Black Tides – A Dredge Survival Diary Log 1: Fog, Favors, and Fishing on Borrowed Time

Black Tides – Log 1: Fog, Favors, and Fishing on Borrowed Time

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Normal
Format: No Commentary

Video: Shipwreck, first days in Greater Marrow, loan boat upgrades, special orders, fog panic, and the red light sighting (no commentary)

We begin on a boat with no context and a single instruction: Angler Wanted. Before I can decide whether that was a good idea, the sea answers for me. Fog rolls in thick and immediate. Rocks appear too late. The hull gives way without ceremony. The next thing I know, I’m waking beside a lighthouse that apparently exists more for decoration than navigation.

The town is called Greater Marrow. The mayor meets me at the dock as if shipwrecked strangers are part of the morning routine. He’s calm, helpful, almost like he rehearsed it. He replaces my ruined vessel with another and suggests I fish to get my bearings. One instruction matters more than the rest: return before dark. I don’t question it. I head out, fill the hold with whatever bites, and turn back while the sky still holds light.

Back at port, the mayor informs me my original boat is beyond repair. The replacement is mine on loan. I sell my catch to the fishmonger, and part of the earnings go toward the debt. Fifty dollars. Manageable. Survival often is, at first.

The mayor hands me a research part and points me toward the shipwright. They deal in upgrades and repairs. I install an extra engine and use the research to unlock an improved outboard. Day one ends with a slightly faster boat and a slightly smaller debt.

Day two begins smoother. The new engine makes a difference immediately. I fish efficiently and find a note sealed inside a bottle. It feels deliberate. I suspect there will be more of them. I stay out later than intended. Darkness creeps in faster than expected. Behind Greater Marrow, a red pillar of light cuts into the sky. It stands there, patient. I ignore it for now.

The fishmonger has a special order: a gulf flounder and a grey eel. That means new equipment. I dent the loan again, visit the shipwright, and purchase the required rod. Preparation ends the day.

On the third morning, the lighthouse keeper questions my presence. I tell her I’m here to fish. She listens, but I don’t think she believes that’s the whole story. The mayor asks for a simple delivery to Little Marrow. It’s a short crossing. The dockworker pays me with a book on sustainable fishing. Useful. It reads itself as I travel.

I catch two stingray. They occupy more space than they’re worth, but they clear my remaining debt when sold. The mayor opens access to the dry dock, though upgrades require materials I don’t yet have. Expansion will have to wait.

I return to finish the fishmonger’s order. Arrow squid and black grouper follow. The squid shift locations as if aware they’re being hunted, or perhaps the fog distorts more than visibility. Panic rises when I linger in it too long. I learn quickly that staying out after dark carries consequences that aren’t always visible.

The eel is delivered. Another special order replaces it. Then another. This time: crabs. I’m handed a crab pot and instructed to wait. Patience becomes part of the trade.

Before ending the third day, I strengthen the boat further. A more powerful light. An upgraded engine. Small advantages against a coastline that doesn’t feel entirely natural.

Three days in, the debt is cleared. The boat is faster. The sea is watchful. And the red light remains.

Continue the Journey

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Black Tides – Log 2

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1

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 4 – Toxic Stars & Unexpected Progress

Super Mario 74 – Log 4: Toxic Stars & Unexpected Progress

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: Metal Cap switch course cleared, Toxic-Switch of Danger stars, and first stars in Azure-Abyss (no commentary)

With Bowser beaten, I could have moved straight into the next area, but there were still a couple of places left in this overworld that I hadn’t touched yet. One of them was the pipe leading to the Metal Cap course, Toxic-Switch of Danger. Technically I could have gone here right at the start of the hack, but I wanted to give myself a bit of a warm-up first. I remembered this level having toxic gas everywhere, and the only way to move through it safely is with the Metal Cap, which meant I already knew this was going to be one of those courses where you either stay calm and get through it, or you rush and fall straight into a hole.

There are five stars in this course, so I decided I might as well deal with all of them while I was here. Like before, I’m using the names from the wiki since the game itself doesn’t show them, and the first thing I did was go for the easier ones before even activating the switch. The first star, The Correct Hole, looks like a trap at first. The level is full of bottomless pits, and one of them has a coin floating over it, which usually means you shouldn’t trust it. This time though, it actually was the right one. I dropped down, grabbed the coin, and came out with the star without any problems, which was a good sign considering how this level is supposed to go.

