tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post7997905869982198380..comments2024-03-29T02:34:55.592-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 460: Ultimuh MCMLXVII: Part 2 of the 39th Trilogy - The Quest for the Golden Amulet (1993)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-12977466795632899002022-07-28T12:50:10.951-04:002022-07-28T12:50:10.951-04:00That is called "not knowing how to write a ba...That is called "not knowing how to write a basic sprite clipping function".Radianthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03866535042372152723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-36168748855344483842022-07-28T12:02:18.965-04:002022-07-28T12:02:18.965-04:00The enemy sprites wrapping around so that they'...The enemy sprites wrapping around so that they're simultaneously ahead of you and behind you when they first appear is somehow very disturbing. Or are you perhaps running around in a circle?<br /><br />Another disturbing thing is how you can see through yourself, except for the hair/beard/whatever that black squiggly line is.Tipihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11416637333851125884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-31868080090541406012022-07-25T22:36:41.484-04:002022-07-25T22:36:41.484-04:00(My MCMDXVII is not a valid Roman numeral. An elem...(My MCMDXVII is not a valid Roman numeral. An elementary mistake on my part.)catsmokenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83981884343283617502022-07-25T13:03:21.535-04:002022-07-25T13:03:21.535-04:00Making fun of hippies and the "Summer of Love...Making fun of hippies and the "Summer of Love" is another option. (Do any famous records from 1967 display the copyright year in Roman numerals?) Hagiography of the 1960s usually focuses on that year above all others.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-17561368450732465642022-07-25T12:37:00.887-04:002022-07-25T12:37:00.887-04:00Oh, I don't know -- I can find a lot of amusem...Oh, I don't know -- I can find a lot of amusement and fascination in Daisy Ashford's <i>The Young Visiters</i> [sic], which is incredibly and unintentionally humorous, or even the likes of "Tails Gets Trolled".<br /><br />On the other hand, Pokey is too self-aware for my taste. That's kind of the problem here: one can perceive the <i>Ultimuh</i> authors patting themselves on the back, and for a lot of humor, that's lethal.<br /><br />The topic of how and when incompetence/crudity is amusing, when it's not, and how deliberate incompetence can be essential to the effect of a piece of art is a fascinating one; a lot of the time I think the appearance of <i>unselfconsciousness</i> is crucial.<br /><br />In any event I don't see absurdity as an elevated form of childishness, but I'm not a huge fan of baking value judgments into descriptive terminology anyway.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-27988783766826221482022-07-25T01:20:52.911-04:002022-07-25T01:20:52.911-04:00I've zero qualms about speculating, so I'l...I've zero qualms about speculating, so I'll offer another likely possibility: The Roman numeral was on a diploma or other official document that was hanging upon the wall of the office or room in which the computer (in the photograph of the two young gentlemen) was located. catsmokenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-52676177934826219992022-07-25T01:16:39.224-04:002022-07-25T01:16:39.224-04:00Here I agree with Rowan. If you don't know Rom...Here I agree with Rowan. If you don't know Roman numerals, you're probably not going to create one that has a valid sequence of characters, even if you start with some basics such as Ms at the beginning and Is at the end. The number MCMDXXVII specifically succeeds in satisfying a couple of tricky requirements, particularly the correct combination to give 1900, and also the correct use of the uncommonly-occurring numeral D.<br /><br />It's most likely that this number was cribbed from the publication data found on the copyright page of a book. A randomly selected book from off the shelf of a typical middle-class American home in the late 1980s would have quite probably given a date of 1967 in Roman numerals.<br /><br />It is also somewhat probable that one of the game's creators had a birth year of 1967. So the number might have been chosen for that reason, and if that was the case, perhaps one of the creators had that Roman numeral available on some personal memento or memorabilia. catsmokenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1771169912908223622022-07-25T01:01:02.779-04:002022-07-25T01:01:02.779-04:00"Pokey the Penguin" is a deconstruction ..."Pokey the Penguin" is a deconstruction of the comic strip artform, but its humor lies in its absurdity.<br /><br />"Ultimuh" is not absurd, it is merely childish. And therein one does find a certain charm.<br /><br />Absurdity can be fascinating—especially in its ambiguity, and ambiguity can be an important characteristic of art—and it can be extremely humorous. Childishness is not fascinating, nor is it humorous. catsmokenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-23475045521815032162022-07-24T20:27:44.170-04:002022-07-24T20:27:44.170-04:00Thanks for explaining RowanThanks for explaining RowanCanageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25405268489305480982022-07-10T01:07:23.150-04:002022-07-10T01:07:23.150-04:00Desert Bus is also not a standalone product, but o...Desert Bus is also not a standalone product, but one of multiple entries in a "video game" intended as a practical joke. Not really the same thing.Adamanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424537596238450467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83714757192470481282022-07-09T23:26:37.715-04:002022-07-09T23:26:37.715-04:00I think it's a deconstruction of the form. &qu...I think it's a deconstruction of the form. "Desert Bus" is a pretty apt comparison. It's absolutely not intended to be fun, or interesting, or clever. It's value is in it's existence.