I think last year there were demonstrations against a mosque in Moscow. The Czechens were not amused and published a video threatening action against Moscow.

14 days ago

Nope, they weren’t. But there were definitely differences whether you played on a Sony Trinitron or a cheap TV. Hell, I even played some games on black-white-TV when the color TV wasn’t available.

From the article:

Most recently, on Wednesday, a “congress of deputies of all levels” convened in Tiraspol, Transnistria’s nominal capital, and passed a resolution to ask Russia for protection in the face of “increasing pressure” and the “economic war” unleashed by Moldova.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the “president” of Transnistria and Sheriff’s former head of security, accused the authorities in Chisinau of “genocide” against the people of Transnistria.

I’m disappointed by Russian propaganda. They should have thrown in the word Apartheid and accused Moldova of illegal settlements. Are the Russians even trying? Common, you can do better exploiting the suffering of other people!

How deep underground is safe to protect against a modern nuclear blast?

It depends if you live in St. Petersburg or in some bunker in the Urals. If you’re in St. Petersburg, then it doesn’t matter; but you should be pretty safe in the Urals.

To add one more aspect: When someone writes a reply asking for a source, did they actually do a short Google-search related to the claim? It basically takes the same time to just look at the summary of the search results as asking for a source. So I assume if someone asks for verification for an easily searchable fact, then they are acting in bad faith.

Also one more thing: If you notice someone acting in bad faith, don’t engage with them. Downvote them, move on. This is especially true for the next few months until the US elections are over. You will notice it a day after the elections that the quality of discussions will increase because the bad faith actors will take a vacation. What happened on Reddit in 2016 is happening here right now.

That’s not a dog, that’s a viper… which makes this a snake under a plane.

Hope the good governor gets cancer of the anus talking that kind of shit.

Nobody respects a man with a bleeding rectum

It’s probably some bullshit like: “It’s a threat to Russia because it strengthens Poland’s independence and sovereignty.”

Can someone explain to me why this shootdown is even news instead of a statistic?

It’s a military airplane shot down in a shooting war. Does Russia now call the UN security council when Ukraine destroys a transport truck? Why is the media constantly falling for Russia’s bullshit behaviour?

This reminds me of 2016 and the massive propaganda against Hillary Clinton. It’s clear that these are attempts at manipulating left-wing voters to abstain from voting for Biden.

I’m currently A+ rank and have yet to get a win. I only play a few races per day usually, though. I got 2nd place in a grand prix yesterday, so maybe I’m not too far off from a win.

Getting a 2nd place in a GP now is a major achievement!

If you only race a few races per day, then you obviously want to crash out less, which is a sufficient strategy to get high placements in a GP. I’ve read that players have won GPs without having a single race win overall. In my opinion, a 2nd place in a GP is worth more than having won a race, but unfortunately you don’t get a badge for this. For many pilots who want wins, it’s “make or break” and they crash out while trying to go for first.

I started out playing as Blue Falcon, but I’ve switched to the wild goose, as it just feels easier to do well with it. I think the nature of the game having so many players, it’s beneficial to be able to freely attack them without much consequence. Especially in the Grand Prix, getting early KOs feels like a huge advantage.

Yep, the only bad thing is the randomness when depending on KOs (which is a similar problem for the Falcon when your strategy depends on perfectly timed skylanes). Also, I don’t know how it is for Goose-players, but when I get a few KOs with my Falcon I become a bit overconfident with my energy, meaning I crash out of GPs early because I risked too much.

But it sounds like you’re on a good path to get your first win, so good luck!

Big congrats! Your first win is also worth more because of the brutal competition nowadays!

Which track?

And next stop: Mini Prix!

If I were Nintendo, I’d announce that a successor to FZeroGX is in development. I’d also announce that FZero99 will be expanded beyond the original content. I myself don’t really care about FZeroGX, FZero99 is a childhood dream becoming true, without knowing that this was my childhood dream, so I hope that we’ll be able to play 99 for a while.

That’s great, keep on getting those 2nd places because at some point that S+ driver will crash out in the last corner driving into a red bumper. That driver might be me… I’ve gotten this way a few freak wins, but I also threw away many wins…

A good way to get your first win is team battle. S+ drivers won’t participate in those, as they want that S2 or S3 or higher ranking and team battle gives you no rivals. It’s also good way to chill out.

