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PC Game Review - Borderlands 2
Posted 7 years agoBorderlands 2 is a bad game. It has it's good points, and it's far from the worst game ever made, but it also has many flaws. While I'm not alone in this opinion, I'm also in the minority. ...kind of. Lots of people love this game, but the ones I've spoke to tend agree with many of the problems I bring up.
It reminds me of the Dark Carniville campaign in Left 4 Dead 2. Many people claim to like the level, they might even say it's their favourite, but every notable part of it is annoying, boring, or both.
So, in this review, I'm going to talk about why I don't like Borderlands 2.
Now before I start, I'm going to say up front that I'm not going to go into the drama with gearbox after the games release. So nothing about Aliens Colonial Marines, or the Pre-Sequel. There's more than enough to damn this game on it's own merits.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the game itself.
---Writing---
Borderlands 2 is a first person shooter, and a loot game. The premise is that 4 vault hunters are on the planet to of pandora to ...do something. Not that it matters, because they were lured here under false pretenses by the bad guy, Hansome Jack, so he could kill them. The point is, Jack's assassination attempt fails and your character decides to get revenge.
The writing is terrible, and not because it's a revenge plot.
I'm ok with the plot holes that can be hand waved away as this being there for gameplay reasons. For example. New-U basically exists as an in world explaination as to why the player respawns, so I can overlook the plot hole of various dead NPCs not respawning, or why Jack doesn't turn off or destroy the machines. But other stuff like Jack not bombing Sancturary once Lilith is captured are harder to ignore.
The real problem with the writing though is the constant use of memes, references, and shouting as substitutes for jokes. Fan favourite characters like Tiny Tina and Scooter are more annoying than funny. While others like Brick are one-note and repetitive. There are some funny lines here and there, but most of it's grating or unfunny.
And because memes are generally short lived, passing fads means the game feels incredibly outdated despite only being about 6 years old. Hell, I think the memes were outdated even when the game was new.
---Gameplay---
Maybe you don't care about the story, you're in it for the gameplay, and nothing else. Well, I've got some bad news for you. The gameplay isn't great either.
First and foremost, just like Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2 claims to have a bazillion guns. The idea is that they are randomly generated, thus giving technically infinite guns. However, I'm generally not a fan of these kinds of precedural generation mechanics. And Borderlands 2 is a great example of why.
The N64 game James Bond Goldeneye has about 20 odd weapons, depending on how you count. Each gun felt unique and served a purpose. Be it the utterly useless Klobb, the devastating RCP90, or the 1 hit kill golden gun. These are all memorable and different.
In Borderlands 2, the game with almost infinite guns, they all feel so similar as to be practically the same. Theres no real difference between an automatic pistol, an assault rifle, and a SMG. Sure, SMGs on average might have less recoil than assault rifles on average, but it really depends on the randomized stats you get. Most of the guns you get are useless to you anyway, lacking the damage output or accuracy to be of any use. The only guns that really differ are the named weapons. These are technically unique weapons with some unusual property, but they are often unusable gimmicks. Such as a SMG that slows you to a crawl when you have it equiped, or a shotgun that fires a cool looking wave pattern, but if utterly useless in combat.
There's nothing useful or memorable like the Flak Cannon, the Cerebral Bore, or the Laptop Gun.
The guns you get are based on random chance. So it's easy to get stuck if you have a run of bad luck. You know a game has problems when people tell me that, if I'm getting bad drops, I should use a cheat engine, a save editor, a mod, or use some special one time use codes from the internet.
A lot of this has to do with the way level scaling works. To put it simply, the higher the level, the more damage you deal, and the less you take. Enemies get the same benefit. What this means is there's a narrow range where the game is ballanced enough to be any fun. If you are overleveled, the game is a push over and no-one can really hurt you. If you are a couple of levels below your enemies, they will kill you in just a few hits, while you're weapons will do little.
Even when you're at the correct level, enemies will still occationally 1 shot you from off screen.
I think a large part of the problem is a mechanic in the game called second wind. If you run out of health, you are downed, and have a limited amount of time to kill an enemy. If you do, you get back up and keep fighting.
This might sound like an elegant system, a fun way to recover from fatal mistakes. But it can often feel like a game design crutch, as if the presence of the system is an excuse to not balance the game. This is most obvious when a boss has high damage, almost unavoidable attacks, but the arena is full of crappy minions that are basically second wind fodder.
And even if you do die, there is little consequence for death, which makes dying an annoying inconvenience. But it also instantly deflates the game, as there's little reason to be careful or play well.
The final gameplay issue I want to bring up are the skills. Now, there are some fun and interesting skills to try, and respecing is cheap. The problem is that boring skills like increased shields or increased elemental chance are not only most of the skills, but are generally more useful than potentially fun skills like deflecting bullets back at enemies or being able to set enemies on fire by punching them.
---Fanboy Defence Force---
I don't like it when people defend a game by saying "the game gets good 40 hours in!" or "once you reach end content, then the game really starts!". Hell, Borderlands 2 itself says this when you complete the game for the first time.
It's an argument I don't buy for a few reasons, but the main one is a game should be fun from the start. Obviously, some games need a slow build up, and others are incredibly complected. But Borderlands is neither of those. The measure I use is Xcom, which is fairly complecated, but can be completed while teaching you everything in 8-10 hours. So the idea that Borderlands 2 doesn't get good until you beat the story, which can take 15-20 hours on a first play through, is rediculous.
If True Vault Hunter mode is where the game starts getting fun, why doesn't the game start you off in that mode?
Then there's the bullet physics. I've been told that Borderlands is superiour to other FPS games because it has bullet physics.
What are bullet physics? In short. Most FPS games work on "hitscan". When you fire a gun, the bullet instantly hits what it's aiming at. In Borderlands 2, bullets are projectiles that take time to travel to their target.
In real life, bullets are pretty fast. Bullet physics mainly comes into play at long range, where you have to lead your target as he might have moved by the time the bullet gets there. Or you have to time your shot when he's standing still. The Sniper Elite games let you customize how realistic you want the physics to be, and since that game is all about sniping, you can imagine that it's pretty important.
But in Borderlands, all it really does is ruin online co-op, as bullet physics are calculated server side. Meaning, unless you're host, there's a delay between you firing the gun, and the bullets actually appearing. It might only be a third of a second, but it's enough to make hitting moving targets at long range almost impossible, since you not only have to lead the target, but also the hosts internet connection. This also applies at fast moving targets at close range.
Add in some bad drops and it can feel like you're barely even playing the game.
Lots of games have projectile based weapons. Unreal, Tribes, and the afore mentioned Sniper Elite games spring to mind.
---Players/community---
It is debatable wether a game should be blamed for the kind of people it attracts. Personally, I don't think a game is responcible for the actions of the people that play it.
However, I do think that some games encourage certain kinds of behaviour by their mechanics. For example. Left 4 Dead 2 often attracts trolls, due to how easy it is to spam annoying voice lines, and the always on friendly fire of the harder modes. There are even guides on the Steam page explaining how to make the game as annoying and unpleasant as possible.
Borderlands 2 has some problems that are common to loot games in general. I have a house rule that is no one checks loot until we're in town or some other non-gameplay area. Because stopping for 5 minutes every half dozen enemies to check if that white item he dropped is better than you're +6 legendary weapon of whatever gets really boring really fast.
But there are problems unique to Borderlands. In my experience, Borderlands fans seem to want to play the games in the most boring and anti-social way possible. Be it grinding high drop rate areas. Sprinting off ahead to loot everything before anyone else gets there. Grabbing loot they don't use. Twinking characters using the stash. Killing enemies when you're trying to second wind. Leveling up via boosting and exploits. Using speed run strategies to skip content. Running past enemies and encounters. Deliberately softlocking the game for "teh lulz". And even using cheats, mods, and save editors because why not at that point?
I think it speaks volumes that most of this stuff involves not playing the game. To me, playing the game should be the fun part. So unless you're trying to speedrun the game, why would you deliberately ignore enemies and skip content? Hell, I remember Destiny 2 getting stick for being so easy you could run past the enemies, but I don't see Borderlands 2 getting condemned for the same reason. I think a large part of why people do this is that there's only 1 set of loot to go around, and even with the better drops from playing co-op. It rewards players who sprint ahead and collect everything. Even items that are not something they can use on their current character, they can always give it to another character via the stash.
Even if you don't care about loot, you will care when you're stuck with ineffective pea shooters that other players didn't consider worth picking up, like the kid at school that ended up with the white crayon.
---Other Stuff---
Now, I could go on about the game, there's a bunch of stuff I cut for time. But there's a few I want to give a mention for the sake of completeness.
Like sidequests. There's nothing wrong with fetch quests and Kill X quests if they're fun and done well, but these are typical MMO style filler. Bland and boring, yet people insist on doing them anyway.
I heard the Dungeons and Dragons DLC is amazing, but despite some nice graphics and cool ideas, it still has the same problems as the base game. There's an entire side quest that is just Dark Souls references. You light bonfires, collect souls, a hollow guy becomes human, then you help him kill someone invading his game. There's no jokes in this quest, at least that I noticed. It's all just "Guys, remember Dark Souls? We've played Dark Souls. Here's some Dark Souls jargon. Isn't that cool? We played Dark Souls!"
Then there's the golden chest, and the golden keys needed to open them. In short, by entering codes from Gearboxes social media posts, you could get 1 time use keys that opened a special chest that garunteed good loot for your level. I didn't use the golden chest, but just like second wind, it seems to be a crutch to not ballance the game.
Speaking of which, money is mostly worthless in the game since vending machines rarely have anything worth buying in them. I think they should sell items decent enough to have you been effective if you get bad RNG.
---Conclusion---
As I said at the start, Borderlands 2 has it's good points, and it's far from the worst game ever made, but it also has many flaws. It's below average. I'm not a professional reviewer, but if I had to give it a score, I'd give it 4 out of 10.
So, why am I the odd man out? Why is it I'm not a fan of the game when everybody else seems to love it so much despite admiting the the huge problems the game has?
I can only speculate, but if I had to guess, I'd put it down to 2 things. First would be my attitude to loot. I might like getting new gear, but I didn't cry tears of joy because that rare named weapon dropped. Second, I play games to have fun, and I stop playing them when they get boring. Whereas Borderlands fans seem to only care about loot, and the boring grind isn't just work, but part of the appeal.
It reminds me of the Dark Carniville campaign in Left 4 Dead 2. Many people claim to like the level, they might even say it's their favourite, but every notable part of it is annoying, boring, or both.
So, in this review, I'm going to talk about why I don't like Borderlands 2.
Now before I start, I'm going to say up front that I'm not going to go into the drama with gearbox after the games release. So nothing about Aliens Colonial Marines, or the Pre-Sequel. There's more than enough to damn this game on it's own merits.
With that out of the way, let's talk about the game itself.
---Writing---
Borderlands 2 is a first person shooter, and a loot game. The premise is that 4 vault hunters are on the planet to of pandora to ...do something. Not that it matters, because they were lured here under false pretenses by the bad guy, Hansome Jack, so he could kill them. The point is, Jack's assassination attempt fails and your character decides to get revenge.
The writing is terrible, and not because it's a revenge plot.
I'm ok with the plot holes that can be hand waved away as this being there for gameplay reasons. For example. New-U basically exists as an in world explaination as to why the player respawns, so I can overlook the plot hole of various dead NPCs not respawning, or why Jack doesn't turn off or destroy the machines. But other stuff like Jack not bombing Sancturary once Lilith is captured are harder to ignore.
The real problem with the writing though is the constant use of memes, references, and shouting as substitutes for jokes. Fan favourite characters like Tiny Tina and Scooter are more annoying than funny. While others like Brick are one-note and repetitive. There are some funny lines here and there, but most of it's grating or unfunny.
And because memes are generally short lived, passing fads means the game feels incredibly outdated despite only being about 6 years old. Hell, I think the memes were outdated even when the game was new.
---Gameplay---
Maybe you don't care about the story, you're in it for the gameplay, and nothing else. Well, I've got some bad news for you. The gameplay isn't great either.
First and foremost, just like Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2 claims to have a bazillion guns. The idea is that they are randomly generated, thus giving technically infinite guns. However, I'm generally not a fan of these kinds of precedural generation mechanics. And Borderlands 2 is a great example of why.
The N64 game James Bond Goldeneye has about 20 odd weapons, depending on how you count. Each gun felt unique and served a purpose. Be it the utterly useless Klobb, the devastating RCP90, or the 1 hit kill golden gun. These are all memorable and different.
In Borderlands 2, the game with almost infinite guns, they all feel so similar as to be practically the same. Theres no real difference between an automatic pistol, an assault rifle, and a SMG. Sure, SMGs on average might have less recoil than assault rifles on average, but it really depends on the randomized stats you get. Most of the guns you get are useless to you anyway, lacking the damage output or accuracy to be of any use. The only guns that really differ are the named weapons. These are technically unique weapons with some unusual property, but they are often unusable gimmicks. Such as a SMG that slows you to a crawl when you have it equiped, or a shotgun that fires a cool looking wave pattern, but if utterly useless in combat.
There's nothing useful or memorable like the Flak Cannon, the Cerebral Bore, or the Laptop Gun.
The guns you get are based on random chance. So it's easy to get stuck if you have a run of bad luck. You know a game has problems when people tell me that, if I'm getting bad drops, I should use a cheat engine, a save editor, a mod, or use some special one time use codes from the internet.
A lot of this has to do with the way level scaling works. To put it simply, the higher the level, the more damage you deal, and the less you take. Enemies get the same benefit. What this means is there's a narrow range where the game is ballanced enough to be any fun. If you are overleveled, the game is a push over and no-one can really hurt you. If you are a couple of levels below your enemies, they will kill you in just a few hits, while you're weapons will do little.
Even when you're at the correct level, enemies will still occationally 1 shot you from off screen.
I think a large part of the problem is a mechanic in the game called second wind. If you run out of health, you are downed, and have a limited amount of time to kill an enemy. If you do, you get back up and keep fighting.
This might sound like an elegant system, a fun way to recover from fatal mistakes. But it can often feel like a game design crutch, as if the presence of the system is an excuse to not balance the game. This is most obvious when a boss has high damage, almost unavoidable attacks, but the arena is full of crappy minions that are basically second wind fodder.
And even if you do die, there is little consequence for death, which makes dying an annoying inconvenience. But it also instantly deflates the game, as there's little reason to be careful or play well.
The final gameplay issue I want to bring up are the skills. Now, there are some fun and interesting skills to try, and respecing is cheap. The problem is that boring skills like increased shields or increased elemental chance are not only most of the skills, but are generally more useful than potentially fun skills like deflecting bullets back at enemies or being able to set enemies on fire by punching them.
---Fanboy Defence Force---
I don't like it when people defend a game by saying "the game gets good 40 hours in!" or "once you reach end content, then the game really starts!". Hell, Borderlands 2 itself says this when you complete the game for the first time.
It's an argument I don't buy for a few reasons, but the main one is a game should be fun from the start. Obviously, some games need a slow build up, and others are incredibly complected. But Borderlands is neither of those. The measure I use is Xcom, which is fairly complecated, but can be completed while teaching you everything in 8-10 hours. So the idea that Borderlands 2 doesn't get good until you beat the story, which can take 15-20 hours on a first play through, is rediculous.
If True Vault Hunter mode is where the game starts getting fun, why doesn't the game start you off in that mode?
Then there's the bullet physics. I've been told that Borderlands is superiour to other FPS games because it has bullet physics.
What are bullet physics? In short. Most FPS games work on "hitscan". When you fire a gun, the bullet instantly hits what it's aiming at. In Borderlands 2, bullets are projectiles that take time to travel to their target.
In real life, bullets are pretty fast. Bullet physics mainly comes into play at long range, where you have to lead your target as he might have moved by the time the bullet gets there. Or you have to time your shot when he's standing still. The Sniper Elite games let you customize how realistic you want the physics to be, and since that game is all about sniping, you can imagine that it's pretty important.
But in Borderlands, all it really does is ruin online co-op, as bullet physics are calculated server side. Meaning, unless you're host, there's a delay between you firing the gun, and the bullets actually appearing. It might only be a third of a second, but it's enough to make hitting moving targets at long range almost impossible, since you not only have to lead the target, but also the hosts internet connection. This also applies at fast moving targets at close range.
Add in some bad drops and it can feel like you're barely even playing the game.
Lots of games have projectile based weapons. Unreal, Tribes, and the afore mentioned Sniper Elite games spring to mind.
