ICN's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on "No CGI" is really just invisible CGI in ~movies
ICN Link ParentI think part of it is like the enjoyment of a good stage magic trick; It's fun to speculate just how they managed to do something, creating an illusion of the impossible while remaining strictly...I think part of it is like the enjoyment of a good stage magic trick; It's fun to speculate just how they managed to do something, creating an illusion of the impossible while remaining strictly within the bounds of reality.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
ICN (edited )Link ParentGlad to hear you're having fun too. That second Skoude seems like some real bad luck; I think it must've been some other creature getting polymorphed into one. Looking forward to seeing if any of...Glad to hear you're having fun too. That second Skoude seems like some real bad luck; I think it must've been some other creature getting polymorphed into one. Looking forward to seeing if any of your experimentation bears fruit. I would recommend avoiding spoilers for a while even after you complete the main path. There is quite a lot to do outside of it, to the point where it's often called finishing the tutorial in the community. And good luck!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
ICN Link ParentThat was enjoyable to read, thank you. You're right, it was fun watching you speculate as the the nature of Stevari and angry gods. Honestly, I was surprised by how well you did; IIRC it was a...That was enjoyable to read, thank you. You're right, it was fun watching you speculate as the the nature of Stevari and angry gods. Honestly, I was surprised by how well you did; IIRC it was a while before I was able to deal just retribution to Steve for all the times they took it out on me when a worm wrecked their stuff. Nice work.
There's nothing like a good digging wand. There are a few different spells that can dig through anything like plasma cutter, which is a good thing because no matter how careful I try to be, I always end up accidentally blasting myself when I use that one.
The tombstone thing in the tree is one of 3 (IIRC) structures that seem significant, but aren't, to my great annoyance when I ended up looking them up. That one is monument to the first player or streamer (I forget which) to successfully complete a certain type of challenge. It can be useful though since IIRC it's an easier way to find the Kantele room for many players. The second structure is the achievement pillars at the top of the tree, which are a monument to you; as you do various things in the game, you'll unlock more bricks in the achievement pillars. The music machine is not part of the achievement pillars. The third is a little racetrack located below the nuke room, at a place where the dense rock thins a bit in the wall if you're climbing up the pit. There's a little drone in there that you can remotely pilot around a track, but it doesn't do anything aside from that.
The mech squid boss is legitimately one of the toughest in the game, which is hilariously mean given that they're also fairly likely to be the first encountered. Even on games where I can breeze through the layers, I tend to think twice about tangling with them. I'll break their mechanics in case you'd want that and want to avoid the wiki.
Possibly the tablet foreshadows something in some other way, but it does it definitely does portend one very concrete terror that now exists in your world. Now that you've discovered the nuke spell, it's added to the pool of spells that can be found on wands. You know, those wands that enemies sometimes pick up and fire at you. Sometimes your previous successes can really come back to haunt you.
A brutally comedic death at the hands of old three eye. Once you're done with the game, or at least aren't worried about spoilers anymore, I'd recommend browsing some of the top posts of all time on the Noita reddit. The game systems sometimes come together in hilariously oblique ways to ruin a struggling Noita's day.
Thanks again, that was fun to read. It sounds like you're doing pretty well overall.
Mech squid boss details
The boss is highly resistant to many damage types, most notably explosives and projectile damage (they take .3 of the listed damage). Furthermore, they have a diminishing damage shield; when they take damage, all damage is reduced to 0 for a time thereafter. It slowly scales back to taking full damage over a period of two seconds (120 frames). The damage field modifier and the plasma series of spells ignore this. When taking damage, the boss summons a retaliatory wand strike.It fires a few different types of projectiles, IIRC in every direction with some homing and acceleration to them, making them difficult to dodge. These can polymorph, blind, nullify your spells, or teleport you. It'll also periodically summon wands that'll fire spells at you. These wands will sometimes copy your spells. Also, it'll chew through terrain to get to you if you're close enough. It's a nasty boss with a lot of things that can go wrong.
Hint towards a quest start, if wanted
You've probably noticed some hand statues in the Snowy Depths. Those warrant some investigation. -
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
ICN Link ParentThat was fun to read, thanks for the update. Nice work shredding Steve, and finding out about the Hiisi healer trick; that one can really come in handy. My experience in the jungle matches yours,...That was fun to read, thanks for the update. Nice work shredding Steve, and finding out about the Hiisi healer trick; that one can really come in handy. My experience in the jungle matches yours, where it is noticeably easier than what came before. Hiisi Base is kind of where the rubber meets the road in the game though imo; the first couple biomes, you can muddle through with your starter wands if need be. The third is a significant step up, though it's a bit sparsely populated and with the wide open spaces you can rush for the holy mountain if need be. Hiisi Base though is cramped, full of enemies, riddled with metal, and stuffed with explosives. In comparison, the jungle is a nice quiet place to recover after the mayhem.
