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The Eaton Fire was a very near miss on our place and it was good to take a break while we dealt with insurance, cleanup, etc. It could have been a lot worse for us but being on the frontlines of a natural disaster is a heck of a thing for the nerves.
I walk outside and the neighborhood still smells like smoke. I look down the street and I see the flame-gutted skeleton of a less lucky neighbor’s once cozy home. I’d show pictures but… I kind of don’t want to. Let’s talk about something more pleasant.
Because that’s what you’ve got to do at these times, is eke out enjoyment where you can. In my case that meant once I got the computers back out of my car and hooked up, I had some escapism lined up in the form of video games from the Steam Winter Sale or before. I actually got a few finished, some of which like Disco Elysium have an amount of replay value but consarn it I just don’t have the time and energy to go through them twice, unless there was some really tantalizing reason to do so.
See, Clint Wolf has two main loves in his video gaming. Tactical turn-based gameplay and character customization. I can spend hours tweaking a character to my liking, a subject of ongoing mockery from my wife and peers. I don’t care. Sling your bullets of derision, ye plebes, I will have this eye shape to my specifications if the option be there!
Problem is I had played out everything I owned that had such options. And then — I don’t even remember how — I stumbled on a 90% off sale for the X-Com 2 expansion pack War of the Chosen. X-Com 2 was something I owned from way back when it released circa 2016 and hey, tactical turn-based gameplay, playing it through again for $4.99? With new twists? Maybe it wouldn’t hold up to my memories but for five bucks I couldn’t afford not to try, right?
So first off, yeah, pretty great expansion that makes the game play differently enough that even in my hazy recollections I wasn’t feeling repetitive… though the near decade-long gap probably didn’t hurt. Felt like greeting an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time… though now with mods! Yep, I didn’t know it but the modding community for X-Com 2 was robust over the years and even continues to be into 2025. Quality of life fixes, custom voiceovers, new hair and uniform options…
Hol’ up did you just say mah paper doll soldiers done got themselves more mix and match options for dress up? Shit, son, I came for the tactical alien fighting but now you’re gonna scratch my character creating itch as well? I’ve gone back and found an old blog post where I sang the praises of the customization and even showed off a version of Suzie I made: https://www.zombieranchcomic.com/2018/07/11/subliminal-rememberings/
But as far as verisimilitude would go, I had this in 2018 with no mods and no expansion:
And then with all my new modded bells and whistles in 2025, with the same engine, I was able to do this:
It’s still not 100% but that’s part of the fun challenge working with pre-rendered parts. You may also notice the addition of a “Photobooth” function into the game which lets you take post-mission photos and promotion photos and generates various propanda layouts. They can even end up randomly displayed as posters on walls in your base or even on a mission.
Anyhow, after I wrestled in a couple other mods to unlock any restrictions on my options, before I knew it I had amassed a whole crew of Zombie Ranch characters fighting to take back Earth. And that’s been about everything I wanted. So thanks for the distraction, X-Com 2, I’d much rather look at these pictures than the ones outside.