---Players/community---
It is debatable wether a game should be blamed for the kind of people it attracts. Personally, I don't think a game is responcible for the actions of the people that play it.
However, I do think that some games encourage certain kinds of behaviour by their mechanics. For example. Left 4 Dead 2 often attracts trolls, due to how easy it is to spam annoying voice lines, and the always on friendly fire of the harder modes. There are even guides on the Steam page explaining how to make the game as annoying and unpleasant as possible.
Borderlands 2 has some problems that are common to loot games in general. I have a house rule that is no one checks loot until we're in town or some other non-gameplay area. Because stopping for 5 minutes every half dozen enemies to check if that white item he dropped is better than you're +6 legendary weapon of whatever gets really boring really fast.
But there are problems unique to Borderlands. In my experience, Borderlands fans seem to want to play the games in the most boring and anti-social way possible. Be it grinding high drop rate areas. Sprinting off ahead to loot everything before anyone else gets there. Grabbing loot they don't use. Twinking characters using the stash. Killing enemies when you're trying to second wind. Leveling up via boosting and exploits. Using speed run strategies to skip content. Running past enemies and encounters. Deliberately softlocking the game for "teh lulz". And even using cheats, mods, and save editors because why not at that point?
I think it speaks volumes that most of this stuff involves not playing the game. To me, playing the game should be the fun part. So unless you're trying to speedrun the game, why would you deliberately ignore enemies and skip content? Hell, I remember Destiny 2 getting stick for being so easy you could run past the enemies, but I don't see Borderlands 2 getting condemned for the same reason. I think a large part of why people do this is that there's only 1 set of loot to go around, and even with the better drops from playing co-op. It rewards players who sprint ahead and collect everything. Even items that are not something they can use on their current character, they can always give it to another character via the stash.
Even if you don't care about loot, you will care when you're stuck with ineffective pea shooters that other players didn't consider worth picking up, like the kid at school that ended up with the white crayon.
---Other Stuff---
Now, I could go on about the game, there's a bunch of stuff I cut for time. But there's a few I want to give a mention for the sake of completeness.
Like sidequests. There's nothing wrong with fetch quests and Kill X quests if they're fun and done well, but these are typical MMO style filler. Bland and boring, yet people insist on doing them anyway.
I heard the Dungeons and Dragons DLC is amazing, but despite some nice graphics and cool ideas, it still has the same problems as the base game. There's an entire side quest that is just Dark Souls references. You light bonfires, collect souls, a hollow guy becomes human, then you help him kill someone invading his game. There's no jokes in this quest, at least that I noticed. It's all just "Guys, remember Dark Souls? We've played Dark Souls. Here's some Dark Souls jargon. Isn't that cool? We played Dark Souls!"
Then there's the golden chest, and the golden keys needed to open them. In short, by entering codes from Gearboxes social media posts, you could get 1 time use keys that opened a special chest that garunteed good loot for your level. I didn't use the golden chest, but just like second wind, it seems to be a crutch to not ballance the game.
Speaking of which, money is mostly worthless in the game since vending machines rarely have anything worth buying in them. I think they should sell items decent enough to have you been effective if you get bad RNG.
---Conclusion---
As I said at the start, Borderlands 2 has it's good points, and it's far from the worst game ever made, but it also has many flaws. It's below average. I'm not a professional reviewer, but if I had to give it a score, I'd give it 4 out of 10.
So, why am I the odd man out? Why is it I'm not a fan of the game when everybody else seems to love it so much despite admiting the the huge problems the game has?
I can only speculate, but if I had to guess, I'd put it down to 2 things. First would be my attitude to loot. I might like getting new gear, but I didn't cry tears of joy because that rare named weapon dropped. Second, I play games to have fun, and I stop playing them when they get boring. Whereas Borderlands fans seem to only care about loot, and the boring grind isn't just work, but part of the appeal.
Rant - The Press
Posted 7 years agoIf you've read my journals in the past, and have read the title of this post, you likely know what this is about. If not, I have a stick up my arse when it comes to the opertunism and lack of decorum of the mainstream press. And this is coming from someone as ghoulish and cold as me.
And if you know that's the topic I want to rant about today, you know that this isn't going to be good.
In case you've somehow missed it, 12 boys have gotten trapped inside a cave in Thailand and there is now a big rescue effort to save them. And by cave, we're not talking a walk in rocky tunnel, we're talking a confusing 3 dimensional maze of crawl spaces that can get as narrow as 15 inches. ...which is now flooded with muddy water. One of the rescue divers died during the rescue, which is still on going at time of writing.
So how can the press possibly mess this up?
Well, CNN used this opportunity to take swipes at Trump's immigration policy. ...I'm not making this up. The headline reads- "Whether trapped in a cave or held by the US, children need us to care"
http://archive.is/JwWTO
How obsessed do you have to be to make that connection? At least when it's a mass shooting, the subject of gun control is at least tangentially related. Here, we have a topic completely removed from US politics, and CNN is using it to take swipes at Trump.
I could be wrong. I don't follow US politics, so maybe Trumps immigration policy is to send kids into caves and then flood them? I also have to ask, again, what were the CNN journalists thinking? From what possible angle does this hurt Trump or advance the authors political goals?
And if you know that's the topic I want to rant about today, you know that this isn't going to be good.
In case you've somehow missed it, 12 boys have gotten trapped inside a cave in Thailand and there is now a big rescue effort to save them. And by cave, we're not talking a walk in rocky tunnel, we're talking a confusing 3 dimensional maze of crawl spaces that can get as narrow as 15 inches. ...which is now flooded with muddy water. One of the rescue divers died during the rescue, which is still on going at time of writing.
So how can the press possibly mess this up?
Well, CNN used this opportunity to take swipes at Trump's immigration policy. ...I'm not making this up. The headline reads- "Whether trapped in a cave or held by the US, children need us to care"
http://archive.is/JwWTO
How obsessed do you have to be to make that connection? At least when it's a mass shooting, the subject of gun control is at least tangentially related. Here, we have a topic completely removed from US politics, and CNN is using it to take swipes at Trump.
I could be wrong. I don't follow US politics, so maybe Trumps immigration policy is to send kids into caves and then flood them? I also have to ask, again, what were the CNN journalists thinking? From what possible angle does this hurt Trump or advance the authors political goals?
Adventure Comic - Antifa as Villains?
Posted 7 years agoRecently I've been avoiding posting art things. The reason being I don't have anything to show, but also because the projects I'm working on are fairly big. I want to avoid posting 1 or 2 pages of something before abandoning it, or showing 3D models for a game that might never be finished. Yet at the same time I want to post stuff because that can help me keep interested? I dunno.
So far, I think I really like the Sabre/Leanna team up. My quick re-write of the outline of events is looking much better than before. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. It's appreciated. ^_^ Only 1 person said they wanted Hannah/Leanna. Ah well. For what it's worth, that means more Leanna fanservice, as stuff that was intended for Hannah can go onto Leanna in some situations. I'm still experimenting with art styles, so either I'll have to re-do early pages, or there'll be some art whiplash early on.
Which brings me to the topic of today's question. I mentioned to someone that antifa were the villains. ...This did not go over well. My rational was simple. They are the go-to bad guys of the current decade that don't really need an explanation. Kind of like how nazis, Russians, and middle eastern terrorists were the go-to baddies in their respective time periods. Hell, even CS:GO has them as a terrorist faction.
http://counterstrike.wikia.com/wiki/Anarchist
Now, I generally don't shy away from such controversy, and in general avoiding it results in things being worse. A great example is how 6 days in Fallujah is considered a great loss, with lots of people wondering what could have been. Whereas Battlefield Hardline is largely forgotten despite the controversy at the time, and I don't think banning the game or replacing the people with space aliens (yes, that was really a suggestion) would have helped matters.
However, I'm not dead set on antifa being the villains. They are just convenient. I could have a fictional Cobra esc terrorist group, but that would require introduction and explanation and design. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Just bare in mind, in the same way Battlefield would be silly if it was alien cops vs space robbers, I'm not going to have zombie robot orcs or something equally silly as the villain. Remember, the goal here is to have a classic style adventure set in the modern day (with some lite sci-fi and furry elements for extra fun).
So far, I think I really like the Sabre/Leanna team up. My quick re-write of the outline of events is looking much better than before. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. It's appreciated. ^_^ Only 1 person said they wanted Hannah/Leanna. Ah well. For what it's worth, that means more Leanna fanservice, as stuff that was intended for Hannah can go onto Leanna in some situations. I'm still experimenting with art styles, so either I'll have to re-do early pages, or there'll be some art whiplash early on.
Which brings me to the topic of today's question. I mentioned to someone that antifa were the villains. ...This did not go over well. My rational was simple. They are the go-to bad guys of the current decade that don't really need an explanation. Kind of like how nazis, Russians, and middle eastern terrorists were the go-to baddies in their respective time periods. Hell, even CS:GO has them as a terrorist faction.
http://counterstrike.wikia.com/wiki/Anarchist
Now, I generally don't shy away from such controversy, and in general avoiding it results in things being worse. A great example is how 6 days in Fallujah is considered a great loss, with lots of people wondering what could have been. Whereas Battlefield Hardline is largely forgotten despite the controversy at the time, and I don't think banning the game or replacing the people with space aliens (yes, that was really a suggestion) would have helped matters.
However, I'm not dead set on antifa being the villains. They are just convenient. I could have a fictional Cobra esc terrorist group, but that would require introduction and explanation and design. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Just bare in mind, in the same way Battlefield would be silly if it was alien cops vs space robbers, I'm not going to have zombie robot orcs or something equally silly as the villain. Remember, the goal here is to have a classic style adventure set in the modern day (with some lite sci-fi and furry elements for extra fun).
Adventure Comic - Which Character Should I Remove?
Posted 7 years agoJordan Peterson once said that you don't really have ideas. Ideas are things that happen to you. This morning I had a realisation that my adventure comic could benefit from having a character removed. Being only a couple of pages in, it's an edit that will be easy to do.
The obvious answer is to cut Hannah. Have Leanna be the history buff and put all of the combat stuff onto Sabre. This would also fix a minor plot hole. The downside though is that a large part of the comics appeal. ie. Eye candy/cheese cake.
The alternative is I leave Sabre at home and it's Leanna and Hannah that go on the adventure. This has it's own problems, mostly plot and character related.
So, I guess the question is do you want this-
http://fav.me/d4hbi1f
Or this
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18554215/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7640948/
Or should I try to keep both?
The obvious answer is to cut Hannah. Have Leanna be the history buff and put all of the combat stuff onto Sabre. This would also fix a minor plot hole. The downside though is that a large part of the comics appeal. ie. Eye candy/cheese cake.
The alternative is I leave Sabre at home and it's Leanna and Hannah that go on the adventure. This has it's own problems, mostly plot and character related.
So, I guess the question is do you want this-
http://fav.me/d4hbi1f
Or this
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18554215/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7640948/
Or should I try to keep both?
I Might Unironically Like Vaporwave
Posted 7 years agoI didn't listen to Vaporwave when it was popular. I only knew of it as a meme. "Take a popular song, play it at half speed, and put an image that was "a s t h e t i c" as the cover art. Instant classic.". While that is the popular image of vaporwave, it's not that.
First, the name. I assumed it was tied into vaping and all the crap that went along with that. Turns out, no. It's a play on the term vaporware. As one guy quoting another guy described it. "It's like something you find in a thrift shop. You have no idea where it came from or who made it, but that's not important. What's important is that it takes you somewhere else."
Which brings me vaporwave itself. Again, while the common meme image is one of pretentious people that like it ironically, that's doing it a disservice. It's hard to describe what vaporwave is exactly, but it reminds me of the abstract, minimalist map packs and mods I like that no one else does. Pasiri, Mistake of Pythagoras, stuff like that.
So, onto the music itself.
-Floral Shoppe-
The album that started the meme. In particular the second track "Lisa Frank 420". Ignore the memes though, and the album is actually quite good imo. And one I've been coming back to.
Best track- Hard to say. Tracks 2, 6, and 7 are my favourites.
-Far Side Virtual-
Sometimes called "proto-vaporwave" due to being released before vaporwave was a meme, this album is fantastic. While a typical length, each song is short and gets right to the point. Fitting 16 tracks in 45 minutes with no filler.
Best track- Throw a dart. If I had to pick I'd say the first song. ...or 11: Adventures in Green Foot Printing. ...or track 4: Sims. ...or maybe track 3...
-PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises - Home-
The album I've listened to the least on this list. At over an hour, it's kind of long, but it's got a muzac/shopping mall music vibe. It's like if the Nintendo e-shop was turned into sound.
Best track - Non really leap out as particularlly good. They are so similar it's hard to say. I guess the early stuff, but I really don't know. Put it on while streaming or browsing Steam.
So yeah, I like Vaporwave I guess. I will listen to more as long as the music can stand up on it's own.
First, the name. I assumed it was tied into vaping and all the crap that went along with that. Turns out, no. It's a play on the term vaporware. As one guy quoting another guy described it. "It's like something you find in a thrift shop. You have no idea where it came from or who made it, but that's not important. What's important is that it takes you somewhere else."
Which brings me vaporwave itself. Again, while the common meme image is one of pretentious people that like it ironically, that's doing it a disservice. It's hard to describe what vaporwave is exactly, but it reminds me of the abstract, minimalist map packs and mods I like that no one else does. Pasiri, Mistake of Pythagoras, stuff like that.
So, onto the music itself.
-Floral Shoppe-
The album that started the meme. In particular the second track "Lisa Frank 420". Ignore the memes though, and the album is actually quite good imo. And one I've been coming back to.
Best track- Hard to say. Tracks 2, 6, and 7 are my favourites.
-Far Side Virtual-
Sometimes called "proto-vaporwave" due to being released before vaporwave was a meme, this album is fantastic. While a typical length, each song is short and gets right to the point. Fitting 16 tracks in 45 minutes with no filler.
Best track- Throw a dart. If I had to pick I'd say the first song. ...or 11: Adventures in Green Foot Printing. ...or track 4: Sims. ...or maybe track 3...
-PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises - Home-
The album I've listened to the least on this list. At over an hour, it's kind of long, but it's got a muzac/shopping mall music vibe. It's like if the Nintendo e-shop was turned into sound.
Best track - Non really leap out as particularlly good. They are so similar it's hard to say. I guess the early stuff, but I really don't know. Put it on while streaming or browsing Steam.
So yeah, I like Vaporwave I guess. I will listen to more as long as the music can stand up on it's own.
Rant - The Difference Between "The Narrative" And Opinion
Posted 7 years agoAka. Why I laugh at dumb journalists.
Today, I want to talk about something that's come up a few times in the last few weeks. The difference between personal opinion, and "the narrative".
In order to properly explain this, I have to quickly go over a couple of logicial fallacies. The Smoking Gun fallacy is a kind of bad faith argument that demands a single piece of irrifutable proof, instead of more a common sense approach. Then there's Moving The Goalposts. This is when someone demands a certain amount or piece of evidence, then when presented with said evidence, changes their demands, usually to a more strict or harder to find piece of evidence.
So, onto the point. Everyone has opinions on things. That might be you like or don't like film X, or you might agree or disagree that Y should be banned. It's entirely possible to be a political "side", and disagree with some of their policies.
Then there's "the narrative". This one is hard to define, but for the sake of this post, we can define it as the news media trying to push an agenda, be it through selective reporting and spin, to flat out lies.
When you buy into a narrative it's usually all or nothing, because the narrative is built on claims made previously in the narrative. To give a simplistic example. Let's take the story Jack and the Beanstalk. He traded a cow for beans, which grew into a beanstalk, which he climbed and met a giant. If it was then revealed that Jack didn't exist, how can still argue their are giants living in the sky? Also, because the narrative is allegedly reporting true facts that actually happened, it means contradictions and plot holes undermine not just the narrative itself, but the credibility of those presenting it as true.
The mainstream media reporting on gamergate is a great example of this. Was it an army of millions of gamers so strong and influencial that they were able to get Trump into power, or is it barely 100 neckbeard manbabies with sock puppet accounts to inflate their numbers? Both can't be true.
So now, with the groundwork laid, we can finally get to the difference between personal opinion and the narrative. Whereas an opinion can vary for person to person, and it doesn't matter if that opinion conflicts, a narrative is a lie allegedly based on truth, on facts. If E3 was good or not is an opinion. If E3 2018 was a victory for LGBT or not are supposedly facts. They can't both be true in the same way someone can't simultiously win and lose a race.
