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spbwf7 posted:Actually, wooden train trestles did commonly (and where they are still extant/in use have walkways. These walkways, typically between or (more often) to one side of the rails, were there to provide a place for maintenance workers to walk and/or for people to evacuate a train that derailed on the trestle. Additionally, platforms were built roughly every 45 ft (varied by railroad) to one side of long bridges that held a barrel or two of water or sand to allow railroad workers to put out small fires before they could become large enough to damage the structure. Hah that's neat. I never thought about (train) maintenance atop those things. Having to stop or, hell, work on a trestle reminds me of old pictures of people constructing the Empire State Building. I didn't except wooden structures to even be able to handle that much load, that high. I'm guessing the dudes to murder is still an exception though.
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Dec 4, 2015 22:58
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 Usually I like freedom of movement in an FPS, but I somehow love these train levels. In close range every weapon works and you can just go wild with all sorts of fun combinations. I really like the nuggets on Jesse James’ story and historical context. There’s another nugget that actually only appears next part but I’ve added it below as the first (on the American Civil War) because I feel it’s more fitting here. Jesse James is probably the most common subject of dime novel adventures. To my surprise, the one dime novel I found and read, (Jesse James, the Outlaw) didn’t end up glorifying Jesse, but rather the author who himself turns into a sly hero-detective joining up with Jesse in an attempt to ultimately capture him. This reminded me of a series of books I read as a kid. Back then, Karl May’s books probably did more to teach me German than any formal education I ever received. I never thought of them as ‘dime novels’, but thinking back on it, that’s exactly what they were. Like William B. Lawson in the above Jesse James novel, Karl May often wrote himself into his stories as a rather outstandingly capable hero of unquestionable morale, with all sorts of amazing stuff like a 25-shot repeater rifle or ‘Henry carbine’ as well as a large caliber rifle capable of killing bears in one shot (thus, of course, named ‘Bärentöter’, or ‘Bear Killer’). Even though he wrote about the Wild West, as well as the Orient, with quite some confidence, he had never been to (most) of the places he wrote about. Regardless, at a later stage he even claimed to have truly experienced his written adventures, that he knew 1200 languages and dialects, that he was technically the leader of 35,000 Apaches, and went so far as to have the Henry rifle and Bear Killer crafted for him by a gunsmith. He truly was quite gifted at bullshitting. I read, enjoyed, and still have the entire series of roughly 30+ books, and I'm quite partial to their cover art; I’ve added a few of them below. Apparently, when my father bought them in the fifties, they cost about 2 Deutschmark each. Concept Art & Dime Novel Covers       Nuggets of Truth  The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, was a fratricidal conflict fought between 1861 and 1865. On one side was the United States of America, also known as the Union or the North. On the other side, several slave states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America or the South. The North prevailed thanks to its industrial power and its advantage in numbers. The Civil War was among the world's first truly modern wars, utilizing railroads, telegraph lines, steamboats, devastating artillery, and mass-produced repeating weapons. Of all the wars America participated in, the Civil War reaped the bloodiest harvest, costing the lives of 620,000 men. Its conclusion was also the beginning of the golden age of the Wild West. Western expansion increased as railroads brought settlers west at an accelerated pace. The Native Americas were finally pushed from their lands and shunted off to reservations as the cattle business and mining operations boomed. Many of the veterans of the war, damaged by the carnage they saw and participated in, moved west for new opportunities. Quite a few fell into a life of crime. Many rebel soldiers, bitter over the defeat of the Confederacy, continued to fight the war long after General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. They robbed banks and trains owned by Northerners, the James-Younger gang being the most famous example, creating legends which have endured to this day.  Jesse Woodson James is probably the Wild West's most celebrated outlaw. He was famous when he was alive, but attained the status of a legend upon his death. Despite enjoying a reputation worthy of Robin Hood, when the facts of history are examined it's clear he wasn't much more than a thief and a murderer. As a teenager, Jesse and his brother Frank fought as Confederate guerillas during the Civil War alongside the infamous William Quantrill and his raiders. Some believe Jesse took part in the massacre of some 200 men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas. After the war, Jesse, like many disaffected former southern sympathizers, turned to banditry and continued to wage his own private war. Until 1876 Jesse, Frank, and the Younger Brothers robbed banks and trains as the James-Younger Gang. Their legendary run came to a bloody conclusion when they tried to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota. Two