There’s an Aztec city building game called Tlatoani. It’s in early access, but has enough meat on the bone that it’s one of my goto games.
Out of curiosity I checked Steam DB for active player numbers. I have discovered at any given point I am 10% to 25% of the given player base BY MYSELF. I am 1 of 4 people playing this game right now in the world. With the prevalence of the internet I always assume whatever weird bullshit you’re into there’s at least a thousand people talking about it; making memes outsiders could never comprehend. It’s actually novel to fly under the radar for once.
What do you do that doesn’t have a community associated with it?
Well… I’m using an instance that has 10 active users according to https://piefed.fediverse.observer/list :)
I wanted to move from Lemmy to PieFed, because its development is faster than that of Lemmy’s and because its maintainers have values I have nothing against and because I want to help a cool project grow.
And then I had a bunch of criteria that I wanted my instance to fulfill, and piefed.ee was the only PieFed instance that fulfilled all of my wishes. So, now I’m apparently one out of ten :)
What was your criteria?
nice!
You’re one in a million to me
i.e., there are approximately 1,400 people in China just like you.
Glad you found a happy cozy home. Appreciative that I can reply to you from heart of the old beast!
Relative to all the well known commercial social media platforms though aren’t we all into something here hardly anyone else knows about, whether 10 users or a few thousand?
Earlier this year I tried out a Steam demo of a game called “That Time I Found a Box” and got hooked on it. It’s a very unique card game where you create and enhance the cards as you play. I played it for days and eventually beat the demo - the devs told me I was the first person to beat it.
The full version just came out on Steam - I’d recommend taking a look. It’s a bit janky and not for everybody, but it does something unique that really clicked for me.
Sticky Mustache, is that you?
Uh, I don’t think so…
Okay, there just was a review that had pretty much the same content you wrote :)
That reminds me, I need to write a review for the full version, thanks!
This was funny because I went back to see if the review I just read was Sticky Mustache, and it was actually pruwyben!
I still love Garry’s Mod animations. Basically using stop-motion-style tools to make low-effort animations with familiar characters on Source engine maps.
They don’t fit the YouTube algorithm now though; creators can’t just put up a new animation every few weeks. It was at its best when the whole community was just posting stuff in leapfrog formation, rather than competing for their audience every day.
I like learning writing systems, but I only know 4 of them, and two of them just for playing original Pokemon games in Japanese.
I love writing systems of all kinds, but besides Greek and Cyrillic (and my native Latin) I never really managed to dedicate enough time to memorize them long-term. All my Korean is gone and can only get like 30% of the Arabic alphabet now… It’s something I’d love to invest more tike into, actually.
(to be clear, when I say Arabic, it’s actually the farsi variation… only because I know a surprising number of Iranian people)
Oh yes, definitely ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
In real life, I know all couple people who are also interested in watches, but mostly nobody wears a watch at all anymore, let alone is interested in them as a hobby.
Also, fountain pens. I love pens. I love finding them at antique stores and restoring them. There’s a little bit of a community here, not like there was on reddit though.
Calculators. I think I’m alone there. Vintage TI, HP, and modern Casio.
Staplers. Especially Ace.
As for games, probably Battlezone II. Such fun multi-player, now I have nobody to play with. So many good mods, and I can’t get any of them to work in Mint. One reason I still have an XP machine.
Not really.
I’m building a decentralised file system.
It works, is FOSS and all.
I’m addicted to buying crappy antique and vintage shotguns and restoring them. Have so many now I can hardly justify another. I know, I’m ruining the antique value by stripping the metal and wood, but they’re ~$150 items, not exactly rare.
Look at this $119 ($160 by the time I get it home) piece of crap!
https://www.guns.com/used-guns/p/companhia-brasileira-de-cartuchos-151?i=571883
Never even heard of that brand, let alone the model. Bet I could make it dance and sing for a week’s worth of evenings. It’s a single-shot, can’t be too fucked up. Probably.
That’s pretty neat! Can you describe the restoration process more?
It’s a piece by piece thing. First I strip the wood down, assuming that’s needed or wanted. Hella work, many blisters, stain as appropriate. Wish I had pics, but one 60s ERA (Brazilian make) single-shot was stained in what I call Confederate Blue, sort of a blue/gray mix. Girlfriend’s eyes popped when she saw it. “You told me about it, but I didn’t imagine this!” I’d take a pic, but it’s in the shed at camp. :( The single-shot hanging over my door is from the 60s or 70s, deep red, silver metal, nickle sling swivels, $20 buffalo-leather sling from eBay. Took that pic just for you OP!
