~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 3
Over the last few days, I had found myself turning into Crafty Mike's dogsbody. Considering how little he asked of me, though - to move a few blocks around and collect a few resources, and get given crafting machinery in return - wouldn't you? Whatever reputation Crafty Mike may have as a ne'er-do-well, the man is generous to a fault.
Crafty Mike would like a refinery added to his conveyor belt.
Over time, I built up my collection of blocks and saved up a decent bit of cash. I made some small upgrades to my techs, as and when more advanced pieces happened to fall into my lap, and gradually got to know more of the area.
A slight issue was, or perhaps were, the increasingly strong enemy techs which kept having a go at me. In TerraTech, the stronger you become, the higher the calibre of enemies you tend to attract. This was good for when you fancied stealing more blocks, but less good for when your tech was equipped with fewer guns.
This one is equipped with a greater quantity of firearms.
And this one is equipped with, well, just see for yourself.
I decided to start crafting and try to get ahead of the game. With the blocks Crafty Mike had given me, and several more I'd bought or stolen, I was able to set up some fabricators with a refinery and a small resource stockpile. Unwanted materials could be sold with the filter and the delivery cannon.
I started the GSO fabricator making MuddyDog wheels, which were the GSO's largest wheel offering. It chugged away merrily while I drove around frantically, chopping down trees for rubber and drilling into rocks for plumbium, which I poured into the silo. Eventually, with four of the large wheels secured, I turned my attention to guns.
The GSO Plus Block Pack mod, by siitako, adds some lovely new weapons to the game. I set my sights on making GLOW and LAMP lasers out of unrefined plumbium and luxite, which were quite plentiful in the plains.
The refinery was clever enough not to refine any plumbium or luxite this time, so after a short while I had a multitude of laser weaponry to enjoy. Using those and the wheels from before, I overhauled the Rumbler into a much more powerful version; more than a match for anything else around at the time.
A snapshot of the Rumbler II. You'll need to have siitako's GSO Plus Block Pack to use it yourself.
The Rumbler II worked wonderfully. It was faster and more manoeuvreable than before, and formidable in a fight. I'd squeezed in a couple more batteries, some extra little wheels to stop it from getting beached on hills, and even a secret lead-lined compartment for lemonade.
It's ironic, then, that none of the other pictures I took today have the Rumbler II in them. No, I spent the evening driving a modified version of the Scout, answering an invitation from a person called Suzie Vroom.
Suzie represented Team Venture, which was an extreme sports team combined with tech component manufacturing company. I offered her some lemonade, but what she really wanted was for me to join Venture as a race course tester.
Venture sets up a lot of race tracks, stunt ramps and whatnot on planets throughout the universe. Apparently they're investment opportunities; I don't really understand it, but I was happy enough to help. Driving the Scout at full tilt, I hoofed it through the course.
Suzie then asked me to test another one, in the desert this time. Since she was paying, I went and did it.
My reward each time was a crate full of Venture components. They'd be useful if I wanted to make a fast, light tech, or for that matter a blue and red one.
Like any sensible extreme sports team, Venture dealt in a range of high-powered weaponry as well, but it would be a while before I unlocked Hailfire rifles and the Rapid cannon.
Of course, what I really wanted was to find out if Suzie knew any single ladies - a sister, maybe, or a lonely rally driver who liked lemonade. There would be plenty of time for that later, though. Right now, I had a contract testing stunt ramps with elevated landing platforms! I didn't have any painful accidents while doing that whatsoever.
