Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Double Fine's Latest Game Spacebase DF-9 Comes to Steam

"In Spacebase DF-9, you’ll build a home among the stars for a motley population of humans and aliens as they go about their daily lives. Mine asteroids, discover derelicts, and deal with the tribulations of our distant future: meteor impacts! Explosive decompression! Unbearable loneliness!"

Double Fine just released Spacebase DF-9 on Steam Early Access for Mac, Linux and Windows. It was a game that came out of the Amnesia Fortnight that is now being given the full game treatment. The game looks very interesting and seems like something I would appreciate. A rogue-like sim game with a space edge to it and a level of random AI emergence that looks fun to experience.

... Read All

Humble Bundle with Android 7

"Humble Bundle with Android 7 includes six brilliant games ready to play on four platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. DRM-free soundtracks are also available for select games. Pay what you want for the time-honored favorite, Ticket to Ride, the tactical turn-based game, Greed Corp, the lovable limb-sprouting game Incredipede, and the 2-D adventure puzzler Anodyne. If you pay more than the average you’ll also get worm-on-worm violence in Worms Reloaded (includes mobile counterpart Worms 2: Armageddon) and the hilarious and raunchy role-playing game, The Bard’s Tale."

This is the first Humble Android Bundle I am interested in. Not only are all these games... Read All

Awesome Halloween Themed Films On Netflix

I know, this has nothing to do with video games. That said, I send you waves of mad apologies. I love films and lately I have found some great "Halloween themed" movies on Netflix. Since the season of spook is upon us, I decided that it was appropriate to write about some really great films you might want to watch.

The Evil Dead & Evil Dead 2

Seems wrong to lump them together in a way because both films are so iconic, but The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn are available to watch on Netflix right now. The Evil Dead is a classic "cabin in the woods" themed movie that sets the stage for many horror films that came after it. It also builds the character of Ash... Read All

A Few Tips On Prison Management

I decided to create a video showing off my Prison Architect prison and toss people a few tips on how I maintain it. It is the first really sustainable prison I have created and have just kept adding to it over time. It can serve 100 inmates and I no longer have issues with riots or much in the way of inmate fighting.

Let me know what you think and if what things have helped you out.

JaBo wrote on 10/15/2013 at 07:29pm

That's a good video. Dang, I learned some nice tips for my prison. The shakedowns was a good lesson and also the time management. I was having everything planned out. Like Sleep from 10-6, shower, eat, work, eat, yard, freetime, eat, sleep...and I like the way you laid it out there.

I bought a TV for each of my cells (I only have like 20ish) but not sure if that helped me much. I'm barely making money in mine so can't expand. Had a weird bug where my workers wouldn't build the workshop equipment. Well, I made 1 enclosure and split it 50/50 by workshop and laundry. No one would work in the workshop though. I couldn't even assign it. So I made a new enclosure and dissembled the worktable and saw, but then it sat in que to be moved to storage and never got moved. Maybe I didn't have space I dunno. But I had it que'd to replace them next door and it never happened. SO finally I dumped the crates of the 2 items and it finally recharged me $2k to build new items. That was my last 2k lol.

But ya, great video and great game.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/15/2013 at 07:52pm

Yeah, I basically cheated after my second failed prison with giving myself tons of cash by editing the save. Once I realized how to make people happy then I started over with a normal prison and funding and built something they liked. Took a bit, because Workshop is a later thing after you get a semi-profitable prison. That or the last thing I build.

That said, I may do a starting from scratch video too, would be fun to start over again anyway :D

JaBo wrote on 10/16/2013 at 04:02pm

So I started my new one last night, took me from about 11 to 1:45 to get to a good point. Spent my initial $90k on the prison and upgrades, and now I've got 27/28 prisoners and 3 workshop tables and saws. Everyone stays happy...the nightly shakedowns are super awesome....(I loaded my older file first and did a shakedown on there....wow, I found SO much stuff lol including so many tunnels! I found a tunnel that ran 15 spaces long....crazy).

The free time slots work great - it keeps them all pretty happy during the day. For some reason in my old prison, no one would work as cleaners...was weird, but luckily they do here. I had the prison closed for 3 days while constructing it and it got SUPER dirty everywhere. I hired 4 maintenance crew with like 12 hours before inmates showed up and I didn't have the budget to keep that much staff around.

