Berzee

Barely related to anything, but speaking of strange 3d training programs... (skip to about 45s to get past all the menu screens) (I dunno if this is an actually-used thing or just a demo; I stumbled across it while looking for Unity tutorials and didn't realize at first that it was all about HVACR technician-ing...I clicked to the middle and thought it was a game about being in a neighborhood that was so detailed that it simply allowed for taking weird devices out of a van and sticking them on people's houses, among many other things you might want to do. A few moments later, I kind of thought it was a first-person Hitman thing and all of the detailed hose-connecting was like the "Receiver" of setting bombs. And then I felt ashamed for jumping to Video Game Conclusions).

Good points, though it occurs to me the "constantly holding back" thing could be implemented with a simple control scheme by making a character whose best signature moves are "back+A" and "back+B" and slight variations on that. The main problem Smash Brothers has with something like that isn't because of its simplified attack buttons, but rather that it's more than 1v1 and so there's not really a concept of "back" in the game. There's a standard back-attack when you're jumping I think, but usually holding back will just turn you around. I wonder how many other differences between Smash Brothers and the more classic fighting games are actually more about Smash being designed for four fighters, and not so much about the control scheme...hmm. Hmm!

IIRC, the email defending the use of complicated fighting game controls made an argument like, "If all of the inputs were the same, you couldn't have characters whose moves mostly involve walking backwards or characters whose moves mostly chain off of successful defenses". And the email from this week was asking something like, "Couldn't you still have the inputs be simple two-button deals, but have the effects of the moves be as wildly different as in a Street Fighter or somesuch?". I thought the question about "Are macros acceptable in fighting games?" was a great one, and a good one to ask when trying to discern whether someone is in the "complex controls are unnecessary", "complex controls are a necessary evil", or "complex controls make it more fun regardless" camp. I was the guy who approached most non-Smash fighting games by picking a favorite character and memorizing a single, generally useful move for them. So though I think I understand the question, I also have no credibility to answer it.

Ha! If my family had been as note-happy as the Gone Home family, there would have been a lot of notes expressing that particular thing. =P

Oh man, I just remembered that the text is all moddable in the game so that it can be easily translated. Does anyone know if other things are moddable too? Sound files, textures, etc? Probably not, because it's danged old Unity, but it would be nifty if those were moddable so that people could commandeer the spooky house and change the story into something about (say,) badgers.

Hmm, I'm interested in the environmental storytelling (and, to a lesser extent, interested in examples of "scattered journal pages done well"). I think I would also enjoy all the 90's references even though I'm a few years younger than the characters and the overlap of 90's experiences is probably very small, and all of the pointlessly interactable items seem very exciting (i.e. that excellent fridge!). I think I would even appreciate (with a chuckle) the inclusion of things like irrelevant thunderstorms. But as feared, Danielle's review mentions that the story is about ...which isn't really my jam and tends to set my eyes rolling, unless used as an artful backdrop to creating sarcastic and genre-savvy child protagonists ala E. L. Konigsburg or Diana Wynne Jones. =P So knowing my narrative preferences, I may regretfully give this one a miss after all, but Congrats, Mr. Fullbright! on making a game that people like and selling it for money!

Robin Hood's principles of stealth -- it's not about being unseen, it's about punching out and tying up every single person who stumbles across your heap of punched-out, tied-up bodies. If a tree falls in the forest and crushes all witnesses, that's a stealthy tree.

I have noticed that, at least locally, Office Max in particular (moreso than Staples, Office Depot, et al.) has a suspiciously well-curated selection of older games (once you shove all the "150,000 Arcade Hidden Hoyle Object Casino GAMES" compilations over to one side). Office Max is a cool guy.

Imagining a Far Cry 2 where, when your grenade rolls down the hill and kills your buddy, all of their guns and syringes and assault vehicles are inherited by a shy Irish baby with a knack for diplomacy and a deep hatred of you personally. (Or would it be that when *you* die, you take control of such a baby?)

Is that Harry Callahan I hear?

