Jan. 6th, 2024

crossover_chick: Doc in goggles and holding a big old plug with the words "feeling sparky..." (BTTF: feeling sparky/creative)
Though the snow ended up starting later than they said it was going to -- nobody's sure if this is a good sign (snow will not last as long) or a bad one (more snow because colder overnight). *shrug* We'll see what happens with it tomorrow, I guess. . . But yeah, I kept busy this Saturday, with a variety of stuff --

Tumblr: Pretty productive day on here, happily –

Victor Luvs Alice – Drafted out the six posts that will make up this week’s Chill Valicer Save update – got all the pictures plus the main text sorted with the help of copying and pasting my previous write-up on the playsession here on Dreamwidth (thank you, past me, for being so thorough in your Sims 4 write-ups XD). Had to do some editing, and it took a BIT longer than I would have liked, but at least I’m about halfway there! Now I just have to get the tags and the image alt text all done. . .

Valice Multiverse – Nothing happening over this way, so I threw a “character development” meme into the queue. *nods*

Baldur’s Gate III: Yup, ended up going back into BG3 today – spent most of the afternoon on it, in fact! Though not exactly in the way you might think:

A) First, before playing, I made a “master doc” for the game in Writer with all my mods (with links) and the basic info on my Smiler “Tav” (what they call the player character by default in this game). This way, I have a record of what my mods are for Inevitable Patch Updates, and what my Smiler looks like and what their starting stats and spells and everything should be. (Actually just added a section in for appearance so, should the worst happen, I know what options to pick to get back their look quickly.)

B) Second, I opened up the mod manager and installed a new file – the “New Scale” patch for the “Level Uncapper” mod (that lets you level up to 20 instead of the game’s 12) that smooths out the “valley” in level progression that you dip into after level 4 in the vanilla game (apparently it’s taken straight from D&D 5e’s similar dip in the leveling of characters) and makes it a little easier to get new levels. My friend Squid told me about it, and after some thought, I decided I did want it to facilitate leveling up, especially since Smiler’s going to be multiclassing into Artificer, and I want plenty of opportunities to play around with all the new stuff added from that!

C) However, that particular mod is NOT suggested for ongoing saves, as it can do Bad Things to a character whose XP gain is already in progress. . .so Third, after saving and exporting my new load order, I started a new game with a new, slightly updated Smiler! While I kept most stuff the same (still a Half-High Elf Bard with the Entertainer background and stats of Str 10 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 17), I obviously slapped on their new CC hairstyle from the start, and took the opportunity to respec their spells a bit as I wasn’t QUITE happy with the original line-up (plus, new spells from the 5e mod to play with!). I decided their High Elf cantrip should be something that they normally couldn’t get as a Bard (as those cantrips pull from the Wizard’s list), and found a nice one called “Mind Sliver” that deals 1d6 psychic damage on a failed Int save, removes 1d4 from the affected creature’s next saving throw, and is just generally disorienting and horrible. XD As for their Bard cantrips and proper Level 1 spells, I went with “Friends” (gives Advantage on Charisma checks against creatures) and “Minor Illusion” (creates a brief, distracting illusion for enemies) for the cantrips (though I realized in the shower tonight that Artificer, the class Smiler’s going to take when they first level up, already COMES with that cantrip, so, uh, hopefully I’m allowed to change that out later!), and “Charm Person” (makes a potential enemy feel friendly toward you so they don’t attack), “Tasha’s Hideous Laughter” (can knock a creature over with laughter), “Heroism” (buffs yourself or an ally so that they’re immune to being Frightened and get some temporary hit points), and “Command” (allows you to try and tell an enemy to come closer, flee, drop their weapon, or freeze). Most of these are the same as the spells they had before (“Friends” was previously their High Elf cantrip, and they had “Charm Person,” “Tasha’s Hideous Laughter,” and “Heroism” the first time around), but I wanted some stuff that went a bit better with The Smiler’s mind control theme, and casting illusions and straight-up commanding people certainly did!

