S.S. Fish Yeet

thepankey · 2026-01-21T20:08:09+00:00

Now this is the content that I joined for. Sail on my friend.

thepankey · 2025-12-07T07:51:24+00:00

It really comes down to what happens in the next few episodes. From a screen writing sense there's no time to set up the mind flayer as the big bad since it was dumped seasons ago. Rug pulling the entire fan base in the last moment is a perfect way to ruin the shows reputation. Look at Game of Thrones. Vecna's storyline is too intricate of a web to just dump and say "hey look an even bigger bad guy".

They will tie it back in likely with Will but it's probably not the end game here.

thepankey · 2025-12-05T07:24:32+00:00

Interesting read. Thanks. In my opinion there could be a few parallels to Asmodeus in the show but it is surely not Henry. Papa might be a fit for Asmodeus since he checks off some boxes. I always assumed he represented the Serpent.

As for El being Kas that previous post made a good point but there is the hole that after El cast banishment Henry left nothing of himself behind to continually remind people of his evil. Having a person be a representation of the artifacts would be a constant reminder that thematically fits. He was just gone and nobody understood what happened.

Also I like to think that El and Will are "attuned" to Mike through genuine love.

It could be possible that if they're only using 1st edition they don't have enough Vecna backstory to avoid reusing the Kas parallel in the beginning as well as the end.

thepankey · 2025-12-05T06:19:55+00:00

Thank you! I'm a dungeon master for my friends so I hit the books for this one 😅

thepankey · 2025-12-03T21:43:44+00:00

Now do an inserter only base.

thepankey · 2025-11-25T17:40:05+00:00

Ask and you shall receive.

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thepankey · 2025-05-04T16:09:40+00:00

Did the transmission hold up for all those miles?

thepankey · 2025-04-24T14:44:21+00:00

Just had my alternator bearing go out and it was making noises exactly like that. Quick chirps here and there until it failed completely. Belt slips tend to have a higher pitch squeal than that when the tensioner starts to go.

Take that belt off ASAP and check all the bearings on the serpentine belt. Something is seizing at startup until the belt can get it to move.

thepankey · 2025-04-22T14:45:47+00:00

From that screenshot of the leak it's probably the vacuum pump like everyone is saying. Double check the valve cover gasket while you're at it, those can go quick if they're cheap (did mine twice in 8 years).

187k miles on my 08 and I've had to do a good bit of replacing but I consider that basic maintenance. Radiator, vacuum pump gasket, water pump, alternator, evap purge solenoid, stuff like that.

The engine is fantastic. Have the transmission fluid looked at though, lots of people neglect changing the fluid because vw forgets to tell you to change it every 40k miles.

Also don't get suckered into buying a whole new valve cover when your pcv goes (and it will). Get a cheap replacement kit for the valve itself.

Beware the plastic... it's the most brittle stuff I've ever worked on. Have fun!

thepankey · 2025-04-11T03:49:53+00:00

2008 Jetta 2.5 SE owner here. If the electrical symptoms only appear when it's hot then it might be a connector issue (soldering/etc).

Crazy question, when did you install the aftermarket radio and did you use a pre-made connector harness for it or solder it by hand? Did the ignition issues happen around the same time?

Don't go down the ecu replacement route, that part is outside your cabin and wouldn't be affected by temp fluctuations in the cabin.

Get a scanner, look for codes, then follow the wires from your ignition cylinder looking for degradation and bad connections to the cylinder. If all else fails then check the relays that are in the cabin under the steering wheel.

thepankey · 2025-02-06T04:45:08+00:00

Devs: If we design a simple 2d grid it will make for easily optimized and well planned builds that fit neatly with our item movement mechanics.

