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Ape Has Killed Ape
Sep 15, 2005

Thesaya posted:

In temporary exhibits in museums and such I've mostly seen painted styrofoam

If it's something that's going to be up for a long while and doesn't need to be moved often, it's cement. If it's temporary or needs to move around a lot, gently caress it spray paint some styrofoam.

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kalonZombie
May 24, 2010

D&D 3.5 Book of Erotic Fantasy
Today we finish up what I consider to be the low point of the game. Museum's cool looking but the fights are kinda boring and the boss is... well you'll see.

Episode 8: Mr. Rogers ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy

Tempest_56
Mar 14, 2009

I believe the episode you're trying to remember was Don't Forget the Motor City. It was gremlins. Also those flying things are ripe for the Meson gun as I remember it - tag 'em and your follow-up shots keep after them even while they're flying around. Less damage per hit, but you're hitting them way more consistently.

Heir03
Oct 16, 2012

Pillbug

your evil twin posted:

Yeah the monthly IDW comic series is amazing. Well... the first story is so-so, but the second story onwards is fantastic.

Lots of people say that the videogame is effectively Ghostbusters 3, but a fair chunk of it is reliving classic moments rather than new plot (especially in the early sections).

I think the real honour of being the true Ghostbusters 3 belongs to the IDW comic. Or perhaps the comic is Ghostbusters 4. Or an excellent TV show spin-off.

The comics aren't going on anymore are they? I believe I have 10 or so volumes on my kindle app...can't find much more out there.

Chimera-gui
Mar 20, 2014
I think we can all agree with Gene Wilder here regarding Walter Peck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-nDFpOJeU

Fabulousvillain
May 2, 2015
With the giant public building filled with undead, an alternative game with a lady protagonist with a ponytail, the underground factory possibly responsible for the undead showing up, and a suspected public figure working against you this is starting to feel like Resident Evil 2.

Oh :thejoke:

DeliciousCookie
Mar 4, 2011
Is it just me, or does the Major sound suspiciously like the Police Captain from Stubbs the Zombie?

Ryushikaze
Mar 5, 2013

Back when this game first came out, there was an Anti-Piracy measure for the PC port that IIRC reduced proton damage to a bunch of enemies, and made the slam attack an instakill on you if you used it on Gargoyles.

People took it as a challenge and tried to complete it anyways.

Loving the LP. Makes me want to find my old copy or grab a new one from Steam and play this again.

KeiraWalker
Sep 5, 2011

Me? Don't worry about me...
Grimey Drawer

Tempest_56 posted:

I believe the episode you're trying to remember was Don't Forget the Motor City. It was gremlins.

Nah, the episode Kalon was describing is called Lost and Foundry. The guys take a job at a steel mill, but when they try to trap the ghost, their proton packs fuse it with the molten steel without them realizing it, and over the next few weeks anything that's been made from that steel becomes animate and starts wrecking poo poo.

CzarChasm
Mar 14, 2009

I don't like it when you're watching me eat.

DeliciousCookie posted:

Is it just me, or does the Major sound suspiciously like the Police Captain from Stubbs the Zombie?

The Mayor is voiced by Brian Doyle Murray. As in Bill Murray's brother.

He has done a few voices over the years including Captain K'nuckles from Misadventures of Flapjack, The Flying Dutchman from Spongebob and a few other recurring roles.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
I think one of the nicest touches the game has is the answering machine you can check between each mission.

It's just so New York in content.

"So, is this supernatural activity, or a... union thing?"

Dreadwroth
Dec 12, 2009

by R. Guyovich
So I have this game, and for some reason I don't remember any of the missions you've been playing past the Librarian one. I went straight to a point way past where you are right now, so this is a bit confusing to me. Is this the DLC content?

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
No, this is just the main game that's being shown off.

Dreadwroth
Dec 12, 2009

by R. Guyovich
Weird, I don't remember any of this.

Thesaya
May 17, 2011

I am a Plant.
"I USED TO HAVE THAT!"

I love how your voice raised several octaves there. Kind of adorable.

kalonZombie
May 24, 2010

D&D 3.5 Book of Erotic Fantasy
Early update because if I don't do it now I don't know if I'll do it at all today.

WARNING: ARACHNOPHOBICS MIGHT WANT TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THIS VIDEO, ESPECIALLY THE BOSS FIGHT

Episode 9: Arachnophobia ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy



Also, Ape and I, along with The Heavenator and Skippy Granola, did a riff of the feature-length Mega Man fan film!