There's still stuff I'm not sure on...like when should each type of door be used? I was using cell doors and large cell doors on a lot of places, but realized that bogs things down waiting for the guard to come unlock the door all the time. Then I saw you use regular doors for many things so I've tried that on most doors except offices (staff doors).

I'm also curious as to the difference in each level of inmate. You get $100 for a minimum and normal security inmate a day, haven't had high risk yet. And it does seem like the sentences for normal risk are longer, which leads to less releases. But I bet they are also more inclined to create problems in the prison (steal, attempt to escape, attack, riot). Will be fun to at some point get a large prison (on the larger map) and have different cell blocks for min, normal, high risk and see there's a noticeable difference.

This game is developed really well and I'm excited to see what they keep doing with it. It would be neat if later they add "disasters" like other Sim games have had and other random events. Like there could be an organized breakout attempt or they try to overthrow the prison and take control. Maybe a mafia breakout where a bunch of "guests" come in armed with weapons. Or you get different factions of prisoners and you have to be careful or the prisoners will attack and kill the other factions. Or prisoner hatred and abuse of different inmates based on their crimes or just because.

So much potential for this game.

Also, have you used the bookshelf yet? I think that's one item I have never placed lol.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/16/2013 at 04:30pm

"I'm also curious as to the difference in each level of inmate."

From what I have seen they don't seem any more or less problematic if they are happy. The release this is the only thing i've really noticed.

"There's still stuff I'm not sure on...like when should each type of door be used? I was using cell doors and large cell doors on a lot of places, but realized that bogs things down waiting for the guard to come unlock the door all the time. Then I saw you use regular doors for many things so I've tried that on most doors except offices (staff doors). "

So I secure the prison entrance and put a fence around the edge of the prison and its a good idea because fences are free right now in the game. Basically one major problem of a prison is bottlenecks, so if you only have one door guards must unlock at the entrance that cuts down on times people have to wait to bring stuff inside. I also station a guard on patrol to the left of the door so someone is always very close. Then for the other doors, I make them normal doors because I don't want bottlenecks. If you station enough guards around and outside the entrance with dogs, escapes are not a huge deal.

JaBo wrote on 10/16/2013 at 09:22pm

Free fencing is really nice hah. Maybe they haven't implemented difficulty through inmates yet. Have you had high risk prisoners?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/16/2013 at 10:01pm

No I haven't, it kind of scares me to do that but maybe I should just bite the bullet, I could handle it if they were rowdy.

JaBo wrote on 10/18/2013 at 04:59pm

My prison is doing great thanks to your video. I've really copied many of your ideas. I had my first bad behavior last night. A prisoner destroyed a door to the laundry room and injured a guard. It followed the first night where I didn't do a shakedown. I was expanding my prison and they decided to move prisoners into my new wing before it was really ready...no plumbing, half lights...was a mess. I should have zoned it uninhabitable but figured the cell wouldnt get occupied until it met all requirements of a cell....but I was wrong.

So, I need my guards to unlock cell doors for my workers and couldn't perform a shakedown that night. I thought it would be fine.... Also, it was probably a stressful day in the prison with all the construction noise all night long and non-working toilets. Plus it's getting a tad overcrowded in the mess hall...working on that issue now too.

Luckily though, I am profiting and that's my only incident to date.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/18/2013 at 07:43pm

Nice, thats great to hear.

Even if the toilet and electricity isnt hooked up its still technically habitable. I ensure the last thing I do to finish up a cell block is put on the cell doors. The makes sure no one lives there until its finished.

JaBo wrote on 10/18/2013 at 11:19pm

Well, I was doing the doors 1st, but that's because I construct walls all around and the workers can't get into a sealed room lol.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/19/2013 at 12:28am

Right, more reason to do doors last :D

JaBo wrote on 10/21/2013 at 10:36pm

Have you used the CCT cameras? In the description it says 1 monitor per 6 cameras...it's actually only 1 per 3...and they are a bit difficult to set up. You need a card within a 3x3 grid in front of each monitor. I made a small security room that holds 4 monitors, a desk/chair (right in the middle of the small room) and a file cabinet. The monitors are 1x3 but they don't block access to the tile they are on...so my idiot guard paces the room and steps out of the range of the monitors sometimes disabling some. I wish he'd sit in the chair and monitor!

