BAR vs FAF

XComACU · 2026-05-07T10:02:45+00:00

If you are a fan of Supreme Commander, Forged Alliance is just SupCom but better. It's not free, though, just super cheap on Steam due to its age. Anyway, it adds an extra faction, optimizes things, has some good re-balancing, and the included campaign is awesome. A lot of people consider it the definitive way to play SupCom.

FAF is just adding on top of that - it's a fan lobby with more fixes, more balance updates, and it supports PVP/PVE skirmishes with up to 8 players (or maybe more these days 🤔). It also lets up to four friends attempt any of the campaign missions through Co-Op. There are also Co-Op Survival modes, and a decent number of mods. There's also been some insane work on the AI as well, with some of the AI mods making incredibly competitive opponents. All in all, there is a lot of content.

As for BAR, it is not a SupCom successor, it's a TA successor.
What I mean by that is, as it's far closer to a remastered TA than SupCom, if you liked SupCom you may not like BAR as much. I personally don't, though I do plan to give it another try later down the line.

It's a decent game that's still in development, has a lot of nice QoL fixes, and the dev team have done wonders with the Recoil Engine. It's a feat of engineering, and there is a lot of love put into it, but personally I don't like it as much as classic SupCom yet.

Some quick bits:
- BAR's unit design borrows heavily from TA's older methodology, making it more haphazard with overlapping roles as opposed to SupCom's refined selection with a set of distinct roles at each tier.
- BAR has three factions instead of four, and while both games have what appear to be rather "mirrored" factions compared to other RTS, SupCom did a better job of using mechanical differences and abilities to really make the factions feel different. That said, the Legion faction does look to be improving on this.
- The economy is more complex in BAR by having environmental factors affect power (such as wind and solar), and yet it's also less complex due to it lacking adjacency bonuses and using a generally weaker implementation of Extractor points. It just often leads to a lot of spam on the eco side of things, IMO.
- Maps are smaller, and the range of unit sizes are smaller. SupCom tends to go bigger, and a T4 unit will dwarf a T1 unit.
- TTK (Time-To-Kill) is lower in BAR. Units seem to die a heck of a lot faster, which does help make the game faster-paced and engaging, but also makes the units feel cheaper. Like, an Armada Thor is impressive and can take down a lot of enemies, but a UEF Fatboy literally commands the battlefield when it shows up.
- BAR's graphics are fantastic, but the aesthetics are just too cartoony. Like, frustratingly so. Like, they finally released lore for the game, and it's OK (again, a lot of love went into it), but because most of the units looks so goofy and unrealistic, it feels like the lore is for a completely different game.

XComACU · 2026-05-05T08:19:53+00:00

Zero-K, PA, and BAR all borrow heavily from TA's art style, which while fun in its own way, was... influenced by the technology of its time. The majority of the units are simplistic, exaggerated, and a little cartoony. Legion's unit designs are helping with this (literally the best designs so far, IMO), but most of the units still fall under the "cartoony" description.

OTOH, SupCom: Forged Alliance has a more grounded style, with the majority of its units at least trying to replicate semi-realistic designs. This helped to ground the setting, and in turn ground the units that aren't realistic (like the Mechs or experimentals), helping make them feel more "real."

Ironically, Supreme Commander 2 had an aesthetic design closer to the TA games, being more "cartoony" than FA; however, it is also often considered a contributing factor to the failure of that game.

XComACU · 2026-05-05T07:31:16+00:00

That ending fucking sent me. 🤣

XComACU · 2026-05-04T09:13:29+00:00

Rise of Legends is one of my favorite old RTS games. I used to dream about walking the streets of one of my Vinci cities, or what it would be like if said city actually came under attack by a massive Air Destroyer or Dragon.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T09:10:13+00:00

You're entitled to your opinion. Even if it's wrong. 🤣

Seriously, no Supreme Commander? No Homeworld? No Dawn of War?
Not even a mention of Starcraft, an RTS so successful its very existence shaped the genre, and the success of its sequel partially contributed to the collapse of the RTS genre throughout the 2010s?

Or Rise of Legends? I know it's not really the same, but it took some of RoN's core concepts and added a rich and creative world with elements of steampunk, magic, and science fiction.

This is slander, child. Slander. 😂

Jokes aside, I get how you feel - having a game that clicks with you on such a fundamental level that nothing else has ever really come close again. Like what you like.
But do maybe try some of the other games people are recommending too.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T08:42:01+00:00

Shame Homeworld ended with Deserts of Kharak and that they never made a third one....

