magistrate (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
magistrate) wrote2019-07-05 11:46 am
magistrate) wrote2019-07-05 11:46 am
Horseback Riding Simulator 2018
So at some point last year – probably because of rionaleonhart – I wandered into Red Dead Redemption II fandom periphery, and then I watched a Let's Play of it, and then I fell headfirst into it, and then I started writing a story which I thought was going to be an easy 30-40k and which has, surprising only myself, ballooned into a multi-hundred-thousand-word project which is taking me forever to complete. I think this is the third time something like this has happened because I've followed Riona off the beaten path. I suspect she's actually a literary will-o'-the-wisp.
Anyway, I spent most of this year exerting actual financial discipline so I could save up for a PS4 and get the game, and that finally happened. And now I'm slowly playing through this thing I've written many thousands of words for. Score!
This game gets a lot of flak for being grindy and tedious in some regards, and for making decisions that prioritize realism above playability, but what I've discovered is that about 96% of the grindy tedium is actually stuff I really groove on. (I mean, let's be real, I adore the crap out of The Long Dark's sandbox mode, and that game is literally 100% "Wander around this beautifully-rendered environment, forage, scavenge, hunt, manage your temperature, and try not to get eaten". With added exhaustion, thirst, and hunger mechanics that actually will kill you, plus an injury system. Come to think of it, I'd probably love to see all of that in RDR2.) So far I've played only enough of the main storyline to get to a place where most of the map amenities are unlocked and the character who most annoys me is off somewhere and not in camp to irritate me, and I've been spending the rest of my time running around, exploring, hunting, and doing side missions.
And having shenanigans.
So many shenanigans.
I've taken to reporting them on the Horseshoe Overlook Discord, which I joined before I'd even bought the game. In the interests of posting to this journal at any point ever, I figure I'd share some of my Arthur's exploits here. (I'll use highlight-to-read spoiler blackouts as necessary.)
06/19/2019
I finally saved up and got a PS4! And now I can actually play the game I've been ficcing for all this time!
Current verdict: man, I suck at this game.
I'm sure it will be much better once I've gotten used to the controls. But so far I have run into one tree, fallen off three cliffs, and gotten murdered by O'Driscolls once.
That tree just came out of nowhere, though.
06/19/2019
I had a perfect grey fox skin, AND THEN I FELL OFF A CLIFF
I accidentally got a wolf skin because I was walking along, minding my own business, and then two timber wolves jumped me. I killed one and wounded the other, and skinned the wolf. AND THEN I FELL OFF A CLIFF.
I have the horrible sensation that a lot of my stories are going to end this way.
06/19/2019
I still have not gotten to the throwing knives. I kinda got to Horseshoe Overlook and immediately went NOPE, NOT DOING STORYLINE, JUST RUNNING AROUND THE MAP.
IF I DON'T PROGRESS THE STORYLINE NOTHING CAN EVER GO WRONG. Except for cliffs. And trees. And wolves. And random encounters.
06/20/2019
Just bought Arthur clothes. He stood there in the dressing room with this look of "Why is this happening to me?" on his face. I kinda felt bad, but I also laughed a lot.
06/20/2019
Random dead vulture just fell from the sky in front of me. No gunshots, no other animal sounds, just... suddenly, without warning, bird carcass from above.
...
...free vulture!
(If I eat this bird meat and end up cursed or haunted, I regret nothing.)
06/20/2019
The part of me that wants to play this as a game for my enjoyment wants to go hunting with Hosea. The part of me that wants to roleplay this as what my Arthur would actually do wants to go get Sean. ...guess I'm going to get Sean.
06/20/2019
EXCUSE ME
DUTCH IS PRACTICING WITCHCRAFT
I JUST BROUGHT DOWN A THREE-STAR DEER AND THEN MY SCREEN CUT TO CLOUDS AND THEN I WOKE UP AND IT WAS EVENING AND I WAS IN THE CAMP FOR A PARTY
HE SUMMONED ME OUT OF THE WILDS
TELEPORT ME BACK, DUTCH, IT WAS MIDMORNING, I HAD TIME TO SKIN MY DEER AND COME HOME
I was also on my way back after getting Sean when I got the random encounter from Javier about rescuing Bill from bounty hunters. Which just gives me the impression that Javier took Sean halfway back to camp, then got fed up with him, kicked him off his horse, and immediately ran into Bill being an idiot.
06/20/2019
Finally go hunting with Hosea. We head out for Valentine around noonish. By the time I leave the Valentine stables, the stars are out. ...I think I just spent an entire afternoon primping my horse.
Most formidable outlaw in the West, guys, right here.
(I imagine Hosea just sitting outside the stables going "...really?")
ARTHUR MORGAN EVERY TIME YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR HORSE IN THE LAST WEEK OF GAME DAYS YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR PISTOL, YOUR RIFLE, YOUR BOW, AND YOUR KNIFE. YOU GO HUNTING A GODDAMN BEAR AND YOU RESET YOUR LOADOUT TO ONLY A PISTOL? REALLY? I know the encounter here is mostly scripted, but REALLY?
At least it's your Volcanic and not your frickin' Cattleman, but COME ON
06/20/2019
SCREW YOU, DUTCH
I WENT AND SHOT A NEW THREE-STAR DEER
YOU CAN'T TELEPORT ME AWAY FROM ALL MY SUCCESSES
06/20/2019
Oh come on, game! I boot it back up, and Arthur is just lounging against a rock, having a nap. Now I just want to let him sleep.
...also, buddy, I turned off the game while I was in Horseshoe Overlook. Your bed is right there. I can see it from where you're sleeping. You really don't need to sleep on the ground against a rock.
This man is like a cat, I swear.
rionaleonhart – I wandered into Red Dead Redemption II fandom periphery, and then I watched a Let's Play of it, and then I fell headfirst into it, and then I started writing a story which I thought was going to be an easy 30-40k and which has, surprising only myself, ballooned into a multi-hundred-thousand-word project which is taking me forever to complete. I think this is the third time something like this has happened because I've followed Riona off the beaten path. I suspect she's actually a literary will-o'-the-wisp.Anyway, I spent most of this year exerting actual financial discipline so I could save up for a PS4 and get the game, and that finally happened. And now I'm slowly playing through this thing I've written many thousands of words for. Score!
This game gets a lot of flak for being grindy and tedious in some regards, and for making decisions that prioritize realism above playability, but what I've discovered is that about 96% of the grindy tedium is actually stuff I really groove on. (I mean, let's be real, I adore the crap out of The Long Dark's sandbox mode, and that game is literally 100% "Wander around this beautifully-rendered environment, forage, scavenge, hunt, manage your temperature, and try not to get eaten". With added exhaustion, thirst, and hunger mechanics that actually will kill you, plus an injury system. Come to think of it, I'd probably love to see all of that in RDR2.) So far I've played only enough of the main storyline to get to a place where most of the map amenities are unlocked and the character who most annoys me is off somewhere and not in camp to irritate me, and I've been spending the rest of my time running around, exploring, hunting, and doing side missions.
And having shenanigans.
So many shenanigans.
I've taken to reporting them on the Horseshoe Overlook Discord, which I joined before I'd even bought the game. In the interests of posting to this journal at any point ever, I figure I'd share some of my Arthur's exploits here. (I'll use highlight-to-read spoiler blackouts as necessary.)
06/19/2019
I finally saved up and got a PS4! And now I can actually play the game I've been ficcing for all this time!
Current verdict: man, I suck at this game.
I'm sure it will be much better once I've gotten used to the controls. But so far I have run into one tree, fallen off three cliffs, and gotten murdered by O'Driscolls once.
That tree just came out of nowhere, though.
06/19/2019
I had a perfect grey fox skin, AND THEN I FELL OFF A CLIFF
I accidentally got a wolf skin because I was walking along, minding my own business, and then two timber wolves jumped me. I killed one and wounded the other, and skinned the wolf. AND THEN I FELL OFF A CLIFF.
I have the horrible sensation that a lot of my stories are going to end this way.
06/19/2019
I still have not gotten to the throwing knives. I kinda got to Horseshoe Overlook and immediately went NOPE, NOT DOING STORYLINE, JUST RUNNING AROUND THE MAP.
IF I DON'T PROGRESS THE STORYLINE NOTHING CAN EVER GO WRONG. Except for cliffs. And trees. And wolves. And random encounters.
06/20/2019
Just bought Arthur clothes. He stood there in the dressing room with this look of "Why is this happening to me?" on his face. I kinda felt bad, but I also laughed a lot.
06/20/2019
Random dead vulture just fell from the sky in front of me. No gunshots, no other animal sounds, just... suddenly, without warning, bird carcass from above.
...
...free vulture!
(If I eat this bird meat and end up cursed or haunted, I regret nothing.)
06/20/2019
The part of me that wants to play this as a game for my enjoyment wants to go hunting with Hosea. The part of me that wants to roleplay this as what my Arthur would actually do wants to go get Sean. ...guess I'm going to get Sean.
06/20/2019
EXCUSE ME
DUTCH IS PRACTICING WITCHCRAFT
I JUST BROUGHT DOWN A THREE-STAR DEER AND THEN MY SCREEN CUT TO CLOUDS AND THEN I WOKE UP AND IT WAS EVENING AND I WAS IN THE CAMP FOR A PARTY
HE SUMMONED ME OUT OF THE WILDS
TELEPORT ME BACK, DUTCH, IT WAS MIDMORNING, I HAD TIME TO SKIN MY DEER AND COME HOME
I was also on my way back after getting Sean when I got the random encounter from Javier about rescuing Bill from bounty hunters. Which just gives me the impression that Javier took Sean halfway back to camp, then got fed up with him, kicked him off his horse, and immediately ran into Bill being an idiot.
06/20/2019
Finally go hunting with Hosea. We head out for Valentine around noonish. By the time I leave the Valentine stables, the stars are out. ...I think I just spent an entire afternoon primping my horse.
Most formidable outlaw in the West, guys, right here.
(I imagine Hosea just sitting outside the stables going "...really?")
ARTHUR MORGAN EVERY TIME YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR HORSE IN THE LAST WEEK OF GAME DAYS YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR PISTOL, YOUR RIFLE, YOUR BOW, AND YOUR KNIFE. YOU GO HUNTING A GODDAMN BEAR AND YOU RESET YOUR LOADOUT TO ONLY A PISTOL? REALLY? I know the encounter here is mostly scripted, but REALLY?
At least it's your Volcanic and not your frickin' Cattleman, but COME ON
06/20/2019
SCREW YOU, DUTCH
I WENT AND SHOT A NEW THREE-STAR DEER
YOU CAN'T TELEPORT ME AWAY FROM ALL MY SUCCESSES
06/20/2019
Oh come on, game! I boot it back up, and Arthur is just lounging against a rock, having a nap. Now I just want to let him sleep.
...also, buddy, I turned off the game while I was in Horseshoe Overlook. Your bed is right there. I can see it from where you're sleeping. You really don't need to sleep on the ground against a rock.
This man is like a cat, I swear.