jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Even More Quake - The Game, The Technology, The Ports, The Legacy

Now that the NightDive / MachineGames Quake remaster is out I thought it was worth sharing this Digital Foundry retrospective video. This came out earlier in May so it doesn’t cover the recent NightDive / MachineGames version but goes deep on Quake, it’s history and various ports.

Watch Spoonee Complete This Delightful Paladin% FFIV Run in 1:05:48

During the Flame Fatales 2021 Games Done Quick charity speedruns this year I watched a new run I hadn't heard of for Final Fantasy IV called Paladin%. Basically it's a speedrun all the way to when Cecil becomes a Paladin making a much quicker FFIV speedrun. Not only does this run feature a classic Square RPG but also a runner I hadn't seen before, Spoone who is an absolute delight to watch.

Titanfall 2 Is One of the Best First Person Solo Games I've Played In Some Time!

Titanfall 2 dropped in 2016 to a very crowded shooter landscape and such as it was, somewhat under-performed expectations. That said the franchise went on to launch APEX Legends which is one of the biggest free to play Battle Royale games around and as such when I picked up an XBox Series X I decided to give Titanfall 2 a go. I played a bit of APEX Legends and it's a great Battle Royale game but I'm not a huge player of those kinds of games beyond the occasional Fortnite match and after hearing incredible things from one of my friends about Titanfall 2 I picked it up on sale for a handful of bucks digitally.

Titanfall 2 Is Incredible In 120FPS

Titanfall 2 is one of those games that when Microsoft gave developers the ability to take advantage of the XBox Series X hardware Respawn allowed game to run in 4K at 120FPS. I've heard some of my friends say they don't care about graphics and for the most part I agree with the sentiment. When you're into something fun be it a movie or game the graphics aren't always the most important thing. That said, playing a game at 120FPS is really an incredible thing that gives a game a little extra. If you are getting a console or PC soon capable of this, I'd hold out picking up Titanfall 2 until you can experience it as it's quite special.

The Empire VS The Rebels with Robot Suits

It's a battle tested story. Evil Empire wants to destroy it all and you are part of the scrappy rebels that will stop at nothing to save it. (A planet maybe, I don't entirely remember) Titanfall 2 uses these tropes to the max and the way they blend them makes the gameplay seamless. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I followed everything going on with the story but it serves the gameplay and incredibly lush visuals which is all I could really ask for.

Titanfall 2 clocks in at about 6-8 hours for the main campaign which isn't very long and thank Euclid for that. I know lots of gamers are looking for an epic 5,000 hour game but I'm really not anymore. Time is a premium and frankly, I'm not sure what kind of game could really hold my attention that long anyway. Titanfall 2 doesn't feel long winded and by the time I was wondering when the story would wrap up, it did. The final boss fight didn't really feel like a final boss fight which I really appreciated. It wasn't particularly challenging, which again, seemed good to me. The final boss fight here seemed a bit more like the ending to Kill Bill 2, except with Robot Suits and more shooting and yelling. I suppose in retrospect they aren't a lot a like but I liked it wasn't hard.

Titanfall 3 Please

With the success of the infinite money machine of APEX Legends I hope a new Titanfall single player game is coming but it might not be a big priority for EA. It seems that some rumors have surfaced that EA has given Respawn the greenlight for Titanfall 3 but I'm not sure what form this game might take and a huge game in early discussions is a long way from a potential launch.

Spider-Man & Doctor Strange Change Reality Into Something Fun In The First No Way Home Trailer!

I’ve been curious how the story of Spider-Man No Way Home would work with Doctor Strange and the multi-verse. After the first trailer dropped I’m no longer wondering how it will work I just want to watch the movie already.

Spider-Man & Doctor Strange will both try and alter reality this winter ONLY in theaters on December 17th.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 08/24/2021 at 02:32am

Ok, so, Dr Strange was acting super strange here...

The spell he cast was way too dangerous. Is he incompetent, or is he too full of himself?

Or is he an evil variant of some kind...

OR IS HE MEPHISTO??? Lol, hear me out. Why was the Sanctum frozen? Could it be that the place would burn up in Mephisto's presence? Mephisto made a deal with Peter in the comics (I think it was about Peter's wife? I don't remember). Perhaps this is Peter, unknowingly, making a deal with the devil?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/24/2021 at 04:29am

Looks good. I think Agnes is behind strange.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/24/2021 at 05:47am

Finally!!! I think the green grenade (I'm sure that was what it was) confirms Green Goblin. That laugh sounds like the previous Green Goblin (the dad, not Harry, the son) from the Toby Maguire Spider-verse, which wouldn't be a surprise. We obviously see Doc Oc and we've been told that Electro is appearing, too.

