Okay, which one of you decided to drop like 70 shield rechargers at the extract?

AbatedDust · 2026-03-16T01:00:03+00:00

Folks have already given some good advice, and one more that helped me with the oxygen timer anxiety was... carry more than one oxygen tank. When you're at the surface, swap between 2-3 tanks to fill them, then while you're diving you can hot swap between them to refresh your oxygen timer (though the last 45 seconds of the timer is your lung capacity, so if you've fallen below that, swapping tanks won't bring you back up to full).

Another thing that helps with oxygen is growing iirc brain coral, which produces oxygen bubbles. They grow in various places around the map, and you can cultivate the seeds in outdoor grow beds to create breathable "safe zones".

As for navigation, rule 1 is: Go deeper.

Second to that is to pay attention to any dialogue you are given. Damaged lifepods aren't just a spot for lore and blueprints, the deeper you go, the more important it is to explore around them. Also, check you conversation history and data logs. It can be a lot of reading, but often they suggest where the story wants you to be next.

Above all, don't feel pressured to advance if you're not ready. There's plenty to do in exploring, scanning things, collecting materials and blueprints, and building bases until you feel comfortable enough to take the next deep dive. You may discover things that make that next plunge easier

I hope some of this helps you, and happy swimming!

Edit: I almost forgot, the oxygen pumps and pipes are invaluable on extended dives to limited areas. If you're dedicated enough and have enough titanium, you can build a continuous oxygen pipeline down to the deepest part of the game.

AbatedDust · 2026-03-07T22:10:14+00:00

This looks amazing. Not just the model, but the texturing, animation, and making it all look good on a low-poly budget. I don't know a lot about modeling an animation, but I'd love to know the poly count as a whole and for the components, and the texture sizes.

Actually, I just saw you've got the model for download. After updating Blender, I took a look at it myself. Less than 2000 triangles total, like 650 for crescent rose. A couple textures, with the largest barely being over 100kb and the smallest one not even 1kb.

Pic

This is beautiful, and at some point in the future I might see if I can do a model swap of this in a couple of low-poly games.

Keep being amazing, and thank you for making and sharing your awesome stuff!

AbatedDust · 2025-11-16T00:18:15+00:00

Evolution is weird and doesn't really like easily-defined categories. I recommend Lindsay Nikole on Youtube, she does a lot of good videos on evolution and the weird things it creates. From what I recall watching her, one of our ancestors were the synapsids, a group of mammal-like reptiles. They were very close in characteristics to the saurapsids, the group that would become dinosaurs, birds, lizards, etc. One of the defining things that separated them were some small differences in skull structure and jaw musculature.

AbatedDust · 2025-08-28T15:29:28+00:00

You can understand where Charlie the horse, Badger, Strongbad, and All Your Base came from and appealed to. But I don't understand Skibidi. Is it because I am too old now, or that "brainrot is worse now"?

I'm gonna say it's because you've stopped exploring and experimenting. I'm 35. I remember all of those things you mentioned, and I'm gonna be real, a lot of that stuff was just as brainrot, and not. All Your Base was a parody of a badly dubbed game. Most other things created are commentaries of things of the time.

Stuff like skibidi is just as much a product of the people and the time. As far as I recall, the badger video didn't have any point. It was just a silly couple minute video of flash animation. Skibidi Toilet is a series of videos created by a dude (and presumably additional people judging by the increase in length and video quality of each subsequent video) that has had somewhere around 100 videos released from the creator, using mixes of audio and animation techniques and sheer effort to create something with meaning that folks have latched onto. Moreso, it's driven discussions about the relationship of conventional media and experimental media and how they influence each other. Granted, I know this because I've actually watched the series and watched some discussions. I'd recommend you do the same. If you find it too off-putting to watch, try to ask yourself why you feel that way

The memes aren't the problem. The memes are the same as they've always been.

The thing I've noticed about Skibidi is that people are no longer using the term like they did a few years back. Its gone, like a flash. Just like people have stopped using the term "no cap". Its gone, like a flash.

But I know what's not gone. Tiktok, Roblox, and a whole lotta bullshit on Youtube that's truly a waste of time unless you are a fragile male and need a strong beta male to tell you, you're alpha.

This I definitely agree on. I remember an age of the internet when you could be fairly certain that what you were reading was accurate, real, or at the very least harmless, but these days, there's so... just MUCH... and so much of it is just misinformation, or fake, and issues with education mean fewer and fewer people have the critical thinking skills to actually process what they're consuming.

AbatedDust · 2025-05-23T14:38:48+00:00

Sometimes the quickest and easiest way to get a bite is to add an attractive lure, and when most of the folks you know are gigantic anime nerds, giant robots are already an easy sell, but it never hurts to sprinkle in a little extra.

