#RimWorld really is the game ever

[pushing500]

The Ship

It's been a long time coming, but it's time for us to say goodbye to The Animist Alliance and the story of Eureka. Who would have thought that a colony I started because I was feeling sick and uncomfortable one day would grow into something so fun? I've had a grand time sharing this story with you all, and I hope you've had fun following the adventure.

Speaking of stories, I tried my hand at writing one for the ending! It's a bit long, so I'll stick it under a break, but I hope you like it. Thank you to everybody who's enjoyed my art and my colony, I've had so much fun making these posts. I can't wait to do more!

So, without further ado...

Tap, tap, tap.

Irwin’s pencil bumped against the clipboard in a thoughtful rhythm as he scowled at the list before him.

“There are twenty-nine people in this colony.” He said, his voice cutting through the silence, “Twenty-nine people, eighty animals, but only eighteen cryptosleep caskets. At the very least, eleven people will have to stay behind.”

“More than that, if we want any of the animals to make it off this planet!” Kawoo piped up, “It would be a shame to leave them all behind after we’ve been through so much together. Anybody with a bonded animal should be allowed to take them on the ship, don’t you think?”

“If there’s room.” Irwin stopped tapping the pencil for a moment to scribble something on the clipboard, “Here, I’ve narrowed the choice down.” He looked up, scanning the gathered colonists until he found who he was looking for— the small group of uncertain newcomers huddled towards the back of the crowd, “Gracie, Hot Minute, Grump, Kelorul, and Jesse. You’ll be staying behind.”

“What?!” 

Predictably, it was Grump who exploded. She had a hair-trigger temper, and when she wasn’t trying to destroy the technology around the colony, she could be found trying to pick a fight with one of the men. Irwin seemed to be a favourite target of hers, perhaps due to his powerful position as the Moral Guide of the Path of Animism. “Why do we have to stay behind? Who do you think you are to make us sit down and watch as the rest of you all get to leave this steaming pile of—”

Irwin’s gaze snapped toward her, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He rolled the pencil back and forth between his fingertips for a few long moments, and Grump calmed herself quickly as she recognised the all-too-familiar expression. 

Irwin only looked at people like that before he reached underneath his duster for the sturdy grip of his persona zeushammer, Xanxalbur.

“You’re staying behind because I don’t like you,” He told her, making no effort to soften the impact of his words. He never did. “You’re all newcomers. None of you have earned a place on the ship.”

“We got the AI Core, didn’t we?” said Hot Minute indignantly, “You never would have finished the ship without us! Well, without Grump, Gracie, Kelorul and me.” Grump, Gracie and Kelorul murmured in agreement. 

“No, I suppose not.” Irwin shrugged and tapped the pencil against the clipboard again.

Tap, tap, tap.

“So… Can we go on the ship?” Gracie asked finally, after several moments of silence broken only by the pencil tapping against the clipboard.

“No.” Irwin squinted at the clipboard and crossed something else out, “Eva, you can’t go either.”

“I can’t?” Eva looked up from the tray of nutrient paste she had been quietly eating, “What’s wrong with me specifically?”

“We’re not convinced you’re human, that’s what’s wrong.” Albina stepped up beside Irwin and peered at the list in his hands, “That does narrow our choices down, but there’s still so many of us.”

“I’ll narrow it some more!” Debby stomped over and linked arms with Eva, “I don’t care if you think she’s a mime! I’m staying with her! I don’t want to go on your stupid ship!”

“Alright, then. Suit yourself.” Irwin made a note on his clipboard, and Albina nodded her approval.

“Irwin, if Debby is staying…” Brennan slunk forward, her eyes rimmed with dark circles. It was clear she hadn’t been sleeping well since her abrupt divorce, “May I claim the first spot on the ship? I… I don’t think I can stand to stay here. Not with…” She glanced over her shoulder to where Debby and Eva stood side-by-side, “Not with some people. Please let me leave.”

“This ship wouldn’t have been possible without you, Brennan. If anybody deserves a spot, it’s you.” Irwin offered her one of his rare smiles, “Alright. Seventeen cryptosleep caskets left.”

“Well, then, let me say something.” Zonovo shoved past Hazrov and Vu to glare at Irwin, “Either that thing leaves on the ship, or I do!” As he delivered his ultimatum, he pointed accusingly at the pulmonoscorpius skittering around by the kitchen. 

Frisbee was one of Kawoo’s beloved pets, but it was a well-known fact around Eureka that Zonovo could not stand the sight of the giant scorpion. His shrieks of terror were such a regular occurrence that nobody batted an eyelid anymore.

Irwin and Albina exchanged glances, and Irwin’s pencil returned to its nervous tapping.

Tap, tap, tap.

“If he wants to go on the ship, I won’t stop him.”  said Albina after a moment, “Some people go to such extreme measures to run from their fears.”

“How can any of you stand to live in such close proximity to that monstrous—” Zonovo began to bristle with anger, but a hand on his arm stopped him before he could start a social fight.

“If Zonovo is going, I’m going.” Baz squeezed his husband’s shoulder and grinned, “You wouldn’t break up marriages over this ship, would you?”

