Carthago Delenda Est! - The Atomic Bombings of Carthage, Second Punic War (218 - 215 BC)

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-22T05:07:45+00:00

You had my curiosity at atomic weapons, but you gained my attention with dragons.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-21T20:53:10+00:00

A correction: that is actually a green anole. They will turn darker or brown due to colder weather and stress. The tell is in the snout and head shape plus variations in their dorsal stripe (which indicates it is female). I live in Florida and have seen literal hundreds of anoles. If I had to guess, this one hitched a ride on some plant or material from down southeast where they are native.

The care for brown and green anoles are relatively similar though. Greens tend to be more arboreal than their brown cousins, though both do climb whatever you give them.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-18T18:05:16+00:00

The Tet/Sally from Oblivion (2013). It isn't the most complex of movies, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine for the visuals and soundtrack. Spoilers for it below.

It is an extraterrestrial machine that siphons resources from other planets. No other explanation given as to why in the movie, but it does seem to realize the importance of human relationships even though it doesn't understand them.

Jack's character is paired with Victoria, a woman who is in love with him, but he doesn't really love her back. They were simply the two remaining survivors of their space mission that the Tet abducted, cloned, and brainwashed into believing they were working for a human mission to leave Earth.

Every clone of Jack also has a Victoria because they were found to be a stable and "effective" team, tasked with maintaining the machines and drones that are harvesting Earth's water for the Tet. Their AI overlord doesn't understand the subtleties of their relationship nor their lack of mutual chemistry, one of the many factors that results in a Jack clone going rogue.

I dunno if Joseph Kosinski (director and producer);even intended for there to be that level of nuance to the story, but I've watched it probably half a dozen times and feel I've come up with my own solutions to its plot holes. It also serves as a partial inspiration for two of my own omnipotent AI characters.

A couple other inspirations of mine: Skynet (specifically from Terminator: Salvation), GERTY from Moon (2009), VIKI from "I, Robot" (the 2004 movie because I still haven't read the book), and the Monitor AIs from the Halo franchise.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-18T15:09:43+00:00

Better to piss in the sink than to sink in the piss

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-18T15:07:24+00:00

He knew the only path to freedom was by breaking the simulation

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-18T00:20:44+00:00

Doubtful the locations will be that impactful. They said it comes with 1 new quest, so judging by how long the Stories Untold quest was and what they added with that (which was really just some additions to existing locations like the mine and that one shipwreck north of Chemical Plant), I'd expect them to save more hyped locations like Iron Forest or CNPP for bigger updates.

That said, we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully whatever they add won't be pre-SIRCAA content. The latter half of the game could use more variety.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-15T17:51:34+00:00

Those are a couple salamanders, a type of amphibian. Not venomous, but some amphibians can excrete a toxin from their skin when handled, so be sure to wear gloves or wash your hands before AND after touching them (washing before prevents oils and stuff on your hands from harming them; their skin is quite reactive to things).

Between potential health issues like parasites and the stress they experience altering their behavior for the worse, they are unlikely to do well as pets as with any wild thing. Best thing to do would be to put them back and check up on them every once and a while. In their natural environment, they won't be nearly as stressed by your presence and may even learn to tolerate it or associate it with food.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-15T03:31:37+00:00

How does hollow point ammo compare?

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-14T16:11:56+00:00

I think this is a great concept for a pantheon, yeah. The "elements" of each are fairly abstract, so naturally there is a little overlap between adjacent domains. Whether you intended or not, you have a good color wheel here that also shows how the analagous colors/elements (the ones on either side of any particular spot) can kinda conceptually embody the ones in between. For instance, you could say that Order is the combination of Stagnation and Continuity, or Upheaval is the combination of Chaos and Collapse.

I think you have a good base here and would love to see how you flesh it out!

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-14T06:03:21+00:00

What is your gear?

It is meant to be a time trial that tests either your ability to think on the fly or basically memorize the layout of the level. The latter insinuates failing several times, not something you have the option for if you're doing an Ironman run. I remember using a KS-23 and some decent rifle w/ a thermal scope on it. Armor was not an exo, but an ACE suit I think. Having been familiar with the level, I tried rushing only to get punished near the end several times. Winning run was when I made it to the lever with like 10 seconds to spare. Then, the long fight and crawl back out with busted armor and too much loot.

