i have been gaming.

all sorts of games really, more and more as of recently and recentlier. approximately half a year ago, minecraft was the only thing i played. but it turns out minecraft is actually kind of annoying in some ways. the design is very conducive to the 2-week-phase, but not to long term gaming.

i started playing some non-sandbox games, but also more sandbox games. im still for the most part a sandbox gamer. just that much less of that is happening in minecraft. cities skylines is nice, though the design of it is horrible when it comes to avoiding car-centrism. i wish this was better, but i can live with it nonetheless. luanti has some very good games, like age of mending. i also looked at some other stuff the author is doing and they are incredibly based. unfortunately they are also a massive discord dweller. there is no community place other than discord. fuck.

oh well, i ceased the gaming for 4 or 5 hours and coded a forum software called plank. it now runs an unofficial forum for the game at aom.tudbut.de. theres also a metaforum for plank itself at plank.tudbut.de.

i then continued gaming.

the best thing about age of mending, in my opinion, is that it is NOT a survival game. it is a creative game played in a mode with limited resources and movement. its a bit like minecraft survival mode, but not about survival. its creative mode but without feeling so pointless because you *do* need a bit of infrastructure. you have to gather resources, but doing so is easy as shit and fun by itself. you have to find ways to travel, but doing so is very easy and can be very fast. things complement eachother. theres airships, teleport spires, water ships, craftable elytras. each have some downside. transit spires are highly immobile, taking a few minutes to activate when placed down. elytras cant be used for building and there are no rockets (glide only). airships require coal. water ships are waterbound. walking is slow but versatile. it all has its place. none of them are so slow as to be annoying.

the world is also well-designed. things are fantastical but they all fit into one cohesive vision. overall its just a very good game. it deserves a forum.

it seems gaming always inevitably leads me to make something new. this is good - it means it brings me into a relatively healthy loop of relaxation and creation, both of which are good and ultimately good for my mood. i unfortunately cant always create though, otherwise i would. i just dont have enough ideas to always do it, but by mixing in enjoyable relaxation i bypass this issue.