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rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Introduction
Mooncrash is a standalone expansion for Prey (2017). It turns the open world narrative game into a roguelite experience with persistent elements. We're a hacker apparently indebted to KASMA Corp, and to fulfill our contract we'll have to run through a corrupted simulation to discover what happened to Talos's Pytheas moon base. Whatever happened it couldn't have been good because it seems everyone is dead and there are Typhon on the loose everywhere. Mooncrash will also add a non symmetrical Typhon vs Human multiplayer mode called Typhon Hunter, but that hasn't been released as of the time of this writing.

About the Playthrough
I tend to get bored of roguelites and roguelikes alike after a bit, and initially I wasn't sure how much I'd play. However, I've had a lot of fun coming back to Prey and it seems there's a bit of story here which may keep things interesting. I really liked the story in the base game as well as the gameplay / open world nature of things which made it feel kind of like Ultima Underworld in space with a touch of cosmic horror. That open world gameplay appears to be more or less intact in Mooncrash (though the base is smaller), and there may even be some interesting strategic elements as you select which characters go where in their bid to escape. As a side note I did a human mods playthrough of the main game back when it was new, though I didn't run a thread for it. You can watch it if you want. I'm including it as sort of an extra related thing, but I can make dailyish update posts for each video in that series if people are interested. I'm curious to see if there is any direct relationship between the main story and the events of Mooncrash.

The ultimate goals for Mooncrash are to complete all of KASMA Corp's objectives and to escape the simulation with all 5 characters in one run, 4 of which need to be unlocked first. Once we've completed those goals, I guess I'll consider the playthrough complete unless something else comes up.

Episodes will probably be a bit on the long side while I'm exploring new areas, but I expect things to speed up a fair bit once I've familiarized myself with the game and gotten some practice in.

Update Schedule
I don't have a specific schedule in mind other than "most days." Probably 3-4 episodes a week, possibly more as time allows. I'll keep any tips or advice in mind, but it may be a few episodes before I can act on anything because I'll likely have a small backlog.

Thread Rules
Tag story spoilers for Mooncrash. Any spoilers for the main game are fine.

Episodes

Main Game Playthrough (Human Mods Only / NIghtmare Difficulty) (note: old / completed before this thread)

Mooncrash Playthrough

rojovision fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Aug 29, 2018

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rojovision
May 13, 2015

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reserved

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Here are a few screenshots of Mooncrash. It's a pretty good looking game in my opinion.













rojovision fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Jun 15, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 1 - Prey Roguelite Gameplay





Mooncrash Episode 2 - Back In

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 3 - The Corruption Clock

rojovision fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jun 25, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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UCS Hellmaker posted:

Agreed this is good game, since it came out ive played 20 hours? The dlc is really polished and just plain fun. As you get further things become more and more random and harder.

Advice btw, always always start with a 9mm and 150 ammo it will save you so much its not funny.

Cool I'm looking forward to seeing how things change, and definitely won't complain about some additional difficulty. It seems a bit easy so far, though I expect it's going to take some planning and practice to manage to eventually escape with all 5 characters before the corruption boots me out / makes things extremely tough. The pistol seems way undervalued pointswise. I'll probably take your advice and start bringing more ammo because I'm racking up all these points every run and am likely being more frugal than necessary.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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I've actually already found the thing you're talking about in an upcoming episode, and while I haven't used it yet, I agree it's going to make things super easy. I'll probably use it while I'm still exploring / unlocking stuff, but I might abstain from adding it to my loadout for a bit of self-imposed extra challenge eventually. Also, I'll probably start bringing a disruptor once I find the prefab for the batteries.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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PurpleXVI posted:

I could never bring myself to not bring them, personally. :v: I'm bad at self-imposed challenges because I'm too much of a dickhead who plays games to win them.

Honestly, if I wasn't committing this playthrough to the public record so-to-speak I'd probably just do the same as you and call it a day.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 4 - A Universe of Shoes, You Say?

rojovision fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Jun 18, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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PurpleXVI posted:

Like, I'd say for an "entertainment" challenge, I'd say it'd be okay to bring them, except you could only use one per corruption stage, so you don't end up completely halting the counter, except for stage 5 where it's okay to use it to stave off a crash. Because completing the five escape in one run objective completely without using the Delay Loops would be just painful.

Yeah we'll see how it goes. Ultimately it'll come down to my skill level, and if I'm constantly failing I'll obviously need to make some adjustments.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Dreadwroth posted:

Im pretty sure the loot is randomized, you dont need to worry about leaving any behind for the next rub.

Are you sure? I feel like containers I've looted with one character remain looted when I go through with the next, until I fully reset the simulation, but maybe that hasn't been the case. Either way it does seem to make sense to leave some things behind with certain characters. For example, spare parts with Andrius because so far he can't use them, and he has a small inventory size.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 5 - A Glimpse of Home

rojovision fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Jun 21, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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SugarAddict posted:

I have to ask, why do you intentionally gimp yourself so much? You've had plenty of opportunities to abuse/use things like the infinite free turret power but you've been preferring to take a tentacle to the face instead.

