Pleasantly Productive Sunday
Jul. 20th, 2025 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickI mean, the weather was pretty shit (hot and humid, with the constant THREAT of thunderstorms but no actual thundering -- bit of rain, though), and I still had to deal with my period, but I got pretty much all I wanted to get done, done --
Tumblr: Okay, admittedly here I wasn’t very productive – there was nothing happening on Valice Multiverse today, and I didn’t have much time to spend on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) after spending most of the morning answering Moose’s messages (see below). I did spend the final half-hour or so before lunch going through my tracked tags on VLA(NS) looking for stuff to stick in my drafts for later – unfortunately, it was kind of lean pickings today. The only two things I found that I liked enough to save in the drafts were:
A) Some art by “velbsy” of their Smiler OC Miser with a friend’s Smiler/FNAF OC Marmaliser (yes, that’s right – the design of the OC is inspired both by the ride and by one of the robots in one of the later iterations of the FNAF franchise, I believe), shaking hands while holding bombs behind their backs because that’s what they thought the vibes would be if they ever met – what can I say, I just really liked the “Looney Tunes” vibes of it all. XD
B) And a photoset by “prettydeaddoll” of the classic menu screens from the original American McGee’s Alice, featuring Alice in the asylum staring at a guttering candle with her bunny doll on her lap as the main menu screen (complete with bloody bandages wrapped around her wrists :( ); the “Bandersnatch Opticus” screen for managing your saves (which made them all look like old timey camera snapshots, and had a trio of lights labeled “L,” “S,” and “D” for “Load,” “Save,” and “Delete” – it was 2000); a phrenology-type picture of a head for choosing your game options (complete with a reflected Alice watching your mouse on the other side of the screen); and the infamous “Running Away, Are We?” quit screen with the image of a particularly creepy Mad Hatter – I was just hit by the nostalgia and had to add it to the drafts.
*shrug* Better than nothing, I suppose… Hopefully the next time I check my tracked tags, I’ll find more interesting stuff!
Superliminal: Finished off “Whitespace” today, getting the final batch of collectibles from the final proper level of the game (as, again, “Retrospective” is basically a glorified cutscene). Our final set of goodies included:
A) A blue pawn chess piece, which is hidden within the rows of Water Sodas behind the bar in the Jungle Bistro! What’s the Jungle Bistro? It’s the very noisy jungle-themed restaurant next to SomnaSculpt in the real world – you can see a crude version of it in the model of the strip mall where SomnaSculpt is located in the room where you wake up in the “Diagnostic Framework” dream at the start of the level. How the heck do you get into it, given that it’s in the real world and you’re still in a dream? Well, you don’t go into the real one, obviously –
You go into the model one. Because in the model of the strip mall, you can, and must, pick up the model of SomnaSculpt’s building and resize it so you can go through the front door and find that it contains the very space you’re in within itself, including, well, itself – how you advance the level is by trying to take the model through the door that leads out of the model and essentially causing a paradox that breaks the dream and brings you into the titular Whitespace. BUT, before doing that, you can ALSO use the connection between the model and the “real” space to resize yourself by making the model SomnaSculpt small again, then walking through the door that leads out of the model, which lets you now walk out of the tiny SomnaSculpt building and explore the model of the strip mall! ...I genuinely don’t think I can make it any clearer than that, because this is a weird game and a weird level. XD Anyway, the other two buildings in the model strip mall (“Trophy Tony’s” and “Rysan Medical Supply And Shipping” – oh hey again, Rysan!) only have loading bay doors in the back, but the Jungle Bistro has an entrance in the back that allows you to enter the place and have a look around! And, of course, get behind the bar and find the blue pawn tucked into the back row of the Water Sodas on the shelf back there. XD I’ll talk about this place more in the Interesting Things section, but that is wild.
B) A blue rook chess piece, which is hidden in an even WEIRDER place – inside the dispenser slot on the Dream Soda machine in the reception area of the Diagnostic Framework dream! In this case, you have to make the model even smaller, tuck it in there, then go through the door opposite the vending machine so you can exit the model inside the slot and find the blue rook hanging upside-down from the top of the slot, above your head. *shakehead* Wow – good thing this one doesn’t actually dispense sodas, or you’d find yourself having some real trouble getting in there!
C) A blueprint which is on the roof of the reception area you find in Whitespace right after the radio where Dr. Pierce tells you about his dream, much like the blueprint you find on the roof of your little suite room in the parking lot at the end of “Labyrinth.” Once again, the easiest way up there is to find a way to jump onto the electrical box on the side, which will then let you jump onto the roof. One of the easier ones to get, especially since you just practiced getting one like this last level!
D) Another blueprint, which is directly behind the doorway where you exit the darkness beyond the filing cabinet room into the white corridor with the black “carpet” – if you squeeze your way past the windows on either side and go around the doorway, you’ll see that it’s in one of those fake wall bits, and the blueprint is right between the frames holding it up.
E) The final blueprint of the game, which is simply tucked behind one of the hills in the snowy valley full of crumbling snow chess pieces and giant water coolers (again, weird game) – you just go right upon entering the valley and work your way up and around the hill to get it!
