Thursday, August 11, 2016

08-09-16 Day 1, Messaline


Messaline: 

Started off, had some weird glitches with my HDMI recorder starting off that dropped video recording after 10 or 15 minutes, then audio problems after an hour of recording later.  Figuring out the basic controls didn't take long, but there were other controls that took me a lot longer to realize were there.  Having bought the digital version, I didn't have a manual.  The visuals on the game are amazing, so I wasn't always reading the bottom right of the screen for hints and tips on how to get stuff done.

I imagine we're all starting off in the same situation, although not the same place.  Crash landed.  Stranded on a planet somewhere until we figure out how to craft, repair and eventually leave.  I came to on a planet initially called Fufugtningan.  I'd change that in time to Messaline, once I figured out how to change it and upload it to the Atlas.

Here's the planet stats I received when getting credit for the discovery:

Planet - Fufugtningan (Euclid Galaxy)
Arctic Planet
Weather - Snowfall
Sentinels - Standard
Flora - Copious
Fauna - Regular

Speaking of Atlas, if you're starting out, make sure you hit that up next to your ship.  It's a red ball-ish oject.  You can see it to the right in this screen capture.


"Reality seems to fold in on itself.  One moment I can see debris, in another a vast red orb, almost too large and too bright to behold.  It knows me, inside and out, more than I ever could myself.  Could this be the face of creation itself?  Or, in my hazy, freshly-awakened stat, am I being manipulated?

A name burns itself into my mind:  Atlas.  And a request, made without words, that I should follow the path this being, this Atlas, has set for me."



I chose to accept the Atlas's guidance.  However, I did find a misspelling.  I'll correct it below:

"I feel suffused with the warm glow of approval.  I was lost, but now am found.  The Atlas acknowledges my allegiance, and I feel certain that it will manifest itself again soon."

The quality on these is a little lower, pulled them from my phone, but the general area around where I start.
It was a cold planet, although being American, I'm not clear on what Celsius is to Fahrenheit.  Night time temps would drop to about -80C (-112F), and days climbed to around -45C (-29F). This had a clear impact on my suit and how long I could move about.  At night, I had about 1 minute of walk/jog time before my suit informed me it was down to 75% protection versus daytime where I had a little over 2 minutes.  Still, not long either way.
Seemed like a mountainous, forested planet mostly, at least the sections of it I was on.  I doubt that it changes much across the whole planet.  That would prove correct later as I came back several times and found no matter where on the planet I was, it had similar topography and terrain.  Having every planet have a range of climates seems like a bit too much to put in on the first iteration of a game like this, with how vast and complex it is.
 Cave systems, or something like caves at least, were plentiful, giving plenty of shelters where my suit could recover from the cold, and there were check points about every 2 minutes if I ran toward the question marks that provided some form of shelter to let my suit recover.
Had floating islands, which was interesting.  As far as 'natural' phenomenon, that was an interesting feature on the planet.
I saw 3 or 4, what I first took to be moons, in the sky.  I'd find out later they were planets.  There was some animal life, but not knowing it's temperament, I stayed away while I figured out the game mechanics.  Eventually, I found a larger structure called Jikman Dell, and met my first alien race, Recruit Amhe of the Vy'keen.  Ironically, a warrior race.  Hmmm...
Amhe taught me the Vy'keen work for 'interloper' and gave me a Phase Beam blue print after I gave 10 carbon.  I'd spend the next 7 hours learning more about them and their language.  I also eventually figured out that you could rename places, and I would eventually rename Jikman Dell, The Crowe's Nest.
 

  I started to find animals, but not really knowing their temperament, and not having figured out how to scan them, I stayed away for the time being.
What I'd find eventually is none of the animals were really aggressive, but there was a plant that was.  Kind of break from traditional thinking.
My HDMI crashed while recording the second video, so I had to pick up from a different location for the 3rd video.



Hit a journey milestone, Setting Out, by traveling 5,000u.  I guess that's steps.

