The Last of Us- Remastered. Just ran into my first bloater.... pausing to consider. Game is quite outstanding in terms of atmosphere, realistic combat, rewarding careful planning and stealth over "guns blazing because I am IMMORTAL!" (which the character most assuredly is NOT). It is HARD, even on "normal" difficulty, and also emotionally fraught.

So- I set it aside for the moment to test drive The Outer Worlds.

Excellent game play, a skill system that actually allows you to make a custom character instead of a "well- we will call it a 'chicken' or a 'goose', but actually every character is a gecko...." Choices are ambiguous and have long-term effects- what may seem the most "moral" can have unintended (bad) consequences.... The NPC faces are a little... creepy... but the graphics in general are quite good. Some excellent humorous moments as well- "It's in French?! I can't READ effing French!" A companion system that allows you to have (I believe) up to SIX companions at the same time- companions who actually do more than get in your line of fire, or cough when you are trying to sneak, or.... To be more positive about that- they provide bonuses to your skills, advice on handling decisions, and also have lives and choices of their own.

Just heard about TES: Blades. Is it a successor to Skyrim? An expansion to ESO?

Free mobile game with its own story.

Ah, thanks!


Wonder if it works on my flip-phone?

mesa no thinkin' so

While Wow is releasing a new patch, I'm still going to be working on my new Skyrim playthrough here and there. EnaiSiaion just recently released a werewolf mod, so now I must make a werewolf.

I’ve heard of it but never played it. I’m not usually into games that punish you so harshly, but BATTLETECH is one of my favorite game universes.

I played a little of the new X-Com franchise. But could not get into it. I loved the original X-Com: Ufo Defense and Terror From The Deep though. Especially the Lovecraftian elements in the second.

And I'm still on my Rebellion playthrough. I'm currently conquering the Outer Rim and have increased my Main Fleet with two additional Super Star Destroyers, making it 14 in total. I'm also having issues in one of the sectors where I recently destroyed a rebel fleet that kept pestering me.

I downloaded Daggerfall because I bought a gaming pc over the summer and I finally remembered I can play games now (Wrothken uses this the most).

I have yet to leave the tutorial room because the combat is so.... yikes. I'll get through it eventually

Playing a free to play game called Dauntless. It's basically a free version of Monster Hunter mixed with Fortnite.

I've done no gaming to speak of this past week. A little Trainz 2019. Less modded Daggerfall Unity. That's the extent of it. There is, however, a TpF1 Scenic Excursions episode newly available for view at YouTube. It's the old Epping-Kidderminister passenger shuttle service, its tracks now extended to Chesham, which it enters via elevated station. This was intended for publication 'last' Saturday, but I didn't dare risk upload that Friday night due to predicted severe storms.

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep 34a - Epping to Chesham Commuter, Part 1, The Ride to Chesham

Currently I'm playing Heavy Rain, an action-adventure point & click game that's already around 10 years old, but has been released for PC in 2019. You play as 4 different protagonists, all of them search for a serial killer, each of them has their own motives to track him/her down.

Afterwards I'll probably give a try to Outer Worlds from Obsidian.

I'm done with Heavy Rain - what a masterpiece! What an ending, phew! I figured out who the killer is, but one can't be 100% sure until it happens in the game.

I changed my mind about Outer Worlds, now I'm off to The Wolf among us. *howl*

New TpF Scenic Excursions episode. It's been in-the-can for weeks, awaiting its turn. I waited so long I forgot to correct at least one known spelling error before upload. Such is life.

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep34a - The Return to Epping

As to actual game-play, I'm simply not doing any at the moment, with no interest in resuming. A rarity, but it happens from time to time. The older I get, the more I wonder if periods of abstention might herald permanent cessation. All I can say with certainty is that such as not occurred thus far.

World of Warcraft released patch 8.3 and it has to be the most boring patch for me in a while.

Log in, do once daily quests, log out. Work on the raid two days as week. I wish there was more to be excited about.

My gaming slump continues. This past week I did nothing other than putz around in Transport Fever maybe 45min one morning. I do have a new TpF Scenic Excursions episode on offer. It's been in-the-can well over a month, waiting its turn for upload.

