No-wait, it's not what you think!
Ha, I'm not plotting to follow up an un-started series with a different series. I just wanted to expand upon the ideas in the "Hidden Gems" post with something amazing I found last week at Replay's (of course).
For $30.00 I got my hands on a refurbished Sega Genesis console, and for another $10.00 I landed a Sega 6-pak, including Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Columns, Revenge of Shinobi, Super Hang-On and Sonic, and a copy of Desert Strike in it's original box with manual! Never played Desert Strike, but it was the only game other than sports games and that 6-pak. Additionally I dropped Metal Gear and Gauntlet on my brief visit to Replay's, so all in all a good haul.
What's the reason behind the name then? You should know it, if you know anything about Sega. One of the greatest titles for the Sega Genesis was Disney's Aladdin! Okay, maybe not one of the greatest, perhaps my nostalgia clouds my vision, but seriously, a fantastic game and now that I own a Sega Genesis I actively seek it! So, yeah, technically, once I get into Hidden Gems I may have the sheer pleasure of running through the "diamond in the rough" that is Disney's Aladdin.
Anyway, no, that's it. Just gonna talk about owning a Sega Genesis and wanting Disney's Aladdin. Actually, there is one other thing. The difference between collectible and used when it comes to video games. I understand that apparently the internet has a different opinion than me, but I think the internet should be told that it is made up of idiots, here's why:
When you have two categories of differing value for the same item, you label those categories. One category, in this case, is labeled "Used" meaning the item has been opened and used, and is no longer in peak condition nor with it's original packaging. The other is "Collectible" meaning the item may or may not be opened, has everything that belongs with it, and functions fully. The problem I have is that I can select "Collectible" on Amazon, while browing Disney's Aladdin games, and find a series of selections that read "Game Only, lightly used, worn label." Worn label?! You might get away with calling a mint condition sealed game that was removed from it's case and played once, subsequently losing the case and peripherals, a collectible item. But at the point where you have nothing but the game, and the game is not sealed and indeed shows signs of wear and tear, you are no longer dealing with something to be labeled collectible! And you definitely should not charge twice as much as someone selling the full game with original case, manual and artwork! Come on internet, pull yourself together!
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Books and Gaming: FNaF
What Are We Really Talking About?
It's really pretty simple, I love video games, and I really enjoy the written word. I find myself listening to books more often than reading them of late, mainly because that's just easier. I can listen while I work out, while I jog, while I play games, while I hunt Pokémon and while I drive. So why not listen to books instead of read them? But, we're not technically just talking about my method of reading.
What I'm talking about, is game-books. Books based on the content of games, and there are tons. Seriously, for every epic RPG, massive scale gaming universe, and terribly convoluted plot, there's a book, licensed or fan written, that attempts to explain something or extrapolate some new story. You can see this in basically everything, JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts; science fiction shooters like Halo and Mass Effect; high adventures like The Legend of Zelda and Infinity Blade; strategy games such as Command & Conquer and StarCraft; stealth games like Assassin's Creed and Metal Gear Solid; and yes, even indie games like Five Nights at Freddy's, a.k.a. FNaF.
Which is actually what has brought this to the forefront of my mind. I adore the FNaF games, I'm not particularly good at them by any means. I haven't even fully beat the second one, and refuse to play the third and fourth ones until I do (doesn't help that I've had to restart because I swapped form mobile to PC and wanted to beat the first game anew). FNaF has this weird rich lore to it, mostly crafted through the fanbase's relentless insistence that there is one. I mean, I'm sure Scott Cawthon wanted there to be some internal story to the original FNaF, who doesn't want their game to have a plot? But, the series has exploded, spanning across four core games, a spinoff rpg, a fifth sequel game (and possible series), an upcoming movie, several fan made games, and yes, a book.
Don't misunderstand, I haven't read the book (past the first page), but it has drawn me to the point that I now own it, and have begun to read it. Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes is a book that promises to expand on the lore of the series, while establishing it's own sort of existential lore. Let's face it, FNaF already has so much crap going on that writing a book on it would be hard without breaking a few twigs. So no, I don't have an opinion on it, but I will.
It's the oddest thing, there are games with far more developed plots out there (such as Metal Gear Solid) that I love to play and study, but I don't find myself reaching out for their books. Something about FNaF just draws me to it, makes me want to know more. Maybe it's because the game was made by an independent man just pursuing his dream. Perhaps this is all the result of a lot of internet hype around a simplistic, if entertaining, game. Who knows.
As a side note (which I seem to have more and more often): Just a few days ago I found myself in our managing editor's office, explaining the mechanics of Pokémon Go to him, and I thought to myself, "This is the job I truly want, to explain video games to people." Wouldn't that be fantastic? Best. Job. Ever.
It's really pretty simple, I love video games, and I really enjoy the written word. I find myself listening to books more often than reading them of late, mainly because that's just easier. I can listen while I work out, while I jog, while I play games, while I hunt Pokémon and while I drive. So why not listen to books instead of read them? But, we're not technically just talking about my method of reading.
What I'm talking about, is game-books. Books based on the content of games, and there are tons. Seriously, for every epic RPG, massive scale gaming universe, and terribly convoluted plot, there's a book, licensed or fan written, that attempts to explain something or extrapolate some new story. You can see this in basically everything, JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts; science fiction shooters like Halo and Mass Effect; high adventures like The Legend of Zelda and Infinity Blade; strategy games such as Command & Conquer and StarCraft; stealth games like Assassin's Creed and Metal Gear Solid; and yes, even indie games like Five Nights at Freddy's, a.k.a. FNaF.
Which is actually what has brought this to the forefront of my mind. I adore the FNaF games, I'm not particularly good at them by any means. I haven't even fully beat the second one, and refuse to play the third and fourth ones until I do (doesn't help that I've had to restart because I swapped form mobile to PC and wanted to beat the first game anew). FNaF has this weird rich lore to it, mostly crafted through the fanbase's relentless insistence that there is one. I mean, I'm sure Scott Cawthon wanted there to be some internal story to the original FNaF, who doesn't want their game to have a plot? But, the series has exploded, spanning across four core games, a spinoff rpg, a fifth sequel game (and possible series), an upcoming movie, several fan made games, and yes, a book.
Don't misunderstand, I haven't read the book (past the first page), but it has drawn me to the point that I now own it, and have begun to read it. Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes is a book that promises to expand on the lore of the series, while establishing it's own sort of existential lore. Let's face it, FNaF already has so much crap going on that writing a book on it would be hard without breaking a few twigs. So no, I don't have an opinion on it, but I will.
It's the oddest thing, there are games with far more developed plots out there (such as Metal Gear Solid) that I love to play and study, but I don't find myself reaching out for their books. Something about FNaF just draws me to it, makes me want to know more. Maybe it's because the game was made by an independent man just pursuing his dream. Perhaps this is all the result of a lot of internet hype around a simplistic, if entertaining, game. Who knows.
As a side note (which I seem to have more and more often): Just a few days ago I found myself in our managing editor's office, explaining the mechanics of Pokémon Go to him, and I thought to myself, "This is the job I truly want, to explain video games to people." Wouldn't that be fantastic? Best. Job. Ever.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Life's a Game, Isn't It?: SKILLS/FEATS
WORD SMITHING
Weird title? Not particularly, I want to write about life and what I'm thinking on, but I have a gaming blog. What's the trick to that? I call life a game, and then find ways to associate what I'm thinking about with video games. Particularly I associate things in games that resemble real life, then I relate things in real life that are affected by games.
For instance? Role-playing games, the characters tend to have a natural curve to them as they progress, the more you level up, the harder it is to level up, the more skilled you become, the easier it is to perform tasks with those skills, but the harder it is to reach the next level of skill. It's a simple concept that almost translates flawlessly into real life. Except that the brain is weird. Of particular note is the idea that, the less experience you have, the more quickly you advance. The young mind is easily shaped and adapted, and in turn young minds gain basic skills more quickly. The older you are, the more difficult it is for your brain to adapt to a new task, or so they say anyway.
On the other hand, RPGs also offer a certain degree of customization you don't have access to in the real world, but this allows you to make your character more human. For instance, yes, it's true, the more advanced you are in age and skill, the harder it is to improve, for MOST people. But, then you have late bloomers, those with savant syndrome, and just uniquely talented people. These folks aren't necessarily limited to the standard, and for these people, RPGs offer "Feats" or "Advantages" or...whatever your particular franchise calls it. For instance, an artist might hit a "soft-cap" where it becomes much harder to advance his artistic skill, but then that artist might have a bonus to learning artistic skills, an affinity of the mind and a certain steadiness of the hand that just helps him be better than others. It's unfair in some aspects, but then again, life is unfair, and in that respect RPGs are a little more fair than usual. At least, to the players, who all play a "hero" or...y'know, a villain...who possesses these unique talents just because destiny and the handbook say so.
Another similarity between video games and real life is when you're wandering through old sections of a game, or old content on a website, and you find something you'd forgotten existed, and you finally have access to it. Well, I didn't have limited access to this post, but I did forget it existed, so I updated it after it sat around for probably two months, and I feel good about it! Let's post this sucker as the first of possibly many, possibly very very few, "Life's a Game" posts!
Weird title? Not particularly, I want to write about life and what I'm thinking on, but I have a gaming blog. What's the trick to that? I call life a game, and then find ways to associate what I'm thinking about with video games. Particularly I associate things in games that resemble real life, then I relate things in real life that are affected by games.
For instance? Role-playing games, the characters tend to have a natural curve to them as they progress, the more you level up, the harder it is to level up, the more skilled you become, the easier it is to perform tasks with those skills, but the harder it is to reach the next level of skill. It's a simple concept that almost translates flawlessly into real life. Except that the brain is weird. Of particular note is the idea that, the less experience you have, the more quickly you advance. The young mind is easily shaped and adapted, and in turn young minds gain basic skills more quickly. The older you are, the more difficult it is for your brain to adapt to a new task, or so they say anyway.
On the other hand, RPGs also offer a certain degree of customization you don't have access to in the real world, but this allows you to make your character more human. For instance, yes, it's true, the more advanced you are in age and skill, the harder it is to improve, for MOST people. But, then you have late bloomers, those with savant syndrome, and just uniquely talented people. These folks aren't necessarily limited to the standard, and for these people, RPGs offer "Feats" or "Advantages" or...whatever your particular franchise calls it. For instance, an artist might hit a "soft-cap" where it becomes much harder to advance his artistic skill, but then that artist might have a bonus to learning artistic skills, an affinity of the mind and a certain steadiness of the hand that just helps him be better than others. It's unfair in some aspects, but then again, life is unfair, and in that respect RPGs are a little more fair than usual. At least, to the players, who all play a "hero" or...y'know, a villain...who possesses these unique talents just because destiny and the handbook say so.
Another similarity between video games and real life is when you're wandering through old sections of a game, or old content on a website, and you find something you'd forgotten existed, and you finally have access to it. Well, I didn't have limited access to this post, but I did forget it existed, so I updated it after it sat around for probably two months, and I feel good about it! Let's post this sucker as the first of possibly many, possibly very very few, "Life's a Game" posts!
Pokémon is EVIL?!: POKéMON GO!
DEMONIC, SATANIC, AND JUST PLAIN EVIL...Or not...
A little background about myself might be in order here: so let's start with the fact that I was raised in Alabama, caught right in the Bible Belt, by a non-denominational mother, and a southern baptist father. That said, my childhood was dominated by...anything but the popular "garbage" of my generation. May I, just, list a few things that might have been considered evil, and I'll even agree to some extent on some notions. This list is in no way a complete list of the restrictions on my childhood, just some of the most notable!
