So I have been playing ... (180). Subnautica!

I had liked the idea of playing it for several years, then it sat in my backlog for a few more. To be fair, everything was sitting in the backlog these last few years as I was gradually moving house, setting up the computer stuff at country home, then spent the best part of the year focused on my novel revisions. I did play some Into the Breach (which I didn't record & then lost the advanced game saves on my Linux laptop), also dipped into the comfort zones of Nox and XCOM2 (Long War Of The Chosen, check out full playlist here). I also recorded another Waking Mars playthrough (this time in Estonian!), and ... 

Oh, wait, I did record some more play that totally warrants its own post, at least a summary. Dangit. I'm gonna break the chronology of gaming here because if I don't complete this post here now, I know I'll end up with another ten-year draft or ghost-of-a-post, and who needs that. 

So - Subnautica. I had meant to buy it for a while, then meant to play it for a while more, then, once launched, I played it pretty much non-stop for a few weeks. 

When I had played a bit and was well immersed (ha!), then I got a capture going as well. Here's the first, still rather fumbly episode: 

This one includes a lot of IRL recap (later episodes less so). 

I only started watching other people play after my first game completion, so there's a ton of quite elementary stuff that I missed or didn't learn on my own (such as: the fact that you can carry along whole extra air tanks, not just the little bladder; that you can right-click-slice and cultivate not just the big life forms, but also the shrooms and gel sacks and such; that you can place the exterior grow beds under water also; that the cyclops shield zaps away the leeches; that the Seamoth zap-charge needs to be activated to work). 

Then there are other things that reflect my in-world choices - building only small bases & not rearranging the landscape too much (even if I had figured out the underwater grow beds, that is), relying on foraging instead, not harming the fauna too much (not even the deadly ones). Basically, not fighting against the local ecosystems but rather swimming alongside them. 

Here's another episode from the first session: 

And here is the whole playlist in its full glory 

I'm gonna hit 'post' and maybe add some bits & bobs later. Whenever it seems like I'm abandoning this blog, I'm probably busy on the Estonian side (see new link atop the right side panel). Or I could have caught the flow and be in full writing mode. Yeah, let's go with that! 

P.S. Bonus! Here's an alternate thumbnail thingie. 

So I have been playing ... (179). Finale with generators [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway. Lately I keep forgetting to check this side of Blogger.)

Last time, which I recapped in [checks notes] July? WTF? And now is ... [checks notes] November?? Double WTF?? (Basically, I've been focusing on my own writing a lot this last year and all other doings have kinda slipped down the "maybe I shall, just not now" slope; also my time-perception kinda runs its own logic, like all the time.)

Anyhoo. Last time I got the endgame processes started and traversed the Pripyat stadium to finally carry the prescribed storyline into NPP (and then of course do some sidetracking and creative procrastinating and Twilight-dilly-dally. 

I had even brought an ample fuel supply in the hopes of refueling the little BTR that we get to drive when storming Monolith positions! (Alas, the vehicle didn't seem to have a refuel function.) 

Finally I was done with the standard and not-so-standard NPP-Sarcophagus stuff and boldly stepped towards the Generators which a) inhabit a whole separate map in Lost Alpha, and b) I had never gotten to visit during the testing process!

So with this recap my Lost Alpha playthrough comes to an end. I won't write any extra stuff to each video, instead I'll post this before another November strikes because I looked away for two seconds.

Enjoy!

 

So I have been playing ... (178). To ... the North. [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway. Lately I keep forgetting to check this side of Blogger.)

Last time I ...

Did I forget that I've been meaning to complete this recap? Why, yes I did! Twice! (Then continued to forget so many times over the course of last five months. <<- A sentence I wrote in April before some busy times hit and I kept forgetting again!) 

Frankly, I don't remember what I wrote in last time's recap and I dare not look away from the open editor tab lest I forget again the funko-teenth time. 

I surmise from the video titles that I spent some time in the Old Road map, finally breaching that Monolith compound at the edge of the map. As far as I could tell, that building was a Lost Alpha original, combining and remixing some classical faction base industrial elements with some science equipment and secret lab hints.

