jdodson1

Joined 01/23/2012
  Admin

I'm an Engineer and built the video game community Cheerful Ghost and text based mini-MMO Tale of the White Wyvern.

2757 Posts

The Gameboy Castlevania The Adventure is on Trial At the IUPG Court!
I haven't shared a Cygnus Destroyer video in quite some time and with the release of his latest Innocent Until Proven Guilty video covering Castlevania: The Adventure now seemed like a great time. Castlevania: The Adventure is in the new Castlevania Collection and as many pick that up they might wonder how the Gameboy game holds up? Weeeeell I don't want to spoil the surprise but let's say the intense lag the game suffers from doesn't help. I'd think Gameboy games should be given a bit of a reprieve given how rudimentary the hardware was technically the Gameboy is capable of 59.73 hz or damn near 60 fps.

"Castlevania: The Adventure is widely considered to be one of the worst entries in the legendary Konami franchise, but in this video game court, it's INNOCENT Until Proven Guilty!"

Your Journey is at an End - The D23 Rise of Skywalker Special Look
At this years Disney D23 Expo Star Wars fans were treated to a special D23 panel on Rise of Skywalker along with a new trailer that just dropped. The trailer features a look back at all the Skywalker saga Star Wars films and some all new Rise of Skywalker footage. I urge you to watch it now because in the paragraph i'll be talking trailer spoilers.

Looks like Rey is featured heavily in this trailer and she looks to be a lightsaber wielding badass. Also. The Emperor has some new voice work and what sounds like a taste of Darth Vaders iconic breathing sound. The end of the trailer has had fans guessing what it means as Rey snaps a double-bladed red lightsaber out and looks very ... pro dark side. It's possible this is a vision caused by the Emperor of her dark side ability like we saw in Empire with Luke and the force cave. Or... it's something else entirely.

Rey will get into her dark side attire in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker which comes out on December 20th.

Bounty Hunting Is a Complicated Profession: The Mandelorian Trailer Is Out!
The trailer for the new Star Wars live action show The Mandelorian dropped and it looks better than I imagined. The Mandelorian picks up after the events of Return of the Jedi and if the impaled helmets of Imperial Storm Troopers are an indication, it doesn't look like where the show takes place in is big a fan of the Empire. Disney has been pretty mum about what the show is about and the Mandelorian himself but it seems that he might have a connection to Jango and Boba Fett as the official description mentions them by name.

Tie this up with the news that Ewan McGregor is coming back to play Obi-Wan in another show for Disney+. It seems much of the plans Lucasfilm had for films they are now focusing on Disney+ shows and I think I prefer that. If these shows pickup the "Darth Maul trilogy" arc that we've talked about in Cheerful Ghost Radio and are good Lucasfilm can make as many as they want.

"After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. “The Mandalorian” is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic."

https://io9.gizmodo.com/hello-there-the-obi-wan-kenobi-show-is-officially-happ-1837475975

Anodyne 2: Return to Dust Is Out Now!
I've been eagerly anticipating the launch of Anodyne 2 as I adored the original game. Anodyne 2 is out now and is getting very solid reviews. Anodyne 2 mixes up the early Playstation / N64 era graphics with the 2D sprite feel of the original Anodyne for a very original take on the genre. That said, with development going strong on Tale of the White Wyvern when am I going to have time to play this? Realistically not for quite some time, but if anyone does play this let me know what you think. You know... vicarious living... it's a thing when you're busy.

"Nano Dust infects the islanders of New Theland, distorting their emotions and desires. You play as Nova, a Nano Cleaner who must explore the island, seeking out the sick and shrinking inside their bodies to suction up the Dust.

Anodyne 2: Return to Dust combines the thrilling scale and cinematic storytelling of 3D games with the tight design and easy-to-pick-up satisfaction of 2D Zelda-like adventures. With art that re-imagines the PS1 and N64 era, explore 3D cities, valleys, and wastelands then shrink into the varied 2D mindscapes of characters, from snowy, aurora-lit valleys to perilous volcanic construction sites!"

