Travis: Very violent and shooty. I dig it. I can't wait until a final release.

SignalWarden: I am definitely going to give this a spin. Between this a Bleed I'll be shooting pixels for a month.

jdodson: Awesome, looking forward to that video.

Gary_Butterfield: You are talking to the right guy. We started a second podcast all about this game. I don't quite have a masters in it, but I do have a bachelors.

Ten tips for Dark Souls.

1) If Dark Souls had an alignment, it'd be Lawful Evil. This means that yes, it wants to kill you but it's going to follow the rules in doing so. Use this to your advantage.

2) Keep your shield up, it will save your life, especially when you're entering unknown territory.

3) Co-op is there for a reason. Don't be afraid to use it on a boss that is giving you trouble.

4) Be aware of your surroundings. Go slowly into new situations, be patient.

5) Try to only fight one thing at a time. Using bows and spells to pull enemies is not shameful.

6) Choose your battlefield wisely. There are good places (and BAD places) to fight any given enemy.

7) Killing NPCs is a bad idea unless you know that you won't need them anymore. It's really easy to start fights that you can't finish this way, and they will stay pissed off until they die.

8) Don't cry over lost souls... But also don't carry a huge balance.

9) It's never a waste of souls to upgrade vitality or endurance. Keep your equipment in mind when upgrading. It's more important than levels. Also, never upgrade resistance.

10) Find what works for you. If something doesn't work, try something else.

Gary_Butterfield: Further: there is no best weapon, just the weapon that's right for you. Find a weapon that you like the moveset of, and unless it's the whip, it's a viable option for completing the game. Before too long you'll run into a blacksmith that can upgrade things. Don't upgrade past +2 until you're sure something will work in the long run. When you are sure, upgrade the fuck out of it.

I seriously LOVE helping people with this game. Ask me anything.

Travis: I'm going to be starting this one soonish, so I'm glad for your advice Gary. I'd heard that while it's hard, really hard, it's never cheap.

Gary_Butterfield: Yeah, it's possibly approaching my favorite game of all time status. There really isn't anything else like it. Nothing is random, everything is fair and considered and orderly. It's really an amazing feat.

jdodson: Damn. Now I need to buy this.

Gary_Butterfield: One thing to remember: this isn't God of War. You are NEVER powerful enough to rush into situations and joyfully watch numbers go up as you mash buttons. Every single situation must be considered and approached deliberately, the same way the developers did.

Co-op is mostly for bosses but you can do it before then. Keep in mind that in order to summon someone for co op, you must be human and can thus be invaded for PvP. It's a double edged sword, for sure.

TonyJapMayo: I created a new Bandit earlier today coz I think i stuffed up my Pyromancer build (Stats).. Both still below 20..

Earlier, with my Bandit, I was saving around 7k souls (still early game) coz I dont know whether to upgrade stats or w8 for weapon.. Then I died.. n otw back to the dead place, I accidentally fell when I was walking there.. Lost all the souls =( =( =( then I saved up again, got 6kish, died twice again..

HARD game! Still my 2nd day though.. Getting the hang of it..

Btw, I want to get AOE Spell so I can farm easily.. Any tips? What class is good for AOE? Pyro, Sorc or Cleric?

Thanks ><

Gary_Butterfield: Cleric has a good AoE that you don't get til way late in the game. Pyromancer has lots of small AoEs they can throw.

Classes barely matter. If you start as a bandit, you can up your faith to do cleric spells if you want. I'd say it's probably not worth it. If you have a bunch of souls, spend them! No need to save them up because you can always get more.

For a first character, I'd level strength, vit and endurance and stop whenever any of them gets to 40. Find a strength weapon you like that you can wield, then put points into your pyromancy glove. Knight/fire magic is a really powerful combo.

Where are you?

TonyJapMayo: I stuffed up my bandit too now =( I accidentally killed the merchant when I was talking to him.. Accidentally pressed attack..
Now I cant buy arrow to attack Dragon's tail..

I'm around that red dragon area..

Is the late Cleric skill still far away from my area?

I'm thinking to re-do this again =( Altho I really liked my Bandit.. I'm happy with the stats and My Zweinder is +3 now.. But if I have no merchant then its GG =(

TonyJapMayo: Oh, by the way, How do you aim the bow? I'm using keyboard n mouse, Dont like using controller.. I heard that we click attack button and the Shield button but it didnt work at all.. I've googled this but still cant find the solution >< Please Help..

