No Mini-Golf After All
Aug. 4th, 2022 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickTo be fair, we're under an heat advisory for feel-like temperatures in the triple digits straight through the end of Friday, and the mini-golf place in question opens at 11 AM, so. . .probably wouldn't have been that comfortable a trip! I'm happy enough to shelter in the AC. And complete my to-do list while doing so:
1. Continue writing on “As Long As You Love Me”: Check – with the air cleared about what happened with Tannen, and some musing about Alice’s calling as a holistic assassin (Alice personally feeling she’s the “last resort” to deal with people who have both rejected all attempts at reformation and escaped all other forms of justice), Victor and Alice rocked up to a thrift store to buy some new clothes, with Alice revealing that she has like two thousand dollars on her thanks to robbing Blackwing’s base. And upon asking what they can DO with that money – smash cut to Victor checking them into a nice hotel for the night. :p As he shall shortly tell her, it’ll do her good to stay in a place with four walls and a roof and no dead bodies. :p Almost time to start rewriting the next snippet, “Still Here!” Making good progress with this!
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check plus – since I had plenty of time to watch a few videos today. . .
A) Went ahead and cleared another of the long videos lurking in my Watch Later this afternoon between Superliminal (below) and my workout (further below) – the latest AT4W, “Maximum Carnage!” (Well, I SAY lurking, this one was literally uploaded yesterday.) A sprawling fourteen-issue epic featuring Carnage going on a rampage with a bunch of other supervillains as a dysfunctional, murdering “family” (aided mainly by the villain Shriek, who has sonic powers and the ability to mind control people into being just as violent and terrible as the supervillain crew), and Spider-Man and his own allies grappling with how far they should go and how much they should descend to their level to stop them (with Spidey generally being on the “be more decent” side, and Venom – having come back to take care of his “progeny” – being on the “just KILL the asshole” side). The story’s a bit too long, Linkara felt there was a bit TOO much death and destruction on the street, and I personally think the artwork is pretty bad (everyone has really elongated and awful faces), but it has a good message about trying to stick to hope and love over “fighting fire with fire.”
That being said, there is a joke to be made about how the heroes eventually resolve everything, and that joke is “they basically use the technological equivalent of a Care Bear Stare.” I’m not even joking – there’s a cyborg hero with them that they whip up a new suit for that includes a beam that fires concentrated goodness and light (provided by another hero who has that power) at Shriek and the others to overwhelm them with good vibes. I can definitely see why people thought this was ridiculous. XD Ah well, as Linkara pointed out, superheroes themselves are kind of inherently ridiculous, so. . .
B) Then, this evening, we started with the latest OXBox list: “7 Embarrassing Easy Modes You Were Shamed For Using!” Because some games are real dicks about people needing an easier difficulty mode due to varying skill or accessibility levels. Examples included getting a chicken hat that could stop guards from raising the alert 3 times after seeing you in Metal Gear Solid V (and then getting a “Lil’ Chicken” hat that just made you entirely invisible if you kept screwing up with THAT on); getting the gift of dorky headgear that reduces damage received from your opponents from the commissioner for losing 100 matches in career mode in the newer Wii version of Punch Out! (granted, aren’t boxers SUPPOSED to be wearing stuff like that? Mac is the one following the proper regulations); and unlocking the “Pretty Princess” difficulty by dying in the same spot four times in a row in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (a side-scrolling gore-fest of a beat-em-up) which upped your damage and dropped enemy damage, but also covered the screen in a purple filter with pink hearts floating through it (. . .but, if like me, you LIKE those colors. . .). I’m surprised some of the more just openly insulting difficulty mode names from older games like original DOOM and Castle Wolfenstein didn’t make an appearance, but maybe Andy and Luke were looking for more original takes.
C) And finally, over in the Subs, we had Call Me Kevin and “I tried being the worst student in Bully!” Yes, after many episodes of trying to be the world’s best student (if not the best person) in Bully, Kevin finally snapped, had the protagonist don a full alien costume, and start committing crimes! While still trying to pass his classes, amusingly enough (like finding a bunch of states on a map of the US, and actually doing pretty good!). This new alien version of Jimmy was constantly picking fights and knocking people over (often without even meaning to); happily shoved kids into lockers and trash cans for money (or to just soothe his own wounded pride); straight-up attacked adults whenever he could (including teachers! Who proved to be immune to fire extinguishers, to Kevin’s own horror); stole bicycles and mopeds from anyone and everyone (including police); participated in illegal bike races (and won easily because apparently the racing in this game has no difficulty curve at all); and went on a full-on assault against the preps, egging their hangout and killing one of their prize plants at the behest of a teacher. This was nothing compared to his greatest crime, though – cycling around the streets without a helmet! Seriously, this was always what the police seemed to want to bust him for whenever he was out on the street. And what he was doing the two times the game crashed. XD And to be fair, all the other NPCs gave as good as they got – half of Kevin’s attacks on the adults were prompted by THEM attacking HIM and trying to do a citizen’s arrest for truancy. Hell, he had to restart one mission because a mailman took offense to him and chased him into the mission area, preventing him from egging the house properly. XD And all the local small children were NOT shy about kicking him in the balls if he bugged them. So it all balances out. We’ll see if Kevin is back to “good student” or is sticking with the evil path in a future episode!
