ROSS'S GAME DUNGEON: TEST DRIVE 3

[Ross Scott]

 

Blip.tv link

 

 

 

Well in my quest to cut down the time on the episode, things completely backfired and this became the longest one so far. Also, it gradually started taking more of a stranger and angrier turn than I was expecting. Nietzsche said if you gaze into the abyss long enough, it will gaze back at you, so I guess on that note I'm starting to feel like I'm made out of vector graphics. It didn't get so bad that I considered just burning the computer instead of releasing the video though, so here it is!

 

While it is kind of intoxicating being able to release videos this fast, I have been working on it practically nonstop since the last one, so I'm afraid this rate of videos won't be normal in the future. I do have plans to get one more episode out for Halloween though, after that, I'll be focusing pretty much exclusively on Freeman's Mind for a while. Videos!

 

 

LINK TO FORUM COMMENTS

[urcousinvinnie5]

Honestly ross I don't think you should cut down the time. it's what we all like in a youtube video: LENGTH of the video. A lot of youtube movies out there can range to over 10 hours. Sometimes it's funny to hear you rant about the games especially when you cut away from the review to say something random like tyrian: "I have a ship that's a carrot" nyet III: "if I hear yackety-sacks one more time i'm going to kill somebody"

[Neuronic]

Bouncing off of what Cousin Vinnie said, it's not necessarily the quantity, it's the quantity of the quality. I wouldn't suggest limiting yourself to a time frame for these videos. You have a great commentary style, pick very interesting games, and have a pretty sultry voice that more than makes up for parts that aren't 100% humor. Say what you need to say; don't bloat your video with meaningless commentary, and don't limit yourself to a short video that doesn't fully express what you think.

 

I'm loving these almost as much as FM itself!

[Blue_Dust]

Ross, in the future will you pick requests people give out to you (obviously old games, there's rarely anything that interesting from modern games, well, at least the majority of AAA games).

[Dr.Bill]

This is looking legit.Follow-ups to the next episode,small jokes,good points and showing us a game that nobody has talked about before!

[J.C.]

Woah. Notch just tweeted about Ross's Game Dungeon videos.

 

 

Awesome.

[SirNicholas]

Awesome. That thing with the game maps I sort of have with game sound tracks (Must have them all!). If anyone has any idea about the format of the data files, or where/how such information can be acquired I'd be willing to try if I can generate game maps and make Ross' dreams come true.

 

P.S. don't make the videos shorter! I could watch them for days on end.

[Dr.Bill]

Woah. Notch just tweeted about Ross's Game Dungeon videos.

 

 

Awesome.

 

 

This is how you get popularity fast.

[Crawfish]

I'm loving these, Ross. Keep 'em coming, and don't worry too much about how long they are!

I have to admit though, it's weird hearing the voice I've come to associate with Gordon Freeman doing old game reviews.

Either way, I think a healthy balance between these and Freeman's Mind would be a great thing.

[andx0r]

This is a really enjoyable (and informative) series. Keep doing it!

[sheridanm962]

I've been here since 2010. Yes, I'm surely here to flaunt my E-peen...

 

Uhhh... Good series and good job...

 

Yours sincerely,

 

sheridanm962, or more recently: Shredderman.

 

EDIT: I am into 3D modelling to a certain degree, but if I can actually put it into the game that would be awesome.

[RandomGuy]

Another solid episode. This one didn't have as many funny comments as the last two (or, at least, ones I found funny), but it was still pretty interesting. The game is quite impressive for 1990. Can't believe I hadn't heard of it until now. However the replay value is severely limited by the fact that you can't get out and start beating the cows to death with a dildo.

 

And you're still going to get one out in another four days? Well, that's twice what I expected.

 

Count me in for not really minding the length. Generally I only think internet videos are too long when they cross the 30 minute line, like some of the newer Nostalgia Critic episodes (which is a point against them for me). Plus, in general, your videos don't feel long to me. I guess that's a good sign.

 

Finally, when you say that you're going to be concentrating on Freeman's Mind, does that mean we'll be seeing a production rate similar to that one time you did nothing but produce Freeman's Mind episodes during the Power Up chapter? There was one out every few days then.

[Ross Scott]

Bouncing off of what Cousin Vinnie said, it's not necessarily the quantity, it's the quantity of the quality. I wouldn't suggest limiting yourself to a time frame for these videos. You have a great commentary style, pick very interesting games, and have a pretty sultry voice that more than makes up for parts that aren't 100% humor. Say what you need to say; don't bloat your video with meaningless commentary, and don't limit yourself to a short video that doesn't fully express what you think.

I really am trying to cut it down to just the material I think is worth saying.

 

Some things I left out of this one:

-I couldn't figure out how to reverse the damn car (or IF I can)

-The steering still sucks with joypad input, though it MIGHT not suck with a steering wheel with low sensitivity (though I didn't have one to test)

-The steering still sucks with low CPU speeds. It's slightly more manageable, but you still get the jackrabbit acceleration starts plus then you have a DELAY to your steering, it's horrible. (I probably should have mentioned this one based on some of the comments, a few people think I'm ignorant now, I added an annotation to mention this).

-I'm not outright condoning piracy, but I'll side with the pirates every time if it comes to a game being killed v. respecting IP owner's "rights." For better or worse, this is going to be a reoccurring theme on the show when relevant to the game.

-I found a link to the manual and the Cape Cod expansion, but they were both broken.

 

 

I am into 3D modeling to a certain degree, but if I can actually put it into the game that would be awesome.

You know, I was actually thinking it's possible with stuff like google sketchup, it might be possible to generate the data some other way, there would just have to be some consistent points that you were "measuring" from. Like if you established one vertices was at the top of the mountain, and kept that as a reference point for the next shot. The resolution might be too low not to have gross inaccuracies trying to stitch all that together though.

 

Finally, when you say that you're going to be concentrating on Freeman's Mind, does that mean we'll be seeing a production rate similar to that one time you did nothing but produce Freeman's Mind episodes during the Power Up chapter? There was one out every few days then.

No, that's more or less what I've been doing for RGD lately, sorry. I won't (or I don't THINK I will be) be distracted with other projects though, so it should go much faster than usual, but not at that rate. I like actually having time to exercise, plus an hour of free time, etc. I had 3 hours sleep when I posted the episode (had a little bit of sleep since then), it's going to be an intense few days for me up to Halloween. I will be covering one of the best games for Halloween ever made though, so that's a plus.

[RandomGuy]

Speaking of which, have you ever played Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth? It's not exactly an old game, being released in 2005, but it's pretty obscure and worth checking out, despite being bumpy at parts and having MANY bugs, some hilarious, some not. It does the first person immersion thing very well.

[Pinkie Pie]

Promising us things should be a trend for every episode.

[scott155]

Promising us things should be a trend for every episode.

I agree, I'm rather enjoying that.

[Takma]

First, I gotta say: I love every single thing you've ever made, Ross.

 

Second: I know you're working on the Halloween episode of RGD and that you probably have many other obscure games planned for the series. I almost never request specific projects from creative people who's work I admire. But like you, I hate to see great games die, and my love of one particular game obliges me to formally and publicly request it's inclusion in a future episode of RDG.

 

Released by Looking Glass in 1996, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri was one of my favorite games growing up, yet almost no one seems to remember it. It had stupidly high system requirements at the time, and getting it to function on a modern PC is not something I've attempted personally (though I've read that it can be done).

 

So there's my my shout out for TN. Keep making great stuff, Ross!

[Axeldeath]

I love this series, it's good to hear your voice regularly, On a side note, have you thought of going on the co-optional podcast (run by TotalBiscuit)? And perhaps do a bit of promoting for the game dungeon. I'm sure you'd be an amazing guest too.

[Jersy]

Ahh, ye olde goode vectore graphicse...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomad_%28video_game%29

- This little gem at it's core is essentially the same thing as modern day X-series and stuff like that. You travel in space, trade and make deals with aliens, upgrade your ship with better weapons, shields, engines, etc., send survey-probes to planets to look for stuff, battle enemies... Especially since I encountered this game *after* I played "X2: The Threat" I think, I was amazed how ahead-of-it's-time it was.

 

Then there's also "Stunts" - Pretty much exactly like Test Drive 3, but if it was more like Trackmania Nations.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunts_%28video_game%29). Also Battlezone and Elite, of course, but those would be probably considered "too mainstream"

 

EDIT:

 

Oh, and of course F-19 stealth fighter. Even now it's amazing how it managed to simulate so much details, while still maintaining an astounding level of simplicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-19_Stealth_Fighter).

Edited October 29, 2013 by Guest (see edit history)

[GnI]

Need someone having programming knowledge, to extract map data from the game? Challenge accepted! (after I will get nice night sleep)