Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

My review of the Gamboy 2DS and Help me pick out games!

So one of the things I got for Christmas was this shiny new 2DS. I've spend about a dozen hours with the thing and wanted to share my thoughts on it. I also need to start getting some games for it and would like the input of my fellow CG users!

First up, my review.

When the 2DS was first announced many of us thought it looked big, ugly, and a little unwieldy (you can see the original discussion here: http://cheerfulghost.com/WhiteboySlim/posts/1567). I'm happy to report that, although it's still a little ugly, it is much easier to hold to and play than I had originally thought. Having used an iPad before I would say I have a much easier time with the 2DS than I do the... Read All So one of the things I got for Christmas was this shiny new 2DS. I've spend about a dozen hours with the thing and wanted to share my thoughts on it. I also need to start getting some games for it and would like the input of my fellow CG users!

First up, my review.

When the 2DS was first announced many of us thought it looked big, ugly, and a little unwieldy (you can see the original discussion here: http://cheerfulghost.com/WhiteboySlim/posts/1567). I'm happy to report that, although it's still a little ugly, it is much easier to hold to and play than I had originally thought. Having used an iPad before I would say I have a much easier time with the 2DS than I do the iPad. It definitely has a certain heft to it, but it's not too bad. The longest stretch of time I've gotten with it was between 1 and a half to two hours and I didn't really get tired of holding it. I don't own a 3DS, so I can't show you a comparison between the two. Here are a couple photos showing the 2DS next to a DS though:

Next to the DS (w/DS open): http://i.imgur.com/pFbyDWy.jpg
Next to the DS (w/DS closed): http://i.imgur.com/F19XIr2.jpg

As you can see, it's slightly smaller than the DS when open, but considerably larger than the DS when closed.
(On a side note, that is my daughter's gameboy, thus the bedazzled Princess Peach and blue crayon mark on the screen.)

My only real complaint about the system is that it is just slightly too big to really be that portable. I can't fit it into my pocket, which makes my chances of bumping into the people via Street pass pretty low. The one time I did take it out with me I stuck it in my wife's purse. :P

The buttons feel good and the control stick is light-years ahead of the one my PSP has even thought they're roughly the same design. And I say this as someone who actually really loved the PSP. Where the PSP control stick felt stiff the 2DS is nice and smooth but still snaps back into the neutral position when you want it to. It is also slightly textured and your thumb sticks to it nicely.

It's hard to comment on the screen because I only have one 3DS game so far (Pokemon Y) and the graphics on it are pretty cartoony. But for what it's worth Pokemon looks really, really good.

Over all I really enjoy my 2DS. It's turned out to be a much better system than I was originally expecting and I'm looking forward to expanding my game library and spending more time with it.

Speaking of which... I need some suggestions on what games to get! As I mentioned before I currently have Pokemon Y and I've ordered Fire Emblem Awakening on Amazon but have yet to receive it. Leave your suggestions in the comments! (I'm mostly interested in 3DS games but feel free to suggest some stellar DS games too!)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/01/2014 at 09:35pm

The only other game i'd think to play on the 2DS(i'll admit I don't know about most of the games it has) would be the new Zelda Link Between Worlds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_Between_Worlds

Apparently it's a sort of sequel to Link to the Past, which is pretty interesting.

That said, I want to get a gaming handheld, but as I was explaining to Adym today as we were talking about this post, I don't want to buy another closed piece of hardware. On one hand I totally want to buy new games from Nintendo, like Pokemon X/Y and the new Zelda game. I also want to play my old NES games and don't want to pay Nintendo yet again for the same games on every new system. That said, maybe some day it will be trivial to hack or something? I hope so because i'd love a modern Nintendo system.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 03:02am

I always said it would never happen to me, but it has. I can't really see a point for a handheld console when my phone does mobile gaming.

Seriously, I may not get a hardcore experience, but I can waste time with my phone. I can enjoy Rayman running through the jungle or build some basic Terraria stuff wherever I am in the world. When I want to have a deeper experience I can hit up my PC or a console. I just can't justify a portable purchase until there are a significant number of games I want to play that I can't get anywhere else.

(But if someone wants to get one for me, I'd totally take it.)

Also, [pedantic mode]It hasn't been called Game Boy since the Advance era. It's just Nintendo DS, 3DS, 2DS, etc. these days. But really that's almost like Kleenex at this point. If it's a portable Nintendo console it's a Game Boy.[/pedantic mode]

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 05:17am

I'd like to do some mobile gaming, I really don't like doing it on my phone. Valve did say they would get into the mobile space so.. Maybe a Steam Boy is in my future?

Ok that sounded odd.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2014 at 07:47pm

As far as hackable systems, I've heard you can hack the DS, although I've never tried it. I did hack my PSP and I had every intention of loading up some NES and SNES emulators on there but, sadly, my PSP is on it's death bed and dying a slow painful death.