That last one took over 2-months! Broke a piece fucking with it. Ordered. Waited. Tried again. Lost a spring. Ordered. Waited. Found the original spring, now have two. Refinished the wood after the first clear coat peeled off, dumb mistake, took a week of sanding, staining, drying, coating. Just about my favorite. Long barrel for full force and accuracy, tight pattern, kicks like god’s own mule. Too broke to buy more low-power shells, stuck with the monsters another gun required, bruisers, not fun. But still fun. :)
Back up. First I make sure everything is mechanically safe and sound, actually works, no “oops”, and not interested in “wall hangers”. Parts are an adventure, but Numrich gun parts has loads of old parts for cheap, diagrams for reference. “WTF is this part even called?!” Need a weird spring or piece of metal? They got it. LOL, I’ve used a ball-point pen spring!
Once it’s mechanically sound and the wood is done, time for accessories! That usually means a matching strap and some way to affix shells, maybe a sight or a new bead on the end. I like the “grab and go” way of the gun. Got a solid source for leather wraps if anyone cares, Polish outfit on eBay. I will scream to the heavens about their quality, service and pricing. Got about 6 of those, want more, too broke. When they say “20-gauge”, it ain’t a loose 12-gauge that sorta fits. Left-handed merchandise as well! :)
Not many pics, but here’s a single-shot 20-gauge I gave a dear friend for (FINALLY) graduating high school. He’s now happily married and moving up in the US Air Force! Got to hold it again at his house warming party. Gods I miss that one, want another to fix up.
This one’s new, not exciting, but I wanted a cheap, light, 12-gauge for hiking. Sawed off (legally!), stained, upside down flag nailed on. But ain’t my AR cool!
Not my work, except for adding the shell carrier and rough grip, but very much my style. 1900s (?), double-barreled, side-by-side, 12-gauge, sawed off (legally!). They stripped the blueing (blackening) off all the metal, chopped it, sanded and stained, wonderful. Can’t use modern loads, and both barrels trip at once if cocked, still fun as hell.
Wish I had more pics! Got a 90s Remington, made in Russia. You read that right. A tiny 410 with the most beautiful wood furniture I own. When my FFL handed me the box, and he usually doesn’t comment much on my purchases, “Wait till you see the wood grain.” It shines like amber in the sun.
Anyway, I better go pay attention to my wife, but your triggered my trap card! Be glad to say more!
EDIT: Stumbled on a pic! Confederate Blue shotgun on top. The colors really pop IRL! Next one is a Revelations brand from 70s/80s Western Auto Stores, first thing I ever gunsmithed, got me on this road. It’s a common Remington 500, simply rebranded. Yes, you could buy guns in auto parts stores in the day, no ID. Two Turkish POSes. First one works fine, second one’s going in the swamp. Next up is a Remington 1895, same year as the make, didn’t do much of anything to that one but clean up the wood. And the aforementioned “red”. Love that thing.
And no joke, the bug blaster on the bottom works. It’s a salt shotgun for flies. It works.
EDIT2: Found the Russian 410! Looks better in the sunlight, but you might get the idea.
This is the first thing I’ve seen here that feels like it meets the OP’s ask. What a cool hobby!
That’s so cool! I’m not at all into guns, but I love seeing other people’s expertise and the before and after of trashed to treasure, would be amazing to see.
I’ve not done much before and after, and so wish I had. Turned some real junkers into art. My kinda art anyway.
Here’s my comment on the shotguns.
My favorite thing in the whole world is dropping LSD, and listening to obscure music or watching weird shit…
Dude I can’t find ANYONE to hang out with me… I wave that flag in every social situation I find myself in. I really thought there would be more people into it.
Well, that or I’m completely unbearable to hang out with. If that’s the case I just wish people would tell me.
As someone who has never done LSD, but loves watching weird shit… I recommend checking out Aze Alter’s videos on the Capitol of Conformity. I think it starts with “Eyes for Sale” but don’t quote me. Might be a good time!
I’m hip. Thanks for the recco!