D) With Smiler thus respecced and rehaired, and their guardian remade (a yellow tiefling with glowing yellow “flame” eyes, long twisty horns, and tattoos that looked vaguely like circuitry to me), I thus restarted the game proper, got through the opening cutscenes, and got Smiler out of their mind flayer “incubation” pod (where people infected with parasites are supposed to be kept until they turn)! I was all ready to start their adventure –

When I noticed they had a violin strapped to their back, instead of a lute. >.< Yeah, uh, I DID pick a lute originally while in character creation, but then I went through all the instruments to see what they sounded like, and I’m betting I just THOUGHT I had put it back on lute instead of ACTUALLY putting it back on lute. *grumbles* Darn it – it doesn’t mean that much in the long run, as being a Bard means you can play pretty much every instrument in the game and can switch out as you like (and, since I got the Digital Deluxe upgrade, I in fact have a lute waiting for Smiler once they’re out of the Nautiloid and can access their camp), but I wanted them to start with the lute, darn it. Made the most sense with my other Smilers being guitar players!

E) Fortunately for my sanity, I was able to decide that Smiler having the wrong instrument for the first bit of the game was not a “start again” offense (like I said, I’ll be able to switch it out very soonish), and thus I proceeded to redo a large portion of the Nautiloid section! And let me tell you, it’s a good thing that I restarted – not only did I actually make some ability checks that Smiler failed before (like the Medicine check to see that poor Us is swelling inside their skull prison, or the Arcana check to see if the bio-computer connected to Shadowheart’s pod will transform her should they try to interact with it), I realized that I’d missed a whole balcony area in the starting area, with chests! So Smiler’s got some extra gold and gemstones and the like to sell later, which is good. :) Plus they found some good stuff on a dead mind flayer near the imp fight – a Potion of Speed and a spiked bulb that could come in handy for later fights. :D But yeah, I have gotten through Smiler’s initial exploration of the Nautiloid; finding and freeing Us; meeting Lae’zel and fighting the imps with her (Smiler got to bust out their “Mind Sliver” cantrip); and finding the imprisoned Shadowheart and freeing her (I avoided waking the cultists on the beds nearby until AFTER she was out of her pod, and they all wrecked the bastards; however, I DID still accidentally change the poor woman in the pod “next door,” where you find the rune to operate the bio-console to free Shadowheart, because that’s what I did the first time and it is now “canon” – at least Smiler was able to confirm this time the same thing wouldn’t happen with Shadowheart’s console!). I left it in the room just before they go to take the helm – we’ll see how that fight goes later!

Writing: Edited Moose’s gift fic today, featuring George and Lorraine chatting after his fortieth birthday party! It’s a sweet and slightly silly fic that I think you’ll like, Moose – we’ll see what you make of it this upcoming Wednesday! :)

YouTube: Had a little video marathon this evening, clearing out the Watch Later and keeping up with my Subs –

A) First up, from OXBox, we had “7 Best Games Hidden Inside Other Games” – Jane, Mike, and Andy talking about those video games that had other games tucked away inside them! This ranged from a special variant B-movie-style campaign in Command & Conquer: Red Alert (“It Came From Red Alert,” where your soldiers go up against evil ants), to the in-universe computer game “Demontower” playable on Mae’s laptop in Night In The Woods (where you play an adventurer cat ascending a tower full of bizarre and creepy enemies), to the special version of Minesweeper you can play in Hitman’s Hokkaido hospital level (it’s called “Hitmine,” you trigger it by dressing up as the main surgeon on the helipad and putting a mine by a specific flag, you play it on the computer controlling the robot operating on your target, and if you clear the level, it spawns explosive ducks in the room to kill said target and everyone else nearby. Basically it is a shame Mike never found this in his initial playthrough XD). Two games for the price of one – what a savings, as Andy himself noted. XD

B) Then, from onlyabidoang, we had “The Sims 4 Horse Ranch: 10+ NEW FEATURES You Might Not Know!” A look at some stuff about the pack that you might not know about! Everything from how to get the vitality nectar recipe (and a free sample, and ingredients for it) from the Mysterious Rancher, to how to make special occult nectars for your occult Sims, to the special traits born-in-game foals get (especially if one of their parents was a champion), to the never-ending text adventure of the cave in the Galloping Gulch, to abusing finding stuff in prairie grass (which just so happens to be purchasable in Build/Buy) for fun and profit! XD Good stuff, and handy for someone like me, who came to the pack late. Even if I’m not really interested in the horses themselves, the info on the mini-goats and mini-sheep was very helpful!

C) Then, from LunarMelody, we had “[Clip] Karlach & Astarion Mischief (BG3 Cast Play D&D Stream Highlight)!” A fun clip of the “BG3 cast play a special D&D adventure” specials High Rollers did, where Astarion bumped Karlach into one of the richer-looking merchants in the city they were in, then swooped in as a fellow “rich boy” to pat the guy down and steal his purse. And get into a conversation about fashion. XD The clip ended with Karlach cornering Astarion and staring him down until he surrendered half the gold to her. XD Delightful stuff.

