Post the names of youtubers and other internet microcelebs you love with a burning passion based on more than vibes. Very preferably not large.

A good example is Cathode Ray Dude, who makes long videos on older technology. He doesn’t seem to have done anything reactionary, he’s got a personality far beyond “the algorithm”, and he doesn’t associate with any terrible people. And I enjoy his videos.

  • AernaLingus [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago
    • Retro Game Mechanics Explained - pretty much what it says on the tin. Super well-structured breakdowns of retro game stuff (like getting down to the assembly level) with some of the best visualizations I’ve ever seen.
    • pannenkoek2012 - this man has so much passion for pushing the SM64 A Button Challenge to its limits and all of the SM64 minutiae that have been discovered in the process. I want to live in a world where everyone can pursue their passion like pannen no matter how seemingly trivial.
    • Kaze Emanuar - detailed technical breakdowns from a German man with a monomaniacal drive to squeeze every last microsecond of performance gain out of Super Mario 64, which has led him to rewrite large swathes of the game engine.
    • MartSnack - okay, so he’s only got two videos as of this comment, but they’re some of the best goddamn videos on YouTube. Even if he had just posted the first one he would have a better output than most could dream of, but then two years later he dropped an even more impressive video. They both involve playing Pokémon “deaf and blind”–in other words, coming up with a sequence of inputs that will beat the game regardless of any RNG. The amount of work that went into these videos is truly mind-boggling, and he presents it in a very digestible and entertaining way.
    • 8-Bit Music Theory - wonderful music theory channel which teaches concepts using examples from all across the world of gaming (two great videos to start with are his videos on the Dolphin Shoals sax solo and Baka Mitai). I appreciate that he uses concrete examples with detailed transcriptions and doesn’t dumb down the explanations, and he doesn’t just focus on the what but the why, showing how you can apply these concepts in composition. I think you can enjoy his channel even without music theory knowledge just for the experience of going, “Oh, neat, I never realized that this technique was being used in these different pieces!” and gaining appreciation for the craft; that said, if you are interested in music theory this is a really fun way to get introduced to concepts big and small. You’re not going to master any one concept just from watching a 15 minute video with some examples, of course, but watching his videos has primed me for when I do come across those topics in my more rigorous study and helped me hear things when doing transcriptions. Just having that bit of prior exposure really makes things less daunting, and I treat his channel as a library for when I want to brush up on a topic (his series on modes is especially invaluable!).
    • Jonko the ROM Hacker - Another channel with only a few videos, but if you’re interested in ROM hacking I can hardly recommend a better place to start. The channel is run by the leader of a Haruhi fan translation group (that website also has some technical blog posts if you’re hungry for more or prefer written explanations). As a bonus, you don’t have to worry about whether he’s some cryptofascist because he puts stfu-terf at the beginning of all his presentations.
    • Hilltop - Another wonderful romhacking channel this one with a focus on PS1 games; I’ve linked to the playlist of all his romhacking breakdowns. Not much to say other than, if anyone can recommend other channels with romhacking/game reverse engineering videos of similar depth and quality, please share them!
    • hazel - comfy cozy anime/retro game vibes. I’m gonna be real, I’ve only watched a few of her videos, but I’ve enjoyed all the ones I’ve seen so far. I think her video on old-school fansites will resonate with fellow millennials wistful for the days of the personal web before big tech got their claws into everything.
    • Hunter R. - all the weird little trivia you could ever want to know about Animal Crossing and more! As you might guess from the other channels I’ve listed, this one has a fair bit of focus on some of the technical aspects of the series, and there’s a focus on the GameCube game in particular.
    • KRAZAM - satire on the world of software development. Highlights include Microservices, The Hustle, and AI Boyfriend.
      • AernaLingus [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        Lol, yeah…they all basically check some or all of these boxes for me:

        • Figuring out how things work/solving puzzles
        • Programming
        • Sticking it to the man (e.g. by taking their proprietary code and transforming it into something the people can use freely)
        • Video games

        I barely even play games these days, but I did a lot as a kid so I think that’s why it’s a comfy substrate for me. And since romhacking/game decompilation checks all of those boxes, I can’t get enough of it. None of my friends are remotely into this stuff, so to the internet I must go!

          • AernaLingus [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
            1·
            16 hours ago

            I’d never even heard of that game before but it looks super interesting! I know a bit about digital logic, but it looks like it goes well beyond the basics, and on top of that you’ve got the scripting you mentioned plus practically an entire CAD program to build whatever your heart desires and then plop that into the game world.

            It’s kinda funny, because it’s basically the opposite of what I just described. One of the things I like about reverse engineering is that I don’t have to actually build or design anything directly, since the program/device is already finished—it’s more detective work, and if you do have to make any tools they’re usually for a narrowly tailored purpose. And the best part is, there’s actually a “correct answer” when it comes to describing or replicating the original functionality. But if you enjoy the freedom and expressive capability found in something like Stormworks, I imagine you could sink thousands of hours into it!

            I get very easily overwhelmed with planning and creating things, so I tend to prefer either baby-brained games like platformers and shooters or puzzle games where the end goal is very clear. But I totally empathize with enjoying a multiplayer game that none of your friends are into—for me that game is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, which I don’t think I’ve ever gotten past a single play session with anybody. If I weren’t so paranoid about talking to strangers on the internet, I’d try to find a Hexbear to play with. Still thinking about if I can find a solution I’d be comfortable with where I could use a voice changer and a private (non-Discord) voice chat provider. Is finding people to play with online something you’ve looked into at all?

            • keepcarrot [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
              2·
              5 hours ago

              I’ve thought about it a couple of times but have decided I’m too cagey for actually playing with online randos.

              I do chat on the game discord, but not in voice.

              There are some correct answers in stormworks, but it’s very free form and the non-building part of the game is not particularly good.

    • HexReplyBot [none/use name]@hexbear.netBEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

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