Stargrace

RimWorld – Hardcore SK Mod

A lot of the best (in my opinion) RimWorld mods don’t come from the steam workshop (although that is the easiest way of getting mods) but come from players outside of steam. One pack of mods that I’ve been playing with lately is called Hardcore SK. It has got an insane amount of mods built into the pack, and it completely changes gameplay (while leaving the core game intact).

I have heard that there are some issues if you play in the default storymodes that are offered, so I swapped mine over to one of the new ones (and not the one that involved magma leakage.. if you’ve ever played Hardcore SK you know which one I’m talking about).

I started out with one colonist since that was the way I was used to playing – but quickly learned that there was just SO MUCH to do. I ended up restarting the game with a different collection of colonists, three this time. I learned starting out with three was just as difficult as starting out with one, but for a different reason. Food.

Food for one person is pretty easy to come by while you’re working on other things. Food for three people while they’re all trying to establish their base is annoying. Especially if you don’t have a base to speak of and wile animals keep eating your food, or your random_animal_01 (in my case, a cat) eats the hard earned meat you have just accumulated.

Thankfully there was a “house” on my map (I use the term loosely) so I was able to build a quick roof, and get some beds made up along with a storage pile or two.

Then two of my colonists caught the flu. Viruses and sicknesses can travel through mosquito in this version of the game, pretty detailed but very annoying. So now my three colonists are temporarily down to two – and it looks like one isn’t healing very quickly, and probably won’t be able to get over her flu which will drop me down to two before the first month is up.

If you’re used to how things are done in RimWorld and have experimented with a few of the basic mod packs but are looking for a little more depth, I HIGHLY suggest you check this one out. Keep in mind it does completely change how you play the game, so if you’re set on loading up a world and playing it exactly as you would play a basic world you may grow pretty frustrated.

Crops for example. You need to research them before you can plant them and you need seeds, first. Seeds are expensive if you purchase them from traders, and it’s rare to find the ones you actually want as you go harvesting. You need to research a LOT of things before you’ll be useful, all while trying to survive the random events going on.

There are a ton of things to harvest and pillage on the map, make use of them and spend some time deconstructing. You need bricks, planks, and other odds and ends that you can’t make right off the bat. There’s also hygiene in this version of the game. You’ll need an outhouse along with a wash basin. Waste fills up and has to go somewhere, so keep that in mind.

Colonists are given a whole slew of new traits, ranging from things like DIY enthusiast to well endowed. It gives the game a ton of flavour, and the replayability is fantastic. I’ve only been using the mod for a day or two now and while it was a bit difficult to get started and not to be so set in my steam workshop ways, it has been an absolute blast.

What are some of your favourite RimWorld mod packs? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Wurm Unlimited, and (unrelated) Anxiety

A little bit of non-game related, before we get to the good stuff. Apologies for not diving right in!

I was diagnosed with agoraphobia a few years back after experiencing some intense panic attacks that left me vomiting up blood any time I tried to go anywhere outside of the house (especially the car, and the elevator in my building). They came on suddenly and I honestly thought I was dying. Thanks to some medication I was able to get things under control and as the years went by I decided to stop taking that medication on occasion. Every so often I’d get it into my head that I was fine (the fact that I was taking the medication that was making me fine was sort of lost on me) and that I didn’t need the help any more. Except with things like mental illness they don’t just vanish, and sometimes (like in my case) it’s an imbalance in your brain that causes the issues, and that isn’t something that goes away.

I had to deal with a lot of stigma surrounding mental illness. Some of my friends stopped talking to me and drifted away. A lot stopped asking me to do things because they knew I’d decline. I hated declining. I absolutely hate the fact that having this sort of an illness prevents me from taking advantage of some situations that are presented to me. It’s not logical, and it’s not something I can control, and it’s something I have spent many conversations apologizing for. I’m the person who will say sure lets meet up, and then cancel at the last minute. Not because of anything anyone has done wrong but because I simply can’t handle it. So I totally get why people bailed on me, I’m not the most fun person to deal with. A few managed to stick around and for those people I am eternally grateful, let me assure you.