Another bug I keep getting involves dismantle. Sometimes when I dismantle an object, it gets put in storage, sometimes it bugs out and is in the queue to be moved to storage but never does. And so if I try to re-place that item, it won't do it and it won't buy a new one to place. So I end up losing money because I have to "dump" the item and then it repurchases one for the rebuild. Been having issue with my electrical wiring too where it doesn't want to build the wires as I tell it and skips one, possibly due to same bug.

Another weird feature is when building foundations to add on to existing buildings. It demands a door (but has to be an outside door) and sometimes it tears down the existing wall to merge the rooms....I don't like that lol. I was adding on to my cells and it removed the back-walls of a whole row of cells and merged it with my add-on empty foundation.

Going to get dog handlers tonight I think. I'm making decent money, still only have 42 prisoners right now though.

JaBo wrote on 10/21/2013 at 10:37pm

card=guard.

I don't see an "edit" option.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/22/2013 at 04:48am

I haven't used the CCTV stuff yet. It's an interesting feature I haven't seen a direct need for yet. I have guards doing rounds at the areas I want visibility on and then I add a dog patrol if I want even more. So yeah, haven't really seen a need for it yet.

I might just put it in to try it out for fun though at some point.

I've had problems laying wire down over certain kinds of walls. I haven't seen a pattern to it, sometimes I just have to go another way. It's pretty odd.

One bug I have seen is that occasionally certain prisoners that have needs all in the red, sometimes they get stuck on a bed or toilet. I have to dismantle the bed so they can move to start doing stuff. That's an odd one and it happens from time to time.

I have ran into that wall bug you describe. I am not sure how to avoid that. I either just end up rebuilding the wall OR not lining up a new building with an old one. But, usually just lose the cash and rebuild the wall.

JaBo wrote on 10/22/2013 at 04:48pm

Ya same for the wall thing. And I had a bug last night with a prisoner getting searched endlessly. They were stuck at a door with a metal detector and it wasn't finding the metal object, but he kept setting off the alarm and then getting searched. Not sure if it happened more than a few times I guess, but it seemed stuck in a loop. I fired the guard and hired a new one. Then the prisoner got searched again and found the weapon/tool.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/22/2013 at 05:45pm

Some people just aren't cut out for guard duty. :D

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Terraria 1.2 Thoughts: BEEES & Extending Pre Hardmode

When Terraria 1.2 released we immediately created a Cheerful Ghost Server and so far, I am loving the new 1.2 update. @WhiteboySlim and I discussed the game in our recent Roundtable episode 6, but I wanted to write a bit about how the game has gone since. Specifically the new hive mechanics and addition of the Queen Bee boss fight.

Over the last few days we have been mining the hive and creating Queen Bee spawn items. I have really enjoyed this process and it has given us a ton more reasons to hang out in the Jungle. In Terraria pre 1.2 you would basically explore the jungle, get some items and never have a reason to return. With the new hive mechanics, Queen Bee... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 10/13/2013 at 09:41pm

Yeah, as you can see from my map, I've spent more time exploring the jungle than anywhere else. It's entirely because of the new bee stuff.
http://i.imgur.com/3KcpMmm.jpg

Also, and this won't mean anything to you unless you were online earlier-- when I was looking at my map to take this screenshot, I found something else. @WhiteBoySlim, not sure if we were talking about the same beehive earlier. The one toward the center is the one we ended up visiting, but over to the right you can see a little poking through.
http://i.imgur.com/I3BDfSA.jpg

So far I've come across 11 of these things and it's still exciting to find one.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/13/2013 at 10:14pm

How can you get that map view? I've seen it but I don't remember what I did to get to it. :D

Travis Admin wrote on 10/14/2013 at 01:50am

Hit esc to bring up your inventory/etc, then click on the far left map button in the top right of the screen. The one that looks like a tri-fold map.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/14/2013 at 03:38am

Whoa, this map is great. Thanks!

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Valve Releases First Look at the New Steam Controller

"Here's a quick look at some games being played with the prototype version of the Steam Controller -- the same version that we'll be shipping to 300 Steam users later this year. We'll post more demonstrations like this soon, including footage of some other game developers using the controller to play their own games."

