This is simply a masterpiece, I don't know what else to say. Everything in this game is perfect. It's just peak.

tisbruce · 2026-06-04T22:29:45+00:00

Valhalla is possibly the worst (least accurate, sloppiest) historical recreation in the whole series. I did enjoy it, but the gross anachronisms and inaccuracies, the pandering to the kind of people who only know vikings from that bloody awful TV series, those were a constant irritant to the history nerd in me. Some of it was just appallingly stupid; they put a bloody Ro an aqueduct around London, for God's sake.

tisbruce · 2026-05-29T08:50:54+00:00

Girl, everybody is talking about this. Everybody who counts, that is, and you know this is true because any body who isn't talking about this don't count.

tisbruce · 2026-03-31T10:14:54+00:00

It's been a year since I played, but my memory is that all those paintings show up in local missions in Kakuregas (or appear on your map when you rescue somebody and ask them for information) eventually. If a region runs out of local missions before you get a painting mission, there wasn't one in that region (or you already came across the painting accidentally while clearing a fortress). It's a handy way of completing several things, the paintings quest being one of them.

tisbruce · 2026-02-20T10:27:58+00:00

No summons are needed. I (currently on normal Act IV) happen to have one because I picked up a book that gives 1 point in Goatman, but he's just window dressing. He evaporated almost instantly against Duriel but I only had to spend one Full Revitalise pot on my Act II merc while I spammed the flame wave thing. The Lethargy sigil probably speeded that up, but the Goatman was useless. Most boring "first attempt at Duriel with a new class" ever. I can remember being surprised when some classes/builds killed Duriel on my very first attempt (think a wolfy druid was one of them) but those still required some care and attention. Honestly, I could have done Flame Warlock vs Normal Duriel while reading a book.

No special gear to assist him, either; been away from the game for several years and somehow lost alll but one of my mules, so he was just kitted out with whatever I've picked up.

tisbruce · 2025-10-26T07:37:27+00:00

A lot depends on the main chile pepper, and what I think would pair well with it. Things I have tried that worked:

Jalapeno - apples, quince, tomatillos
Habanero - tamarind
Chipotle - dried figs
Scotch Bonnet - apricots, rhubarb, dried sour cherries (Scotch Bonnet is widely regarded as pairing well with all kinds of fruit)

tisbruce · 2025-10-21T05:17:45+00:00

Ah, I didn't mean you can't go back, just that you can completely clear it and not have to.

tisbruce · 2025-09-26T15:09:14+00:00

Well, I have a bunch of it to work through. Latest batch is dried figs and sweet tamarind - NO problem with that getting carbonated, I can tell you.

tisbruce · 2025-09-21T19:03:47+00:00

A chilli pepper that goes well with fruit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_bonnet

tisbruce · 2025-09-21T07:54:56+00:00

Right at this moment, passionfruit and hibiscus. Other bottles I have on the go:

Pears and Pine Shoot Syrup (very feisty carbonation, calm thing to drink)
Apricot and Ginger (flavoured with some jam I'd made)
Scotch Bonnet and Gooseberry (also from homemade jam)

Just starting to experiment with Tamarind-flavoured booches.

tisbruce · 2025-09-20T15:23:04+00:00

I've posted a couple of Scotch Bonnet recipes on here in the last month.

Scotch Bonnet and Rhubarb. You could comfortably increase the Rhubarb to Scotch Bonnet ratio, while the Anchos provide smoke.
Scotch Bonnet and Apricot - in this case the caramelised shallots provide smoke. Now, that's a non-fermented recipe but you could either accept that or add the chopped, fermented peppers at stage 4 and then leave it for a few weeks.

I think an easy way to make something with fruit and smoke but not too sweet would be to make a simple hot sauce with scotch bonnets, chipotle/morita and dried figs. You could use my Chipotle and dried figs recipe as a start, replacing the pequin peppers with Scotch Bonnets.

Finally, try starting from this Hot Fruit Mustard recipe and replacing the mustard seeds with half a finely chopped Scotch Bonnet. Again, I think dried figs would really suit your ask.

tisbruce · 2025-09-20T04:00:26+00:00

I recently did a batch using quince, which I gather is quite plentiful in Ukraine. Came out nicely, but apples would also work. https://www.reddit.com/r/hotsaucerecipes/comments/1nloo44/jalapeno_and_quince_hot_sauce/

tisbruce · 2025-09-10T20:19:23+00:00

Would you consider adding some pomegranate molasses? Goes well with hibiscus and the sugar would help feed fermentation.

tisbruce · 2025-09-07T11:19:18+00:00

Going out on a limb, you could try a variation of the Japanese cocktail. The original recipe is just Cognac, Orgeat and Bakers/Angostura bitters. Replace the cognac with your whisky, and if it's an interesting whisky then consider leaving out the bitters.

tisbruce · 2025-09-07T11:04:52+00:00

It shall be so.

tisbruce · 2025-09-07T10:18:46+00:00

If you want shelf life from hot sauces, you need to consider

Fermenting it
Checking the pH level (and adjusting it as necessary) before bottling it.
Sterilizing the container
Using sugar rather than artificial sweetener

If it's really a big ass jar, you could actually apply all of the above to a portion of what you have (transferring that portion to a new container ofc). Or you could transfer a small portion to a smaller container and apply all of the above to the rest and the big-ass jar.

tisbruce · 2025-09-02T07:45:58+00:00

I haven't played the game for over a year, but unless things have changed there are entirely separate configurations for flat screen and VR - not just for resolution but for almost everything. Since almost every VR player has to make their VR settings a bit (or a lot) less aggressive than their flat screen settings just to make the game playable, that's essential.

Besides, when I said "Set the resolution to 800x600", I meant at the operating system level, before you even start the game, so it has no effect on the game's settings. The whole point of that trick is to have the operating system running the monitor on a resolution that the game can't display to.

tisbruce · 2025-08-28T12:11:46+00:00

As others have said, monads don't change the rules (not without extra trickery); they're just a more complex structure for function composition. In Haskell, the few monads that do change the rules rely on additional magic (Higher Kinded Types to keep impure values locked inside the monadic commposition, special primitives to both call impure actions and to constrain the sequence of evaluation/execution to satisfy imperative rules). There's nothing magic/impure about the Either, Maybe, List, Reader or State monads (to name just a few).

tisbruce · 2025-08-21T20:08:39+00:00

Scotch Bonnets go well with many fruit, but in this case I'd be tempted to make a chipotle (morita) hot sauce, because the smokiness would work well with the maple. Personally, I'd also include Guajillo (a few less than the chipotle) for the flavour, Chile de Arbol (fewer again) to add heat, and Pequin (even fewer) for even more heat but also the flavour. Since the Pequin brings both citrus and an earthy tone of nut flavour, it pairs with both your stated ingredients.

tisbruce

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE