FREEMAN'S MIND: EPISODE 49

Blip.tv link

(download will be up later)

Alternate Title: Of Bees and Bullets

Here's the next episode of Freeman's Mind. I think people will like this one, there's usually a correlation of how much people like the episode v. having a high bodycount, and this one might be the highest one yet.

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HD QUALITY BY THE NUMBERS:

I get the question from time to time as to why I don't film Freeman's Mind in HD resolution. The short answer is it takes up too much time and space. Due to how the Source engine is set up, adding motion blur adds an incredible amount of space processing time, and this episode was a reminder of that. Most of the episode is all in the same level load, which means I can't really break it up without glitches occurring. To give you an idea of the filesizes I was looking at, here are some statistics on this episode:

-Time for recording 10 minutes 37 seconds of footage to hard drive at 180fps: 1 hour 6 minutes

-Time to process 114,714 individual files into a more usable state: 50 minutes

-Time to do motion blur processing: 1 hour 47 minutes

Total processing time: 3 hours 43 minutes

-Filesize before motion blur processing: 130.2GB

-Filesize after motion blur processing 21.7GB

Minimum amount of space required to process episode: 260.4GB

Now I could just get rid of motion blur processing, but I love the effect and thinks it make some things look more real, even for Half-Life. Unfortunately this means using the Source engine to export the footage (my computer can't reliably record this real-time) means processing time and filesizes will get a lot larger if I increase the resolution:

720p = multiply every number above by 2.26

1080p = multiple every number above by 5.09

So until it starts raining hard drives or SSDs, I'll be sticking with 480p for Freeman's Mind for now.

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LIGHT / DARK

You've probably noticed that the footage can be a bit dark sometimes in the episodes, that's because that's how how the Source engine exports it and I'm reluctant to change too much because making a dark scene bright can make a bright seen look washed out. This time however, it's some of the worst I've ever seen it. Here's a comparison below:

Before:

After:

Turning up the brightness in-game has no effect on how bright the footage is when it exports. I think I was able to do a decent job tweaking it this time, but my method wasn't reliable and I'm hardly an expert. If someone with editing experience wants to look at the original footage sometime and make suggestions as to what sorts of universal tweaks I can do in Adobe Premiere to correct this (as opposed to changing it scene by scene), go ahead and let me know.

That's it for now, don't forget about the Dota 2 voice pack!

LINK TO FORUM COMMENTS

YEAHS!

Been waiting for this one Freeman is at one of my favorite parts of the game.

Sweet.

Excellent!

(I didn't know you could destroy that door with the Crowbar... )

-1GadTfGFvU

Earth bees are definitely more wicked.

99% sure that the "bees" are toxic. And stabby. I like the Black Mesa versions, which explode on contact and seemingly disperse acid that chews through armor and flesh more efficiently than bullets. Though it looks like the original ones do the same, except without the explosion effect and potential self harm. Earth bees aren't that hardcore. And I haven't even seen a single organic assault rifle that shoots Earth bees.

It was kind of weird seeing Freeman talk about how harmless the bees were, then watching an Alien Grunt kill a human soldier with those same bees. I was also kinda disappointed he had no real reaction to the Alien Grunt punching a soldier through a thick concrete wall. Freaked me out when I first saw it.

Danielsangeo, As always, I hope you will do your excellent subtitles for that excellent episode!)

99% sure that the "bees" are toxic. And stabby. I like the Black Mesa versions, which explode on contact and seemingly disperse acid that chews through armor and flesh more efficiently than bullets. Though it looks like the original ones do the same, except without the explosion effect and potential self harm. Earth bees aren't that hardcore. And I haven't even seen a single organic assault rifle that shoots Earth bees.

 

It was kind of weird seeing Freeman talk about how harmless the bees were, then watching an Alien Grunt kill a human soldier with those same bees. I was also kinda disappointed he had no real reaction to the Alien Grunt punching a soldier through a thick concrete wall. Freaked me out when I first saw it.

Well Freeman has seen some strange shit lately, so a solider being punched through a wall wouldn't faze him so much.

Danielsangeo, As always, I hope you will do your excellent subtitles for that excellent episode!)

