What are you playing?

GasBandit

Staff member
Seeing as how the HF Minecraft server just reset its map for the new version, and how much Rimworld I've been playing, this seems topical:

 

GasBandit

Staff member
Rimworld - Halforums Edition

Verbose version -

A group of pirates attacked the compound, using grenades to try to blow their way through walls instead of worrying about doors. They were dispatched, but in the fighting Pez took the full brunt of a grenade going off. He was hospitalized for some time, but in addition to the usual bevy of burns, contusions and bleeding, his nose had been shredded off and his ribs were shattered. These latter two could not be treated with the equipment at the compound, and thus Pez remained disfigured. It remains to be seen whether the ribs will heal correctly on their own over time.

Pez recovering in the infirmary:


On the 13th of Septober, 5501, a pack of Alphabeavers moved into the area and began wreaking ecological devastation on the local tree population. GasBandit attempted to hunt them, both to save the local resources and to put some more meat into storage. Unfortunately, the beavers became enraged, and swarmed him. Terrik and Dei both took numerous bites rescuing him and dragging him back to safety. It was a near thing.

Gas, laid low by a pack of murderous beavers:


Snuffles' grave is near the infirmary. The surviving Halforumites all frequently visit it in search of solace. Terrik makes a show of not going, but often he sneaks out of bed at night to go visit Snuffles.

CeltZ at Snuffles' grave:


Kags has a... proclivity for chemical abuse. Despite policies being set to the contrary, she would drink whenever the mood struck her. As a result, her alcoholism grew ever worse. On the 3rd of Decembrary 5501, Kags had an... episode, and began lighting fires randomly in the fields among the crops. Fortunately, the mania didn't last very long, and the others were able to quickly extinguish the fires that were set.

A week later, a bitter cold snap began. Within 24 hours, all plant life outside had perished of cold as the temperatures dropped to 20c below zero. Unfortunately, there was not much left in the stores by way of vegetables, though Gas could still hunt for meat. The community wouldn't starve, but the animals may be another matter. The grass was not growing for the Muffalo and Alpacas to graze upon.

The group mulled sending the animals away again, but there was no information as to how far they'd have to go before finding warmer climes. Instead, the group opted to release the animals from their pens so that they could roam the countryside freely, grazing on whatever they can find and hoping for the best. Toward the end of Decembrary, this practice backfired, when several Muffalo broke into the storage room, ate the few remaining stores there, and broke all the beer bottles in the process. Kags then got to go teetotal whether she liked it or not. Fortunately, the cold snap did not last much longer after that, and as plants began to grow again, the animals were corralled.

During the long, cold winter, the men of the group built two geothermal power generators on nearby steam vents. These provided so much electricity that solar panels and batteries no longer were necessary for operation of the compound, which was good, because eliminating the huge battery cells from the grid drastically reduced the electrical shorts, explosions, and fires that had previously been breaking out with irritating frequency. Additionally, the builders contrived to build a sort of tropical greenhouse by erecting a building around one of the geothermal stations to trap its exhaust steam, and then rigged up a sun lamp. The soil of the spot was particularly fertile, too. With this innovation, the Halforumites could grow lots of vegetables very quickly, in any sort of weather. And it was good they did so. But more on that later.

On the 5th of Aprimay, 5502, a man named Dave arrived, with a pack of angry tribals on his heels. He was allowed to join the community, and it turned out he was a fairly decent hunter. Using a crudely constructed bow left over from an earlier raid, Dave assisted in defending the compound from his pursuers, and they were driven off. There were only tribals to bury after that, and one survivor, who was nursed back to health and sent on his way with word that peace would be desirous.

4 days later, the darkening sky filled with ash, and a volcanic winter swept over the land. While not as terrible as the previous year's toxic fallout, it was still a good thing that the Halforumites had switched from solar to geothermal energy, and the sunlamp-lit greenhouse would make sure they didn't run out of produce. With another hunter in the group, Dave and Gas provided twice as much meat as before, and so things were looking up. At least for a while.

On the 11th of Aprimay, Kags was carrying her dinner to the table in the common area, when suddenly she lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. Dei took her stricken sister to the infirmary, and there it was discovered that her forced abstention had come too late - Kags was afflicted with cirrhosis of the liver. Grim news. Replacement organs were not exactly easy to come by on the frontier, at least not without practices some would call ghoulish, and most would find abhorrent.

In the mist of this dilemma, the next day a large pack of man-eating labrador retrievers (I am NOT MAKING THIS UP) sneaked into the compound and attacked, grievously injuring Dave. Terrik was also injured, but arguably less seriously - unfortunately one of the casualties was Terrik's ear, and it could not be reattached. Dave was hospitalized for several days. Medical supplies were beginning to run low at this point.

The disfigurement of a second groupmember (the first being Pez losing his nose to a grenade in the previous autumn) unsettles everyone. It's hard for them to maintain social decorum.

On the 14th of Aprimay, a peace accord with the local tribals was finally hammered out, costing the Halforumites 900 silver. In addition to having one less hostile neighbor, this also would open the door to new trading opportunities.

On Jugust 2nd, another refugee came to plead for sanctuary, this one a mercanary named Ravenpoe. He was being chased by pirates. Fortunately, in the time since Dave's arrival (and with the bountiful geothermal energy), much more substantial defenses have been put in place. There was now a wall encircling the entire compound, its growing fields, its animal pastures, and all its structures - and the only way in was a narrow entryway on scree-covered ground that opened into a killzone from which all trees had been cleared and three automated turrets stood sentry from behind sandbags, along with firing positions for Gas and Dave. The first few pirates through the gap were mowed down in a hail of automatic fire, and Dave clipped another as she ran to seek cover behind the Muffalo barn. A number of pirates gained the relative safety of the barn, as well as trees at the edge of the open area, and they began to return fire. Terrik, Ravenpoe and Pez flanked around the far end of the barn, and within another minute, the last few pirates were scrambling back toward the narrow exit. Only one escaped.