It's at this point the goalposts are moved, and the smoking gun is demanded. But I don't entertain the arguement that because site x said "win" instead of "victory" that means it's not saying the same thing. Also, narrative contradictions are not ok because it was different people who said X, Y, and Z. Like the Jack and the Beanstalk example, if the narrative of Z is dependent on X and Y being true, the narrative as a whole is false reguardless of who wrote what particular part. Likewise, you can't pick and choose which part of the "truth" is legitimate. You can argue wether or not you care, or if it does or doesn't matter when it comes to your opinions, but you can't re-write or retcon reality for your own convienence.
To end this post, I'll leave one of my favourites. It's Vice (now Waypoint) attempting to disable archives of their site, because people keeping evidence of past bullshit they wrote was damaging their reputation.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/De0LZBUX0AENnlK.jpg
Today, I want to talk about something that's come up a few times in the last few weeks. The difference between personal opinion, and "the narrative".
In order to properly explain this, I have to quickly go over a couple of logicial fallacies. The Smoking Gun fallacy is a kind of bad faith argument that demands a single piece of irrifutable proof, instead of more a common sense approach. Then there's Moving The Goalposts. This is when someone demands a certain amount or piece of evidence, then when presented with said evidence, changes their demands, usually to a more strict or harder to find piece of evidence.
So, onto the point. Everyone has opinions on things. That might be you like or don't like film X, or you might agree or disagree that Y should be banned. It's entirely possible to be a political "side", and disagree with some of their policies.
Then there's "the narrative". This one is hard to define, but for the sake of this post, we can define it as the news media trying to push an agenda, be it through selective reporting and spin, to flat out lies.
When you buy into a narrative it's usually all or nothing, because the narrative is built on claims made previously in the narrative. To give a simplistic example. Let's take the story Jack and the Beanstalk. He traded a cow for beans, which grew into a beanstalk, which he climbed and met a giant. If it was then revealed that Jack didn't exist, how can still argue their are giants living in the sky? Also, because the narrative is allegedly reporting true facts that actually happened, it means contradictions and plot holes undermine not just the narrative itself, but the credibility of those presenting it as true.
The mainstream media reporting on gamergate is a great example of this. Was it an army of millions of gamers so strong and influencial that they were able to get Trump into power, or is it barely 100 neckbeard manbabies with sock puppet accounts to inflate their numbers? Both can't be true.
So now, with the groundwork laid, we can finally get to the difference between personal opinion and the narrative. Whereas an opinion can vary for person to person, and it doesn't matter if that opinion conflicts, a narrative is a lie allegedly based on truth, on facts. If E3 was good or not is an opinion. If E3 2018 was a victory for LGBT or not are supposedly facts. They can't both be true in the same way someone can't simultiously win and lose a race.
It's at this point the goalposts are moved, and the smoking gun is demanded. But I don't entertain the arguement that because site x said "win" instead of "victory" that means it's not saying the same thing. Also, narrative contradictions are not ok because it was different people who said X, Y, and Z. Like the Jack and the Beanstalk example, if the narrative of Z is dependent on X and Y being true, the narrative as a whole is false reguardless of who wrote what particular part. Likewise, you can't pick and choose which part of the "truth" is legitimate. You can argue wether or not you care, or if it does or doesn't matter when it comes to your opinions, but you can't re-write or retcon reality for your own convienence.
To end this post, I'll leave one of my favourites. It's Vice (now Waypoint) attempting to disable archives of their site, because people keeping evidence of past bullshit they wrote was damaging their reputation.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/De0LZBUX0AENnlK.jpg
Writing Question - Mystery vs Mystique?
Posted 7 years agoOne thing that disappoints, frustrates, and in some ways motivates me is wasted potential. One of the most consistent ways of doing that is an unsolved, unresolved, or generally half arsed mystery plot.
One example is the game Destiny. The original plot was interesting and revealed that mythical and supposed savoir of humanity was evil, but that was cut in favour of vague non-answers that were on an external website.
However, I've recently seen people defend these practices. The excuse being that if they explained anything, it would ruin the "mystique", but I'm not sure I buy that. But I want to know what you think.
Destiny isn't the only thing that has done this. I remember a game, manga, and anime series called .hack which had a VR MMO that was putting people into comas, and this was being covered up. But each bit of media pointed to another and imply maybe the answer was there. I eventually realised that .hack had no intention of answering the mystery, and now I even doubt if there was ever an answer to begin with. I've heard Lost was like that, but I never watched it. Phantasy Star Online had a plot about an explosion that happened at a colony, causing everybody to disappear, but leaving the buildings unscathed and turning the wildlife hostile. It did eventually answer it's mystery, but the explanation was stupid. Spoilers, but apparently the devil did it.
Now, I understand you probably shouldn't explain everything, but more often than not it seems less like a deliberate obfuscation, and more like a cop out. But then, I'm not a writer, so maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?
One example is the game Destiny. The original plot was interesting and revealed that mythical and supposed savoir of humanity was evil, but that was cut in favour of vague non-answers that were on an external website.
However, I've recently seen people defend these practices. The excuse being that if they explained anything, it would ruin the "mystique", but I'm not sure I buy that. But I want to know what you think.
Destiny isn't the only thing that has done this. I remember a game, manga, and anime series called .hack which had a VR MMO that was putting people into comas, and this was being covered up. But each bit of media pointed to another and imply maybe the answer was there. I eventually realised that .hack had no intention of answering the mystery, and now I even doubt if there was ever an answer to begin with. I've heard Lost was like that, but I never watched it. Phantasy Star Online had a plot about an explosion that happened at a colony, causing everybody to disappear, but leaving the buildings unscathed and turning the wildlife hostile. It did eventually answer it's mystery, but the explanation was stupid. Spoilers, but apparently the devil did it.
Now, I understand you probably shouldn't explain everything, but more often than not it seems less like a deliberate obfuscation, and more like a cop out. But then, I'm not a writer, so maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?
Question - Minimum Viable Pixel Art
Posted 7 years agoI have a question about pixel art. Don't worry, I'm not switching projects again, just trying to get a general opinion on something.
In the past I've had various game ideas that could work in 2D. The problem is that sprite animation is difficult and time consuming. The larger sprites have more detail, but take longer and are more difficult to make. Smaller sprites are quicker and easier to work with, but lack detail, and can still take a long time. These problems are made worse as animations and costume changes increase the number of sprites exponentially.
For example, look at games like Mario and Shovel Knight. Low detail sprites with a few animations. Run, jump, maybe an attack, and the other characters are just recolours. Now look at Streets of Rage, medium detail where every character and enemy has multiple punches, kicks, jumping attacks, hit reactions, special moves. It's a lot. Now imagine that, but everybody wants alturnitive outfits, clothing damage, visable equipment. It's too much.
In the past, more fanservice projects got negative feedback due to the lack of the graphics. Best summed up with the phrase "I can't fap to this!". And I can't really blame them. If you want to see sexy boobs, but the entire chest area is made up of a 4x2 grid of pixels, there's nothing to see but your imagination. Likewise, people might like the idea of sexy furry Xcom, but suddenly sour on the idea when I say it will look more like Laser Squad than Xcom 2.
Picture- The unsexy.
https://t.gamesnostalgia.com/screen.....main_small.jpg
However...
I recently realised that old games had "sexy" characters with low resolution sprites. Sure, Street Fighter 2 had characters 128 pixels tall, but Streets of Rage and Golden Axe have 64, and Jill of the Jungle and Shantae got by with 32 (or close to it).
But the main thing I realised is just how few animations you need. Recently I saw a review of a game called Space Station 13. A game that uses 32x32 sprites, and few animations, yet it has a surprising amount of detail and information. 3 sprites per character shouldn't really be a problem. Front, back, and the side. Hell, if I plan it right, I could even use layers to get custom outfits.
So my question is, what is the minimum size of sprite you'd put up with in a "sexy" game, and still play it? Not how big you'd LIKE to see, but what you'd PUT UP WITH.
Would you play something like this- http://thefulcrum.ca/wp-content/upl.....02/shentai.jpg
or this https://78.media.tumblr.com/43a5bf6.....ufhfo2_500.gif
In the past I've had various game ideas that could work in 2D. The problem is that sprite animation is difficult and time consuming. The larger sprites have more detail, but take longer and are more difficult to make. Smaller sprites are quicker and easier to work with, but lack detail, and can still take a long time. These problems are made worse as animations and costume changes increase the number of sprites exponentially.
For example, look at games like Mario and Shovel Knight. Low detail sprites with a few animations. Run, jump, maybe an attack, and the other characters are just recolours. Now look at Streets of Rage, medium detail where every character and enemy has multiple punches, kicks, jumping attacks, hit reactions, special moves. It's a lot. Now imagine that, but everybody wants alturnitive outfits, clothing damage, visable equipment. It's too much.
In the past, more fanservice projects got negative feedback due to the lack of the graphics. Best summed up with the phrase "I can't fap to this!". And I can't really blame them. If you want to see sexy boobs, but the entire chest area is made up of a 4x2 grid of pixels, there's nothing to see but your imagination. Likewise, people might like the idea of sexy furry Xcom, but suddenly sour on the idea when I say it will look more like Laser Squad than Xcom 2.
Picture- The unsexy.
https://t.gamesnostalgia.com/screen.....main_small.jpg
However...
I recently realised that old games had "sexy" characters with low resolution sprites. Sure, Street Fighter 2 had characters 128 pixels tall, but Streets of Rage and Golden Axe have 64, and Jill of the Jungle and Shantae got by with 32 (or close to it).
But the main thing I realised is just how few animations you need. Recently I saw a review of a game called Space Station 13. A game that uses 32x32 sprites, and few animations, yet it has a surprising amount of detail and information. 3 sprites per character shouldn't really be a problem. Front, back, and the side. Hell, if I plan it right, I could even use layers to get custom outfits.
So my question is, what is the minimum size of sprite you'd put up with in a "sexy" game, and still play it? Not how big you'd LIKE to see, but what you'd PUT UP WITH.
Would you play something like this- http://thefulcrum.ca/wp-content/upl.....02/shentai.jpg
or this https://78.media.tumblr.com/43a5bf6.....ufhfo2_500.gif
E3 2018 Wrap Up - Thoughts, Opinions, and Prediction Results
Posted 7 years agoThe E3 press conferences are done. So, let's go through some thoughts, see how well my predictions did, etc.
E3 was good this year I thought. Some good games. Hard to pick a "winner" per say. There was some good PC stuff, some good Sony stuff, some good Bethesda stuff. The EA show was pretty cringey. I'll get into the games themselves later. But personal highlights were the Resident Evil 2 Remake, getting to see more of Cyberpunk, Tunic, and that Samurai game were all impressive too. Metal Wolf Chaos, and the Sega ports were interesting to see as well.
---Prediction Results---
So, how did my pridictions fare? Let's go through them.
-Presentations-
-EA will waffle on for 20 minutes about sports games no one cares about. This would be the free space if it was a bingo card.
Got. Though this was a no brainer.
-Nintendo will show a logo related to a classic IP. Nintendo fans will go bananas and declare Nintendo winner of E3 for what is essentially a .jpg.
Not really. Nintendo didn't do this, but it could be argued that Bethesda did this with Eldar Scrolls 6.
-There will be a lot of battle royal games and other PUBG clones. Yep. Battlefield 5 was revealed to have Battle Royale. Mavricks Proving Grounds is a straight up PUBG clone. Realm Royale. Scum could also arguably be classed as a battle royale game.
-There will be some PR guff trying to spin loot boxes as a good thing, and completely side step the controversies around them. They'll have learned nothing from the backlash, and possibly brag about how much money they're making.
Got this one. EA started going on about it.
-Long shot prediction. A major publisher bastardises a beloved franchise so much as to get audible boos from the crowd. Bonus points if it's loot boxes or battle royal related.
Close. The Battlefield 5 battle royale announced got an "Aaaaaw" groan, but not quite a boo. There was also some trailers the audience didn't applaud. The new Command and Conquer looked ...ok to be honest, but it pissed off a lot of fans. Check out the like-dislike ratio on the trailer.
https://youtu.be/fyNXQpAFQJc
-Someone dropping phrases like "diversity" and other social justice buzzwords like it's 2014.
Diversity Get, with Bethesda's show opening with a trailer prominently featuring various Tumblr stereotypes and talking about how diverse their team was.
-Press and Post Show-
-Some game will be considered "problematic" and be smeared by the likes of Polygon, Waypoint, etc. Bonus points if evidence that one dev once retweeted gamergate/alt-right/Jordan Peterson 3 years ago.
This one was a maybe. Metal Wolf Chaos has been deemed "problematic" on Twitter and comments sections because of the url/hashtag to promote the game was "mech america great again".
Though major game journalism sites didn't write articles.
-Drama when someone doesn't get the special treatment their inflated ego thinks they deserve. For example, someone is snubbed for a behind-closed-doors preview, or "riff-raff" youtubers/twitch streamers being allowed into a press only area.
Nope. Though the show proper is still going on at time of writing.
-Outside prediction. Baseless accusation of sexual assualt, giving the press the chance to write lots of articles about #metoo
Sort of. In a way what happened was the complete opposite.
Around the start of E3 James Portnow, the writer for Extra Credits, was accused of sexual abuse/harrassment. As always, these vague accusations and trials by social media are sketchy, and I personally would wait for a conviction.
However, if you preach "Listen and Believe", and are ok with smearing people that cross you, you can't really complain when you get #metoo'd.
Of course, the male feminist allies and game press lept to defence of the innocent victim by ...turning a blind eye and trying to pressure her to retract her accusation.
-Games-
-Fallout 76 is either going to be a MMO, or Bethesda's answer to Destiny and Anthem.
This one is a question mark. It was confired to be a multiplayer game with base building and quests, and could be played solo. But nothing concrete was stated.
-Resident Evil 2 remake will be a no show again. If anything is shown, then maybe a FMV trailer? I'm not expecting actual gameplay.
Called it. ...kind of. It was technically an in engine cinematic trailer, but there was little actual gameplay so I'm putting this one in the win column. Great trailer though, especially the surprise reveal. Graphics are great too, if the full game actually looks that good...
-Cyberpunk 2020 with be a no show, or FMV only.
Again, a maybe. It was again technicaly an in engine cinematic, but no actual gameplay so I call that a win.
-The new From Software game will turn out to be a Shadow Tower sequel.
Completely wrong. It's another Souls-esc game, this time about a samurai with a bungee cord.
---Some specific thoughts and opinions---
I'm not going to go over everything, but there was a few things I want to talk about.
Just Cause 4 - I'm not a fan of "cinematic" trainers. They look cool, but the lack of gameplay, or a reasonable portrail of gameplay, isn't a great sell. With that, Just Cause 4 looked fun, and it explained what was different, and some of the new stuff including the new AI and enemy types that actually pose a reasonable threat.
Death Standing - Still don't know what that is. Bag carrying sim? I joke, but the guy is named Porter...
Sega re-releases - I've wanted to play Yakuza games for a long time, but there's always some hurdle, or I just never get around to it. So Yakuza PC ports are a good thing. Also, Valkyria Chronicles 4. Most people seem to not care though.
Maneater - I dunno why, but it seems like good dumb fun. Reminds me of that flash game back in the day where you started off eating fish and divers, until eventually you were eating planes out of the sky and causing huge explosions.
Stormland - A VR robot game. It looked cool. I agree with Gaben that if VR is going to be more than a passing fad, people need to make quality, original games for it that aren't silly mini game collections. There was a multiplayer VR mech game that, while not my thing, is at least trying to make VR more than the Guitar Hero of 2017.
Resident Evil 2 Remake - Amazing. Don't mess this up Capcom!
Metal Wolf Chaos - Hell Yes! Even if the game is only getting an English release because some YouTubers made it a meme. I don't care. I want to play it.
Gears of Funkopop - People asked for this?
Uber SJW Simulator - A taxi game where you play as a purple haired tumblrina who is worried that her girlfriend isn't answering the phone. You can't drive to her house though because I guess Uber is really strict about those quotas. Although the most unrealistic thing is a SJW getting a job that doesn't involve tweeting #woke takes all day. The trailer even spoils it's own plot twist by saying the gf was part of the #resistance.
Satisfactory - Goodbye friends with OCD tendancies. I will press F to you come release day.
Starlink - A toys-to-life game featuring a cameo from Starfox. Not my thing, but brought it up because I know a bunch of SF fans.
Pokemon Pikachu/Evee - Not a fan, and the whole business practice of 2 different games and an accesory sold seperately containing a powerful pokemon. Let's be honest, if this EA or Ubisoft doing that, people would complain about how shady it is, but because it's Nintendo, they get a free pass.
