I recommend Linux Mint for your first version of Linux. It's very Windows-like so it will feel familiar and easy to get used to. Another option would be KDE Plasma.

His stuff is probably more humourous than you are aiming for but he nonetheless wrote entertaining fictional fantasy stories that make important points about real life. Look at Going Postal for his thoughts on the postal service as an example. Or Making Money for his thoughts on banking.

Ignore those people and make the game you want to make. I mean there are still some moral/ethical lines you shouldn't cross but exploring difficult real world scenarios through the lens of fiction has been the goal of countless authors, artists, and devs for a long time. Look at Terry Pratchett.

Or if they aren't completely evil, explore that gray area in between. It's possible that it could get some negative feedback, yes, but I don't think that should stop you. It's like saying "I won't make the horror game I want to make because some people who don't like horror will down vote it."

One of the purposes of sci-fi is to explore those very themes. "What if...?" Your story centers on something with parallels to reality that is uncomfortable but why not use this as your chance to say something about that. Have a giant evil mega corp and then explore why they're evil.

It's a problem there too but I'm more willing to let it go because it's too hard to know the circumstances surrounding it. A rich person doing it for extra spending money is a problem but an older person who can't work and depends on a little rental income to survive is ok to me.

Dang... Sorry to hear that. Companies hoarding houses for investment are a plague. I don't mind individuals doing it if they only have one or two properties but when you've got the equivalent of whole neighborhoods then you're just using money to screw people over.

The worst part for me was when we finally found one we liked and could afford, we see it on the morning it comes on the market, and before we finish touring the house discover an offer has already been made and accepted for a bunch over asking price.

I'm trying to pick up pixel art and I feel similarly. The first little animation I did was a mouse wagging its tail. It's objectively not great but it's mine and I think it's cute.

Are there plugins for other tools that you could use to make them behave more like Maya?

I have a more verbose version of this (which is fitting, if you know me 😅) that I have as one of my desktopbackgrounds

Phantom Doctrine. It's a strategy rpg about being a 1980s spy organization. It really nails the theme and is a ton of fun to play.

I would just keep the 2-5 latest, in case you find a weird bug and need to compare the old version to the current version to find and fix it, and any major milestones like the very first build, just for fun comparison later to see how far you've come.

This also applies to programming.

To me "war game" is a term related to the setting: world war, civil war, etc. I view "skirmish game" as more related to the type of gameplay: counterstrike or League of Legends type of matches.

Clear out the fridge shelves and move your office in there?

The Kickstarter says they have a team of 14. So that's closer to 21k each. While there are countries where that is a living wage, France is not one of them.

Having read this whole thread... Dang. I had vaguely heard that the Pinkerton's were bad but this puts it all into context.