The injuries among the Halforumites were not too severe, but as cleanup began, the women made a heartrending discovery - one of the attacking pirates had been their father. He had not survived the fray. Dei grimly inspected his injuries and determined he had been cut down by fire from the automated sentries, and had died almost instantly. She and her sister were saddened, and their father was laid to rest in a grave with a short service. The rest of the dead pirates were dumped in holes and covered unceremoniously. There were two surviving pirates - they were left out in the elements until they turned as cold as the ground they were to be put into.

That night, another escape pod crashed near the compound. The occupant was rescued and her wounds tended, but she did not opt to join the community. Instead, as soon as she was able to walk (but still wounded), she limped out into the wilderness, heading southeast with barely more than the clothes on her back...


TLDR version -
Pirate raid. They flank with sappers. Pez catches a grenade, shatters his ribs and disfigures his face.
Gasbandit mauled by Alphabeavers 13 septober 5501
Everyone frequently visits Snuffles' grave, it gives them solace.
Kags ignores direction to abstention, and drinks beer whenever she feels like it.
3rd of Dembrary, Kags is overcome by pyromania, starts setting fires.
10th of Decembrary - cold snap.
5 Aprmay 5502 - Dave arrives, pursued by tribals.
9th of Aprimay - volcanic winter.
11th of Aprimay - Kags contracts cirrhosis.
12th of Aprimay - manhunting labrador retrievers Put Terrik and Dave in the hospital. Dave takes many days to heal, Terrik is out sooner but his ear has been bitten off.
14th of Aprimay - relations with the tribals have been made peaceful.
2nd of Jugust - Ravenpoe arrives pursued by pirates. Dei and Kags' father was in the pirate band. He is killed by the automated turrets..
Same night, an escape pod crashes, the occupantis rescued, but she opts not to stay.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Guess what?

Rimworld - Halforums Edition

Verbose version -
4th of Jugust, 5502 - In order to avoid more attackers hiding behind the barn, it was decided that the barn should be moved to the southwest corner of the pasture. However, in the process of disassembling it, there was an accident. The roof caved in, injuring Terrik and killing a Muffalo calf. Terrik recovered within a couple days.

9th of Jugust, 5502 - A heat wave set in, making outdoor labor excruciating and exacerbating already frayed nerves. Furthermore, it compounded the symptoms of withdrawal from a Go-Juice addiction that Ravenpoe failed to mention earlier. He experienced frequent fainting spells, sometimes unable to even make it from his bedroom to the kitchen for breakfast. For safety's sake, his weapon was confiscated. He spent most of the summer in the infirmary, anyway. Kags, still in the throes of alcohol withdrawal herself, suffered another mental break and starts setting fires at random. Other members of the community were able to extinguish them quickly, thankfully.

Pictured: Kags sets an electrical conduit on fire


Pictured: Ravenpoe passes out in the breezeway on the way to the kitchen.


12th of Jugust, 5502 - Another pack of alphabeavers moved into the area. GasBandit refused to go hunt them, remembering how he almost died last time.

13th of Jugust, 5502 - The compound was attacked by pirates. The walls and defenses proved up to the challenge, and the raid was repulsed. A pirate survives but is incapacitated. Mindful of Kags' health concerns, it was grimly agreed to do that which was unspeakable. The surviving pirate was dragged to an infirmary cell, where she was forcefully sedated and her liver removed by Dei. The pirate does not survive the procedure. Everyone feels absolutely monsterous about this.

Pictured: The pirate raiding party approaches from the north.


15th of Jugust, 5502 - Using the last of the glitterworld-quality medical supplies on hand, Null successfully transplants the harvested liver into Kags. Her prognosis is excellent, and she is back on her feet within a day.

4th of Septober, 5502 - A grizzly bear somehow makes it inside the compound walls, and kills a muffalo calf. Dave and Gas are able to kill it before it hurts anyone or anything else.

Pictured: The bear killing the calf.


6th of Septober, 5502 - The withdrawal pains subside, and Kags is finally free of her alcohol addiction. With her fresh new liver, she should live a long time... provided she's kept away from any other drugs. She just can't seem to help herself.

8th of Septober, 5502 - a Solar Flare temporarily disrupts the electrical grid of the compound. Dave has been attempting to romance Kags, but has been failing. Their relationship suffers.

14th of Septober, 5502 - Ravenpoe finally recovers from his Go-Juice addiction. His withdrawal symptoms were arguably worse than Kags'. It's a relief to be healthy again.

15th of Septober, 5502 - Two mechanoid Scythers approach the compound from the southwest beach, somehow circumventing the wall and the defenses. The colony militia is forced to find makeshift cover behind slabs of stone and chunks of iron. The mechanoids, however, are armed with extremely powerful charge rifles, and can attack from out of the range of the humans' weapons. Redeploying quickly, the men use the barn as cover to force the technological terrors to come closer. As they round the corner of the barn, Gas, Dave, and Ravenpoe open fire while Terrik and Figmentpez charge. In the blink of an eye, Pez is shot through the chest and immediately killed. By the time the combat is concluded, Terrik is a hair's breadth from joining Pez, and GasBandit is also wounded. Gas is still able to walk himself to the infirmary, but Terrik must be carried. Dei does what she can for him, but one of Terrik's lungs has been destroyed and is irreparable. When he recovers, it is decided he will no longer be summoned for combat duty. He resolves to learn to be an artist instead, taking the place left vacant by Snuffles. A sarcophagus is built for Pez, and he is interred next to Snuffles. Morale is low.

Pictured: the immediate aftermath as the last Scyther falls


3rd of Decembruary - a solar eclipse darkens the landscape, and a day later, another escape pod falls, this time crashing into the surf. GasBandit pulls the occupant from the waves, and brings him to the infirmary for treatment. When he regains consciousness, he joins the community. His name is PatrThom. He's by far the most adept animal handler anyone has ever seen, and a decent crafter to boot. However, he has an odd dietary requirement - he much prefers to consume raw food instead of prepared meals. That's not much of a problem, really.