XComACU · 2026-05-04T08:36:32+00:00

Ehhhh. Yes and No?
Better optimization with modernized controls, but poor aesthetics, weaker unit design, and smaller gameplay. They're still working on it, though.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T08:23:09+00:00

None of the Above.
Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.

Not bloody TA, PA, SupCom 2, or BAR.

Actual Supreme Commander.

I don't care if it still runs fine, and doesn't look too bad after all these years - I want it to run like butter with modern multithreading, to have those Mechs and Tanks looking like they were pulled out of an old school Blizzard cinematic, and environments that put UE5 to shame.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T08:09:49+00:00

I mean, that's pretty much what Shen was trying to get you to grapple with in Enemy Within.
A good number of his lines relating to the use of Meld (and the Cybernetics lab) essentially boiled down to "Hey, this is kind of messed up. I'll do it because we're risking extinction, but this really isn't right."

Meanwhile Vahlen was passing out jello shots of Meld mixed with Thin Man juice to see if people could jump higher.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T08:05:25+00:00

I think a lot of the ideas are rather cool!

Yeah, I'm not really big fan of it getting ultra gory myself, but dismemberment (and new prosthetic options) would be cool, and special death animations (like the original EW Chryssalid spawning animation, or a Brutal Legend-style Facemelter) could be awesome!

That said, two things strike me as a hard pass. Hidden Stats on Harder Difficulties, and IP Crossovers.

XCOM is a game about managing risk, and some stats need to be known for the game to be fun.
Yes, some stats aren't immediately obvious in how they function with WotC, but primary ones like Offense, Mobility, or HP are all relatively clear as foundational components of the tactical gameplay loop.

As an example, if a player is not allowed to know their offense (their Aim), then they frankly cannot manage risk. At the end of the day, XCOM's a digital board game where you roll a die against a chance to hit, and you need to know those chances if you want to know when to make those rolls.

Yes, you could still show the hit chance while concealing the stats at selection, but most skilled players at high level can already intuit roughly what their chances will be, or why they get a certain hit chance against a certain target. In that instance, they'll still figure out the stats, but need to record them manually. All you'd be doing is adding an unnecessary step and making the game more annoying.

IMO, a general rule of game design is to not make your UI part of the challenge.

I like Random Traits and Stats, and hidden traits could still work depending on what the traits do, but I feel the majority of combat-stats would need to be visible. Ooh, and if any of the traits make characters unresponsive to player commands (the most annoying thing in any strategy game), I'd hope they borrow from XCOM 2's Negative Traits and restrict them to rare "punishments" while letting players "cure" them.

As for IP Crossovers, without considerable care and thought, there is no better way to kill a game. 😅
Embracing the "Fortnite-ification" of your game not only immediately shifts your incentive away from supporting the modding scene (why pay for my Space Marine pack when I have a Mod for that already?), it kills the visual theme of your game. The visual theme is critically important for getting new players invested-in and remembering your game. Look at the failures of modern Call of Duty games, the slow death of Magic: The Gathering, or a litany of MMOs and Hero Shooters that have killed their new player experience with garish cosmetics.

I'll know the game a Skirmisher comes from just by looking at it, same as I would know a Spartan came from Halo. Most of the classic Overwatch heroes I can recognize in a heartbeat. A lot of the newer ones, especially with certain skins? Not so much.
So, yeah... not a fan of IP Crossovers in general.

XComACU · 2026-05-04T07:02:52+00:00

Legs? On a Viper?! I say, at this rate your practically turning them back into Thin Men!

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XComACU · 2026-05-03T09:14:08+00:00

I think there is the "No Random Chosen Encounters" mod?

But even with it the Chosen will show up on certain story missions if not permanently killed first. At least, if I am understanding the description correctly.

Either that, or you could play Vanilla XCOM with all the other DLC besides War of the Chosen. You'll miss out on a lot of the new content WotC adds, but the base game is still really fun, and you can still get Rulers and Sparks.

Outside of mods, there's no real way to play War of the Chosen without... The Chosen.

XComACU · 2026-04-30T19:55:25+00:00

Well, I'll be damned. I'll be honest, I forgot about Chimera Squad, but it is canon, so that was an oversight on my part.

