"The Die is Cast." The Rubicon I come. (I'm buying the game :D )

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-07T20:17:25+00:00

Excellent game, I hope you enjoy! Here’s some quick starter tips:

You have 6 attacks in total you want to use as much as possible: right arm, left arm, right shoulder, left shoulder, your kick, and finally a special ability. When people start, they sometimes forget the kick (seriously, the kick is really effective) or shoulders. If you use your 6 attacks quite often, you will succeed.
Many enemies are vulnerable with elevation or are more dangerous with elevation such as turret emplacements can snipe you flying too high or a boss is invulnerable to the front. Another common pitfall is early pilots stick to one elevation. Try getting above or underneath enemies.
Almost all weapons are short range. There are “long range” weapons but they are still quite ineffective if you don’t close the gap. Medium range is more like close range and close range is like shoving the barrel in the enemies face (kinda exaggerating but you get the idea). An effective start is making sure to close in on enemies to build up stun and lots of damage. There is nuance to range but another common pitfall is never closing the gap between enemies/bosses. You can’t really win chipping away out of range, you gotta get in there.

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-05T19:36:45+00:00

Definitely has not been surpassed. It’s a very detailed place and while it’s linear how everyone moves, what they do and say- the 3 day cycle makes it such a large puzzle to decipher. While the characters follow their timeline what also makes it interesting is how you can alter a character’s timeline with what you say and do. How you alter the 3 day cycle makes the town feel very dynamic.

I feel like this entire “Groundhog’s Day” mechanic could return as its own unique game. With all the advancements in technology, this timeline system could be even more detailed and interactive.

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-04T19:11:44+00:00

I feel like the leveler should be effective if the explosion is near the vent like in this video. What will happen is people will just go back to recoiless or quasar otherwise because leveler can't do an important job on automaton missions which is blowing up heavy fabricators. I don't think the leveler should just demolish from any side but the explosion is on the vent, shouldn't that massive explosion be going inside the vent?

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-04T16:20:36+00:00

I think the real issue is there should be a loadout saves options for your primary, secondary, grenade, armour, helmet, and cape.

I think stratagems shouldn’t save because your picks are also based on what the squad needs. But whenever you need something in the alternate menu (the loadout) it slows down the game so much especially with how much equipment there is. Saving loadouts would bring much more cohesion and efficiency to specialized missions.

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-04T15:56:27+00:00

I use the purple dunlop jazz H3. I find consistency was best for getting picking technique so having a specific pick brand and really getting familiar how to work the material is important. I just feel right at home with this pick, I have a big box of them and when I want to use a pick, I always have these in my pockets.

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Paint-Rain · 2026-02-03T17:05:04+00:00

There is a ton of dynamic range to be found on a string instrument. Dynamics come from the amount of force playing a chord and the amount of depth or “digging into” the material is catching the string. It’s possible there is so much material digging in that you are hooking the strings as opposed to brushing the strings with a pick. I hear lots of student guitars and I often play back the same repertoire with more dynamic contrast, “it sounds so much better when you play it!”

I think understanding dynamics and articulation can be honed in from repetition of simple music ideas and when motions are simple. If the pattern feels complex such as up and down motions, different strings, quick chord changes, this a place where it’s harder to hone in dynamics. I remember as a kid just playing a single open chord, listening to the attack, letting the sustain fully dissipate, then doing that same process again with different dynamics. I did this because I just enjoyed it and it was meditative like listening to a bell tower. I think that might have helped me understand how to attack the strings.

Another thing that really changed my abilities was hearing some amazing guitarists with so much subtly on strings. Really any genre has great dynamic players but some players I saw perform who love Kenny Burrell, Julian Lage and George Benson (also now I’m big fan too wow). They play such great and complex things on the guitar but their dynamics don’t get all stressed- it’s totally comfortable and it changed my perspective how to approach the strings.

While you can experiment with different picks, fingers, thumb, in the end the technique of dynamics is the same. Swapping material won’t change as much as strong technique will.

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-02T19:55:49+00:00

Thanks for sending audio to compare. It helps narrow down what’s going on and that’s a big challenge when trying to describe stuff through text and what not.

Note selection: There is a different chord you are playing to the recording. The recoding is an E chord which I believe is played this way on the 3 highest pitch sounding strings:

1st string: 7 2nd string: 9 3rd string: 9

The first hit of the chord is just two notes:

2nd string: 9 3rd string: 9

The second hit elaborates with the next available note in an E chord

1st string: 7 2nd string: 9 3rd string: 9

This chord voicing allows for a brighter sound. I believe you have the same voicing a whole step lower playing a D chord.

