Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Artifact Will Be The First of Several New Games From Valve

Gabe Newell gave a presentation at the Valve offices about their upcoming game Artifact - The Dota Card Game. The big news isn't that Artifact is coming but that it seems Valve is focusing more on shipping games.

"Artifact is the first of several games that are going to be coming from us. So that's sort of good news. Hooray! Valve's going to start shipping games again."

It seems Valve has been focused on hardware in Steam VR, the Steam Controller and Steam itself which has taken focus away from making games which seems to now be coming back.

"The positive thing about the Vive is, in addition to making sure that nobody created an iOS closed platform for it, was also that... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 03/09/2018 at 04:11am

HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/09/2018 at 05:20pm

The artifact video was terrible.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/09/2018 at 06:54pm

0/10 nothing showed.

It was a teaser though. I don't think they've released much else beyond it.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/09/2018 at 06:55pm

I am tired of teasers that don't show anything.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/10/2018 at 12:32am

Hahahaha, yeah. That's maybe annoying. I'm tired of the fact my car doesn't yet fly.

WHY HONDA WHY IT'S WELL BEYOND WHAT BACK THE THE FUTURE 2 PROMISED US!

So jaded.... so angry.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2018 at 03:08am

Updated the post embed to a recording of the talk Gabe gave about Artifact. Apparently it won't be free to play and you can sell your cards on the marketplace. Interesting stuff and he said the game would be out this year.

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PortsCenter Reviews Street Fighter II on Amiga

Mikey Neumann of the Movies With Mikey fame runs the incredi-dorbs YouTube channel Film Joy. Film Joy also includes the saucy Ben Paddon show Ports Center and in his latest episode he covers Street Fighter II and it's ports to the Amiga. It's a good look at Street Fighter, it's beginnings, influence and movement to it's most beloved incarnation in Street Fighter II.

"In this episode, Ben looks at three very different attempts to bring Street Fighter II to his home computer of choice, the Amiga."

Celebrate 20 Years of StarCraft With Free Blizzard In-Game Loot

Starting today Blizzard is celebrating 20 years of StarCraft with a bunch of free in-game loot.

Log in to StarCraft: Remastered after March 6 to receive a commemorative 20th Anniversary UI Skin for StarCraft: Remastered.

Log in to StarCraft II after March 6 to receive a special UI Skin for each race. Additionally, log in between March 6 and April 3 to receive a Portrait and Decal.

Log in to Diablo III after March 6 to receive Dominion’s Revenge, a fearsome Battlecruiser-themed Pet.

Log in to Heroes of the Storm between March 27 and April 7 to receive a 20th Anniversary Portrait for Protoss, Terran and Zerg.

Play a StarCraft-inspired Tavern Brawl between March 21 and... Read All

How Did Kosmic Get The Super Mario Brothers Speedrun World Record?

On February 16th Super Mario Brothers Speedrunner Kosmic got the new world record ANY% in 4:56.462 besting Darbian, the previous record holder. The run is incredible and if you were wondering the tricks he used to do it you need to watch the video linked above. It goes over every part of the run and also explains how Speedrunners have broken it down to a very particular science. The current theory is that at some point humans might not be able to optimize the run further but it's possible someone might find something new that breaks that assumption wide open.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2018 at 01:29am

Super Mario Bros. is the one game’s speed runs that I follow, because it’s the one that I tried to set best times for. As I understand it we are within a half second of the theoretical human limit. So at this point any new record is truly exciting.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2018 at 03:48am

What is your personal best?

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2018 at 04:14am

I honestly can’t remember. I want to say I was thrilled when I broke 6 minutes but I could just as easily be remembering that wrong and subtracting a minute or two.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2018 at 02:17pm

Now that I think about it, I think that memory was when I broke 7 minutes. I think I made it lower, 6:45 or so.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/05/2018 at 07:38pm

This was a super interesting video! If you'd like to learn even more about level 4-2, this video is dedicated to the history of speedrunning level 4-2. https://youtu.be/i1AHCaokqhg

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/07/2018 at 05:30am

Thanks Adam. Added that to my watch later queue!

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Forget Life, Play Snood!

LGR has a great video out that showcases Snood, a crazy popular Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move clone that dropped in the 90's and was very popular even in to the 2000's era. It was created at the height of the shareware craze and was brought from it's early Mac version to PC, GBA, DS and most recently iOS. I remember many people at University that played Snood but it wasn't something I wanted to really play. I'd played Puzzle Bobble and other games like it before and I think what initially turned me off to it wasn't really the game itself. It was introduced to me by someone I didn't personally like at University and I think that initial introduction to the game soured me... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 03/02/2018 at 02:07pm

Snood was life for a while. I loved it but I had mostly forgotten about it until now.

vdogmr25 wrote on 03/02/2018 at 03:19pm

I forgot about the creepy face game. I kinda want to forget again. I pray the nightmares don't return.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/02/2018 at 03:37pm

I've heard of this game, but after watching some of the video, I have to wonder how this didn't end up as a Facebook game.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/02/2018 at 04:19pm

It was around for a long time before Facebook, and especially Facebook games. By then the magic had died and it probably wouldn’t have done well as a Facebook game.

But you’re right that it kinda feels like one

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2018 at 11:37pm

If y'all are looking to relive it the iOS version is free AND there is a version on the Snood website called Snood Plus that is free and not really featured gated for anything of the core game.

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DF Retro Reviews The Analogue Super Nt

After Analogue's Super Nt released a couple weeks back I posted about it along with a review by Metal Jesus. I really enjoy Jesus's reviews but if you are looking for an in depth tear down of the system I recommend Digital Foundry reviews and DF Retro. DF Retro took a look at the Super Nt and from the testing it looks like the system is one of the best ways to play Super Nintendo games on modern TV's.

"This week, DF Retro tackles Analogue's Super Nt - an FPGA based console designed to play Super NES games via HDMI. Analogue boasts perfect accuracy but is that really the case? We put the system to the test using challenging games known to cause problems with most... Read All

FFXV Demo Out Now!

Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition is being released on March 6th. However, a demo was released and I finished it. This is a game I've had my eye on for a while. It's one of the few reasons I have for getting a PS4. Now that this game is coming to Steam, I have on less reason for that PS4. It makes me feel quite happy that my PC can play games made for the current console generation.

Before the demo was released, Square Enix released a benchmark to test PC compatibility with the game. The result I got was that I should be able to comfortably run the game on high settings.
I actually did run into a part of the demo, at the very end, where the video lagged, but I think... Read All Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition is being released on March 6th. However, a demo was released and I finished it. This is a game I've had my eye on for a while. It's one of the few reasons I have for getting a PS4. Now that this game is coming to Steam, I have on less reason for that PS4. It makes me feel quite happy that my PC can play games made for the current console generation.

Before the demo was released, Square Enix released a benchmark to test PC compatibility with the game. The result I got was that I should be able to comfortably run the game on high settings.
I actually did run into a part of the demo, at the very end, where the video lagged, but I think that's because Steam was installing a Fallout 4 update. Check out my post for the benchmark (https://cheerfulghost.com/GregoPeck/posts/3620/why-i-don-t-need-a-console-edition).

It’s good to know that game demos are not long gone, even if they may be hard to find. Luckily, Square Enix doesn’t disappoint. I am actually impressed that they released a demo, I wish more games would do this. The demo starts out with the basic tutorials, but it allows you to skip them or even repeat them. Combat takes a little getting used to. I should also mention here that I decided to try the game out with the Xbox 360 controller I have for my PC. The game was really good at detecting it right away, letting me use it, and telling me which buttons I needed to press.

You do get to complete at least a couple of missions in the demo. It basically introduces you to the characters and the world. Later on you’ll see a flood of videos showing the events that were pretty much covered in the FFXV movie.

The game looks great, it reminds me a lot of GTA V and Witcher 3. It’s pretty much open-world. You can walk, run, and drive a car. Driving isn’t bad, the car seems to stay on the road on it’s own unless you turn. One of your companions can drive, but you can manually drive it, if you choose.

The demo takes about an hour to complete, but I feel like it gave me a good taste of the game. I think it is definitely something that deserves to be at the top of my wishlist.

Check it out and feel free to let me know what you think about it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/671210/FINAL_FANTASY_XV_WINDOWS_EDITION_PLAYABLE_DEMO/

Into The Breach Launches Today - What Do You Think?

Into the Breach is finally here and i'm curious what people that picked it up think of it? The Steam reviews seem to be singing it's praises and my hope is that Into the Breach becomes just as important to my Indie library as FTL. You can get Into the Breach on Steam or GOG but right now on GOG if you purchase Into the Breach you get FTL Advanced Edition for free!

Ben Prunty wrote the music for FTL and also Into The Breach and you can listen or buy the soundtrack right now on Bandcamp.

https://benprunty.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-breach-soundtrack

http://store.steampowered.com/app/590380/Into_the_Breach/
https://www.gog.com/game/into_the_breach

Chrono Trigger Is Out On Steam And Getting Unfortunate Reviews

Chrono Trigger unceremoniously launched on Steam today and it seems the initial reviews of it... aren't great. Clipping out a few for your reading pleasure

"All you need to know is that this is a straight port of the mobile version, and includes a horrible font and disgusting sprite filtering."

"This is a port from mobile,
It only disappoints.
But Steam will refund
All my 15 silver points."

It's mostly all bad reviews but a few are positive.

"Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPG's ever made. I had it on SNES, then lost it. I am very glad it is finally on Steam. "

Chrono Trigger is one of the most beloved games of the 16 bit era and it seems like Square is releasing it's... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 02/28/2018 at 04:36am

Cool, thanks for the info. I was distracted by other news today, the release of the demo for Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition.

I think it'd be great to have this on PC. I'll have to look at it more to decide whether or not to grab it.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/01/2018 at 04:46am

I watched a gameplay video and there are some bizarre choices. Since it's a direct mobile port, there's a constant "menu" button on the screen even though you're playing (probably) with a gamepad and can't click it. Even if you weren't, the Esc key is always there.

