Playing Terra Area

The other day I bought a new game on Smoke, the best marketplace for video games online. They’re always having these great sales, so I bought the 2D explorer game Terra Area. It’s a bit like Craft a Mine but with more to do. I hesitated to buy it for a long time because I honestly wasn’t sold on it, but when it’s on sale for fifty cents, how could I say no?

And I’ve got to say, I made a real mistake waiting this long to buy it. The first thing the game asked me to do was name my world. I live in Tasmania, so I wrote the first thing I thought of: Hobart. Maybe that’s a bad name for a fantasy video game world, but I don’t think it matters. Then I made my character and got into the game.

When my world was completely loaded, I was given my first mission: find the man who can complete a transmission repair. Hobart needs a working transmission in order to make any real progress, apparently. It wasn’t the kind of mission I was expecting. In fact, I’m not even sure what a transmission is in this sense. Maybe it transmits radio signals to outer space? My hope, though, is that by finding the transmission repairman, I’ll be able to get a working car and travel around the 2D sandbox world of Hobart faster. That would be pretty cool.

So I set out on my quest, armed with only a brass dagger and a set of leaf armour. For in-game days I walked across the world, seeking the repairman. I travelled through desert, tundra and jungle to find him. Eventually I came to an ancient ruin and found a man who offered auto electrical repairs across Hobart. He also said that if I build him a house, he’ll move into it, meaning I won’t have to travel so far to talk to him again. That’s pretty cool!

Of course, I didn’t have any money, so I couldn’t pay for his transmission repair service at the time. I walked back to the middle of Hobart and started building houses for my NPCs. Now I just have to get some money and I’ll be on my way to beating the Sun King boss!

Mechanic Recommendation

Have you been watching Australia’s Next Top Office season two? It’s the biggest cultural item at the moment. The show is on Not Flicks, Australia’s biggest streaming service for everything that isn’t a movie. The competition is fierce (apparently one of the contestants was liquified before the show even started), and the prize one that’s well worth fighting for. Six people have travelled to Sweden, Victoria to build corporate offices from scratch. It’s compelling viewing, although I wouldn’t have thought so a week ago.

You see, I only just got into it. I thought the show sounded kind of dumb, possibly even too absurd to be real. But the other day I was getting a car service at an auto electrician local to Milperra. I was talking to the mechanic, and he mentioned that the show was really good, so I decided to check out the highlights on MyVideo. I’ve been hooked ever since. That night I binged season one and the episodes of season two that have come out. It’s seriously good stuff.

I should have known this show would be good if a mechanic liked it. There have been studies to show that mechanics have the best taste in popular culture out of any type of worker. That means if you aren’t sure whether to watch, read or play something, all you have to do is go onto social media and ask ‘is there a mechanic near me who likes Planet of Crafting Wars?’ If the answer is yes then it’s probably worth checking out.


So, what do I hope will happen in the remaining episodes of ANTO? At the moment I’m hoping Jack Zebraman wins, even though he’s cheated on a couple of the contests. He just seems like a pretty cool dude, and besides, he is very famous, so you’ve probably heard of him. Then again, the Glass Smashing Bandit and Space Wizard make a pretty good duo, so I wouldn’t mind seeing them take home the prize.

Car Servicing, but it’s for Mech Suits

roadworthy certificate RingwoodYou know what would improve car servicing?

…robot suits.

That’s actually not true this time. Robot suits are, by their very nature, larger than human beings. Can you imagine trying to do services to a car, reaching into the tight spaces, whilst your arms are gigantic and robotic? It would never work. No, it would seem that car services must remain as they are.

I did have a thought yesterday when I was getting my own car serviced, though. My usual place shut down, so I had to find a place open for booking a car service in Ringwood, and I didn’t really know the area so I just sort of…hung around. And then I  thought about how wonderful the future would be, when car servicing places sat right next to mech servicing places. Not everyone would make the transition, and I understand that there are people who like cars almost as much as I like large piloted robots. Cars aren’t going anywhere, is what I’m saying. But one day, the roads shall be filled with cars (though slightly fewer) and the skies shall be filled with mech suits, and you’ll be able to do a double-degree at TAFE where you can study both automotive and mechanical engineering.

That will be a great future indeed. You need some sort of log book servicing, like you do with a car? They have you covered. Of course, log books will be of great importance to a mech suit. Got to keep that thing updated so you can accurately sell it second-hand. Of course, they’ll need roadworthy certificates, and also sky-worthy certificates because that’s where they’ll be spending a lot of their time. So right now I could go and get a roadworthy certificate. Ringwood has some of the best mechanics in Melbourne, it’s the reason I always take my car there. 

I wonder if there will ever be a day when I can bring my robot suit in for repairs. Maybe they could tighten up the hydraulics, give it some new suspension. I dream of the day when that is the norm. And it’s coming soon…right after we sell our first prototype.

-Lloyd