Grimmcartel's recent activity

  1. Comment on Do you have games that you play (almost) exclusively? in ~games

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    This game has sucked me in to such an extent, I decided to take up creating YouTube videos because of it. In essence, you can create your own spacecraft from an array of voxel blocks that you can...

    This game has sucked me in to such an extent, I decided to take up creating YouTube videos because of it. In essence, you can create your own spacecraft from an array of voxel blocks that you can then pilot and walk around in.

    I'm a scifi writer, and this game allowed me to create the ships I had imagined for my books and actually experience them first hand. I can't tell you how much of a gift this was for me.

    If anyone is interested, the channel I made is called cartel incorporated, and one of the ships from my books is the Liberator SX. I'm really proud of that one 😁

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Tildes Video Thread in ~misc

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    I recently started a YouTube channel for my creations and playthroughs of Empyrion Galactic Survival running the Reforged Eden 2 scenario. The game has a pretty steep learning curve, but the voxel...

    I recently started a YouTube channel for my creations and playthroughs of Empyrion Galactic Survival running the Reforged Eden 2 scenario. The game has a pretty steep learning curve, but the voxel creation tools allow for some really neat designs and it's got me completely immersed.

    Reforged Eden 2 Let's Play: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjm2l3NEz2wwVoZyPPzhKR5LaiuHLjdEs

    Cartel Incorporated Promos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjm2l3NEz2wy_vZ90g0MEmkH_X6JyhmWt

    2 votes

  3. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    That's actually really helpful! I'll see if my software has the ability for future sessions.

    That's actually really helpful! I'll see if my software has the ability for future sessions.

    4 votes

  4. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Tonight, I sat down to record a "let's play" video for my YouTube channel (which I just started and have no idea what I'm doing). I got through about an hour of gameplay and decided to pause the...

    Tonight, I sat down to record a "let's play" video for my YouTube channel (which I just started and have no idea what I'm doing). I got through about an hour of gameplay and decided to pause the recording as I went about some of the more mundane grinding in the game so as to save viewers the boredom. I then got back into the swing of things, did some semi awesome stuff that took about another hour, and only then did I realize I hadn't hit record again.

    So, I spent an hour tonight talking to nobody on my headset. The drama is all me lol.

    22 votes

  5. Comment on Tildes worldbuilding thread in ~creative

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    At the beginning of the pandemic, in fact on January 6th when the capitol got stormed, I decided to finally put to digital paper a universe I had been casually constructing through RP in games and...

    At the beginning of the pandemic, in fact on January 6th when the capitol got stormed, I decided to finally put to digital paper a universe I had been casually constructing through RP in games and asset creation of various types for the past 20 years. It was first inspired by a 4x space game from Egosoft, but grew into its own entity over the years.

    Cartel Incorporated is a soft sci-fi adventure that begins when three streetwise friends happen upon a piece of technology that helps them escape their impoverished existence and start over on a new planet 40 light years away. It's set in our current timeline, and explores the idea that humanity was seeded here by our ancestors millions of years ago and almost forgotten, while that society grew to encompass most of the galaxy through unchecked expansion.

    I wanted to bring a level of street-smarts to the genre with a bit of tongue in cheek levity by exploring what a group of 20 something punk/metal heads from rural New Mexico would do to get by in a completely alien environment. There are car chases with rolling gunfights, epic space battles, nifty spins on technology ideas for things like FTL, a sprinkling of MacGyver, and not a small amount of adult themes and language. I wanted to entertain more than intrigue or educate with this, so if you go looking for the books, don't expect deathless prose :p

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Open to collaborate and draw something for you in ~creative

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    Awesome! I look forward to seeing what you come up with 😁

    Awesome! I look forward to seeing what you come up with 😁

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Open to collaborate and draw something for you in ~creative

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    I describe my main characters van in the first couple of pages in my book, and I'm curious to see what other people see in their minds from my description. I'd be totally honoured if you felt like...