of the gang were left dead. Cole Younger ended up in prison. Only Frank and Jesse escaped unscathed. Three years later Jesse James founded a new gang but these new members weren't battle-hardened war veterans. Frank had left the gang and without his sure hand, Jesse became paranoid and mistrustful of his partners in crime. His concerns were well founded, however, as someone he trusted betrayed him most grievously. On April 3, 1882, after breakfast with his family, Jesse decided to wipe some dust off a photograph hanging on his living room wall. He unbuckled his revolver belt and climbed a chair while his friend, Robert Ford, hoping to collect a bounty, put a bullet in the back of Jesse's head. Thus, Jesse James joined other Wild West luminaries like Wild Bill Hickok and John Wesley Hardin who died from a gunshot in the back.  Not much is known about Jim Reed other than the fact that during the Civil War he was a member of Quantrill's Raiders just like the James brothers and the Youngers. After the war, he rode for a time with Sam Starr's gang and later with the James-Younger Gang. He died in 1874 in Paris, Texas, from a gunshot wound. Today he's probably better known as the first husband of the infamous Belle Starr, The Bandit Queen. They met as teenagers and Belle gave birth to his two children. Belle Starr, or Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr, also knew the Youngers and the James brothers. After Jim's demise, she turned to banditry, taking part in horse and cattle thefts and protecting other criminals, thus earning the moniker of the "Queen of Bandits". The peak of her criminal activities was during her marriage to Sam Starr. It is said that after Jim Reed's death and before she married Starr, she was Cole Younger's wife for three weeks. There's no solid evidence backing that up, however. Belle Starr was famous for her impeccable style. She was usually seen riding her horse sidesaddle, wearing a stylish black dress, with two revolvers and an ammo belt around her hips. She died in unusual circumstances two days before her 41st birthday, in 1889. An unknown murderer shot Belle off the horse she was riding with a shotgun and then shot her again. The bushwhacker's identity is still a mystery. Starr's own son is among the prime suspects as the Bandit Queen was a tough woman to live with. Said son was a bandit himself, and then became a lawman only to die in a saloon shootout 1896. His sister, Pearl, plied the world's oldest trade and ran a bordello in Fort Smith Arkansas from the 1890's until the First World War.  On July 15, 1881, a Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad train left Winston, Missouri. Soon after it started moving, Jesse and Frank James and Wood Hite jumped on board into one of the passenger cars while Dick Liddil and Clarence Hite entered the train from the other end. A conductor named William Westfall was collecting tickets in the passenger car at the time. The James brothers believed that in 1875 Westfall transported the Pinkerton agents who attacked their mother's house, wounding her and killing their half-brother. Jesse shot him in the back without warning, then approached him and shot him in the head. In that moment, Frank killed one of the other passengers, who may have decided to play hero and interfere with Jesse's shooting of Westfall. The train robbery was not as profitable as expected: the outlaws collected a mere $650.00. Infuriated, they jumped off the train and escaped. A posse pursued them, but the James brothers and their gang were gone with the wind. The meager haul led to dissension and Frank eventually left the gang, leaving Jesse to fend for himself with the inexperienced outlaws that were left. Because of the murders, the governor increased the bounty on both their heads. Jesse recruited others for his gang, including the man who eventually would shoot him in the back for that bounty.  The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, known simply as the Pinkertons - or Pinks by the less favorably inclined - was founded in Chicago by Scottish expatriate Allan Pinkerton. Pinkerton became famous when he supposedly foiled a plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln en route to his first inauguration. As a Union spymaster, Pinkerton later founded what became the United States Secret Service. Pinkerton's detectives offered a wide range of services from personal protection to private military contracts. At the peak of its power, the agency's roster numbered more than the total active strength of the United States Army. Nobody liked the Pinkertons, but they were especially hated – and feared - by the outlaws of the Wild West. The railroads and banks paid top dollar for the agency to pursue criminals like Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch or the James-Younger Gang. Capturing Jesse James was an obsession for Allan Pinkerton and later it became a personal vendetta. On January 25, 1875, he organized an assault on the home of Zerelda Samuel, Jesse James' mother. The attack, which employed incendiaries among other means, caused the death of Jesse's 8 year old half-brother, Archie James. The resulting explosion also cost Zerelda an arm. Such a shameful attack on the mother and little brother turned public opinion against the agency and won the James gang new sympathizers. Allan Pinkerton explained afterwards that he never planned to set the James house on Fire. That, in fact, turned out to be a complete lie as a later recovered letter written in his own hand read: "burn the house down."
