Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

The New Hearthstone Brawl Teases New Grand Tournament Expansion

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Blizzard is keeping the hype train real as the days march closer to to it's August release of The Grand Tournament Expansion. After a large game patch tomorrow that will knock the game out of commission for a couple hours we will be getting an all new Tavern Brawl highlighting some new cards in the upcoming expansion allowing us to try them out pre-expansion launch.

"Wednesday’s Grand Tournament Match features a thrilling Brawl between two potent forces. One, led by that mysterious master of magic, Medivh, will be packed with minions eager to heed your call to battle and power up with Inspire. Standing against them will be the mistress of the hunt, Alleria, along with... Read All

Portland TriMet Light Rail Map in The Style of Mario 3

Artist Dave Delisle has recreated the Portland Trimet light rail lines in the style of Super Mario Bros. 3. I find this particularly cool as I live in Portland and ride the MAX lines when I head into work. Dave has also created version of metro lines in other cities such as Washington DC Metro, Vancouver Skytrain, Pittsburgh LRT, Toronto TTC, Calgary C-Train & the Atlanta Marta.

http://www.imagekind.com/Portland-Trimet-MAX-Map-_art?IMID=a23c5985-1fe3-41e8-9b9f-c0ff73c52203

8-bit Video Takes Us Back To The Happy World of District 9

CineFix has created some amazing 8-bit videos of popular films imaged in the graphic styling of NES and Super NES era games. The latest installment recreates Wikus van de Merwe's journey from District 9 to full prawn. If you have no idea what that means then quickly watch District 9 then come back and watch this 8-bit recreation.

It's Official. Blizzard Has Money Fights With Gold Bars Over Success Of Hearthstone

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According to SuperData Research Hearthstone is doing so well it is leading the pack in sales to the tune of $20 million per month! That's an impressive number considering Hearthstone started out on a small team at Blizzard. Hat tip to them though, the game is incredible and I love opening those free packs and grinding quests for gold. I've known Hearthstone has been successful for Blizzard but we've never known how successful till now.

With Bethesda and EA getting into the digital collectable card game genre it's a good time for people that want to try out different approaches to the genre.

... Read All

Fallout Shelter Comes To Android - Build Your Indoor Utopia While You Survive The Apocalypse

Bethesda has finally brought Fallout Shelter to Android after debuting it on iOS a few months ago. iOS users will also see a Fallout Shelter update in version 1.1. What's in the new version? Check below.

What's New in Version 1.1

To ensure your experience is as enjoyable and hassle-free as possible, Vault-Tec engineers have implemented some exiting new features!
Overseers should be on the lookout for new threats to their Vault Dwellers. Some Vaults have reported attacks by burrowing Mole Rats and enraged Deathclaws - likely attracted by the sound of new construction.
Vault-Tec has partnered with General Atomics International in order to offer Overseers their very own... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 08/14/2015 at 03:26am

Any word on iCloud support? It's kinda rough that if you buy a bunch of lunch boxes and your phone crashes you've just thrown money away.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/14/2015 at 03:36am

Not that I saw. That situation sounds horrible!

Travis Admin wrote on 08/14/2015 at 03:38am

Yeah it does! It hasn't happened to me but I've seen a few unhappy people.

jaelte wrote on 08/14/2015 at 04:05am

Aaaand, I've started the download.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/14/2015 at 04:25am

Cool. Let me know how it plays.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 08/14/2015 at 03:42pm

Oh no... I already spend too much time on my phone!

JaBo wrote on 08/14/2015 at 06:58pm

My phone time can't go up... already play hearthstone as much as I can lol, don't see how trying this hurts me =]

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/17/2015 at 10:33pm

Dropping by just to say that Deathclaws suck. My vault dwellers make short work of the Raiders, but the Deathclaws tear my poor dwellers to pieces! I've started stockpiling extra med packs just to keep people alive.

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Terraria Mac & Linux Finally Released

After a time in beta Terraria officially comes to Mac & Linux to much joy. I've been playing it on my Mac and Fedora Linux machine and it works incredibly well. The Steam cross saves really make the experience really seamless. I consider Terraria a national treasure so it's good to see that anyone can play it on any of the major PC platforms.

