Cheerful Ghost Blog

Cheerful Ghost Events Reveal

I am very happy to be able to bring you the totally new and completely awesome new Cheerful Ghost Events! Cheerful Ghost Events is a system designed to make it easy to schedule games with your friends by:

Magically translating all events to your local time. Even if your friends live in Hong Kong and you live in Portland the event will show up translated for your local time.

Some online games allow 30 people to join, some are 1 on 1. We let you specify how many people can join your events and also show you how many spots are open for events you want to join.

After you create or join an event you can easily add it to your Smartphone or Google Calendar for a reminder.... Read All

Site Development: Comment Sharing & Gaming Events

comment sharing

After Travis posted about the new XBox One I commented in that post and realized I wanted to share the comment on Twitter. I didn't want to make up a post and then share that, I just wanted to share the comment in Travis post. So this evening I added a share button to the comments that allow anyone to get a URL that links back to any post comment. This lets you share any comment on the site you find useful. I have read some really epic comments on Slashdot and Reddit I have linked to and this allows you to do the same. But don't take my word for it, head into an active comment stream and check it out.

new event system - coming soon

For quite some time... Read All comment sharing

After Travis posted about the new XBox One I commented in that post and realized I wanted to share the comment on Twitter. I didn't want to make up a post and then share that, I just wanted to share the comment in Travis post. So this evening I added a share button to the comments that allow anyone to get a URL that links back to any post comment. This lets you share any comment on the site you find useful. I have read some really epic comments on Slashdot and Reddit I have linked to and this allows you to do the same. But don't take my word for it, head into an active comment stream and check it out.

new event system - coming soon

For quite some time people have told me they want it to be easier to play games with the Cheerful Ghost community. In the past, someone had to create a post and then people commented if they wanted to play. When the time came to play, sometimes people forgot or didn't join in because of timezone strangeness. Needless to say, it works for some but its not awesome.

For the last month I have been working on an awesome new system for Cheerful Ghost to schedule gaming events with the community. The new Event section will allow anyone on the site to join and create events easily on the site.

If you want to schedule a session of Left 4 Dead on Steam Saturday @ 1pm you will easily be able to do that. Since we all live all over the world the new event system will automagically translate the event times for you. So if I create an event in Portland with a start time of 1PM, when Travis looks at the event in New York he will see 4PM. It doesn't matter where you live, Cheerful Ghost will automagically translate the event time for you to your timezone.

Left 4 Dead 2 only supports 4 players so the new event system has a mechanism to hard limit the amount of people that can join if you say it should.

Events in many ways act like posts and as such after you create your event you can comment in it and share it easily on Twitter, Facebook & Google+.

I am pretty busy and as such use my calendar to schedule my life. Once you join an event you can easily add it to your Smartphone, Desktop or Google Calendar. This is a really hot feature and I just added it this evening. Its so magic seeing the event get added to your iPhone calendar :D

I am still in deep development on this but its already working well. I plan on doing a soft beta launch very soon and plan on releasing a teaser video in the next few days so keep a look out for the new goodness.

May the 4th Be With You!

Happy LIFE DAY... oh wait, er.

Happy Star Wars day everyone! I know its fairly cliche to say, but I really do have an unironic love for Star Wars. I hope that on this, one of the most sacred days in Geekdom you can do something Star Warsy and awesome.

Some ideas(not ordered for practicality):

Go to Antartica with a friend. One of you should partially freeze and then the other one can stuff the other one in a Polar Bear for warmth. This may be dangerous, so consult a wildlife specialist before you begin.

Step 1. Build a very large space station that looks like a Moon from a distance. Step 2. Put it in space. Step 3. Anger people such that they want to destroy it. In... Read All

Coming Soon

What could this be?

We shall see.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/28/2013 at 09:01pm

I would buy hundreds of those and put them on anything magnetic.

BR Supporter wrote on 04/28/2013 at 10:11pm

I don't know why but I thought those were the little sugar cookies with the pictures on them at first...

Timogorgon Member wrote on 04/28/2013 at 11:29pm

Gimmie!

Travis Admin wrote on 04/29/2013 at 12:24am

BR, you're a genius. Cheerful Ghost bake sale, tomorrow at BR's house!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/29/2013 at 12:55am

Bake sale! Haha, awesome.

BR Supporter wrote on 04/29/2013 at 01:45am

Let's do it! It'll be a puzzle too since you'll have to find my house. Maybe I'll make a riddle...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/29/2013 at 01:50am

CLUE 1. ITS IN THE US!

CLUE 2. ITS A HOUSE.

END OF CLUES!

BR Supporter wrote on 04/29/2013 at 03:23am

CLUE 3: IT'S ABOVE GROUND!

figured that one is important :D

jwhitmire wrote on 04/29/2013 at 11:43pm

I have seen the future and it is exciting. It is also not in the past. Neither is it made of moldy potatoes.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/30/2013 at 12:40am

jwhitmire, I don't understand what you're saying, but I like the cut of your jib.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Portland OMSI After Dark

Last night I went to OMSI After Dark. The After Dark events up the age restriction to 21 and serve some local beer and wine as well as some local delicatessen selections. They also have an area dedicated to local the local Portland gaming scene.