The next star, Behind the Switch, is exactly where the name says. It sits in a small alcove directly behind the Metal Cap switch itself, which makes it easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there, but also one of the simplest stars in the course once you do. With those two done, there wasn’t really any reason to avoid it anymore, so I activated the switch and made the Metal Cap blocks active, including the one inside this level that I was about to be using a lot more than I expected.

Pillar Jumping was next, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. I went for a long jump to the pillar and followed it with a wall kick to grab the ledge. Apparently the intended way is to triple jump, but the long jump and wall kick worked for me, so I stuck with that rather than trying to be clever. One more jump after that and the star was mine, which left the two I remembered giving me trouble years ago.

Toxic Wall Kicks was the one I had been thinking about before I even entered the course. Back when I first played this hack, this star caused me more problems than I care to remember, and part of the reason I didn’t come here first this time was because I didn’t want to get stuck on it straight away. Somehow though, this time it just worked. One attempt, no panic, no missed jumps, and the star was collected before I really had time to expect anything to go wrong.

That only left the red coins, and that’s where the level finally decided to push back a little. The first attempt ended almost immediately when I misjudged a jump for the very first coin and dropped straight into a hole. Second attempt went much better. The coins are scattered across small platforms and narrow ledges, and a few of them hang just far enough over pits to make you think twice before jumping. Most of them came together without much trouble, but the last one slowed me down. To reach it I had to land on a small platform, then jump to another even smaller one, and every time I thought I had the angle right, Mario would come up just short or drift a little too far. That meant more trips back to the Metal Cap block, because I wasn’t about to risk running out of time in the gas while trying to fix my own mistakes. Eventually the jump worked, the last coin was collected, and with it the final star of the course.

Finishing that level with less trouble than I remembered honestly surprised me, so instead of stopping there I decided to keep going and head straight into Course 3, Azure Abyss. For some reason I had it in my head that this level had a lighthouse and was much darker than it actually is, which makes me think I’m mixing it up with another hack, but once I got inside it was clear I wasn’t remembering it quite right.

The Deepest Dive was the first star, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Straight into the water, swim down to the bottom, grab the star, done. Cave Exploration was similar, but this time with a hidden passage to find before the star shows up. Once I spotted the opening it didn’t take long, and by that point I was already thinking about whether I should go for one more before stopping.

I decided on Pillars of Precision, which thankfully didn’t involve another long swim, just a short dive into a cave with three narrow pillars waiting at the end. I fully expected to miss at least one jump and have to repeat the whole thing, but somehow everything lined up perfectly and the star was collected on the first try. That was the point where I stopped and just sat there for a moment wondering what was going on, because years ago this hack gave me serious trouble, and now I had just cleared the Metal Cap course and taken three stars from the next level without much resistance at all.

I’m not going to get overconfident. I know this hack well enough to know it will push back sooner or later. But for now, I can honestly say I’m having a blast playing this again, and I don’t remember the last time I got through this much of Super Mario 74 without feeling like the game was trying to throw me out of the castle.

Continue the Journey

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Super Mario 74 – Log 3

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Super Mario 74 – Log 5

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1

Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Log 17: Quicksand Flights and a Missing Bob-Omb

Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Log 17: Quicksand Flights and a Missing Bob-Omb

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Video: Red coin hunt in Shifting Sand Land, risky Wing Cap flights over quicksand, the 100-coin star inside the pyramid, and Bob-Omb Battlefield exploration (no commentary)

Choosing the Right Star

With only two stars left in Shifting Sand Land, I knew exactly which one I wanted selected on the menu screen: In the Talons of the Big Bird. The logic behind that choice was simple. The bird only bothers you once the star is loose. If it’s already holding the star, it tends to keep to its usual route and leaves you alone. That meant I could focus on everything else in the level without worrying about being harassed mid-jump.

Naturally, I forgot to do that as, because the star I actually selected to tackle was the red coin star. So I was already off to a fantastic start.

Two Coins Missing

The real problem was that I didn’t know where two of the red coins were. On previous visits I had already located six of them, which meant the final pair had to be somewhere I had overlooked. As soon as I entered the course, though, I spotted them. Both coins were hovering near the platforms above the quicksand.

Close enough to see clearly, but not close enough that I could simply grab the edge of a platform and hang down to collect them. The moment I saw their position, it was obvious this was going to require a slightly more creative solution.

The Wing Cap Gamble

I ran through the possible options and quickly came to the conclusion that there really was only one way to do this. The Wing Cap. I would have to fly low enough to clip the coins, but still high enough to avoid landing in the quicksand beneath them. The margin for error wasn’t exactly generous.

