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TheGreatEvilKing posted:You can't upgrade it, but that's about what endgame weapons were doing from when I first beat the game a while back.
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Apr 11, 2022 13:40
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That was a surprisingly heartwarming update after the, you know, cannibals.
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Apr 11, 2022 15:56
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Been enjoying this a lot so far! I thought the hippy cave was going to be another godawful Tyranny DLC cave dungeon crawl at first.
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Apr 19, 2022 02:02
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Sparrows sans Mary Doria Russell Welcome back! Last time on Encased we battled a robot so we could make a prosthetic leg and smack people in the head with it. Today we're rounding up another party member.  Turns out the wombo leg has 5 uses ever, which means that I'm saving it either for the only boss fight I can think of or beating the arena champ to death.  All of the factions have these weapon display cases. You can either do all the work to max out rep with a faction... or you can get to 100 criminal, break open the case, and run. Some of the rewards are better than others.  This lady keeps an eye on the weapons case but also allows us to trade in Forefathers and CRONUS points for various medical supplies. This is why you scan everything - the points become medkits.  We're still here because this man has a quest.   : Ask if you can help. : Who're you going to help? Us? Picnic deals with its own problems, and doesn't bother with anyone else's. : The Black falls abruptly silent. : Ask why nobody tried to solve this problem before. Eh, what could go wrong? We'll be fine! : Tell him you're ready to handle it. : Tell him you want to talk about something else. : Move away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 This unlocks the Caravan location, but unfortunately the Unwanted Survival Game elements rear their head and it's time to chow down on random noodle packets I have lying around.  I'm honestly not really a fan of this. At least in Early Access they listened to all the players who demanded weapon durability be removed from the game, but food's not really scarce enough for this to be a threatening mechanic and combat's not hard enough that the debuffs really matter. I hate to bring up a certain other Russian RPG, but those mechanics sucked then and they suck here.  Apparently I didn't eat as much as I needed to, as we reach the caravan battered, hungry, and thirsty.  We also resist flatulence from eating the dreaded canned beans.  The bandits arrive before us.  The... who? We haven't met these guys yet.  Oh, they're colluding. Great! I'm not sure if the implication is that the guards acquire proceeds lost in the "robbery" or if it's just easier to pay protection money than wipe these guys out. For what it's worth, Phalanx is the ex-black wing faction, so they absolutely have the heavy weaponry to do the latter.  This must be the guy who swore to deal with the problem. The voice actor is very feminine sounding, which confused me for a bit he's a trans dude  : I am your death! I am your retribution! I punish those who are loath to live right. I am Sparrow! And just like that, reality sets in.  TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Welp! Look, I made fun of the Phalanx guys for - potentially - making a corrupt deal but it's also the only way that guarantees 100% everyone goes home. Our mystery man just shot that in the face.  This starts what can only be described as a complete clusterfuck as the robbers set on us, the caravan, and Sparrow.  Sparrow seems to think he is the Punisher or some poo poo.  One of the robbers nails Fox and Dell with a fear technique. Fear in this game causes you to skip turns by running away, so having the ability to inflict it is very very good.  Sparrow keeps trying to drop cool one liners. You should not take it seriously.  Meanwhile Dell is forced to waste a turn fleeing combat.  Crump punches badmen.  I think this chatter is supposed to represent the Black Wing former employees falling back on their CRONUS training in a crisis. People get very chatty in fights.  Sparrow has a custom handgun named Justice. I think you can guess where this is going. Anyway, there's a bunch more uninteresting turn based combat.   Hey! That was all Sparrow!  : Cool the stranger off; he started this fight on his free will, no one has to thank him. : The merchant moves away with angry muttering.: The caravan takes off and disappears from your sight very soon. Incidentally, this is what happens if you try to initiate conversations with anyone except the main character. Real talk time! : You come up to the stranger. The word you're looking for is "nobility" my dude.  : Admit that you're simply looking for adventure. On one hand you're a crazy vigilante with a penchant for escalating situations into mass fatality events. On the other hand you have a gun and you're really good at shooting people with it. Welcome aboard! : Answer that he definitely may join you. Normally I'd take the opportunity to bitch about the party limit a bit more but the more I think about it the more the challenge is coordinating a collection of wackos while having no real authority. At least in Tyranny you have the nominal might of the imperial law behind you, we're just a crazy dude wandering around the desert because some destructive alien entity told us to. Our party members are a con artist, a violent mob enforcer, and some kind of psychic murderess. Sparrow adds "murderous vigilante" to the list, and the remaining two party members are an anime child robot I never used and an alcoholic who gets bonuses to beating people when he's drunk. : He shakes your hand.: I'm gonna go heal my wounds. You know about the Picnic, don't you? I'll be there. In case you decide to fight evil with me - just call me!TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
So, yeah, Sparrow. This little encounter characterizes him pretty well - he views the world in black and white and wants to do good, but his methods all revolve around shooting people in the face and he has no idea what the hell he's doing. He talks about protecting the weak, but a PHALANX caravan is pretty much the last group of people who needs protecting and his solution gets caravanners killed.  We might have to come back here with Sparrow? I've never been able to get the old man to stop snoring.  I then have the brilliant idea to break into the gas station basement and grab everything.  There's a bunch of useful loot.  They even cleaned up the mess from two years ago!  Unfortunately Katerzyna gets caught on our looting spree. : Belitskaya turns red and pale, wringing her fingers hysterically. : Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... please, not the jail... it's dirty and filled with criminals. Can we make a deal?She really has that damsel in distress act down pat, huh. I kind of want to do a run as a low intelligence or lady character to see if her nonsense changes in any way.  : Try to settle the conflict in peace. I don't have the skills to get us out of this, and I really don't want to turn Picnic hostile. : Keep silent. : Heavy footsteps are heard soon. You see a guard walking towards you. Uh... hey, buddy. : You are violating the general Dome Code, Article 21, paragraph 4: burglary or attempted burglary in a socially dangerous manner.: He frowns. : Say that you repent of your crime.: He reacts to your confession with a discreet disbelief.: I'll reflect this in the report as well.And, uh, that's it. Nothing happens. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
We take a -1 rep hit at picnic I plan to offset by doing the well quest in the next update. Audrey's not even mad!  However, I need some input. Do we take Sparrow, and who do we kick out? Remember, Katerzyna has to stay until we do her quest, so our options are Fox and Crump. What are we doing next? We could try to find the Kshatriya base, go to Magellan and do Katerzyna's thing (this also unlocks more party members), or see what is up with that building Maelstrom wants us to see.
