#really mixes up the biome

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

EM I COULD'VE LIVED MY LIFE HAPPILY NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE OCEANGATE OMEGAVERSE SMUTFIC ALDJNFNFFMFNSHDHNDNNANSNBFNDNAN u cursed us all with this reblog

GVSKDHDKSJDKDSKDJSK MARY THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT OKAY IT'S BEEN DAYS BUT ME EYES ARE STILL BURNING WITH THE BURDEN OF THIS KNOWLEDGE 😭😭💀

[fragglez]

just watched avatar 2 it was gorgeous, the movie itself tho...... yeesh

[ravenwriter16]

Hello EVERYONE!!!! This is part one of my new series, 'Creative Minds Think Alike!'

In these small snippets I will highlight some of the coolest (at least in my mind) DCA (or other, who knows) content creators!

SO think of these as a HUGE thanks to these creators for all their cool art, stories, and little worlds that they decided to share with all of us! You guys are awesome and I hope to get to your level of talent one day!

You can tell I'm not that good because this is not beta-read!

If you don't like my writing or story idea, then don't read Just a heads up, I will edit or straight up delete a fic episode if the creator I featured took offensive with how I presented them and their AUs. My intent isn't to mock or belittle them or their works

So here you are my fellow void travelers! The pilot fic episode to the series 'Creative Minds Think Alike!'. Featuring the amazing @missterious-figure! Enjoy!

The castle halls at night were truly a gorgeously horrific sight to behold. A person first trekking into this old and magnificent place would surely run away at the first shadow that seemed to move. At least the large windows allowed the moon to grace the hall with its ghostly glow.

Directly across from the windows are rows of doors, each one different from the last and never exactly the same as its neighbors. Each of these doors has a small plaque located either right next to the door, above the door, or on the door itself.

Currently walking down this strange hall is me. Good dawn, morning, afternoon, evening or night (or all of the above). I'm Ravenwriter Archivist number 16. But you can call me Raven if you want!

My boss calls me Ravenwriter16 because he doesn't want to waste breath on my title (His words not mine). I'm one of the many protecters of this castle. A Castle Archivist if you so will. I was given this title and job by none other than the Aligned Society of Creative Minds.

Not by my choice. They were short on time and randomly selected me, basically uprooting my life. For a time I was angry (and can you blame me?) but then I looked into the specifics of my duties and now I'm ready to work.

I'm no expert mind you. I'd just graduated from the academy and starting to get some control over my powers when I was shoved into this. But I love a good challenge!

But enough of this, I'm stalling.

I eye the plaques, scanning them intently. In my hands are two envelopes with containing letters I wrote earlier this week. They were for two of the millions of warriors living in the castle.

Two that I hand selected after spending hours scouring the resident scrolls (there are so MANY). I hope these two were as friendly as their scrolls stated.

After a few minutes of walking this ever-expanding hall, I finally find the door to the first warrior from my two chosen.

The door itself was made from a black natural material, not really wood, not really rock, not really metal. It seemed to morph between those three. It did have gold trimming woven into the strange surface. Above the door was a golden plaque with silver and bronze writing.

I take in a shaky inhale, rolling my shoulders and in turn shaking my wings. My black feathers bristling before settling back down as my wings fold into my back.

I tug at my black hood, making sure it was secured over my head. My eyes dart to my boots and I lift my feet up one by one to inspect them for mud and dirt.

phew...not even a speck.

Steeling my resolve (and accepting my possible death wish) I place my gloved hand on the door. I push the surprisingly heavy door open.

It creaks o it's hinges as it swings inward. the sounds of birds flying and water crashing startles me. I look into the room in awe. It was like someone took every biome known to man and mixed it all together to harmonize in this relm.

There was a desert in the distance to my left and a...a FROZEN WASTE LAND to my right?! Forest and grassy plains, hills and mountains?! This place seems to have it all.

I step inside and gently close the door behind me. To protect my letters I place them in my side pouch as I journey deeper into this world.

While trekking further and further into the room, my surroundings start to shift. Jungle recedes into moss covered, vine strangled stone. I could see stone arches and tapestries that have aged and withered over time.

I reach a clearing. The temple's main room. There was no ceiling exclude for the tree leaves. To my left was more ancient stone that opened up to the jungle more and to my right was a magnificent waterfall.

in front of me was a giant tree. It's roots weaved into a seat, a throne if you will. Carvings grace the wood, but they don't look man made.

My wings spread out in alarm when something brushes against them. Something smooth and cold. Whipping my head to my wings, I freeze and gasp.

A floating glowing orb floats in the air. Bobbing up and down in small movements. It moves closer to my face and boops my nose. My eyes widen and I laugh.

"Well hello there little one." I greet, cupping my hands underneath it. It flies down and rests in my palms. it glows a tad brighter and its color changes to a neon green.

It vibrates in my hand, a sign of its content. I laugh, "Wow. I've read about Relm Holders, but seeing one in real life is-,"

"Spectacular?"

I spin on my heels and face the throne. My checks grow warm and my wings puff up in embarrassment.

Sitting on the throne was an all-black, and I mean pitch BLACK, person with a...a uhm...

"I'm so SO sorry if this comes across as rude but uhm..." I tilt my head pointing at theirs, "Do you have a...square as a head?"

A single white eye with a white line over said eye (acting as the eyebrow) appears on the left side of their face. the eye widens.

"Oh, yeah..." the voice was feminine and held power.

I let go of the Relm holder and it zooms over to the stranger. No not a stranger...this was-

"Missterious-figure?"

"How do you know my name?" she asks, standing up. She holds the Relm Holder in her hand and I watch as scenes of hooves, horns, antlers, fairy wings (?) swamps, metalic colors shimmering with different color eyes, pass through the orb.

She blows on the Relm Holder and the orb evaporates into millions of fireflies. I follow some of them as they fly in spirals up towards the sky.

"Ahem?"

I snap my gaze up to her's and nervously laugh. "S-sorry. Allow me to introduce myself..."

I get down on my knee and put a hand on my chest as i bow y head, "I am Ravenwriter Archivist 16. I'm the-,"

"New watcher of the castle?" she asks with a tilt of her head. "What happened to Mr. Honer?"

"He was uhm...dismissed by the council." I risk a glance up at the. i yelp and fall on my bottom when I find how close they are. They look down at me with a raised brow.

"You are jumpy." she states calmly while i try to steady my heart. She offers her hand to help me up and I take it with a small smile.

"Thank you-AAAAAA!"

Hands grab me from behind and lift me up by my armpits. My wings flap in agitation as I'm turned around to face a golden feathered face. small blue feathers and long beautiful red feathers. White eyes shine in delight and mischief as they take in my face.

