Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Fridge Prototyping

After seeing some really cool 8 bit bead creations at a the Portland Retro Game Expo this summer, I decided the world needed a Cheerful Ghost. Spending a bit of time on it here and there I created a process to build the Ghost magnets and I think they turned out pretty well. Right now I am testing my latest magnet adhesive strategy on my fridge and these particular prototype revisions are holding up well.

Stay tuned over the next month for information on how you can put one of these awesome Ghosts on your fridge!

Bombermine: A Multiplayer Bomberman Clone in HTML5

As browser technology advances I am really surprised at the level of awesome games people can create using HTML5. Take Bombermine, a new Bomberman clone that works from any modern browser. It plays as well as the 4 player version I had on Super Nintendo but Bombermine throws the crowd capacity of the Internet into the mix.

Dueling with someone Bomberman style from different parts of the world is a pretty awesome thing and occasionally as I was playing things got a little frantic. The game is in beta right now but the multiplayer rosters seemed quite full so there should be no problem finding people to throw bombs at. At one point I found a mystery item that turned me... Read All

SignalWarden wrote on 03/02/2013 at 08:35am

I actually just played this for the first time yesterday. It's crazy fun. I found myself getting nostalgic though and busted out the Gameboy Color for some Wario Blast.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/02/2013 at 05:04pm

Nice! Somehow I had a dream last night about finding a Gameboy at a Garage Sale and then finding Battletoads... It was a good dream and I realized I need to get an original Gameboy in some way now.

SignalWarden wrote on 03/03/2013 at 02:26am

I have both an original GB brick and a teal GB color. I have never bought another handheld. I intend to break that streak and get a vita if Sony proves they are aware of its existence.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2013 at 04:23am

Hahaha, yeah it looks like a good handheld. Too bad its hard to mod right now. I kind of want something easy to mod and can play.. anything. Don't mind paying for games, but I don't need to own yet another locked down thing.

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Blizzard To Announce "The New" at Pax East

"We've been working on a little something, different from our other games, and we're pleased to invite you to be the first to see it," the company wrote in its e-mailed note. "It's not a sequel, expansion or that rumored next-gen MMO, but it's something we're excited for you to get your hands on."

I wonder if this is what Jay Wilson left the Diablo III team for? Some are speculating this is the previously mentioned Titan MMO. If past Blizzard announcements are an indicator, then the game will launch about 4 years after the announcement(D3 was announced in 2008).

So what do you think, is this the new Titan MMO or something entirely different?

Either way, we will know... Read All

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 02/28/2013 at 05:31pm

It's about fucking time they do a new property. I know they do good work but they're the very definition of a stagnant company playing it extremely safe.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/01/2013 at 01:04am

They have been sticking with Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo for quite some time for sure. Id have branched out but then again... money and for the most part, the games are pretty damn good.

But yeah, way due for something new from Blizzard.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 03/01/2013 at 02:12am

I remember when they did adventurous stuff. Lost Vikings and Blackthorne. It's cool comfort that they're good games. I'd argue that Blizzard is sort of harmful to video games as an art. Let's hope this move shows some balls.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/01/2013 at 04:40am

If I had to muse, the musing would be like this:

What they are announcing they have worked on for a few years now. I am fairly certain this is Titan, that new MMO. Reason being is they make safe choices, like you said earlier. A few years ago everyone was jumping into MMO's because they were seemingly profitable and the new hot money maker.

I am not saying the game won't be good or exciting or anything, I just think the choice as to what they do next was made a few years ago, and the thought at the time in big companies was MMO's are super. Still are, and WoW is still going strong so its not like they will make a choice that doesn't do well by them.

I think Blizzard is for certain in the wheel house in games as art that make bucketloads of money. I have a Diablo III and Starcraft 2 set of art books and musical scores that point to that. Now, some could say its this way or that style wise but there are some fantastic paintings and orchestral movements to be had in the loot grind and Zerg rush.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 03/01/2013 at 04:53pm

That's sort of art assets as art, right? I mean the games themselves as a medium. A force for stagnation as opposed to innovation, etc etc.

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Blade Symphony Preview

I've been having so much fun with this game. They are doing a great job with it and are updating almost daily. I'm also doing a beta key giveaway. I have three more preview vids down the pipe for this game and will be giving one away in each video. I highly suggest you check this out and try to get a key either through me or some other means. They just opened the servers to their kickstarter backers so the servers exploded and it just kept getting better.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/28/2013 at 03:38pm

Nice! I was wondering who else in the wild was playing this. I've been in and out since the Kickstarter beta went live, and agree that it's a blast! Anyone who is a fan of games like Bushido Blade, or had fun dueling in Jedi Outcast, should seriously check this out. Looking forward to your vids, Signal, and facing off in the arena :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/28/2013 at 05:14pm

Interesting, thanks for sharing the video. I remember it from your early whats on Kickstarter video. Cool to see it moving forward in such a cool way.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/28/2013 at 05:14pm

Hey Sig where do you get the music for your videos?