Pictured: PatrThom recovers in the infirmary while Terrik explores his artistic side in the workshop, and Null continues his research.


5th of Decembruary - a cold snap begins, and the temperatures plunge below -22C. It begins snowing hard, and the grass is quickly covered. Fortunately, through trading and hunting, the meat locker is full to bursting. Hot meals are prepared for the muffalo and alpacas, which keeps CeltZ busy cooking almost all her waking hours. Thankfully, the cold snap only lasts 3 days, and the snow melts a few days after that.


TLDR Version -
4th of Jugust, 5502 - When moving the barn, there was a roof collapse. Terrik was injured, and a Muffalo calf died. The Volcanic winter came to an end.
9th of Jugust - a heat wave gives Ravenpoe frequent fainting spells as he gets heatstroke. Kags starts setting fires again.
12 of Jugust - Alphabeavers
13th of Jugust - Pirate Raid - Harvested a liver from a captive, who died. Nobody is happy about this.
15th of Jugust - Null successfully transplants the harvested liver into Kags, the prognosis is excellent.
4th of Septober - a Grizzly bear gets into the compound, kills a muffalo calf. Dave and Gas bring it down without incident.
6th of Septober - Kags has finally gotten the alcoholism monkey off her back.
8th of Septober - Solar Flare. Dave has been failing to woo Kags. Their relationship suffers.
14th of Septober - Poe has recovered from his Go-Juice addiction and is no longer in withdrawal.
15th of Septober - Mechanoid raid. 2 scythers. They flank from the beach. Pez is killed, Terrik greivously wounded. He loses a lung. No longer safe to use him in combat, he resolves to learn to be an artist.
3rd of Decembruary - Eclipse.
4th of Decembruary - Escape pod. Upon being rescued, PatrThom joins the community.
5th of Decembruary - Cold Snap
8 Dec - Cold Snap over
 
Last edited:

GasBandit

Staff member
What am I researching, anyway? Besides how to make a bionic thumb out of muffalo parts.
At the moment? Deep mineral scanning technology. Before that, however, you also researched weapons and armor manufacturing. Not included in my update (because I considered it minutiae) was that your research led to the creation of production facilities that allowed for the dissection and salvage of the mechanoid attackers after they were defeated, and let Dave make a shiny new Assault Rifle for Poe and a couple armored vests (still working on more of those, but metal is starting to get low again.. need another trader to come by).
 
At the moment? Deep mineral scanning technology. Before that, however, you also researched weapons and armor manufacturing. Not included in my update (because I considered it minutiae) was that your research led to the creation of production facilities that allowed for the dissection and salvage of the mechanoid attackers after they were defeated, and let Dave make a shiny new Assault Rifle for Poe and a couple armored vests (still working on more of those, but metal is starting to get low again.. need another trader to come by).
This town feels less doomed than the last one.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
This town feels less doomed than the last one.
The last one actually finished researching all available options. However, despite the fact that this community has had two fatalities already, I feel better about its chances, too. That might change, however, as the challenges continue to escalate. This was actually a fairly minor meccanoid incursion, for example. And I've managed not to awaken any slumbering ancient Terrors, so far...

Lord help us if we get any burrowing Giant insect infestations.

My big discovery of the day, however, can be seen in the screenshots. It never occurred to me that you could build chairs in front of workbenches so that the people could sit and be comfortable while they work. I just kind of assumed that the circle in front of the station meant there was a stool or something there.
 
Err, just a question about the temperatures. A heat wave of "over 40°C" sounds about right....But a "cold snap" where it begins to snow "below 22°C" is kinda weird - I'm working in 21°C right now and I assure you I'm just wearing a shirt. 22F?
 
The Evil Within

I sort of love and hate this game at the same time. I like it's atmosphere, story, and characters... but I hate it's gameplay because it punishes all styles. You want to be sneaky? Alright, if you're playing on a PC that means awkwardly holding crouch for hours at a time because your sneak speed is inadequate to, you know, actually sneak around, so actually getting a stealth kill is EXTREMELY difficult. So that means breaking out the guns... except you don't get enough matches to really deal with enemies which means you're going to be wasting your explosives on corpse control instead of setting up ambushes... and in order to MAKE bolts, you need to sneak around and disable the traps that SHOULD be helpful with fighting enemies but almost never are.

It's like the game doesn't want me to play it and is actively fighting against my attempts to do so.
 
Mad Max

I'm still digging this. I'm particularly getting into the car combat, especially going after convoys. Though I don't see the point of the Archangel car builds. From what I can tell, they're with older upgrades after I've already moved on.

Also, the game started feeling really familiar. Go to each spot, collect all the things, blow stuff up, reduce that enemy's power on the map. I thought to myself, "This feels an awful lot like territory control in Just Cause 2." I looked up the developer and what do you know? Developer: Avalanche Studios, maker of the Just Cause games. Do the games you know, huh?

And like Just Cause 2 (I only say 2 because that's the only one I played), I made it to the next territory with the next stronghold ally. And it's the EXACT SAME THING. The exact same stronghold upgrades, scattered around the map, with the same places to explore and collect from. Blech. Now I understand the criticisms about the grind and sameness of this game. I felt the same way about Just Cause 2. I'll keep playing for now, but I don't know if I'll have the patience to finish it if I have to build up the same strongholds two or three more times.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Err, just a question about the temperatures. A heat wave of "over 40°C" sounds about right....But a "cold snap" where it begins to snow "below 22°C" is kinda weird - I'm working in 21°C right now and I assure you I'm just wearing a shirt. 22F?
Sorry that was not correctly worded. It should have said 22C below. As in below zero. As in negative 22 degrees.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Okay, more games I played in my quest for trading cards:

Closure - I had assumed that this was going to just be the Flash game slightly expanded, and so far it is, but the art style has been more developed, and there are new mechanics being added. I'll definitely come back to this one. The mechanic of moving light sources around because you can only stand on what's visible is really cool.

