Science fiction encompasses so much of modern blockbuster cinema. So many big-budget movies these days are based on comic books, video games, and toys — and, in turn, so many comics, video games, and toys are rooted in sci-fi concepts like doctors who inject themselves with experimental serums or alien bounty hunters on alternate planets, or robots in disguise that transform into tractor-trailers or boomboxes.Comics and games and even action figures have inspired some good science-fiction movies, even one or two about robots that can turn into boomboxes. But we tend to not to expect Shakespeare from most of those sub-genres, and we tend not to get Shakespeare from those sub-genres all too often either. (Although I bet Shakespeare would have loved to write a play about a robot boombox ... “To beat or not to beat. That is the question.”)In the last 10 years alone, there have been some truly abysmal science-fiction movies — including then ten listed below, which might be the worst sci-fi films of the last decade. These are films about scientists racing to stop climate disasters, scientists racing to stop alien invasions, and scientists racing to stop themselves from turning into vampires. At this point, I’m basically on high alert from the moment I hear a movie is about a scientist.The worst sci-fi films of recent years are...The 10 Worst Sci-Fi Movies of the Last 10 Years (2016-2025)Fact: These science fiction movies are ... not great.“Honorable” Mentions: Chappie, Don’t Worry Darling, Eternals, Fantastic Four, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Jupiter Ascending, Jurassic World, Jurassic World Dominion, Passengers, Pixels.READ MORE: The 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the Last 10 YearsGet our free mobile appThe 10 Best Comic Book Movies of the Last 10 Years (2015-2024)There have been a lot of comic book movies over the last ten years. These are the best of the best.

Things have been quiet on the Apple Watch front lately. Too quiet. In fact, sales are down for the second year in a row, and just last quarter, Xiaomi overtook Apple to become the top wearable brand worldwide. The good news is that the Apple Watch line is due for a refresh. Here’s what’s coming. Apple Watch SE 3 (or what if: Apple Watch Series 11e?) It’s been almost three years since Apple announced the Apple Watch SE 2. It kept the same overall design from the original SE, got a 30% larger display, and gained the S8 SiP processor, giving it a 20% performance bump. This September, Apple is expected to announce its successor. Hardware and software While rumors have been circulating for the better part of the last several months about Apple replacing the current aluminum case with a “rigid plastic” case, these plans seem to have been shelved. While there haven’t been leaks regarding an increase in case or screen size, it would make sense to expect the options to go from 40/44mm to the current 42/46mm, or a bezel reduction, which would give it more screen real estate while maintaining the footprint. Expect also a SiP upgrade, bringing it on par with the upcoming Series 11 lineup, a much welcome upgrade against the current Series 8-era S8 SiP for the SE 2. Price Alongside the material change rumors, there had been rumblings about Apple lowering the price of its entry-level watch. However, that seems unlikely, given the recent tariff turmoil and the apparent reversal of Apple’s plans to change the material. It would be safe to expect the Apple Watch SE 3 to start at the same $249 as the current version, if not a tad above that, in case Apple decides to send the Apple Watch SE the way of the iPhone SE, and introduce a more expensive entry-level Apple Watch Series 11e. Apple Watch Series 11 2024 saw the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch announcement. However, 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of its release. This gave Apple two opportunities to release a 10-year anniversary edition of the Apple Watch, and the company has already skipped the first. This September, it might skip the second. To be fair, it looks like Apple did have a plan to release a 10th-anniversary Apple Watch band, but the company seems to have given up on that as well. Hardware and software Currently, it looks like any significant changes to the next generation of the main Apple Watch line should come from within. Alongside a predictable S11 SiP chipset update, the Apple Watch Series 11’s biggest draws should be software rather than hardware-focused. Apple is slated to debut an AI-based health coach that will use data collected by the Apple Watch and from other sources to offer a comprehensive, tailor-made health guide. At the same time, watchOS 12 is expected to adopt the same visual cues that iOS 19, macOS 19, and iPadOS 19 seem to be destined to adopt from visionOS. As for dimensions, a size increase doesn’t sound likely, as the current 42/46mm options already feel too large for some customers, but don’t rule out a small bezel shaving for a few extra pixels in screen dimensions. Price Just like with the Apple Watch SE, it would be wise to bet on similar-if-not-slightly-higher price points to make up for the uncertainty surrounding tariffs. The current Apple Watch line starts at $399, so don’t expect anything below that. Apple Watch Ultra 3 Last year, while many expected Apple to announce an Apple Watch Ultra 3, it announced a satin black option for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. This September, though, it might be different. Hardware and software There have been no reports about Apple planning to move away from titanium with the new Apple Watch Ultra. So, like the Apple Watch Series 11, this year’s update will probably rely on new features as a differentiator from its predecessor. According to leaks by Mark Gurman, the next-generation Apple Watch Ultra is slated to get 5G connectivity, as well as high blood pressure detection. The latter, it seems, will work in the same way as Apple currently measures body temperature and sleep apnea: instead of offering real-time data, it offers a rough trend overlook and warns the user when something seems off. Also, Apple is working to add independent satellite messaging to the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which will definitely be a welcome addition to those who live up to the Ultra’s sales proposition. Price The Apple Watch Ultra 2 currently starts at $799, which is quite pricey. There’s no sign Apple plans to lower the price, and given the risk of surprise tariffs, it’s unlikely they’ll raise it either. This model is probably the most stable in the lineup when it comes to pricing, but if there is one thing we have learned these last few months, it is that nothing is set in stone. Are you in the market for a new Apple Watch? Have you been holding off on buying one until new versions are announced? Let us know in the comments! Best Apple Watch deals currently on Amazon Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