I stare in shock, mouth open. the being holding me laughs, "A new harpy from our beloved ruler~? Miss you shouldn't have!"

I yelp as I'm shoved into a very fluffy and warm chest. I try to pull away but the being, male I think, was too strong, keeping me in place with ease.

"Sun! Put her down!"

"But you made her for us, my queen! Why would I let go of such a lovely gift~?"

"She's not mine! She's the new Watcher-,"

I'm dropped immediately. I yelp and my wings spread out in pain. I stand up and rub my hip, "Oww..."

"I wish you told me that before I touched the dirty thing." Sun tsks, crossing his arms and swiveling his head to the side with his nose up.

"I'm not that dirty--YOUR TAIL!" My mumbling morphs into awe.

'What?" Sun glances at me with a raised brow. His eyes drift to his GORGEOUS golden tail feathers. "Did you get them dirty?"

I let his insult breeze over, too star-struck by his beauty. He smirks smugly and I hear Missterious-Figuren groan and roll her eye.

When she clears her throat, I shake my head, snapping out of my stupor. I face her, eyes averted and rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"Please don't feed his ego. It's already too big..." she sighs.

"I'm your creation, darling~." Sun croons, sauntering over to Missterious-figure and draping himself over her. He nuzzles into her neck, his feathers around his neck bristling.

"Uhm," I hold up my two index fingers, "Should I come back later-,"

"No. No this is probably a good time to talk. Peacock Eclipse is out checking in on my smaller boys, and Peacock Moon is trying to get the jump on Centaur Moon...Again..."

I snort but I cover my mouth when Missterious-figure tilts her head. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. That's just hilarious to me...I mean after reading about your inclusive world and all." I nervously chuckle.,

"Cool." She pets Sun's head and he leans into her touch even kissing her palm. "Sooooo, did you come here to introduce yourself or-,"

"OH! Right..." I turn my attention to my side pouch. Some of items clinking together while I search for her envelope.

Sun perks up with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He leans forward to get closer but Missterious-figure slaps him. He gasps and holds his throbbing cheek as he gives her puppy-dog eyes.

She returns his look with a pointed look.

"Here we are!" I pull out the envelope and hold it out to her "This is an introduction letter from me with more of my contact information in case you have any questions, complaints, or concerns about the castle. And there's also some papers that need your signature."

She takes it from my hand and turns to her left. She looks at me and smiles, "I take it you need these back by a certain date?"

My wings puff up as I nod my head, "Yes, but I can convince the council for more time if you're busy-,"

"You don't have to do that...If you'll follow me to my lounge, I can sign these papers and send you on your way..."

"That would be great, thank you." I return her smile with a small one of my own. I go to follow her when she starts walking but a towel flies at me, smacking me in the face.

I pull it off and glare at Sun. He harrumphs and points to the towel, his silver glove shining in the sunlight as well as his feathers. "Clean yourself. I don't want any of your filth getting on the carpet."

With that he turns his back to me and walks after Missterious-figure. I can't help but stare as he swishes his hips, his tail feathers glittering as he walks.

I smack myself in the face with my wings. I shake my head and bite the inside of my cheek. FOCUS!

I wipe my face with the towel to appease the giant...handsome bird man, then follow after the two.

I try not to look around that much. I didn't want to impose more than I already have.

I was happy that Missterious-figure was so opened minded towards this whole...'New Castle Archivist' stuff. But I know I shouldn't take her kindness for passiveness. Her form I saw her in was her...calmer form so to speak. At least that's what I assume.

If she saw me as a threat though...I would be dead in seconds. She was one of the Head Defenders for a reason...

I was too deep in my head that the walk to the lounge blurred by. It was still a ruin temple theme, but now there are couches, plush chairs, red carpet, and even some hammocks.

A small desk was pushed to the side and that's were Missterious-figure was looking over the papers. Sun was draped over a couch, pulling at her pants, trying to coax her into paying attention to her.

I stand awkwardly in the doorway, crossing and uncrossing my arms. My eyes lock onto the window that gave a spectacular view of the grassy planes. I see a herd grazing and is that a yellow unicorn-,

"Sun stop...Alright! This looks fine to me."

I turn my head to her. My eyes widen when she uses a bronze peacock tail feather as a quill. She dips the tip into a golden inkwell then leaves her signature on all the dotted lines the papers required.

She places the quill back into the inkwell and pats the papers so that they were evenly stacked. She turns around and walks towards me, Sun whining that she was out of range of hold.

She holds out the papers for me to take. "I'm impressed with how these all fit in that tiny envelope."

I take the papers with a small thank you, "Yeah, nothing a little compact spell could fix. Thank you again for signing these. I know paperwork isn't the greatest of things to do...."

Missterious-figure shrugs then groans when Sun whines for her again. She looks over her shoulder at the dramatic harpy. "Behave or I'll cut your time short and hand out with Reptile you."

"No~!" Sun whines giving her puppy eyes.

She rolls her eye and looks back at me with a tired smile. I smile back and turn to leave, "Thank you so much for your time."

"Don't mention it."

"If you need anything, feel free to stop by my mushroom."

"M-mushroom?" she blinks at me and I give her a confused stare. "What happened to the Archivist office?"

"Oh that!...I destroyed it...It was too cramped for me..."

"Right..."

"Thank you again, I'll see myself out."

"Stay safe. Some creations are known to sneak out." She sighs, "Especially my moon..."

"Got it." I give her a small bow and make my way out of her room. I wave at the fireflies as they flutter around me. I take one last long look at this magnificent room.

'Maybe working here won't be as bad as I thought..."

I sigh, chuckling to myself as I leave. The doors closing behind me in a soft thud.

***

That's the end of part 1!

Episode Two is HERE

Episode Three is HERE

Episode Four is HERE

Episode Five is HERE

Episode Six is HERE

Hope you've all enjoyed! Part two will be coming soon to a Tumblr near you!

Thank you @missterious-figure for letting me use you and your boys for this. Please contact me if you are unsatisfied with how I represented you in this episode!

Hope you all have a fantastic day/night! Stay awesome!

[randomgods]

how do you feel about the watcher campaign announcement? 👀

HIIIIIII SLUGFISH!!!!!! I'm so so SO EXCITED!! I've always wanted nightcat to get a campaign and I'm so happy they're finally getting one!!

I'm most excited about the environment it's set in :) I hope its going to be completely removed from the local group we know. I want NEW perspectives and places and lore. I wanna know more about other parts of the planet; it's biodiversity and ancient cultures.