Legend of Zelda: main character associates with fairies and uses magic. Sure, you can argue that fairies are representative of supernatural spirits, they lead people astray from the truth of God or whatever, but...it's a bloody child's video game! I mean, Disney was okay, but not Zelda. Come now.
Dragonball Z: Frankly, as a child I couldn't find anything wrong with Dragonball, and as an adult I've gone back and watched it, and I see my father's opposition keypoints, but they're based in ignorance. The key problems being characters with the title "demon" and the later introduced character "Mr. Satan," or "Hercule." Let me be clear, I understand my father's opposition to all things "demonic" but it's ridiculous when it comes down to other cultures' entertainment. Most anime assign the keyterm "demon" to powerful fighters and spirits, because that's what they're called. Plus, Piccolo, the first Demon King (the one my father saw and took issue with) isn't even a demon, heck, he's just a foreign creature that everyone called a demon (hmm...sounds familiar.) I wasn't praying to a statue of the Demon King Piccolo, heck, I was cheering for someone to kick his tail. Which happened, the Demon King was defeated, and his son overcame his father's evil and became a hero. If anything the story might be seen as having some semblance to the story of Christ, Goku being this Christ figure who promises everyone, even his greatest enemies, a second chance. Well, except for the Demon King, who...died. Fitting, I suppose.
Yu-Gi-Oh: Oh yeah, there's one I can actually stand behind. I really REALLY enjoyed that card game. Still do. I can recognize the evil seen in it too, the game is about summoning demons to destroy your opposition. For the most part, as long as you assume the interpretation that all things unnatural and magical are demons. So yeah, I can't necessarily disagree, but at the same time I argue that, again, it originates from a difference of culture and a simple desire for entertainment. No one is worshipping the Dark Magician as a savior of the universe, just playing him to win the game. The concept of "sacrificing" to summon more powerful creatures or to cast more powerful spells is akin in game logic to sacrificing a pawn to the enemy to setup a powerful gambit in chess.
Saturday Morning Cartoons: This one's different. Everything above I've been able to pin on Japanese culture and legitimacy due to different beliefs...but then you have American cartoons, such as Johnny Bravo, Ed Edd 'n' Eddy, and Cat-Dog. The best I can figure, my father took issue with these due to his opposition toward Johnny's womanizing, and just the sheer stupidity present in the other two. Which isn't unfounded, but, again, it's a children's cartoon. There's not a lot of deep philosophical thought in them, except at the end of a handful of episodes where it's like "Oh, and this is the moral objecting Johnny learned about womanizing," and then no further improvement on character. So yeah, okay, take issue with it, make sure it doesn't rot the mind, but forbid it as a sleight against God?
Pokémon: Here's the big one, for whatever reason. I suppose it's because it was just so easy to pick apart and it was the first BIG one. I mean, Dragonball was big, but it was a different kind of big. Pokémon was a video game, a card game and a tv series. In truth, I had minimal experience with the card game and video game. I was only really exposed to the anime for the longest time. Even that I had limited exposure to, and why? I honestly don't know except that someone in a church somewhere said "Hmm...Pokémon...Pokeymon...Pok-eymon...demon." That broke it, then came the logic: "Pokémon stands for Pocket Monster, monster is synonymous with demon." Yes...well it's also synonymous with rascal, does that mean everytime I was called a rascal I was secretly being called a demon? What about when we call dogs and cats little monsters, are they also demons? The idea that Pokémon are demons is probably the largest stretch in anything else I was forbidden from viewing.
I guess there is some sort of foundation for these things. What are they though? Is it that Ash is abnormally resilient, so he have demonic powers? I would argue that Ash was resilient because it was a children's cartoon, like Tom and Jerry, and you can't show him get killed by the first bolt of lightning that hits him. Maybe because Pokémon trainers are empathic with their Pokémon? Surely that shows some intervention of dark powers! Well...no. Pokémon trainers don't "understand" their Pokémon. It's not like communing with beasts, the evil power of witchcraft. It's like when I "understand" that my dog wants to play, or that my cat caught another mole and left it on the back porch as a gift. I don't have to speak to the spirit of the animal to know why she's meowing frantically and leading me around the house, I just have to be familiar with the my pets, which is what Pokémon trainers are, familiar. No...Pokémon aren't "familiars," stop it.
On the other hand, what would the series be without a bit of supernatural content? There is definitely a gym leader who "has psychic power" and another (maybe the same, I don't recall perfectly) who is "possessed by a ghost" and yes, that totally happens, and I'll agree that it's "satanic" or whatever. But let's glance at something real quick. The idea that these things happen isn't evil. I mean, the story of "Legion" speaks of the demonic possession of a man in the bible. These events in Pokémon aren't portrayed as good, glorious things that we should be excited about. In fact, our protagonist overcomes the psychic powers of his adversaries, and the possession of ghosts, through his own strength, determination, and trust in his comrades. Yeah sure, he didn't do it through "God" but...it's a children's cartoon, that's not Veggie-Tales, so yeah, no Divine Intervention.
There's also the ever present issue of "Evilution" in Pokémon, and yes, Pokémon does present "Evolution" in the very first game. But evolution in Pokémon, is actually metamorphosis. But, Pokémon also presents "the theory of evolution" as a scientific theory. No, that's not the "Man came from monkeys" theory, though I consent that Pokémon has that too, sort of, but instead it presents a series of bird Pokémon from different regions who have different traits based on where they're found. This is sort of the origin of "The Origin of Species" as written by Darwin, in that he studied birds from across a series of islands and found that they all came from the same root, but had adapted to their locations. Although I will concede that Pokémon does go directly against most ideologies by introducing the idea of both a "great creator" and a "root of all cellular life," the Pokémon mythos is a bit broken. They also expressly state in every instance that this is only how some scientists have perceived these Pokémon (Mew "may" be the first Pokémon and the origin of Pokémon, Arceus "may" be the God-like creator of the Pokéverse). Yeah, that's bending space a lot, again though, fictional universe, at no point does the Pokémon universe claim to be ours. Well...until Pokémon Go, and even then, it's just one more mythos out of thousands, like the one where ancient Egyptian Gods looked like Transformers and lived amongst humanity.
Anyways...
To the point that Pokémon is evil and is being used to corrupt our children, no, it's not. If anything Pokémon, and other RPG style games directed at children, help to do more than just entertain. Games in general have benefits to the function of the brain, benefits that I didn't go to college to study, but can recognize in my day to day life nonetheless. Of course these benefits also differ from person to person.
Due to Pokémon, I know the importance of organization, because I had to teach myself how important organization was, or I'd get rid of some pretty good catches. Sure, you learn this in school or from parental lecturing, but it sticks so much better when you don't realize you're learning it. Similarly Pokémon forces mathematical skills and logical reasoning on children. My level 20 Bellsprout doesn't stand a chance against a level 18 Charmeleon, but my level 17 Staryu can probably put up a good fight, only because of type advantages; at the same time, my level 30 Ivysaur will probably still wreck that level 18 Charmeleon, despite his elemental weakness, due to his excessive level.
Puzzle solving is required throughout the game, a necessity to revisit old information to better yourself, optimization to save time and space while getting the job done to the best of your abilities, all of these, lessons I learned from Pokémon. There's also intrinsic moral values I suppose, but I choose not to draw my moral values from the kid who says "even if my Pikachu isn't stronger than your Onix, even if I'm at a terrible disadvantage, I can still power through and win!" I'm more of the opinion that if Pikachu isn't a good match, maybe I should cut my losses and go catch a Mankey, there'll be time to improve my Pikachu later.
What was I saying? Oh yeah, Pokémon rocks, and is in no way satanic! At least, in as far as the Holy Bible isn't considered satanic. And, no, that's not me calling Pokémon the equivalent to the Holy Bible. It's me pointing out that evil existing doesn't make the content evil, the very presence of evil is the only reason for good to exist.
Is that it for my rant today? Yeah, I think so. I love my parents and I wouldn't be where I am without them, and frankly having these things cut from my childhood just adds value to them and my conversation, so I'm not mad. I'm just saying, these are the things I've witnessed, and my opinion on them. I can't blame anyone for what they believe or how they show it. Well, I mean, on common ground terms. But that's a debate not intended for this blog! As a side note:
Oh my gosh! I'm level 13 and I have a 1000+ Flareon! Yay!
#PokémonGo
A little background about myself might be in order here: so let's start with the fact that I was raised in Alabama, caught right in the Bible Belt, by a non-denominational mother, and a southern baptist father. That said, my childhood was dominated by...anything but the popular "garbage" of my generation. May I, just, list a few things that might have been considered evil, and I'll even agree to some extent on some notions. This list is in no way a complete list of the restrictions on my childhood, just some of the most notable!
Legend of Zelda: main character associates with fairies and uses magic. Sure, you can argue that fairies are representative of supernatural spirits, they lead people astray from the truth of God or whatever, but...it's a bloody child's video game! I mean, Disney was okay, but not Zelda. Come now.
Dragonball Z: Frankly, as a child I couldn't find anything wrong with Dragonball, and as an adult I've gone back and watched it, and I see my father's opposition keypoints, but they're based in ignorance. The key problems being characters with the title "demon" and the later introduced character "Mr. Satan," or "Hercule." Let me be clear, I understand my father's opposition to all things "demonic" but it's ridiculous when it comes down to other cultures' entertainment. Most anime assign the keyterm "demon" to powerful fighters and spirits, because that's what they're called. Plus, Piccolo, the first Demon King (the one my father saw and took issue with) isn't even a demon, heck, he's just a foreign creature that everyone called a demon (hmm...sounds familiar.) I wasn't praying to a statue of the Demon King Piccolo, heck, I was cheering for someone to kick his tail. Which happened, the Demon King was defeated, and his son overcame his father's evil and became a hero. If anything the story might be seen as having some semblance to the story of Christ, Goku being this Christ figure who promises everyone, even his greatest enemies, a second chance. Well, except for the Demon King, who...died. Fitting, I suppose.
Yu-Gi-Oh: Oh yeah, there's one I can actually stand behind. I really REALLY enjoyed that card game. Still do. I can recognize the evil seen in it too, the game is about summoning demons to destroy your opposition. For the most part, as long as you assume the interpretation that all things unnatural and magical are demons. So yeah, I can't necessarily disagree, but at the same time I argue that, again, it originates from a difference of culture and a simple desire for entertainment. No one is worshipping the Dark Magician as a savior of the universe, just playing him to win the game. The concept of "sacrificing" to summon more powerful creatures or to cast more powerful spells is akin in game logic to sacrificing a pawn to the enemy to setup a powerful gambit in chess.
Saturday Morning Cartoons: This one's different. Everything above I've been able to pin on Japanese culture and legitimacy due to different beliefs...but then you have American cartoons, such as Johnny Bravo, Ed Edd 'n' Eddy, and Cat-Dog. The best I can figure, my father took issue with these due to his opposition toward Johnny's womanizing, and just the sheer stupidity present in the other two. Which isn't unfounded, but, again, it's a children's cartoon. There's not a lot of deep philosophical thought in them, except at the end of a handful of episodes where it's like "Oh, and this is the moral objecting Johnny learned about womanizing," and then no further improvement on character. So yeah, okay, take issue with it, make sure it doesn't rot the mind, but forbid it as a sleight against God?
Pokémon: Here's the big one, for whatever reason. I suppose it's because it was just so easy to pick apart and it was the first BIG one. I mean, Dragonball was big, but it was a different kind of big. Pokémon was a video game, a card game and a tv series. In truth, I had minimal experience with the card game and video game. I was only really exposed to the anime for the longest time. Even that I had limited exposure to, and why? I honestly don't know except that someone in a church somewhere said "Hmm...Pokémon...Pokeymon...Pok-eymon...demon." That broke it, then came the logic: "Pokémon stands for Pocket Monster, monster is synonymous with demon." Yes...well it's also synonymous with rascal, does that mean everytime I was called a rascal I was secretly being called a demon? What about when we call dogs and cats little monsters, are they also demons? The idea that Pokémon are demons is probably the largest stretch in anything else I was forbidden from viewing.