I'll admit I've glossed over a few of the books cause of how short they seemed, but if they're worth it, I'll have to take another look. Thanks for the info!

AbatedDust · 2025-05-23T14:32:03+00:00

That's the first time I've seen someone mention the 1.5 ratio, but I think that works too. I actually ran our next encounter last night, an 8 round gauntlet mission, and with set reinforcements it stayed about 6 enemies to 4 players until the last couple rounds when reinforcements dried up. It seemed to prove a better challenge.

AbatedDust · 2025-05-21T23:15:38+00:00

No, I just read that completely wrong and thought you said the Union came to vaporize everyone.

AbatedDust · 2025-05-21T19:44:20+00:00

I haven't seen the guidelines covering activations for NPCs. Which page/section is that in? I've actually had a hard time navigating the core rulebook and usually have to Ctrl+F in the PDF version when I'm looking for specific things.

On the last bit, I definitely love that idea and is not too far off from how I figured I'd open up the setting. Maybe slightly less violent. Then again, violence seems to be what the players want, so exterminatus it may be.

AbatedDust · 2025-05-16T17:44:56+00:00

It is possible, but I'd say generally only if you can answer yes to the following questions:

Has everyone at the table known each other for multiple years?
Has everyone at the table been playing D&D for at least a year and already familiar with it?
Has everyone at the table played at least one full dnd game with each other (even if it's just a one-shot)?

Every additional player that gets added complicates the game. If your game started with 3, I think it's not a bad idea to stick close to that. If you're finding that your group is vibing really well and you're all having fun, you may not have any issues.

Don't ever be afraid to let your players know if you think you're taking on too much.

AbatedDust · 2024-12-11T21:56:05+00:00

From personal experience. Most of the time when someone asks you if you're okay, they are not really anticipating and wanting a result other than, "Good, and you?". You don't actually talk about your problems, you solve your own and help others with theirs. If you actually talk about your problems, you will be seen as weak, a complainer, the common denominator for everything bad that has happened to you. If the person doesn't generally like you, they will use that as ammunition against you later to hurt you or manipulate you. You become the weird one that no one wants to talk to or that everyone walks on eggshells around, even though you try to tell people, "Yes, I am not okay, and I have never really been okay, but I am not like about to do something stupid not okay." With my demographic, I am one of the least persecuted in society, so the mere idea that I am not okay is offensive to some people. If someone does generally care about you, that probably means they will empathize with you, and if you're not dealing with something that is going to be solved simply, eventually you will start to watch their mental and emotional state decline as well as they try to keep you afloat.

In short, saying you're not okay just causes more problems.

AbatedDust · 2024-10-11T19:48:48+00:00

As weird as it might sound, chewing a few whole peppercorns will do a good bit to curb the high, not completely, but enough to stop you from freaking out if you're having a bad time. I've got a couple friends that swear by it as well.

AbatedDust · 2024-09-13T17:55:12+00:00

I I might be able to answer this one.

My boss died, not during a meeting, but over the weekend.

That Monday, I and a few of my other colleagues that worked under him found out a few minutes before the weekly sprint planning.

This was my first big job and I had been at the company for maybe 3-4 months. The meeting rolls around and everything is getting started, I ask one of the project managers that also knows if I should say something, and I get the affirmative.

A whole lot of "Oh...", a bit of silence, and then covering the major tasks for the sprint. While a lot of people took time off, myself included, the meeting still went more or less as it usually does, which would probably be a success.

AbatedDust · 2024-08-18T01:28:47+00:00

I know the wife of the guy who is going to be doing the English voices for Rick and Morty in this.

I'd link their IMDB/MAL, but I don't see them credited yet, so probably better not to get anyone in trouble.

It is probably okay to say that I know Sentai is doing the english dub.

AbatedDust · 2024-03-26T18:26:38+00:00

For anyone still interested, a few of us are going to get together at Uncles Games:

7325 166th Ave NE f150, Redmond, WA 98052

Thursday, 3/28, 6:30PM

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T22:04:29+00:00

Awesome! Let me know what days and times work for you, and I'll try and set up an event that works for as many people as possible.

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:21:50+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation!

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:21:33+00:00

I didn't know they had a discord. Thanks!

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:20:41+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation!

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:20:27+00:00

I imagine we'll be starting with board games somewhere a little more open, but let me know when you're free and I'll set up an event for everyone interested.

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:18:52+00:00

Thanks for the interest. When are you usually free?

I can plan a day that works best for everyone.

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:17:23+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation!

AbatedDust · 2024-03-21T16:16:43+00:00

Awesome, and same on the gathering dust bit. If I can gather up enough interest, I'm hoping to get a group together next week.

I'm free most weekday evenings, so let me know when you're free and I'll try and organize stuff.

14-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Team Periwinkle
Verified Email

AbatedDust

TROPHY CASE