"Mac and Linux Terrarians, your day has finally arrived!

We here at Re-Logic are thrilled to announce that we are officially launching the Mac & Linux versions of Terraria today! This has been a very long time in coming - and we know how very much the Community has desired these new Terraria platforms, so we are eagerly... Read All

Goodbye Ubuntu - My New Gaming Linux Distro Is Fedora 22

I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary Linux Desktop since it's first version, Warty Warthog. Fun fact, Travis and I first met as moderators for the Ubuntu Forums website and have been friends since. In my opinion, Ubuntu has been the best Desktop Linux for years and recently have I felt that position change. I don't want to get into a Linux distro war debate but needless to say, over time, the changes Ubuntu has been making to it's system have annoyed me. I don't particularly enjoy the Desktop they are creating or the direction they are headed. That said, I applaud them for all the hard work and as a many years loyal Ubuntu fan, leave with a lot of respect for... Read All I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary Linux Desktop since it's first version, Warty Warthog. Fun fact, Travis and I first met as moderators for the Ubuntu Forums website and have been friends since. In my opinion, Ubuntu has been the best Desktop Linux for years and recently have I felt that position change. I don't want to get into a Linux distro war debate but needless to say, over time, the changes Ubuntu has been making to it's system have annoyed me. I don't particularly enjoy the Desktop they are creating or the direction they are headed. That said, I applaud them for all the hard work and as a many years loyal Ubuntu fan, leave with a lot of respect for the project.

I've been looking around for a new Linux to fill my needs as there are so many to choose from. Mint Linux aims to fix much of the strange direction Ubuntu is going, Arch seems to be a very modern take on a DIY distro for power users and Fedora Linux has always been something i've wanted to try more of. After acquiring a Fedora 22 USB install drive from OSCon this year, I decided to give it a spin in a Virtual Machine and was very happy with the results. So much so that over the next week I re-imaged my PC with a dual boot of Fedora 22 and Windows 7.

One common complaint I hear from folks is that Fedora and other Red Hat RPM based distros suffer due to package management. This was very true a few years ago, but in my experience this has all but evaporated. Want to install Handbrake, Steam or Banshee? Install the RPM Fusion repository and use the graphical program to do it. I did have to drop to the console to do a few things, but I find that to be par for the course on any Linux distro I install. I cataloged all my steps in a Github gist you can read below.

https://gist.github.com/jdodson/d2caa9de20ebfdb59ce6

Those steps will get you all you need to get Nvidia drivers & Steam running as well as tweak your fonts to look a bit nicer than the default settings. I really enjoy the Gnome 3 Desktop and I have also included steps in that gist to make it work more like a traditional Mac-like Desktop with dock and menu bar. Gnome 3 is a great Desktop it just has a few odd defaults and after you turn them off I works better(I think).

Video game performance on Fedora 22 is about what I've come to expect from Linux, which is to say very good but not quite as great as Windows for some games. Fedora 22 packages a good version of Wine so I got Battle.net to run alongside Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. Occasionally Hearthstone lags a bit but it doesn't make matches unplayable. Over the years Wine has gotten great at emulating Windows software and seeing how well it works now, gives me hope for future non native Linux gaming.

If you are looking for a nice way to start out on Desktop Linux Fedora 22 ain't a bad way to go. You could always try it out in a Virtual Machine and if things go well install it on a spare PC. That said, some of what you love in Fedora comes with SteamOS and over time I imagine that may become my primary Linux Desktop. Until then, Red Hat's bleeding edge community distro is a strong option and I have really enjoyed using it.

http://i.imgur.com/fRNMVSO.jpg

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 02:37am

What distro did I start out w/? I think Red Hat, that was back in the late 90's. I've tried a few others in that time, but Ubuntu was one of my recent favorites (circa 2005). However, I later didn't like how the UI changed.

Fedora was the distro used in a class I took at my local community college. The class was working towards Linux+ certification, which I didn't attempt, but aced the class.

