It’s been a month already? I’m really getting upset at how quickly time is passing me by..

Shooters

I’m still rpg’d out. I’ve been playing mostly Doom, Quake, and Quake 2 lately, and whatever else I can get my hands on here and there. I decided to play the latest expansion episodes for each of the games, the ones that came out in the past couple of years or so. A company called MachineGames worked on all of them and I find that I really like their level styles.

For Doom, that’s Legacy of Rust, which I temporarily put down to work on Quake and Quake 2, and have picked it back up again just yesterday. It’s hard. The levels are really cool though and loop back on each other in mazey, almost Metroidvania/Search Action ways. Though of course you can’t really acquire new abilities in Doom, so it’s mostly key-gating, but they still implement it incredibly well. Legacy of Rust is two episodes and I’m early on in the second one, which is considerably harder than the first in the package. I’ll be honest. I am 30 or 40 years old and I do not need this level of difficulty, so I have resorted to temporarily turning on godmode when I can’t make it through the tenth room of Vassagos and Hell Knights… aye yi yi

That aside, I’m having a pretty grand time working through these levels!

Quake saw two expansions: Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine. They both connect the enemies of Quake 2, the Strogg, into the story of Quake. It’s really interesting and was a lot of fun. Both these expansions have level designs that you just don’t see in the base game. Large open outdoor areas, white pristine castles, space ships and high tech scenes. The main game is very gothic and even the technology on show feels very gothic. But when you bring in the Strogg aesthetic, it actually really works! I finished both of these stories and loved them a ton. Dimension of the Past is a bunch of levels back to back, whereas Dimension of the Machine features a hub level where you choose five different levels each with their own unique visual design language and sometimes gameplay elements.

In Quake 2, we’ve got Call of the Machine, featuring the same hub level design as Dimension of the Machine. This time there are 9 separate locations to visit, again with their own designs and gameplay elements. One can be horror, while another is just waves of enemies one after the other while giving you the best weapon to mow them down each time. Large open areas that, again, you just don’t see in the original game. It’s all very beautiful, very fun, and incredibly satisfying. And it ends with a boss fight that directly ties the game to the first Quake. It’s also worth noting that of all the guns in all of these games, I’d have to say the regular shotgun from Quake 2 is the most satisfying to use, with Doom’s double barreled shotgun in a very close second.

The texture work in all of these levels is also fantastic. They’re just absolutely beautiful all around.

Gardening

Chrys and I have been getting so many more plants for our garden. Her mom gave us some from her garden too, including one that has been passed on from great grandmother, to grandmother, to mother, and now to Chrys and me! That was such a sweet gesture from her, it makes me so happy to feel included in the family

Our big tomato and cherry tomato plants are starting to flower, which means that if they get pollinated they should start fruiting! And the rosebush is almost in bloom!

We’ve also spent a lot of time just doing yardwork and it feels really good actually!

House stuff

A couple weeks ago we had a really nasty storm come through and a couple branches broke off the tree in front of our house! One even landed on our porch roof! No damage, and we already had booked roofers to repair the roof from water damage anyway. But it was exciting and we got to meet a handful of our neighbors while the power was out!

Home stuff

Things are home are calming down. We’ve had I wanna say three, maybe four? good weeks here where everyone’s just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. I think family therapy has been helping a ton. I’m really glad everyone wanted to do it.

Health

I have carpel tunnel syndrome in my right hand! Yay. I wear a wrist brace to sleep now and it helps a ton.

Computers

Linux on my Surface Pro 7 has stopped seeing the thermal trip points and is thusly throttling my CPU cores to 400mhz each. I was just starting to like Linux again and it goes and does this bullshit. I have no idea how to reset the trip points or anything.