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In my article "The Development of OMNIFATE", I (for about a paragraph) talked about my relatively newfound appreciation for music as a whole. So, I figured I, as a composer, would do this topic justice and give it its own article. (Also, yes, I know I already wrote an article this month, but to be honest, I'm not really proud of how that one turned out.)
(I was gonna start of this paragraph by mentioning the date when I made Wurly, but I can't remember the actual date, and my computer is literally giving me no help with that. Case and point:
Isn't technology amazing?)
When I made Wurly on [see above brackets for more information] about June 2021, I gained more of an appreciation for the true effort that goes into producing a song. Sure, there had been music I had appreciated before then, but it was mostly just Toby Fox and Jackbox soundtracks. Pretty much every game I've played since then I've had an ear for hearing the music for what it is: actual really good music.
It also helps that around 2021 I was able to create a Spotify account. I joke about having a lot of hours on YouTube, but Spotify is the service I by far have the most time on, even in just the two years I've had it. Most of my playlists on it are comprised of video game soundtracks, although recently I've added some songs from movies as well (including the Super Mario Bros Movie, which I will rewatch soon and write an article about probably next month).
Here are some of the most recent games I've played, here are my thoughts on their music.
Super Mario Land 2: Just like the rest of this game, the music has a really unique vibe to it.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe: AMAZING soundtrack, with pretty much no song in it having less than a 7/10 for me. Unfortunately, it is exclusive to Bandcamp, YouTube, and Steam right now, but the developers have confirmed that the soundtrack will be coming to other streaming services later this year (...the same as 2022...).
UNDERTALE: I mentioned this in the DELTARUNE article, but Toby Fox is probably my favorite video game composer. Also, yes, I did recently replay UNDERTALE.
ARK: Survival Evolved: The music gets repetitive, but in and of themselves the songs are good.
The last part of this is being a composer myself. I'm biased against my own works (which seems counterintuitive but think about the last time you went up on stage and didn't critique yourself at least once), but I have been told by early playtesters of OMNIFATE and people I've shown my music to in general that it is very well made. I myself can't wait to release the soundtrack to OMNIFATE, but of course I do have to wait until the game is out before I can. Attempting to throw away all biases, I find my music nice to listen to and better than average, but not as good as Toby Fox or Nightmargin.
Anyway, that's enough nerding out. 
I've been koola, and go buy the OneShot Soundtrack from Bandcamp. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. DO IT, OR ELSE I'LL---[/i][/u] <- Whoopsy! This is an RF Generation glitch, not my fault. The tags are written and workiong as intended on my part.
(I just described music in a written form for a dozen-ish paragraphs. If you're feeling tired of reading about music and want to hear some, here's a gift from me to you. )
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Posted on Apr 1st 2023 at 05:36:56 PM by ( koola6) Posted under Finally, Piranha Plants, Super Mario Bros, Mario, YouTube, Check, the, date, Happy, April, Fools |
Never in my life did I expect this new craze on YouTube of these Mandela Effects. Gonna upload a video proving one of these, right I am. Give it your attention. You would really like it, as it shows you that there are indeed Piranha Plants in 1-1. Up and at 'em!
Have you watched it yet? if not, do not proceed.
Happy April Fools' Day! In reality, this video was a lot of fun to make. While I have your attention, let's talk about gaming videos, and some April Fools' Day jokes I've seen over the years.
Gaming started before the internet was popular, and because of that false information spread like wildfires. Sometimes that info wasn't even false to begin with, but like a gigantic game of telephone among video game fans, info spread. One piece of true info, such as "there is a hard mode after you beat the original Super Mario Bros. where the Goombas turn into Buzzy Beetles" could easily turn into "if you beat Super Mario Bros. 7 times in a row without turning the console off all enemies turn into Bowsers!!!".
The internet makes the spread of false info harder because the official sources can be easily found. The problem is, you have to know where the official source is. Oftentimes, I'll see some blatantly flase info being passed around like it was fact. Such examples include stuff like "If you use the name MHFGDUNRGDYSVGE1982734" in Among Us, you'll always be Impostor!".
Stuff like that, as a game programmer, has no reason to be in there unless you're specifically making some debug tools. Most of the time, you'd delete those in the final game, anyway.
When official channels come into the discussion on April Fools', it can be a lot of fun, if you know it's a joke. I myself have been the victim of thinking something real then realizing it was uploaded on April 1st.
The internet in its modern form is very toxic, but it should be viewed as a gift, not a curse.
