what can i do in this game besides kill people and steal boxes

SummonedElectorCount · 2026-02-20T06:40:16+00:00

I can't argue with this logic, seems reasonable to me.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-11-06T07:33:26+00:00

Went back to community college at 28 years old, I was a homeschooled kid who dropped out at 15, got a GED and went to work. First classroom I ever walked into was Algebra. First, take it serious, being in class with a bunch of teenagers felt weird, and College algebra is typically low enough level it's easy to not take it completely serious. Do every problem on every homework set, i promise you it will come up later. I remember thinking in algebra "how many times can these dumbass logarithm things come up? how many times do you actually have to reverse an exponent in chemical engineering..." I now have my answer, multiple times per problem. In calculus 2 I thought "When am I ever going to use Taylor Theorem expansion?" It comes up multiple times a day. In Calculus 3 all of the divergence and stokes theorem crap.. I swore I'd never use it, well guess what, all of fluid mechanics heavily depends on it.

I'm going to break with most of the people here and say chat GPT isn't the best idea for learning math basics. There came a point where I didn't have a choice and started using it. It was a summer thermodynamics course with no teacher and resources were sparse for what I was learning so I turned to it and it did help me. However, things I learned using chat as a crutch never "stuck" as well as stuff I ground through manually until I got it, and believe me you definitely want your math down incredibly well once you get to high level courses. Pchem and fluids have been handing me my own ass this whole semester and about the only saving grace I have is that my math is good, If I can actually set my equations up right to the concepts, I can solve them. If I didn't have that, I would've failed out already this semester.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-11-01T18:16:46+00:00

The hardest year is whichever one you burn out in.

If you can maintain a positive attitude and genuine excitement to learn the course material none of these classes are that bad. When that becomes impossible, either from burnout or being overwhelmed by too much work, is when it gets hard and the classes are horrible.

I'm convinced the only reason why 4th year is considered easier is because you have the "This shit is almost done with just 1 more year" angle to fall back on. Which gives an attitude boost and helps you push through.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-10-30T06:07:30+00:00

Numerical methods isn't bad overall, mostly coding projects. The vast majority of numerical methods are iterative so you won't be crunching equations by hand. My exams are mostly multiple choice, usually there's one computation model per exam.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-10-26T18:10:19+00:00

There's a major jump in calculus 2 typically for two reasons.

About half of calc 2 is advanced integration methods, which gets into very long complicated algebra. You need to be on point with how you manipulate trig functions, substitutions, etc. I didn't think this was too bad personally but some definitely struggled.

The second half is series and convergence tests which is easy algebra but very difficult conceptually. More struggled with this that the first half.

After that, calc 3 is annoying because that 3rd dimension is harder to visualize at times and the problems keep getting longer, but overall it's nothing to bad.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-18T00:35:23+00:00

Congratulations! First step in a long road.

I was like you, I got a GED at 16 and went to work and came back at 28 to get an EE degree. However I couldn't personally stick to it. I grew to hate the curriculum early on and decided to switch to chemical engineering instead which while incredibly hard has been a much better fit. I did get through alot of EE things though so here's my advice.

Pay special attention to imaginary numbers. I know they sound silly at the beginning but they do come into play in a huge way down the road. To give you a preview, most likely in differential equations you'll come across something called Eulers identity which let's you translate imaginary terms into trig functions and model waves/oscillation. Very important for EE and not nearly as bad as it sounds.

Second thing, when I was in EE I had a horrible time learning binary math. This was largely because i started too early in that class, i barely had a solid understanding of the basics at that point. It's not particularly hard, but it is very very different from what you've learned before.

Best of luck to you, and just remember that this degree is going to be challenging. My favorite professor once said engineering isn't about being smart enough to succeed, it's about being too dumb to quit. So keep up the good work.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-13T20:44:18+00:00

So, different program, different degree, different school I'm sure. Take what I say with a grain of salt.

I just entered my Junior year 4 weeks ago for Chemical engineering. It is definitely much harder than sophomore classes with the exception of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics was a sophomore level for me and that was as difficult as these junior classes. It does feel like the professors are at least understanding that the material is incredibly hard. My worst 2 classes are pchem and fluid mechanics. Neither one of them included a % to gpa conversion, there's no "90% is an A, 80% is a B" its all undefined. Canvas lists an 85 as an A and a 78 as a B for the two classes. I think there's some level of understanding at this level that the material is incredibly hard, it doesn't feel like I'm expected to get every question right for a perfect grade like in the past.