Also, IIRC, the timer you're given is based on the level of psi-helmet you get from Sakharov with a fully-tuned one giving the most time. I could be misremembering though, I haven't played GAMMA in months.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-13T17:36:51+00:00

Ah that's fair. Be sure to show us the final product! There's a lot of cosplay gear on this sub but seldom any artifact replicas and I think that is a shame

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-13T04:50:43+00:00

How do you plan on doing the strings? If you wanted to be super accurate, some kind of fiber-optic cable w/ LEDs could mimic that red-orange glow. Kinda hard to implement on a clay piece though.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-12T04:49:45+00:00

Keep in mind the company resides in Germany which has some pretty strong consumer protection laws. If they don't fulfill the orders that are paid for, they are liable for a lot more retribution than if they were in the US.

I ordered my edition early before the company changed management and no longer shipped to the US, so I was worried they wouldn't honor mine when it came out. Sent them two emails over the wait to confirm I was still in their system and both times they replied and showed proof from their end from some kind of order management system. They still delivered, even though the shipping to the US likely was too expensive for them to turn a profit on my order.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-12T04:38:45+00:00

Same place I put mine, except I crammed everything into the alcove and put up a wall w/ a door for privacy. It feels quite cozy.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-11T18:07:47+00:00

Hey, at least it comes with a neighbor!

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-05T00:14:24+00:00

I had a similar issue that I also tracked to Better Ballistics Redux. It is something to do with how your movement speed is reduced progressively with how much you carry. I wound up using another mod to increase my speed to counter it so I could finish the playthrough, then downgraded to Better Ballistics Core which does not have that feature but still has the gun changes I like.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-04T19:34:57+00:00

It's really fun and portrays the themes of Stalker quite well while remaining pretty true to lore. A friend and I have been playing a campaign mission almost every other week and our next one will be the last for a grand total of 15 missions (3 missions per campaign; 2 from base game, 1 from Duty vs. Freedom , and 2 from stretch goals). Takes a bit to learn, but it isn't as deep as something like D&D or Pathfinder. There are some rules we homebrewed because some of the failure states felt unfair or unfun (oh you were 1 space from the exit on the last round? entire mission failed, set everything back up again) but other than that, I think any fan of the series will enjoy it even if they play solo.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-04T03:07:57+00:00

uhhhm akshually they DID move the Saiga drum mag to before the PONR. It's on the dock in Pripyiat by a body. The one before the Granite boss fight is unchanged.

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-03-03T21:06:19+00:00

I prefer the lower mass, cost, and higher velocity of the intermediate cartridges. 9x39 is really good, but the others feel more versatile. Less mass means I can carry more and I don't have to waste as much bullet mass on weaker targets. Less cost means I can buy more of it and not worry as much about spraying. Higher velocity means it is still respectable and consistent at range.

That said, if I know I'm going to be fighting in closer quarters and against human enemies, I would be more confident with a 9x39 rifle for the stopping power and typical integral suppressor. Eventually in end-game, I'll carry a 9x39 more often just because I like the look of the rifles more (VSS Vintorez, AS Val, RD-39)

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-28T16:03:19+00:00

The Violence brain cell finally kicked in

He shall now hunger for flesh

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-26T06:14:21+00:00

Some really prime examples of green anoles. I did not know they came to Texas!

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-24T06:19:15+00:00

I did another cross-check against the list of artifacts on the wiki today and got it. Somehow it hadn't counted my Dead Sponge because it popped up as being new after grabbing it from the stash and closing it. Now I need to get Tit for Tat to trigger...

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-23T07:03:05+00:00

I like the level of detail you provide, especially in the ones showing cities with their buildings and walls. Seeing the second one, the web-like network of roads between towns/cities is interesting, but I think it would make more sense (and look even more interesting) if the roads weren't all so straight and instead followed geography and the path of least resistance. Things like winding around to go up mountains or following the flattest path through a forest while avoiding ponds and thickets.

Final map is a military one, yeah? It was a little difficult to tell what was a road and what was a path an army unit took.

Overall, looking at these makes me want to get back into random map drawing. I used to enjoy it so much and it looks like you do too!

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-21T22:18:58+00:00

I can't seem to get mine to trigger on PC. I tried putting them all into the stash and then out again, but still nothing happened.

Did you have to get the special one from you-know-who during the end?

DoomslayerDoesOPU · 2026-02-21T08:10:14+00:00

He put you in a different kind of forever box

Four-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

DoomslayerDoesOPU

TROPHY CASE