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep35 - Food for Hartlepool, there and back again

Gaming related, I've been checking out, at YouTube, news of Gamestop's possibly impending demise, ever shadier business practices, and rancid treatment of low-level employees. None of this is truly 'new' to me. It just seems to have degenerated into an all-time low.

This is pretty much a repeat of my last posting. My gaming slump continues. I still have a few in-the-can TpF Scenic Excursions episodes awaiting publication, one of which went live this morning:

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep36a - Goods for Henley, Part 1 - Delivery

A portion of the route contains no added scenery whatsoever. That portion is not on display. Like many recent railway journeys, this one is split between two episodes due to uploading at 1440p over an ultra-slow internet connection.

Last game I played was Fire Emblem Three Houses till my controller pooped out on me so no more playing on the Switch till I get replacement controllers <_< .

The switch you just bought?!

Yep...for some reason the JoyCons in the V2 Switches seem to be defective. This is the second time I bought a V2 Switch and the JoyCons are defective. I'll buy another set of JoyCons but anymore issues with this console and I'll sell the darn thing and close my Nintendo account. If----IF I decide to get another Switch I'm getting the Lite and be done with it.

My overlong gaming-slump continues. I've no interest whatsoever in playing anything. My once abundant stockpile of finished TpF Scenic Excursion videos, made before the slump began, has dwindled to two. Here's the first of those, leaving me with one episode in reserve:

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep 36b - Goods for Henley, Part 2 - Return to Goodstown

Contradicting what I say above, I DID launch Transport Fever yesterday with the sole intent to film a certain train route, giving me raw material for two more video. Sadly, the ride proved too 'stuttery' for use.

Bought the Xbox One X the king of Xboxes (for now). So far I like it and now to get a 4K TV.

Sounds expensive, Reaps. Better make good use of it

Actually the Xbox One X was on sale for $299.99 and i should be able to find a decent price 4K tv at my local Walmart .

Currently playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl, with STALKER Complete mod installed. Gosh, I forgot already how dificult this game is. I played it around 8 years ago for the last time. I'm spoiled with easy combat from Beth games.

I just went through one of these my self, but it was due to mostly real-life weirdness. But yeah, I had those moments mid-February when I'd sit down for my usual after-work gaming session. And then I'd decide to do something else. I was a little worried! This time, the slump ended, but I predict as I get into my latter 50s and then 60s, I'll game less than I do now.

Must be something in the water, lol. Tried a new Skyrim run after I finished up my FO4 character, but lost interest after a few sessions. Twiddled my thumbs for a while before deciding to uninstall just about everything except ESO.

Trying to force myself into giving it a proper go.

Though my gaming-slump continues, I did manage to 'play' TpF1 long enough to capture footage needed to complete an in-progress Scenic Excursions episode, as well as footage for what will eventually become two other episodes. Speaking of which, TpF1 Scenic Excursions ep37 was published this morning. It's a short plank-delivery run. It does not number among my more 'exciting' train routes. Still, it's a decent little diversion and keeps the series active:

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions episode 37 - Planks for Goodstown Factory (YouTube Video)

As for gaming in general, it looks more and more like Gamestop might be in its death throes. Can't say I'll be sad to see it go, except for the peons who will find themselves without employment as a result.

I haven’t played Skyrim in years. It just wasn’t fun anymore.

I just wrapped up January in Fallout 4. She is level 76, and has 4 days and 2 hours of playtime. That is probably my longest ever for a single character. Though one of my runs of Persephone in Skyrim might be up there.

Jan has discovered every location in the main game, and in Far Harbor and Nuka World. She has not done the main quest for the regular game, and never will. I don't like it very much. So she's done in Fallout.

I am not sure if I am going to go to Skyrim and play January as the Dragonborn there (she is a superhero after all), or maybe try another character in Fallout 4. After playing Jan in Morroblivion, Oblivion, and now Fallout 4, I am kind of in the mood for a ranged weapon character, rather than a martial artist. I have a couple characters worked up in Fallout 4, so I might try one of them a bit as a sniper and see how it works out.

