Jul 05

Fallout 4 WTF Moments

I had been looking forward to the video game, Fallout 4, for years, even before it was announced it would be released in early November 2015. Being an avid fan of the two previous installments–Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas–I was excited to begin a whole new adventure in a post-apocalyptic world. When I saw the first previews and news about Fallout 4 in the summer of 2015, my anticipation grew exponentially. Unlike the previous installments, this new game looked to be a far more immersive experience. There was so much that got me excited.

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My first playable character. Not sure where I acquired the face paint around the eyes from, but didn’t start out with it.

Instead of playing as a character born after the world was destroyed by nuclear war, players were treated to someone from the old world that got frozen in time for 200+ years. This new character, customizable according to player preference to be either male or female, would also have a voice; the game’s developers commissioned a couple actors to record a ton of dialogue for this purpose. For my first play through, I chose to be a redheaded female modeled to look like a character from one of the fiction stories I write.

However, I did not anticipate the different style of gameplay or know that I needed to exercise more caution to avoid getting killed. In the midst of adapting and learning tactics, I encountered enough harrowing or unusual situations to put together my Top Ten List of WTF Moments, each with its own subtitle.

Before I delve into this list, I’d like to start with a few honorary mentions – one from Fallout 4 that I encountered after I wrote up this blogpost, and one from Fallout 3 that I had forgotten about.

Who are you?
Sometime during my first playthrough of Fallout 4, I was walking along the road when I saw someone coming from the opposite direction. Didn’t think much of it until the guy spotted me, pulled out a tire iron, and started running at me yelling, “You’re gonna pay!” After I gunned him down, I found he was from one of the game’s shady factions that, as a do-gooder, I’d managed to tick off.

Here’s something you don’t see everyday.
I was having such a tough time during a battle against a couple of Fallout 3’s Super Mutants that I eventually ducked behind some cover to recoup. I took down one of them after some doing and was planning my attack against the other when he suddenly stopped shooting at me. When I poked my head out, I found that some wacky game glitch had turned him on his side and buried him halfway in the ground.

Now the list, leading up to the Number One WTF moment:

10) Noooo!
While crossing a bridge over one of the many waterways, I wondered aloud, “Why is there so much gasoline here?” After taking another couple steps, I heard the telltale beeping of an incendiary landmine ready to go off. I futilely tried to escape, but didn’t make it in time.

9) What the hell was that?!
While running from a group of hulking green creatures called Super Mutants, I heard a beeping that didn’t sound like a land mine. Before I could even figure out what that sound was, something exploded right next to me. I later found out that one Super Mutant in each group acts as a suicide bomber with a mini-nuke.

8) Are you kidding?!
While sneaking my way through a monster-infested city using alleys and sticking to the shadows, I was caught off guard when a mutant black bear, usually found out in the wilderness and not in the middle of a city, started walking past the entrance to an alley and spotted me. It killed me in one blow.

7) Who’s shooting at me?!
At one point, I was given a mission by one of the game’s NPCs, or non-playable characters, to rid an auto factory of a gang of raiders. The roof had a walkway around the smoke stacks. While I was elevated, I took a good look at the roof and didn’t see any raiders in sight. As I was descending the staircase, five bad guys literally appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on me. My best guess here is that my computer’s graphics card was having trouble rendering the enemy units until I got close.

6) Seriously?!
Upon my first visit to a friendly settlement, one of the children running around offered to give me a tour, which for some reason qualified as a quest to complete. During the tour, I stopped to loot some food and healing items from one of the rooms. The next thing I know, the words “Quest failed” appeared on the screen because I didn’t keep up with my guide.

5) Oh-kay….
In one underground facility, I was pitted against a pack of creatures called molerats who tunneled through the dirt and ambushed me in whatever room I happened to be in. Somehow, one of them got stuck due to a game glitch, which I didn’t figure out until I’d descended a staircase and wondered why it wasn’t coming after me. For some reason, it kept popping in and out of a hole in the same room. I eventually backtracked to finish it off so I could get rid of the “danger” indicator flashing on the screen. Even attacking it with a blade didn’t interrupt this behavior; I could only deal damage to it intermittently. Killing it took some doing.

4) Oh, my God, I’m gonna die!
From my time playing Fallout 3, I knew that the largest creature around was a Behemoth. When undertaking a mission to reclaim a fortified settlement that had been “decimated by a giant creature that came out of the water,” I assumed that this was what I would be fighting. I had already taken down one Behemoth in this game, so figured this wouldn’t be a problem. So imagine my surprise when the monster I was fighting turned out to be an equally huge sea creature that could spit acid and took me ten tries to beat.