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May 4, 2022 01:53
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: This is a robbery! Give us your poo poo!
: Whoa, we're from Phalanx. Let's make a deal if you don't screw us over. Dunno if we're pocketing anything here.
: Dude, what the gently caress! We didn't need that fight! Who asked you to get people killed?
: Stop right there criminal scum!
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Let's kick out the psychic murderess Fox for the murderous vigilante, why not. And do Katzeryna's thing. Dell needs all the party members, and their varied skills, quips and personalities that are so valued every step of the way. It's a darn shame about that party limit.
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May 4, 2022 02:05
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Do Katerzyna's thing. Crump for Sparrow.
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May 4, 2022 02:17
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curiousCat posted:Do Katerzyna's thing.
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May 4, 2022 05:24
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Ditch Sparrow, do Katerzyna's thing.
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May 4, 2022 05:27
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Arcanuse posted:Ditch Sparrow, do Katerzyna's thing.
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May 4, 2022 09:26
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ditch fox, try sparrow
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May 4, 2022 09:50
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curiousCat posted:Do Katerzyna's thing.
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May 4, 2022 12:32
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That is by far the most responsive I’ve ever seen an RPG be in regards to getting caught stealing.
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May 4, 2022 13:45
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No substitute for covering their head with a bucket and blinding them in Oblivion.
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May 4, 2022 13:47
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Ditch Sparrow he seems like a huge nerd
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May 4, 2022 13:49
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Take Sparrow, ditch Crump. I want to see what kind of chaos having Sparrow around causes.
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May 4, 2022 14:03
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curiousCat posted:Do Katerzyna's thing.
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May 5, 2022 21:34
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The Tribulations of Saint Belitskaya Welcome back! Last time on Encased, we picked up the murderous vigilante Sparrow who refused to join our party because we had a whopping two other people. Goons decided to boot Crump and try out Sparrow. Today we're going to deliver Katarzyna to Magellan station and do some wacky adventures or something.  First, however, we got a quest to go into the Picnic sewers and fix the water supply.  This being the Dome it is of course zombies. I mean, Necroids.  Katarzyna immediately begins whining.  I'm realizing I may have hosed up our build. See, we only have a 50% chance to resist the Voice paralyzing us (right now) and there's one more aspect that is going to screw me over before the end of this update.  It doesn't really matter because this game's combat isn't particularly hard, and it's a 4v1 beatdown of a necroid we have to do twice.   This could have gone better! It's The Voice perk from last update, where you need to save against fear in exchange for piles of extra AP. We aren't quite good at that.   I'm pretty sure Crump only says this if the enemy uses unarmed.  Characters are very chatty and it's a nice touch!  After killing the necroids we have to turn off the valves with the contaminated green water so that Picnic only gets clean water. Success!  Sadly there is no gratitude for our band of criminals and STEM majors so we continue on our merry way. +5 reputation with Picnic at least!  We boot Crump out of the party. Unlike certain awful RPGs - looking at you, Rhin - the characters just go back to the bar or the lab or wherever and they're still your friends. They even show up to lend you moral support at certain story junctions even if they're not in the active party.  Sparrow is at least happy to see us.  And off we go!   The thread was also pretty insistent we go do Katarzyna's Magellan Adventure, so off we go again.  The game tries to pop a random encounter but we're too lucky and sneak by.  I am forced to engage with the game's tedious pseudo-survival elements.  We also get a unique encounter that spawns a skeleton that has a unique armor set.  The reference is flying right over my head.  Snazzy!  Anyway, Magellan.  Magellan is fully inhabited and is the closest we'll get to seeing an actual city in Act 1.  Crime!  This guy needs help getting the elevator down, but he gives us a high-capacity power cell we can use to craft energy weapons.  Anyway, we need to get into the main elevator.   It's stuck, but hey, a maintenance ladder!  It doesn't really matter what you do in the following text adventure segment, as it all leads to something like this:  Either you die falling from the ladder or the elevator crushes your dumb rear end. No, what we really need to do is go through the maintenance shaft on the far right I legitimately had to look up on my first playthrough.  : Ask him if he knows why the elevator's stopped. : Politely ask if he can repair the elevator.: The Blue looks at you for a long time. : Okay. Get on the elevator and I'll send you on your way.: The technician thinks for a couple of seconds.: I'm going to switch the electricity on now. The elevator will move as soon as you reach the- Uh oh! BUSTED! : The Blue stares helplessly at the thing, then back at you.: I didn't take them! It was... Herman. Yeah, Herman's the thief! Ah, gently caress it! Now, we could pretty easily murder this dude and score some free new relics, but there's a unique opportunity here. : Shout to Katarzyna to run for help. Huh. "Only" fraud ordered by supervisors, huh. : Kotya takes an uncertain step forward.: Well, yeah. Are you Derek Exler? : That's right, they kicked me out but I'm back. I mean, I'm working on it. We were on our way to Magellan just now, when this elevator - Derek, it's nice to meet you, but we have to hurry.: Katarzyna makes a pleading gesture.drat, she's pulling the same damsel-in-distress only-you-can-save-me bullshit on Derek too, huh? : The Blue steps aside.: No problem! The elevator panel is on that wall over there. Have a safe trip.: Piece of cake!: Belitskaya mutters, moving away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 This lets us go back and actually enter Magellan proper.  : Ask her why the turnstiles won't open. Argh! Look, I like a lot of the game, but "Utters Elizabeth" here is just a big clunk. : Tell her you'd like to register.: Elizabeth starts vigorously rummaging through some papers. : Great! Let's begin your journey to a fully fledged human be- uh, I mean citizen.: She folds the documents neatly.: Sorry, that's an outdated form, and this one is for Oranges... There, found it! : Listen carefully. : When she's finished, Elizabeth smilingly hands you a piece of paper.: The briefing is complete. I hope you memorized everything. Please take this registration form to the second window.  : [Registration Form] Pass him your registration form.: Edward carefully reviews your form, mumbling under his breath, while you patiently wait. : Well, well, well. So, initial registration, briefing... Oh, that's it! You sh-should have already received the briefing at the first window. Now you have to do a difficult-Oh, I mean an easy test consisting of three questions. Are you ready? : State confidently that it was 1971. : Form no. 1.7.9.: Edward adds a cross to his paper.: I'm afraid that's a wrong - Oh, hell... S-sorry, you gave the correct answer. : The head of the department?: The Silver puts down yet another checkmark, then exhales in relief.: Yes, you answered correctly. The test is finished. You may go- Oh, I mean, wait! I have to give you the second briefing!I legitimately can't tell if they're loving with us or this is an idiotic corporate procedure. Then again, seeing as I had to take a recent "metaverse etiquette" training at my real life workplace, who knows? The game certainly has its moments of bureaucracy inaction such as Administrator Rayhet literally sitting there playing his greeting from a tape recorder. : McKinsey adjusts his collar in a businesslike manner, glances at his list of prompts a couple more times, and starts the briefing. struggling to keep his voice steady.: So, hmm.... Yes, hello, Future Citizen! Let me begin my briefing with - Hell, what do I begin with? : Please note that in the case of contact with any enemy it is recommended to follow the General Military Instruction, seventh edition. The only exception is impact with Fops, contact with them must be avoided at all costs.: The Silver raises his finger up.: Finished with the briefing text, the trainee sighs heavily and sits back in his chair.: Phew! That... that's the end of my briefing. Pl-please go to the first window... Oh dear. Back to the DMV.  : Give Elizabeth the registration form.: Elizabeth takes your registration form, scans it, then adds several checkmarks, satisfied.: Marvelous! After one more test, you'll be registered. Shall we? : Cautiously assume that the right answer is bureaucracy. : Reply that you'll avoid them at all costs.I believe Fox is a Fop so we're kind of loving up that one.  : Excellent. 10 out of 10. They're the best administrators in the world, you wish there were more like them!: Elizabeth trills with laughter, adding yet another checkmark.: Excellent, another correct answer. Aaand the test is done!: Administrator McClain solemnly shakes your hand.: Congratulations! From now on, you are a full-fledged citizen! You may enter and exit Magellan base freely, and bring guests if you wish. Remember our rules and I guarantee your stay here will be as pleasant and comfortable as you could hope. Welcome aboard!: Having finished her passionate speech, Elizabeth casually produces some papers and begins to fill them in, as if you weren't there.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Now that we're allowed into Magellan proper we can take Katarzyna to-  Oh. Ok. : There are more cameras now... It's only been three months.: she whispers. : The White turns to you.: Thanks for your help. Anytime you need anything, just say so, and I'll get you anything you like. I hope I make it back to the laboratories... And the lovely Katarzyna vanished into the wilderness, taking her command of advanced energy weaponry with her.  There's a lot to explore in Magellan. I'm by no means taking the scenic route, I'm trying to get the parts for the Atilla club we unlocked last update. Astute readers might notice I've kind of screwed myself over there.   There's a lot of barter with Calvin here, but right now he just sells armor we don't need.  Ms. Davenport here can be given steroids or helped up. There's an animation of her struggling to reach the vents.  I'm not sure if this goes anywhere, honestly. Like I said, information about this game is thin on the ground.  However, this gentleman needs our help!  : Listen to the voice coming from the other side of the door. : The officer, who's pacing a parapet above the loading dock, stops and listens intently. : I recognize that voice... Open the gate! That's Keppler. He went out with the caravan this morning. Did you hear me? Open that damned door! The New Committee in a nutshell - Cover Your rear end! : [Tech 30] Walk up to the gate and open it yourself by accessing the emergency panel.: You push the technician aside and kick the cover off the panel. Inside are several thick bundles of wires, as well as a number of fuses. You rip out the topmost fuse and press the button next to it.: Rumbling and scraping, the massive door begins to shift upward...   Well, uh, poo poo. Well, medkits always saves us in combat, so... : [Medkit] Use the injector. : You don't have to wait long - a few minutes later, a thin old man in a white lab coat appears in the warehouse, accompanied by two gloomy looking Oranges and a technician.: The Blue deals with the armor's locks easily. After evaluating the victim's status, the doctor injects a few CCs of painkiller into him and steps aside to let the Oranges through.: The silent attendants load Holiday onto a gurney and roll him away.: The doctor and technician leave shortly thereafter.: Only you and Keppler are left standing beside the ruined servoshell.Talking to Keppler. : Keppler stands by the lacerated armor staring vacantly into space.: When you greet him, he turns and nods dully. : Ask about the circumstances of his partner's injury. : Don't insist. : Ask him what he can tell you about Holiday.: For a moment, a smile creases Keppler's stern face. : He loves wacky jokes and pizza. Scored high in all his training metrics, but discipline is lax. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Sadly, Keppler here isn't a party member even though he's a totally boss looking soldier in power armor. Let's go to the medical station, shall we?  He's right.  To get anywhere on this floor we need to go through decontamination, which sucks especially with the companions' poo poo pathfinding.     : Seeing you looking at him, he abruptly stops talking. Oh I'm sure this is on the level. : Say you're ready to help.: The White directs a superior gaze at his colleague. : And you say shampoo caps... : Ask how the decontamination chamber can be switched off. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 Well, here's a familiar face.   She was not fine. However, we'll have to come back in a few days.  Which brings us to this guy.  : Point out that he looks very upset. : Oh no! No, I'm all right.: He objects, but his lips betray him with their trembling.: Akira gives a short sob and wipes his eyes on his coat sleeve.: Okay, fine. I'm not all right. Forgive my weakness. It is.. unworthy.: He continues, sniffling.: Have you heard about Sonora? It's a collapsed warehouse bunker. I sent my... my robot there, and it hasn't yet returned. And if it hasn't returned, something really dire must have happened. And... : Tell him you'll drop in if you're passing by. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 This trustworthy looking man wants us to acquire this ring, so naturally we agree.  This doctor treats you for free exactly once before your insurance runs out.  Hey! He made it!    : Ask him what went wrong with the mission. Fops? All we know is that officially you're supposed to run away from them...  : Encourage him by telling him a joke. : Ask him where exactly his squad was attacked. Uh huh. : Inquire whether he saw anything exceptionally odd.: Holiday tries to smile. : Yeah, I was twelve when my mom married that rear end in a top hat. Now that was weird as hell. What the hell were these guys doing?  The Fops are weird. We'll get to them eventually.  : Encourage him by telling him a joke. On that note we head out. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
On to the military post!    Of course, the role of the blacks is twofold: first to defend against the Dome, and to keep the Orange slave labor population down.  Rationalization in progress.  Margarita the tutorial lady got our warning to escape and now sells guns at Magellan.  Also a bunch of the Black Wing are deserting to join "Phalanx", who we briefly met and hosed up a caravan battle alongside.  A loving corrupt mess!  At least we found an extremely lovely relic in a flowerpot.  John is getting an earful.  Ida has a proposition for us (platonic you perverts).  : She pauses to check her email on her communicator. Leader of the fuckin year, trying to berate subordinates while nervously checking coffee and email.  : Say hello. : Say you're ready to help.: Grace glances meaningfully at John who's now silent and Antonio who's sitting at the terminal. : Did you hear that? Even the newbie has more ambition than you two.  The part about the outside world falling silent we didn't really know before, but now we do!  The horror! : She glances at her communicator again.: And still no messages from that rear end in a top hat... Er, what was I talking about again? Right, the Oranges' contracts state that if they want citizenship, they must agree to participate in scientific programs. But the bastards have suddenly remembered they have rights, and now i get word these rats are huddling in a corner, whispering about an escape. Abandon Magellan, live as a bandit commune in some locked-down facility, and some other crap like that.I missed this - is she taking her relationship troubles out on her subordinates? RIP.  : Ask who Grace thinks is behind the escape. We know he's buying selectrones, but...hmm. : Inquire about the nature of these experiments. : [Science 15] Say that this device is called a 'teleporter', though the correct scientific term is a bit different... : Say you're ready to help and ask what you should do. Clearly the brain trust. I haven't actually done this quest, but I have my suspicions. : Say you'll try to find out about the escape and move away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
We continue wandering and looting.  This happens.  This also happens, and both parties are offended when we suggest sinusoidal movements.  This backpack will help us with the weight Katarzyna previously carried.  Sports reruns!  We check out the executive level to meet Martin Kingsley in the flesh.  Accurate!   : Say you arrived at Concord together two years ago. : He rushes up to hug you.: Sitting at their desks, Kamau and Randall exchange surprised looks, but say nothing.: James's gaze is full of gratitude. : You're probably at a loss, but you saved my life that day. Who knows how much longer I would've been stuck in that room? I definitely never owuld have made it to the bus in time. And Maelstrom, it...: The Silver pauses to pull a handkerchief from his pocket and wipe his reddened eyes. : Ask to take a look at your file.: The Silver helplessly throws up his hands.: The rules are much more strict now. Only an employee with special clearance can access personnel files. Previously, any Silver could do it. : Ask if he knows what happened to the rest of the group.: Monty nods.: Yes, of course. It's my job to know everything about employees.: He nods at his workspace.: Can you imagine, I had to learn how to use a computer after all. And that, let me tell you, is one hell of a thing!: After pulling himself together, he falls awkwardly silent.: Well, with the permission of the senior administrator, I ran our fellow travellers through the database about a month ago. There are some curious details. : Move away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 Sadly, we can't get into Kingsley's office. Somehow the secretary reads our personnel file and concludes that we're an alive noncitizen, despite the bureaucrats making us citizens and Monty telling us that officially - as of a month ago, we're fuckin legally DEAD! I guess Ms. Katsaros here doesn't want to pull more of Kingsley's bullshit (check the loading screen, her first name is Artemis) and I can't really blame her.  We go back to the warehouse and I'm able to buy the materials to make the Attila club. Beating people with heat damage is.. it's gonna be a thing.  Yea!  Here's the problem. The weapon requires 5 muscle to use. We have 4. This is kind of a massive problem.  