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Dec 5, 2015 18:59
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I just found this LP and I am liking the game. I noticed that the updates are references to Western movies and I recognize a few of them. Does anyone know which movies are being referenced?
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Dec 5, 2015 19:16
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So if I understand what you said right, the game only spawns a bunch of dudes if you actually get on the gatling gun? That's a neat thing. Means that you don't have to do the turret sequence if you don't want to. Jack has a point though. Why would a train have a gatling gun on it?
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Dec 5, 2015 19:17
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Ah, Jack, ever the voice of reason. The toilet bit is a nice detail too, although that's really only in retrospect.
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Dec 5, 2015 19:29
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Blastinus posted:So if I understand what you said right, the game only spawns a bunch of dudes if you actually get on the gatling gun? That's a neat thing. Means that you don't have to do the turret sequence if you don't want to. They spawn regardless of what you do, but I seemed to get more with the gatling than without. I mostly did it just for the hell of it  Mraagvpeine posted:I just found this LP and I am liking the game. I noticed that the updates are references to Western movies and I recognize a few of them. Does anyone know which movies are being referenced? I've been having a lot of fun coming up with those. With the exception of one, they're all Western movies so far. For some I tried to reference movies that fit with what happens in the episode, but that was a bit too difficult to keep up consistently.
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Dec 5, 2015 19:35
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anilEhilated posted:Pockets? After the latest video I wanted to go back to this post. 
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Dec 5, 2015 19:51
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The train levels are definitely my favourite parts to play, they're such wonderful set pieces and there really is no wrong way to fight through them.
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Dec 5, 2015 21:03
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I like how Jesse James seems to be modelled after Brad Pitt's Jesse James. I also can't get over how kick rear end this games' soundtrack is.
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Dec 5, 2015 22:56
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Probably my favorite duel, mainly due to the setup of walking through a burning train car to throwdown with Jesse fuckin' James. I'm a bit of a Civil War buff, so naturally I've read up on a bunch of Wild West history as well, and its no surprise to see how so many disaffected soldiers end up living a life of violence and crime. Although no aspect of the American Civil War can be called 'pretty', some really nasty poo poo went down in Missouri that I think gets underplayed when people look back on it. The massacre at Lawrence was one of many atrocities committed in that area during the war between the guerilla fighters (who were little more than gangs of raiders). Men were scalped, women raped, children shot, families of fighters imprisoned or killed, and prisoners were rarely taken on top of your pillaging and burning of towns and property. Military leaders on both sides more or less turned a blind eye to the whole thing. Jesse James was a teenager when he fought in the war (among others), so you can only imagine how such things would affect his mind and character. The idea of Jesse James allowing his own suicide out of depression brought on by some post-war PTSD isn't without merit.
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Dec 6, 2015 05:54
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this lp is great
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Dec 6, 2015 06:11
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Rooster Cogburn from True Grit was supposed to be one of Quantrell's men, as well.
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Dec 6, 2015 10:33
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Yup, and I think he knew the James-Younger gang as well. If I recall correctly, LeBouef merely hinting that Quantrill's men did some hosed up things was enough to get Cogburn to break up their partnership and leave.
