Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

The Scythian Steppes Remix Album Review

Sword & Sworcery made a few waves when it was released as it blended Adventure gaming with a fantastic score. As Sword & Sworcery made its way to be localized for Japan, Jim Guthrie released a remix album called "The Scythian Steppes: Seven #Sworcery Songs Localized for Japan." I picked up the album on Jim's Bandcamp page and wanted to toss out a few words about it.

I recommend downloading this album if you enjoy listening to Jim Guthrie's music because these remixes take his work and bring it a unique voice. Jim Guthrie's music is already very eclectic and the first remixes seen in Little Furnace and The Ballad of the Space Babies really bring a certain modern... Read All

"A View on Next Steps" Gabe's DICE 2013 Keynote

Awesome video where he discusses the new Steambox price point, how Steam adds value to gaming and economics. A total must watch and I hope Valve does well going forward with brining Steam to the living room!

Thought it was interesting when Gabe said Linux was the industries "get out of jail free card."

His talk doesn't start right away but you can skip ahead.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/08/2013 at 05:47am

Interesting perspectives he puts out there. I like the idea of free-to-use productivity software, although it might cause a bigger problem with ownership of distributed assets if you follow through with the shared revenue idea (i.e. who's licensing to whom). I also love the idea of local streaming of game collections to the living room, and have been begging for this for years. It's the retail cost of console games that has kept this from happening. There's no reason we shouldn't already be playing games off of our own local servers, without having to verify ownership by inserting a disc into the system. I'm really excited that Valve is pushing this.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/08/2013 at 05:11pm

I agree. Gabe is spot on when he says that people don't like to scap everything when the move to a new system. The next round of consoles should be really interesting!

Still wondering what Apple will do and like Gabe I think they are the biggest player to look out for.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/09/2013 at 06:27am

Apple already has the framework, they just haven't breathed any life into it. Why they haven't turned the Apple TV into exactly what Gabe is talking about, I don't know. I mean, I do know (Steve Jobs didn't care much for games), but still. I don't know when/if that motivation will change for them.

It's like all of this technology is hovering around something great, and nobody has really figured it out. Microsoft is going nowhere with the Xbox. Sony is coming around, and I guess we'll see in a couple of weeks what the "Ps4" will bring to the table. Nintendo is at least trying to be innovative, despite their reluctance to truly enter the online space. I tell you, I'm most excited about Valve and Ouya, at the moment. They just seem to get it.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/09/2013 at 09:42pm

Ouya looks really interesting and I dig the price point. Did you get one?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/10/2013 at 12:27am

I did, through the Kickstarter, so it should be here in about a month or so. I'll post a review when it arrives.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/10/2013 at 12:59am

Awesome! Look forward to it.

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bit Dungeon is Free on iOS Today

bit Dungeon is an addicting Browser and iOS Hack-N-Slash that you must play. The game strips itself down to work really well by simply clicking your mouse or tapping. The game takes this stripped down element and ratchets it up to create something really special.

As someone that is not too amazed by mobile games, bit Dungeon stands out for me as a must play. I appreciate the retro art and the score is also very memorable. As you advance through the dungeon levels you find chests that give you better armor and weapons. As you swap out your gear for the next greatest thing, the look of your player also changes. The game is chalked full of little fun art bits like when you... Read All

Dat Firehose: Valve @ The Movies & Next-Box Rumors

Gabe Newell and JJ Abrams recently made a few waves at a DICE keynote with dropping a few words about a Portal or Half-Life film. I love JJ and Gabe, how could this be bad?

"Newell: What we are actually doing here, we are recapitulating a series of conversations going on. We reached the point that we decided to do more than talk.

Abrams: There’s an idea we have for a game that we’d like to work with Valve on.

