Hello, I'm completely new, so this is handy :-) I'm James, I'm from the UK but am currently based in Berlin, and I'm a web developer. I have three dogs back in Blighty that I'm missing, and will bore you to death talking about them. The list of things that are good: – Dogs – Travelling – Science fiction books and films – Roguelikes/indie games – Portugal and Portuguese food – Meteor JS – Classical music – Chiptune music Edit: formatting (is this not Markdown?)
Hey, curious, how do you like Berlin? I have only heard wonderful things and am planning a visit this summer (currently in san francisco). I've even considered maybe moving there after the visit if I dig it, but I work in biotech currently, not web dev or anything, and I haven't seen much in that regard and those jobs don't usually export as well.
I moved here from London, and I'd say it's a nice change of pace; live is pretty relaxed here. It depends on what you're after, but I think there's something for everyone. Many young people come here for the usual Berlin lifestyle, partying all the time (it helps that the cost of living is relatively low), but aside from that, there's a lot going on generally. English is very common, but I would recommend trying your best in German. I'm rubbish currently, but we'll get there. It's pretty cold right now (hovering around 0 to 5°C), but it gets to the low 30s in summer, so I'm sure you won't mind that when you go! I think Berlin actually fares quite well for biotech, though perhaps language would be more of an issue. See how you go!
sick, thanks for the feedback! I'm actually gonna look around at what's going on there in my field, job-wise. actually kinda weird that you ended up there and not here, web devs make a fucking killing in these parts.
Always nice to see people who like chiptune, anyone in particular that you enjoy?
Absolutely! Do you know Yoann Turpin? He's probably my favourite artist at the moment. Rhythm'n'Bits is just such a good album, tune after tune. Protodome is also brilliant, chip-pop in parts but very catchy. Disasterpeace can be a bit darker, and he produced the Fez soundtrack. In this talk he goes over some of the programmatic aspects of the way the music's created, which is really interesting. How about you?
Disasterpeace is a favorite of mine, Protodome is good too. I had never heard of Yoann before but I'm blown away by this, he's got some very crisp production and nice textures going on. Might have to buy the album you linked to. I'm friends with the guys in Revengineers and they're easily my favorite chip-rock band. Trey Frey is somebody who you'll probably love if you're a fan of Yoann Turpin, they have a bit of a similar vibe going. In terms of darker stuff, Zen Albatross is up there for me but it's hard to find much of his music at all.
Have you played the Binding of Isaac? You sound like someone who would really enjoy that game. Roguelike with Legend of Zelda influences.
Rebirth is excellent. I would say it is much better than Wrath of the Lamb. I own Spelunky too! I watch a lot of Youtube videos about Spelunky. Have they updated it recently?
Nice one :-) Trying to do speedruns is the way to play it, I find (though I'm not great by any means). They've released it on more platforms, like PS4 and PSP, but there haven't been any updates. I think the developer wants to leave it at that for that game; I've no problem with that, but I wouldn't mind another solid roguelike platformer. Vagante looks like it could be next.
I checked out Vagante last night. It's pretty solid in it's alpha already. I am legitimately excited about the official release. Super fun.