D) And finally, from GrayStillPlays, we had “How far can the floating LAMBA get in GTA?” Another Alex Torture Board with weirdass, randomized vehicles (for example, Gray’s first pick LOOKED like the Liberator monster truck, but was in fact a quad hidden inside the truck) in addition to the titular floating Lambo, this one featured a fresh selection of killer stairs for Gray to try and conquer! Said stairs were:

I. Stairs In Hollywood Mansions Be Like – a set of fancy white steps that turned ninety degrees in the middle, decorated with artwork on the walls and dabbing statues here and there on the steps themselves. The trick here was that the stairs weren’t actually connected, so the wrong vehicle would end up trying to drive into the gaps between them.

II. “Piano Stairs” But You’ll Have To Imagine The Music – A set of black and white stairs, like piano keys, that kept transforming, with various sections popping up and sinking down, like someone was playing a song on them! Uneven and janky as hell, but doable.

III. Criss-Crossing Stairs – A timed challenge where Gray had to climb a set of “stairs” that were just a bunch of ever-rising blocks “connected” at the corners (meaning he had to keep going from left to right up each corner) in forty seconds or less. Particularly nasty if the car was low to the ground, meaning the corners could catch on the undercarriage.

IV. Folding Stairs – Another timed challenge, where Gray had to climb a set of stairs that consisted of alternating platforms – and every other platform rotated on its SIDE every few seconds. Meaning what was once a flat staircase suddenly had all these wonky bits. Oh, and near the top, it became every set of TWO stairs that started “folding.” And Gray had fifteen seconds to get to the top. This was a pain in the ass, as you might imagine.

V. “Catch Me If You Can” Staircase – Basically an airship made of stairs. Gray had to hop onto the bottom platform, then climb the stairs winding up to the top (like, you went up one set of stairs on the left, turned around, went up another set of stairs, turned around, etc) before it reach the platform on the other side and melded into it (before teleporting back to the other side for another go). EXTREMELY difficult to do while the platform was moving under you!

So, how did the cars do? Well, the quad actually made it past the Mansion Stairs, but got stopped by the Piano Stairs; and the Crusher SUV, the monster truck, and even the Sherp of all vehicles made it all the way to the Folding Stairs before being beaten. (Hell, the Sherp MIGHT have actually beat the challenge if it wasn’t timed!) So Gray busted out the Floating Lambo and got it, after much trial and tribulation, to the Catch Me Stairs –

Where it failed. Because the problem with the Floating Lambo was, it drove like someone had strapped a million leaf blowers to its bottom – that is, extremely poorly and with a propensity for flipping onto its roof. And, very importantly, the damn thing just could NOT turn to save its life – and on the airship, turning IS what would save your life. O.o So if the car in the fucking TITLE couldn’t do it, what could?

THE DELUXO, BABY! AKA GTA V’s half-priced DeLorean substitute with 2015 hover function built in! Because you DID need a car that could fly to get up these stairs in time, you just needed one that was DESIGNED to fly. Gray carefully learned when he should keep the tires down (so he could make use of the hydraulics to pop over obstacles) and when to pull them up into hover mode (so he could coast over problems), and after quite a few tries and some very painful near-misses, he got it to the end! And while I am a Wastelander girl through and through, I HAVE to cheer on the car clearly inspired by my favorite movie trilogy. :D Hoorah!

*nods* I'm pretty happy with that result! Even if I wish it hadn't taken me quite so long to get into the actual BG3 GAME. *shrug* But then again, keeping my mods sorted and my stats on Smiler straight is a good thing, soooo, can't really complain. I will have plenty of time to play over the coming weeks. *nods*

As it is, I really should head to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow, plans include getting as many Chill Valicer Save updates sorted with image alt text and tags as I can on Victor Luvs Alice; doing at least some of "Boston After Dark" in Fallout 4; updating the FO4 Playthrough Progression accordingly; keeping up with GrayStillPlays and Jon on YouTube; and getting in a workout (thinking of watching Spiffing Brit's "can I beat BG3 with a gun" video XD). Though I guess some of this is dependent on the weather tomorrow, and if we have any power loss from the storm -- supposed to get high winds at some point! We'll see, I suppose. . .night all!

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