The Shovel Knight: Dungeon Duels Boardgame is on Kickstarter!
Back this on Kickstarter!
Shovel Knight is a Cheerful Ghost fan favorite indie game that keeps getting better with each update. The final King of Cards update is coming and before that ... the Shovel Knight board game? Looks like Yacht Club is partnering with Panda Cult Games to release an all new Shovel Knight board game that is heavily inspired by the video game. There are two Kickstarter funding options at $40 for the game with cardboard stand-ups and the $70 version with the full 3D plastic figure prints. What's included in box is pretty impressive at both price points and there is a cool stretch goal at 80k to have the bosses be playable characters. The game is on the way to get funded and I like how simple the backing levels and stretch goals are.

If you want more Shovel Knight and want the most analog way available to play, this is it.

"It is time to sharpen thy shovel once again! Shovel Knight makes his auspicious return to Kickstarter in Shovel Knight: Dungeon Duels! Based on the hugely successful crowdfunded video game and made in close cooperation with Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight: Dungeon Duels is a competitive side-scrolling dungeon crawler for 1-4 players. Players compete as different colored Shovel Knights to shovel out justice in spades against the evil Order of No Quarter all while trying to grab the most treasure to prove that they are the one true Shovel Knight!"

LGR Reviews Empire Earth: 500,000 Years of Real-Time Strategy
LGR is one of the many YouTubers I subscribe to that makes a fun mix of old hardware review videos and video game reviews. It's become one of the coolest channels I watch and I don't share a lot of it because it's not all video game related. That said, I think i'm going to start sharing more of them as Cheerful Ghost is a pretty retro friendly community and I think we all love looking back on crazy old hardware like Zip-drives and Tandy computers.

In one of LGR's more recent reviews he takes a peek back at Empire Earth, a classic RTS game that feels at home with Age of Empires and Rise of Nations.

"Review and retrospective on the RTS game Empire Earth from 2001! Half a million years of human history (and possible future) is covered in this PC gaming classic from Rick Goodman, designer of Age of Empires."

Digital Foundry Reviews The Newly Released Classic Doom Collection Ports
A few days ago I wrote about iD Software releasing the original Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 3 on mobile, Switch, XBox 360 and Playstation 4 during this years Quakecon. Some of the games launched with a few issues that Bethesda has fixed(like requiring you to create a Bethesda.net account) but how do these ports run on modern systems and stack up to the originals? Digital Foundry are some of the best reviewers around and run all the new ports through the paces in this video that's a must watch if you are considering playing these classic games again.

Kung-Fu Heroes & Vice: Project Doom Coming to Nintendo Online August 21st!
Nintendo is adding two new classic NES titles to it's Nintendo Online service this month called Kung-Fu Heroes & Vice: Project Doom. These are really unique games to add to the service as they are not top tier NES games but help fill in the Nintendo Online collection to be more than just a library of greatest hits. I'm excited to get these added to the service because as someone that hasn't played either, this seems like a great way to jump in.

The State of The Wyvern Inaugural Address
https://i.imgur.com/N7ZhpGw.png
Greetings, Adventurers and thank you for reading the inaugural edition of The State of the Wyvern. The State of the Wyvern is a periodical that will drop every few weeks that snapshots the state of Tale of the White Wyvern, highlight certain games and player rankings as well as talk about recent changes to the games and our plans. We're also open to hearing what you think about the game as it moves through time so feel free to chip in your thoughts.

Current Player Leaderboards

Tale of the White Wyvern has a few in-game places where you can see how players are currently ranked. The first is the current player rankings you can view by (L)ist Players -> (S)ee all adventurers in this realm. This leaderboard lists all the players and ranks them by experience and level. The current top five players at the time I write this are Tiberius, Maverick, Bina Marie, Rather Dashing and Golok. The second in-game leaderboard I want to highlight is the Player VS Player leaderboards you can find at (S)lay other players -> (P)layer VS Player Leaderboards. The top five PvP players at the time of writing this are Tiberius with 18 kills, Rather Dashing, Friday and Caz tied for 10 and Maverick with 9!

PvP Leaderboard screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/9iEJ8Mt.png

Currently Tiberius seems to lead the pack, will this change between now and the next State of the Wyvern? Only Tarbreth knows for sure.