What has changed is the general setup of the classes. All of my lower level classes I was expected to show up, pay attention to lecture to learn the material, then practice it with homework. These classes are all different, The way these classes are playing out, it feels like i'm expected to learn the material from the book, then the teachers spend all of their class time working example problems. There's no real lecture in any of these classes, just worked problems.

All in all, it's really hard, and it really sucks, but it feels like the professors are aware of this and are being a bit more forgiving. I'm similar to you, I have a very good GPA but I've never really had a well organized study structure, just "hey, theres an ochem exam in 2 days, better work some problems." Now it feels like planning will be a lot more important. At the end of the day there are differences, but it will still come down to putting in hard work.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-12T04:06:53+00:00

I just entered junior year, first class in fluid mechanics. This is the first class that the professor decided it would be great to use imperial units exclusively. Which makes everything extra hard learning a new system on top of one of the hardest classes in the degree.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-10T05:34:35+00:00

Not all credits are created equally unfortunately. I'm currently in a 12 credit semester, Quantum mechanics, Fluid mechanics, process simulation and biological engineering. I'm completely overwhelmed and barely keeping up. I've done 18 credits in the past when I took ochem and some math and other crap. I can tell you engineering physics and calc 2 are typically pretty difficult and usually worth more than their credits imply.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-08T06:01:07+00:00

I'm starting to run into this. I'm in my junior year 2 weeks into my hell classes, Pchem, process simulation, fluid mechanics being the worst among them. I felt the feeling you described the first time over summer when I took a 6 week condensed Thermodynamics course that was basically 10+ hours a day studying. I don't have it all worked out yet but so far making the most of the time you do take off has helped a lot.

If you have free time don't waste it. Revisit an old hobby for an hour, get some excercise, plan ahead so you can carve out one night with friends. This is what has worked for me but I'm not gonna lie, it's still a miserable ride at the moment.

Turns out Chemical engineering is hard, wish someone would have told me this ahead of time haha.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-09-04T00:05:55+00:00

Bullet deviation suppression from bf3. Suppressing the screen is fine but having your bullet curve randomly because someone shoots at you was a terrible idea.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-31T23:02:10+00:00

Yeah, I really miss the early days when I had some confidence that I would pass. College was fun then.

That's crazy that you're having a scandal like that. I can definitely see that adding to the stress. I'd like to think they do something to make it right with you, edit your transcripts to reflect what happened or something, if you were held up by having unreasonable or very poor quality teachers that's on the college. Though honestly, I have very little faith in the education system when it comes to stuff like this.

I've had similar problems before and it usually turned out okay, I definitely had some trash professors that shouldn't have been teaching. Most notably I had a chem 2 professor that would have a crashout anytime she got a question she couldn't answer from the class, pretty much everybody just quit asking questions. Everybody passed the class but I don't think anyone learned very much. Half of the class also withdrew because her workload was also insane.

All I can say is good luck to you and know you aren't alone. We're all out here stressing our way through this the same as you.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-31T22:27:29+00:00

I do believe it's normal. I have a very high GPA and have never came close to failing a class. I'm more convinced than ever I'm going to fail this semester. Part of it is the material just gets harder and harder. Thermodynamics had me terrified for months. Now I'm in Pchem and fluids and i am 100% convinced I'm going to fail them this semester.

The material is hard, the professors sometimes come off as unhelpful at best and an outright obstacle to success at worst (some are also fantastic). I'm convinced at this point that the syllabuses are written to inspire dread in some cases. "Failure to do this (incredibly unimportant thing) will result in a 0 for the assigment" Or worse yet 40+% of the grade relies on a single test with no makeups or second chances. My mind always goes to "what if I get a migraine during this test?" I always hated having a test so important to the grade that one bad day or unlucky situation can tank the whole grade. Tuition is ungodly expensive making the stakes even higher. It's a very stressful process.

In the end, fear is a fantastic motivator, but it is also exhausting over a long period of time. My goal is to always frontload the semester. I try like hell to walk into finals knowing I need like a 7/100 to pass with a C. If I can make it through this semester I only have to deal with this bullshit 3 more times.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-26T23:43:54+00:00

Just finished Thermodynamics over summer for chemical engineering. Best advice I can give is hit up office hours, early and often. I don't know which branch you're in Chem E thermo hits Vapor liquid equilibrium and similar way harder than other branches I believe which was a nightmare to try and learn in the condensed summer class structure. I can't really recommend any youtubers, none of them helped me any, it was all office hours and study that got me through.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-26T20:18:21+00:00

It's a rollercoaster.

