Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

New Cartoon Series: Starcrafts

YouTube animator CarbotAnimations recently created "Starcrafts" a series of cartoon shorts based on Starcraft. They are released every Saturday and have 10 episodes already!

Linking to them all because you have to watch them all, they are that awesome!

Episode 3 Mini Marine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBOOJvXDjX0&feature=plcp

Episode 4 Zerg BM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk6wYlRR-BI&feature=plcp

Episode 5 Choked Up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COV2GfUnxFc&feature=plcp

Episode 6 A Hellion of Harras:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOm86GB9nQ&feature=plcp

Episode 7 Roach Approach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9T0hjPs2NU&feature=plcp

A Thank you... Read All

Day Z

So, I just recently got into Day Z. I've had ARMA II for awhile but just haven't got around to trying Day Z until recently. Its definitely a fun game mode. It takes a lot of patience though. Anyway, today, I had my first "murder". I wouldn't call it that though cause I killed the guy who was stealing my bus. He apparently was returning it when I shot him, but that doesn't explain the fact that he was driving right at me. I checked his body and he was just a newbie. So maybe he was telling the truth, but I don't really believe it. This is the first deadly confrontation I've had with other players

Yeah, I just thought I should share this little story with whoever is... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/26/2012 at 04:31am

How did you know he was stealing your bus? Can you communicate with people in game?

I knew other players effected how DayZ played, but I never considered murdering other players if they were getting too dangerous. But its a survival game, so you survived! Yay!

What ended up doing you in that particular play session?

Missile_Drop_Kick wrote on 10/26/2012 at 01:59pm

Don't stream Dayz. People are notorious for stream sniping in that community. I thought about streaming it, then I saw all the stream snipers... .Pretty horrible people play Dayz. I would trust no one, no matter what they say. I watched a video of a guy who traveled and raided a supermarket with another guy, then he said he was going to log off. As soon as the other dude turned his back, he blasted him and took his stuff.

Fight the dead... Fear the living.

Missile_Drop_Kick wrote on 10/26/2012 at 02:01pm

Here's the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVz1C1i34Y&list=UU7bEUntBwvVT_QaTsNS2_Ug&index=4&feature=plcp

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/26/2012 at 02:02pm

Makes sense I guess in a bare knuckle survivor world.. Still there is some safety in numbers, but since everyone is obfuscated you can sort of do whatever.

Missile_Drop_Kick wrote on 10/26/2012 at 02:04pm

I meant to say, some pretty horrible people play Dayz, not all of them are horrible.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/26/2012 at 02:11pm

For sure.. If I check it out ill make sure to be careful. Does the game/world reset every so often or is it persistent?

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 10/26/2012 at 03:22pm

I could tell he was stealing my bus because when I went to look for it, it was gone. He made the the mistake of trying to come back to the same area, and that's when I shot him through the windshield.

I am currently still alive on that character. I ended up driving the bus into a forest, getting out, and logging off. I'm hoping when I check back today my bus is still where I left it as cars do not despawn unless something happens with the server or it gets destroyed, at least as far as I know.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/27/2012 at 12:00am

Interesting to know, thanks BR! Sounds like a cool time.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/27/2012 at 12:19am

@Missle_Drop_Kick: That guy in the video was a bastard. I guess I should expect when I play DayZ that anyone would jack me at any moment. Hmmm, interesting.

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Drama in the world of Gaming Journalism

Robert Florence has stepped down from Eurogamer because an article he wrote about games journalists and PR was edited due to complaints from people in the article.

It's hard to explain, much easier to read, so here you go. This is the unedited version, with the removed parts in bold:

http://wosland.podgamer.com/a-table-of-cowards/

One thing that sticks out for me is that journalists for reputable news organizations can't accept extravagant gifts from anyone involved in the material they're writing about. Is it ok for a gaming journalist to accept a PS3 from someone with a new game coming out that they'll surely be writing about?

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/26/2012 at 04:29am

Hey panicked, thanks for posting!

My original comment was so long it hit the limit so ill write a redacted version of it, simpler, less words. :D

Ultimately Ill post a follow up to this because its an important happening and I think illustrates why "game journalism" isn't objective and totally broken. How can it serves Gamers when the forces of money choke out honest dialog.

Maybe Robert was out of line? Maybe he was just being honest and hit a nerve that caused some people to fear for their money pile getting smaller? The reason why "game journalism" is broken is because more often than not, its the latter.