It's been a long time since I've dual-booted Linux. I do it sometimes, but don't end up playing around with it very long.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:13pm

Not SteamOS?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:29pm

@Will I think that I might try it a bit later. For now, Fedora is full featured and has a path for it being a very good Desktop OS. SteamOS isn't officially released yet, but when it is I will check it out for sure.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/10/2015 at 10:08pm

SteamOS is still really rough around the edges, and I don't think will ever be the best idea for a desktop. If you get SteamOS and install all the stuff in it to make it a desktop, then a quicker way would be to just install Debian and then put Steam on it. The big customizations coming from SteamOS are just simplifying ways to get your drivers up-to-date, providing a way to immediately boot into Big Picture mode, and a few hooks from Steam into the OS so you can customize things straight from Steam. All of these, aside from customizing the OS from Steam, are done easily in a desktop Linux distro. And Valve has said that, while you can install anything you want, the bare-bare-barebones desktop environment is there basically so you can more easily tweak things.

In fact, even Valve thinks using it as a desktop OS is a bad idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWaG9hOvNn0&feature=youtu.be&t=7m23s

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/12/2015 at 12:40am

Thanks for the info, Jon. I'm Linux illiterate, so it's always nice to read trusted recommendations. Will definitely read up on Fedora.

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Have Enough New Games To Last Years? Why Not Play An Old One Instead.

Most of us have games to last us for years. If I just played games to completion on Steam I have yet to start, i'd be playing for the next 10 bazillion years. It's a great time to be a gamer but so many choices can be a bit overwhelming. Recently i've been enjoying the Cheerful Ghost Borderlands 2 event. We get together every Monday and play through the game a couple hours at a time. If you pay any attention to the site here you also know my current standby is Hearthstone. Currently I am saving up gold for the new Grand Tournament expansion, so when it drops I can buy as many packs as I can. Currently I have enough gold saved for 20 packs and I hope to get more gold... Read All Most of us have games to last us for years. If I just played games to completion on Steam I have yet to start, i'd be playing for the next 10 bazillion years. It's a great time to be a gamer but so many choices can be a bit overwhelming. Recently i've been enjoying the Cheerful Ghost Borderlands 2 event. We get together every Monday and play through the game a couple hours at a time. If you pay any attention to the site here you also know my current standby is Hearthstone. Currently I am saving up gold for the new Grand Tournament expansion, so when it drops I can buy as many packs as I can. Currently I have enough gold saved for 20 packs and I hope to get more gold to bump that ever upward. We have the current Cheerful Ghost Terraria server going strong and I wish I could play it more. Terraria requires a huge time commitment, something I can't do right now due to juggling a plethora of life things. That said, earlier this year I completed the original Legend of Zelda and that experience left me wanting more Zelda so a few days afterward I started up The Ocarina of Time. I've played this game before always getting near the end before, for whatever reason, I don't complete it. This time may be different but it's fun to just play it again for however long that lasts.

When I come back to an old classic like the original Legend of Zelda or Ocarina of Time I try and ask myself if the game still holds up? In the case of Ocarina of Time the game holds up as well as it did in 1998 with a few exceptions. As gaming has advanced since then I noticed the frameyness and the control scheme isn't quite as polished as a modern Zelda. With that what Nintendo pulled off on the Nintendo 64 is admirable and once I started the game it's graphical low resolution and occasional play control jitters didn't bother me at all.

I am not going to get into a full review of Ocarina of Time as it's been discussed elsewhere in better detail. I will say that as to my last session I just opened up Jabu Jabu and have yet to complete that level. I am not very far into the game as I can only sit down to play it about one session per week but every time I do the games adventure brings me right back to "dat 90's magic." I have a Nintendo 64 and the Ocarina of Time cart but for this playthrough I have opted to play it over Mupen 64 on my Nexus Player. Mupens upscaled graphics and the ability to map controls to a XBox 360 controller are nice but about every hour and a half the game crashes due to what I consider to be some kind of memory leak. I save often and it's not hard to get back to where I was, but emulation is still not as good as just playing on the original hardware itself as far as stability goes for the 64. If you are looking to head back to an old classic you couldn't do much better than Ocarina of Time and if you wanted to break lots of pottery, there isn't a better way I know of to live that experience.