Found my first Vy'keen Plaque,  the Legacy of Adfegumgr-Aham.


"The noble Travelers will be spared.  Their journey through the cosmos shall not be thwarted.  So it is decreed.

The will of Hirk commands it.  The Vy'Keen shall honor the judgment the belief of the Ancients."

It taught me the Vy'Keen word for 'detection' as well.

Returning to Jikman Dell later, I found the Galactic Trade Terminal and started off loading all the random things I'd been collecting, not realizing yet I could craft things from it.  Also discovered that I could trade with ships as that arrived, and that I could potentially buy arriving ships. 

After a lot of running around (and hitting another Journey Milestone: Ambulatory, Travelled 7,500u), I discovered crafting.  This changed my understanding of the elements around me.  I installed a Stamina Enhancement system.  Then realized I could craft the repair parts for my ship, a Rasamama S36 ("Mama").  All I really needed to find in abundance was Heridium to fully repair the Pulse Engine.  But, I wasn't sure what it looked like yet.

Setting out to find the last piece of the puzzle to get Mama in the air, I decided to walk toward a question mark identified in my Heads Up Display (HUD).  On the way to it, I find a Knowledge Stone that taught me the Vy'Keen word for Warp.  I also discovered I could identify animals with my scanner now that it was fixed.  Discovered the:

Obodikin Gipositer
Age: Perpetual
Gender: Alpha
Temperament: Defensive
Diet: Absorbed Nutrients
Weight: 0.60m
Height: 41.65kg

I found a gold looking substance, Emeril, could be drilled into with my Mining Beam to find shelter from the cold as well as harvested.  The Emeril was located next to Biverbagom Glacier which I checked into (discovered).  Saw flyers for the first time, but couldn't get a bead on them to identify them and get credit for their discovery.  They moved too much.

Walked right by a column of Heridium (didn't know what it was at the time) to Lesumeni Glacier and checked in to the Waypoint for the credit of the discovery.  Here, I found I could add storage slots to my Exosuit.  Then hit a Journey Milestone for having travelled 10,000u, Drifter.

My audio crashed, so it gets off from the video a bit while I was in a cave.  

I then stumbled on to my discoveries and that I could rename them and upload them to the Atlas.  It was at this point I renamed the planet Messaline and the system the Ceres. 
  • "Messaline is a planet visited by the Doctor in "The Doctor's Daughter". The planet is in a state of constant war. Before it was terraformed at the end of "The Doctor's Daughter", the planet's surface was cold, windy and rocky, and covered in tar pits. According to Martha Jones, the atmosphere is 80% oxygen and 20% nitrogen. The planet also has three suns. It is the homeworld of the eponymous character, Jenny.[242][243]"
I'm choosing names from planets that have been visited in the Doctor Who universe first.  If I run out, however unlikely, I'll switch to Star Trek, and the Star Wars, etc... I'm doing the same with system names. The name of the system I started in is the Hokorozawachi System.  But I renamed it the Ceres System eventually.

"The Ceres star system was the secondary location of the Infinite, its whereabouts provided by the data chip possessed by Kaliko. (TV: The Infinite Quest)"

Shortly after, hit another Journey Milestone:  New Business.  Earned 51684.  I guess that's in units.  Assuming it means I sold that much in goods.  ONce I figured out Heridium was everywhere, I was able to fix Mama and hit a Journey Milestone for Starship Repair.  Also had to re-accept the Atlas guidance as my previous session had crashed and not saved.


Once up in the air, I hit another Journey Milestone for Starship Launch and began to reach a little further.  I was able to get up on top of the floating islands and found they had strange, almost step-like shapes in their topography.
 

It also enabled me to discover my first monolith.
I didn't know how to activate however to get credit for it's discovery.  In flying around, more types of sites started popping up.

At this point, again, my HDMI recorder crashed.  I think my thumb drive actually reached max and couldn't save anymore, so I exported and then picked up at the Monolith for the next video.