“We wouldn’t dream of it. Irwin, put their names down next to each other. They can have adjacent caskets.” Albina watched Irwin take his notes, then glanced up, “Speaking of marriages… Wookshys, do you want a spot on the ship?” 

“You’ll have a spot if you want one.” Irwin promised, “It’s the least we can do, especially considering how you’ve been treated around here.”

“I’ll follow wherever Albina goes.” Wookshys’ laugh was deep and rich, and it rumbled in his chest as he shook his head and wagged his tail cheerfully, “If she stays, I’ll stay. If she goes, I’ll go. I only want to be with her.” He caught Albina’s eye and winked at her.

“Up to you, then, our fearless leader. Do you want to leave?” Irwin’s pencil hovered over the list of names as he looked at Albina. She hesitated, then lifted her head and stared across the colony to where she could see the faintest glimmer of light where the Anima tree stood. 

Albina spent the majority of her time by the Anima tree. She spoke of it like it was a beloved sister, and she smiled as she looked at it now.

“No.” She murmured, “No, I think I’ll stay. I can’t bear the idea of leaving the tree behind.”

“Excellent!” beamed Wookshys, “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to cope on a spaceship anyway. There's not much fishing to be done in a vacuum, from what I’ve heard. I’d much prefer to stay here.”

“Yes, I think you’ll find more joy here than drifting in the void.” agreed Irwin, “So, that’s three spots gone already. Brennan, Zonovo, and Baz. Fifteen caskets left. Any takers?”

“I’d like to humbly request a spot, please.” Candlelight raised one hand and smiled, “I have very much enjoyed my time here, but I miss being among my own people. This looks like the best chance I’ll get at returning to them, so I’d like to take the chance before it’s gone.”

Irwin nodded as he made the necessary notes, then glanced back up as someone blew a low whistle.

“Well…” Wendy sighed and cracked the knuckles on her right hand, the one which wasn’t bionic, then smiled at her wife, “I reckon Tamarind probably feels the same way about the Anima tree that Albina does, hey? I’m happy to stay here with her. I’ve died once on this planet, and it only seems right that I stay until the day it gets to keep me forever.”

“I’ll stay, but I’d like you to refrain from dying for as long as possible.” Tamarind playfully jabbed Wendy in the ribs, and the two women chuckled before glancing back at Irwin, who was watching them with a quirked eyebrow, “Cross us off the list, please. We’ll stay here.”

“There’s enough room for everyone else, then.” Irwin looked ready to wrap it up, but a cry of distress stopped him before he lay the clipboard aside.

“Wait, wait!” exclaimed Fafo, “I… I don’t want to go. I want to stay here. There are… My… I have… I have my robots!” She gestured helplessly to where Gadget, her small constructoid, was working to rebuild some power conduits while her centipede gunner Hero watched impassively, “I’ve only scratched the surface of my abilities as a mechanitor! Please, don’t be upset, but I don’t want to go!” She addressed this last comment to her husband, Kaz, standing nearby with their son, Ro.

“I’m not upset,” Kaz reassured. He absent-mindedly ruffled Ro’s hair, frowning as he considered, “In all honesty… I prefer the idea of staying, too. I helped build most of this colony. I fell in love and got married here. My son was born here. I think I’d like to stay to raise my family here.” He smiled and glanced at Wendy and Tamarind, “Besides, I’ve still got nine fingers left in case Wendy does anything stupid again and needs to be resurrected. Someone responsible ought to keep an eye on her.” 

Irwin shook his head, but it didn’t hide the grin that crept across his face as he crossed the three Kaznove names off the list.

“I’ll stay, too.” Another voice called out, and Barghest stepped forward, “I know I mostly just sweep the floors here, and nobody would miss me if I left, but this place is good. I like my room. I like my chores. I like the weather here.” He rubbed his beard, then added as if it were an afterthought, “I don’t like the idea of being blown up in a ship and dying in the void without ever knowing what happened.”

“That’s certainly a risk we’ll be taking.” Irwin agreed, “Anybody else having second thoughts? Connie?”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take as long as we’re both on board.” Connie folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air, “I’m sick to death of this place! I just want to go to a nice glitterworld somewhere and get pampered! Is that too much to ask? Besides, you built the ship, dear. I have full faith in it.”

“Make sure I’m in a casket near her!” called Emerald, “We’re sisters, after all. I don’t want to be separated again.” 

Irwin dutifully noted the names of his wife and sister-in-law alongside his own.

“That means there’s room for some of us to go!” blurted Kelorul, “If so many people are staying back, we can—”

“No. Not happening.” Irwin silenced him with a glare, “None of you are welcome on our ship. You’re staying right here. Build your own ship for all I care.” When Kelorul opened his mouth to object, Irwin’s glare intensified, “Don’t make me get Xanxalbur. It’s got the kill-happy trait, and it’s been waiting a long time without satisfaction.”

“Fine,” Kelorul said sulkily before he turned to tramp away with Gracie, Hot Minute, and Grump following in his footsteps. Nearby, Jesse inclined his head and watched his fellow space battle survivors leave, then strolled towards the farms at a leisurely pace, apparently content to stay behind amongst the flowers and trees of the temperate forest rather than fighting for a spot on the ship.