Thoughts on Wyvern Launch

First thanks for checking out the game at launch, it's fun to have a party people show up for and enjoy! Secondly we found a few bugs at launch so thanks for reporting those. If you see anything that seems out of place or something you think might be a bug, feel free to reach out. You can private message me or Travis on Cheerful Ghost or any other platform that makes sense for you. I recommend privately messaging us because some bugs could potentially enable others to gain an advantage we didn't intend so consider what kind of issue you found and how to best report it to us (publicly in a comment vs privately).

Player VS Player Clarification & Changes

One thing that surprised me at launch was how much people embraced PvP at launch. For me, it wasn't something I thought would be as popular but from your actions at launch, the first couple days were a murder festival. I love that's how the game started for people and as the game has progressed it seems to have evened out a bit but still remains a huge focus for many of you. That said, I want to clarify how these mechanics work and talk about some changes we've made to make the game be fair to everyone.

If there is any part of the game that isn't immediately obvious to everyone how it works we will clarify it in the in-game instructions. You can find the Instructions in each Tale of the White Wyvern game menu. We recently update the Instructions to clarify how PvP works but i'll put it here too for easy reference.

How PvP Works

Each day you get a certain amount of Player VS Player fights, and you can choose to fight others in the Fields or Inn. The rules for PvP are as follows:

* You can only attack players your level or higher.
* You can only attack players that are not currently playing the game.

If you leave the game, people can find you and attack you in the Fields. If you want some basic protection, rent a room at the Inn. Renting a room at the Inn room provides you with the following protections:

* Players have to pay to call you out in the Inn. This currently costs LEVEL * 1,600 Gold.
* Players staying in the Inn are granted first strike in the fight.

PvP Changes Since Launch

The old rules allowed a player to attack someone one level below them or higher. This meant that a level 5 could attack a level 4 player. We are changing this because with stat boosts at higher levels there are few cases where a lower level player could win. Players can now only attack players at their current level or higher.

Wyvern Changelog

Moving forward any in-game changes will be wrapped up in the State of the Wyvern posts and added to our running in-game changelog. A changelog is a list of updates to a game that make it easy for you to understand what has happened since game launch and you can find it here on the site through the game menu though (W)yvern Credits & Changelog -> (V)iew development changelog. Again, we will update this changelog alongside our in-game changes and will message these out during the State of the Wyvern updates.

https://thewhitewyvern.com/game/1/changelog

The Future of Tale of the White Wyvern

It seems we've built a game that the Cheerful Ghost community enjoys and we plan on supporting it for quite some time. Our immediate plans are to fix up a few in-game systems and build a longer term roadmap where we add awesome new stuff to the game. Once this is more formalized we'll let you know what we're thinking and for the time being we're really interested in hearing from you. What did you think of the launch and the current state of the game and is there anything you'd love to see added?

As always thanks for reading this and i'll see you all in-game!

Also, make sure that the Original Hype Campaign is still in effect and you can partake in it to earn some awesome in-game rewards for free! The Original Hype Campaign ends in October so act now!

https://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/posts/4166/the-original-hype-launch-campaign-get-your-free-wyvern-dlc

Watch The Whole QuakeCon 2019 Keynote
I know this is already "aged news" but Quakecon is something fun I watch every year and wanted to share this news drop with y'all.

Apologies, I've been busy with the Tale of the White Wyvern and haven't had a whole lot of extra time to write as much as I'd like.

That all said, if you are a first person shooter fan or just a fan of iD Software and Bethesda you need to clickity clack that play button and let the entirely of the Quakecon keynote envelop your eye holes.

Noteworthy Things

* The Rage 2 free update train is still rolling and out now. If you thought Rage 2 was easy apparently they added a new mode that should make you cry tears of pain.
* Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 3 launched on iOS, Android and Switch! Apparently they required you to be online but because of a fan outcry this is going to change if it hasn't already.
* Doom Eternal is still coming and looks like more of the same Doom 2016 you love with more crazy run and jump mechanics that makes me thing they are leaning into it being a kind-of jump platformer. It also features a cool multiplayer mode where you can play as the Doom Slayer or Demons that looks much more strategic than I thought it would be.

Anything stand out to your that I missed? You interested in playing anything coming out? I really want to play Wolfenstein Youngblood but I'm pretty singly focused on Tale of the White Wyvern at the moment.