Mark of the Ninja - I liked this one more than I thought I would. I'm not fond of stealth games, but this one I enjoyed more than most. Still not enough to make me want to return to it later, though.

A Virus Named Tom - Nope. Don't like it. This type of action puzzle game doesn't appeal to me. I think it's the highly grid based movement that makes it frustrating to me.

Organ Trail - It's enjoyable. I was glad to see that easy difficulty really is easy. I might install this on my phone if I need a mobile game to waste time with.

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, Anomaly 2, Dungeons 2, Company of Heroes - this venture has served to further cement that the RTS genre is just not for me.

Transistor - Yeah, I can see why reviews focused mainly on how clunky combat feels. I cannot figure out how developers expected this game to be played. I want to keep playing, because the art style is great, and I'm intrigued by the world, but I'm really confused as to what I'm supposed to be doing in combat.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered - I'm loving this game so far. The humor and puzzles have both been very enjoyable up to this point. I look forward to continuing on.

Dust: An Elysian Tail - It's okay so far. The mini-map kinda sucks, but that's the worst criticism I can throw at it. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen the easiest difficulty. I was expecting a whole "easy is normal" level of difficulty for some reason.

Dirt 3 - Pretty game, and it seems to be an okay racer, but I'm reminded that I'm just not that into racing games, especially when they're not kart racers with powerups and such.

Pixeljunk Shooter - I'll definitely be coming back to this one. I had a lot of fun with this style of action puzzle game.

Offspring Fling - It's cute, and I can see why it's gotten some good reviews, but it just wasn't holding my attention.

Bad Hotel - I didn't like this one when I tried it on Android, and I still don't like it. The aesthetics, story, and mechanics have nothing to do with each other. It doesn't look like the premise, and neither of those jive with the way the game plays.

Dustforce DX - I just could not get into the flow of these controls. I felt clumsy and like I was fighting the game the whole time I played.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, Anomaly 2, Dungeons 2, Company of Heroes - this venture has served to further cement that the RTS genre is just not for me.
That's too bad. It's one of my favorite genres, but yeah, if you don't like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, it's pretty safe to say it's not for you. They're near the top, if you ask me (though Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is still #1, though it DEFINITELY is not for everyone).

Day of the Tentacle Remastered- I'm loving this game so far. The humor and puzzles have both been very enjoyable up to this point. I look forward to continuing on.
Is this the first time you've played Day of the Tentacle? If so, I envy you. Did you play the Sam and Max games?
 
Dirt 3 - Pretty game, and it seems to be an okay racer, but I'm reminded that I'm just not that into racing games, especially when they're not kart racers with powerups and such.
As a racing fan, playing Dirt 3 on the XBox irritated me because what I like most about racing games is getting good at racing the track itself, and that is not easy to do when I have to wait for the track to reload after every "lap"

. . . I picked up Dirt 3 after F1 2011 gave me an achievement called "Have you considered playing Dirt 3" after I skidded along the grass at Melbourne on my first lap of the game, right at the start of Sector 2. (Why do I remember that so well? )
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Is this the first time you've played Day of the Tentacle? If so, I envy you. Did you play the Sam and Max games?
Yes, it is. I missed it back in the day, my gaming budget was inconsistent. I've only played the Telltale Sam & Max games, not Hit the Road. I've played all the Monkey Island games, Maniac Mansion (on the NES), The Dig, Full Throttle, Loom, and Grim Fandango.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Yes, it is. I missed it back in the day, my gaming budget was inconsistent. I've only played the Telltale Sam & Max games, not Hit the Road. I've played all the Monkey Island games, Maniac Mansion (on the NES), The Dig, Full Throttle, Loom, and Grim Fandango.
Monkey Island 1 and 2 are my favorite, of course, but DOTT and Sam and Max HTR come in really really close.
 
Yes, it is. I missed it back in the day, my gaming budget was inconsistent. I've only played the Telltale Sam & Max games, not Hit the Road. I've played all the Monkey Island games, Maniac Mansion (on the NES), The Dig, Full Throttle, Loom, and Grim Fandango.
I've played...about 20min of LOOM. And none of the rest.

--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Rimworld - Halforums Edition

Verbose version -
15th of Decembrary, 5502 - An escape pod crashes to the west. Once he is rescued, ZeroEsc joins the community. It's a good thing he's a fair hand with a gun, because that very night there's a pirate band raid from the northeast, and they come with sappers armed with grenades. Instead of filtering through the killzone at the entrance, like they're supposed to, they blow their way through the east wall. A chaotic shootout follows, and Ravenpoe is shot to death. Gas, Dave, and Pat are all severely injured. The raid is driven off, however, and three prisoners are taken. There is grim discussion as to what to do with them. None of them are the one that fired the shot that killed Ravenpoe, but...

2nd of Aprimay, 5503 - It is decided. A lung is harvested from one of the captives, but he survives, and all three are set free at the edge of the compound. Morale is already hurt by organ harvesting, the execution of the captives is something Gas doesn't want to risk for fear of pushing spirits even lower. The flu sweeps through the group, however, which delays Terrik's surgery while everyone recovers. He finally gets his new lung transplanted on the 7th.

10th of Aprimay, 5503 - Kags has had many potential suitors, but she finally settles on one, and takes PatrThom to her bed. GasBandit builds them a masterwork double bed, with an exquisite carved headboard depicting CeltZ dragging the captive pirate off to have his lung removed. I'm starting to think Gas is getting bitter about not having a lover.

