I have a prusa M4 with multi-material head, and I am super happy with it. It started as a M3, and has been upgraded twice to become what it is today.

It was expensive, but prusa really does have great support for free, which is worth a LOT. And the upgradability means you end up spending less if you keep with the hobby over years.

But one caviat, I have the printer set up and my friend’s house, because he has more space and free time. So most of what I know about it comes from his experience, not mine. I do lots of CAD, but I don’t often actually touch the printer myself.

If you could use some of the Tuxcart resources/engine, perhaps a vehicle-based battle game with a garage for customization of your vehicle?

I’d say keep it simple to start. Perhaps a turn-based tactics game like final fantasy tactics advance, or more 3D, like XCOM?

I haven’t tried it out yet, but the cypher system seems like a good fit.

I haven’t had any problems like that, but I generally don’t leave my screen on. So perhaps I would have this issue, but just never notice it because of how I use the device.

I’m very conscious of energy use, I almost always manually set my laptop to sleep if I’m leaving it idle for a while.

Bazzite just works, it runs every game I have with zero fuss, it’s easy to run Windows programs / emulators / local LLMs, AND it’s basically unbreakable.

Mechwarrior 5 mercenaries with mods that add lots of lore-accurate content and additional equipment/loadout options.

I’m just starting to get some of the bigger mechs, and the carnage is epic and loads of fun. The short missions are also great for me as a busy father.