While moving around the level, I also discovered something I hadn’t noticed before. Standing under the tree triggers a warp that takes you over near the cannon area. Useful information, but it also strips away the Wing Cap, which makes it less helpful for what I needed right now. So I warped back and prepared for the flight.

The first coin went surprisingly smoothly. I lined up my approach, dipped just low enough to grab it, and then pulled away before gravity could do anything unpleasant. The second coin was a little more nerve-wracking. I clipped it successfully, but my landing was low enough that if Mario had touched down in the wrong place, he would have been swallowed by the quicksand immediately.

Thankfully that didn’t happen. One more short flight later, the red coin star appeared.

The Bird Gets Involved

Of course, the big bird still managed to make itself part of the situation. On one of its passes it snatched my hat, which meant I had to wait for it to circle back so I could give it a well-timed boot and reclaim it. Hat recovered, star collected, and one more problem solved.

The 100-Coin Question

That left the 100-coin star. I wasn’t completely sure how many coins I would need before entering the pyramid, so I started with the Pokey enemies. Each segment drops a blue coin, which meant twenty coins almost immediately. A good start.

During this process I also discovered something else: there’s a green shell in this level. That would have been incredibly useful information before I started performing aerial gymnastics over quicksand, but at least I know about it now.

Once I felt confident that my coin total was high enough, I entered the pyramid and gathered the remaining coins needed to push the total to one hundred. With the star secured, Shifting Sand Land was finally complete.

Since the course itself was finished, there wasn’t much reason to grab another star inside the pyramid. I exited the level and turned my attention to Bob-Omb Battlefield.

The Missing Cannon Bob-Omb

The next task seemed straightforward: find the Bob-Omb who opens the cannons. In a normal run they’re hard to miss, but the randomizer has a habit of moving things around in ways that make the obvious suddenly harder to locate.

I found the Bob-Omb who tells me I need to find the cannon operator, and I even spoke to him twice just in case he might suddenly decide to help me. No luck.

While searching the level, I did manage to find the star tied to the floating island in the sky. In fact, it was sitting almost directly behind where the normal spawn point for the level would be. That made one more star for the total.

A Detour to the Island

I decided to try one more time to locate the cannon Bob-Omb. I’m not entirely sure I’ll actually need the cannons in this seed, but having them available always feels safer than not having them.

My suspicion was that the Bob-Omb might be on the floating island itself. I wasn’t particularly confident about jumping there, so I grabbed another Wing Cap and flew across instead.

No Bob-Omb waiting for me, but there was another star sitting there. At that point it would have been rude not to collect it.

Closing the Gap

That leaves the run sitting at eighty-nine stars collected, with thirty-one still out there somewhere in the castle. The randomizer has already shuffled enough things around that every familiar level still manages to hold a few surprises.

And somewhere in Bob-Omb Battlefield, there’s still a cannon-opening Bob-Omb that has decided to go missing.

Continue the Journey

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Super Mario 64 Randomizer logs are written after each recording session. The plan rarely survives contact with the level.

1

Cold-Blooded: A Skyrim Survival Diary – Log 9: One More Detour Before the Greybeards

Cold-Blooded Log 9: One More Detour Before the Greybeards

Difficulty: Survival Mode
Platform: Steam Deck
Build: Argonian Mage
Follower: Lydia

The Greybeards can wait. There was a haunted barrow to deal with first.

The climb to High Hrothgar isn’t going anywhere, so before I freeze to death on a mountain I decided to investigate Shroud Hearth Barrow. The innkeeper in Ivarstead insists the place is haunted, which usually means one of two things: draugr, or someone pretending to be something they’re not.

Either way, there was a chance I might find warmer gear inside, and at this point I’m willing to take that chance even if the odds aren’t in my favour.

Video Log: Cold-Blooded – Log 9 (No Commentary)

The Barrow Is Haunted. Apparently.

The moment I stepped inside the barrow I was greeted by a ghost, which confirmed that the innkeeper wasn’t entirely wrong. The ghost told me to leave the place immediately. I ignored him. I didn’t come all this way to turn around because something glowing told me to.

Not long after that I found myself trapped in a room with multiple chains and several doors. After a bit of trial and error it became clear that the solution was simply pulling the correct chains to open the right doors. Nothing complicated, just enough to slow me down.

The ghost appeared again shortly after, but this time he decided to attack. Magic against magic isn’t a fair fight when I have Lydia and a Flame Atronach standing next to me. He went down quickly.