From the monolith, I found Jekod Glacier Waypoint.  I renamed it Green Glacier due to the green rock formation there.  I discover my new hand tool (Vivid Lusonhistr) has an explosive setting that allows my to destroy natural rock, not just mine-able elements, and dig down to where even it can't go any further.  In the process, got another Journey Milestone for Wayfarer for having Travelled 15,000u.  I need to connect a treadmill to this or something.  And I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to go from the bolt caster setting to mining laser with my new hand tool.

I begin to discover species more in earnest picking up:

Neducin Sigialydo (renamed Knuckle Raptor)
Age: Fluctuating
Gender: Indeterminate
Temperament: Unconcerned
Diet: Absorbed Nutrients
Weight: 1.87m
Height: 122.25kg

Maxiari Sigialydo (renamed Horned Beast)
Age: Elderly
Gender: Asymptotic
Temperament: Passive
Diet: Grazing creature
Weight: 1.70m
Height: 83.85kg

 I come across The Liqibi waypoint where I stupidly cause some problems that get the notice of the Sentinels.  It doesn't last long however.  So I make my was to Raschodha Forest to empty out my suit inventory at the base.  Sentinel Hunter Bae is assigned there.  He didn't care for my updated multi-tool and offers me the Trace of Uybayshka-Acea, which has 10 slots on it.  It also creates a Journey Milestone for having met 2 aliens, I'm now Known.

I walk over to another waypoint called Dovit Dell, and this is the first time I see that there could something wrong.  The based is wrecked and there's something covering many of the surfaces inside.  I rename Dovit Dell, Abandoned Outpost to discourage other travels if they find it.

On my way back to Mama, I try to zone in on a little animal, but instead discover Coxenezite rock with my analysis visor.  I hang out in the base at Raschodha Forest a bit (in reality, went to grab a soda), so I stare at the floor a while.

Fly over to Eimaradall Post, which is a larger complex than I've seen so far.  I'm met there by Enemy Slayer Abdun.  He tries to trade with me, but I offer him cash for an under-the-table upgrade to my multi-tool and it pisses him off.  But, he does agree to teach my the Vy'Keen word for Vy'Keen... which seems useless.  However it pushes me up to 5 words, setting off another Journey Milestone and categorizing me as a Babbler.

I come across my first puzzle at the Zareslant-Veylk Relay to activate a transmission tower.  Turns out it wasn't a Vy'Keen transmission tower, but a Korvax tower, which by activating increased my standing with the Korvax; a race I haven't met yet.  It picks up a distress signal from a crashed ship.

In another building on post I meet Enemy Slayer Guah.  Apparently he had some fight wounds that were impacting his breathing.  I gave him some gulps from my respiration system to help him recover a little.  This set off yet another Journey Milestone; Not Alone, for having met 4 aliens.  There was another puzzle in the observatory; Kahepanip Outlook.  This identified some ruins for me to check out.

Moving to the last building that made up Eimaradall Post, I meet Conscript Eronghu.  I'm assuming these titles are rank designations for their race.  Not really knowing what I'm agreeing to, I accept an agreement and apparently it wraps me up in some form of engagement.  I sell some more of my inventory and hit another Journey Milestone: MoneyMaker, when my earnings reach 100,647.

On the way to check out the ruins, I come across Undjin Woodland.  It had also been attacked by something and damaged with some sort of growth over areas.  I accessed the terminal.  It listed the Undjin as Derelict, Abandoned Building.  The data log read:

"It looked like a wound on the world.  Crimson and ragged-edged, like something that once lived but was then torn asunder.  I should have stayed away.  Had I the sense to taste the air of this planet, I imagine it would have reeked with some kind of alien fetor, but nothing could stall my curiousity.

Was it dead?  Where I touched it, the surface was moist and yielding.  It seemed to become motile then, crawling on a mat of slow cilia, moving from me.  I should left it alone."