Then comes the Vault, and your nice tropical vacation ends. Sudden death is a quintessential Noita experience, so you can rest in peace knowing you're playing the game as intended.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
ICN Link ParentThanks, I'm looking forward to the update. I appreciate a challenge when it can hit just the right difficulty sweet spot. Noita often frustrates me in this regard, but somehow I keep coming back...Thanks, I'm looking forward to the update. I appreciate a challenge when it can hit just the right difficulty sweet spot. Noita often frustrates me in this regard, but somehow I keep coming back anyway.
The secrets and puzzles in Noita cover an interesting range. Some are built on a personal level, where it's entirely possible someone will figure it out themselves. Some are built more on a community level, where the chance of any specific player doing the right thing is low, but the chance that somebody in the community will do it is high. Then there's one that people still haven't figured out. IIRC the progress menu keeps track of how many secrets you've found.
There isn't any way to remove an always cast from a wand, but there is one modifier that would do the trick here. The Spells to Power modifier does exactly what it says; converts spells around you into more damage for a projectile. If you found that somewhere, you could use it to clean up the old instances of Circle of Stillness. There are a lot of spells and modifiers though, so it's unlikely to turn up. Still, if you end up tossing the wand, maybe leave it somewhere you'll remember in case you want to double back.
A quick note on lag, the Gold is Forever perk can potentially cause some issues in longer games where you go off the beaten path. I'd avoid it myself.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
ICN Link ParentNoita is lots of fun, in a brutally unforgiving way. I've been diving back in myself with the update. Going for as few spoilers as possible is the right move; Noita is a game that rewards...Noita is lots of fun, in a brutally unforgiving way. I've been diving back in myself with the update. Going for as few spoilers as possible is the right move; Noita is a game that rewards exploration and experimentation, unless it's one of those times it punishes you for it (the creature that has killed me the most according to the game stats is myself). I'd enjoy updates on your playthroughs, as sadly the only way to recapture that initial exploratory experience in games is vicariously.
One note, the green tablet should automatically translate if you stand next to it for a few seconds (at least they do for me in English). Also have some notes on mechanical controls that aren't made quite clear by the game (or at least for me, I didn't realize they were a thing until I read someone else pointing them out), but just in case you want to avoid even those I'll spoiler them.
Game control notes
-Kicking moves in the direction of your cursor, not just away from you.-The force of objects launched by spells (dynamite, bombs, things like that) is determined by the distance from the Noita to your cursor, i.e. the farther your cursor the farther they'll go.
-Right clicking a potion icon on your inventory bar will drink 10% of it.
-You can drink liquids/eat some things by pressing down next to them.
And one hint that makes starting out a little nicer, in case you want it. It sheds some light on one game mechanic, but I wouldn't say it spoils anything.
What could it be?
That green tablet you found is a very practical and useful item.If you have any questions, feel free to let me know; I've done quite a lot of what there is to do and can use the wiki without fear of spoilers at this point, so if you want a hint or clarification on something I can serve as a buffer.
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Comment on Scientific research suggests it might be a good idea to add python to your diet in ~food
ICN LinkThis article seems a bit disingenuous to me. Yes, pythons have a high food-to-meat-produced conversion ratio compared to other livestock animals, but isn't that because pythons eat meat rather...This article seems a bit disingenuous to me. Yes, pythons have a high food-to-meat-produced conversion ratio compared to other livestock animals, but isn't that because pythons eat meat rather than plants?
Possibly there could be a situation where pythons could effectively recycle meat waste products from other animals into more meat, but there are so many hurdles involved, in addition to health questions of whether it'd be safe for humans to eat the meat of an animal fed entirely by meat unfit for human consumption, with the moral considerations looming on top of it all.
Also, they acknowledge they didn't factor in how snake meat actually tastes, so it may all be moot. Any Tilderinos tried it?
Edit: Missed MimicSquid's comment, which covers the inefficiency inherent to feeding an animal meat to make meat.