But I might want to stick with Jan in Skyland instead. One frustrating thing about playing her in Fallout 4 is that game is really not made for playing a melee weapon character. Melee combat is just, really lacking, and hard to do well. It works so much better in the other games. I am also kind of in the mood to play her in a game where she can really do what she does best. Punch people in the face.

Though my gaming-slump continues, I drummed up enough enthusiasm to 'film' another Transport Fever Scenic Excursion episode and do a tiny bit of touch-up scenery modification. I also combed the map in hope of finding non-scenery train routes that are feasible to 'scenic' without dropping FPS into the minus. No luck there.

In the process, I solved a long-standing mystery. After scrapping all non-British steam locos months ago I was able to remove some 60 (!) loco mods. A Baltimore & Ohio Mikado mod, however, couldn't be removed without keeping the game from loading. I search the map over and over again without finding a surviving Mikado. Eventually gave up, assuming it was a glitch. That mod remained active until today. I discovered the missing Mikado by sheer chance, carting logs along a train line out in the boonies. A route never glimpsed from any other tracks, and not worth riding. I had totally forgotten its existence. That Mikado is replaced now, its mod removed.

Wrothken decided to surprise me by buying me Morrowind for the pc. My boyfriend showed me where to get the mods and kinda walked me through it, but truth be told, I got overwhelmed so I'm playing it vanilla for now.

And I have to say, it holds up for me just as well as when I first played it. I love that game so much. Still #1 in my heart. ♥

Ever so slightly putting a dent into my gaming slump, I drove two hour-long Eastern European train ride sessions in Trainz 2019 (TRS19) day before yesterday. I've also spent yet more time combing my TpF1 map hoping to find an as-yet not detailed train line suitable to add scenery to, with no luck. Speaking of which, my laster TpF Scenic Excursions episode was published this morning. Here it be:

Transport Fever Scenic Excursion ep 38 - Food for Chesham (YouTube video)

Same. I love Morrowind. The later games just don’t have the same magic (figuratively and literally) that Morrowind had, imo.

My gaming slump continues, though I've driven several TRS19 train sessions. I swear its Service Pack 1, released several months ago, has made some formerly playable sessions unfinishable. The one I drove yesterday, twice, is a case in point. I last drove it prior to SP1. Short, easy session. Almost impossible to screwy up. Worked like a charm. Now, there's a signal eyesight of the final station that is red, requiring a stop. It never returns to green. This happened both tries. First time I waited a good seven minutes, figured it was a glitch, put the train in motion, only to fail the session soon as I passed that signal. Second try I stuck it out a good 15 minutes sitting at that signal. Absolutely nothing was happening at the station ahead requiring me to wait. I finally gave up and exited. Such is life.

Speaking of disasters, here's my latest TpF video:

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep 39a - ConMat for Dunwich, Part 1

The first portion of the ride covers much the same route we took during ep26, only with decent graphics quality. (Ep26 is marred by severe YT compression degradation, which I avoid this time.) It's also the map's only train route that covers almost the entirety of River Valley Mainline.

I preordered Doom Eternal and it comes with...DOOM 64!!! Ah I can't tell you how I miss playing that game .

And on the complete opposite end of that spectrum....Animal Crossing: New Horizons day!

Sweet!


I thought it was a DLC to Doom

-------------

Star Wars Rebellion update


I now own the entire galaxy (on the Huge difficulty) except three sectors in the outer rim. I have just now entered the first of them with my Main Fleet consisting of two Interdictor Cruisers, 15 Super Star Destroyers and 20 Lancer Frigates which are very good against enemy star fighters. Oh, and I also have 180 TIE Defenders.


I like to have a small fleet when conducting business, can you tell?

Been on a Total War kick lately, switching between an Irish campaign in Thrones of Britannia and Zheng Jiang the Bandit Queen campaign in Three Kingdoms.

Has Khajiit played any Bloodlines as of late?

Khajiit... has not. If memory serves me correctly, Brigitte is about to go to the Hallowbrook.

