AxcaliBlog

Clear the Roads Doing missions you'll often find yourself following the same routes. Problem is there are abandoned vehicles and strangely durable shopping carts strewn all over the roads. Grab a wrench or impact driver and take some time to clear the debris out of your regular paths. Wasteland Driving Driving cross country in the wasteland biome doesn't work out well. If you have to cross country it's often faster on foot. Getting your bike caught on those metal pieces sucks to get out of and the concreate blocks eat away at its durability. Seriously, just take the roads. On a side note, cut down those crappy burnt trees and replant pristine saplings. Sure, it's purely aesthetic, but it might impress Jen. She's hot. Organize Your Loot You can label storage crates. Do. Give them useful labels, unlike me. The longer you go the more you'll accumulate, so it will behoove you to separate them more and more specifically. Suggestions: Gear (Weapons, Armor, Mods), Food...

Enemy Down? How do you know when a zombie is down for good?  Look for the XP popup in the bottom right. During quests, zombies related to the mission appear as red dots on your compass. If they go down, check the compass to see if they're out. It's rarely a bad idea to double tap... just to be sure. Ankle Biters There are a few enemies that will hurt you and you won't be able to see them immediately because they're gnawing at your shins: Dogs, Snakes, and Spider Zombies. Make it a habit to use the "armadillo defense" and jump away when you get hit. Ideally try to get on top of something, then look around the floor for the sucker. Were you raised in a barn? Shut the doors! When backing up from zombies shut doors in their faces. This gives you a few seconds to heal or reload. After a few seconds they should knock holes in the door you can shoot through. 𝅘𝅥𝅮Don't Stop... Readin'𝅘𝅥𝅮 Even when you max out your skills or learn all the perks, read the magazines...

This game has come a log way since the version I called "Die Every 7 Minutes" Here are some of my tips: 1) Drop Nothing Before starting the game, in the Advanced options, set Drop on Death to Nothing , unless for some reason you like doing corpse runs. Personally my time is too valuable to waste on that sort of thing. What? Miraculously coming back to life is fine, but not losing your stuff if so immersion breaking? Come on, bro. 2) Do Quests Trader Rekt is insufferably douchey, I know, but this is the best way to get better gear. Eventually he'll send you on to the next trader (Jen) and you won't have to deal with his cranky A anymore. Plus she's nice on the eyes. Fetch - Retrieve a bag from a location and return. Clear - Kill all the zombies within a location and return. Fetch/Clear - Both of the above. Infested Clear - Same as above but more zombies and significantly better loot. Turn On Power - Night only for some reason, and only between 22:00 and 1:00. That...

This will be a multiverse rant. First, a word from the Critical Drinker. This "crowd" I've been watching lately is the fabled reasonable common sense variety. They examine media using facts and evidence. Clearly they feel passionate about games and movies but emotion is not all they have. I'm tired of the switch your brain off... just have fun types. Critical thinking is something I value. This is the community I've been seeking for a long time. Many of them often claim they're not conservative... implying libertarianism, which I lean toward somewhat but without the obsessive promotion of recreational drugs. They seem pretty conservative to me. I don't care how you feel. Reality is what it is and doesn't change to accommodate you. Everyone's personal perceptions and beliefs are not always valuable or accurate. There is truth. The truth is reality. An inaccurate view of reality is in some part falsehood. This is my theory of reality. There is no...

Seriously? I'm still at the dang publishing company doing droll factory work? Dang it. There was a coworker there who I spoke to early on a bit about tabletop gaming, Pathfinder, D&D, etc. and movies. After discussing the cut Sony got from Spiderman films, which the guy referred to as Disney whining (because they kind of got boned on the deal, at the time anyway) we basically had no meaningful conversation for a little over two years. He randomly gave me a copy of an RPG that was mistakenly returned to our plant and said he was reading about it. The game was Delta Green, essentially a cut-rate Cthulhu Mythos ripoff. Fast forward to about 6 months ago. He asked me if I'd like to play in a game of Delta Green. I decided to do it for a little social interaction. When the group assembled in the backroom of a coffee shop, the members consisted of myself, the GM, and who I'll refer to as the jerk and the block of wood. I was the eldest there, and as usual I took a while to wa...