1st of Jugust, 5503 - While they harvest the cotton plants, CeltZ insults ZeroEsc, and it sets him off. He beats her soundly. The injuries are superficial, and when he regains his composure, a remorseful Zero cleans and bandages her bruises himself.

2nd of Jugust, 5503 - a giant insect infestation is found in the north tunnel. This is an important approach avenue to the front gate for trade caravans, so it must be dealt with. Five men of the compound (Gas, Terrik, Zero, Pat and Dave) line up outside the tunnel entrance, and Dave snipes the nest, causing the cow- and dog-sized multilegged terrors to come skittering out. The others open fire as they draw closer. Terrik sustains burns when Pat fails to hold his fire when they get too close for him to reasonable use his incendiary launcher.

3rd of Jugust, 5503 - Kags, ever fickle, dumps PatrThom for Dave. PatrThom is extremely unhappy about this development, but maintains his composure.

7th of Jugust, 5503 - Emrys is chased to the compound by a rather large group of Pirates. She joins the colony, naturally, and the men defend from an improved entranceway. The pirates are rent asunder in good order, with only moderate injuries to a couple halforumites, and those mostly caused by stray shots from the automated turrets. A redesign of the defenses seems to be in order. As for Emrys herself, she is good with animals and an enthusiastic miner, but has little experience at anything else. It is resolved she will also learn to farm.

TLDR version -
15th of Decembary, 5502: Escape pod. ZeroEsc Joins. That evening, a raid, with sappers. Ravenpoe is killed. Gasbandit, Dave and PatrThom are severely injured. Three prisoners are taken.
2nd of aprimay, 5503 - A lung is harvested from one of the survivors for Terrik. The captives are released the next day.
7th of aprimay - Delayed by a flu epidemic, Terrik finally gets his new lung.
10th of Aprimay - PatrThom and Kags are now lovers.
1st of Jugust - CeltZ insults ZeroEsc, which starts a fight. CeltZ is soundly thrashed, bruised.
2nd of Jugust - insect infestation in tunnel - terrik is wounded when Pat forgets not to use an incendiary launcher at point blank.
3rd of Jugust - Kags dumps Patrthom for Dave. Pat is pissed.
7th of Jugust - Pirates chase Emrys to the colony.
 
Rimworld (Damnit @GasBandit, I shouldn't be picking up new videogames)

Pretty fun, though I feel like I have a homework list a mile long of things to look up for the next time I play. I have the sinking feeling all my colonists will starve come winter (playing on the second easiest difficulty). The fact that their first nearly-lethal fistfight broke out before they had even finished their first shelter's walls doesn't help...
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Rimworld (Damnit @GasBandit, I shouldn't be picking up new videogames)

Pretty fun, though I feel like I have a homework list a mile long of things to look up for the next time I play. I have the sinking feeling all my colonists will starve come winter (playing on the second easiest difficulty). The fact that their first nearly-lethal fistfight broke out before they had even finished their first shelter's walls doesn't help...
Heh, maybe I should make a tutorial video or something.
 
Heh, maybe I should make a tutorial video or something.
The game's basic tutorial helped, but it leaves a lot to be desired... It didn't tell me animals could be trained (including the starter!), didn't mention the basic crafting spot (the 1-tile that says it's for things like bows), refrigeration, electricity (and how conduits, switches, ... work), or outline how much food colonists need (I have no idea if I'm screwed for the winter, with my only food reserves being the impending harvest of a 12x6 of rice).

It's also pretty unclear how bills/recipes work. The game was kind enough to let me know that I would need parkas for the winter or everyone would freeze to death, but the interface makes it fairly hard to tell what I'm supposed to gather to make them at the tailor table.

Should I worry about guns running out of ammo? How do I repair them (and everything else that is slowly decaying with use)?

... I should probably start actually looking up guides and crap, but I prefer it when a game's mechanics are intuitive and self-explanatory.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
The game's basic tutorial helped, but it leaves a lot to be desired... It didn't tell me animals could be trained (including the starter!), didn't mention the basic crafting spot (the 1-tile that says it's for things like bows), refrigeration, electricity (and how conduits, switches, ... work), or outline how much food colonists need (I have no idea if I'm screwed for the winter, with my only food reserves being the impending harvest of a 12x6 of rice).

It's also pretty unclear how bills/recipes work. The game was kind enough to let me know that I would need parkas for the winter or everyone would freeze to death, but the interface makes it fairly hard to tell what I'm supposed to gather to make them at the tailor table.

Should I worry about guns running out of ammo? How do I repair them (and everything else that is slowly decaying with use)?

... I should probably start actually looking up guides and crap, but I prefer it when a game's mechanics are intuitive and self-explanatory.
A 12x6 plot of rice might not be enough, especially given if you're a decent way from the equator, it will stop growing during the winter. Might want to make the plot bigger. Rice was the right call, though, it grows faster and lasts longer than potatoes. If push comes to absolute shove, you can hunt for meat even if you don't have a refrigerator. Basic meals use 10 of any raw food source, fine require 5 animal (meat/eggs/milk) and 5 vegetable, but you also have to have cooking skill 6 to prepare it. Lavish meals and Survival rations require 10 of each and require 10 skill to make. If you've got nobody who can cook, you can make do with a nutrient paste dispenser... it will make goo that is barely 1 step up from eating raw food, but it can use ANY biomatter.

Bear in mind, if colonists eat raw food, they generally eat more than it would have taken to make a basic or fine meal (around 20). Colonists generally eat twice a day in my experience, once in the morning, once in the evening. So, if you can prepare at least basic meals, you can calculate your food supply by going (# of colonists) x 20 = amount of food consumed daily if it is cooked, double that if raw or lavish meals. A quadrum (the game's name for a "season/month" lasts 15 days. So, to feed 4 people through all of winter, assuming crops stop growing Decembruary 1 and start again on Aprimay 1 (which usually isn't the case, usually it stops later and ends slightly earlier, outside cold snaps), you'd need 1200 raw food that is cooked as needed. Food stacks in 75, so that would be 16 full stacks of food. Again, doubling that if they have to eat it raw. Also allow for spoilage if you've got meat stored without a cooler.