Anyway. Recently an amazing opportunity presented itself to me and I accepted – only to decline again at the last minute. These things don’t happen often, especially for this stay at home with a 6 month old Mom. I hated myself for declining. Hated myself for having this mental block. Hated myself for many things. I know it’s difficult to talk about mental health. I know it’s difficult to look outside of our boxes and realize that the person we’re talking to is indeed a person and they have a whole bunch of stuff going on that doesn’t even register. I just wanted to say that to anyone else in this situation, you’re not alone, you’re never alone, and to just keep trying.

Lets get back to gaming!

Wurm Unlimited is going well. I managed to create a rare glimmersteel pickaxe, and improved it to 81 quality. I’m hoping to get more glimmersteel so I can improve it further in the future. I created a colossus over at Dwarf Fortress, and I’ve been enchanting tools for friends. Pretty basic stuff, really. The troll king went down last week, and we’re all hoping that a dragon spawns next. Whether or not that will actually happen I have no idea, but here’s hoping! My deeds are coming along really well. I built pens for the hell horses and the unicorns and then I created a slate (black) road along the side with the hell horses and a marble (white) road along the unicorn. In the centre I have marble statues of horses, along with a path of flowers. It looks amazing.

One of my beehives spawned a second queen so I’ve been trying to get it to migrate over to a new empty hive. That would make three. YAY! It’s fall in game so migration works a bit different.

Fall also means that winter is just around the corner and for the first time we’ll be able to make those snowballs and stock our larders! Awesome! All in all, I’m still having an absolute blast (as I always do) on the Sklotopolis server. If you happen to decide to play over there be sure to give me a shout (I play as Stargrace) and as always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself.

YNAB, Zelda, Horizon and More

I don’t use a lot of programs on steam, most of my “stuff” is games (pretty understandable). One I do use though is called You Need a Budget (YNAB) and it is absolutely amazing. If you’ve ever had money problems but have no idea where your money is actually going, this is the program for you. It’s incredibly worth it, though I do suggest waiting until it goes on sale if you’re purchasing the steam version. In all of February and March I managed to stay on budget, tuck some aside into savings, and I still had enough left over to splurge on both Zelda and Horizon which is pretty amazing considering I’ve owned my PS4 for a while now and have maybe three games total.

I haven’t had a lot of time to sink into Horizon yet, but I absolutely love the game and everything about it. The world is beautiful, the story easy to sink into. Staying away from spoilers.

I just got Zelda yesterday (it was sold out for the WiiU) so I haven’t actually played it yet, but I’ve seen lots of twitch streamers playing it. Another beautiful world (if a bit washed out by my standards) with a pretty good story. I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into it. I wasn’t interested in buying a Nintendo Switch since I don’t do a lot (if any) mobile gaming, and my WiiU works just fine. I’m also thinking of buying Just Dance. Guilty pleasure of mine, what can I say.

It’s another great year to be a gamer, and there seems to be something for almost everyone. I’m still hoping that an Animal Crossing type game comes out for my WiiU but I’m not going to hold my breath.

In between console gaming I’m still playing both RimWorld and Wurm Unlimited. The Sklotopolis server saw a huge influx of new players as 1.3 was released, and things have been really busy. I’m still crafting colossus for 15 silver, and trying to make money this way and that. I now own two deeds, Quail Ridge, and Dwarf Fortress. The second deed is completely underground with houses and all. I’ve built it below the steppe, and don’t plan on doing any terraforming above ground, leaving the area in its natural state. Below ground is another story. I’m also debating what I want to do to Quail Ridge, there’s a huge section that was just flattened, and I think tall iron fences may be incoming. I haven’t set my mind though.

RimWorld. What an amazingly addictive game. I LOVE the mods that people have come out with! I’ve added a bunch to my favourites, a few I don’t think I could live without. This game.. I just have nothing but good to say about it, and it’s still in early access.

I’ve also been buying the cheaper humble bundle deals so that I can add to my steam collection. I wonder if my kid is too young at 6 months to have an account set up for him, lol.