He also stopped being a ghost.

The body on the floor belonged to a bandit, not a spirit. Among his belongings I found a Philter of the Phantom and a journal explaining everything. He had come here to loot the barrow, but to keep people away he created a potion that made him look like a ghost while he searched for the key deeper inside.

Unfortunately the potion had side effects. By the end of the journal he wasn’t pretending anymore. He genuinely believed he was the guardian of the place.

The Sapphire Dragon Claw

I returned to the innkeeper with the journal and explained what had really been going on. He seemed relieved, and as a reward he handed over the Sapphire Dragon Claw. Apparently the bandit never found the key he needed to go further.

That meant the rest of the barrow was still waiting.

I went back inside.

Traps, Blades, and Poor Decisions

The deeper sections of the barrow were less about ghosts and more about traps. I managed to avoid some of them, but not all. A few swinging blades took a good portion of my health before I could react. Fortunately healing magic still works even when I’m being careless.

Lydia, on the other hand, seems completely convinced she’s indestructible. At one point she ran straight through a set of blades just to reach an enemy faster. I’m starting to think she trusts my healing spells more than I do.

The Puzzle That Shouldn’t Have Taken That Long

The next obstacle was four pillars that needed to be turned to the correct symbols. Simple enough, except I couldn’t find the clues anywhere. I searched the room, the walls, the floor, and anything that looked like it might be hiding the answer.

After an embarrassingly long time, I tried the nearby door.

It opened.

Inside was a switch that revealed the solution: Whale, Hawk, Snake, Whale. Definitely the sort of thing I should have checked first.

Kyne’s Peace

After dealing with more draugr and skeletons, I reached the final chamber. There wasn’t much in the way of useful loot, although I briefly considered giving Lydia yet another weapon before deciding she was already carrying enough to arm a small army.

The real reward was a word wall. This one granted part of the Kyne’s Peace shout, which is supposed to calm wild animals in a wide area. According to the description it works on everything except frost trolls, which feels like a very specific warning.

Considering where I’m heading next, that could still be useful.

The Mountain Awaits

I left the barrow and stepped back out into the cold air of Ivarstead, knowing there were no more excuses left. The Greybeards are waiting, and the path to High Hrothgar isn’t going to get any warmer the longer I delay it.

The journey ahead is going to be long, steep, and cold enough to kill me if I’m not careful.

All I can do now is make the climb and hope I reach them before the cold reaches me first.

Continue the Journey

Cold-Blooded Log 8 |
Cold-Blooded Log 9 |
Cold-Blooded Log 10

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1

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 2 – Skyward Slopes Cleared

Super Mario 74 – Log 2: Skyward Slopes Cleared

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: Skyward Slopes stars, red coins, 100-coin star, and first star door unlocked (no commentary)

With Dice-Fortress currently being uncompletable for the moment, the best option was to move on to another course.
There are three available right now, and two of them can be completed without needing anything else, so I did a mental coin toss and chose
Course 2: Skyward Slopes.

The first star is another test of my wall jumping skills: To The Top of the Tower.
To even reach the tower, I need to climb some steep slopes, which I used to think required triple jumps back in the day.
Now I know that holding the jump button while pressing kick lets Mario climb steep slopes without any trouble.

Before heading up, I check the nearby sign which simply says 32.
No explanation, no hint, just the number. I have no idea why, but I’m sure it means something.

After wall jumping up the tower and grabbing the star, it was time for 8 Dangerous Red Coins.
This is where I lost my first life of the run after misjudging a jump.
Most of the coins are either floating in the air or placed dangerously close to edges, so one mistake is all it takes.

The red coins themselves weren’t the real problem though.
The real trouble came while going for the 100-coin star.
As I got closer to the total, I realised I was running out of coins to collect and had a brief moment where I wasn’t sure if I had missed some.
Then I remembered the tower had coins, so after a few more wall jumps I was able to grab enough to collect both the red coin star and the 100-coin star.

Next was The Outer Wall, which surprisingly didn’t give me much trouble at all.
I know this is still early in the hack, so I’m sure things will get harder later,
but past me definitely struggled with these courses more than current me is.

After that came No Time To Waste.
Seeing a purple switch usually means timed blocks, which normally means multiple attempts,
but somehow I managed to get this one first try, which I’m fairly sure would impress past me.

I could have collected Flotation Technology Box during the 100-coin run,
since the blue coins in this course lead straight to it,
but I decided to grab it separately, and it turned out to be another easy star.

