Wrong Way Down - Part 7

In episode 7 of Wrong Way Down, Splitsie and Capac are once more joined by W4stedspace and Texfire. Because of Clang, they have reset their progress back to the second mountaintop location from episode 6 and are redesigning the Bird Eater--again. This time, Splitsie fixes the rotor limits effortlessly by using smaller values combined with first activating rotor lock. They'll also need a new drill.

Chat reminds Splitsie to update the map LCDs, and then teases Texfire to try an Australian accent because he can't do a good Texan one... Meanwhile, Capac's rotor settings pun is underappreciated. Texfire did not want to know that the Bird Eater is named after a tarantula that is so big you feel its weight when holding it in your hand. They reminisce about American food while Capac builds mandibles (i.e front gatling turrets). Splitsie renames Capac to Catpac because Capac deliberately throws things off shelves, brings "presents" back home, and (according to Chat) has nine lives. Today, multiplayer is going much more smoothly clearly because "Australia has activated its backup internet generators". Chat repeatedly asks for the return of the rotating disco cargo container and Texfire needs an after-dark channel for his jokes. We learn that Vegemite is to Australian kids as PBJ is to American kids.

(0:30) Capac is officially allowed to build solar panels. To use the drill rig, Splitsie needs to reposition the Bird Eater a few metres and Capac is worried about reaching the minimum safe distance. W4sted's Chat complains about the inconsistent wheel orientation -- but not Splitsie's Chat, because Splitsie refused to turn a medbay the right way round for 2 years in Survival... Maybe and his Chat is used to worse. Splitsie gives up on cheap small-grid drills and rebuilds the rig in large-grid. W4sted is suffering from lag again. Chat catches Splitsie not using all his pistons to drill deeper, and he finally adds the long forgotten Ore Detector. Texfire advertises his nonexistent Funk/Disco album.

(1:00) Texfire adds subtle Disco wheel rims and turns the Bird Eater into a seventies station wagon, then gets triggered by the Wood texture, and randomly applies Glamour texture and others. The others insist the build was going for *menacing*, not *bedazzled*. W4sted explains the controls of the outrigger wheels and is saddened by the thought that his work will surely explode soon. Splitsie is "a slow learner" because he is not prototyping in Creative Mode enough. Capac paints the top of the Bird Eater in shiny metallic. Texfire's cat meows demanding to stream with Ca(t)pac.

(1:30) They decide to push the outriggers down to lift up the central part to add missing undercarriage wheels, but keep forgetting. Splitsie is concentrating hard on the game so stuff doesn't blow up, but the others jokingly recommend "more live chat = more explosions". They start driving and adjust wheel settings (and fix tree damage) as they go. Driving downhill, they have much more control now than in the previous episode. They stop to drill some magnesium and add an antenna. W4sted's rubberbanding off the Bird Eater has become so habit forming that both Texfire and Splitsie immediately bring him a hydrogen bottle before he can even ask. Texfire decides to add Grinders as spider fangs. Capac can't help with the magnesium mining because he's off spelunking for ice, after he has quietly covered the roof with too many turrets like a swarm of baby spiders. Splitsie doesn't think Capac is "not smart", he thinks Capac "does stupid things" on purpose, and Capac confirms. When trying to conveyor up the front grinders, Texfire grinds a critical block and loses his unfinished fangs -- and a front wheel that now needs replacing.

(2:00) Thanks to their innovative suspension design they can't tell whether to use left or right oriented wheels and wish they had non-gender-conforming non-binary wheels; Capac recommends watching an Attenborough documentary about the life of a tyre. Texfire is taking on Capac's role as scatterbrain while Capac builds a cool spoiler. When they remove neighbouring blocks to re-add a wheel, the Bird Eater starts sliding downhill -- at least it's going south. It's now dark and they are again low on power.

On firmer ground, they stop to handmine ice, gold, and silver. Capac "spontaneously combusts" and W4sted suspects Capac must have said something funny about a Connector block's mother. W4sted envisions a new series called "Capac derides!" where Capac insults a different SE block every week, but Capac feels uncomfortable to be cruel to friendly blocks. Texfire envisions the show like Actor's Workshop where Capac interviews SE blocks about their life's motivations. Still mining, Splitsie reminisces about when Capac put up a warning GPS above an iron mine called Irony Hole, right before falling into it.

They move the Bird Eater's cockpit to the rear to facilitate rebuilding wheels in the front. While Texfire again builds impractical Grinders, Capac runs off to research floating bushes. Seeing Splitsie eject useless Gravel while driving reminds W4sted of another recent SE scenario where they were actually struggling to collect enough gravel.

(2:30) When they drive over a grassy area, Splitsie realises how little progress they have made: He thought they would long be at the opposite pole by the 7th episode. Capac and Texfire chuckle about building saw blades out of saw blades while they are looking for an ice lake. They pass a weird stone spire while theorising about Star Wars. Realising they can't see any ice lake nearby, they pick up the last bit of snow for hydrogen. W4sted wants to be a Bond villain and they chat about space farming simulators and Matt Groening. W4sted congratulates Splitsie on orchestrating such a well balanced cooperative building effort. Capac loots medkits from an Unknown Signal. As it gets dark, they rebuild their lights.

(3:00) Splitsie's reckless driving gets the others yeeted off the Bird Eater and, on the ground, Capac researches empirically that it's not possible to shoot trees. While testing the Bird Eater's driving behaviour and grip on rough terrain, unexpectedly, the whole rear left outrigger disintegrates, and only a rolling spare tyre is left! W4sted analyses the weird damage and suggests Splitsie to localhost instead of using a Dedicated Server.

Next week's episode will be postponed because Splitsie and Capac will be at PAX AUS. W4sted.exe has stopped working trying to pronounce the name of that other Kern game, "M... Minecraft? Mediaeval? Miner Wars!" Splitsie switches to admin creative mode to cut&paste-fix the Bird Eater, but things only get worse. They eventually shut down the DS and restart it as localhost. W4sted talks about streamers not wanting to be mistaken for other streamers, yet he wouldn't mind being mistaken for Bill Bailey. W4sted invites Splitsie to Edinburgh Festival and Texfire invites them all to PAX SOUTH.

(3:30) For now, localhost runs more stable, though they will need to rebuild the lost outrigger. They restate their plans to meet at GamesCom 2020. Texfire cheekily calls E3 "the print media of conferences". Splitsie drives too fast and they lose a wheel, but continue on. They made it 47km from the North pole today, as the bird flies.

Splitsie suddenly proposes to add four parachutes and jump off the cliff. They pause to add the outrigger and parachutes and prepare. Their chitchat about going on a European road trip turns into funny international traffic law stories and comparisons of car types. Capac has Kerbal flashbacks because the auto parachute deployment was "in the first stage" when they started driving. Texfire recommends about driving IRL, "If you are going to drive like an idiot, drive an a track." Capac adds "Says the people on a vehicle that is about to jump off a mountain in a forest." Splitsie makes a world backup and they race off the edge... The jump works out perfectly. W4sted is humble and credits the collaborative build for the success. Capac thinks the only way this could have been more epic was, if they had to fight a Balrog on the way down.

Splitsie won't join W4sted's Kerbal Space Engineers this week but recommends watching W4sted every day of the week!

## References

1. ↑ Desert Wheels
2. ↑ Due to a long lasting visual bug, bushes on planets don't disappear when the terrain below them is removed.
3. ↑ The planned meeting at GamesCom 2020 was later cancelled due to the pandemic.