3) My bad.
As part of the main questline, I needed to track down a character named Virgil for information. When I got to the cave where he was hiding, I mistakenly thought I needed to eliminate his guards to talk to him. Unfortunately, my decision to start shooting made Virgil outright hostile. I was forced to attack him; once his health was depleted, he collapsed to the floor and appeared to be winded for several seconds. I thought this would enable me to talk to him when his health suddenly filled all the way back up and he resumed attacking me. This cycle repeated at least three more times; at one point, I personally blurted out, “I’m sorry, Virgil. I just want to talk.” I soon figured the only way to fix it was to load from the last savepoint.

2) Holy crap!
Just when I thought I had gotten a good handle on the game and how to survive, I was thrown for a loop while wandering through a rundown section of a science facility. I ran into a cyborg called an Assaultron I had never encountered before in any previous Fallout game. Even so, I thought I was doing okay until this high-powered laser beam shot out of its visor and completely depleted my health in 1.5 seconds.

1) Hold the elevator, or Preston is suicidal?
At one point, I had to escape from a thirty-story building by taking a window washer platform down. Once my character was on board, I pressed the button to go down since I was under fire. After the ramp slid back, my A.I. companion, Preston, came running like everything was normal and dropped off the side of the building. Because A.I. companions are indestructible in this game, he survived the fall. What makes it even funnier is that this wasn’t the first or last time that Preston tried to get on an elevator after the ramp had retracted.

Overall, Fallout 4 is an amazing game; I feel it is far more engaging and interesting than its predecessors, and there is no shortage of areas, both above ground and below, to explore. I look forward to countless hours spent enjoying all this game has to offer, as well as what the expansion packs, released and forthcoming, will add to it.

Jul 01

Editor Log: Improve Yourself Iimprove the World

Travel outside of one’s country irrevocably changes one’s perspective about the world, one’s own country, and–if you’re really lucky–oneself.

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While in Astana, Kazakhstan, I saw the meaning of true mutual respect among teachers and students, “the” best hospitality I’ve ever known, and the kind of manic driving that makes any urban setting in the United States a passive joy ride. Note: I’m told by my hosts in Kazakhstan that driving in Turkey is even more manic.

In London, England, I attended a museum exhibit about the space race from the point of view of the Soviet Union. Much of what was shared is either glossed over or not present in US or World History curriculum.

Seoul, Korea is the most clean place anywhere, and there are not garbage cans to be found. People are just expected to clean after themselves. No one flicks cigarette buts out the window or set on the ground empty bottles and cans. There is much higher regard for the local environment displayed than seen in the United States…in general terms.

Writing is the same way. To improve and grow as a writer, we need to look at ourselves as someone from another country or planet. Reflect deeply on the strengths and challenges one has. Be honest with yourself, but do not look at areas of growth as spaces of weakness and validation that the skills are not there. Reflect, practice, and learn from others. Assume that “Any One” can be a teacher for just “the” right moment that you need.

Improve yourself, improve the world.

Dublin, Ireland streets are clean, at least from one day trip. Day two to follow. The people have a sense of humor that was noticeable among even the people I did not talk to. As I tour Ireland, I look forward to what shift in my prospect that will occur by the time I return to the US.

Jun 24

Lunch with a Stranger

2016-06 Pic v2 (1)Alice sat on a bench, against a wall, under the shade of the tree to her right, and the tree to her left, and the trees lining the wall behind her. She opened her lunch bag to pull out a tuna sandwich she had packed the night before. It was her routine action of her routine day of her routine life.

She took a bite of the sandwich then raised her head to watch people strolling on the wide, brick sidewalk. As she started to focus on a man dressed in khaki pants and a casual shirt, Alice found him looking at her. They both jerked their heads away and looked in different directions. Alice’s face flushed red in embarrassment. After daring to look back again, she saw the man had continued walking and was fading into the distance. Alice sighed. Cautiously resuming her people-watching, she finished lunch without further incident and went back to work.

Feeling confident that she would not see the man again, Alice sat on her usual bench the next day. She took a bite of her sandwich. The man did not appear. She glanced about as she chewed then swallowed. As she raised the sandwich for a second bite, the man came into view. Their eyes locked upon each other. Alice thought it would be foolish to turn away again, so she smiled politely. He smiled, nodded and continued his walk. She finished her lunch then returned to work.

Over the weekend, thoughts about the lunch encounters interrupted the normally methodical execution of her chores. The dreamy way she kept feeling, however, would quickly be displaced by self-reproach for getting distracted from the tasks at hand. So on Monday when Alice saw the man coming in the distance, her heart rate jumped and her palms felt wet. “Get ahold of yourself,” she chided. “Quit acting like a schoolgirl. You need only smile politely.” And that’s what she did. He smiled, nodded his head and kept walking.

