I haven't done one of these in a while, so here's a random rundown of televised entertainment I've been watching lately!
I'm currently rushing through a bunch of Netflix exclusives, in a stupid quest to finish all of them before HBO Now is released so I can cancel my Netflix subscription and switch to that in time for Game of Thrones / Silicon Valley. Some shows are better than others.
At the top of the list, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is fantastically funny. It manages to be really surprising and engaging and clever. I was pretty impressed at how they were able to develop an actual arc over the course of the season... I thought that they were just going to use their strong premise and cast for a typical sitcom structure, but it evolves into this really great overarching story. I'm still a bit baffled why NBC let this one go, it would have easily been the best comedy on the network.
Speaking of great comedies let go by NBC: The Yahoo! TV season of Community has been really good so far. It got off to a strong start, evoking the show's typical love of meta-referential humor thanks to Abed's musing over spin-offs and the study group's disparate levels of attachment to Shirley's and Pierce's vacant chairs. I'd been bracing myself for lowered production values with the jump from network television, but it's actually felt pretty much the same as before; the opening frisbee disaster seems like vintage Community shenanigans. And as a final bonus, I adore Paget and she's been terrific in this.
Archer's also having a very strong season. I'd been bummed by them pressing the reset switch at the end of the previous season, but the show's story and mythology is still continuing to evolve, and the character relationships provide their own form of dynamism. It's great fun, and they continue to outdo themselves in animation quality with each new year. The show also has probably the best-calibrated sense of any show regarding when to repeat their catchphrases and when to give it a rest.
Moving on to dramas, Better Call Saul has been fantastic. I'm a big Bob Odenkirk fan and was on board for whatever happened. It's ended up being a really interesting alternative to Breaking Bad. BB was a master at propulsive serial storytelling: you were always wondering what was going to happen next, how Walt would get out of his current jam. Obviously, since BCS is a prequel, we already know where the character is going to end up, but there ends up being much more ambiguity in this show than the original. It moves forwards and backwards in time, giving us tantalizing glimpses of different moments and revealing character glimpses. When watching this show, I usually don't ask myself "What will happen next?"; instead I'm wondering why characters are relating to each other the way they are, what reasons people have for the actions they take. The payoff to these questions is slow, and many are still outstanding, but the revelations we've gotten so far have been incredibly satisfying. I'm really looking forward to what happens in the rest of this show's run.
On a more negative side, I thought season 3 of House of Cards was its weakest yet. I didn't hate it, but it felt the least engaging out of all so far. In principle, I like the idea of showing Frank under more duress and struggling to maintain power rather than fighting to claim it; but so much time was spent on sideplots that never went anywhere or had little payoff, like Remy and Jackie's relationship or Tom's book or anything Seth and Meechum did. It didn't help matters that Frank was completely ridiculous for the entire season. It's clear that Kevin Spacey is having a lot of fun, which I suppose is a good thing, but the snarling and scenery-chewing and increasingly desperate search for new mores to break got old. (On the plus side, Robin Wright continues to be fantastic. She pretty much carried the season for me.)
I've also begun tearing through Orange Is the New Black and have been really enjoying it. This show also feels pretty loose and has lots of digressions, particularly when it flashes back to the pre-prison lives of its inmates, but in this case that seems to enhance the show: it highlights the vast ensemble's diverse experiences, and also emphasizes the basic randomness of events. We're regularly reminded that these women aren't particularly bad or dangerous; they made mistakes, and were unlucky enough to get caught. There's a ton I like about this show, and perhaps I'll give it its own post later, but for now I'll mention how much I appreciate the complexity of its characters. Someone like Caputo is a great example: he's personally sleazy, and can be really capricious; but he's also a reformer who seems to genuinely want the prison to be run well (although, granted, there's some self-advancement attached to this). On the other hand, Healy is much friendlier than most of the staff and seems like a quintessential nice guy; but he's deeply homophobic and can be extremely petty. What I like about this show is that it isn't just a matter of "This character is good fooled you! no they're bad"; it isn't afraid to make a character sympathetic, then show them being really crass, then show them demonstrating compassion. Every character is a collection of good and bad, just like all of us in the real world.
Hm... I think that's about all that I've watched lately (other than viewing this amazing mashup of Taylor Swift and Nine Inch Nails approximately 50 times over the past two months and Panic Switch another two dozen). I'm definitely looking forward to trying out HBO Now. Netflix has been good and all, but it's been months since I found a movie on there that I actually wanted to watch, and if it weren't for TV shows I would have canceled it long ago. Between Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep, and the new movies (including Going Clear) and maybe even that Vice news show, I should have plenty of good entertainment in my future.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Now You Zee Me, Now You Don't
Andrew reminded me that I never posted my final experiences on Sunless Sea. So, here they are!
As previously noted, I had started to pay attention to the unlockable Legacies. They're a bit like achievements, and come with the advantage of an extra +25 in a starting stat for all future characters. A few of them require ending the game, but others can be acquired in the midst of your voyages. I plotted out a "leveling up" run that would efficiently unlock all remaining Legacies for me, putting me in a strong position for any future ventures.
MEGA SPOILERS
One of these was fairly straightforward, if obtuse: finish delivering Sphinxstone to the Bazaar without having picked a background for your character. I'm very impressed with whoever figured out that solution on their own. In retrospect it makes at least some sense: the destination for the sphinxstone varies depending on your background, and an unknown background translates to St. Joshua's Shrine. Still, I'd always taken it to the Grand Geode, so I never would have stumbled across that solution without the wiki's help.
The next, A Dream of Red, can be gotten in two ways. I'd hoped to take the Scarred Sister up to the Surface, but in this game I failed my Mirrors roll when her house burned down and she died before I could rescue her. Fortunately, there's a fallback, which requires completing the Acolyte's questline. Thanks to my linked Fallen London account I always start out with a Soothe & Cooper longbox to kick this off, and in this game Station III was located conveniently enough where I could swing by it at the start and end of every voyage. In previous games I had lied to protect her, and I really liked how the story ended after showing her the truth and comforting her.