Incidentally, GET THE REFRIGERATOR MOD. It's idiotic that it isn't part of the vanilla game.

Guns never run out of ammo. You can't repair them, either (however you can research electric smelting which will let you break them down for parts). But I've been pleasantly surprised by bows - they're perfectly servicable for hunting, though not quite as handy as guns for defense vs raids. I don't recommend hunting with incendiary launchers or grenades, regardless of comedic value :p

Bills are just work orders. I generally set a bill on my kitchen, for example, that says "Make fine meals until you have 10, pause when completed, unpause at 5." That just stays there until I change or delete it. It's a good idea to put a single square storage space near your dining room table (once you have one) that is configured to only accept meals. That way, your colonists won't have to walk a long way to get the food, then walk back to the table to eat it. Meals can sit out (under a roof) for 3 days before they spoil.

If your animals are herbivores, adjust their allowed area to keep them out of your crops, or they'll eat them before you can harvest them.
 
A 12x6 plot of rice might not be enough, especially given if you're a decent way from the equator, it will stop growing during the winter. Might want to make the plot bigger. Rice was the right call, though, it grows faster and lasts longer than potatoes. If push comes to absolute shove, you can hunt for meat even if you don't have a refrigerator. Basic meals use 10 of any raw food source, fine require 5 animal (meat/eggs/milk) and 5 vegetable, but you also have to have cooking skill 6 to prepare it. Lavish meals and Survival rations require 10 of each and require 10 skill to make. If you've got nobody who can cook, you can make do with a nutrient paste dispenser... it will make goo that is barely 1 step up from eating raw food, but it can use ANY biomatter.

Bear in mind, if colonists eat raw food, they generally eat more than it would have taken to make a basic or fine meal (around 20). Colonists generally eat twice a day in my experience, once in the morning, once in the evening. So, if you can prepare at least basic meals, you can calculate your food supply by going (# of colonists) x 20 = amount of food consumed daily if it is cooked, double that if raw or lavish meals. A quadrum (the game's name for a "season/month" lasts 15 days. So, to feed 4 people through all of winter, assuming crops stop growing Decembruary 1 and start again on Aprimay 1 (which usually isn't the case, usually it stops later and ends slightly earlier, outside cold snaps), you'd need 1200 raw food that is cooked as needed. Food stacks in 75, so that would be 16 full stacks of food. Again, doubling that if they have to eat it raw. Also allow for spoilage if you've got meat stored without a cooler.

Incidentally, GET THE REFRIGERATOR MOD. It's idiotic that it isn't part of the vanilla game.

Guns never run out of ammo. You can't repair them, either (however you can research electric smelting which will let you break them down for parts). But I've been pleasantly surprised by bows - they're perfectly servicable for hunting, though not quite as handy as guns for defense vs raids. I don't recommend hunting with incendiary launchers or grenades, regardless of comedic value :p

Bills are just work orders. I generally set a bill on my kitchen, for example, that says "Make fine meals until you have 10, pause when completed, unpause at 5." That just stays there until I change or delete it. It's a good idea to put a single square storage space near your dining room table (once you have one) that is configured to only accept meals. That way, your colonists won't have to walk a long way to get the food, then walk back to the table to eat it. Meals can sit out (under a roof) for 3 days before they spoil.

If your animals are herbivores, adjust their allowed area to keep them out of your crops, or they'll eat them before you can harvest them.
Any other mods I should install? I was going to make a refrigerator by making a room with coolers in the walls (I think that's what the game recommends?).

Thankfully one of my starters likes cooking, I *think* they have enough to make these fine. That'll stretch the meat once rice is harvested...

Damn, that's a lot of food. I stopped playing near the end of summer, guess I'll try expanding my plots and crossing my fingers.

That makes some degree of sense, the interface is just very opaque. I'll mess with it tonight with what you said in mind.

Is there a way to designate which dumping ground to move something to? I have 2 dead raiders (and didn't want to bury them), so I made a hauling area far away from camp to drop them at, and my dudes dropped them off at the one next to my settlement instead. Is there a use/process for these bodies outside of turning them into food (nothx)?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Any other mods I should install? I was going to make a refrigerator by making a room with coolers in the walls (I think that's what the game recommends?).
That is, indeed, what the game recommends, and when you have a LOT of meat, it's a decent way to keep it fresh. But I also like having a fridge right next to the stove so whoever is cooking doesn't have to walk all the way to the massive freezing room for every single meal prep. Every time somebody opens that door, the stuff inside thaws out, unless you go stupid heavy on coolers.

Also, if you can rig it, make the walls of your cooler room out of stone bricks, and make them double thick. You'll save LOADS on electricity.

I also recommend:
Stack Merger: Creates a super-low priority task to combine stacks of identical items if possible
Organized Research Tab: Makes it easier to see what you need to research to get what.
Efficient Light: Reduces the power consumption of standard lamps from 75 to 25
Cheaper Components: Reduces the cost to create components from 25 to 10 steel, and makes it so it doesn't take 9 days to make a single component.

I also like "Extended Traits," as it gives more flavor to the people in the game, and EdB Prepare Carefully, which lets you customize your starting colonists and equipment, optionally based on a "points system" so you aren't cheating.

Thankfully one of my starters likes cooking, I *think* they have enough to make these fine. That'll stretch the meat once rice is harvested...
Yeah, Fine meals are the best deal. Only go to lavish if you are absolutely drowning in food that is going to go bad anyway if you don't cook it and eat it.