The final star was Master of Jumping,
which is actually a bit misleading because the star itself doesn’t involve anything too difficult,
at least not for current me.
Past me might disagree.

With that star collected, Skyward Slopes is complete.
That also means I now have enough stars to open the first star door of the hack,
since that only requires ten.

So by finishing one course,
I’ve just unlocked another one to worry about.

Continue the Journey

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Super Mario 74 – Log 1

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Super Mario 74 – Log 3

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Super Mario 74 – A Survivor’s Journey

0

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 3 – Bowser’s Badlands

Super Mario 74 – Log 3: Bowser’s Badlands

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: First star door opened, Bowser’s Badlands stars, red coins, and the first Bowser fight (no commentary)

With more than enough stars collected to open the first star door, I decided there was no reason to delay it any longer.
I already knew what waited behind it: Bowser’s Badlands – Battlefield.

This level has a strange quirk where every time you leave with a star, Mario plays the key animation as if you have just unlocked a door.
Since there are four stars here along with the Bowser fight itself, I ended up seeing that animation five times before I was finished.

The first task was reaching the Pink Bob-Omb, which turned out to be the hardest part of the course.
Getting to him requires a triple jump followed by two wall kicks, and for some reason I kept missing the second one.
Either I wasn’t getting enough height, or I wasn’t pulling back on the stick enough, but after a few attempts I finally made it.

With the cannon unlocked, I decided I would collect every star in the level before facing Bowser.
I don’t know if the stars have official names in-game, so I’m using the names listed on the wiki.

The first star was Top of the Starting Tower.
Exactly what it sounds like — the star sits on top of the tower, and the only way to reach it is with the cannon.
I lined the shot up, fired, and somehow hit the perfect angle.
One of those once-in-a-lifetime cannon shots where everything just works.
Straight onto the tower, straight onto the star.

Next was Secret Corner, another cannon shot, this time to reach a hidden area that can only be accessed from above.
Once I landed, a short drop and a kick for momentum was enough to secure the star.

At this point I couldn’t help thinking that past me would be wondering where these skills were years ago.

After that I went for Scaffolding Path.
This one required a slower approach.
I took my time, played the jumps carefully, and worked my way across without rushing.
Star number three collected.

That left Red Coins of the Battlefield.
The coins are scattered all over the course, most of them placed just close enough to edges to make you think twice before jumping.
I half expected the game to leave me inside the level after collecting them,
but instead I was thrown back out again like the other stars.

With the stars finished, it was time to deal with Bowser.

One more cannon shot, a few Bob-Ombs dealt with, then onto the purple switch section with the timed blocks.
I missed the first attempt, but managed it on the second.

Bowser gave his usual speech, mentioned the bombs were set slightly higher this time,
but that didn’t stop me from throwing him straight into one.

The camera did something strange while he handed over the key,
but the result was the same.
First Bowser battle done.

There are still more courses in this area waiting,
but I have to admit, part of me keeps thinking about how much trouble this hack gave me years ago.

I’m playing better now, no question about that.
But I also know this hack well enough to understand something else.

The easy part is over.

Continue the Journey

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Super Mario 74 – Log 2

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Super Mario 74 – Log 4

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Super Mario 74 – A Survivor’s Journey

2

Submerged: A Subnautica Survival Diary – Log 10: Power Problems, Progress, and Valentino

Submerged Log 10: Power Problems, Progress, and Valentino

Platform: Steam Deck

Video: Base building, Moonpool construction, and Seamoth upgrades (no commentary)


The game congratulated me on reaching 100m deep while I was standing in my own base, which is impressive,
considering my floor doesn’t even have a depth rating.

The first thing that happens today is Subnautica having a small moment. I get the “passed 100m” message like
I’ve just descended into the abyss, when I’m very much indoors and pretending my base is a real home and not
a glorified underwater shed. I chalk it up to another glitch. The peeper-in-the-lifepod incident still lives
rent-free in my head.

Glitches aside, I’ve got one job today: make this new base functional. “Presentable” is ambitious. “Not
embarrassing” is the real target. Step one is a fabricator, because I’m done doing the lifepod commute every
time I need to make a wire.

Weather / Loot / Mood

  • Weather: Clear enough to trust solar power. Briefly. Foolishly.
  • Loot: Diamond, cave sulfur, titanium (so much titanium), quartz (eventually).
  • Mood: Productive, then annoyed, then productive again. Standard survival rhythm.