I actually don't really use my GAMEBOY 2DS as a portable system much. I didn't with my PSP either. Because they are not tied to a TV and have a sleep function it is pretty much the best gaming option I have open to me as a parent of 3 small children. At least until they go to bed. :P

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 10:31pm

"I actually don't really use my GAMEBOY 2DS as a portable system much." Good point and really I just want to use mine not connected to the TV at home too :D

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 11:14pm

I haven't used portable systems outside my house in years either. It's just annoying that the screen is so small for home gaming. Like I want to play the new games but I'd prefer to have them on my TV. I might get a Vita TV instead of an actual Vita because of that.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2014 at 12:31am

I'm pretty happy with the size of the screen on the 2DS. Again, I don't know how it compares to the 3DS but the top screen is quite a bit larger than my DS. Plus with having two screens there's a lot of total screen space to make use of.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/03/2014 at 04:04am

I'm glad to see your review of the 2DS, it entices me to write my own review of the 3DSXL (Zelda Edition) that I recently got. I thought the 2DS a bit odd because it doesn't fold like a normal DS. In your review, you said that fact makes it less portable. Now that I remember, I did put my son's 3DSXL into my pocket and it seemed to be a good fit. After a quick look at your image, it looks like the top screen is bigger than the DS, this seems to be a trait it must have gotten from the 3DS as it's top screen is bigger than the bottom. It looks like the bottom screens are the same size, however. Is that a regular DS or a DSXL?

I'm glad you like the new control stick. I remember when that came out as an add-on. I like it, too, actually. Although, while I played Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, my thumb started to get sore. However, since I started playing Pokemon X today, I'm not noticing that issue. The control stick does feel smooth.

I also liked the PSP. I got all of the Final Fantasy games for it. I think the biggest issue with the PSP was loading time. I have not decided to upgrade to a Vita.

Back to the DS, I've had one since the original model came out (and it's around here still some where, I think, although I also think a hinge is broken). My son and I also have a DS (the 2nd model) and a DSLite each. I think something happened to my DSLite though as the sound seems to be a bit messed up.

I have not yet played The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, but I do have Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Although I have not yet bought Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, I recommend it or Wild World. I was introduced to Animal Crossing on the Gamecube and fell in love with it. I also have the one for the Wii.

Anyway, I'll keep checking out what you review and say about your 2DS and what games you get into. I've also collected almost all of the Final Fantasy handheld games. The only ones I think I'm missing (for handhelds) is Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Oh, one more, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, which I enjoyed, but my son has lost our copy. =(

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Midora: A New 2D Action Adventure Game on Kickstarter

Back this on Kickstarter!

"Midora (pronounced "mid-ora") is a love letter to the classic 2D RPG adventures like The Legend of Zelda or Mana that have frequented consoles and enamored audiences for generations. It's a charming world to explore, with new mechanics to learn and quests to fulfill all while hopefully tugging at your nostalgic heartstrings. Midora seeks to bring you the same tried and true feel of familiar titles, but with the grace of a new, modern experience, with in a beautiful, 100% pixel art setting.

Midora is set in a welcoming fantasy world, one shaped by the elements countless lifetimes ago. Of course, not all can be peaceful in lands such as this, and the threat of a history... Read All

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers NES Review

YouTube reviewer @DubiousGamingOnline reviews one of Capcom's classic NES games Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. I remember playing this one for the first time at a friends birthday party. They rented it and we played the co-op and loved every second.

Code Monkeys

So it's not actually a game, it's a television show, but it's game related, and I wanted to share it with everyone :)

Code Monkeys is South Park meets The Office meets Nintendo.

The plot of Code Monkeys revolves around the fictitious video game company GameaVision (a play on companies like Activision and Intellivision) and its eccentric employees, mainly the slacker Dave and his high-strung friend Jerry. The entire series takes place in the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale, California during the 1980s. The humor of Code Monkeys relies on crude humor and stoner comedy to convey the numerous references to video games, past and present, but mostly games from the 8-bit era.... Read All

Starbound: My Thoughts on The Angry Koala Beta

When the Starbound beta launched I decided I would limit my time with the game due to the frequent game wipes. I have been interesting in checking out the game since I played it last and decided to try the latest Beta, Angry Koala. After tinkering around with the game for a few hours I found out nearly everything has been changed and for the most part, I like all the changes.

I really like the new tree planting system as the game didn't seem like a proper mining game without it. The first thing I did when I started my game was plant trees. They grow back rather quickly which allows for easy farming. You can also burn wood into Coal which seems to work pretty well. It... Read All When the Starbound beta launched I decided I would limit my time with the game due to the frequent game wipes. I have been interesting in checking out the game since I played it last and decided to try the latest Beta, Angry Koala. After tinkering around with the game for a few hours I found out nearly everything has been changed and for the most part, I like all the changes.

I really like the new tree planting system as the game didn't seem like a proper mining game without it. The first thing I did when I started my game was plant trees. They grow back rather quickly which allows for easy farming. You can also burn wood into Coal which seems to work pretty well. It takes 10 wood to make 1 coal and all told that isn't much.

There are more items available and since it's the holidays you can make a elf woodbench which allows you the ability to craft a lot of special Holiday items. You can see some of what I made in my screenshot above, but there are many more items available to craft. A new item resource called "Holiday Spirit" drops from enemy kills allowing you the ability to craft the Holiday items.

The game gives you WAY less pixels than when the beta initially hit but penalizes you less pixels for dying. That said, needing pixels to craft armor is annoying. Why do I need another resource to craft armor and weapons beyond ore? I get why you would need pixels for other kinds of stuff, but armor and weapons?

The ore placement and planet generation seem way better than when the game initially shipped. Things seem more organic and I am very happy with the amount of ore I found digging deep in my starting planet. I think they have things humming along here and I love the improvements.