I guess there is some sort of foundation for these things. What are they though? Is it that Ash is abnormally resilient, so he have demonic powers? I would argue that Ash was resilient because it was a children's cartoon, like Tom and Jerry, and you can't show him get killed by the first bolt of lightning that hits him. Maybe because Pokémon trainers are empathic with their Pokémon? Surely that shows some intervention of dark powers! Well...no. Pokémon trainers don't "understand" their Pokémon. It's not like communing with beasts, the evil power of witchcraft. It's like when I "understand" that my dog wants to play, or that my cat caught another mole and left it on the back porch as a gift. I don't have to speak to the spirit of the animal to know why she's meowing frantically and leading me around the house, I just have to be familiar with the my pets, which is what Pokémon trainers are, familiar. No...Pokémon aren't "familiars," stop it.
On the other hand, what would the series be without a bit of supernatural content? There is definitely a gym leader who "has psychic power" and another (maybe the same, I don't recall perfectly) who is "possessed by a ghost" and yes, that totally happens, and I'll agree that it's "satanic" or whatever. But let's glance at something real quick. The idea that these things happen isn't evil. I mean, the story of "Legion" speaks of the demonic possession of a man in the bible. These events in Pokémon aren't portrayed as good, glorious things that we should be excited about. In fact, our protagonist overcomes the psychic powers of his adversaries, and the possession of ghosts, through his own strength, determination, and trust in his comrades. Yeah sure, he didn't do it through "God" but...it's a children's cartoon, that's not Veggie-Tales, so yeah, no Divine Intervention.
There's also the ever present issue of "Evilution" in Pokémon, and yes, Pokémon does present "Evolution" in the very first game. But evolution in Pokémon, is actually metamorphosis. But, Pokémon also presents "the theory of evolution" as a scientific theory. No, that's not the "Man came from monkeys" theory, though I consent that Pokémon has that too, sort of, but instead it presents a series of bird Pokémon from different regions who have different traits based on where they're found. This is sort of the origin of "The Origin of Species" as written by Darwin, in that he studied birds from across a series of islands and found that they all came from the same root, but had adapted to their locations. Although I will concede that Pokémon does go directly against most ideologies by introducing the idea of both a "great creator" and a "root of all cellular life," the Pokémon mythos is a bit broken. They also expressly state in every instance that this is only how some scientists have perceived these Pokémon (Mew "may" be the first Pokémon and the origin of Pokémon, Arceus "may" be the God-like creator of the Pokéverse). Yeah, that's bending space a lot, again though, fictional universe, at no point does the Pokémon universe claim to be ours. Well...until Pokémon Go, and even then, it's just one more mythos out of thousands, like the one where ancient Egyptian Gods looked like Transformers and lived amongst humanity.
Anyways...
To the point that Pokémon is evil and is being used to corrupt our children, no, it's not. If anything Pokémon, and other RPG style games directed at children, help to do more than just entertain. Games in general have benefits to the function of the brain, benefits that I didn't go to college to study, but can recognize in my day to day life nonetheless. Of course these benefits also differ from person to person.
Due to Pokémon, I know the importance of organization, because I had to teach myself how important organization was, or I'd get rid of some pretty good catches. Sure, you learn this in school or from parental lecturing, but it sticks so much better when you don't realize you're learning it. Similarly Pokémon forces mathematical skills and logical reasoning on children. My level 20 Bellsprout doesn't stand a chance against a level 18 Charmeleon, but my level 17 Staryu can probably put up a good fight, only because of type advantages; at the same time, my level 30 Ivysaur will probably still wreck that level 18 Charmeleon, despite his elemental weakness, due to his excessive level.
Puzzle solving is required throughout the game, a necessity to revisit old information to better yourself, optimization to save time and space while getting the job done to the best of your abilities, all of these, lessons I learned from Pokémon. There's also intrinsic moral values I suppose, but I choose not to draw my moral values from the kid who says "even if my Pikachu isn't stronger than your Onix, even if I'm at a terrible disadvantage, I can still power through and win!" I'm more of the opinion that if Pikachu isn't a good match, maybe I should cut my losses and go catch a Mankey, there'll be time to improve my Pikachu later.
What was I saying? Oh yeah, Pokémon rocks, and is in no way satanic! At least, in as far as the Holy Bible isn't considered satanic. And, no, that's not me calling Pokémon the equivalent to the Holy Bible. It's me pointing out that evil existing doesn't make the content evil, the very presence of evil is the only reason for good to exist.
Is that it for my rant today? Yeah, I think so. I love my parents and I wouldn't be where I am without them, and frankly having these things cut from my childhood just adds value to them and my conversation, so I'm not mad. I'm just saying, these are the things I've witnessed, and my opinion on them. I can't blame anyone for what they believe or how they show it. Well, I mean, on common ground terms. But that's a debate not intended for this blog! As a side note:
Oh my gosh! I'm level 13 and I have a 1000+ Flareon! Yay!
#PokémonGo
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
HIDDEN GEMS: A New Series?
Allow me to rant and proclaim love...
I adore classic cartridge games. Even in this day and age, when their graphics have fallen out dramatically compared to their modern disc-based cousins. I'm sure this has been noticed once or twice, but it could be passed off as mere adoration for certain franchises (such as Banjo-Kazooie and Legend of Zelda), but the fact of the matter is, I draw way more joy from owning and playing cartridge based games than I ever have from playing disc based games. At least, in the long-term.
That being said, I have taken to collecting games, at least in the Nintendo series. I own a NES (dismantled for my own personal benefit), SNES (originally my wife's, I have owned one but it is long gone now) and N64 (two actually, and I would own three if someone hadn't lost my original #frownyface). These consoles, relics of a beautiful past, would mean little though, without the cartridges that go in them. Or...on top of them...sometimes.
Anyway, I've found myself in a bountiful era where people in the Golden Triangle area of Mississippi, particularly the city of Columbus, either don't feel the same about cartridges (one man's trash) or are desperate for money (capitalizing on others' misfortunes), either way, the Replay's in Columbus has made a pretty buck off of me with their assortment of cartridges. Everything from old games I never had the pleasure of playing, to games from my childhood that I've lost access to and have been dying to play again!
So what's with the title?
Simple really, I post videos on youtube, occasionally, you can see that here. So...why not tie my blog into my youtube, for good. Do it right. So, look forward to, sometime in August, the start of a "Hidden Gems" series of videos on my youtube channel, along with a series of blogs divulging similar ideas in words! These will be Let's Plays where I emulate and enjoy the classic games I've picked up at said store.
I suppose that, since we're here, I can drop a few names of games I've picked up so far:
NES:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Super Mario/Duck Hunt
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
ChessMaster
Castlevania 2
Metal Gear
Gauntlet
SNES:
The Jungle Book
Super Mario Kart
Batman Forever
N64:
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
StarFox 64
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire
And a few more, we'll drop them in later when I'm at home and can actually look at them!
I adore classic cartridge games. Even in this day and age, when their graphics have fallen out dramatically compared to their modern disc-based cousins. I'm sure this has been noticed once or twice, but it could be passed off as mere adoration for certain franchises (such as Banjo-Kazooie and Legend of Zelda), but the fact of the matter is, I draw way more joy from owning and playing cartridge based games than I ever have from playing disc based games. At least, in the long-term.
That being said, I have taken to collecting games, at least in the Nintendo series. I own a NES (dismantled for my own personal benefit), SNES (originally my wife's, I have owned one but it is long gone now) and N64 (two actually, and I would own three if someone hadn't lost my original #frownyface). These consoles, relics of a beautiful past, would mean little though, without the cartridges that go in them. Or...on top of them...sometimes.
Anyway, I've found myself in a bountiful era where people in the Golden Triangle area of Mississippi, particularly the city of Columbus, either don't feel the same about cartridges (one man's trash) or are desperate for money (capitalizing on others' misfortunes), either way, the Replay's in Columbus has made a pretty buck off of me with their assortment of cartridges. Everything from old games I never had the pleasure of playing, to games from my childhood that I've lost access to and have been dying to play again!
So what's with the title?
Simple really, I post videos on youtube, occasionally, you can see that here. So...why not tie my blog into my youtube, for good. Do it right. So, look forward to, sometime in August, the start of a "Hidden Gems" series of videos on my youtube channel, along with a series of blogs divulging similar ideas in words! These will be Let's Plays where I emulate and enjoy the classic games I've picked up at said store.
I suppose that, since we're here, I can drop a few names of games I've picked up so far:
NES:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Super Mario/Duck Hunt
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
ChessMaster
Castlevania 2
Metal Gear
Gauntlet
SNES:
The Jungle Book
Super Mario Kart
Batman Forever
N64:
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
StarFox 64
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire
And a few more, we'll drop them in later when I'm at home and can actually look at them!
Friday, June 24, 2016
When Mario Kart and Smash Bros Just Aren't Cutting It: MODS
Late on the draw...
Are you tired of playing single player games by yourself?
Yeah...
Do you grow bored of slaughtering your friends in multiplayer death matches?
Yeah...
Then have I got news for you, there's a modding scene that exists for multiplayer hacked single player games. That's right! Now you too (two?) can adventure as both Mario and Luigi in the original Super Mario 64, or gallantly save Zelda as Link, Link, Link and Link.
GamesRadar has the scoop too!
Vizzed.com too!
These are by far some of the most iconic games from my childhood, and I am crazy excited to try them out with friends behind the other wheels! I haven't yet though, but I've watched some short videos on them and already figured out some details on their draws and such.
Ocarina of Time Multiplayer features four links each with identical inventories to player 1. Part of the problem here is that they can't all take advantage of the inventory, but they will drain it. Players 2-4 do not have access to the bow or slingshot, or rather, they can't make use of it, but they certainly can fire off rounds and deplete your resources. There is also a lack of Z-targeting and some shield related glitches that present themselves with the "Four Swords" version of Ocarina of Time, along with the fact that the game was designed with a focus on the first player, and the camera continues to center on player 1. Plus...I think you can't push blocks...unless that's been patched...but that and a lack of Z-targeting and first person aiming can be crippling...
Super Mario 64 Co-op mod on the other hand offers a very smooth multiplayer session, with Luigi taking nothing away from the game and being able to fully interact with the game. There are still some issues, for instance, first person cannon sighting is no longer an option with Luigi tagging along. But the other problem might be seen as more beneficial than harmful. The AI do not detect Luigi, this immediately leads to an advantage in boss fights, since Mario can just lead the baddies around while Luigi sneaks around behind them and does...whatever need be done. Plus, the camera is NOT centered on Mario. As the two move further away from each other and closer together, Lakitu (the flying camera guy) adjusts the camera accordingly! Plus, if it comes to a head where Luigi needs to do something but can't be seen, or the two need to split up temporarily, they can focus the camera using an assigned camera control button!
So yeah, plus I'm sure there are others, like Sonic Classic Heroes, where you get all three members of the Sonic team in one party. I'll be on the lookout for more of course, I can only hope some day I find Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo-Tooie Co-Op mode!
Are you tired of playing single player games by yourself?
Yeah...
Do you grow bored of slaughtering your friends in multiplayer death matches?
Yeah...
Then have I got news for you, there's a modding scene that exists for multiplayer hacked single player games. That's right! Now you too (two?) can adventure as both Mario and Luigi in the original Super Mario 64, or gallantly save Zelda as Link, Link, Link and Link.
