Enter the Third Dimension

A few months ago I bought a 3D printer. The Monoprice Select Mini. It's a *very* basic 3D printer but for $199 it's a really great entry level printer. Here's some pros and cons:

Pros:

• $199: Pretty damn cheap for a very functional 3D printer
• Metal construction: Not laser cut wood which I question the strength and stability
• Toothed Belt (X, Y) and Jack Screw (Z) Movement: No crazy strings or cables. Looks professional.
• Heated Bed: Yes, a heated bed! This means you have a much larger selection of print materials (like ABS) other than PLA
• 1.75mm Filament: Standard size that you can get anywhere, cheap, many colors, many materials. You can easily get a 1kg roll of PLA for $20-$25.
• 0.1mm (and lower) Resolution on Z Axis: You can make prints with some nice detail.
• SD Card Slot and USB and WiFi: Printer includes a SD card (only 256M but good to start with)  
• Standard Gcode Support: It can talk to many free and commercial slicers or read from the SD card

Cons:

• $199: Yeah. It's a deal but understand what you're getting into. You're going to have to fiddle with it and it may be frustrating. While many people have had success right out of the box don't assume you will. A $1000+ pinter might be a better choice if you have the money.
• Manual Bed Leveling: This comes under fiddling. You need to adjust the bed height using an allen wrench and a piece of paper (more on that later). The Z axis has a hard bottom limit switch so adjusting the bed height is very difficult.
• Low End Components: Again it's $199. The power supply is weak and might fail. The stepper motor drivers may overheat. The hot end is pretty poor. The bed heater struggles to get over 80 deg C. (low end for ABS). Wires can break (especially the thermistor) and bundles may abrade.
• Poor Construction: Tolerances can be pretty sloppy and manufacturing is not very consistent. Wobbling in all axises can occur. Mine seems to have loosened up since I got it.
• Proprietary Hardware and Software: You're not going to be able to flash it with an open source firmware or do any software customization.
• High DoA: There have been reports of DoA (Dead on Arrival) printers. This goes back to poor quality. Monoprice seems to do a good job with RMAs but it could be *extremely* frustrating. 

The good thing is that many of the "cons" can be fixed or managed but this means that in addition to the hobby of 3D printing you'll have a hobby of hacking the printer itself. There is a great support group on Facebook and there are many great articles and videos online to help you out. My experience is that the community around this printer is excellent. Very welcoming and very helpful (and patience). Maybe it's because they're all facing the same struggles and celebrate their successes.

Part of my enjoyment with technology is hacking, modifying and tweaking it. So for me this is a great printer. I can fiddle with it but it still performs better than I expected.

Back Again

Wow, It's been a long time since I blogged but I've been busy with a lot of new things other than playing FO4. Since I'm probably the only one reading this blog (other than search engines) it really doesn't matter. But still...

Garden Plot + ??? = Profit

Wasteland workshop adds "garden plots". Basically raised garden beds that you can place almost anywhere.  Some settlements don't have much ground or the ground isn't where you'd like it to be. You can also place your garden on top of your defense tower. Cool.

Now what other things have to go into the ground for them to work? Hmmm. Water pumps! Yep you got it. You can put a water pump (either the hand pump or the new powered pump) into a garden plot then pick them up with a long press of the action button and put it anywhere. Now you can keep your water supply safe on top of your tower too.

Fast Travel Safety

It annoys me that fast travel in Fo4 can dump you right into a firefight. I thought a cardinal rule was that fast travel would put you into a safe spot. Now I have to assume that any fast travel, outside of settlements, will get me into trouble. I'm spamming VATS even before I materialize. Maybe that's by design but I still don't like it. I hate fast traveling to Satellite Station Olivia and getting jumped by bloat flies and mole rats which alert the raider guards. Oh well.

Far Harbor - Cool!

I haven't started Far Harbor yet. I'm still having fun with Automatron and Wasteland Workshop but Far Harbor sounds amazing. It's the largest map that has been developed as a DLC and has completely new creatures. The following was posted to Reddit Fallout Sub:

Far Harbor is not a friendly place. The town’s inhabitants don’t trust you. Monstrous creatures lay in wait around every corner. Even the island itself can kill you. “It’s not like walking around the Commonwealth and maybe encountering some pockets of radiation,” warns Lead Producer Phil Nelson. “The island is radiation.”