A team of Purdue University students recently set a new Guinness World Record with their custom robot that solved a Rubik’s Cube in just 0.103 seconds. That was about a third of the time it took the previous record-setting bot. But the new record wasn’t achieved by simply building a robot that moves faster. The students used a combination of high-speed but low-res camera systems, a cube customized for improved strength, and a special solving technique popular among human speed cubers.The Rubik’s Cube-solving robot arms race kicked off in 2014, when a robot called Cubestormer 3 built with Lego Mindstorms parts and a Samsung Galaxy S4 solved the iconic puzzle in 3.253 seconds — faster than any human or robot could at the time. (The current world record for a human solving a Rubik’s Cube belongs to Xuanyi Geng, who did it in just 3.05 seconds.) Over the course of a decade, engineers managed to reduce that record to just hundreds of milliseconds.Last May, engineers at Mitsubishi Electric in Japan claimed the world record with a robot that solved a cube in 0.305 seconds. The record stood for almost a year before the team from Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering — Junpei Ota, Aden Hurd, Matthew Patrohay, and Alex Berta — shattered it. Their robot has come to be known as Purdubik’s Cube. Bringing the robot record down to less than half a second required moving away from Lego and, instead, using optimized components like industrial motors. Getting it down to just 0.103 seconds, however, required the team from Purdue to find multiple new ways to shave off milliseconds.“Each robot that previous world record-holders has done has kind of focused on one new thing,” Patrohay tells The Verge. When MIT grad students broke the record in 2018, they opted for industrial hardware that outperformed what previous record-holders had used. Mitsubishi Electric chose electric motors that were better suited for the specific task of spinning each side of the cube, instead of just hardware that moved faster.However, the first thing the Purdue students improved was actually the speed that their robot could visualize the scrambled cube. Human speed cubing competitors are allowed to study a Rubik’s Cube before their timer starts, but the robot record includes the time it takes it to determine the location of all the colored squares. The students used a pair of high-speed machine vision cameras from Flir, with a resolution of just 720x540 pixels, pointed at opposing corners of the cube. Each camera can see three sides simultaneously during exposures that lasted as little as 10 microseconds.The Purdubik’s Cube’s high-speed Flir cameras use wide-angle lenses, and the Rubik’s Cube appears in only a very small region of their field of view. The color detection system relies on low-resolution images of the puzzle, which speeds up processing times. Photo: Matthew Patrohay / Purdue UniversityAlthough it may seem instantaneous, it takes time for a camera to process the data coming from a sensor and turn it into a digital picture. The Purdubik’s Cube uses a custom image detection system that skips image processing altogether. It also only focuses on a very small area of what each camera’s sensor sees — a cropped region that’s just 128x124 pixels in size — to reduce the amount of data being moved around.Raw data from the sensors is sent straight to a high-speed color detection system that uses the RGB measurements from even smaller sample areas on each square to determine their color faster than other approaches — even AI.“It’s sometimes slightly less reliable,” Patrohay admits, “but even if it’s 90 percent consistent, that’s good enough as long as it’s fast. We really want that speed.”Despite a lot of the hardware on Purdue’s robot being custom-made, the team chose to go with existing software when it came to figuring out the fastest way to solve a scrambled cube. They used Elias Frantar’s Rob-Twophase, which is a cube-solving algorithm that takes into account the unique capabilities of robots, like being able to spin two sides of a cube simultaneously.The team also took advantage of a Rubik’s Cube-solving technique called corner cutting where you can start to turn one side of the cube before you’ve finished turning another side that’s perpendicular to it. The advantage to this technique is that you’re not waiting for one side to completely finish its rotation before starting another. For a brief moment, there’s overlap between the movements of the two sides that can result in a significant amount of time saved when you’re chasing a world record.High-speed footage of the Purdubik’s Cube reveals how it uses the corner-cutting technique to overlap movements and reduce the time it takes to solve the Rubik’s Cube. Photo: Matthew Patrohay / Purdue UniversityThe challenge with corner cutting is that if you use too much force (like a robot is capable of) and don’t time things perfectly, you can physically break or even completely destroy a Rubik’s Cube. In addition to perfecting the timing of the robot’s movements and the acceleration of its motors, the students had to customize the cube itself.Guinness World Records follows the guidelines of the World Cube Association, which has a long list of regulations that need to be followed before a record will be recognized. It allows competitors to modify their cube, so long as it twists and turns like a standard Rubik’s Cube and has nine colored squares on each of its six sides, with each side a different color. Materials other than plastic can be used, but the color parts all need to have the same texture. To improve its durability, the Purdue team upgraded the internal structure of their cubes with a custom 3D-printed version made from stronger SLS nylon plastic. The WCA also allows the use of lubricants to help make cubes spin more freely, but here it’s used for a different reason.“The cube we use for the record is tensioned incredibly tight, like almost hilariously tight,” says Patrohay. “The one that we modified is very difficult to turn. Not impossible, but you can’t turn it with your fingers. You have to really get your wrist into it.” When solving the cube at high speeds, the lubricant helps to smooth out its movements while the increased tension reduces overturns and improves control so time-saving tricks like corner cutting can be used.Each of the robot’s six servo motors connect to the Rubik’s Cube center squares using a custom-made metal shaft that spins each side. Photo: Matthew Patrohay / Purdue UniversityFaster servo motors do help to reduce solving times, but it’s not as simple as maxing out their speed and hoping for the best. The Purdubik’s Cube uses six motors attached to metal shafts that slot into the center of each side of the cube. After testing several different approaches the team settled on a trapezoidal motion profile where the servos accelerate at speeds of up to 12,000,000 degrees/s2, but decelerate much slower, closer to 3,000,000 degrees/s2, so the robot can more accurately position each side as it comes to a stop.Could the Purdubik’s Cube break the record again? Patrohay believes it’s possible, but it would need a stronger cube made out of something other than plastic. “If you were to make a completely application-specific Rubik’s Cube out of some sort of carbon fiber composite, then I could imagine you being able to survive at higher speeds, and just being able to survive at higher speeds would then allow you to bring the time down.”See More:

Google’s reversal on eliminating third-party cookies in Chrome isn’t exactly breaking news – but cookies remain a less effective way to truly connect with audiences. So, it is the perfect moment to explore how smart marketers are gaining an edge by leaning into first-party data and contextual targeting. In this post, we’ll break down what really happened, what it means for your brand, and how to sharpen your ad strategy to stay competitive in a shifting landscape. So, what happened? Google first announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome back in 2020, citing a commitment to enhancing user privacy and creating a more privacy-conscious web. However, the timeline faced multiple delays. Then in May 2023, Google declared it was moving full steam ahead, with plans to begin phasing out cookies in January 2024. Marketers everywhere braced for impact, diving into strategy sessions to prepare for a cookieless future. Step one in Google’s rollout involved disabling third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users worldwide – around 30 million people – to support real-world testing. The goal: ramp up to 100% deprecation by the end of 2024. But in April 2024, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stepped in, requesting a pause. With Chrome holding a 64% global market share, the potential impact was massive. Amid mounting concerns over Google’s proposed cookie alternatives and the broader industry readiness, Google reversed its decision after more than four years of planning and delays. Marketers, exhausted from revising their cookieless strategies (version #163, anyone?), finally hit “save” one last time – tucking their plans away, hoping never to need them again. With emotions parked, attention turned back to what really matters: refining audience-engagement strategy, maximizing performance, and staying ahead in a still-evolving digital landscape. Google Flip-Flops – But First-Party Data Remains the Cornerstone of a Resilient Strategy The goal remains – to identify and influence the buying group that matters. So, the real question is: what strategies are helping marketers stretch their budgets further and stay ahead? One powerful solution is first-party data. Let’s keep it simple – first-party data is the information a content publisher gathers directly from its audience as they interact with its platforms. It includes website visitors, social media followers, and existing customers, covering demographics, preferences, on-site behavior, purchase history, and feedback – making it both highly relevant and unique. So, every business with an online presence has their own 1st party data. This data is typically gathered through tracking pixels on websites, social platforms, or products, and stored in a CRM or customer data platform (CDP). But not all first-party data is created equal. To be truly valuable, it must be accurate, relevant, actionable, and privacy-compliant – a level of quality not every provider can guarantee. Gaining customer data and consent is no easy feat, either. With growing awareness and concern around data privacy, PrivacyEngine found that 81% of users believe the risks of sharing data outweigh the potential benefits. Still, customers are willing to share personal information if they perceive a high-value return. When captured and used effectively, first-party data becomes a powerful competitive advantage. Why? Because it gives marketers the kind of insights that drive smarter, more efficient campaigns. Imagine knowing exactly what content topics, formats, and channels resonate with your audience – along with how engaged they’ve been in the last 90 days, and whether they match your ideal region, company size, or role. With that level of clarity, you can execute with confidence, reduce wasted spend, and improve both conversion rates and pipeline impact. In fact, brands leveraging first-party data see a 2.9x increase in revenue and 1.5x cost savings, according to CMSWire – a clear signal of its effectiveness. But it’s not just about performance metrics. Marketers are also rethinking how ads fit into the overall customer experience, ensuring relevance and value at every touchpoint. Right Place, Right Time: The Power of Context in Advertising Meeting Buyers Where They Are – Digitally In a physical store, meeting buyers where they are is simple. But in the digital world – with countless platforms, channels, and formats – it’s far more complex. Each advertising tactic has its strengths, but one continues to stand out: contextual advertising. Unlike data-targeted ads, which rely on previously captured user information, contextual advertising aligns ads to the content of the page that users sought out. It matches your message to the moment – showing cookware ads on a recipe blog, for example – making the ad feel natural, non-intrusive and informative. This alignment pays off. Research shows that consumers are significantly more receptive to ads that match the content they’re engaging in. They’re in the right frame of mind, making the message feel more relevant, trusted, and less promotional. The result? A smoother user experience and stronger brand connection. Performance-wise, the numbers speak volumes: contextual ads are 93% more memorable than mismatched ads (ExchangeWire), and 32% of consumers are more likely to act on contextually aligned ads (Seedtag). In today’s privacy-first world, contextual advertising isn’t just compliant – it’s a smarter, more cost-efficient way to drive engagement, boost recall, and build trust with your audience. Smarter Strategies, Stronger Results Google may have made a major U-turn by reversing its decision to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome – leaving marketers understandably frustrated after years of planning. But those hours spent analyzing alternative strategies haven’t been wasted. In fact, they’ve laid the groundwork for smarter, more resilient approaches. Now is the time to turn that pivot into a positive milestone. Here’s how: 1. Reassess and Refine Campaign Performance Take a fresh look at your existing campaigns. What does success actually look like for your business? Are your current efforts truly delivering, or is there untapped potential? It’s never too late to test new formats, re-evaluate messaging, or shift tactics. Revisit how you’re measuring ROI – are you focused on metrics that matter to your stakeholders, or just surface-level stats? To make advertising a strategic growth driver – not just a “nice to have” – focus on metrics that reflect real impact across the entire funnel. 2. Maximize the Value of First-Party Data First-party data – whether yours or that of a partner – is one of your most powerful assets. Make sure your owned channels – websites, content, and outreach – offer engaging experiences that encourage users to act. This not only improves conversions but strengthens the quality of the data you collect. Work with original content publishers and benefit from their powerful first-party data. This allows you to deliver high-impact campaigns built around buyer intelligence. Work with partners who take data seriously. Ask your ad providers about their approach to first-party data collection and compliance. Look for transparency, consent-first models, and enriched user insights – not just volume. Key questions to ask providers: How is consent managed? What systems are in place to verify data accuracy and relevance? How frequently is data refreshed or validated? 3. Prioritize the Customer Experience Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. Would your ad stand out against a competitor’s? Is it helpful, relevant, and well-placed – or disruptive and forgettable? One effective strategy is partnering directly with original content publishers. These environments offer accurate topic alignment, trusted editorial standards, and a more natural context for your ads. Deliver what your audience wants – authentic engagement with tangible, decision-making value. When done right, this boosts both engagement and brand perception. The Bottom Line Don’t treat Google’s decision as a reprieve. Now is not the time to sit still. It’s the time to ask smart questions, challenge assumptions, and work with partners who are just as invested in your success. “Audiences are more selective about where they provide their data. So, while third-party cookies remain – for now – advertisers should focus on channels where users willingly share their data in exchange for meaningful content. Going directly to publishers not only places your brand in trusted environments but also unlocks contextually relevant placements that consistently outperform industry benchmarks. Building trust through transparency and relevance is where the real competitive edge lies.” – Jane Qin Medeiros, Head of Informa TechTarget’s Brand and Content Group Learn about TechTarget’s first-party advertising and intent solutions today.