GamesRadar has the scoop too!
Vizzed.com too!These are by far some of the most iconic games from my childhood, and I am crazy excited to try them out with friends behind the other wheels! I haven't yet though, but I've watched some short videos on them and already figured out some details on their draws and such.
Ocarina of Time Multiplayer features four links each with identical inventories to player 1. Part of the problem here is that they can't all take advantage of the inventory, but they will drain it. Players 2-4 do not have access to the bow or slingshot, or rather, they can't make use of it, but they certainly can fire off rounds and deplete your resources. There is also a lack of Z-targeting and some shield related glitches that present themselves with the "Four Swords" version of Ocarina of Time, along with the fact that the game was designed with a focus on the first player, and the camera continues to center on player 1. Plus...I think you can't push blocks...unless that's been patched...but that and a lack of Z-targeting and first person aiming can be crippling...
Super Mario 64 Co-op mod on the other hand offers a very smooth multiplayer session, with Luigi taking nothing away from the game and being able to fully interact with the game. There are still some issues, for instance, first person cannon sighting is no longer an option with Luigi tagging along. But the other problem might be seen as more beneficial than harmful. The AI do not detect Luigi, this immediately leads to an advantage in boss fights, since Mario can just lead the baddies around while Luigi sneaks around behind them and does...whatever need be done. Plus, the camera is NOT centered on Mario. As the two move further away from each other and closer together, Lakitu (the flying camera guy) adjusts the camera accordingly! Plus, if it comes to a head where Luigi needs to do something but can't be seen, or the two need to split up temporarily, they can focus the camera using an assigned camera control button!
So yeah, plus I'm sure there are others, like Sonic Classic Heroes, where you get all three members of the Sonic team in one party. I'll be on the lookout for more of course, I can only hope some day I find Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo-Tooie Co-Op mode!
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Sort of a Game: GOOGLE EARTH
OKAY...sort of STRETCHING it...
So, while working in a call center with heavily restricted internet access and a lack of physical entertainment, you have to get creative. How does one create entertainment in such an environment? By using really neat little features on websites just to pass the time. Like street view in Google Earth!
It's like being able to walk down most streets in the world, without all the travel time, sweaty people, noise, smog, and danger of mugging. For instance, right now I'm taking a brief tour of Fownes and Cecilia St. in Dublin!
I mean, sure, the photos aren't entirely up to date. The newest I've seen are from 2014-2015, but still, it's pretty awesome to have this technology available. Even better, you can take a sort of look through time and see how bad some things have dilapidated between 2008 and 2013 with certain people living there...anyway!
Not only does it have a bit of entertainment value, but it also offers some practical applications, such as checking out neighborhoods before even looking into them further. Gonna move across town but don't have time to get out there, or not even sure where it's at? Just take google tour of the area, not what you're looking for? Well, little time wasted then. On the other hand, considering how old some of these are, you may still want to head out there yourself.
Granted some areas simply cannot be accessed by Google trucks, and because of that you can't view EVERYTHING, so eventually you do have to go in person. But even then, Google Maps does a terrific job with satellite imaging:
To think, all of this because I'm getting married in a week and I'm touring our future honeymoon site while also looking for apartments that will let you have three-seven cats. Anyway, that's my little talk about Google Earth, check it out some time, I'm sure it won't disappoint, at least not too much!
So, while working in a call center with heavily restricted internet access and a lack of physical entertainment, you have to get creative. How does one create entertainment in such an environment? By using really neat little features on websites just to pass the time. Like street view in Google Earth!
It's like being able to walk down most streets in the world, without all the travel time, sweaty people, noise, smog, and danger of mugging. For instance, right now I'm taking a brief tour of Fownes and Cecilia St. in Dublin!
I mean, sure, the photos aren't entirely up to date. The newest I've seen are from 2014-2015, but still, it's pretty awesome to have this technology available. Even better, you can take a sort of look through time and see how bad some things have dilapidated between 2008 and 2013 with certain people living there...anyway!
Not only does it have a bit of entertainment value, but it also offers some practical applications, such as checking out neighborhoods before even looking into them further. Gonna move across town but don't have time to get out there, or not even sure where it's at? Just take google tour of the area, not what you're looking for? Well, little time wasted then. On the other hand, considering how old some of these are, you may still want to head out there yourself.
Granted some areas simply cannot be accessed by Google trucks, and because of that you can't view EVERYTHING, so eventually you do have to go in person. But even then, Google Maps does a terrific job with satellite imaging:
To think, all of this because I'm getting married in a week and I'm touring our future honeymoon site while also looking for apartments that will let you have three-seven cats. Anyway, that's my little talk about Google Earth, check it out some time, I'm sure it won't disappoint, at least not too much!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
A Princess' Princess: DARK CLOUD 2
SO...I PICKED UP LEGEND OF ZELDA...
I love RPGs, can we ever say that enough? I mean, really, they're my favorite. I don't always have the patience for them, but I do enjoy them. You can draw a pretty neat little line between RPGs and...whatever Legend of Zelda is...and I'll say "Yes, I enjoy that genre too." I guess it's like an action/adventure dungeon crawler? Or something?
Even Link isn't sure what game genre he fits into.
Anyway, that's kind of beside the point, the point is, Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle in areas outside of the USA, right?) is a pretty awesome RPG that I played A LOT back in the era of the PS2, and if anyone caught wind of my previous post about what I'm up to as far as video games are concerned, they'd see that I'm uploading a Dark Cloud 2 Let's Play to youtube! Presently there are three episodes up, I have two other episodes I need to put up in the near future, and more to follow (naturally).
Check that out here!
Even more to the point though, is that I noticed some similarities, and some dissimilarities between Dark Cloud 2, and Nintendo's masterpiece, the Legend of Zelda, like they both have princesses!
Respectively here and here.
What do you mean they have nothing in common? What if I told you that they both used magic? Still nothing special? What if I told you both of them lived in a castle? Okay, so a little sarcasm here and there, and the two games do have nothing to do with each other. It's still pretty cool. The games center on two protagonists who are otherwise normal characters who get caught up in a princess' time line dispersing issues. The two games follow time-travel differently, in Zelda, time travel causes the universe to split into three time lines (one where Link succeeds as a child, one where he succeeds as an adult, and one where he dies? I think?) while in Dark Chronicle, time-travel is used to repair the future and prevent the bad things from happening. I guess that doesn't mean there aren't other time lines, we just don't have examples of them that I'm aware of.
Respectively here and here.
Look at our heroes, both wear default green costumes (unless you play the Western version), both rely primarily on a melee weapon (never mind the nature of the weapon) that they had to improvise due to destiny (sure one's a wrench and one is a magical sword that was hidden away for such an occasion) and they both have an assortment of tools they rely on. Not to mention they both exist in societies that are sheltered from the outside world until their grand quest begins.
I guess that's really all beside the point though, I just really like this game, and I can draw some similarities to other games that I really like, so yeah...awesome game. I'll talk about the golf and fishing mini games a bit later.
Until then, thanks for reading!
I love RPGs, can we ever say that enough? I mean, really, they're my favorite. I don't always have the patience for them, but I do enjoy them. You can draw a pretty neat little line between RPGs and...whatever Legend of Zelda is...and I'll say "Yes, I enjoy that genre too." I guess it's like an action/adventure dungeon crawler? Or something?
Even Link isn't sure what game genre he fits into.Anyway, that's kind of beside the point, the point is, Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle in areas outside of the USA, right?) is a pretty awesome RPG that I played A LOT back in the era of the PS2, and if anyone caught wind of my previous post about what I'm up to as far as video games are concerned, they'd see that I'm uploading a Dark Cloud 2 Let's Play to youtube! Presently there are three episodes up, I have two other episodes I need to put up in the near future, and more to follow (naturally).
Check that out here!Even more to the point though, is that I noticed some similarities, and some dissimilarities between Dark Cloud 2, and Nintendo's masterpiece, the Legend of Zelda, like they both have princesses!
Respectively here and here.What do you mean they have nothing in common? What if I told you that they both used magic? Still nothing special? What if I told you both of them lived in a castle? Okay, so a little sarcasm here and there, and the two games do have nothing to do with each other. It's still pretty cool. The games center on two protagonists who are otherwise normal characters who get caught up in a princess' time line dispersing issues. The two games follow time-travel differently, in Zelda, time travel causes the universe to split into three time lines (one where Link succeeds as a child, one where he succeeds as an adult, and one where he dies? I think?) while in Dark Chronicle, time-travel is used to repair the future and prevent the bad things from happening. I guess that doesn't mean there aren't other time lines, we just don't have examples of them that I'm aware of.
Respectively here and here.Look at our heroes, both wear default green costumes (unless you play the Western version), both rely primarily on a melee weapon (never mind the nature of the weapon) that they had to improvise due to destiny (sure one's a wrench and one is a magical sword that was hidden away for such an occasion) and they both have an assortment of tools they rely on. Not to mention they both exist in societies that are sheltered from the outside world until their grand quest begins.
I guess that's really all beside the point though, I just really like this game, and I can draw some similarities to other games that I really like, so yeah...awesome game. I'll talk about the golf and fishing mini games a bit later.
Until then, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Quick Cash: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Make or Break?
I watch a lot of youtube, have I said that?
Wut?
I play a lot of video games too. I may not necessarily play them well, and I don't complete them all, but I do play a LOT of video games. With that said, League of Legends is the one I probably play the most. Have I said that?
Yes, I realize I'm a bit redundant. Anyway, League of Legends is a completely free game. The game can be played without ever spending a dime on it, and can be enjoyed to its fullest in such a fashion. Real world money can be spent on skins and icons and such to make the a little prettier and to give your account a unique feel, but you don't have to buy any of that. It's not like some other games where it's free to a point, or you can't experience the full game without paying money, everything can be unlocked through gameplay.
That used to be a slightly ridiculous statement, because random free skins were a rarity and in turn you could argue that you can't get the FULL experience. But you really can, skins do nothing for gameplay. Anyway, all of that aside, Riot has introduced a new mechanic to the game called hextech crafting that allows you to get chests for performing extremely well with a champion and then randomly drop keys to those chests after matches.
This essentially means you can unlock anything in the game for free, through random chance. I've seen people get several legendary skins and ultimate skins (these are aesthetic changes to the game that cost around $20.00 by themselves) from these chests. What's the catch? There is none! Well...there's one.
That's $270.00...
Whatever money Riot loses by giving away free content once or twice a month to players ($40.00 or so worth of stuff each year according to some youtube experts) they more than gained back in the first two or three weeks of the new system's launch. There's an equation out there somewhere that probably can't be fully relied on and probably doesn't actually represent real math, but I suspect it goes like this:
I watch a lot of youtube, have I said that?
Wut?I play a lot of video games too. I may not necessarily play them well, and I don't complete them all, but I do play a LOT of video games. With that said, League of Legends is the one I probably play the most. Have I said that?
Yes, I realize I'm a bit redundant. Anyway, League of Legends is a completely free game. The game can be played without ever spending a dime on it, and can be enjoyed to its fullest in such a fashion. Real world money can be spent on skins and icons and such to make the a little prettier and to give your account a unique feel, but you don't have to buy any of that. It's not like some other games where it's free to a point, or you can't experience the full game without paying money, everything can be unlocked through gameplay.
That used to be a slightly ridiculous statement, because random free skins were a rarity and in turn you could argue that you can't get the FULL experience. But you really can, skins do nothing for gameplay. Anyway, all of that aside, Riot has introduced a new mechanic to the game called hextech crafting that allows you to get chests for performing extremely well with a champion and then randomly drop keys to those chests after matches.