SignalWarden Post Author wrote on 03/01/2013 at 08:52pm

Most of the music I use is creative commons culled from a few different sites. The main one is Soundcloud.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/01/2013 at 09:06pm

Ahh cool, good idea! Thanks for the tip.

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Minetest: An Open Source Minecraft Clone

As I make my way across the expanse that is the great plains of the Internet, occasionally I find some interesting bits that peak my attention. Consider one such project in Minetest, an Open Source implementation of Minecraft in C++. Since Free Software is close to my heart, I decided to give this project a spin. Well that and its free so, you know, its not hard to try it out :D

The Minetest project has binaries available for Windows and Linux and I tried the Windows copy. After opening the game up I noticed right away that they kept the overall feel and tone of Minecraft. The graphics are nearly identical and the controls are very close. Minetest misses quite a lot of... Read All

UT3 Black Verdict? RAMPAGE!

I consider the original Unreal Tournament games to be some of the best FPS multiplayer games ever made. I played the heck out of Unreal Tournament and then later went nuts for Unreal Tournament 2004. Now mind you, I am not very good at competitive shooters but Unreal Tournament allows you a fine grained control over bots such that anyone can get in the game and feel like a total bad-ass. I own UT, UT2003 UT2004 on plastic discs but when the recent UT franchise Steam Sale hit, I decided to pull the trigger and pick it up.

Unreal Tournament 3 Black is a worthy successor to the Unreal Tournament legacy. The Steam version includes the UT3 Titan Pack, which adds in a few... Read All I consider the original Unreal Tournament games to be some of the best FPS multiplayer games ever made. I played the heck out of Unreal Tournament and then later went nuts for Unreal Tournament 2004. Now mind you, I am not very good at competitive shooters but Unreal Tournament allows you a fine grained control over bots such that anyone can get in the game and feel like a total bad-ass. I own UT, UT2003 UT2004 on plastic discs but when the recent UT franchise Steam Sale hit, I decided to pull the trigger and pick it up.

Unreal Tournament 3 Black is a worthy successor to the Unreal Tournament legacy. The Steam version includes the UT3 Titan Pack, which adds in a few new game modes as well as maps. After I downloaded and installed all the UT3 Community Bonus Project maps I tore through a few awesome maps and had a ton of fun playing Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The awesome thing is that UT3 was released in 2009 so if you have a relatively new computer you can run it with the settings dialed up and the game doesn’t suffer from any kind of lag.

The game is very polished and overall a very good competitive shooter. I decided to try my luck and head online for a few deathmatches and was surprised to find out I wasn’t too bad. I imagine many people picked up UT3 from the recent Steam sale and were about as good as I was because I scored right smack in the middle out of the pack on the server I was playing on. The community for UT3 is still pretty strong and there seemed to be a few servers that were full of people playing.

Let me know by way of posting in the comments if you have UT3 and would be potentially interested in a Cheerful Ghost UT3 frag night in the upcoming months. Unreal Tournament has as special place in my heart as an awesome shooter and UT3 is a really awesome continuation of that awesome legacy.

If you are just getting started or want to head back into the area, you should nab all the awesome Community Bonus Pack content:

http://cbp.beyondunreal.com/

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/26/2013 at 08:27pm

Picked it up on the Steam sale, per your previous mention, and installed yesterday. I'm totally down for the massacre!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/26/2013 at 08:40pm

Dude, sign me up for the massacre too!

Travis Admin wrote on 02/26/2013 at 10:18pm

I'm always up for a fragfest.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/26/2013 at 11:01pm

Nice, thanks everyone.

