The Empire City Challenge

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Hello everyone and welcome to my third 6-week challenge! I decided to base this challenge on one of my favorite game series: Infamous. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Infamous, it is a game series where you can make good decisions and become a hero or make bad decisions and become infamous...hence the name... I always choose to play the hero story and that will be the direction that I choose to take this challenge.

 

 

 

This challenge is based on the first Infamous game. Infamous begins with Cole, the protagonist, delivering packages. One of his packages has a bomb in it that explodes and destroys part of the city. Despite being in the center of the blast, Cole is able to walk out of the blast with a few burns. After escaping the blast radius, Cole collapses. When he wakes up in the hospital, he discovers that the explosion gave him electrical powers. After recovering, Cole begins using his powers to help bring order (or chaos) to the now-quarantined Empire City. Along the way, he faces off against others with powers, and begins to unravel the mystery of who set him up to deliver the bomb, and what his true destiny is.

 

During the challenge, my goal will be to collect up to 411 shards by the end of this challenge. I can collect shards by completing missions, completing various tasks to increase my healthy lifestyle (see On-going Maintenance), and defeating bosses. Missions are worth 5 shards, On-going Maintenance tasks are worth 1 shard each for each day completed (for example, I get 1 shard per Paleo meal eaten), and bosses are worth 20 shards.

 

Week 1-2

Defeat the Reapers & clear the Neon District of Crime.

Boss: Sasha

 

Week 3-4

Defeat the Dust Men & clear the Warren District of Crime.

Boss: Alden Tate

 

Week 5-6

Defeat the First Sons & clear the Historic District of Crime.

Boss: Kessler

 

Two Week layouts:

 

Week 1:

Monday: Mission

Tuesday: Shard day

Wednesday: Shard day

Thursday: Mission

Friday: Shard day

Saturday: Mission

Sunday: Shard day

 

Week 2:

Monday: Mission

Tuesday: Shard day

Wednesday: Shard day

Thursday: Mission

Friday: Shard day

Saturday: Boss Battle

Sunday: Shard day

 

On-going Maintenance:

Vlog 3x a week

Eat Paleo 3x a day

Eat only 3 desserts per week

Do handstand helpers 1x a week

Do yoga 2x a week

Get on the wobble board 1x a week

Meditative reading (reading something like my Bible, a poem, or a zen passage & think about it/ apply it to my life)

Color meditation

Reading

Stay off Facebook or lose 1 shard

 

Life Quest 1:

I want to make my own yoga mat rug/towel. I plan on crocheting it out of cotton yarn. During this challenge, I must work on completing ten more circles.

Circles crocheted: 26/53

 

Life Quest 2:

Alright, this is something I've wanted to do for years but always allowed everyone to talk me out of it. I want to get into longboarding. I don't want to do any fancy tricks. I just want to ride on a board and feel the wind blowing through my hair. I can ride a bike but I don't seem to like it as much as the idea of skateboarding. I own a Ripstick, but I'm not balanced enough to keep it moving long enough to enjoy it. I liked it, but I think a traditional board will work better for me. I'm currently too heavy for my Ripstick and the only board that can handle my weight is a bamboo longboard. The current goal is to get all equipment that I need.

 

Equipment needed: skateboard rack, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, and a longboard.

 

Equipment owned: Helmet

 

Grading scale:

A+ = 411 shards collected. (I am a crazy person who punishes herself way too much! Please send help!)

A = 390 shards collected (I’m an overachiever! And I get an awesome reward!)

B = 320 shards collected (All missions, bosses, & tasks cleared)

C = 135 shards collected. (All missions & bosses cleared)  

D = 75 shards collected (All missions cleared).  

F = 0-74 shards collected.

 

Reward scale:

A+ = longboard AND skate rack!

A = longboard

B = Skateboard Rack

C = elbow/ knee pads

D = gloves

F = Nothing

[our.lady.of.ashes]

Hey duckie! Awesome new challenge.

[sterre]

Great theme and goals! Good luck this challenge!

[InnBee]

Way to keep it interesting!

[Leimanu]

Really cool idea for a video game!  I would have to play the bad decisions at least once to see what happens...

 

Goodd luck with your goals!

[spooky]

Awesome challenge! <3 <3 <3

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Hey duckie! Awesome new challenge.

 

Thanks, our.lady.of.ashes! I'm looking forward to starting it tomorrow!

 

Great theme and goals! Good luck this challenge!

 

Thank you! I'm going to need some luck since I only know half of what I'm doing this time around. (My husband's writing the exercises for the missions & boss battles.)

 

Way to keep it interesting!

 

Thank you! I found my last challenge wasn't challenging enough and got bored towards the end. I'm hoping going from shard days, missions, and bosses will give me enough variety.

 

Really cool idea for a video game!  I would have to play the bad decisions at least once to see what happens...

 

Goodd luck with your goals!

 

Thank you!

 

It is! I do what most players do, I play the hero on easy mode and play the villain on hard mode. That way, you don't have to worry about losing karma points when you accidentally hit a civilian. If you've never played it, I recommend starting with Infamous 2 or Infamous Second Son (the 3rd game). In the first game, you can die from getting hit three times from the grunts.

 

Awesome challenge! <3 <3 <3

 

Thanks spookyfoot! I'm pretty excited to start it tomorrow!

[sterre]

Oh, that's exciting! It sounds like a lot of fun to have a bit of a surprise waiting for you each week.

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Oh, that's exciting! It sounds like a lot of fun to have a bit of a surprise waiting for you each week.

 

It is! Since he played through the game first (he actually finished it, I got too frustrated with dying before I could fight the first boss to continue playing), he asked me if he could help with the missions & bosses. I decided to give him free reign with it since 1) he beat the game & got both endings, 2) he knows my personal limit and has a general idea of how difficult to make things, and 3) he would never push me to hurt myself working out.  I've seen the first two boss battle workouts (he wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt myself or push myself too hard). They both look pretty challenging but not too challenging.

[Gaming_Jeweler]

The challenge has officially started! I've done a good job at keeping myself excited last night and this morning. I was actually worried I wouldn't want to start my 3rd challenge at all. But here I am today, ready to get this show on the road!

 

The game begins with Cole (after the dramatic intro), his best friend, and his girlfriend all living in the Neon District. After the explosion, Empire City was put under marshal law. All three of the islands have fallen under control of gangs that have powers. Crime is rampant. Cole has to decide whether or not to stop crime. The Neon District has been overrun by the Reapers.

 

 

The Reapers are good-for-nothing, food-stealing junkies. Cole has to fight them just so that everyone in the district can get some food that was dropped of by the army. They are led by a madwoman who goes by Sasha. Sasha and her Reapers have the ability to spew tar. If Cole gets any of this tar in his face, he loses the ability to see, his powers are weakened, and he begins to have hallucinations.

 

 

The first two weeks are dedicated to defeating the Reapers, taking down Sasha, and clearing the Neon District of crime.

 

Throughout the game Cole gathers blast shards from the bomb that gave him his powers. These shards make Cole stronger by increasing the amount of electricity he can absorb and use to attack enemies. 

Without Further ado, let's start some missions & get some blast shards!

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Yesterday wound up becoming a shard day because I became very lightheaded and kept feeling like I was going to pass out. So I took care of what I could and rested for the rest of the day. I'm going to take on my first mission today (unless the lightheadedness comes back) and start clearing out the Neon District. 

 

Shard gathering activities completed:

Paleo meals: 3/3

Meditative reading

Color Meditation

Reading

 

Shards gathered: 6/411

 

Making My Yoga Mat:

New circles crocheted? No.

 

Circles crocheted: 26/53

[our.lady.of.ashes]

Here we go! Making progress.

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Here we go! Making progress.

 

Thank you! It didn't feel like progress, until I realized that if this happened 6-12 months ago, I would have curled up in a little ball and wanted to die. So, yay progress! 

[Gaming_Jeweler]

I completed my first mission yesterday! It was climbing up a statue and getting the emergency food rations off of it to give to the people. I have two sets of 5-pound dumbbells that, despite the fact they are the same size, have different weights. I switched between lifting the lighter weights and the heavy weights over my head and lowering them on the floor while standing on the wobble board (and I wasn't allowed off of the board until I did at least 3 reps, or lifted weights over my head 6 times). I managed to do this for 11 times before my arms became too sore to keep exercising. So I lifted 5 pounds of weight over my head 22 times yesterday!

 

I was a bit sore this morning. My right arm hurt into my armpit for a while, but I don't feel anything except for my arms feeling really heavy every now and then. My husband has band practice today (I don't know if I mentioned this, but he plays drums for our church now), so I'm hoping to get some reading and a bit of crocheting in while he's at practice today. I am so glad today is a shard day.

 

Shard gathering activities completed:

Paleo meals: 2/3

Yoga

Color Meditation

Mission

Handstand Helpers

 

Shards gathered: 16/411

 

Making My Yoga Mat:

New circles crocheted? No.

 

Circles crocheted: 26/53

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Here's a little encouragement for everyone:

 

[InnBee]

You're making great progress.  Keep it up!

[Gaming_Jeweler]

You're making great progress.  Keep it up!

 

Thank you!

[Gaming_Jeweler]

I spent a lot of time yesterday driving around. I bought breakfast for the week while my husband was at a men's Bible study and then I got some crocheting done while he was at band practice. It's finally getting cold outside. However, the sudden temperature drop at night caused my old sports injury to act up and my knees locked up. I was able to drive us home fine but I woke up this morning with a pulled muscle in my legs. 

 

I haven't been doing well on an emotional level either. 2 of my friends announced their pregnancies within the same week. I haven't had a problem with my PPD, surprisingly, but I have felt numb. Like maybe I shouldn't care because I'll never get pregnant and maybe I should just start looking into adopting. (I do plan on adopting one of my children, but I always thought I would carry my first one.) I don't like feeling numb, mostly because my chances of doing something really stupid that could hurt me seem to be really high, but it is better than being an angry sobbing mess that is completely inconsolable. I think I might need to go outside and enjoy the cool fall air and clear my head. I'm not overwhelmed at the moment and I want to keep it that way.

 

Shard gathering activities completed:

Paleo meals: 3/3

Meditative Reading 2

Color Meditation

Reading 2

 

Shards gathered: 24/411

 

Making My Yoga Mat:

New circles crocheted? Yes. I crocheted 4 circles.

 

Circles crocheted: 30/53

[spooky]

I'm sorry you're going through a tough emotional patch at the moment. I think going outside sounds like a great idea. I don't think it's wrong for you to feel upset or numb, but the numbness will probably wear off at some point, it usually does for me. Is there some way you can let yourself feel upset but not feel like you're drowning? I know it's hard because I struggle with this too, and this is an issue dear to your heart. It's hard to see your friends getting pregnant (apparently easily) when you've struggled with getting pregnant and miscarriages. So while I don't know exactly what you're feeling, I know how much that angry, numb, sadness sucks, so I'm sending you a big ol internet hug <3 <3 <3 <3

[our.lady.of.ashes]

-hugs-

 

You feel whatever you need to feel to get through. Just don't let yourself drown in it and you'll eventually be okay. I struggle with this in relationships, cause so many of my friends are already or are getting married and I'm alone. It makes me feel a trifle jealous when I get those announcements, but I have to recognize feeling that way is fine as long as I don't let it get in the way of being a proper friend to them. 

[Gaming_Jeweler]

I'm sorry you're going through a tough emotional patch at the moment. I think going outside sounds like a great idea. I don't think it's wrong for you to feel upset or numb, but the numbness will probably wear off at some point, it usually does for me. Is there some way you can let yourself feel upset but not feel like you're drowning? I know it's hard because I struggle with this too, and this is an issue dear to your heart. It's hard to see your friends getting pregnant (apparently easily) when you've struggled with getting pregnant and miscarriages. So while I don't know exactly what you're feeling, I know how much that angry, numb, sadness sucks, so I'm sending you a big ol internet hug <3 <3 <3 <3

-hugs-

 

You feel whatever you need to feel to get through. Just don't let yourself drown in it and you'll eventually be okay. I struggle with this in relationships, cause so many of my friends are already or are getting married and I'm alone. It makes me feel a trifle jealous when I get those announcements, but I have to recognize feeling that way is fine as long as I don't let it get in the way of being a proper friend to them. 

 

Thanks, guys! I spent a few hours outside just talking with my husband about everything. I think we got down to the bottom of my problem. I'm not jealous of my friends (I wouldn't want any of them to go through what I did), I'm angry at God for not letting me get pregnant again. He let me get pregnant at 21 but I haven't been able to conceive since the miscarriage. I've had a really strong maternal instinct since I was 12 1/2 (when my sister was born) and I feel like I'm get teased about whether I'll be a mom or not. But I believe everything happens for a reason. I just need to be patient.

 

Spookyfoot, I seem to have three settings for being upset: numb, mopey, and explosive rage. I have no idea how to keep everything in check without feeling like I'm drowning. I think learning how to deal with negative emotions is going to be a big help for dealing with my PPD.

 

our.lady.of.ashes, I was the last of my friends to start dating & the first to get married... and apparently one of the last to have a baby. I thought I was going to be alone too. Then I stopped worrying about dating and met my husband.... Maybe I need to stop being angry about not having a baby and worrying about getting pregnant so much. It seems like every time I worry about something not happening, it happens the second I stop worrying.

[Gaming_Jeweler]

So I got my head in a good place and managed to do all of these & cleared my second mission. Mission #2 was Meeting With Moya. Cole uses his parkour skills to run, climb, and jump across the bottom of a bridge to meet with a federal agent named Moya. In order to duplicate this safely at home, I did modified standing leg raises on the wobble board. I just noticed that I seem to do a lot of these on the wobble board. 

 

Good night every one! I'm off to get some rest and have a nice shard gathering day tomorrow.

 

Shard gathering activities completed:

Paleo meals: 3/3

Handstand Helpers

Wobble Board (I did tree poses on it!)

Mission #2

Vlog x2 (I uploaded the two vlogs I shot during week 0 & I've recored two vlogs this week! )

 

Shards gathered: 36/411

 

Making My Yoga Mat:

New circles crocheted? No.

 

Circles crocheted: 30/53

[Gaming_Jeweler]

Week 0 vlogs

 

 

[Gaming_Jeweler]

I wound up having to stay off the computer yesterday. I really strained my eyes while working on my church's Bible study. However, I got stuff done! My eyes are still pretty strained, so I don't know how much I'll be commenting and posting today.

 

Shard gathering activities completed:

Paleo meals: 4/3

Meditative Reading x3

Color Meditation

Yoga

 

Shards gathered: 45/411

 

Making My Yoga Mat:

New circles crocheted? Yes. Two.

 

Circles crocheted: 32/53

 

[Gaming_Jeweler]