Which part-in why Cheerful Ghost exists. Because I believe normal people's thoughts on gaming is more important than paid journalists in gaming.

But you don't have to take my word for it, get the latest highly reviewed title by any old mega game site and it should be fun right? I mean they are the experts and it had a 8.8 rating? That means a totally great game! If you are not scared for your $60 going right into the toilet then you and I both admit "game journalism" has issues.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/01/2012 at 11:17pm

This is a HUGE issue to me. It's more then just money as well. There are so many bias's that factor in you'd think it was a political review. There are some sites that review japanese games horribly simply because they are japanese. Lost planet 2 was a breath of fresh air compared to a CoD or more recent shooters and it received extremely critical reviews. It was made by capcom.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/02/2012 at 02:53am

Yep, me too. Its not bad for a site to make enough money to pay the bills, but big media game sites take it too far and sacrifice too much.

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Hint at Linux Support in Recent Update

In a recent Team Fortress 2 update there are some files that point to a possible Linux port.

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Template:PatchDiff/October_22,_2012_Patch_%28Beta%29

This makes sense as Valve is working on bringing Steam to Linux and I imagine they will port many, if not all its titles to Linux. I still use Linux as my primary desktop operating system and less reasons to boot back into Windows the better. Still, there are SO many games in Windows I wonder if ill really ever be able to switch?

Does Linux support from Steam interest you? Do you use Linux or is it all Windows and Mac for you?

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... Read All

UI Love for The New Starcraft Expansion

Looks like Blizz is giving the UI for Starcraft 2 some love in the new game Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm in addition to the major 1.5 update of the interface.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7634957

Still not in the Beta for Heart of the Swarm... Seems like I am on a "no-fly"/no beta list with Blizzard for not taking part in the Litch King beta when I had it...

Travis Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:43am

A lot of places will do that. If you sign up for a beta but do nothing with it, they'll just pass you up.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:47am

Banned for life? Sigh.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:58am

Never should have signed up for WoW beta's when I never actually played the game.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 07:38pm

Well I don't know about "for life" but I've heard Microsoft and someone else will just totally pass you up if you don't contribute to previous betas you've been in.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/26/2012 at 04:33am

It makes sense, if I skipped one then give my seat to someone that would play it. Makes sense, more kicking myself for signing up in the first place!

HEY BLIZZ I TOOK PART IN THE WAR 3 FROZEN THRONE BETA!

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Epic Minecraft City

Someone's Minecraft creation. And I thought my 8-bit Link I made in Terraria was pretty involved....

Online Meetup Tonight!

Just wanted to remind everyone that tonight we are having an online meetup and play session for Quake Live! It will start tonight 10/24 at 6pm PST.

Ill use this thread to co-ordinate the game, so check back for what specific games we will be in and the sharing of our in-game accounts to play together.

Original Post:
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/657

Travis Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:05am

Looking forward to getting ripped apart by all you better FPS players! :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:34am

HAHAHA! We shall see.

Just getting my machine setup and ready to go here.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:35am

Game updating.... Going to check on my heating pizza.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:41am

OK you can add me in quake live as a friend my username is... wait for it....

jdodson

Travis Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:47am

I have added you.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 12:51am

looks like i invited you to the match.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 02:55am

Heading over to Left 4 Dead. Join us if you can.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:42am

You all missed out on some fun! With the exception of the people who kept reciting lyrics from Gangnam Style, the Quake Live games were a blast, and my first real L4D experience was exactly what I had hoped for.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/25/2012 at 04:19am

Quake Live was a blast! I still love the rocket launcher!

Left 4 Dead stole the show for me though. After about the 3rd wave we started I was really digging the game and the strategy of it. I really enjoyed helping people and healing, which is odd as I don't particularly like playing the medic in TF games.

BR Supporter wrote on 10/25/2012 at 10:01pm

Sorry, I couldn't join you guys. I didn't even see the post until today. I was pretty busy playing apb as I just started playing again.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/26/2012 at 04:33am

No problem, I plan on running a game meetup every other week so ill try and make the next one more visible!

Tungsten wrote on 10/27/2012 at 02:04pm

Ya, try to another one this weekend. I'll get it running so I can shove rockets up your quake holes

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Combat Details for The Elder Scrolls: Online

This looks promising. The narration is a little grating but the info is worth it.

It looks like the combat will be similar to that of the recent single-player games. The Finesse system sounds interesting. Overall, it seems different from any MMO combat I've seen, which is definitely a good thing.