We can chug drugs for temporary boosts, but there's not really an easy way to permanently improve our muscle off the top of my head.  We also kind of used 3 technowoman comic books to make this weapon which we cannot use.  A recent patch added what looked like a respec terminal at Picnic, so off we go.  A scripted encounter awaits us!  Yeah, uh, holy poo poo! Meet the robokids, who this screenshot does a better job explaining than I can.  Specifically, the landfill full of dead robot children created as a sad corporate substitute for reality.  This is the other crappy feature of this game.  You know those lovely vampire raids in Skyrim that no one liked because they'd run in and kill unique NPCs?  This happens every so often. The criminal option just lets you deploy more optimally, but these encounters usually aren't interesting or challenging and they take forever because we have a bunch of allied NPCs. I wish game developers would stop making fights where you sit and wait for the computer to battle itself, but here we are.  We'll just fast-forward to the end here.  I don't know if this was added by a patch or I just never noticed it, but I'm curious to see what it does.  I miss the screenshots, but it's entirely cosmetic. I could make Dell a woman or I could reassign him to Silver Wing, but I can't change his stats. I legitimately cannot find any results for the CRONUS Quantum Filing Terminal on Google. It sucks! Now we might as well go back to Magellan.  This Phalanx guy is selling drugs in a random merchant encounter.  Let's go see John Keppler because his quest reward is legit. : Ask if you can help him somehow.: Keppler stays quiet for a moment.: Actually, you can. Here's hoping this isn't secret information. Holiday and I were going to Nashville to find out what happened out there after Maelstrom.: No one nosed around out there after the Incident, and apparently no one will any time soon. Holiday is in way over his head of course, so neither of us is going there anytime soon.: The soldier sighs heavily and lowers his gaze. : Agree to bring the device to Nashville.: Keppler brightens quite a bit at the news. He puts the device in your hands.: Great. Just place this thingy in the truck parking lot and get the hell out of there right away.: He lays a heavy hand on your shoulder.: Don't play the hero, okay? If you feel you can't handle it, back away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 Random sandstorm encounter where we fail to catch things!  Nashville is still an irradiated mess.    You can go through a bunch of hoops to get through the other side of those rocks, or you can put the device here and it's still good. There are a bunch of hazards here we're going to come back to later. In the meantime we have one more scripted encounter in camp before we get back to Kepp -  Oh, no.  Oh boy.  Yeah, it could be worse I guess.   I...what?  : Tell him you placed the device at Nashville.: Keppler brightens quite a bit at this news, and even smiles.: Thanks for helping me with this. Charlie will be happy to hear about it. And he wouldn't mind if you take his armor, I think. You deserve it.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 Attempting to take the Mk I instead of the Decommissioned armor gets you this dialogue, but hey, we have power armor now!  Nice!  We'll have to keep an eye out for these parts. Finally, let's go check on Katarzyna and see how she's doing.   The game even realizes we've been here before. : Ask her what happened.: A little grimace of suffering appears on Belitskaya's face.: My... coworkers, friends, acquaintances. They're surprised I'm here. I mean, they're not happy I'm here. Not happy at all! : Ask what she needs. : Tell here you don't mind travelling together once again. Dammit!  TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Decisions Lie Before Us Do we want to trade out Fox or Sparrow for Katarzyna OR the mysterious party member we will gain next update? Next time: The Anime-Bot 9000 TheGreatEvilKing fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Jun 6, 2022 |
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Jun 6, 2022 01:04
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: Okay, so if we put a shampoo cap on the relic we can -
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In case you're wondering the armor is pretty much a reference to the Fallout 1 and 2 Combat Armor. Also, you missed image 122 and linked 133 instead.
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Jun 6, 2022 01:49
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Cooked Auto posted:Also, you missed image 122 and linked 133 instead. Fixed, thanks! This is what I get for doing giant updates on weekends.
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Jun 6, 2022 01:58
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Cooked Auto posted:In case you're wondering the armor is pretty much a reference to the Fallout 1 and 2 Combat Armor. huh. I was guessing Doom!
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Jun 6, 2022 02:35
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Ditch Sparrow for Mystery Party Member.
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Jun 6, 2022 03:30
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Sparrow just got into the party, so ditch Fox for the mystery party member.
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Jun 6, 2022 07:06
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BisbyWorl posted:Sparrow just got into the party, so ditch Fox for the mystery party member. Yep. Looks like the original DOOM armor pickups to me
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Jun 6, 2022 08:15
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The helmet with the glasses is the obvious tell that it's the FO2 combat armour to me. The FO3 and 4 armors look nothing like it in comparison. https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Combat_armor_(Fallout) Obviously hard to find decent shots of it but the ones on the FO wiki page will have to do.
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Jun 6, 2022 11:49
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Yeah, that's the first thing I recognized it as when you found it. I think I picked it up the last time I tried to play this, actually.
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Jun 6, 2022 21:00
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Seems like a cool game with some neat worldbuilding, but I really don’t think the title does it any favours. And yeah I immediately thought of Fallout combat armour as the reference for that item.