So I have been playing ... (177). Big steps ahead [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway. Lately I keep forgetting to check this side of Blogger.)

Last time I made my way to the Old Road map. This time I take some big leaps in the northern maps. 

For starters I tackle the Monolith camp at the edge of Old Road.

So I have been playing ... (176). Wheels and barrows. [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway. Lately I keep forgetting to check this side of Blogger.)

Last time I spent a lot of time Pripyat, gathering loot among other things.

This time I put some of that loot into use.  

I fuel up a banged up Niva and drive towards North Hills.

So I have been playing ... (175). Pripyat nights. [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.)

Last time I went to Cordon and Yantar to get my affairs in order.

This time I explore Pripyat.  

Oh, will you look at that, episode 200! Speaking of sidetracking and procrastination!

So I have been playing ... (175). South maps and loose ends. [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.)

Also: ever since I've been making posts to that new blog in Estonian, I keep forgetting to update this side. There is also the physical slo-mo gradual-glacial move over to the countryside for going on. (Yes the process will probably be captured in a post some day. When? No clue. I've had the prequel/intro draft sitting there, incomplete for over a year now.) 

Anyhoo.

Last time I played with the mutants of the North Hills. Like, all of them. 

This time I set my sights to the main storyline. 

But first, a tour at the Concrete Factory (The map that became Yantar in ShoC).

So I have been playing ... (174). North Hills mutant business [LADC]

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I advanced the main mission a few small steps.

So this time I obfuscate my paths even further, starting off with some Twilight Zone indulgence. 

So I have been playing ... (173). Underground and out [LADC].

 

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I took the dive into Pripyat Underground.

This time I continue the dive, with the hopes of emerging on the other side. I do sneak out to restock first, though.

So I have been playing ... (172). Underground! [LADC]

 

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time was all about the Brain Scorcher. This time I finally decide to push onward, into Pripyat Underground.

But first, clearing some stashes!

So I have been playing ... (171). Scorching brains [LADC].

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I dealt with the Old Factory brain lab. This time - some quality time under the brain scorcher.

So I have been playing ... (170). Big Brain Energy [LADC].

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I was running with mutants over the North Hill. 

This time - the Old Factory mindfuck!

So I have been playing ... (169). North Hills, lotsa mutants [LADC].

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I braced myself for North Hills mutants. 

This time - North Hill mutants galore!

So I have been playing ... (168). In the name of better psi-protection [LADC].

(This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway.) Last time I spent time at Pripyat Outskirts. This time I gingerly venture forward and get myself used to the concept of going to Radar.

The venture does not start very well - I do not yet have the required psi-protection, so I merely rush through the Radar map, my head about to explode.

So I have been playing ... (167). Outskirts adventures [LADC].

This playthrough so obviously belongs in the pre-invasion world but I figured I'd carry on with this recap anyway. Soooo, last time - Dead City, front and centre.

This time I dedicate almost full attention to Pripyat Outskirts. 

I entered via the Swamps and ran into some bandits almost immediately.

So I have been playing ... (166). Dead City special [LADC]

Last time I kicked off some mid-game triggers.

This time I'll be spending some quality time at the Dead City. 

 

So I have been playing ... (165). LADC midgame missions.

Last time I ran through Yantar in yet another futile search for that one elusive document. This time I decide to take another step on the main storyline.

  

So I have been playing ... (164). "There's always one more bandit." [LADC]

 

Last time I spent some quality time with the Old Road map (which was new to me). This time I return to Yantar and attempt to find more documents. 

  

So I have been playing ... (163). Old Road, unfamiliar paths [LADC]

Last time I concluded my long and futile search for the special bandit jacket (it had been at the Agroprom hideout since (probably) quite early in the game. Evidence suggests that I'd dropped it there and then forgotten.) 

This post is all about the Old Road map. At the age of testing, I never managed to visit it (made from scratch, Old Road one of the last map completed). So entering the area now was super exciting. 

First I need to get out of the forest, though.

So I have been playing ... (162). Mid-game wandering [LADC]

Last time my game progressed into the Great Swamps. This time I stray from the forward path and visit various southern maps looking for unfinished business.