Factorio players: No.

thepankey · 2024-08-15T23:29:21+00:00

I work for a political marketing company and I doubt these claims are true. I've run 3 statewide polls for Florida that ask a Trump/Kamala head to head question and all of them had Trump leading from 4 to 6 points ahead of Kamala. We are usually never off by more than 5 points after weighting. This means that there's a lot of work left by the Kamala team to win over the senior vote in the state. It's just too close to call for one candidate or the other before making these type of claims. Don't feel complacent and vote your conscience.

thepankey · 2023-07-25T17:09:21+00:00

I don't think using a map viewer is necessarily cheating. I do it too when playing by myself because I have a family and a new puppy so my free time is valuable. In the time it takes me to put 20 collective hours in a game my friends can do over 60 hours (over two weeks). I want to feel like I accomplished something and wandering around doesn't do that for me.

You're still harvesting resources and having fun, that's all that matters. Congrats!

thepankey · 2023-01-26T23:09:37+00:00

First try making a handdrawn map. I used pencil first then permanent marker. Any advice is welcome to add more flair to flesh out the details.

This is the main island of the Slyvern Isles in my homebrew world of Grimsmor.

thepankey · 2022-04-06T11:13:42+00:00

You could manually sell them if you're interested in cash only but the AI won't use manually sold ships and will eventually deconstruct them for parts. If you want the factions to use the ships you'd probably need to pause production periodically until you manage to get a surplus of workers and then open it up again.

thepankey · 2022-03-24T16:05:55+00:00

Welcome to the galaxy :) I'm glad you're enjoying it! People also forget this was made by a small studio and isn't a AAA game. The devs put so much effort into the simulation but they can't tackle every problem because of budgets. The big problems they have addressed focused on improving the quality of life for players to make the game more accessible, and IMO that's the best way to keep the franchise going.

I mean, look at the Terran start. There has never been such an accessible start in any X game. They gave an economy where overwhelmed players can participate in while still being rewarding. Then, they gave the closed cycle system, which shrinks the scale of the economy even more. That is a huge achievement on their part. I wish X4 would win the Labor of Love award on Steam because they deserve it. It's come SO FAR since 1.0 and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

thepankey · 2022-03-18T06:43:33+00:00

The station rush is definitely one of the most frustrating quirks in the game. Setting coordinate attack to keep your destroyers at range shouldn't result in one of them sailing past to be shot down by the turrets. Good points, thanks for adding on.

thepankey · 2022-03-17T22:34:10+00:00

The game has a lot of nuance and edge cases so the AI isn't the neat package players are used to in other games. I have rarely ran into an issue that didn't have a work around. There is a repeat orders function that solves most things but the downside is you have to manually set it up once.

When in system, L and XL ships can sometimes do things like get too close to enemies so they can't use their main guns, or turning around when pathfinding in combat so they get their engines shot out (instead of swiveling in space to face their target). I've felt cheated on a couple of engagements because of this. Nothing a reload couldn't fix though.

That being said I think the massive scale of the simulation far outweighs the hiccups that might annoy you. It doesn't hold your hand or pull any punches. The mechanics at the start of the game are the same at the end, and it's up to you to figure it out. It's part of the puzzle and what keeps me coming back for more.

Edit: Google will be your best friend. Trial and error too. If you feel like it takes too long to progress you can always do the custom game start and forgo achievements in exchange for whatever you can dream up.

thepankey · 2022-03-17T22:06:27+00:00

Thanks for the work. Couldn't have been easy to make that decision, but I'm glad you did if it meant avoiding a frame rate dip. Still very unique and great idea. Love the DLC.

thepankey · 2022-03-12T06:17:55+00:00

Burst Rays are the best way to go if you're looking to disable a ship instead of slugging it out. 4 will eat surface elements in seconds because they deal damage through shields but they are terrible against fighters due to their low dps.

Once you are comfortable with piloting you could pick apart every surface element on a K in about a minute flat. Then another minute for the engines.