I'm not sure about the theories Adam and Will_Ball suggested. I'm not sure why Strange would cast that spell either, which does seem a bit suspicious. It is odd that the Sanctum was frozen, maybe we'll get the answer to that, too.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/24/2021 at 04:48pm

I agree that Dr Strange does act rather…. STRANGE…. 🥁

That said, I am not sure they’d do the same thing they did in the last Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man? It’s possible he may be a more evil variant but that seems very similar to the last Spider-Man too.

Either way, should be a fun ride.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/24/2021 at 04:53pm

Here are some of my own theories. Buckle up.

Ok so what I think is happening here is that Doctor Strange got a note from Disney chair Alan Horn. The memo was essentially “DOC STRANGE PLEASE MESS UP TIME SUCH THAT WE CAN SELL MORE TOYS AND TIE IN MORE TV SHOWS” and I bet Doctor Strange said no. Then Alan Horn made the writers of No Way Home FREEZE OUT the Sanctum because we all know that Disney NEEDS A MCU Christmas movie and to make Doctor Strange cold such that he changes the timeline to be warm.

Ok so what I think happens next is that Green Goblin comes to the MCU from the Gameboy game but his bombs are green instead of the dot matrix pixel grey. Also, Toby Maguire is obviously in this because if you freeze on the last frame of the trailer where they advertise PS5 controllers in the upper right you can clearly see a white pixel. Since Toby McGuire is white this is clearly one pixel of him as Spider-Man.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/24/2021 at 04:54pm

🔥

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/24/2021 at 07:14pm

LOL Well I did find out that the movie does appear to be at least similar to one of the Spider-Man comics in which Mephisto helps him by making everyone forget who Spider-Man is. This came from watching the New Rockstars reaction to the trailer. Maybe Marvel is just teasing us with Mephisto, maybe he'll show up eventually. Also, how does Doc Oc recognize this Peter Parker? I'm also wondering why Peter was on top of a car and then activates his suit. Wasn't he trying to hide his identity or did he just not care and knew he was heading in to fight someone? I'm wondering what's up w/ the train scene, too, as it seems Spidey is fighting Doctor Strange, or rather Doctor Strange seems to be trying to kill Spidey.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/24/2021 at 09:15pm

> Also, how does Doc Oc recognize this Peter Parker?

He’s wearing a Spider-Man suit?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/24/2021 at 09:15pm

> I'm wondering what's up w/ the train scene, too, as it seems Spidey is fighting Doctor Strange, or rather Doctor Strange seems to be trying to kill Spidey.

CIVIL WAR 2!

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/24/2021 at 09:44pm

Slashfilm had a good speculation that when Doctor Strange casts the spell, he also forgets who spider-man is. It would explain why in the trailer he seems to be fighting spider-man.

Then again, maybe spider-man wants out of the MCU so he can start his own universe and it angers Doctor Strange, so he fights him.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/24/2021 at 10:17pm

>He’s wearing a Spider-Man suit?

Yeah, but just because he's wearing a Spidey suit (and white I should add), doesn't mean he's Peter Parker.

Will_Ball that totally makes sense! When I watched the New Rockstars reaction, they didn't mention it, but seeing it for the second time, I thought, wouldn't Doctor Strange also forget him? So, that makes sense, though I'm kind of not sure why they'd still fight. Maybe they're not fighting, or if they are then there's definitely a reason.

I'm surprised they didn't show Electro, though I heard there was lightning in the original leaked trailer. I'm surprised that instead of Electro they teased Green Goblin. I also think it's interesting to see that Doctor Strange seems to have a major role in this. So, it seems Sony is adopting more of the MCU than I expected. I thought Doctor Strange was just going to make a brief cameo, but it looks like that assumption was wrong.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/25/2021 at 12:00am

Ok, I need to point out an error on my part. There was lightning in the trailer, I didn't quite notice or pay attention to it until I watched the New Rockstars trailer breakdown. It appears there's some dust clouds, too, which might mean the return of the Sand Man. The Lizard appears to be there, too, though it's difficult to see him. While the actors have denied it, the fact that we're seeing Spider-Man villains from different universes kind of makes one wonder why couldn't other Spider-Mans appear as well? I have so many questions about this movie now, because of this trailer that I'm probably looking forward to it even more now, because I want to find out the answers.