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Comment on New moons of Uranus and Neptune announced in ~space
ICN LinkIt's incredible to me that something like this is possible. A quick bit of math and a search for the closest Uranus is to Earth suggests that finding the smaller moon is like spotting the head of...It's incredible to me that something like this is possible. A quick bit of math and a search for the closest Uranus is to Earth suggests that finding the smaller moon is like spotting the head of a pin from 325 km (or 202 miles) away. And that's the best case, while also being done on Earth, with all that pesky atmosphere making things even more difficult. It's just astounding.
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Comment on Does anyone else have posting anxiety? in ~tech
ICN Link ParentHuh, I hadn't considered them that before, but I don't see what else they could qualify as.Huh, I hadn't considered them that before, but I don't see what else they could qualify as.
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Comment on Does anyone else have posting anxiety? in ~tech
ICN Link ParenteM dash for Musings eN dash for Numbers In case that helps anyone remember the difference better This post is made without punctuation so as to avoid any appearance of biaseM dash for Musings
eN dash for Numbers
In case that helps anyone remember the difference betterThis post is made without punctuation so as to avoid any appearance of bias
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
ICN Link ParentEmergency building project, we must construct a courthouse at once in light of this heinous crime.Emergency building project, we must construct a courthouse at once in light of this heinous crime.
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Comment on Bluesky Social is now open to the public in ~tech
ICN Link ParentAh, serves me right for going off vague memories instead of proper research. Thanks for the correction.Ah, serves me right for going off vague memories instead of proper research. Thanks for the correction.
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Comment on Bluesky Social is now open to the public in ~tech
ICN LinkI don't think Bluesky is really going to make it; it's in too awkward of a position. For one thing, I think we've all seen that it's quite difficult to get people to switch platforms in serious...I don't think Bluesky is really going to make it; it's in too awkward of a position. For one thing, I think we've all seen that it's quite difficult to get people to switch platforms in serious numbers. Network effects and inertia are tough challenges to overcome.
Secondly, even before Twitter was bought out, the general vibe I got from people (not having used the platform myself) was that it had gone downhill and its "villain of the day" algorithm led to a ton of exhausting outrage and toxicity. So Twitter 2, from the guy who brought you Twitter 1, is going to be a hard sell to a lot of people.
So Bluesky's pitch read, to me, as trying to get people to go through all the effort of jumping ship, for a return to when things were better but still a long ways from good. There is a small community there, and small communities can keep going for quite some time, but that's not going to look like success to big tech companies and the VC money I'm guessing is behind it.
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Comment on It took divorce to make my marriage equal – I spent twelve years fighting for an equal partnership, when what I needed was a divorce [2020] in ~life
ICN Link ParentIt's great that you and your partner do that for each other, but I think the praise is just how the issue manifests, rather than the core issue itself. The real problem is when the man feels like...It's great that you and your partner do that for each other, but I think the praise is just how the issue manifests, rather than the core issue itself. The real problem is when the man feels like they've gone above and beyond, when in reality they haven't actually made up for the imbalance that existed in the first place. Like, it's great that they emptied the dishwasher this time, but it needs to happen every time if things are actually going to change. If the man only does it when they get a lot of praise for it, or if they never learn it well enough so that the woman always has to finish up afterwards, they haven't actually taken the matter off her plate; there's still a significant amount of emotional labor that remains.
And while praise is nice, I think what most of the women who write stuff like this are looking for is balance in a relationship of equals. Getting praised for how much harder you work or how much better you are at working more often doesn't feel that good if you're supposed to be partners.
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Comment on Extreme metal guitar skills linked to intrasexual competition, but not mating success in ~science
ICN Link ParentFor anyone who enjoys this sort of thing BAHfest has some similar silly science vibes. People make an absurd hypothesis, then justify it as best they can.For anyone who enjoys this sort of thing BAHfest has some similar silly science vibes. People make an absurd hypothesis, then justify it as best they can.
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Comment on A new global gender divide is emerging in ~life
ICN Link ParentFair enough; complicated issues don't boil down to a single cause. The fundamental shift in the human experience in recent times is likely a significant factor, as you point out, and there are...Fair enough; complicated issues don't boil down to a single cause. The fundamental shift in the human experience in recent times is likely a significant factor, as you point out, and there are also financial difficulties, climate change, increased atomization, and more.
Problems often bear some similarity to the coastline paradox; the deeper you go searching for the cause, the more issues you find.