Newell: We’re super excited about that and we’re going to figure out if we can make a Portal movie or Half-Life movie together."

http://www.slashfilm.com/j-j-abrams-and-gabe-newell-to-develop-portal-and-half-life-films-is-something-bigger-than-mere-movies-in-mind/

A... Read All

Blue_Element wrote on 02/07/2013 at 04:51pm

Oh my god, a Portal movie would be like the best thing ever. But if they made even a small mistake in the the movie, I would hate them forever.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/07/2013 at 05:09pm

What kind of mistake?

Blue_Element wrote on 02/07/2013 at 07:47pm

A mistake like maybe the story isn't good or just bad things about the movie.

Blue_Element wrote on 02/07/2013 at 07:51pm

BTW, it would be really cool if eventually sometime in the future you made a cheerfulghost app for iOS. Which would basically be just like the mobile version of the website but it would notify you on your phone when you get a notification on the site.

Blue_Element wrote on 02/07/2013 at 07:52pm

But it would probably take a lot of effort and be really hard to make.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/08/2013 at 02:07am

That's a really great idea! My first priority is to make a really bitchin' web app and have that work really well. One thing people have mentioned is they would like email notifications when stuff happens on the site and thats just a matter of when it gets added in.

As for a proper app, I have no immediate plans to do that. It takes some time to do and if I push all my time into the web app it can be used in so many places it makes sense to sort of put all my time here for now. At some point ill add an API and then anyone can build what they want atop Cheerful Ghost, including an app or whatever.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/09/2013 at 08:06pm

Not 100% sure why, but the idea of J.J. Abrams working on a game for Valve excites me more than J.J. Abrams making a movie about Valve games.

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Playstation Network Adds Free to Play

These days I typically use my PS3 for Netflix, Bluray and the occasional split-screen game with a friend. That sai sometimes I download a demo, install it and sooner or later get around to playing it. PC gaming has really eaten away my console ambitions. Recently I was checking out the PSN Store for no particular reason when I noticed a new section for Free to Play games. Right now they only have a handful of games, but I imagine over time that number to grow quite a bit. Free to Play is an already pretty big on mobile and PC, makes sense it come to console but I wasn't really expecting to see it happen this generation.

Right now the Free to Play games they have are:

... Read All

Ghostbuster Brothers

Our favorite plumbers cross streams with the Ghostbusters in this incredibly-made fan film. I expected to be annoyed by this, truth be told, but was left grinning.

Hyrule Historia Launches

A few people have been tipping me to this and because of that feel I need to share it with you all as well. Hyrule Historia is a book that I talked about a few months ago that recently dropped that has been getting some really positive reviews.

"Dark Horse Books and Nintendo team up to bring you The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, containing an unparalleled collection of historical information on The Legend of Zelda franchise. This handsome hardcover contains never-before-seen concept art, the full history of Hyrule, the official chronology of the games, and much more! Starting with an insightful introduction by the legendary producer and video-game designer of Donkey... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/06/2013 at 05:28am

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1616550414 works too, doesn't it?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/06/2013 at 05:28am

And this looks very cool!

vdogmr25 wrote on 02/06/2013 at 07:55pm

WANT.

vdogmr25 wrote on 02/06/2013 at 08:15pm

Also, I think the big link gets cheerful ghost some referral credit-ish stuff with Amazon.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/06/2013 at 08:39pm

It does, its just ugly as hell. Thinking about how to fix that going forward :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/07/2013 at 01:33am

Ahhh, I see

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Perfection in Simplicity

Legend of Grimrock was a game I recently picked up as part of the recent Humble Bundle. It wasn't a game I was interested at first but after I checked out the Bundle trailer and read a bit about it I was intrigued.

If someone told me you could take the first person styld of Ultima and make a modern game that felt fresh I wouldn't have believed it. That said, Almost Human Studios Legend of Grimrock is fantastic. The game takes the first person styled gameplay and creates something really unique and fresh. It ups the ante by allowing you to turn any direction but it also requires that the enemies do the same and it lends to some really interesting strategy you can employ... Read All

The Witcher 3 Details Emerge

"CD Projekt RED has officially announced the title of their next upcoming game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (VIDEO). Further, they've announced that this, the ultimate game in the series, will also be the final Witcher game from the studio. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt combines CD Projekt RED’s trademark decision-based storytelling flair with a living open world larger than any other in modern RPG history.