One thing that's really intriguing me is the new regions they teased. Notably a tundra and a desert, two biomes that are characterized by their lack of rainfall on our planet. Plus how both can co-exist and be traversable by a slugcat within it's lifetime. I'm so excited for the lore and gameplay around it!! And all the new creatures!!! I really hope nightcat/The Watcher is just a normal slugcat or doesn't have crazy powers. I want an authentic rain world survivor-adjacent experience again--as much as I love the characters and gameplay of dp. They've also heavily implied that they're gonna mix up a lot of the dynamics of the ecosystem so I'm :)))) I love speculative biology yay

Also SUPER exciting that the entire original Videocult team is working on it!! I couldn't be more giddy!!! I am terribly, AWFULLY, particular about accurate lore integration so I am a bit worried about how easy it could be mess up the lore due to how complex it all already is, but I'm gonna save my fear and judgement for the final product lol. I'm sure they're gonna do great :)

Very curious about the rot themes as well... I highly doubt the rot is from pebbles. I will be very disappointed if it is. I also hope they integrate it in a clever way and it isn't just rot for rot's sake.

I've seen some people, especially on twitter, fearmonger about it being bad.. So strange to me... We know absolutely nothing we've just gotten a teaser and some screenshots. calm down everyone let them cook this might be amazing. Have some whimsy.

Overall very happy obviously lol. A bit cautious but I have very high hopes.

[very-lucky]

I have been deeply obsessed with Fields of Mistria since it launched and I just entered my Second Year on my farm, so I decided to compile a list of some things that I like about this game a lot so far.

You can jump. Over fences. There aren't gates (yet?), but you can jump and this isn't a thing you can do in any farming game. There's even a jump attack that you can unlock. It rocks.

Townsfolk will tell you what they like and what other townsfolk like. They may even give you the recipe for their favorite thing.

You can never plant a seed in the wrong season on accident. And if you plant a seed in the wrong place, you can dig it up before you water it to put it where you meant to have it.

You can make all your tools FOR FREE if you have the materials and doing that has the chance to give them power ups (once you've unlocked that skill)

NOT ONLY TOOLS BUT ARMOR ALSO. AND ARMOR DOESN'T TAKE UP INVENTORY SPACE IF YOU'RE WEARING IT.

You can decorate on half-squares. Get into it.

The relationships you make with townsfolk and the heart scenes that you have might just change things about the town itself. Highlighting Ryis for this one specifically.

The whole premise of the game is assisting a town after a disaster and providing disaster relief while also growing affection for each of the characters and the town as a whole. You do big projects to help the town and the town improves and provides you, the player, with more resources and activities to do.

The mines have different biomes and enemies and resources and COSMETICS that you can collect. There's really no shortage of things to collect here.

All the furniture sets play together in a really nice way where you are able to mix and match the looks you like. They're definite sets of furniture and some of them even have their own unique storage chests.

There's so much deep lore that I'm so excited about. It almost feels like by doing what there is of Early Access, I am now waiting for the next chapter to drop so I can learn more about this world and characters.

Inventory stacks limit at 999?! For everything?? I’ve never had a stack that big! (edited)

Characters outfits change every season.

You can always tell where villagers are on the map

Since Mistria is MAGICAL you can also grow crops in the winter.

That dragon is going to be romanceable. If the rumors are true, we may even have TWO romanceable dragons.

All the characters are interesting on their own and have relationships with each other beyond you. They are always having different conversations and talking about different stuff that they do and that other characters do and that YOU DO. I love them all. No flops.

I'm really hoping for more depth in the passage of time as the game develops. I would love to see either 1) a reason for time to be at a standstill in Mistria so it makes sense that the child characters are not aging as you spend multiple years in town or 2) time to actually progress and for characters to get older, especially as marriage and children come into the picture. I know this is a stretch and not everyone wants something like that... but I really liked it in A Wonderful Life as a concept and I think it would be neat here.

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts - Our Blue and Green World: Part 1: Review [Spoilers]

Welp, here it is, the Wild Kratts TV movie (not to be confused with the feature film they've been teasing us with since 2021). There's been a lot of hype around this special and season, especially with how much the latter was being hyped up during the hiatus. Let's see if the blue and green bros were able to deliver: Spoilers under the cut

Well, this is certainly an attention grabber!

This entire live action intro is shot and edited like an animated Wild Kratts episode, it's glorious.

Woah, intro change!

They said the thing! They said the thing!

HELP THIS IS SO RELATABLE. Also, THE BOYS ARE FIGHTING

Lmao I don't think they do it very often, but using animals/nature in their insults is very creative.

Also, whooping crane episode when?

This entire song is mercifully short. Like most character sung songs in Wild Kratts, it's not good, but this at least is clever in its lyrics and its visuals. It feels like a Disney reference at best and I am content with that. I also ADORED seeing the Draco and Walrus Suit return again. It's arguably the best musical number in the series. No, that is not saying a lot.

MARTIN WHY ARE YOU THE ONE WHO'S MIFFED YOU NEARLY MUFASA'D YOUR LITTLE BROTHER

CHRIS WHY ARE YOU MILDLY INCONVENIENCED YOU GOT ACRAPHOBIA FALLING FROM THAT HEIGHT

When I first saw the clip, I thought that they were going somewhere with this, like they'd activate Peacock Powers at the end when they recognized the compatibility and blue and green. But nope. Wasted potential is an understatement.

Also, where the fuck are they right now? In a previous shot there was Target the Chameleon, implying that they've been to Madagascar, but that is an Indian peafowl, and as far as I'm concerned, they don't live in Madagascar. Were they just having an off-day? These animals have little to nothing to do with the plot when they really shouldn't have, so I don't see why they couldn't have just shown a projector image or something.

Remember when I joked about the Wild Pony Power Suit returning in S7.... fuck you Apollo.

Man, they are eating it up with the animation here. It's hard to tell with screengrabs but man, is it fluid.

The first half of this episode is mixed. While it feels like the brothers are incredibly stubborn, it also does make sense for them to be this fixated on their favorites. So I can totally buy this. It could've been insufferable to watch, but it wasn't.

As if YOU haven't spied on them since the first time your dorito-headed ass showed up on screen

Did you find that funny? Because not only do they do a similar joke like that later on, but they follow through on that joke in the most unexpected way you will shit your pants when you first ingest it.

Oh my god if they make a Creature Power Suit off of that bird, I will take back any diss I've made, that is so beautiful.

Good to know that Aviva put the button near the chest and not near the back.

Maybe it's just me but this is kinda pushing it. Chris is literally getting his organs crushed, I think that should matter more than A) being right or B) trying to get 2 people to stop fighting.

I'm loving the callback and what this leads up to but ew, all this does is remind me about how ugly bright the color pallatte in S6. Really glad they fixed it in S7.

HELL FUCKING YES

This episode finds really unique ways of showing how the two different biomes are interconnected. It's like Rainforest Stew's (very brilliantly handled) message only to a larger degree. Kids can learn a lot from this.