As much as I'd prefer not to, I may just have to go to the theater to see these movies. Shang-Chi comes out next Friday (not this week, but next week).

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/26/2021 at 02:03am

But will we see dancing Toby from Spider-Man 3?

Travis Admin wrote on 08/26/2021 at 03:51am

Boycot unless dancing Toby shows

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/26/2021 at 06:43am

It seems a lot of people didn't like that Spider-Man movie, I feel like one of the very few who did. Granted, I haven't seen it in many years and so my memories of it have faded, with few exceptions.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/26/2021 at 03:22pm

I think it was fine, but had a lot of cringey moments that pulled it down. You could tell Sony was interfering with Raimi’s vision for it so they could force venom into it

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/28/2021 at 01:17am

I don’t remember 3 all that much. I remember I liked it when it came out.

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Get a Sugar High From This Candy Box 2 Speedrun

Speedrunner frozenflygone snacks through this unique Candy Box 2 run in a sweet 20:51 time. I’d never considered a clicker game would make for an interesting speedrun but this run delivers. If you haven’t heard of Candy Box 2 and want to take your hand at the clicking action we have a version you can play right now on Cheerful Ghost too.

So watch the run and click the candy fun

https://cheerfulghost.com/games/candybox2

Yum!

Quake Returns With a Proper Remastered Version

Quake is back with a proper remastered version by Night Dive Studios & all new campaign by MachineGames! If you have Quake on Steam on the Bethesda launcher your version will automatically upgrade. I have Quake on the Bethesda launcher and was happy to see the game update and I checked it out and it looks and feels fantastic. There is a new feature in this version of Quake where you can download Quake add-ons and right now Quake 64 is the only thing you can download. If how iD Software has treated Doom is an indicator I imagine they will add more Quake mods over time that will make it easy for fans to experience even more of this classic.

This new version of Quake is in 4K on all systems that can support and also has widescreen support, enhanced character models dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field and includes each of the official Quake expansion packs: “The Scourge of Armagon” and “Dissolution of Eternity,” as well as two expansions developed by the award-winning team at MachineGames: “Dimension of the Past,” and the all-new “Dimension of the Machine.”

https://bethesda.net/en/article/40MBmNhJV3lzyV8c0IOIx3/quake-returns-with-an-enhanced-re-release-for-modern-platforms-available-now

“ Updated for modern platforms, this version of Quake features up to 4K resolution and widescreen support on compatible platforms, enhanced models, dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field and more, bringing the shooter and both its expansions to a new generation of players.

With the power of Add-ons, players will have tons of free levels to play, with the re-release receiving post-launch support for the best community-made content.”

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:11am

I saw Quake under the section of "What's New" under "Home" in Steam and wondered why, thanks to you now I know. I've played Quake kind of recently, so I don't know that I'll play it again soon. I saw a video of it and it looks nice, though finding a comparison video isn't turning out as well as I'd hoped. I've found other videos comparing games that got remastered with their original graphics side by side and that makes the contrast really stand out.

My only question is if the expansion packs have their original soundtrack. The good news about this (which you already know) is that you can download those soundtracks and add them to the game quite easily. I'm pretty sure you have a post here about that.

Thanks for sharing this news!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:20am

I got Quake for free with the Bethesda launcher last Quakecon so it was fun to see it update to Quake remastered today. The TLDR; on the update is that, out of the box, it does everything you have to hack to do that I had in my post. It selects the proper settings by default, adds the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack and everything. It's also coming out on Switch, Xbox, Playstation and the like in a very worthy edition that requires much less fuss to play.

It also comes with all the expansions and an entirely new campaign which I think I'll check out.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:42am

Sweet! Whoa a new campaign?! That might be worth checking out!

Speaking of remasters....I haven't reported it yet, I thought I'd wait until it's officially announced, but I recently read that supposedly we're getting some GTA remasters. I think it's GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. It'd be really nice if they'd remaster the copies some of us already have, instead of making us pay extra for it. Although, paying extra for a remaster makes sense anyway. So, it's cool that this Quake remaster is free for those of us that already own the game. I think I also got Quake for free the same way you did, I could be wrong though.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/20/2021 at 04:12pm

Limited Run Games will be releasing physical versions of quake for the ps4 and switch. They go on sale next week and will be available for about a month.

NIN has the quake vinyl back up for sale too: https://store.nin.com/products/quake-vinyl

Travis Admin wrote on 08/26/2021 at 04:10am

I have been playing this new Quake and it’s really good. For a quick no-effort way to play, it’s definitely the best I’ve played. I’m sure there are some third party engines that can do it better but the entire absence of effort for this, plus cross platform multiplayer and achievements… it’s pretty great. I’ve seen that the new expansions are the same format as the old ones so they can be played in third-party engines which is awesome.

