jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Watch Someone Play The Whole Half-Life 2 Beta

Quite a few years ago, before Half-Life 2 launched, someone hacked into Valve's systems and stole the source code for Half-Life 2 and leaked a copy online. Gabe took to the Internet and asked for help in tracking down those responsible and later with the help of the FBI the hacker was caught. I recently watched a video that shows off the Half-Life 2 beta and it's a complete run through of the game at that point from start to finish. As you can see the story is a bit different as is the gameplay and art. It's interesting to see Half-Life 2 in such an early form compared to what it was when it launched(the final version being much better in my opinion).

http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Half-Life_2_Beta

Morgl the Oracle Hero Comes To Hearthstone If You Can Get a Friend To Play

Today Blizzard dropped a new Hearthstone update that added a cool new Shaman hero, Morgl The Oracle. Morgl is available to earn in game if you refer a friend to Hearthsone and they make it to level 20. After you earn Morgl and have more friends sign up you can get a free pack for four more friends.

It's a cool new system and the new hero looks really fun so if you have been thinking about trying Hearthstone hit the link below and you will get an extra free pack when you sign up!

https://battle.net/recruit/7LRFP7JLGW?blzcmp=raf-hs&s=HS&m=web

You can read the full set of patch notes below:

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/20177158/hearthstone-update-july-12-2016-7-12-2016

Try These Two Cheap Hearthstone Warrior Decks

If you're like me you play Hearthstone but are free to play or don't spend much therefore you don't have every card. This means you need to work within a constrained gold(what you earn from dailies) and dust budget. This isn't too bad, but at times can seem like you don't have options to play with fun decks but recently I've found two decks that are really good and can be created fairly easily. The first decknis called "Disneyland Warrior" and is featured in the Kripparian video above. It's essentially a Zoo deck that only contains Warrior commons. Like many Zoo decks, this decks works becase you can keep pumping out cheap minions on curve to win. It's one of the only decks that runs Gurubashi Berserker which can get huge if you play things right.

You can watch the video above for the decklist and see the one on Hearthpwn below.

http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/560481-disneyland-warrior
http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/624-gurubashi-berserker

The second deck is Pirate Warrior, a deck i've mentioned before but want to highlight again because it's not hard to make and swashbuckling fun. You can swap out Reckless Rocketeer for Leeroy Jekins and Sylvanis Windrunner or another Arathi Weaponsmith for Captain Greenskin. The pirate synergy makes for some crazy turns and huge weapons that love to go face. Hearthstone streamer Trump has a series on him creating a free to play account and trying to make Legendary with a Pirate deck very similar to this one so if you are also interested in how to make the deck work and do it free to play, you can start the series with the YouTube link below and continue on until you learn the basics of the deck and how to build it.

http://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone/legendary-pirate-warrior-aggro-rush-standard-deck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aJOBlClZXg

Have fun!

Watch 64 Floppy Drives Play The Star Wars Main Theme

The Floppotron is an impressive creation built from hacked floppy drives and other old PC hardware to create musical tones and then made to work together to recreate the Star Wars main theme.

Can General Solo get these people a medal?

"How does it work? The principle is simple. Every device with an electric motor is able to generate a sound. Scanners and floppy drives use stepper motors to move the head with sensors which scans the image or performs read/write operations on a magnetic disk. The sound generated by a motor depends on driving speed. The higher the frequency, the greater the pitch. Hard disks use a magnet and a coil to tilt the head. When voltage is supplied for long enough, the head speeds up and hits the bound making the „drum hit” sound. The disk head coil can also be used as a speaker to play tones or even music, but… that would be too easy and too obvious.

Every column of 8 floppy drives is connected to one 8-channel controller built on ATMega16 microcontroller. One controller acts as one voice with envelope simulation – the higher the volume, the more drives are playing. This allows to make ADSR-like shape and simulate a musical instrument, like a piano (exponential decay) or string instrument (sine, vibrato). "

We Finally Have A Good Picture Of What Happened To StarCraft: Ghost

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/0/0d/SC-G_Logo1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080508203154

Polygon has a really great article that covers the history of the infamous Blizzard game StarCraft: Ghost. Ghost was a game that was aimed at consoles and featured stealth gameplay starring the Ghost character Nova. I remember hearing quite a big of buzz about the game and as with many upcoming Blizzard games, I was really interested in playing it. Eventually Blizzard stopped talking about the game entirely and then we found out the game wasn't in active development but never properly cancelled. Up until now we didn't know much as to why the game was scrapped but Polygon has a very well written article that covers the story of Ghost from conception to it changing hands to an entirely new team.