I fucking love this episode, man.

Honestly, the way they write Paisley in the first half of the episode is very in-line with her character. Most shows that do what this episode does has them be out-of-character as a set-up, but here, she's just roasting the fuck out of Zach. Once again, recontextualized entirely in the climax.

HOW THE FUCK DID HE GET TO MADAGASCAR FROM THE GODDAMN AMAZON IN ONE AFTERNOON THAT IS LIKE MORE THAN 1,000 MILES AWAY?? ARE ANACONDAS THAT FAST?????

Also, INDRIS!!!!! :D

I was frankly expecting this to horribly backfire but spoilers, it doesn't. This actually winds up working. Common Aviva W.

To be continued.... will the blue and green rivalry end? Will one prove superior over another? And will they be able to stop Zach and Paisley and save the planet earth? And will this change the adventures of the Wild Kratts team forever? Stay tuned for part 2!

Pros:

The live action segments.

The animation of the earth's model.

The musical number not being ass.

Paisely's catty behavior.

The Anaconda Suit.

The inventive ways they show how the stability of the Earth is complex. There are a lot of ways it functions and thus a lot of ways it needs to survive

The comedy.

Cons:

The villains do not do anything until the second half of this episode. In fact, they're left completely in the backdrop. I expected them to make their prescence known and for Aviva to invent the discs to get them together for the SAKE of fighting the villains. But no. It makes the stakes feel hollow, which is the opposite of what they should be gunning for in an hour long special that they hype the shit out of.

CONCLUSION:

It was an "okay" set-up. It did live up to some of the hype it had, but not all of it. Honestly if it wasn't for the second half of this episode, this movie would be mediocre or slightly above average, but no. They do pick themselves off the ground and... they do jump the shark. But we'll get to that next time

[frogletscribe]

Rambling about Na'vi biodiversity...

Thinking about the potential different clans/types of Na'vi again bc the potential!!!!

So far the only variants we have seen in canon are Forest Na'vi and Reef Na'vi (in terms of like biodiversty) but i wish we had morrrrreee. I kinda feel like some of the clans are kind of a missed opportunity in terms of evolutional differences.

Like you're really telling me that the Cliff people, who live and lives revolve around the SEA and Ikran wouldn't have features similar to the reef people from living on/by the sea for so long? I know JC probably hadn't come up with the idea of diversity among Na'vi yet when they were introduced in A1, i'm just sayiiinnnggg

Personally headcanoning that Cliff clans are like the perfect middle ground between typical Forest and Reef Na'vi, coloration and builds more similar to forest but with fins and tails like reef.

I like the idea that Plains people maybe look generally similar to forest people, have more subtle differences? I tend to think of Na'vi as similar to various species of large Cats (Lions, Tigers, Panthers, etc.) So if Forest people like the Omatikaya are like Tigers/Panthers, Plains people being like Bobcats or maybe Cheetahs? Like if we lean bobcat, then maybe they are on average a bit shorter/stockier, short tails and stripes that break up a little more. Or on the flipside with Cheetahs they're on the taller side, with more spots than stripes and tear marks?

I really love peoples fan clan interpretations of various potential clans too!

The idea that Na'vi in snowy mountain/colder biomes are like snow leopards. Like big fluffy tails, and bodies that actually put on fat to help regulate body temp, softer grey-blue skin tones to blend in with the snow and rocks of the mountain, big claws to help scale rocks, shorter more rounded ears. I keeps thinking of them and like Pallas cats or spotted seals too.

River/Swamp lands people that are the most like reef people but lean almost crocodilian? More ridges and scale-like markings? Deeper green/blue skin tones.

Variation among Na'vi is so interesting to me, largely bc it makes for a more interesting and diverse world. Plus, like, i know a lot of people like making mixed forest/reef ocs, esp Loreya fankids etc. so like, 👀 more of that but more variation than just forest/reef? (Maybe mountain/reef is where that seal idea comes in, etc)

And in my own corner, its an excuse to make more ocs lmao

I might attempt drawing some of the ideas out at some point too, im just actively being eaten alive by these brainworms rn lol

[witchofthesouls]

Hey! I saw an earlier post you had about the boys in the grocery store and it got me wondering about how they would react to hunting. I’m a hunter, have been all my life. I hunt deer, boars, ducks, coyotes, turkeys, quails, pheasants, wild Burmese pythons, and I fish locally too (strictly a vermin exterminator and food hunter, I find sports hunting to be distasteful and I strictly use a bow and arrow, no traps or guns as I take issues with those too). I can picture the absolute horror of the TFP or Lost Light bots seeing their/a human skinning and processing an animal that they just hunted for food, they see the modern convinces that are grocery stores so it’s easy to forget where human food actually comes from 😂

Weirdly enough, IDW/MTMTE does have Cybertronian edibles like cesium salami and rust sticks.

But then again, there's a big percentage of the crew members who were produced by the war, so there's a great chance that they didn't get a crash course on things that were deemed "unnecessary," like Cybertronian cuisine and fauna to forage and hunt.

TFP Cybertronians, on the other hand, have Questions.

Get ready to pull up diagrams, manuals, videos, and live demonstrations via YouTube or your own hands because they got the curiosity of two-year-old with the capacity to keep you in their palm for no escape.

Ratchet absolutely hates it. It's too messy and squishy and completely unalike the organized and relatively clean method of converting crystals to fuel. Horrified over the mysteries of hotdogs and how everything can and will kill humans without specific preparations to negate the toxins. Ratchet is boggled over spice challenges and how the hell humanity hadn't died in its infancy over culinary explorations. Someone told him to look up Hákarl.

He takes great displeasure when the kids sass him over Cybertronians eating their own blood. Different. Absolutely different. He clucks over the base kitchen and is not above making things disappear. He argues with June and Agent Fowler over the groceries and fast food bags. Ratchet's crunchy.

Bulkhead actually enjoys fishing. He's more catch and release rather than for keeping and gutting. He likes soaking up the heat of the sun, the sound of running water, birdsong, and insects buzzing, the gear setup and picking out the right lure and bait. It's a different kind of downtime, but it's nice. All he's missing is engex, but he's able to throw a line farther out than anyone else and has the capability to detect motion far greater than an average human. He still wants an engex cube.

Arcee has mixed feelings. She enjoys hunting. Patience, tracking, stealth, and the sense of accomplishment with a clean catch. She likes less the process of handling carcasses, but really hates waste anything that could have been useful. Meat, leather, tools, jewelry, and raw ingredients that could be sold or traded. Arcee just doesn't like sharing something with Airachnid's methods.