F) The final constellation room of the game, which is also in the snowy valley on the right, just further along (technically past the doorway you’re meant to go through to get to the next puzzle) and down, next to a frozen river running along the side of the valley – the constellation in there is the “keyboard” constellation, to commemorate those couple of keyboards we found along the way and banged out a few tunes on. :P
G) And the final pink pawn of the game, which is – okay. What you have to do is find a way to climb up onto the big snowy ledge that runs along the right side of the snowy valley, ideally near where the final blueprint is because that’s closest to where you want to be. My guide recommended grabbing the chess pieces from the next room through the doorway and resizing them to be climbable – perhaps there are other methods, I dunno, that’s what I used. Once you’re up there, you’ll see that there’s a half-dot of pink paint on the back of the big water cooler that sits above the entrance to the valley. You then want to follow the ledge around until you find another ledge coming off it that’s a slight drop down. Dropping onto this ledge and turning around, you’ll find an image of a mostly-complete pink pawn that’s missing the very top of its head. And then, just like all the way back in “Optical,” you have to find the right spot on the ledge to stand so that the pink pawn and the pink half-dot on the water cooler line up and make the completed chess piece for you to collect! (Though, interestingly, in this case, after you collect the piece, the paint stays on the snow and the water cooler – back in “Optical,” once you got the item, the paint that was helping make it up disappeared off the objects it was painted on. *shrug* Dunno why it’s different here!)
Hooray! So that’s all the blueprints, chess pieces, and constellations in Superliminal got! And how did the game reward me for my collecting ways? With the following:
I. The “Feeling Blue” achievement for getting all the blueprints
II. The “Stars Align” achievement for getting all the constellation rooms
III. The “Chess Master” achievement for finding all the pink and blue chess pieces
IV. The “Vaguely Activated Achievement” for – okay, the wiki says that you get it for holding an object for two and a half minutes. But this popped up while I was messing with the chess pieces in the snowy valley, trying to find the best way to climb up onto the ledge, and I’m PRETTY sure I wasn’t holding either of them for that long! I’ve also heard this is an achievement that will just pop up at random, so I’m thinking it’s much more likely I just got lucky about it popping during this particular play session. Either way, glad to have it, as it’s a pretty rare fucking achievement!
V. And – also for finding all the constellation rooms – a new button on the main menu screen that, when clicked, turns the menu into a room you can explore! In fact, it turns it into TWO rooms that you can explore, as there’s a couple of open doorways into the next room over. Notable objects in both rooms include:
a. All the constellation room items (dining table, coffee mug, cheese wheel, vending machine, chair, moon projector, and keyboard) in the main room with the woodworking bench and the shelves in the back, most of which can be picked up, moved around, and resized. The exception is the vending machine, which can only be clicked to make the various buttons flash in different rainbow colors – however, it does come with a pre-dispensed Diet Soda that can be manipulated like normal.
b. A radio on the woodworking bench that plays a few samples of the various “Hello. I’m Dr. Glenn Pierce” introductions you hear throughout the game (including the mixed-up one from “Clone”).
c. A large trophy of a golden pawn atop a little pedestal, with a plaque on it reading “Tester Of The Year 1991” in the room next to the main room – clicking on this to pick it up pops the “Polite Recognition” achievement for finding it, and it can moved around, resized, and taken to the other room if you so choose.
d. The letters, loading bar, and black background for all the wacky “LOADING” screens you get in the game, also lying around in the second room – all able to be manipulated as well!
And the funnest part? After you play around with the stuff in the main room and arrange it however you want, if you then go back to the main menu screen, you’ll see it displaying everything just how you left it! Mine has the Tester Of The Year trophy at the dining table with the diet soda and the cheese wheel. XD Just a great little extra bonus for completing the constellation collection!
And, finally, as for the List of Interesting Things I Noticed In This Level:
-->The Jungle Bistro looks like a pretty nice place to eat, if the tiny version you enter is anything like the real thing – there’s a stage for live music (with a microphone and keyboard, both of which you can tap if you are so inclined); plenty of tables with fancy glasses and napkins; a bunch of lush green plants ringing the dining area (without being intrusive); and a full bar (though the version we visited was stocked solely with Dream Sodas rather than any liquor). They seem to be lacking staff, though, as there’s a “help wanted” sign in the front “window.” The dream version also featured such things as a chess game on one of side tables (because of course it did), some misaligned text on the “Please wait to be seated” sign by the front door (by which I mean the text was on the floor, not on the sign...given what kind of game this is, I have no idea if that was deliberate or a genuine accident) –
And four fire alarms. Four already pulled fire alarms. O.o Which now confuses me, because that implies I found out you could go into the Jungle Bistro in the model in an earlier playthrough, and pulled all the fire alarms. Which I have absolutely no memory of. o.O Though, to be fair, as I have said before, my last playthrough of the game was in 2022, three years ago, and my memory is pretty shit in general, so… It’s either that or the developers were nice and pre-pulled all the ones in here for you, and given some of the shit I’ve had to go through to get collectibles, I don’t think that would be the case!
-->If you think you can wander endlessly through the various wide-open spaces of “Whitespace” (for example, to see how far the black corridors of endless pillars stretch off the sides of the first corridor you come across), think again – the game WILL stop you by suddenly producing a wall that will prevent you from going any further. Which I understand is to keep the players just running off and never completing the game, and to keep the game from being stupid big by having huge levels, but does feel a bit antithetical to the idea of the level being a place where anything is possible, like in Dr. Pierce’s radio messages. *shrug*
-->I always thought that the first “not an exit” sign at the top of the doorway you have to go through at the end of that first corridor was attached to something, but after getting a better look at it today – nope, just floating in the void. Tracks. :P
-->In the brief “rainy” section you’re teleported to at one point, thanks to the floor being reflective, it looks like it’s raining both down AND up. It’s kinda neat :P
-->The pure white version of the hallway where you find all the suites for people undergoing SomnaSculpt therapy has suites called things like “Erase Me,” “Relaxiaat,” “Minerals,” and “Female Toads.” XD Okay then!