I found many more bases and treasures chests than I did with previous betas. You don't seem to go too far without finding something interesting to explore. If I had one suggestion it would be to stock them with more interesting stuff. I love how the bases are generated and I find the enemies and NPC's they spawn interesting enough, they just seem.... kind of empty. That said, they are better than what I found in the early beta and I love the improvements.

I found a _TON_ more seeds and fruit to farm. The farming system seems largely untouched but if I had a recommendation it would be for something to farm that gives you plant fibers.

Overall I really think they are heading in the right direction with the game and am looking forward to more changes they make through the beta. If you are loving Starbound but getting tired of the constant game wipes, it seems Chucklefish will do one final character wipe in the new year. Unsure if this means they might do a world wipe, but it's something anyway.

"Final character wipe will be included with the next patch, for everyone asking! So…as soon as possible. In 2014. :D"

https://twitter.com/StarboundGame/status/416696077950390272

Travis Admin wrote on 12/28/2013 at 05:48am

I notice you aren't using your L/R spots on the hotbar. I didn't early on but that's something really convenient to get used to. Say your default is sword in L and shield in R. Whenever you hit 3 for your pickaxe it will just switch to that, and hitting 3 again will cancel it and go back to what's in your L/R. If you hit 4, though, since the flashlight only needs one hand, you'd use that in L and your shield in R. And you can hit ~ at any time to cancel out of any other active items and switch to L/R.

The downside is that while we were playing with the Terraria holiday stuff, I was so used to that it was hard to get out of the habit. I also tried using E to open doors and such quite a bit.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/28/2013 at 08:08pm

Wow, those trees can be packed close together can't they? That'll make farming wood easier.

Using the L/R slots is really useful. I like to keep a weapon in there so I can switch to it quickly whenever I'm in trouble.

Last character wipe soon? Oh man, the only thing keeping me from playing this obsessively is knowing that my progress would get wiped with the next update. Soon I'll be racking up the playtime!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/29/2013 at 12:30am

WELL, it seems that a universe and planet wipe may happen. From past wipes it seems that might also mean your ship too.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2013 at 02:54am

Yeah that was a bummer. Oh hey my character is still there! Ship is empty. I'm parked at a planet that's really too difficult for my level, ship has no fuel. Never set a home planet. Might as well reroll!

hardeyez wrote on 12/31/2013 at 05:51pm

And don't forget 'x' that swaps between your current tool and L/R and back again... I run around a lot with the pickaxe/drill and hit x when enemies show up to whack 'em down, then x again to keep digging....

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/18/2014 at 01:19am

That looks like Terraria, which makes me interested in learning more about the game. =)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/18/2014 at 02:14am

It's very similar to Terraria but in space and still in development.

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Archive.org brings classic games to your browser

https://ia801002.us.archive.org/35/items/consolelivingroom/playing_atari_2600.jpg

Through use of the JSMESS emulator system, which allows direct access to these programs in your browser with no additional plugins or settings, these games can be enjoyed again. Simply click on the screenshot or "Emulate This" button for each individual cartridge, and on modern browsers the games will just start to run. As nostalgia, a teaching tool, or just plain fun, you'll find hundreds of the games that started a billion-dollar industry.

Archive.org's Console Living Room has launched, bringing a ton of classic games from the Atari 2600 and 7800, the Colecovision, The Odyssey, and The Astrocade.

These classic games are an important part of gaming history. I'm glad... Read All

Prison Architect Alpha 16: Steam Mod Support, Trees & AI

Introversion let loose a pretty massive Holiday update to Prison Architect in the form of Alpha 16. They added the ability to generate prison maps with lakes, trees and different terrain types. They updated the AI and enhanced the ability to segregate your prisons by prisoner threat. They also fixed a pretty long standing bug in that you can now build multiple kitchens and the cooks properly work with that. One new feature I find really interesting is the ability to plant and harvest trees. You can immediately sell the trees OR you can take them to your workshop to process.

Oh and if you wanted to forever immortalize yourself within the game, you can now.

"For starters,... Read All

SkiFree: The History of the Abominable Snow Monster

"Bill Gates was the man - he had the money, the power, the world's premiere spreadsheet program, but he also had a terrible secret: The Microsoft Ski Resort.

One fateful night, at the annual Christmas Party, an employee described his vision of the PC going beyond the realm of word processing and slideshow presentations, and in a fit of rage, Bill banished him to the cold, never to return. However, his exile didn't kill him - he instead survived the only way he knew how... by setting fires to trees and eating wild dogs that had somehow wandered onto the slopes."

SkiFree is a classic PC game that has a rich legacy shown in this new video. Interesting to know the history... Read All

Holiday Loot/Event Thread

First off, some loot for you: Left 4 Dead 2 is currently FREE. Just go here and click "Play Now" to claim it.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/
Some are saying that you have to actually install it for it to count, so go ahead and do that just in case.

Now then, what kind of loot did you guys get this year? So far nothing gaming related for me, but that's fine. My wife got me a Pebble smartwatch, which I've had my eye on for a while now. I also got some movies and cooking implements from the in-laws. Illness has prevented us from going to visit my family until the weekend.

Are you guys getting into any awesome Christmasy-type events this year?

Merry Christmas all!

