Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Interdimensional Observer]

Did some reading on bats.:

• Of flight capabilities with incredible delicacy -having more aerial flexibility than birds. The hand-wings adjust themselves to midair conditions (via sensory hairs on the wings) millisecond-by-millisecond without conscious thought.
  • This is inspiring robot designs theoretically capable of doing things the ubiquitous modern quadcopter drone can't. Namely go into narrow confines like urban sewers and caves.
• Pollinators of 530 plant species, including bananas, mangoes, avocados, durians, and agave (as the article wrote "no bats, no tequila").
• Over 1400 species make bats the second largest order of mammals worldwide, about 20% of all mammal species (Chiroptera- "hand-wing") (Rodentia coming in first).
  • The largest concentration of bat species being located in the mountains of Venezuela.
  • In the fossil record, the oldest known bat fossil is 52 million years old. -Yet it already has the arm-wing fully formed, we're missing the transitory evolutionary links where bats gradually split off from things like moles and hedgehogs.
• Bats live up to 10 times the expected lifespans of mammals their size (the longest-lived species having a lifespan of up to 41 years).
• Bats show immunity against many viruses (hence them being reservoir hosts for some of them). They have extremely low cancer rates and even get better at DNA repair in old age. And they can control their immune systems to stop harmful overreactions (such as too much inflammation). Medical breakthroughs bats might come to inspire.
  • Some species can also temporarily immobilize their ear bones if things get too noisy, to avoid going deaf.🙉 -Useful if you're surrounded by hundreds or thousands of fellow bats all screeching in an echolocation frenzy.

🦇

Edited August 17 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

And done. I've beaten Chrono Cross once again. Though I'm far from over since, for a change, I actually plan a more completionist approach. It's gonna require at least another full-blown playthrough via New Game Plus, but that's for another day.

Now... hmm... I think I said I would try Riviera next, right? Hmm... I also wanted to try out Bloodstained now. Also try to do an actuall start-to-finish run of the After the End Fan Fork mod of CK II. Hmm... what to choose...

[Armagon]

Dawg......

17 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I doubt it. Since it'd mean waging war directly with Great Britain (Guyana didn't got independence until 1966), so I doubt they was a point they could take it and hold it.

Mid 1800s but before the 1900s would've been the safest time to do so.

Especially if they could convince America to enforce some of that Monroe Doctrine. It's the same reason why the Cuban revolutionaries were able to get independence from Spain.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

16 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Mid 1800s but before the 1900s would've been the safest time to do so.

Especially if they could convince America to enforce some of that Monroe Doctrine. It's the same reason why the Cuban revolutionaries were able to get independence from Spain.

Sad to say, but the real enforcer of the Monroe Doctrine was Great Britain. Precisely because the US couldn't project the needed power during most of the 19th century. Great Britain wanted the market opportunities that Latin America offered but Spain always barred access to. Independent (and more vulnerable) Latin America would be easier to exploit. Hence Great Britain agreed on the notion of preventing as much interference from other European powers as possible... while helping themselves where they could, like in the Essequibo and Malvinas. Without them, the Monroe Doctrine would just be a US bluster.

The US didn't exactly helped Cuba due to Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine outright didn't apply to territory Europe still controlled, so Cuba and Puerto Rico were outside its scope. It was the US wanting to join in the Imperialism game (not counting their land expansion). That's why they outright seized Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Cuba. On the flip side, Cuba did got full independence by 1909. Compared to the Philippines which weren't independent until 1946... and let's not even start with Puerto Rico.

Edited August 17 by Acacia Sgt

[BrightBow]

30 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Dawg......

It scares me to think how many people don't understand how worthless Google "AI" results are.

Of course it makes sense. You type a question and Google provides what looks like an answer. Why question it?
Not like you would just assume that Google is deliberately pushing garbage information ahead of actual search results. That would be an absurd thing for a "Search Engine" to do.

[Acacia Sgt]

I'd say, I have that Metroidvania itch, so I think my next game will be Bloodstained.

[Sidereal Wraith]

 

[Dayni]

Sure, too early to show this, but why not?

(Honestly just wanted to put something in the comment, this was the first thing I felt okay about)

17 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Did some reading on bats.:

• Of flight capabilities with incredible delicacy -having more aerial flexibility than birds. The hand-wings adjust themselves to midair conditions (via sensory hairs on the wings) millisecond-by-millisecond without conscious thought.
  • This is inspiring robot designs theoretically capable of doing things the ubiquitous modern quadcopter drone can't. Namely go into narrow confines like urban sewers and caves.
• Pollinators of 530 plant species, including bananas, mangoes, avocados, durians, and agave (as the article wrote "no bats, no tequila").
• Over 1400 species make bats the second largest order of mammals worldwide, about 20% of all mammal species (Chiroptera- "hand-wing") (Rodentia coming in first).
  • The largest concentration of bat species being located in the mountains of Venezuela.
  • In the fossil record, the oldest known bat fossil is 52 million years old. -Yet it already has the arm-wing fully formed, we're missing the transitory evolutionary links where bats gradually split off from things like moles and hedgehogs.
• Bats live up to 10 times the expected lifespans of mammals their size (the longest-lived species having a lifespan of up to 41 years).
• Bats show immunity against many viruses (hence them being reservoir hosts for some of them). They have extremely low cancer rates and even get better at DNA repair in old age. And they can control their immune systems to stop harmful overreactions (such as too much inflammation). Medical breakthroughs bats might come to inspire.
  • Some species can also temporarily immobilize their ear bones if things get too noisy, to avoid going deaf.🙉 -Useful if you're surrounded by hundreds or thousands of fellow bats all screeching in an echolocation frenzy.

🦇

Bats being the inspiration for even more invasive drones shouldn't surprise me.

That bit with immobilising ear bones is a cool fact in particular.

5 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

And done. I've beaten Chrono Cross once again. Though I'm far from over since, for a change, I actually plan a more completionist approach. It's gonna require at least another full-blown playthrough via New Game Plus, but that's for another day.

Have not checked it on the emulator device, but it probably should work, it even made a playlist so both discs are in the same entry.

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Dawg......

 

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

It scares me to think how many people don't understand how worthless Google "AI" results are.

Of course it makes sense. You type a question and Google provides what looks like an answer. Why question it?
Not like you would just assume that Google is deliberately pushing garbage information ahead of actual search results. That would be an absurd thing for a "Search Engine" to do.

 

I didn't say it to my table that I felt a bit more mixed about AI use in the last campaign I was part of, but I likely should have.

[Acacia Sgt]

9 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Sure, too early to show this, but why not?

Too early? SotN came out 27 years ago!

9 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Have not checked it on the emulator device, but it probably should work, it even made a playlist so both discs are in the same entry.

So it doesn't call you to switch them? Oh, that's neat. I'm playing the RD Edition on Steam, so neither is there a need there as well.

[Acacia Sgt]

Alright, reached Arvantville. Should've started playing this much earlier, heh.

The moment the music began as the Entrance area lighted up... ahh, that's the good stuff.

Edited August 18 by Acacia Sgt

[Armagon]

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

• The largest concentration of bat species being located in the mountains of Venezuela.

Venezuela once again having the biggest everything.

5 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

The US didn't exactly helped Cuba due to Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine outright didn't apply to territory Europe still controlled, so Cuba and Puerto Rico were outside its scope. It was the US wanting to join in the Imperialism game (not counting their land expansion).

Ah yeah, i got my things mixed up. I knew America had interest in Cuba fighting off Spain, but it wasn't until the USS Maine blowing up that they actually got involved. Before the aid was indirect i think.

I remember the Yellow Journalism section in 6th grade civics.

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Damn, Zangetsu kicked my butt twice over. I think I'll just go play SRW X for now, hahaha...

Edited August 18 by Acacia Sgt

[Venger_06]

TEEHEE ALERT

[Hrothgar777]

^My favorite Quint, but also the one everyone hates unfortunately.

[Venger_06]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:26 AM, Hrothgar777 said:

^My favorite Quint, but also the one everyone hates unfortunately.

You, sir, have excellent taste

The author had to nerf her near the end because that was the only way to stop her from winning.

Edited August 19 by Venger_06

[Acacia Sgt]

Hmm... so, I just had this thought, as I'm currently playing through a Mightgaine related DLC map.

So, Great Mightgaine is the combination of Mightgaine and Might Kaiser. Unlike most of the other mechs of the Brave Express Corps, Might Kaiser doesn't have a Super AI, so it needs to be piloted manually. So... it could be possible to have two people on board Great Mightgaine? I think in the anime nothing of the sort ever happens. It was always Maito alone. And SRW doesn't veer into trying that out as far as I know, ei-

Oh, it actually does! Well, never mind! XD

[Eltosian Kadath]

11 hours ago, Dayni said:

What a gimmick to be working around. Forcing constant trading in the achievement, meaning this team is itself guaranteed to be switched out later on and you can't know how it'll end up.... Ooof if you're unlucky.

It certainly does introduce a bit of chaos, which I thought would make it interesting, although he really hasn't shown up as much as I expected. Also I suspect it having "Novice" in the title means that after I beat it I unlock an achievement requiring me to take the curse which makes him always show up where he can while taking the trade 😛 

 

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Did some reading on bats.:

I do have a soft spot for bats thanks to one that used to sneak into our attic as a kid fairly regularly during the winters. If Battly was feeling lazy he would fly around the living room until someone opened the front door for him.

 

11 hours ago, Armagon said:

Dawg......

"AI" has had a lot of very embarrassing results.

 

Alright time for another pair of Gyms in my Emerald Rogue Chaos Novice run

Spoiler

I must admit, the deciding factor for taking this path is to show off two of the unique encounters. On the other hand, the main reason it is up in the air to begin with is that there isn't the option for a route on this path, as both of these are excellent options for if you want to replace a single lost pokemon, which is the situation I am in right now. This first one is a bit more of a gamble, but with high returns, as it contains a single pokemon that is usually fairly well equipped. It tends to have fairly good abilities, a solid moveset and at least one max IV, although you are still rolling a single pokemon, and if you flub the capture that is it. It ended up being a Hitmonchan with Iron First and a solid enough moveset which I catch and keep.

The other one is a catching contest, which is an interesting one as there are two ways to approach it depending on what you need at the moment. In you will be given tree balls that automatically catch the pokemon that spawn within, the pokemon in the contest will be of a songle type (Rock in this case), but could be almost anything that isn't Legendary, even fully evolved pokemon well before they should arrive. Now you can only keep one pokemon from the contest, so it is a good way to replace a single pokemon that is less of a gamble than the trained pokemon, but I decided to stick with the Hitmonchan and go for

The actual contest part of it, where you try to catch the pokemon with the highest in a certain base stat for a monetary prize. I thought this was going to be an easy one, as I knew Aerodactyl has the highest speed of a rock type off the top of my head, but alas there were no Aerodactyl available this time around, and I end up going with the rock type with 3rd highest speed instead of the 2nd, Acheops instead of Lycanroc, so this was a bit of a waste, but at least at the battle prep shop I see

A shiny stone available to get a Togekiss

And I buy a few moves while I am here to try and improve the moveset.

Next is Gym 4, but the astute among you might realized I haven't won any battles that award experience with this path, but that is OK

As there is a little alcove before Gyms that give you a few last minute options, one of which is a trainer with a lvl 1 chansey that immediately brings your pokemon to level cap. Two things to note about that, first this little section isn't around for the Eilte four and champion rounds so you need a little more planning (altough the Full Rest Stops that appear very late in the game have her available as well). You also might notice two other things here, the nurse, who will fully heal you team once for free, but for exorbitant prices if you try to use her service again (I am saving the free heal for now), and the sign, which for a price will tell you the type of the upcoming Gym leader. Usually I think this information comes a bit late to be all that useful, but I will greatly regret not using it on the Gym after this one. Altough that is a bit in the future, and it is probably a good time to look at the team again

No really noticeable changes here, but

I do have a single move change on half the team; a little extra coverage for the dull Perrserker, a better STAB move for Infernape, and the interesting Metal Burst on Bastidon, which is a lot like Counter and Mirror coat, but it reflects damage on all damage moves but only with a x1.5 damage received instead of x2. It synergizes well with his sturdy, but his bulk also makes it a bit less potent.

We do also have the big change with the evolution here, which add the potent Air Slash to his repertoire, and buying a flying gem from the battle prep shop was a good investment for a new hold item (as the eviolite no longer works).

Finally we have the brand new Hitmonchan, who has an interesting moveset to work with.

But now for Gym 4, and a make a minor mistake at the start

As I immedaite switch to Perrserker, figuring he resist everything this thing can do, and fire back with super effective X-Scissor, but I was a little too gen 1 brained with this move, forgeting exactly how they changed up the Poison and Bug matchup, and while Perrserker does resist or ignore all of this thing's attacks, his special defense is so low that he is being dealt with by the thing's giga drains.

So I end up switching into Togekiss for the flying gem overkill.

I do also risk taking the super effective hit here for the yawn, as I accurately assess that Togekiss's special defense is high enough to live the hit,

But it was a lot closer of a call than I would like, and the paralysis guarantees Togekiss is out of this fight now

...sigh, well the crit on the switch messes with my plans enough

That I just decide to burn the potion here

And while I get some setup, I end up missing the range for the kill by a smidge, and it proccing another 10% paralysis means I don't want to risk the full paralysis while going for the priority kill here. This thing's luck is getting rather irritating.

But with it no longer being ghost type I can go for the priority kill with Mach Punch instead

And Infernape can easily one shot the incoming Lurantis

But the hidden ability Rillaboom is almost certainly too bulk to get the one shot again, especially with the Grassy Seed boost there...

But it is a purely physical threat, and the grassy terrain backfires on the RIllaboom as it adds extra healing while Bastiodon sets up, so I easily plows through the Rillaboom

Altough the next Sawsbuck gives me a bit of a scare as it gets a free Swords Dance up while I am using Protect for extra Lefties healing

But the greedy fool Swords Dances again on the one turn it had to punish me

Before wiping out the rest of the team. With that we have Badge 4, and I start the next section with a fairly normal route followed, where I do end up making another pokemon substitution I will show off a little later, but I follow that with

Another odd encounter in the game show. You will play a game with items as a prize (usually TM/TR, Hold items, or Evolution items), and at each round you can risk your last prize to try for a different one. There are a few different games, Voltorb Flip, What is that Cry, and I lucked into the easiest one this time

I decide to go all the way to the last round for funsies

Feel free to make your guesses if you wish (although the second to last round's option of Iron Jugulis was the hardest in my opinion, as its very easy to mistake for Hydregion). Now I end up at another Day Care Stop, but again my luck is miserable with the item resupplier still only having the special item shop, and there is no WAHEY in sight, but I have a bit better luck with the mints this time around

Although the Adamint was a lucky find before getting here

Although I think the rest of the mints make nice improvements on the team. Also I guess I shouldn't put off what you call see here already, I managed to grab an Iron Moth from the route I went through, and it is an excellent find. The Paradox pokemon have fantastic stats, altough I get even luckier in stumbling on an excellent TR

That fixes the biggest weakness in the thing's moveset at the moment, its utter lack of real STAB fire moves. I guess it is time to checkout the team before Gym 5

Although you can see a noticeable change already, with the addition of Acrobatics, which encourages me to add the powerful Flying Gem Acrobatics combo in place of the old Assault vest

So I move that Assault vest over to Hitmonchan, who can use it well enough to highten its already solid Special Defense at no cost

I probably should have put the Wide Lens on him before, as half of his moves have a miss chance.