Sweet! My first child is not even born yet, but as soon as I found out my wife is pregnant I started making stupid zany jokes (I guess it's a biological impulse), but I'm not very good at it. Gonna read up on these. FOR THE CHILDREN.

I was really hoping Ireland would inherit Hungary and go mad with power, but the Irish Civil War followed by an outburst of kin-slaying was good too! Hopefully Genius Baby's uncanny diplomacy skills will be enough to cover the blood on his hands.

Is it true that the will-o-the-wisps are there to guide you to vaguely defined Interesting Things (towns, machine pieces) or did I imagine that?

One thing mentioned on the Big Robot forums yesterday was, "We've got a bunch of equipable items lined up waiting to go in (the blunderbuss, a torch, cricketbat, scanner, toy train etc)" -- so I think there will end up being a lot more useful things to hope for when you're ransacking houses, which hopefully means that the beginning of the game will be focused around avoiding conflict while scavenging a respectable arsenal. =)

Jakerodkin, have you also read the second Dirk Gently book, "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"? I read that book when I was much younger and occasionally remember vague bits of it, but I didn't know there was a previous Dirk Gently book. I'm still somewhat undecided on whether I enjoy Douglas Adams books very much, but maybe I will check that one out sometime when I feel like a chuckle.

I always thought this CK2 story would make for some entertaining overwrought fan fiction, but I never considered what would happen if the kings in the stories just said whatever Chris and Nick were saying at the time. A masterstroke, a poignant tale.

Is that the show were a robot-man threw people into a hotel swimming pool to the sweet sweet sounds of Johnny Cash? (If so, that's the only part I saw, because my brother made me watch that scene for some reason). But yes, I hear it was good!

Wow, Gemstone III on the list of games discussed. I played that game on AOL before I could even type well enough to actually play it. Just for that (plus all the other things) I think I might...listen to this episode!

"Idle Thumbs Plays Solitaire" is a strong contender for Best Idea 20XX. That's some procedurally generated video games-playing, that is!

A just decision! Ok, a real question now. I'm not totally caught up on the stream yet so maybe this is answered in that chat somewhere, but it continues to puzzle me up through Part 8. Why do Chris and (particularly) Nick excitedly try to make matrilineal marriages with Every King, and become sad when the offer is preemptively spurned? As I understand it, if some girl from a goofy Irish baby-kingdom WERE to secure a matrilineal marriage with the Holy Roman Emperor, at it would mean is that any kids she had would be excluded from the Holy Roman Empire dynasty and be forced to join the Irish Baby-Kingdom dynasty instead. Would a matrilineal kid even have a claim he could press against his father's lands? It seems like they just want to do it for the out-of-game prestige of denying some far-away mighty kingdom of potential heirs (and making the ruling classes of Ireland less and less Irish in the process), but am I perhaps missing a keen and critical strategic consideration?

What is your favorite amount to salt a tavern-food?

Three things: 1) The fact that there are now 6 parts to this series, is out of control. 2) One of the great things about Crusader Kings II when compared to every other thing that's been streamed so far, is that the screen is almost always just a picture of Ireland and some tiny words that are being read/screamed about by Chris and Nick anyway. This means it's almost as good for listening-but-not-watching as a podcast, and I don't feel like I miss too much if I'm looking at other things such as Work. (It's still best to watch it though, because of the many incredulous expressions). 3) It pleases me that this series started off with the question, "How do we start? Where is the start button?". Look how far they've come!

Cursor*10 ! (though I think I remember a similar later game where you were a person instead of a cursor, not certain though)

I'll sell mine for $0.17 (in...thumbs wallet money, I guess). Anyhow! It was good to hear that Super Smash Brothers Melee being treated with appropriate reverence and awe! I always maintained that game allowed for more impressive displays of skill than generally assumed. (Perhaps masked by the fact that it also allowed for Land-Mines Only, Extra Loot, Extra Damage Hyrule Castle...the Smash Brothers equivalent of your basic 24/7 2fort )

Different breed of Dad. That was the "Tough Love For You" Dad, who knows that you'll never get better unless you understand how crappy you are. P.S. I shared your hope. The above rationalization is an attempt to ease my disappointment.