But you’ll find much more than just hostile denizens and radiation in Fallout 4’s latest add-on. In addition to being Bethesda Game Studios’ largest landmass that they have ever created for an add-on, the island is host to a wealth of mysteries for you to uncover. Discover new creatures, arm yourself with new gear and seek out the truth behind the ongoing conflict between factions on the island. Along the way you’ll face some of the most complex and nuanced choices in Fallout.

Follow the link to read the rest. There's also some great concept art. This is one I liked:

Fallout 4 Far Harbor concept art

Settler Weapons

*** Possible Spoilers ***

Since I installed Automatron DLC, I've been considering what weapons my settlers should have. Almost immediately after Automatron was installed I had an attack on Abernathy Farm. The attackers were six Mechanist robots. The settlers did a pretty good job defending themselves but it makes me think that I should be diversifying to include some energy weapons.

Laser Rifle - Image from Fallout Wikia

Initially I gave settlers pipe rifles and automatic pipe rifles because they were plentiful, the same calibre yet more powerful than the .38 pipe pistols settlers normally come with. As I advanced, settlers were upgraded with my looted guns. Many now have .45 combat rifles and .45 submachine guns. The "Triggermen" in the Goodneighbor warehouses respawn after a certain amount of time (30 in-game games, I believe). So .45 submachine guns are easy to get. I now have a decent collection of of energy weapons so I'm starting to hand them out. Hopefully, with a combination of kinetic and energy weapons they'll be able to deal with robot attacks.

Lasty, is it better to give settlers single shot or automatic weapons? Just from my observation, settlers are not very good shots. It may be better if settlers have automatic weapons taking a "spray and pray" tactic. Since settlers don't use up ammo, running out of rounds isn't an issue.

Scavenger Stations

I've been assigning unassigned settlers to scavenger stations so that they're pulling their share of the load but I was wondering how much this really help. I found some good info on the Fallout Wikia.

Image from Fallout Wikia

Normally, unassigned settlers will scavenge by themselves at a rate of one random junk item per day (in game day I assume) when assigned to a scavenger station they can collect two random junk items per day.

This was basically what I thought it was but the following was of most interest:

Once the total number of junk items in the workshop reaches 100 + (population × 5), no more junk items will be added to the workshop in either case.

So there is a limit on how much can be scavenged at which point they will stop. So how to resolve this? Do we have to clean out all the junk from a workbench when it reaches or looks like it's reaching, capacity? Would it help to manually scrap the junk in a workbench? Players have mentioned that they move junk from a scrapping settlement to another settlement where they aren't doing scrapping. This really sounds like a pain in the butt.

I'm not sure what the best solution is but I'll keep looking.

Another interesting thing is that scavenger stations can be wrecked in an attack. There is no external indicator. You have to cursor over it in build mode and it will give you the option to repair it.

A Little Better Notification Please

I was playing FO4, just goofing around, and I get a notice that I failed to defend Greentop Nursery. WFT! I didn't remember getting a notification that it was under attack. It would be nice if Bethesda could provide better alerts when settlements are under attack. Something more noticeable than a bit of little text in the status area. Different color, flashing, something.

Of course there's a mod for that. No help for PS4 and XBone.

Shaikujin's Better warning for settlements being attacked

I'm sorry, but this is too funny

It just feels like this sometimes.

From some Tumblr

Unkillable Settlers?

When you assign a settler to be a provisioner, they become "essential", they cannot be killed by another NPC other than you. Just like a companion. They may get knocked down but not killed.

So what if you assigned all you settlers to be provisioners but then immediately reassigned them to other tasks like farming or defense? Either it's a bug or feature but once an NPC is assigned to be a provisioner their name becomes "Provisioner" and even if you reassigning them they stay a "Provisioner".  Yes, they still maintain their essential quality.

I tested this out. I shot, but didn't kill, a "Provisioner" that had been reassigned to defense. My companion, MacCready, "killed" the NPC but in a few seconds he got back up again. I then permanently killed the NPC.

The only possible problem is that this may screw up you supply lines. I have a couple "phantom" supply lines (they show up on map but there is no one assigned to them). I'm not sure if this is due to the few reassignments that I've made or not (I've killed reassigned provisioners but the routes don't go away). But, creating a settlement of invincible inhabitants would be an interesting experiment.

Named NPCs in Sanctuary

You know how all the named NPCs in Sanctuary spend a lot of time "fixing" the house? Which is really annoying since it is not productive and noisy.

