You Can Steak the Bus

One of the better typos of mine that I've come across. Took me a good amount of time to figure out what I meant, which is probably due to being tired rather than anything else. I am tired because it is hot. It is hot because the temperature outside has been ridiculous and my room traps heat. I also have a computer and a laptop, both of which are usually running. I have switched off my computer for the evening, so hopefully that helps. I just hope I don't burn out another fan motor.

Oh yeah and I hit 500 subscribers today. That's pretty cool. I do not have a video prepared yet, but I will post something...different...for the occasion. Not sure when it will be done, but I will be posting it soon.

Let's see...what can you expect out of the next few weeks...

-Half Life 2 Episode 1 is finished, so I will begin recording Episode 2 shortly.
-More Dishonored DLC. While it's not the most popular, it has been one of my favourite games that I've played over the past year, so I will be sharing those videos
-I will be making an attempt at Dark Souls once I get a controller hooked up. I will not be able to play on a keyboard. I took a look at the controls and it was...well disgusting to put it mildly. I hope to have some episodes up by next week
-More Neverwinter videos (montages and Schwa Can't MMO episodes). I will be posting two of the dungeons we completed (the ones I didn't have random crippling lag in) as we had a lot of fun playing them.
-I have Skyrim videos, so I will probably post those. It's not just clip shows either! It's an honest effort to try and LP some.

Alternator

Summer heat is getting to me a bit. Took a week off, binge watched Orange is the New Black, and worked on videos and writing. The phone I got to replace my old one (as it was beginning to fall apart) is defective (are you really surprised?) and so I must go and get that replaced. I expect the rest of this week to be filled with writing, uploading, encoding and trying to figure out if I should post anything special for 500 subscribers. I probably won't have anything ready in time, but we'll see. I have a couple ideas.

Half Life 2 Episode 1 and Dishonored DLC will continue to alternate. I will run out of Half Life videos first, so I'll probably start uploading some other content when that is finished. I still need to record Episode 2. I am just clearing off the Neverwinter videos off my drive and then I can start Dark Souls. I expect rage.

Got menaced by another dude in a truck yesterday. I swear I'm going to develop a nervous twitch every time I see a pick-up now. I pulled over to text message someone and figure out if I had the address right, and about 30 seconds later this man in a black truck speeds into reverse (seriously, he was going about 50km/hr in reverse) and accelerates towards my car and stops less than an inch away from my back bumper. So I'm effectively wedged between him and the car in front of me. Then he just sits in his car. At this point I'm freaking out because I had no idea what this person's deal was. I didn't do anything. I was actually going to leave before he did that, only I wasn't sure if I could still get out. Eventually this woman comes out from across the street, talks to the guy in the truck and then comes over and tells me I need to move to the loading zone. I told her I just pulled over to send a message and that I couldn't get out, but she wouldn't tell the truck driver to back off like AN INCH (he had like 5 metres to work with behind him...if he wanted to park where I was all he had to do was back off for a second at most). So I had to slowly inch my way out past the car in front of me, which I almost hit, and I got out of there. Seriously had no idea what these people's problems were. It wasn't an illegal place to park and the truck was faffing about in the street before I parked there. I hate downtown man.

Summer Time

It's ridiculously hot here this week. It's supposed to be over 30 degrees outside today. It's only 11am and this room is like a sauna. My icy Canadian blood can't take it!

THE FAN DOES NOTHING.

So Transistor is fully uploaded and I'm working on getting HL Episode 1 out. I have a few segments produced, so I can post those whenever. The entire LP is finished (it was really short), so I'll transfer those files and start recording HL Episode 2 when it's not so hot and people aren't ripping a fence to pieces out back. I'd close the window but...

So on the schedule for this July we will have:
Dishonored DLC
Half Life Episode 1
Half Life Episode 2
Dark Souls
Any other random videos I come across when cleaning out my hard drive.

Also.

WHY AM I EATING SOUP?

Forgot a Title

This is the final week of my contract job. I'll be sad to leave this place, but I have a summer of part-time work, catch-up with LPs and writing ahead. July approaches and I'll be around for most of it. This is what you can expect for the next couple of weeks:

Solo LPs

Transistor - Finish uploading by the end of June.