Smash Bros Ultimate - I'm not a Smash Bros fan, but damn, they really tried with that.
Finally, there was Ghosts of Satsuma (the arkham esc samurai game), Tunic, Sonic Team Racing, Daemon Ex Machina, Rage 2, and likely some I'm forgetting. They all looked great. I've not got much to say about them other than "I'm on board.".
Thanks for reading. I know this was a long one, but this is the short version believe it or not. If you're interested in a longer version, let me know and I can post that.
E3 was good this year I thought. Some good games. Hard to pick a "winner" per say. There was some good PC stuff, some good Sony stuff, some good Bethesda stuff. The EA show was pretty cringey. I'll get into the games themselves later. But personal highlights were the Resident Evil 2 Remake, getting to see more of Cyberpunk, Tunic, and that Samurai game were all impressive too. Metal Wolf Chaos, and the Sega ports were interesting to see as well.
---Prediction Results---
So, how did my pridictions fare? Let's go through them.
-Presentations-
-EA will waffle on for 20 minutes about sports games no one cares about. This would be the free space if it was a bingo card.
Got. Though this was a no brainer.
-Nintendo will show a logo related to a classic IP. Nintendo fans will go bananas and declare Nintendo winner of E3 for what is essentially a .jpg.
Not really. Nintendo didn't do this, but it could be argued that Bethesda did this with Eldar Scrolls 6.
-There will be a lot of battle royal games and other PUBG clones. Yep. Battlefield 5 was revealed to have Battle Royale. Mavricks Proving Grounds is a straight up PUBG clone. Realm Royale. Scum could also arguably be classed as a battle royale game.
-There will be some PR guff trying to spin loot boxes as a good thing, and completely side step the controversies around them. They'll have learned nothing from the backlash, and possibly brag about how much money they're making.
Got this one. EA started going on about it.
-Long shot prediction. A major publisher bastardises a beloved franchise so much as to get audible boos from the crowd. Bonus points if it's loot boxes or battle royal related.
Close. The Battlefield 5 battle royale announced got an "Aaaaaw" groan, but not quite a boo. There was also some trailers the audience didn't applaud. The new Command and Conquer looked ...ok to be honest, but it pissed off a lot of fans. Check out the like-dislike ratio on the trailer.
https://youtu.be/fyNXQpAFQJc
-Someone dropping phrases like "diversity" and other social justice buzzwords like it's 2014.
Diversity Get, with Bethesda's show opening with a trailer prominently featuring various Tumblr stereotypes and talking about how diverse their team was.
-Press and Post Show-
-Some game will be considered "problematic" and be smeared by the likes of Polygon, Waypoint, etc. Bonus points if evidence that one dev once retweeted gamergate/alt-right/Jordan Peterson 3 years ago.
This one was a maybe. Metal Wolf Chaos has been deemed "problematic" on Twitter and comments sections because of the url/hashtag to promote the game was "mech america great again".
Though major game journalism sites didn't write articles.
-Drama when someone doesn't get the special treatment their inflated ego thinks they deserve. For example, someone is snubbed for a behind-closed-doors preview, or "riff-raff" youtubers/twitch streamers being allowed into a press only area.
Nope. Though the show proper is still going on at time of writing.
-Outside prediction. Baseless accusation of sexual assualt, giving the press the chance to write lots of articles about #metoo
Sort of. In a way what happened was the complete opposite.
Around the start of E3 James Portnow, the writer for Extra Credits, was accused of sexual abuse/harrassment. As always, these vague accusations and trials by social media are sketchy, and I personally would wait for a conviction.
However, if you preach "Listen and Believe", and are ok with smearing people that cross you, you can't really complain when you get #metoo'd.
Of course, the male feminist allies and game press lept to defence of the innocent victim by ...turning a blind eye and trying to pressure her to retract her accusation.
-Games-
-Fallout 76 is either going to be a MMO, or Bethesda's answer to Destiny and Anthem.
This one is a question mark. It was confired to be a multiplayer game with base building and quests, and could be played solo. But nothing concrete was stated.
-Resident Evil 2 remake will be a no show again. If anything is shown, then maybe a FMV trailer? I'm not expecting actual gameplay.
Called it. ...kind of. It was technically an in engine cinematic trailer, but there was little actual gameplay so I'm putting this one in the win column. Great trailer though, especially the surprise reveal. Graphics are great too, if the full game actually looks that good...
-Cyberpunk 2020 with be a no show, or FMV only.
Again, a maybe. It was again technicaly an in engine cinematic, but no actual gameplay so I call that a win.
-The new From Software game will turn out to be a Shadow Tower sequel.
Completely wrong. It's another Souls-esc game, this time about a samurai with a bungee cord.
---Some specific thoughts and opinions---
I'm not going to go over everything, but there was a few things I want to talk about.
Just Cause 4 - I'm not a fan of "cinematic" trainers. They look cool, but the lack of gameplay, or a reasonable portrail of gameplay, isn't a great sell. With that, Just Cause 4 looked fun, and it explained what was different, and some of the new stuff including the new AI and enemy types that actually pose a reasonable threat.
Death Standing - Still don't know what that is. Bag carrying sim? I joke, but the guy is named Porter...
Sega re-releases - I've wanted to play Yakuza games for a long time, but there's always some hurdle, or I just never get around to it. So Yakuza PC ports are a good thing. Also, Valkyria Chronicles 4. Most people seem to not care though.
Maneater - I dunno why, but it seems like good dumb fun. Reminds me of that flash game back in the day where you started off eating fish and divers, until eventually you were eating planes out of the sky and causing huge explosions.
Stormland - A VR robot game. It looked cool. I agree with Gaben that if VR is going to be more than a passing fad, people need to make quality, original games for it that aren't silly mini game collections. There was a multiplayer VR mech game that, while not my thing, is at least trying to make VR more than the Guitar Hero of 2017.
Resident Evil 2 Remake - Amazing. Don't mess this up Capcom!
Metal Wolf Chaos - Hell Yes! Even if the game is only getting an English release because some YouTubers made it a meme. I don't care. I want to play it.
Gears of Funkopop - People asked for this?
Uber SJW Simulator - A taxi game where you play as a purple haired tumblrina who is worried that her girlfriend isn't answering the phone. You can't drive to her house though because I guess Uber is really strict about those quotas. Although the most unrealistic thing is a SJW getting a job that doesn't involve tweeting #woke takes all day. The trailer even spoils it's own plot twist by saying the gf was part of the #resistance.
Satisfactory - Goodbye friends with OCD tendancies. I will press F to you come release day.
Starlink - A toys-to-life game featuring a cameo from Starfox. Not my thing, but brought it up because I know a bunch of SF fans.
Pokemon Pikachu/Evee - Not a fan, and the whole business practice of 2 different games and an accesory sold seperately containing a powerful pokemon. Let's be honest, if this EA or Ubisoft doing that, people would complain about how shady it is, but because it's Nintendo, they get a free pass.
Smash Bros Ultimate - I'm not a Smash Bros fan, but damn, they really tried with that.
Finally, there was Ghosts of Satsuma (the arkham esc samurai game), Tunic, Sonic Team Racing, Daemon Ex Machina, Rage 2, and likely some I'm forgetting. They all looked great. I've not got much to say about them other than "I'm on board.".
Thanks for reading. I know this was a long one, but this is the short version believe it or not. If you're interested in a longer version, let me know and I can post that.
Tierafoxglove - Free Art Lottery
Posted 7 years agoIf you want free art from 
Tierafoxglove then now is your chance. The stream is starting about an hour after this is posted.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/27619841/
Tierafoxglove then now is your chance. The stream is starting about an hour after this is posted.http://www.furaffinity.net/view/27619841/
Film Review - Ghost in the Shell: Arise: Ghost Pain
Posted 7 years agoThe award for the title with the most sub titles goes too- ...the film that gets paid for every use of the word 'Ghost'.
GITS Arise Ghost Pain is a film that I assume is supposed to be an origin story for Ghost in the Shell, but it's a bad film that fails as both an origin story and as a mystery, and is best forgetten.
The films plot is incomprehencable. After a guy is exhumed to check his cyberbrain following corruption alligations, the grave is revealed to be booby trapped. What follows is an investigation into his death. I had no idea what was going on most of the film, and gave up trying to follow it becuase the investigation boils down to The Major going somewhere, finding some allegedly important clue or meeting a character that dumps exposition on her. None of makes much sense. It's not like Praoit or Columbo where you can solve the case along with the character because the clues make sense, and you can figure it out if you pay attention. It's not like Law and Order where you're following a trail of leads from one person to another. Instead, something happens, and the characters say it's important, then something else happens. And at the end, there's a long exposition dumb, with The Major trying to plug plot holes and getting vague answers.
In short, I don't like the film. In order to go into more detail I'm going to have to spoil it, and I'll also spoil another film and a game, so consider this your-
---SPOILER WARNING---
...
Now you're good and warned, I can explain how frustrating and dumb this film is.
Throughout the film, The Major keeps seeing a robot girl out the corner of her eye, reflected in TV screens, shower door, only to not be there when she turns around. It's cool and all ghost like. Turns out that the girl is really there, but her perceptions were altered so she couldn't see it, but the alteration didn't account for reflections. A cool twist. ...but that raises questions, like why did they use a little girl robot that could easily be seen by accident, noticed by neighbours, etc. Why not use a spy camera or something of that nature? The reason for doing it also don't make much sense, since the villains try to kill her multiple times. Again, you have an invisable exploding spy robot in her house.
This isn't the only way this is used. It is revealed that the breif case containing a CD and a gun was also not real. The case was empty, or only contained the CD, it's not clear. But the thing is, she's been using this pretend gun throughout the film. Did no one mention that she was pointing and shouting bang? And how did she block a sword with it?
See, the whole "X is crazy!" can work really well in the hands of a great writer. Fight Club answers it's own questions and makes the second viewing different because you can see all the ways the twist works, and explains why characters say and do the things they do. In the hands of a bad writer, you end up with something like Spec Ops: The Line, where it raises more questions than it answers. "Why does no one tell walker he's shouting at a broken radio?", "Why does no one say anything when Walker is agonizing over shooting a corpse?", and hand waving it as "Walker is crazy!" creates even more plot holes, and hand waving those away creates even more, until either the whole plot is either broken, or doesn't matter.
GITS: Arise: Ghost Pain is that. It's a badly done mystery, a badly done twist, and a badly done origin story. To steal a joke from a friend, you're time would be better spent taking a nap than watching this film.
GITS Arise Ghost Pain is a film that I assume is supposed to be an origin story for Ghost in the Shell, but it's a bad film that fails as both an origin story and as a mystery, and is best forgetten.
The films plot is incomprehencable. After a guy is exhumed to check his cyberbrain following corruption alligations, the grave is revealed to be booby trapped. What follows is an investigation into his death. I had no idea what was going on most of the film, and gave up trying to follow it becuase the investigation boils down to The Major going somewhere, finding some allegedly important clue or meeting a character that dumps exposition on her. None of makes much sense. It's not like Praoit or Columbo where you can solve the case along with the character because the clues make sense, and you can figure it out if you pay attention. It's not like Law and Order where you're following a trail of leads from one person to another. Instead, something happens, and the characters say it's important, then something else happens. And at the end, there's a long exposition dumb, with The Major trying to plug plot holes and getting vague answers.
In short, I don't like the film. In order to go into more detail I'm going to have to spoil it, and I'll also spoil another film and a game, so consider this your-
---SPOILER WARNING---
...
Now you're good and warned, I can explain how frustrating and dumb this film is.
Throughout the film, The Major keeps seeing a robot girl out the corner of her eye, reflected in TV screens, shower door, only to not be there when she turns around. It's cool and all ghost like. Turns out that the girl is really there, but her perceptions were altered so she couldn't see it, but the alteration didn't account for reflections. A cool twist. ...but that raises questions, like why did they use a little girl robot that could easily be seen by accident, noticed by neighbours, etc. Why not use a spy camera or something of that nature? The reason for doing it also don't make much sense, since the villains try to kill her multiple times. Again, you have an invisable exploding spy robot in her house.
This isn't the only way this is used. It is revealed that the breif case containing a CD and a gun was also not real. The case was empty, or only contained the CD, it's not clear. But the thing is, she's been using this pretend gun throughout the film. Did no one mention that she was pointing and shouting bang? And how did she block a sword with it?
See, the whole "X is crazy!" can work really well in the hands of a great writer. Fight Club answers it's own questions and makes the second viewing different because you can see all the ways the twist works, and explains why characters say and do the things they do. In the hands of a bad writer, you end up with something like Spec Ops: The Line, where it raises more questions than it answers. "Why does no one tell walker he's shouting at a broken radio?", "Why does no one say anything when Walker is agonizing over shooting a corpse?", and hand waving it as "Walker is crazy!" creates even more plot holes, and hand waving those away creates even more, until either the whole plot is either broken, or doesn't matter.
GITS: Arise: Ghost Pain is that. It's a badly done mystery, a badly done twist, and a badly done origin story. To steal a joke from a friend, you're time would be better spent taking a nap than watching this film.
Film Review - Under Siege 2
Posted 7 years agoAfter the success of Die Hard, there was a bunch of films that tried to cash in by copying the overall concept. You know a Die Hard clone if it can be summed up as "Die Hard on a X". The original Under Siege was one such film, being "Die Hard on a boat" and starring Steve Seagal who was a Navy Seal who was acting as the ships cook when the boat was hijacked by terrorists trying to steal missiles. I guess it was successful as it spawned this sequel.
I was going to watch it's a mad mad mad mad world, but ended up watching Under Siege 2 instead. Hey, it happens.
The film is once again a Die Hard clone, this time being Die Hard on a train. The police captain from Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a mad genius that, with a bunch of mercinary goons, hijacks a passenger train. He needs this train so he can have an always moving outpost to hack into America's sattelite laser/earthquake machine. No, it doesn't sound that stupid in context. Of course, this happens to be the train that Ryback, aka Steve Seagal, is on.
Now, common opinion dictates that you can only like 90s action films if you do so with an Africa sized slice of irony, but I disagree. These action films hold up well and are well put together. The bad guys, with the exception of the final fight scene, are fairly intelligent, and it's hard to find obvious faults with their plans and execution. When someone does do something stupid, they are rightly called out for it. For example, in one scene, Ryback is wounded and falls over the side of the train. The goons report back that he's dead. The boss demands to know if the goon actually saw the body, and when he says no, he receives a slap and is told to sweep the train and find the body. Or when a goon disappears, they send someone to check on him. Now, there are a few scenes where you could argue why didn't they do X, or Y, but for the most part their actions make sense.
One point I've beaten into the ground in previous reviews, but it bares repeating. This being a pre-2000s film means that CG is kept to a minimum. Outside the occational obvious green screen, stunt double, or dummy, the effects and stunt work are well done. One particularlly impressive stunt was a faily low key stunt. A goon who is set on fire and falls down some stairs before running around a bit. Kudos to that guy.
The final fight is a bit underwhelming, due in part to it being one of the genuine moments of stupidity on behalf of the villains, and the fact that he's so out classed he barely gets a hit in. It comes across as a bit mary sue, and seems to only exist to have a final fist fight.
Still, I liked Under Siege 2. Is it the best film ever made? Hell no. But you can do worse.
I was going to watch it's a mad mad mad mad world, but ended up watching Under Siege 2 instead. Hey, it happens.
The film is once again a Die Hard clone, this time being Die Hard on a train. The police captain from Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a mad genius that, with a bunch of mercinary goons, hijacks a passenger train. He needs this train so he can have an always moving outpost to hack into America's sattelite laser/earthquake machine. No, it doesn't sound that stupid in context. Of course, this happens to be the train that Ryback, aka Steve Seagal, is on.
Now, common opinion dictates that you can only like 90s action films if you do so with an Africa sized slice of irony, but I disagree. These action films hold up well and are well put together. The bad guys, with the exception of the final fight scene, are fairly intelligent, and it's hard to find obvious faults with their plans and execution. When someone does do something stupid, they are rightly called out for it. For example, in one scene, Ryback is wounded and falls over the side of the train. The goons report back that he's dead. The boss demands to know if the goon actually saw the body, and when he says no, he receives a slap and is told to sweep the train and find the body. Or when a goon disappears, they send someone to check on him. Now, there are a few scenes where you could argue why didn't they do X, or Y, but for the most part their actions make sense.