I had a couple of the named NPCs in Sanctuary assigned to defense.  I noticed that they spend most of their time "fixing" the house and not on post. Unnamed settlers will stay on post. If someone is assigned to defense and not on post then they're not very useful (not detecting and shooting hostiles). Preston has a particular tendency to just roam around the settlement.  I assigned the named NPCs to things like farming and scrapping station. They don't have to be physically there to accomplish the task. A farmer doesn't actually have to be in the garden to create six units of food, just assigned.

Image from shacknews.com

Get out of the damn suit!

I don't use power armor all that much and always forget how to get out of it. Hold X on the PS4! Maybe I'll remember it now (or know where to look it up)

The easy way to get a settlement

I was reading somewhere, maybe on Reddit, that a FO4 player felt that he was wasting his time, resources, etc, on settlement quests. When he got a new settlement quest he just killed the two existing settlers and gained the workbench. Brutal but effective. 

Pip Boy build

An interesting, cheap, build of a Pip boy, It looks pretty good.

Humorous Glitch

Watch out for that super mutant crate! (This one's not mine. Original is on Imgur)

Build Mode - Select and Hold

I still haven't quite figured out the select and hold function in build mode. It clearly selects connected objects but it will also select nearby objects which is annoying, Selecting objects in this mode also screws up lights. Lights stay connected but turn off. Selecting the light and replacing it fixes it but it's a pain.

Fertilizer - Who knew?

I *just* found out that Brahmins make fertilizer and it will show up in your workbench just like excess water. Fertilizer can be used to make chems like Jet that you can sell for caps. Awesome!

Reading on the throne

Teddy bear hospital

Why brahman, why?

TV shootout

I think a raider had an Elvis moment.

Raiders Are So Silly

Screwdrivers and toasters don't play well together.

Sorry Dora

At least I got some cat meat

A Glitch Saves My Ass

I have no idea what happened here. I was out of grenades so that couldn't have blown the Deathclaw in the air. It must have been a physics glitch of some sort. Thanks to the PS4 constant video capture, I've got proof.

Russian Man Suing Bethesda, Claiming Fallout 4 Ruined His Life

Is this a class action suit? Can I get in on it?

From Walyou

Addiction to anything, including video games, is dangerous when it gets out of hand. One Russian man who played a little bit too much Fallout 4 which allegedly cost him his wife and job, is blaming the video game developer instead of himself.

Sigh...

Smart watches specifically designed for test cheating. Why bother anymore.

Cait Kicks Arse

Did you know that Cait can pick expert locks? She might break a few bobby pins but she can do it.

Cait Kicks Arse

I'm Sorry Kent

I'm sorry Kent. I wasn't able to save you in the Silver Shroud quest. You were so goofy. Don't worry, I'll save you in another play-through. I'll bring bigger guns.

R.I.P. Kent Connoly

Kohl's

Where everything is 50% off because everything is marked up 100%

Forgot my yoga pants

I bet you didn't know there is a yoga room at SFO. Now you do.

Covenant: A Promise Broken

**Warning: Potential Fo4 Spoilers**

In fo4 there is a town called Covenant. It's a town that can become a settlement. It's a great site to make a settlement, the town is completely walled and there are seven turrets along the wall. The build space is small but it has several intact buildings that can be used for bunk houses and such.

All the townspeople act very strangely. There's obviously a deep dark secret that they're keeping. Peyton Place like. There is a Mister Handy robot there named Deezer. He want's to give you lemonade - his special recipe. (Maybe a drinking the Kool-Aid reference or something more perverse?) While I was hesitant to take it, the drink has pretty good restorative properties. As you go along the quest to unlock the workshop (unlocking a workshop at a location allows you to make it a settlement), you find that the townspeople are involved in some pretty nasty stuff. At the end of the quest you are give a decision to side with the townspeople, accepting their evil doings, or not.

Covenant in Fallout 4

I didn't side with the town so I'm not exactly sure how that choice plays out. I'm sure you can Google it. Not siding with the town results in the townspeople getting all aggro with you. When you return to the town they start attacking. Strangely, the turrets don't attack you. All the NPCs are pretty low level so killing them off is not a big effort especially if you have a companion. I accidentally killed the town cat, Dora. I'm so sorry Dora, but you were right in the middle of the fight. At least you gave me a tasty chunk of cat meat. I didn't kill Deezer though.

Now you have the town and now things get strange and frustrating. First problem is that you have all these dead bodies. After the normal looting of the bodies, you would think that the game engine would clean them up in a few in-game days. But no (strangely, Dora gets cleaned up). These bodies remain. I, like many others, dumped the bodies in some bushes so that I don't have to relive my sins every time I travel to Covenant. An additional strangeness with the bodies is that they sometimes respawn loot (clearly a glitch). Weird but not unwelcome.