-->The storage room you then fall into has a corkboard with completely-blank pieces of paper on it, and stacks of paper atop a bunch of the filing cabinets against the walls that all read “Perception is Reality.” Which is a note you find at the very beginning of the first level! I guess they wanted to make sure they had spares. :P
-->When you’re going down the white corridor with the black floor, if you look through the windows, you see the pillars from the previous black corridor with white floors – wacky~
-->When in the mirror tunnel that reflects the optical illusions on the floor a millionfold, be careful how you move your mouse – the images on the walls WILL glitch out in some rather dizzying ways. And given this is already a game where you have to be careful and make sure your mouse sensitivity doesn’t screw you over and make you motion sick...yeah. Take care!
-->And a quick note about “Retrospective” – it’s a cool way to end the game, having the player walk through a succession of rooms from the previous levels while Dr. Glenn Pierce goes on about how this was all planned to show you how you’re better at stepping up and solving problems and taking control of your life than you think you are, and how perspective really is everything, before finally ending up right back where they started in time to wake up. But it would be much better if the music wasn’t so dang LOUD for some reason. O.o Seriously, it nearly drowns out Dr. Glenn’s whole monologue! Granted, I’m on my period, so I’m more sensitive to sounds, and this is probably on me for not adjusting the music volume in the game options, but – still. Maybe make sure you’ve got the music turned down a little bit for the big finale!
And that is Superliminal – ALMOST done. For I have to replay “Optical” to find the fire extinguisher(s) I’m missing to get the achievement for emptying all of those (and a couple other achievements possible in that level), and “Labyrinth” to find the fire alarm(s) I’m missing to get the achievement for pulling all of those. But we’re almost there – by next Sunday, I should have every achievement it’s possible for me (someone who doesn’t want to play the multiplayer mode) to get! Yay!
Workout/YouTube: Yes, we’re combining these two categories again today, because – in what shall now become the new normal for Sundays – I watched most of Jon of Many A True Nerd’s latest Fallout: New Vegas video with my workout, and finished off the last twenty-odd minutes after supper. Reason? I’m trying to break the awful habit of staying up too ridiculously late on Sundays to sum up his videos after watching them with my dessert, and turning them into mostly-workout videos that I watch earlier seemed to be the best solution to the problem! I will announce at the end of this entry if it actually worked or not. :p Keep your fingers crossed!
Anyway – today Jon of Many A True Nerd video was “Fallout New Vegas: You Only Live Once Remastered - Part 2 - Knife To Meet You!” The continuing adventures of his courier P. D. Shooter, who has chosen to use guns if and only if she is absolutely FORCED to (aka a quest will not progress otherwise), and otherwise shall be conducting all her violence via baseball bats and golf clubs. XD Today’s itinerary included:
A) Taking a quick trip north from Goodsprings up the edge of the map (because enemies don’t usually spawn near the edges of the actual play area, and she wanted to avoid the local cazadors, horrible killer mega-bugs that would fuck her up RIGHT quick) to find and rob the grave of the mysterious Chance! Why? Because he was buried with his special combat knife – which was in excellent condition, had great damage, and could be swung VERY quickly. Meaning it paired very well with her 9 Iron golf club, which, thanks to her high melee skills, could knock down enemies and leave them prone at her feet for rather a long time – certainly more than enough time to murder them with a very good knife! So yes, with the trio of the Baseball Bat, the 9 Iron, and Chance’s Knife in her possession, P. D. is now prepared for whatever trouble comes her way on her adventures!
B) Breaking into Goodspring’s saloon and robbing the place of all its alcohol (avoiding Ringo the trader all the while, as he was hanging around playing bartender for some reason), then drinking it all in one massive bender to complete an achievement in the game (use 25 addictive “chems”) and get the “Day Tripper” perk (because F:NV will assign you perks for completing certain goals, which is cool). “Day Tripper” is a perk that lengthens the amount of time any chem affects the player character by either 25% or 33% (Jon couldn’t remember which) – and, much like “Logan’s Loophole,” it basically counts ANY consumable as a chem. Including – dah dah daaaah – Stealth Boys! Meaning that, for the price of getting incredibly drunk the night before she left Goodsprings, P. D. picked up a perk that meant any Stealth Boy she used would last FIVE REAL-TIME MINUTES (and that’s if she didn’t go into any menus while using it, because those of course freeze game time). Now THAT is a deal!
C) Visiting the shack of one Barton Thorn, a dude who apparently tries to get the player slaughtered by geckos by claiming his girlfriend’s been cornered by them nearby (I can only trust Jon’s word that this is indeed a trap, but given Jon has played a loooot of F:NV, I think that’s a safe bet); pretending to take on the rescue mission; then sneaking up on him and smashing him over the head with a Sneak Attack Grand Slam, killing him instantly so she could steal all his stuff. Good way to show off the power of the baseball bat when it comes to sneak attack criticals!
D) Traveling down the road to Primm (after a quick stop at the Jean Sky Diving shack to loot goodies to sell later – though she avoided the Sunset Sarsaparilla star cap in there because Jon didn’t want to be jumpscared by one of the NPCs tied to the quest involving those), doing her best to avoid the scripted nonsense the game places in the way of new player characters! She ALMOST succeeded too, only falling afoul of two gecko hunters that spotted her post-harassing a radroach. Fortunately, neither managed to land a hit on her, and she was able to take them out with the power of the 9 Iron/Chance’s Knife combo, despite Jon’s panicking on his side of the screen. XD I mean, good way to show off the power of those two when it comes to a head-to-head melee fight! Even if Jon would have preferred not having to show it off at all!
E) Raiding the NCR camp near Primm for goodies (including a nice set of NCR armor to really beef up the old “Damage Threshold” when necessary), then sneaking into Primm itself to complete the sidequest “My Kind of Town” to get some XP and level up her skills to keep pace with the checks she’d need to pass! This involved:
I. Getting into Primm via the giant gap in the side of it that Jon apparently never noticed before, having always snuck in by using a car to climb over the fence at the front (XD – this is why we make all these “-1 Perception” jokes, Jon!)