I Made it to the Underground Jungle in Terraria

https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/terraria_gamepedia/6/64/BiomeBannerUndergroundJungle.png?version=3625f4192c301e1bb045400c28cc2f38

I've been playing Terraria a lot lately and I intend to write much more about it. For now though, I think I'm going to try posting more of what's going on (for me) in the game here. For now, I'm going to start out with last night and recent events. First, I thought I found a bug in the game after the new Holiday update. When I get presents, they are stored in one box in the inventory. What is inside the present doesn't show up until I right-click the present (or presents) and exit the inventory. This does not function as it previously did when the presents seemed to only contain candy cane blocks, where as a right-click opened the present and showed its contents... Read All I've been playing Terraria a lot lately and I intend to write much more about it. For now though, I think I'm going to try posting more of what's going on (for me) in the game here. For now, I'm going to start out with last night and recent events. First, I thought I found a bug in the game after the new Holiday update. When I get presents, they are stored in one box in the inventory. What is inside the present doesn't show up until I right-click the present (or presents) and exit the inventory. This does not function as it previously did when the presents seemed to only contain candy cane blocks, where as a right-click opened the present and showed its contents without having to exit the inventory. After a while, it feels like this is less of a bug and something that makes sense some how. It doesn't really bother me anymore. I now let my presents stack and open them up later when my inventory is less full, so that individual pieces don't crowd my inventory when I'm out in the open world exploring. I reported the issue, but have not seen a reply about.

After looking at some tutorials to learn how to play, I decided to create a small world for my first world to explore. Apparently this would make it easier for me to find things. Well, it seems as though my small world has stuck me in the middle of some hard places. To the right of my house is a Snow biome which contains the Crimson. Further on I found a Dungeon, which even with 400 life and less than 20 defense I could not survive one hit from the Dungeon Guardian. Shortly to the left of my house, I found an extensive underground cavern, which I thoroughly explored. I found an Underground Snow biome, which was cool, but then I also found the Underworld, which I thought was cool. Unfortunately, I don't have any lava protection, so that is a dangerous place, let alone the creatures there that are difficult to defeat. I kept dying and going back, wondering why I kept repeating that cycle. Finally, I explored a bit and got to a point to where I couldn't walk on the abandoned structures because walking on them caused me to catch on fire. So, I decided to go look elsewhere for adventure for now.

Further to the left of my house (and really not that far from the first cavern I discovered) is a very small Desert biome. It's so small that it's not even worth mentioning, really. Going further, the environment turned back to "normal" as it looks where my house is located, but I found another cavern that I began to explore. This cavern lead to an Underground Jungle, which is dangerous due to lots of hornets and slimes that can shoot poisonous projectiles at you. There are also some kind of brown vines that hurt, too, when touched. There, I also found another Underworld, which I did not explore. In the Underground Jungle, I found a structure, which I cannot enter without a key or a much better pickaxe as it's made of Lizhard (I'm currently using a golden one as the cool made-of-bone one I found wouldn't mine Crimtane). I did, however, find a hive and after making it inside and smashing something, the Queen Bee was summoned.

The Queen Bee was my second boss battle. The first boss battle was the Eye of Cthulhu. I was in my first cavern and I saw the message that I was being watched, which I later found out was this boss, but I did not see it until maybe the third time I saw the message. It killed me at first as I was unprepared, but the second time I summoned it after being prepared and using a Suspicious Looking Eye. It wasn't an easy battle, but I survived. The Queen Bee was a different story. Unfortunately for her, we were in a small cavern and she got stuck in some blocks and could not move nor attack, so I just sat there with my Zealous Enchanted Boomerang and killed her. I'd blame her getting stuck on a bug (kind of ironic now that I think on it). But, I was delighted that she dropped some very nice rewards. I now have an awesome sword that has an attack of 22 and summons killer bees to help fight my enemies. The boomerang has been with me for a long time since I first (luckily) found it some how and I'll still keep it as it helps me fight from a distance and also lights up areas where it goes.

Before playing Terraria, I was playing Minecraft, which I fell in love with, but got frustrated by Creepers blowing everything up (such as my farms or buildings) and falling into lava. The two games are similar, but they are different. The thing I tried doing in Minecraft seems to be what Terraria is all about, that is exploring and fighting monsters and such. Some say Minecraft is more about building and Terraria is more about exploring. I think they're both about building and exploring equally, however Minecraft does not have bosses.

I'll write more later as I play and I will try to participate more here at Cheerful Ghost. I was recently thinking that I should start a gaming blog, well it looks like I'm off to a good start. I want to leave with one final tip, though. The best way to protect your NPCs in Terraria from the effects of a Blood Moon is to get away from home. During my first Blood Moon (I've survived all of them), a few of them died, but since then I have been away from home for each following Blood Moon and my NPCs were apparently undisturbed.

I'm still looking for better armor so that I can survive lava and harder monsters. I may fill in some details about my current defense later.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/24/2013 at 11:19pm

After battle with another Queen Bee, I see that it is a known bug that she will get stuck in blocks while creating more bees. The second battle was easier than the first since I have the Bee Keeper sword, she got stuck again, too. But, now I have both weapons that she drops, although I'm really in love with the sword.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/25/2013 at 02:27am

Ok, I wanted to post my equipment because I feel very lucky to have some of it. I don't even remember how I found all of it exactly, maybe with drops or in treasure chests, but here it is.