Each settlement you build requires defenses so that raiders, super mutants and other nasties don't kill your settlers and destroy town resources. With seven turrets you would think you're set. But no (again). The existing turrets don't count as defense. WTF? Some players destroy them but then you're left with un-removable, smoldering, turret stumps and you can't place new turrets in those tactical locations. Ok, you figure, I'll just put up my own turrets and let the existing turrets add some, unaccounted for, defense (they will shoot at hostiles). You pop a new turret up and then all hell breaks loose. Your turret thinks the existing turrets are hostiles resulting in a huge shootout which only stops when there are no more turrets to shoot or your turret gets destroyed. Nice.

You can move the turrets while in workshop mode. It's not obvious, but they do highlight and if you hold the action button you can grab them.  I figured there must be a way to take advantage of these turrets. They are heavy turrets so they have some value. I took them all and put them in one of the buildings. If you do so, make sure none of them are in view of the new turrets you put up or the whole shootout starts again.

There's another glitch with these turrets. If you try to pick them up and they are too close to another crafted object, both objects get picked up. I'm playing on PS4 so I don't know if this is unique to that platform or not. By moving crafted objects around and a little finesse you can shake them loose. If you're fed up with the turrets and just want them gone (the existing turrets can't be scraped or stored in the workbench) someone found a workaround for PS4 and Xbone (if you're playing on PC you can use console commands to remove objects). You can place them on a crafted shack floor and then store the shack floor in the workbench. The turrets vanish into the aether while the floor is duly returned to storage (another glitch?). By the way, this doesn't work with the bodies.

Having all the existing turrets collected, I took them to places where my new turrets couldn't "see" them. I hid them in corners and put up walls to give them cover. There was a bit of trial and error. You don't know for sure if they're actually hidden until you place them and all the turrets complete a scan of their view. There were number of quick saves made to work it all out. Ultimately, I did get several of the existing turrets in usable locations. Since then I don't know if it was really worth the effort. The only attacks I've seen so far are by a few raiders, nothing my new turrets couldn't take care of. The existing turrets ended up in vulnerable locations so I've had a couple of them destroyed by attackers. Meh, it was a fun puzzle.

There are other weird glitches with Covenant. Doors remaining locked, having to steal items from yourself, Deezer... I didn't kill Deezer. He now hides in a corner, is cheery and continues to offer his special lemonade (wink).

Fallout 4: First Blood

I'm currently playing Fallout 4 (fo4) and in the process ignoring all the other games that I'm playing including World of Tanks (my clan will probably kick me out. I've barely played WoT since December).

I really like fo4. If you're not familiar with Fallout 4 or the Fallout series you can read about it on Wikipedia. Basically it's a post apocalyptic single player, sandbox, RPG/FPS. Fo4 includes settlement building. Think of settlements as throwing in a bit of SIMs and Civ. Although there are haters of the fo4 I really like it. The leveling and perks system has some major flaws explained really well in a YouTube video by YOGSCAST Will. Even with this downside I'd still recommend the game. You can work around the leveling/perk system but you use up a lot of level ups for basic character buffs instead of fun perks.

Fo4 seems to adhere to the current software development process followed by most game developers (actually it's the whole software industry). This is: make it environmentally stunning with just enough functionality to make it playable, sell it even though it's just a notch above beta, use your customers as beta tester and fix the most egregious glitches when you have time and motivation (and budget I'm sure). There's no profit in bug fixing. In general Bethesda is better at following up on customer suggestions/complaints than others but even with the most recent patch, fo4 has plenty of bugs/glitches.

If you're playing on a PC you can always drop out to the console and do manual fixes (cheats) but on PS4 and Xbone you're stuck with what you've got and have to rely on Bethesda to fix the problems. I'm currently playing on the PS4 but I got the PC version (damn you Steam sales!!!. You would think I'd only have to buy it once.). I'm going to continue playing a vanilla game on the PS4 and play the PC version with all of the op/god and fun mods. I've been doing the same with fo3. Actually the settlement feature of fo4 is based on a mod developed for fo3. Adding mods to fo3 (and others) makes the game incredibly unstable so it's not advisable for a serious play through.

More rants to come...

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"Inconceivable!: The Blog, A Blog of Unusual Size"; is full of my rants on games, security, technology, society and other random stuff.

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