Now to go play Arkham Knight until my eyes bleed from lack of blinking.

Heir03
Oct 16, 2012

Pillbug
Always liked returning to the hotel. It's another example of them doing a good mix of creepy/horror + comedy.

bawk
Mar 31, 2013

Jesus Christ kalon, that Megaman video :stonk:

AccidentalHipster
Jul 5, 2013

Whadda ya MEAN ya never heard of Dan Brereton?
The number 13 is generally considered unlucky in modern times because Judas was the 13th apostle of Jesus, but 13 has had a lot of importance over the millennia because there are about 13 full moons in a year. Whether it's lucky or unlucky has actually changed back and forth a lot of times throughout human history for various reasons.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
The second time you're in the hotel has some of my favorite cursed artifacts.

I love the clock and the beard so much :allears:

Chimera-gui
Mar 20, 2014
It's worth noting that the Ghostbusters cartoon had a spider-like ghost as well, Spiderlegs who unlike the Spider Witch does the thing Ape mentioned with Ursula from The Little Mermaid of having the arms count as one of the eight sets of limbs.

Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Jun 24, 2015

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!

kalonZombie posted:

Also, Ape and I, along with The Heavenator and Skippy Granola, did a riff of the feature-length Mega Man fan film!
There were 136 people listed under the "Contributors" section of the credits.

136 people thought making this film was a good idea. God bless them for it.

"I made this death ray for peaceful purposes!"

kalonZombie
May 24, 2010

D&D 3.5 Book of Erotic Fantasy
Arkham Knight has lessened it's grip on me... though not by much. I've already beat it once and it's a really good game! But enough about that, time to shoot and / or trap ghosts.

Episode 10: House Flipping ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy

Tempest_56
Mar 14, 2009

InSpectres is, in fact, literally a Ghostbusters RPG with the serial numbers filed off. It's published by Memento Mori and can be picked up from them directly here. There actually also is a licensed Ghostbusters RPG (published by West End Games in 1986 and with a new edition in 1989) that's been out of print for a long time and is actually really notable in the genre for a lot of early innovations.

Heir03
Oct 16, 2012

Pillbug
"Photon Pack"


:argh:

DocGator
May 6, 2007

drat, Egon totally caught the worst of the friendly fire in this episode.
I always thought the movies did a really great job with subtle world building (Danas apartment, Gozer, and Shandor himself) thankfully it seems so far they are not really running any of that stuff too into the ground in terms of the game story.

Ryushikaze
Mar 5, 2013

kalonZombie posted:

Arkham Knight has lessened it's grip on me... though not by much. I've already beat it once and it's a really good game! But enough about that, time to shoot and / or trap ghosts.

Episode 10: House Flipping ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy



I love that you brought up the Arkham Asylum antipiracy method in this video in response to my previous note about this game's antipiracy, because it lets me note that people have managed to beat Arkham Asylum with the busted cape.

Game developer simulator also had a great antipiracy method. If it detected it wasn't genuine, eventually folks would just start pirating every game you made.

I wonder what sort of anti-piracy DRM scheme Shandor would put into a game if he was a developer.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~
You know, one thing that always kind of bugged me about this game is that you don't trap enough of the ghosts you fight. Most of the time, you just blast them or smash them away.

It's a minor gripe, but trapping ghosts is what I was really looking forward to in a Ghostbusters game. Not like those annoying possesor ghosts or the movie cast being useless most of the time.

Geostomp fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Jul 1, 2015

Ape Has Killed Ape
Sep 15, 2005

Geostomp posted:

You know, one thing that always kind of bugged me about this game is that you don't trap enough of the ghosts you fight. Most of the time, you just blast them or smash them away.

It's a minor gripe, but trapping ghosts is what I was really looking forward to in a Ghostbusters game. Not like those annoying possesor ghosts or the movie cast being useless most of the time.

I think the thing is that not all of them are ghosts, the ones that don't look like people are some sort of constructs and when you zap them enough they just break apart, and therefor can't be trapped.

Eyre Kneed
Jul 1, 2008

The Ghostbusters thread in CD has been going on for years and I feel like the OP is necessary reading for this thread. Incoming wall of text.

echoplex posted:

Ghostbusters is the best film.



No, really. You don't need a background to this film because I'm sure 99% of you grew up on it. However, what I thought might be nice is to explore this film a little more deeply than you might be inclined to because of your familiarity with it.