In this awesome new video Valve shows off the new Steam Controller with Portal 2, Civilization 5, Counterstrike Go and Papers Please. The control of the games looks fluid and I like the varied nature of the games they are showing. The controller is pretty rough and is missing the middle display button, but it already seems very functional. In the video... Read All

Portal: Survive! Cool New Portal Fan Film Short

Portal: Survive is a interesting fan film short showcasing Portal and Lab Rat the Portal comic that ties Portal and Portal 2 together. The video contains a bit more Aperture Science lore with GlaDOS and the "neurotoxin accident" that cleared the facility.

This is one of the better fan video game films and I recommend you watch it. There was another Portal fan movie created back in 2011 called Portal: No Escape. Both are quite good and worthy of a watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4drucg1A6Xk

Do DayZ and Permadeath Teach Us How to Face Death?

"Since the heyday of arcades, death has been a key element in videogames. But does it actually teach us anything about our own lives? Over the years developers have created many variations of death in games: 3 lives, checkpoints, saved games...yet the human experience of death is a lot more, well, absolute. We don't have the option to continue or try again. In some games like DayZ, death works the same way: it's permanent. So does this make DayZ's permadeath a more meaningful gaming experience?"

Really like the dissection of permadeath in the latest episode of Game/Show. As usual the show goes into some depth about death itself and how we think about it. Hardcore is a... Read All

Escape Goat: Escape The Dungeon One Sheep At A Time

Escape Goat is an awesome new retro puzzle platformer by Magical Time Bean. The Goat was mysteriously imprisoned for Witchcraft in the prison and you must escape. Along the way you can find a mouse companion to help you get to hard to reach places as well as drop on switches to open doors. The mouse can also get a magic hat that you can use to switch locations with, allowing you to get to places that you can't jump to(best shown in Let's Play video above I made).

If you are looking for a great new platformer that has a unique flavor, Escape Goat is something you must check out. And it's not a bad time to do that because its only $3.99 on Steam & $4.99 on GOG right... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable: Ep 6 Controllers & Terraria Explo

In this smashing episode of The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable we talked about the new Steam Controller, Steam Machine Specs and the Terraria 1.2 update. We let our thoughts out of the bag on how we think the new Steam Controller will stack up with our gaming preferences and also talk about which of the three new Valve announcements we'd rather try first. Whiteboyslim & I then wash the rest of the episode down talking about the amazing new Terraria 1.2 update and our experiences with it pre-hardmode. Warning, it's pretty geek-tastic.

show notes

Terraria 1.2

Escape Goat: http://www.magicaltimebean.com/escape-goat/

Cheerful Ghost at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo: ... Read All

Timogorgon Member wrote on 10/10/2013 at 06:47pm

With special guest: My cat's butt.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/10/2013 at 10:42pm

You touched on the point I'm about to make in the discussion, but with the game consoles, I want to buy a game and have it look as great as possible (depending on the developer of course). If I buy an Xbox 360 game, I don't have to worry about choosing what graphics quality I want/can have. That's my main problem with computer games. I don't have to worry about upgrading my Xbox to play the newest game for it.

I did like your theoretical situation where one might use the steam machine to play lower CPU/GPU intensive games, and not have to worry about upgrading, but I don't know if that's a compelling enough reason to buy a console.

I am very interested in the new Steam Controller though!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/11/2013 at 01:06am

Right, we will have to see what Valve does to address this. I am mostly interested to play some games from the living room without having to worry about anything. If I have to upgrade it every so often, thats not a huge deal.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 10/11/2013 at 01:21am

I think one of the biggest advantages that console gaming has over the PC market is that guarantee that a game you buy for your console will just work (well, after some updates usually). We'll see how Valve handles things like minimum requirements for certain games.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/26/2014 at 03:21am

It's pretty cool hearing you guys talk about Terraria. I wasn't as excited about the new patch as you, only because I just started playing with the new release. It's still awesome and the more I hear about it, the more I want to get back into the game. Some of the drops you mentioned (like the Slime Staff), are new and unknown to me. I pretty much agree with you about containment of Corruption or Crimson, but I never found a reason to try to stop it, I just let it go and thought it was cool.

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