In the back of the station, in the area I normally can't access because it requires an Atlas Pass, there was a glowing orb.  Turns out it was an encyclopedia, and taught me the Vy'Keen word for 'ancients'.  I thought I renamed the station 'The Forgotten Nightmare' and loaded it to the Atlas, but would find later I had selected the wrong station and had accidentally renamed Eimaradall Post.

I walked to the next point in my HUD and found another observatory, Akkilaedr Dell.  Stationed here was Officer Eitun.  Accessing the terminal; Togeesho Reflector, it identified another set of ruins. Giving me waypoints seems fine, but I wish I could create a map.

Addressing Officer Eitun, he doesn't want to fight in battle, but I refuse to help him since there are cameras watching us. This sets off a Journey Milestone, promoting me to Visitor for having me 6 aliens.

Walking back to my ship, I came back Undjin Woodland and found my naming error, so I renamed Undjin to Despair and loaded it to the Atlas.  Charge up my life support system, I hopped back in Mama and in route to check out the ruins, found another waypoint, Xandann Crossing.  I knicked it to load to the Atlas for some extra credits.  Because it was night, I moved around the checkpoint as my thermal layer started to fail and blasted a hole to get out of the elements. While doing this, my pedometer step count bumped me up to Rambler when I passed the 20,000u mark.



I found a cave next to where I landed Mama that had some interesting sounds going on.  It was beautiful inside, but I didn't find a source for the sound.  While there, another point of interest appeared on my HUD and I got the idea to blast my way to it rather than go outside in the cold.  It worked.  Claimed Xisrod Forest by creating an underground tunnel system.  How come there's no Journey Milestone for that?

Worked my way back through the tunnel and cave system to Mama only to find yet another point of interest pop up on my HUD.  Rather than burn the fuel in Mama, I decided to hoof it over there as well before I checked out the crash and ruins.  I was rewarded with a waypoint for Ueketal Forest.  While there, I discovered creature:

Uivarrae Amtorius (renamed Fin Dillo)
Age: Mature
Gender: Rational
Temperament: Docile
Diet: Grazing Creature
Weight: 2.93m
Height: 125.10kg

Isdataean Gipositer (renamed Shorn Dillo)
Age: Mature
Gender: Exotic
Temperament: Fearful
Diet: Absorbed Nutrients
Weight: 1.07m
Height: 78.27kg

Isdataean Gipositer (renamed Bubble Dillo)
Age: Young
Gender: Prime
Temperament: Fearful
Diet: Absorbed Nutrients
Weight: 0.91m
Height: 70.71kg

I guess I found two of the same type.

Ueketal had a Galactic Trade Terminal, so I was able to offload some of my items and got another Journey Milestone for earning 162,665... units?  I'm still not sure what we're trading in.  Bumping my level to Entrepreneur.  If only.  Spent a lot of time trying to identify those flying creatures, but couldn't get a bead on them.  Finally gave up and opted to go to the crashed ship, no more distractions.

It was a Iyakonam S40, and it looks like I probably could've fixed it.  But, I opted not to do anything with it, mostly because I wasn't super aware of what all it would take and I was still new.  I think on the next one I will compare to my Mama and see what I can do.


Going through the debris:

"The cockpit is adorned with the trophies of dead creatures, perched on every available surface.  At the controls sits a tendrilled hunter, its body and face lacerated.  The dank smell of blood assails my nostrils as I fight back the nausea.

The black box reveals the pilot was attacked by something whilst in flight, but it's unclear what.  I could strengthen the warning beacon in the cockpit, but it would leave me vulnerable to attack..."

I opted to just search for life.



After leaving the crash site, I searched out the closest set of ruins I had placed in my HUD.  Knowledge stones at the ruins taught me the Vy'Keen words for warrior & replace, which set off a Journey Milestone for having learned 8 words, moving me to Beginner status.  I saw another knowledge stone separated from the ruins without realizing it.  I got distracted by another place of interest that popped up in my HUD

Walking over to a waypoint, I found The Eowah.  I was able to install a new slot on my Exosuit here to help me carry more.   From there, yet another place of interest appeared on my HUD and I wandered my way over to it.  There, I found the Plains of Xiterne.  I found a knowledge stone there that taught me the Vy"keen word for 'voice'.