Re-watching Ghostbusters as an adult was eye-opening. It was my first DVD, too, so it was almost like I was seeing it for the first time. Somewhere between being a teenager and an adult, I'd developed a love for production design in film. I'm not sure what caused it - probably the brief love I had for Star Trek - but when I saw Ghostbusters on DVD as opposed to mangy VHS, I fell in love with this film and I credit this movie with pushing me into looking for a career in film.

I'm not going to run with a CGI vs practical theme because that's never really interested me. Maybe it's more of a "they don't make them like they used to" thing. Ghostbusters is one of the earliest - and arguably best - examples of the "horror comedy" genre, although it's obviously more a comedy than a horror. If anything, it's a buddy movie - 4 guys blundering through a series of misadventures and then saving the world in spite of themselves. This angle is one of the film's many strengths - you'd watch these four in a film about turnip farmers, and you'd enjoy it. So even so the roles aren't exactly stretching any boundaries - Venkman (Murray) is the hustler, Stantz (Ackroyd) is the manchild, Spengler (Ramis) is the brains and Zeddemore (Hudson) is the everyman link to the audience - it doesn't matter, because you connect with these guys straight away.



Not to mention that there's precious little actual ghostbusting in the film - in fact there's only one "trapping" sequence before the finale. Everything else is about the journey, and it's those relationships peppered with gags that make the film feel so satisfying when it's actually quite light on it's title content. So how does it manage to come together as well as it does? Well, I'm not here to talk about the comedy or even really the plot, because the roles they have in the film are obvious. What I want to write about here is the other side to Ghostbusters - it's luscious art design and just what it does for the film.

What is amazing about Ghostbusters to me is that it's a genuinely beautiful film. Although it's been "corrected" in some DVD releases, the entire film has a light purple cast over it, which, when combined with the NYC architecture, give a wonderful feel of something not quite being right in the city. Spooky, but only ever so slightly. This look was enhanced by modifications to the NYC skyline; Dana Barrett's apartment block featured a tremendous Sumerian temple on it's roof, achieved through a combination of matte painting and miniatures. Lined with gargoyles and featuring a beautiful etching depicting events of the film - which sadly can barely be seen on screen - the temple was the work of legendary production designer John DeCuir, who was probably best known for his work on Cleopatra (the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor version).





In fact, the full-size set was so immense that it was not only several feet off the ground at it's lowest point, and nearly 35ft high, but the enourmous 360 degree NYC panoramic painting that set required almost every generator the studio had to light it. No corner was cut. The best part of all of this, for me, is that so much effort was expended not only to amuse you, but also to involve you. Look at that set. It's ridiculous. But it's also beautiful. Every aspect of this film was gone over countless times - from the wild initial concept to the more grounded final story - until it was honed to perfection. The art department was no exception. Comedy film or not, the art dept produced a film that looked better than many dramas or even sci-fi epics of it's day - but never at the expense of the humour. The tone of the art design was spot on, and impeccable in every way. They were serious about being funny. For example, how ridiculous is this matte painting?



But it's also kind of understated. That's the beauty - quite literally - of Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters is often referred to as one of the quintessential NYC films - probably only just behind the original Pelham 123 in my book - and that's because the film is stuffed full of character. You can see it in the millions of different types of extras they use, and their brash characterisations. It's there in that finely layered detail (the Stay Puft billboards), and it's also because it captures that sense of scale - a huge city, teeming with life (or death, in this case). Although not the focus of the film, and certainly not the most outright stunning camerawork you'll ever see, László Kovács' cinematography captured that NYC spirit perfectly. The frame is almost never empty, and when it is, it's for one purpose - to highlight the enormity of the challenge ahead of our heroes. There are several shots in Ghostbusters that are tremendously wide. Not only is it a nice excuse to show the NYC skyline shrouded in that gentle purple cast, but it also serves to highlight the enormity of the city vs the Ghostbusters - a nice reflection of their uphill struggle against the EPA and the Police.







It's a dirty city and they're doing a dirty job - and who knows what is lurking in those streets?

Prop design is another aspect that Ghostbusters excels in. These comedy props were rigorously designed to feel tangible and real. The Proton Pack may in fact have been fibreglass castings of styrofoam shapes covered with pneumatic fittings, but they looked heavy and every bit as dangerous as Spengler implied. In fact, their design more than slightly echoes another bit of early 80's nuclear design - the plutonium reactor from Back to the Future's DeLorean time machine:





You believe in these props these comedy actors are holding. Better still, you think they're awesome and you want your own Proton Pack. A lot of this is helped not only by their solid, clunking, lock-together design, but also the sense of procedure that goes with their use. Full of fearful respect for their equipment, you're laughed through every flick of the oh-god-will-this-kill-us switch. You're enamoured with these devices capable of unleashing more devastation than any WMD - hang on, isn't this a comedy? The industrial design behind Ghostbusters was on a par with any sci-fi of the day (or since, only matched by Cameron and Scott with Aliens and Blade Runner, in my opinion). While not as well designed or as functional as BTTF's DeLorean, the Ghostbuster's car is, much like the rest of the film, larger than life.