For a month, weather permitting, this became part of the daily routine for Alice: lunch, smile, smile, nod. The complacent structure of her life fell back into balance, until the day the stranger did not show up. “Odd,” thought Alice. “Oh, he’s probably just taking the day off from work.”

One day turned into three and Alice found that she missed the man whose habits seemed as fastidious as her own. A week went by, then two, causing Alice to worry and hope he was okay.

On Wednesday of the third week, Alice sat on her bench and heard a strange sound. Clump then a footstep. Clump then step. Clump then step. Alice turned, looking for the sound, and saw the man walking much slower than his usual pace. A cast on his left foot made the reason clear. Alice’s emotions swirled as she felt both happy to see him and concerned over what happened to his foot. Fear quickly took over as the man left the brick walkway and made his way toward her.

“Hello,” he said after stopping a few feet in front of Alice. He looked more timid and shy than she imagined of him from afar.

“Hello,” she said as her mouth went dry.

“This is only my third day with this walking cast and I think this is as far as I should go.” He cleared his throat. “Do you mind if I share your bench for lunch?”

“Please do,” she said smiling politely.

He smiled, nodded, and joined her on the bench.

Jun 23

Time to Smell the Flowers, and Other Summer Fun

DoggieLimoCustomersThis is my last blog for a couple of months. My wife Maureen and I just bought a new car and we’ve decided to put it to good use this summer. That, and a garden that is fast becoming a handful.

I said “grow little garden, grow,” and it is! Now, other than the tomatoes, all the veggies and flowers are doing exceptionally well. Too well. We now have fresh cut flowers in the living room, dining room, kitchen, front hall, our bedroom and our bathroom as well as the downstairs bathroom… and a yard-full of budding replacements just dying to get in! We’ve run out of vases and are now using canning jars. Our little compost box will be full by July at this rate, but that’s not the half of it.

We decided to build a new deck so we can better enjoy the back yard gardens. Our 12×12 deck is fifty years old, so it’s time. We’re replacing it with a 16×30 version that will run along the back of the house and allow us to watch television from the deck. You, too, would quickly rationalize the cost if you saw all the hummingbirds, robins, blue jays, finches, blackbirds, and cardinals fighting for the flowers and accompanying bird feeders. Endless entertainment. The new deck will also allow us more room for still more potted flowers, which means a bigger compost. Still all good.

Here’s where it starts to get expensive. The builders are going to trash the back yard with their equipment and with stacks of lumber and supplies during the seven-to-ten days it will take to complete. All the grass will grow back, so… But they have to remove part of the fence to get to the back yard, and that means our dogs will have to remain inside. For ten days. Not good. So we decided it would be a great time to visit distant friends and relatives; we can take the dogs!

Now you see why we needed a new car. SUV’s were quickly ruled out; too high off the ground. The Dodge Grand Caravan was the only new car low enough that our two old mutts could hop right in without the need of steps or a ramp. That is, once we removed the center row of seats and turned it into a doggie limo.

I had no idea a garden could cost so much.

Have a wonderful summer, all!

-Phil

 

 

 

 

Jun 21

Chautauqua?

ChautauquaWhat do you think of when you hear the name Chautauqua, Chautauqua, New York?

The first thing I thought of was an Indian Tribe. Was I wrong! Wikipedia says, Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. …The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is “the most American thing in America.”

I first became interested in the Chautauqua Lectures when I was driving home from work in Chicago. I’d tune in to Public Radio and frequently the announcer would say they were “live at Chautauqua”, carrying a speech by someone well known in their field. I felt very fortunate to be able to listen in! So when I read that Road Scholar was offering weeklong trips there, I knew we had to go.

Today Road Scholar, an educational travel organization for anyone 50 and over, offers weeklong trips to Chautauqua. They are filled with lectures on various interesting topics from 9:00 to 12:00 each morning. The speakers are interesting and well prepared.

The afternoons are for yoga, nature walks, relaxing or exploring on your own.

After dinner there’s live entertainment. One night we heard a singing group, another night it was a jazz trio and the last night was a musical performance by a one-man orchestra!

My husband and I went for the week starting May 15.

I’m not sure what was more enjoyable: The lectures, the Athenaeum Hotel where we stayed or the town of Chautauqua itself.

We stayed at the Athenaeum Hotel, a few yards from Chautauqua Lake. The view was lovely. The hotel had been built in the 1880s and modernized. It had large front and side porches with rocking chairs for reading and chatting and tables for eating outside or playing cards.

This is the view from our room, #22.

After this experience, I agree with Theodore Roosevelt, Chautauqua is “the most American thing in America.”