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Speleothing posted:I've seen online the theory, very reasonable in my opinion, that since real life physics time dilation slows you down as you approach lightspeed, perhaps in this sci-fi system it speeds you up when you're moving faster than light. So the cryosleep pods are to stop you from aging to death as the ship moves at 6 light-months per earth day. I think that’s a reason given in Colonial Marines Technical Manual or somewhere, but I think the topic only came up in one, maybe two EU sources. Everyone else kind of ignores that and just assumes the cryosleep stuff is to save on supplies and overhead for long journeys, and to keep the crew from going nuts due to boredom. Edit— it got pointed out to me that the latter half of ‘Alien’ has the ship going FTL with the crew up and about with no ill effects, so there’s that. Edit again- and Alien Resurrection, they spend nearly the entire movie at FTL. Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Feb 2, 2024 |
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Feb 2, 2024 23:32
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I re-beat Aliens infestation on the DS for the first time in over a decade. I still like it quite a bit; the sprite work is excellent, the sound effects are on point, and the combat mostly feels solid (shooting it out with human enemies behind cover turned into me vaulting the cover and blasting them at point blank). The weapons feel varied but still have a level of parity with each other such that I found myself switching between them fairly regularly just to have different gameplay experiences without feeling like I was crippling myself. Once you get a handle on the game, it almost becomes too easy unless you get ambushed by a bunch of Aliens at once and get cornered. There’s a couple difficulty spikes (the pressure suit segment was rough, the game isn’t a very good platformer), especially the boss fights. Maybe I wasn’t taking the time to learn attack patterns enough, but I found myself brute-forcing the fights a bit. The coolest boss fight is easily the Jockey-Alien, it just looks rad and its animations are cool. The “collect Marines” gimmick is neat but it feels half-baked - you can only have 4 at a time, so you have to either leave extras behind (except for on the Sulaco which you return to a few times) or intentionally get your Marines killed to pick up new people; the game basically penalizes you for playing well and withholds one of its more interesting features unless you suck or sabotage yourself. I’d have much preferred if I could have collected everyone like pokemon and swapped between them at save stations at my leisure. It has metroidvania elements, but it’s all very rudimentary and linear to the point where I’m hesitant to call it a full metroidvania. That’s not a knock on the game, it’s still fun, and the metroidvania elements work, it just feels like “babby’s first metroidvania”. It’s still a really cool game, although it’s a little short and doesn’t offer a ton in the way of replay other than using different Marines at different story moments just to see how the dialogue changes. I’d have been interested to know how it would have meshed with Aliens: Colonial Marines had that project not gone off the rails.
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Feb 3, 2024 23:41
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Woop woop I got the Micro Machines Action Fleet Dropship for a not-terrible price by stumbling across a seller with very little feedback who had one listed in a listing that didn’t mention the word “dropship” and then lowballing them on an offer. 
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Feb 8, 2024 00:12
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feedmyleg posted:Tyrell was referenced on-screen in one of the crew profiles Aliens, but as far as I know neither Blade Runner movie has any Alien references. The Prometheus blu-ray has an Easter egg that’s a memo from Peter Weyland:  You could headcanon the two series to be in the same universe, but one of the biggest stumbling block is why are there comparatively primitive synthetics in 2089 (‘Prometheus’) when there were advanced replicants in 2019. Personally I don’t choose to merge the two. Edit— if you were to finagle the timeline for Peter’s memo, Peter was born in 1992 (he’s 101 when the Prometheus arrives at the Engineer planet in 2093) so he would have been 27 when Tyrell died in 2019. Peter founded Weyland Corp in 2012 so they could have been contemporaries. Speaking of Prometheus blu ray Easter eggs, there’s one that establishes that the planet from Prometheus (LV-233) orbits the same gas giant that LV-426 does, which feels like an unnecessary contrivance. The Easter egg even has Elizabeth Shaw detecting the Derelict’s signal (from LV-426) and mistaking it as being from the Engineer planet. Why the Prometheus itself wouldn’t have detected the Derelict signal on approach is a mystery, but maybe LV-426 was on the far side of the gas giant at the time and it blocked the signal. 
Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Feb 8, 2024 |
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Feb 8, 2024 03:58
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Blood Boils posted:Before we meet him he had to first break through his own false memories of being human! I don’t think Batty had false memories, he was wholly aware of what he was and what his lifespan would be. I believe Rachel (and Deckard if you want to go that route) were the only ones with false memories.
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Feb 8, 2024 05:58
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Blood Boils posted:It's been awhile since I've seen BR but I'm pretty sure all replicants have fake memories. Y'know, for stability. How would they function in their roles (soldier, labourer, sex worker, etc) otherwise? They can successfully navigate Los Angeles despite being outlawed on earth, which implies all kinds of knowledge and "learned" behaviors, but they didn't actually live that lifetime of experience to draw upon - they're literally only a few years old! It also explains their idiosyncrasies, like Leon knowing what a turtle is but not a tortoise. Neither of which is essential for a dock worker to know, especially one designed to only live as long as a hamster. I just fact-checked myself and yeah it looks like Rachel was the first one to have fake memories, according to Tyrell. The point of the four-year lifespan was to prevent replicants from developing emotional responses via experience - giving them memories would undermine that. Rachel was the exception and it’s why Deckard took much longer to VK test her to figure out she was a replicant. Her having memories is what made her unique.
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Feb 8, 2024 14:00
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Blood Boils posted:Hmm, that does sound like something Deckard and Tyrell discuss. drat, perhaps my memory is fake lol Think of it as an excuse to rewatch a very good movie (and find more reasons to incorporate it with Alien if that’s your thing). 
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Feb 8, 2024 17:32
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Blood Boils posted:And let's not forget PWS Anderson's Soldier! They’re different technological fields I guess, but one feels like more of a scientific technical achievement than the other for me. Having said that, what is essentially a Blade Runner replicant shows up in the Aliens/Predator “Fire & Stone” comic series.
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Feb 8, 2024 18:17
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Cessna posted:Animals are pretty much extinct in Blade Runner. Jones is absolutely a real boy. 
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Feb 13, 2024 20:13
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Cessna posted:How does a freighter crew afford a real cat in the Blade Runner 'verse? Fun fact: Jones legit is Ripley’s cat specifically - on her bridge terminal, you can spot a photo of Jones as a kitten. 
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Feb 14, 2024 16:44
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PriorMarcus posted:Ripley, keeping a photo of the cat she brought with her on her terminal, whilst having no signs of the daughter she left behind. I’d have to do some digging to confirm this, but I’m not sure that the idea that Ripley had a daughter was part of her backstory when ‘Alien’ was being made, Cameron might have created that for the sequel.
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Feb 16, 2024 13:18
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david_a posted:That feels right. The parts in the script were all famously gender neutral. I don’t know what reason someone would have had to add that detail to her backstory in Alien since it never comes up in the movie. It might have been something that got added by Ridley Scott as part of character backstories after casting had happened, but again I’d have to do some digging to fact-check it.
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Feb 16, 2024 15:23
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Schwarzwald posted:Let's not get ahead of ourselves; maybe her daughter is a cat? I think the more important question is, were we in Ripley’s shoes, would we have gone back to save Jones? I would have died for that cat. Even if the Alien was a threat to him (it wasn’t) or afraid of him (it was), I absolutely would have put myself between Jones and the Alien in order to make sure Jonesy lived. For more on this topic, see the following book: Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo https://a.co/d/5uskh3r
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Feb 17, 2024 02:59
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Covok posted:I bought the premade adventures for the Alien RPG. There is apparently a race of like black goo infected humans called the evolved trying to destroy humanity. I’d have to look it up, but that might be an adaptation of an idea from the 90s comics where there were Royal Jelly infected humans trying to destroy humanity but I don’t know if they called themselves “the evolved” off the top of my head.
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Feb 18, 2024 00:47
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PriorMarcus posted:Isn't this an urban myth? The earlier Dan O’Bannon draft of the script was gender-agnostic but the later drafts were not.