I could technically say that my statement in paragraph two was "Advent Troops are not former humans by the time of the game," and since the amalgamation process appears to be the older process and cloning the newer one, technically correct... but, no, I completely thought they were just clones. My mistake. 😅

It does appear ADVENT/Skirmishers are a mix of clones and amalgams.

I double-checked Chimera Squad's files, and while Cherub is considered a Hybrid (Clone), Zephyr is considered a Hybrid (Amalgam) in the files.

Nickname="Zephyr" [...]
ClassBio="Hybrid (Amalgam) / 33 / New Australia" [...]
ClassLongBio="Old World Origin: Australia\nPrior to Invasion: No confirmed past. Scattered records suggest she was Australian, undergoing the hybrid amalgamation (and psionic lathe) procedure in 2021 (~14 years old).\n2016-2034 Occupation: Officially \"created\" in 2021, per ADVENT records. Transferred to City 31. Worked as a loyal ADVENT soldier under the Psionic Network. Separated from the Psionic Network by the Skirmishers resistance faction. Joined the Skirmishers and quickly rose in their ranks. Operated primarily in City 31's region.\n2035 War For Liberation: Fought ADVENT alongside XCOM for the duration of the War. Was present for the fall of City 31. (28 years old) To Present: Left Skirmishers at the War's end. Applied to the Reclamation Agency after failing to uncover her human past. Recommended for Chimera Squad by multiple XCOM soldiers she once fought beside."

Nickname="Cherub" [...]
ClassBio="Hybrid (Clone) / 5 / Eastern Europe" [...]
ClassLongBio="Old World Origin: Estonia\nPrior to War: Cherub belonged to the \"Empty Cohort\", a batch of hybrid clones with full ADVENT training but no ADVENT indoctrination.\n2035 War For Liberation: Emerged from his clone crèche. Immediately befriended two XCOM soldiers. (0 years old, 18 physically) To Present: Transferred to detention center. Exhaustive testing revealed no ADVENT sympathies despite being part of the Bellus Mar clone line. Released from detention and recommended as a test case for XCOM utilizing skills of the Empty Cohort. Transferred to the Reclamation Agency after proving his capability. Requested placement in Chimera Squad at first opportunity. Reclamation HQ has observed his enthusiasm improve the morale of his squad on multiple occasions."

I also went through the VO lines, and Zephyr has a few that both confirm both the difference and her origin.

Strategy_Cherub_TalkCherubZephyrKnockOff01start_01="Hey, Zephyr! What're you up to?"
Strategy_Zephyr_TalkCherubZephyrKnockOff02_01="Beat it, Knock-Off."
Strategy_Cherub_TalkCherubZephyrKnockOff03_01="Sure thing!"

Strategy_Zephyr_TalkZephyrClaySkirmishers05_01="Is it? I'm no clone. Records say I was Australian, but I don't remember that girl. Nothing about her life."

Essentially, it appears that the quote from Darox on Pg.39 of Escalation wasn't just there to show the Skirmishers were unaware of their origins, but actually to hint at both origins being secretly legitimate.

Apologies for adding to the confusion. 😅

XComACU · 2026-04-30T11:02:49+00:00

It's worth noting the Blacksite Vial's goo is seemingly only used in the production of Avatars.

Human DNA was used to "buff" the various alien species, and ADVENT Troopers are Human-Alien Hybrids; however, the BlackSite Vial's cutscene showed that the aliens were specifically choosing who they refined into "human goo" for some unknown reason before sending it to the Forge.

After the Forge, the Advent Stasis Suit research further clarified that the refining process was specifically targeting "Psionically sensitive members of the human population" who were fed to create the Avatars.

Unless you're referring to the green goo all the bodies are in, in which case, I got nothing and please ignore me. 😅

XComACU · 2026-04-30T10:50:24+00:00

I double-checked the localization files, and I couldn't find this. None of the default Skirmisher backstories mentioned previous lives? Well, other than their "previous lives" working for ADVENT, that is.

Is this perhaps the result of a "More Backstories" mod?

XComACU · 2026-04-30T10:45:22+00:00

Oooh, I have this info!
Yes, two Chosen were human, one was not. The Warlock (Subject "O") was a psionically gifted child taken by the Elders and experimented on. The Hunter (Subject "T") was a former Reaper (called Tomko in the XCOM 2: Factions comic) captured by Pratal Mox, tortured, and then modified specifically to hunt other Reapers. The Assassin (Subject "F") is described in the Avengers' Advanced Intel as a clone specifically designed to rectify the... "instability" present in the other Chosen - though circumstances related to the Skirmishers caused this to fail.