London-based AI lab Odyssey has launched a research preview of a model transforming video into interactive worlds. Initially focusing on world models for film and game production, the Odyssey team has stumbled onto potentially a completely new entertainment medium.The interactive video generated by Odyssey’s AI model responds to inputs in real-time. You can interact with it using your keyboard, phone, controller, or eventually even voice commands. The folks at Odyssey are billing it as an “early version of the Holodeck.”The underlying AI can generate realistic-looking video frames every 40 milliseconds. That means when you press a button or make a gesture, the video responds almost instantly—creating the illusion that you’re actually influencing this digital world.“The experience today feels like exploring a glitchy dream—raw, unstable, but undeniably new,” according to Odyssey. We’re not talking about polished, AAA-game quality visuals here, at least not yet.Not your standard video techLet’s get a bit technical for a moment. What makes this AI-generated interactive video tech different from, say, a standard video game or CGI? It all comes down to something Odyssey calls a “world model.”Unlike traditional video models that generate entire clips in one go, world models work frame-by-frame to predict what should come next based on the current state and any user inputs. It’s similar to how large language models predict the next word in a sequence, but infinitely more complex because we’re talking about high-resolution video frames rather than words.“A world model is, at its core, an action-conditioned dynamics model,” as Odyssey puts it. Each time you interact, the model takes the current state, your action, and the history of what’s happened, then generates the next video frame accordingly.The result is something that feels more organic and unpredictable than a traditional game. There’s no pre-programmed logic saying “if a player does X, then Y happens”—instead, the AI is making its best guess at what should happen next based on what it’s learned from watching countless videos.Odyssey tackles historic challenges with AI-generated videoBuilding something like this isn’t exactly a walk in the park. One of the biggest hurdles with AI-generated interactive video is keeping it stable over time. When you’re generating each frame based on previous ones, small errors can compound quickly (a phenomenon AI researchers call “drift.”)To tackle this, Odyssey has used what they term a “narrow distribution model”—essentially pre-training their AI on general video footage, then fine-tuning it on a smaller set of environments. This trade-off means less variety but better stability so everything doesn’t become a bizarre mess.The company says they’re already making “fast progress” on their next-gen model, which apparently shows “a richer range of pixels, dynamics, and actions.”Running all this fancy AI tech in real-time isn’t cheap. Currently, the infrastructure powering this experience costs between £0.80-£1.60 (1-2) per user-hour, relying on clusters of H100 GPUs scattered across the US and EU.That might sound expensive for streaming video, but it’s remarkably cheap compared to producing traditional game or film content. And Odyssey expects these costs to tumble further as models become more efficient.Interactive video: The next storytelling medium?Throughout history, new technologies have given birth to new forms of storytelling—from cave paintings to books, photography, radio, film, and video games. Odyssey believes AI-generated interactive video is the next step in this evolution.If they’re right, we might be looking at the prototype of something that will transform entertainment, education, advertising, and more. Imagine training videos where you can practice the skills being taught, or travel experiences where you can explore destinations from your sofa.The research preview available now is obviously just a small step towards this vision and more of a proof of concept than a finished product. However, it’s an intriguing glimpse at what might be possible when AI-generated worlds become interactive playgrounds rather than just passive experiences.You can give the research preview a try here.See also: Telegram and xAI forge Grok AI dealWant to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

BUTTPEACH Quantum Witch is a story of religious oppression, queer emancipation, and a dancing skeleton that hopes to popularise the ‘plotformer’ genre We spoke to Quantum Witch’s lone developer – NikkiJay – about how her experiences as part of a religious cult shaped the development of her game, an 80s-style ‘plotformer’ about finding your lost flock of faer. Image credit: NikkiJay Article by Kelsey Raynor Guides Writer Published on May 29, 2025 You might not have heard of Quantum Witch, but if you’ve an affinity for pixel-art platformers with engaging story-beats, meta-narratives, and an array of kooky characters, then you should be all over it. To just call Quantum Witch a colourful platformer with a strong narrative (read: ‘plotformer’) is to do it a disservice, though. Quantum Witch is so much more than its vibrant pixels; it is NikkiJay’s personal story of fleeing a religious cult, embracing her LGBTQ+ identity, and seeking solace in video games. There’s a dark undercurrent, but ultimately, Nikki chooses to tell her story – and a story that many others will no doubt see themselves in – with humour and pride. To get a better idea of exactly what informed Quantum Witch and how the indie ‘plotformer’ came together, VG247 sat down with NikkiJay to ask how growing up in a religious cult led to the development of the game and what she hopes audiences will get from it. The below interview discusses religious trauma, coercive control, and the abuse of power. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. VG247: I’m aware that Quantum Witch is largely informed by your own personal experiences of fleeing a religious cult; would you mind sharing some more about your experience, and how it has informed Quantum Witch’s story and characters? Nikki: I was born into the group and my family on both sides were third generation. Age 10, I needed my tonsils out and I had to tell the surgeon that I would rather die than accept certain medical treatments. As a 10-year-old, it's one of the questions they ask when you go for CPTSD diagnosis: “did you at any point honestly really believe you were going to die?” Yeah, I was told I had to be prepared for that. I had to die for God if that was the option that was presented to me. Either take this medical treatment that God said I couldn't have or die. I had to choose death. This cult literally kills kids for God. A lot of people stayed because the alternative was to lose your entire support structure and social network. You were literally by yourself with nothing, which was the option I chose in the end. It’s high coercive control. This way, they say that you have the personality God wants you to have. Religious control and abuse of that power is the biggest theme that made it into Quantum Witch. It is very much again about urgency and choice: I think if people have been through similar things, it's going to resonate with them. VG247: During the demo, I got the impression that Ren is largely not interested in the religious beliefs shared with her by others in Quantum Witch, but she still appears to have a fascination with the Old Gods. I have two questions about this: is Ren on the fence, so to speak, about her beliefs? Does this align with any of your thoughts and feelings about religion now? Nikki: Yeah, I am agnostic. I am a skeptic. I have to be open to the possibilities. A skeptic who isn't open to possibilities isn’t a skeptic. They're a cynic, and Ren is very much a skeptic. The majority of the characters in the game are just aspects of me that I've made into a character, it's just a little piece of me that I've enhanced without turning it into a stereotype as far as I can. Tyra [Ren’s partner] is more cynical: ‘come on, it's nonsense’. And Ren’s like, ‘no, let's go find out’. Her desire to go explore is going to lead her into things that she shouldn't have explored in the way that she's going to. But yeah, she is definitely that part of me who would like for there to be magic. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: Quantum Witch’s marketplace – which features unnamed characters that bear uncanny resemblances to some iconic video game mascots – is what I assume to be a representation of some of your favourite games. The game itself regularly reminded me of themes and mechanics from Undertale, The Binding of Isaac, and even Stardew Valley. What other games or pieces of media helped inspire Quantum Witch, and how? Nikki: I love Undertale. What I loved about Undertale is the mixture of all those styles and then you'd be talking to a character and suddenly you have to play a really fast reaction game. I can't do that. I'm too old. But it was a big inspiration in the style of game I wanted to create. As for the reason why the video game characters are there in the plot of [Quantum Witch’s] story; they do tie into the plot and there's a little hint that they say. And I just loved putting in my alternate takes on who these characters were. You might know Paul Rose from Digitizer. At the very beginning of the project, I had all my story beats worked out. This is what's going to happen. This is how it's all going to interact, but I could not – for the life of me – start it. I couldn't build the bridges between these beats and Rose helped me a lot. He did a script treatment and some of the dialogue in the marketplace is directly from him; [one of the characters you meet is] talking about pills and I was like, ‘that that just fits in perfectly because there is a character later on who might need that pill’. It’s also a bit of a cue for me to have the characters talk about medication. . I also wanted to add some queer flavor to them, so Princess Nectarine – who is similar to but legally distinct from a certain Nintendo character – is in a polycule with Bowser and Mario and they like to roleplay kidnapping. I did not set out to make a queer game. It's turned out that way because I can't help it, but it's not all these characters are. VG247: I know you’re a solo developer and this is a largely solo project, but I’m aware you’ve received some help with the whole endeavour. You mentioned Paul Rose. So could you tell me more about the people who have helped you with creating Quantum Witch and what they did? Nikki: I must absolutely shout out Jerden Cooke for the music. We composed a lot of it together, [with] me mostly on the ukulele which you can hear in Ren's theme. I don't know if you've seen the video clip of David Lynch helping compose Laura's Theme from Twin Peaks. Working with him is like that. I got some fantastic music which was like the music I could hear in my head when I started playing on the ukulele. He was able to put it down, basically extract it from my head, and put it into a word file. And Paul Rose; I knew him through Digitizer meetups. We just got talking on Twitter one day and met up. He's a great guy and things came about quite naturally because it was when Covid hit and a lot of TV work got cancelled. I said to him, look, you should get yourself on Fiverr. Put your writing services out there because people should be paying for this. I will be your first customer, and so I was! Without his help, this would have still been a collection of little story beats that I would have had no idea how to wire together. And I've always wanted to work with Stephanie Sterling. What if I just ping her on Bluesky and say, "Hey, want to write a chapter of this game? It's got a dancing skeleton in it." She said, "Yeah, I'm in." She said that when she started to do it, she wasn't entirely sure whether it would be the right project because she just saw a [dancing] skeleton. The more she wrote for [Quantum Witch] and the more she played the game, she went, "Yeah, this is my wheelhouse,” and she poured her religious trauma into it, which happened to just fit absolutely perfectly. It's like I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with, and this is kind of what I want to say to indie developers who are solo. You're not alone. You might just want one name on the credit, but it takes a village to raise a child. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: I was taken aback by just how cosy the game is. Admittedly, even with the subject matter, I didn’t expect – largely given the art style – for this to be all doom and gloom, but I definitely didn’t expect something so jovial and honestly, straight-up funny. How did you decide that this was the approach you wanted to take when creating Ren’s story? Nikki: [Stardew Valley], Chrono Trigger and Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door are my three most played games. I love the style of Stardew Valley and I love that there's some darkness hidden in Stardew Valley. I really liked the humor in it. I mean, if you thought I shouldn't be laughing at this, but I am, then that’s an achievement. That's exactly what I wanted. My main coping mechanism is humor. I'm not saying it's a healthy coping mechanism, but it kind of works. And I mean, I was heavily influenced by reading a lot of Douglas Adams. and he was able to find humor in the most bleak situations. And the graphical style… When I started this, I couldn't draw a convincing stick figure. I look at the art that I did four years ago when I started messing about with this idea and it's just embarrassing. Objectively terrible, but my main influences were Stardew Valley and The Darkside Detective. I loved the low-resolution style art, but there was so much character in them. So, I took a pixel art course on Udemy and a color theory course and… then just found, hey, I can do this now. That's weird. VG247: While looking into Quantum Witch and yourself, I found a lovely quote of yours from The Guardian: “A lot of religion is about giving up autonomy to some mystical power that you’ve never seen, heard or met. Over the course of the game, Ren takes that agency back… It’s a queer emancipation story.” Could you expand on this? Nikki: The consequence of being yourself in a group that says ‘no, being yourself is wrong’ is that you just get thrown out. It's weird because I think of my experiences as unique, but the themes they really do seem to be universal. Stephanie Sterling from The Jimquisition: she wrote a chapter of the later part of the game. I originally said to her, can you write these three scenes? She came back and said “I couldn't stop writing. I just love this universe” It's weird, because you wouldn't know it was a different author. The religious oppression of queer people is the same wherever you go. I'm really hoping just that I've got that balance right between a game that's fun and cozy and humorous, – that there is a dancing skeleton who can see through time – but also has that deeper meaning and that message that you take back control. A lot of people would look at this and think ‘you must be anti-religion’ and I'm 100% for freedom of religion, but that also means I'm 100% for freedom from religion. Whether you've got faith or not, nobody wants somebody else's faith forced on you. You can't have freedom of religion without freedom from religion. Image credit: NikkiJay VG247: How long is Quantum Witch set to be, and how many endings will there be? I know you also mentioned some side quests having various conclusions, as well as the game’s main endings being different depending on your decisions. Nikki: I watched a tester play from beginning to end. It took him about three and a half hours, and he got my second favorite ending. He had questions about the lore and I said, "play it again and make different choices, and you'll get a different ending, which will probably answer that for you." It's difficult to say how many endings there are. There's three definite categories of endings. There's bleak. There's interesting, where you kind of get a bittersweet ending, and then there's the super happy ending, and there are variations on each of those. [These depend] on the characters you've helped. There's also little puzzles that you can go and solve which can enhance the happy ending. It's kind of like an open-world choose-your-own adventure book, but in pixel format. If I'm going to do a full playthrough of all choices and all stories, I will easily put aside six or seven hours to do it and I wrote it. So, I'm not trying to discover it. I think it's like The Stanley Parable in that sense. VG247: I also learned that Quantum Witch could have been a novel. It could have initially started out that way and you then obviously decided to turn this into a game. How did that come about? Nikki: One of my friends was doing the National Novel Writing November. I thought, I've got this story in my head which might fit, so I started writing it. I don't know if anybody's realized this, [but video games] are quite difficult to make, and novels are very easy because you just type... I was wrong and I really did not enjoy writing it. I decided, thinking back on my childhood, I want to make this into a game. I want to make this interactive. Choice is a big theme. I want to give the player a choice. And it did end up as a point and click [game] for a while, rather than a plotformer. No matter what you do, it is a valid choice. There are no game over screens in Quantum Witch. Anything you do is just a part of the story and the game is over when you get the credits. Quantum Witch is a surprisingly cosy and jovial take on topics of religious trauma and queer identities, but if your curiosity about this game is piqued, it’s up to you to find out all of its secrets. NikkiJay stresses that there’s so much to discover for those who are eager to explore the game and discover all of its various paths, endings, and dialogue. For those who want to try Quantum Witch out, you can find a demo for the game on Steam, and it’ll also be participating in Steam’s Next Fest during June.