"The story of StarCraft: Ghost is a complicated one that spans two development studios, a buyout by Blizzard and declarations that, even though no work was being done on the game, it was never technically canceled. Polygon recently spoke with nine developers involved to look back at the project.

"StarCraft: Ghost was in the wrong place at the wrong time," says James Goddard, a fighting game veteran who worked on Ghost for years.
"

http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/5/11819438/starcraft-ghost-what-went-wrong

Mighty No. 9 Stands Trial In The Latest Episode Of Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Recently Mighty No. 9 launched to very mixed reviews. Some Kickstarter backers didn't get the correct game codes for the platforms they pledged to and many more experienced some unfortunate game glitches at launch. In one of his latest videos, Cygnus Destroyer runs Mighty No. 9 through the Innocent and Proven Guilty courtroom and I found his verdict fair. As a fan of the original Mega Man series I had high hopes for Mighty No. 9 but I had mixed feelings about picking it up until I saw this video.

Starbound Finally Leaves Orbit To 1.0 July 22nd!

http://playstarbound.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/sb_releasedate_facebook.png

Chucklefish is finally releasing Starbound 1.0 coming July 22nd. After making a huge early access splash, Chucklefish hit a few snags with some pretty large delays and as such garnered some community backlash. I am happy to see the game finally hit this milestone and as such am really eager to play it in it's final form.

"In case you missed it, Starbound is coming out of Early Access on 22 July, 2016.

After ~5 years, the game we set out to make finally exists, and to say that it all feels a bit surreal would be a massive understatement!

While Starbound will be finished in two weeks, this isn’t the end. We will continue to update and support Starbound for as long as we can. We’ve got loads of cool ideas we couldn’t fit into 1.0 but hope to put into future updates.

Thanks again for all your support over the years! You’ve stuck with us, and it means so much."

Travis Admin wrote on 07/09/2016 at 05:19am

I almost can't believe it! I have been waiting it out, but I'm stoked about playing the gold release.

I do wonder about those features that didn't quite make 1.0. I wonder what's in store.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/09/2016 at 06:11am

I thought of reporting that as I found that news earlier. :)

hardeyez wrote on 07/09/2016 at 07:56am

I played through so many versions of it that it feels more like Starbound 13.0.... but there hasn't been a new stable in a loooong time, so I'm looking forward to it again

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/10/2016 at 03:41am

I played it quite a bit at launch and then checked it out one or two times after that. It always got better but it didn't seem to hit the level of greatness I expected it to. Since then lots has happened to the base game and I am really looking forward to checking it out and seeing how the base game works with the new story mode and quests.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/10/2016 at 04:32am

I've played it a few times. The first time wasn't too impressive as there wasn't much to do, but it got better. I ran into some bugs, too. Now I'm itching to play again. It's very tempting, but I'm afraid if I do then I won't be as excited about 1.0 by the time the 22nd rolls around. Recently, I decided to check up on Starbound's news and that's when I found out about the 1.0 date. Initially my favorite race to play was the Avians, but then I played some Novakids and enjoyed them, too. I'm interested in finding out what's changed since I last played. I imagine, at least, there's a lot more quests now. I don't know if I played it after they introduced pets though.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/21/2016 at 10:44pm

Finally an update! "Starbound will launch tomorrow at 10am PST / 6pm GMT"
http://playstarbound.com/starbound-1-0-steam-workshop/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/22/2016 at 03:55pm

Wow. It's launching today. I hope it's really fun.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/22/2016 at 06:14pm

Launched! I played for a bit, it definitely seems different right from the start. There never was a story or an intro mission when I played before. A lot has changed since I last played. I watched the trailer, too, and it looks like a whole lot has been added. I'm glad the wait is over. There's probably more to come in the years ahead, too.