Made from a hearse based on the 1959 Cadillac (what else), Ecto-1 is a shiny, chromed, flashing leviathan. Despite it having no real in-film function, it's tremendous presence is the perfect counterpart to the nuclear-powered chancers who drive around inside it. It has all the bravado and front of Venkman, all the technology of Spengler, and the brawn and energy of Stantz. Once you see it on screen you realise it - there is just no other car these guys could drive.

By now, you're thinking, yeah, I get it. So what? It's a good looking film and a lot of love went into it.

Well, it all comes together in the end. No-one needs to be reminded of what happens at the end of the film, but just for the sake of it, let me post this screencap.



This is a working example of what Harold Ramis refers to as the "The Domino Theory of Reality". Everything has been leading up to this one shot where a hundred-foot tall, corporate mascot rendered in malignant marshmallow appears. It's a brilliant moment, fantastically revealed, and despite being so incredibly over the top, it just manages not to break your immersion in the film. Why is this?

Gradually, things have started to fall into place. You've witnessed the impossible and downright ridiculous happen on your journey to this moment. But for every bout of insanity, it's flanked on one side by an incredulous but grounded core cast, and on the other, solid, believable art design, which puts you in a world where this can happen. You didn't think the Proton Packs and the Ghost Traps were silly. Even Ecto-1, which is best described as utterly flamboyant is presented to you in such a way that, yeah, you're laughing at it's appearance, but you're also excited for it to start doing it's thing. Every little step in the film has been leading you deeper into a world where you can totally accept the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man as being a credible threat to our heroes.

So this, for me, is why Ghostbusters is an absolute triumph of movie making. From the first scenes which mix dusty libraries with bleeping props that have waving antenna, to the midpoint with gigantic, gaudy cars and explosive backpacks inside regal hotel ballrooms, from the final art-deco-Sumerian-God-showdown - all the while strengthened straight through the middle with a rock-solid ensemble cast - Ghostbusters carefully and precisely delivers you to a joyous, over the top denouement. In that one single moment, everything you've seen, every little set-up falls into place, and you probably didn't even realise why. It's the perfection combination of all the different disciplines that go in to film-making. Better yet, it never insults the audience with it's preposterousness, or smashes down the fourth wall in order to get a cheap laugh. Sure, the joke is on you, but it's also on the Ghostbusters themselves.

This is also why we do not speak of Ghostbusters II.


from http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3184282

Kacie
Nov 11, 2010

Imagining a Brave New World
Ramrod XTreme
Catching up on the last 3 episodes:

I really loved the art details as you descend the secret museum entrance. Just before the inner mandala area drops to become a staircase, the very center segments flip over to reveal moaning human faces. The tunnel network feels like an old forgotten subway station (of which NYC has more than a few), and the dialog between Egon and Ray is hugely enjoyable as they discuss how they've never seen anything like this.

Once you get to the main underground river/tunnel, with the green stela in the center and the wisps of ectoplasm shooting by, I like to switch to the ecto-visor and spend a while looking around. There's a feel of logical alien purpose, matching what Egon and Ray are saying about channeling PKE through the mandala, and the eerie river is something I can imagine staring at if I were there with the Ghostbusters. --that, and being worried that I'd develop some sort of horrible cancer down the line from being exposed to all that malevolent PKE.

The boss fight is a wretched tedious mess, though.

Egon losing his cool and ripping up the do not trespass sign is one of my gleeful joys, much like the time he starts strangling Peck before Venkman and the police pry him off and separate them.

Sedwick Return is a very split level; I love the first half, where you poke around and see all the ghosts of ghosts, and so forth. However, the Spider-femme fatale is huge letdown and departure. As others noted, we've got Driders and all sorts of previously explored female/spider hybrids across fantasy/horror. Ghostbusters usually is great about bringing something completely bizarre and alien to the mix, even when the starting point was a horrible person. They could have given us some strange monstrosity, lithe or bloated, illusive or illusionary, mixing in pieces or distortions of the original woman. Instead, they took the lazy way out, and we get spiders.