One point I've beaten into the ground in previous reviews, but it bares repeating. This being a pre-2000s film means that CG is kept to a minimum. Outside the occational obvious green screen, stunt double, or dummy, the effects and stunt work are well done. One particularlly impressive stunt was a faily low key stunt. A goon who is set on fire and falls down some stairs before running around a bit. Kudos to that guy.
The final fight is a bit underwhelming, due in part to it being one of the genuine moments of stupidity on behalf of the villains, and the fact that he's so out classed he barely gets a hit in. It comes across as a bit mary sue, and seems to only exist to have a final fist fight.
Still, I liked Under Siege 2. Is it the best film ever made? Hell no. But you can do worse.
E3 2018 Predictions
Posted 7 years agoE3 is about to happen. I don't know if I'll be watching live this year, but if I do, I hope other people are there for maximum piss take.
As for my predictions, we already know some stuff. Things like Fallout 76 being announced. But, it's time for predictions. Think of this as an E3 bingo card of sorts. I'd like to hear your predictions. Here's mine.
-Presentations-
-EA will waffle on for 20 minutes about sports games no one cares about. This would be the free space if it was a bingo card.
-Nintendo will show a logo related to a classic IP. Nintendo fans will go bananas and declare Nintendo winner of E3 for what is essentially a .jpg.
-There will be a lot of battle royal games and other PUBG clones. We already know Call of Duty is getting a battle royal mode instead of a single player campaign.
-There will be some PR guff trying to spin loot boxes as a good thing, and completely side step the controversies around them. They'll have learned nothing from the backlash, and possibly brag about how much money they're making.
-Long shot prediction. A major publisher bastardises a beloved franchise so much as to get audible boos from the crowd. Bonus points if it's loot boxes or battle royal related.
-Someone dropping phrases like "diversity" and other social justice buzzwords like it's 2014.
-Press and Post Show-
-Some game will be considered "problematic" and be smeared by the likes of Polygon, Waypoint, etc. Bonus points if evidence that one dev once retweeted gamergate/alt-right/Jordan Peterson 3 years ago.
-Drama when someone doesn't get the special treatment their inflated ego thinks they deserve. For example, someone is snubbed for a behind-closed-doors preview, or "riff-raff" youtubers/twitch streamers being allowed into a press only area.
-Outside prediction. Baseless accusation of sexual assualt, giving the press the chance to write lots of articles about #metoo
-Games-
-Fallout 76 has been announced, but no one knows what it is. Hints and speculation based on vague "leaks" point at it being some kind of multiplayer base building game like Rust or Ark. If it's not that, then I think it's either going to be a MMO, or Bethesda's answer to Destiny and Anthem.
I did have one prediction be "leak" that is actually put out by the company to build hype, but given that Fallout 76 did this already, I can't really mention it as a prediction. Also, people online saying Kotaku / Jason Schreier are legit good journalists now because of this so called "leak". ...no. Also worth noting that he deleted the Tweet with this leak information and back pedalled. You know, because that's what real journalists do.
-I think Resident Evil 2 remake will be a no show again. If anything is shown, then maybe a FMV trailer? I'm not expecting actual gameplay.
-Cyberpunk 2020, again, a no show, or FMV only.
-The new From Software game. The rumours will will turn out to be correct, and it's a Shadow Tower sequel.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to join my Discord server if you want mock the presentations live. :P
As for my predictions, we already know some stuff. Things like Fallout 76 being announced. But, it's time for predictions. Think of this as an E3 bingo card of sorts. I'd like to hear your predictions. Here's mine.
-Presentations-
-EA will waffle on for 20 minutes about sports games no one cares about. This would be the free space if it was a bingo card.
-Nintendo will show a logo related to a classic IP. Nintendo fans will go bananas and declare Nintendo winner of E3 for what is essentially a .jpg.
-There will be a lot of battle royal games and other PUBG clones. We already know Call of Duty is getting a battle royal mode instead of a single player campaign.
-There will be some PR guff trying to spin loot boxes as a good thing, and completely side step the controversies around them. They'll have learned nothing from the backlash, and possibly brag about how much money they're making.
-Long shot prediction. A major publisher bastardises a beloved franchise so much as to get audible boos from the crowd. Bonus points if it's loot boxes or battle royal related.
-Someone dropping phrases like "diversity" and other social justice buzzwords like it's 2014.
-Press and Post Show-
-Some game will be considered "problematic" and be smeared by the likes of Polygon, Waypoint, etc. Bonus points if evidence that one dev once retweeted gamergate/alt-right/Jordan Peterson 3 years ago.
-Drama when someone doesn't get the special treatment their inflated ego thinks they deserve. For example, someone is snubbed for a behind-closed-doors preview, or "riff-raff" youtubers/twitch streamers being allowed into a press only area.
-Outside prediction. Baseless accusation of sexual assualt, giving the press the chance to write lots of articles about #metoo
-Games-
-Fallout 76 has been announced, but no one knows what it is. Hints and speculation based on vague "leaks" point at it being some kind of multiplayer base building game like Rust or Ark. If it's not that, then I think it's either going to be a MMO, or Bethesda's answer to Destiny and Anthem.
I did have one prediction be "leak" that is actually put out by the company to build hype, but given that Fallout 76 did this already, I can't really mention it as a prediction. Also, people online saying Kotaku / Jason Schreier are legit good journalists now because of this so called "leak". ...no. Also worth noting that he deleted the Tweet with this leak information and back pedalled. You know, because that's what real journalists do.
-I think Resident Evil 2 remake will be a no show again. If anything is shown, then maybe a FMV trailer? I'm not expecting actual gameplay.
-Cyberpunk 2020, again, a no show, or FMV only.
-The new From Software game. The rumours will will turn out to be correct, and it's a Shadow Tower sequel.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to join my Discord server if you want mock the presentations live. :P
Rant - Dog Whistle Politics and Everything Is Nazi
Posted 7 years agoThere's lots of stuff happening right now, some funny, some not so much. The death of Total Biscuit, the Battlefeild 5 trailer, the arrest of Tommy Robinson, FA banning a bunch a people, people wanting to ban Active Shooter, YouTube's Subscription box changes, and even the recent trend of putting the "punk" on the end of a random word and claiming it as a new genre. Instead of my usual rants, I want to talk about a concept that's been on my mind recently, and many of these dramas share.
That being, dog whistle politics, and the idea that everything is nazi.
-Dog Whistle-
For those unfamiliar, dog whistle politics is the idea is that certain words and phrases are code words. To the casual listener, they are innocuous words, but to certain kinds of people they have a second, secret meaning, and that secret meaning is actually the one intended by the speaker. So, if I said "I like ice cream", and "ice cream" was a dog whistle for "kicking puppies", then I can say "I like kicking puppies" in public without backlash. Or at least, that's the theory anyway. Of course, what words are and aren't a dog whistle is usually decided by the accuser.
A real world example is the OK sign. To most people, it means ok, but according to the far-left, it actually means white supremacy. Wether a particular ok sign means ok or white power is decided by the accusers. So if Obama does it, it means ok. If Trump does it, it means white supremacy. This also happens in the UK with everything being branded as "alt-right" or "nazi".
The problems with this line of thinking are numerous. Not least of which is if you buy into the idea of dog whistle politics, you quickly find yourself in a prison of your own making. Let me put it this way. If you start labelling random, innocuous words as having different meanings, suddenly everyone and everything is evil. To go back to the first example, if a friend asks if you want to get ice cream, and you believe ice cream = kick puppies, then your friend has outed himself as a horrible person. Once he's been branded as a bad guy, suddenly every innocuous thing that person says could be twisted into a dog whistle, further proving how evil he is and adding to a constantly expanding list of dog whistle words. When concerned friends and family say you're being paranoid, they are also branded as bad people. Why would they defend a nazi if they weren't a nazi themselves? Soon, every other thing is a dog whistle, and you can't leave your house as everyone from the post man to the prime minister is a secret nazi.
-Total Biscuit's Death-
Game critic and YouTuber Total Biscuit died of cancer recently. In a move that baffles me, various mainstream game journalists and developers decided to insult Total Biscuit, his greiving family, and his fanbase just hours after his death. Even openly celebrated that he's dead. Said journalists and devs got hundreds, if not thousands of angry comments and replies.
Now, I'm going to ask a question, but I don't want you to answer right away. I want you to think about it for 30 seconds or so. Which is more likely?
A- Total Biscuit is an alt-right nazi misogynist gamergater who is siccing his fanbase on women, minorities, and their allies from beyond the grave.
B- People are appauled at the disgusting behaviour and lack of decorum of has-been game journalists and never-was game developers, and aren't afraid to say so.
-Active Shooter-
Likewise, branding everything you don't like or agree with as nazi or evil can lead to an echochamber where dumb ideas are allowed to grow, unchallenged. Again, the recent "Active Shooter" drama makes for a handy example. Long story short, Active Shooter is a crap looking FPS where you can play a school shooter or a cop, and some people want it banned. The argument for censoring it boils down to "We need to censor this game now, so games don't get censored later.". Anyone who points out the obvious flaw in that argument is banned, blocked, etc. Anyone who points to games like Postal or Hatred is banned, blocked, etc. Anyone who points out that lots of games have been accused of turning people into killers, and yet it has never happened is banned, blocked, you get the idea. The only arguments I've heard that have any weight are "it's in bad taste" and "it looks crap". Neither of which really justifies a ban, unless you want to open that can of worms.
Finally, I want to say that fascism hasn't suddenly returned as a mainstream movement. What has happened was the far-lefts favourite insults stopped working. Calling people X, Y, and Z because they didn't like a game trailer doesn't work if they are already X, Y, and Z for not caring about the female ghostbusters reboot, for not liking some crappy walking simulator, for not liking a specific comic, or for whatever else will get you branded as evil. Being called a nazi on the internet was old hat a decade ago, now it's getting old hat in real life as well. And just like those days of the internet, calling people a nazi is usually a sign you've lost the argument. So don't lock yourself in a world where everybody is a nazi talking secret code, and maybe you'll realise things aren't that bad.
That being, dog whistle politics, and the idea that everything is nazi.
-Dog Whistle-
For those unfamiliar, dog whistle politics is the idea is that certain words and phrases are code words. To the casual listener, they are innocuous words, but to certain kinds of people they have a second, secret meaning, and that secret meaning is actually the one intended by the speaker. So, if I said "I like ice cream", and "ice cream" was a dog whistle for "kicking puppies", then I can say "I like kicking puppies" in public without backlash. Or at least, that's the theory anyway. Of course, what words are and aren't a dog whistle is usually decided by the accuser.
A real world example is the OK sign. To most people, it means ok, but according to the far-left, it actually means white supremacy. Wether a particular ok sign means ok or white power is decided by the accusers. So if Obama does it, it means ok. If Trump does it, it means white supremacy. This also happens in the UK with everything being branded as "alt-right" or "nazi".
The problems with this line of thinking are numerous. Not least of which is if you buy into the idea of dog whistle politics, you quickly find yourself in a prison of your own making. Let me put it this way. If you start labelling random, innocuous words as having different meanings, suddenly everyone and everything is evil. To go back to the first example, if a friend asks if you want to get ice cream, and you believe ice cream = kick puppies, then your friend has outed himself as a horrible person. Once he's been branded as a bad guy, suddenly every innocuous thing that person says could be twisted into a dog whistle, further proving how evil he is and adding to a constantly expanding list of dog whistle words. When concerned friends and family say you're being paranoid, they are also branded as bad people. Why would they defend a nazi if they weren't a nazi themselves? Soon, every other thing is a dog whistle, and you can't leave your house as everyone from the post man to the prime minister is a secret nazi.
-Total Biscuit's Death-
Game critic and YouTuber Total Biscuit died of cancer recently. In a move that baffles me, various mainstream game journalists and developers decided to insult Total Biscuit, his greiving family, and his fanbase just hours after his death. Even openly celebrated that he's dead. Said journalists and devs got hundreds, if not thousands of angry comments and replies.
Now, I'm going to ask a question, but I don't want you to answer right away. I want you to think about it for 30 seconds or so. Which is more likely?
A- Total Biscuit is an alt-right nazi misogynist gamergater who is siccing his fanbase on women, minorities, and their allies from beyond the grave.
B- People are appauled at the disgusting behaviour and lack of decorum of has-been game journalists and never-was game developers, and aren't afraid to say so.
-Active Shooter-
Likewise, branding everything you don't like or agree with as nazi or evil can lead to an echochamber where dumb ideas are allowed to grow, unchallenged. Again, the recent "Active Shooter" drama makes for a handy example. Long story short, Active Shooter is a crap looking FPS where you can play a school shooter or a cop, and some people want it banned. The argument for censoring it boils down to "We need to censor this game now, so games don't get censored later.". Anyone who points out the obvious flaw in that argument is banned, blocked, etc. Anyone who points to games like Postal or Hatred is banned, blocked, etc. Anyone who points out that lots of games have been accused of turning people into killers, and yet it has never happened is banned, blocked, you get the idea. The only arguments I've heard that have any weight are "it's in bad taste" and "it looks crap". Neither of which really justifies a ban, unless you want to open that can of worms.
Finally, I want to say that fascism hasn't suddenly returned as a mainstream movement. What has happened was the far-lefts favourite insults stopped working. Calling people X, Y, and Z because they didn't like a game trailer doesn't work if they are already X, Y, and Z for not caring about the female ghostbusters reboot, for not liking some crappy walking simulator, for not liking a specific comic, or for whatever else will get you branded as evil. Being called a nazi on the internet was old hat a decade ago, now it's getting old hat in real life as well. And just like those days of the internet, calling people a nazi is usually a sign you've lost the argument. So don't lock yourself in a world where everybody is a nazi talking secret code, and maybe you'll realise things aren't that bad.
Rant/Drama - The Battlefield 5 Trailer
Posted 7 years agoIf there's one thing the far-left has succeeded in doing is turning me into a racist. Not in a "hates black people" kind of way, but in that I actually notice the race of fictional characters now. For example, in Left 4 Dead, Louis wasn't "the black guy" to me. He was the office guy that wouldn't take off his stupid tie.
There's a term I once heard, but unfortunately it didn't stick, "black woman fatigue". After 6+ years of Extreme Ghostbusters level diversity characters, I expect the worst every time a game shows off it's checklist of "diverse" characters. If Left 4 Dead were to come out today, would I assume that it was yet another diversity game? I honestly don't know. That said, Left 4 Dead isn't really progressive enough. It doesn't have a gay guy, and Zoey isn't an overweight feminist with blue hair.
I bring all of this up because of the Battlefield 5 trailer. If you've not seen it, it's ...bad. It's your usual over the top ridiculous scripted action with constant explosions and chaos of the kind I'm almost completely desisted too, but what's worse is this "authentic" World War 2 game stars a female soldier with a prosthetic arm who comes across as a Horizon Zero Dawn / Mad Max Fury Road OC. Add in bald guys with beards, katanas, and clown make up, and you have a recipe for cringe.
...And of course, if you don't like any of this, then you're a loser incel gamergate nazi who is trying to keep women out of gaming.
One of the original Call of Duty games had you play as a female sniper, and you also played as a woman in Medal of Honour Underground, and no one really had a problem with those. So why is having a woman in a war game now suddenly an issue? Well, part of that is media spin, but I think part of it is the "black woman fatigue" I mentioned before. This is a calculated move intended to push a "representation", as the games marketing director said on Twitter. Having what amounts to a mary sue with a robot arm in World War 2 might have been forgivable if it was Wolfenstien, Red Alert, or Achtung Cthulhu style World War 2 fantasy game, or if it was Indiana Jones esc "Word War 2 as backdrop" game, but again, this is presenting itself as "accurate" and "authentic", then stuffs some Deviant Art OC in there. It would be like if they had Coldsteel the hedgehog turn up in Saving Private Ryan, and anyone who complained was called a bigot. Let me put it this way, would those defending this change be happy if it was Kawaii the waifu, dressed as a schoolgirl and "accidently" showing her panties at every opertunity? I'm going to guess no.
...Brb, making a trillion billion pounds...
There's a lot of stuff I could go on about. Does historical accuracy matter or not, is this is all some kind of deliberate attempt at viral marketing, are these dying websites deliberately trying to resurrect gamergate for clicks, etc. I don't think this is somehow a return to power for social justice though. These games take a long time to make, and big corporations are out of touch. This is likely EA having not caught up to the fact that radical feminism and social justice are dead, and that pandering to Tumblr won't give you the huge boost in sales game journalists promise. Hopefully this all wears off with time, and hopefully we can get some good games too, that would be nice.
I'll end this post with a funny comment from YouTube.