Zealous Enchanted Boomerang (which I've had a very long time, it was probably one of the very first things I found)
13 melee damage
9% critical strike chance
very fast speed
very strong knockback
+5% critical strike chance

Bee Keeper (sword) http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Bee_Keeper
22 melee damage
4% critical strike chance
fast speed
average knockback
summons killer bees when striking enemies
small chance (10%) of confusion on enemies

Platinum Helmet (5 defense)

Ancient Cobalt Breastplate (5 defense)
increases maximum mana by 20 (although I already have the maximum amount of mana stars)
3% increased magic critical strike chance

Platinum Greaves (5 defense)

Guarding Shackle (1 defense)
+ 2 defense

Water Walking Boots http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Water_Walking_Boots
allows you to walk on water

Armored Cloud in a Bottle
+3 defense

Band of Regeneration http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Bee_Keeper
regenerates health

Flipper http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Flipper
allows for swimming

On second look, I'm thinking I might replace the Flipper with something else, maybe. I still think I need more defense and some kind of protection (or immunity) from lava. I have something that allows for 7 seconds of lava protection. I also have a grappling hook, which is nice.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/25/2013 at 03:54am

You aren't supposed to survive the fight with the dungeon guardian. Talk to the old man outside the dungeon at night, and you can summon Skeletron. Kill Skeletron and you can get in without the dungeon guardian hassling you. That said, it is technically possible to defeat the dungeon guardian but it's something only a very select few have ever done, even with the best gear in the game. You literally can't get hit, and you have to hit him like 1000 times, maybe 10,000.

You need to make an obsidian skull to prevent getting burned by the structures in the underworld, which is pretty easy. Check the wiki for the recipe, or just take a single piece of obsidian to the guide and have him tell you.

As for protecting NPC's during a blood moon, once you find the mechanic in the dungeon you can rig up a switch to lock them all in (and everything else out). We used this on our server to keep them safe.

Finally, don't expect to get into the Lihzahrd temple until endgame. After you beat the Wall Of Flesh in the Underworld, bulbs will start showing up in the underground jungle. Destroying these summons Plantera (and yes, as the name suggests, heavy metal sounding music plays during the fight). Plantera drops the key to get into the Lihzahrd temple. There's another boss at the end of that temple.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/25/2013 at 03:56am

Also, good to see you here! :) You should screenshot your base and add it to the embed section to spice the post up and show us your stuff! :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/25/2013 at 04:17am

Sounds like you are having a great time. You can summon Skeletron like Travis said above, but I wouldn't take him on until you have a good gun and can create Queen Bee spawns and kill her pretty handily. Well, kill the Queen Bee handily or the Brain of Cthulu.

That all said, welcome to Cheerful Ghost and Terraria. You are in the "magic spot" of Terraria where you are progressing and figuring things out. You can in at a great time because 1.2 is out as well as the Christmas update and the game has a _TON_ of awesome content.

Terraria is similar to Minecraft save Terraria has bosses and in my opinion a bit more incentive to progress. That said, Minecraft runs anywhere Java runs and I __WISH__ I could run Terraria on Linux or the Mac. That said, Terraria is a special game and when we run our next server, you should join us and we can all kill the Queen Bee together.

PS, try and kill a few more Queen Bees because you might get the bee gun. Oh yeah, the bee gun :D

Travis Admin wrote on 12/25/2013 at 04:45am

Jon is obsessed with Terraria's bees.

So am I.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/25/2013 at 04:55am

Happy Christmas Eve.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1674

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/26/2013 at 04:47am

Oh my goodness, you guys are awesome! Thank you both for the help and advice! I must have only slightly read about the Old Man and the curse, but not in detail, because I failed to remember (or recognize) that he can help me with the Dungeon Guardian. Jon, I do have the Bee Gun, I thought I mentioned it, but it's not something I've yet used. I got it the second time I beat the Queen Bee. I haven't met the Brain of Cthulhu, but I beat the Eye (which I think I mentioned above as well). The Christmas stuff has annoyed me as most of it isn't worth anything (well, the candy cane blocks aren't along with the pine tree blocks, I believe). The other stuff I either store if it's useful (such as the Gingerbread Man) or sell (like the Holly and useless vanity items). Travis, that's a damn good idea for me to take a screen shot of my place. It's a bit of a mess, I have statues all over the place. I'll see what I can do! I recently upgraded (because I got more statues and stuff) and another NPC moved in. I guess to do that I'll have to get into windowed mode. I'll try to do that very soon! Jon, can't you use Wine to run Terraria?

I have a new update to add, which I was thinking of making a separate post for, but I think I'll just put it here. Because I'm running Terraria at the highest resolution, I have since moved my monitor much closer to my face. LOL I also feel like my back begins to ache after a while of sitting here playing the game, so I've been taking some breaks. I'm still tempted to get Terraria on my Kindle Fire (I can get it free since they've given me 500 coins to use, which is how much Terraria costs). Also, I'm afraid I reached the end of my world (to the left). For the first time that I've seen, my character moved from the center of the screen more towards the left, which I believe is because I've reached the limit of the world.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/26/2013 at 04:52am

Ok, I have a screenshot, now to figure out how to post it here....

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/26/2013 at 05:12am

Terraria in Wine isn't simple because of the tech Terraria uses. There are some pretty lame steps one could take to run it, but I don't want endure that kind of pain. That said, I hold out hope that someday Terraria will be in the Humble Bundle after Red calls the game "done" and then they port it to Mac and Linux then but that might just be a dream.