That said, I love the warping of the hotel's space, and wandering into the Ghostworld's 13th floor due to the sheer massive amount of PKE.

Shandor Island, proper, is a gorgeous and terrible mix of Art Deco and twisted industrial design. And lots of spiky Gozarian form, too, but if you look out across the gables and roofs, you see chimneys and smoke, contributing to a looming, unhealthy and malevolent atmosphere. We are the intruders ("I'm not wanted here, on mugs!") and we are about to see things that have been hinted at (the pipes and PKE engineering under the museum) but never fully fathomed.

Ray and Egon are obviously very impressed and somewhat envious of Shandor's talent; between their dialog, the display of architecture and lingering function despite time and death, feels like we are dabbling in the supernatural, whereas Shandor was leagues ahead of the Ghostbusters, a master capable of manipulating PKE and designing an edifice that far outlasted him and is still serving its purpose. No wonder Egon and Ray are awed.

Thank goodness for Winston grounding everyone!

-- I love the cursed artifact paintings. In fact, despite having played the game several times, I still enjoy reading the descriptions of all the cursed artifacts and all the descriptions/warnings of the experimental technology.


tl:dr -- the art direction is fantastic, and it is worth taking the time to look around and appreciate the details, both with the naked eye and wearing the ecto-visor.

kalonZombie
May 24, 2010

D&D 3.5 Book of Erotic Fantasy
Shandor, your island is super creepy and I'm glad it sank!

Episode 11: Donuts ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy

I also have an extra today, the second firehouse visit! Gonna have to put up two the next update though since this is from way back when we beat Stay Puft.

Bonus 2: Firehouse Fun 2 ... Youtube ... Polsy

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Ape Has Killed Ape posted:

I think the thing is that not all of them are ghosts, the ones that don't look like people are some sort of constructs and when you zap them enough they just break apart, and therefor can't be trapped.

Yeah, but you don't get to trap the bosses that are confirmed human ghosts, either.

Heir03
Oct 16, 2012

Pillbug
Geez I hated that slime golem fight.

Edit: Also completely agreed on pewdiepie.

Heir03 fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jul 10, 2015

Heir03
Oct 16, 2012

Pillbug
I think the actual ghostbusters don't do much damage with their weapons compared to the rookie. Kind of annoying but I get why they did it.

Fabulousvillain
May 2, 2015

Heir03 posted:

I think the actual ghostbusters don't do much damage with their weapons compared to the rookie. Kind of annoying but I get why they did it.

It's definitely the weapon upgrades they build for you to test in the hopes it doesn't blow up. I like to think that all Zelda or certain JPRG protagonist with a chosen by not dying from there ancient, magic weapons and dungeons not killing there users and all dungeons have a hero dispensing service of there bodies.... Ho boy look a the time.

kalonZombie
May 24, 2010

D&D 3.5 Book of Erotic Fantasy
So many bonuses going up today as well. Getting this in before the PSN servers update and I can finally download the Batgirl DLC for Arkham Knight.

...I bought the season pass because I'm weak.

Episode 12: How to Train Your Intern ... Cut ... Polsy ... Uncut ... Polsy

Bonus 3: Firehouse Fun 3 ... Youtube ... Polsy

This bonus is right after completing the museum.

Bonus 4: Firehouse Fun 4 ... Youtube ... Polsy

And this one is right before going off to the episode above. No more answering machine. Sorry.

Rabidredneck
Oct 30, 2010

Not pleasant when angered.
I recall it being rather difficult to slime tether a ghost into the trap. I usually stasised them, threw a trap as close as possible and tethered the two, but a lot of times the trajectory would go wrong. I think I only pulled it off a couple times the whole game.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
So, uh, in this video you bring up the fact that they joke about letting you drive and then all say, "Nah," but you imply it happens later.

It kinda happens at the very beginning of the video.

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curiousTerminal
Sep 2, 2011

what a humorous anecdote.
Something nobody's mentioned yet, and I only just found out myself, is that during your first trip to the Sedgewick you're on the twelfth floor. Which means you pass by room 1221.
Room 1221 doesn't give off any PKE readings at all (even when you collect the cursed tray down the hall) so there's no reason to actually look at it, except for the teeniest, tiniest bit of foreshadowing.




The newspaper is some generic "GHOSTS ARE HAPPENING, EVERYONE IS SCARED" thing. I assume it's just there to draw your attention to the door, which it fails miserably at doing. I only figured this out because I was reading the Ghostbusters wiki like a nerd.

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