I'd already picked up a Legacy in my previous game from the fantastic Empire of Hands story. That left two challenging-but-feasible ones for the complete set. One would require working with the Anarchists to destroy London. That doesn't technically end the game, but it does expel you from the City and bar you from any Admiralty work. The next requires finishing the Merchant Venturer's storyline. In the past, I've usually gotten stuck on steps like "Collect 7 Hunting Trophies." They're entirely random, though, and in this game I really lucked out since nearly everything could be bought right at Wolfstack: it's even still (slightly) profitable. I got to the last step, which would require upgrading to a larger vessel like the Merchant ship.
So, I started making Sunlight runs up to the Surface in my tramp steamer while working with the Anarchists. This was the only game where I remained on good terms with the Blind Bruiser, who gives really good prices for Sunlight and returns your boxes. He does require periodic services from you, though, so I would interrupt my trips to Venice with occasional journeys to Khan's Heart or other faraway locations.
Along the way, I earned a good number of echoes. This was just before Failbetter added some penalties for carrying Sunlight, and I understand it's become less viable now, but I got to something like 6500 by the time I wrapped up the Anarchists' work. I cut my ties with the Admiralty, liquidated my remaining assets with the Alarming Scholar (Tales of Terror, a Searing Enigma, etc.), picked up the merchant cruiser, loaded it up with the Merchant Venturer's supplies, then sailed North.
We made it to Avid Horizon after evading Mount Nomad. It was my first experience with any ship other than the Steamer, and I had been a bit worried that it would be unbearably slow, but it actually felt like it was going about the same speed. That might be because I had upgraded engines already on the steamer; I'm still not totally clear on how speed works, but you might need a minimum power level to drive a certain mass.
In the Horizon, we prepared ourselves at the Gate, then prepared to step through, which required only a Searing Enigma.... oh, crap! There had been no advance warning of needing this item, and I had already sold the only spare one I had. I cursed myself for not extensively reading every aspect of the wiki before making any major decisions in this game.
Enigmas aren't just expensive; they're also one of the hardest items to get. I had already exhausted the easier sources, like Nuncio and the Tomb of the Emperor. I wracked my brain thinking of other solutions, before remembering that you can get an Enigma at the end of the Presbyterate Adventuress's story. I'd been really bummed the first time I did this, since I hate losing companions, but by this point I would have gladly sold my entire crew and my own mother for a single delicious enigma.
For some reason I hadn't even recruited the Adventuress in this game, so I did a few more Sunlight-snatching trips while waiting for her to show up in London. Fortunately, since I had done her quest before, I had a better idea of what stuff I would need on hand to complete it. The first time around I had spent a lot of time and money to open up the shops in Khan's Heart and pick up Romantic Literature; having done Empire of Hands since then, though, I knew that trading with the apes would be a far cheaper and easier affair.
I basically fast-forwarded through the stages, dining with the Adventuress multiple times instantly after acquiring her even before leaving London, then immediately facing her assassins and pledging to help her find death. A single long voyage later, we were back at Abbey Rock, watching her face a worthy foe. Enigma in hand, I raced NORTH once again, stepped through the gate, and ended the game feeling elated. Like the Zeppelin ending, it's technically a loss, but it feels like a victory.
END SPOILERS
I had earned a fair amount of echoes by the end of this game: I've maxed out the Heirloom storage of my Mansion, and still had something like 30000 echoes left over. Previously I had been selecting Iron and Hearts to carry forward my Memento Mori and Disillusioned Doctor. Once you have a nice set of cash, though, it seems much better to pick Veils and Mirrors, which lets you carry all of that money forward.
I did that, skipped picking a background, and selected my ambition: Retire to a Life of Luxury. Sold off my starting goods, went to my Mansion, visited my Study, selected the option to Retire, and... that was it! I won the game in less than 60 seconds, having never once left London.
I burst out laughing. After all of the days and weeks spent zailing, struggling, scrapping, losing, my first victory felt completely ridiculous. In the meta sense, I had earned it, but thinking of it as an actual story was really odd. "This is the story of a young woman, who wanted nothing better than to live in luxury. Fortunately, her mother had recently died, bequeathing her entire estate to her. The young woman never needed to work a day in her life, and lived happily ever after. The End."
And... that's it! There are other, more interesting Ambitions in the game. I've started a new game with the Father's Bones ambition, which already has an extra interesting story component to it. I definitely feel like the game should feel far more manageable from here on out, though. Between the beefy starting stats I've built up and the sizable purse each character can start with, I'm able to hit the ground running and start doing cool stuff pretty much from the start, without the fumbling I'm used to.
I mentioned this in my previous post, but the company name Failbetter perfectly captures the experience of playing this game. You're expected to fail, and die, over and over again. But each time, you acquire tools that help you do better the next time. Some of these are mechanical in-game tools like Legacies; but the biggest of all is the mental capital you build up. Knowing what items you'll keep and which you can sell, which ports to prioritize visiting, how to navigate the various island plots... all of that hard-earned experience becomes incredibly valuable in subsequent games, and ultimately will lead you to victory.
As previously noted, I had started to pay attention to the unlockable Legacies. They're a bit like achievements, and come with the advantage of an extra +25 in a starting stat for all future characters. A few of them require ending the game, but others can be acquired in the midst of your voyages. I plotted out a "leveling up" run that would efficiently unlock all remaining Legacies for me, putting me in a strong position for any future ventures.
MEGA SPOILERS
One of these was fairly straightforward, if obtuse: finish delivering Sphinxstone to the Bazaar without having picked a background for your character. I'm very impressed with whoever figured out that solution on their own. In retrospect it makes at least some sense: the destination for the sphinxstone varies depending on your background, and an unknown background translates to St. Joshua's Shrine. Still, I'd always taken it to the Grand Geode, so I never would have stumbled across that solution without the wiki's help.
The next, A Dream of Red, can be gotten in two ways. I'd hoped to take the Scarred Sister up to the Surface, but in this game I failed my Mirrors roll when her house burned down and she died before I could rescue her. Fortunately, there's a fallback, which requires completing the Acolyte's questline. Thanks to my linked Fallen London account I always start out with a Soothe & Cooper longbox to kick this off, and in this game Station III was located conveniently enough where I could swing by it at the start and end of every voyage. In previous games I had lied to protect her, and I really liked how the story ended after showing her the truth and comforting her.