If you really want your first win, then practice Silence. A lot of people choke on Silence and the front runners are usually chill because the championship is decided by that point. Practice getting clean laps on Silence, meaning always hitting that jump (and avoiding the mines), and not bouncing into the barrier (touching the barrier in corners is ok). Usually 3 practice runs on Silence is enough for the Grand Prix.

Thanks for the update!

Interesting, I’m going to guess it’s 20th place at Death Wind in the Grand Prix.

Yep, pulsing the throttle is a technique you need to learn for every car, but it’s more important for the Fox and Falcon. In the Fox you want to prevent lateral skids at all times, but in the Falcon you sometimes need to induce oversteer.

So, basically all cars will get unstable if make a sharp turn when turning and pressing L/R while being on throttle. Normally you want to avoid this behaviour, but sometimes you want to use it. In the Falcon you can take very sharp turns (like the U-turns at Sand Ocean and Port Town 2) even tighter when using this technique while compromising your exit. So why would you want to do that? To avoid red bumpers. So at exit the Falcon will get unstable which can be caught by pulsing. The Goose can also use this technique, but the Falcon is better at it because of its acceleration. The Fox can’t use this technique (and doesn’t need to) because it will slam into the next wall.

Could you elaborate on why you think Blue Falcon is bad on Mute City?

So, the part of the track which is the most technical (and thus favors the Blue Falcon) is between the jump pad and the main straight. There is one problem though: Boosting through the dirt. Everyone boosts through the dirt every lap. Which forces the Falcon to also boost, taking away a strategic choice for a boost.

Which leaves only one technical corner in Mute City 1. The final corner before the main straight. Where the Falcon also loses its advantage because people don’t lift off and they normally wouldn’t make the corner. But the pack will push you onto straight and the pack will help you with acceleration for the Stingray and the Goose by pushing them.

There’s also the problem that you will end up in pack with the Falcon no matter what you do. If you keep boosting to stay at the front, others will also keep boosting thus creating a small pack at the front. Which creates sparks for those behind, who will overtake you because at some point you won’t be able to boost anymore. The Golden Fox has an advantage because of its rapid recharge rate: It can take more risky boost strategies, while the Falcon does not recover enough energy. The long pit lane also somewhat mitigates the slow recharge rate of the Stingray and Goose who have the speed advantage over the Falcon, and the Goose obviously loves living in the pack.

Thus you need perfect power management in the Falcon and you need the sky lane at the perfect moment, while you also need to be in close range to the race leaders. And sometimes even that is not enough because the races are really chaotic; you just don’t know if a Goose has KO’d multiple cars and can keep boosting through the last lap.

Also any tips on when to use the skyway, other than maybe save it for the most difficult part of the track?

If your energy bar is low or you want to save energy for a push in the last lap: Save the sky lane for the most difficult part. If you have a full energy bar, then saving the sky lane prevents you from using your normal boost. So the Golden Fox wants to use the sky lane immediately. The Goose and Stingray want to save it, so they can push with normal boosts later. The Falcon is a difficult one: You want to save the skylane strategically in Mute City, Big Blue and Port Town; at the other tracks you want to use it immediately and you should be at the front in Sand Ocean, Death Wind, Silence and White Land 1 anyway.

Yeah, same here. I always wanted a 2-player version of the original F-Zero and obviously a successor. F-Zero 99 indeed surpasses any wish, but I don’t really look at it as a battle royal game, but an over-the-top “true racing” game.

I’ve always looked at F-Zero as a “true racing” game and its name implies that it is one level above Formula 1. F-Zero is really technical and you have to find the perfect turn-in point and when to apply throttle again. Especially at master difficulty you have to find the optimal racing line while also dealing with traffic. And although you very rarely have to use the brake, lifting off is kind of like a break. This is what separates F-Zero from the original Super Mario Kart. In Mario Kart you kept the gas button pressed at all times and could make all corners.

The original Mario Kart still required technical skill though and you had to think about racing lines (especially where to start a power drift). Current Mario Kart 8 is frustrating me because there’s always something happening, like someone using their lightning. Those constant interruptions prevent you from getting into a rhythm. And I don’t want to talk about those city circuits in the expansion pass. MK8 is not a racing game, but it’s really fun with others in the same room.

F-Zero 99 is a pure racing game with some gimmicks.