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Dec 6, 2015 15:39
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 We set out to settle one of our old grudges and meet a guy atop a hill. There’s also some cool stuff that happens in between, but find out yourself. We’re moving into the end-stages of this LP by now, there’s only one more (quite tricky) part to go. I’ve also got a video of the entire dueling mode ready to go, but if there’s anything else you want to see, now’s the time to remind me. There’s a total of 10 arcade levels and I’ve only shown one so far. I’m not sure whether I could get a similar performance on the others as I did with the last one. I’d rather do them well than half-rear end them, but some just aren’t much fun. Like the mostly stationary ones such as in the Bandit/Apache canyon or atop the bank for the Daltons level. Still, I don’t mind trying if there’s interest for some of the arcade levels. Concept art    Nuggets of Truth  Robert Newton Ford, known as "the man who shot Jesse James," or as the "dirty little coward," is the closest thing to a Judas of the Wild West. This man, who Jesse considered a friend, who let him live under his own roof, shot Jesse in the back, hoping to collect the bounty on the famous outlaw. Robert Ford in turn also died from a surprise shot by one Edward O’Kelley, whose only motivation was to become the man who shot the man who killed Jesse James. He succeeded. Robert Ford's was also immortalized in a way by Jesse James' mother who ordered the following to be engraved on her son's gravestone: "In Loving Memory of My Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward whose name is not worthy to appear here." Such fame isn't worth much, putting Ford in the disreputable company of other murdering cowards like Jack McCall and John Selman Jr.  Thomas Coleman Younger was the oldest of the Youngers and, next to the James brothers, a key figure in the James-Younger Gang. As a soldier and a Confederate partisan during the Civil War, he rode with Quantrill's Raiders and took part in the infamous massacre of two hundred men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas. After the war, he targeted banks belonging to former Union officers and Republican politicians. In 1876, after a botched robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, the Younger brothers were captured. Cole remained in prison until 1901. He died in 1916, four years after converting to Christianity. Until the last days of his life, he considered himself more of a Confederate soldier than a criminal. He admitted that his only real crime was the unfortunate gunfight in Northfield, Minnesota, which cost him 24 years of his life in prison.  Alexander Franklin James is remembered primarily as Jesse James' older brother, a guerilla fighter during the Civil War and a co-leader of the James-Younger Gang. During the war, he joined the ranks of Quantrill's Rangers and allegedly participated in the infamous massacre of two hundred men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas. He continued his "war" against the Union by robbing banks and trains. Five months after his brother's murder, Frank James surrendered to the Governor of Missouri, saying, "I have been hunted for twenty-one years, have literally lived in the saddle, have never known a day of perfect peace. It was one long, anxious, inexorable, eternal vigil." He then ended his statement by saying, 'Governor, I haven't let another man touch my gun since 1861." To everyone's surprise he was never sentenced for his crimes. He died at the respectable age of 72, in 1915, after trying his hand at many different jobs, including offering guided tours of the James' family farm for twenty-five cents a pop.  When we think of the Wild West we imagine cowboys driving enormous herds of cattle, saloons with dancing girls, gunfights at high noon, stagecoach robberies, and handsome heroes coming to the rescue. Every bit of it is sensational, romanticized claptrap. So where did our idea of the American Frontier of the 19th century come from? William Frederick Cody or Buffalo Bill (his nickname earned by slaughtering over 4000 bison in the course of 18 months to feed railroad workers) sold this picture of the Old West to an eastern audience (both American and European) with "Buffalo Bill's Wild West," a live show combining elements of the circus and the theater. To the audience's delight, Cody recreated various historical events, showcased famous and authentic celebrities (Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull among others starred in his shows), presented ‘iconic’ situations associated with life on the Frontier, employed sharpshooters, riders, and real Native American Indians. It was a perfect idealized version of the Wild West set to rousing music. Cody had numerous imitators and attending the so-called "Wild West Shows" became very popular pastime east of the Mississippi. Even outlaw celebrities like Cole Younger or Frank James had their own traveling shows. To this day, American rodeos are not too far removed from those early displays of Wild West daring do.