Dr. Harrold Leacher : Quid pro quo Mr Colt.  Colt : What does that mean? Dr. Harrold Leacher : It means I'm pretentious.  -- Loaded Weapon   Years ago in a college Creative Writing course, we had notebooks we were to write down story ideas and notes for class. I figured the teacher would b...

People apparently find it therapeutic to share online... but I have such pronounced social anxiety that I see no distinction between online sharing and airing your problems to a crowd in meat-space. I have no illusion-of-anonymity that is so prevalent online. I treat my online self the same as IRL. In other words.... I don't know what I'm doing currently writing this. Perhaps it's purely cathartic. My way of dealing with people has long been governed by two rules: 1.) "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" and 2.) "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."  This approach has rendered me very taciturn. Besides that... much of the time... people seem to not know what I'm talking about. I don't mean to come across as a know-it-all, but I do like to learn and share knowledge and I have a big vocabulary. I mean no offense, but I am afraid people may take it as such. I'd rathe...

I have been working in a warehouse for a publishing company. It's grunt work but not too bad and it's generally interesting enough. It gave me the much needed something to do I lacked while unemployed. The pay is decent, but along with my wife's two nursing jobs, we're doing much better financially. Within the last month workers have been laying down fiber lines in my neck of the woods. Not much activity the last week or so, seemingly with little to go before completion. There are wires sticking out of the ground near the electric poles. Presumably they just need to be wired into the electricity. Games (PS4) played/to play, in order of interest: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Spiderman Witcher 3 Ghostbusters Remastered Dragon Quest Builders 1 & 2 Infamous Second Son Red Dead Redemption 2 Online Duke Nukem 3D World Tour Nioh I'm interested in the game Pine , but insist it come out on console.

I have played through the long awaited Kingdom Hearts III and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was worried with all the trailers that there would be no surprises left, but I was fortunately mistaken. It was a very satisfying experience. My favorite world was The Pirates of the Caribbean (loved the ship battles and treasure hunting) and my favorite keyblade, The Wheel of Fate, was from there also. That keyblade becomes the Highwind, a spear that serves as one of the games few Final Fantasy references. Aside from moogles, there were no appearances by series regular Final Fantasy characters. I was so hoping to see them, so I picked up playing Final Fantasy XV again to fill the void.  Back to KH3, I finished the game, saw the epilogue and secret movie, and picked up all the secret reports, so I have an idea what the next Kingdom Hearts game will be about. People not so dedicated to the series are probably dismayed that the series will go on. Honestly I hope the series drops the numbered titl...

Games Kingdom Hearts 3 (Done: Wonderful) Bloodstained (Update: Excellent IGAvania)  Spiderman (Done: Excellent.) Resident Evil 2 Remake (Update: It's very good.) Prey (Found this one at Fred's for $7 but was a bad disk. Bummer. Refunded it. Will seek it out again later. Update: Bought a good disk, started a game and then stalled.) Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Update: Played it briefly. It's not bad, just difficult.) Spyro Trilogy (Edit: After several chances to buy it cheaply I have never done so. Clearly I am not that into it.) Movies Ant-Man & the Wasp (Seen: Good) Venom Spiderman: Far From Home (Great!) Avengers: Endgame (Excellent!!) Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grunkapuffalow (Bought, but fell asleep during it.) Shazam (Enjoyable) Aquaman (Seen: Good) Captain Marvel (I don't know this character, but will give it a shot. Update: It was okay.) Detective Pikachu (for as little investment as I have in Pokémon, the trailer still looks entertaining. ...

The limitations of internet service in the boonies becomes more apparent as gaming moves along, possibly to the rumored digital only, horrific idea of gaming as a service. If consoles go that direction, I will be a dedicated retro-gamer. I have a DSL data cap of 150 GB, and it's $10 more per 50 GB increment we go over. Since we're a modern family, each of us with our own device, console streaming, two computers, and tablets, we eat through it. Not only that, but our download speed works out to 0.3 MB/second. We get by watching Netflix and YouTube with relatively few interruptions, but not concurrently with downloads. Downloads, if they occur at all, are done overnight. Game Download Commitment - I have to really want to play the game, I don't download it. There is no "Guess I'll try this game." and get bored, delete and forget it. A game download is a commitment relative to the size of the download. Each game is evaluated by whether it's worth the data ...