I mean that’s a giant leap for any new friend. Lsd isnt so common that the average person has experience with it. So how to have a good trip and trip safely is a necessary starting point. It’s also a multi hour to days long thing. Thats a heck of a lot of time for most People to spend not working, no family obligations, and no other needs/wants. Basically its a rare population who’s willing to trip and of those willing it’d probably be a once a year thing at best. That said of people willing to trip I would think the music and videos would be about par.
yeah taking psychedelics with someone else is like entering a relationship - you really gotta know the person and have good rapport built up, make sure all parties are prepared and on the same page, etc etc to guarantee you have a good time
or you could just roll the bones and risk having a very unpleasant 4-12 hours
I mean I’m not looking to cold open with drugs and strangers. Lol. I’d like proper friends with whom we’ve established mutual respect and trust for one another.
THEN go get weird at the Renaissance Festival, or concert, or shitty movie.
All anyone my age around here wants to do is drink shitty craft beers, hike, and watch football…
i hear you. its a hard subject to even bring up since it can be hard to gauge how others feel about it, i’d be lying if i said i didn’t also want to take psychedelics with friends. the only people i know who would even be a right fit don’t want to due to past personal experiences.
and hey, hiking is awesome! especially awesome with friends and/or drugs lol
You should try a festival. You’ll find something fun to do and plenty of people go alone.
Keep waving that flag. If we were at the same baptism reception I’d drop acid with you.
I am big into old obscure media, love ubuweb, but I would still hesitate to join a kind of unknown person for an activity like that. It’s just a big plunge.
Watch Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects - they’re absolutely terrific tv shows that should be right up your allley.
Already watched and re-watched. Lol.
Oh, that’s just a risky proposition, that’s all!
I would wager most people don’t know themselves well enough on psychedelics to trust watching weird shit with someone who is also on psychedelics.
At a glance, Tlatoani: Aztec Cities looks like a Pharoah game type city builder. I’m into this, thanks for mentioning this game OP.
Currently I’m in a similarly small population of people who play Motorstorm 1 (Monument Valley), and Motorstorm Pacific Rift online.
They work with real PS3 consoles with just a DNS change or on RPCS3 emulator.
Motorstorm Arctic Edge on PSP or PPSSPP as well but it’s played less often.
Apocalypse also kinda works but it’s pretty broken in very annoying ways, and reverse engineering needs more work.
Motorstorm RC is also supported, but I don’t play that one.
Can find the Motorstorm communities on Discord and they’re mostly using PSRewired.
Here’s an invite link for Motorstorm Online World: https://discord.gg/4sJPGDxhx
One year on Spotify I was in the top I think 1% of lou reed listeners.
I was in the top 1% for Beatles listeners a few years back. That was shocking, but it was a deep-dive I did over like 6 months, so I guess it makes sense. Still, given their popularity it really surprised me an made me question Spotify’s metrics
I might just join you in that game, it looks cool.
I’ve been playing starbound again and feels like the game has been abandoned for the last 10 years, but steam db says there’s still about ~800 players so that’s not so bad.
I’m the only person I know IRL who uses lemmy (lol) and openstreetmap :)
Sumo wrestling. OK, it definitely has more fans than “basically nobody,” although it’s not exactly popular in the west. I have noticed a couple of people talking about it on Mastodon, and there’s a community at !sumo@lemmy.world.
A while ago I stumbled upon a TV broadcast one night when I couldn’t sleep, and immediately found it interesting. Now I intentionally watch them live when I can, and otherwise catch replays the next day. A very exciting tournament just wrapped up a few days ago. The next one is in November.
I was lucky enough to be watching Sumo back in the days when Chiyonofuji was at his peak. Seeing him pick up and carry Konishiki out of the dohyō was something else.
Not seen any for years though.
Oh nice! I only got into it a little more than a year ago, but I’ve seen highlight clips of him.
If you’re interested, NHK has replays of current matches in a youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwq27hqSiIM&list=PLFEzXnIQVwV9JgQkOMJZM23G8g-wBBWKf
Ah, cool. I’ll check some out, thanks!
I’m not into it but now and then I will check out a channel on twitch called midnightsumo. The guy plays videos all of the time and has quite a following! He will talk to chat about what is going on and all. Really cool stuff! Some of the viewers are really into the sport as well so it keeps chat alive.