A Base Without a Fabricator Is Just a Bad Camping Trip

Once I’m out gathering materials, the game finally gives me a little kindness: another diamond. That’s the
missing piece that turns “soon” into “today,” and suddenly the Laser Cutter isn’t a distant dream anymore.

I head back to the lifepod, dig out my other diamond and the cave sulfur, and just like that: the Laser Cutter
is mine. The Aurora is officially back on the menu, and the Captain’s Quarters is finally starting to look like
a real plan instead of a brave lie I tell myself.

But not yet. Today’s obsession is still the Moonpool. I can taste it. I can also taste salt water. Both feel
inevitable.

Another Distress Signal, Another “Not Today”

I catch another distress signal, and it’s immediately obvious it’s outside my comfort zone. It’s not a “never,”
though. It’s a “give me five minutes and a better module.”

That’s the thing about Subnautica. The game doesn’t lock doors — it just points at the ocean and says,
“You can go there whenever you’re ready.” And then it laughs.

Moonpool Madness (And the Corridor Betrayal)

With the fabricator up and running, the base finally feels like mine. Not long after that, I scrape together
enough titanium for the second ingot I need, which means there’s nothing left between me and the Moonpool
except… building placement drama.

I try to be sensible. I build a corridor so the Moonpool can connect neatly, like a planned base and not a
panic build. The game disagrees. It refuses to attach, refuses to cooperate, and refuses to respect my desire
for symmetry.

So I remove the corridor, try again, and suddenly it’s happy. Of course it is. The Moonpool finally goes down
and I don’t even hesitate — I dock the Seamoth immediately and give it the charge it deserves.

Power: The Problem I Created on Purpose

The moment I dock, reality hits: the Seamoth is now drinking my base power like it’s a free refill station.
And my base power is currently solar.

Which means when the sun goes down, my base turns into a very modern art installation: “Darkness, But With
Regret.”

I need another solar panel. Simple. Easy. Except for one tiny detail: quartz.

I know where quartz is. I just can’t find the routes to the places I know have it, which is a very
specific kind of frustration. Eventually, I stumble into the right area, collect what I need, and the second
panel goes up. The base breathes again.

Mobile Vehicle Bay: Why Is It Like That?

Next up is the Mobile Vehicle Bay. I get it crafted and deployed, and immediately have to accept a hard truth:
it will never be centred the way my brain wants it to be.

I take the win anyway, because I’m here for upgrades — and the one I’ve been eyeing for a while is finally
within reach: the Seamoth Depth Module MK1.

The Depth Module, and My Sudden Forgetfulness

Another salvage trip follows. I grab the titanium, head back, and in the excitement I immediately forget the
part where titanium becomes an ingot.

So I do an unplanned little jog back to the fabricator like I’m running errands in a shopping centre, except
the shopping centre is the ocean and the parking lot is trying to kill me.

Once the ingot is made, the depth module goes in, and suddenly 300m is on the table. That’s not just a number.
That’s permission to go looking for trouble in places I previously pretended didn’t exist.

Valentino, Paint Jobs, and Immediate Karma

With the Moonpool built and the module installed, I decide it’s time to make the Seamoth feel like it belongs
to me. It needs a name. It needs a fresh look. It needs… not to be treated like a bumper car.

I take it out to repair it, because it has a few dents from my usual “precision docking.” I fix it up, feel
proud, immediately damage it again, repair it again, and dock it back in the Moonpool like nothing happened.

The name, at least, is locked in. I called it earlier in the series and I’m sticking to it:
Valentino.

The colour, though? No idea. I know it’s possible. I just don’t know how to do it yet. Hopefully by next time
I’ll have figured it out, and Valentino can stop looking like a default rental.

Next Steps

  • Head back to the Aurora and finally use that Laser Cutter like it wasn’t made for decoration.
  • Figure out how to change Seamoth colours, because I refuse to be beaten by a paint menu.
  • Start tracking down rocket blueprints, because “escape” is technically the goal. Allegedly.

Continue the journey

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Next: Submerged Log 11

1

Unprepared: An Interloper Survival Diary in The Long Dark Log #5 – Final Day: Sixteen Days, One Mistake

Unprepared Final Log: Sixteen Days, One Mistake

Difficulty: Interloper
Region: Forlorn Muskeg → Mystery Lake
Platform: Steam Deck
Survivor: Will

Video: Return to Mystery Lake and final encounter (no commentary)

The plan today was simple. That should have been the warning sign.

