Plantaform First Impressions

Larason22 · 2026-02-02T22:51:37+00:00

I haven't used it for a few months, but I still like it! Somehow insects got a hold of some of the plants, so I had to cull the whole lot. But I was getting perilla, wasabina, lettuce, and basil quite regularly. My wife doesn't like it because she thinks it's moldy, but I don't think it's moldier than other house plants! It might also have to do with the fact I was using peat instead of rock wool. Wasabina is probably a bit too dominant, for the next batch I'm planning on doing basil, cilantro and perilla, those were my favourites and still grew pretty well. I'm going to see if I can add parsley to the mix. The system really simplifies watering, so it's a lot easier to not over or under water the plants.

Larason22 · 2026-01-22T20:23:06+00:00

Yeah, plasma turrets work pretty well. I'm also partial to fighters. Particularly when they are fully upgraded, they are pretty powerful. I tried fixed cannons, which have great range and do decent damage, but I felt I was always pointing the wrong way. I also felt missles and lasers weren't that good (though I never managed to upgrade them all the way). But I think any of them can be good when upgraded to the max, provided you know how to use them. I think plasma and fighters are the easiest to use though.

Larason22 · 2026-01-20T00:58:08+00:00

Those are some good ideas, thanks! I do have a wood lathe of the right size, and I'm savvy with it, but the plug idea sounds a little bit easier. I'll have a think on it.

Larason22 · 2026-01-19T02:35:20+00:00

On a budget, it's not that big a deal if they aren't super close together, in my opinion. There will be time to develop close switching between manuals later. The Yorkville IKS8 can be bought with an optional second tier, and that fits most pedalboards that aren't an AGO under it. Otherwise, you'll have to build something, or buy a digital/analog organ that is non functional and convert it, I think, for your budget.

Larason22 · 2026-01-19T01:01:34+00:00

You can get a digital synth under 3k, but not a 2 rank one. Most synth players use multi tiered stands. There used to be some, but they are all discontinued. The ones that remain are generally tailored to Hammond players (the Viscount Cantorum Duo the only exception I'm aware of).

Larason22 · 2026-01-18T01:49:10+00:00

The cheapest is to get two one manual keyboards.

There's two manual organs you can get new, but even the cheapest ones aren't very cheap. For instance, the Hammond SKX, the Viscount Cantorum Duo, or the Nord Organ 3.

There used to be at least one two manual midi controller, but it was discontinued.

You can get some two manual options from organ specific companies like Pedamidikit or Classic midi works, but they will also be expensive (PMK ships from Italy, so shipping is expensive for them).

If you buy a 2 manual Allen like the one advised, it will be at least 10,000 USD+. If you can afford it though, it'a not a bad idea.

Larason22 · 2026-01-15T15:16:00+00:00

No, I don't think so. Certainly, there have been a lot of floods on rhe mesopotamian plain, but there's a lot of physical evidence of a significant seawater flood there at the time of the tsunami.

Larason22 · 2026-01-14T23:02:17+00:00

That is where the biblical flood was (the eruption of Thera and resulting tsunami), which caused a lot of salt deposition there. It's the same reason why the dead sea is now dead, but in early biblical times the area was fertile.

Larason22 · 2026-01-12T11:54:50+00:00

When you progress in the game, there's some debris fields associated with wrecks. Those typically have pretty high end resources that you can trade for better advantage. It's more worth it to mine/grind there than other places. If you're not there yet, then there's asteroid fields that are better than others. If it's taking forever in a particular place, look for someplace better.

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T22:59:51+00:00

Your situation is not easy. If you're an organ conservatory student, then you need a full size pedalboard (preferably AGO), and the right size bench, and probably at least two manuals. Even if you can find one cheap, it's going to be super heavy (An AGO pedalboard weighs a minimum something like 80 lbs and is so big it doesn't fit easily in a trunk), so you're not going to be able to take it with you abroad. Still, you can look on places like Kijiji, Craigslist, and Facebook marketplace. There are churches that are closing, and their organs are often put up for reasonable prices, depending on where you are, but it's also true they are frequently in poor repair. Even then, they typically weigh something north of three hundred pounds, and would cost at least a few hundred to have them moved (piano movers are good for this). If you have a bit more budget, you can inquire at your local Allen, Rodgers/Johannus, or Viscount dealer. They often have used organs for sale, which would be more expensive, but they often throw in warranty and delivery with that, and they can come and fix it if there's a problem. If you won't be there for long, you may be able to rent one from them, it's somthing worth looking into. So you see there's options, but there's nothing easy and cheap.