“I want to stay here.” Laurie drew Irwin’s attention back to the main group as she glanced sideways at Debby and Eva, “Maybe I… Maybe… Fall in love again.” Eva poked her tongue out at Laurie, but Debby winked, and Laurie flushed bright red and turned to shuffle away.

“I’m not staying here. There are adventures to have and people to kill! A whole galaxy of them!” Hazrov clenched and unclenched her fists. Her expression was hidden behind the skull mask she wore, but it was easy to imagine the sadistic glee in her eyes.

“I was going to stay, but… If Hazrov is brave enough to board that ship, so am I!” Vu stuffed her hands into her hoodie pocket, “M-mostly. I am a bit worried. It looks awfully rickety, doesn’t it? Like it would break in space.”

“We’ll find out.” Irwin shrugged.

“Will the ship break in space?” Andy, only seven years old, turned to stare at his parents with eyes as big as saucers. Kawoo knelt to gather her son into her arms.

“Of course not!” She reassured, “Your father helped build it, you know. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen! Besides, we’ll be with you the whole way, even if we’re in separate caskets.”

“I built the ship as sturdy as they come, kiddo. Don’t you worry.” Andrei patted Andy’s head. For a moment, Andy still looked troubled, but then his eyes lit up, and he pulled away from Kawoo. He hurried over to the edge of the group and caught one of Henry’s hands in his own.

“You’re coming too, aren’t you?” He said breathlessly, “I’ll be brave if you’re there, Henry. I won’t have to worry about anything hurting us! Not even space could beat you in a fight!” 

“You’re crazy.” Henry did not quite manage a smile, but he clapped Andy on the shoulder in the crisp, parade-ground manner that seemed far too grown up for his small frame, “I won’t leave you for a second. I was engineered as a soldier, and I’ll be damned if I don’t use that engineering to protect the people who have protected me.”

“Language, Henry.” Irwin chided, but he was smiling as he wrote the last few names down. “Let me see… Brennan, Zonovo, Baz, Candlelight, Connie, Emerald, me, Hazrov, Vu, Kawoo, Andrei, Andy, and Henry. That leaves five cryptosleep caskets that we need to fill.”

“We could be really funny and bring the scorpion.” Connie gestured towards Frisbee, but the white-hot glare that Zonovo shot at her was enough to shut her up.

“Tempting, but we should probably use those caskets for any bonded animals. Andrei, Kawoo, you two work with animals the most. Do you want to bring any?”

“Oh, I’d be extremely grateful if we could make room for Pharaoh!” Kawoo perked up at once, “He’s big and strong, but he’s very gentle. I’d love to take him to a glitterworld and show him off! He’s a majestic creature and definitely worthy to be a space explorer. I’d feel better knowing he was close by.”

“The thrumbos are very majestic.” Irwin wrote Pharaoh’s name next to Kawoo’s on his list, “What about you, Andrei? Any animals you’re particularly close to?”

“Well, keeping on the thrumbo theme…” Andrei wrung his hands, “I’m pretty fond of Bellboy. I’ve helped raise him from birth. He’s only young, but… He could grow into something amazing. He’s trained so well. Is there room for him?”

“We have more caskets. We can fit more thrumbos.” Irwin reassured.

“If I may interject, I… I happen to be particularly close with that enormous fluffy cave bear.” Candlelight spoke up, “Witch, you know? She follows me when I go hunting. She’s very affectionate for something with such huge teeth and claws that could– and do– tear raiders to pieces. Her protection and devotion were not easily earned, and I would hate to leave her behind.”

“Two thrumbos and a cave bear. Is there anyone else we need?” Irwin jotted down a few more notes, “We have two caskets left to fill. Suggestions?”

“Brandi and Big Dipper!” Andy exclaimed, “Pharaoh would be lonely if we took him but not his wife and Brandi is pregnant anyway, so it’s like two thrumbos in one go! And they can’t leave without Big Dipper because he was their first baby, and he can keep his little brother Bellboy company.”

“Good idea, Andy.” Irwin nodded his agreement, “You’re a genius. I’m glad you’re coming with us. You too, Henry.” He checked over the clipboard one final time, tapping the pencil as he did.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Looks good.” He said at last, and tucked the pencil and the clipboard away in the pockets of his duster, “That was easy enough to sort out. Now, all that’s left to do is take off.”

So there you have it! It's both exhilarating and heartbreaking to see the end.

On the one hand, I finished a game of RimWorld for the first time!! Woo! On the other hand, I'd really grown to love Eureka and all the colonists it had. Well, I mean, almost all of them. I could take or leave Grump, Hot Minute, Gracie, and Kelorul.

Thank you again to everyone who followed along with this story. I appreciate it so much. I'm definitely going to play more RimWorld in the future, so please feel free to look forward to that! <3 <3 <3

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The Children of Ecthuctu

A Mechanitor's Message

[beatboxing-puppy]

saw some posts on this website discussing what sort of videogames the dunmeshi characters would play and i think everyone is wrong. everyone is wrong except for me so im going to spell out exactly who plays what. putting it under a read more because im going on a damn tangent.