Ark: Survival Evolved An Early Access Sandbox Survival Game

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Review

Recommended, especially if you have a PC that can run it

Survival, crafting, and taming dinosaurs and other creatures!

*Update 12/2019*
This was written during Ark’s Early Access period, which is now over. The game has multiple expansions and at least two more coming. It’s also now available on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Today’s hardware is also much more suitable for running it and the game is better optimized.

How I found out about Ark: I can't seem to recall playing any kind of sandbox survival game before Minecrat and Terraria. My son was playing Minecraft before me and it took me a while to jump in. Before doing so, I watched a series on YouTube... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/09/2015 at 04:17pm

Both of the games that I've backed because of dinosaurs (The Stomping Land, and Orion: Dino Beatdown), ended up flopping, so I'm wary. ARK does look interesting, though, and I might give it a chance at some point. That Unreal Engine is awful pretty :). Good review!

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/09/2015 at 04:38pm

Nice thing about ARK though is that it's out in some form and can be played. I had another friend that backed The Stomping Land, I think more than a few people were upset about that one.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/09/2015 at 05:26pm

Well, yeah, Stomping Land was pulled from Steam eventually, but it was playable before the dev went silent. Orion: Dino Beatdown was playable for quite some time, but has since been re-established as Orion: Prelude, which is apparently doing relatively better (at $.99, the expectation/risk isn't that high). ARK looks like it has much more polish than both, and the price seems reasonable.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/09/2015 at 11:38pm

Thanks for the comments! The devs of ARK seem to be serious, new content comes out frequently. The game is popular and the multiplayer aspect of it is huge, so I'd be very surprised to see this game not complete Early Access. The fact that it's coming out on current gen consoles seems to support that.

One of the things I really liked about a trailer I saw was someone riding a Pteranodon. Paul also met up with a T-Rex in one of his videos. Those would be awesome to have!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/11/2015 at 01:54am

I've taken two screen shots of the two families I've been able to capture on screen together. My son said he's impressed. I'm happy to have a Dilo, Trike, and Parasaur. The Dodo's a little added bonus, although the Dilo attacked me when I was away from camp (camp=also where I was taming trike) and so ended up joining me (it was tamed quickly being such a low level).

http://steamcommunity.com/id/gawoodruff/screenshots/?appid=346110

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/11/2015 at 11:42pm

My curent dino family includes 2 Trikes, 2 Dilos, 2 Dodos, 2 Parasaurs, 2 Philomia, 1 Raptor, and 1 Sarco (croc). Doubles mean I have mates, which means those get mate bonuses. Changing some of the world settings really helped. I did die w/ this character and world a few times, but this is currently as far as I've been able to progress. I do have a lot of Engrams unlocked, so I can make things like wood and stone housing.

I was careful in an area where there was a Sarco, but I eventually found it or one again stuck on a tree trunk or so. It was only level 4 and I was able to tame it. So, now I'm not so afraid of the area where I found him.

I also wrote a Steam review for the game, because I believe it's an excellent game despite some negative reviews. So, I thought I'd help with a small and positive review.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/17/2015 at 03:44am

Oh, I really love this game! I have been fully immersed in it for a while now. There are a few things I thought I'd mention.

I do strongly recommend the game. Maybe there will eventually be a demo, that would be great because then people could at least give it a try. If you want a smooth out-of-the-box experience, it's probably best to wait until some time after it gets released, or even just get it for a new console. Otherwise, you're going to want to (easily) research settings to use to optimize the game's graphical settings to reach the balance between performance and quality you want. Just look on Steam, there are some helpful guides there that show the game's settings and what someone recommends you set them to.

I saw another recommendation that adding "-USEALLAVAILABLECORES -d3d10" to the launch options really helps. It was also recommended to put the game on High priority in Windows Task Manager, which is easy enough to do. However, I thought it'd be cool to be able to launch the game automatically on High priority, and so I set up a new shortcut for the game that does that and includes the game's optional launch options I was using.