I've been koola, and the real April Fools' day joke was the fact that there wasn't an April Fools' Day article, but instead a real one.
(It's not spelled "Bearenstien"???)
(This is going to be different than my usual articles, but stick with it. I think you'll enjoy it.)
This month, I've had trouble deciding what to write about. I haven't played many games this month other than The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Tetris, and Animal Crossing, and I have already talked about most of those in the past. (Tetris doesn't seem like an article I could realistically do.)
I was on the bus this morning, thinking about this, when a phrase popped into my head from some advertising that I had seen recently. "This is a stunning leap forward for video games as a medium!" if only I had a nickel for the amount of times I've heard that, verbatim...
I was thinking about that and realized just how much this phrase is thrown around on the regular these days. It seems like the people who say it aren't even sure what THEY are talking about.
If we analyze the phrase word by word, it would become obvious that this should only be said when there is something substantial and new. And as I was sitting there, thinking about it, I realized that seemingly all reviewers treat new technology as revolutionary. I mean, this is obvious, right? Of course they would. They're reviewers. They're paid to give good reviews.
Wait, what? They're paid to give good reviews? This seems so normal to us now that we don't even take a second to think about it. But, it is so backwards when you even give a second of thought to it. Reviewers are supposed to be honest, right? A review is supposed to give you an honesty opinion. But so often you hear, "I was given a copy of this game for free" or "thank you to [company] for giving me this gift box". At that point, can that even be called a review?
"A stunning leap forward for games as a medium"
This goes back to my point from before, but shouldn't this only be said when there's something substantial? When the PS5 was announced, you heard it. The PS5 didn't really change things all that much, honestly. It's got not a lot of exclusives to take advantage of its new power, and even the games "made for PS5" are downgraded for the PS4. I'm not saying the PS5 was bad, (it definitely isn't) but it didn't really add anything to to games as a medium.
When a new PC (or even, a new PC part) comes out, you also hear the phrase that I don't want to repeat over and over again so this article doesn't get dry and boring. PC gaming has stayed the same ever since Windows 10 was released, for the most part. You can make your PC faster by buying a new part, sure, but that doesn't change the landscape as a whole. PC gaming probably won't change from where it is now, realistically.
"A stunning leap forward for video games as a medium"
Leaps forward can only be seen in retrospect. We never know the full picture. When the Wii released, many people made fun of it for its controls, but now we loom over it fondly for its changes to the medium (mostly the addition of enjoyable, functioning motion controls and character avatars).
Don't try to jump the gun. See how new technology is released, and enjoy it in the times. Don't try to overpraise it or overtly bash it. After all, you have no idea if it will truly be a stunning leap forward for video games as a medium.
I've been koola, and I don't think the Xbox Series X was that exciting of a console. Fight me.
(Don't actually. I'm very weak...)
My birthday happened recently. I had a fun time with lots of friends. Most of my gifts happened to be Nintendo eShop cards.
With those eShop cards I was able to buy several games that I have wanted for years. One of those games was The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe.
The Stanley Parable is an extremely well-made game. I won't dive into the specifics here, because this article could very easily get way out of hand if I did that (*cough cough* Persona 5 Royal article *cough cough*), but what mostly sold it for me was the various endings it had. There's a certain feel that meta games like The Stanley Parable have that really resonates with me. I wish that I could describe it to a greater degree, but honestly, I just don't know how.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a remake of The Stanley Parable (yes, a remake, I'll get into that later) for modern consoles. They could have just left it at that; instead, they chose to elaborate more on the fact that it is a port.
SPOILER WARNING!
One of the decisions that had me scratching my head is the fact that this game opens asking whether you've played The Stanley Parable before; if yes, you have to play 2-3 endings (depending on which endings you actually chose). Later, I realized that there is a definite purpose to this: it eases you back into the game. Especially if you haven't played a game in 5+ years, jumping into the New Content can sometimes be really jarring.
When you do unlock the New Content door, the narrator is really happy, and excited to see what the New Content is. The Jump Circle turns about to be a complete waste (in the narrator's opinion) and he laments about expecting the new content to be any better than it is. This is obviously analogous to our new remaster strategy. Everything speaks for itself here.
After resetting the game, you'll find the New New Content door, showcasing the various aspects of "The Stanley Parable 2".