Damn, that's a lot of food. I stopped playing near the end of summer, guess I'll try expanding my plots and crossing my fingers.
If you're still in Jugust, that's plenty of time. Septober still grows crops well as long as you're not near the north pole or something. Crops don't usually stall out for me until a few days into Decembruary. Also, just so you know, you can wall in a dirt plot and put a roof over it, then stick in a sun lamp and a heater, and continue to grow things through winter even without hydroponics research. But sun lamps use MASSIVE amounts of electricity. Still, this is the best way to survive a toxic fallout scenario, too.

Is there a way to designate which dumping ground to move something to? I have 2 dead raiders (and didn't want to bury them), so I made a hauling area far away from camp to drop them at, and my dudes dropped them off at the one next to my settlement instead. Is there a use/process for these bodies outside of turning them into food (nothx)?
Dumping areas are actually exactly the same as normal storage areas, they just come premade with different starting values. If you select the various storages and dumping grounds, you then get a "storage" button in the lower left status display where you can customize what is allowed in which area, and what areas are filled first. So, if you change the settings on your distant dumping ground to only allow human corpses but be "preferred" priority, your pawns will move dead bodies out there and only use the close one when the far one fills up.

That said, if the bodies you've got are of colonists, it's worthwhile to "build" them a grave under the "misc" tab. Visiting the grave is a mood boost, which you'll need to counteract the mood penalty if someone liked who died. Graves are counterintuitively fast to create, just bear in mind you don't want it somewhere you'll plan to use for something else later, like a farm or a building.
 
So, SWTOR made a few changes with the last patch, nothing major, but one is that a couple of the companions can have their gear switched out for a more custom appearance. Specifically Shae Viszla and Theron Shan.

I decided to shelve Shae's beskar'gam (Mandalorian Armor) and throw back to KOTOR 2 by having her wear Mira's outfit. This is a shot from my BH's stronghold on Dromund Kaas in his bedroom, where I don't remember doing it but apparently had several of the female companions line up next to his bed (you can place companions in your stronghold like furnishings)
Screenshot_2017-06-16_19_45_37_925044.jpg


More of a first-person look.
Screenshot_2017-06-16_19_45_59_716290.jpg

Also I noticed that the Custom-Made Blaster Pistol, which is a blueprint for the Armstech skill, is the Blade Runner gun. Needless to say, I had to make those.
Screenshot_2017-06-16_19_46_24_970735.jpg

I finished the Jedi Consular's main storyline with Rusala Arkhot. It was interesting that by far her best written companion was Qyzen Fess, the Trandoshan big game Hunter. His storyline actually involves a crisis of conscience - "Why does someone who commits terrible crimes prosper, why doesn't the Scorekeeper (Trandoshan Goddess of the Hunt) intercede? Do I have a right to intervene?" etc.
And Rusala leveled up enough to get a new ensemble.
Screenshot_2017-06-14_12_50_18_475602.jpg
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Rimworld - Halforums Edition.

Man, even the TLDR version is freakin' long. I should have gone to bed 3 hours ago >_<

11th of Jugust 5503 - Terrik and Emrys come to blows in the workshop. Emrys comes out the worse for wear, but got a couple shots in.
Pictured: the fight in the workshop

Emrys suffers withdrawal from a go juice addiction, spends much of the summer and fall moping about and wandering in a daze, or going on food binges.
5th of Septober - Kags accepts Dave's Marriage Proposal.
10th Septober - Null and PatrThom get in a fight over an insult. Null gets the snot beaten out of him.
It is learned that Emrys has a son... and he is Trevor "Trev" Austin, leader of the Sedos colonists. She was also Snuffles' lover, before he came to the Halforums compound. They had not broken up before he died.
11th Septober - Terrik, PatrThom, and ZeroEsc are swarmed by angry alphabeavers. Gas and Dave are able to rescue them, but hospital time is required to heal. Terrik's left eye has been torn out. While Pat is in the hospital, Gas remembers his food preference and brings him raw meat to eat.
Pictured: Alphabeavers on the attack

2nd Decembruary - A bionic eye is located on an exotic goods trader, and purchased at great cost for Terrik. Dei installs it successfully in his ruined left eye.
3rd Decembruary - Cold snap wipes out the crops, but supplies are stocked. Mechanoids attack the next night, two scythers. The automated defenses take them out with extreme prejudice.
Pictured: The front gate killbox dealing with the Scythers

14 Decem. - A valuable item cache is discovered, supposedly unguarded, a day's trip down the road. Gas, Terrik and Dave take some muffalo to go investigate.
15 Decem - the cache is guarded by man-eating alpacas. Terrik and Gas are wounded, but the alpacas are killed and the cache is looted. The caravan limps home successfully.
?? of Aprimay 5504 - Terrik makes a masterwork sculpture depicting himself making a sculpture.
Pictured: A sculpture of Terrik making a sculpture, by Terrik.

6th of Aprimay - Pirate sapper attack. Terrik is downed, but no permanent injuries. He and Zero spend a few days in the infirmary.
10th of Aprimay - One of the pirates had a stash of smokeleaf. Kags decides to have herself a party and gets stoned out of her mind. She smokes about 6 joints before Pat and Null catch her, and take them away to burn in a campfire safely outside.
2nd of Jugust - Kags gets into the beer, and drinks about 12 of them. The next morning, she milks a muffalo and then vomits into the full milk bucket.
3rd of Jugust - GasBandit and Emrys become lovers.
Pictured: the four HF couples

4th of Jugust - GasBandit and Null have a blowup when Null's insults go a step too far, and Gas pummels Null into submission, sending him to the infirmary for a couple days.
5th of Jugust - A passing pirate merchant ship sells a slave to the HF compound at a discount. Her name is Dirona, and she is gifted at farming, mining, and construction, and has an interest in medicine. As soon as the slaver is away, she is made a full member of the community.
7th of Jugust - Kags tries to go on another alcohol bender. Exasperated, Gas walls off the storage room where the beer is kept.
8th of jugust - Sappers arrive in the early morning to breach the wall. Injuries among the defenders are manageable, and the pirates are driven off after 7 are downed.
Pictured: the fight with the Sappers