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Jun 7, 2022 18:47
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It took me a while to figure out the armor reference, probably because this isn't ATOM, so I don't expect everything to be "Fallout, but worse" 
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Jun 7, 2022 19:52
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Reign of Anime Welcome back! Last time on Encased, we made it to Magellan and you all voted to leave Katarzyna behind. I will probably force her into the party to show off some cool interactions, but right now we have a mystery party member to acquire!  At least we got power armor.  NPCs will comment on your armor if you're wearing it. It's a nice touch.  To get the new party member we need to do Akira's quest to go get his robot.  On the way we pop a random encounter and I decide to do the fight for XP.  It's a bunch of robokids! We found the robokid graveyard last update and now we get to meet the robokids!  They're hostile. As mentioned briefly in the last update, the robokids were CRONUS' half-assed corporate attempt to compensate for people being unable to conceive under the Dome by building robot children.  Much like Kyros, CRONUS ruins everything it touches. From my extremely limited reading of the Strugatsky brothers - who wrote the book the game is based on - the protagonists from the Strugatsky's Earth have mostly overcome things like war and pollution and people generally care about each other. Roadside Picnic isn't as optimistic - people are still attempting to weaponize the Zone's technology - but the government is not nearly as oppressive and apathetic as CRONUS.  Thus while the advice in Picnic is "do not bring guns because there's nothing to fight" the Dome is mostly a hellscape of factions created by CRONUS policy. All of the factions are squabbling amongst themselves because of the legacy of CRONUS.  I believe the official explanation for the robokids going berserk is Maelstrom, and honestly an alien consciousness being able to gently caress up alien technology humans have clumsily adapted for the worst reasons is not exactly unexpected.  We get a level and I realize in 1 level we can use the weapon I rushed but can't use due to my pro build skills.  Also we can get this.  The characters in the game are insistent that the Fops are all violent psychotic nuts with no redeeming qualities, but random encounters with Fops are all people who want to trade.  I'll get into the Fops more later.  Anyway, our quest awaits!  CRONUS in action! Remember back in the OP we discussed CRONUS devouring its children?  In we go. I've made Dell drink a beer so he gets the strength to use his weapon, and I've upgraded it to level 2 so it does some more damage.  : As you come closer, the Phalanxers point their guns at you almost simultaneously. : Tell them you're here on a mission; some scientist from Magellan asked you to find his robot.: The mercenary calms down a bit.: He gives a sign to his fighters, and they lower their weapons.: He points to the corridor on your left hand. : Oh, the robot... Yeah, we found it. But before that, it zapped two of my guys and took the relic. This thing is only lossmaking... By the way, I'm Oliver Reiten, and these are Cassandra and Sven. We don't have the skills to talk our way out of this and the robot is our party member. No deal. : Tell them you have a better idea: you just shoot them all right now and take the relic.: The mercenary laughs nervously.: Seriously, huh? What a coincidence. I have the same idea... My puerile attempts to minmax get us running away in terror round 1. Could I have planned this better? No, the game is the problem.  Oliver goes after Sparrow. Spoiler: Sparrow is right. I have no idea what happened to Oliver's shotgun.  Fox rips off half Oliver's health with psy attacks before buffing Dell.  Sparrow 360 noscopes Oliver with his handgun, ending the battle immediately.  : Tell them you accept their offer to leave peacefully.: The mercenary girl nods with gratitude. : Thanks.: Cassandra and Sven lower their weapons and leave the bunker...TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 We go on a looting spree.   Meet our mystery party member!  : Tell her she almost killed you. : Ask her what is going on here. We don't get the option to convince her here, but re-approaching the door...  : Tell her that Akira sent you, and ask her what's going on. There are a lot of ways this can go, including teaming up with the mercenaries to kill Yoko here and take her relic. I'm not sure if you get the laser rifle or not. : Tell her the mercenaries aren't a threat for now, and ask her to open the door.: Yoko nods. : We have a deal, senpai. You look like a good person. And I call good people senpai.: Yoko looks out into the corridor, looks at you and squints happily.: Yes! There is no danger, thank you!: She looks at the bodies lying on the floor.: Human decisions seem irrational to me. Are they actually ready to die for some relic of low rarity? The first option starts a fight. : Tell her that her calculations could wait. You have to bring her to Akira.: Yoko tilts her head and squints.: Thank you for your help, but no, thank you. I already mapped the return route in the course of my exploratory activity. I will be waiting for you in Magellan. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 This is a puzzle of valve adjusting where if you miss the sign it's trial and error. If you find the sign you can turn off the steam by adjusting the valves by color order.   There's an audiolog of a former employee who presumably died when the base collapsed. Audiolog posted:Now... Is this thing recording? Great. So, here's the first issue of my audiodiary! Ta-da! Now, what can I say? It's pretty darn fantastic here. I've never seen such electronics. Them puters are absolute beasts. The ventilation's brilliant, the climate control is up to snuff. Everyone's kind and friendly. Though I'm just a minor clerk yet, I earn as much as my former boss in the mainlands. Whoa! What else? Ah yea. There's a real beauty working at the desk next to mine. She winked at me today... Things are looking up.  There's a fire necroid, an ice necroid, and a laser-armed MOBIOS. We lure out the ice necroid using stealth and kill it with ranged fire.  Sparrow's gun Justice does Biochemical damage, so he gets this relic to continue shooting people in the face.  Unfortunately the ice necroid wakes up Big Laserbot.  Uhh....  Ok, Fox took out the Necroid with two critical hits, we should be able to stab the MOBIOS to de-  gently caress!  Ok, we can definitely chunk this thing.  gently caress! Sparrow goes down and I get -5 rep with him.   We win, but at a terrible cos - eh, we can just shoot some bandits or something  In the future these materials should let us upgrade our power armor. Back to Magellan.   : Observe out loud that it looks quite unnerving. : Clarify: a 'daughter'? : Tell him you were happy to help and move away. : Ask Yoko if she is glad to be back at the station. : Tell her it's hard to explain to a robot.: Yoko's gaze draws a circle several times.: The answer is accepted, senpai.: She suddenly stops talking and seems[sic] to 'freeze'. Then she looks at you.: I often think about another function, senpai. You know, I'm a research robot.: The blue light, looking like a faint shimmer of a night-light, flashes in the eyes of the android.: My research program is quite vast. Not all of its functions are possible to discharge in current conditions.: She looks at Akira.: Sometimes I contradict my senpai's will. I suppose it has to do with the presence of my own will. In this case, this is an analitical[sic] construct that defines my functional priorities.: Some little fan in her head begins to hum loudly. Her gaze starts to draw circles in the air as if she watches something rotating.: By all appearances, Yoko is deep in thought. : Ask Yoko whether she wants to explore the world with you. : Tell her you're going to go and talk with Akira. : Ask him whether he would let Yoko go with you. : Say you need a cool battle robot and Yoko is quite suitable.: The White's pasty face flushes red with anger.: She is not a "battle robot!" She is... no, I can't allow it. That is the end of this conversation.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
There is, in fact, a way to get Yoko into the party. We will see it... next update.
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Jun 9, 2022 06:33
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Was Yoko some kind of Kickstarter backer addition or something? Because a robot designed after a Japanese kid who calls you senpai that you can call kawaii is a teeny bit of a tonal whiplash.