    I describe my main characters van in the first couple of pages in my book, and I'm curious to see what other people see in their minds from my description. I'd be totally honoured if you felt like taking a stab at it. Here is the description from the book :

    The 1977 Dodge B100 wasn’t born with a 383, nor was it designed for the kind of brutality that had been levied upon it since James had set his eyes on its retired and picked clean frame more than three years earlier, just after his sixteenth birthday. It had been his first ticket to freedom after leaving the foster “parents” he had grown up with, as Ted had offered the van and all the parts James could scrounge in return for help around the shop. Once it had become roadworthy, it began pulling double duty as both transportation and a home. Ted had initially offered to put James up in his trailer behind the shop, but considering the latent stench of cheap whiskey and stale cigarette smoke, and the innate lack of privacy afforded by a single axle travel trailer, the van proved a much more enticing alternative. It was his first apartment, first job, and first opportunity to make a name for himself.
    He had finished the inside in deep red shag carpet, built in cabinets with a small fridge, on top of which sat a small two burner propane stove, a raised platform in the rear that held a small mattress, and a pair of swiveling captain's chairs finished in the finest vinyl Detroit had ever produced. The much larger than stock block under the hood had previously done time under the hood of a New Mexico State Trooper squad car, but James had carefully rebuilt the engine from the bottom to the top and it showed. The last time he had it on the Dyno, it pulled 462 horsepower, and he was positive it would crack 500 with his latest additions. Since nobody typically expected an old school Boogie Van to be packing that kind of heat, James had been able to make a pretty solid living taking Route 66 hot-rod tourists to the cleaners in late night street races. The paint, however, hadn’t been touched. A relic left over from the custom van craze of the early 1980s, it spoke to him on a personal level. A midnight blue base coat gave way to a mural of a full moon in the night sky on the back panel, while the menacing silhouette of a B24 Liberator bomber depicted side-on cruised just below it. He hadn’t touched it for that very reason: it had earned the name.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on Looking for some recommendations for games where you can build your own spaceships etc in ~games

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Wow, what a response! Looks like I've got a lot to look at this weekend. I'm thinking Avorion is probably going to be my first stop as it is pretty close to what Empyrion looks like, at least...

    Wow, what a response! Looks like I've got a lot to look at this weekend. I'm thinking Avorion is probably going to be my first stop as it is pretty close to what Empyrion looks like, at least until Space Engineers 2 comes out

  9. Looking for some recommendations for games where you can build your own spaceships etc

    ~games Ask (recommendations)
    Hey folks! I've recently become quite enamoured with a game called Empyrion Galactic Survival, because as a science fiction author, it gave me a chance to build and fly some of the ships from my...

    Hey folks!

    I've recently become quite enamoured with a game called Empyrion Galactic Survival, because as a science fiction author, it gave me a chance to build and fly some of the ships from my books. So much so in fact, that I went and started a YouTube channel in order to "sell" them to other players (they're all free on Nexus, the videos I made just remind me of car reviews so far lol).

    Now, Empyrion only goes so far in scratching the creative itch, and I'm on the hunt for more of its I'll to build and experiment with. I'm looking forward to playing with Space Engineers 2 when it drops, but are there any others you can recommend? It needn't be constrained to space games either... I'm a fan of all things mechanical, but mostly those I can hot rod a bit and paint flames on.

    25 votes

  10. Comment on GOG resurrects Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 on PC in ~games

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Added my vote for Motor City Online. I've been trying to get EA.to.release.it in single player for 24 years now.

    Added my vote for Motor City Online. I've been trying to get EA.to.release.it in single player for 24 years now.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on What are your favourite let's plays? in ~games

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Spanj is an excellently funny and informative let's play content creator. His latest stream is here : https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeXxYGyW3yFQnJ0SaPyih8ac_hrKoWysq&si=FrpRk8VK45E_07yO I got...

    Spanj is an excellently funny and informative let's play content creator. His latest stream is here : https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeXxYGyW3yFQnJ0SaPyih8ac_hrKoWysq&si=FrpRk8VK45E_07yO

    I got into his stuff when I picked up Empyrion Galactic Survival for free from Epic and needed a little early game help. That game is one of his most played, but he does spread it around quite a bit.

  12. Comment on Recommend your social/softer science fiction books in ~books

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Well, I wrote one 😊 It's definitely not hard sci-fi, but aside from technical hand-wavium I do try to remain faithful to believable principals when it comes to the tech used. Outside of that...

    Well, I wrote one 😊

    It's definitely not hard sci-fi, but aside from technical hand-wavium I do try to remain faithful to believable principals when it comes to the tech used. Outside of that though, it's a YA space opera with adult themes and humor, that I like to think follows in the footsteps of the Goonies, if maybe Van Wilder was among them during their adventure.