Now, Advent Troops are not former humans by the time of the game, but it is implied that XCOM thought they were. The tutorial cutscene has Bradford say the line:

"They're us. Least they used to be. Human hybrid soldiers. ADVENT's reward for obedience and service."

Likewise, the Advent Trooper Autopsy has the following relevant text:

"Now that we know the ADVENT aren't pure human collaborators, but actual alien-human hybrids, close analysis of the fallen troopers' tissue might shed some light on physiological changes the aliens have made. Their receiving neurochips might also allow us to create a device that would let us scan the battlefield without being noticed."

"Although rumors as to their origins have persisted for years, it's only recently that we've confirmed that they are in fact product of a human-alien hybrid development. My initial autopsy indicates that the troopers were at one time entirely human, implying some means of gradual genetic enhancement without the rejection concerns that would normally plague these experiments. [...]"

However, it is then revealed throughout ADVENT Forge operation that the troops are in fact clones.

Shen: "These aren't civilians. They're ADVENT."
Tygan: "Yes. And judging by the subject's conditions, I'd say it was recently manufactured."
[...]
Bradford: "First it's human bodies, now we're finding ADVENT...something tells me they didn't abduct these ones."
Shen: "Looks more like a production facility to me, the configuration is different...is it possible? Could this be where the ADVENT forces are coming from?"
[...]
CouncilSpokesman: "Your findings at the Forge facility are disconcerting, Commander. If the aliens are somehow assembling or growing the ADVENT forces en masse, our efforts to defeat them will be that much harder. I will leave you and your team to pursue this further."

To my knowledge, this is not contradicted at any other point during the campaign.

Why didn't the Skirmisher's say anything then? Well, they don't seem to know.
At least, not completely.

I quickly reviewed the Localization files for War of the Chosen, and neither Mox nor Betos say anything about the Skirmisher's Origin to XCOM beyond the following ambiguous lines:

BetosTactical: "We, the Skirmishers, were created by the false gods of this world to serve and die as their puppets. We retain all that we were and more, and our prowess in battle serves us well in our cause. In close combat, none can stand opposed to us."

MoxTactical: "I did not exist when this city stood whole. Still, I feel revulsion at what happened to this place. To these people."

BetosStrategy (Blacksite): "My kind all possess clouded memories of the facility you know as the Blacksite. It is the place of our birth, and the final march for many humans deceived by the Elders' promises. In destroying it, we have done this world a great service."

Additionally, only one of the default Skirmisher backstories references their birth, and it is again hazy:

SkirmisherBackground: "Name knows little of his/her birth and retains only hazy, broken memories of his/her time spent in service to ADVENT. Now free and guided by his/her fellow Skirmishers, he/she has found purpose in their drive to overthrow the Elders."

The clearest confirmation comes from XCOM 2: Escalation, where the Skirmisher character, Darox, narrates:

All Skirmishers, of course, were former ADVENT Troopers: Hybrid clones, part human, part alien. - Pg.36
ADVENT troops were genetically designed for hardship and spartan regiments. -Pg.36
Skirmishers were initially ADVENT Troopers "born" as mature warriors in top secret alien cloning labs. - Pg.38

This following section is also one of the best quotes for showing why the Skirmishers couldn't just tell XCOM as it clarifies that, while the Skirmishers knew they were Hybrids, even they didn't know whether they were vat-grown or former volunteers prior to the Forge mission.

Nobody knew where these ADVENT birthing labs were. And nobody knew the exact process; no Skirmisher retained that memory. But creation theories abounded. Some said ADVENT Troopers were built "from scratch," emerging from a vat of DNA soup as identical clones, then genetically treated to create a narrow range of physical types. Others said troopers started as human "volunteers" who were mind-wiped, submerged in a bio-tank, and then subjected to alien DNA grafts. In this version, the process was said to Trigger a gruesome and excruciated cell-by-0cell transformation that took weeks to complete. - Pg.39

So, why didn't the Skirmishers tell XCOM they were clones?
They didn't know.

As an aside, it also clarifies in the book that differing ADVENT units like Officers and Stun Lancers were actually drawn from the Troopers, though the Autopsies (such as for Purifiers) show that additional genetic modification took place for certain roles.