II. Waiting until nightfall, popping a Stealth Boy, and then carefully killing the two escaped convicts hanging around in the plaza between the Vikki & Vance Casino and the Bison Steven Hotel (the guy with a gun went down to a Sneak Attack Grand Slam, while the guy with the tire iron got the 9 Iron and Chance’s Knife combo – neither got a hit on her, nice)
III. Sneaking into the Bison Steven Hotel and carefully winding her way through the guards while still invisible, killing one isolated guy, before making her way to the kitchen and freeing the town’s trapped Deputy Beagle, allowing him to run off like a coward because trying to convince him to stay and fight (or tell her about the guy who shot her, as Benny apparently passed through here) would cause problems she didn’t want (namely, starting a big fight with the escaped convicts that could get her quest giver killed)
IV. Heading back the way she came once Beagle was free; sneakily killing the convict who wanders into the hotel’s gift shop to loot said shop’s goodies – before realizing she couldn’t find the skill book she was after, panicking, and getting out of dodge (“it was just a barter book anyway!” said Jon XD); taking a moment to pop open one final door by cracking the terminal it was attached to and raiding the fridge in there for more sweet sweet booze; and finally escaping back outside, all before her Stealth Boy wore off (seriously, it lasted AGES)
V. Taking a moment to raid the nearby Nash residence for booze and two skill magazines (including one on programming) and the top of the Bison Steven Hotel for booze, drugs, and some pretty LOUSY binoculars (they have the world’s most pathetic zoom – but as they aren’t a scope for a gun, they’re the only thing P. D. can use to get a closer look at things)
VI. Heading into the Vikki & Vance Casino to meet the cowering citizens of Primm – including one Johnson Nash, a trader who warned her that the place had gone to hell before buying all her guns and stimpacks and selling her a bladed gauntlet in return (can’t have too many melee and hand-to-hand combat weapons!) – before meeting back up with Deputy Beagle! He patted himself on the back for his adventurous escape, but then noted that the convicts were still loose, and insisted they needed a sheriff to help restore law and order. And no, he couldn’t become sheriff – he was the deputy. And he couldn’t even be that without a sheriff! Chain of command and all. XD (Jon apparently absolutely loves that bit.) He suggested that P. D. either infiltrate the nearby NCR Correctional Facility to find and free a prisoner with the right qualifications, or else tell the NCR that the town was ready to join up with them in exchange for their help with the escaped convicts, but P. D. had a different plan…
VII. Reprogramming the robotic greeter for the casino, Primm Slim, to be the sheriff! Because he WAS a Protectron, and thus had the combat skills necessary to take down the convicts hidden somewhere in his electronic brain – plus a cool hat. Everyone knows the sheriff needs a cool hat. XD And she didn’t even need to crack open the programming magazine to do it – just take some mentats to counteract the lingering effects of all the booze on her intelligence. XD
VIII. And enjoying the rewards of her good work – a bunch of XP that got her well into Level 3 (she chose to boost up the Unarmed, Speech, Melee Weapons, and Sneak skills all just a little), and all the relieved citizens leaving the casino, allowing her to loot it in peace and – very importantly – pick up a set of Spiked Knuckles! A small, light Unarmed weapon with really good damage that Jon hinted might turn out to be the real MVP of the run...
And that’s where Jon left off, with P. D. enjoying the sunrise over Primm! Next time – who knows? Jon could go visit Nipton, and from there head over to Novac! Or perhaps swing by the Mojave Outpost for the side quests there? Maybe visit the NCR Correctional Facility anyway to see what’s what? Or he could even risk the Lonesome Road, if he thinks he’s hard enough...we’ll find out with him next Sunday! I am looking forward to it. :)
Writing: I am very pleased to announce that I finished Chapter 4 of “The Van Dort Vacancy” tonight! :D With the last just-over-a-page featuring:
A) Victor assuring Smiler that yes, he did have some happy memories – meeting them and Alice, for one thing! And then clarifying he had other ones when Alice told Smiler that they should have specified “memories more than four days old.” XD
B) Victor being tempted to break the masquerade mask he found and leave it on his bed for his parents to find as a sort of final “fuck you” to them – and then remember Elder Gutknecht and his offer and instead just stripping the feathers off it (and leaving THEM on the bed) so he could take it with him and turn it into a Whisper’s spirit mask. Smiler was absolutely THRILLED when Victor told them this and ran over to give him a hug, while Alice was like “oh no, they’re going to be INSUFFERABLE about you changing your mind after I convinced them we couldn’t talk you out of living here” (though she was genuinely happy that Victor was getting out of his abusive situation and following his dreams)
C) And Victor finding his slug stories and helping Alice and Smiler pack his carpet bag so everything fits, before taking one final look around his room because – well, he couldn’t help but feel a little weird about the fact the was never going to see it again. Smiler quickly reminded him that he was moving onto a better, happier life, though, and the chapter ended with them asking him if he was ready to go – and Victor slinging his bag over his shoulder and going, “More than anything.”
Awww – so yeah, that’s all set now. :) Tomorrow, we start Chapter 5, with the gang fetching Barnaby and Kasimir from the wine cellar where they left them – and having to find a way past Mrs. Pemberly...but as I rolled a critical for starting the score back when I did the outline, that won’t be hard at all. XD
Other: As previously stated, I answered all of Moose’s messages this morning, just like I’d hoped, yay~ Good to have a nice clean DW inbox again!
