Possibly The Next Project

I have a nice cave base in Minecraft and I’ve been thinking about doing some landscaping around it. Or more accurately above it. To find the cave I travelled far in the Nether and built a new portal. This took me into a nice cave and I’ve built a little house along with some prettification inside the cave to make it look more homely. The next issue, I think, is sunlight. So I’ve started to remove the mountain from above the cave.

Minecraft - Mountain Shenanigans Before
Minecraft – Mountain Shenanigans Before

In the above picture you can see my staircase to the top of the mountain and to the right of that at the base you can see the entrance to my cave. I’ve started small as you can see in the next picture. I think my current plan is to remove a lot of the levels and leave the mountain there but dangling in the sky. I’m not sure, we’ll have to see how it progresses.

Minecraft Mountain Shenanigans Part One
Minecraft Mountain Shenanigans Part One

The first part of this had me digging a 2×2 tunnel through the mountain at sea level +1 to see how far I had to go. If you look to the left of my mountain staircase you can just about see the entrance to the small tunnel. I’m hoping this will progress over time to be a complete layer leaving the mountain suspended in the air.

Rather Irritating

Game design is generally good these days and I think the makers actually think about the interactive experience of it all. But. I hate Epic for this within the Fortnite game:

The Order Is Irritating
The Order Is Irritating

This might look ok at first glance but if you look at the top menu the order goes Combat, Exploration, Challenge. Then, if you look at the bottom menu the order is Challenge, Combat, Exploration. Who the fuck designs something like that? Awful Just awful.

It’s Gotta Hurt

I was playing some Team Rumble mode Fortnite the other day trying to get headshots with an assault rifle for some stupid quest. Then I got Thundersticked.

I died shortly after that. But not from the stick through the chest!!

Just Another List

I’ve always enjoyed playing computer/console type games. Ever since the classic Commodore 64 with Chuckie Egg and Manic Miner. So, here’s some of the recent games I am enjoying:

  • Fortnite
  • Minecraft
  • Gran Turismo
  • Minecraft Dungeons
  • X-Plane

I tend to have quite a bit of imposter syndrome so I think if I was asked I would say that I’m not a gamer. But then I have nearly 800 hours on Minecraft so maybe I am.

The Cost Per Unit Time Is Low

I was exploring the options within the PS5 menu and I noticed that the games I play get totalled up in terms of time played. I’m not sure if I was shocked or just pleased at the amount of time I have spent playing. I do know that it certainly justifies me spending the money on the hardware and infrastructure to experience these things.

PS5 screen capture showing amount of time played . . .
PS5 screen capture showing amount of time played . . .

In case you can’t quite see the numbers in the above graphic let me write them down below. I just want to point out that the game could be a PS4 game that is played on the PS5 and register timewise as a PS4 time. Hence, while I tend to play Minecraft on the PS5 its total comes only from PS4 playtime.

  • Gran Turismo 7 – 120 hours
  • Fortnite – 111 hours
  • Minecraft – 722 hours

Now the Gran Turismo times clearly do not include all the time I have spent playing other versions. Let’s be clear. Gran Turismo is 25 years old this year and I’ve been playing it for that long. In terms of cost/benefit I think I’ve done very well.

It’s Been A While But I’m Back

Last night I powered up Gran Turismo 7 for the first time in quite a while and I enjoyed myself. I even managed to enjoy myself driving Willow Springs which, as a circuit, I don’t like. I did the Circuit Experience section of the game as it’s about thirty minutes play to smash the gold on these. I’m still distracted quite a bit by Fortnite, which feels such a terrible admission but I do enjoy that game. Anyway, I recorded the gold winning lap and zapped it to YouTube.

It’s Been More Than A Fortnite

Recently I’ve been persuaded to have a go at playing Fortnite. The last month has been an interesting time learning all the little ways that Epic Games manage to keep the interest within Fortnite. There are lots of challenges and quests that can be completed alongside the actual game of trying to kill everyone else. If you don’t know this game is based on Battle Royale – kill all the others until you are the only survivors. It’s actually pretty good fun and I have enjoyed learning things about the maps, the weapons and the gameplay.

Fortnite Levels - It's Been About A Month
Fortnite Levels – It’s Been About A Month

I never thought I’d be into different skins and customisations in a game. I’ve quite enjoyed putting liveries on Gran Turismo cars but not ones that I’ve had to work hard for, or even pay for. If it ain’t free I’m not having it. Except, I have done that in Fortnite. I’ve paid for a decent looking glider that I will try and embed in another communication – it’s loosely based on the Grumman Goose. I’ve also paid a little money for some rather cool looking skins, and they were in the sale so that’s probably OK? Anyway, I’m an adult and can spend my money on whatever I want I guess.

I’m currently at level 184 or something. The shiny skin I have in the image took a fair amount of play and even trying third party games which are generally quite shit. You get bonus XP for completing tasks and the XP goes to give you levels. I will admit, I am hooked, and with other people in my team we can regularly come in the top 5 on the island so I enjoy this game a lot.

Gran Turismo Progress

I’m still playing Gran Turismo occasionally. I’m slowly working through the challenges and completing racing tasks. It’s still great fun and a really nice way to shut the brain off.

How It's Going - Gran Turismo
How It’s Going – Gran Turismo

I have currently driven a total of 8395.10 miles. I think my favourite statistic is that my average fuel consumption is 35 litres per 100km driven. The real car I drive can do 2 litres per 100km. I suspect that in the future, driving virtual cars will be the only way to enjoy the noise and feel of these vehicles. They should be banned already. Oh, by the way, electric cars aren’t the answer either – they won’t save the planet, they will only save the car industry.

A Very Enjoyable Time

I’ve been playing Stray on the PS5 recently with guidance from Legend and it’s been really enjoyable. A Lovely story with a completely believable world. The detail was amazing and I’m looking forward to exploring the game some more, there are a few trophies I’d like to get.

The screen capture of the gold trophy for finishing the game is far less interesting. Maybe I’ll try to livestream some playing to YouTube later.

What A Feeling

I’m still playing Gran Turismo 7 as it’s most likely the only game I will be able to get a Platinum trophy. There’s quite a bit of work to do, but I’m not in a rush. I have plenty of time. I just enjoy playing the game. I know there’s been annoyance from players because of lots of the internal economic market but I don’t really care about that. I’m happy to just keep playing.

I don’t currently spend huge amounts of time online racing as other people can be terrible and it’s hard t get the balance right. I’m happy to nudge an AI car now and then but it’s different when it’s another person. This is not something most people think about it would appear given how many times I’ve been knocked off. Anyway, I recently did some qualification laps and I was surprised that I claimed Pole Position. Not entirely sure how that happened and I don’t know how Polyphony allocate people to races to it could be entirely random. Anyway, I got Pole. I also won the race and got fastest lap. This was the first time this had happened for me and I was super proud.

Gran Turismo Online Win
Gran Turismo Online Win