13th of Jugust - Dave couldn't deal with Kags anymore and dumped her. The two are now firmly on the outs.
14th of Jugust - Stray pigs invite themselves to join the colony. The pigs are trained to rescue downed colonists and haul goods.
15th of Jugust - Null suffers a heart attack. Dei succeeds in saving him.
4th Septober - Dirona is attacked by a wolf while expanding the compound's outer wall. Terrik rescues her before she is seriously injured, but within a few hours it becomes apparent a scratch on her leg is infected. She must stay in the infirmary for a few days.
7th Septober - A large ship section crashes on the beach inside the walls. The front gate defenses are redeployed around it, and then it is attacked. Mechanoids spring out! Their rocket launchers do massive damage and set huge fires. Several defenders and a pig are injured, Gasbandit's right hand is shot off, but the mechanoids are dealt with.
9th of Septober - Dei's favorite Alpaca, Willow, is struck by lightning. She is rescued in time, and is treated for severe burns.
 
Rimworld - Halforums Edition.

Man, even the TLDR version is freakin' long. I should have gone to bed 3 hours ago >_<

11th of Jugust 5503 - Terrik and Emrys come to blows in the workshop. Emrys comes out the worse for wear, but got a couple shots in.
Pictured: the fight in the workshop

Emrys suffers withdrawal from a go juice addiction, spends much of the summer and fall moping about and wandering in a daze, or going on food binges.
5th of Septober - Kags accepts Dave's Marriage Proposal.
10th Septober - Null and PatrThom get in a fight over an insult. Null gets the snot beaten out of him.
It is learned that Emrys has a son... and he is Trevor "Trev" Austin, leader of the Sedos colonists. She was also Snuffles' lover, before he came to the Halforums compound. They had not broken up before he died.
11th Septober - Terrik, PatrThom, and ZeroEsc are swarmed by angry alphabeavers. Gas and Dave are able to rescue them, but hospital time is required to heal. Terrik's left eye has been torn out. While Pat is in the hospital, Gas remembers his food preference and brings him raw meat to eat.
Pictured: Alphabeavers on the attack

2nd Decembruary - A bionic eye is located on an exotic goods trader, and purchased at great cost for Terrik. Dei installs it successfully in his ruined left eye.
3rd Decembruary - Cold snap wipes out the crops, but supplies are stocked. Mechanoids attack the next night, two scythers. The automated defenses take them out with extreme prejudice.
Pictured: The front gate killbox dealing with the Scythers

14 Decem. - A valuable item cache is discovered, supposedly unguarded, a day's trip down the road. Gas, Terrik and Dave take some muffalo to go investigate.
15 Decem - the cache is guarded by man-eating alpacas. Terrik and Gas are wounded, but the alpacas are killed and the cache is looted. The caravan limps home successfully.
?? of Aprimay 5504 - Terrik makes a masterwork sculpture depicting himself making a sculpture.
Pictured: A sculpture of Terrik making a sculpture, by Terrik.

6th of Aprimay - Pirate sapper attack. Terrik is downed, but no permanent injuries. He and Zero spend a few days in the infirmary.
10th of Aprimay - One of the pirates had a stash of smokeleaf. Kags decides to have herself a party and gets stoned out of her mind. She smokes about 6 joints before Pat and Null catch her, and take them away to burn in a campfire safely outside.
2nd of Jugust - Kags gets into the beer, and drinks about 12 of them. The next morning, she milks a muffalo and then vomits into the full milk bucket.
3rd of Jugust - GasBandit and Emrys become lovers.
Pictured: the four HF couples

4th of Jugust - GasBandit and Null have a blowup when Null's insults go a step too far, and Gas pummels Null into submission, sending him to the infirmary for a couple days.
5th of Jugust - A passing pirate merchant ship sells a slave to the HF compound at a discount. Her name is Dirona, and she is gifted at farming, mining, and construction, and has an interest in medicine. As soon as the slaver is away, she is made a full member of the community.
7th of Jugust - Kags tries to go on another alcohol bender. Exasperated, Gas walls off the storage room where the beer is kept.
8th of jugust - Sappers arrive in the early morning to breach the wall. Injuries among the defenders are manageable, and the pirates are driven off after 7 are downed.
Pictured: the fight with the Sappers

13th of Jugust - Dave couldn't deal with Kags anymore and dumped her. The two are now firmly on the outs.
14th of Jugust - Stray pigs invite themselves to join the colony. The pigs are trained to rescue downed colonists and haul goods.
15th of Jugust - Null suffers a heart attack. Dei succeeds in saving him.
4th Septober - Dirona is attacked by a wolf while expanding the compound's outer wall. Terrik rescues her before she is seriously injured, but within a few hours it becomes apparent a scratch on her leg is infected. She must stay in the infirmary for a few days.
7th Septober - A large ship section crashes on the beach inside the walls. The front gate defenses are redeployed around it, and then it is attacked. Mechanoids spring out! Their rocket launchers do massive damage and set huge fires. Several defenders and a pig are injured, Gasbandit's right hand is shot off, but the mechanoids are dealt with.
9th of Septober - Dei's favorite Alpaca, Willow, is struck by lightning. She is rescued in time, and is treated for severe burns.
I saw you on at 1am my time, and wondered when you were going to go to bed. :p
 
Horizon: Zero Dawn

Wife bought this for me for our anniversary. It is really good. It's one of those games that I lose track of time playing. I was going to stop playing last night at 8:30 as my eyes were getting tired. I finally quit sometime around 11. It is also a game that my wife really enjoys as well. They are generally not very good with games that require moving both sticks and using multiple buttons simultaneously, but this game is so intuitively laid out and explained that they were able to play it for a long time without getting frustrated by the controls (which was the reason they stopped playing Skyrim altogether after completing the main questline).
 
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