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Dec 7, 2015 18:02
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And here's where we start wondering just how unhinged Silas is. I love everything about that sequence. Silas and Death are such pals; after all they've known each other for most of his life.
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Dec 7, 2015 |
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Dec 7, 2015 18:25
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ahahahaha This is a real gameplay:story moment. Fleve racks up a x66 multiplier killing everyone and then Silas ...does what he does. But I really like what happened when Ben pulled him out of his state there. Psion fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Dec 7, 2015 |
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Dec 7, 2015 19:06
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Oh Silas  I have to say that the climb up that hill is probably my least liked bit of this game. Fleve managed to avoid it but it's surprisingly easy to think that you're behind cover only to get hit by 2 shots in quick succession, since the snipers aren't just in a straight line directly in front of you.
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Dec 7, 2015 19:45
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This is pretty good - where Silas stops being solely a figure of fun. Still, that ain't the best rendition of O Death. I'd vote for this 'un. Edit: What happens if you shoot James after the shack escapade? Samovar fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Dec 7, 2015 |
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Dec 7, 2015 19:47
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ShootaBoy posted:Oh Silas Oh hell yes. I got killed a ton during earlier runs, at pretty much every part of that hill. The little section right after the bridge/nugget is particularly dangerous, cause the rocks aren't all that high and it's easy to get lured into trying to dash two of them in a row. And once you run out of sense of death, you're pretty much dead when you move. There were also a few moments I completely bungled up off-camera. Heck, during the 'O Death' part, while getting the nugget on the branch, I actually fell in the pond once, couldn't get out, and drowned. Silas had nothing to comment on that, but his audience must've thought I was real deep in the whiskey to tell them that story. Samovar posted:Edit: What happens if you shoot James after the shack escapade? You can't, he'll become just like horses and cows, oblivious to bullets. But I figure he deserves some peace and quiet after his time with Jesse.
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Dec 7, 2015 20:21
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Since you're taking requests I was wondering if you included the trick shot achievement in the duels video already? If not I'd like to see that cause I never managed it myself.
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Dec 7, 2015 21:17
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Fleve posted:Robert Ford in turn also died from a surprise shot by one Edward O’Kelley, whose only motivation was to become the man who shot the man who killed Jesse James. He succeeded.  Ironically, Edward O'Kelley died being a lawbreaker himself. More specifically, while attempting to shoot and kill a cop who killed him instead, and became the man who killed the man who killed the man who killed Jesse James. He died of natural causes.
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Dec 7, 2015 21:22
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Lockmat posted:Since you're taking requests I was wondering if you included the trick shot achievement in the duels video already? If not I'd like to see that cause I never managed it myself. Between this and the final "battle" of Dying Light, I wonder what's with Techland and awesome games complemented with one idiotic design decision.
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Dec 7, 2015 21:23
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This game is really cool, glad I found this LP (even tho it's almost over).
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Dec 7, 2015 21:30
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Lockmat posted:Since you're taking requests I was wondering if you included the trick shot achievement in the duels video already? If not I'd like to see that cause I never managed it myself. I never tried it before because it looked pretty hard, especially honourably. I just gave it a go for half an hour and finally succeeded after getting shot a lot. I'll include it in the dueling video. I'd like to try, but I don't think I'm insane enough to include it as part of a successful, honourable 15/15 run, those are difficult enough as is. I haven't been able to do a perfect, no deaths, headshots only, 15/15 either yet.
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Dec 7, 2015 21:57
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While you were doing that climb up the hill under sniper fire, it occurred to me that another thing this game does wonderfully is its sound design. Every gun is a booming cannon, and that PEW sound of bullets dinging off of terrain is just so Western it's great. I do agree though that the showdowns are a bit underwhelming. The boss fights in general seem to be the weaker part of this game, generally boiling down to lobbing dynamite or firing a few shots and then ducking back under cover. The game is at its best when you're blowing through crowds of hapless minions, not so much when you're facing anything with a health bar.
