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 Quick Links: SSLP Test Poster • Rules • LP Archive • Master List • Tech Support Fort • New LP Thread  THREAD RULES: No low-effort or garbage posting. Previous Sandcastle threads have gotten bogged down with really bad posts about nothing. Having a breezy discussion is a-okay, but please don't start flinging mud at each other or posting useless, single-word responses. If you feel like you need to ask yourself "is my post low-effort garbage?" then it probably is, so don't make that post! This is a very simple rule, so please don't try to over-analyze it. Don't make let's players prove their merit. Everyone is allowed to post whatever kind of LP of whatever game they want, so long as it doesn't break the rules. This means that if someone wants to do the 15th LP of Dark Souls 3, you shouldn't dissuade them just because there are a lot of other LPs of that game on the forums already. Similarly, if someone wants to do a screenshot LP of Super Mario 64, don't dogpile them to tell them how bad of an idea you think it is. Providing constructive criticism is encouraged, just don't try to stifle people. Read this entire post if it's your first time doing an LP. Okay I guess this isn't a rule, but I still highly recommend it! You might miss out on a good standard practice to follow or some really good tips, and then some jerks might make fun of you for it! And that's not a good time, trust me. Y'all were really well-behaved in the previous thread, so props for that! Now onto the OP proper: 
 Welcome to the Let's Play Sandcastle! This thread is for general discussion of any topic not covered elsewhere in the forums regarding Let's Play threads. It's also the place where you can make a test post to see if there are any issues to resolve with your LP before posting it. Even if you think you know this all and you've read previous versions of the thread, give this post a quick read. I promise it won't take long.  SSLP Test Poster This really nice tool (courtesy of Baldurk) is how you avoid filling up this thread with dozens of screenshots of your favourite JRPG. It supports the same bbcode as the forums, so you can paste your OP into there. It also provides a handy link for you to post in here. Rules Everyone posting in this forum should read this thread, for obvious reasons. The rules cover everything that will get you banned or probated so make sure you have read them. If you have any questions or want elaboration, feel free to contact a mod for more information. We're always glad to help! The Tech Support Fort The Tech Support fort is the place to go if you have any technical questions about the mechanics of how to make your LP. If you want to know how to use your recording software, or what recording or editing software you should get - post in here. The Sandcastle is generally only for the more subjective aspects of your LP, or for any more general and high-level questions. LPix An LP-specific image host, oriented to keeping separate updates and things. There is a Rightload plugin available here, for which you will need the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable installed. Set your username and password and (optionally) a gallery in the options. NEW! There is also now a script code for use with ShareX, you can follow the instructions here to add it to ShareX's options. If there are any problems with it, post in this thread or contact Baldurk (email). The Let's Play Archive The archive is where all LPs that were posted and completed on this subforum go to be preserved forever, if the LPer wants them to be. Baldurk works tirelessly to make sure all archival requests get put up there as close to their original format as possible. You can find a more in-depth explanation here. If you run into any archive-related issues you can post about them right here. If you have any questions, comments, bug reports or feature requests you can also contact Baldurk directly.  Please make sure you read Baldurk's guidelines for making your thread archive-friendly! This will save you a lot of time, by which we mean you will eventually be required to have done these things and if you do them yourself in advance you might spare yourself having to deal with Baldurk indignantly insisting that you please do these things. The Master List The Master List contains as complete as possible a list of all Let's Plays that have been started on this forum. It was written to provide all the functionality needed for locating and updating information about Let's Play threads. If you want to find a thread, you can browse or search - but be aware that by default, abandoned threads have been hidden. The Master List is not automated, but is a community project. In order to update out of date information or add new info on the list, you can log in with these credentials: [SALP / snatched]. If you notice any vandalism/incorrect info on the list, feel free to fix it. If you don't know what it should be, or there is a significant amount of destruction, contact Baldurk (email) so he can take care of it. Master list issues - anything that is related to the master list can be posted about right here in the Sandcastle. If you have any questions, comments, bug reports or feature requests you can also contact Baldurk directly. LP Recommendation and Request Thread If you're interested in reading rather than making LPs this thread is for you. This thread allows you to post or read recommendations for past LP threads you have read and enjoyed. Read the thread OP to make sure you know the rules for recommendations. You can also request an LP that hasn't been done - make sure you check the master list to see if it has been done before. LP Announcement Thread Making Let's Plays is all the rage nowadays; everyone's doing it! And because of that, it can be easy for new LPs to end up lost in the shuffle. That's what this thread is for! Whenever you launch a new LP, you can make a quick post announcing it in this thread. This way, everyone has an easy way to stay up-to-date on all the new LPs coming out. Co-Commentation Station It's not always easy to find someone to talk over video games with you. If you're looking for someone to co-host a Let's Play with you, give this thread a look! Many kind goons have offered to put their vocal cords and expertise to use wherever they may be of help. And if you like the idea of co-commentating on other people's LPs too then hey, maybe you can add your name to the list! Unofficial Let's Play Discord Server This is the place where LP subforum regulars get together to have a chat about whatever subjects they fancy. Discord is like Skype but for cool people. All you have to do is make an account on https://discordapp.com/ and then the link above will take you right to the server. Make sure to be on your best behavior, lest you be shunned for all time!   : What is a Let's Play (LP) thread? : It's a documented playthrough of something that, at the very minimum, resembles a game. How the author chooses to present it is incredibly varied. Some use screenshots, some use video. Some let the readers make decisions, others plow on through and use the thread for discussion. Some are serious and informative while others are comedic. You can find a lot of examples on the LP Archive already - details above.: How can I ask if anyone is wanting to see me LPing this game? What is an interest check?: There's no point in posting an interest check without something to show for it. An interest check is just asking whether people want to see an LP without actually putting forth some significant sample content (more than just an OP).For the most part, people won't really care if you LP the game or not, and it's very difficult to judge whether an LP would be interesting or not without seeing an actual update of it. If you want to know if people are interested, make a test post - don't just post "Would anyone like to see an LP of this game?". This applies no matter how much you have to decide before starting, or if you're unsure about how to LP the game. If you're not ready to put in the effort to make an LP without knowing how many people are going to be interested then you probably aren't ready to post an LP anyway. : Can I have my thread archived? What about this thread I really like, but I'm not the author?: Any thread which has been completed can be archived - just email Baldurk with the link to the thread, and he'll sort out the rest from there, getting any information from you if you're the author. If you have any specific requests or instructions feel free to include them in the email. Be sure to read through his guidelines on how to make your thread Archive-friendly before contacting him This will make the process much easier on the both of you.It's recommended but not required to include an archive blurb - a 160x120 image and a paragraph short enough to fit next to it without overflowing, see the top of the front page of the archive for examples. It's up the the author of an LP to decide whether the LP gets archived or not. In other words: only send archival requests to Baldurk for LPs that you're the author of. : What is a test post? Why should I make a test post?: Running a Let's Play thread is a lot of work. There are a lot of unforeseen problems that can crop up when making one so it is best to make a test post - it costs you nothing but a little time, and lets you gauge how people are going to react to your thread. This is especially true if you have not done an LP before and have no experience of what issues may come up, but a test post is almost always useful to some extent no matter how much experience you have.A test post can vary depending on the LP, but usually will consist of an early update. This means it isn't just your OP - since that usually doesn't tell people anything more than what the game is about. It's useful to post your OP as well to give the first update some context, but make sure you post an update. Also consider that if your first update will not be representative of the whole game (due to excessive tutorial sections or other reasons) then pick a later update and post that. The idea is to give people an idea of what your thread will be like so they can point out potential problems. You should use the Off-site Screenshot test poster to post your test post if it's an SSLP, so that pages of this thread don't get overloaded with images. However, even with all the above applying, test posts are not a requirement. Just a very, Very good idea. : Has anyone LPed game XYZ before?: The answer to this can be found in the master list - details are above. However it is worth noting that there is no rule nor stigma towards LPing a game that has been done before. Don't rush to LP a game in case someone beats you to it. No one cares about who LPed Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare first except for you. : I'm not the OP in a thread. Can I contribute my own playthrough?: The short answer is, maybe. Some LPers prefer to keep their LPs focused on their own content. That said, a lot of LPers and most thread posters will appreciate the bonus content which may show off something the OP had no plans to cover. Either way, make sure you ask for permission first. : Is there a rule against X? Am I allowed to do Y?: This isn't the rules thread. Ask a mod - more details are in the rules thread. Here is a specific note about ROMs, emulation, etc. (Reprinted with permission.) Louisgod posted:1. Do NOT talk about how you acquired a ROM, where you got the ROM, when you got it, and so forth. Just because you're posting in Let's Play! doesn't mean you get immunity from any kind of warez discussion. : What image formats should I use?: Although this is technically the ground of The Tech Support Fort this is restated here for emphasis. I highly recommend reading this guide before posting images in this forum. You will learn some useful stuff about image formats from it!: How long can a thread go without posts before it falls into the forum archives?: Two months. If you intend to continue a LP you haven't updated in awhile, make sure to post before two months expire, even if to say something to the effect of "Sorry, I'll get back to this soon" so that it doesn't fall into the forum archives. Once a thread falls into the forum archives, it cannot be brought back out and you'll have to start a new thread over.
Somebody fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Jan 26, 2023 |
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Sep 14, 2016 11:38
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Happy posting, everyone!
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Sep 14, 2016 11:47
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I don't know, the old sandcastle was pretty good. What does this one being to the table, Jordan?