Laios: He's not a gamer he does not play games on purpose he will only ever play video games when his friends ask him to join them in their multiplayer things. One day tho Falin told him about Monster Hunter and now thats the only thing he plays aside from Spore and he has sunk countless hours into that damn game. Also he probably has played Some pokemon but he doesnt like PLAYING it he just likes it in concept he knows the name of all the pokemon

marcille: people keep saying she would be a cosy gamer playing animal crossing and stardew and other cute games ^-^ its so lalalaaaa NO!!!!!!! no she does not. Marcille plays games that stress her out on purpose marcille plays overwhelming micromanagey games like lobotomy corporation and rimworld and etc. She also likes games with deep lore and mysteries to discover. The only thing that doesn't fit in this category that she plays is Minecraft shes always in there CREATIVE MODE building virtual dungeons and other crazy shit. Also she plays on her work laptop with trackpad ok

Chilchuck: This one is for me. This one im just basing off my own dad ok. Chilchuck used to be a hardcore gamer in his youth but specifically he was playing stuff like world of warcraft and old school runescape he had really big setups so he could run several instances of the game at once on all his alt accounts so he could beat a boss by himself and he was really good at it. But then he had kids and didnt have time for this sort of thing so he stopped playing videogames aside from occasionally helping his daughters beat a super hard mario level. Later in life he probably discovered some shitty little low-commitment phone game like pokemon go or pikmin bloom or some daily sudoku puzzle thing and he plays it every day but its not that big a deal. He has been pressured by his friends and daughters to make a roblox account but he hasnt played it at all.

Senshi: THIS guy is the one that plays animal crossing. He logs in when he can but hes not on that every day grind. Also he doesnt play the newest one he doesnt play horizons he plays one of the DS ones. Wild world probably. He either doesn't like or doesn't know about the nintendo switch. Whenever one of his villagers say that they want to leave he'll nod solemnly and say smth like "Well... I suppose it'd be selfish to ask ye to stay, friend... Just promise me you'll stay safe and never forget me... Go and explore the world. Wish ye the best." Plus his island would be covered in weeds. He also has some mobile games he enjoys angry birds and candy crush and crosswords (gotta keep the brain in shape!) but other than that he doesn't videogame much because he prefers board games and tabletop stuff he isnt too jazzed about all this modern technology plus a console or a laptop and all that gaming equipment is a lot to lug around and hes a nomad he would NOT have that shit

Falin: Now FALIN is the cosy gamer. kind of. Falin plays animal crossing new horizons sometimes and has fun making a bad island on purpose. Very mildly "bad" tho the worst she'll do is use the drawing feature to hide a giant penis on the beach or whatever. Or she'll give her villagers silly outfits. She also plays minecraft (either skyblock or she makes a new world and explores and builds a couple houses and then forgets about it and makes another new world) and roblox (likes 'trolling' strangers by dressing up funny and acting kind of strange in roleplay servers but she's never actually mean or anything.) But the big thing she likes is story-driven indie rpgmaker games. She's the person who will say shit like "Yeah I played Blums Booglies the quest for Big Dinners and it was so good I cried for 9 hours" completely unironically.

kabru: social gamer like laios but the games he plays on purpose are the sims (he likes to cause them problems) and online multiplayer games (he likes to peoplewatch). I can also see him doing absurd and tortrous challenge runs of games like No items no pokecenter one type hardcore nuzlockes. im correct

izutsumi: ACTUALLY trolls people on roblox. And she plays needlessly gory flash games. Maybe she calls people dumbfucks over valorant voice chat sometimes

[toskarin]

with all the rimworld talk recently, are there any mods you like for it?

so these are deliberately going to be weirder picks because anyone else would recommend you Majestic Trees, Psychology, Facial Animation, etc.

some sort of music mod is a must if you've played the game long enough. I usually tailor my selection here to the theme of my modpack, but my favourite general purpose pick is Music Expanded: Made in Abyss

Ashlands. I love Ashlands.

the Fortifications series is great if you want lots more to clutter your base with and enjoy the combat side of the game. it does tend to make bases look like industrial nightmares, but that's why you got the mod, right?

D-Pad. it's so handy to be able to manually control groups of pawns on such a granular level, especially if you're getting involved in lots of ranged combat

Outland Genetics, just to get those weird fantasy characters going. have an elf in your colony, help yourself

Army of Fetid Corpses + CAI 5000 if you really want to make it a survival horror nightmare. I personally really enjoy the vibe of realising that horrifying guro monsters are a looming threat, just because they look so deeply unpleasant and scary that you can't ever really get entirely desensitised to them

[sentienceisoverrated]

A while ago I saw a post on the Rimworld tag complaining about a transgender mod. I blocked the person because I didn't want to get into any debates or arguments, but this is now my response:

A FRIENDLY GUIDE TO INCLUSIVE RIMWORLD MODS:

Goes to the mod that obviously this person did not like. Not that hard to find because there are so few of them. A mod that incorporates the transgender identity into the game. It is with great guilt that I admit I didn't know this existed, nor had ever looked for it. As such, I haven't tried it out myself. :(

Probably predictable but: the Psychology mod. This one adds the kinsey scale to the game (among other things) that allows the existence of bisexual and gay pawns without the need for a personality trait. It even has ratings for romantic and sexual drives so your pawns may even be asexual or aromantic! You can alter these settings for the mod, so you can choose yourself how often you want these pawns to show up in game. The only downside is that the mod stresses out the cpu.