I'll have to break my rule of never playing MMOs for this one.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/24/2012 at 04:07am

Thanks for posting this, I've been interested in The Elder Scrolls Online and this drops some compelling art and information that draws me to think this will be worth checking out!

First off, the art feels like something from Skyrim. The video was a bit artifacty on my phone but it looked like an improvement over Skyrim?

I wonder if this is PC only?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/24/2012 at 06:45pm

Playing through Skyrim, I kept thinking "This is so awesome... but how much more awesome would it be to have other players playing with me?" So yes, I'm definitely looking forward to this game.
I do wonder about some of the random aspects of Skyrim that might be lost, like finding a wheelbarrow at the bottom of a waterfall. Finding one was cool, but with thousands (or millions, depending on how the servers work) of other players, I wonder how much clutter there will be? Now that I think about it, I kinda hope there's a ton of clutter.
I think I'm what I'm getting at (I'm not really sure, just kinda typing and seeing what happens) is that I like the sense of "wow, I bet no one has seen this in this world" feeling that is present in Skyrim, which could be lost in an online version.
But again, overall, I'm looking forward to this!

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/25/2012 at 02:58am

MMO's seem to allow a ton of people to play but don't allow the players to make a mark on the world too much. Elder Scrolls Online could change this though for the reasons you cite, like leaving stuff around. Problem is, would such a world turn into a garbage dump eventually? Seriously, it could. Some clan could invariably spend the time to make a mountain of potatoes too :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/25/2012 at 07:33pm

That's my worry as well.

My first thought was that perhaps items, after they're dropped, if they're not touched for a set amount of time (whatever that might be), they disappear. But I don't really like the idea of items just disappearing. One of my complaints (a very minor complaint though) of WoW was how quest items just magically respawn. I would like a better way for quest items (or ingredients to create things with) to appear. But with things like ore, obviously someone can't reset that, that pretty much just has to reappear... maybe some sort of mechanic function of the ground where ore would randomly be pushed up to gather, and trees would slowly grow.

That was a long first thought.

My second thought I like a little better, but not much. Perhaps there can be some NPC's that wander around the world, cleaning up random items left by people. Maybe if they were scavengers, and you could buy the items from them (and maybe get lucky and get an exotic item that they found?)?

But I would want to contribute to the mountain of patatoes as well lol

BR Supporter wrote on 10/25/2012 at 10:39pm

I'm very worried about this. I feel like it is going to just become another mmo like WoW. I'm hoping the combat keeps it different. I also feel like the character models have much more cartoon-y look then what an elder scrolls game should be like. Like the orc they show at about 0:35, He is HUGE. It reminds me of the characters in the old republic that were just like really big fat people. They look ridiculous.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/26/2012 at 02:14pm

Hopefully a CG user is on the beta and reports back! I know I'll be signing up.

Hopefully the big cartoony ORC is a one off because Elder Scrolls games and grounded in fairly realistic graphics.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 10/28/2012 at 05:35am

Cartoony graphics are often a way for companies to make a game that looks acceptable in a modern world while keeping the requirements low. Basically, they're trying to make it accessible to more users. Possibly.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/28/2012 at 06:34am

It worked really well for Borderlands 2 and its cell shaded graphics as well as Torchlight. Its a great choice technically.

As long as it "feels life" Elder Schools I am ok.

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Metroid Password Save Breakdown

On teh intarwebs I found a breakdown of the password save system for the original Metroid. It reads like a technical whitepaper and seems pretty straightforward to construct your own passwords if you so desire.

I sort of inspected a few of my games that used a password save system and noticed patterns that let me modify them. For instance, in Mega Man 2 I collected E Tanks only(did nothing else) and noticed what happened to the password. Collecting the maximum amount and noticing the password allowed me to create a password where at any point I could refill my character back to maximum E Tanks. I was able to do the same to a few other games as well and it was always fun... Read All

Fighting Sickness With Mario N64 Style!

To kick off Retro Tuesday I wanted to talk about a game I have been playing recently with my wife. There are not many generes of games my wife and I can agree to playing together save puzzle games and the occasional Mario Kart level. Recently we decided to un-box the N64 and play Dr. Mario and played a few competitive matches.

I consider Dr. Mario practically a perfect game. I hesitantly compare it to Tetris as Tetris literally is a perfect game, but Dr. Mario is a close second to it in my mind to perfect puzzle games. The original NES cart was well done too, top notch music, game mechanics and concept. The 64 game adds on the original by allowing 4 player matches,... Read All