"The only thing accurate in this trailer is the medic refusing to heal that guy."
There's a term I once heard, but unfortunately it didn't stick, "black woman fatigue". After 6+ years of Extreme Ghostbusters level diversity characters, I expect the worst every time a game shows off it's checklist of "diverse" characters. If Left 4 Dead were to come out today, would I assume that it was yet another diversity game? I honestly don't know. That said, Left 4 Dead isn't really progressive enough. It doesn't have a gay guy, and Zoey isn't an overweight feminist with blue hair.
I bring all of this up because of the Battlefield 5 trailer. If you've not seen it, it's ...bad. It's your usual over the top ridiculous scripted action with constant explosions and chaos of the kind I'm almost completely desisted too, but what's worse is this "authentic" World War 2 game stars a female soldier with a prosthetic arm who comes across as a Horizon Zero Dawn / Mad Max Fury Road OC. Add in bald guys with beards, katanas, and clown make up, and you have a recipe for cringe.
...And of course, if you don't like any of this, then you're a loser incel gamergate nazi who is trying to keep women out of gaming.
One of the original Call of Duty games had you play as a female sniper, and you also played as a woman in Medal of Honour Underground, and no one really had a problem with those. So why is having a woman in a war game now suddenly an issue? Well, part of that is media spin, but I think part of it is the "black woman fatigue" I mentioned before. This is a calculated move intended to push a "representation", as the games marketing director said on Twitter. Having what amounts to a mary sue with a robot arm in World War 2 might have been forgivable if it was Wolfenstien, Red Alert, or Achtung Cthulhu style World War 2 fantasy game, or if it was Indiana Jones esc "Word War 2 as backdrop" game, but again, this is presenting itself as "accurate" and "authentic", then stuffs some Deviant Art OC in there. It would be like if they had Coldsteel the hedgehog turn up in Saving Private Ryan, and anyone who complained was called a bigot. Let me put it this way, would those defending this change be happy if it was Kawaii the waifu, dressed as a schoolgirl and "accidently" showing her panties at every opertunity? I'm going to guess no.
...Brb, making a trillion billion pounds...
There's a lot of stuff I could go on about. Does historical accuracy matter or not, is this is all some kind of deliberate attempt at viral marketing, are these dying websites deliberately trying to resurrect gamergate for clicks, etc. I don't think this is somehow a return to power for social justice though. These games take a long time to make, and big corporations are out of touch. This is likely EA having not caught up to the fact that radical feminism and social justice are dead, and that pandering to Tumblr won't give you the huge boost in sales game journalists promise. Hopefully this all wears off with time, and hopefully we can get some good games too, that would be nice.
I'll end this post with a funny comment from YouTube.
"The only thing accurate in this trailer is the medic refusing to heal that guy."
Follow up - Steam Keeping Sexual Content ...kind of
Posted 7 years agoAlmost forgot to make this post. ^_^;;
There's a video version available here if people want to hear my voice being spoken. https://youtu.be/T6_90osI_bE
Good news. As you likely figured out from the title, Valve has sent out emails saying to disreguard there recent demands for censorship of various anime games.
Thanks to all the people who notified me of the update. Laini, Sedra, and ric 4567.
So, what happened? At this point, enough time has passed and enough digging has been done that we seem to have a complete picture of what happened. Or at least, as clear as we can reasonably expect. So let's go over everything from the top.
A traditional Christain morality group, formally known as Morality in Media, rebranded itself as the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation and adopted social justice buzzwords and tactics. I'm just going to call them Morality in Media as it's more memorable, and descriptive. Anyway, they demanded Valve remove or censor various games from Steam. Valve caved, sending out emails to various game developers demanding they censor their games or they'll be removed from Steam.
There was some fan backlash, ranging from hashtags, to a petition that was passed around. While Morality in Media did a victory lap.
A few days later, Valve sent out another wave of e-mails, this time telling developers to disreguard the previous emails, that they would be re-reviewing the effected games, and would get back to them. And there was much rejoicing.
This doesn't mean they are completely safe yet, as they are still under re-review, but it's unlikely that Valve is going to strip them from Steam. As mentioned last time, there is worse on Steam, and they likely don't want to lose money. As others have pointed out, they won't get rid of broken games and asset flips from Steam, so why put time and effort to policing anime boobs?
-Why backtrack?-
Why did Valve have a change of heart? Was it the petition, was it the backlash or the hashtag? Was it because the group was revealed to be right wing and not left wing? Honestly, we might never know.
But personally, I'd go with the story similar to what happened with Hatred. Some mid-tier employee was either sympathetic to the cause, or was just a little jumpy, saw the demands and sent out the emails demanding censorship. When the news reached the ears of the higher ups like Gaben, they poked their head in the door and told said underling to knock it off. They appologised and maybe gave said employee a smack on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper.
This version of events is simple, and to me makes more sense than some of the other theories.
For example, the theory that Valve is willing to cave to SJW demands, and only walked back when they learned this was right wingers using the weapons of the left. I don't buy that because games like Hatred, HuniePop, The Witcher, The Last Night, and many other games SJWs hate are not only still on Steam, but are sometimes promoted. If Valve were sympathetic to Social Justice, they would likely either burry these games amongst all the shovelware and asset flips, or they would ban them outright. Same goes for theories about Campo Santo somehow controlling Valve.
Another theory I mentioned last time is the idea that Apple is somehow involved. Again, why walk it back?
That said, I won't be surprised if we start seeing a sort of "regular steam" and a "kids steam" for countries that are big on censorship.
-Say nothing-
Morality in Media haven't said anything about it Valve walking this back.
As I said in the original video, there was a small number of people who were quick to throw weebs under the bus, saying that only degenerate incel paedophile losers care about this, and they haven't said much since the walk back either. I found one that tried to laugh this off as neckbeards getting mad over nothing, but that's about it.
So yeah, that's pretty much everything. Chances are the review will say everything is fine. I don't know if I'll make another post if Valve bans them after the re-review, but as I said before, if that happens Valve will open the flood gates as anime fans report everything, while censors on the left and the right will use that victory to try and get other things banned.
There's a video version available here if people want to hear my voice being spoken. https://youtu.be/T6_90osI_bE
Good news. As you likely figured out from the title, Valve has sent out emails saying to disreguard there recent demands for censorship of various anime games.
Thanks to all the people who notified me of the update. Laini, Sedra, and ric 4567.
So, what happened? At this point, enough time has passed and enough digging has been done that we seem to have a complete picture of what happened. Or at least, as clear as we can reasonably expect. So let's go over everything from the top.
A traditional Christain morality group, formally known as Morality in Media, rebranded itself as the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation and adopted social justice buzzwords and tactics. I'm just going to call them Morality in Media as it's more memorable, and descriptive. Anyway, they demanded Valve remove or censor various games from Steam. Valve caved, sending out emails to various game developers demanding they censor their games or they'll be removed from Steam.
There was some fan backlash, ranging from hashtags, to a petition that was passed around. While Morality in Media did a victory lap.
A few days later, Valve sent out another wave of e-mails, this time telling developers to disreguard the previous emails, that they would be re-reviewing the effected games, and would get back to them. And there was much rejoicing.
This doesn't mean they are completely safe yet, as they are still under re-review, but it's unlikely that Valve is going to strip them from Steam. As mentioned last time, there is worse on Steam, and they likely don't want to lose money. As others have pointed out, they won't get rid of broken games and asset flips from Steam, so why put time and effort to policing anime boobs?
-Why backtrack?-
Why did Valve have a change of heart? Was it the petition, was it the backlash or the hashtag? Was it because the group was revealed to be right wing and not left wing? Honestly, we might never know.
But personally, I'd go with the story similar to what happened with Hatred. Some mid-tier employee was either sympathetic to the cause, or was just a little jumpy, saw the demands and sent out the emails demanding censorship. When the news reached the ears of the higher ups like Gaben, they poked their head in the door and told said underling to knock it off. They appologised and maybe gave said employee a smack on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper.
This version of events is simple, and to me makes more sense than some of the other theories.
For example, the theory that Valve is willing to cave to SJW demands, and only walked back when they learned this was right wingers using the weapons of the left. I don't buy that because games like Hatred, HuniePop, The Witcher, The Last Night, and many other games SJWs hate are not only still on Steam, but are sometimes promoted. If Valve were sympathetic to Social Justice, they would likely either burry these games amongst all the shovelware and asset flips, or they would ban them outright. Same goes for theories about Campo Santo somehow controlling Valve.
Another theory I mentioned last time is the idea that Apple is somehow involved. Again, why walk it back?
That said, I won't be surprised if we start seeing a sort of "regular steam" and a "kids steam" for countries that are big on censorship.
-Say nothing-
Morality in Media haven't said anything about it Valve walking this back.
As I said in the original video, there was a small number of people who were quick to throw weebs under the bus, saying that only degenerate incel paedophile losers care about this, and they haven't said much since the walk back either. I found one that tried to laugh this off as neckbeards getting mad over nothing, but that's about it.
So yeah, that's pretty much everything. Chances are the review will say everything is fine. I don't know if I'll make another post if Valve bans them after the re-review, but as I said before, if that happens Valve will open the flood gates as anime fans report everything, while censors on the left and the right will use that victory to try and get other things banned.
Rant - CalArts, Thundercats, and Digipen
Posted 7 years agoHave you ever been in a situation where you swear you've never heard a word or phrase before, only to wake up one day and find almost everybody saying it. In some cases people claiming they have always said it?
That's my experience with "CalArts". I had never heard it before, and now it feels like it's everywhere.
From what I understand, CalArt is the name of an art university in Callifornia, and for 12 grand they teach you to draw in the Steve Universe style. I guess they have a lot of pull in the animation business, given how every other cartoon uses that style it seems.
Speaking of which, there was a Thundercats Reboot announced. ...and it looks bad.
For context, in 40 years we have gone from this-
https://static.comicvine.com/upload.....ndercaths3.jpg
To this-
https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/.....hundercats.jpg
But, that said, the show isn't for me, so I maybe the kids like that style of cartoon.
Anyway, CalArts reminds me of Digipen. Ah ha! I tricked you. This is actually an excuse to re-use one of my old rants. Not really of course... ...well, kind of. See, I've ranted in the past about how game development/design degrees are worthless at best. While I'm sure you learn some valuable skills, my experience with "qualified" pro-devs has been less than great. They will look down their noses at the plebs because they worked under Warren Spectre, or have gone to a school some famous designers came out of. The most famous being the Portal guys came out of the game dev school Digipen. But even if we take their word for it, they never actually do anything with the education. Instead, they get a min wage job, and wait for that call from Gaben or Ken Lavine or whoever else, a call that will never come because they are a nobody with a degree that have never made anything. I've seen people go to art school, and go from having unique, memerable OCs, to making a bunch of League of Legends rejects no one remembers.
I mention this because CalArts reminds me of the same, somewhat. They are actually making cartoons, but none of them (so far) have been of any real quality. I stopped following animation a while ago, so I could be wrong, but when the only thing going for your show is that some people on Tumblr like it because of "representation", then that's not much of a show.
Oh, and in doing some quick checking for this post, I learned that both Teen Titans Go and Steven Universe both had a "beat meat" joke.
That's my experience with "CalArts". I had never heard it before, and now it feels like it's everywhere.
From what I understand, CalArt is the name of an art university in Callifornia, and for 12 grand they teach you to draw in the Steve Universe style. I guess they have a lot of pull in the animation business, given how every other cartoon uses that style it seems.
Speaking of which, there was a Thundercats Reboot announced. ...and it looks bad.
For context, in 40 years we have gone from this-
https://static.comicvine.com/upload.....ndercaths3.jpg
To this-
https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/.....hundercats.jpg
But, that said, the show isn't for me, so I maybe the kids like that style of cartoon.
Anyway, CalArts reminds me of Digipen. Ah ha! I tricked you. This is actually an excuse to re-use one of my old rants. Not really of course... ...well, kind of. See, I've ranted in the past about how game development/design degrees are worthless at best. While I'm sure you learn some valuable skills, my experience with "qualified" pro-devs has been less than great. They will look down their noses at the plebs because they worked under Warren Spectre, or have gone to a school some famous designers came out of. The most famous being the Portal guys came out of the game dev school Digipen. But even if we take their word for it, they never actually do anything with the education. Instead, they get a min wage job, and wait for that call from Gaben or Ken Lavine or whoever else, a call that will never come because they are a nobody with a degree that have never made anything. I've seen people go to art school, and go from having unique, memerable OCs, to making a bunch of League of Legends rejects no one remembers.
I mention this because CalArts reminds me of the same, somewhat. They are actually making cartoons, but none of them (so far) have been of any real quality. I stopped following animation a while ago, so I could be wrong, but when the only thing going for your show is that some people on Tumblr like it because of "representation", then that's not much of a show.
Oh, and in doing some quick checking for this post, I learned that both Teen Titans Go and Steven Universe both had a "beat meat" joke.
Rant/Politics/salt - Steam Removing Sexual Content
Posted 7 years agoI know there's the whole FA alt-furry drama happening. Might make a post about it later, but today I want to talk about something else.
As the title says, Valve has decided to cave to SJWs and has sent messages out to various developers that they will be removing their games unless they censor the sexual content.
Some are blaming the influence of Campo Santo, that's the company Valve bought after they DMCA'd Pewdiepie for saying nigger on a stream. Others are saying it's because there's some kind of Steam app coming out and Apple hates boobies. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, it seems like Valve caved to some sexual assault protest group I've never heard of. Said group are celebrating, talking about #metoo, saying games teach sexual assault to minors, and other stuff that makes them sound like lefty Jack Thompson.
The list of games they banned are all anime boob games. Huniepop being the most well know. Popular games like The Witcher, GTA, and Senran Kagura are untouched. However, the big problem is what's not on the list. Cart Life, Lady Killer In A Bind, and other clique approved games that are as bad, if not worse, are being left alone. You'd think a group that believes games teach sexual assault to kids would want to ban the game where a lesbian is raped by a man and enjoys it. Nah, that's a good moral lesson as far as feminists are concerned.
And as you likely already figured out, Valve has yet to point to anything in these games that they now consider unacceptable. Especially since they were already reviewed to get onto Steam in the first place.
I hope Valve reverses this decision. If not, the salt is going to flow, because you can bet that anime fans are going to go all in reporting the SJW cliques games for breaking the Terms of Service.
As the title says, Valve has decided to cave to SJWs and has sent messages out to various developers that they will be removing their games unless they censor the sexual content.
Some are blaming the influence of Campo Santo, that's the company Valve bought after they DMCA'd Pewdiepie for saying nigger on a stream. Others are saying it's because there's some kind of Steam app coming out and Apple hates boobies. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, it seems like Valve caved to some sexual assault protest group I've never heard of. Said group are celebrating, talking about #metoo, saying games teach sexual assault to minors, and other stuff that makes them sound like lefty Jack Thompson.
The list of games they banned are all anime boob games. Huniepop being the most well know. Popular games like The Witcher, GTA, and Senran Kagura are untouched. However, the big problem is what's not on the list. Cart Life, Lady Killer In A Bind, and other clique approved games that are as bad, if not worse, are being left alone. You'd think a group that believes games teach sexual assault to kids would want to ban the game where a lesbian is raped by a man and enjoys it. Nah, that's a good moral lesson as far as feminists are concerned.
And as you likely already figured out, Valve has yet to point to anything in these games that they now consider unacceptable. Especially since they were already reviewed to get onto Steam in the first place.
I hope Valve reverses this decision. If not, the salt is going to flow, because you can bet that anime fans are going to go all in reporting the SJW cliques games for breaking the Terms of Service.
Resident Evil 1.5, Commissions, and Game Dev
Posted 7 years agoLot's of crap to go through today. To cut a long story short, it's halfway through May already, and I've been lazy when it comes to getting work done. Cleaning, Comic, and Game Development. I have to get back to building up some momentum. It's amazing how much time can pass for what feels like a momentary slip of a few days. April 20 was my last comic day, and May 5 was the last time I worked on the game, and even that wasn't much. The last 10 days I've spent sleeping, watching YouTube videos and playing Xcom 2 and Dead Rising 2.