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Dec 7, 2015 22:01
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"... while she's spreadin' her legs for every Tom, Dick and Cole Younger" is a great line.
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Dec 7, 2015 22:58
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It's an entirely different genre of game, but Hard West came out recently and it's a supernatural XCOM-like game that takes place in the Weird Wild West. Everything you do is narrated, like in this game, only it doesn't go for the "unreliable narrator" angle.
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Dec 7, 2015 23:06
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I thought the showdowns were pretty great. I always let out a sigh of relief once I pull off an honorable kill, although I can see how controlling the focus reticle can be a pain in the rear end. I've played this on both 360 and PC and that thing is never comfortable to move around.
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Dec 7, 2015 23:07
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The showdowns seem deliberately designed to be fighting the player at every point. Your attention is split between the opponent, keeping the hand on the revolver and the crosshair, the enemy bullet path is difficult to spot and the crosshair is far too sensitive to be useful. It's supposed to be tense and frustrating. Whether it works in a "I want to play this" ... probably not but it's a neat experiment in trying to get the tension of a duel standoff in gameplay form.
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Dec 8, 2015 00:27
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Speedball posted:It's an entirely different genre of game, but Hard West came out recently and it's a supernatural XCOM-like game that takes place in the Weird Wild West. Everything you do is narrated, like in this game, only it doesn't go for the "unreliable narrator" angle. I'll check it out, looks interesting. I haven't tried LP'ing a strategy game yet, but this was also my first FPS, so how bad can it go. Roman Reigns posted:I thought the showdowns were pretty great. I always let out a sigh of relief once I pull off an honorable kill, although I can see how controlling the focus reticle can be a pain in the rear end. I've played this on both 360 and PC and that thing is never comfortable to move around. If you're going for a highscore and you're at 10+ out of 15 rounds without a death and plenty of headshots, the tension is insane. Getting everything right is pretty satisfying at that point. I like the slight amount of randomness, tiny differences in timing and walking patterns on the same enemy, and that some of the duels are really different. What I don't like is how the mouse sometimes decides you're either getting perfect shots, and at other times it says gently caress you, you're not doing this today. But what I really dislike is how some enemies' heads don't really count as heads when it comes to building focus. That's easier to show on video though so I'll leave that for the dueling part.
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Dec 8, 2015 14:02
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 And with that we come full circle. I wanted to post this yesterday but my external harddrive ate the first encode. I fear it’s joining Jim Reed, Johnny Ringo, and a plethora of other dead guys in the afterlife soon. Also, I’m skipping one of the nuggets because it’s a spoiler, I’ll post it later with the duel update. For the endings, in case you're watching this on something other than a PC and not getting the annotation overlay, there's timestamps in the descriptions, and you could also, of course, manually go to either 19:00 or 21:28. Making this a vote and splitting videos seemed like a bad idea, but I wanted to leave some feeling of choice to remain. Concept Art   Nuggets of Truth  Harry Alonzo Longabaugh earned his moniker by serving an 18-month sentence for horse thievery in Sundance, Wyoming at the age of 15. His fame, however, was won alongside Butch Cassidy as a member of the Wild Bunch. He was often called a gunfighter but there is not a single death by shooting which can be easily attributed to the Sundance Kid. It is quite possible that the newspapers of the time mistook another truly murderous member of the Bunch, Harvey Logan a.k.a. Kid Curry, for Sundance. Together, with his wife Etta Place and Butch Cassidy, they fled the U.S. and the authorities in pursuit of them to hide out in South America. There, in Bolivia, he allegedly died alongside his friend in 1908. We cannot be sure, though, as there are those who believe that Longabaugh returned to the United States and lived for many years under a different name. His story will forever remain a mystery.  The Wild West was inhabited by rapidly migrating groups of pioneers looking for new opportunities. Whether it be arable land for farming, pasture land for grazing cattle, or rich mineral deposits of gold or silver for mining, they came in droves to make their fortune, creating large spontaneous communities known as boomtowns. When the source of this wealth ran out - a gold vein was depleted or prices for a commodity fell rapidly – the boomtown would start to die leaving empty streets and abandoned houses. These deserted towns came to be known as ghost towns. One of the best known is Bannack, Montana. Famous for its 1860's gold rush, the Sheriff there was none other than Henry Plummer, later revealed as leader of a massive gang of bushwhackers and killers known as "The Innocents". When the gold ran out, Bannack was abandoned. Today it's a stop for tourists looking for a taste of the old west.  