3. Play (and see if I can finish) Superliminal: Check – I did indeed manage to finish the game in about an hour and a half after lunch! Though let me tell you, the last few levels of the game get pretty trippy. . .and the one I loaded onto, “Labyrinth,” can actually get genuinely upsetting in a few spots. There’s a couple of places where it feels like you’re stuck, and – ugh. The door puzzle. Let me spoil the door puzzle for you:
Okay, so when you’re in the epic “run and try to escape the dream” mode, you will come to a point where you exit the infinite elevators and come to a spot where you will find yourself in front of a pair of double doors, labeled Hall 01, with a green exit sign atop pointing either left or right down the t-junction. One side will have the door that will take you looping down; the other will have a bunch of “no entry” signs, including one saying “Perception is NOT reality” via graffiti. When you get to this bit, take note of the way the exit sign is pointing –
And look the OPPOSITE way first. Like, go down that hall a few steps, THEN turn around and go the indicated way. You’ll hear a “ding” when you get to the next level if you got it right, and a “buzz” if you got it wrong, and you’ll have to do it a few times before reaching the actual exit. I was completely confused about what was happening at the time, but after thinking about it some more and confirming it with a look on the TV Tropes page, the trick to the puzzle is that whichever direction you look first is going to be the side that’s blocked off – you have to make it so the door actually spawns in on the side that the exit sign is pointing to. So yeah – if the exit is pointing right, look left to spawn in the blocked-off end, then turn around and go through the open door on the right. If you need to look it up on YouTube, so do – it’ll help, trust me.
I mean, no shade, it’s still a fun game, the last levels are just a bit hard to navigate thanks to the whole focus on “changing your perspective” and whatnot. But I did manage to figure out all the puzzles past that one, and I have now completed the main game, hooray. :) That doesn’t mean I’m done with it, though. . .because quite apart from working on the achievements (like pulling all the fire alarms – I KNOW I missed one as I made the mistake of picking up a box too early), there’s also Challenge Modes and a Developer’s Commentary mode. Interesting. . .
4. Work on tumblr drafts: Check, though in kind of a minor way – I kept up with my dash and tags on Victor Luvs Alice, but I didn’t do anything new with my drafts there – instead, spent the morning reading more of my Blades in the Dark book and refreshing my memory on the character playbooks and whatnot. I did have two ask replies to put into the queue on Valice Multiverse this evening, though, so that’s good.
5. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, but I didn’t actually start the next Oxventure yet. Instead, I decided to keep with the theme of “doing something different for the vacation” AND avoid putting another long video in my Watch Later by watching the first half of Boulder Punch’s look at the Alice franchise – American McGee’s Alice, Alice: Madness Returns, and the current ideas being bandied about for the potential third installment of Alice: Asylum. I’ve gone through the recap of how the franchise came to be and the strengths and weaknesses of the first game, and I’m currently working my way through BP’s thoughts on the second. It’s been interesting so far – BP commenting on how the original AMA shows its Id Software roots strongly (running on the same engine used for Quake III), while A:MR much more reflects the style of the platformers at the time (using Unreal Engine, I forget which number). There also seems to be an interesting theme of “reversal” between the two games, at least in BP’s mind – while they both have excellent art design and soundtracks, for example, BP feels that AMA has the stronger music, while A:MR has the stronger graphics. Same with the two key tenents of combat and platforming – AMA has more chaotic and fun combat in his mind, while A:MR has the superior platforming. *shrug* Different times, different influences, as he noted! I’m looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow and seeing his thoughts on the ever-in-development Asylum!
*nods* Not bad as the vacation starts to wind down! But I still got four more days, so let's get the Friday to-dos sorted:
1. Continue writing on "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland"
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs, see if I can get the OXBox Hitman 3 "Ambrose Island" stream watched
3. Play Sims 4
4. Work on tumblr drafts
5. Get in a workout
Yes, I am returning to Sims 4 now that we've gotten the patch-to-the-patch, and my most important mods should all be updated. Keeping it vague, though, as I may go for my building save on this first go-round, just as a sort of test. *nods* Though I do miss Smiler, Victor, and Alice. . .we'll see! Night all!