Gary_Butterfield: Man, I have no idea how to do it with keyboard and mouse. It's widely accepted that it's a bad way to play it. If you can manage, good luck!

Go ahead and start over. You'll be amazed at how quick the areas you've already been go. I can get to where you're at in about 10 minutes now.

The cleric spell is both fairly late in the game and you have to follow an NPCs quest line correctly to get it. I'd say not to count on it during your first play through. You don't really need to farm and if you feel you do, there are places a little later that are good for it without AoE effects. The area right after the dragon has a church that is decent for making farming runs through until you've upgraded enough.

Zwiehander is a great weapon and totally viable all game. If you use it, I wouldn't add an elemental affinity to it and instead pump your strength. You'll be doing amazing damage when you get it to +15.

TonyJapMayo: Yup, I killed the Gargoyle last night.. Hard coz Zweinder is really slow.. Died a lot >< I also finally got the Drake weapon from the dragon tail.. Did it the legit way, with sword, not with bow =)

Ah, btw Minatour was funny, when I was fighting it, before I deal the finishing blow, that bull jumped back, to avoid my sword, but ended up falling down the cliff (suicide) =) hahaha..

vdogmr25: Sounds awesome, but I can't jump in this time, though. One of my hard drives crapped out on me, and it will be a month or two until I can replace it.

Travis: DUDE YES

jdodson: That sucks. No laptop? Total bummer!

Travis: It will run on pretty meager hardware if you have an older backup.

Travis: Also, good news everyone: it looks like we may get some more content:

http://m.pcgamer.com/2013/01/26/terraria-creator-asks-what-you-would-like-to-see-in-a-possible-update

TonyJapMayo: Ah, I wanna join.. Got Terraria recently but when I tried multiplayer, seems that you have to put ip address and I dont know what to write ><

Travis: Tony, you can put in terraria.cheerfulghost.com, but it isn't up yet.

jdodson: Yeah, the server will go live on Monday @ 6PM PST. We will give everyone the password then as well.

TonyJapMayo: Kewl.. Thanks.. Cant wait to try Multiplayer =P

CapnCurry: Awesome! I'm in. :)

Adym: I'm going to try and play this time!

jdodson: Awesome, ill remind everyone when the time comes round.

Hopefully we have a full house on game drop. I plan on doing some major surgery to the area around the spawn point when it starts. Make the area mostly flat and then build ZE house.

WhiteboySlim: I'll be on, although it'll be after 8pm PST. :)

Last time was awesome, so I can't wait to do this again with you guys!

jdodson: Totally. Ill try and save a bit of the world for you WhiteboySlim, I don't know 2 hours later, it might be strip mined and plotted for commercial by then. Maybe a 4th acre cause were friends.

WhiteboySlim: I am so building my base right on top of yours.

jdodson: Then how will it go further up? OK, OK, ill ensure you have space ground up.....

So needy!

Travis: We should seriously consider taking a tally of who is going to be on the server and roping off some sections. And leave a few on either end as well.

TonyJapMayo: So when can we start this multiplayer? Cant wait to try ><

jdodson: @TonyJapMayo, times listed in the post above. Monday at 6pm PST.

jdodson: @panickedthumb we may have to have people "stake out" areas at first, I will for sure, kind of mark my spot with a sign and some blocks. But I will build a house immediately so :D

But yeah, it seems more people are joining as the word gets out so we can do some "city zoning" to ensure people don't run into each other. :D

jdodson: I am thinking first come first serve, we can go out pretty far for the town I just hope its not so far as to be unfortunate to chop down trees :D And people can build down if they so desire :D

Travis: You can always landscape out and expand the forest, so even if tree-chopping is necessary it won't be a bad thing. I wish I had done that in our last world.

Travis: And we can always have more efficient tree farms as well. They can go up, not just over.

This is going to be awesome, since we learned so much with our last server.

jdodson: It will be awesome. :D

jdodson: Hey everyone, we are extending the server time to last for three weeks. Yay, more 2D mining and building!

WhiteboySlim: I don't think we need to worry about running out of space. We are on a large map. As long as people space themselves out a bit we should be good. :)

Plus, if anyone decides to do a large build they can always go underground or build it away from the spawn point.

Tungsten: I'm in. See you there guys.

Gary_Butterfield: This is good news! My favorite walk-to-the-right-punch-stuff game.