No real change on this pair besides the nature change

Perhaps I should have changed its nature too, and the hold item was just a lucky find, but I think its an excellent addition to the team

...This is a rough matchup for my team. As a ghost type leader, half of my team's best moves are ignored, and my Best Pokemon Bastiodon is barely functional thanks to that.

But at least the Gem boosted Acrobatics makes the first pokemon a reliable two shot

So at least the first enemy wasn't a huge problem, and she tries to bait me into sacking Infernape trying for a super effective hit on a nasty Gholdengo, but I don't take the bait

And instead send in our newest member to deal with it, although it takes a few more heavy hits than I like. That bring in a shiny Houndstone (major trainers will have shinies sometimes just to show off).

And I bring in Bastiodon hoping to tank the physical hits well enough to deal with it using metal burst, but it using Night Shade on the switch complicates my plan to wall with defense

Plus its quad super effective Body Press hits fairly hard as well. Bastidon does survive the hit thanks to that amazing defense, but the Metal Burst doesn't manage to kill the Houndstone, so I go for

The free hit onto my own ghost type on its fighting type move, so I can then instakill with priority Shadow Sneak, which brings in a scary to see

Skeledirge, and I switch into Togekiss on the beast, but that just gives it a free burn on the switch

And while I go for another Yawn

But the double damage Hex hits are a little too much to handle

So I switch into Hitmonchan to go for some super effective Knock Offs, but the Yawn apparantly prompted the AI to switch this time around,

And much to my embarrassment, this prankster Saybleye proceeds to outplay me for an embarassing amount of time. I try to play around it a bit, waiting for my Encore to end

So I can get a free switch in, but after this I attempt to bait it into encoring my swords dances, but it instead hits hard enough with its own knock off that I try to debuff its attack with a King Shield that it then uses priority Encore to lock me into while burning me, and I even waste time with a potion heal...

I end up getting real desperate, and switching into Bastiodon in the hopes I can do something with metal burst

And get very lucky in it encoring me into Protect, and getting a lot of luck with the timing of when it works, and what moves my foe uses so he gets a lot of free healing, before it finally knocks it off, to the point that I think I can pull this off with metal burst, but once it reveals it was holding onto Recover this whole time, I need another out, and the only option I am seeing is

To heal up my Iron Moth Severa in the back, as its fire typing makes it immune to burn, it can hit hard specially, and hopefully tank some of the special moves of the Skeledirge remaining. Unfortunately the Sableye's knock off getting rid of both Severa's electric gem, and getting extra damage from it means

I need to heal on the Skeledirge too. Fun fact, Severa's electric move is the only attack Severa has that isn't not very effective.

That was a really rough matchup, and required an embarrassing number of in battle heals for being before the elite four...

But we do have something interesting to look forward to with the next save screen, as that statue on the far right is a Legendary encounter...

 

[BrightBow]

I never actually knew that song had lyrics. It's basically Rules of Nature before Rules of Nature.

Well, I'm sure I'm not the only person who played Phantom Pain without knowing shit about Peace Walker.

[Dayni]

That's a toy Zelda Amiibo at least confirmed?

10 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Too early? SotN came out 27 years ago!

I was thinking hallow'een, yeah.

48 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The other one is a catching contest, which is an interesting one as there are two ways to approach it depending on what you need at the moment. In you will be given tree balls that automatically catch the pokemon that spawn within, the pokemon in the contest will be of a songle type (Rock in this case), but could be almost anything that isn't Legendary, even fully evolved pokemon well before they should arrive. Now you can only keep one pokemon from the contest, so it is a good way to replace a single pokemon that is less of a gamble than the trained pokemon, but I decided to stick with the Hitmonchan and go for

What an interesting spin on it.

Shame there hasn't been contests like this in the main games in a while.

48 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Another odd encounter in the game show. You will play a game with items as a prize (usually TM/TR, Hold items, or Evolution items), and at each round you can risk your last prize to try for a different one. There are a few different games, Voltorb Flip, What is that Cry, and I lucked into the easiest one this time

Feck sake Voltorb Flip is back, I have memories of grinding it out.