<br /><br />It reminds me of the web comic <a href="https://www.yellow5.com/pokey/archive/" rel="nofollow">Pokey the Penguin</a>.Iffy Bonzooliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07519858732154180575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-79738613683502459882022-07-09T20:08:41.567-04:002022-07-09T20:08:41.567-04:00I missed the rest of the conversation while campin...I missed the rest of the conversation while camping, but just to clarify, as a younger man with more time on his hands I made a hobby of enshrining incredibly niche, obscure and borderline games by documenting them on Mobygames, figuring that the bigger, more important and significant games would inevitably be covered by someone else and that these weird little mysteries and evolutionary dead-ends would be more "fun" to put down in the history books. As as been noted, MG requires games to be assigned a genre, and sometimes with marginal games offering little in terms of gameplay you need to fudge it a bit. This made me few friends among the MG approvers but like the fool who persists in his folly, I have now figured out how to slip game entries in there successfully provided I don't rock the boat too much.<br /><br />The Addict's sass originates from my having been responsible, through my period of MobyGames abuse, for throwing several memorable pseudo-RPGs in his path, problems he needed to come to terms with -- speed bump games like Girlfriend Construction Set, Operation Overkill, Bob's Dragon Hunt and Braminar. I first discovered this blog by looking up to investigate whether more information had since surfaced about that latter game after I gave it its first online summary anywhere on MG to find the Addict questioning which idiot had thrown this obstacle in his path. While I wasn't actively trolling, giving that kind of feedback to an impish personality is very vindicating. I'm very glad to see my perverse spree is still paying dividends.Rowan Lipkovitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22513975927832607012022-07-09T19:54:25.522-04:002022-07-09T19:54:25.522-04:00If I had to speculate again, I would assume that r...If I had to speculate again, I would assume that rather than putting work into working something out or devoting resources into being clever, they simply looked up a valid large Roman numeral from the credits of a VHS tape they had handy (maybe it was, I don't know, Cool Hand Luke), to fulfil their arbitrary requirement of an unfunny punchline for an unfunny joke.Rowan Lipkovitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48265673231291084122022-07-07T08:48:50.296-04:002022-07-07T08:48:50.296-04:00Well, brave anonymous, as the person who used the ...Well, brave anonymous, as the person who used the term, I can promise you that is not what it means. <br /><br />This discussion, having reached the apex of absurdity, is now over.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48656880677020433702022-07-07T02:54:22.613-04:002022-07-07T02:54:22.613-04:00A good tip to any type of speech is "not be a...A good tip to any type of speech is "not be a jerk". However this is NOT what "punching down" means, this is a dog whistle to say that the groups which the dominant ideology dissaproves are fair game. So you can laught about the antics and follys of white poor but you are not allowed to do the same of black poor.<br />"Punching down" is only a justification of this ideoligical double standard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-2040217972832711552022-07-07T02:21:51.562-04:002022-07-07T02:21:51.562-04:00Sadly, no, it was almost 25 years ago, and I have ...Sadly, no, it was almost 25 years ago, and I have barely kept in contact with anyone from college. I did find this article about him, though:<br /><br />https://www.fastcompany.com/3035479/the-art-of-defictionalization-turning-fake-movie-and-tv-products-into-a-re<br /><br />Which means this is his company:<br /><br />http://www.omniconsumerproductscorporation.com/Iffy Bonzooliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07519858732154180575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-45337761740975062802022-07-06T16:52:38.623-04:002022-07-06T16:52:38.623-04:00That's a funny coincidence. Any chance you sti...That's a funny coincidence. Any chance you still have his contact information? I wouldn't mind hearing from him about the music if nothing else.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-3339838705520263402022-07-06T16:47:25.454-04:002022-07-06T16:47:25.454-04:00See? The copy almost writes itself.See? The copy almost writes itself.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-88611375386621831082022-07-06T16:01:12.300-04:002022-07-06T16:01:12.300-04:00While I concede PK Thunder's point, I still th...While I concede PK Thunder's point, I still think my original trio stands as good advice because of what Ross said. If you can crack a joke about a mentally disabled person or a Holocaust victim that those people themselves would laugh at, more power to you, but 99% of the people who try are just looking for the freedom to be insulting, and 99% of their attempts will come across that way.