Aaand I am very pleased to announce that, as of this sentence, it's 11:58 PM, so watching as much of Jon's F:NV YOLO video with my workout worked out perfectly. :D I am heading off to bed before I am tempted to stay up too late by something else now. XD Night all!
Tumblr: Okay, admittedly here I wasn’t very productive – there was nothing happening on Valice Multiverse today, and I didn’t have much time to spend on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler) after spending most of the morning answering Moose’s messages (see below). I did spend the final half-hour or so before lunch going through my tracked tags on VLA(NS) looking for stuff to stick in my drafts for later – unfortunately, it was kind of lean pickings today. The only two things I found that I liked enough to save in the drafts were:
A) Some art by “velbsy” of their Smiler OC Miser with a friend’s Smiler/FNAF OC Marmaliser (yes, that’s right – the design of the OC is inspired both by the ride and by one of the robots in one of the later iterations of the FNAF franchise, I believe), shaking hands while holding bombs behind their backs because that’s what they thought the vibes would be if they ever met – what can I say, I just really liked the “Looney Tunes” vibes of it all. XD
B) And a photoset by “prettydeaddoll” of the classic menu screens from the original American McGee’s Alice, featuring Alice in the asylum staring at a guttering candle with her bunny doll on her lap as the main menu screen (complete with bloody bandages wrapped around her wrists :( ); the “Bandersnatch Opticus” screen for managing your saves (which made them all look like old timey camera snapshots, and had a trio of lights labeled “L,” “S,” and “D” for “Load,” “Save,” and “Delete” – it was 2000); a phrenology-type picture of a head for choosing your game options (complete with a reflected Alice watching your mouse on the other side of the screen); and the infamous “Running Away, Are We?” quit screen with the image of a particularly creepy Mad Hatter – I was just hit by the nostalgia and had to add it to the drafts.
*shrug* Better than nothing, I suppose… Hopefully the next time I check my tracked tags, I’ll find more interesting stuff!
Superliminal: Finished off “Whitespace” today, getting the final batch of collectibles from the final proper level of the game (as, again, “Retrospective” is basically a glorified cutscene). Our final set of goodies included:
A) A blue pawn chess piece, which is hidden within the rows of Water Sodas behind the bar in the Jungle Bistro! What’s the Jungle Bistro? It’s the very noisy jungle-themed restaurant next to SomnaSculpt in the real world – you can see a crude version of it in the model of the strip mall where SomnaSculpt is located in the room where you wake up in the “Diagnostic Framework” dream at the start of the level. How the heck do you get into it, given that it’s in the real world and you’re still in a dream? Well, you don’t go into the real one, obviously –
You go into the model one. Because in the model of the strip mall, you can, and must, pick up the model of SomnaSculpt’s building and resize it so you can go through the front door and find that it contains the very space you’re in within itself, including, well, itself – how you advance the level is by trying to take the model through the door that leads out of the model and essentially causing a paradox that breaks the dream and brings you into the titular Whitespace. BUT, before doing that, you can ALSO use the connection between the model and the “real” space to resize yourself by making the model SomnaSculpt small again, then walking through the door that leads out of the model, which lets you now walk out of the tiny SomnaSculpt building and explore the model of the strip mall! ...I genuinely don’t think I can make it any clearer than that, because this is a weird game and a weird level. XD Anyway, the other two buildings in the model strip mall (“Trophy Tony’s” and “Rysan Medical Supply And Shipping” – oh hey again, Rysan!) only have loading bay doors in the back, but the Jungle Bistro has an entrance in the back that allows you to enter the place and have a look around! And, of course, get behind the bar and find the blue pawn tucked into the back row of the Water Sodas on the shelf back there. XD I’ll talk about this place more in the Interesting Things section, but that is wild.
B) A blue rook chess piece, which is hidden in an even WEIRDER place – inside the dispenser slot on the Dream Soda machine in the reception area of the Diagnostic Framework dream! In this case, you have to make the model even smaller, tuck it in there, then go through the door opposite the vending machine so you can exit the model inside the slot and find the blue rook hanging upside-down from the top of the slot, above your head. *shakehead* Wow – good thing this one doesn’t actually dispense sodas, or you’d find yourself having some real trouble getting in there!
C) A blueprint which is on the roof of the reception area you find in Whitespace right after the radio where Dr. Pierce tells you about his dream, much like the blueprint you find on the roof of your little suite room in the parking lot at the end of “Labyrinth.” Once again, the easiest way up there is to find a way to jump onto the electrical box on the side, which will then let you jump onto the roof. One of the easier ones to get, especially since you just practiced getting one like this last level!
D) Another blueprint, which is directly behind the doorway where you exit the darkness beyond the filing cabinet room into the white corridor with the black “carpet” – if you squeeze your way past the windows on either side and go around the doorway, you’ll see that it’s in one of those fake wall bits, and the blueprint is right between the frames holding it up.
E) The final blueprint of the game, which is simply tucked behind one of the hills in the snowy valley full of crumbling snow chess pieces and giant water coolers (again, weird game) – you just go right upon entering the valley and work your way up and around the hill to get it!
F) The final constellation room of the game, which is also in the snowy valley on the right, just further along (technically past the doorway you’re meant to go through to get to the next puzzle) and down, next to a frozen river running along the side of the valley – the constellation in there is the “keyboard” constellation, to commemorate those couple of keyboards we found along the way and banged out a few tunes on. :P
G) And the final pink pawn of the game, which is – okay. What you have to do is find a way to climb up onto the big snowy ledge that runs along the right side of the snowy valley, ideally near where the final blueprint is because that’s closest to where you want to be. My guide recommended grabbing the chess pieces from the next room through the doorway and resizing them to be climbable – perhaps there are other methods, I dunno, that’s what I used. Once you’re up there, you’ll see that there’s a half-dot of pink paint on the back of the big water cooler that sits above the entrance to the valley. You then want to follow the ledge around until you find another ledge coming off it that’s a slight drop down. Dropping onto this ledge and turning around, you’ll find an image of a mostly-complete pink pawn that’s missing the very top of its head. And then, just like all the way back in “Optical,” you have to find the right spot on the ledge to stand so that the pink pawn and the pink half-dot on the water cooler line up and make the completed chess piece for you to collect! (Though, interestingly, in this case, after you collect the piece, the paint stays on the snow and the water cooler – back in “Optical,” once you got the item, the paint that was helping make it up disappeared off the objects it was painted on. *shrug* Dunno why it’s different here!)