Spent time recently learning the proper maneuvers to prepare a freight train for its delivery run in Trainz 2019. Also 'filmed' that portion of the session after being able to complete the process with a reasonable degree of success. Might or might not create a publishable video from the results of that capture.

Speaking of which, I've another TpF1 video, the continuation and conclusion of the freight delivery run begun episode 39a. There's a decent amount of train-spotting in this one.

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep39b - ConMat for Dunwich, Part 2 (YouTube video)

Train wise, besides Transport Fever I'm an infrequent player of Trainz Railway Simulator 2019 (TRS19). My opinions of it are mixed. Overall I consider it a worthwhile buy, so long as you wait for a healthy discount and can tolerate with its faults. (All three major 'true' railway simulators are to some degree cash drains.) Anyway, I recently decided to create a piecemeal video series of me playing favorite sessions. Unlike TpF1, where what you see is not me playing the game, but the results of my playing, with TRS19 you see actual game play, such as it is. My first episode, focusing on shunting at Helston, is in-the-can but has no firm publication date. I cranked out a YT thumbnail for it this morning:

TRS19 - Cornish Mainline & Branches - Helston Freight Run, Part 1 - Shunting at Helston (YouTube thumb, not a video)

I really ought to get back to Daggerfall Unity.

Sunday afternoon addendum:
Just finished a one-hour-plus 'Orient Express' passenger run in TRS19. Had a blast. Quite decent graphics by Trainz standards, and lots to see. This is the first time I drove the route from inside the loco cab. Being a steam loco, my view was restricted, the more so because, for some reason, the session doesn't provide 'lean-out-the-side-window' cameras. Not only that, but the left-side front window camera is positioned so that its view is more limited than it ought to be. Luckily, the right-side front window camera is positioned perfectly. I spent the bulk of my time on the right. To my surprise, I find the view restrictions add to the enjoyment. On this run at least.

I took a temporary break from January's adventures in Skyrim to play some Doom 1, in Quake 2. I found a mod for Quake to that allows you to play the Knee Deep In The Dead missions from Doom 1 in Quake 2. It is fun. It is the Quake 2 engine, so it is all Q2 weapons, monsters, etc... But with the levels from Doom.

Sounds cool, I really like the Quake 2 weapons. Only played the demo but the shotguns are great. Much better than in Doom 3 and that goes for the other weapons too imo.

The mods to play Doom 1 in Quake 2 are here. I just finished Knee Deep In The Dead, and now I think I will try the second episode. It looks like there is a conversion for Doom 2 as well.

I got my Gog versions of Doom 1 and Doom 2 reinstalled and working with ZDoom. You can get the latter here. You start the game with the zdoom.exe file it gives you.

It allows you to play at higher resolutions. But it seems that to get it to really work you have to edit your shortcut, and in the Target field after where it says zdoom.exe you need to add: -width1920 -height 1080

I also found a female protagonist mod here. Just put the .wad file in your Doom folder and add a bit to your command line again: -file Doomgirl_01.wad

So my entire Target box for my shortcut looks like this:
"E:\Doom 1\zdoom.exe" -file Doomgirl_01.wad -width1920 -height 1080

Works great on both the Ultimate Doom from Gog, and Doom II with Master levels from there.

Occasionally I'm playing the Longing, the game that's set on a timer and can apparently take 400 days to complete. The timer continues to run, even when you're not actively gaming. There are some ways to speed up the time, I already figured some of them out, but it means that instead of 1 second 5 seconds pass for a limited time. I don't play it often, because to achieve some things, like for a moss to grow or for a stalactite to fall and serve as a bridge to get over a pit, up to two weeks or one month real-time needs to pass.

The game can't be restarted without hacking the script, so it's meant as a one-time experience. Apparently the developer also created some "punishment" for those that try to hack the timer, the game will simply freeze for them. There are pleas on the Steam Discussion to make the game work again, the developer then fixes the timer, when players send him their saves.

Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy came out for the Switch today! Khajiit knows what he’ll be playing tomorrow!