“The captivating and nonlinear story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes place in a rich, truly open world environment. A world which is thrilling to explore, full of daring adventures, momentous quests, memorable characters, and unique monsters. Players will freely travel... Read All

Terraria Server NOW OPEN!

http://cdn.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/105600/header.jpg

Come join the fun now!

The server is terraria.cheerfulghost.com

Join the CheerfulGhost Steam Group chat room to get the password, or IM one of us on Steam.

Want to join us and don't have the game yet? Win it here: http://cheerfulghost.com/panickedthumb/posts/956

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/05/2013 at 02:13am

Sweet!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/05/2013 at 04:14pm

I got on late, and it was fun! It'll be sweet watching it grow as we play.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2013 at 05:06pm

Glad you could join Adym!

BR Supporter wrote on 02/05/2013 at 05:22pm

Lots of fun. I can't wait for the boss fights.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2013 at 05:26pm

When you start fighting bosses and getting demonite, that's when it gets really interesting!

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/05/2013 at 07:19pm

Ahh Demonite! I finally hit some Gold deposits twoard the end of the night. Had a blast spelunking around.

BR Supporter wrote on 02/05/2013 at 07:37pm

I need to figure out how to build all these new things. Its been at least close to a year since i last played.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/05/2013 at 07:47pm

I keep the wiki open while I am playing :D

http://wiki.terrariaonline.com/Terraria_Wiki

Its an amazing resource!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/05/2013 at 07:50pm

The wiki is essential.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/05/2013 at 08:23pm

Definitely make use of the wiki. Last night was fun, I'm impressed with how much everyone has built already.

Side note/suggestion: When on the server, make sure you select the blue team (open your inventory, click the blue icon on the right above your equipment). That tells you the distance and direction of all your fellow team mates. It makes it easier for us to find each other and explore together. :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/05/2013 at 08:36pm

I really need to use the wiki. I feel like there's so much I *can* do in Terraria, but I just don't know. Those pesky known unknowns ;)

Blue_Element wrote on 02/06/2013 at 01:42am

Aww, I'm using a port of terraria on Mac that someone made but the guy only updated it to 1.1.1 (1.1.2 is the current version on windows). So when I try to join it says I'm not using the same version as the server. I really wish I could play with you guys. This sucks. :'(

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/06/2013 at 03:03am

I have had problems with the Linux build, but I saw you in the game so it seems you have figured it out!

Welcome!

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/08/2013 at 05:12pm

Thanks Daniil, lets talk about doing that for the next Terraria server!

If you want to join us, friend me on steam and ill hit you up with the password.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/09/2013 at 08:11pm

As soon as this gets ported to Linux, I'm in!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/09/2013 at 09:02pm

It kinda works in Linux, but I doubt seriously if there will ever be a port.

http://www.terrariaonline.com/threads/wip-monogame-terraria-terraria-for-linux.72997/

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/09/2013 at 09:44pm

I got it working in Linux with a native port, if you can get it working in Wine do that.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/09/2013 at 09:45pm

By the way, been having a ton of fun on the server with you guys. Farming the Eater of Worlds is fun. Plus I just got my star cannon, which is rad.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/09/2013 at 11:38pm

@panickedthumb I see what you mean about a port being a long shot. I didn't realize it was an XNA game.

@jdodson Wine's out since I only have Terraria via Steam.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/09/2013 at 11:40pm

I think you can run Steam games in Wine... I think... :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/10/2013 at 05:29am

Yeah you can run Wine through Steam and pull it off for plenty of games. I guess since someone took the time to make a Linux wrapper for it, that doesn't work all too well though. You just need to get the windows binaries though, so you CAN get those through Wine at least.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/10/2013 at 06:39am

Steam through Wine that is.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/10/2013 at 06:26pm

Yep. And speaking of, I should give it a shot and see how it works. If I try it out ill report back.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/10/2013 at 07:58pm

Bastion uses XNA, too. I wonder how they managed a working Linux port. I'll redownload it from the Humble Bundle and check it out.