I must say now the game loads a lot quicker. It runs pretty well, not 100%, but still pretty well. I expect the game to be more optimized upon graduating from Early Access and being released.

The really game scares me and keeps me anxious, which isn't something I'm used to while playing a game. I've seen some really big and nasty dinos that can tear me and my dino pets apart in a matter of seconds. I've been watching a Tyranosaurus (not Rex) take out multiple Brontos. I've also seen a Spinosaur tear into some dinos. I have been killed plenty of times, too. The game is about survival and being careful is usually a good idea, so always watch your back!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/17/2015 at 04:47am

Here's the guide I used to help configure the game for my PC. I strongly recommend this guide for any PC as it contains some important in-game configuration settings as well. Also, even though the person who wrote the guide is using a Titan GPU, I've found these settings to be excellent even on my 690.

I also created a new shortcut for the game which looks like this, which opens the game with recommended launch options and as a High priority process:
Target: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c start "ShooterGame.exe" /high "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ShooterGame.exe" -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -d3d10

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/25/2015 at 01:19pm

I'm so excited right now. I noticed that, in his videos, Paul was using a whistle to tell his dinos to eat what they killed and I couldn't figure out which one he was using. So, I posted a comment on his latest video asking. Google didn't help me find the answer I was looking for, but later I found an answer in the Steam community forums. Still, someone replied with what I needed to know. No only that, but Paul did, too! Wow!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/27/2015 at 10:55pm

An free weekend for ARK comes along with a tournament. Some in-game prizes include Steam keys for a discounted or free game. Further details: http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/111816487013236272

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/26/2015 at 12:07am

33% Off! Humble Sale! I already have 268 hours of game play! I look forward to the new stuff!

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/ark_survivalevolved_storefront?utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ffee807f43-Humble_Store_September_25_ARK_Rockstar&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_990b1b6399-ffee807f43-124208569&mc_cid=ffee807f43&mc_eid=11a5591a8d

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/26/2015 at 04:47am

Damn. That's intense. How long have you owned it now? People at work have been raving about it. Definitely going to pick it up at some point!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/26/2015 at 11:50am

July or August. There's a big update coming this weekend, which adds new dinos and biomes.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/26/2015 at 05:03pm

Are you playing this single player or online? Looks like it's pretty hard on shared severs with others.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/26/2015 at 06:48pm

100% single player. I'm kind of stuck right now because I want SCUBA gear so I can go looking for a Plesiosaur, but that gear requires level 75 to unlock and I'm only about 70. So, I'm not really sure what else to do to get extra XP (although I am using options that have increased that multiplier). Right now I'm waiting on that big update. The new biomes are going to change a few places and I'm concerned that my dino pen may be affected. I have a home in one place w/ some dinos, but a pen I made for other dinos in an area that is receiving a change and thus my structure (pen) in the area may be destroyed.

Anyway, I think it's a great game!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 06/03/2018 at 07:48am

Ark turns three today!! What an amazing three years of gaming with Ark, it's been. I've spent much more time playing Ark than any other game ever and I'm still loving it and playing it! I'm so grateful! I'm looking forward to what's to come and reflecting on what has come.

It's funny looking back at these old comments when I was happy to have 268 hours of gameplay. My current logged hours are actually 2687!!!! This just has to be my favorite game!

jdodson Admin wrote on 06/03/2018 at 01:41pm

Yeah with that kind of playtime I’d say so.

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Allied Commanders Is Coming To Starcraft II Legacy of the Void

Starcraft II is a great game and comes with an amazing multiplayer mode that is fun to play with friends. That is if they know how to play Starcraft 2. One mode that is coming to Legacy of the Void looks incredible and might be something I play quite a bit of and might get some of my friends to play Starcraft 2 with me.

"In Allied Commanders, you play as one of the many heroic leaders in the StarCraft II universe. Each with an arsenal of various powers and abilities and a select group of unit types which you may use to compose your army. All of these tools make playing each commander a unique experience."

You should check the link below to see what each races commanders... Read All