And the weird filter they have over it is honestly a little uncomfortable to look at. The original sprites without any scanline emulation would be far preferable.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/01/2018 at 05:16am

I agree that the pixel art being chunky would be better than that OR just allow an option for original pixels or the smoothed out thing they are doing. It does that on the DS version but the screen is so low res it's not that noticeable. But you really do notice it when your at 1080p or higher!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 05/31/2018 at 06:03am

I just got it, so I'm jumping in after they've updated it at least once (there's another update planned). It looks fine to me with the "high resolution" graphics settings. The "original" graphics settings looks more pixelated, like the original lol. That menu button Travis mentioned does appear, but it's in the bottom of the screen to the right. It's not really too noticeable, I think it disappears sometimes, but it's also definitely unnecessary. I'm playing w/ a controller and I just hit that top button (Y on XBox 360 controller) to get into the menu. I really liked the opening cinematic, but I think maybe that was included on the PS version. Otherwise, my only complaint really is that it seems I'm stuck with gray boxes (for text and menu) when I'd rather customize it (to blue). I don't recall being able to do that in this game, but I remember I was able to do so on FFVII.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/01/2018 at 01:08am

Glad you got it. Love to hear your review of the game!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/01/2018 at 02:42am

So far I'm not disappointed, just wish I could change the color of the menu/text box. I didn't play the game until 2000 or so, after I was Travis's roommate and before 9/11.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/01/2018 at 02:48am

I am honored to be part of how you remember when things happened! :D

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/01/2018 at 03:03am

Well I was Jake's roommate at the time, so yeah you fit in there. Plus, I've been listening to Cowboy Mouth a bit recently. Hell, I still dream I'm at RU for some reason. LOL

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Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness Review

http://ultima1.ultimacodex.com/files/2012/05/ultima-1-title-screen.jpg

Will_Ball gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Will_Ball gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

I have toyed with the idea of sitting down with the Ultima games for some time now. I finally took the plunge with Ultima I.

Ultima I is a role playing game that was released in 1981 for the Apple ][. In 1987 Origin ported it over to the PC and DOS. This version came with enhanced graphics, more town and city variations, monsters traveling on the map, and some money enhancements. It is the 1987 version that I ended up playing.

You play the hero, who is given the quest of destroying Mondain, an evil wizard that has released monsters on Sosaria. This hero is customized at the beginning of the game. First you have to choose a race. The races consist of Human, Elf, Dwarf... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/28/2018 at 04:11am

Looks like there is an original Ultima pack on GOG of the first three. Is this what you played?

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/28/2018 at 04:12am

Love the graphics of the game. Because it started on the Apple II the graphics remind me a bit of Oregon Trail.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/28/2018 at 05:41am

That is exactly what I played.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/01/2018 at 04:12am

Cool. Euclid bless GOG and the great work they do to bring this stuff back.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 03/01/2018 at 04:36am

I already have all the games on CD somewhere, that I got with Ultima 9. But I was able to get Ultima 1 - 9 on GOG for a total of $8 the other day, so I went with the lazy method. :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/01/2018 at 05:17am

Sounds like a good way to play it. Funny thing is installing games on CD is SLOWER than downloading it now with faster internet.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/02/2018 at 03:59am

I am definitely jealous Jon.

A 52x CD-ROM drive transfers at 7.8 MegaBYTES per second, which translates to 62.4 megaBITS per second. My recently upgraded 25 megabit internet and I could install a game (at optimal speed) two and a half times faster from disc than I could download it.

If it's from a DVD, and you have a 16x DVD ROM, that cuts the disc read time roughly in half, so (again at optimal speeds) you'd need around 120megabit internet to match it.

Now, 60ishMb and 120Mb internet is definitely available here, I just don't want to pay the insane prices Shentel wants.

*Shakes fist at markets with competition and cheap internet*

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/02/2018 at 04:31am

So I don't have anything that fast at all.

That said.

If you have a game on DVD and a game on Steam try installing them both sometime and see which is faster. To my eye, the Steam game is a faster install for a couple reasons. Firstly the raw install speed on a DVD doesn't always translate to actually being that fast IRL. I think a couple things contribute to it, but one is that for certain games they were encrypted on the disc and need to be decrypted on install. Half-life 2 comes to mind that does that, that install is CRAZY SLOW. If the game spans multiple CD's the spin up, down effects things too. I also think at times there is an unpack that games need to do to uncompress the assets. That can take ALONG TIME.

Steam, to my understanding, simply installs the flat files and then any kind of runtime the game needs. No uncompression, DRM is usually an auth server thing so the install is actually quicker than from media. This is all from eyeball tests, I haven't run anything conclusive.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/02/2018 at 02:06pm

There are some games that are stupid slow from disc. I bought DOOM 2016 on disc just to have something on my shelf and I’m pretty sure I would have been better off just downloading all of it instead of using the portion from the disc.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 03/02/2018 at 04:52pm

I have 120 Mbps download speeds. So it is stupid fast for me.

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