Another mod is the Polyamory beds mod. This one allows you to build beds for up to 4 people, or 5 if you're building a royal bed. It's best used in conjunction with the Ideology expansion, which allows polyamory. It does exactly what it described. The only downside is that if two of the pawns aren't in a relationship, they will be unhappy sharing a bed. I guess that makes sense.

Now this one is slightly off-topic, but Character Editor UI. This is a mod that allows you to more closely edit your pawns before you enter a game, such as removing that pesky smokeleaf dependence from a pawn with really good stats. However, in conjunction with the Psychology mod, you can edit your pawns' own personalities and sexualities. If you're unable to run a mod like Psychology, you'll also be able to add the 'gay' or 'bisexual' traits pre-game.

MISC. MODS

The relationships tab mod which allows you to view your pawns and other factions' relationships to each other.

Vanilla social interactions expanded which just improves the pre-existing interactions between colonists.

This is all the mods I know about so far which include inclusivity in Rimworld. If I find anymore, I will obviously add it onto the list. All mods (apart from Identity that I know of) work perfectly fine together.

Please if you have anything to add to the list, reblog, comment, tag etc. The game lacks massively in this regard and I am guilty in not looking further to improve it.

[dead-lights]

"📩 Simblr question of the day: Have you ever played a legacy challenge in the sims? If so, what made you decide to play it? If you haven't, do you think you'll attempt one in the future?"

Sharing the SQOTD from @simblr-question-of-the-day!

i did an alphabet legacy back when ts2 came out! pretty sure i never finished it but i can't remember it very well - if i'm doing my math right that was around 20 years ago.

i'm currently doing the apocalypse challenge, though i'm still really early on. i went with that because i normally play extremely punishing games (cdda, rimworld, ftl, darkest dungeon, etc) and tend to get a bit bored with households once i have everybody's basic needs met. i want my sims to suffer ok 😈 i also just really love post-apocalyptic settings!

[viraselena-art]

My wife helped me download some StarWars mods for Rimworld, and apparently this is the save where the game just throws child after child after child at me, and wishing to protect them Tel'Yono began to crave power, learning the ways of the sith she believes she's Protecting those around her but they believe they are being kept in a very different cage. One of the other kids began to develope force abilities and decided to follow a different path, being unable to leave the others in fear of their safety Chappers stays and protects the kids with Tel'Yono.

Once I get Tel'Yono's character sheet finished I'm gonna work on Chappers! His character is also pretty neat, I'm really enjoying having a sith and a jedi working together for a common goal, not sure if that would ever be a thing in Canon of the SW universe but I'm really enjoying the possibility of it in RimWorld!

[runawaymun]

Fifteen questions for fifteen mutuals - tagged by @slightnettles - sorry it took me so long to get to this! It's been a crazy past few weeks.

1. Are you named after anyone?

Not really, unless you count the Biblical character (which was a definite inspiration to my parents, but they were more set on the meaning rather than any namesakes).

2. When was the last time you cried?

Oh I don't remember honestly. Recently, but not recently enough for me to remember an exact instance. I probably have something pent up in here that I need to get out.

3. Do you have kids?

No. :) just three cats.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Nah /s (though I do use it less than I used to).

5. What sports do you play/have played?

None actually. I have really fucked up joints & my family weren't big on getting any of their girls into sports (boys played basketball). I did a bit of archery and also just the mandatory swim lessons as a kid. These days I do really enjoy outdoor activities like hiking but I don't do it as often as I'd like.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Vibes first, usually how anxious or confident they are.

7. What's your eye colour?

Blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both! Though I'm less of a horror person and more of a terror person. As for happy endings, I don't have a preference. I only ask that the ending is thematically satisfying.

9. Any special talents?

I make really good pickles.

10. Where were you born?

In hospital. I am capable of killing macbeth & was the smallest baby ever to come home from that particular hospital. Weirdly not early, just a lot of complications.

11. What are you hobbies?

Reading, writing, art, and gaming mostly -- anything with survival mechanics, or RPGs, but also a big fan of certain civ sims like Rimworld or Frostpunk.

12. Do you have pets?

Yes! I have an orange tabby, a grayish tabby, and a ringtail tabby (her tail curls over her back like a husky). I also would like to eventually get some fish.

13. How tall are you?

somewhere around 4'9"-4'10" (144-147cm. can't remember exactly which).

14. Favorite subject in school?

History, easy.

15. Dream job?

Author, eventually. I'd like to go the trad publishing route with some of my work, though maybe not all of it.

-

No pressure Tagging: @eldritchteletubbie @ellrond @metatomatoes @the-commonplace-book @raointean @lowopacityelrondpussy @eldamaranquendi @niennawept @elentarial @strawberrymeriadoc and whoever else wants to participate.