-Resident Evil 1.5-
Which brings me to the first thing I want to talk about. Resident Evil 1.5. I'm a Resident Evil fan of sorts. I've not played all the games, but I've played most of them. My main gaps are Gun Survivor 2, Resident Evil 2 64, Revelations 2, and Resident Evil 7. I was going to wait until I had VR to play 7, but I dunno. Anyway, I was always interested in RE 1.5 since I heard of it. For those not into Resi, when RE2 was being made, it was 80% complete when it was decided to start over from scratch. Stories vary on the why, with the most common verion being "it was rubbish", but what we do know is that RE2 was rebooted. People had figured out based on trailers, screenshots, and interviews, the gist of how the game would play. The general concept of "Resident Evil in a police station, Leon and a biker as the main characters" was the same, but everything else was different, with a different tone and more ambitious mechanics. I could go on, but chances are you know this stuff already if you're interested.
Point is, at some point, a disc featuring the game was leaked onto the internet. It wasn't really playable as a game, but there was enough there for fans to start patching the game, stitching it together. I couldn't wait to play it. ...turns out, that was 3 years ago... I've really fallen behind. This means I'm going to have to dig up a PS1 emulator (and maybe bios if it's one of those emulators) and get that played.
Oh, and here's a cool video about the Resident Evil 2 demos that might be of interest if you're into Resident Evil 2 Beta stuff.
https://youtu.be/mLDNyual8UM
-OCs to Commission-
I've been thinking of getting a commission featuring other peoples characters.
The theme is going to be a fairly normal office dom scenario, think something like these-
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/23413700/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22648545/
I'm not sure if I should go with LQCTim characters, a chemicalinfantry character, or if I should stick to well knows like Sally Acron, Krystal, etc. and my own OCs.
I also haven't locked in an artist yet. Any preferences on characters and/or artist, let me know.
-Game Dev-
One problem I've ran into when working with low poly is that the usual way of doing character customization with different skin colours doesn't really work, unless there's something I'm missing. That might mean I'd have to re-think my turn based game somewhat.
As you might have guessed, watching videos and reading about Resident Evil and the indie RE throwback Vaccine has got me thinking of revisiting the horror game idea. It's certainly simpler than a turn based strategy game, albeit with it's own problems. Oddly enough, I came close to finishing the 2D version of the Leanna game, only to abandon it for various reasons. Given the low bar set by throwbacks like Vaccine and Back in 1998, either they are harder to make than I realise, that or the standard of the competition is weak. Even so, the first release would likely be a fetish game I'd release for free.
Also, by making it 3D, I'd avoid many of the issues that plauged the later development of the 2D version. Specifically, the muliplying set of animations, and how to do evasion in a way that's fun. In any case, reguardless of what I'm working on, I have to get my 3D skills to a reliable level.
Fun bit of trivia, but the first commission I ever got was character design and concept art for the Leanna game.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6436332/
and some more
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7869654/
-Resident Evil 1.5-
Which brings me to the first thing I want to talk about. Resident Evil 1.5. I'm a Resident Evil fan of sorts. I've not played all the games, but I've played most of them. My main gaps are Gun Survivor 2, Resident Evil 2 64, Revelations 2, and Resident Evil 7. I was going to wait until I had VR to play 7, but I dunno. Anyway, I was always interested in RE 1.5 since I heard of it. For those not into Resi, when RE2 was being made, it was 80% complete when it was decided to start over from scratch. Stories vary on the why, with the most common verion being "it was rubbish", but what we do know is that RE2 was rebooted. People had figured out based on trailers, screenshots, and interviews, the gist of how the game would play. The general concept of "Resident Evil in a police station, Leon and a biker as the main characters" was the same, but everything else was different, with a different tone and more ambitious mechanics. I could go on, but chances are you know this stuff already if you're interested.
Point is, at some point, a disc featuring the game was leaked onto the internet. It wasn't really playable as a game, but there was enough there for fans to start patching the game, stitching it together. I couldn't wait to play it. ...turns out, that was 3 years ago... I've really fallen behind. This means I'm going to have to dig up a PS1 emulator (and maybe bios if it's one of those emulators) and get that played.
Oh, and here's a cool video about the Resident Evil 2 demos that might be of interest if you're into Resident Evil 2 Beta stuff.
https://youtu.be/mLDNyual8UM
-OCs to Commission-
I've been thinking of getting a commission featuring other peoples characters.
The theme is going to be a fairly normal office dom scenario, think something like these-
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/23413700/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22648545/
I'm not sure if I should go with LQCTim characters, a chemicalinfantry character, or if I should stick to well knows like Sally Acron, Krystal, etc. and my own OCs.
I also haven't locked in an artist yet. Any preferences on characters and/or artist, let me know.
-Game Dev-
One problem I've ran into when working with low poly is that the usual way of doing character customization with different skin colours doesn't really work, unless there's something I'm missing. That might mean I'd have to re-think my turn based game somewhat.
As you might have guessed, watching videos and reading about Resident Evil and the indie RE throwback Vaccine has got me thinking of revisiting the horror game idea. It's certainly simpler than a turn based strategy game, albeit with it's own problems. Oddly enough, I came close to finishing the 2D version of the Leanna game, only to abandon it for various reasons. Given the low bar set by throwbacks like Vaccine and Back in 1998, either they are harder to make than I realise, that or the standard of the competition is weak. Even so, the first release would likely be a fetish game I'd release for free.
Also, by making it 3D, I'd avoid many of the issues that plauged the later development of the 2D version. Specifically, the muliplying set of animations, and how to do evasion in a way that's fun. In any case, reguardless of what I'm working on, I have to get my 3D skills to a reliable level.
Fun bit of trivia, but the first commission I ever got was character design and concept art for the Leanna game.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6436332/
and some more
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7869654/
Opinion - No One Cares About Your Nerd Opinions
Posted 7 years agoAlternative Title - Why Fallout 4 Is The Best Game Ever
I've wanted to make a video rant about fanboys for a while. A sort of definitive rant on the topic. The problem is the script keeps becoming an over long mess listing examples that all tie into each other, but if I cut those rants and examples out, it devolves into a simple message. That being that fanboys are delusional.
I casually follow the drama around a forum called ResetEra. Obstensibly a video game forum, in practice it's more a social justice echochamber with a game themed sub forum. Recently, someone was banned for having opinions about video games. Specifically, Fallout 4.
And his argument was rock solid, and bares some similarities to my own opinions on Skyrim. And like my Skyrim opinions, it's not popular, but no one can argue against it without resorting to name calling. Seeing that ban, and the thread that inspired, filled in the last piece of the puzzle, revealing the truth.
No one cares about your nerd opinions.*
...not even you.
See, you can like Morrowind or Oblivion or Daggerfall or whatever. They can even be your favourite games, but reality is kind of important. You might like Morrowind, but claiming the melee combat is better than in Skyrim is a flat out lie.
Which brings me to the simple, albeit uncomfortable truth. You can rant about how Skyrim is a casual game for babies because they removed the medium armour skill, or talk about how Morrowind had "more opportunities for role playing" due to having a spell crafting system.
But the fact is that Skyrim and Fallout 4 still break the Steam top 100 most played despite their age. Evidently, most don't care that the games have waypoints, fast travel, and whatever else people claim is killing Bethesda games. Hell, it could be argued that part of the reason these games are more popular than their predercessors is BECAUSE they trimmed all the fat. eg. In Skyrim you no longer have to hop everywhere because you want to level acrobatics and not level athetics. Your character is defined by what you do and what perks you pick, not how you balance a spread sheet of stats and skills.
And not only that, but even the haters don't seem to believe their own opinions. In that, people complain about these games, then continue to play them. Sometimes racking up hundreds, if not thousands of hours. And just to be clear, no one believes your story about leaving the launcher open for a month and a half. Even if you only play it for the nude and meme mods, you're still playing the game.
And for what it's worth, I played Fallout 4 during a free weekend, and didn't like it. I was hoping for a mechanically refined New Vegas. I wouldn't mind trying it again, but this time approaching the game as a FPS with RPG elements.
*By nerd opinions, I'm specifically talking about highly technical and esoteric criticisms that aren't really considerations all things considered. Such as changes or even the removal of certain numbers, or an easily abused feature, or cutting something that added little to the game except development problems to solve.
I've wanted to make a video rant about fanboys for a while. A sort of definitive rant on the topic. The problem is the script keeps becoming an over long mess listing examples that all tie into each other, but if I cut those rants and examples out, it devolves into a simple message. That being that fanboys are delusional.
I casually follow the drama around a forum called ResetEra. Obstensibly a video game forum, in practice it's more a social justice echochamber with a game themed sub forum. Recently, someone was banned for having opinions about video games. Specifically, Fallout 4.
And his argument was rock solid, and bares some similarities to my own opinions on Skyrim. And like my Skyrim opinions, it's not popular, but no one can argue against it without resorting to name calling. Seeing that ban, and the thread that inspired, filled in the last piece of the puzzle, revealing the truth.
No one cares about your nerd opinions.*
...not even you.
See, you can like Morrowind or Oblivion or Daggerfall or whatever. They can even be your favourite games, but reality is kind of important. You might like Morrowind, but claiming the melee combat is better than in Skyrim is a flat out lie.
Which brings me to the simple, albeit uncomfortable truth. You can rant about how Skyrim is a casual game for babies because they removed the medium armour skill, or talk about how Morrowind had "more opportunities for role playing" due to having a spell crafting system.
But the fact is that Skyrim and Fallout 4 still break the Steam top 100 most played despite their age. Evidently, most don't care that the games have waypoints, fast travel, and whatever else people claim is killing Bethesda games. Hell, it could be argued that part of the reason these games are more popular than their predercessors is BECAUSE they trimmed all the fat. eg. In Skyrim you no longer have to hop everywhere because you want to level acrobatics and not level athetics. Your character is defined by what you do and what perks you pick, not how you balance a spread sheet of stats and skills.
And not only that, but even the haters don't seem to believe their own opinions. In that, people complain about these games, then continue to play them. Sometimes racking up hundreds, if not thousands of hours. And just to be clear, no one believes your story about leaving the launcher open for a month and a half. Even if you only play it for the nude and meme mods, you're still playing the game.
And for what it's worth, I played Fallout 4 during a free weekend, and didn't like it. I was hoping for a mechanically refined New Vegas. I wouldn't mind trying it again, but this time approaching the game as a FPS with RPG elements.
*By nerd opinions, I'm specifically talking about highly technical and esoteric criticisms that aren't really considerations all things considered. Such as changes or even the removal of certain numbers, or an easily abused feature, or cutting something that added little to the game except development problems to solve.
Art Scams And How Good Is My Art Really?
Posted 7 years agoHow good is my art really? I ask because I get so many mixed messages that I don't know what to think. This is important for the topic of this journal. Trades, "art drives", and competitions, and how they are scams.
Without naming names, I took part in an "art drive" event. At first everything seemed normal. A public art trade or competition of sorts. I drew a pic, did the lineart, made some changes the guy wanted, so far, so good. Then my instincts started saying that something was up. Sure enough, weird stuff started happening. The rules changed, the deadline was moved, and when a list of entries so far was posted, my name wasn't on, and I was being asked when I was going to get around to colouring the pic. By this point I was certain something was up, and decided not to work on it. Sure enough, the contest ended with my pic being considered trash tier.
The winners did deserve their victory. ...kind of. One outclassed everyone, no issue there. Another won by volume of low quality entries, and another won by fanfiction. Those last 2 are somewhat debatable to me, and it's tempting to write them off as playing the Discord politics game. Like I said, I saw this coming a mile away and thus my pic was technically unfinished, so I can't really be mad about losing. What bothers me is that it feels like I was conned. That I entered a pseudo trade/competition, only to realise it was a shell game when they started changing rules and moving dates around.
This isn't the first time this has happened either. I've seen people conned out of art before due to frauds like this, with artists either not knowing or not caring that this damages their reputation and causes drama. Hell, I got runner up in a similar contest years ago, and never recieved my prize. It was always put on the back burner.
It's for this reason that I'm done with gifts, trades, and contests. I still have something I'm doing for LQCTim but after that, I don't think I'll do any more, outside a couple of trustworthy people. It's a shame too, because I like doing collabs and trades, but all to often people welsh on the deal.
Without naming names, I took part in an "art drive" event. At first everything seemed normal. A public art trade or competition of sorts. I drew a pic, did the lineart, made some changes the guy wanted, so far, so good. Then my instincts started saying that something was up. Sure enough, weird stuff started happening. The rules changed, the deadline was moved, and when a list of entries so far was posted, my name wasn't on, and I was being asked when I was going to get around to colouring the pic. By this point I was certain something was up, and decided not to work on it. Sure enough, the contest ended with my pic being considered trash tier.
The winners did deserve their victory. ...kind of. One outclassed everyone, no issue there. Another won by volume of low quality entries, and another won by fanfiction. Those last 2 are somewhat debatable to me, and it's tempting to write them off as playing the Discord politics game. Like I said, I saw this coming a mile away and thus my pic was technically unfinished, so I can't really be mad about losing. What bothers me is that it feels like I was conned. That I entered a pseudo trade/competition, only to realise it was a shell game when they started changing rules and moving dates around.
This isn't the first time this has happened either. I've seen people conned out of art before due to frauds like this, with artists either not knowing or not caring that this damages their reputation and causes drama. Hell, I got runner up in a similar contest years ago, and never recieved my prize. It was always put on the back burner.
It's for this reason that I'm done with gifts, trades, and contests. I still have something I'm doing for LQCTim but after that, I don't think I'll do any more, outside a couple of trustworthy people. It's a shame too, because I like doing collabs and trades, but all to often people welsh on the deal.
Question - Do you like Fem Boy Fanservice?
Posted 7 years agoBefore I get to the journal proper, I apparently lost a couple of watchers recently. (Also, I have watchers to lose. Almost 100 now. Woot!) Was it a coincidence, the doodle comics, people who watchback not liking me posting content? I'd like to know, but meh, not too bothered. I'm always interested in hearing what you guys want to see or why you watch me.
Anyway, today's question. Crossdressers, femboys, traps, whatever the name you want to call them, it's effeminate guys in womens clothes. Do you like them? If so, how much?
If you don't want to answer in a public comment, you can note me, send me a message on Steam or Discord or whatever else.
I ask because I was recently thinking about 3D stuff, old game ideas, and guest characters/cameos. Long story short, when it comes to sexy fanservice type games, I've had an all (or mostly) female cast in mind. I wonder if having crossdressing guys would be something people would want in, say, a turn based strategy game where the armour is lingerie and fetish outfits? Does the presence of penis would ruin a harem anime esc setting?
I don't have any plans to make such a game. I'm just curious about people's thoughts on it.
Anyway, today's question. Crossdressers, femboys, traps, whatever the name you want to call them, it's effeminate guys in womens clothes. Do you like them? If so, how much?
If you don't want to answer in a public comment, you can note me, send me a message on Steam or Discord or whatever else.
I ask because I was recently thinking about 3D stuff, old game ideas, and guest characters/cameos. Long story short, when it comes to sexy fanservice type games, I've had an all (or mostly) female cast in mind. I wonder if having crossdressing guys would be something people would want in, say, a turn based strategy game where the armour is lingerie and fetish outfits? Does the presence of penis would ruin a harem anime esc setting?
I don't have any plans to make such a game. I'm just curious about people's thoughts on it.
Rant - Bad Writing (Uncharted 4 and adventure in general)
Posted 7 years agoFor the last few weeks I've been a little obsessed with pulp adventure. Think Indiana Jones, Uncharted, etc. This resulted in me watching the old films and adventure serials that inspired Indiana Jones, as well as watching the cutscenes from Uncharted 4. While this post was going to be a review of Uncharted 4 Cutscenes, I think it'll be easier to cover bad writing in general.
Let's start with Indiana Jones. If you like the films, especially Raiders of the Lost Ark, I wouldn't recomend looking at the old films and serials that inspired it. While it doesn't ruin Indiana Jones, it has took a little bit of the shine away to learn how much was copied from other films. From his weapons of choice (the revolver and whip) matching those of Zorro, to specific scenes copied almost shot for shot. I generally don't mind too much when media copies media. Like every other game these days is a battle royal game, even Call of Duty is rumoured to be droping the single player campaign to add a battle royal mode. I don't mind provided the results are good.
Which brings me to Uncharted. I've never played the games despite having owned a PS3 for a while now. From my understanding, the reception is-
Uncharted 1 - Meh.
Uncharted 2 - Classic with Assassins Creed 2 levels of improvement.
Uncharted 3 - Great. Almost as good as 2.
Uncharted 4 - Meh.
The reason I watched the cutscenes for Uncharted 4 is because I don't plan on playing that particular game since it's apparently where the series went crap (due in part to the original creator being forced out of the company?). While some people blamed social justice (I'll get to that later), I think the main reason is simply bad writing.