If you go all the way left and right and hit water and can't continue, you have hit the end.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/26/2013 at 07:52am

Here's the screenshot. http://imgur.com/MNX21rg If you click the link and then click on the picture, you will see a bigger version of it. I tried to get it to work here, but it didn't seem to.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/26/2013 at 01:25pm

Just a tip, you can craft stone bricks from stone blocks for a more pleasing looking wall material. I remember my first time through not realizing that until much later than I should have.

Also Jon, Terraria in Wine is actually pretty simple and works really well. PlayOnLinux will even do it all for you. It's the wrapper to make it work like a native Linux app that is a pain.

But I have to say, for games that require Steam, Wine is really annoying. It seems like you have to do game-specific tweaks to your Wine settings for each one, so you end up having a ton of Steam installs to keep track of.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/26/2013 at 05:29pm

Thanks, Travis. I'm aware of the wall materials, I guess I just went with wood, not sure why, really. Obviously, my walls aren't even the same kind of wood all around. LOL Now I'm thinking about this obsidian. I'm not sure I can mine it yet with either pickaxe that I have and using explosives makes me think the obsidian will just drop in lava. Hm...Still much to think about with regards to Terraria. =) Thanks for your help last night, guys, I greatly appreciate it!!!

Travis Admin wrote on 12/26/2013 at 07:34pm

Nah you need a nightmare/deathbringer pickaxe to mine it. You'll have to beat the Brain of Cthulu first to get the materials.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/26/2013 at 09:00pm

Yeah, making a goal to start farming the Brain of Cthulu is a good goal to have. Not only is it a fun fight, but you get really great ores, cash and drops to really make your character pretty powerful until you get to hell. One of my favoriate parts of the game.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/26/2013 at 11:29pm

Thanks, guys! I'll have to look into that. Jon, by hell, do you mean the Underworld? I've found it in two places, I kept going back even though I kept dying. LOL I wonder why CG isn't emailing me notifications that you guys have commented here. I have the correct settings, but haven't received an email from CG since 12/2. I checked my spam folder, nothing there from here. Anyway, in other gaming news...my son got a gorgeous blue 3DSXL, Pokemon Y, and some other games for Christmas. I got Pokemon X, although I didn't have a 3DS until I went to Gamestop today and got the new Zelda one. I also got Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon. I miss the Gamecube version of Luigi's Mansion, which I've had, but it seems to be lost. Sadly, I'm having issues with connecting to the Nintendo store to so that I can download the new Zelda game (yes, you have to download it with a code), apparently the network is congested. Back to Terraria....I found some new gear! One of the things I found gives me immunity to poison. Since I've equipped it (and the other cobalt gear that I found), my character has a trail when moving. LOL I'm thinking about taking a screenshot of my character to use as my avatar for here and Steam.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/27/2013 at 04:06pm

Hell: Yeah, I mean the place with a bunch of lava. Want to have the Critine armor before you head down there.

CheerfulGhost notifications: CG doesn't have notifications because I haven't added them in :D I might add them in at some point. I don't like the feature myself and turn it off on most websites, but I forget some people do.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/27/2013 at 07:23pm

ONE OF US. ONE OF US. Eh-hem, sorry. Got carried away after buying terraria for people on Steam who weren't even asking for it. (This is Tim Crosson from the facebook group, btw. :D)

Time to jump in with my own set of tips!

Character progression in Terraria is really not set in stone, but a rough outline would look like: explore surface and surface caves > start digging down and exploring underground > first boss fight (likely Eye of C) usually around here. > Start exploring underground jungle > more bosses (EoC, BoC, Skeletron) > explore and loot dungeon > explore and loot hell > fight Wall of Flesh and start hardmode.

Based on what you've said, I'd say you're in the "more bosses" stage of progression. Fighting the Brain of Cthulhu a few times will get you all the material you need for a full set of Crimtane gear, which should help out a lot. Remember that when you wear a full set of gear you always get some kind of a set bonus. The lower tier armors just give a bonus to defense, but the gear you'll start moving into give special bonuses like health regen or increased movement/attack speed. So definitely take advantage of those set bonuses. :D

Quick tip on housing: I always build my houses off the ground (I use wooden beams and backgrounds/walls to make it look like they're supported and not floating). This keeps mobs out as long as you're out of their jump range and it makes it very easy to walk under your house when you're going from one side to the other. :) NPC's require a light source, a comfort item (chair or bed) and a surface (table, etc.) to consider a room suitable housing. There's a size requirement too, but I don't remember it off hand.

Regarding your other games: Nice! I got a 2DS and Pokemon Y for christmas. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I think we can add each other as friends in game and trade pokemon or something. I'll have to look up how to do it and then I'll PM you.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/27/2013 at 07:30pm

Oh! one more tip. Potions are your friends. Brew up some iron skin and health regen potions and boss fights will go a LOT smoother. Gravity (graviton? I don't remember) and Feather fall potions make finding floating islands really easy. Food also gives you a nice boost to all your stats. The easiest food to make is pumpkin pies. You can get the pumpkin seeds from the Dryad. Plant a few and harvest the pumpkins to make the pies. :D

Ok one MOAR tip: Save any and all accessories you find including duplicates (except maybe the shackles...). Sooner or later you'll get a Goblin tinkerer NPC and he'll sell you a Tinkerers workbench. This will let you combine a lot of different accessories into really awesome gear.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/27/2013 at 11:27pm

Awesome, welcome to my CG, Tim! Thanks for the tips! I've been selectively selling duplicates of my gear, but in your last sentence you've given me something to look forward to. So, my thoughts after looking at the wiki on the Brain of Cthulhu is how am I supposed to fight him, when I can get no further in the Crimson without being able to mine my way through? That's my current issue at hand. I'm glad I was able to beat the two bosses that I've beaten, but I must admit that I only beat the Queen Bee twice because of a bug (she got stuck).