This essentially means you can unlock anything in the game for free, through random chance. I've seen people get several legendary skins and ultimate skins (these are aesthetic changes to the game that cost around $20.00 by themselves) from these chests. What's the catch? There is none! Well...there's one.
That's $270.00...Whatever money Riot loses by giving away free content once or twice a month to players ($40.00 or so worth of stuff each year according to some youtube experts) they more than gained back in the first two or three weeks of the new system's launch. There's an equation out there somewhere that probably can't be fully relied on and probably doesn't actually represent real math, but I suspect it goes like this:
X=Y*Z^3
Where x=number of subscribers, y=amount of money spent on games/merchandise and z=number of videos featuring games/merchandise.
The first video posted appears to be a pretty well established youtube personality, while the latter is a not-so-established one (215 subs at the moment) but you'll notice his video as of 4:23 p.m. has broke 14,000 views. Why? Because he spent $270.00 on a completely free game to take advantage of a free system. Additionally notable is that there are SEVERAL well-established League of Legends based youtubers out there and at least two others have spent $100.00 on hextech crafting.
What am I getting at? Well, in a matter of two or three weeks, Riot Games has made, at the very least, $970.00 on a system that was introduced as sort of a free system for players to get rewarded with items that would otherwise need to be purchased. The guys no how to make money. And so do these youtubers. I realize that $1,000.00 is hardly a drop in the bucket for what it costs to program all of these things, but $1,000.00 is also just a drop in the bucket compared to what has actually been spent, and what will be spent I suspect, on hextech crafting alone. Think about it, if one video can get 14,000 views based solely on spending money on a game, that draws the necessary attention to get a fanbase, which eventually leads into youtube advertisement partnership, which then leads to the youtuber making enough money to waste more on games, which leads to exactly what got them started, more unboxing videos.
This isn't the only instance where random chance and wasted money leads to youtube view spikes either, people do unboxing videos all the time, most of them are pretty popular, even if the youtuber isn't.
Did I get all of that out? Cool, then I'm about to go spend $1,000.00 on Hextech Chests and make four youtube videos off of that experience and get youtube famous. Roflcoptermao
Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 11, 2016
Been a Minute: GENERAL UPDATE
No Particular Topic
Yeah, just sort of gonna type some things up, generalize some ideas.
GURPS
This last weekend I had intentions of playing a GURPS super hero campaign with some friends, that didn't go as planned. I will however go ahead and note what we were looking at. A school is exposed to an undisclosed type of radiation, causing the entire student body to become hideous mutants, with the exception of our heroes, who all get crazy super powers. A geomancer, an artist who can draw an items and cause them to come into existence, a boxer with incredible power and variable firepower arm transformations, and a gamer who can retrieve the specs of enemies by looking at them and has a sped up sense of time. Anyway, there's that, maybe I'll pop my stats up here later, maybe not.
Pokémon Blue (The Quest for Completion)
I am sitting at 121 Pokémon in my Pokédex, several due to exploitation of the "Mew Glitch" or "Ditto Glitch." This is pretty exciting, it's the closest I've come to completing a Pokédex, and it'll be in the original game...if on a virtual console. Plus, as far as I'm concerned, it's a legitimate completion, some people will say the Pokémon were spawned using a glitch and therefore aren't valid, I would argue that the glitch wasn't removed when rereleased (and the game was very clearly adapted at least slightly to make it playable) so it's intended to be available to players.
Meanwhile I'm on the seventh gym badge, but I'm so caught up with collecting all 151 that I haven't actually cleared Silphco yet. So yeah...
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (The Quest for Perfection)
Perfection may not be the perfect term for what I'm seeking. I'm working on a doubles team using Rhyperior, Slowbro, and two other, as of yet undecided, Pokémon. So far I've managed to breed a near perfect Rhyhorn (I actually wound up with one max IV greater than I wanted, speed was unnecessary,) and I've figured out what I want out of my Slowbro (Mega Slowbro) but I haven't even caught one yet -_-. So it'll take some work. But I'm one Pokémon up! Yay!
Youtube
You can actually check out my youtube channel and see a bit of what I'm up to, but not much. Unfortunately I'm slow, clunky, and not using the best equipment. I've started a Borderlands play through as a Siren (handguns only, I obviously hate myself) and a nearly discontinued (but not) Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle?) Play Through. There are several other basically abandoned projects on my youtube channel which probably won't get any more love, but I figure I'll start updating again and hopefully make some progress.
You could follow along with my Less than Pro videos where I play League of Legends poorly, not intentionally, just because I'm not the best gamer in the world!
Resident Evil
Yeah, I got Resident Evil 4 recently, what of it? You want me to play it? No. Not until I can record it. And currently recording it slows my game down way too much.
I think that's a pretty good update of where I stand at as far as games are concerned...cool.
Yeah, just sort of gonna type some things up, generalize some ideas.
GURPS
This last weekend I had intentions of playing a GURPS super hero campaign with some friends, that didn't go as planned. I will however go ahead and note what we were looking at. A school is exposed to an undisclosed type of radiation, causing the entire student body to become hideous mutants, with the exception of our heroes, who all get crazy super powers. A geomancer, an artist who can draw an items and cause them to come into existence, a boxer with incredible power and variable firepower arm transformations, and a gamer who can retrieve the specs of enemies by looking at them and has a sped up sense of time. Anyway, there's that, maybe I'll pop my stats up here later, maybe not.
Pokémon Blue (The Quest for Completion)
I am sitting at 121 Pokémon in my Pokédex, several due to exploitation of the "Mew Glitch" or "Ditto Glitch." This is pretty exciting, it's the closest I've come to completing a Pokédex, and it'll be in the original game...if on a virtual console. Plus, as far as I'm concerned, it's a legitimate completion, some people will say the Pokémon were spawned using a glitch and therefore aren't valid, I would argue that the glitch wasn't removed when rereleased (and the game was very clearly adapted at least slightly to make it playable) so it's intended to be available to players.
Meanwhile I'm on the seventh gym badge, but I'm so caught up with collecting all 151 that I haven't actually cleared Silphco yet. So yeah...
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (The Quest for Perfection)
Perfection may not be the perfect term for what I'm seeking. I'm working on a doubles team using Rhyperior, Slowbro, and two other, as of yet undecided, Pokémon. So far I've managed to breed a near perfect Rhyhorn (I actually wound up with one max IV greater than I wanted, speed was unnecessary,) and I've figured out what I want out of my Slowbro (Mega Slowbro) but I haven't even caught one yet -_-. So it'll take some work. But I'm one Pokémon up! Yay!
Youtube
You can actually check out my youtube channel and see a bit of what I'm up to, but not much. Unfortunately I'm slow, clunky, and not using the best equipment. I've started a Borderlands play through as a Siren (handguns only, I obviously hate myself) and a nearly discontinued (but not) Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle?) Play Through. There are several other basically abandoned projects on my youtube channel which probably won't get any more love, but I figure I'll start updating again and hopefully make some progress.
You could follow along with my Less than Pro videos where I play League of Legends poorly, not intentionally, just because I'm not the best gamer in the world!
Resident Evil
Yeah, I got Resident Evil 4 recently, what of it? You want me to play it? No. Not until I can record it. And currently recording it slows my game down way too much.
I think that's a pretty good update of where I stand at as far as games are concerned...cool.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Platooning: REAL LIFE
WHAT?!
Can I do this? Is this a legitimate option? I'm supposed to be blogging about video games, yes I know, but every day life becomes more like a video game, and every day video games try to become more like real life, so why can't I talk about a real life concept once or twice? Maybe I should do a third blog, but I'm not going to...not for now anyway.
What I wanted to mention, ever so briefly, in the way that a social media post would technically suffice, is that today, at work, I received an email regarding (potentially) an idea I've only ever really heard of in books, although it seems very much plausible...doesn't everything eventually? What was it? Platooning vehicles.
Now, technically, I've not even received confirmation from my contact that this is in fact what the email was about, I'm just typing up a post based on the concept that's now rattling around in my brain. The same concept I just got done harassing my editor about until he finally gave me the email back and told me to contact the guy because he was busy (I think in reality he just wanted me to stop bugging him). But allow me to explain:
I first encountered the idea of platooning vehicles in Sigmund Brouwer's The Mars Diaries (yes, at this point I should start a blog and call it My Library, shutup) at the point that the characters travel to Earth. They wind up in the back of an eighteen wheeler being guided by magnetic rails in the road. The driver actually climbs into the back of the truck with the kids and takes a nap or something. Now this isn't far-fetched for science fiction by any means, it always happens, in everything. Cars drive themselves, jets fly themselves, so on and so forth, but, this appears to be a real thing, starting in the 60s at Ohio State University (or earlier, but that's the earliest source I see) it's been researched on and off, mostly off. The idea lost funding in the 80s, and has since be revived in different facets.
What's notable about this is, it's not just easier on literally everyone, it's also more efficient than just driving yourself. I mean, Cars move in groups and accelerate in unison, brake in unison and navigate obstacles in unison (okay, maybe not unexpected obstacles, but like...roadblocks and stuff I assume they can maneuver around) while relying on magnetic feedback, not user input. What's so special about that? They move closer together, reducing drag, reducing fuel exhaustion, reducing tire wear, reducing break wear, I mean come on, what's bad about this? Sure, you might argue that automated movement of this nature "fundamentally denies our human rights to freedom of..." what, action? Privacy? In reality, this wouldn't really impede much. Your car could be pulled from a platoon automatically by police or whatever, sure, but then again, they can already do that, the only freedom you have in that situation is the freedom to commit a crime...if you want to argue that- whoa, tangents, sorry. Anyway, yeah, you lose a slight amount of freedom, but it's not like it's even a freedom you notice normally. How often do you drive down the street and say "Man, I'm glad that cop didn't pull me over for suspicious activity?" Be careful how you answer that.
What I'm trying to say is...OH MY GOD AUTO HIGHWAYS YAAAAAASSSSS!!!!!
Can I do this? Is this a legitimate option? I'm supposed to be blogging about video games, yes I know, but every day life becomes more like a video game, and every day video games try to become more like real life, so why can't I talk about a real life concept once or twice? Maybe I should do a third blog, but I'm not going to...not for now anyway.
What I wanted to mention, ever so briefly, in the way that a social media post would technically suffice, is that today, at work, I received an email regarding (potentially) an idea I've only ever really heard of in books, although it seems very much plausible...doesn't everything eventually? What was it? Platooning vehicles.
Now, technically, I've not even received confirmation from my contact that this is in fact what the email was about, I'm just typing up a post based on the concept that's now rattling around in my brain. The same concept I just got done harassing my editor about until he finally gave me the email back and told me to contact the guy because he was busy (I think in reality he just wanted me to stop bugging him). But allow me to explain:
I first encountered the idea of platooning vehicles in Sigmund Brouwer's The Mars Diaries (yes, at this point I should start a blog and call it My Library, shutup) at the point that the characters travel to Earth. They wind up in the back of an eighteen wheeler being guided by magnetic rails in the road. The driver actually climbs into the back of the truck with the kids and takes a nap or something. Now this isn't far-fetched for science fiction by any means, it always happens, in everything. Cars drive themselves, jets fly themselves, so on and so forth, but, this appears to be a real thing, starting in the 60s at Ohio State University (or earlier, but that's the earliest source I see) it's been researched on and off, mostly off. The idea lost funding in the 80s, and has since be revived in different facets.