Bumblebee's a scout. People expected him to like foraging or the wilds. He prefers domesticated stock. In particular, beekeeping. To him, it represents a more equivalent partnership: he provides accessible resources and safe quarters and the bees yield honey, comb, and wax in return. If the hive don't like him or the area, then they can leave elsewhere.

Optimus is deeply fascinated by how Earth's biodiversity is so immense and how ecosystems are so diverse and complex, yet so fragile. He quietly wishes for Alpha Trion's presence because Optimus is seeing familiar similarities of Cybertronian long gone biomes: wetlands, woodlands, and reefs. The Sea of Rust once was a massive ocean of mineral-laden Energon. It has long since disappeared by the consensus of heavy, unregulated industrialization, but if Earth has the water cycle, ocean currents and belts, and complex system of thermoregulation that replenishes itself, then Cybertron had to have something similar at one point, no?

[orrianreaper]

GW2 people - Pitch me YOUR idea for an Expansion!

What's the theme, where are we going, what lore threads are we picking up on, what's the story premise, what mechanics do you think it could have.

I love spitballing ideas when I'm talking with friends so I'm posing the question To Everyone because I know everyone has some pet concepts floating around. As self-indulgent as you'd like, as unrealistic as you like, just throw ideas around, I wanna hear them!

The One I think I have the most rounded ideas for would be an Underwater Expansion. Picking up on the threat of whatever is terrorising the deep oceans, having some exploration of the Largos and bringing back in the Quaggan and the Krait maybe!

I love the sort of depths we get in maps like Frostgorge sound, and underwater combat has badly needed a rework and a tune up - there's loads of skills which straight up don't work and break entire builds underwater, and this would be a perfect excuse to try bring it up to speed. Maybe even make the underwater weapon sets function on land, to satisfy those who're after more weapons. You could make the maps a mix of true underwater and perhaps giant air bubble caves so you still had some land exploration even in maps otherwise set deep under the ocean. A map meta split with land phases and water phases. Additionally as personal bias wish, I'd love map event/meta design more like HoT. A map-wide Story with a few chains with specifically Build into the actual true Meta. I also simply love the idea of having a bunch of enemy designs based of the ocean and the abyss, there's so much incredible inspiration and interesting marine life. and biomes too! Give me a hydrothermal vent section in one of the maps, hell underwater 'water' in the form of brine pool 'quicksand'.

The Turtle might get some more use out of it's underwater, and skimmer would absolutely get spotlight as a skyscale isn't going to get you too far here - hell maybe even some speedy new underwater mount could be a fun addition to the roster.

I can see a plot being around trying to work with the Largos, The 'Terror of the Deep' being a danger and learning from them about how to survive the hostile environment and also convince them work with you to Hunt the 'Terror'. Maybe you come to the area of the ocean with the Quaggans and it's convincing the Largos to take them seriously as allies against whatever you're fighting? A quaggan companion character would be really fun, and you could easily bring back Sayeh al' Rajihd from the personal story given Largos involvement. I think not only would it be something very different in terms of the maps, which granted quite a few people might not like (thalassophobia reasons, or general Dislike of Water Gameplay reasons), but I think a rework of the underwater mechanics would benefit a bunch of places and it's something that really doesn't get touched outside of base game and maybe like, the Leviathans in EoD. There's so much neat creature design inspiriation swimming around out there, and I know so many people love the largos and even if not playable getting to see more of them could be neat! Also - it'd finally make all those legendary full people happy. A Legendary Aquabreather :P.

And a new suite of legendary underwater weapons since the G1 set. (and not themed pretty please make them all Unique.)

[nugromancer]

Recap Notes from the Dragon Age: The Veilguard Game Informer Article

I watched a livestream by YouTuber Jackdaw and pulled what I could from the article presented. These are things I found interesting or exciting.

⚠️ We're entering Massive Spoiler Territory here so proceed with caution!

The first 2-page spread is recapping everything we've seen in the gameplay trailer so. Nothing really of note here.

When Rook passes out after the intro's climax, they wake up in the Fade with Solas (Hello??) who explains that some of Rook's blood got into the ritual, and now they're connected with the Fade forever. (Oopsies!)

The two "Mystery" characters that show up at the end of the climax are Elgar'nan, Elven god of Sun and Vengeance, and Ghilan'nain, Mother of Halla (or, if you've read Tevinter Nights, Mother of Monsters/Mad Scientist/Elf God Frankenstein)

Solas was trying to create a new prison for these two because the one he fashioned before was failing. And Rook ruined everything for everyone. (Oopsies again!)

It turns out the place you land in the Fade is The Lighthouse, which has been Solas' hideout. There's a table set for One which is supposed to show how Solas has been.

So basically:

Solas has also painted all over the walls of the lighthouse. :)

The library is where the team will have it's meetings and decide what to do next.

An elf Rook has extra dialogue options wrt the Fade

The team decides to go back to Arlathan forest, but they don't arrive back to the temple/castle from the climax. Instead they encounter a Sentinel, which is a "demon infested suit of mechanized armor" (HELLO??? 👀 Ghost in the Machine / Possessed Gundams Real)

We get to meet Strife and Irelin from the comics/stories! Yay!

They're looking for Bellara; full name confirmed as Bellara Lutara (we love a good rhyming name)

Longer cut scenes

Rook's story is about "What is means to be a leader"; how you respond to things changes how characters interact with Rook.

Special Relationship Meter on each companion's character screen (just like DA2!)

Both warriors and rogues can parry (though rogues have a larger "parry window") and while Mages can't parry, they have an automatic magic shield, providing they have the mana for it.

Bellara specializes in lightning and healing magic

"Despite the dire situation, Bellara is bubbly, witty, and charming."

If you encounter an enemy with a specific weakness, you can equip a rune that will temporarily change your magic to something else. eg: Sentinals are weak to lightning magic. If you only have ice magic, you can equip a lightning rune to change your ice attacks to lightning based ones "for a brief duration."

Bellara has a "Tinker" skill which is needed to deal with "Veil Bubbles". Rook can get this skill too, so you don't need Bellara in the party with you when dealing with the bubbles. (I can't tell if it's specific to Veil Jumpers or not.)

Darkspawn are showing up farther and farther away from the deep roads due to the blights "radiation-like spread," so we'll be encountering them more often than we have in previous games.

Relationships now have Levels, which in turn gives you Skill Points to spend on companions. Bespoke gear, abilities, etc.

Mages can use magical daggers 👀

This was confirmed already but I still love it: We'll be travelling across Thedas using our own (*coughs* technically Solas') network of eluvians.

Not open world, but a mix of linear story-driven areas and larger areas for exploring. (Again, we knew this, but I'm glad they didn't nerf exploration completely.)

Mini maps are still around. Linear story areas won't have a "fog of war" filter over them.