Travis Admin wrote on 07/22/2016 at 07:41pm

This will be the mod that makes the game infinitely better:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn_f2DGUsAABnvx.jpg:large

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/24/2016 at 04:46am

https://youtu.be/KnsiZOJjfUg

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Today I Learned Diablo Was Released On The Original Playstation

After Diablo became a huge success on PC, Blizzard partnered with EA to port it to the original Playstation. This bit of retro knowledge wasn't something I was aware of until I saw RetroSnow's recent review of Playstation Diablo. From his review, the port seems to be very well done if not a bit dark in certain levels. It's nice to see Diablo III make a strong comeback on modern consoles and if you have a PS3, PS4, 360 or XBone I seriously recommend you download the Diablo III demo to see how well it plays.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 07/05/2016 at 12:47am

I have Diablo III for PS4, and I almost hate to say it (almost), but I think I prefer it there than on PC. Of course, Diablo is much better suited for console play than some of their other games, but even then, they did an amazing job with the console builds (for the PS4, at least).

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/05/2016 at 01:04am

I'm relatively a newb when it comes to Diablo, I didn't start playing until the third game. That said, I was surprised to hear familiar music and see Tristram in this video. I really enjoyed Diablo III, which makes it a tempting game to get on a console. I'm glad that it does well on there and that Scrypt amazingly says he thinks he prefers it on the PS4 instead of the PC. Wow!

Travis Admin wrote on 07/05/2016 at 03:05pm

Yeah they use some of the same themes throughout the series. The Tristram you see in this game is the destroyed Tristram thats a little outside of New Tristram in Diablo III. I *think* some events at the end of the first Diablo destroyed it, but it may have been something that happens off-screen between the first and second games. I honestly don't remember.

Or alternatively: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8rFnefnKhA

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/05/2016 at 04:34pm

Hahaha

scrypt Supporter wrote on 07/06/2016 at 03:13am

That's awesome :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/06/2016 at 04:47am

That's awesome. Dorkly makes some really cool videos.

hardeyez wrote on 07/09/2016 at 08:01am

Yeah, the playstation version was pretty fun, but not quite as good as the pc... for Diablo 3, I really like the console version especially the local multiplayer and the dodge roll mechanic

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/10/2016 at 04:10am

Yeah, up until loot 2.0 and Reaper of Souls on PC I thought the console game was __WAY__ better but then the PC got most of the updates exception the dodge roll. That said, the console port is pretty darn good and the ability to couch co-op is pretty awesome.

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The History Of Doom

I recently found a video that catalogs the history of Doom and also briefly discusses iD Software. I've posted videos before talking about iD Software but this is a bit different in that it mostly covers Doom, it's origins and the most recent Doom 2016 installment. Not a huge amount of new information here but if you don't know the story of Doom, this is a very good way to get it.

Summer Games Done Quick Speedrunning Charity Starts On July 3rd

https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HkF2Oe1-t9cXBzT7-xOQBJqoBHY=/0x103:1015x674/1280x720/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48535861/Screen_Shot_2016-01-10_at_11.31.05_AM.0.0.png

Speedrunning charity stream Summer Games Done Quick will be blasting through the gaming stream-o-sphere starting July 3rd @ 9.30am and wrapping up on the 9th. As with every year, the game speedrunning lineup is a buffet of classic retro titles and many hot new modern titles such as Goonies II, Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening DX, BioShock, Dishonored, Hexen and Fallout 4.

I've created an Event you can join to add to you calendar to remind you of the event or just queue it up on Twitch starting July 3rd. As with every year there will be some great speedruns of this event and i'll share the ones I really enjoy. Let me know if you plan on watching and what games you are going to tune in for!

Summer Games Done Quick is supporting the Doctors Without Borders Charity and it's a very special one and well worth you considering making a donation during the event!

"Every year, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical care to millions of people caught in crises in more than 60 countries around the world. MSF provides assistance when catastrophic events—such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, or natural disasters—overwhelm local health systems. MSF also assists people who face discrimination or neglect from their local health systems or when populations are otherwise excluded from health care."

https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule
https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick

jdodson1

2755 Posts

Watch Someone Play The Whole Half-Life 2 Beta

Morgl the Oracle Hero Comes To Hearthstone If You Can Get a Friend To Play

Try These Two Cheap Hearthstone Warrior Decks

Watch 64 Floppy Drives Play The Star Wars Main Theme

We Finally Have A Good Picture Of What Happened To StarCraft: Ghost

Mighty No. 9 Stands Trial In The Latest Episode Of Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Starbound Finally Leaves Orbit To 1.0 July 22nd!

Today I Learned Diablo Was Released On The Original Playstation

The History Of Doom

Summer Games Done Quick Speedrunning Charity Starts On July 3rd