-Freedom-
Adventure, by it's very nature, is about freedom and exploration. Early on in the game, Nathan Drake lies to his wife and goes on an adventure. ...When I put it like that, it sounds kind of like that Jon Tron video of Takeshis Challenge where you devorce your wife to go treasure hunting... Anyway, the last third of the game she finds out she's been lied to and turns up. Thus, for the rest of the game, whenever he starts having fun finding legendary pirate treasure, she starts going on about the whole "You lied to me.", "You said you wanted to leave this life behind." whine whine whine, and then he starts going "yes dear", "I'm sorry", "I'll never do it again." etc. It's hard to get into the spirit of adventure when your heroes are a whiney buzzkill and her pussy-whipped husband.
This brings me to an aspect of bad writing generally. Marriage. I'm no expert, but I don't know why writers are so opposed to characters being married. I'm told it means there's no drama, no conflict. I've known married couples. They do fight. And I also don't see why having a ring around your finger means you can't go looking for treasure, or fight bad guys, or whatever else. When you have a kid, that makes a little bit more sense, but people still do dangerous things when they have kids. Police, fireman, soldier, they are all dangerous jobs, and many of them have kids.
-Political Correctness-
As mentioned, adventure and nagging housewives don't really fit together. Another thing that doesn't fit with adventure is political correctness. I don't think it's a coincidence that the far-left doesn't like the Uncharted games, with at least one guy describing the games as killing people for Mayan trinkets. One of the criticisms of Uncharted 4 was what can best be described as the black woman boss fight. The boss fight has her being untouchable, in that she will block or dodge every attack, and if you do somehow land a hit, she will instantly hit you with an unavoidable counter attack. This boss fight happens again later, but now it's 2 men vs her, and the exact same rules apply. These are 2 guys, they have the edge in strength and size, they have fought army men, pirates, and gangsters and come out on top, but when it's 2-1, with the upper hand, against a single woman, they can't land a single blow. It's not like she's super strong or a martial arts expert or anything. Her power seems to be she's black, and the writers wanted to be politically correct. ...and it's absurd, even for a story about lost pirate treasure and a dozen death defying leaps a minute. You don't even get a round 3. She decides to walk out of the plot before the end of the game.
The gameplay problems with this are obvious, but it's also simple bad writing. I've mentioned in previous posts that in most adventure stories, the hero is a bad guy that happens to be on our side, and when push comes to shove, will make the right choice in the end. This is why defining Nathan Drake as a bad guy willing to murder people for trinkets he has no claim to is a reasonable thing to say, but that also isn't really a problem. Of course, the fact the bad guys are willing to murder Nathan and innocent people for said trinkets they have no claim to isn't mentioned by those critics. In the Firefly board game, there's a difference between things that legal and illegal, and things that are moral and immoral. Meaning it's possible to have a job that's illegal, but moral. Or legal, but immoral. I've had to explain this a few times to grown ups. I wonder if those who find Nathan Drake or even James Bond immoral have a similar psychology? They are murderers, womanisers, and thieves, and are thus immoral reguardless of justification?
As for the black woman boss herself. She has no real impact on the plot. Nor does she server any secondary purpose. Eg. She's not fun to fight, she's not entertaining, isn't an obstacle to be avoided or over come. She exists as a diversity mary sue, and is a waste of screen time.
-Conclusion-
This post ended up way longer than I expected. There are a few things I wanted to nit pick, like the outfit a woman that goes to a fancy party full of high end criminals, and her outfit is the top half of a prom dress, high heels, and the ugliest slacks in the world. It's like the writers couldn't decide if she was going to dress practically or fancy, and decided to do both in the worst way possible. But I think by now that's mostly everything when it comes to complaining about adventure plots.
I'm no expert. There are huge gaps in my knowledge. I've not seen The Mummy sequels, National Treasure, or played most Tomb Raider or Uncharted games. But I think a lot of it is simple bad writing, and failing to understand that the fun stuff of action and adventure is the action and adventure.
Let's start with Indiana Jones. If you like the films, especially Raiders of the Lost Ark, I wouldn't recomend looking at the old films and serials that inspired it. While it doesn't ruin Indiana Jones, it has took a little bit of the shine away to learn how much was copied from other films. From his weapons of choice (the revolver and whip) matching those of Zorro, to specific scenes copied almost shot for shot. I generally don't mind too much when media copies media. Like every other game these days is a battle royal game, even Call of Duty is rumoured to be droping the single player campaign to add a battle royal mode. I don't mind provided the results are good.
Which brings me to Uncharted. I've never played the games despite having owned a PS3 for a while now. From my understanding, the reception is-
Uncharted 1 - Meh.
Uncharted 2 - Classic with Assassins Creed 2 levels of improvement.
Uncharted 3 - Great. Almost as good as 2.
Uncharted 4 - Meh.
The reason I watched the cutscenes for Uncharted 4 is because I don't plan on playing that particular game since it's apparently where the series went crap (due in part to the original creator being forced out of the company?). While some people blamed social justice (I'll get to that later), I think the main reason is simply bad writing.
-Freedom-
Adventure, by it's very nature, is about freedom and exploration. Early on in the game, Nathan Drake lies to his wife and goes on an adventure. ...When I put it like that, it sounds kind of like that Jon Tron video of Takeshis Challenge where you devorce your wife to go treasure hunting... Anyway, the last third of the game she finds out she's been lied to and turns up. Thus, for the rest of the game, whenever he starts having fun finding legendary pirate treasure, she starts going on about the whole "You lied to me.", "You said you wanted to leave this life behind." whine whine whine, and then he starts going "yes dear", "I'm sorry", "I'll never do it again." etc. It's hard to get into the spirit of adventure when your heroes are a whiney buzzkill and her pussy-whipped husband.
This brings me to an aspect of bad writing generally. Marriage. I'm no expert, but I don't know why writers are so opposed to characters being married. I'm told it means there's no drama, no conflict. I've known married couples. They do fight. And I also don't see why having a ring around your finger means you can't go looking for treasure, or fight bad guys, or whatever else. When you have a kid, that makes a little bit more sense, but people still do dangerous things when they have kids. Police, fireman, soldier, they are all dangerous jobs, and many of them have kids.
-Political Correctness-
As mentioned, adventure and nagging housewives don't really fit together. Another thing that doesn't fit with adventure is political correctness. I don't think it's a coincidence that the far-left doesn't like the Uncharted games, with at least one guy describing the games as killing people for Mayan trinkets. One of the criticisms of Uncharted 4 was what can best be described as the black woman boss fight. The boss fight has her being untouchable, in that she will block or dodge every attack, and if you do somehow land a hit, she will instantly hit you with an unavoidable counter attack. This boss fight happens again later, but now it's 2 men vs her, and the exact same rules apply. These are 2 guys, they have the edge in strength and size, they have fought army men, pirates, and gangsters and come out on top, but when it's 2-1, with the upper hand, against a single woman, they can't land a single blow. It's not like she's super strong or a martial arts expert or anything. Her power seems to be she's black, and the writers wanted to be politically correct. ...and it's absurd, even for a story about lost pirate treasure and a dozen death defying leaps a minute. You don't even get a round 3. She decides to walk out of the plot before the end of the game.
The gameplay problems with this are obvious, but it's also simple bad writing. I've mentioned in previous posts that in most adventure stories, the hero is a bad guy that happens to be on our side, and when push comes to shove, will make the right choice in the end. This is why defining Nathan Drake as a bad guy willing to murder people for trinkets he has no claim to is a reasonable thing to say, but that also isn't really a problem. Of course, the fact the bad guys are willing to murder Nathan and innocent people for said trinkets they have no claim to isn't mentioned by those critics. In the Firefly board game, there's a difference between things that legal and illegal, and things that are moral and immoral. Meaning it's possible to have a job that's illegal, but moral. Or legal, but immoral. I've had to explain this a few times to grown ups. I wonder if those who find Nathan Drake or even James Bond immoral have a similar psychology? They are murderers, womanisers, and thieves, and are thus immoral reguardless of justification?
As for the black woman boss herself. She has no real impact on the plot. Nor does she server any secondary purpose. Eg. She's not fun to fight, she's not entertaining, isn't an obstacle to be avoided or over come. She exists as a diversity mary sue, and is a waste of screen time.
-Conclusion-
This post ended up way longer than I expected. There are a few things I wanted to nit pick, like the outfit a woman that goes to a fancy party full of high end criminals, and her outfit is the top half of a prom dress, high heels, and the ugliest slacks in the world. It's like the writers couldn't decide if she was going to dress practically or fancy, and decided to do both in the worst way possible. But I think by now that's mostly everything when it comes to complaining about adventure plots.
I'm no expert. There are huge gaps in my knowledge. I've not seen The Mummy sequels, National Treasure, or played most Tomb Raider or Uncharted games. But I think a lot of it is simple bad writing, and failing to understand that the fun stuff of action and adventure is the action and adventure.
Film Review - China
Posted 7 years agoIn my review of Secret of the Incas, I mentioned that the film was an inspiration for Indiana Jones, it wasn't the only inspiration. There were many adventure films back in the day, and China is arguabley one such film.
Set during World War 2, the story is about an oil salesman named Mr Jones travelling across China during the Japanese invasion. Things happen along the way. I know that description is vague, a bit like saying "James Bond is about a guy in a suit that shoots things.", but that's because it's a hard film to pin down. It's part war film, part road movie, part propaganda.
One of the reasons I like old films is that certain cliches and conventions such as "the hollywood formula" and focus testing hadn't been established yet, or at least weren't used as often. This has pros and cons. The con is that films that are bad are reeeeeally bad. However, the pros include unpredicatability, and the ability to tell stories outside of that forumla. For example, if a bad guy draws a gun in a colour film you know the good guy isn't going to get shot, and if he does, it'll be a flesh wound. The bad guy might as well be holding candy floss for all the good it'll do. In black and white films, they aren't afraid of downer endings, or even killing important characters. A gunshot is usually fatal.
Also, in a world before CG and fight choreographers, gun fights can look spectacular. Muzzle flashes and smoke, combined with the high contrast lighting and simple camera work. It can be a bit basic, but it can also look great in it's own way. There is also an impressive lengthy opening shot with little, if any cuts.
Not only that, but this film is brutal. There's little blood shown, but people are executed, stabbed with bayonettes, and other nastiness happens.
The film rarely drags on for too long. Characters are self interested, and their motives make sense. As mentioned in previous posts, many adventure heroes are not good people, they happen to be arsehole that are on our side. Mr Jones fits this to a T. He's stubborn, selfish, and only cares about getting to his destination with as few head aches as possible. At least at first anyway.
Also, it might be spoilers, but I want to mention that this film has a scene where one of the characters is friend zoned, complete with the whole "You're a nice guy but-" speech. I just thought it was funny seeing that happen in a film this old.
Do I recommend China? Well, it's entertaining enough, and at times it looks fantastic. It's doesn't drag on much outside of a few scenes. But if you don't have a taste for these kind of old films, I don't know if this would change your mind. You can find it on YouTube, though the version I saw that Spanish subtitles that were easy to ignore.
Set during World War 2, the story is about an oil salesman named Mr Jones travelling across China during the Japanese invasion. Things happen along the way. I know that description is vague, a bit like saying "James Bond is about a guy in a suit that shoots things.", but that's because it's a hard film to pin down. It's part war film, part road movie, part propaganda.
One of the reasons I like old films is that certain cliches and conventions such as "the hollywood formula" and focus testing hadn't been established yet, or at least weren't used as often. This has pros and cons. The con is that films that are bad are reeeeeally bad. However, the pros include unpredicatability, and the ability to tell stories outside of that forumla. For example, if a bad guy draws a gun in a colour film you know the good guy isn't going to get shot, and if he does, it'll be a flesh wound. The bad guy might as well be holding candy floss for all the good it'll do. In black and white films, they aren't afraid of downer endings, or even killing important characters. A gunshot is usually fatal.
Also, in a world before CG and fight choreographers, gun fights can look spectacular. Muzzle flashes and smoke, combined with the high contrast lighting and simple camera work. It can be a bit basic, but it can also look great in it's own way. There is also an impressive lengthy opening shot with little, if any cuts.
Not only that, but this film is brutal. There's little blood shown, but people are executed, stabbed with bayonettes, and other nastiness happens.
The film rarely drags on for too long. Characters are self interested, and their motives make sense. As mentioned in previous posts, many adventure heroes are not good people, they happen to be arsehole that are on our side. Mr Jones fits this to a T. He's stubborn, selfish, and only cares about getting to his destination with as few head aches as possible. At least at first anyway.
Also, it might be spoilers, but I want to mention that this film has a scene where one of the characters is friend zoned, complete with the whole "You're a nice guy but-" speech. I just thought it was funny seeing that happen in a film this old.
Do I recommend China? Well, it's entertaining enough, and at times it looks fantastic. It's doesn't drag on much outside of a few scenes. But if you don't have a taste for these kind of old films, I don't know if this would change your mind. You can find it on YouTube, though the version I saw that Spanish subtitles that were easy to ignore.
Film Review - Secret of the Incas
Posted 7 years agoSecret of the Incas is an adventure film from 1954, and available on YouTube in glorious 360p. https://youtu.be/20TAGRElvfE
Said to be one of the films that inspired Indiana Jones, it bares a few striking similarities to it that almost make Indie look like a rip off. This includes the appearence of the main character, and the inclusion of a scene where a reflected beam of light is used to locate treasure. Yet it's also a very different film, to the point that those looking for Indiana Jones 0.5 might be a bit disappointed. For example, there's no nazis in this.
The plot is fairly straight forward. Harry Steel, who apparently missed his calling as a FPS protagonist, is a charasmatic con man acting as a tour guide in ...some place. (Wikipedia says Peru) He wants to find the Incan Sunburst, a legendary treasure lost for years. He has the final peice of the stone map, but no way to get to the treasure. He gets involved with a woman (wikipedia says she's named Elena) who is trying to illegally cross the boarder. Adventure happens.
The film, while in colour, is very 1950s in terms of pacing and tone. There are long stretches of characters talking on a sound stage with few edits or cuts. The script is good enough that it doesn't matter, and makes a refreshing change from the hyper fast editing and over the top camera work of more modern films. Though there are a couple of scenes that drag on a bit. There's also a certain naivete to some of the characters, and the way the film hammers home specific points. A great example of this is when they need to distract some police. They do this not with wits and explosions, but by breaking a window and running away. Another is a scene where someone is told not all doctors are medical doctors.
The film is essentially split in 2 halves. The city half, and the treasure hunting half. I say this because it seems to take a while before the treasure hunting starts to happen. It does get there eventually though.
Ultimately, the film is ...ok. Average. Watchable. It's not a life changing masterpiece, but it was entertaining enough to keep me watching till the end. Though it's more note worthy for what it inspired, than anything it does itself. Recommended only if you're a fan of adventure films and want to see where they started.
Said to be one of the films that inspired Indiana Jones, it bares a few striking similarities to it that almost make Indie look like a rip off. This includes the appearence of the main character, and the inclusion of a scene where a reflected beam of light is used to locate treasure. Yet it's also a very different film, to the point that those looking for Indiana Jones 0.5 might be a bit disappointed. For example, there's no nazis in this.
The plot is fairly straight forward. Harry Steel, who apparently missed his calling as a FPS protagonist, is a charasmatic con man acting as a tour guide in ...some place. (Wikipedia says Peru) He wants to find the Incan Sunburst, a legendary treasure lost for years. He has the final peice of the stone map, but no way to get to the treasure. He gets involved with a woman (wikipedia says she's named Elena) who is trying to illegally cross the boarder. Adventure happens.
The film, while in colour, is very 1950s in terms of pacing and tone. There are long stretches of characters talking on a sound stage with few edits or cuts. The script is good enough that it doesn't matter, and makes a refreshing change from the hyper fast editing and over the top camera work of more modern films. Though there are a couple of scenes that drag on a bit. There's also a certain naivete to some of the characters, and the way the film hammers home specific points. A great example of this is when they need to distract some police. They do this not with wits and explosions, but by breaking a window and running away. Another is a scene where someone is told not all doctors are medical doctors.
The film is essentially split in 2 halves. The city half, and the treasure hunting half. I say this because it seems to take a while before the treasure hunting starts to happen. It does get there eventually though.
Ultimately, the film is ...ok. Average. Watchable. It's not a life changing masterpiece, but it was entertaining enough to keep me watching till the end. Though it's more note worthy for what it inspired, than anything it does itself. Recommended only if you're a fan of adventure films and want to see where they started.