"Veilguard has the largest number of diverse biomes in series history."

[thelunarsystemwrites]

anyways Minecraft OC time

So, the story behind them is a witch was in the lush caves, doing magic stuff, and accidently turned an axolotl humanoid. Which as you can probably tell, Witchlet isn't happy about, they liked being an axolotl. 🤷‍♂️

The reason I picked this combo, is because Witch huts live in the swamp. So do frogs (or atleast in mangrove ones) and frogs and axolotls are amphibians. So since the watch and axolotl are my favourite mobs, I decided to combine them!

Their hat is moss, with some glow lichen. And a spore blossom!

They have some glow berries and glow lichen wrapped around their waist, which holds their regen potions. Their "wand" is a trident! Though the first image was an amethyst rod, because I thought the breeze rod was an amethyst rod ^^"

They're a mix between a witch and axolotl. So their powers are regeneration, and they can brew potions by using their crafting bar instead of a brewing stand. They can breathe under water and land, but have slowness and fatigue on land. They have fourteen hearts, (from what I looked up. Witches have 13 and Axolotls have seven, so I took one from the axolotl and added it to a witches health to decide.) Take extra fire damage. Can't sleep at night but can at day.

And yeah, their name is Witchlet! They're they/them because uhh all my ocs are /j

I feel like they'd live in an amethyst geo, and it's opened to a small lush cave. They prefer dark and wet areas, they have a ehh relationship with drowned, and mostly eat fish and mushroom stews!

Also they have an Alley named Fae, based off my own Minecraft pet! And Fae helps Witchlet do witchy stuff lol. I feel like they'd also have a skeleton horse, since it can go under water.

Uhhh other thing about themmm....

Their trident has loyalty and channeling, they also carry a fully enchanted fishing rod. They prefer colder biomes, their "mother" is the witch that transformed them. The witch tries, she really does, but they dislike her alot.

They'd be a neutral mob, and attack the player if they're attacked first. They're neutral to drowned and guardians mostly, but randomly attack them sometimes.

Their favourite potions to use are weaknesses and slowness on people.

And uh... yeah. I think that they can't talk, but squeak/chirp alot like an axolotl to chat!

Hey tend to lurk in very deep, dark parts of oceans if they aren't home.

Would drop glow berries, bottles, amethyst, and even their trident or fishing rod if killed!

[quartings]

Legends Z-A Thoughts and Theories!

Okay, I was pretty quiet on my opinions for Scarlet and Violet, but I'm confident enough to be very pleased and optimistic for this! Legends Arceus was the strongest Pokemon game we had in a decade, and to see them continue this, bring back Megas, and take an extra year to hopefully make it non-buggy? Makes me so so excited!

On Megas:

It's a bit of a surprise to see Megas back, but honestly? Not too much of a surprise. Even ignoring the inevitability of Kalos remakes, Megas are the only gimmick Pokemon kept around in their spinoffs. It was in Mystery Dungeon, Shuffle, Smash Bros, Pokemon Go, and probably more I'm forgetting! So it was always in the back of Gamefreak's mind and I'm glad it's truly back again!

With Gens 8 and 9 bringing back cross-gen evos, I think they'll focus on only giving Megas to three-stage lines, to not quash the potential of 2nd stage Pokemon getting regular evolutions. So starters and Pokemon like Flygon can get Megas since they can't evolve further, but Pokemon like Tropius and Chimecho probably won't, in case they get evolutions in Gen 10 (That then get Megas)

I also don't think we fully grasp how many more Pokemon can get Megas now, too. Barely any of Gen 5 and 6 had Megas (Seriously only 2 Pokemon between the 228 Pokemon in those gens) and we've had THREE more generations since then!!

Note: We went from wanting a Dunsparce evo, to wanting a Dunsparce Mega, to getting Dudunsparce with mixed fan reception. Now I'm going to be a selfish deluded clown bitch and get my hopes up for a Mega Dudunsparce.

Speaking of starters and Megas, do we think we'll get a mish-mash of older starters for this game that then get Megas (Say, Piplup, Snivy, and Scorbunny) or will we get Megas for the three Kalos starters?

Megas may mean Mega Stones return as held items, and held items weren't in Legends Arceus- new gameplay advancement?

Legends Arceus gave us 7 new Pokemon (most of them cross-gen evos) and a dozen new regional forms. Do you think we'll still get regionals this game, or will the design team be focused more on making new Megas instead?

On the world:

It's been confirmed the whole game is only in Lumiose City- how big is the map?? Hopefully we really do get lots of sidequests, biomes for wild Pokemon, and traversal options.

When is this? We're redeveloping Lumiose City, but are we in the past developing it into its current state, or are we in the present/future developing it into a new solarpunk city? Or neither, and this is a "Paradox" game set in a timeline which doesn't quite match ours?

This doesn't have to be an isekai (as in, we don't have to be time travellers again per se), just keep that in mind!

The "Z" in the logo represents Zygarde, with the black color and green hexagons. So who's the "A"? It's green with green scale/leaf patterns on it. What does it represent? The "Chaos" to Zygarde's "Order"? Is it a 5th Zygarde form or is it a whole new Pokemon?

Meta thoughts:

This further confirms my theory that Gen 9 will last until 2026, where they announce Gen 10 on that year's Pokemon Day for their 30th anniversary, and that's great! I'm glad they aren't overworking themselves too much compared to Gens 6-8.

On them "skipping" Unova remakes: I don't see this as skipping. We've been long overdue for a Z version since Kalos is literally the only Pokemon region to only appear in one release (no third version, no remakes, no sequels, no ultras, no DLC). So we're simply making up for the "deficit" of a third version here, and we can go back to focusing on Unova remakes for Gen 10.

Do you think we'll get any final updates to SV to tide us over until the next LegendZ trailer around August? Maybe a small DLC, mythical reveal, or free update?

Pokemon Adventures skipped the last Legends game, so they'll probably skip this one too? I'm fine either way- at least by skipping it, they won't be too rushed and stressed, and they'll actually have the time to flesh out SV and catch up with ORAS/SM/USUM/SwSh in the full volumes.

But on the off chance they do adapt Legends Z-A, do you think we'll get dexholders named Z and A??

Note for the future- the Yoasobi Pokemon song BiriBiri has a part where they namedrop all the game titles- one part has the lyrics "ABC to the XYZ". Long shot, but if Legends Z-A does indeed have an ABC theming, this could be a crazy bit of either coincidental or intentional foreshadowing!

[becca4leafclover]

Beach Walk is Complete!

What started as a simple idea to try out streaming with has turned into something genuinely really cool! I had almost no idea of what I wanted to do with this space when I started but as I built one thing after another, it fell into place!