Last nights event featured a wall of retro games sponsored by Ground Kontrol and the upcoming Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Also showing was Guardian Games as well as the Portland Indie Game Squad. I was able to play a few awesome Indie Games from local PDX'ers such as Clobbr, Major Magnet and PewPewPewPewPewPewPewPewPew.

Clobbr

The video featured above are peoples reactions to playing Clobbr. TOTAL SELF PROMOTION WARNING I am the... Read All

Your Game List 2.0

The original idea of Cheerful Ghost was simply a way to share your list of games with the world. As the idea evolved it became a place to tie all conversations about games together. It also started becoming more of an awesome game community and it evolved to what it is today.

As time has passed your game list has grown but I haven't done much to make your game list more exciting or something you might go back to curate. I have just launched the new GAME LIST 2.0 BETA and I seriously recommend you check it out.

new stuff:

Each of your games has a flow. Wishlist -> Own -> Backlog -> Playing -> Played -> Completed. Update right on the list and it magically... Read All

Blue_Element wrote on 04/19/2013 at 06:54pm

Awesome update! But... I still can't remove games from my list. :'(

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/19/2013 at 07:01pm

That's still coming and on the list :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/19/2013 at 10:50pm

Yay! :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/19/2013 at 11:03pm

Yep. I want a few games off my list too, so yeah its coming.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:00am

Can you add "Starseed Pilgrim" for Mac and PC to the game archive list thing?

Blue_Element wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:00am

I just got it today on Steam, and it is SO fun!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/20/2013 at 06:45am

Awesome, added: http://cheerfulghost.com/game/24254

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:20pm

Ok @Blue_Element: you can now delete games in your list that you haven't posted about. Wee, now I need to do some pruning myself :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/21/2013 at 12:37am

YAY!!! Thanks! :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/21/2013 at 01:07am

Yeah dude, no problem!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/22/2013 at 02:32am

Ok @Blue_Element you can now turn off game list auto importing. I added that back in just for you :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:09am

Thanks! :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:14am

Wait, how do I do that exactly?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:16am

Click notifications in upper right / Edit Profile. The toggle is above the Steam, XBox and PSN boxes.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Improvements to Our Game Database

One task on my list for this month was to add in new Game Platforms to Cheerful Ghost in Linux, Mac and more. I also added the Platform sections so you can get a breakdown on the most popular games for those platforms.

Since the site's launch we imported our games list from various un-awesome sources. It required a ton of manual cleaning and pruning of bad games in the list. We also had to add a __TON__ of games by hand. So I retired the old game importing routines and started afresh. I also decided to ditch our old game list sources and go primary so we now import direct from Steam, Android Store, iOS Store and the Wii U. As new consoles are released ill add support... Read All

Giving an Interview: A Few Steps To Rad

Since launching the site I realize the stuff I do might seem a bit out of reach to some. Over the last bit I have improved as a write and I am getting better at sharing content that people want to read. One thing that I started doing over the course of the site was to send interviews to people in gaming I respected. I was really nervous giving the first couple, but after that it got easier.

If you have been considering sending out a gaming related interview, I recommend you do so and as such want to help the process for you. I have a few thoughts that might things a bit easier so you can publish your first interview.

whom to talk to?

First off you might have an idea of... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 04/10/2013 at 01:38pm

You've done more of these than I have, but one thing I would recommend is-- know what you want to ask before you ask for an interview. For example, I'd absolutely love to talk to Todd Howard, but I have no clue what I'd actually ask him in an interview that he hasn't already answered a thousand times.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/10/2013 at 01:47pm

jdodson: Bbbb buuut why are you SO Awesome? Might sound great in your head but... Yeah I agree Travis, start with an idea for sure! :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/10/2013 at 07:19pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpHVOSYlOv0

The proper way to interview.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/10/2013 at 09:10pm

Adym, I knew what that was going to be before clicking on it. I was never a fan of Chris Farley really, but those interviews were incredible.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/10/2013 at 09:24pm

@Travis +1

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

What Are You Playing Right Now?

Just curious what everyone is playing right now?

What I have been playing over the last few days:

Spaceward Ho on my iPhone

Age of Empires Online

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/09/2013 at 07:33am

In the past week or so it's been a little of this and that, with primary focus on:

- Bioshock Infinite (currently in 2nd play through)
- Vanquish
- Tomb Raider (just getting started)

I've recently started keeping a game journal, in an attempt to better analyze game design structure. As such, I've been playing a lot of games more for work than just entertainment, so I won't count those. Interesting challenge, though!

jaelte wrote on 04/09/2013 at 07:34am

I've been back on Skyrim lately. I'd stopped playing when other games came out and distracted me. Anyway, I've played it 135 hours so far and I don't think I'm anywhere close to beating the game, but I'm still enjoying it for the time being.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/09/2013 at 01:21pm

Awesome gif :)

I'm revisiting Dishonored. It came out at the wrong time and got overshadowed by Borderlands 2.