And yeah Will, I didn’t even realize that vinyl was rare. The Walmart in the town I work has had it for months now, and just the other day I decided to price check it and saw that it was basically out of stock everywhere and going for a lot more than retail, so I nabbed it. Glad that others will get the shot too

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/27/2021 at 02:27am

> I have been playing this new Quake and it’s really good. For a quick no-effort way to play, it’s definitely the best I’ve played. I’m sure there are some third party engines that can do it better but the entire absence of effort for this, plus cross platform multiplayer and achievements… it’s pretty great. I’ve seen that the new expansions are the same format as the old ones so they can be played in third-party engines which is awesome.

Agreed. Quakespasm is very good but this seems to make more choices I appreciate by default a bit better (no pixel smoothing by default). They also upres the menu graphics so it isn't so small and Night Dive did a graphical "glow up" that makes things a hint nicer.

https://twitter.com/pripyatbeast/status/1428476843162705923

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Watch The Legend of Zelda Consternation Randomizer

Randomizers in the Speedrunning community are ROM hacks that breathe life into certain old games where a random experience can create a very thrilling run. Recently Games Done Quick showed off a run by Skybilz in The Legend of Zelda Consternation Randomizer which takes the original NES game and mixes up the items with a few other fun bits. In the run you can watch above, Skybilz plays through the Zelda randomizer twice and there are some really fun turns in level 9. Randomizers really flex a Speedrunners game knowledge and require a very deep focus on all the games items, levels and what's required to get to "go mode" which is having all the items such that you can complete the run.

Magic The Gathering Arena Is Now On Mobile And Well Worth Playing!

Magic The Gathering is a classic collectable card game that continues to be the most popular of it's kind. Even during COVID it's more popular than ever and in 2019 Wizards of the Coast launched Magic The Gathering Arena to pitch the game in a new way to compete digitally with other digital card games such as Hearthstone and Gwent. I've tried earlier incarnations of Magic the Gathering in a digital form and found them to be severely lacking in that the user experience made the game a chore to play. Magic the Gathering Arena takes the Magic ruleset and streamlines the experience to make the game more accessible. I'm not an Magic expert so I'm not aware if any rules were changed in the digital form but it feels like the whole Magic experience.

Magic the Gathering Arena is free to play and as such I think folks should be wary that it might fall into the trapping of more modern free to play predatory game leanings. For instance, as someone that played Hearthstone in it's original form all the way through and then left due to the game becoming more focused on needing to buy packs, Magic Arena feels more than fair if you want to play for free. Right away Magic drops you into a set of tutorial modes that familiarize you with the base game such that you can earn a pretty solid deck for each color. After that you can play quests to earn gold to buy packs and unlock dual color decks that offer you even more ways to play. Right now I have 7 decks they have given me for free and seem to be able to unlock more as I play the game. I imagine you could construct even more decks from the free cards you get too, but as a Magic newb I'm not sure i'd have great results with that yet.

If you want to checkout Magic Arena it recently came to mobile on iOS, Android and you can also play it on PC and Mac on the Epic Game Store. Not only can you unlock a hefty amount of free decks but right now you can use the code PLAYDnD to unlock 3 new packs from the Dungeons & Dragons meets Magic in the Forgotten Realms expansion.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena-welcome

Spritual Warfare is The Most Under Rated Wisdom Tree NES Game

Recently Hungry Goriya reviewed the classic Wisdom Tree NES game Spiritual Warfare. Spiritual Warfare is a Zelda clone where a Christian Warrior takes on the evil spirits in their community and eventually goes to Hell and kills the Devil. I grew up Christian and my parents wanted me to be exposed to games with a more Christian focus so they bought me Spiritual Warfare in thick of the classic NES era. I played this game constantly as a kid so much so that I had every secret memorized and could be the game start to finish in a handful of hours. Spiritual Warfare is one of the better Zelda clones on the NES and where it's not revolutionary the items and zones are fairly memorable.

The Angry Video Game Nerd dedicated an episode to Wisdom Tree games and I felt his light focus on Spiritual Warfare did the game a dis-service. Is the game ham-fisted with it's Christian message and how you approach evil in your community? Oh yeah! Is it kind of funny and incredible at the same time? Very much. I'd say Spiritual Warfare exudes some of the best qualities likened to some of the best "bad films" in that it's earnestly doing it's thing while nearly satire in itself. I'm not approaching my genuine love of this game in any ironic way, I really enjoy this game and embrace it for it's very earnest pitch and also enjoy thinking about it's message from a more modern perspective.