Going to do a full tour of the district under the cut!

This is sort of the transition into the Beach Walk district, going from the standard build style of blue and white into the mixed styles of the harbour. It's mostly just a pretty in-between area but MAN is it PRETTY!

The lighthouse! The first thing I actually built on stream! It was a challenge to get the purple-hued blues to work because there's SO few of them in Minecraft, but with (a lot) of help from chat it turned out great and gave me the confidence to keep going with all of this!

this was actually the LAST area I worked on, because I wasn't sure what to put here. It was where I'd been keeping my block palettes to be honest LOL I decided to keep it simple with a sign designating the area, and a strange tree that it's unclear whether the lighthouse was designed like it or if the tree took after the lighthouse...

The docks, where small boats are kept! Completely honest it's really hard to take a good picture of the docks OR the boats. But we got a nice speedboat, a sailboat, and a classic swanboat, because why not?

The strip mall! From right to left a souvenir shop, clothing store, sandwich shop, and the club! The idea was to have each building be in the gradient of colors of copper, and while that didn't QUITE work each building ended up working well anyway!

At the end of the Walk is a nice nice cream stand and some umbrellas and loungers! Why here you might ask?

The beach is right below it!

I decided to do a gravel beach over a sand one because this entire town is in a colder climate, not tropical. And while I'm sure this isn't everywhere, when I've travelled it's been colder places that have rock beaches over sand ones! Plus, sand wouldn't quite fit as well in my humble opinion.

I had to terraform in this entire beach (even though this biome was originally a gravel beach lol), and MAN did working with gravity blocks SUCK. Remind me not to do that again.

Now, if I'm being honest, this isn't FULLY done. I have this space on the back side of the strip shopping to fill, and I'm not sure what to put! Maybe some kind of games court? Making up fantasy games and sports is harder than it looks to be honest. I'm thinking I'll come back to this area later, once I get some refreshment working on other things!

If you want to follow this world's progress as I move onto new projects, I stream every weekend, Friday and Saturday at 3 PM EST!

[iyo-mcd-rewrite]

the big magic hell dump

if you can’t understand this, i will not blame you. it’s super convoluted—but here is a collection of 2022 magic notes mixed with current ones (i tweaked stuff a bit)

all realms have extremely high magic levels, but the end and nether have races with the most magical capability. this is because those realms were created for the shadow lord / shad and the ender dragons (the nether and the end realm respectively) + the biomes are "less drastic" than the overworld ones and caused a lack of sentient biodiversity. so, with only a few sentient races, the magic is distributed less and subsequently causes their magic concentration to be a lot more dense/higher than an overworld race , because in the overworld there is an *array* of races / sentient species, and causes the overall population to have lower magic concentration levels . the level itself varies from race and individual, however, but this is the general gist of it all.

+ this is why nether (including sks), end, and draconian races have blood that either is white or black and glowy. to those with low levels, it would burn to the touch as that is where all the magic is stored -- besides the core (an orb-ish thing that contains all your magic, and it's essentially in a personal pocket dimension inside your chest) , but that's another conversation

loosing lots of blood will do damage to what magic you can perform at that time -- think of it as mana pools -- and that's why lots of the nether and end races were inherently carnivorous or omnivores. it's like toh where belos needs a palismen's magic/bloodish thing to survive. while they don't kill people for their blood, they hunt down animals of their respective realms for that magical blood + their cores. removing a core is less gorey than it sounds—it’s like reaching into someone’s chest (your hand would go through the solid material of said body. typically takes some practice to perform) grabbing the spirit. there are no blood cults and all that shit, as you can even get some from certain plants + it's like vitamins or pills . it's very common for it to be mixed into food, healthcare items/consumables or gauzes, and/or drinks. probably brought up the idea of vampires in human folklore, but then again, there are soul-eaters lurking around (i’ll talk about them later.)

shadow knights are completely magic — their will and determination to continue living on boosting their core to remain after the perishing of the mortal/physical body. wounded knights will need to return to realms with higher concentrations of magic in order to survive. the mortal plane/earth will not have enough to sustain them, unless they are ingesting copious amounts of magic . since shadow knights can’t really digest food, the lava from the nether or a magical item like a golden apple are typically used to replenish.

the more magical one is, the thinner the barrier between the spirit and the mortal body is. so a magical race like a draconian would have to be especially careful during near-death occasions, as they would probably not pass on to the next life or would completely perish when their mortal body does. wounds take quicker to heal, but humans have the advantage of reincarnation or resurrection afterwards.

sks who perish completely disappear due to this — no way to get them back after their second chance. and i can’t imagine they would want to.

gods and divines are very similar to this, but typically whatever gave them their major source of power (aka a relic) just passed on into the next generation since they aren’t tethered to the previous wielder after death. typically these higher beings don’t have to worry about dying due to unnatural causes—you’re a goddamn divine, you probably wouldn’t have much trouble killing your opponents or leaving. but there are always scenarios one should be aware of.

when one dies, their core magic will either be consumed or go back into the environment they died in. like water, there’s a set amount of magic, but the amount in the air and “free” depends on the amount of people.

when one dies, their mortal body decays and either:

their core completely dissipates and returns to the world — higher levels of magic since the barrier of both bodies get more and more thin

persists for a while to reincarnate, become a sk, or something similar

while it seems like a big blow to those with higher magic, this trade off allows for them to perform much more complex levels of magic than the average person. it can be used in technology and other wild feats much quicker—since you have less of a barrier to get across. witches, albeit humans with a genetic history of a thinner barrier, or with non-human ancestry, are somewhere in between, allowing for a somewhat stable body and non-core magic use (harnessing the magic from the world outside of your body—ex. potions, runes). due to this, they’re seen as making pacts with a “demon” (essentially an enderian. fun fact, the demon warlock is one) and are typically shunned or burned. because we can’t have nice things, obviously.

up to change : however, material weapons do less damage to a magical body as they can kinda just. disintegrate once they touch the blood. same goes for magical weapons, as the core is more resistant to change and the person has a material body to fall back on.

[wardenofthecoast]

So I was already working on this, but I saw a post that made me want to finish it. It's a mix between a realistic climate map and the original map, though it was hard to make it anywhere closely accurate since 1) There are hundreds of different factors for any environment, including magic in this setting, 2) There isn't really an accurate height map of the entire landmass, 3) To keep it somewhat in game accurate involves stretching the rules a bit, tho sometimes i threw game logic out.

Also, I may have miscolored here or there.

Tropical Monsoon - This biome is across the southern coasts of Tamriel. While still heavily forested, there is a stark difference between the long dry period and heavy rain period, especially in southern Hammerfell, which does not get as heavy of a Monsoon period nor would it be forested, but it does bloom with vegetation during the summer months.