Teodor_Spiridon: I find what you mention to be a recurring trend in FF games, and Japanese sci-fi/fantasy in general. The heroes fight to try and stop the disaster from wrecking the world around them, fail, and must now fight to defeat the enemy anyway. Pick your favorite Anime/Video Game to come out Japan in the last 20 years and it generally ends up with the Kingdom/City/World/Secret Base getting badly damaged by the bad guys before the good guys finally get retribution.

jdodson: Interesting. I haven't played a FF game in the last bit so ill take your word for it. Was interested in FF 13 though.

Gary_Butterfield: FF6 is my favorite game in the series, excepting possibly tactics. We did 2 episodes about it, our first 2 parter, and it holds up so so well. http://duckfeed.tv/woff/10

A quick note: FF6 has a segment I think perfectly encapsulates the best that video games have to offer. The scene where you are exploring the world as Celes after the cataclysm is all elements working in concert in the service of mood.

1) Graphically, the world is darker now. Not so much in the overworld but the towns and bleaker.
2) The music is sad, haunting, vaguely dissonant and memorable.
3) And this is the coup, the gameplay backs it up. The overland enemies are weakened and dying. They start the battles poisoned, you often can't even kill the enemies before they die of the ill defined blight.

Perfect segment in a wonderful game.

jdodson: Yeah I agree Gary, good points. Its an interesting transition because the game goes from this epic world scale set of events to only being about being on a small island helping your friend survive. Its a really refreshing interlude to the gettin' back to saving the world thing.

Ill checkout those episodes, thanks!

jdodson: Whoa? Thanks for sharing, starting to think about things now.

Gary_Butterfield: We'll read your stories and play your songs! We just want something substantial about how a piece of music or sound design affected you, contributed to the experience, reinforced the narrative, etc.

jdodson: I think I can do that. Already had a few songs in mind for a bit now, so I just need to write it up.

Adym: Rad, when do you need submissions by?

Gary_Butterfield: Thursday, 5pm PST! Thanks, guys!

Travis: Do you want our stories here or through the contact form? Both? Either?

I have a thought.

Gary_Butterfield: Contact form is easiest for us.

jdodson: Ok submitted my stuff. 4 songs in total. Hard to nail it down to a few.

Gary_Butterfield: Sweet, thanks Jon!

jdodson: No problem Gary, it was fun to do. Hard to break it down to a few and it was strange because I had to wrap my mind around "this isn't songs of the year." :D

Adym: So far I just submitted one... it's a little obscure, but so rad. I'll see if I can think up anymore before today's deadline!

jdodson: I want to know what one, but I also want to hear the episode and be surprised... :D

Adym: It's from a Genesis game! Which just made me think of Sonic the Hedgehog. The music in that game wasn't that memorable, but all the sound effects were! Collecting coins, jumping, busting through things/enemies... for some reasons those sounds make me nostalgic :)

jdodson: When will the episode drop?

Gary_Butterfield: Thursday, listener response episode the following Thursday!

Adym: Sweet :)

Adym: (On a side note, I hate the numbering system between the Japanese versions and the American versions! It confuses me to no end!)

Tungsten: My ring-tone is the battle theme.

I seriously suggested that we name our first born son Cecil.

Adym: That's so rad!

Gary_Butterfield: Just use the japanese numbering! They're almost all worth playing.

I loooooove FF4. Watch Out For Fireballs! is doing a music episode. If you have some thoughts about the music, specific songs, and such, lay'em on us! http://duckfeed.tv/contact/

Adym: But I grew up with the American numbering lol!

Gary_Butterfield: I did too but then I went and found the in between games. If they were all shit, I'd be fine pretending they didn't exist but FF3 and 5 are both pretty good.

jdodson: Like Adym I got confused with the numbering myself, but have come to later accept it as you can't get the right information on Wikipedia without knowing the right game. That and other game sites, so it sort of makes sense to learn it.

And the other games exist and are good, which helps.

@Tungsten that's a good idea for a boys name, if you make it happen ill give you a special trophy "Named Son Cecil" or some such. :D

WhiteboySlim: Adym, if you liked the music from FF4 I suggest you check out http://ff4.ocremix.org/. I'm pretty sure ocremix has been mentioned on this site before, but it's basically a bunch of musicians who love video game music. They made a full album dedicated to FF4. I especially like the track "The Skies Hold No Angels for Us".

jdodson: Thats a great OCRemix album. My only beef is that its not tagged properly and really hard to manage. If you can fix that, its a great set of songs from the game!