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Feb 21, 2024 17:13
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Okay okay here’s a comic book crossover pitch. Stick with me on this one. Predator vs Terminator It follows from the first two movies as a sort of alternate timeline thing, in two halves. The first half is set in 1984 - the Terminator is tracking Sarah Connor, but a Predator has come to Los Angeles to hunt. He spots the commotion at Tech Noir and his interest is piqued, so he fires a spear at the Terminator… to no effect. This puzzles the Predator, as does its weird thermal signature, so he starts actively hunting it. Confused as to how it keeps shrugging off what should be lethal damage for a human and can seemingly see right through its traps and camouflage, the Predator continues its pursuit. The Terminator, being increasingly sidetracked by the Predator’s attacks, re-prioritizes the Predator as a threat to its mission, and actively engages him - it turns into a knock-down drag-out brawl, but the Predator comes out on top. Satisfied, he claims the Terminator’s endoskull, and leaves. Part two takes place years later, when the Predator returns to earth for another hunt. In 2028, in fact. As in, post Judgment Day. The Predator is a little confused as to what Earth is a nuclear hellscape, but doesn’t get much time to think about it as Skynet detects his ship and shoots it down, leaving the Predator stranded in the ruins of LA. Now being beset on all sides by murderous robots and hostile Resistance fighters, the Predator has to use every trick up his sleeve to stay one step ahead of his pursuers and find a way off the planet.
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Mar 4, 2024 18:42
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banned from Starbucks posted:Make a movie showing what the other 12 predators on the ship were doing during Predator 2. The packaging for the NECA action figures for them gave them brief backstories to use as a springboard.
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Mar 5, 2024 05:08
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PriorMarcus posted:I hope there's at least a full issue dedicated to explaining how Skynet was invented without Cyberdyne being the location of the Terminators demise in the first film. Shh, shhhhhhhhhhhhh, we don’t talk about that. Rule of Cool trumps all. Based solely on the first movie, Skynet happens regardless of where the Terminator dies.
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Mar 5, 2024 16:11
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Splicer posted:RPG PSA: Do not throw one hit kill traps at your adventuring party. I’d have to re-read the RPG but I think it does throw one hit kill traps at players, in fitting with the setting. I mean, just look at facehuggers. Or rather, don’t. Don’t be like Kane.
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Mar 5, 2024 22:26
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I had the ‘Alien’ tie-in spoiled for me but I’m keeping my eyes closed on everything else.
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Mar 14, 2024 03:41
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In other news I’m having dinner with Andrew Gaska (author of the Alien RPG) tomorrow, and he’ll also be at the Game On Expo in Phoenix this weekend.
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Mar 14, 2024 10:51
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My local theatre is showing ‘Alien’ for Alien Day for the 45th anniversary and you’d better believe I’ll be there for it.
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Apr 6, 2024 05:51
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Got in an argument with the CreatorVC CEO on their discord about the novelty (or lack thereof) of making the minimum price for the Blu-ray release of their “Aliens: Expanded” documentary be $100 and justifying it by throwing in a bunch of extra bullshit like posters and patches to jack up the price. I argued for a less expensive version that didn’t come with a bunch of extra nonsense. Here’s some choice quotes I got as a reply: quote:Then your going to miss out unfortunately. Our work is for superfans who recognise the value of what we’re creating with them and for them. Our physical media is personalised, highly collectable and a limited run. Backers get to have their names in the credits alongside the cast of Aliens and James Cameron. The value is immeasurable quote:They way I look at it, is you either see the value in what we’re offering or you don't. Our target audience shows up because they understand and appreciate what we deliver. quote:For you, I'd recommend thinking of the posters etc as extras. The price we put on our limited edition, personalised Blu-Rays won't change. It'll be a timeless connection to the Aliens universe that you can always point to and know you will have been part of. The way I look at it is that it's a manifestation of your fandom - and a little bit special because of it 💫 Worth pointing out that a “connection to the Alien universe” might have more weight if the project wasn’t a fan project. Like, my name is in the Alien RPG. That’s a connection to the Alien universe.
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Apr 10, 2024 00:11
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banned from Starbucks posted:What do they have that hasnt already been covered by any of the making of docs on the box set? A bunch of all new interviews, off the top of my head. The_Doctor posted:That’s absolutely valid, they’re just gatekeeping their documentary at that point. gently caress ‘em, pirate it. I liked the insinuation that I wasn’t a super fan if I didn’t want the extra merch.