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Sep 14, 2016 11:48
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So why is this thread rebooted after 100 pages? Does the database cry with all the image links or something? Just idly curious.
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Sep 14, 2016 11:48
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Jsor posted:So why is this thread rebooted after 100 pages? Does the database cry with all the image links or something? Just idly curious. I've actually wanted to rewrite the Sandcastle OP for a while now because it had a lot of outdated information in it. The old Sandcastle getting to 100 pages was just a good excuse to do so! The reason I made a new thread instead of just editing the old one is that I didn't want to trample all over Geop's post. That wouldn't be polite, in my opinion. 
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Sep 14, 2016 11:52
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Fedule posted:I don't know, the old sandcastle was pretty good. What does this one being to the table, Jordan? It doesn't even have a scarecam! How can I get the most out of it without one?!
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Sep 14, 2016 12:00
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kirbysuperstar posted:It doesn't even have a scarecam! How can I get the most out of it without one?! Loud keyboard clacking and mouse thumping.
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Sep 14, 2016 12:01
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Wooo new sandcastle thread quick everyone post your terrible facecam videos! Seriously though, I like the new write up. Nice and cleaned up.
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Sep 14, 2016 12:20
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This is the 8th sandcastle type thread, for those keeping track.
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Sep 14, 2016 12:32
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And we have become exceedingly bad at burning them down.
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Sep 14, 2016 13:18
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Time to prep my Super Mario 64 SSLP test post.
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Sep 14, 2016 13:20
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baldurk posted:This is the 8th sandcastle type thread, for those keeping track. Oh god! people used to reserve LPs? It was heavily discouraged to have an LP of a game that already had an LP? It's interesting to see the historical origins of some of the worse sentiments that can be found in this subforum. I'm still unsure as to what the reasoning for that was. I guess on SA the LP screamed "FIRST!" not the commenter. Now we have a guideline that tells people to not be dicks about the nth LP of a game. It's great to see how far we've come. This is the Let's Play Sandcastle, in here we talk about the Let's Play Sandcastles.
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Sep 14, 2016 15:46
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IGgy IGsen posted:Oh god! people used to reserve LPs? It was heavily discouraged to have an LP of a game that already had an LP? It's interesting to see the historical origins of some of the worse sentiments that can be found in this subforum. I'm still unsure as to what the reasoning for that was. I guess on SA the LP screamed "FIRST!" not the commenter. Now we have a guideline that tells people to not be dicks about the nth LP of a game. It's great to see how far we've come. Thank god for the 3 month rule if that was how it all used to work. Can you imagine if the Archives was filled with day one reactionary shlock?
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Sep 14, 2016 15:49
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'Twas a wild, bloody time. Mods had to be quick on the draw and quicker on the law.
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Sep 14, 2016 16:07
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baldurk posted:This is the 8th sandcastle type thread, for those keeping track. Really gives you (well, me, a 2015 registration) context for how and why the rules that were... were 
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Sep 14, 2016 16:19
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Mega64 posted:Time to prep my Super Mario 64 SSLP test post. The Half-Life 2 SSLP is a work of art and I will fight anyone who says otherwise 
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Sep 14, 2016 16:21
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Alexeythegreat posted:Really gives you (well, me, a 2015 registration) context for how and why the rules that were... were Yeah. I'm glad the subforum is a lot more chill compared to then, and there's not really a need for some of those rules now.
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Sep 14, 2016 16:35
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I recently mentioned to Sethur that I like to think that the relaxation on repeat LPs was at least partially the result of his Psychonauts LP causing three, possibly more, subsequent attempts to get crushed in the Sandcastle.
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Sep 14, 2016 16:55
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Rappaport posted:The Half-Life 2 SSLP is a work of art and I will fight anyone who says otherwise HL2 posted:haha wow this is taking a long time for it to get to the place it is going to. Definitely art. Not best practice, but definitely art. I could stare at it for days.
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Sep 14, 2016 17:05
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Cathode Raymond posted:Definitely art. Not best practice, but definitely art. I could stare at it for days. The smudges all over the screen really makes it
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Sep 14, 2016 17:16
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I think the best touch is that hideous plushie. No matter what horrors on the sreen, one only needs to look up to face worse.
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Sep 14, 2016 17:26
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DreamShipWrecked posted:Thank god for the 3 month rule if that was how it all used to work. Can you imagine if the Archives was filled with day one reactionary shlock? As if anyone making an LP that quickly was going to finish them.
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Sep 14, 2016 19:11
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RareAcumen posted:As if anyone making an LP that quickly was going to finish them. Is this a challenge?
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Sep 14, 2016 19:16
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Alexeythegreat posted:Is this a challenge? I mean back then, when Dark Souls or whatever was new in 2009. Just the people who're looking to get that sweet new game viewcount and nothing else.