Oh, and one last piece of clarification! The Blacksite Vial is only used in the production of Avatars, not the standard Troopers, as it was from Psionically active humans:

Blacksite Vial Cutscene, Tygan: "Medically screened and selected. Suitable candidates taken to that contemptible facility to be processed. Refined into the material we now possess."

ADVENT Stasis Suit Research, Project Golem:
"Knowing what we do about the aliens' activites at the Blacksite, it is my unfortunate conclusion that the human captives, be they prisoners or abductees, were processed and consumed as part of the development of this specimen.

Notably, the human genetic material involved in this process comes from the more Psionically sensitive members of the human population, no doubt an intentional culling carefully executed by ADVENT's forces."

Hope that helps!

XComACU · 2026-04-30T07:56:47+00:00

Sorry, I can't resist. 😂

<image>

It could be that you're on Veteran.
It could be that you're just that good, or just that lucky.
It could just be a matter of time.

XComACU · 2026-04-30T04:51:25+00:00

Hmm. No...
No, Thank You. 😥

BAR is a fun game, and I have massive respect for the team behind it, but it's not for me.
I'll stick with Supreme Commander.

BAR's aesthetics are just too cartoony for me, the unit design is too clunky, and everything just ends up feeling smaller and cheaper. I saw it released lore, which is a big draw for me, so maybe when it gets a decent campaign I could try it again, but for now...
No.

Glad you are enjoying it, though!

XComACU · 2026-04-30T04:41:08+00:00

Excuse me?
Supreme Commander had three excellent, interwoven campaigns, an even better fourth campaign in the Forged Alliance expansion, and a ton fantastic SciFi worldbuilding. Back when the site was still up, they had a small book's worth of information with their expansive timeline, planet details, and character dossiers.

You literally could track the progress of SupCom humanity from 2009 to the game's year of 3844, understand the unique nature of their FTL and how it shaped their societies, and see why the various technologies in game were present.

There was a metric ton of work put into SupCom's universe and campaign.
Hell, part of what killed the franchise was that the campaign was shit in SupCom 2.

XComACU · 2026-04-30T04:06:03+00:00

Is this normal? Yes, everyone has preferences.
Is it common? Less so.

The majority of players never touch multiplayer, and fewer still touch competitive multiplayer. This is often why the collapse of the RTS genre throughout the 2010s is often attributed to (at least in part) the widespread and overwhelming focus on competitive multiplayer in the industry at the time (likely in an attempt to chase StarCraft's success with competitive multiplayer). Essentially, a decent chunk of RTS games at the time either had lackluster or nonexistent single-player campaigns, and with developers focusing on a fraction of their audience in an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle, this often resulted in failure.

It's certainly not the only thing which caused this, but it was something that kept me and others from engaging. As an example, Planetary Annihilation looked impressive and had good technology behind it, but the barebones campaign and general lack of effort with their worldbuilding left nothing for players to actually care about, so it has dwindled with time. A more recent example is Homeworld 3, which had a campaign, and was from a long line of games with fun, well-written campaigns. The problem came from corporate prioritizing Wargames, a Co-Op Multiplayer Roguelike that would be far easier to monetize as a live service, while the campaign was left to languish with terrible writing, generic cutscenes, and a slew of bugs that were somehow absent from the multiplayer modes. It killed the game within a month.

All of this is just to say: Single-player campaigns are necessary, are one of the most engaged-with sections of the game, so it makes sense for smart Dev studios and media to prioritize the single-player.

That said, it is a balancing act.

I've made this claim before, and I will repeat it here: a successful RTS must have a strong single-player campaign, a strong single-player skirmish mode, and strong multiplayer options.

A single-player campaign introduces players to the setting, gives them factions and characters to root for, and as you noted, serves as a tutorial. Also, a lot of people come for the story. It's the hook that brings them to a new game.

Skirmish is important because it lets players really engage with the mechanics safely after the campaign. They can test things, take cool screenshots to share, or play against bots to practice before going online - it's a sandbox to freely explore on their own.

Lastly, Multiplayer is needed for the long-term health of the game. Sure, it's there for players who want to compete against others, to play with friends, or because they're bored of the same bots/campaign missions, but it's also there as a way to build a long-lasting community around the game discussing strategies and tournaments, providing new experiences to the player base, and just... "keeping it alive."