The thirty-fourth president of the United States was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas. He grew up in Abilene, Kansas, and died in Washington D.C. on March 28, 1969. Before he was elected as president, he had been a Five-star general in the United States Army and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. Over the course of his presidency, between 1953 and 1961, the number of nuclear warheads in the U.S. grew from 1000 to 18000. However, he did end the Korean War soon after being elected. During his time in office, NASA was created and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was established. Eisenhower also was instrumental in the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which started the construction of the Interstate Highway System. He was a moderate conservative who expanded Social Security and sent Federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas for the first time since Reconstruction to enforce federal court orders to desegregate public schools. Young Dwight had been an avid reader, especially fond of military history and tales of the old west. Growing up in Abilene, he enjoyed talking to the old timers about the days when Abilene was a major destination for cattle drives. He was also a great fan of poker. The love for the game was instilled in him by an old cowboy who Dwight considered a mentor and a friend. [Fleve: Apparently, the nuggets aren’t bullshitting us in the Eisenhower bit. Dwight got taught percentages, poker and a whole bunch of outdoor skills by one Bob Davis. Eisenhower described him as ‘a traveler, a fisherman, hunter, and guide. He was also a bachelor, a philosopher, and, to me, a great teacher. Bob, about six feet tall, a little stooped, quiet and gentle, was in his fifties when I knew him, roughly from age eight to sixteen. He never seemed to be annoyed when I went along on expeditions to the Smoky Hill River…’ ] Fleve fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Dec 11, 2015 |
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Dec 9, 2015 18:38
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And here we go. If you're reading this post and haven't watch the video, go watch the goddamn video. Really. The Dwight bit was what pushed this game for me from really drat good to completely loving awesome - after a whole game's worth of Silas stretching and spinning the truth, we find him getting a place in honest history and it's the perfect ending for him. I think I talked about how this game's story works with the nature of truth as a theme earlier on, here's where we go full circle - Silas, the ultimate (and fictional) bullshitter, is actually based on a real person. Even the fact that there are two endings works extremely well - playing the game again you'll really start to appreciate the dialogue: Silas and Ben bickering about what it means to defend a friend in the sawmill level, Grey Wolf's prophecy, hell, even the toilet bit gets a much more sinister meaning - Silas alone out there with Ben, vulnerable, daring him to make a move... The loading screens also change on NG+, they'll be saying things like "Silas was telling the story about how he went after Johnny Ringo to draw Ben out, hoping he'll slip up something that would reveal his identity". The game really is meant to be played twice and both endings feel meaningful and both entirely shift the tone of the story - the condemnation or redemption we're choosing in the end is really of Silas, not Ben. Ooh, another bit - Silas is keeping even the player in suspense. Especially if you play the last two levels in a row, you'll be questioning the hell out of him - sure, he lies all the time, but now he's going senile, drunk or insane. Then it turns into a ghost story and what the hell, he could be dying. Then it becomes believable again (and, indeed, in the vengeance ending we find out he was actually telling the truth regarding Cassidy and Sundance) and he matter-of-factly accuses one of us of murder. This murderous, crazy old man could do anything, he's way past reason, completely unpredictable and armed to the teeth. Right, done gushing. Not really sure why you're hiding the last nugget, the one I was concerned with in the Sandcastle was Dwight and that was because I misremembered and thought it was on the previous level. Then again, I don't remember if the last one spoils anything new. Amazing LP of an amazing game; great job, you more than did it justice. edit: Actually, here's a duel mechanics question: I'm noticing you always go for headshots. Does the focus build up faster there or something? I always aimed for the torso... anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Dec 9, 2015 |
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Dec 9, 2015 19:25
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anilEhilated posted:And here we go. If you're reading this post and haven't watch the video, go watch the goddamn video. Really. Yeah, it's really good. I've been liking this game for a while, and I really like how they ended it. Thanks, Fleve!
