MAH FACE

Yeah still no better. Voice has managed to survive...mostly, but this cold is taking a lot out of me. I keep thinking it'll get better the next day and it just gets worse, no matter how much I try to sleep. It's probably cause I don't have time to rest. My extra shifts at work are almost over (today's the last day). Haven't been able to call in because NO ONE is available to work it. Yesterday I had to stay longer cause the one person who was supposed to come in called in sick. And then I had to go brush off a foot of snow from my car in -22 degree Celsius weather (plus windchill) and drive at half the speed limit on icy roads. At least traffic was low so it only took me an hour (the drive is usually 25-30 mins). Anyway, I have to work again today, so I'll just continue to upload. I forgot to publish some Skyrim stuff so I'll get to that today. Meanwhile you should check out the poll I made and vote:

Poll

Tell me what you want me to play. I think I got a request for a couple co-op/multiplayer options, but this poll is strictly for a solo LP that I'd do when I don't sound like my throat is trying to crawl up my nose.

Voice is Toasted

Again.

There has been laryngitis going around and it seems I may be getting it. I haven't COMPLETELY lost my voice yet, but I am preparing for it. I managed to record more Bioshock 2. It has become extremely entertaining...but not for the reasons the devs probably wanted it to be. I unintentionally broke a lot of stuff today. Ironically when I TRIED to break things, it didn't work as planned.

So my recording will likely come to a grinding halt. I'll either play things I don't plan on recording or just....write/edit. I'm thinking of what I will solo LP next. It will likely be one of the following:

Deux Ex
Dead Space 1
Thief 1
FEAR 1

I may put up a poll on G+ and let whoever is interested decide for me.

Laptop Officially Dead

Time of death 6pm this evening. Oliver called it. Yeah the charger port is shot so he's backing up the drive for me and that's that. It's still under warranty I think so I may be able to get a replacement. Still, I am a little sad this one only lasted two years. My last laptop lasted 5 and a half years...AND I WAS ENCODING ON IT.

So yeah. Sad about that.

UPDATE: Might have been caused by a faulty fan. Stopped spinning, power supply overheated, laptop toast. All the files are off the hard drive so no worries there. May be able to get it fixed because TECHNICALLY the two year warranty still applies.

New Hardware

So. A child peed on the floor at work today. That was fun.

I now have better hardware for playing games, recording and editing. I am very excited about this. I tried a couple of encodes and I have discovered I can produce videos 5 times faster than I used to (on average). I tested some recordings at 60fps. Super smooth and the video looks pretty nice. Actually Skyrim (game I was testing) ran perfectly at highest graphics settings and recorded with no lag at 60fps. Was a good test to give me an idea of what the computer is capable of. I will be able to stream no problem now...IF I get decent internet. And I'm in Canada which means that's ungodly expensive for someone currently working part time (I have been informed by General Delta that it's much worse in South Africa so I shouldn't complain XD). Apparently there's built-in Twitch on these graphics cards as well which is worth looking into.

I know very few people watch the videos regularly (and even fewer read these updates), but I wanted to apologize for the Alien Isolation mix-up. I posted part 10 after part 11 and 12. Granted, we don't get very far in part 10, but still there will be a confusing jump in events. They are all posted properly and in the right order on the playlist now. More of those videos will be going up soon (Shauna should be happy cause that's when the really silly stuff happens).

Skyrim, Alien Isolation and Unreal Tournament 3 are the priority now...but I will post other amusing things as I go. Check out the public drive for other random footage that I won't be posting to YouTube (at least not any time soon).

November was supposed to be the month I crack down and finish up some writing, but looks like my laptop charger port is shot (I'm still hoping it just needs a new charger). So it's out of power and there's no way I can access the files on there unless I get power to it or remove the hard drive. So that's all on hold right now. I have a back up of the one file I really want which at least lets me work a little bit. Just need to set it up...

American Grocery Stores Are Magical Places

You have like...40 flavours of pop and 20 different kinds of oreos. Pumpkin spice oreos. That is a thing. Oh and those Cheez-It things. Thanks for getting me hooked on those Voyeur.

So I've been back for awhile now, but video work has been slow as I've had...well an interesting last couple of days. Had a bit of a medical scare and it skyrocketed my anxiety, which isn't good for productivity, at least in terms of personal projects. Also, my boss at work has a family emergency which means I'll be working full time for the next couple of weeks. I will be tired and video recording and production will slow down immensely.

That said, I have a super entertaining line-up for the rest of November and December. First off, the next Gamecube game I plan on uploading is Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. I finished this LP well over a month ago...maybe two, but it is full of silly from what I can remember. It is cheesy, buggy and all around a good time. Except for the Rohan area. That was stupid. Also how it ended was really just...wtf.

My other single player LPs will include more Skyrim and eventually Bioshock 2, Half Life Episode 2, and Brigmore Witches. I want to finish these before 2015 and get them off my plate. Bioshock 2 is going to take a lot of willpower to finish. It's not very good. I will continue my Skyrim adventures with the Dawnguard DLC.

As for co-op/tag team LPs, I think we'll FINALLY finish Resident Evil 5 within the week. Voyeur and I are very close to completing it, and then we will be moving on to another game. I'm not sure what yet. Perhaps the Magicka DLC. Mesk and I continue to record Hunted. I expect these videos to start going up shortly before December. Depends on what I have to upload at the time. His videos of Hunted should be much more chaotic than mine as my netcode causes strange things on his end.

I've stopped work on Bioshock Infinite, mostly because Alien Isolation has a lot less issues and has been exceptionally entertaining over the last few sessions. There are things that happen in that game that really...I can't describe. Shauna and I are about halfway done the game. It's taking a lot longer because we're playing on hard...and it really is difficult. I still think that the low number of save points is a stupid idea though. We have some LPs planned out for when we finish Alien. I wouldn't expect to see these until like...February of next year though, so I won't bother announcing them.

So rest of November looks like:
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Unreal Tournament 3
Skyrim
Alien Isolation

December will likely look like:
Hunted: Demon's Forge
Skyrim
Bioshock Infinite
And one of the following: Half Life Episode 2 or Brigmore Witches

Expect other random videos and clips. Keep an eye on my Public Google drive as well for access to unreleased video.

The Worst Kind of Escort Mission

I just realized what bothers me the most about Bioshock 2. It's not that it seems like someone's bad fanfic (though it really does), it's not all the laziness in texturing and level design (which there really is a lot of) and it's not the awkward interface (wtf did they do with the subtitles and weapons/plasmid system?)...it's that half the game so far is like the final mission in Bioshock 1, only more annoying. I don't think I'll play this game again, but I'll tough it out for the people who requested it...and put up with all the knowing laughs from the other people I've told.

So videos were released a little weird this weekend as I was out of town. I will be returning late tomorrow evening. Bioshock 1 is finished. I will finish uploading Unreal Tournament 3 and continue uploading Skyrim videos. I finished the Dragonborn DLC before I left.

Tuesday Nights

I really need the sleep, but coffee has a way of making me not sleep. Ever. This is not the case with tea...or really any other form of caffinated drink. I don't count energy drinks because they are disgusting and make my heart feel like it's going to explode (seriously I tried half a can once and it made my heart VERY uncomfortable).

But it helped me bowl a 352 (5-pin) a couple weeks ago so I can't complain.

Oh yeah LP stuff. So Bioshock 2 is making me quite upset about...everything. As I say in the videos, it's like someone's bad Bioshock 1 fanfic. It has some interesting and fun aspects to it but...well...you'll see when I play what my gripes are. I do play it on hard, which doesn't help the situation.

Co-op LP work continues with Mesk (Hunted), Voyeur (Resident Evil 5) and Shauna (Alien: Isolation). I am intending to do some recordings with General Delta and another person soon, but I don't know when.

I have some Half Life 2 Episode 2 sitting on my hard drive waiting to be edited and encoded (but it's not finished) and some Guild Wars 2 (that I need to edit up and post). OH and I keep forgetting to finish editing the Extra Life 2014 recap video. It's done I just need to do a last pass and edit a little bit. There will be a long version and a short version. Short version is 9mins and ready to be posted. Long version is like...an hour and not quite ready yet.

But, my priorities right now are not in the realm of LPing. I have two tasks I must complete before the year is over. 1) Complete my writing project (this is not an option I have decided) and 2) get a full-time job (it is long past due and I will really need the money soon).

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

I'm still so awake and it's 4am. Remind me (people in different time zones and Mesk) that LPing Tuesday nights/early morning Wednesday would be a good idea.