So I have been playing ... (12). Old Zone, new tricks.

My "mission statement" for the latest Zone videos reads like this:

Primary objective: work my way into the PSI-emission areas and survive - one step at the time.
Secondary objectives:
- avoid the main quest related actions as much as possible
- find alternatives or workarounds to avoid my brain bleeding out near PSI-emitters
- make and loot the modificate artifacts
- gather more and more sweet recipes
The Ultimate Objective: re-learn the essential skills for making it in the Zone.

The amount of trial-and-error, figuring out new things, searching for information that isn't immediately accessible has been immensely satisfying lately. The thing with "avoiding the main quest"  is that it's not so much a goal as it is an anti-goal - and it still leaves the "so what do I wish to achieve here" question hanging in the air. There have been a few moments in this game when I've felt that I didn't really have my sight set to anything and didn't quite know where I wanted to go with the whole thing. And now the artifact modifications feature (introduced by the Oblivion Lost mod) has given me a desirable goal to pursue. I'm learning, I'm finding ways to conquer challenges and move beyond obstacles - and enjoying every bit of it.



Here's the first video of that venture (continues the playlist introduced over here).

ED: And here's the rocky road towards home stretch ... 

... and finally a milestone I've been attempting to reach for quite a while in this game.