The other day I spent a few hours in an ineffectual, anguished fugue. When I was done, I picked myself up... and sally forth. Kind of like that Jake Johannsen comedy show, you get to the last one and are like "Ok, where are my pants?" I'll post that routine, but I'm not telling you where that part is within it. Just watch the whole thing. It's not that long... Time to get back to the plan. I had this posted on my office cabinet to remind me of things that enhance dopamine production.So here's the list: Meditation (Prayer, Listen to Music [Classical "Jim is Now a Blind Cave Salamander", Power Rock ("The Touch"/"Dare" Stan Bush), my usual Metal]) Sleep - Get enough. I have valerian (the herb, not the movie or the books it's based on, though I think I did fall asleep during it. Not that it's a boring movie... I dunno if it is or not, since I was asleep.) in case I need some chemical help in that regard. Exercise - I c...

At the end of KH:0.2 "A Fragmentary Passage" you basically get a peek at some of the beginning scenes of KH3, where Yen Sid basically tells Sora "You're level 1 again. Go grind out some levels in the Olympus Colosseum." It lets us know that the predictable structure remains true. The Colosseum will be on the far side of the first ring of explorable worlds, which means a choice of one of two worlds before you get there.  Overall the goal is to unlock Sora's power of waking so he can restore the hearts connected to him: Roxas, Namine, Xion, Aqua, Terra, and Ven. The pattern laid down in prior games is like follows: Starting World - (Destiny Isles/Twilight Town) Hub World - (Traverse Town/Hollow Bastion) First Circle - Three worlds, so initially you choose one of two to access the third on the far side. These worlds gradually introduce game elements and the thematic elements. KH1: < Olympus Coliseum, > Wonderland, Deep Jungle KH2: < Be...

Went to McDonalds and used their WiFi to download Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Their internet was at least 10 times the speed I have at home. It took 4 hours. From the sound of it, it may have knocked McDonalds out of their computer system though. Ooops. Well, I drank about $10 in coffee and had a burger at lunch, so I ended up paying for the privilege of downloading it anyway, but at least it was a better use of my time. The game is good. Very much the way I remember the first chapter going when I played it at a table-top. It occurs to me that I have a few RPGs of the type that I didn't get into. Good ones, most would tell you. Tides of Numenera; Divinity: Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity... didn't click with me. For that matter, I didn't even finish the first Dragon Age. I don't like to exert the eyestrain on discerning the tiny writing games have these days. Either that I'm just too dang lazy to read. I picked up Red Dead Redemption II. It is a beautiful game that...

Get it? The Pledgestone from Slayers? No? Fair enough. At this point I've pledged to a few games on Kickstarter and post-Kickstarter projects. NES Maker was released. I downloaded it and have not touched it since. At some point I'll be getting a game flashing device and re-flashable game cart.  Bards Tale IV came out a few weeks ago, I downloaded it (29 GB... took four days on my connection), and it looked like blurry Morrowind on my laptop. A few days later a patch was put out on GOG... 26 GB. I did not and will not be updating.What I played of it was good however. Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Redeemed on Steam. Have not downloaded. See reason below. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Delayed until 2019. Shrug. Another thing to look forward to. Iga knows best what'll make the game the best it can be, so no complaints here. I pledged at the $100 level, so will be getting some swag with that one. I don't think I'll be backing Kickstarters in the future. Red ...

