Gaming

If the game is anything like the trailer it might actually be worth playing!

Watch Dogs 2 is free again, this time on Epic if you missed it on Uplay. You too can now steal an off-brand Knight Rider car like I did last night.
I obviously didn't claim the game for a second time but I did grab the other two games they were offering, although these days I don't think I have the time or patience for Football Manager.

Anywaaay... after another failed attempt to start this month's challenge I decided to brave the early evening GFN queues and had go on Ark... after a 10 minute wait.

I now do have 400 ingots and still more are on the way. I've found some more rocks on the west side under the trees. I'm not sure if they were there all along of if they respawned under there. (I have been reading that metal respawning doesn't work very well on single player so I'll have to keep an eye on that.) So if all goes to plan I may eventually get up to 600.
I made myself a mortar and pestle (far too late with that, I know) and began making some narcotics for tranq arrows. I then had to replenish my stack of hide so I took out a Stego, making sure to avoid that tail! I felt a bit guilty (as I always do when killing friendlies) but there are far too many of them on the little island. There are also FOUR Brontos there too which gets a bit cramped on the south side but I'm not taking out one of them.
I was quite pleased with the last supply drop there cos it gave me an Ankylo saddle and there is an Ankylosaurus on the island so I may use those tranqs to try and tame it. They're supposed to be really good at harvesting metal.

My attempts to reintroduce Dodos from the mainland haven't been going as well. (The lack of both Dodos and Trilobites is the biggest downside to the location.) I'd really like to carry some over the waters and keep them in a pen but every time I fly over there I can't find a single Dodo on the beach.

Where are you all?
It's like they know I'm gonna kidnap them.


EDIT: I take that back. I saw two Trilobites and killed them.
They appear in the bay rather than the outside beaches. Had a close encounter with an Ankylo but it was a level 12 and I don't think I had enough tranqs so I must be patient.
Still no Dodos nearby. I flew for a few minutes along that south beach but no dumb birdies. Just a raptor so I retreated.

I also prefer killing aggros. I keep apologising if I hurt/kill the friendly creatures... And yes, I know they are pixels.

That's the only redeeming feature of Dilophosaurs. They may be little death creatures early in the game but once you can kill them with a couple of crossbow bolts then they're a nice supply of guilt-free hide.
It's the Moschops that I hate killing the most, they always look so sad trapped in my bola as I take my aim.

I think I may try and craft a gun after all, despite my misgivings about cost. I think the small round rocks on the beaches may pay for the bullets. But I'm mostly stocking on tranqs now and may install a mortar and pestle on my raft too in order to continue production on my travels. My next long term self-appointed quest is to tame a predator, maybe Raptor or even a Carno. But I need to become more familiar with tranq arrows and the Ankylosaur may act as good training for me.

Even more reason not to name your Moschops Marcus

I don't understand how you've managed without mortar and pestle = without spark powder = without the fridge type thingy... Then again if all you want is tranq arrows, you're sure to get a lot of spoilt meat, with no way to preserve it....

Nope, don't have a fridge. I'm now level 49 and don't even have a cooking pot yet! And yes I do go through a lot of spoiled meat. I usually just cook about five in a "day" at the campfire and munch them at night to keep me going.

I have been considering the cooking pot for kibble. The bigger dinos seem to take a long time to tame with just the meat/berries plus repetitive punching.
But the ingredients for kibble include "long grass"?
I suppose that needs farming.

I think that's why I've managed without all those things. As soon as you commit to one it requires you to do something else, which in turn requires something else... etc.
By keeping everything basic I get more time for exploring instead of all the grinding.

Aw but progressing to gradually more advanced stuff is fun too!
And long grass is what they call .... hmmm grains? uhm, I remember the seeds and growing it but I mostly remember potatoes and carrots.... though they're both called something else. Rockarrots and uhm... oh well...

Heeey, my donkey doesn't do that!



Never mind, Whirlwind. I wouldn't want you to float several hundred metres in the air.

Tamed the Ankylosaurus!
Took eight tranqs to knock him out (I might have missed with one. ) and I then did the berry-punch-berry dance for a few minutes before I could give him the saddle. I was wondering how the saddle/riding would work with all those spikes and it's a bit like kneeling on a cushion.



I named him Kylo obviously and then went in search of metal!!

Just three swings of the tail and you suddenly have 190.
So much that he couldn't carry the metal AND me so I had to jump off and let him follow behind. Then I got a bit confused about which way to go cos it was dark and raining and I couldn't really see.
And then Kylo... disappeared!

Where the hell did he go??
It's only a small island, he can't have gone very far. Unless.
While I was groping around through the dark, gloomy rain it seems I strayed a little too close to the ledge and, in his efforts to follow me, my brand new assistant... fell off the cliff.

I quickly dashed down the proper way to the beaches and looped back around to the bay to see if the precious metal was still on his decaying corpse and... he was still alive!

Phew. These Ankylosaurs are built like tanks. Plenty of health and stamina.

Anyway I now have nearly 800 ingots and thanks to his excellent narcoberry harvesting I also have a good stock of tranq arrows too. Don't know if I'll ever get to take him off this little island though cos the Pteranodon obviously can't carry him, so I'd have to risk another double raft trip to get him to the mainland. But I'm sure he'll be happy staying here.