Upon the completion of the expo hall, you can restart the game and actually find The Stanley Parable 2. The addition of the bucket and its extra dialogue adds for some new flavor(?) on top of the already existing endings, sometimes allowing for new endings (my personal favorite being the "Is This A Bucket?" ending). I feel like this is a good way to go about adding new endings to the format that The Stanley Parable instilled.
Lastly, this is a top-tier remake. Remaking a game isn't easy: you need to reawaken the feelings that the original brings. People are often disappointed in remakes for not meeting what they consider to be a reasonable expectation; this expectation is the game matching the feelings that the original gave them, not the gameplay. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe passes this goal with flying colors.
I've been koola, and bucket murder is a crime.
(Stanley wondered why the bucket was being described in the third person, despite his apparent ability to understand the bucket himself.)
Howdy majiggers!
Happy New Year to you all! I wish you all the best in your gaming experiences going into 2023. So far, a lot has happened already! I finished planning and getting stuff ready for the real run of koola and slackur's obscure gaming theater! It's slackur and I's little channel where we do podcast and gaming videos! You can find it here: (https://www.youtube.com/c.../UCithiTJ8_GHvMhFgYBw-1eA). I started playing a couple games (including Cthulhu Saves the World, which has been a lot of fun!), and was messing around with homebrew on my Wii.
But the thing that I've been doing the most over the past few months is working on OMNIFATE. I'm extremely excited to say that it is almost complete!
This whole experience has been really fun and eye-opening for me. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to talk about it a bit.
The actual coding of OMNIFATE is... well, programming. It's not really that exciting; games are made with code, and there's no dancing around that issue. Most of it has been trial and error. In my article "My experience with breaking games and coding" (from ... oh gosh, 2 years ago!), I stated most of my experience with coding comes from experimentation with various games that I like. Bu when I wrote that article, I was just starting off and didn't really understand anything. Now that I actually know 70% of what I'm doing, I can say that that was just the starting point to get me to where I am here.
Composing for OMNIFATE was probably the part that changed me the most. Up until about June 2021, I simply had no strong feelings about music. I had my dislikes and likes, sure, but I didn't really have an appreciation for what goes into making a good song. And then, I composed Wurly. After that, I gained much more of an appreciation for music and its composition. I now basically never go a second on my computer without listening to some tunes on Spotify. (Now's where I would plug my Spotify artist profile, but my distributor glitched and removed all my songs. So go listen to them on Bandcamp instead! https://koola6.bandcamp.com/)
Lastly, my favorite part of making OMNIFATE is the writing. From the get-go, I had a basic idea of how the story should go (no spoilers, but with the kind of game OMNIFATE is, you kind of need to have that from the get-go), but I never realized just how fun and entertaining writing for something can be; especially with one character whom you'll know when you play the game, being able to write little interactions between the characters is genuinely extremely fun.
I've been koola, and I hope to see you there in Q3 2023 when OMNIFATE releases.
(I almost completely lost this article! I hit the back button too early! Thankfully, I remembered to save it as a draft, though.)
Watch the video here!
By the way, new article coming later this month.
[img width=500 height=501]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2022-12-24_stcc_ep_053_fire_shark.png[/img]
In Episode 053, MetalFRO and Addicted are joined by Corkman for a lengthy discussion about Fire Shark! We pick apart the game a bit, and compare the brutally difficult arcade iterations to the much more approachable Sega Genesis and Mega Drive versions.
Check out the episode right here on RF Generation:
http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2022-12-24_stcc_ep_053_fire_shark.mp3
Or find the episode on your favorite podcast service:
https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast
Check out the original discussion thread for the game here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19693.0
Thanks for listening!
[img width=400 height=381]https://now.estarland.com/images/products/hr/29898/4988736070077.jpg[/img]
Sometimes a game takes a very different path than expected, before it is released. Most of the team who designed the Taito shooter Gun Frontier returned for another shoot-em-up, at the time tentatively titled "Project Gun Frontier 2" as a starting point for development. At some point, the game was considered as a possible 3rd game in the Darius series. In the end, however, the project became its own game, with some of its own unique mechanics. What we ended up with is the now classic, Metal Black.
Released in arcades in 1991, and later on the Sega Saturn in 1996, Metal Black has a unique power-up system that sees you collecting small particles known as "Newalone" to gradually increase the power of your ship, until you reach maximum power. Once you do, you can unleash a beam of destruction to take out enemies. You can also use your beam to duel with bosses who will fire a similar beam. This ended up being a major inspiration for Taito's later Darius series game, G-Darius. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in 2023, and pilot the CF-345 Black Fly alongside us, as we play the Taito classic Metal Black!
