Welcome to A Dream of Scarlet Plus-Fours

Showcasing the creative works, and stuff, of one Aardvark123 Esq
(The plus-fours aren't the main feature; they're largely conceptual.)

~TerraTech Apropos of Nothing~

TerraTech is quite a fun open-world game by Payload Studios, wherein you may assemble your own vehicles from all manner of modular pieces, have races, watch them fall over, and try to survive and sell natural resources on alien planets. I've made a small picture diary of my most recent attempt at playing TerraTech, because I do that from time to time.

Chapter 2

Unlocking SCU storage left me in a fairly strong position. I spent some time building up a decent collection of blocks, which I used to build a bigger, better tech.

GeoCorp wheels can carry quite a bit of weight, and their drilling equipment can inflict plenty of damage on objects or vehicles unlucky enough to meet them. I named my new tech the Rumbler, after the sound it made when driving, and set about finding some things to do.

With the advice Crafty Mike had given me, I was able to build some crafting machinery and start fabricating the GSO's patented Two Blocks, which are elongated cuboidic structures derived from the preexisting One Block phenotype. Gathering the necessary wood and metal was easy thanks to the Rumbler's drills and rear-mounted collector pads.

What rear-mounted collector pads? Er, you'll have a chance to see them later. <.<

I gathered some rubber from trees as well and used it to make Riser wheels. With those wheels, I set to work making... this!

A small, manoeuvreable tech, at least by GeoCorp standards, which I named the Scout. While it wasn't exactly a dune buggy, it was faster than the Rumbler over long distances and could cope with a few hills. This was just as well, because Crafty Mike had more work on offer, in the desert this time.

It was sweltering in the desert, and I was glad of the fan I'd bought for the Scout's cab and the twelve bottles of lemonade I'd stolen for the fridge. I listened politely, in shorts, with a handkerchief on my head, while Crafty Mike explained what auto-miners were for and asked me to dig up an oleite seam to try one. He always seemed to have his finger in one or two pies, which is why I made sure to keep my lemonade a secret.

The Scout's massive front wheels meant it had no problem driving on sand, and the drill on the front was enough to unearth a seam of oleite. I set the auto-miner up as requested, watched it dig for thirty-seven seconds, and forgot to take a picture.

With that sorted, I drove away to look for Agent Pow, a GSO agent who had asked me to meet her. As I headed back to the forest, a worrying thought occurred to me. What if she knew about the lemonade? In a panic, I drank all eleven remaining bottles, and by the time I found Agent Pow I could barely stand up for the pain.

Agent Pow, seemingly unaware that this would be the first mission I'd ever done for her.

Pow explained that some non-specific enemies, what you might call "bad guys", had set up a watchtower somewhere, and the GSO were after someone to destroy said watchtower.

"J-just leave it to... To me..." I groaned, my stomach burning with lemonade. "Back in too shakes of a... Aaaaargh!" I started crying. "Of-of a lamb's tail! See you... Gah... S-see you soon, Agent."

Agent Pow looked on in dismay as I drove off towards Charlie Watchtower.

A snapshot for the Scout. Quite cute, isn't it?

A snapshot for the Rumbler. Now, depending on your definition of "cute"...

Charlie Watchtower looked a bit unfriendly, so I swapped the Scout back into the Rumbler. Another perk of the SCU system is that you can transform the tech you're piloting into another one in seconds, as long as you have the right blocks.

What's this? Do I detect the faintest peek of...?

Under heavy bombardment, from the charging towers and from within, I stormed the Charlie Watchtower complex. The watchtower was protected by an indestructible shield, so before I could damage it I had to destroy the two charging towers. My eyes were too full of tears to aim properly, but techs have automatic aiming, so it was fine.

Aha, there are the rear-mounted collector pads!

The charging towers had powerful weapons of their own, and the Rumbler's batteries couldn't hold its own shield up for long. So I anchored my tech to let its solar panels deploy and charge them up again while the watchtower and the chargers just stood there. They were too far away to hit me, you see, and were completely unable to move. The people who made Charlie Watchtower obviously hadn't thought that through.

Eventually, I brought down the shield and destroyed the watchtower. I managed that feat by ramming the Rumbler into it and turning on the plasma cutters. Agent Pow was delighted, and awarded me a rank 3 GSO license.

I ended up turning quite a bit of Charlie Watchtower into my own techs, so I could store them.

The watchtower site turned out to contain piles of luxite ore, which is extremely cheap because it grows naturally. I was satisfied, though. My digestive system was finally settling down, and I'd done a good job foiling the unspecified plans of an organisation I knew nothing about because the government wanted me to.

As I drive off into the sunset, I'll leave you with this list of possible first names for Agent Pow:

Back: Chapter 1

Forwards: Chapter 3