Tropical Moist Forest - This biome stretches across inner Cyrodill, most of Black Marsh, W Valenwood and NE Summerset. Perpetually warm and wet, with the highest biodiversity in all of Tamriel. Black Marsh would also be heavily inundated, with a lower canopy and denser forests. Cyrodiil would also have some marsh but more importantly have dozens of rivers and streams between its hilly terrain. Valenwood would def have the tallest (and oldest) trees still present, and Summerset, as an island, would have some unique animals (assuming the high elves are tight knit about invasives). Skyrim also has its own pocket of Moist Forest, but in reality its more a separate biome for just Mangroves like it would be in Black Marsh.

Tropical Dry Forest - This biome is heavily forested and always warm, but suffers from long dry periods without necessarily the heavy rains of monsoons. Cyrodiil, Valenwood, Morrowind and bits of other provinces have this biome. While less diverse, it would have a larger biomass and have more room for some of the larger animals that can't navigate the denser forests.

Grassland - This biome is present in Morrowind, Elsewyr, Summerset, Hammerfell, High Rock and Skyrim. Grasslands, both semi-arid and semi-humid, don't receive the rain necessary for forests but are home to large beasts like Mammoths and used for ranching. Hammerfell's grasslands are due to either coastal proximity or high altitude. Summerset's grasslands are due to the rainshadow effect from its mountains.

Temperate Forest - Mainly occurring at the feet of mountains where the temperature is cold enough and water is plentiful, only found in High Rock, Cyrodiil and Skyrim.

Arid and Semi-Arid Desert - Putting these two biomes together because this post is getting long enough. Found in three provinces, mainly occuring due to the rainshadow effect from the mountains and being far enough into the interior. Morrowind's arid desert is unique because it comes from Volcanic ash which is so dense it somehow stops vegetation from growing unless its mushrooms but you make that a biome not me.

Montage Forest and Alpine Tundra - The mountains of Tamriel, tho not all of them have this climate, mainly the large mountains found in the northern half and mainly in Skyrim. While Dawnstar isn't shown to be as mountainous as Winterhold or Solitude, shut up. It most likely wouldn't be as drench in snow as it would be year round, but also IDK if seasonality is canon in TES so assume the snows from a freak weather event ala El Nino.

[theskoomacat]

i want to plug Pacific Drive real quick. i had a free day yesterday so i spent it in its entirety glued to the screen. i'm not proud. check out this game!!!!!!

it's kind of like a mix between STALKER and Firewatch (by vibe. in my head). (the Impact of Roadside Picnic on our society!) idk the official genre tags on the game but at its base it is a survival game with looting and crafting.

but. you're doing all that to spoil your beautiful princess (your maybe sentient cat that maybe will kill you eventually). you spend 80% of the time in your car, it's your defense against the elements and the Zone. the gameplay loop is fairly simple - you drive, you listen to scientists bicker over the radio, you loot, you lose half your car, you HAUL ASS, you get home.

the game offers a HUGE variety of stuff to explore, from anomalies to weather conditions to biomes to the weird flora/fauna to lore. there's SO much lore, idk who decided to write a blurb for every type of paint. huge game for people who love to collect stuff. and collecting stuff is sometimes a puzzle on its own because you need different tools (which are often interchangeable, thankfully, with varying efficiency).

and driving is very fun. i have a special condition called "Played Skyrim in formative years", so the mountains are a challenge to me, not a barrier. i enjoy the fact that driving being the focal point reshapes the world significantly (from the gamedev pov), because it is built to accommodate driving instead of just running around. the roads are the main focus of all the anomalies due to that, so frankly running around would be easier than dodging the roadblocks, but also you would fucking die. it's actually funny that i regularly find the roads by the concentration of anomalies instead of like. the road itself.

the game is pretty. the GIANT walls/lab megastructures blow my mind, they're so fucking huge. BUT. one problem i have is that there are too many nights. i have already toggled "Shorter nights" on, and still it feels like 60% of rounds take place at night (maybe i'm doing something wrong idk). yes, it is a challenge, but also i wish i could see the game?

the world itself is pretty fun. i have already mentioned STALKER, which is a very fair comparison since you're in a Zone filled with Anomalies. except this time the Zone is not a strictly "natural" occurence, which mixes this genre with the "fucked up mid-20th cent american science->military complex" genre. it is really interesting to see many different opinions on what the Zone is doing in the lore. and you can draw your own conclusions from interacting with it. it is as likely to harm you as help you, and most of the time it just Fucks with you (LIM shield ilu).

what hasn't i mentioned yet? the characters are fun, an old jaded scientist lady who's entombed herself within her creation, her ex-colleague and his bf/husband who stayed in the Zone to hunt cryptids, all lovely. the music is mostly good, but unfortunately there aren't too many tracks, so some get old really quick (i WISH i got tired of DOCTOR JUICE). but do check the radio from time to time, there are cool transmissions you can catch there.

idr if there was a difficulty selector anywhere, but you can make the game easier at will in the settings - keep inventory, restore the car when back home, etc. i wish i had known about these settings when i "died" at the EXACT moment i moved to another zone, because i both lost half my inventory AND was forced to continue my run due to that lmao. the game is Not easy tbh. the first time i was in the city with a hole in the center i couldn't climb out of there because it was pitch dark and my car was so so broken, it actually made me super frustrated. but when you learn all that stuff and actually plan for it and outfit your car with it mind, it all becomes manageable and enjoyable. it is decidedly not a horror game, but it Is unsettling at times. dense fog+bigfoot weather conditions made me SO paranoid, although i didn't actually see anything lol

so yeah, i totally recommend the game if you enjoy survival games. here are also some tips for people trying the game out for the first time, aka what I wish I had known:

In the beginning doing more runs (=bringing in more anchors) will be more benefitial than turning over every rock in every zone because a lot of good stuff is locked behind upgrades. One exception - quest zones with Perpetual Stability, you can explore and loot there for an hour if you want

Shorten the nights. It's not fun to stumble around blindly, especially not in the beginning while you're still learning

Hold T to teleport your car out of sticky situations and use Y to sort inventories. idk why they don't tell you that

PLAN. Look at the resources in each location has before launching and bring extra instruments/raw materials in accordance

Invest into better batteries and renewable energy, it gets more and more important as you progress. You don't really need to upgrade the gas tank until you've upgraded the engine, unless you spend 50% of the time trying to crawl up a mountain with summer tires (off-road tires are the shit)

Skip the crowbar, the impact hammer and scrapper can do everything it does

Dying is not super scary aside from losing progress, you just lose your inventory and maybe some attachments, but you will get an opportunity to find the wreckage of your car on a different run (orange tombstone? icon) and to loot it