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Dec 9, 2015 19:50
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Yeah, completely loving awesome is a good description for this game, holy poo poo!
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Dec 9, 2015 19:57
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anilEhilated posted:Right, done gushing. Not really sure why you're hiding the last nugget, the one I was concerned with in the Sandcastle was Dwight and that was because I misremembered and thought it was on the previous level. Then again, I don't remember if the last one spoils anything new. Yeah I had some gushing ready myself, but you already hit all the right points. I’m still surprised by how well both endings fit with the whole story. Forgiving Bob makes the rest of the story a test of character, for both of them. And the further we get, the more Silas regrets, and the more introspective his narrative gets, doubting himself and his entire life. But he also blames. Blames Bob for his poo poo life full of death and hunting people, gaining skills that only amount to shooting people dead. Both the tragedy and the redemption feel ‘right’. On the nugget spoiler: I figured people might scroll down to browse over the nuggets; even just a glance is probably enough for a spoiler. Now that I think about it, I might as well have put it in a link instead, but hey, I still got the duel video to go anyway so I planned to put it below that one. And hell nah, headshots in duels only makes everything more difficult. But when you're doing the dueling mode for a highscore, a headshot gives you a bonus worth almost 1/3 of what you get for a kill, so during the LP I sometimes started doing them by force of habit. Also, they look better.
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Dec 9, 2015 20:09
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The combination of a fun, stylish game and your smooth voice made for a fantastic LP. Great Job.
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Dec 9, 2015 20:20
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A great game and a great LP. I really love how the endings aren't just good/evil. Also I totally forgot about the duel in the revenge ending. I was wondering why I didn't get the honorable achievement the other day.
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Dec 9, 2015 20:26
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The final duel in the revenge ending is also notable for being really easy, especially after the Butch and Sundance duel. It really shows how outclassed the poor guy is next to Silas. I love how craven Jack becomes when Silas shows he indeed a badass gunslinger
Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Dec 9, 2015 |
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Dec 9, 2015 20:34
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E: n/m. Other than saying that this is an underrated gem of a game which does a pretty drat good job of utilising the telling/setting of a story to influence a game. Samovar fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Dec 9, 2015 |
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Dec 9, 2015 20:40
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Now that we’re through the game, I can finally link to a bunch of developer videos I thought were neat. They’re all up on Techland’s youtube channel as well as their Gunslinger site. I’ve linked to a few of the more interesting ones below. 1: The Ballad of Silas Greaves. Technically a trailer, but it’s really just a nice mashup of art and game moments set under a ballad. 2: The Story of Gunslinger. Haris Orkin, the American voice and story consultant for the game, talks for roughly 8 minutes about the game’s story. He’s easy to listen to and explains multiple of the inspirations for the game. 3: An Interactive Art Book. You can click the annotations to see concept art of nearly everything in the game. 4: How the West Was Won, a developer video talking about the game’s art, music, story and certain design decisions. (The first 4 minutes are interesting, after that it switches to community feedback stuff and it’s just a bunch of waffle). Finally, unlike the other titles so far, the last title wasn’t a movie reference (The Man With No Brothers -> The Man With No Name). The ‘Dollars trilogy’ movies (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) all have a very similar main character, with the same actor (Clint Eastwood) and attire (the iconic poncho, cigarillo). Commonly he’s referred to as “The Man With No Name”. Going by the poncho, I think Techland took him as an inspiration for Silas Greaves’ appearance. What always struck me a bit odd is the slightly Indian look on Silas’ facial features though, never figured out whether that was intentional or not and it doesn’t come through in the cutscenes or art either.
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Dec 9, 2015 21:15
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