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Jun 9, 2022 07:00
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It’s probably just a case of the developers (and a decent proportion of their audience) being huge nerds. Then they can handwave it in-universe as the scientists being canonically huge nerds. I like to describe this phenomenon as the Nier Automata Principle. It is jarring though yeah. They do have some insanely high cost backer rewards to design an NPC so maybe you’re right, but really the most notable thing was just how low the budget was for this game - just $120,000 on Kickstarter. Presumably they had significant other sources of funding but still. Elite fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Jun 9, 2022 |
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Jun 9, 2022 09:03
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Yeah there's other stuff in the game that shows the devs are just big nerds.
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Jun 9, 2022 09:31
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I'm a bit slow catching up on the updates, but I will like to say that I kind of adore the character of Katarzyna. I'm not entirely sure I would've caught onto the subtext of her being a con artist of sorts if I was playing myself, mind you. But I like their writing of an absolutely manipulative character. I honestly can't think of another game where you have a party member who's manipulative like that. Thinking on it, it's probably because a manipulative character has to be able to play on people's desires or biases. And to do that, the game has to be world-built well enough for the manipulator to have something to work with, so that the writers can actually showcase the character doing their thing properly.
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Jun 9, 2022 12:46
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I'm curious how this will play out; most games would frame a robot companion like this as you liberating them from people who seem them as just a tool or something to that effect--the point being the people who have them don't value them as a person. But here, Akira clearly cares about Yoko as an actual person, so I'm wondering if there's any way we get her in the party that doesn't involve us being the baddies.
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Jun 9, 2022 13:46
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I wonder, can you just manually console command away the annoying things like hunger and sleep and whatever? I've rarely encountered those implemented in a way I'd describe as good, except possibly in DF adventure mode.
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Jun 9, 2022 14:57
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Robokids sure are  ...
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Jun 9, 2022 15:12
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I'm guessing some of the less friendly ways to get the robokid involve either lying, arranging for an "accident" to dear old Akira, or just saying"your dad reaaaaaally doesn't want you to do this because you're ka-why-ee or something" and have her "nuh-uh dad can't tell me what to do I'm going to be a researcher now". I'm hoping it's the last one. I don't want to be responsible for killing someone trying to be a responsible parent(?) directly. I'd rather it happen off-screen from stress!
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Jun 10, 2022 02:16
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"hey this looks cool im gonna try it out!" *beats prologue with the Neanderthal starting lady* hell yeah this owns *loses prologue power armor* oh no
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Jun 11, 2022 22:03
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Yeah they make you earn it later. It's such a tease.
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Jun 13, 2022 10:07
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It's Time For Plot! Welcome back! Last time we rescued Yoko the anime schoolgirl murderbot from some robo-racists, whose leader died in a mysterious wrench accident. Today we're going to go add Yoko to our party for real.  To add Yoko to our party we must do the unthinkable: advance the main plot.  This leads us back to Junktown. You might remember after the prologue that we received a vision from Maelstrom telling us to go to a specific building in Junktown, which we completely ignored to do piles of sidequests and level grind.  I keep putting off dealing with the Church people, but rest assured we will have plenty to say about them when we get there.   Hey, it's the security guy from when we first started our adventure who pulled us aside and told us to talk to Kingsley.  It's the prophet Sebastian van Ulden, who tried to warn us that CRONUS was loving with powers human science had no idea how to handle and correctly predicted it was going to bounce back and hit us in inappropriate places. : Try to remember where you know him from. : Wait till he finishes his work.He was kind of a dick.  : Tell him you're experiencing headaches and occasional hallucinations.: The scientist peers at your face for a couple of seconds. : Does this more precisely describe your anamnesis: a humming sound similar to a ringing gong, bright flashes of white light? Your irises are normal, suggesting that Maelstrom's influence merely grazed you.Oh buddy, you are so wrong.  : Move away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Henrietta Russo is actually kind of an important character so we may as well talk with her.   : The badge on her white coat reads, "Henrietta Russo, Project Director".: The coat itself is flecked with several stains in different colors. : Tell her you found the body of one Ricardo Alexander near Nashville.: Henrietta makes a forced gurgling sound, either a loud sigh or a sob. : I've long since realized what happened. But still... oh, it's bad. Very bad. Ricardo was... so... you know, very much alive. He never behaved his age. He even looked younger than he actually was. He always joked that we were siblings, twins separated by the time.: Russo purses her lips. Even now, she doesn't cry. : Say you slept in stasis. In a dream, you rose up into the air under the Dome, and here in the north something flashed.: The White chuckles sarcastically.: Let me guess, the thing that flashed was the hundred combonds you'll get for undergoing the examination.For some context: Russo here is examining all the survivors to see if any of them have some kind of connection to Maelstrom to try to communicate with it. : She gives you an apologetic pat on the shoulder.: Don't get mad. It's just that I get told about hallucinations by nearly everyone I meet.: That's why you have to pass the simplest test right now. I have to be certain you really crossed paths with Maelstrom.: The White explains, taking a notebook out of her pocket.: Tell her about the cave in Nashville and the shining red ball.: The White gives you a skeptical look but makes no comment.You weren't there lady! It totally sucked!  : Tell her you were surrounded by white fog, and saw and spoke with other people while in the mist.: The pen stops in Henrietta's fingers.: Okaaay... You were navigating the fog and talking to them.: She shuts the notebook.: Let's get down to your examination. Stand here. I'm going to prepare special parameters for the scan. This will take some time.: Russo puts the scanner back on the computer console and studies you, deep in thought. : Henrietta walks a full circle around you and stops in front of you again.: What can I say? That was the best hundred we've ever spent. : Ask why you should help her.: Henrietta snaps her fingers.: A fair question, however the point is you're not helping me, you're helping all mankind. We're all locked up in here with everything that implies: Maelstrom unstable, politicians squabbling, and communication with the outside world still unavailable. Spoiler: we will not.  