You know, it helps your mental well being to have things you look forward to. Fact. I could go get a Switch right now, but I'm putting it off so I have something big to look forward to. What games will I get when I do? Mario Odyssey of course. I see no particular reason to get Skyrim again, but may see a compelling reason in the future. I'm also satisfied with the WiiU version of Breath of the Wild. Maybe that's why I'm putting it off... I need more titles for incentive. I may get Bloodstained: RotN on the Switch so I can support Iga and Nintendo in one gesture. Really must pledge to that. Other games may include Kingdom Come Deliverance. I will need to see more game play before I decide on this one. I've heard it doesn't have a favorable save system, one that allows you to lose hours of work potentially, and the very prospect of that annoys me. I demand save anywhere... my time will not be wasted. I am currently playing Watch Ducks 2, having purchased th...

Well, my seasonal depression did come on schedule, but it is SO much less than previous years. I tell you... perspective. Thing being, my wife is employed now, so that makes things easier. Some things we are handling differently, but for the better. For one thing, I'm cooking dinner many nights, with inspiration for meals coming from Breath of the Wild. I made a list of things I can make as a google doc when I'm at a loss for what to make. It's working well. I've defeated Ganon, and am going about leisurely exploring, clearing more shrines as I come across them. The one intentional task I have at the moment is scourging Hyrule of mini-bosses (Hinox, Lynels, and Talus mostly). Not sure what my progress is overall, but I know I've killed everything in the southwest sector of the map. Still, the fun factor is holding strong and there is still much to explore. Heroes path mode is pretty handy showing where I have not been. Horizon Zero Dawn just updated with the DLC...

I've finished grief counseling feeling a weight (guilt mostly) has been lifted. I would recommend counseling to anyone who's having a hard time with anything. This is the time of year when things get on top of me, mood wise. You could call it Holiday Blues if you like, but in previous years I was conditioned to have it start earlier and earlier... like holiday sales itself. My new attitude is to simply do what I can and not worry about things I cannot control. Thing is, I can control my mood. Part of it is the handful of vitamins and herbal magic-science I consume daily: fish oil (Omega 3), weight control (B6, Apple Cider, and Iodine), Vitamins D & E, and sometimes turmeric. I also get as much fresh garlic as I can stand and probiotics (in yogurt and pickles). The other part is mental conditioning, avoiding the negative and reinforcing the positive. I have not been on Facebook for quite a long time now, and am so much better for it. I made a second account just to see w...

Random : Noticed an ad on the sidebar just now... a picture of someone's nasty fingernails... reminded me of the extra on one of Weird Al's CDs (way back, like when I was in college). If you put the CD in a computer you could watch a funny sketch of Al and his family. Anyhoo... in that an oldmun asks Al "Does this look infected to you?" and shows him a fingernail. Life : In January my fathers home burned to the ground. My father has to this day not been located. However, my brother was found in the burned house. I don't know how to describe it, but we'll go with "Horrendous, catastrophic tragedy". We still do not know exactly what transpired. My brother was cremated and we had our Viking sendoff. He is super-super-missed. Many people have been very supportive and kind. I am attending grief counseling. It has helped, and there are good things to look forward to. Gaming : Since my brother and I had so much in common, particularly gaming-wise, ...

Yes, once again I am tinkering with my modpack. The mods I'm adding are mostly for variety, which the original pack was a bit lacking in, for all its trimness. The Essentials Damage Indicators Fastcraft NEI + CodechickenCore Treecapitator + BspkrsCore Voxel Map WAILA Greenthumb + D3core Obligatory BspkrsCore (Treecap) CodechickenCore (NEI, Enderstorage) CTMLib (Chisel) Mantle (Natura) OpenModsLib (OpenBlocks) RadixCore (MCA) COFHcore (???) D3core (Greenthumb) Original Selections for Axpack V [x] Mekanism [x] Extra Utilities [x] Openblocks + OpenModsLib [x] Minecraft Comes Alive + RadixCore [x] Pam’s Harvestcraft [x] Cooking for Blockheads [x] Bibliocraft [x] Ruins [x] Roguelike Dungeons [x] Oceancraft [x] Biomes O Plenty [x] Twilight Forest New Selections for Axpack V+ [x] Chisel + CTM Lib [x] ExtrabiomesXL [x] Dense Ores [x] Tinkers Construct + Mantle & TiC Tooltips [x] Enderstorage + CodechickenCore [x] Big Reactors [x] Mystcraft [x] N...