The goal was clean and sensible: get back to Mystery Lake, collect the materials for a bow,
and spend tomorrow crafting. I sleep a little longer while the forge fire is still going,
pull as many torches as I dare, and head out.

After yesterday’s success, I let myself believe the hardest part was behind me.
That belief does not last long.

Across the Muskeg, Again

I stick to the snow wherever possible. Thin ice has ended too many runs to gamble with it now.
The trade-off is wildlife, and the game is more than happy to collect.

What I initially take for a deer turns out to be a moose.
I reroute, lose time, and remind myself that this is still Forlorn Muskeg.
Nothing here is free.

Wolves shadow me on the approach to Mystery Lake.
They don’t commit, but they don’t leave either.
By the time I reach the Camp Office, I’m threading paths between animals again,
including another moose loitering exactly where I don’t want it.

The Derailment Detour

Near the train derailment, I spot circling birds.
It takes longer than it should, but I eventually find the deer carcass.
The wind is picking up, so I work quickly, harvesting some meat and finally giving
the improvised knife a proper test.

I pause to think.
The smart move is turning back to the Camp Office.
Instead, I press on.

The Bridge

Wolves appear again, keeping their distance.
I keep a flare ready and tell myself I’m prepared.
When things seem quiet, I put it away.

That’s when I see the wolf on the bridge.

It reaches me before the flare burns out.
My condition collapses into the red.
I need a bandage immediately.

I don’t have one.

Crafting would take too long.
I gamble on an old man’s beard lichen dressing, forgetting — too late —
that it treats infection, not blood loss.

I bleed out on the bridge.

Epilogue

This death stung more than most.
Not because it was unfair, but because it was entirely avoidable.
The temptation to cheat death was there, and it nearly won.

But this run mattered.
If the rules bend at the end, they never mattered at all.
So this is where it ends.

Sixteen days is the longest I’ve survived on Interloper in
The Long Dark.
It’s no longer a record.

It’s the number to beat.

Continue the Journey

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Stranded: A Minecraft Survival Diary – Log 8: Fences, Markers, and a Camel I Didn’t Expect

Stranded – Log 8: Fences, Markers, and a Camel I Didn’t Expect

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Survival
Format: No Commentary

Video: Finishing Copyright Bridge, desert exploration, marker system test, creeper incident, and unexpected camel ride (no commentary)

Before I even reached Copyright Bridge, the universe reminded me why it carries that name. As I was walking toward it, and then along it, another music copyright claim appeared. I didn’t even react at this point. It felt fitting. Of all the places for it to happen, it would be there.

I knew exactly what today was for. Finish the fence on Copyright Bridge, then find the village. No wandering aimlessly. No losing everything again. I had a plan.

First, I counted fences. Not guessed. Counted. The bridge needed more than I had, so there was another trip for wood before anything else. Once that was done and the final pieces were placed, I shifted a bit of sand into place and stepped back to look at it. Copyright Bridge now has a full fence. It wasn’t part of the original design, but the more I used it, the more it felt unfinished without one. Now it looks intentional. Safer too.

With infrastructure secured, the village was next. I could have checked the previous recording to see exactly where it was. That would have been efficient. I chose not to. Instead, I headed in the direction I believed I’d taken before.

This time I came prepared. Every so often, when I felt distance building, I stacked three cobblestone blocks vertically and placed a torch on top. A simple pillar. Visible from range. When it felt right, I repeated the process. As darkness began creeping in, I placed one marker with a small sign reading “Go South.” Future me will appreciate that clarity.

Along the way, I stumbled across something I missed previously. Gold blocks. Actual gold blocks embedded in a ruined structure, surrounded by what looked like Nether blocks. I tried mining one with a copper pickaxe. It shattered. Lesson learned. Not everything yields just because you swing at it.

I saw camels nearby and took it as confirmation I was close to the desert village again. For a moment I believed I could see the village tower in the distance. I was wrong. The shape resolved into something else entirely. Doubt crept in. I suspected I might be heading off course, but I pushed forward a little longer. I found a small cluster of coal, maybe three blocks total, and placed another marker before the light faded too far.

I was feeling confident about the marker system. Then I turned around and saw a creeper.

I won’t pretend there was time for strategy. The explosion followed. Creepers must wear slippers. That’s the only explanation. This is the second time one has reached me without warning.

The difference this time was preparation. I knew exactly where I was. The cobblestone pillars stood visible in the distance. One quick sprint, swim, and series of awkward jumps later, I had recovered every item. No panic. No guessing. Just execution.

