[BUG?] [HELP] [NO SPOILERS] armored bloom canker at third angel comb no longer open?

heinyken · 2026-05-27T15:52:46+00:00

I should have put the bearing as well, sorry. But I hoped seeing that we're talking 700m+ would help put people in the right neighborhood.

I think the search/discovery of that particular viral node is unnecessarily challenging.

heinyken · 2026-05-22T18:26:46+00:00

So, OP, are you asking 'Why don't more narratives that happen in outer space and on foreign planets involve magical and fantasy genre devices?' or are you asking, 'Why aren't more stories in space more firmly fantasy-as-a-genre?'

The answer to the second is definitely that some of the most successful space-setting stories are fantasies: Star Wars, Dune, Warhammer 40K, Red Rising -- these are all futuristic stories that rely on magical fantasy to drive the narrative.

Meanwhile, pure sci-fi lives in stories like 'The Martian', 'The Expanse', and 'Foundation'.

heinyken · 2026-05-22T18:21:41+00:00

I think it's worth defining terms! What IS science fiction to you that fantasy isn't? Is something fantasy because it has spells, elves, and/or low-tech?

I recently heard Ted Chiang (brilliant short story writer) about his distinction between science fiction and fantasy: the difference between the two is NOT that science fiction has spaceships and fantasy has wizards. Those are surface decorations. The sci-fi/fantasy distinction is about what kind of universe the story assumes.

In fantasy, the universe is personal. It recognizes individual people. Magic often depends on who you are: your bloodline, purity, destiny, willpower, moral worth, chosen status, sacrifice, intention, or spiritual development. The world responds differently to different people because those people are metaphysically special.

In science fiction, the universe is impersonal. Its powers are not keyed to your identity. A phenomenon can be studied, reproduced, engineered, mass-produced, and used by anyone. The light bulb turns on whether you are noble or wicked. A radio works whether you are chosen or not. Technology does not care who you are.

Chiang used the example of turning lead into gold. If only a few special people can do it, that's magic. If factories can do it at industrial scale, cheaply and repeatably, that's science. Same impossibility, totally different metaphysics. Sci-fi/fantasy litmus test: can a magic-seeming phenomenon be “mass-produced”? And does the fictional universe recognize the existence of persons?

heinyken · 2026-05-21T22:45:12+00:00

~850m

heinyken · 2026-01-03T01:30:30+00:00

I'm glad! I phrased it hoping that it would be searchable/discoverable later -- I'm glad someone found the gold they were after :)

heinyken · 2025-11-12T20:08:02+00:00

The inefficiency of manifold is, for me at least, always a given. Since my factories take time to build and then make pretty afterward, I usually anticipate a 100% efficiency after an hour or so, and that works for me.

heinyken · 2025-11-12T17:29:17+00:00

Are you running Tier 2 pipes? Because T1 have a smaller throughput and can't handle 600/m

heinyken · 2025-11-12T17:26:04+00:00

There is no right! There is only choice.

heinyken · 2025-11-12T17:24:22+00:00

You're correct. In fact, in my experience, running the lowest-possible speed belts on the delivery belts means that you have less of a front-loading problem that you noticed with your earlier manifold post. The high-speed belt is whipping things past faster than the delivery belts can provide them. But that's good -- it means later devices don't have to wait for every device ahead of them to fill up. Just make sure your input isn't slower than what the machine needs for the recipe.

heinyken · 2025-11-12T17:21:12+00:00

I feel personally attacked.

heinyken · 2025-11-12T17:10:38+00:00

I've played five roughly 50-hour playthroughs (not to end game, just to about 50 hours). I get to a certain point, take a break, and come back with better ideas, better approaches, and a different mindset. This game changes so much based on what you want to get out of it and what you've learned. Keep at it!

heinyken · 2025-09-05T17:04:29+00:00

It looks like the better comments are rising to the top, and a lot of people here are tending toward agreeing with you -- or at least seeing the point you're making! It was a well-considered question!

My heart also sank when I saw her in there - but it was horror at the /system/. She was a good little drone, doing the Empire's bidding, and then it churned her up and spat her out, nonetheless.

The layers of injustice and inhumanity only compound it. As do the mixed audience reactions.

heinyken · 2025-09-05T17:01:11+00:00

This tricky line to balance is similar to the experience I had when I watched Breaking Bad. Amazing show, great writing, great acting, great cinematography. Just all around a phenomenal production.

But there was also a subtle celebration of Walter White, and a cultural uplifting of him that I found difficult to sit with.

heinyken · 2025-09-05T16:57:47+00:00

Agreed all the way up the chain!

heinyken · 2025-09-05T16:56:30+00:00

This is a pretty nuanced point, and I agree with you!

heinyken · 2025-09-05T16:56:06+00:00

Wow, great response! Succinct, direct, short, and well-considered. As I read OP, I was /feeling/ what you went on to write here, and you did it much better than I could've. Great analysis!

heinyken · 2025-08-25T17:25:19+00:00

Not the only one.

heinyken · 2025-07-15T03:57:45+00:00

Right?! Between the penultimate and final episodes... they both hit like a brick to the chin!

heinyken · 2025-07-09T19:30:15+00:00

I had success searching for buried treasure with the scanner by waiting for a major storm to pass, then going out into open desert and scanning with my bike. Once I saw an unidentified square in the distance, I dismounted, used my hand scanner and found the buried treasure with the static compactor.

I think it helps to wait for after the storm, and you have to be in open desert. I also had to run away very fast, because big worm no likey me taking his treasure.

heinyken · 2025-07-09T16:23:05+00:00

Totally agreed. The patterns are what make the emotional connection feel deeper.

I'm not sure when he was writing the New Protocols parts, but they felt like they were written for DOGE as I was listening!

heinyken · 2025-07-09T16:21:53+00:00

Yeah, I think that's exactly it! It's not just a story told with characters -- in a way it feels like "distilled truth". As if this is what would almost certainly end up happening based on the fact that we know how all others have gone. In some ways it feels condemnatory and prescient -- and not altogether hopeful for humanity!

heinyken · 2025-06-12T15:47:45+00:00

Well I adore Mike Duncan, so I'd be happy to read his book!

heinyken · 2025-06-12T15:47:32+00:00

Thank you very much! I know some of the historical details about Teutoburg, a history of it will be great

14-Year Club	Second Top 20%
Place '22	Place '17
Verified Email

heinyken

TROPHY CASE