<br /><br />Anyway, this entire discussion is largely moot because it doesn't apply to this situation. After introducing the point everyone's debating, I said immediately that it's not an issue with <i>Ultimuh</i>.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-56003122258543602762022-07-06T14:57:44.009-04:002022-07-06T14:57:44.009-04:00Well, Ultimuh is either a "role-playing game ...Well, Ultimuh is either a "role-playing game without character development" (this is an oxymore) or a "side-scrolling platformer game without jumping" or an "adventure game without inventory". <br /><br />Whichever the genre, it lacks something essential. It makes me think of Penn & Teller's "Desert Bus". Both require neither reflexes nor thinking, just a certain amount of patience. Abacoshttps://strategywiki.org/wiki/User:Abacos noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40536802249603132852022-07-06T14:22:01.748-04:002022-07-06T14:22:01.748-04:00I appreciate the nuanced, thoughtful response. In ...I appreciate the nuanced, thoughtful response. In a blog comments section, no less! I must be dreaming.Johnny Donuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13826053108042039206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-3162239746692607212022-07-06T14:11:17.499-04:002022-07-06T14:11:17.499-04:00The idea of not "punching down" is lauda...The idea of not "punching down" is laudable in principle, but the reality is more complex. Key and Peele have a funny skit about the issue:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTbJZ64sVM<br /><br />When we treat someone as beyond ridicule because of their group membership, we risk dehumanizing them, patronizing them, and ignoring their own wishes. Of course it can spectacularly backfire (as we see in the skit above!), but even so, a lot of the rhetoric about "punching down" seems to be a way for members of the elite to signal their elite status to one another, rather than an accurate representation of the expressed wishes of marginalized people. Many marginalized people specifically <i>don't</i> want to be treated with kid gloves or deference; many find that kind of treatment to be crushingly depressing and don't want <i>anyone</i> speaking on their behalf to the contrary, no matter how well-meaning. Also see this anecdote from Mel Brooks:<br /><br />https://cfolger1.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/mel-brooks-most-embarrassing-moment/<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cullen#Physical_disability<br /><br />To many people, equality means having your chops busted as mercilessly as anyone's. And while they don't speak for everyone in their constituency, that's exactly the point: <b>no one</b> can speak for everyone in their constituency, or for that constituency <i>en masse</i> at all. Everyone speaks, and should speak, only for themselves.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-2397006441596899602022-07-06T13:28:06.010-04:002022-07-06T13:28:06.010-04:00I had never heard of Scalzi's Law (the failure...I had never heard of Scalzi's Law (the failure mode of 'clever' is 'asshole')... I don't agree that's true 100% of the time, but it's certainly applicable to the concept of "punching down". <br /><br />Not sure if you came up with the phrase "if you punch down and you miss, you punch yourself in the dick", but I love it.Johnny Donuthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13826053108042039206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44482592359932731412022-07-06T07:42:55.090-04:002022-07-06T07:42:55.090-04:00What I would say about punching up and punching do...What I would say about punching up and punching down and comedy in general is this: yes, it should be permissable for comedy to pick any target, BUT, Scalzi's law is particularly applicable when punching down: the failure state of "clever" is "asshole". If you punch down and you miss, you punch yourself in the dick. Everyone who punches down for comedy goes into it thinking that they are so clever that their joke will be funny enough to cancel out the fact that they are comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted. There is no necessary reason that they must be wrong about this, but they usually are.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09703211229982182936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-63948668530738898492022-07-06T07:29:20.325-04:002022-07-06T07:29:20.325-04:00Mobygames is indeed a great tool. Other items of f...Mobygames is indeed a great tool. Other items of frustration :<br />- For anything before let's say 1990, the year is incorrect 50% of the time. Usually it is one year off, rarely two years.<br />- The all-encompassing "Simulation" genre. Pilot a Mig-21 ? Simulation. Manage an empire ? Simulation. Manage a nuclear power plant ? Simulation. Try to sleep with as many ladies as possible with nice PG-18 art ? Play Golf ? Sport and simulation. Simulation. Avoid Cylons in a top-view arcade game ? Action and simulation !<br /><br />I also wish a way to search by "date added" so I can quickly check if there are stuff I should add to my list.Narwhal, the Wargaming Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05808952600298482923noreply@blogger.com