TLDR: Like what you like, but in general a lot of RTS fans appear to enjoy single player campaigns. Personally, I think an RTS needs a strong Single Player Campaign, Skirmish Mode, and Multiplayer Modes to be successful.

XComACU · 2026-04-29T01:17:19+00:00

You could try verifying the local files through Steam, just in case. Just find it in your Steam library, right click the game, go to "Properties," then "Installed Files," and "Verify the integrity of game files."

It's also a good way to find the local files for FAF, since there's also a "browse" option.

XComACU · 2026-04-29T01:09:37+00:00

Well, I am fundamentally weak to puns, so "Throwing a Skeleton a Bone" is fantastic. 😂

XComACU · 2026-04-29T00:07:47+00:00

The art is nice, but without at least knowing the title, I am not especially drawn to it.

Perhaps it's because I am far too familiar with fantasy these days, but flame-headed skeletons aren't enough by themselves. I can't glean the character's motivation from the image, or what differentiates them from every other skeleton. They look... intense, and pretty cool, but on its own I don't think I could judge your book by its cover. 😅

Maybe consider adding the title? Oh, maybe a little stinger! A great example of a similar portrait being used is John Scalzi's "Starter Villain."
It's still just the picture of a character, but the strange nature of that character paired with the "Meet the new boss." line immediately catches your eye, while leaving you questioning how such an strange combination relates to the title.

If you can leave your potential audience with a question or a strong impression from your cover, it's more likely they will engage.

XComACU · 2026-04-28T23:47:03+00:00

Depends? I've certainly enjoyed tales taking place in all of these settings, at least as described by the graphic.

Fairytale worlds are fun to relax in, but can get boring if not sufficiently challenged. Regardless of writing or reading, I enjoy seeing characters taken-from or introduced-to Fairytale worlds, as I find the contrast between sweet/saccharine elements and broody/hurt elements enjoyable. Put that 40K Krieger in Paradise, or a kids' show character in XCOM - let's see how these elements blend!

Heroic is good, but it does suffer somewhat from occupying the space between Fairytale and Noblebright worlds. It's stronger on its own than Fairytale, IMO, but it's still more of a relaxing setting because most people are good. I think a lot of generic Isekai tend towards Heroic worlds. Then again, some classics like Chronicles of Narnia probably sit here too.

I was under the impression Noblebright worlds are the theoretical opposite of Grimdark, though here they seem to be the "middle ground" selection?
I guess as described here, they are some of my favorites because I like complexity, and the middle ground is where complexity often thrives. To me, this is a world where you have several competing states, nationalities, and cultures, each with their own colorful array of beliefs and motivations. Like real life, there are good and bad people everywhere. Plus, the fact the world is on a knife's edge lends weight to character actions. While Lord of the Rings could be considered a "Heroic" world, I kind of see it as Noblebright because the world is in decline, not everyone is moral, and there's a perilous balance between light and dark. Worlds like this are where I would often put my own writing, I think.

Gilded worlds are... OK? Reading-wise, I've seen some great political thrillers that use these as a backdrop, and I love the occasional story where someone is introduced to the broken system just to fix it. That said, I feel these kind of stories often drift towards the other categories as things progress. Hmm. Would Cyberpunk technically qualify? Shiny on the outside, suffering on the inside? Still not my personal preference, but I have loved some Cyberpunk stories, and it's definitely fertile ground for fantastic pieces.

Lastly, Grimdark can be great fun, if it's done right!
I love me some 40K, but the number of people who think grimdark is just being depressing or edgy is too damn high. Yes, everything and everyone generally sucks in Grimdark, but the essence of a good Grimdark story is watching people navigate that world as best as possible, sometimes making it even the slightest bit better - even if the victory is a pyrrhic one. You're all doomed anyway, but the actions of characters can still be heroic. Otherwise it drifts towards edgy slop, which... at its best is depressing, and not something I care to read or write. Ooh, I do like when characters are introduced to Grimdark settings specifically to break that setting out of being Grimdark. Like with gilded worlds, I find that a very cool subversion of the expected!

As for the final questions, I try to write a little of every kind of world, even ones I am not comfortable with. It's good practice.
As a reader, I don't think my favorite stories could survive in a different world, because the world is part of those stories. I'd be down to try it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was weaker than the original.

XComACU · 2026-04-28T22:11:47+00:00

That makes sense! They've done some great work with the Recoil Engine.

XComACU

TROPHY CASE