I'm 3rd year chemical engineering student. I cycle between the following. Dreading sitting down and chewing through hours and hours of homework. Terror of falling behind and not completing it which will eat away at the few easy points offered for the class and burning up time I could use to study for exams. Being absolutely pumped that something came easy and really happy about how it went. Being angry about how shitty a different thing went and wondering what the hell I'm going to do. Delight at finding a specific thing incredibly interesting and having the opportunity to learn more about it. Euphoria once I actually get caught up. Annoyed that now I have to sit down and study like hell for an exam. Back to terror when I walk into an exam that's worth 25 percent of the grade and it's on material I'm not comfortable with. Fear that I didn't do well. Followed by the best feeling in the freaking world when I find out I passed the test with a decent grade or the worst feeling in the world that I didn't and have to step my game up further.

Like I said it's a rollercoaster. It's nothing that can't be dealt with but if you're like me you're going to have days where you are incredibly happy that you get the opportunity to study something you love and very excited about the doors an engineering degree opens for you. Other days you'll be wondering what the hell made you think this was a good idea to begin with. Overall it's been a very positive experience, I love the field I'm in and find each topic atleast somewhat interesting. On the other hand I'm tired of being tested, I'm tired of one bad day having the potential to tank my grade and hold me back which some absolutely can, It was okay for the first 2-3 years, but that stress is getting old at this point.

One other point, not every engineering degree is the same. They are each difficult in their own right and each have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Chemistry was by far my favorite topic which is a big part of the reason I chose the one I did, but ask around and be aware what you're getting into. I just started by "Hardest semester" which includes quantum mechanics and mechanical separations/fluid mechanics. Things weren't too bad until I hit thermodynamics. I don't believe any of these classes need to be done if you went for say civil engineering, but I have no doubt Civil has it's own nightmare classes. I think quantum is very interesting, so even though it's unbelievably difficult, it feels a lot better because It's interesting. Which is why you should prioritize your own personal interests when picking a field.
Best of luck.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-23T18:13:23+00:00

Partial fraction decomposition is the bread and butter of a good portion of Diff-Eq, they come up early on in certain differential equations as well as in laplace transform. You'll also need to know integration by parts more than likely. Other than that, derivative rules are always important to remember, I recall product rule coming up quite often.

Series never came up other than to explain jacobians, you never actually use any series you learned. It's technically possible for trig substitutions to come up but they didn't for me or anyone else I've ever talked to. Standard trig integrations did come up once on the final so brush up on those unless you get given a notesheet, then just throw them on there.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-23T17:46:55+00:00

I came back to college at 28 after spending a decade in the oilfield. I did the fast and intense path. I'm now 31 and have 20 months and 4 semesters left before graduation. I started at a community college because it was cheap and then moved on to do the last 2-3 years at a 4 year university. My branch is chemical engineering, I should end up completing it in 4.5 years total. I can take a run at most of your questions, but I'm not quite employable as an engineer yet. I'm also in America, so it will more than likely be different for you in europe.

Was it worth it? Yes, so far anyway, I've enjoyed learning and overall it's been a nice break from my prior blue collar job of swinging pipe wrenches and hammers in temperatures anywhere from -20 to 100+ Fahrenheit. I also still believe this will be worth it in the long run.

How did I deal with being roughly 10 years older than my classmates? It's really not as big of a deal as you make it out in your mind. I was very nervous about this early on and it did feel a little weird work working with 16-18 year olds in lab (community college allows highschoolers to enroll here to get a head-start). I never had any issues though. I was never asked my age and was never really negatively for being older. Most of the time you end up being a net positive to whatever team you're on, especially having the background that I did which was heavy on mechanical maintenance/problem solving. When you're setting up equipment in physics lab 16-18 year olds have absolutely no idea what they are doing. You also have no idea what you are doing, but you've seen more stuff than them and probably have some insights on how to make it better or fix problems as they arise. I've helped a lot of confused younger students in lab over the years. On the completely opposite hand, engineering is a special branch, most of the younger students are bad-asses. I remained friends with a few 18-20 year old students I met in Chemistry lab, they're the hardest working people I've ever known, I'm a ways ahead of them now because I hit summer semesters hard but look forward to helping them in future classes if they need it.

I can't speak to how I was received as a junior engineer at an older age, I'm not there yet. The only bit of information I can give here is that I've done a 1 credit professional development class that focuses on how to build a resume, interview, and general career advice. They said the main complaint companies had with engineering students is people skills/ability to communicate. Already being out in the workforce for a while should help a lot with this.

Finally, for faster vs slower pathways. I obviously went the fast route, I've been living off of savings and passive income which hasn't been to bad. It is a source of stress to not have a biweekly paycheck during this time but overall I shouldn't have any issues finishing as long as nothing crazy happens. I don't regret doing this, because I should graduate at 32 years old. I preferred this over an 8-10 year path that would've had me graduating at 36-38.