Slayven Never read a comic in his life Moderator Oct 25, 2017 102,422 View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5lq4Q7YAjE The Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming PC is real, not an April Fools’ joke No fooling — but no specs or price, either. www.theverge.com The ROG Ally has a seven-inch 16:9 display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and a 120HZ refresh rate, compared to the Steam Deck specs, which are listed as a seven-inch 16:10 display at 1280 x 800 resolution, 400 nits of brightness, and a 60Hz refresh rate. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I want more of these, but they need to think about adding alternative control interfaces built into the system. Maybenot a whole touch pad but maybe a nipple and some back buttons. Plus it is is ROG, you know it will cost 2 souls and a leg Dave2d Handheld View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drLZxyv79Oo  Deleted member 93062 Account closed at user request Banned Mar 4, 2021 24,767 Seems like it'll be pricey as hell but I do like that it has a 16:9 display, Windows with good looking dashboard for all your launchers, and how quiet it is. I just want that eGPU connector, or something similar to it, on the next Steam Deck.   nsilvias Member Oct 25, 2017 30,169 >1080p rip battery life  Dangerman1337 Member Jul 2, 2021 3,187 United Kingdom, The Wirral, Hoylake Sullivan said: Seems like it'll be pricey as hell but I do like that it has a 16:9 display, Windows with good looking dashboard for all your launchers, and how quiet it is. I just want that eGPU connector, or something similar to it, on the next Steam Deck. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Dave2D says it's apparently very appealing price point. However my biggest question is the release date because we keep seeing these handhelds with no release dates and being kept shown at performance expos all the time. Sick and tired of that nonsense.  Deleted member 93062 Account closed at user request Banned Mar 4, 2021 24,767 nsilvias said: >1080p rip battery life Click to expand... Click to shrink... >1080p >120hz >500nits  OP OP Slayven Never read a comic in his life Moderator Oct 25, 2017 102,422 nsilvias said: >1080p rip battery life Click to expand... Click to shrink... 80s kids know   Deleted member 93062 Account closed at user request Banned Mar 4, 2021 24,767 Dangerman1337 said: Dave2D says it's apparently very appealing price point. However my biggest question is the release date because we keep seeing these handhelds with no release dates and being kept shown at performance expos all the time. Sick and tired of that nonsense. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Dave doesn't know the price point. He's just assuming because they said it would be available at Best Buy and that they don't do low volume products so ASUS expects it to sell well, which means it likely has an appealing price point. I don't know though...   jack. Member Oct 27, 2017 1,357 I'd rather have 720p and that d-pad looks like ass but otherwise, this thing seems like it could be pretty good.   OP OP Slayven Never read a comic in his life Moderator Oct 25, 2017 102,422 Dangerman1337 said: Dave2D says it's apparently very appealing price point. However my biggest question is the release date because we keep seeing these handhelds with no release dates and being kept shown at performance expos all the time. Sick and tired of that nonsense. Click to expand... Click to shrink... In the time you you typed this post 3 more models of the Aya neo has been announced   AuthenticM Son Altesse Sérénissime The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 35,186 I didn't know that ROG was an initialism. I've always pronounced it like an acronym. So I can install my GOG games on this?  Dangerman1337 Member Jul 2, 2021 3,187 United Kingdom, The Wirral, Hoylake Sullivan said: Dave doesn't know the price point. He's just assuming because they said it would be available at Best Buy and that they don't do low volume products so ASUS expects it to sell well, which means it likely has an appealing price point. I don't know though... Click to expand... Click to shrink... Asus apparently told Dave it. Slayven said: In the time you you typed this post 3 more models of the Aya neo has been announced Click to expand... Click to shrink... Heh :p.   Koukalaka Member Oct 28, 2017 10,405 Scotland 1080p and 120Hz just don't make sense on a gaming-focused handheld.   Biosnake Member Oct 25, 2017 14,335 show me more   Radogol Member Nov 9, 2017 384 So that's nine As?   OP OP Slayven Never read a comic in his life Moderator Oct 25, 2017 102,422 Koukalaka said: 1080p and 120Hz just don't make sense on a gaming-focused handheld. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Sounds like the stats for a endurance battery tester   Dinjoralo Member Oct 25, 2017 11,729 Windows, ick. I've used Armoury Crate enough on my PC to know that the software side of things, at least what's pre-installed on the device, is going to be ass. I don't get why everyone seems to hate the Deck having an 800p screen. That's turned out to be a lifesaver for me in some games with weird resolutions that can't scale to 720p or 1080p well, like Rainworld.  Busaiku Teyvat Traveler Member Oct 25, 2017 17,947 Ya, nothing matters until we know about battery and price.   neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 However, in our experience, they've relied on an AMD 6800U chipset instead of a custom design and generally lack the right combination of horsepower and efficiency that we want to see from handheld gaming machines. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I swear the Verge reporter doesn't understand how crippled is the Steam Deck CPU for having 4 cores only when CPU matters a ton more in low resolutions. AMD doesn't do custom unless you are going to buy millions, but then again, it's the iVerge.  neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 Koukalaka said: 1080p and 120Hz just don't make sense on a gaming-focused handheld. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'd argue not in phones either but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And you are right, it's hard to get more than 60fps in recent titles even on 6800U with 45W TDP  Haloid1177 Member Oct 25, 2017 4,847 Dinjoralo said: Windows, ick. I've used Armoury Crate enough on my PC to know that the software side of things, at least what's pre-installed on the device, is going to be ass. I don't get why everyone seems to hate the Deck having an 800p screen. That's turned out to be a lifesaver for me in some games with weird resolutions that can't scale to 720p or 1080p well, like Rainworld. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Armoury Crate is a mess of a software but I will give it credit that it causes me way less issues than iCUE or the Lian Li fan/RGB controller.  OP OP Slayven Never read a comic in his life Moderator Oct 25, 2017 102,422 Dinjoralo said: Windows, ick. I've used Armoury Crate enough on my PC to know that the software side of things, at least what's pre-installed on the device, is going to be ass. I don't get why everyone seems to hate the Deck having an 800p screen. That's turned out to be a lifesaver for me in some games with weird resolutions that can't scale to 720p or 1080p well, like Rainworld. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You also squeeze out a bit more performance by turning down bigger games   Biosnake Member Oct 25, 2017 14,335 Keyser S The Fallen Oct 26, 2017 8,480 Do I pronounce this like Broccoli   neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 Keyser S said: Do I pronounce this like Broccoli Click to expand... Click to shrink... ROG is supposed to be spelled R.O.G.   cgpartlow Member Oct 27, 2017 3,476 Seattle, WA I prefer asymmetrical sticks on my controllers, but on handhelds where the sides are vertical straight up and down, they should not be offset due to where your thumbs land. The switch cramps my hand having to contort my thumb and rotate my hand to hit the sticks. It is better with and ergonomic attachment but it is not the most convenient.   