How do you like the 2DS? It baffles me. It's cool that it can play 3DS games, but has removed the 3D feature. Still, yet, what's baffling is why I have a 3DS when I hardly use the 3D feature at all. In fact, if it's up too high, it just looks fuzzy and blurry. My son and I apparently like our games on a very low 3D setting.

Oh, back to Terraria, that's a good housing strategy. However, how do NPCs get in? I've never seen an NPC jump, but my NPCs have made it to different floors. I wonder if they just spawn on one, they tend to stay on that one floor, too. Only the nurse and guide have gone in and out of my house. Still more issues (not very serious), I swore I read that monsters would not come out during a Blood Moon if it was raining, this I have experienced as false. The last time I had a Blood Moon, I was in the Underground Jungle and died, I spawned back at home and it seems the monsters weren't able to get inside my house, even though they were knocking. Oh, you've got me wanting that Tinkerer's workbench! I really need to organize my items because I got back and forth between my treasure chests where I've randomly (for the most part) stored my stuff and forget what is in which.

Back to the DS, I haven't played Pokemon X yet, but I believe my son has most of the gym badges in Y. I played Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon yesterday. In fact, when I quit playing it, I had a headache, which I blamed on the 3DS. LOL Luckily, I was finally able to download my copy of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and was surprised that it only took 15 minutes or less.

All that said, I'm glad we're all connected and here and talking about Terraria and other video games. This is something thought about doing soon and I'm just really glad we're all together and talking. You guys are awesome!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/28/2013 at 12:06am

There are few problems that cannot be solved by throwing enough explosives at them. Can't dig through the crimson? Bomb your way through!

Bombs are found all over but usually by breaking jars underground or buy them from the demolitionist. Use sticky bombs (bombs + gel, no workbench required) to control where the bombs will go off easier.

The brain of Cthulhu is actually not that bad. If you've spent some time in the underground jungle you should have enough spores, stingers, and vines to make a blade of grass sword. That should eat through the little floating eyes that BoC throws at you. Use the sword or a gun to take down the brain when all the eyes are gone.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/28/2013 at 01:32am

"A goblin army has arrived from the west" and was promptly slayed by Blue!!! Hahahahaha! I finally used some of my bombs and destroyed 3 shadow (or whatever) hearts and the Brain of Cthulhu was summoned, but defeated me shortly after it's second form. However, with the drops I received from the Creepers, I was able to make a Deathbringer Pickaxe and Crimson breastplate (or whatever it's called). So, I'm waiting to fight the brain again. I want to get a complete set of Crimson armor, which I admit will be difficult since the Crimtane ore that I need is rare.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/28/2013 at 01:40am

Crimtane ore drops from the Eye of Cthulhu and Brain of Cthulhu. You can farm them for tons of crimtane. Once you're able to kill them pretty quick selling the extra crimtane becomes a good way to make a lot of cash quick.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/28/2013 at 02:10am

Thanks!!! I have some Suspicious Eyes, maybe I should use them to kill the eye again and again! =)

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/28/2013 at 04:32am

Totally, one of the awesome things in Terraria is boss farming. Personally I fight Brain of Cthulu way more than a normal person does because it's fun and you can sell the extra ore for mad cash.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/28/2013 at 04:33am

Oh and with all your 2DS talk... I kind of want one now.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/29/2013 at 03:08am

Oh, the Eye of Cthulhu is such a coward! I summoned it a few times and it ran away once dawn came around. Grrrr. Still, I've beaten it a couple of times since. I'm surprised because I've actually taken very little damage from it. As for the Brain of Cthulhu, I might wait until I have all of my Crimson gear, that's what I really want now. Oh, and I finally met the Goblin Tinkerer, but unfortunately he died in lava. *rolls eyes* LOL

Also, I'm still having some issues with CheerfulGhost, the fact that I can't really locate much help with it really stinks. Did you guys set up your avatars with Gravatar? That seems to be the only way to do it, or at least to me that seems to be the only available setting.

Speaking of the 2DS, is it the same size as a regular DS or is it the size of the DSXL? I was surprised that both mine and my son's 3DSXLs came with an SD card. His has a 4 gig SD card, mine, well it didn't say in the manual, so I don't know.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/29/2013 at 05:30am

Currently Gravatar is the only way to set up an avatar right now. At some point in the future I might add Steam integration and use that.

Killing the BoC is a great way to the Ore for the Critine set, so I recommend doing that if you can.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2013 at 07:15am

"As for the Brain of Cthulhu, I might wait until I have all of my Crimson gear,"

You need stuff from the Brain of Cthulu to make Crimson gear.
http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Crimtane_Bar

"Also, I'm still having some issues with CheerfulGhost, the fact that I can't really locate much help with it really stinks."

