No Man's Sky | Diary of an Inter-Galactic Traveller - 003 - Base Computer?

🌌 Dear Diary,

     Finally the little robot sentinel guy got bored and flew away ...

     I've really enjoyed spending a day and night here on this new planet. First off: I discovered that my ship has a galactic radar of sorts, so I now know that the system I'm has three planets, and has not yet been discovered by any other spacefarers with the same biosignature as mine.

     I named the system "Mandelsol A-0", after the blogger whose journal I am hijacking.

     I got out of my ship and was once again astounded by the beauty of this radioactive planet. I ran from one oddly shaped rock, to another oddly shaped plant, investigating them thoroughly before scanning each one and getting my credits.

     Not to mention the oddly shaped animals! I ran into several species as I was roaming about, looking for the Di-Hydrogen and Carbon I needed in order to make the terrain generator module for my laser...

~~

   And why did I need a terrain generator? (Besides being able to construct phalic shaped constructs for other beings to wonder at later?) ... Well, because my ship was telling me I needed to construct a 'base computer', and in order to do that, I needed to mine out some copper from the several deposits found close by and refine it into chromatic metal.

     So I got to it. I found the materials, installed the terrain generator module, and nearly put my ship into a giant whole while testing to see how it works.

    Next, I set out to the nearest copper desposit, found using my scanner. It was a ways off, and when I was almost there, I realised I had made a silly mistake and read my scanner too quickly: I was going towards a cobalt deposit.

     Night was falling and another of those annoying sentinel bots showed up and started to scan me again, so, a little frustrated, I turned back.

     On my way back, the sun finally set, and I found myself exploring the terrain in the dark. Not so scary this time, as I discovered I have a torch on my suit, and also I felt much safer with a decent supply of sodium to recharge my hazard protection when necessary.

    As I was getting close to my ship, I found a beautiful patch of gamma flowers shining fluorescently in the darkness. Truly magnificent! And of course, I got more credits for simply scanning and adding them to the galactic database.

    After spending the rest of the night asleep in my ship, I woke up today feeling amped to get on with the mission! Base computer! (My hope is that the base computer will help me find the mysterious underground stranger?).

    So I trekked out again, this time making sure I was reading my scanner correctly and heading in the right direction. On the way, I found another two species of animals, with one of them being airborne! Scanned. Ka-tching.

~~

     At last, I reached the copper deposit! With my terrain generator set to 'mining' mode, I made short work of it. As I was mining, the thought came to me that I should probably try and dig a bit to see if there is anything interesting underground.

     But before I knew it, my terrain generator lost all its charge, and needed ferrite dust to be recharged. So more slogging at that. But then, as I was mining away at the ferrite rocks, my mining laser also got depleted! Luckily I had some carbon on me to recharge that.

     I'm really hoping I'll be able to find an upgrade or two for my weapon... Or even buy an entirely new one.

   Anyway! Once I had the copper I needed, I decided to go back to my ship before deploying the refinery in order to make the chromatic metal needed to construct the base computer.

   But on the way, I happened to notice something interesting on my scanner as I was looking about for new things to add to the galactic database. Three little lines in a square, with the words 'underground relic' next to it. Of course, I had to investigate! It wasn't far away, but it was underground, so I started digging a tunnel.

~~

   It wasn't long before I found myself in a vast cave system, with rocks not found above on the surface, and hazardous plant life different from the whipping tentacles I'd run into before. These were bulbous sacs that threatened to explode whenever I got near. My laser made short work of them.

   I looked around, but didn't venture too far from the hole I had made for fear of getting lost. My terrain gen laser load was running low so I couldn't count on just digging myself out if I couldn't find my way back.

~~

   Luckily, the relic was not far off. I turned one corner after killing a few bulbous sac things and there it was, all black and shiny and mysterious... I had one slot left in my suit's inventory.

     Since my suit's inventory was full, I decided to head straight back for my ship. I'm really getting the hang of the jetpack now... I boosted myself up into the tunnel I had made, no problem, and got back to the surface.

     I detoured a bit, because of several sodium plants I spotted, and came across a cobalt deposit. I used the rest of my mining mode charge on it, and then sprinted back to the ship, where I immediately got to work refining the copper into chromatic metal.

~~

     And at very last, once the last bit of copper had been refined, I took it all and created the base computer I'd been after since landing.

     Upon turning it on, the first thing it asked me was if I wanted to claim the surrounding land as my own. I took a look around, thought I could do much better, and hit the 'no' button.

     So that's what I'll be doing next... Checking out the 3rd planet in this system and seeing if it is a little more suited to non-temporary habitation. As for the mysterious, lost stranger... I'll come back for him!