Ask me anything (me = forum)

Why do you so often see checkerboard patterns in isometric and early 3D games?

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It’s very easy to create, it’s monochrome so it’s file size could be compressed with out losing detail and was striking at the time. It’s also a common linoleum tile configuration so nearly everyone had already seen it by the time somebody who is was educated as a coder to do some level design.

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I have a pet theory that it was a useful placeholder texture for measuring units of distance and it looked cool so they ran with it

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I think it’s an effective and efficient (like @Chekhonte mentioned) way to convey the depth of a 3d space in a 2d image.

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it’s because Rick Nielsen was popular in 1980s japan. Theres a whole album about this

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+1 What everyone said.

On the production side, in 3D art production specifically folks use a checkerboard-like pattern texture when laying out UVs on a 3D mesh, essentially to make sure whatever texture work you apply to the final mesh will be unstretched and straight (this was the biggest pain in the ass with organic models :stuck_out_tongue: ).

In 2D sprite work I use a lot of checkerboard stuff for layout/measurement. Although it rarely gets seen in the final output.

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Working on my own isometric throwback platformer but the terrain pattern is houndstooth.

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Does anyone have any recent experience with Greyhound buses? I’ve taken one before, but its been years.

I’m thinking about taking the Greyhound from Cleveland to Chicago in a couple of weeks and trying to gauge if it will be a safe option for traveling alone.

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amtrak not an option?

It would be, but my only experience along this route was awful (delayed +8 hours or so).

Might be willing to take that chance again tho if it’s a matter of safety.

The Megabus used to be a great cheap option, but no longer runs in OH at all. I don’t know the story behind that.

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I don’t have any recent greyhound experience, but the Chicago terminal on Harrison remains an infamously rough spot. Can be a gamble with delays on amtrak (though same goes for greyhound) but it’s like a 7 hr train ride vs 12 by bus, so even with a delay you could still come out ahead. Far less dehumanizing experience too in my imo

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I took a series of Greyhounds/regional Greyhound partners across the country in 2022, which included the Cleveland to Chicago route you’re thinking about. In terms of safety, I don’t think it’s really any different from the Megabus, which it sounds like you’ve taken before. It’s just very crowded, not exactly comfortable, and you’re amongst a bunch of people who have also been experiencing varying degrees of discomfort for many hours.

If what you’re worried about is, say, harassment, that definitely feels like something that could happen – but you’re surrounded by other people (I think they generally sell out pretty much every seat on that route). All of the stops are in crowded stations or rest stops. So it’s not like you’ll ever be alone with anyone, and for particularly egregious behavior I’d like to imagine that others would step in. I don’t think it’s very likely that you’ll sit next/near a bad actor – but of course in the off chance that you do, you could be with them for multiple hours. So you have to factor that into any risk calculations.

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has anyone played Thousand Empty Light? If so is it actually good or is it more analog horror nerd shit?

I was just gonna ask about megabus, that’s odd!

I looked it up and I guess it’s the ole coronavirus, or at least that’s the excuse.

(also, I accidentally posted the Walz dreamcast stuff by accident first so I’ll leave it for posterity)

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tim walz played dreamcast on a megabus because while having covid?

I’m pretty sure you posted the wrong image but this is funnier

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I certainly did!!

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Why is Sonic the only member of Team Sonic not named after a body part?

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Canonically I believe Sonic gave them their names when he taught them to speak English

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his last name is The Hedgehog so in a way he’s named after his whole body

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Recursively, an important protein was named Sonic hedgehog, so Sonic is named after a part of the body now.

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