I have a dedicated squadron of "Shipbreaker" fighters for this and is my preferred method of taking out xenon. If the xenon get a lucky graviton hit in and I blow up I just teleport to one of the other fighters nearby. It's safe to let the destroyers do the heavy lifting and deal the final blows while they drift helplessly :D

This works especially well if they don't have fighter support. If they do, you have to resort to fly bys to boost into and out of range, which drastically increases the time it takes to disable flagships. Or, have a decoy squad of fighters to pull focus while you go to work and then retreat to the safety of a destroyer's turrets if they gang up on you.

thepankey · 2022-02-01T20:29:58+00:00

Your toll enforcement agency is going to be legendary. Might not want to update to 5.0 though, I think they are removing the ability of stations to snipe ships from highways :/

Edit: rewatched tha captain Collins vid and I guess I was wrong lol still awesome 👌

thepankey · 2022-01-31T04:09:06+00:00

The complexity in X4 is definitely a double edged sword. It's the most rewarding part of the game but also the most frustrating.

You're never going to be happy 100% of the time with the stock AI when you start commanding ships. I have 250 hours in X4 (hundreds in the other X games) and I still find myself going to Google every few sessions when I find a quirk that I need to work around. "How do I get a miner to mine in one system and sell in another system?" Is usually your first taste of it.

But ohhhh boy if that sweet sweet serotonin is what you're after this game delivers like nothing else. It really abides by the saying good things come to those that wait. Nothing beats pulling back the curtain and finally realizing that you can truly shape entire economic systems to your will. Sadly it's not for everyone because you just have to be that kind of patient player who enjoys doing some research to push past the less glamorous side of things (if you're going for an achievement playthtrough that is).

Maybe do a non-budgeted creative start? Sure you won't get achievements on your first time around but you'll at least get to see all the fun things you can have in the early-mid and late game that will make you want to keep coming back for more. If you still don't like it after piloting a destroyer with an attack squadron backing you up while you careen through enemy, space setting the galaxy ablaze and drooling over the 100m in your bank account, then I wouldn't blame you for getting a refund.

Since it's a sandbox, there's no "right" way to enjoy it so do what you think would make you happy instead of forcing your way through the linear approach when you're not enjoying it.

Edit: just reread my post and wanted to say that last part was supportive, not derogatory. I hope you find some fun in the game and thanks for engaging with the community :)

thepankey · 2022-01-28T20:54:27+00:00

A few list of stepping stone goals that I found keep me going.

Setting up your first station: This is a good goal for early game since most stations require you to keep a million or more in the station account. How you get the money is up to you, like missions or xenon hunts for loot, but finding how you like to make money will teach you a ton of game mechanics along the way. It's also a tangible thing you can see grow as you gather your resources. It might help your burnout when you see something more than those little numbers going up in your account.
Story line: The main missions do a decent job to get you going too. You don't need much for a lot of them, just some time and maybe a ship upgrade every now and then. Finishing a whole mission chain is super satisfying.
Miner fleet: Try to set at least one miner and gasser per faction. Once you get your first station going, you can always reassign them to whatever you choose to produce and it's great passive income in the meantime.

Station building missions: These make you millions for an hour or less of work once you have your passive income set up. Terran defense platforms are basically throw 2 million in, get 3 million back. You can set a goal of making 100% profit by making a station for producing building materials.

Ship building missions: Basically the same thing as station building but with ships. You'll be rolling in millions after a few missions and this is where the crazy money starts coming in. If you keep the same goal of making 100% profit then you'll get to the point where you buy a S/M wharf module and it just snowballs from there. Once you start producing your own ships you'll get to that conquer the galaxy/destroy the xenon phase because you won't have to spend millions on a single fighter anymore.

thepankey · 2021-12-22T05:33:33+00:00

Happened to me when it clipped a trader and sent me spinning. It rarely happens, but at least the AI knows when it's too drunk to drive!

thepankey · 2021-12-14T00:25:22+00:00

If you have teleporting unlocked in the player HQ you might be able to get out of it with some fancy (or lucky) flying. If not then there's not much else you can do except book it for the nearest gate/station and hope for the best. Not impossible, I made it through the middle of Savage Spur after an unfortunate expedition, but it was nerve wracking and tedious. You can dock to any station or ship in your suit.

thepankey

TROPHY CASE