The little guy has been keeping me pretty busy and I’ve been taking a back seat to social media (and gaming) and I’ve realized just how isolating becoming a new parent is. You’re out of the loop on so many things, distant from friends and family, and you’re lost in your own little world that consists of sleep depraved nights, diaper changes, and milestones. I wanted to remind everyone that I’m still here, despite the fact that it may seem rare. If anyone needs to talk to me about something I’m still easy to get a hold of, and love to help out as much as I can. So, big hugs to everyone out there!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

You get a Colossus, and YOU get a Colossus, and You get a…

Things have been going well in Wurm Unlimited. At first I missed Wurm Online, but I don’t miss having to pay a subscription, and believe it or not, I don’t even miss Xanadu. The community on Sklotopolis has made sure of that. Every day is still an adventure.

I recently started offering my colossus building services to players. I charge 15 silver and provide all supplies and go out and build. It takes me less than a day to complete one (more like 5 hours) and it’s perfect for people who may not want to under take such a task or who may be unable to create one of a specific religion they want (you have to be a follower of that religion to create a colossus of that deity). I already built two this week, one for a future impalong site (free of charge of course) and one for a customer (pictured above). Exciting times!

I also managed to create my first ever useful supreme item yesterday – a forge! I was so incredibly excited. It glows a nice purple, and I know I’ll make good use of it since I spend so much of my time at the forges working on weapons and general blacksmithing items.

The teraforming on my own deed is finally completed, and now I just need to decide what I want to do with the space. I have some ideas, but haven’t built much yet. In the meantime I’m just glad it’s done.

My channeling is finally at a place where I’m starting to get some nicer casts. Not all of the time, but occasionally which is better than never. I managed to get a few 90 casts yesterday on items for a customer. Of course I pull off low 60s on my own items because Vynora is not very nice. Go figure.

All in all, a great time Wurming. If you’re looking for an active friendly server, check out Sklotopolis. Highly recommended, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Enter the New Players

I know I’ve been going on about the 1.3 update for quite some time, not only in Wurm Unlimited, but when it was released in Wurm Online – and it appears that I’m not the only one excited, because yesterday saw a HUGE influx of new players to Sklotopolis, I think we were nearing 100 players online at one point (not including any alts, these were unique steam IDs) which is fantastic. It seemed like new player after new player was logging in to check out the changes and see what was happening. Thankfully, Sklotopolis is an amazing server with a fantastic community. It’s also a large server, and there’s tons of space to move around and place your own deed at (or you can join one of the many amazing villages that the server is host to).

New players, old players, it didn’t seem to matter, they arrived in droves. I’m actually surprised no one has tripped over the Troll King yet that’s out there wandering around.

In my own news, my wild bees have FINALLY migrated over to the hives I created. I was a bit worried about one because the wild hive was 66QL and my crafted hive was 66.1QL, but it worked (even if it took a few days). I was incredibly happy to drive up to the hive and see “active” scrawled across it. They even have a cute little graphic of the hive rocking back and forth when it’s got active bees in it. Too cute.

While it’s producing honey, it’s not producing wax, which I find slightly annoying. The devs tell me it’s just very rare, but I personally feel like it’s bugged. Not much I can do about it aside from hunt for wild hives to obtain the wax from them instead.

Ogur and I have been working on terraforming my back yard. I want to create a sort of public park / forest back there. The first thing we have to do is flatten the area, it was covered in hills and rocks. A long project considering I expanded it 70 tiles to the North, but it’s coming along. I also created a new area for the bees, and some tree sprouts were planted along with a fancy marble path. It’s slow work, but it should look fantastic once complete.

I worked on my channeling a bit, enchanted some tools for friends, and generally mucked about doing typical wurm things. Chatted in GL-Freedom to players and enjoyed watching new deeds (and players) crop up. In other words, a very typical Saturday playing Wurm Unlimited (and tending to RL by way of all things baby, of course).

Today I hope to continue working on my channeling, meditation, farming, and maybe work on the second story of my three houses that I’ve added. Then there’s also cooking.

Who am I kidding, there’s always cooking.

OH! One very handy thing that Moumix pointed out to me – you can now center items on a tile with the move option, or place them on a corner. This is the BEST OPTION I have EVER made use of. My altars, and house furniture and statues, and so many other items are now perfectly aligned and I absolutely LOVE IT. I don’t know when the feature was added but I spent many hours yesterday moving items this way and that.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!