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Comment on A new global gender divide is emerging in ~life
ICN Link ParentFirst, I think we might've talked past each other a bit, or I misinterpreted something. My interpretation of the conversation was an initial assertion that misogyny was to blame, your rebuttal...First, I think we might've talked past each other a bit, or I misinterpreted something. My interpretation of the conversation was an initial assertion that misogyny was to blame, your rebuttal that it's a cultural issue, and then my response is that if it's a cultural issue born out of misogyny, it's still a misogyny issue.
Second, to address your point about birth and marriage rates that I didn't before, there's nothing stating that misogyny is going to express itself in the same ways at all levels.
At a 10 (completely made up number for illustrative purposes) on the misogyny scale, women don't have any choices. Birth and marriage rates are high, because they're completely dictated by what men want with no concern for the women involved.
At a 5, women get choices, but they're bad ones. Everything comes with a serious price attached. Birth rates are low, because having a family will tank their career, lead to a huge and unevenly distributed amount of new work, and many other issues. Marriage rates are low because women can now, as opposed to when they had no options, choose not to get into terrible marriages with still plentiful misogynistic men, or divorce them.
In short, high misogyny can cause high birth/marriage rates, since women are denied agency. But medium misogyny can lower birth/marriage rates too, since women can use the agency they get to opt out of making the unfairly biased and unjust choices society gives them.
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Comment on A new global gender divide is emerging in ~life
ICN Link ParentI'm unconvinced that misogyny isn't the primary driver. You blame a hyper competitive economy and a status-obsessed culture. The culture sounds to me like the natural evolution of a society where...I'm unconvinced that misogyny isn't the primary driver. You blame a hyper competitive economy and a status-obsessed culture. The culture sounds to me like the natural evolution of a society where men can gain status and financial security on their own, but women can only gain the same through men. My understanding is that South Korea has made some strides, but there's still a long ways to go on the matter of gender equality, and culture is slow to change.
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Comment on ‘No cash accepted’ signs are bad news for millions of unbanked Americans in ~finance
ICN Link ParentIIRC, the interest rates on payday loans were actually lower when the mob was running an equivalent. They're absurdly predatory.IIRC, the interest rates on payday loans were actually lower when the mob was running an equivalent. They're absurdly predatory.
I enjoyed the update, thank you. Meant to reply a bit sooner, but had a busy couple days there. Congratulations on winning! Turns out the noita was the bad guy all along. There are 3 other endings possible (though one of them I'd say is more tedious than entertaining to get), all of which are triggered by bringing the Sampo to a different location (same location for all 3 alternative endings; the ending you get depends on a different factor).
Fun fact to add on to concentrated mana, it also dissolves all kinds of metal. Ping pong path + luminous drill is a classic; the way that one works is that ping pong path adds a significant boost to the hidden lifetime modifier stat. Good eye catching those musical notes on the wall. That wand you found floating by the mine entrance is really strange; my best guess is that a chest got destroyed and the wand inside clipped up through the terrain.
Great job with the minibosses. Half the point of flexible games is creatively cheesing encounters, and tricking the mech squid into making the same mistakes you've previously made with spells is clever. Honestly, you got very lucky with Tapion Vassali; they're new, so I'd forgotten about them, but they're real mean. Small spoiler here, but otherwise you find out by just dying: They scale based on the number of innocent animals you've killed, and they reflect damage, with a minimum of 300% of damage dealt if you're seeing them (you have to kill 30 animals for them to spawn in the first place). Really dodged a bullet there fortunately.
It's possible to create so many types of wands in Noita, but sadly some tried and true styles are often better than the really fancy ones.
You were very scary that run, but I'm afraid you need to deal a million damage in one shot to get the gods to fear you.
Alchemic Precursor and Lively Concoction (Dark blue and pale green respectively) are two alchemic substances whose recipe is randomly determined each seed, each being a combination of 3 different liquids or powders. There's no way in game of determining the recipe for your seed, but it's worth keeping an eye out for them (Lively Concoction heals).
Polymorphine and its variants are the most dangerous substances in the game. There are ways to get to the point where you can swim in acid without worry, but poly will always be a threat.
The refreshing gourd and the final boss thing is an example of what I meant as secrets built on a community level. The chances of any specific player trying that are pretty low, but the chances of somebody trying it is quite high.
On the key quest, I'm afraid you were in the area of the wrong staircase. That's very understandable though, considering the "staircases" are normally invisible.
And again, congratulations on winning, and thanks for the updates; it's really been fun for me seeing someone else experience it.
Other ending location spoiler
The Mountain Altar, which floats right about the point of the mountain. There are actually quite a few things you can sacrifice on it.