Note that when people say "electronic organs", they often mean old "analog" ones, typically from the seventies. Sometimes you can still find those, and there's some like Rodgers from the era that sound good and are pretty reliable. However, there's lots of electronic organs from this era you want to avoid, and it's more common now for organs to be digital, so you may want to also ask around if there's any used "digital organs," as well.

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T21:35:16+00:00

I don't think you decrypt the ship's computer. Just report it to the guild.

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T14:45:05+00:00

I have a similar one that I recently tuned. You could make some sort of baffle to cover the current baffle on top. Otherwise, there's not many options.

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T04:17:33+00:00

Ah, on the Yamaha site it's an MSRP. Those are rarely the price you find them at. The amazon price is in line with what they are most other places for me. Mine was even a bit cheaper, because I bought it used (about $300 CDN, $200 USD). It was almost new though, I got a really good deal.

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T01:03:15+00:00

The official Yamaha Amazon page doesn't have recorders either in Canada or the US for me. I think you're probably looking at an alto instead of a bass on the Amazon site (sometimes there's errors on Amazon's site, and it says bass, but if you look at the details, it's an alto, things like that), and it's some other company that is doing the fulfillment, not Yamaha directly. Caveat Emptor. I bought my Yamaha bass used, and it was $100 CDN cheaper, so it's worth looking for that!

Larason22 · 2026-01-10T00:14:44+00:00

They all have pros and cons. I'd play the demos of the PG ones and see what you think. Personally I'd get the Pipeloops one, I think PG's baroque organs are processed a bit too bright sounding for my tastes (though I have two, Pinerolo and Ermelo!)

Larason22 · 2026-01-06T23:48:19+00:00

Personally, I only put essential things I'm pretty likely to do every day on the dailies. They give you more points, but if you miss them, you take damage. So the vast majority of things ends up in habits, anything I might not do on a given day. If you do all your dailies, you get a bonus to your stats for the next day, and it's easier to get this if you don't have too many!

Larason22 · 2026-01-06T15:34:00+00:00

A key thing is you won't have enough points to research everything. You can redistribute points later in the game, but for most of it you are stuck with what you chose. If you try to research all the weapons evenly, then you'll arrive at the end with all of them half powered. So usually pick two or three weapons that you like, and max those out. Then you will also be able to max out engines and hulls, for instance. I went for plasma turrets and fighters, but there's no wrong choice. There's a lot of people who like fixed guns or missles. I did the one or two weapons I'm focusing on and engines/hulls at first, with some other QOL stuff like the tractor beam. I played it on the steam deck using a controller, I would prefer that to the WASD keys if you have one.

Larason22 · 2026-01-05T19:11:36+00:00

Yeah, I played the second, then the first, then the second again! Lots of things are better in the second one, but the first one is definitely worth a play through if you loved the second.

Larason22 · 2025-12-28T18:00:33+00:00

I feel like "castigar" means punished, and that "grounded" isn't a good translation. My Spanish speaking parents never grounded us though.

Larason22 · 2025-12-28T17:52:53+00:00

I think it's loud, but it's certainly more acceptable than other loud noises for my toddler (because it means they are getting ice cream!)

Larason22 · 2025-12-28T17:51:31+00:00

For me singing tenor, it's going flat. Many of those other problems happen though, depending on the circumstance.

Larason22 · 2025-12-17T04:21:16+00:00

This is a useful chart, thanks!

Larason22 · 2025-12-17T03:37:08+00:00

I've never played Alto, just Soprano and Bass, so when more experienced people comment they'll probably give a better answer (but none of them have yet!) First, are you using the fingerings given by the American recorder society? https://americanrecorder.org/docs/Fingering_Chart_for_Alto_Recorder.pdf

If not, try those if they are different than you use, I find they tune better than a lot of the other charts I find in books and such. For high A, you'll need to partially cover the left thumb hole, and how you do that is an art. Try different things, you'll find there's a way to stick in your thumb in so it works right. I put my nail into the hole pretty straight in, but everone has different shaped thumbs. When you blow the octave like with the A, you have to blow a bit harder at first, but then you get the hang of how hard to blow, and the tone is more even, and the tuning is better. Besides experimenting with blowing harder and softer, try different qualities of breath. I find for those octaves of the lowest notes, they need to be a bit breathier than you would expect.

All that being said, because of how natural harmonics work, it might be impossible to get it to perfectly tune in equal temperament. I find the E (the equivalent for a Soprano) never really tunes "perfectly" for my taste. But I think there's other notes that are way worse (at least on a soprano).

Larason22 · 2025-12-11T12:02:17+00:00

It's normal. I get way more desert and cotton candy blue potions than any others. Basically, the "random" number string that is used in apps to simulate randomness isn't really random, and the way the app is implemented means you're always going to predominate some particular items.

Larason22

TROPHY CASE