What's notable about this is, it's not just easier on literally everyone, it's also more efficient than just driving yourself. I mean, Cars move in groups and accelerate in unison, brake in unison and navigate obstacles in unison (okay, maybe not unexpected obstacles, but like...roadblocks and stuff I assume they can maneuver around) while relying on magnetic feedback, not user input. What's so special about that? They move closer together, reducing drag, reducing fuel exhaustion, reducing tire wear, reducing break wear, I mean come on, what's bad about this? Sure, you might argue that automated movement of this nature "fundamentally denies our human rights to freedom of..." what, action? Privacy? In reality, this wouldn't really impede much. Your car could be pulled from a platoon automatically by police or whatever, sure, but then again, they can already do that, the only freedom you have in that situation is the freedom to commit a crime...if you want to argue that- whoa, tangents, sorry. Anyway, yeah, you lose a slight amount of freedom, but it's not like it's even a freedom you notice normally. How often do you drive down the street and say "Man, I'm glad that cop didn't pull me over for suspicious activity?" Be careful how you answer that.
What I'm trying to say is...OH MY GOD AUTO HIGHWAYS YAAAAAASSSSS!!!!!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Gonna be the Very Best...Sort Of: POKéMON ALPHA SAPPHIRE
COORDINATING
I think is what they call it...everyone knows what Pokémon is about right? Battling- training up the ultimate team and taking them up against other people's ultimate teams, right?
Ash Ketchum - The Art of Battle
WRONG! The true ultimate purpose of Pokémon...is Coordinating- the art of trainer and Pokémon acting in unison in contests to prove they are the most beautiful/clever/cute/cool/tough team out there!
Yes, that's right, not battling against each other but performing their skills in such a way that it...impresses judges...like a beauty pageant...yeah. The idea of Pokémon Contests was originally introduced in Generation 3, it was essentially a side-quest. The idea being that you could make your Pokémon more (see above list of adjectives and insert chosen adjective here) by feeding them Pokéblocks, small blocks of food made from berries, and then they could perform the same acts they normally used in battle on stage for millions to adore! This at first seemed like the stupidest thing on Earth to me, but by the time I was on my second play-through of Gen 3 (I believe that would have been Emerald Version) I was hooked!
I think it's got your Pichu beat in cuteness, sir.
I specifically sat down and bred out a line of Pikachus to compete in contests, and followed that up with a series of other contest Pokémon. Sure, I eventually went on to defeat the Elite Four, but not before getting Master Rank in nearly every contest!
Why this all of a sudden, you ask? Well, I've beat the Elite 4 once already, cleared the Delta Episode easily, and collected most of the legendary Pokémon available in Alpha Sapphire. I'm working on breeding up a perfect team for the Battle Maison end game, and to take down the Elite 4 for the second time...but there are issues with that, particularly I need to get several Dittos with 5 or 6 perfect IVs (so far no good) and I need at least one Destiny Knot so I can breed those perfect IVs down. Where does one get a Destiny Knot though? There are two sources, one is to rebattle a pair of trainers over and over until they HAPPEN to drop it, or...a fan may drop it after a Master Rank Contest!
It makes them fall in true love.
So...since I can't just rapidly rematch those trainers, I decided I would try my hand at contests...at first it seemed tedious, I used the Cosplay Pikachu the game gives you, which starts out with pretty good specks and a full Cool load out, so yeah I breezed through up to Master Rank, but then Master Rank became an actual challenge...and the more times I had retry, the more I started to enjoy the contests. Now here I am, trying to come up with a Pokémon for each of the respective contests to clear with. Current project: Beautiful Froslass. Most Ice type moves fall into the Beautiful category, and Froslass is far from the ugliest Pokémon in the game, so I figure she's probably my best bet both statistically and in preferences. I mean, we could go Gardevoir of course, but Froslass just sort of stands out to me.
Endless Whispers' Froslass art, love Deviantart.
So, I got a Froslass today, as part of a trade with a friend, now I just gotta get her Beauty stat maxed out, grab a scarf for her, and come up with a good contest set for her. Yay! May upload some video of my contest runs to youtube, but it would be more shoddy camera work if I did...who knows though, maybe my mini tripod will work out great and I can steady my 3DS just right and I can get a decent voice-over going (not with as sick as I am right now though.) That's just one of many possibilities though. Can't quite be certain what Pokémon I'll run for my other contest types, but I definitely wanna master them all (I think that's how you get Lucarionite, and get to face off against the contest champion?)
Anyway, thanks again for reading this through, once I've got my Froslass perfected I'll be hopping online, maybe I'll see you there!
I think is what they call it...everyone knows what Pokémon is about right? Battling- training up the ultimate team and taking them up against other people's ultimate teams, right?
Ash Ketchum - The Art of BattleWRONG! The true ultimate purpose of Pokémon...is Coordinating- the art of trainer and Pokémon acting in unison in contests to prove they are the most beautiful/clever/cute/cool/tough team out there!
Yes, that's right, not battling against each other but performing their skills in such a way that it...impresses judges...like a beauty pageant...yeah. The idea of Pokémon Contests was originally introduced in Generation 3, it was essentially a side-quest. The idea being that you could make your Pokémon more (see above list of adjectives and insert chosen adjective here) by feeding them Pokéblocks, small blocks of food made from berries, and then they could perform the same acts they normally used in battle on stage for millions to adore! This at first seemed like the stupidest thing on Earth to me, but by the time I was on my second play-through of Gen 3 (I believe that would have been Emerald Version) I was hooked!
I think it's got your Pichu beat in cuteness, sir.I specifically sat down and bred out a line of Pikachus to compete in contests, and followed that up with a series of other contest Pokémon. Sure, I eventually went on to defeat the Elite Four, but not before getting Master Rank in nearly every contest!
Why this all of a sudden, you ask? Well, I've beat the Elite 4 once already, cleared the Delta Episode easily, and collected most of the legendary Pokémon available in Alpha Sapphire. I'm working on breeding up a perfect team for the Battle Maison end game, and to take down the Elite 4 for the second time...but there are issues with that, particularly I need to get several Dittos with 5 or 6 perfect IVs (so far no good) and I need at least one Destiny Knot so I can breed those perfect IVs down. Where does one get a Destiny Knot though? There are two sources, one is to rebattle a pair of trainers over and over until they HAPPEN to drop it, or...a fan may drop it after a Master Rank Contest!
It makes them fall in true love.So...since I can't just rapidly rematch those trainers, I decided I would try my hand at contests...at first it seemed tedious, I used the Cosplay Pikachu the game gives you, which starts out with pretty good specks and a full Cool load out, so yeah I breezed through up to Master Rank, but then Master Rank became an actual challenge...and the more times I had retry, the more I started to enjoy the contests. Now here I am, trying to come up with a Pokémon for each of the respective contests to clear with. Current project: Beautiful Froslass. Most Ice type moves fall into the Beautiful category, and Froslass is far from the ugliest Pokémon in the game, so I figure she's probably my best bet both statistically and in preferences. I mean, we could go Gardevoir of course, but Froslass just sort of stands out to me.
Endless Whispers' Froslass art, love Deviantart.So, I got a Froslass today, as part of a trade with a friend, now I just gotta get her Beauty stat maxed out, grab a scarf for her, and come up with a good contest set for her. Yay! May upload some video of my contest runs to youtube, but it would be more shoddy camera work if I did...who knows though, maybe my mini tripod will work out great and I can steady my 3DS just right and I can get a decent voice-over going (not with as sick as I am right now though.) That's just one of many possibilities though. Can't quite be certain what Pokémon I'll run for my other contest types, but I definitely wanna master them all (I think that's how you get Lucarionite, and get to face off against the contest champion?)
Anyway, thanks again for reading this through, once I've got my Froslass perfected I'll be hopping online, maybe I'll see you there!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Distractions Amongst Distractions: TABLETOP GAMING
GET REAL
Let's be real for just a moment, I have quite a lot going on right now that I'm trying to get straight, along with a lot of things that pull me away from getting these things straight. The most notable thing that absolutely demands my attention is my upcoming wedding, which is May 15, and I've not even written my vows...not to mention all the decorations necessary, and we have no caterer, we're handling it all ourselves, and I have to get my best man and groomsman in line...it's...bothersome really. Worthwhile in the end, no doubt, but in the moment bothersome, and only adding to my hair-loss.
So what do we do? We think about how we would like to be creating youtube videos instead. Uwha?
Yes, as I've noted in the past, I watch a lot of youtube, and in turn I've uploaded a few videos to youtube. Why do I bring this up? Well, I had the idea to get a group together to do a GURPS (Generic Universal Role-playing System) campaign, fortunately (I thought) I wouldn't have to GM it, as a friend already had a campaign in mind. Months later there's no campaign going on. But, in the process of looking for members in the area to play, I realized that most people in my area don't have experience with any Tabletop game, much less GURPS. So I says to myself, I says, "Instead of teaching all of these people individually, why not just put together a tutorial on character creation?" Which was a brilliant idea! But then I thought, "Instead of just putting together a written tutorial, why not make a video tutorial, with different examples of sample characters." Boom! That's the one Caleb, upload that to youtube and you have helped a few extra people out in the process (or ruined a few lives if you did a poor job.)
With that in mind, here's a character I built!
HUMAN FENCER - Lucca Wrythe [150 Point Base, 50 Points Disadvantages, Avg Human]
This is a sample character intended to demonstrate the creation of a 150 point base human character in a semi-fantastic setting. Lucca is a noble with a history, his combat centers around his skill with fencing weapons and he prefers to rely on diplomacy when possible.
After the adventure has begun, and the characters have a bit of experience under their belts, it may be an excellent maneuver on Lucca's part to travel home, where he can reconcile his guilt with his sister, and train with a tutor to obtain the advantage "Trained by a Master." The character's backstory involves abandoning his family to join the resistance, which leads to some trouble back home. He develops a guilt complex regarding leaving his sister unguarded during this time, turns to alcohol to cope, and becomes an insomniac. As such, by reconciling with his sister, the guilt complex, alcoholic, and insomniac disadvantages can be bought off. The Gentleman's Code and Light Sleeper are not disadvantages that can be bought off. From there, one or two more advantages might be taken as the game progresses, but most points earned will go toward skill/attribute improvements and Striking ST upgrades.
Attributes
ST: 10
DX: 11 (+20 Points)
IQ: 13 (+60 Points)
HT: 10
Characteristics
Dmg: SW 2d, TH 1d {Modified by ST and Striking ST}
Lift: 20 pounds
HP: 15 (+10 points)
Will: 10
Per: 10
FP: 10
Speed: 6 (+15 Points)
Handsome (+12 Points)
Wealthy (+20 Points)
Rank 2 (+10 Points)
Advantages
Striking ST (+20 Points) [p. 90]
Rapier Wit (+5 Points) [p. 81]
Disadvantages
Alcoholism (-15 Points) [p. 124]
Code of Honor, Gentleman (-10 Points) [p.129]
Guilt Complex (-5 Points) [p. 139]
Insomniac, Severe (-15 Points) [p. 142]
Light Sleeper (-5 Points) [p. 144]
Skills
Administration, IQ (+2 Points) [p. 176]
Melee Weapon, Saber, DX+6 (+24 Points) [p. 210]
Public Speaking, IQ (+2 Points) [p. 218]
So what's all this mean? Well that's kind of why I wanted to do this video series (which I clearly am not doing at the moment), so that I could start out explaining the basic concepts, like what the heck Advantages and Disadvantages are, and then go into gradually greater detail as I explained different characters. Lucca was the first because he's a pretty prominent character in my games (I reuse him a bit from one place to the next, in some way or another,) and he's a general character, he's similar to the "Leader" I guess, except he lacks a lot of buffs and defensive abilities, instead he has a sort of political purpose in the group, and can hold his own in a fight.