If you'd like to participate, check the thread here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19705.0
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Posted on Dec 25th 2022 at 02:57:43 PM by ( The Official SP1SC) Posted under PS1 , PlayStation 1, PSX, PSOne, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, Nor |
Alright, where do I even begin with this. It has been 6 and a half years and a lot of changes all over the place since I did this last time. August 10, 2016 was the last time I was on here apparently. At that time I was in the middle of a two month long unemployment streak moving down from Virginia back to my hometown of Philadelphia, PA. I was once running a ton of sites, I now only run 2 and none of them are whats on the 2016 list. So to make things as short as I can, I landed a job in September 2016 which I still hold today but doesnt have anything to do with this. In 2019, I gave up YouTube and all that good stuff and went on a brand new path and started to run a Private Group, The Sony PlayStation 1 Sanctuary & Museum. Back then a lot of people were mocking me about wanting to open a museum and such. Well for those losers there, they got a taste of rear when I opened the Sony PlayStation 1 Sanctuary & Museum, a proper museum in July 2020 in Willow Grove, PA, approx. 6 blocks away from the infamous Handheld Legend, and 4 miles from Newgrounds. Sadly, it was thwarted from having visitors for a long time at the start due to the pandemic, but kept on going despite taking on massive losses finacially due to not being allowed by law to have visitors. I kept on growing the PS1 collection and in August 2021, my second dream came true and finished the PS1 North American Set. Now, I am focused on becoming the very first collector in history to acquire a full Worldwide PS1 set! It has never been done and would not be surprised if I am currently the world leader in number of PS1 games owned for region at over 4,000 to date and a total of 6,000 games, demos, books, prototypes, systems and one of a kind items for the Sony PlayStation 1. I do run a private group as mentioned on Facebook and you will not find it, you will need to be invited in, however, I do run a Patreon group as well that showcases exclusive stuff like a special monthly podcast, a special exclusive series called "For The Gamers By The Games/For The People By The People" and on occasion release full length documentaries. The Patreon Group Link is: www.patreon.com/SP1SC
On December 26, 2022, I will be releasing a very special documentary on the 25th Anniversary of my PS1 adventures as I purchased my first PS1 on December 26, 1997 and showcase that system, the games I had at the time and what happened to get to that point. The Patreon does have 3 tiers, Bronze at $1/mth that gives you access to the FTGBTG/FTPBTP video, Silver at $3/mth that gives you what was mentioned plus access to the podcast, and Gold at $5/mth that gives you access to all that and the documentaries. The docs can go as long as a Godfather movie, but the latest is just 90 mins! Also I do make special videos that I throw in on occasion that are available for all Patreons. All Patreon funds are utliized to the museum to make it better and better. The photos of the museum are on the FB page that you need a Golden Ticket to enter (sorry I learned from my time that if you make everything public bad people do tend to sneak in). I had to move my museum to a smaller space within the building I was renting in May 2022 when costs got over the top and was getting next to no help. Remember folks, we are collectors and gamers, for some of us preservation is key and I know I am not that well known but I deserve a chance like everyone else. My mission is to showcase great things, and to entertain folks without the bs that almost ALL YT channels and other social media platforms do presently. Give it a shot, I promise you won't be disappointed!
Enjoy! In this video, me and slackur go over our Secret Santas we received from RF Generation!
Note: this YouTube series won't be replacing either of our articles. This is just a side thing.
I have a certain group of friends over about every week on Fridays. About 2018-ish, we started a little thing we've had going on for years: one person out of the three plays a game, and another person of the three will narrate it.
For reference and privacy's sake, I will be referring to the members of this friend group by their internet usernames.
The group consists of three members:
Me, obviously,
cool kid k,
and Grassalina.
(The whole narrating thing originally started because of one of my Grassalina's at-the-time lack of reading skills compared to the rest of the group, but she has since caught up with us and now we read the dialogue for fun. Sometimes I even do it when playing games with my mother!)
Minecraft: Story Mode was a game that I had played a couple times when I was younger. Back when that group of friends had just started this whole ordeal, that was one of the first games we played.
About October, we decided that now that we're older and have a more actualized idea of what's going on, we'd play through the game again. cool kid k was actually playing the game, while Grassalina and I watched and made decisions.