Will The Steam Deck Be Valve’s Next Big Thing?

Steam Deck is Valve’s latest hardware announcement that looks to put a PC in everyone’s hands. Similar to the Switch, Valve is building a handheld that runs Steam + Linux and looks to allow users the ability to play their Steam library and install whatever else they want including Windows. Steam Deck comes in three SKU’s and is available for pre-order right now with a $5 initial deposit.

I’m not quite sure if I’ll buy one in the end, but I’ve already pre-ordered the 3rd option (faster storage and anti-glare screen). For quite some time I’ve been very interested in Valve consoles and for someone to make a big play in the PC space with a handheld and this seems like it might be it.

Looks like Steam Deck will start shipping later in the year and I’m curious what everyone thinks about it?

https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

Travis Admin wrote on 07/20/2021 at 06:37pm

The work on Proton makes a lot of sense now. And they say they’re working to have every game on Steam playable in Linux via Proton by the launch. If they can pull that off, I will ditch Windows.

I’m not sure I have a use case for this, I want it because “ooh new toy” but I don’t know that I’d really use it. I’m just glad it exists because the Proton work has made Linux gaming so much better in a very short time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/20/2021 at 10:03pm

Huh. You know, if Proton does do that maybe I will too. I really keep Windows around for gaming and general web surfing. Heading back to a Linux Desktop would be killer.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/21/2021 at 06:16pm

Wait and see for me. Valve doesn't have the history of supporting their hardware for long.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 07/22/2021 at 12:50am

I recognize the game on the screen in that screenshot! It's Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, which I'm playing now and think I'm about to finish, so I may have my review written and posted soon.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:29am

I loved Fallen Order, despite it being sluggish on my launch xbox one.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:31am

One thing that's impressed me about this is the use of NVMe, which I think is great! I haven't experienced NVME vs. SSD yet, but I expect I'll be able to do so next month. I think I can imagine a day when HDDs are phased out and SSDs become more widely used, and I think the newest generation of consoles shows that. But, I can also imagine the day when NVME is used instead. From my understanding, this will greatly improve loading times and performance. From there, it's kind of difficult to imagine what would come next. Maybe they some how find a way to improve on NVME technology. (Yes, I see these are listed as NVMe SSDs and I've separated the two, because in my mind they're different, though my knowledge of the tech is a bit limited as I've begun to learn about both technologies in the last two years.)

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:38am

I had a problem with two cinematics, but I learned that people with RTX 30 series GPUs and the game on an SSD have had the same experience. Other than that, I've only seen sluggishness maybe twice so far and I think I'm near the end of the game. Hopefully since they're showing it, it means that the system is powerful enough to play it, which will be impressive. What they should do is put it to the real test, play Ark: Survival Evolved on it. LOL!!!

Travis Admin wrote on 07/22/2021 at 02:57pm

Yeah my new PC has an nvme SSD and the difference is really that it isn’t slowed down by SATA standards as far as I can tell. They can keep making the drives themselves faster but they’re limited by SATA cable throughput. The nvme drive just slots right into the motherboard

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 07/22/2021 at 07:57pm

Awesome that you have one and yeah, I know that they go straight into the mobo. I had to look at a list of compatible ones for mine and I finally found one I'm planning to buy soon. I'm planning to clone my SATA SSD to it, but then I won't know what to do with m SATA SSD. I have an old HDD in there for files like documents. I wish my Alienware's 2TB HDD didn't die, that was a lot of storage. My SSD and the NVMe I'm getting are both 1TB, while the old HDD I'm using is 320GB.

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jdodson1

2638 Posts

Even More Quake - The Game, The Technology, The Ports, The Legacy

Watch Spoonee Complete This Delightful Paladin% FFIV Run in 1:05:48

Titanfall 2 Is One of the Best First Person Solo Games I've Played In Some Time!

Spider-Man & Doctor Strange Change Reality Into Something Fun In The First No Way Home Trailer!

Get a Sugar High From This Candy Box 2 Speedrun

Quake Returns With a Proper Remastered Version

Watch The Legend of Zelda Consternation Randomizer

Magic The Gathering Arena Is Now On Mobile And Well Worth Playing!

Spritual Warfare is The Most Under Rated Wisdom Tree NES Game

Will The Steam Deck Be Valve’s Next Big Thing?

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