1. Continue writing on “As Long As You Love Me”: Check – with the air cleared about what happened with Tannen, and some musing about Alice’s calling as a holistic assassin (Alice personally feeling she’s the “last resort” to deal with people who have both rejected all attempts at reformation and escaped all other forms of justice), Victor and Alice rocked up to a thrift store to buy some new clothes, with Alice revealing that she has like two thousand dollars on her thanks to robbing Blackwing’s base. And upon asking what they can DO with that money – smash cut to Victor checking them into a nice hotel for the night. :p As he shall shortly tell her, it’ll do her good to stay in a place with four walls and a roof and no dead bodies. :p Almost time to start rewriting the next snippet, “Still Here!” Making good progress with this!
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check plus – since I had plenty of time to watch a few videos today. . .
A) Went ahead and cleared another of the long videos lurking in my Watch Later this afternoon between Superliminal (below) and my workout (further below) – the latest AT4W, “Maximum Carnage!” (Well, I SAY lurking, this one was literally uploaded yesterday.) A sprawling fourteen-issue epic featuring Carnage going on a rampage with a bunch of other supervillains as a dysfunctional, murdering “family” (aided mainly by the villain Shriek, who has sonic powers and the ability to mind control people into being just as violent and terrible as the supervillain crew), and Spider-Man and his own allies grappling with how far they should go and how much they should descend to their level to stop them (with Spidey generally being on the “be more decent” side, and Venom – having come back to take care of his “progeny” – being on the “just KILL the asshole” side). The story’s a bit too long, Linkara felt there was a bit TOO much death and destruction on the street, and I personally think the artwork is pretty bad (everyone has really elongated and awful faces), but it has a good message about trying to stick to hope and love over “fighting fire with fire.”
That being said, there is a joke to be made about how the heroes eventually resolve everything, and that joke is “they basically use the technological equivalent of a Care Bear Stare.” I’m not even joking – there’s a cyborg hero with them that they whip up a new suit for that includes a beam that fires concentrated goodness and light (provided by another hero who has that power) at Shriek and the others to overwhelm them with good vibes. I can definitely see why people thought this was ridiculous. XD Ah well, as Linkara pointed out, superheroes themselves are kind of inherently ridiculous, so. . .
B) Then, this evening, we started with the latest OXBox list: “7 Embarrassing Easy Modes You Were Shamed For Using!” Because some games are real dicks about people needing an easier difficulty mode due to varying skill or accessibility levels. Examples included getting a chicken hat that could stop guards from raising the alert 3 times after seeing you in Metal Gear Solid V (and then getting a “Lil’ Chicken” hat that just made you entirely invisible if you kept screwing up with THAT on); getting the gift of dorky headgear that reduces damage received from your opponents from the commissioner for losing 100 matches in career mode in the newer Wii version of Punch Out! (granted, aren’t boxers SUPPOSED to be wearing stuff like that? Mac is the one following the proper regulations); and unlocking the “Pretty Princess” difficulty by dying in the same spot four times in a row in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (a side-scrolling gore-fest of a beat-em-up) which upped your damage and dropped enemy damage, but also covered the screen in a purple filter with pink hearts floating through it (. . .but, if like me, you LIKE those colors. . .). I’m surprised some of the more just openly insulting difficulty mode names from older games like original DOOM and Castle Wolfenstein didn’t make an appearance, but maybe Andy and Luke were looking for more original takes.
C) And finally, over in the Subs, we had Call Me Kevin and “I tried being the worst student in Bully!” Yes, after many episodes of trying to be the world’s best student (if not the best person) in Bully, Kevin finally snapped, had the protagonist don a full alien costume, and start committing crimes! While still trying to pass his classes, amusingly enough (like finding a bunch of states on a map of the US, and actually doing pretty good!). This new alien version of Jimmy was constantly picking fights and knocking people over (often without even meaning to); happily shoved kids into lockers and trash cans for money (or to just soothe his own wounded pride); straight-up attacked adults whenever he could (including teachers! Who proved to be immune to fire extinguishers, to Kevin’s own horror); stole bicycles and mopeds from anyone and everyone (including police); participated in illegal bike races (and won easily because apparently the racing in this game has no difficulty curve at all); and went on a full-on assault against the preps, egging their hangout and killing one of their prize plants at the behest of a teacher. This was nothing compared to his greatest crime, though – cycling around the streets without a helmet! Seriously, this was always what the police seemed to want to bust him for whenever he was out on the street. And what he was doing the two times the game crashed. XD And to be fair, all the other NPCs gave as good as they got – half of Kevin’s attacks on the adults were prompted by THEM attacking HIM and trying to do a citizen’s arrest for truancy. Hell, he had to restart one mission because a mailman took offense to him and chased him into the mission area, preventing him from egging the house properly. XD And all the local small children were NOT shy about kicking him in the balls if he bugged them. So it all balances out. We’ll see if Kevin is back to “good student” or is sticking with the evil path in a future episode!
