepy and I just came right back. Was also sort of thinking of going to buy a few things, but gave up on that even earlier, so I guess the current plan is to go Monday, even if I will run out of a couple of things now. Will make do, I guess, and then I’ll see whether I can actually use those vouchers I won, because otherwise I hardly have anything on me and the odds of that changing are slim. And considering the coming dental expenses, any purchases other than necessary daily stuff seem quite out of the question for a long time to come… Not that I haven’t been putting almost everything off since spring due to lack of funds anyway.

Edit: Forgot to say that yes, the review means I played Gone Home. It was free on itch.io last weekend and announced on the “Temporary game giveaways” thread on the MobyGames forums, so I decided to grab it, started it Sunday and finished it Monday. And while I can’t call it a game and also can’t call what I did with Akalabeth having played it, if you just look at the list there are five different titles I finished this year, six if you count the Tropico 4 DLC pack, or even just Modern Times, as a separate game. And that’s good enough.

This is a difficult one to review. Or maybe I should more exactly say it’s a difficult one to review as a game, because I find it rather hard to call it one, and in fact it is listed in the Notgames group on MobyGames, even though I don’t see it in the releases list on the Notgames site. Still, it is a way to use the medium and definitely interactive, in fact containing no cinematics and, according to the developer commentary, one single scripted event, so can’t call it a movie in software form either.

I guess I’ll simply use the name instead of trying to categorize it, so I’ll say Gone Home takes place entirely in one house, but at least the house in question is a sizable mansion with secrets of its own to discover. Also, you can’t deny the attention to detail, including in some little ways which other games pretty much ignore as a rule, though there are of course other things that are implemented in ways which can’t be called as realistic, or even some that are completely missing. You probably won’t notice those though, being used to the approach other games take.
You’ll also be able to interact with just about everything you expect and also plenty of things you wouldn’t typically expect to be able to interact with, even if most of the time it’s merely a matter of being able to pick up items and examine them on all sides. At the very least, that means many objects created well enough to stand such scrutiny even if they don’t actually serve any other purpose than making the house seem like an actual home that people live in, or used to until shortly before your return. Plus, a little bonus point for the “put back” mechanic allowing you to set things back the way they were instead of leaving the place as if a tornado came in your wake.
As for the actual point of Gone Home, the story you uncover, it is an interesting one, albeit at a very mundane level, and the same may go for the largely optional side stories about the other family members. Now, I aim for escapism and fantasy worlds and events, so I wouldn’t normally have too good of an opinion about something which is very realistic and certain to have happened, in various variants and to a lesser or greater extent, many, many times all over the world, yet… This was all right. More than all right, I’d say, and it will definitely move some people deeply. Sure, will also annoy plenty and leave many entirely cold, but it is what it is.

I also want to make a note about the developer commentary, which you can turn on and then access in relevant spots throughout the game. That’s what I did and I definitely recommend it, since I feel that it really adds to the experience. After all, this is not exactly a game, and having that small team of developers behind it explain what you’re seeing and why they chose to do things that way, and perhaps pointing out things you may have missed, adds a more direct method of communication between them and you and, if anything, I’d say that makes the experience even more immersive.

Still, they could have made it more immersive in itself by allowing you to actually do more while interacting with all the objects that may be interacted with. Maybe writing or doodling a little with one of the many writing implements, maybe playing at painting for a moment with the brush, maybe washing hands in a sink, maybe taking a tissue out of one of the many boxes, possibly to wipe something, maybe opening some book or magazine, even if only to a title or dedication page or something of the sort, maybe trying to make a call, even if nobody’d have answered… Sure, that’d have added to the development time and costs, but it doesn’t stop me from saying it would have been a noticeable improvement for something that relies on realism and attention to mundane details.
Also on this note, they could have had a little more content on the TV and more songs on the few tapes you can find and play, especially since they either worked with the artists or used public domain works, so it may have simply been a matter of adding some more sound files and maybe an option to change sides or fast forward or rewind, which would simply result in playing the file from a certain different point. Again, not something one’d typically notice in a game, but it would have made a difference here… Plus, there is something called Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines released almost a decade earlier which I’d say still sets some standards with the included radio and TV broadcasts.
Otherwise, I may have appreciated more if finding the pieces that form the stories wouldn’t be so optional, or at least if you’d be told you missed something and given a chance to go back to find it after reaching the end. As it is, it simply ends, with no other information or chance to go back. Sure, I guess it’s another bit that says this isn’t exactly a game, but it makes for an uncomfortable feeling and I’d think that if the entire point is to uncover the story, or all the stories, the developers should have done more to increase the odds that you actually will.

In the end… It’s very short even with the developer commentary, there are no choices, no actual rewards and no loss states, and the few keys, combinations and secret places to find, some of which not even being mandatory, can’t make this a game. So maybe I could call Gone Home something like independent theater in software form, where the audience doesn’t get to actually influence the play but may leave and come back whenever they want and may pay closer attention or tune out at any moment, and where the actors may explain what they’re doing and why.
Again, there’s a lot of attention to realistic detail and the story is quite all right and some will deeply relate to it, or in some cases to the more general ideas presented. It also definitely makes points that unfortunately still desperately need to be made in this rotten society of ours. Overall, it is a way to use the medium which I’d actually encourage as an alternative for those interested. At the same time, it’s not something I’d personally pay for, so good thing I grabbed it while it was offered for free. You may entirely disagree with this, however… In either direction.