I suppose you're still curious if you're still reading? Cool, I'll go into a bit more detail then: in GURPS, characters are built using character points, your character starts with zero points expended, and a 10 in all of their base attributes. Generally you want to start out with a basic idea of what your character does, but if you don't have one, you could just read through the book and find an idea to base your character on, I'll actually give another example of a GURPS character that epitomizes that a little later. For Lucca, I wanted to play a member of the nobility, but not like a king or queen, instead he's the son of a Lord, that way my character isn't totally consumed with treaties and paperwork, but he still has a burden to bear.
Because Lucca is of the nobility, you can expect him to be a bit more intelligent than the average man (assuming in your world nobles are entitled to better education) and this is represented by his IQ of 13. IQ is one of the four base stats, and IQ costs 20 character points to raise one level. So, 3 points of IQ is equivalent to 60 character points. Dag, considering Lucca is a standard human character, that means he only has 40 points left to toy with. Okay, but I also want Lucca to be slightly more dextrous than the average person, so we're gonna drop 20 points into that as well, leaving us with only 20 points left, and a DX score of 11. Does that make sense?
ST is Strength, this is obviously your character's equivalent to physical bulk and ability. High ST means you hit hard and can lift heavier things. It also adjusts your Hit Points (that is, the amount of damage you can take) and several other details. This stat costs 10 character points to increase.
DX is Dexterity, we've already covered that, but basically your chance to hit with a weapon is determined by Dexterity, along with your ability to do skill based tasks, like working on an engine or archery.
IQ is Intelligence, we've sort of covered that too, but it essentially determines how smart you are. Not only does this govern intelligence based skills, such as speaking different languages, programming, and yes...working on an engine again, but it also governs most magical skills.
HT is Health and this one's a doozy. Health covers your physical endurance, not your strength though. Even though this sounds like it would impact your Hit Points (sometimes called Health Points,) it actually impacts your FP, which is Fatigue Points. The better your Health the longer and harder you can run, jump, and withstand infection...or other things! Like ST, it costs 10 points.
So we've covered all of that, and I don't feel like it takes much to explain why Lucca doesn't get points to his ST and HT (aside from there obviously being a shortage of points to go around,) but he's more a man of the mind than the battlefield. Next let's take a look at his advantages (we'll skip Secondary Characteristics for now.)
Advantages, for starters, are sort of the details about your character that aren't explained merely in backstory and attributes. They give your character an edge they wouldn't otherwise have, similar to feats (features?) in D&D. Lucca doesn't have a lot of these at the moment, he'll probably develop more as he develops on his journey. But we do have a pretty standard one, and a semi-unique one to work with. Striking ST is a staple of non-bulky fighters. If your character strikes with the swiftness of a snake, but doesn't have the sheer strength of an ox, Striking ST may be for him. This is essentially ST bought at a 50% discount, that only impacts attacks made with a weapon or the character's body. So no extra HP or lifting strength, but Lucca's hitting a lot harder with that 4 extra ST on each attack. Oh my, that's 20 points down the drain, obviously we're done...well not yet, for now let's go ahead and say that we're going negative.
Next is Lucca's Rapier Wit Advantage, which is very different from Striking ST. Rapier Wit acts as a separate action altogether, that characters can't take without having this ability, or an appropriate counter ability (I guess?) But this essentially allows Lucca to banter with his opponents in order to catch them off guard, stunning them for a round. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but really, how often have the bad guys just stopped mid attack during movies because the hero called their mom a fat sow. Maybe that's not the best example, but for a better one, you can probably go watch almost any action movie. Seriously, try it, probably 50% have something like this. So, essentially, Lucca can make a public speaking check during combat, and if he rolls better than his opponent's defense and his own skill, he stuns the foe. Great. Also, Lucca's at -5 Points having taken 105 Points of stats and Advantages up to this point (and that's not even counting some secondary characteristic modifications!)
It's okay though, because, after speaking with our GM, it looks like we can get some points back in Disadvantages! Let's be fair, no character is endearing without problems, and the same goes for heroes. A flawless hero is hardly a hero, he's more like a God, a sort of disappointing one on a 100 Point scale...but still, no flaws? Seriously? That's why disadvantages exist, to flesh out the character and reward the player for fleshing them out. I won't go into a lot of great detail about Lucca's disadvantages, they're reasonably self-explanatory, but I will say that for these examples, a character can take up to half of their total point value, in disadvantages. Since a character is built on a 100 point base, they may have up to 50 points in disadvantages, which turns into a 150 point character. Yep, that's 50 points off, so now we have 45 points to top Lucca off with.
Also, you should note that all of these disadvantages are explained within Mr. Wrythe's backstory, and there's no reason not to do that, or else you'll have a hard time role-playing them. And yes, you have to role-play these things, or else what's the point? Aside from the negatives you get to your character, it's just plain more fun to have realistic characters. Like, an insomniac alcoholic noble who has trouble sleeping anyway due to a wary nature and guilty mind.
Alright, finally we hit the skills, which determine how well you do anything! Sure, a high Dexterity means you're good at using your body, but a high rapier skill means you're good at wielding a rapier. Or saber in this case...We spent 24 points giving Lucca a Saber skill of +6, which basically means when he attacks with his rapier he adds 6 to his DX score and tries to roll under that. You'll have to read the book to get a feel for how all the skills level up, but basically character points go in and you get a slightly variable result based on the difficulty of the skill.
That's the general gist of it all, the rest of the numbers in the above character example are self-explanatory, or explained within the text itself. I hope this has been informational, and I really hope to get that video up on youtube someday, until then...
TTFN!
Let's be real for just a moment, I have quite a lot going on right now that I'm trying to get straight, along with a lot of things that pull me away from getting these things straight. The most notable thing that absolutely demands my attention is my upcoming wedding, which is May 15, and I've not even written my vows...not to mention all the decorations necessary, and we have no caterer, we're handling it all ourselves, and I have to get my best man and groomsman in line...it's...bothersome really. Worthwhile in the end, no doubt, but in the moment bothersome, and only adding to my hair-loss.
So what do we do? We think about how we would like to be creating youtube videos instead. Uwha?
Yes, as I've noted in the past, I watch a lot of youtube, and in turn I've uploaded a few videos to youtube. Why do I bring this up? Well, I had the idea to get a group together to do a GURPS (Generic Universal Role-playing System) campaign, fortunately (I thought) I wouldn't have to GM it, as a friend already had a campaign in mind. Months later there's no campaign going on. But, in the process of looking for members in the area to play, I realized that most people in my area don't have experience with any Tabletop game, much less GURPS. So I says to myself, I says, "Instead of teaching all of these people individually, why not just put together a tutorial on character creation?" Which was a brilliant idea! But then I thought, "Instead of just putting together a written tutorial, why not make a video tutorial, with different examples of sample characters." Boom! That's the one Caleb, upload that to youtube and you have helped a few extra people out in the process (or ruined a few lives if you did a poor job.)
With that in mind, here's a character I built!
HUMAN FENCER - Lucca Wrythe [150 Point Base, 50 Points Disadvantages, Avg Human]
This is a sample character intended to demonstrate the creation of a 150 point base human character in a semi-fantastic setting. Lucca is a noble with a history, his combat centers around his skill with fencing weapons and he prefers to rely on diplomacy when possible.
After the adventure has begun, and the characters have a bit of experience under their belts, it may be an excellent maneuver on Lucca's part to travel home, where he can reconcile his guilt with his sister, and train with a tutor to obtain the advantage "Trained by a Master." The character's backstory involves abandoning his family to join the resistance, which leads to some trouble back home. He develops a guilt complex regarding leaving his sister unguarded during this time, turns to alcohol to cope, and becomes an insomniac. As such, by reconciling with his sister, the guilt complex, alcoholic, and insomniac disadvantages can be bought off. The Gentleman's Code and Light Sleeper are not disadvantages that can be bought off. From there, one or two more advantages might be taken as the game progresses, but most points earned will go toward skill/attribute improvements and Striking ST upgrades.
Attributes
ST: 10
DX: 11 (+20 Points)
IQ: 13 (+60 Points)
HT: 10
Characteristics
Dmg: SW 2d, TH 1d {Modified by ST and Striking ST}
Lift: 20 pounds
HP: 15 (+10 points)
Will: 10
Per: 10
FP: 10
Speed: 6 (+15 Points)
Handsome (+12 Points)
Wealthy (+20 Points)
Rank 2 (+10 Points)
Advantages
Striking ST (+20 Points) [p. 90]
Rapier Wit (+5 Points) [p. 81]
Disadvantages
Alcoholism (-15 Points) [p. 124]
Code of Honor, Gentleman (-10 Points) [p.129]
Guilt Complex (-5 Points) [p. 139]
Insomniac, Severe (-15 Points) [p. 142]
Light Sleeper (-5 Points) [p. 144]
Skills
Administration, IQ (+2 Points) [p. 176]
Melee Weapon, Saber, DX+6 (+24 Points) [p. 210]
Public Speaking, IQ (+2 Points) [p. 218]
So what's all this mean? Well that's kind of why I wanted to do this video series (which I clearly am not doing at the moment), so that I could start out explaining the basic concepts, like what the heck Advantages and Disadvantages are, and then go into gradually greater detail as I explained different characters. Lucca was the first because he's a pretty prominent character in my games (I reuse him a bit from one place to the next, in some way or another,) and he's a general character, he's similar to the "Leader" I guess, except he lacks a lot of buffs and defensive abilities, instead he has a sort of political purpose in the group, and can hold his own in a fight.
I suppose you're still curious if you're still reading? Cool, I'll go into a bit more detail then: in GURPS, characters are built using character points, your character starts with zero points expended, and a 10 in all of their base attributes. Generally you want to start out with a basic idea of what your character does, but if you don't have one, you could just read through the book and find an idea to base your character on, I'll actually give another example of a GURPS character that epitomizes that a little later. For Lucca, I wanted to play a member of the nobility, but not like a king or queen, instead he's the son of a Lord, that way my character isn't totally consumed with treaties and paperwork, but he still has a burden to bear.
Because Lucca is of the nobility, you can expect him to be a bit more intelligent than the average man (assuming in your world nobles are entitled to better education) and this is represented by his IQ of 13. IQ is one of the four base stats, and IQ costs 20 character points to raise one level. So, 3 points of IQ is equivalent to 60 character points. Dag, considering Lucca is a standard human character, that means he only has 40 points left to toy with. Okay, but I also want Lucca to be slightly more dextrous than the average person, so we're gonna drop 20 points into that as well, leaving us with only 20 points left, and a DX score of 11. Does that make sense?
ST is Strength, this is obviously your character's equivalent to physical bulk and ability. High ST means you hit hard and can lift heavier things. It also adjusts your Hit Points (that is, the amount of damage you can take) and several other details. This stat costs 10 character points to increase.
DX is Dexterity, we've already covered that, but basically your chance to hit with a weapon is determined by Dexterity, along with your ability to do skill based tasks, like working on an engine or archery.
IQ is Intelligence, we've sort of covered that too, but it essentially determines how smart you are. Not only does this govern intelligence based skills, such as speaking different languages, programming, and yes...working on an engine again, but it also governs most magical skills.
HT is Health and this one's a doozy. Health covers your physical endurance, not your strength though. Even though this sounds like it would impact your Hit Points (sometimes called Health Points,) it actually impacts your FP, which is Fatigue Points. The better your Health the longer and harder you can run, jump, and withstand infection...or other things! Like ST, it costs 10 points.
So we've covered all of that, and I don't feel like it takes much to explain why Lucca doesn't get points to his ST and HT (aside from there obviously being a shortage of points to go around,) but he's more a man of the mind than the battlefield. Next let's take a look at his advantages (we'll skip Secondary Characteristics for now.)