Just let me use money for the coins dangit

51 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

That was a really rough matchup, and required an embarrassing number of in battle heals for being before the elite four...

Least it wasn't a worse end.

[Codename Shrimp]

Rawr

[Dayni]

I have a Joycon that has been drifting on me for the last 2 years, between up and left. It has now managed to drift left and right at the same time. Levels of drift unseen can be achieved by this thing apparently.

I need to see if I can send this off or not.

1 hour ago, Codename Shrimp said:

Rawr

There is currently a puppy I'm dealing with to some extent or another.

If this one's as bitey I'll believe it.

[Armagon]

You don't appreciate just how much work goes into the lineart alone until you do it yourself.

[Acacia Sgt]

Hmm, Team Dai-Gurren, outside Simon, join quite late in SRW X, I'd say... well, they're here now.

[Interdimensional Observer]

Didn't resume RF5, but I did inch forward just a tad in EO Nexus. -Though my mood is too much internal venting and the game is too long to proceed apace in it.

 

On 8/17/2024 at 3:27 PM, Acacia Sgt said:

And done. I've beaten Chrono Cross once again. Though I'm far from over since, for a change, I actually plan a more completionist approach. It's gonna require at least another full-blown playthrough via New Game Plus, but that's for another day.

Between NG+ and Continue+, you need at least three runs of the game b/c of the Viper Mansion character choice no?

-And good for you completing it the first time.😉 Only went through CC once, though I did see every ending in the DS version of Chrono Trigger, so I think that counts as enough Chrono devotion.😅

On 8/17/2024 at 4:22 PM, Acacia Sgt said:

I'd say, I have that Metroidvania itch, so I think my next game will be Bloodstained.

That's nice and light.😀 -Yet loaded with content, considering they only stopped adding things to it earlier this year. I haven't ever tried the Chaos Mode, but I did do a run with each of the bonus characters.

 

17 hours ago, Dayni said:

I was thinking hallow'een, yeah.

*Checks calendar* Obon was only last Thursday, close enough?😛

7 hours ago, Dayni said:

I have a Joycon that has been drifting on me for the last 2 years, between up and left. It has now managed to drift left and right at the same time. Levels of drift unseen can be achieved by this thing apparently.

I need to see if I can send this off or not.

Considering Nintendo repairs these for free, I'm surprised you didn't send it in sooner.

[Acacia Sgt]

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Between NG+ and Continue+, you need at least three runs of the game b/c of the Viper Mansion character choice no?

-And good for you completing it the first time.😉 Only went through CC once, though I did see every ending in the DS version of Chrono Trigger, so I think that counts as enough Chrono devotion.😅

Not three full runs. Since you can recruit the Manor guide, then head back to fight the final boss, and it will carry over. This also will net me the remaining Star Levels so I can end the second full playthrough with all 99 Star Levels.

My flowchart is basically this:

First Full Playthrough. Guile for Manor guide, Don't Save Kid path, separate save file with Harle still in the party. Playthrough ends with 48 Star Levels.
Continue+ into the Harle save file and fight the final boss, so I can bring her back later.
New Game+ up to reaching Termina. Recruit Pierre, then fight final boss again. This nets me three Star Levels so I have 51 total now.
New Game+ for a Second Full Playthrough. Nikki for Manor Guide, Save Kid Path. This so I can get the Magical Dreamers ending. See all remaining endings as I play. End the game with 99 Star Levels and all characters recruited.

I believe this is the most efficient way to max most things out. I even withheld from watching the Good Ending since I'm deliberately saving it for the end of the Second Playthrough. To serve as a proper way to end things.

It's the first time I'm doing something like this. Beforehand I just stick to single fresh playthroughs without deviating much (always picked Guile and Don't Save Kid).

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

That's nice and light.😀 -Yet loaded with content, considering they only stopped adding things to it earlier this year. I haven't ever tried the Chaos Mode, but I did do a run with each of the bonus characters.

Yeah, just last... May? I think it was.