bbg_g Member Jun 21, 2020 835 Looks interesting and I might bite depending on battery life and price. I'm a bit lukewarm on the steamdeck and still waiting to see what comes next.   Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,547 Houston, TX Does this have a gyroscope like the Deck?   Mashing Member Oct 28, 2017 3,411 Haloid1177 said: Armoury Crate is a mess of a software but I will give it credit that it causes me way less issues than iCUE or the Lian Li fan/RGB controller. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I had to disable iCUE as it kept waking up my PC from power saving. I never really used it anyway so no big loss.  neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 ROG XG Mobile eGPU? That's interesting, seeing as Oculink on the Win Max 2 allows you to have only a 10% performance penalty vs a full desktop for external using PCIe Gen4 x4. This will make it interesting. Unfortunately Destiny 2 sucks ass on anything less than 10" >.<  Atolm Member Oct 25, 2017 6,154 120hz is actually great for games like Hollow Knight or Fight N Rage   BennyWhatever Member Oct 27, 2017 5,504 US Happy to eat crow on this, but I'd be very surprised if the starter model of this is < $800. Most of these handheld Windows devices are $1k+.   Cats_Schrodinger Member Oct 29, 2017 4,050 If the 120Hz display is VRR , that's a gamechanger. Framerates lower than 60 will benefit immensely. The Deck needs this too.   neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 Atolm said: 120hz is actually great for games like Hollow Knight or Fight N Rage Click to expand... Click to shrink... Actually, hadn't considered that. Very valid point.   Qwark Member Oct 27, 2017 10,263 I'm always down for more high-performance handhelds, that d-pad looks squishy as hell though. Lmao at the actor casually pulling the handheld out of his jacket pocket, those are some big pockets.  AmFreak Member Oct 26, 2017 3,220 It's like all these companies that are big enough to somewhat compete saw the Deck success and then made hand held. Logitech launches a $350 cloud one, Razer launches a $400 ARM one a year after the Deck and now Asus seems to think they have to one up the Deck everywhere (power, resolution, screen, OS) and will result in pricing themselves out of the market.   Charpunk Member Oct 25, 2017 12,555 Performance and cost will be interesting. Lack of touchpads is a bummer as that has been a great feature for the deck for me.   SaberVS7 Member Oct 25, 2017 6,750 Everyone's minds when they're playing AAAAAAAAA games on the handheld of the future   neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 Qwark said: I'm always down for more high-performance handhelds, that d-pad looks squishy as hell though. Lmao at the actor casually pulling the handheld out of his jacket pocket, those are some big pockets. Click to expand... Click to shrink... They had to one up this View: https://twitter.com/softwincn/status/1636605890429337600   topplehat Member Oct 27, 2017 1,083 Austin, TX These feel like a bunch of specs thrown at a wall - a screen like that will chew up battery in no time, and the hardware won't be there to back it up. This is what I really appreciated about the Steam Deck - it seemed thought out and that all the hardware was designed for a certain performance level.  Jon of the Wired Member Oct 25, 2017 397 It's good to see more products in this space, but I'm just never going to buy a PC handheld that doesn't have touchpads. It's frustrating that only Valve is making a handheld that can actually play the games I want to play.   Kline AVALANCHE Member Sep 15, 2022 524 Will come down to price of course. There's countless Windows handhelds around these days - many objectively better than the Deck, but none that can match it's price point. On that note, yes the 1080p screen is appealing for a handheld. I have a Deck, but I expressly use my Ayn Odin Lite for things like Game Pass, GFN, or even watching anime, because it can push double the pixels with ease. Then again, it's Android so it has battery for days.  Remeran Member Nov 27, 2018 4,129 Oh windows based, that mean native gamepass gaming? Hmm that might be interesting.   Pocky4Th3Win Member Oct 31, 2017 5,425 Minnesota I hope they support Steam OS as an alternative to Windows 11.   Deleted member 93062 Account closed at user request Banned Mar 4, 2021 24,767 Pocky4Th3Win said: I hope they support Steam OS as an alternative to Windows 11. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You could install SteamOS on it if you wanted I imagine.   DjDeathCool Member Oct 28, 2017 2,869 Bismarck, ND Koukalaka said: 1080p and 120Hz just don't make sense on a gaming-focused handheld. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I always want 120hz on any device that is capable of streaming gameplay. Moonlight at 120hz is *chef's kiss* neoak said: I'd argue not in phones either but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Click to expand... Click to shrink... General usage (scrolling) on a 120hz display feels much much nicer. It's one of those things you get used to and don't realize how nice it is until it's gone. It's not about gameplay. Lol.   Ada Member Nov 28, 2017 4,164 bad ergonomics - shallow grip, menu buttons out of reach. Single USB port! rocker dpad - why copy the 360s terrible dpad dual fans plus higher refresh/resolution/brightness screen - huge battery drain Windows instead of SteamOS - no suspend + license fee DOA   neoak Member Oct 25, 2017 16,877 DjDeathCool said: General usage (scrolling) on a 120hz display feels much much nicer. It's one of those things you get used to and don't realize how nice it is until it's gone. It's not about gameplay. Lol. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's about battery life man. Never said it wasn't nice.   Tsunami561 Member Mar 7, 2023 5,383 This sounds like one of those other handhelds that are on paper way more powerfull than the deck but then is twice the price and the user experience sucks   toy_brain Member Nov 1, 2017 2,598 Looks interesting, and I'm always happy to see new entrants into this space, as it gives people more options. Specifically, if they are selling this in B&M retail stores, it'll open the market to people who aren't comfortable ordering a Steam Deck (for whatever reason), or getting a Chinese/HK manufactured device of unknown quality. (I have a GPD device and think its awesome) The resolution and refresh rates sound "ambitious", but if it's anything like the GPD I have, you'll be able to knock the refresh rate down to 40hz, and do the usual FSR resolution scaling to save on performance. I'd be surprised if a demanding game lasted more than 2 hours on a single charge though - that just seems to be the norm with the current tech, but its enough for a commute, or a long train journey if you are happy playing 2D stuff. As for it using windows, ehhh, It's the easiest way forward right now. Yes it takes a while to boot or come out of standby compared to SteamOS, and the UI kinda sucks on a small screen, but it has zero compatibility issues and allows every current launcher straight out of the box, so you get every advantage of a full PC with only a couple minor downsides. My only negative with what I've seen so far, is the size. It's only a shave smaller than the Steam Deck, which is already a chunky bugger. I'd have liked it to be more like the GPD Win 4. Oh well.  DjDeathCool Member Oct 28, 2017 2,869 Bismarck, ND neoak said: It's about battery life man. Never said it wasn't nice. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Adaptive refresh rate solves that issue and you can cap it if you don't like the energy cost. At least on mobiles, and assumedly for this device as well since you can do the same on Deck.  