    Look for "The Ballad of James Layne" on Amazon books if you think you might be interested. There is a direct link on my site as well - cartelincorporated.ca

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children in ~books

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    As a kid that grew up during the Dungeons and Dragons craze in the 80s, I can't recommend Dragonlance novels enough. There are currently more than a hundred of them available, written by different...

    As a kid that grew up during the Dungeons and Dragons craze in the 80s, I can't recommend Dragonlance novels enough. There are currently more than a hundred of them available, written by different authors but all set in the same universe. They are easy to digest, fun reads and some of them do get darker from time to time. In fact, there is a sister series called Ravenloft available that pretty much dispenses with the whole, good guy always wins theme, and focuses instead on the darker side of the universe.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Webcomics recommendations in ~comics

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    Sluggy Freelance. As far as I know it's still going since 1997. Aliens, demons, a maniacal lop eared rabbit, high tech weapons, Santa and black ops elves, a sinister corporation... This thing goes...

    Sluggy Freelance. As far as I know it's still going since 1997. Aliens, demons, a maniacal lop eared rabbit, high tech weapons, Santa and black ops elves, a sinister corporation... This thing goes places 😊

    2 votes

  15. Comment on No love for fiction or literary pursuits on Tildes? in ~tildes

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    From the posts I've made here, and the responses thereto, I've noticed quite a few actual writers browse tildes. Maybe a sub specifically for folks who have their own work to show would be a good...

    From the posts I've made here, and the responses thereto, I've noticed quite a few actual writers browse tildes. Maybe a sub specifically for folks who have their own work to show would be a good idea? I have short stories I can share, as well as the books I've written, but I've been cautious here because I don't want to come off as spammy. I like this place.

    8 votes

  16. Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    Congratulations! We feel the same, as do most of the people in our circle. For us, the marriage is a commitment between the two of us to be a team in all things. The thought of ownership exists...

    Congratulations!

    We feel the same, as do most of the people in our circle. For us, the marriage is a commitment between the two of us to be a team in all things. The thought of ownership exists only in a space where safewords are employed 😁

    3 votes

  17. Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    I think it's the honesty that is paramount to any relationship, regardless of monogamy or otherwise. The two of us are both interested in variety in our sex lives, so it works for us to be honest...

    I think it's the honesty that is paramount to any relationship, regardless of monogamy or otherwise. The two of us are both interested in variety in our sex lives, so it works for us to be honest about it with each other. I think if more people were honest about their feelings and desires from the outset, there would be less failed relationships. The issues arise when one non monogamous person pursues a relationship with someone monogamous, and finds themselves longing for more and feeling trapped by their own decisions.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    I'm ethically non-monogamous and married. My wife and I enjoy a healthy dating life outside of our marriage, and we find that not having the spectre of cheating hanging over our heads to be...

    I'm ethically non-monogamous and married. My wife and I enjoy a healthy dating life outside of our marriage, and we find that not having the spectre of cheating hanging over our heads to be incredibly freeing. We are completely open and honest with each other about our wants and desires, and find that it works really well for us

    45 votes

  19. Comment on Authors of Tildes: How well do you know your own book when you publish? in ~creative

    Grimmcartel
    Link
    I have a self published sci-fi novel, and one more in the editing phase currently. With both of them, I needed to give myself at least a month after completing a draft where I absolutely did not...

    I have a self published sci-fi novel, and one more in the editing phase currently. With both of them, I needed to give myself at least a month after completing a draft where I absolutely did not look at the text, otherwise I just wouldn't have seen the mistakes that were obvious. Even now, I'm still finding some issues in the first novel that somehow I missed in four different editing passes that took place over a couple of years.

    Each time I go back to the stories though, I do find myself sort of rediscovering parts of the story I'd forgotten I'd created. The human brain is weird 😁

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Self published authors, how do you market your books? Nothing I've tried has had any success. in ~creative

    Grimmcartel
    Link Parent
    This. Honestly, this is what I want. Both of the communities I started in the past were small, tight knit ones and I really enjoyed them. That's really all I'm looking for with my writing now,...

    This. Honestly, this is what I want. Both of the communities I started in the past were small, tight knit ones and I really enjoyed them. That's really all I'm looking for with my writing now, someone who will read it and think, "wow, that's pretty cool, I want to know more about this universe!"

    Thank you for offering to work with me, and yes, I'd appreciate any help that you care to offer!

    5 votes