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Apr 10, 2024 00:43
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Baronjutter posted:Is the $100 blue ray the only method they're selling it, or there will be cheaper options to like just download it or something? You can download it for like $50. Otherwise $100 is the lowest physical release. But hey if you’re willing to spend $40 more, you can get a T-shirt! Blood Boils posted:Pfffh BluRay I have this. And the Legacy DVD. 16-bit Butt-Head posted:laser disc bitch And this. Hell, I bought the laserdisc and didn’t even get a player for it until over a decade later. 
Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Apr 10, 2024 |
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Apr 10, 2024 04:11
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true superfans have the alien legacy VHS ina shoebox somewhere
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CelticPredator posted:Absolutely Yep, I’m going to see it with my dad today after work. I’ve seen ‘Aliens’ in the theatre before but this will be my first time for ‘Alien’.
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Apr 26, 2024 11:05
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CelticPredator posted:romulus might be bad, idk, but so far I'm way happier we got it over Blomkamp's fan film. I still want to see Blomkamp take a stab at an Alien movie, specifically a faithful adaptation of ‘Aliens: Labyrinth’. I’d pay good money to get a copy of that comic into his hands.
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Apr 27, 2024 04:31
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The_Doctor posted:So I guess the shuttle didn’t need all that coolant, huh? The coolant was to manage the oxygen scrubbers that would have had to work overtime to support 3 people in a shuttle built for 2*, with everyone else dead it wasn’t needed anymore. *the official blueprints for the shuttle give it a third cryotube tucked away in a corner you don’t see in the movie, because the guy who drew the blueprints misunderstood ‘Alien’ and didn’t realize that the shuttle only held 2 and that was the entire point of the coolant. The common interpretation is that stock model Lockmart Starcub shuttles have 3 cryotubes per the blueprints, but the Narcissus specifically had 2 because WY was cheap and wanted to cut corners (evidenced by the Nostromo having an entire second, nonfunctional, shuttle that no one bothered maintaining).
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May 1, 2024 03:11
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MrMojok posted:I know it was sheer panic and dread, but man those two made so much noise throwing around those bottles of coolant. It’s a total fakeout, too - you’re meant to think Ripley is going to bite it; she goes off on her own (JUST LIKE BRETT) and goes looking for the cat (JUST LIKE BRETT), she’s totally toast. When I saw it in theatres on Alien Day last week with my dad (who had never seen it), he was convinced that Ripley was going to get murked for going after the cat.
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May 1, 2024 03:31
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MacheteZombie posted:Aliens is a low tier alien movie Actually you have that backwards, Alien is a low-tier Aliens movie
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May 1, 2024 04:07
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I’d still love to see Blomkamp direct a faithful adaptation of ‘Aliems: Labyrinth’.
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May 1, 2024 05:53
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SUNKOS posted:One thing I really liked about the derelict in Alien was how it looked like the walls were sweating and more of a biomechanical thing with the jockey fused to it rather than just a spaceship. It's one thing that bugged me about Prometheus, is the ship was way too clean and looked much more like a movie set in comparison. Obviously the conditions and story explain the difference but man I wish it wasn't so neat in Prometheus and they'd leaned further into things like the changing mural in the ampule room, for example. Would have been interesting if the walls of the ship in Prometheus were swelling/pulsating or something in comparison to the Alien derelict being dead. Minor complaint and essentially nitpicking at the end of the day, but Alien absolutely nailed that atmosphere so well. Go play the videogame Scorn right now.
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May 10, 2024 02:58
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Baronjutter posted:I really didn't like scorn. They were just aping a couple very great art styles but there was almost no world building and the levels didn't really make any sense. They just had one idea, the art, and beyond that put the most minimal effort into weaving any sort of game or story into it. I was hoping for something deep and mysterious, a lore hole to dive into and figure things out from environmental storytelling alone. But instead they just kinda went with what ever they thougth looked cool or gross or creepy and didn't put any thought in beyond that. There's nothing to discover. I loved Scorn, it was like a 3 dimensional Giger art gallery that you just get to walk through, I’ve never experienced a game so dedicated to a singular art style. I’d have loved it if Giger had survived long enough to see how Scorn turned out, it’s an unapologetic commitment to his art style without compromise and I thought it was wonderful. I bought the art book for the game and was not disappointed.
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May 10, 2024 05:56
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