Advantages, for starters, are sort of the details about your character that aren't explained merely in backstory and attributes. They give your character an edge they wouldn't otherwise have, similar to feats (features?) in D&D. Lucca doesn't have a lot of these at the moment, he'll probably develop more as he develops on his journey. But we do have a pretty standard one, and a semi-unique one to work with. Striking ST is a staple of non-bulky fighters. If your character strikes with the swiftness of a snake, but doesn't have the sheer strength of an ox, Striking ST may be for him. This is essentially ST bought at a 50% discount, that only impacts attacks made with a weapon or the character's body. So no extra HP or lifting strength, but Lucca's hitting a lot harder with that 4 extra ST on each attack. Oh my, that's 20 points down the drain, obviously we're done...well not yet, for now let's go ahead and say that we're going negative.
Next is Lucca's Rapier Wit Advantage, which is very different from Striking ST. Rapier Wit acts as a separate action altogether, that characters can't take without having this ability, or an appropriate counter ability (I guess?) But this essentially allows Lucca to banter with his opponents in order to catch them off guard, stunning them for a round. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but really, how often have the bad guys just stopped mid attack during movies because the hero called their mom a fat sow. Maybe that's not the best example, but for a better one, you can probably go watch almost any action movie. Seriously, try it, probably 50% have something like this. So, essentially, Lucca can make a public speaking check during combat, and if he rolls better than his opponent's defense and his own skill, he stuns the foe. Great. Also, Lucca's at -5 Points having taken 105 Points of stats and Advantages up to this point (and that's not even counting some secondary characteristic modifications!)
It's okay though, because, after speaking with our GM, it looks like we can get some points back in Disadvantages! Let's be fair, no character is endearing without problems, and the same goes for heroes. A flawless hero is hardly a hero, he's more like a God, a sort of disappointing one on a 100 Point scale...but still, no flaws? Seriously? That's why disadvantages exist, to flesh out the character and reward the player for fleshing them out. I won't go into a lot of great detail about Lucca's disadvantages, they're reasonably self-explanatory, but I will say that for these examples, a character can take up to half of their total point value, in disadvantages. Since a character is built on a 100 point base, they may have up to 50 points in disadvantages, which turns into a 150 point character. Yep, that's 50 points off, so now we have 45 points to top Lucca off with.
Also, you should note that all of these disadvantages are explained within Mr. Wrythe's backstory, and there's no reason not to do that, or else you'll have a hard time role-playing them. And yes, you have to role-play these things, or else what's the point? Aside from the negatives you get to your character, it's just plain more fun to have realistic characters. Like, an insomniac alcoholic noble who has trouble sleeping anyway due to a wary nature and guilty mind.
Alright, finally we hit the skills, which determine how well you do anything! Sure, a high Dexterity means you're good at using your body, but a high rapier skill means you're good at wielding a rapier. Or saber in this case...We spent 24 points giving Lucca a Saber skill of +6, which basically means when he attacks with his rapier he adds 6 to his DX score and tries to roll under that. You'll have to read the book to get a feel for how all the skills level up, but basically character points go in and you get a slightly variable result based on the difficulty of the skill.
That's the general gist of it all, the rest of the numbers in the above character example are self-explanatory, or explained within the text itself. I hope this has been informational, and I really hope to get that video up on youtube someday, until then...
TTFN!
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Clerical Errors: POKéMON BLUE
WHOOPSY!
Okay, so I should preface this post with a few statements. First of all, I am going to add a video to this post, the first one to be featured on my blog anywhere, cool? Secondly, I am not a Pokémon pro, but I also am not a newb, things like this don't happen a lot to me. Third, I'm not really used to how slow the menus progress in Blue, versus how fast it accepts input. Let me explain my situation a bit.
I'm pretty excited, I've breezed through all of Surge's gym with my Graveler (named Goldude, a play on Gold and Geodude, but you can also take it as a mixture of Golem and Geodude, your choice), because obviously nothing can really touch Graveler in an electric setting. Lo and behold, I cannot land a single Rock Throw on Surge's Pikachu, until finally I land the last one in my arsenal. Defeating every enemy in this gym has allowed my Graveler to at last reach level 29, where he will learn the ultimate move...Harden.
Okay, so I saw this and I was like, "This is stupid, he already knows Defense Curl, why learn Harden? Well...if nothing else it's a funnier move when compared to Defense Curl, and sounds more practical...let's teach it to him." So I say "Yes, forget a move to learn Harden." Four seconds later I have accidentally pressed (A) when I needed to press the down button to select Defense Curl...Ho boy...so, final round of the battle against Surge and this is Graveler's lineup:
Harden (40/40)
Defense Curl (20/20)
Rock Throw (0/15)
Self Destruct (5/5)
See? Gold-dude.
So...what's a Pokémaster to do? Let's find out below shall we?
Yeah...that's what happened. Swap in Abra when it asks if I want to change, let Abra stare at Raichu for a half second, then swap Abra to Graveler so he can make the ultimate sacrifice.
I guess he's Golder? (That would be more Gold, but Graveler ends in "er," so yeah.)
I'd also like to note that this was filmed on my 3DS using my phone, which I had to hold in place, so I apologize for the slight shaking and low quality of the video. As a side-note, I really really hope that when I transfer my Pokémon over to Moon version, Golem will be shiny so his name is perfect!
As a side note...just found out why Rock Throw is so dang unreliable. I suppose I'm going to have to pick up a copy of TM48 and replace that sucker.
It's the only way. Well, I mean, considering that learnsets were so tiny in Gen 1 anyway. Golem will only have Earthquake as a reliable stab move. Rock Slide will give him a bit more to play with. But who knows, I may not even use him in the end game. I think I will though, he counters Pidgeot pretty well, and all of Agatha's Pokémon are poison type (I know, she's the ghost trainer, I don't care, she uses Poison types!) so Earthquake will basically sweep them. I would say he'd be a good matchup against Lorelei, but let's be real, Lorelei uses water types that happen to know ice attacks (and Jynx) and he unfortunately sports a double weakness to all of her Pokémon except Jynx, and then he's still weak to ice. So just Agatha and Pidgeot I suppose. Oh, and his Arcanine and maybe his Rhydon, wow...that's literally half of his team and an entire Elite 4 member that's susceptible to a decent Golem set.
Actually...let's go ahead and lay out this final team.
Lorelei:
Alright...so a whole lot of Raichu...and then a reliance on Golem being tougher than Jynx...seems legit.
Bruno:
Okay...so yeah, Blastoise easily picks apart those Onixes...and yes, I'm getting Mew and using him, don't put it down, he's a cool mythical Pokémon, and I just prefer him to the other psychics in the game...sort of.
Agatha:
See? Here's where that Golem comes into play, ba-boom.
Lance:
Lance is by far one of the coolest trainers in any of the games, I hate to lay down the law with Jynx, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
This is it, the final battle against Blue! Or...rather...Dash:
Oh yeah, breakin' out my secret weapon, Beedrill! Who...literally is the only counter to Alakazam, and he has that weakness to Psychic that he has to get around. But if he can survive a hit, his twineedle will take Alakazam right out. The other Pokémon are pretty self explanatory.
By the way, all those sprites came out of Bulbapedia.
So here's the thing, I'm sure it's coming, I'm relying on an over-powered hacked in Pokémon like Mew, so I'm not a real player. I'll give you my opinion on the Index Number Glitch later, but for now just suffice to say I could easily run Slowbro, Alakazam or Hypno in his place, or even forgo it and use some other Pokémon, I just really fancy the idea of using Mew.
Anyway, that's my full team for the end game I think, and a bit of a blooper special!
Okay, so I should preface this post with a few statements. First of all, I am going to add a video to this post, the first one to be featured on my blog anywhere, cool? Secondly, I am not a Pokémon pro, but I also am not a newb, things like this don't happen a lot to me. Third, I'm not really used to how slow the menus progress in Blue, versus how fast it accepts input. Let me explain my situation a bit.
I'm pretty excited, I've breezed through all of Surge's gym with my Graveler (named Goldude, a play on Gold and Geodude, but you can also take it as a mixture of Golem and Geodude, your choice), because obviously nothing can really touch Graveler in an electric setting. Lo and behold, I cannot land a single Rock Throw on Surge's Pikachu, until finally I land the last one in my arsenal. Defeating every enemy in this gym has allowed my Graveler to at last reach level 29, where he will learn the ultimate move...Harden.
Okay, so I saw this and I was like, "This is stupid, he already knows Defense Curl, why learn Harden? Well...if nothing else it's a funnier move when compared to Defense Curl, and sounds more practical...let's teach it to him." So I say "Yes, forget a move to learn Harden." Four seconds later I have accidentally pressed (A) when I needed to press the down button to select Defense Curl...Ho boy...so, final round of the battle against Surge and this is Graveler's lineup:
Harden (40/40)
Defense Curl (20/20)
Rock Throw (0/15)
Self Destruct (5/5)
See? Gold-dude.So...what's a Pokémaster to do? Let's find out below shall we?
Yeah...that's what happened. Swap in Abra when it asks if I want to change, let Abra stare at Raichu for a half second, then swap Abra to Graveler so he can make the ultimate sacrifice.
I guess he's Golder? (That would be more Gold, but Graveler ends in "er," so yeah.)I'd also like to note that this was filmed on my 3DS using my phone, which I had to hold in place, so I apologize for the slight shaking and low quality of the video. As a side-note, I really really hope that when I transfer my Pokémon over to Moon version, Golem will be shiny so his name is perfect!
As a side note...just found out why Rock Throw is so dang unreliable. I suppose I'm going to have to pick up a copy of TM48 and replace that sucker.
It's the only way. Well, I mean, considering that learnsets were so tiny in Gen 1 anyway. Golem will only have Earthquake as a reliable stab move. Rock Slide will give him a bit more to play with. But who knows, I may not even use him in the end game. I think I will though, he counters Pidgeot pretty well, and all of Agatha's Pokémon are poison type (I know, she's the ghost trainer, I don't care, she uses Poison types!) so Earthquake will basically sweep them. I would say he'd be a good matchup against Lorelei, but let's be real, Lorelei uses water types that happen to know ice attacks (and Jynx) and he unfortunately sports a double weakness to all of her Pokémon except Jynx, and then he's still weak to ice. So just Agatha and Pidgeot I suppose. Oh, and his Arcanine and maybe his Rhydon, wow...that's literally half of his team and an entire Elite 4 member that's susceptible to a decent Golem set.
Actually...let's go ahead and lay out this final team.
Lorelei:
Alright...so a whole lot of Raichu...and then a reliance on Golem being tougher than Jynx...seems legit.
Bruno:
Okay...so yeah, Blastoise easily picks apart those Onixes...and yes, I'm getting Mew and using him, don't put it down, he's a cool mythical Pokémon, and I just prefer him to the other psychics in the game...sort of.
Agatha:
See? Here's where that Golem comes into play, ba-boom.
Lance:
Lance is by far one of the coolest trainers in any of the games, I hate to lay down the law with Jynx, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
This is it, the final battle against Blue! Or...rather...Dash:
Oh yeah, breakin' out my secret weapon, Beedrill! Who...literally is the only counter to Alakazam, and he has that weakness to Psychic that he has to get around. But if he can survive a hit, his twineedle will take Alakazam right out. The other Pokémon are pretty self explanatory.
By the way, all those sprites came out of Bulbapedia.
So here's the thing, I'm sure it's coming, I'm relying on an over-powered hacked in Pokémon like Mew, so I'm not a real player. I'll give you my opinion on the Index Number Glitch later, but for now just suffice to say I could easily run Slowbro, Alakazam or Hypno in his place, or even forgo it and use some other Pokémon, I just really fancy the idea of using Mew.
Anyway, that's my full team for the end game I think, and a bit of a blooper special!
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