[hackfurs]

*arrives late to the ama cause i was at work* saw your post about games, do you have any roguelikes or city sims that you like?

oh yes definitely. hades, slay the spire, risk of rain 2... there's a couple more i need to play still like gunfire reborn but i love rougelikes. im also a really big fan of sim/management/city builder games. cities skylines is the main one everyone thinks of, but i also like games that have a unique setting or twist like timberborn or planetbase. rimworld is also kiiiiind of a colony sim that ive dumped so many hours into. civ city rome was the first one i ever played when i was super young and it set the tone for the kind of games id like playing from then on.

[vyrim]

Rimworld is a really good time killer, but it and its later dlcs always have a problem where you get to the later half of the game and you kinda just start stagnating. Enemies get obnoxiously numerous, events will pop up capable of make or breaking you, and alot of stupid shit will happen as your colonists ai gets more demanding. Not to mention that its really easy to brick any continued progress if you dont core research done that allows you to get more components before you exhaust the surrounding areas deposits.

There are some attempts to get you out of your homebase with things like quests, interacting with factions, and raiding harvesting spots, but that requires manpower which is already needed at the base. So you need more people, who need more space, who need more resources, and therefore require more people to get said resources. The tedium really starts to outweigh the new interesting stuff.

Anomaly dlc is extra bad about that cause now you need to allocate a huge chunk to managing shit. Capture and research, perform rituals, react to new monsters. Its alot, and the rewards are very nonexistant, just some niche rituals and a couple niche weapons.

The game demands alot from you while rewarding very little, makes it very hard to ever finish a run proper.

[futuresconnected]

Welcome to my Blog!

Thanks for being here! I'm going to start off this blog with a bit of info about me, my history with games, and my plans for this blog. Come in and see!

Meet The Blogger

You can call me Wham, I've been playing games since i was child with a Gameboy Advance and a well-loved copy of Pokemon crystal, but its really only in the last five years that I've come into any sort of gaming community and had the desire to explore gaming as a hobby and video games as an art form.

Let's start with the kind of games I've enjoyed (and you can check out my Backloggd link in my profile for more)

JRPGs are the big one, and a perennial favorite of mine. Heavy hitters here include the Final Fantasy franchise (X,XII, and XIV especially), the Xenoblade games (especially 3), and the Persona series. I'm currently trying to explore more series that I've missed over the years, like Star Ocean, Trails in the Sky, Tales of, etc.

Rougelikes! Not quite as much these days, but ever since The Binding of Isaac came out, I rode the wave of the indie roguelike scene for a good seven or eight years and have a deep love for where this genre has gone over the years. Notable games for me here are Isaac, FTL, Risk of Rain, Hades, Inscryption, and Darkest Dungeon.

Diablo-style loot RPGs, I've had a long history with these games starting back when I would play Diablo II LAN games with my friend and his dad back in middle school, and games like this have always had a soft spot in my heart. I spent years playing Path of Exile, and I routinely come back to games like Titan Quest and Grim Dawn as well.

Fighting games! This one is pretty new for me, back in 2020 one of my good friends decided he was gonna try to get into Street Fighter, and that caused a small revolution in my friend group that has led to me playing a whole hell of a lot of Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter 6, and other assorted games. I'm by no means good at them, but I've been committed to learning and improving at them bit by bit (you'll see in the weekly FGC Corner :) )

Visual Novels/Narrative Games. This one is very much a less cogent genre space, but some of my absolute favorite games can all be loosely put together around these terms. Games like 13 Sentinels, 999, Virtue's Last Reward, Umineko, Misericorde, Perfect Tides, things of that nature.

There are many others out there, so I'll end this section by listing off a bunch of other games that are classics for me: Outer Wilds, Neon White, Just Cause 2, Devil May Cry 5, Blasphemous, Dark Souls/Bloodborne/Elden Ring, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Rimworld, Disco Elysium, Monster Hunter, and many many others!

The Big Idea

What I mostly want from this blog is to be a space where I can get together at the end of a week and think back about what I've been playing, what I think about it, and whatever else is connected to those feelings. Over the years I've enjoyed seeing other folks thinking and writing critically about the media that they enjoy, and while I hold no aspirations of turning this into anything quite as specific as that, I want to give myself space to spend more time thinking about this hobby which means so much to me. I have no idea how its going to go, if I'm going to like it, or how consistent I will be able to be, but for the time being this is my plan all laid out!

If you've read all this and it sounds interesting to you, or you think you might have tastes that align with mine, feel free to follow along! I'd love to have more people to talk shop with, or even just knowing that some other folks out there might think my words are interesting.

So let's get into it!

[pushing500]

I’ll have you know *I wake up and check your blog first thing most days*. How’s that for being a fan of your stories? They really brighten my day. Be it Rimworld, BG3 or Sims. Reminds me of the fun of playing games with a little story in mind. Lemme tell ya, I keep trying to make a Rimworld I can get cozy with—- but it ain’t easy when they keep beating on each other (gonna have to bioengineer a buncha Dead Calm imps or somethin— stop fighting guys ur on the same side!)

