I've been designing blueprints for Factorio. I currently have early-to-end-game smelting blueprints and 4.5/6 science production blueprints done. I guess certain parts of Factorio will eventually just devolve into placing down blueprints and hooking them up to your main bus. But that just gives you more time to focus on other, less automatable aspects of the game, or further perfect your existing designs. On the other hand, nobody likes inventing the wheel over and over again, even if you do it the first time instead of copying someone else's work.
Other than that I got started with Dark Souls II. The bosses are pretty grueling and it doesn't much help that the more you die, the harder the game gets (from loss of maximum health). So by the time you eventually do beat the boss, you'll pretty much manage to do it without even getting hit. But I promised to record my progression in the game, so here goes.
I wake up in the middle of a stone altar, the only source of light being the entrance to a deep chasm. The same one I am in now. The only path is forward, and I am greeted by some four-legged abominations that still somehow resemble humans. They are not hostile and lead me to a house, the inhabitants of which help me recall who I am. I guess I was what would be called a bandit, not that it seems to matter much here. There is ever only one path - forward, and so I proceed out the door. A bonfire greets me, offering an odd revitalizing sensation. I pause there briefly before continuing on to the area ahead. The path is narrow and any wrong step would lead to me falling into yet another abyss. There are undead scattered around the various branching paths, reminding me the basics of combat. From my experience in life, I've seen a decent amount of it, and these barely moving souls do not pose a threat. But each branch leads back to the main trail, urging me forward. It is only at the end of the last branch that I find something interesting - a bird's nest from which I hear the voices of some whom I do not see. They ask for a stone I have on me, and I lay it down in the nest only for it to disappear and be replaced with another stone. Albeit the latter being slightly more valuable to me. I find an egg in my possession, and after some hesitation I offer it to them. By some odd force I can not explain, they thank me for it, and in return give me a weapon that can best be described as an ornate boulder on top of a long and similarly ornate handle. It is much too heavy to fight with for now, but I take it anyways. Having exhausted my options in this cavern, I head forward into a small tunnel. At the end of it I finally reach a source of light and emerge into a large open area.
For once, things don't look quite as grim. I spot another bonfire in the distance and proceed straight to it. Near it, a green-clad lady stands, offering me a chance to transfer the power from the souls I've defeated into my own soul. Other than that, she rambles something about finding larger souls and the king. I swear, no one here can just say what they want to say, instead stopping at vague hints. She also hands me a flask containing a liquid that much resembles the revitalizing sensation from the bonfires. There are a few other people around in the area as well as a large well and a locked house. One of them is a blacksmith, who has managed to get locked out of his own workshop. The other is an armor merchant, though he doesn't sell much anything I'd care to spend my currency on. Speaking of currency, it seems regular money has no value here. Instead everyone seeks souls in exchange for their wares or services. How cruel that so many must die in order for the few to succeed. Though I can't say I care much for the shambling undead I've seen so far. Among the weirdest inhabitants of this area I find a talking cat who compliments my bodily odors. She sells magical rings, one of which even catches my eye. It would grant me the ability to land better, allowing for jumping down from higher places. Sadly the price in souls is far too steep for me right now. Having exhausted this area as well for the time being, I head into one of the multiple tunnels leading away from here. Surely I'd return often, for the chance to further enhance my own soul by the power of others'.
The tunnel winds a bit, leading through some water and gates, but I eventually reach a forest inhabited by more of these weak undead. A bonfire catches my eye in the distance, and I am drawn to it, eliminating the undead that block my path. Yet again there is not much choice for me in terms of direction, so I proceed to clear my path. I soon reach a knight in white armor. He's holding a sword which catches my eye. Mistaking him for dead, I attempt to take his sword, but he retaliates, and I jump back. I can not see his body under that armor, but from the way he moves, he does not seem to be fully alive either. Still, the armor helps shield him and he lands two blows on me before I finish him off, but the sword is now mine. Compared to my axe, it is short, but it crackles with energy, and as I felt from fighting against it, each hit not only cuts, but also stings like lightning. This will be useful. I empty the flask I was given into my mouth and my wounds miraculously heal. I guess I need to thank her for this. Heading forward still, through more undead, a larger one of their kind blocks some stairs upward. I hesitate momentarily before deciding that neither his armor nor his sword can be as threatening as the knight I just fought. Surely enough, while more dangerous than his smaller friends, he is not a problem. The path continues for a while, going over and through broken buildings, trees, and more undead. Of note is a cave with a giant fire-breathing lizard, inside of which I find a similar sword as the lightning one I am carrying right now. The newly found sword is instead fire-based, but on closer inspection I decide to stick with my current one. Beyond a gate, I find another bonfire and an old lady who sells various trinkets I do not have use for. She does however have the blacksmith's key for some reason, which I purchase off her. Most of the undead beyond this bonfire are the larger kind, and some of their archers manage to land a few shots on me. Luckily the flask replenishes itself at the bonfires, allowing me to use it over and over again. Additionally, some of their armor has not completely deteriorated and I manage to fit it onto myself, as it provides better protection than what I arrived here with. In another cave I find a man claiming to be a cartographer and also the one living in that locked house I found, for which he hands me the key. As I head back towards the bonfire with the old lady next to it, something... different happens. I check out the rooftop of a building, when a giant bird carrying a similarly gigantic knight flies by, dropping said knight onto the rooftop. It is easily four times my size, with a sword to match. It closes in on me with surprising swiftness and strikes me with his sword, sending me flying. I scramble to reach the ladder to escape, but he is faster, and with another swing of his sword, my life ends. Or so I thought. Instead I wake up at the nearby bonfire with the only thing missing being the souls I had managed to gather. But soon enough I notice that my skin has turned green, more resembling the undead which I've killed here. Furthermore, the enemies I have already slain are back where I first met them, ready to meet me again. I can only imagine the implications.
Ugh. This is proving to be more time consuming than I thought. I'd hate to spend a large fraction of the time I spent playing also cataloguing my events. I guess I underestimated how long it would take. No use scrapping what I already wrote, but I won't be continuing it. So far I beat the first two bosses and am now using the Drangleic armor as well as two-handing the giant hammer I got in the beginning of the game. I'm stuck at the three Sentinels right now, wishing I had enough strength to one-hand the hammer so I could use a darned shield.
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