After Extra Life

All right I'm going to do a quick recap of the weekend here. I'm currently uploading the Twitch streams from the weekend. I might do a highlight reel from the games I played, but I will also be uploading the full streams...if it actually works. I don't think YouTube is happy with the length of some of these, even though I've seen 10 hour videos on YouTube. It just processes endlessly until it fails. I just spilt up one of the videos to see if that helps but...well we'll see. The Sonic one is live if you're interested in seeing me unintentionally kill Sonic in a lot of interesting ways.

I had to work on Saturday in the morning and afternoon, so Kathleen and her friend started off the day playing some Fallout 4. If you're interested in seeing any of her gameplay, you should be able to find the video for at least a couple days here: http://www.twitch.tv/missswat/profile

Anyway, I joined Kathleen after work, covered in sparkles and bits of that fake evergreen tree stuff because I was putting up Christmas decorations. Kathleen and I played some games from about 7:30pm-2am and then both uh...promptly passed out. Kathleen at least had an excuse as she was feeling pretty sick that day. Kudos to her for toughing it out so long. I just passed out because I have no willpower. If you watch to the end of the Incredibles stream, you'll see me falling asleep at the end. I actually lose consciousness for a couple seconds at the time, resulting in me taking unneeded damage/dying. 

I tried streaming Transistor, but the computer I brought to Kathleen's didn't do so well in terms of Streaming and running games at the same time. So I gave up on that after about 30 mins of trying and switched to Gamecube games, which turned out a lot better as the Gamecube could run them while the computer streamed. Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers was the first game I played. It was...hilarious. I loved playing that game for awhile when the movies first came out. I don't remember their faces being so terrifying when converted to...whatever the hell I was looking at. Gimli in particular was...well you'll see. I switched to an Incredibles game after because I got mad. I managed to finish that entire game in about 3 hours. It was also quite hilarious. I plan to play this game co-op with Michael someday as for some reason, we've played it multiple times through together. Probably do to a lack of good owned co-op games. 

I fell asleep after that and woke up at 7am. I played Sonic Mega Collection for a couple hours and then packed up. I had somewhere to be in the morning, so I left Kathleen's and headed out to that. Almost didn't go anywhere as my car wouldn't turn over initially. I hadn't left lights on or anything, so that was exceptionally concerning. I took a look at the battery and saw a boat-load of corrosion on the battery so I cleaned it off the best I could and the engine turned over when I tried again. I'm likely going to have to get that looked at before weather gets super cold. Anyhow, when I got home after, I streamed Transistor on a better computer to make up for the streaming failures of the previous night. I keep forgetting how much I enjoy playing Transistor. I managed to break the AI a little though in one of the bonus levels. 

Kathleen played a lot of Fallout 4 and dabbled a bit in Final Fantasy 7 (one of her go-to games). I'll have to ask her if she played a lot of other stuff. I think she had something else running on her tablet at one point, but you should hear her ranting about FF7 characters in the background of my videos. 

Overall she raised just under $500 this year. Not as much as previous years, but I'd like to congratulate her on pulling together that much on such short notice. Next year we're planning to advertise sooner, but every little bit counts, so thanks to everyone who donated!

In other news, I started playing some Myst 3 after getting it to work on the old laptop still running windows 7. Windows 8 baffles the 3rd and 4th instalment and the common factor appears to be anything running below directx 10, which both games do. I may continue to play/stream Transistor...because now I really want to play it.

Also decided that I want my December solo LP to be Shadow of Mordor. Because Lord of the Rings. This is providing I can finish Dead Space 2 before then...and have enough hard drive space to work with. So...I have work to do.

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?

My Bad

Uploaded some Miasmata to share after Transistor was done. Accidentally forgot to make part 2 Unlisted so...it was published without Part 1 and people have already started watching it. So I released it. They are longer videos, (45-51 minutes each), mostly because it is a single shot and we never finish the game together. I decided to encode and post it after finding the footage on my hard drive last night. Also wanted to give Shauna something fun to watch as she hasn't been feeling well the past few days. Anyway, enjoy the content that wasn't supposed to be released until next week!

Transistor is almost done uploading, so I'm rushing to make space for Dark Souls, Half Life Episode 1 anddddd maybe perhaps Skyrim. Maybe. Perhaps.

Coming up on 500 subscribers. Might do something fancy for that. Maybe. Perhaps.

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.

Soundtrack Thursday 22

I meant for today to be another Retro games day, but then I saw Child of Light in my suggested videos sidebar and heard it was good soundtrack. So we're starting with that today and we'll see where it goes from there.

Going to follow the recommended videos further to Beyond Two Souls. Will be interesting to see if we have anything resembling a theme by the end of the day.

Next up is Tomb Raider, still navigating through the recommended videos of course. This soundtrack should get me to lunch, and we'll go from there.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is next up on the list, though I cheated a little by not following the recommended videos. I did however, get the idea from it as ACIII was a suggested video.

While I haven't played it, I hear that Metroid Prime is pretty good. We'll see what it sounds like music-wise. I may not listen to the whole compilation though as it is almost 3 hours long. Depends if it's really good or not I suppose.

It's too bad I already had Mirror's Edge and Transistor in previous soundtrack Thursdays. The point is to listen to new soundtracks, even though I've listened to these multiple times other days of the week since discovering them. I am sad that there aren't more games with female protagonists. Character creation games don't count in this case. Seriously.

In other news:

I have decided to alternate Transistor and Half Life Episode 1 after Dishonored is complete. Which will be soon. I shall post the Dishonored DLC periodically. Just thought I'd mix it up a little. Shauna, Nick and I are playing Neverwinter again. If you play, feel free to add me as a friend/join us. My username is drschwa.

My writing is beginning to stress me out, because I want to write these parts properly. They're going to end up as heaping piles of drivel bits, but if I go in with a different attitude, they will be smaller heaping piles of drivel bits. This summer could be it ladies and gents.

I'm starting a new(ish) job September 1. I have a whole summer of part-time work and video games ahead unless I find something else before then. I will likely apply for volunteer positions in areas of interest and write during that time.

New desk at work for my final few weeks. I was going to keep my old chair, but then I tried out one of the new ones and it has MEMORY FOAM. So I have adopted this new chair and am enjoying it a great deal. I like the window view. I do not like that every single person working in the room has to walk behind me to get to their desks. Visitors also constantly have to walk behind me. It stresses me out.

I found out if I wear my ear buds and drink a carbonated beverage, I can hear fizz inside my head. It sounds like pouring dry sand into water.

I can't remember where I put my damn lactaid again. That stuff is not cheap and I like ice cream too much. Ugh.

This news section has rapidly become more trivial.

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.

Soundtrack Thursday 21

Coming up on our final Soundtrack Thursdays. I will be leaving my current job at the end of June as my contract has ended, so Soundtrack Thursday will be on hold until further notice. For now...

Transistor - I plan on playing this very soon as it's by the people that made Bastion, and I hear it's a good game.

The Last of Us - Played through MOST of the game and currently watching an LP of it. I like the game all right, but parts of it are....frustrating. The dialogue and storytelling element to it are quite good. I'd like to say it has a lot of movie elements in it. The music definitely has a similar style to a lot of other zombie games.

Halo Reach - Because I felt like Halo and it was linked as a related video on The Last of Us. I've always enjoyed the Halo soundtracks.

Mass Effect 1 - A series that I really need to get around to playing.

More Dishonoured episodes, as usual. I have about 10 segments left, plus the DLC. Thinking about my plans for solo LPs over the summer. I will come back with a more detailed schedule/idea of what's going on. Expect a lot more Retro gaming episodes.