New Years Resolutions 2026

[Capitulation007]

If I’m being honest, this list feels less like resolutions and more like permission - permission to invest in yourself again after a rough stretch. The console and arcade projects especially stand out to me, not because they’re easy, but because they’re playful. Building things just because they’re cool is underrated as hell. Even if half of this never gets finished, the fact you’re thinking creatively instead of just surviving feels like progress already.

[REPO Man]

I used to have a Raspberry Pi back in 2017, but it got fried by a random power outage.

Right now, I'm deciding whether or not I'm willing to spend more on a LattePanda Sigma and eGPU to make it an ersatz Steam Box, possibly running ChimeraOS. I'd have to weigh the cost ($650 for the Sigma, up to $300-400 for the eGPU) against the increased number of games it could run. The Pi 5 is only around $150 for the most powerful model, but apparently struggles with PS2 and GameCube games. Even if I nix the eGPU when getting the Sigma, the Pi 5 is a quarter the price at the cost of little to no PS2 and GameCube emulation.

But that's if I go with a dedicated non-portable console. Either way, I'd try to see if I can use an enlarged version of this 3D-printed Sonic the Hedgehog item monitor, though I'm looking around for other ideas. If I go with the Sonic item monitor, I'd love to try to see if I can add a screen to the front for displaying various information, like the game being played, game playtime, RetroAchievements and so on. I know the item monitor in the link is basically a 50mm cube (which is slightly smaller than a Rubik's cube), so I'd have to see if I can enlarge it by enough to fit the SBC and what have you.

The Pi 5 would be my top choice for a DIY arcade machine, given that's it's more than powerful enough to emulate the Dreamcast and similar hardware at the most. And I'd probably be able to add lightguns.

As for my other resolutions, I'm still trying to find a venue for my community theater company. So far, the best lead was for a civic center gymnasium that has a maximum occupancy of 300. But aside from the cost of renting the space (by the hour) AND having to rig up lighting AND sound systems for the performance, the community center has a strict policy against profanity. So any show with profanity is off the table, and in my eyes, so is any venue that wants to restrict my choice of shows. There's two venues, another smaller venue 20 minutes away that said and a place that as it turns out stopped doing live performances of any kind since the pandemic.

So far, I've yet to hear from a civic center in the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo area, a small venue in Buxton and the nearby beach club that typically hosts summer concerts.

[REPO Man]

So, I heard back about the small venue in Buxton and the community center in the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo area. The former said no since they're too small. The latter expressed interest but I'll have to talk to someone else about it. I guess this person has more say than whoever runs their social media.

And there's a venue within walking distance from my house that I'm trying to inquire about.

I've also gotten into the works of Starkid Productions and the shows they have available for licensing are not only damn good but are relatively cheap to license ($220 per performance plus an additional $75 per performance for the backing tracks if we don't have a band).

[REPO Man]

Been awhile, but I've managed to do… absolutely FUCKALL in real headway on my resolutions. FML.

[Ack]

I actually did help publish a book. My stepmom's father wrote a fantasy book back in the 1980s. He passed in the early 1990s without ever getting it published. My father is now retired and decided to spend some time going over it, so I helped out. We now have it released on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/World-Hung-Short ... 163&sr=8-1

[REPO Man]

Looks interesting.

[marurun]

I actually did help publish a book. My stepmom's father wrote a fantasy book back in the 1980s. He passed in the early 1990s without ever getting it published. My father is now retired and decided to spend some time going over it, so I helped out. We now have it released on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/World-Hung-Short ... 163&sr=8-1

That is very cool. Thanks for sharing! It's like it's a piece of family history, now, with quite a gestation time on it.

My only complaint is the art is pretty generic (and probably AI).

[Ack]

Honestly, it probably was. Dad hired an artist on Fiverr. We actually did do some AI art mock-ups on our own but chose not to use them for the cover art in lieu of hiring an artist...who produced that.

[marurun]

Honestly, it probably was. Dad hired an artist on Fiverr. We actually did do some AI art mock-ups on our own but chose not to use them for the cover art in lieu of hiring an artist...who produced that.

It is tough for indie books to get art, especially since the returns on the books tend to be so modest.