Carrying turrets is tedious and the episodes tend to run longer than I'd like already. I'm sure I've made mistakes, and will make more. I may not escape every time, but the game really isn't very difficult so far, and messing around a bit / playing imperfectly makes for more fun for me. I'd hope it also makes things more fun to watch rather than having me steamroll the game every time. Is that not the case?

Edit: I'm also accepting tips on how to kill a moonshark because I've been failing pretty miserably so far, and it's something I'd like to succeed at.

rojovision fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Jun 20, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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dscruffy1 posted:

I can't speak for the moonshark but I have to assume that the mimic portal escape for the Volunteer requires you to go through that area with multiple characters. You visit as the mechanic to repair it, presumably another character will be able to hack. Finally the volunteer can use the portal.

Yeah it seems there will be a certain order you need to go through a run with (with a bit of flexibility). I doubt Vijay can hack since he's a security guard, so I'd guess our hacker will be the janitor when we unlock her, which makes me wonder what her story is. Maybe a spy from a rival company? We'll probably find out later this week / early next week.

rojovision fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jun 21, 2018

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 6 - Harsh Reality

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May 13, 2015

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Merry Deciever posted:

the most damage I've been able to do against the moon shark is with the charged up psyblade and with various typhon powers. Used with the propulsion system while timing things to avoid the rock blasts and the like. Definitely much easier to do with certain characters. There's also a side mission later on that can help

Gotcha. I do seem to recall Andrius being able to actually hurt him a bit with the one power I had at the time. I think it went through resistance, too. Psyblade sounds like a good idea as well since it seems to kill everything else with ease. I'll definitely need to work on my jetpack dodging or at the very least I'll need to to start the fight from better terrain. I'll keep an eye out for the other thing as we do more runs.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 7 - The Search Continues

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 8 - Ransacking Irradiated Receptacles

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 9 - Mass Driver Preparations

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 10 - Turned Around

Let's just say I took the scenic route on this one.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 11 - Not So Fast

Finally going after one of the story objectives.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 12 - Planning Ahead

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 13 - Minor Setback

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 14 - Let the Wrench Do the Squawking

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 15 - Copy Then Floppy

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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dscruffy1 posted:

Now, I'm just thinking out loud here, but you found someone's tracking bracelet and some organic material inside that harvester you scrapped. And when you picked up the tracking bracelet, it said "personnel located". HMMMM.

That is an extremely good point. If I remember the story about the lost keycard correctly, maybe she went to try to get it out of the harvester and things didn't go so well. Or perhaps...FOUL PLAY?

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 16 - Sabatoge

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 17 - Flip the Switch

Well that was sort of anti-climactic.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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dscruffy1 posted:

I imagine the initial objective required you to go out into the moon surface where there's probably tons of typhon/phantoms to retrieve the modules, but coming prepared kinda neutered that requirement. Kinda like running into extra moon sharks while getting the antidote as Vijay. Also the two modules that popped out on the floor are probably the ones you inserted, the audio log said firing the towers breaks the modules.

Yeah that's a possibility. Also just unlocking the memory emulation escape path was a whole thing unto itself, and probably on par with the other character's actual story objectives.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 18 - Gone Fishin'

Not sure what happened near the end there. If anybody has an idea I'm taking suggestions.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Thadius posted:

I think you killed a mimic. Which failed the mission, as you're supposed to be friendly to them, as security is hostile to you.

Ah, interesting. Next time I'll be more prepared for mechanical foes so I don't have to rely on the scorched earth psi blast technique.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 19 - Poppin' Papa

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Palladium posted:

IMO the corruption timer mechanic sucks: it's too annoying for a exploration-based FPS yet it's also trivially easy to counter it. Doesn't add anything meaningful to the gameplay at all.

Also, corruption level 1-3 is too easy even with just a few Neuromods. I rather this DLC do away the timer altogether and scale the strength of the enemies to the # of Neuromods acquired and make them respawn a ton more often. More bonus challenge achievement like doing 5-man escape without using the mule bot or spending sim points to increase replay ability would also be very welcome.

I definitely agree that the corruption mechanic is a bit of a misstep if you're playing optimally. The game gets pretty easy with them as we've seen, though I guess they act as a sort of 'choose your own difficulty on the fly' option, which isn't bad. I'm actually working toward a challenge run to finish things off that's similar to what you've mentioned. Not sure if I'll be able to pull it off, but I'm going to give it at least a few tries.

rojovision
May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 20 - The Challenge Begins

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 21 - Parched

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 22 - Annexing Snacks

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 23 - Stuck

I uploaded this video a few days ago, but I guess I forgot to make an update about it.






Mooncrash Episode 24 - A New Plan

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May 13, 2015

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Mooncrash Episode 25 - Nearly There

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Mooncrash Episode 26 - The Greatest of Escapes

With this episode the series is at last complete! There were a fair few tense moments in this run, but I'm glad that I was eventually able to complete the challenge I created for myself.

As a reminder, the challenge was no buying items, no mule, no using delay times, and escape with all 5 characters as their story dictates.

Thanks a bunch to everyone who stopped by the thread. This game was a lot of fun!

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