If they've used Wine (like they did for Psychonauts), I imagine that's a tougher road for Steam to follow for implementation on Linux (or the forthcoming Steambox).

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/10/2013 at 08:51pm

Seems that Supergiant used Monogame which allows one to compile the XNA stuff for a myriad of platforms.

http://supergiantgames.com/?p=1611

http://monogame.net/about

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/10/2013 at 09:03pm

Speaking of Monogame, that's what the wrapper for Linux uses as well. It seems to work *ok* but there are some flaws. Still, if that's the only way you're going to play it, you should.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/10/2013 at 09:06pm

I think any port requires a bit of fit and finish to make excellent. Plus it may have used a version of Monogame that is quite old or whatnot.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/10/2013 at 09:54pm

Aren't Steam binaries tied to Steam? I would prefer not to install Steam under Wine since it runs natively now.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/11/2013 at 01:57am

Yup. Good point, I figured Steam would let you install a Windows client on Linux no matter what to run under Wine.

Nope. Total bummer too.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/11/2013 at 04:55am

I'll look for another avenue to pick up Terraria. I'd be willing to suffer through the trials of running it under Monogame. I already run Linux, so I'm used to games working haphazardly, if at all from time to time.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/11/2013 at 05:50am

AND... I have a platinum coin. Never had one before. So rich now.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/11/2013 at 04:58pm

bean, you could fire up Steam-in-Wine, download Terraria, then copy those files out to wherever they need to be for the wrapper to access them. Or while I can't say this is the best bet, you could sail the seas under the black flag, me matey.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 02/11/2013 at 11:06pm

I may just boot back into Windows, install Terraria, and then grab the files after booting back into Linux. For some reason, though, I think the executables will still look for Steam to authenticate. It's at least worth a shot.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/12/2013 at 02:36am

I don't think they will, I believe Steam just wraps most .exe files.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/12/2013 at 06:18pm

Whatever attempts to search out Steam will be overridden by the wrapper. The only way to get Terraria is through Steam, even if you get the disc version it installs through Steam like Skyrim did.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/18/2013 at 02:24am

So when are we going to knock down the wall of flesh and start hardmode? I've got us fairly sanitized so we should be relatively safe from the corruption, and even if some gets in we should be able to eliminate it pretty easily.

Also, bean, did you have any luck with the Linux wrapper?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/18/2013 at 06:13pm

So was it you who wrapped the whole village in the dungeon blue brick? That's pretty awesome!

I'm open to hardmode anytime, and can help kill/farm the wall of flesh (I have like 8 voo doo dolls) as long as it's after 8pm pacific. :)

I'm also willing to help out any less equipped members of the server get caught up gear wise. I can help farm EoC/EoW or provide an escort to the underworld for hellstone. I know there are several hearts unclaimed around the world (especially in the the dungeon and the underworld) for anyone who hasn't hit 400 HP yet.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/18/2013 at 07:16pm

Yes, that was me. Encased us in safe brick and put a trench around everything to keep the corruption out. I basically created a new world to farm it for bricks so it wouldn't ugly up our dungeon. The clowns' bombs won't blow everything up now. The stuff above the ground is still susceptible, but it won't screw us up as much as it could have.

Today I made a LONG platform in the underworld to fight the Wall. In the process I found enough dolls to fill a chest, so we can farm the hell out of him.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/19/2013 at 01:36am

That's awesome, lets setup a time we meet to fight the wall to hard-mode.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/19/2013 at 05:29pm

I can't do it tonight, but I'm free pretty much any other night this week after 8pm pacific. :)

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:04pm

8 PM pacific is when I start NOT being available. :)

How about tomorrow night we get started at 7 or 7:30 PM Pacific, 10 or 10:30 PM Eastern, so we can both do the same event? Hardmode is a beast without some of the stuff you get from the Wall, and it's much better to do the wall with help.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:30pm

Tomorrow 2/20 @ 7P PST is fine by me.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:44pm

So what exactly is Hardmode? (I probably could look that up on the wiki, right?)