I'm working on them. I have this episode all typed up; I just have to sync them now with the video and make sure they're all prettied up for the release.

Please note: I am starting the next 12-week course at my online school starting, well, tonight actually, and if any more videos come out during this timespan, subtitles may be delayed, but don't worry, I will work on them as soon as I can get to them. I may also be going back to work very soon so that might further delay subtitles. Please have patience.

Also, further note: I will be releasing a subtitle pack for the rest of the Accursed Farms videos (including the Civil Protection episodes) today... probably after I finish with this episode.

Nice. I thought it was a really well done episode. I'm really liking the much more cynical direction Freeman has been taking as of late.

Another great episode, and the next one will make a total of 50 great episodes. I was a little disappointed though that Freeman just walked past the buttons in the car repair room; I really enjoy his button fetish. As for the reason to like episodes, I think there are mainly two: assorted hilarious moments (dumb actions from NPCs, various glitches, unexpected Freeman behavior, hiccups etc.) and various strong emotional reactions from Freeman (yelling, expression of depression, despair, delight etc.); maybe clever general remarks as well. I think that bodycount has little to do with it and seeing Freeman being annoyed by getting shot at and having to kill everybody is just as enjoyable as seeing him being annoyed by having to go in circles and negotiating tricky obstacles.

Freeman has figured out that the teleportation isn't random. Soon, he'll know a great deal more than any one man is supposed to.

I loved the crazy Zen moment Gordon seemed to have in the repair garage courtyard, where he was physically seeing the grenades go by him. Gordon's the One!

It was subtle, but I found it really funny that Freeman had to shoot the alien biotrampoline after it freaked him out. It was his was of making himself feel better about it.

I love Gordon's general avoidance of alien technology in general. In previous episodes, for example, seeing the hivehand (hornet gun), Gordon has shot at it instead of picking it up. At first I was like, "Noooooo! Pick it up!!!" But then I realized Ross's version is so much better -- of course Gordon would avoid the creepy crawlies that have all otherwise attacked him. I love seeing how this has continued this in all its nuance and occasional subtlety.

Awesome, Ross!

Great episode! I liked how Ross handled the springy craters and the spazzing out with the crowbar is always great! All in all a very good episode! Oh wait, i already said it was great. Great beats Good! ... GREAT IT IS THEN!!

99% sure that the "bees" are toxic. And stabby. I like the Black Mesa versions, which explode on contact and seemingly disperse acid that chews through armor and flesh more efficiently than bullets. Though it looks like the original ones do the same, except without the explosion effect and potential self harm. Earth bees aren't that hardcore. And I haven't even seen a single organic assault rifle that shoots Earth bees.

 

It was kind of weird seeing Freeman talk about how harmless the bees were, then watching an Alien Grunt kill a human soldier with those same bees. I was also kinda disappointed he had no real reaction to the Alien Grunt punching a soldier through a thick concrete wall. Freaked me out when I first saw it.

I'm fairly sure that the thornets are hitting the HEV suit. That suit has been built with the intention of stopping almost every kind of small arms fire and weapons in general that I don't think bees would punch through. The non-explosive kind of course.

Amazing episode! That trampoline.....

Not really "almost any kind". It really doesn't seem that superior to modern level IV armor, in Freeman's Mind at least. Stronger, yes, but not dramatically so; it mostly just stops 9mm rounds. I think he got shot by a rifle once and escaped with only a welt and a dent (maybe that happened twice?), but that's still not in "invulnerable / super advanced" territory. Off-topic, but I wonder what the soldiers are wearing that's so crappy a few 9mm rounds can take them down.

Aren't the thornets supposed to seek out anything organic? I'd think that they'd go for his face. Also, that he'd show some reaction to a soldier dying to a thornet after talking about how they're weaker than Earth bees.

Anyway, I hate to be "that guy", buuuuuut... will there be any time frame for the next episode? I miss the progress bar, because now everything is too random. Will it takes two weeks for the next one to come out, or two months? Or more? Just something I like to know.

Great episode, too bad you can't just order a decent 4TB HDD and enclosure through Newegg... (would only come to about $200, and free shipping)