BR Supporter wrote on 04/09/2013 at 02:35pm

Recently I've been into World of tanks and war thunder. I am looking for something new to play though.

krcDeuce Supporter wrote on 04/09/2013 at 06:32pm

I downloaded the Starcraft: Wings of Liberty demo a few weeks ago, but I've been doing more game development than I have been game playing.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/09/2013 at 07:55pm

I too have been busy (with @krcDeuce) with development more than playing lately. But I did take an evening last week to play Age of Empires online, and I've gone through Solar 2 a few times.

Oh, and I've been killing random free time with Eufloria, which I definitely recommend as a very unique RTS (on my Android phone)

AutoCat1000 wrote on 04/09/2013 at 11:17pm

i play MINECRAFT, Garry's mod, and a tiny little bit of nothing.

AutoCat1000 wrote on 04/09/2013 at 11:18pm

and i little bit of programming

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 04/10/2013 at 06:15pm

I'm still slogging through my Bioshock Infinite 1999 play through. I am getting my wife to try Tomb Raider though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/10/2013 at 07:17pm

Awesome. How is 1999 mode compared to normal?

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 04/10/2013 at 10:30pm

merciless. A lot of hiding and cheap tactics on my part. and expensive. 100 bucks per continue? ouch.

Still, a worthy challenge, and a lot of fun.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2013 at 01:27am

Awesome. Good that the game is fun on the second play though!

BR Supporter wrote on 04/11/2013 at 02:49am

Just picked up prison architect on steam and I got to say, having a lot of fun with it. Even though its in alpha still. Great game with great potential.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/11/2013 at 03:36am

I've been playing: a lot of Realm of the Mad God, Minecraft (specifically this fun CTF server), Overgrowth, and Black Ops 2 Zombie Mode. All of which games that you can play virtually forever, which in my opinion are the best types of games!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2013 at 03:35pm

Prison Architect looks great, ill have to check that out!

Game I want to be playing right now: Starbound :D

BR Supporter wrote on 04/11/2013 at 04:15pm

Little tip for those if you that may have or will be getting prison architect: don't block your delivery zone from the street. I had a truck load of prisoners that just drove right past my prison. Not sure where they went but I'm pretty sure they aren't in a prison which can't be safe considering they were all in for assault or burglary.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2013 at 05:14pm

Hahaha, good point, thanks BR! Maybe they made a detour to Taco Bell or something...

BR Supporter wrote on 04/11/2013 at 06:41pm

Its been about two days since they left. Maybe they were really hungry...

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/11/2013 at 06:47pm

A run for the border?

BR Supporter wrote on 04/11/2013 at 07:06pm

I did have 2 prisoners who escaped...its actually kinda funny. I got 8 prisoners and they all tried to escape soon as they were put into cells. So now I have 4 unconscious prisoners who try to escape every time they wake up.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2013 at 08:11pm

Do you have to keep them happy so they don't riot or try to escape or something? :D

BR Supporter wrote on 04/11/2013 at 08:57pm

I'm not sure...a bunch more just escaped a few seconds ago. They have happiness but they never seem to be happy, even though I give them everything.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2013 at 09:16pm

WHY ARE YOU NO HAPPY IN PRISON I GIVE U TV AND FOODS?

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Enhanced Game Platform Support

Today I launched the first pass at "ULTRA DELUXE SUPER-ENHANCED PLATFORM SUPPORT HD!" Which is to say, Game Platforms on Cheerful Ghost are now first class citizens.

Click around on the site and you will not see platforms as clickable tag links. Clicking a Platform tag will take you to the new Platform pages. Each Platform has its own page and a few bits of interesting data on it like a Wikipedia reference link as well as the most popular games the site has in reference to it.

Some platforms have a ton of games and some are very new and have only a few. Ill be working over the next bit to flesh out these pages even more with a description and other bits.

... Read All

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:34am

Is there a way to set a game to a certain platform? There are a few games on my list that are for Mac or PS3 but don't give me the option to change it to that.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:37am

Yeah, hit me up with the games and ill add them as options!

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:48am

"AwesomeNauts" and "Portal 2" on PC are also for Mac. There are a lot of other games on PC that are for Mac as well, so I'll tell you if I find anymore.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:49am

Also, there's a cool 2D pixelated online multiplayer game called "King Arthur's Gold" (KAG) that's for PC and Mac, and I was wondering if you could add it to the game list. :)

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:56am

Realm of the Mad God is also for Mac since it's a browser game, which got me thinking it would be cool if there was a platform option for "Browser" games. But technically the platform for browser games is actually just "Computers". So could you just add the "Mac" platform option to Realm of the Mad God? Haha.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:56am

And I also realized I still can't delete games from my games list. :(

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 12:58am

Wow, I think this is the most I've commented on a post, like ever. :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/03/2013 at 01:11am

Added that stuff.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 01:13am

Yay! Thanks! :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/03/2013 at 01:17am

Also, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" is only listed for xbox, but it's for PC and PS3 too. And Crysis 3 is only listed for xbox as well.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/03/2013 at 01:56am

Added.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/03/2013 at 02:56am

PS King Arthur's Gold is awesome. Thanks for letting me know about it.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.