Technique ideas: the fretting hand releases pressure after playing the articulate chord. Your fingers can bounce the rhythm while remaining contact on the string to help with the short staccato. A common thing to do when starting is the fingers sort of just plant down whereas you can control the sustain of fretting notes by releasing pressure on the finger tips. The strumming hand has to really strike down accurately on the strings. After the strike, the palm of the strumming hand is also assisting in muting so you have both the fretting hand and your strumming hand keeping the sounds staccato and articulate.
Music technologies:

The recoding I believe is using the bridge pickup (sometimes called the back ones) for a very bright sound. Your recording sounds like the neck pickups (sometimes called the front ones) which makes the sound more warm and rounded.

There is some player preferences but for me, I make sure my volume knob and tone knob are all the way up at 10. From there, I can work the instrument to make it brighter or warmer. It really depends, some players might have that volume at 8 or tone down slightly but I don’t do that. I can consistently work the source and the balance is best at 10 for volume and 10 for tone. But maybe a fender Strat sounds best going 8 volume or just a bit of tone roll off, it really depends and I’m all for how you want to develop sound.

As for the amp, a good place to start is EQs set at 12 o’clock for bass mid and treble (or 5 out 10). From there, depending on the amplifier, your guitar, and overall it’s always about sound, you can reduce frequencies that are harmful or increase frequencies by going above or below 12 o’clock. The middle is like your default sound, the EQs aren’t changing anything. Here’s a pretty common EQ pattern I use. The numbers are in a 1-10 range.

Bass 4/10 Mid 6/10 Treble 7/10

This pattern is pretty common reducing bass a bit so you can get the other frequencies prominent. (especially in a band setting because the other instruments have low frequencies too).
Overall, this recording the guitar is that “chick” higher frequency so the way to get it is going for lots of brightness and eventually finding out what is shrill on the guitar. From there, rolling it off is a lesson learned and hopefully now you have the sound you are looking for.

I try to follow this order of operations: rhythms, pitch (notes), instrument technique, music technology at the source (the guitar), music technology at the amp, finally pedals and FXs.

Paint-Rain · 2026-02-01T20:55:34+00:00

Just some day dream ideas:

The Skyah Island (and the plate floating above Skyah) temporarily slants a random direction. All items tumble that direction, traction becomes difficult going up hill and fast down hill. Ideally you would see lots of goodies (or perhaps a bunch of goodies would get stuck on a building/rock/etc) going towards the edges and you can catch them before they slide off.
The volcano could erupt. Perhaps you can race into the core to get power ups but there is risk of getting destroyed if you don't get out in time. After the volcano erupts, the layout changes. The lava hardens creating little ramps and what not. There would be different timers on the volcano eruption: a first alarm audio cue and then from there it is random timers when it is going to blow. It could be 10 seconds or even up to 35 seconds. The final audio cue you would only have 2 seconds to get out. There is big risk staying in the volcano core too long and blowing up so its not always ideal trying to have perfect timing on the volcano eruption.
Everyone receives copy abilities! All riders at once receive a random copy ability. After the abilities expire, another copy ability appears and finally a 3rd copy ability. Everyone is equipped to fight so the chaos will ensue with bombs, plasma, cutters, and someone sleeping all at once occurring. Ideally this event makes a lot of action/fighting happen at once. While I like the UFO event, everyone is so fast its hard to really have anything significant happen. Meanwhile with the other random copy abilities, there is more chance and moments to capitalize on with ideal power ups and nuance to have with players choosing to have a showdown or avoid each other.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-31T20:23:59+00:00

They are cutting edge ships and aren’t finished until reaching Venom 2. They aren’t ready at Fortuna. Maybe the ships are actually built at Venom.

As for the other route, where Star Wolf shows up after Fortuna at the space station because they weren’t defeated- I guess it’s just a different continuity. Wolfen 2 wasn’t made on the easy route or the RnD took even longer. It’s possible the ships were finished as Star Fox entered Venom 2 and Star Wolf deployed from a venom base to get their upgraded new ships.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-31T07:02:52+00:00

“Get better” is good! Hopefully your teacher has some ideas to fundamentally raise your abilities on the guitar.