Of course, this is exactly what Maelstrom wants us to do. There's some stuff I want to show off with Maelstrom later, but the point isn't that the Emulator Project has any answers, it's literally being jerked around by Maelstrom to... we still don't know why, exactly. Remember, Maelstrom showed us all the faction leaders and then sent us here. : Ask how other factions are dealing with the Maelstrom issue. The Emulator Project is also explicitly aligned with the New Committee, but there's no way around it.  There are a LOT of potential motivations. I have no idea why our character thinks the 8th option is possible, but it is a goal we can shoot for in game. : Agree you'll help in order to clear up the mess people at Nashville made.: The White looks at you with new respect.: A bit idealistic, but I see your point. I want to clear it up too.  You know it got real when the cutscene mode activates.   : Henrietta clasps her hands behind her back and walks around the room.: Things went quite well over the next two years. Maelstrom showed no activity and all the trials were right on schedule, but... several months ago our sensors detected that Maelstrom had begun to... grow. To become stronger. From my own calculations, I realized we needed the help of all those different people. Someone needs to search for relics for the Emulator and help with the coding. Otherwise, the Nashville megaloanomaly will overtake us. It will be too late.Remember, Henrietta doesn't understand that Maelstrom sent us here. This is all according to whatever mysterious purpose it has.   I'm sorry, a what? CRONUS is dead.    : Ask about her socks. I like Henrietta. : Tell her you're listening.: Great! Let's being.: Henrietta opens her notebook.: She runs her eye rapidly over the lines.: Past trials were unsuccessful. That's why it's so important to do everything right and get the system ready for the new trials and a test run as soon as possible. Let's see what we have on that list...: Biting her lip, Russo checks her notepad.: Let's start with the driver. It's not installed. Karma Ishtwani is responsible for it, her door is next to mine, by the way. Find out what's going on.When Henrietta said she'd lost control of the project she wasn't kidding. She seems to be a competent scientist made director mostly as a loyalty hire by Nakamura, because we all know that Dell is gonna have to get out the wrench and bust some heads to keep this project on schedule. Of course, Maelstrom sent Dell over with implied instructions to do that for reasons we still don't know.  This is again a job a "project director" SHOULD be doing, but Russo's in over her head here.  Santiago is the sunglasses man standing outside the entrance. Russo, why are you like this?  Again, Russo is the head of the Emulator Project. They have a nice fancy building and facilities and Russo was appointed by Nakamura herself. Russo could be on the line with Martin Kingsley right now, or go ask Nakamura to make Kingsley do it if that's not working. Naturally, Russo's in over her head and her reply is to have a random man in a hard hat with a wrench go do all of this. Remember, the test revealed our Maelstrom-gifted psi aptitude - completely independent of our psyche score or psionic skill level by the way - but not that we have the charisma to go convince these people to do their jobs.  We don't have a lot of time, which is why all these important jobs are being assigned to three people who are always traveling together and not, you know, delegated.  Yes, Henrietta, you're very helpful. At least you have cool socks. : Give her a nod and move away.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
I need to reiterate what a clusterfuck this is, because once again the remnants of CRONUS are saddling us with cleaning up their entire mess. Henrietta is the "Project Director". Notably, Henrietta isn't a Silver Wing manager - she's a White Wing scientist with presumably no experience actually managing people. Her one qualification for leadership seems to be unquestioning loyalty to Kimiko Nakamura, whom she is apparently on first name terms with. Henrietta is a slob - unable to remove soda stains from her clothing, which is not a difficult task in the slightest - and this helps sell her as someone who's very good at science but completely inept at dealing with people. Her first request is that we deal with her subordinate who is literally down the hall. Henrietta's request to join the project isn't an idealistic request to save mankind, it's because she needs someone to step in and cover her own rear end. The disclaimer about sublimating her ambition isn't because she's actually contemplating the good of the project or mankind or whatever, she doesn't want to have to face Nakamura and admit she hosed up. Remember, we're the only employee who tested positive for the psychic stuff - which she needs to communicate with Maelstrom - and her response to this now irreplaceable asset isn't to max out his security but to send him running around the wasteland to do the job she's supposed to do.  Thus Henrietta clumsily tries to praise us as a good "employee" even though CRONUS collapsed and for all she knows we're a Church of Maelstrom deacon. Oh well, it's not like we haven't been cleaning up after managements' mess this whole time.  We go back to Magellan and boot Fox because the thread requested Yoko.  : Ask him whether he would let Yoko go with you. This is the one time we can throw Henrietta's weight around. : Tell him that you are working for the Emulator, and that you need Yoko's help for the success of your mission.  A lot of CRPG games have some title for the player that lets the game's VA avoid interacting with the name the player came up, such as "Fatebinder" or "Watcher". This game uses "Employee", which I kind of hated at first but makes sense. The "employee" moniker is spread entirely by Russo and Nakamura as an attempt to remind people that you in fact work for them and are subordinate. There's a scene later that shows it off much better. : I... I'm a scientist and I understand how important the Emulator is for the survival of mankind. And, of course, I have no right to think only about myself.: The White looks at Yoko. There are tears in his eyes.Thus we can cynically kick the abuse can down the chain and rob this poor man of his robot daughter.  : Promise you'll take care of her and move away. : Say that you have spoken with Akira, and Yoko can go with you.   : Do you hunt Oranges? Allow me to scan their bodies.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
So, yes, not only did we traumatize poor Akira, Yoko is a fully operational murder bot who wants us to murder Oranges so we can dissect them. She'll fit right in with the rest of the wackos! Here's her heavy laser rifle.  Next time: Reactor fun!
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Jun 27, 2022 04:59
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Ok, let's do science stuff now.
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Of course she has a heavy weapon.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:57
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