I'd already picked up a Legacy in my previous game from the fantastic Empire of Hands story. That left two challenging-but-feasible ones for the complete set. One would require working with the Anarchists to destroy London. That doesn't technically end the game, but it does expel you from the City and bar you from any Admiralty work. The next requires finishing the Merchant Venturer's storyline. In the past, I've usually gotten stuck on steps like "Collect 7 Hunting Trophies." They're entirely random, though, and in this game I really lucked out since nearly everything could be bought right at Wolfstack: it's even still (slightly) profitable. I got to the last step, which would require upgrading to a larger vessel like the Merchant ship.
So, I started making Sunlight runs up to the Surface in my tramp steamer while working with the Anarchists. This was the only game where I remained on good terms with the Blind Bruiser, who gives really good prices for Sunlight and returns your boxes. He does require periodic services from you, though, so I would interrupt my trips to Venice with occasional journeys to Khan's Heart or other faraway locations.
Along the way, I earned a good number of echoes. This was just before Failbetter added some penalties for carrying Sunlight, and I understand it's become less viable now, but I got to something like 6500 by the time I wrapped up the Anarchists' work. I cut my ties with the Admiralty, liquidated my remaining assets with the Alarming Scholar (Tales of Terror, a Searing Enigma, etc.), picked up the merchant cruiser, loaded it up with the Merchant Venturer's supplies, then sailed North.
We made it to Avid Horizon after evading Mount Nomad. It was my first experience with any ship other than the Steamer, and I had been a bit worried that it would be unbearably slow, but it actually felt like it was going about the same speed. That might be because I had upgraded engines already on the steamer; I'm still not totally clear on how speed works, but you might need a minimum power level to drive a certain mass.
In the Horizon, we prepared ourselves at the Gate, then prepared to step through, which required only a Searing Enigma.... oh, crap! There had been no advance warning of needing this item, and I had already sold the only spare one I had. I cursed myself for not extensively reading every aspect of the wiki before making any major decisions in this game.
Enigmas aren't just expensive; they're also one of the hardest items to get. I had already exhausted the easier sources, like Nuncio and the Tomb of the Emperor. I wracked my brain thinking of other solutions, before remembering that you can get an Enigma at the end of the Presbyterate Adventuress's story. I'd been really bummed the first time I did this, since I hate losing companions, but by this point I would have gladly sold my entire crew and my own mother for a single delicious enigma.
For some reason I hadn't even recruited the Adventuress in this game, so I did a few more Sunlight-snatching trips while waiting for her to show up in London. Fortunately, since I had done her quest before, I had a better idea of what stuff I would need on hand to complete it. The first time around I had spent a lot of time and money to open up the shops in Khan's Heart and pick up Romantic Literature; having done Empire of Hands since then, though, I knew that trading with the apes would be a far cheaper and easier affair.
I basically fast-forwarded through the stages, dining with the Adventuress multiple times instantly after acquiring her even before leaving London, then immediately facing her assassins and pledging to help her find death. A single long voyage later, we were back at Abbey Rock, watching her face a worthy foe. Enigma in hand, I raced NORTH once again, stepped through the gate, and ended the game feeling elated. Like the Zeppelin ending, it's technically a loss, but it feels like a victory.
END SPOILERS
I had earned a fair amount of echoes by the end of this game: I've maxed out the Heirloom storage of my Mansion, and still had something like 30000 echoes left over. Previously I had been selecting Iron and Hearts to carry forward my Memento Mori and Disillusioned Doctor. Once you have a nice set of cash, though, it seems much better to pick Veils and Mirrors, which lets you carry all of that money forward.
I did that, skipped picking a background, and selected my ambition: Retire to a Life of Luxury. Sold off my starting goods, went to my Mansion, visited my Study, selected the option to Retire, and... that was it! I won the game in less than 60 seconds, having never once left London.
I burst out laughing. After all of the days and weeks spent zailing, struggling, scrapping, losing, my first victory felt completely ridiculous. In the meta sense, I had earned it, but thinking of it as an actual story was really odd. "This is the story of a young woman, who wanted nothing better than to live in luxury. Fortunately, her mother had recently died, bequeathing her entire estate to her. The young woman never needed to work a day in her life, and lived happily ever after. The End."
And... that's it! There are other, more interesting Ambitions in the game. I've started a new game with the Father's Bones ambition, which already has an extra interesting story component to it. I definitely feel like the game should feel far more manageable from here on out, though. Between the beefy starting stats I've built up and the sizable purse each character can start with, I'm able to hit the ground running and start doing cool stuff pretty much from the start, without the fumbling I'm used to.
I mentioned this in my previous post, but the company name Failbetter perfectly captures the experience of playing this game. You're expected to fail, and die, over and over again. But each time, you acquire tools that help you do better the next time. Some of these are mechanical in-game tools like Legacies; but the biggest of all is the mental capital you build up. Knowing what items you'll keep and which you can sell, which ports to prioritize visiting, how to navigate the various island plots... all of that hard-earned experience becomes incredibly valuable in subsequent games, and ultimately will lead you to victory.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Okay, Maybe A LITTLE Sun
Each day, I suck a little less at Sunless Sea.
I'm now into my third week of regular play, and have gotten a great handle on survival. I know which beasties to chase down, and when to flick off my lights and flee in the opposite direction. I know what goods to keep in my limited hold space, and what to sell at Wolfstack. I know where the different officers' plot lines will go, and can prioritize based on my needs.
As a matter of fact, my last game did not end in the watery death of my captain! Granted, I didn't technically win, either, since it doesn't officially count as a victory condition, but it still felt like a victory. I got a very striking, and pretty amusing, ending for my captain, heading off into the distance for parts unknown.
One thing I've been wrestling with is whether to use the wiki, and to what extent. The information is organized pretty well on there, and it's generally easy to avoid spoilers if you're just looking up a few particular things. This can include technical information, like the buying and selling prices of various goods throughout the Unterzee, which can be helpful in planning voyages; but it also provides insight into the mechanical outcomes of several crucial choices that can be made throughout the game, many of which can only occur once.
Early on, I didn't use the wiki at all. After I had gotten the basics of the game down, I would use it to verify some vague impressions I had ("fuel is cheaper in Mount Palmerston than London, right?). Lately, I've been using it more liberally, specifically in researching how to unlock different Legacies. I have mixed feelings about that. It does take away from the thrill of discovery; but at the same time, there's no way I would have ever figured out some of these things on my own. (Not that they're actually impossible, just that you only get a single shot per game at most things, and I don't think I'd have the patience to try every permutation, especially after I find a solution that appears to work well.)
So, that will probably come down to each individual player. If you enjoy puzzling things out for yourself, and expect to keep playing Sunless Sea for a while - and particularly if you are fine with the thought of not min-maxing your characters - then you may want to eschew the wiki or restrain yourself to the most basic information.
One thing you don't need to worry about, though, is plot spoilers. While the wiki gives a lot of mechanical information, it does a great job at avoiding story details about the consequences of your actions. I'm finding myself more and more drawn to this aspect on replays: there are certain things in the game, like being a cannibal, that appear to only provide benefits to your character, but I still try and avoid because I don't like what it says about me as a person.
So, yeah. I'm still having a ton of fun with the game. Haven't properly won yet, and I don't think I'll officially win my current game, but I'm getting some nice persistent benefits at present and think I'll have a great shot at victory with my upcoming captain. In no particular order, here's some more random advice from me after two weeks at zee.
When you first start the game, you'll be able to visit the shops at Wolfstack and see tons of upgrade options: lamps, engines, ships, ranging from hundreds of echoes to tens of thousands. Like me, you may assume that you'll be participating in a standard RPG gear cycle: finish quests, kill monsters, get rewards, buy slightly better gear, finish harder quests, kill tougher monsters, get larger rewards, buy even better gear, etc. As I've come to learn, though, that really isn't necessary, or even desirable, so succeed at Sunless Sea.
At a macro level, the game is built around tradeoffs: you can almost never improve one thing without making another thing worse. When it comes to gear, this is most obvious for upgrades like lanterns: more expensive ones give you higher Mirrors, letting you shoot enemies more quickly; but they also lower your Veils, making it easier for enemies to see you. But similar tradeoffs apply to everything. I was really excited when I first bought a new engine, raising my Engine Power from 800 to 1500. But in practice it doesn't make you go that much faster; and, worse, it burns fuel more quickly than the less-powerful engine. Similarly, buying larger ships can give you much more hold space to ferry goods, a stronger hull to withstand damage, and more equipment slots to place upgrades. But larger ships also weigh more, which means you'll move more slowly, and require larger crews, which in turn require more supplies to feed, which will end up filling many of those new hold slots.
All that to say: you're generally fine sticking with your starting tramp steamer for most or the entire game. If you need to buy a bigger ship, you can, but don't assume it will magically improve every aspect of your game.
As to equipment: the most important thing to upgrade is your deck gun, which should be fairly cheap (200 or 500 echoes), and is a rare upgrade without any negative side-effects. (Note: be aware that some guns require the Forward slot instead of the Deck slot, and won't fit on your tramp steamer.) This gun will let you take out many of the low-level enemies in a single shot before taking any damage. I also like to get the Whithern Optical, a cheap 100 echo lamp with a good trade-in value that provides a tiny bonus to Mirrors. And for the auxiliary slot, I'm fond of WE ARE CLAY, an upgrade you can purchase in Polythreme that provides a boost to engine power and Iron and lowers crew capacity. That last part might sound like a negative, but it's actually a good thing: it means that you can travel with as few as 4 crew and still move at full speed, and a full crew complement will consume very few supplies.
I'm still not completely sure on engines; I think the Serpentine is probably the best, but I have yet to successfully finish the story that grants it, so I've been sticking with the Boadicea. It's the most expensive upgrade I get, and only has a modest increase in speed, but increase seems to be enough to let me outrun certain enemies so it's worth it for me. I keep vacillating on this, though... it burns so much more fuel, it seems like I might be better off just keeping the starter engine instead.
Failbetter likes to do something tricky in this game. Occasionally you'll be faced with a choice that might have, say, three options. Two of those will be standard choices, the third will require a stat check or special resource. As RPG players, we're pretty conditioned to assume that the third option will always be the best: after all, we went to the work to pump that stat or unlock that item, now we get to reap the rewards!
Well... that's not always the best outcome. In fact, it's not at all unusual for it to lead to the worst possible result from the choice. To be fair, though, whenever that happens to me, I feel chagrined by the outcome but also like I deserve it. The text leading up to it, or the larger context of the story, provides good indications of the likely results; I've just been fooled by my own autonomic decision-making tendencies burned into me by playing other RPGs.
And, on a related note, don't be too concerned with failure. A single poor choice will almost never end your game; if it does, Failbetter telegraphs it very clearly. Many times, failing a stat test will provide minimal or no negative repercussions. Take risks, and you may end up better than you expect.
Legacies are crucial to my enjoyment of the game: they keep me from ragequitting after I die and help future voyages end more successfully than earlier ones.
The baseline legacies are the Ironclad Will and the Scion. Both of these require upgrading your lodgings; you don't need to rush to do that, but once you have the immediate needs of your ship taken care of, you might want to prioritize that.
As you play the game, you'll occasionally run across Captivating Treasures, often from completing certain quests. These can be sold for money, but I prefer turning them into Heirlooms in my Lodgings. Combined with the Ironclad Will, these will all be passed forward to my next character. Then, when my next character starts, I start by selling one of my Heirlooms. This will raise about 1000 echoes. I immediately purchase a new Ironclad Will for another 100 echoes, and still have enough left over for my essential ship upgrades like a better deck gun. So far I haven't had to touch any of my remaining heirlooms. As long as I get a couple each game, they gradually accumulate, creating a really nice buffer of wealth for my future characters to tap as needed.
Once you have your Scion, you'll be able to choose between two legacies. I've been picking the Shipmate one, which keeps half of your Hearts and lets you keep an officer; if you've upgraded an officer, you'll get the benefits of their increased stats without needing the time and cost to re-upgrade them. (Note, though, that in some cases you may be missing out on some interim rewards along their questline, so consider in advance whether this is something you want.) For the second, I've lately been picking the Rival one, which lets you keep a single weapon. As I've discovered, for both this and Shipmate, you can select from any that you have acquired over the course of the game, and not only the ones on the ship with you at the end. In my case, I had acquired a unique and expensive weapon at the end of an officer's plotline. I can't even equip this weapon since it's a Forward one, but it can be traded in for a lot of money and influence, so it's worth holding on to.
The other compelling legacies are Pupil and Salvager, each of which carry forward 50% of your wealth (so, if you select both, you'll keep 100% of the money your previous captain had at death). They also maintain your Veils and Mirrors, two of the most useful stats. Those would be solid choices, but if you are able to plan the end of your game in advance (a suicide run, an expected victory), it isn't really necessary: you can liquidate all of your holdings, buy Captivating Treasures from Khan's Shadow, install them as Heirlooms in your lodgings, then go to your death with empty pockets but a full estate.
And, finally, there are the special unlockable legacies, each of which will give you +25 to a given stat (meaning you start out at 50 rather than 25). Unlike the Scion legacies, these are cumulative, so you can ultimately get new characters with across-the-board starting stats of 50 (or even higher with Scion legacies). As I alluded to before, these have very particular requirements which are hard to discover in-game. But, they are very worth seeking out.
(It may be worth mentioning that the +25 stat bonus you get from choosing a background isn't applied if you already have over 50 in a stat, as I noticed to my chagrin in my most recent game. On the bright side, though, that does mean you'll be encouraged to spread around your stat points somewhat, rather than feeling like you always need to pump one or two particular stats.)
I may not have "won" yet, but I'm getting better and stronger every day. This really is a gripping, enveloping world on so many levels: the moody atmosphere, the tight gameplay, the strong feeling of stakes and consequences from permadeath. Before too much longer, I expect that I will have crossed over the boundary and joined the ranks of the truly successful zee-captains.
(Final postscript: holy cow, this Dino Comics is absolutely perfect.)
I'm now into my third week of regular play, and have gotten a great handle on survival. I know which beasties to chase down, and when to flick off my lights and flee in the opposite direction. I know what goods to keep in my limited hold space, and what to sell at Wolfstack. I know where the different officers' plot lines will go, and can prioritize based on my needs.
As a matter of fact, my last game did not end in the watery death of my captain! Granted, I didn't technically win, either, since it doesn't officially count as a victory condition, but it still felt like a victory. I got a very striking, and pretty amusing, ending for my captain, heading off into the distance for parts unknown.
One thing I've been wrestling with is whether to use the wiki, and to what extent. The information is organized pretty well on there, and it's generally easy to avoid spoilers if you're just looking up a few particular things. This can include technical information, like the buying and selling prices of various goods throughout the Unterzee, which can be helpful in planning voyages; but it also provides insight into the mechanical outcomes of several crucial choices that can be made throughout the game, many of which can only occur once.
Early on, I didn't use the wiki at all. After I had gotten the basics of the game down, I would use it to verify some vague impressions I had ("fuel is cheaper in Mount Palmerston than London, right?). Lately, I've been using it more liberally, specifically in researching how to unlock different Legacies. I have mixed feelings about that. It does take away from the thrill of discovery; but at the same time, there's no way I would have ever figured out some of these things on my own. (Not that they're actually impossible, just that you only get a single shot per game at most things, and I don't think I'd have the patience to try every permutation, especially after I find a solution that appears to work well.)
So, that will probably come down to each individual player. If you enjoy puzzling things out for yourself, and expect to keep playing Sunless Sea for a while - and particularly if you are fine with the thought of not min-maxing your characters - then you may want to eschew the wiki or restrain yourself to the most basic information.
One thing you don't need to worry about, though, is plot spoilers. While the wiki gives a lot of mechanical information, it does a great job at avoiding story details about the consequences of your actions. I'm finding myself more and more drawn to this aspect on replays: there are certain things in the game, like being a cannibal, that appear to only provide benefits to your character, but I still try and avoid because I don't like what it says about me as a person.
So, yeah. I'm still having a ton of fun with the game. Haven't properly won yet, and I don't think I'll officially win my current game, but I'm getting some nice persistent benefits at present and think I'll have a great shot at victory with my upcoming captain. In no particular order, here's some more random advice from me after two weeks at zee.
Don't worry about upgrades
When you first start the game, you'll be able to visit the shops at Wolfstack and see tons of upgrade options: lamps, engines, ships, ranging from hundreds of echoes to tens of thousands. Like me, you may assume that you'll be participating in a standard RPG gear cycle: finish quests, kill monsters, get rewards, buy slightly better gear, finish harder quests, kill tougher monsters, get larger rewards, buy even better gear, etc. As I've come to learn, though, that really isn't necessary, or even desirable, so succeed at Sunless Sea.
At a macro level, the game is built around tradeoffs: you can almost never improve one thing without making another thing worse. When it comes to gear, this is most obvious for upgrades like lanterns: more expensive ones give you higher Mirrors, letting you shoot enemies more quickly; but they also lower your Veils, making it easier for enemies to see you. But similar tradeoffs apply to everything. I was really excited when I first bought a new engine, raising my Engine Power from 800 to 1500. But in practice it doesn't make you go that much faster; and, worse, it burns fuel more quickly than the less-powerful engine. Similarly, buying larger ships can give you much more hold space to ferry goods, a stronger hull to withstand damage, and more equipment slots to place upgrades. But larger ships also weigh more, which means you'll move more slowly, and require larger crews, which in turn require more supplies to feed, which will end up filling many of those new hold slots.
All that to say: you're generally fine sticking with your starting tramp steamer for most or the entire game. If you need to buy a bigger ship, you can, but don't assume it will magically improve every aspect of your game.
As to equipment: the most important thing to upgrade is your deck gun, which should be fairly cheap (200 or 500 echoes), and is a rare upgrade without any negative side-effects. (Note: be aware that some guns require the Forward slot instead of the Deck slot, and won't fit on your tramp steamer.) This gun will let you take out many of the low-level enemies in a single shot before taking any damage. I also like to get the Whithern Optical, a cheap 100 echo lamp with a good trade-in value that provides a tiny bonus to Mirrors. And for the auxiliary slot, I'm fond of WE ARE CLAY, an upgrade you can purchase in Polythreme that provides a boost to engine power and Iron and lowers crew capacity. That last part might sound like a negative, but it's actually a good thing: it means that you can travel with as few as 4 crew and still move at full speed, and a full crew complement will consume very few supplies.
I'm still not completely sure on engines; I think the Serpentine is probably the best, but I have yet to successfully finish the story that grants it, so I've been sticking with the Boadicea. It's the most expensive upgrade I get, and only has a modest increase in speed, but increase seems to be enough to let me outrun certain enemies so it's worth it for me. I keep vacillating on this, though... it burns so much more fuel, it seems like I might be better off just keeping the starter engine instead.
Think about your choices
Failbetter likes to do something tricky in this game. Occasionally you'll be faced with a choice that might have, say, three options. Two of those will be standard choices, the third will require a stat check or special resource. As RPG players, we're pretty conditioned to assume that the third option will always be the best: after all, we went to the work to pump that stat or unlock that item, now we get to reap the rewards!
Well... that's not always the best outcome. In fact, it's not at all unusual for it to lead to the worst possible result from the choice. To be fair, though, whenever that happens to me, I feel chagrined by the outcome but also like I deserve it. The text leading up to it, or the larger context of the story, provides good indications of the likely results; I've just been fooled by my own autonomic decision-making tendencies burned into me by playing other RPGs.
And, on a related note, don't be too concerned with failure. A single poor choice will almost never end your game; if it does, Failbetter telegraphs it very clearly. Many times, failing a stat test will provide minimal or no negative repercussions. Take risks, and you may end up better than you expect.
Consider your Legacy
Legacies are crucial to my enjoyment of the game: they keep me from ragequitting after I die and help future voyages end more successfully than earlier ones.
The baseline legacies are the Ironclad Will and the Scion. Both of these require upgrading your lodgings; you don't need to rush to do that, but once you have the immediate needs of your ship taken care of, you might want to prioritize that.
As you play the game, you'll occasionally run across Captivating Treasures, often from completing certain quests. These can be sold for money, but I prefer turning them into Heirlooms in my Lodgings. Combined with the Ironclad Will, these will all be passed forward to my next character. Then, when my next character starts, I start by selling one of my Heirlooms. This will raise about 1000 echoes. I immediately purchase a new Ironclad Will for another 100 echoes, and still have enough left over for my essential ship upgrades like a better deck gun. So far I haven't had to touch any of my remaining heirlooms. As long as I get a couple each game, they gradually accumulate, creating a really nice buffer of wealth for my future characters to tap as needed.
Once you have your Scion, you'll be able to choose between two legacies. I've been picking the Shipmate one, which keeps half of your Hearts and lets you keep an officer; if you've upgraded an officer, you'll get the benefits of their increased stats without needing the time and cost to re-upgrade them. (Note, though, that in some cases you may be missing out on some interim rewards along their questline, so consider in advance whether this is something you want.) For the second, I've lately been picking the Rival one, which lets you keep a single weapon. As I've discovered, for both this and Shipmate, you can select from any that you have acquired over the course of the game, and not only the ones on the ship with you at the end. In my case, I had acquired a unique and expensive weapon at the end of an officer's plotline. I can't even equip this weapon since it's a Forward one, but it can be traded in for a lot of money and influence, so it's worth holding on to.
The other compelling legacies are Pupil and Salvager, each of which carry forward 50% of your wealth (so, if you select both, you'll keep 100% of the money your previous captain had at death). They also maintain your Veils and Mirrors, two of the most useful stats. Those would be solid choices, but if you are able to plan the end of your game in advance (a suicide run, an expected victory), it isn't really necessary: you can liquidate all of your holdings, buy Captivating Treasures from Khan's Shadow, install them as Heirlooms in your lodgings, then go to your death with empty pockets but a full estate.
And, finally, there are the special unlockable legacies, each of which will give you +25 to a given stat (meaning you start out at 50 rather than 25). Unlike the Scion legacies, these are cumulative, so you can ultimately get new characters with across-the-board starting stats of 50 (or even higher with Scion legacies). As I alluded to before, these have very particular requirements which are hard to discover in-game. But, they are very worth seeking out.
(It may be worth mentioning that the +25 stat bonus you get from choosing a background isn't applied if you already have over 50 in a stat, as I noticed to my chagrin in my most recent game. On the bright side, though, that does mean you'll be encouraged to spread around your stat points somewhat, rather than feeling like you always need to pump one or two particular stats.)
Keep playing!
I may not have "won" yet, but I'm getting better and stronger every day. This really is a gripping, enveloping world on so many levels: the moody atmosphere, the tight gameplay, the strong feeling of stakes and consequences from permadeath. Before too much longer, I expect that I will have crossed over the boundary and joined the ranks of the truly successful zee-captains.
(Final postscript: holy cow, this Dino Comics is absolutely perfect.)
Monday, February 16, 2015
Artquisition
I meant to write this up last year, but completely forgot!
I picked up The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition a while ago. I knew it would contain spoilers for the game, so I kept it safely locked away until after I finished my Aztar game, then thoroughly read through it. It's pretty cool! I tend not to be much of an art book guy, but I'm willing to indulge for some of my favorite stories, and it's particularly intriguing to see all the hints and references to other ideas that were considered at various points during development which didn't make it into the final game.
There's a small amount of overlap with the content in The World of Thedas, like drawings that show typical outfits in various Thedosian nations (Ferelden furs, Orlesian masks, Tevinter black). The overlap is pretty minor, though, and the vast majority of stuff in here is new.
MINI SPOILERS
One particular thing I noticed was the War Table. There's some great concept art in there which shows some ideas which were fully developed from early on, like the enormous slab of wood which forms the War Table. But, there also are a lot of sketches that show various iterations of the War Table and imply that, at one point, it was possible to "evolve" the table. There's a concept for a table filled with tons of little drawers and cabinets, for the micro-managing Josephine; a sinister table with hidden compartments and poisons, for the underhanded Leliana; and a martial table supported by trophies, reflecting Cullen's preference for straightforward applications of force. The accompanying text briefly describes how at one point they thought that the table would reflect the approach you most often took on your missions. That's especially interesting to me, since it implies a different design for the War Table that probably did not include limited application of advisors over periods of time. In the current (shipping) game design, you always want to have all of your three advisors deployed, and thus will consistently be using a mixture of approaches. It seems like in earlier concepts, you might be able to, say, always follow Leliana's suggestions.
The book also brought my attention to some things that I had overlooked during my game. One big example here was the puzzle tiles in the Temple of Mythal. The book makes clear how the artists and designers went to great lengths to figure out how such a system would actually work, and came up with a mechanical design that would let them "light up" in reaction to pressure. I'd totally missed that, though, and just mentally filed it under the "magic!" category. In my second game as Visaas I paid a bit more attention, and had some more appreciation for all the work they put into this.
A lot of the book is devoted to character concepts, from rough pencil sketches to more fully-developed realizations. For example, there's a great spread on some concepts they tried with Morrigan, including some really interesting takes that featured her with more of a hunter look. It's a really cool take on an existing character, and reinforces the idea that she's been on the run for years. They ended up with a simpler update to her Origins design, which is fine, but it's great to see that this wasn't a matter of laziness, but rather the result of some concerted thought and effort.
END SPOILERS
I'm glad that I splurged on the collector's edition. It isn't an essential book, even for hard-core fans, since the lore is pretty light. However, it is an absolutely gorgeous book stuffed with fantastic artwork, running the gamut from loosely sketched storyboards to beautifully realized landscapes. It provides a surprisingly deep amount of insight into the work that goes into making a video game like this, showing how ideas are sparked and evolve and solidified, as well as some of the possibilities that were considered and eventually discarded over the long course of making the game.
I tossed together snaps of a few representative pages in an album here if you'd like to check it out, though I should warn you that my crummy camera doesn't begin to do justice to how vibrant the pages look. The collector's edition is sold out, but I believe that the hardcover edition is the same book, minus the slipcase and signed prints, and at a fraction of the price I paid. If you're looking for some more Dragon Age goodness to tide you over until some Inquisition DLC arrives, this might fit the bill.
I picked up The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition a while ago. I knew it would contain spoilers for the game, so I kept it safely locked away until after I finished my Aztar game, then thoroughly read through it. It's pretty cool! I tend not to be much of an art book guy, but I'm willing to indulge for some of my favorite stories, and it's particularly intriguing to see all the hints and references to other ideas that were considered at various points during development which didn't make it into the final game.
There's a small amount of overlap with the content in The World of Thedas, like drawings that show typical outfits in various Thedosian nations (Ferelden furs, Orlesian masks, Tevinter black). The overlap is pretty minor, though, and the vast majority of stuff in here is new.
MINI SPOILERS
One particular thing I noticed was the War Table. There's some great concept art in there which shows some ideas which were fully developed from early on, like the enormous slab of wood which forms the War Table. But, there also are a lot of sketches that show various iterations of the War Table and imply that, at one point, it was possible to "evolve" the table. There's a concept for a table filled with tons of little drawers and cabinets, for the micro-managing Josephine; a sinister table with hidden compartments and poisons, for the underhanded Leliana; and a martial table supported by trophies, reflecting Cullen's preference for straightforward applications of force. The accompanying text briefly describes how at one point they thought that the table would reflect the approach you most often took on your missions. That's especially interesting to me, since it implies a different design for the War Table that probably did not include limited application of advisors over periods of time. In the current (shipping) game design, you always want to have all of your three advisors deployed, and thus will consistently be using a mixture of approaches. It seems like in earlier concepts, you might be able to, say, always follow Leliana's suggestions.
The book also brought my attention to some things that I had overlooked during my game. One big example here was the puzzle tiles in the Temple of Mythal. The book makes clear how the artists and designers went to great lengths to figure out how such a system would actually work, and came up with a mechanical design that would let them "light up" in reaction to pressure. I'd totally missed that, though, and just mentally filed it under the "magic!" category. In my second game as Visaas I paid a bit more attention, and had some more appreciation for all the work they put into this.
A lot of the book is devoted to character concepts, from rough pencil sketches to more fully-developed realizations. For example, there's a great spread on some concepts they tried with Morrigan, including some really interesting takes that featured her with more of a hunter look. It's a really cool take on an existing character, and reinforces the idea that she's been on the run for years. They ended up with a simpler update to her Origins design, which is fine, but it's great to see that this wasn't a matter of laziness, but rather the result of some concerted thought and effort.
END SPOILERS
I'm glad that I splurged on the collector's edition. It isn't an essential book, even for hard-core fans, since the lore is pretty light. However, it is an absolutely gorgeous book stuffed with fantastic artwork, running the gamut from loosely sketched storyboards to beautifully realized landscapes. It provides a surprisingly deep amount of insight into the work that goes into making a video game like this, showing how ideas are sparked and evolve and solidified, as well as some of the possibilities that were considered and eventually discarded over the long course of making the game.
I tossed together snaps of a few representative pages in an album here if you'd like to check it out, though I should warn you that my crummy camera doesn't begin to do justice to how vibrant the pages look. The collector's edition is sold out, but I believe that the hardcover edition is the same book, minus the slipcase and signed prints, and at a fraction of the price I paid. If you're looking for some more Dragon Age goodness to tide you over until some Inquisition DLC arrives, this might fit the bill.
Shadows Are Falling
We're now in the last day for kickstarting Shadowrun: Hong Kong!
I continue to be impressed at how mature and thoughtful HBS has been in conducting this campaign. They've obviously been around the block before, and having experienced the entire cycle of crowdfunding has taught them what to do and what to avoid. This has helped prevent them from overextending themselves, and increases my confidence that they will deliver an even more successful project than before.
The clearest example of this is their handling of stretch goals. Practically every successful video game project that I've backed has added stretch goals which make the game cooler by adding more features. That's great, but also inevitably means that they blow out their initial release date: more features means more time. In this case, Harebrained Schemes identified early on what stretch goals they wanted to support, and identified how they would staff up to add them while still sticking to their schedule.
The campaign has been a success, and they blew past all of their defined stretch goals. Lots of speculation arose over what would come next: adding support for the astral plane? Implementing a compelling stealth system? Letting players modify their body shapes?
Nope: rather than follow the traditional $50k bumps in tiered stretch goals, which tends to keep up momentum, they added a new $1 million goal above their previous-highest $700k goal, a 40% increase without any intervening rewards. What was that goal? Not a feature or an enhancement, but an expansion: a new mini-campaign to be delivered and set after the end of Hong Kong.
That is a brilliant idea. It neatly solves the schedule problem that every other game kickstarter runs into: it creates an entire separate schedule, not tied to the already-committed dates, for a later improvement. They don't need to scramble to hire new staff: this gives their existing staff their next project to work on after Hong Kong. And it avoids the feature creep that causes things to spiral out of control.
That $1 million goal was pretty aggressive, but realistic. Based on the trends at the time, it seemed likely that they would hit it during the final hours, especially with the last-minute bump that kickstarters often get. They ended up exceeding expectations, landing the goal this weekend with several days left to go.
Backers immediately exploded with yet more speculation. What would come next? Maybe they could add something more for $1.1 million? Some other incentive to ensure that people continued flocking to the project and pushing it higher yet...
HBS did what I don't think I've seen any other creators do: they said "no". They were delighted to have hit their funding, and are refraining from piling on more tasks for themselves. In a very candid and thoughtful update, they demonstrate their familiarity with Murphy's law. More funding will be used, but it will be used to help cover the cost overruns and unexpected disasters and last-minute tweaks necessary to get out a successful game. They had their vision, and are sticking to it, even when strangers on the internet are throwing dollars at them.
So, why should people continue to back the project if it's reached all of its goals and doesn't have any higher goals to achieve? Well, for their own benefit. People who back at the $15 level are essentially pre-ordering the game at a discount, and getting some exclusive digital exclusives. Those who back at higher levels are getting rewards that won't be available anywhere in a few days. And everyone is getting the benefits that earlier backers have already unlocked, like more miniature figures and an expanded game and a free (for backers) expansion.
I thought that was a very noble and reasonable attitude for HBS to take, but was a bit concerned that they might kill their own momentum by essentially telling people "Thanks, but we're good." I needn't have worried. The last-minute push continues apace, already creeping up to that $1.1 million mark and poised to go well beyond.
I'm excited to see where this all ends up, and even more excited to see the final game when it arrives in August. I probably have more confidence in this game than any other I've backed on Kickstarter before. If you'd like to get in on the action, you still have some time; otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for a fun new adventure coming later this year!
I continue to be impressed at how mature and thoughtful HBS has been in conducting this campaign. They've obviously been around the block before, and having experienced the entire cycle of crowdfunding has taught them what to do and what to avoid. This has helped prevent them from overextending themselves, and increases my confidence that they will deliver an even more successful project than before.
The clearest example of this is their handling of stretch goals. Practically every successful video game project that I've backed has added stretch goals which make the game cooler by adding more features. That's great, but also inevitably means that they blow out their initial release date: more features means more time. In this case, Harebrained Schemes identified early on what stretch goals they wanted to support, and identified how they would staff up to add them while still sticking to their schedule.
The campaign has been a success, and they blew past all of their defined stretch goals. Lots of speculation arose over what would come next: adding support for the astral plane? Implementing a compelling stealth system? Letting players modify their body shapes?
Nope: rather than follow the traditional $50k bumps in tiered stretch goals, which tends to keep up momentum, they added a new $1 million goal above their previous-highest $700k goal, a 40% increase without any intervening rewards. What was that goal? Not a feature or an enhancement, but an expansion: a new mini-campaign to be delivered and set after the end of Hong Kong.
That is a brilliant idea. It neatly solves the schedule problem that every other game kickstarter runs into: it creates an entire separate schedule, not tied to the already-committed dates, for a later improvement. They don't need to scramble to hire new staff: this gives their existing staff their next project to work on after Hong Kong. And it avoids the feature creep that causes things to spiral out of control.
That $1 million goal was pretty aggressive, but realistic. Based on the trends at the time, it seemed likely that they would hit it during the final hours, especially with the last-minute bump that kickstarters often get. They ended up exceeding expectations, landing the goal this weekend with several days left to go.
Backers immediately exploded with yet more speculation. What would come next? Maybe they could add something more for $1.1 million? Some other incentive to ensure that people continued flocking to the project and pushing it higher yet...
HBS did what I don't think I've seen any other creators do: they said "no". They were delighted to have hit their funding, and are refraining from piling on more tasks for themselves. In a very candid and thoughtful update, they demonstrate their familiarity with Murphy's law. More funding will be used, but it will be used to help cover the cost overruns and unexpected disasters and last-minute tweaks necessary to get out a successful game. They had their vision, and are sticking to it, even when strangers on the internet are throwing dollars at them.
So, why should people continue to back the project if it's reached all of its goals and doesn't have any higher goals to achieve? Well, for their own benefit. People who back at the $15 level are essentially pre-ordering the game at a discount, and getting some exclusive digital exclusives. Those who back at higher levels are getting rewards that won't be available anywhere in a few days. And everyone is getting the benefits that earlier backers have already unlocked, like more miniature figures and an expanded game and a free (for backers) expansion.
I thought that was a very noble and reasonable attitude for HBS to take, but was a bit concerned that they might kill their own momentum by essentially telling people "Thanks, but we're good." I needn't have worried. The last-minute push continues apace, already creeping up to that $1.1 million mark and poised to go well beyond.
I'm excited to see where this all ends up, and even more excited to see the final game when it arrives in August. I probably have more confidence in this game than any other I've backed on Kickstarter before. If you'd like to get in on the action, you still have some time; otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for a fun new adventure coming later this year!
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