Category: Geekery

Satisfactory: Ironworks Again

I planned to use this website to write more about Satisfactory. (Among other things.) What’s stopping me? All the free time I could be writing, I’m spending in the game. So, my love of the game gets in the way of my plans and principles yet again. Same as it ever was.

Anyway: At just about the 24 hours (in-game time) mark in the new save, I completed my Ironworks.

There’ll be beautification done later, after I’ve unlocked more of the cosmetics. I want a roof, walls, supports, all of that good shiny stuff. But for now? It doesn’t look too shabby!

I’ve been referring to various purpose-built factory sites as [whatever]works since my very first play-through about four years ago. This one’s the best I’ve built yet. Which you’d expect given all the practice over the years, I suppose, but I really do feel good about this result. Let’s get into why.
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20 September, 2024
Satisfactory: 1.0

It’s out. It’s finally out. Most of 4 years since I bought the game in its Early Access state, 1000+ hours of time spent in it during that time, and here I am starting a fresh new save.

Not that there weren’t some hiccups at the start.
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10 September, 2024
Gearing Up For The Stream

When Coffee Stain Studios announced the release date for Satisfactory’s 1.0 version I immediately put in for the day off. (Also the day before, since taking just a random Tuesday seemed silly.) How, I wondered, would I properly celebrate? Given that I’ve very (very very) occasionally streamed the game on Twitch, I decided to go ahead and do that thing for as much of the release day as I can manage.

Mind you, apparently Pacific time zone folks get the game at 8 o’clock in the morning. On the one hand this means I get to start playing as soon as I’ve had breakfast and such in the morning. On the other hand this means that I will want to start playing as soon as, etc, etc. Hmm. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I have to be up and medicated by that time anyway.

Now, about that streaming idea.
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8 September, 2024
Straight Into My Ears

I have, one might say, a bit of a problem.

Most of those are gaming headsets of one form or another, a couple are just-headphones, and a couple are designed primarily for videoconferencing use rather than for gaming. And then there’s the earbuds.

“I can quit any time,” I say, as I ponder shopping online for yet another set of headphones. I (probably) won’t buy anything right now, though, because between the Poly-formerly-Plantronics work headset and my excellent Sony listening headphones, I’m set. For the moment.

What brought on the urge to dig through the Box Of Discarded Headsets? Tuesday’s Satisfactory game stream project/idea/thing. The Poly headset is great but after a couple of hours my ears start to hurt. This isn’t a problem very often since usually I’m not in several-hours-long meetings… but the weekly game sessions with the kids can run to nearly three hours and by that point I’m definitely feeling some discomfort. Given that I’ll be streaming for more than three hours on Tuesday (if all goes well) I figured I should check my alternatives.

My current plan? I’m going to stick the Blue Snowball on a boom arm to be my microphone and use the most comfortable just-headphones I have available… which probably means the wired earbuds. But we’ll see.

5 September, 2024
Dream A Little Dreamwidth Me

I know, I’ve been quiet again this month. I think I’m still adjusting to being in the house and having the ability to completely relax in my own home. I have some plans, some tentative and one much less so, for things to do here. (If you think the less-tentative plan involves a particular video game… well, you’re 100% right.)

March 7 from Honkai Star Rail is unimpressed. I don’t really blame her.

But in the meantime I’m also doing things over at… Dreamwidth. I mean, not directly because I’m crafting this post in the WordPress editor. But I’m resuming cross-posting to DW because… well, why not? I still have a few friends on DW and they’re not following the not-a-blog. And it’s not like I post so often that I’m going to overwhelm either site with “content.”

So… let’s try this out (again) and see how it goes.

31 August, 2024
Satisfactory: Two Years of Co-Op

We started this as a regular (mostly) Tuesday night gaming meetup in late 2022. Time flies when you’re having fun and tearing up the landscape and turning critter guts into shop tickets and building huge quantities of many things!

Last Tuesday evening, the kids and I completed our Satisfactory (Early Access version) co-op save game session. We sent up the Phase 4 space elevator shipment, which was the final thing-to-do that the game has available. (Other than sinking items for tickets to buy geegaws in the shop, that is.)

Spud had the idea of making a time-lapse sequence out of the end-of-day saves loaded into Satisfactory Calculator, so… I did that:

And now for a real break from the game. 1.0 releases in early September and by then I’ll probably be refreshed and ready for it.

4 August, 2024