From there, I walked to another question mark on my HUD and found the Kiniedmir Woods.  It began to dawn more me that with the size of this planet, this wandering and discovering waypoints with 2 minutes of each other across the whole planet's surface could go on forever.

On the walk back to Mama, I found another knowledge stone that taught me the Vy'Keen word for 'coil', setting off another Journey Milestone for having 10 words in my Vy'Keen words in my vocabulary promoting me to Confused.  Back at the ruins, I found the knowledge stone I missed the first time there and learned the Vy'Keen word for 'falling'.

I hoped into Mama, having never activated or getting credit for the ruins to learn any back story.  At the time, I didn't know I had to activate the ball in the ground for that.  So, I took off and landed almost immediately when I spotted a drop pod that had a pod where I could expand the slots in my Exosuit.  The site was called Onhakhmi Dell.

I took off again, only to land almost immediately... again.  I saw a waypoint beacon and went over to activate it.  This highlighted an advanced lifeform being detected in my HUD to check out.  Hopping back into Mama, I land almost immediately again and find The Wapiy waypoint.  I finally decide to check out the other ruins, and make my way over to them, no more pit stops.

Like the last ruins, I begin finding knowledge stones which teach me 'isotope' & 'thaws'.  Moving up to the top layer, there was a giant golden ball I pushed around a little to see if anything would happen.  This is when I discovered the ruins had an area in them you could activate and get some kind of Vy'Keen history.

Legacy of Ugdonetu

"The Book of Hirk speaks of the rise of the Travelers.  They shall ascend, delving into the boundless void.  The Vy'keen shall not impede their ascent for the Travelers must prevail.

So decrees the word of Hirk."

After giving me this piece of info, it teaches me the word 'weapon'.  Before leaving, I find one last knowledge stone that teaches me 'units', kicking off another Journey Milestone for having 15 words in my Vy'Keen vocab.  My status is now Muddled. Before getting too far away I activate the waypoint for the Daure Plains. 


Trying to go to check out the advanced being, I do an upside down landing at Mequi Glacier.  From there, I see another waypoint and walk over there to find the Foerini Woodland.  I finally start to get worn out on having to stop constantly to find these points.  They are financially useful because I'm constnatly finding Geknip, Gek Charms and Grahgrahs which sell for a lot on the galactic market, but I'm not doing much traveling, which is what I want to do.  

On the way to the advanced being market, I realize I need to offload items to make room in case I find or I'm given anything while there.  Seeing two likely spots, I try one called the Otill Crossing.  It turns out to be an observatory staffed by Lieutenant Tingz.  Activating the terminal named Gurlewal Reflector which drops another set of ruins to my HUD.  

Getting back up in Mama, I scout for another possible place that could have a Galactic Trade Terminal to dump items.  Even with the expanded Exosuit slots, it's not enough.  I was able to find a drop pod at Hygia Forest and expand my Exosuit an additional slot, which isn't a trade terminal, but helped.  I also managed to park Mama on top of a tree.

I don't know how you do that without alcohol involved, but I did it.  

Not finding any place to sell my items, I decided to go to the advanced lifeform with only one slot available.  This brought me to the Weetz Plains.  The advanced lifeform was just another Vy'Keen by the name of Ensign Unmodinq.  Turns out, there was a Galactic Terminal there and I was able to sell items.  Figures.  I sold enough to hit a new Journey Milestone for earning 250,581 units or credits or whatever, and I'm labeled a Space Trucker.  

Coming out of the base, I find a couple large animals:

Nacombitosa Zotoupoi (renamed Lumpy Duocorn)
Age: Mature
Gender: Exotic
Temperament: Amenable
Diet: Absorbed Nutrients
Weight: 4.64m
Height: 232.76kg

I cut the video there because it was 2 1/2 hours.  Which is ridiculous.

1 comment:

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