I’m feeling a strange sense of pressure as I set up my first bus route in City Bus Manager. I want to get things right for the public transportation users of this city, probably because it’s the city I actually live in. City Bus Manager uses OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to populate its maps, so I can see all the familiar streets and points of interest laid out in front of me. These are my neighbors, who, like me, want an efficient transit service. I want to be able to provide it to them — even if only in a simulation.City Bus Manager is part of a small group of management sims that are using OSM’s community-generated database to make the whole world their game setting. Other examples include Global Farmer, NIMBY Rails, and Logistical: Earth. In these games, players can build farms, railways, or delivery networks all over the globe, using data about real fields, settlements, and infrastructure to inform their decisions.When the idea of using OSM was first raised at PeDePe, the studio behind City Bus Manager, “we had no idea if it would be technically feasible,” says Niklas Polster, the studio’s co-founder. But once established, the license gave them access to an entire world of streets, buildings, and even real bus stops. And these do more than just form the game’s world. They’re also used for gameplay elements like simulating passenger behavior. “Schools generate traffic in the mornings on weekdays, while nightlife areas such as bars and clubs tend to attract more passengers in the evenings on weekends,” ” Polster says.Typically, Polster says, people are drawn to playing City Bus Manager in their local areas. (This seems to be confirmed by looking at YouTube playthroughs of the game, where creators often begin by saying they’re going to dive into their own city or town.) That personal connection appears almost hardwired into people, says Thorsten Feldmann, CEO of Global Farmer developer Thera Bytes. When they showcased the game at Gamescom in 2024, “every single booth visitor” wanted to input their own postal code and look at their own house.Global Farmer. Image: Thera BytesThere’s a specific fantasy about being able to transform a space you know so well, Feldmann says. In addition to your own home or town, the marketing for Global Farmer suggests using famous tourist locations, such as Buckingham Palace, as the beginning of your new agricultural life. “[Players creating their] own stories around those places can be even more impactful than in purely fictional environments,” Feldmann says.There is something inherently fun about being in control of a place you see every day or one that is deeply iconic. In particular, tearing down a perfectly manicured gated garden from which the British royal family takes £510 million per year and turning it into land to grow food for a country where 4.5 million children live in poverty might not be a one-to-one political solution, but it is emotionally compelling.“We’ve heard stories of players who became interested in public transport as a career thanks to the game.”The quality — or lack thereof — of public transportation is another key political topic where I live. The local buses are currently in the process of being nationalized again after what South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard calls a “failed experiment” in privatization. Maybe that’s why, even though these might just be pixels on a screen, I want to do it right. That’s a feeling many players seem to experience. “Our Discord community is full of players who are passionate about public transport,” Polster says. “We’ve heard stories of players who became interested in public transport as a career thanks to the game.”Of course, game developers using OSM data are still making games, rather than exact simulations. The real world is not always a well-balanced game design space. “In smaller towns and villages, routes can be unprofitable with realistic numbers,” Polster says. City Bus Manager compensates for this by giving players more financial support, which is a straightforward and useful bit of game design. But when it comes to treating the games as direct representations of the world, it elides some complexity. For example, according to Polster, some players have reached out to their local transportation agencies with data they’ve gathered from playing in their local areas — despite the fact that the game is not actually designed as a faithful recreation of the real world, even if its map is.NIMBY Rails. Image: Weird and WryAnother challenge is that OSM data isn’t always fully reliable. Polster explains that there can be errors or missing data that break very specific areas in the game, requiring PeDePe to manually find the issues and fix them. But OSM is also a volunteer-run program, meaning players can correct the data at the source. “Many of our players contribute directly to OpenStreetMap,” if they find errors in their local area, Polster says, which improves the dataset for everybody, no matter what they’re using it for.Density of data is also a particular issue for the Global Farmer developers, who found that OSM has a lot more information about roads than field systems. There are plenty of areas where individual field boundaries aren’t mapped, making “total grey areas where gameplay actually couldn’t happen.” The developers compensated for this by making a map editor, where players can copy satellite images from other sources to correct the data, but it means that those who don’t want to build their own maps are limited to the places where OSM has detailed data or where other players have shared their creations.Management sims have often reached for a sense of realism, and OSM data is a useful tool in that toolbox. It also allows players to control environments they know well and can connect with. But it is not a perfect recreation of the world, and even if it was, that isn’t always what games need. According to Feldmann, navigating these factors “can be very frustrating.”But, just like players, developers are drawn to the idea of blurring the lines between places they know and places they simulate. “It is also super rewarding whenever you manage to find a solution and get great results that are connected to the real world,” Feldmann says.See More: