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Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Land of BeastsI honestly hadn’t had any particular plans for what kind of species to make in Downside back when I divided the world in two. It was only after I’d seen some of the more interesting creatures that had evolved there that inspiration struck.While working on my system docu...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Guardians of the Endt was time to move to the other half of my world, and finally deal with intelligence there.I glanced at my Reality Points and frowned.Reality Points 3973.53Gross Generation +8.355/cycleUniverse Maintenance -0.177/cycleCluster Tithe -4.089/cycleDebt Garnish -2.453/cycl...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Upside DownI stared at the notification for a long while.The elves and dwarves went about their business… building, shaping, and spreading their civilizations… while I simply sat there in quiet befuddlement. Even so, it was probably only a few years of their time before I finally wav...
Neophyte World Builder: Elf Image References
These are just simple AI-generated images that my beta reader created. Not really planning on using these long-term, but I did promise special perks here, and the images came out surprisingly close! So here you go, male and female elves! Not really very good at creating elves, our poor MC...I’ll p...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 29
Chapter 29: The People of StoneSo, my first species was ready… or rather, my first species that used my new system. The dragons didn’t really count. They weren’t there to provide energy; that had just been a happy coincidence born from them sorting through the mess of abilities. My new class-n...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 28
Chapter 28: SplinteringI now had a good start for the species.After a few hours of thought and running some simple simulations, I took a step back and did a little more work before finalizing anything. In the past, I might have gone ahead and just dropped it in, then tried to fix it later if a probl...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 27
Chapter 27: The First PeopleI set the pencil down and slid the notebook away.I wasn’t sure exactly how long I’d been working, but I knew I’d slept for at least eight hours several times. Considering I didn’t need to sleep unless I wanted to organize my thoughts – and that only happened occ...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 26
Chapter 26: Foundation ClassesOrpheus stared at me like I’d just grown two heads.Actually… maybe that wasn’t a good comparison. For all I knew, Orpheus in her real form did have two heads. Maybe that was normal for her.I briefly lost myself in a tangent, wondering if Orpheus saw me as I had co...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 25
Chapter 25: The Fine Print“– give your inhabitants any access to your interface!” Orpheus finished, sounding alarmed.I double-checked that I had turned the mutation rate back down to normal before reducing the interface to a manageable size so I could glance at Orpheus. I smiled at her and gav...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 24
Chapter 24: The Great GameVistaka flexed her wings, lazily working some of the soreness out of them.Her recent ascension to Elder had left her far more powerful, but her infrequent flights out to hunt were not the level of activity she was used to. Every time she awoke, the stiffness took longer and...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 23
Chapter 23: The Children of the MoonOrpheus flew around in a slow circle, but clapped her hands together.“Be aware that shortly after your first intelligent species, you will likely enter the Fourth Epoch. Unless something strange is going on, I will likely take my leave of you at that time. Befor...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Finished PrototypeThe first thing I did was look for any creatures that had monster cores. I wanted to see how the monsters were faring, and whether they’d taken over the world or not.The results were… a little complicated.What I did find was that the various creatures with monster c...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 21
Chapter 21: The Diversity of LifeI was almost ready.Now that the new changes had been installed, I knew I had a lot more work ahead of me later… but for now, I could leave things be.I didn’t turn the time dilation back to running the universe fast just yet, though. I still had one more important...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Don't Worry, I Have A SystemThese small mistakes were getting annoying. I really wanted to take a break and let the universe run by itself for a while. But first, I had to make sure it would run without everything collapsing.I took a heavy breath and let out a sigh before turning and...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 19
Chapter 19: The Origin of SpeciesOnce again, with the time dilation sped up, I could watch months pass in just a few minutes. Not that this world had a conception of months yet… but who knew what sort of timekeeping a civilization in this world would invent?I sat back and watched the interface car...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 18
Chapter 18: The Grand ExperimentI crossed one more thing off my to‑do list with the creation of disease and infection. I wasn't proud of it, but I knew a life without that sort of pressure would be very different from what I understood. I still had doubts about it, especially about my implemen...
Engines of Obsession: Volume I Epilogue
Volume I EpilogueByron folded his hands together and looked at Turner as the door closed, leaving him alone with only Turner and Nikandros in the room.Turner glanced at the butler, then cleared his throat apologetically.“I’m very sorry, sir, but I really think this should be something that just ...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 17
Chapter 17: The Second HorsemanA lot of what I had just done wasn’t all that expensive, since I wasn’t directly manipulating things currently in the world. Sure, there had been several tweaks to what was going on, and I had added a few things, but I didn’t really have sticker shock. The total ...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Node NetworkNow that I had the various essences of Mana to work with, I had to see if they would properly fit into the conception of the world. Fortunately, I had kept Mana separate from actual matter, so I didn’t have to explain why something as prolific as air didn’t have a direct ...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 15
Chapter 15: The Essence of ElementsI went ahead and placed the new animals and plants.Now that I’d actually done it, I found myself wondering about some of the assumptions I’d made.Could I have made a world where there was no real difference between animals and plants?Where every creature was of...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Core ConceptI was very pleased, because the moment I named my new organ, Orpheus was actually curious.“I have only limited understanding of your old world,” she said. “But… isn’t a monster a bad thing?”“It can be,” I agreed, as I began refining the parameters of the new o...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 13
Chapter 13: High FiberAfter another few hours of browsing menus and prototyping ideas, I finally settled on something for the plants.Putting restrictions on living things wasn’t that difficult. But limiting what they could develop into… that was the hard part.I stretched my arms and sat up, caus...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 12
Chapter 12: CohesionThe 1:10 ratio gave me time.If I’d been a scientist trying to resolve everything, even with that dilation, the work likely would’ve taken so long that the rest of the biosphere would have died out before I came close to a solution.Fortunately, I could alter the rules of reali...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Mistakes Were MadeI pulled up the interface that showed me the world and zoomed out as much as I could.It thankfully allowed for options like cutaway views and region overlays, and I could mentally flip it up or down, zoom in on various regions, and isolate elements one at a time.I set t...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Emerald BlanketFIRST EPOCHYou have started the flow of time in a new universe. The First Epoch has begun.SECOND EPOCHYour universe has become host to a stable, viable world capable of sustaining life. The Second Epoch has begun.RANK UP - LEVEL 2Due to your accomplishments, you are now a ...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Tea TimeI took a deep breath. Functionally, I knew I didn’t have to, but for some reason it still felt calming.Briefly, I wondered how far this modeling of my personality went. If I could still feel anxious, if I could still soothe myself with a breath… how much of me was me?I had a f...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Night and DayThe first thing I had to do, of course, was add some atmosphere.This was a lot easier than I expected. I could simply select it from a list and determine the depth along with various behavioral properties.While I was doing this, I belatedly realized I was missing some importa...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 7
Chapter 7: LandscapingThe interface could sometimes be overwhelming, but I was starting to get how it was customized to me. To make a cylinder, I just set the parameters – wall thickness, radius, and so on.Now that I wanted to actually make some terrain, selecting the surface opened up something l...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 6
Chapter 6: A Whole New WorldI flipped back to the Matter and Energy tab.I couldn’t help but speak aloud to Orpheus behind me… after all, what was the point of having a great idea if you had nobody to tell it to?I opened up the Material Creation screen while I spoke.“So Orpheus, handling a clos...
Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 5
Chapter 5: A Magical PlaceI considered the updated interface. Making my Sanctuary more comfortable seemed like an easy choice, but as I thought about it, I realized I wasn’t really tired. I’d jumped straight from death into working on this project without even sitting down. Logically, I knew my ...