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:48pm

http://wiki.terrariaonline.com/Hardmode :D

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:48pm

I can't promise I'll be on any earlier than 8pm pst, but I'll try. :) If anything you guys can start Farming the wall earlier and I'll just jump when I can.

The greenhouse/mushroom farm I made under my house was intended for everyone's use. Feel free to make up a couple batches of potions to use during the fight. Supplies are in the chests. Since I'll be jumping on late if you could make a couple extra for me that would be greatly appreciated so I can jump straight into the fight when I log in. I have plenty of healing potions, so don't worry about those.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/19/2013 at 09:49pm

Cool, ill need to check out alchemy, this far I haven't brewed something yet.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/19/2013 at 10:28pm

"If anything you guys can start Farming the wall earlier and I'll just jump when I can."

Sorry, that's what I meant! I wasn't very clear. Suggesting that we could both do the event if we started it before 11 and it ran until after 11. Or 8, for you west coast freaks :D

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/21/2013 at 03:31am

Ok the world is now in Hardmode. Waiting for WhiteboySlim for more WOF runs!

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/21/2013 at 06:58am

Ok so WBS and I broke up a bunch demon altars and didn't have too hard of a time finding cobalt and a bit of the next hard mode mineral.

I don't think breaking any more demon altars will help us out too much more.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/21/2013 at 01:49pm

More demon altars will always help. We really only need the ones we craft with, the others don't do us any good and we may as well deposit more ores! Adamantite is always so freakin' hard to find.

Blue_Element wrote on 02/21/2013 at 04:20pm

Is there a way to "un-follow" a post so it doesn't give me all the notifications? Also I have another suggestion for the site; it would be nice if you could "like/favorite/+1" a post or something like that. :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/21/2013 at 04:31pm

We are going to add the ability to follow a post, I think it would be possible to un-follow it too. Ill add that to the list. Right now, if you want to un-follow you can delete your comments if its REALLY annoying. :D

We are looking at how to like/favoriate a post for sure. That shouldn't be too far away as with the follow/un-follow a post.

Blue_Element wrote on 02/22/2013 at 12:28am

Awesome! :D

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/27/2013 at 01:04am

Hey everyone I want to submit that we end this current Terraria game next week Saturday or March 9th. It was a good run, but its winding down and I think two more weeks will give us plenty of time to play it and end on a good note.

What say you?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/27/2013 at 01:20am

I haven't been on for a week or so, so I'm good with that lol

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/27/2013 at 03:44am

March 9 sounds good. I haven't had enough time to get in lately, so that'll give me some time to catch up. We should talk about the boss fights too-- we still have some hard asses.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/27/2013 at 03:49am

Yep. @WhiteboySlim and I tackled the hard mode eater of worlds and he was a pain, but I recently got the Megashark so that should help out some :D

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/02/2013 at 10:30pm

Sorry for the delay in responding, @travis. Didn't get a chance to try the Linux wrapper. Was embroiled in an address change and my Windows partition became history before that.

I may have to go the 'Seven Seas' route to find the executable now. OTOH, it is POSSIBLE that Terraria might get to Steam. Bastion (also written for XNA) works without issue with full controller support.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/02/2013 at 10:54pm

I'd say that wouldn't happen but the PC dev started work on the game again, and apparently there's a major update coming. If he'd respond to my request to interview him, I'd totally ask him about a Linux version :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/09/2013 at 01:28am

Hey y'all. First off, hanging out with you all in the server was rad.

Second off, I think this is the longest site thread ever, so woot.

Third off, server is halting tommorow and a bit after that ill pass out the world for us to all have like last time.

Tha is again!

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