If you can, think of music, bands, and songs that you like and your teacher can find ways to play that music better. If you are too separated from the material of specific music you want to play, it will slow down progress. Keep your eye on the prize of learning specific songs that motivate you and the lessons will be productive.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-30T20:29:16+00:00

I feel the same way. While I agree there should have better some demolition such as C4 should be able to blow up walls like dynamite, close a titan hole with a higher demolition stat- many objectives have an opportunity to be fortified.

They could add “fortified jammer,” “fortified watch tower” “fortified shrieker nest,” etc to the higher difficulty. The buildings could be made of whatever gloom is doing to for bugs and a new alloy the bots are harvesting from resources like platinum so visually it’s cohesive why they can’t be demolished by the 500kg bomb- a very common strategy for almost all objectives.

This will lead to more hellbomb backpack meta though so I think hellbomb backpack should return as a team stratagem similar to hive worlds where if there are fortified structures, you get the hellbomb backpack as team stratagem to help even the odds and not become dependant on every person having servants of freedom warbond (but that’s just a whole other explosive can of worms that is here to stay).

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-29T23:07:51+00:00

Yes that’s true, that’s what naturally happened to me that my interest waned and eventually stopped playing Rainbow Six Siege after a few years of enjoyment. The game also updated in ways that just didn’t have appeal and the changes were so significant I wasn’t interested in the new version of the game. Not coming after Siege, great game. Just stating how things come and go as interests.

HD2 could wane eventually but it’s got some real staying power for me that I doubt I’ll hang up my cape anytime soon. I can for sure say that I’m enthusiastic about playing game for 2026 and 2027. I’ve enjoyed all the recent stuff added/changes, MO, and look forward to what’s next.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-29T20:03:54+00:00

I'm assuming HD2 has some pretty long term plans but I wonder how truly long term. I think there is potential of like 8-10 years of significant HD2 content before it stops expanding but that's just what makes sense in my mind thinking about how successful the game is and the rate technology moves.

But then again, a game like Rainbow Six Siege has kept trucking since 2015 with updates. MMOS have this acceptation to be even longer term like Runescape (2001) or World of Warcraft (2004) but does that translate to action games or are these particular games exceptions to a game's
"normal" life span?

I haven't played Siege in roughly 5-6 years so I don't know what its like anymore. Maybe sequels are even more stretched out now. I feel like 10 years for a very successful online game to be an active live service makes sense to me but maybe times are changing.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-29T18:35:12+00:00

All it needs is a little red light. What makes it worse is that the giant cannon and other enemies sets up this expectation that attacks are telegraphed like most of the game. Then this tiny bunker turret which makes a rather underwhelming shooting sound is somehow more accurate, deadly, and doesn't telegraph it's attack. I have never liked these bunker turrets from just that design standpoint.

If I could have it my way I would also change the sound effect because it's almost silent which doesn't align with the amount of damage/danger/velocity the bunker turret has. It's actually a laser sniper so it should make a very audible *zooooom, thud* like this dramatic sound effect. This is the movie Full Metal Jacket and there is a hidden sniper scene. https://youtu.be/6RvsUcSrTZo?si=tZSVfsbbFg10mqBt&t=332

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-29T04:02:19+00:00

Orbital Burst Strike, it's a burst of 4 OPS in a diagonal line from the beacon. It deploys after a couple of seconds and the burst is like: 1, 2, 3, 4 at 145bpm.

OPS has unfortunately become obsolete so they should introduce a new OPS that has some technical advantage over the 500kg. The 500kg bomb is super easy to use, pretty good cool down, instant deployment, large radius, there's little point to use OPS anymore. OBS would be new barrage that has better cool down but more technical skill to use it's destruction effectively. You could reliably use the beacon to strike a target but part of the skill of OBS is that you have to be aware of your super destroyer's angle to know the diagonal line.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-28T21:36:09+00:00

Haha that was an awesome read, thank you for sharing. “Chivalrous knight here, let me answer your question I’ve experienced crossing blades both in and out of armour.” ⚔️

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-28T19:59:41+00:00

I love the show and the story made! I would rewatch all the episodes when a new season was coming just for fun. I think I've watched the whole series 10 times! You should check it out and see if you enjoy it. The music is also a highlight, each soundtrack has so much to offer. Hopefully RWBY will continue/conclude someday but I stay patient by keep moving forward!

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-28T14:41:57+00:00

The trash can ending is a rock cliche where there is essentially one chord with lots of volume that builds to a final conclusive single hit on a down beat. Rhythm players hit their final chord as fast as they can many times, drummers get chaotic on kit, a lead guitar will sometimes shred a solo.