What isn't clear, aside from avatars since that's already been covered? I guess we thought since gravatar was the only option it would be clear that you had to use it, but I suppose that's not the case. Any other things that aren't obvious that we should clarify? Early on we had a lot of eyes on the whole process to make sure things were easy to use but I suppose that self-selected for a more tech savvy crowd and if you're having trouble then there are some places where we can improve.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/29/2013 at 06:54pm

Regarding the Goblin Tinkerer: Once you've found him he will respawn back in your house/castle/village/whatever. Just make sure there is a suitable space for him to move into. All the NPC's will respawn after awhile when they die.

And yeah, you need the tissue samples that BoC drops to make the crimtane armor. :\ What weapons are you using to fight it? I preferred using a good sword to take out the floating eye things and then using ranged on the Brain afterwards.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/30/2013 at 11:48pm

Thanks for the Gravatar confirmation. I really wasn't familiar with that service and was assuming avatars could be uploaded. can't really think of anything else, Travis, I just thought there would be a help section for some things. Earlier, I wasn't sure how to post that screen shot. I did try using HTML to imbed it into the comment, but was only able to provide a link, which was still useful.

As for weapons, I've been sticking to my Bee Keeper sword, I like it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/31/2013 at 03:04am

Farming the Brain of Cthulhu was a good idea. I lost the battle, but now have full Crimson armor. Although this armor is really helpful, I lost the second time I fought the Brain today. Maybe I need to use a better weapon or use strategies located on the wiki.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/31/2013 at 03:18am

Crimtane weapons are great for that part of the game as well.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/31/2013 at 03:43am

Yeah, I was thinking of making some, but they looked to have about the same stats as the Bee Keeper.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/31/2013 at 06:01pm

At this stage of the game I think I was using either a Phaseblade (meteorite bars + gem color of choice) or a Blade of Grass (stingers + jungle spores). The blade of grass is pretty powerful and you'll need one to make a Nights Edge (best sword pre-hardmode) later on any ways. The phaseblade isn't as powerful but it is pretty fast and can be upgraded to a Phase Saber once you start hardmode and can find crystals.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/31/2013 at 06:16pm

Sweet, thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into that! =)

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/01/2014 at 03:46am

Thank you guys for all of your suggestions! I finally beat the Brain of Cthulhu! I found enough materials to make a Blade of Grass. I also used a Thorns potion and Eggnog. It was a close battle, but I defeated it. Now what? LOL Oh! I've seen a few messages that a meteorite has crashed. I've only found one spot, though. Luckily, I made an Obsidian Skull recently and was able to mine all the meteorite in that one spot. I thought maybe if I mined it all that the meteor heads would go away, that seems to have worked even though they seemed to stop bothering me once I mined most of it. Thanks again!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/01/2014 at 05:32am

I'd craft all the stuff from the ore dropped and then head to hell and mine Hellstone. The last set of gear you can get before Hardmode is Hellstone gear.

What I do before hardmode is a zillion boss runs, stock up on bee spawns and just generally enjoy the fact that you are a bad-ass that p0wns all.

Then when you drop the word into Hardmode.... get ready for the pain.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/01/2014 at 08:20am

Awesome, thanks for the suggestion!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2014 at 06:37pm

Hey guys, I was wondering, if I create a new world, will items in my inventory that my character is holding follow into the new world? That'd be pretty cool if or when I decide to upgrade to a larger world in Terraria. I'm working on getting Molten Armor now. I wish I had immunity to lava, that would be sweet and would certainly help me make that armor. I don't even want to think about Hardmode! I'm one of those sad people that prefers games not to be too hard or too challenging as I get frustrated easily. LOL Yeah, I'm lame. I can't hardly play any Resident Evil game without invincibility. Haha Still having a "God mode" (to me) makes games like that and First Person Shooters fun (at least that's what I think).

I've finished Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon. I'm not sure I'll write much about it. It was okay, I suppose. I didn't expect it to be a very long game and I'm kind of glad it wasn't all that long. Now I'm ready to move on to playing Pokemon X or The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. I think I may want to pick up Animal Crossing: A New Leaf sometime.

Anyway, Happy New Year!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/02/2014 at 07:33pm

Anything in your characters inventory will carry over. Also, anything in a piggy bank or safe is tied to your character and not the world so it will carry over as well.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2014 at 08:03pm

Awesome! I have more than enough Obsidian now as I found some lava under some water. Hellstone is proving to be more tricky in mining as it's hard to get to and usually surrounded by lava. There's also something that I don't know what it is. They are red and I'm not sure how to describe them. I found one in my first cave and I believe when I tried to mine it with one of my lesser pickaxes, it hurt. However, I used the Obsidian Skull to try to mine it with my Deathbringer pickaxe and it didn't do anything. There is one in the first dungeon I found and many more of them in the Underground Crimson area. They are not Demon Hearts, I know what those are.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 10:21pm

You're probably talking about a demon altar:
http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Demon_Altar

You can't destroy those until you get the pwnhammer.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 10:23pm

Also you can craft things there like suspicious looking eyes and bloody spines to summon the Eye/Brain

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2014 at 11:34pm

Yeah, that's it, Travis! Thanks!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2014 at 12:23am

Just a nice little note for CheerfulGhost, to get to this site, all I have to do is type "c" and press the Enter key, my browser will then go right here to my profile. =)

I think I need to write some more instead of just keep posting comments. Maybe I will soon.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/03/2014 at 02:21am

I love browser autocomplete too :D

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