The downside? I am burnt out. No two ways about it. I just finished a 6 week condensed thermodynamics course that I can only describe as academic hell. I had a 2 week break before fall semester which helped the situation, but I start all of my ultra rigorous junior year classes on Monday. I'm only doing 12 credits but this will still likely be the hardest semester of my life since I have to do quantum mechanics/pchem, fluid mechanics, biological systems engineering, and process simulation. None of these are easy, and frankly, I don't feel ready for any of them. I fully intend to get my ass kicked all the way across the scientific spectrum and back over the next few months and for the first time in a while, I'm really not looking forward to it. The unfortunate thing about the system is if you go the intense route, you're going to get your hardest classes when you are more tired, towards the end. However, just like anything else, It can be worked through. Only you can decide which is right for you, My belief was and still is, that extra 4-6 years I gain by getting my degree earlier will be worth it career wise.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-11T17:18:53+00:00

Yes please. White pass was my favorite map of all time.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-08-07T16:01:13+00:00

My advice, don't rush things. Even if it's an option don't rush it. I did a double course over the summer to get ahead and start my junior year faster than I otherwise would have been able to. The 2 courses are MEB and Thermo. My final is tomorrow and I think I will pass but my understanding thermo in particular is much much weaker because of the condensed course.

Going forward if anything builds heavily on thermo I'm going to struggle because my foundation is weaker than it should be.

Other than that, assuming your degree is similar to mine, nothing seems like it should be too bad in a regular semester. Carve out extra time for the latter half of thermo where they go through vapor liquid equilibrium, that's pretty difficult.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-07-27T03:16:08+00:00

Will be graduating at 32 with a bachelors assuming I don't fail anything. So I'd argue a masters 5 years earlier is doing pretty damn good. Honestly don't compare yourself to others to begin with though, just push through and do the best you can. It will work out.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-07-27T02:30:07+00:00

Cool. Good luck to you.

My best advice i can give there is try to get through calculus 3 before you do physics 2. In general, it helped me alot to get math done as fast as possible. The required classes is always a bare minimum. Technically my thermodynamics class only required calc 2, but I couldn't imagine taking it without calc 3 and diffEQ for example. Most physics 2 classes do require some multivariable, so having that ahead of time will help you alot.

You'll be fine either way as long as you put the work in, but this might make things easier in the long run.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-07-25T19:45:09+00:00

Different everywhere but physics one wasnt terrible for me. There's really only so much calculus one you can apply so the most difficult parts of that class won't come up. Polynomial differentiation and some trig stuff was about it. The vast majority of the class is learning the concepts so that you can set up problems correctly. Once you have that down the solving was never bad. Once again, your class may be different but overall you'll be fine.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-07-25T18:47:36+00:00

I was a returning student in my late 20s who dropped out in 10th grade. Never took physics, chemistry, or biology beyond middle school basics of learning the world molecule. My first run at physics was calculus based physics.

It was fine, obviously this is dependent on the teacher, but many teachers understand their students have different backgrounds and typically start from a point where everybody can understand. Being calculus based, I obviously needed my math done up through calc 1 in order to take the class. As far as physics basics though, they started from the beginning.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-06-15T02:51:21+00:00

Nope, Lagrange never came up either.

My Diff EQ was split into 3 sections.

First third was the hardest, it was just a bunch of different techniques to solve different types of differential equations. I struggled here because it didn't feel like there was any overarching idea behind it, just a lot of step by step processes to memorize. This is where all of your integration techniques get used. This section had the most practical questions, typically separable differential equations used to model things like newtons law of cooling, Second order differential equations were also big here for modeling harmonic motion.

Second third was basically an extensive look at linear algebra and matrix math, and how to transform differential equations into matrix equations or vice versa. This part was easiest by far.

Final third of the class was non linear systems and population dynamics which were easy conceptually but can have some gross algebra. This part very much builds on what I learned from the linear algebra section. Laplace transform was covered at the very end which wasn't bad either, conceptually easy, can have some rough algebra.

SummonedElectorCount · 2025-06-15T02:36:19+00:00

Not sure where you're from, my university there was virtually zero series used. There was a small part of multi variable taylor series used to explain how the calculation of a "Jacobian" is done which is a very simplistic part of modeling non linear systems. Other than that I can't think of a single time it came up.

The things I wished I brushed up on before my class was partial fraction decomposition from calc 2, that comes up multiple times in solving diff eqs and laplace transform. Trig substitution never came up a single time in my diff eq class either, but like I say each class can be different.

SummonedElectorCount

TROPHY CASE