Hooray! So that’s all the blueprints, chess pieces, and constellations in Superliminal got! And how did the game reward me for my collecting ways? With the following:
I. The “Feeling Blue” achievement for getting all the blueprints
II. The “Stars Align” achievement for getting all the constellation rooms
III. The “Chess Master” achievement for finding all the pink and blue chess pieces
IV. The “Vaguely Activated Achievement” for – okay, the wiki says that you get it for holding an object for two and a half minutes. But this popped up while I was messing with the chess pieces in the snowy valley, trying to find the best way to climb up onto the ledge, and I’m PRETTY sure I wasn’t holding either of them for that long! I’ve also heard this is an achievement that will just pop up at random, so I’m thinking it’s much more likely I just got lucky about it popping during this particular play session. Either way, glad to have it, as it’s a pretty rare fucking achievement!
V. And – also for finding all the constellation rooms – a new button on the main menu screen that, when clicked, turns the menu into a room you can explore! In fact, it turns it into TWO rooms that you can explore, as there’s a couple of open doorways into the next room over. Notable objects in both rooms include:
a. All the constellation room items (dining table, coffee mug, cheese wheel, vending machine, chair, moon projector, and keyboard) in the main room with the woodworking bench and the shelves in the back, most of which can be picked up, moved around, and resized. The exception is the vending machine, which can only be clicked to make the various buttons flash in different rainbow colors – however, it does come with a pre-dispensed Diet Soda that can be manipulated like normal.
b. A radio on the woodworking bench that plays a few samples of the various “Hello. I’m Dr. Glenn Pierce” introductions you hear throughout the game (including the mixed-up one from “Clone”).
c. A large trophy of a golden pawn atop a little pedestal, with a plaque on it reading “Tester Of The Year 1991” in the room next to the main room – clicking on this to pick it up pops the “Polite Recognition” achievement for finding it, and it can moved around, resized, and taken to the other room if you so choose.
d. The letters, loading bar, and black background for all the wacky “LOADING” screens you get in the game, also lying around in the second room – all able to be manipulated as well!
And the funnest part? After you play around with the stuff in the main room and arrange it however you want, if you then go back to the main menu screen, you’ll see it displaying everything just how you left it! Mine has the Tester Of The Year trophy at the dining table with the diet soda and the cheese wheel. XD Just a great little extra bonus for completing the constellation collection!
And, finally, as for the List of Interesting Things I Noticed In This Level:
-->The Jungle Bistro looks like a pretty nice place to eat, if the tiny version you enter is anything like the real thing – there’s a stage for live music (with a microphone and keyboard, both of which you can tap if you are so inclined); plenty of tables with fancy glasses and napkins; a bunch of lush green plants ringing the dining area (without being intrusive); and a full bar (though the version we visited was stocked solely with Dream Sodas rather than any liquor). They seem to be lacking staff, though, as there’s a “help wanted” sign in the front “window.” The dream version also featured such things as a chess game on one of side tables (because of course it did), some misaligned text on the “Please wait to be seated” sign by the front door (by which I mean the text was on the floor, not on the sign...given what kind of game this is, I have no idea if that was deliberate or a genuine accident) –
And four fire alarms. Four already pulled fire alarms. O.o Which now confuses me, because that implies I found out you could go into the Jungle Bistro in the model in an earlier playthrough, and pulled all the fire alarms. Which I have absolutely no memory of. o.O Though, to be fair, as I have said before, my last playthrough of the game was in 2022, three years ago, and my memory is pretty shit in general, so… It’s either that or the developers were nice and pre-pulled all the ones in here for you, and given some of the shit I’ve had to go through to get collectibles, I don’t think that would be the case!
-->If you think you can wander endlessly through the various wide-open spaces of “Whitespace” (for example, to see how far the black corridors of endless pillars stretch off the sides of the first corridor you come across), think again – the game WILL stop you by suddenly producing a wall that will prevent you from going any further. Which I understand is to keep the players just running off and never completing the game, and to keep the game from being stupid big by having huge levels, but does feel a bit antithetical to the idea of the level being a place where anything is possible, like in Dr. Pierce’s radio messages. *shrug*
-->I always thought that the first “not an exit” sign at the top of the doorway you have to go through at the end of that first corridor was attached to something, but after getting a better look at it today – nope, just floating in the void. Tracks. :P
-->In the brief “rainy” section you’re teleported to at one point, thanks to the floor being reflective, it looks like it’s raining both down AND up. It’s kinda neat :P
-->The pure white version of the hallway where you find all the suites for people undergoing SomnaSculpt therapy has suites called things like “Erase Me,” “Relaxiaat,” “Minerals,” and “Female Toads.” XD Okay then!