Well, here's hoping today is a good day! Have some smol mechanitors to brighten it up ❤️

I always get so inspired to draw whenever I get asks like this!!! It makes me so happy when people tell me they like my blog! No doubt due to my ✨dazzling✨ personality and nonsensical narration style, with the art as a pleasant bonus addition ;p

Also, a colony of Dead Calm imps sounds cool as hell, and I would love to see that if you ever do it.

[stalebagels]

I recently have been playing Rimworld a lot and so I made a colony and based all of them on the Strike Force. It is a miracle they've survived as long as they have. Here's some of the stuff that's happened since the birth of this clusterfuck because I can't resist sharing it;

(long wall of text below that'll make more sense if you've played the game lol - could be funny out of context though)

- Jon has gotten mauled by mad animals at least fifteen times including by; a rabbit, a pack of nine yorkies, an ibex, and three wolves. Has lost his left eye to an arctic wolf and gotten the plague twice. Has also been shot numerous times and had a lightning strike set both his bedroom and himself on fire. He is a danger magnet and every time I turn around he's downed again. Tamed a rat called Lumpy and a bunch of Megascarabs. Incapable of socializing and honestly same. Saved a muffalo that got struck by lightning and was abandoned by it's trade caravan. Yes he's our animal guy.

- Stephen keeps getting food poisoning and vomiting everywhere - literally the only colonist to get food poisoning four times over in a short period. Got shot once and had his left lung collapse entirely (he's still alive though). Like Jon, a bit of a misfortune magnet but I can leave him unattended for at least a few minutes until he gets food poisoning again. He's also constantly on the verge of starvation. He's primarily the one we use to recruit prisoners aside from Seth.

- Kimmel got his left thumb shot off at some point. The resident chef that for some reason has a rivalry with a child they rescued from the three arctic wolves that took Jon's eyeball and the newest colonist they rescued from the nine crazy yorkies. Considered changing the 7-year-old's name from Maverick to Matt Damon. Unclear if he's the one causing the food poisoning incidents but it seems unlikely.

- Fallon is useless on most counts. Can't do hauling, never cleans, incapable of violence, and his room is a disaster. Someone else has to clean up after him most of the time but hey at least he's teaching that kid we rescued about naughty words. Ironically one of the only ones who hasn't been horribly injured at some point. He does help with cooking sometimes and I would not be surprised at all if it's his fault Stephen's always sick.

- Conan is the other one who hasn't been horrifically injured as of yet. Spends a lot of time researching and is the go-to guy for when traders or visitors come around. Once told Fallon at a binge party that the world would be a better place without him out of absolutely nowhere despite having a friendly relationship and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Best friends with a colony recruit named Buckley and now they're our two fastest builders. Makes up for the fact that he's incapable of violence.

- Craig is our marksman and has also unfortunately been maimed by several animals but somehow not as many times as Jon has. He's usually out front during raids because he got his hands on an assault rifle. Has gotten a Yeoman title from some kingdom because he sheltered a lady being chased by a crazy rabbit (not the same one that put Jon in the hospital) so now he has a psylink ability and has to meditate a lot. Probably one of the most productive members because he can pretty much do a little of everything.

- John hasn't been injured either, he's also technically our doctor because he has the highest medical skill out of everyone. This poor guy has had to rescue everyone so many times I don't blame him for being constantly on the verge of a mental break. When Conan is unavailable he's the second go-to for trading and interacting with visitors. He really hated a guy called Robert Thompson that we had to take in for 21 days as part of a quest that didn't work or anything and kept getting injured/sick so John had to take care of him most of the time. This poor guy is the sole reason they're all still alive. The colony child Maverick loves him.

- Seth has the second highest medical skill out of them all so he helps John out with the hospital a lot. He's also great at recruiting prisoners, and so when we have them he's our second warden along with Stephen. He's also "physically appealing" and people are predisposed to liking him so that probably helps with the recruiting thing. He also for some reason has a high shooting skill and after that Robert Thompson quest he got his hands on a mini gun and now he's our most dangerous fighter. Once when he was in the hospital recovering from a raid a power conduit exploded and set his hospital bed on fire.

On a positive note, Jon and Stephen got married and they're all still alive as of right now! Jon did die once to a mechanoid in one hit and I got so upset I reloaded the game shhhh

[bonefall]

i was working on a little kinda hybrid work/crossover-but-not-really between rain world and warrior cats and i thought about using some of your clan culture stuff and reworking it to fit in with the universe better, but i was wondering if you've ever actually played rain world yourself?

I had heard the name but knew nothing about the game. I actually thought it was another name for Rimworld the whole time!

(It's a survival game about an alien slug cat in a post-apocalyptic world, for those who don't know)

Anyway, nope, never played! My favorite games are usually older or have a sandbox element. Spore, Minecraft, Amazing Island. Sometimes I play a monster collection game like Temtem, or a strategy one like Fire Emblem. Rune Factory 4 is my favorite game of all time, I actually like farming when there's combat involved lmao.

My taste in video games is super eclectic. But no it doesn't usually involve survival platformers like Rain World.