Adym: That's sweet, I'll have to check it out!

JaBo: It did look good and I almost picked it up when it was on sale on steam. But I had picked up too many recently and had to pass this one over. I'll probably eventually come back to it, but good to know it is as fun as it appears.

jdodson: Hmmm, should I get this on my phone or Steam?

WhiteboySlim: I spent plenty of time playing PuzzleQuest on my iPod touch. Is it similar to that?

hardeyez: Not really like PuzzleQuest (which I *loved*). PQ had a story that was funny and was a more traditional match-3. 10M is VERY fast paced and you can drag as far as you want left/right or up/down to make matches, so it feels quite different from a traditional match 3 (where you only swap adjacent tiles to match). 10M's rpg elements consist of "Quests" to eventually level up, 3 of which are open at any one time (and are replaced on the next run when you complete them). They are quite straightforward though, e.g. get X points in a run, collect X wood in a run, make X match-5's in a run, make X triple matches in a run, etc. The other rpg elements are upgrading, you open and upgrade several rooms to improve your character/equipment i.e. upgrade magic, sword, etc (I'd list the rest but it's slightly spoilerish).

So you complete quests to level up, get resources to improve your character, and just get better at playing to get better scores for each run.

Oh, and by run, I'm being literal -- your character runs across the top of the screen and encounters random things you have to kill/unlock by doing matches.

The goal is to hit 10 million points in a single run. I'm now up to where I've hit 4.5 million in one run (and have maxed most of the stuff possible, and I think I have just one more level to go)

Not sure what happens then (i.e. if you get to continue or what) there are several steam achievements that would suggest you get to...

jdodson: Seems awesome.

BR: Wasn`t that surgeon simulator game part of this? That game is hilarious and fun.

Adym: I'm very disappointed I missed the Jam! Sounds like it was pretty awesome.

jdodson: Yes it was: http://globalgamejam.org/2013/surgeon-simulator-2013

jdodson: The game has a really interesting concept. I agree with you about the intro videos too, they were effective but could have been a bit better.

The core game looks really strong though. How did the base platforming feel?

As I am watching this I am wondering how similar to Trine this is? At a superficial level it seems Trine-ish.

Cake or death... :D

SignalWarden: The platforming is a little cumbersome. This is definitely not what you'd call a highly polished game, but at the end of the day it's meant to just be fun. It definitely doesn't handle as nicely as Trine. The Co-op makes this game though.

jdodson: Awesome, good to know. Thanks Sig!

BR: WoooHoo! Congratulations Jon, on such a fine site. Just so you know, I have it set as my homepage on my phone :)

jdodson: Thanks @BR I am glad it works out in that way. I also have CG as a little icon on my phone home screen too :D

SignalWarden: You did a good job and I'm glad to be here. If you need any help with it moving forward don't hesitate to ask.

Travis: Glad to have been a part of it. Thanks for bringing us together.

WhiteboySlim: I'm really impressed how far the site has come in just one year. It's been a fun year, and it'll only get better!

jdodson: Thanks guys, it has been fun hanging out with you all.

@SignalWarden, ill email you about it. Love to hear your ideas.

jdodson: As an aside, this trophy is being retired today:

http://cheerfulghost.com/trophies/59/awarded

:D

WhiteboySlim: It was really fun doing the interview!

Also, when I say "this comic comes to mind" that was suppose to be a link to this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/26. My bad. :)

Adym: Fun interview!

jdodson: @WhiteboySlim, I added the comic link to the interview.

JaBo: You never played FF8 did you? It's more under appreciated than 9 imo. 8 is among my favs for the FF series.

WhiteboySlim: Never got around to 8. I might look into getting it used for the PSOne since I can play those on my PS3. :)

jdodson: Yeah, can play PS1 games but not PS2. Uhhh, sure ok. Wondering what the PS4 will be compatable with?

Antonio_Morales: I need one if you don't mind steam Id is amorales2005

jdodson: Sent!

BR: I also have plenty to give away.

Travis: If you run out, I got 5!

jdodson: Nice, we should keep people playing :D

JaBo: This game is my obsession...I also have a bunch of invites.

Travis: Surprisingly cute and not as exploitative as I thought it would be.

jdodson: Yeah it was. Kind of has some heart and whereas I didn't really respond well to "Jimmy Olson" its a fun set of shows.

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