I decided to end exploration for the night. The desert feels unpredictable, and I don’t intend to overextend again. Before leaving, I tried feeding one of the camels bread. It didn’t take it, but somehow I ended up on its back instead. That discovery alone felt like progress. I had no idea riding them was an option. I tried offering bread again. Still nothing.

I returned home the way I came, following my markers precisely as intended. Back across Copyright Bridge. Back inside. I ate a cookie and went to sleep.

The desert is hazardous for now. Next time, I may try following the water instead. It feels more predictable. Less exposed.

Continue the Journey

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Stranded Hub

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Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Log 16: Lava Tricks and Pyramid Confusion

Mario 64 Randomizer – Log 16: Lava Tricks and Pyramid Confusion

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Video: Lethal Lava Land 100-coin strategy, finishing the course, and a return to Shifting Sand Land where the pyramid behaves nothing like expected (no commentary)

Finishing What I Started

It didn’t feel right leaving Lethal Lava Land unfinished. I knew there had to be a way to collect 100 coins there; I just hadn’t figured it out yet. The problem with the level is that the volcano is always tempting as the backup plan. If I went inside it, I could grab more coins, but there was a catch. The only way to spawn back into the main Lethal Lava Land area from inside the volcano was by collecting a star while I was in there. That meant committing to a route that I wasn’t sure I actually needed.

So instead I stayed outside and started thinking about every possible coin source I might have overlooked. That’s when something came back to me: the eye enemies. If you defeat them, they drop a blue coin worth five regular coins. The trouble was their positioning. They sit in places where making them chase you normally isn’t easy, and you need them to follow you in circles long enough to make them dizzy before they collapse.

Digging Into Old Tricks

I had to dig pretty deep into the memory bank for this one. Eventually something clicked. If Mario takes damage, he gets invincibility frames for a short time. Those frames normally just let you escape danger, but here they could be used as a tool. As long as the damage didn’t come from lava, I could briefly move through enemies without being knocked back again.

That meant I could deliberately take a hit, use the invincibility frames to move straight through the centre of the eye enemy, and effectively force it to follow me while I circled it. It was a messy idea, but it was still an idea. I tried it once, and the eye collapsed into a blue coin. Then I did it again with the second one. Two enemies down, ten coins earned, and suddenly the path to one hundred didn’t feel impossible anymore.

I was already preparing myself for another trip into the volcano to collect the last few coins I needed. But as I moved around the course gathering what remained, the total quietly ticked over to one hundred without me ever having to step inside it. Lethal Lava Land was finally complete, and it felt earned in a way the earlier stars hadn’t quite managed.

Back to the Desert

With that course finished, I felt ready to return to Shifting Sand Land and try to wrap that one up as well. The first target was obvious: the four pillars surrounding the pyramid. I grabbed a Wing Cap, launched into the air, and knocked the tops off each one in quick succession until the pyramid opened.

This is where my brain briefly forgot that I was playing a randomizer. I dropped in through the top entrance of the pyramid expecting the usual descent toward the boss platform. Instead, I landed somewhere completely different and spent a moment wondering if I had misremembered the layout entirely. Eventually I realised what had happened. The randomizer had rearranged things again.

After exploring the interior, I managed to find and grab another star. The pyramid still had more to give, though. I’m fairly sure the 100-coin star is possible in there too, but I’d rather deal with the red coin star first before committing to that kind of scavenger hunt.

Understanding the Pyramid

My next attempt was through the front entrance. This time the familiar descending platform didn’t appear at all. That was the moment the pattern became clear. The platform only descends if I enter from the top opening, something I confirmed on my third trip inside.

That still left the boss room to find. I spent a little time navigating the interior and eventually spotted the route that would take me there. When I finally stepped into the arena and defeated the boss, another thought hit me immediately: in a randomizer, the star that appears afterwards can end up anywhere.

Thankfully this one stayed close enough to reach from the platform I was standing on. I wasn’t particularly eager to fight my way back through the pyramid again just to retrieve it.

Closing the Gap

Three more stars secured in the process. The total now sits at eighty-five, leaving thirty-five still out there somewhere in the castle. The run is steadily narrowing toward its endgame, even if the randomizer keeps trying to make every familiar location feel slightly unfamiliar again.

Continue the Journey

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🧢 Mario 64 Randomizer Hub

Mario 64 Randomizer logs are written after each recording session. What looks like planning is usually just remembering old tricks at the last possible moment.

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