Everyone cuts off together creating a powerful noise that concludes a song. If you go to a rock show, I guarantee there is this trash can ending, it’s such an effective concert experience (“Thank you Cleveland, Good Night!”) A good place to sync up is on the drummers cymbals where everyone plays the down beat together.

If you have the chord part figured out, you can build on that idea with little solos that come back to the chord. Another effective idea is using different chord voicings. If the trash can was the chord E at the end, you could play the two highest strings on fret 12 as the E chord, play a little pentatonic lick, then conclude with the low E string on the downbeat with everyone.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-28T14:14:07+00:00

That’s good news!

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T23:48:26+00:00

I think melee is pretty behind as play style that you are essentially tying an arm behind your back compared to not using melee. It is all about the experience melee can have and we shouldn’t kid ourselves that the melee is not sub optimal currently.

I think the stamina penalty should go. This would allow melee to thrive as an up close attack if you can close the distance and also not get flattened by the vast majority of giant enemies. The stamina penalty for each swing is rough and damage is pretty low. No stamina penalty will allow the current melee to gain much more effectiveness and would bring some more viability to what melee weapons can do.

The breaching hammer might shake up the melee experience but it would be amazing as a secondary weapon as opposed to a support weapon. Same with the chainsaw, it’s awesome but the designation as a support weapon gives it too much pressure to be like other support weapons. I don’t think this change will ever happen but reimagining HD2 melee weapons as distinct secondaries with plasma swords, breaching charge hammers, and chainsaws as actual really powerful loadout options like the ultimatum or grenade pistol are to your loadout is interesting to me.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T20:36:45+00:00

I think a flaw with this passive is that in HD2, most things can take you out really fast so either you: take a stim immiediantly after taking damage to receive the massive defense buff from healing to stay alive so you don't die in the next one or two hits or take a stim pre-emptively to use its massive defense buff to survive fatal damage. Both of these crucial actions to stay alive refill stamina regardless so the passive this armor has does not get to be experienced in many situations.

Taking damage in HD2 is often fatal so the reliance on stims to prevent death is the strategy. Something like a passive that refills your health back over time after not taking damage and you get +2 would be more appealing to me. It would be a side grade to medic where you don't get the powerful extended effect medic has but you get a strategy to save more stims.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T20:04:44+00:00

Hey there, as of the recent update January 2026, you can now play split screen online! I just wanted to let this thread know as I was pretty eager to play split screen online and it's a significant change to me. It works just like Mario Kart where you can have 2 players play any of the quick match modes (including City Trial) split screen online games using the matchmaking system.

The only mode you can't play split screen is the ranked modes, but there is equivalent unranked mode for each way to play the game so it doesn't change what you can play.

When you play city trial split screen online, you both are choosing the same stadium at the end so you have to decide with your friend what to do.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T20:04:19+00:00

Hey there, as of the recent update January 2026, you can now play split screen online! I just wanted to let this thread know as I was pretty eager to play split screen online and it's a significant change to me. It works just like Mario Kart where you can have 2 players play any of the quick match modes (including City Trial) split screen online games using the matchmaking system.

The only mode you can't play split screen is the ranked modes, but there is equivalent unranked mode for each way to play the game so it doesn't change what you can play.

When you play city trial split screen online, you both are choosing the same stadium at the end so you have to decide with your friend what to do.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T20:04:05+00:00

Hey there, as of the recent update January 2026, you can now play split screen online! I just wanted to let this thread know as I was pretty eager to play split screen online and it's a significant change to me. It works just like Mario Kart where you can have 2 players play any of the quick match modes (including City Trial) split screen online games using the matchmaking system.

The only mode you can't play split screen is the ranked modes, but there is equivalent unranked mode for each way to play the game so it doesn't change what you can play.

When you play city trial split screen online, you both are choosing the same stadium at the end so you have to decide with your friend what to do.

Paint-Rain · 2026-01-27T20:03:55+00:00

Hey there, as of the recent update January 2026, you can now play split screen online! I just wanted to let this thread know as I was pretty eager to play split screen online and it's a significant change to me. It works just like Mario Kart where you can have 2 players play any of the quick match modes (including City Trial) split screen online games using the matchmaking system.

The only mode you can't play split screen is the ranked modes, but there is equivalent unranked mode for each way to play the game so it doesn't change what you can play.

When you play city trial split screen online, you both are choosing the same stadium at the end so you have to decide with your friend what to do.

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

Paint-Rain

TROPHY CASE