Half Life Episode 1 - Begin uploading this week (probably starting June 25 or 26)

Dishonored DLC - Alternate with Half Life Episode 1

Dark Souls - IT BEGINS EARLY JULY. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR RAGE.

Co-op LPs/videos

Really up in the air to be honest. 

Unreal Tournament 3 will be delayed until the people I plan on playing with get some personal affairs sorted out. 

Borderlands 1 - Might be an LP

Neverwinter - Not really an LP, but I'm recording enough of it that it theoretically COULD be.

Magicka DLC - Probably going to do this with Voyeur

Evil Within - Late Summer/Early Fall (whenever it's released) with Shauna

Just Cause 2 - Multiplayer MOD has apparently been "updated." Max potential for silliness.

EDIT - Offer still stands to join us on the Dragon server in Neverwinter. Rins@drschwa, SvetlanaMcnature@drschwa. If you join, I shall make you pants. 

Summer Approacheth

Transistor will begin uploading tonight I think. Still have a little to recast, but that shouldn't take long if I actually sit down and just power through it. Or ramble through it in this case.

I may do some more Half Life Episode 1 recording over the next few days in addition to finishing the Dishonored DLC (heh). Other smaller, random projects will go up sporadically whenever I feel like it or happen to have relevant footage.

A lot of things are changing over the next while. I'm not too sure where we'll be, even a couple months ago, but I will say there are a few constants:

Videos will continue
Writing will continue
Cookies will be forever delicious.

As long as we have videos, writing and cookies, everything will be fiiiiiiiiiine.

Transistor

While uploading Dishonored I have been writing, playing Skyrim (shhh) and now, Transistor. I also keep thinking of "Transistor" as "Mansistor." Thanks for that one Mesk.

Transistor is pretty amazing (thanks Kristy, Oliver and random people I follow on Tumblr for encouraging me to pick it up). I am recording it and I'm not doing too bad. There is a distinct learning curve that I'm on. I can imagine the little graph in my head, but I'm having a lot of fun trying out a bunch of the combos. I eventually figure most things out, but the beginning might be a little cringe-worthy as I jump in knowing very little of the game. Like Bastion, this is a rare instance of me going into the game without playing any of it at all. Even in Dishonored I played a little bit of the first level for sound and recording tests. I will post these videos eventually.

I will finish Brigmore Witches this week, then I will continue recording Half Life Episode 1. Expect Transistor and HL EP1 to appear near the end of the month. I will start Dark Souls first week of July, because I will have ample time. I will start Bioshock around this time as well.

...

Also, I am really sad that I didn't think to name my Bulbasaur, Bulbafett in Pokemon Y. It's almost painful. These are the things I think of randomly when I'm in the car. I am pleased with my Pikachu's nickname of Zappy McGee however, so it all works out in the end.

PS - I am slowing down the recording a little bit. My wrist and hand are in rough shape.

Quarter of a Century

I'd say longevity assumed, I'd be 1/4 through my life, but that can never be known so I'm going to forego all the "you're this much done your life" talk and just celebrate the fact that I have my pointy nails embedded into life for another year. Horray for solar rotations. 

I never posted any LP updates yesterday. Summer LPs will be ramping up soon. I'm excited. I've been posting Dishonored gradually over the last month. Those videos will continue as I prepare to play and record Half Life Episode 1 (already started), the last 2-4 hours of Brigmore Witches (I'm sorry, there's been so much to do lately...but we aren't even close to that yet in the LP so meh), Dark Souls (oh boy), Bioshock 1 and Unreal Tournament 3 co-op. 

Red-eye Retro episodes will go up on an occasional basis. I have tons of videos prepared for it thanks to WC2. I also plan to delve into Spelunker (pun intended), more Space Taxi, Commander Keen 4 and finish the Orc campaign in WC2 (which is a raging, hilarious, tired mess...like I have no idea how I managed to complete this one level). I may not be able to sleep sometimes, but hey, at least we all get silliness and nostalgia out of it.

One other random request concerned Skyrim. I've always been reluctant to play these games because they are so open-ended. If I do any long-term projects (ie not just silly clips) with Skyrim, I shall do the two DLC with the current character I have. I may need verify the cache on that game or something as I swear the number of broken objects and textures has exponentially increased. 

Ah crap I meant to bring the Doge card I got to work. Monday I guess. 

A Good Place to Be

Where I have a ton of videos available to upload. There is one thing I need to be careful of though, and that is my bandwidth limit. I also don't want to flood people's feeds with videos, so I am trying to space uploads out every two-three days unless something like Outlast Whistleblower pops up (it was requested and I wanted to ensure it went up quickly like the last Outlast game). The LPs I post and the order in which I do it are based off of: requests, personal interest and viewer interest. I still have a small audience (which I actually prefer to be honest), so most of the choices I make in terms of what to record and post are based almost solely on my own interest. This is why Outlast Whistleblower and Half Life 2 have jumped to the top of the list.

So what about my other projects? In case you do not want to read all the details and want the bottom line...

Production order:
Half Life 2 (should be complete before May 15)
Outlast Whistleblower (uploaded and produced on-the-go)
Dishonored (is (mostly) recorded and ready to be posted. Should start showing up May 16/17)
Half Life Episode 1, Episode 2 (beginning - mid June)
Dark Souls - Early Summer

Dishonored is actually not fully recorded. That is...the DLC is not fully recorded. I am waiting until I have all of Half Life 2 posted (which should be VERY soon) and then I will begin the process of uploading that LP. I have a good 30+ segments, so this will give me loads of time to catch up on other projects, organize my drives and play some other games that I will not be recording (ie PS3/PS4 games). Because it's nice to just play a game sometimes and not worry about whether I'm running out of space or how loud I'm speaking in the dead of night. I have a small segment of Brigmore Witches left. I love this game, but other things came up and I ended up leaving that portion for later. I need to return to it quick though, because it's been a LONG time since I last touched it, and I don't want to risk having to relearn all the controls etc.

The Penumbra series really didn't interest me much. I enjoyed playing them enough at the time (though the third one was difficult to get through in terms of engagement) and we DID finish all three games (we would have quit if they were terrible...we have done that in the past *cough cough Haunted Memories*), but they were all just...meh. I was only really tense/scared at one point in Black Plague, and the rest of the gameplay couldn't seem to find a good balance between the elements. Basically it seemed that they were just throwing everything (puzzles, horror, mystery, storytelling etc.) at the wall to see what would stick. I think that's why Amnesia was so much more successful, because they figured out what worked from previous experience. Puzzles were downplayed, horror was accelerated and the environments were a hell of a lot more interesting (ie not just hallways upon hallways leading to hallways with an ice room and a lab thrown in). I like puzzle games, but you need variation or more atmosphere to get them to be engaging. When it's just boxes and jumping, it gets a little old fast. When there was variation, it was difficult to do what you wanted to with the interface provided. Anyhow, this is pretty much at the bottom of my list for getting out on YouTube, even though I have it fully recorded.

Bioshock Infinite is on hold, especially since Shauna's TV is still doing strange things. Outlast Whistleblower has taken priority over this, mainly because we've been looking forward to seeing what the DLC was all about. It is being recorded playing with a computer screen. We will likely return to Bioshock Infinite after this. This is why I have not been editing the last couple of segments from the game (though I REALLY need to get it off my drives like Penumbra).

Half Life Episode 1 is going to be posted after Dishonored. I already started to record it, and will likely finish recording and editing it so it is ready to be uploaded immediately after. My main goal is a more consistent uploading schedule. The game runs fine. It has the same problems as Half Life 2 in recording. Nothing really new there.

Still working on figuring out future collaborative LPs with Voyeur. I will update when we actually figure something out. I had the question of whether I would be "showing myself" and not just being a disembodied voice. I may be working on something like that with Voyeur. If that never comes about, I am not promising anything, but I MIGHT do a single-player LP of either F.E.A.R. or Amnesia: The Dark Descent (with the aims of playing alone on Hard and trying to get the "good" ending) with a reaction cam. Maybe. Possibly. I will decide.