3. Play (and see if I can finish) Superliminal: Check – I did indeed manage to finish the game in about an hour and a half after lunch! Though let me tell you, the last few levels of the game get pretty trippy. . .and the one I loaded onto, “Labyrinth,” can actually get genuinely upsetting in a few spots. There’s a couple of places where it feels like you’re stuck, and – ugh. The door puzzle. Let me spoil the door puzzle for you:
Okay, so when you’re in the epic “run and try to escape the dream” mode, you will come to a point where you exit the infinite elevators and come to a spot where you will find yourself in front of a pair of double doors, labeled Hall 01, with a green exit sign atop pointing either left or right down the t-junction. One side will have the door that will take you looping down; the other will have a bunch of “no entry” signs, including one saying “Perception is NOT reality” via graffiti. When you get to this bit, take note of the way the exit sign is pointing –
And look the OPPOSITE way first. Like, go down that hall a few steps, THEN turn around and go the indicated way. You’ll hear a “ding” when you get to the next level if you got it right, and a “buzz” if you got it wrong, and you’ll have to do it a few times before reaching the actual exit. I was completely confused about what was happening at the time, but after thinking about it some more and confirming it with a look on the TV Tropes page, the trick to the puzzle is that whichever direction you look first is going to be the side that’s blocked off – you have to make it so the door actually spawns in on the side that the exit sign is pointing to. So yeah – if the exit is pointing right, look left to spawn in the blocked-off end, then turn around and go through the open door on the right. If you need to look it up on YouTube, so do – it’ll help, trust me.
I mean, no shade, it’s still a fun game, the last levels are just a bit hard to navigate thanks to the whole focus on “changing your perspective” and whatnot. But I did manage to figure out all the puzzles past that one, and I have now completed the main game, hooray. :) That doesn’t mean I’m done with it, though. . .because quite apart from working on the achievements (like pulling all the fire alarms – I KNOW I missed one as I made the mistake of picking up a box too early), there’s also Challenge Modes and a Developer’s Commentary mode. Interesting. . .
4. Work on tumblr drafts: Check, though in kind of a minor way – I kept up with my dash and tags on Victor Luvs Alice, but I didn’t do anything new with my drafts there – instead, spent the morning reading more of my Blades in the Dark book and refreshing my memory on the character playbooks and whatnot. I did have two ask replies to put into the queue on Valice Multiverse this evening, though, so that’s good.
5. Get in a workout: Check – another night on the bike, but I didn’t actually start the next Oxventure yet. Instead, I decided to keep with the theme of “doing something different for the vacation” AND avoid putting another long video in my Watch Later by watching the first half of Boulder Punch’s look at the Alice franchise – American McGee’s Alice, Alice: Madness Returns, and the current ideas being bandied about for the potential third installment of Alice: Asylum. I’ve gone through the recap of how the franchise came to be and the strengths and weaknesses of the first game, and I’m currently working my way through BP’s thoughts on the second. It’s been interesting so far – BP commenting on how the original AMA shows its Id Software roots strongly (running on the same engine used for Quake III), while A:MR much more reflects the style of the platformers at the time (using Unreal Engine, I forget which number). There also seems to be an interesting theme of “reversal” between the two games, at least in BP’s mind – while they both have excellent art design and soundtracks, for example, BP feels that AMA has the stronger music, while A:MR has the stronger graphics. Same with the two key tenents of combat and platforming – AMA has more chaotic and fun combat in his mind, while A:MR has the superior platforming. *shrug* Different times, different influences, as he noted! I’m looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow and seeing his thoughts on the ever-in-development Asylum!
*nods* Not bad as the vacation starts to wind down! But I still got four more days, so let's get the Friday to-dos sorted:
1. Continue writing on "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland"
2. Keep up with YouTube Subs, see if I can get the OXBox Hitman 3 "Ambrose Island" stream watched
3. Play Sims 4
4. Work on tumblr drafts
5. Get in a workout
Yes, I am returning to Sims 4 now that we've gotten the patch-to-the-patch, and my most important mods should all be updated. Keeping it vague, though, as I may go for my building save on this first go-round, just as a sort of test. *nods* Though I do miss Smiler, Victor, and Alice. . .we'll see! Night all!
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