Telltale's writing in Minecraft: Story Mode had us all scratching our heads at certain times. While funny, a considerable amount of the dialogue options wound up having a way different meaning then what was originally intended; being that Minecraft: Story Mode is primarily a story-based game, this often leads you to make the choices that you don't want to. Due to this, we have ended up restarting an episode a lot.
The combat engine in Season One is also abysmal. The Telltale engine seems more designed for the cutscenes then the combat, which ends up leading to a combat experience that feels... not great. Thankfully, Season Two improved upon this.
Despite the negatives mentioned, I think that Minecraft: Story Mode, had Telltale survived longer, could have been fleshed out into a better gameplay experience. There's definitely a lot of good ideas here, but not enough to really cultivate anything.
I've been koola, and see you in 2023.
(I didn't really want to end the year on a negative note...)
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Posted on Dec 6th 2022 at 08:00:00 AM by ( MetalFRO) Posted under Deathsmiles, Shoot the Corecast, podcast, Shmup Club, Cave, 360, Switch, arcade, shooting game, shoot em up, STG, shooter |
[img width=500 height=500]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2022-11-22_stcc_ep_052_deathsmiles.png[/img]
In Episode 052, MetalFRO and Addicted are joined by guest Rena to take an in-depth look at Deathsmiles! We talk about the game's story and game play, and Rena breaks down the scoring so we can better understand how it all works.
Listen to the episode right here on RF Generation:
https://www.rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2022-11-22_stcc_ep_052_deathsmiles.mp3
Or find a feed on your favorite podcast service through our Linktree page:
https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast
Check out the original discussion thread for the game here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19691.0
Thanks for listening!
Where has the time gone? November already. Time to show your fellow RFGenners just how cool you think they are by filling their stockings with amazing video games! The deadline to sign up AND send your letter to Santa is Black Friday (11/25) so please don't hesitate!
http://www.rfgeneration.c...19696.msg284446#msg284446
I originally planned to write this month's article about Hollow Knight. I started it, and have played it a bit, but only got a bit into the first area.
What actually ended up happening was me playing a TON of Plants vs. Zombies this month. The exact set of circumstances that led up to this I won't delve into here, because it actually involves my personal life a lot, but just know that I ended up getting the game on Steam.
One thing that I want to say before I get into the actual review proper is that I've been playing it through on both Steam and on my 2DS at the same time. By that I mean I would play ~4 levels on my PC and then play them through on my DS.
In my opinion, the DS version of Plants vs. Zombies is EXTREMELY underrated! Sure, it may be laggy at times, but the actual game of Plants vs. Zombies is usually slow, so the lag isn't much of a problem. Something I find really cool about the DS version is unlike the other console ports, the game takes advantage of the DS's various features. For example, usually in 3-5 it's just a regular conveyor belt level, but in the DS version, it's this cool otherwise unseen minigame where you use the microphone.
Plants vs. Zombies is in a similar vein to Terraria for me. All of my friends (and even my older brother) have beaten the game at least twice. I, prior to this review, had only gotten to the second world.
Like I said, I don't really want to get into the specifics of why I started it this time, but I played way more than I usually do this playthrough. From my experience, the game is phenomenal.
I think my favorite part of Plants vs. Zombies is all the different strategies you can use. The game doesn't force you to go down any specific path. In fact, you can even start a level without Sunflowers with nothing more than a simple warning.
Because of that, I can't really REVIEW this game from a gameplay standpoint, other than the basics, which are already really solid.
I've been koola, and tacos are delicious. I would also buy a taco for $1000.
(Who knew that vegetation fighting dead people would be so fun?)
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Posted on Oct 25th 2022 at 08:00:00 AM by ( MetalFRO) Posted under Operation STEEL, Shoot the Corecast, podcast, Shmup Club, Undermog Games, indie game, arcade, shooting game, shoot em up, STG, shooter |
[img width=500 height=437]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2022-10-18_stcc_ep_051_operation_steel.jpg[/img]
In Episode 051, MetalFRO and Addicted dive deep into the game Operation STEEL with Ben, the developer behind it! We talk about the game's influences and inspirations, challenges during development, and all the things that make this game tick. It was a really fun discussion! Check out the original discussion thread for the game here:
Listen to the episode right here at RF Generation:
https://www.rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2022-10-18_stcc_ep_051_operation_steel.mp3
Or check our Linktree page for the feed on your favorite podcast service:
https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast
Check the original discussion thread here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19685.0
Thanks for listening!
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We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy our entries, rantings, and completely unrelated series of thoughts. We write for you to read, so we certainly hope that you enjoy our material.
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