Ill try and shoot for something next week. Shooting for a launch of a pretty cool new feature this Saturday and a few other cool CG bits so the fragMENTATION will be next weekish.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/26/2013 at 11:33pm

Sweet action! I'll bring the virtual Doritos.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/27/2013 at 12:02am

Good thing too, virtual Doritos are less calories.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/27/2013 at 07:19am

I just jumped in for a warm-up session. Holy knight, did I get beat down.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/27/2013 at 04:44pm

Did you set the bots to some low skill level? You can also toss in mutators like "Big Head" that will make players that do well MUCH easier to headshot :D

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/27/2013 at 05:08pm

I think I was playing actual humans, but they seemed way too good. Not that I doubt people are probably amazing at that game, but still. At one point, I think I died 5 times in about 5 seconds.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:15pm

I bought the Unreal pack in last year's Summer Bundle. I'm 100% Linux at this point, though, so it's UT2004 only until the rest are brought over. Fingers crossed that older titles like this one get the Steam Linux treatment.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:21pm

There are binaries for all UT games from 2004 backward. I dont know if its in Steam yet, but really should be brought to it.

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The Legend of Zelda: Sundial of Shadows Ep. 1

Very interesting new fan animation released recently called "Sundial of Shadows." The first episode features two characters and takes its time building up the tone and feel of the series. Styled heavily on Zelda Ocarina of Time, the series forgoes voice acting for the text style of the game.

Very interesting start to the series and as such am looking forward to where the show is headed.

Dat Firehose: Stardew Valley, VR Latency & Betas!

If you are looking for a taste of Stardew Valley before launch, Concerned Ape has released 3 tracks from the upcoming page on Bandcamp. Listening to these awesome tracks makes me realize the game can't come out soon enough!

http://concernedape.bandcamp.com/

John Carmack recently wrote about the latency in VR headsets and how to account for it. Proving again that he is one of the smartest people in gaming today building a space company.

http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2013/02/22/latency-mitigation-strategies/

I received a preview Beta of Hammerwatch today and played it for a few hours. The game is a ton of fun and shines in co-op, expect to see more in the next few days... Read All

Finding a Place. The First Few Levels of Anodyne.

I picked up Anodyne last week during The Pirate Bay sale. Since I am a sucker for game soundtracks, I opted for the deluxe version that came with the score. I am playing it on my PC and the game runs flawlessly.

Anodyne is a hard game to write about. From the very start it brought back memories of playing my NES. The moody tone hit me as very Link's Awakening-esque but unlike Link's Awakening that ramps you up, Anodyne hits you with the ethereal mood from the start. As the game continues past the opening area and beyond the first dungeon it opens the colors, music and tone a bit but the underlying ethereal current is always present.

If you are expecting a game to hold... Read All I picked up Anodyne last week during The Pirate Bay sale. Since I am a sucker for game soundtracks, I opted for the deluxe version that came with the score. I am playing it on my PC and the game runs flawlessly.

Anodyne is a hard game to write about. From the very start it brought back memories of playing my NES. The moody tone hit me as very Link's Awakening-esque but unlike Link's Awakening that ramps you up, Anodyne hits you with the ethereal mood from the start. As the game continues past the opening area and beyond the first dungeon it opens the colors, music and tone a bit but the underlying ethereal current is always present.

If you are expecting a game to hold your hand this game isn't your jam. Just to be clear: I am having no problems making my way through this game at all. That said, after the first dungeon the game opens up very wide and if you don't pay attention you can get quite lost. I don't mind taking time getting acclimated to things and love exploring. I started playing Anodyne with the thought that this would be more of an experience than anything else, and to that point it hasn't let me down.

Using the overall design, art and score the game is pulling some interesting punches I don't see too often. When I load up my save and start walking around I am immediately flooded with feelings of discovery and a genuine wonder of what will come next. The game has surprised me with how well it plays to old Zelda and Final Fantasy design notes but then goes an entirely different direction. Often times I am not entirely sure what the game is trying to say with a particular set of events but the open nature of it isn't lost on me. Sometimes there really are few answers to things and Anodyne doesn't try to answer them all.

I have read a few reviews that knock the cryptic nature of the game and cite it as a flaw. I don't think this is a flaw and for me Anodyne works very well because not all games need to round every jagged edge and way point each mission. Its a refreshing take on the genre and its simplicity I consider a strength.

Fighting the 2nd level boss: http://i.imgur.com/qfKSof8.png
Talking to a cat that started following me around: http://i.imgur.com/IJj7UGR.png

If you are interested in reading some information on some of the design thoughts in Anodyne, Sean Hogan blogged about them here.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SeanHogan/20121026/180270/Joys_in_writing_game_music_frustrations_of_the_place_of_games_in_society_and_the_potential_of_games_that_convey_experiences.php

Started a Dark Souls Let's Play

http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/bows/black-bow-of-pharis-on-hand.jpg

Sundays and Wednesdays, let's do it, all right? Follow the adventures of The Archer on youtube!

www.youtube.com/watchoutforfireballs

(Note, this is not my archer).