-->The storage room you then fall into has a corkboard with completely-blank pieces of paper on it, and stacks of paper atop a bunch of the filing cabinets against the walls that all read “Perception is Reality.” Which is a note you find at the very beginning of the first level! I guess they wanted to make sure they had spares. :P
-->When you’re going down the white corridor with the black floor, if you look through the windows, you see the pillars from the previous black corridor with white floors – wacky~
-->When in the mirror tunnel that reflects the optical illusions on the floor a millionfold, be careful how you move your mouse – the images on the walls WILL glitch out in some rather dizzying ways. And given this is already a game where you have to be careful and make sure your mouse sensitivity doesn’t screw you over and make you motion sick...yeah. Take care!
-->And a quick note about “Retrospective” – it’s a cool way to end the game, having the player walk through a succession of rooms from the previous levels while Dr. Glenn Pierce goes on about how this was all planned to show you how you’re better at stepping up and solving problems and taking control of your life than you think you are, and how perspective really is everything, before finally ending up right back where they started in time to wake up. But it would be much better if the music wasn’t so dang LOUD for some reason. O.o Seriously, it nearly drowns out Dr. Glenn’s whole monologue! Granted, I’m on my period, so I’m more sensitive to sounds, and this is probably on me for not adjusting the music volume in the game options, but – still. Maybe make sure you’ve got the music turned down a little bit for the big finale!
And that is Superliminal – ALMOST done. For I have to replay “Optical” to find the fire extinguisher(s) I’m missing to get the achievement for emptying all of those (and a couple other achievements possible in that level), and “Labyrinth” to find the fire alarm(s) I’m missing to get the achievement for pulling all of those. But we’re almost there – by next Sunday, I should have every achievement it’s possible for me (someone who doesn’t want to play the multiplayer mode) to get! Yay!
Workout/YouTube: Yes, we’re combining these two categories again today, because – in what shall now become the new normal for Sundays – I watched most of Jon of Many A True Nerd’s latest Fallout: New Vegas video with my workout, and finished off the last twenty-odd minutes after supper. Reason? I’m trying to break the awful habit of staying up too ridiculously late on Sundays to sum up his videos after watching them with my dessert, and turning them into mostly-workout videos that I watch earlier seemed to be the best solution to the problem! I will announce at the end of this entry if it actually worked or not. :p Keep your fingers crossed!
Anyway – today Jon of Many A True Nerd video was “Fallout New Vegas: You Only Live Once Remastered - Part 2 - Knife To Meet You!” The continuing adventures of his courier P. D. Shooter, who has chosen to use guns if and only if she is absolutely FORCED to (aka a quest will not progress otherwise), and otherwise shall be conducting all her violence via baseball bats and golf clubs. XD Today’s itinerary included:
A) Taking a quick trip north from Goodsprings up the edge of the map (because enemies don’t usually spawn near the edges of the actual play area, and she wanted to avoid the local cazadors, horrible killer mega-bugs that would fuck her up RIGHT quick) to find and rob the grave of the mysterious Chance! Why? Because he was buried with his special combat knife – which was in excellent condition, had great damage, and could be swung VERY quickly. Meaning it paired very well with her 9 Iron golf club, which, thanks to her high melee skills, could knock down enemies and leave them prone at her feet for rather a long time – certainly more than enough time to murder them with a very good knife! So yes, with the trio of the Baseball Bat, the 9 Iron, and Chance’s Knife in her possession, P. D. is now prepared for whatever trouble comes her way on her adventures!
B) Breaking into Goodspring’s saloon and robbing the place of all its alcohol (avoiding Ringo the trader all the while, as he was hanging around playing bartender for some reason), then drinking it all in one massive bender to complete an achievement in the game (use 25 addictive “chems”) and get the “Day Tripper” perk (because F:NV will assign you perks for completing certain goals, which is cool). “Day Tripper” is a perk that lengthens the amount of time any chem affects the player character by either 25% or 33% (Jon couldn’t remember which) – and, much like “Logan’s Loophole,” it basically counts ANY consumable as a chem. Including – dah dah daaaah – Stealth Boys! Meaning that, for the price of getting incredibly drunk the night before she left Goodsprings, P. D. picked up a perk that meant any Stealth Boy she used would last FIVE REAL-TIME MINUTES (and that’s if she didn’t go into any menus while using it, because those of course freeze game time). Now THAT is a deal!
C) Visiting the shack of one Barton Thorn, a dude who apparently tries to get the player slaughtered by geckos by claiming his girlfriend’s been cornered by them nearby (I can only trust Jon’s word that this is indeed a trap, but given Jon has played a loooot of F:NV, I think that’s a safe bet); pretending to take on the rescue mission; then sneaking up on him and smashing him over the head with a Sneak Attack Grand Slam, killing him instantly so she could steal all his stuff. Good way to show off the power of the baseball bat when it comes to sneak attack criticals!
D) Traveling down the road to Primm (after a quick stop at the Jean Sky Diving shack to loot goodies to sell later – though she avoided the Sunset Sarsaparilla star cap in there because Jon didn’t want to be jumpscared by one of the NPCs tied to the quest involving those), doing her best to avoid the scripted nonsense the game places in the way of new player characters! She ALMOST succeeded too, only falling afoul of two gecko hunters that spotted her post-harassing a radroach. Fortunately, neither managed to land a hit on her, and she was able to take them out with the power of the 9 Iron/Chance’s Knife combo, despite Jon’s panicking on his side of the screen. XD I mean, good way to show off the power of those two when it comes to a head-to-head melee fight! Even if Jon would have preferred not having to show it off at all!
E) Raiding the NCR camp near Primm for goodies (including a nice set of NCR armor to really beef up the old “Damage Threshold” when necessary), then sneaking into Primm itself to complete the sidequest “My Kind of Town” to get some XP and level up her skills to keep pace with the checks she’d need to pass! This involved:
I. Getting into Primm via the giant gap in the side of it that Jon apparently never noticed before, having always snuck in by using a car to climb over the fence at the front (XD – this is why we make all these “-1 Perception” jokes, Jon!)
II. Waiting until nightfall, popping a Stealth Boy, and then carefully killing the two escaped convicts hanging around in the plaza between the Vikki & Vance Casino and the Bison Steven Hotel (the guy with a gun went down to a Sneak Attack Grand Slam, while the guy with the tire iron got the 9 Iron and Chance’s Knife combo – neither got a hit on her, nice)
III. Sneaking into the Bison Steven Hotel and carefully winding her way through the guards while still invisible, killing one isolated guy, before making her way to the kitchen and freeing the town’s trapped Deputy Beagle, allowing him to run off like a coward because trying to convince him to stay and fight (or tell her about the guy who shot her, as Benny apparently passed through here) would cause problems she didn’t want (namely, starting a big fight with the escaped convicts that could get her quest giver killed)
IV. Heading back the way she came once Beagle was free; sneakily killing the convict who wanders into the hotel’s gift shop to loot said shop’s goodies – before realizing she couldn’t find the skill book she was after, panicking, and getting out of dodge (“it was just a barter book anyway!” said Jon XD); taking a moment to pop open one final door by cracking the terminal it was attached to and raiding the fridge in there for more sweet sweet booze; and finally escaping back outside, all before her Stealth Boy wore off (seriously, it lasted AGES)
V. Taking a moment to raid the nearby Nash residence for booze and two skill magazines (including one on programming) and the top of the Bison Steven Hotel for booze, drugs, and some pretty LOUSY binoculars (they have the world’s most pathetic zoom – but as they aren’t a scope for a gun, they’re the only thing P. D. can use to get a closer look at things)
VI. Heading into the Vikki & Vance Casino to meet the cowering citizens of Primm – including one Johnson Nash, a trader who warned her that the place had gone to hell before buying all her guns and stimpacks and selling her a bladed gauntlet in return (can’t have too many melee and hand-to-hand combat weapons!) – before meeting back up with Deputy Beagle! He patted himself on the back for his adventurous escape, but then noted that the convicts were still loose, and insisted they needed a sheriff to help restore law and order. And no, he couldn’t become sheriff – he was the deputy. And he couldn’t even be that without a sheriff! Chain of command and all. XD (Jon apparently absolutely loves that bit.) He suggested that P. D. either infiltrate the nearby NCR Correctional Facility to find and free a prisoner with the right qualifications, or else tell the NCR that the town was ready to join up with them in exchange for their help with the escaped convicts, but P. D. had a different plan…
VII. Reprogramming the robotic greeter for the casino, Primm Slim, to be the sheriff! Because he WAS a Protectron, and thus had the combat skills necessary to take down the convicts hidden somewhere in his electronic brain – plus a cool hat. Everyone knows the sheriff needs a cool hat. XD And she didn’t even need to crack open the programming magazine to do it – just take some mentats to counteract the lingering effects of all the booze on her intelligence. XD
VIII. And enjoying the rewards of her good work – a bunch of XP that got her well into Level 3 (she chose to boost up the Unarmed, Speech, Melee Weapons, and Sneak skills all just a little), and all the relieved citizens leaving the casino, allowing her to loot it in peace and – very importantly – pick up a set of Spiked Knuckles! A small, light Unarmed weapon with really good damage that Jon hinted might turn out to be the real MVP of the run...
And that’s where Jon left off, with P. D. enjoying the sunrise over Primm! Next time – who knows? Jon could go visit Nipton, and from there head over to Novac! Or perhaps swing by the Mojave Outpost for the side quests there? Maybe visit the NCR Correctional Facility anyway to see what’s what? Or he could even risk the Lonesome Road, if he thinks he’s hard enough...we’ll find out with him next Sunday! I am looking forward to it. :)
Writing: I am very pleased to announce that I finished Chapter 4 of “The Van Dort Vacancy” tonight! :D With the last just-over-a-page featuring:
A) Victor assuring Smiler that yes, he did have some happy memories – meeting them and Alice, for one thing! And then clarifying he had other ones when Alice told Smiler that they should have specified “memories more than four days old.” XD
B) Victor being tempted to break the masquerade mask he found and leave it on his bed for his parents to find as a sort of final “fuck you” to them – and then remember Elder Gutknecht and his offer and instead just stripping the feathers off it (and leaving THEM on the bed) so he could take it with him and turn it into a Whisper’s spirit mask. Smiler was absolutely THRILLED when Victor told them this and ran over to give him a hug, while Alice was like “oh no, they’re going to be INSUFFERABLE about you changing your mind after I convinced them we couldn’t talk you out of living here” (though she was genuinely happy that Victor was getting out of his abusive situation and following his dreams)
C) And Victor finding his slug stories and helping Alice and Smiler pack his carpet bag so everything fits, before taking one final look around his room because – well, he couldn’t help but feel a little weird about the fact the was never going to see it again. Smiler quickly reminded him that he was moving onto a better, happier life, though, and the chapter ended with them asking him if he was ready to go – and Victor slinging his bag over his shoulder and going, “More than anything.”
Awww – so yeah, that’s all set now. :) Tomorrow, we start Chapter 5, with the gang fetching Barnaby and Kasimir from the wine cellar where they left them – and having to find a way past Mrs. Pemberly...but as I rolled a critical for starting the score back when I did the outline, that won’t be hard at all. XD
Other: As previously stated, I answered all of Moose’s messages this morning, just like I’d hoped, yay~ Good to have a nice clean DW inbox again!
Aaand I am very pleased to announce that, as of this sentence, it's 11:58 PM, so watching as much of Jon's F:NV YOLO video with my workout worked out perfectly. :D I am heading off to bed before I am tempted to stay up too late by something else now. XD Night all!