[nerbs-the-word]

Alright, proper introductory/pinned post, I suppose.

Sup. I'm Nerb. The weirdest G/t fan this side of the internet. Asexual, he/him, and single.

I'm a fiction writer (Pretty good if I do say so myself) and an artist (not quite as good), so expect some of that here. Just... don't expect the art to be anything like some of the stellar work I see around here (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!). Either way, I'll probably post some writing here soon, even if it's just a link to a Google Doc.

Considering opening commissions, but we will see.

Now, despite being into the cute wholesome "omg ur so little" community, I've got a bunch of other interests, some being... not so wholesome.

For the wholesome ones, I like Lego, insects, TTRPGs (D&D for those not in the loop. DM but also enjoy being a player), and some more casual games like Minecraft.

As for the less innocent, I play plenty of more violent video games (Rimworld, Project Zomboid, TF2, Fallout, ect.), and have a dream job of working in small arms repair. As in fixing guns, not tiny prosthetics (Although that would be cute).

DMs are open if you wanna ever chat, I don't really RP much anymore but when I do, it's advanced lit/paragraph format stuff. G/t wise it's whatever for me (small, tall, either way) but I don't want a swarm of tinies/tiny-leaning shifters swarming me. I also work night shift through the week, so expect some screwed up schedules on my end. Chat or RP, I don't do sexual stuff. Like, at all. Please keep that away from me.

[heylinfanclub]

BG3 crashing on launch, crashing Discord and steam with it usually.

Rimworld won’t even open anymore.

Other Games HURTING lagwise.

Art program keeps freezing.

Restarting fixed Nothing.

I think my Laptop is just dead. And I haven’t half the presence I used to, to fundraise for a new one.

Having Bad Time Socially (fucked up a connection before it even STARTED by miss-inputting an old friends number in my phone and I may never see them again after that one chance encounter wow kill me I MEAN IT I DONT CONNECT WITH PEOPLE OFTEN AND I FUCKING MISSED HER FOR YEARS AND NOW SHES GONE AGAIN).

Case Manager is leaving. One of the coolest case managers I ever had. I don’t think anyone could ever compare.

I gotta go to a new group therapy thing on Thursday, and my confidence is shot that it’ll be any fun or that I’ll make any friends.

It’s multiple friends bday this week I cannot be this fucked up. Yet my mouth tastes like the METAL OF DEPRESSION (anyone else get a copper taste in their mouth when really fucking emotional? Hm? Just me? Hffff).

[paul-paulson]

Log Entry #4 (a bit meta)

It has been a long time since the last update. My original thought was to update every once in awhile, and condense the best stories from the colony. However, my darling co-pilot was also hearing these stories, and he was keen to join Paul's compelling plight with the assistance of the multiplayer mod. I warned him of the difficulty for a week or two, but he insisted he was up to the challenge.

So, here I'll offer some background. We have hours of co-leading colonies and are well-versed in the multiplayer mod and other mods. However, we have historically played Rimworld a little bit like a cozy game, low-difficulty storytelling, and save scumming whenever something doesn't go our way.

My whole idea with this colony -- first of all, it wasn't supposed to be a long-term thing. I didn't load any of the DLC's (ideology, biotech, royalty). I had wanted to do a bunch of one-shot naked brutality runs and basically allow tragedy to happen, including both RNJesus and user error. No takebacks, no save scums. Every setting as random as possible, including starting colonist, starting location, you name it. Randy Random is the storyteller on Adventure Story, moderate difficulty but nothing insane.

So I did have a handful of colonies that began and ended within an hour or two. I think mostly my idea was to challenge myself to accept "bad" outcomes. It has actually been pretty constructive on a personal level.

However, something about Paul Paulson really took off. I never expected to play it for more than a couple days. So as the story dived through gut-wrenching twists and turns, I was rooting for this weird eponymous guy whose planet rained family members.

Which brings me back to my co-pilot. Co-Pilot, UntoldForce, is very good at bringing structure to places and advancing tech trees. He brings order through progress. I tend to allow disorder and slower tech progress, but I help think through chaotic threats and try to apply creative solutions rather than cookie-cutter approaches. I tend to enjoy throwing paint at the wall to see what sticks. Chinchillas? Never tried it before, fur is supposed to be valuable, jungle is full of food, why not. Too many enemies at the gate? Let's see what this psychic animal pulser does. With the other storytellers, cookie-cutters work pretty much fine at a certain tech level. Randy is not so kind. Randy is really pushing our creative thinking. Our two styles in collaboration usually make for really prolific colonies. Plus, I'm always digging in the Social tab for good dirt on the colonists.

However, Paul's refusal to lay down and die, and his giant family, have given this story a life of its own. And so, we shan't aim for the stars, or dig up an ancient relic, or try for any of the game's own win conditions; we will resurrect and honor all of the members of Paul's giant family, regardless of faction or creed.

But I really hope none of them are cannibals.

ANYWAY, point being: we now have progressed the story a LOT... so I will have to dig deep to try to remember the best bits. Suffice to say, Paul Paulson is doing better than ever, his colony is thriving, the tragedies are real, but... well, just wait and see.