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Sep 14, 2016 19:58
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Now that there's a new thread up, might I suggest editing the OP to include links to the sticked threads that have gone up in the time since the last Sandcastle thread was posted, like the New LP Announcement thread, the Stream thread, and the Co-Commentary catalog thread?
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Sep 14, 2016 20:09
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I remember when the three month rule was still the six month rule. But yeah, the overall atmosphere at the time was pretty restricting and caused some possibly great LPs to simply not happen. I'm definitely happier with how the forum is now. e: The SM64 SSLP joke reminded me that a few years ago I did a test SSLP update for SMB3, part as a laugh, part to see if I could pull it off, part to encourage people to get more creative and goofy with LP premises. Mega64 fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Sep 14, 2016 |
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Sep 14, 2016 20:47
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IGgy IGsen posted:Oh god! people used to reserve LPs? It was heavily discouraged to have an LP of a game that already had an LP? It's interesting to see the historical origins of some of the worse sentiments that can be found in this subforum. I'm still unsure as to what the reasoning for that was. I guess on SA the LP screamed "FIRST!" not the commenter. Now we have a guideline that tells people to not be dicks about the nth LP of a game. It's great to see how far we've come. I have to wonder why that was even a thing to begin with. Was it a matter of LPer ego where posting a thread for a game that was done already implied that the first LP wasn't good enough; or was it a way to force a variety of content so that it wouldn't be like YouTube where at that time every LPer had their own Mario World LP?
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Sep 14, 2016 20:59
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It was more like 'this has already been done, nobody's going to care' which was probably more accurate at the time when the overall audience was smaller and more static. http://polsy.org.uk/lp/reservations.txt I'm sure Spirit Armor will come back for Sakura Wars 2, 3, 4 and 5 someday
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Sep 14, 2016 22:49
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nine-gear crow posted:Now that there's a new thread up, might I suggest editing the OP to include links to the sticked threads that have gone up in the time since the last Sandcastle thread was posted, like the New LP Announcement thread, the Stream thread, and the Co-Commentary catalog thread? Also the casual lps thread!
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Sep 14, 2016 23:01
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Mega64 posted:But yeah, the overall atmosphere at the time was pretty restricting and caused some possibly great LPs to simply not happen.  because my commentary wasn't good enough or we didn't need another LP of Saints Row 2 or Sleeping Dogs.  Now that things are more relaxed around here, I actually managed to make a thread and keep it going. I'm still not entirely convinced my commentary is good enough, but since people seem to be enjoying the videos I guess it doesn't matter what I think.
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Sep 14, 2016 23:03
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LPs are, like many things, improved through practice so expecting people to be great right off the bat is a bit crazy. Someday I hope to transcend LP shitposting and start LP regular posting
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Sep 14, 2016 23:16
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Title: The closest thing we'll get to HL3 - Let's Play Metro: Last Light Привет, товарищи! Welcome to   Metro: Last Light is the sequel to 2010' s Metro 2033. If you haven't played Metro 2033, you should check pannycakes's and ApocalypseToast's LP's. I'll be providing a short summary of the first game's events that should be enough to get you up to speed, but 2033 is a great game and you may miss out on some of the smaller details and returning characters, so I suggest you go watch them. I'll wait a bit. All Done? Wait, what do you mean  ? Argh, ok, let's ask Wikipedia:Previously, on Metro 2033 posted:Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter developed by 4A Games and published by THQ. The story is based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel of the same name, and is set in the ruins of Moscow following a nuclear war, where the survivors are forced to live in underground metro tunnels. Players control Artyom, a man who must defeat an evil mutant race known as the Dark Ones. To be quite honest, I didn't like Metro 2033 when I first played it. It had a great premise and a fantastic moody setting, but the enemies were bullet spongy as hell and came in swarms, ammo was scarce and you were likely to end up using your Military-grade ammo (the game's currency) just to shoot monsters, which ended up screwing you in the long run. There was a stealth mechanic in place that helped you get through a lot of the human-populated levels, but since the game never told you you could just stealth sections, you ended up fighting your way out. A lot of people recommended playing it in Ranger Mode, because it made bullets waaaay more lethal, which ended up having the side effect of making the game easier since you ended up saving ammo. There was also a Karma system which influenced the game's ending, but it relied on stuff such as "play every balalaika and musical instrument in the game" asides from easier to spot decisions like not shooting the Dark One in the face, and it ended up having causing most people to miss out on the game's Good Ending, so much that the Ranger Ending -where you blow up the Dark Ones- is the canonical ending to 2033, since that's what most people got. The Karma system makes a return in Last Light, and we'll be aiming for the Good Ending. Please note I said "aiming for"; the karma system is a bit twitchy, but since I'm planning on showing off conversations and grabbing all the notes I'm fairly confident we'll get it. I'll be explaining how it works as we run into the positive and negative karma triggers. Depending on how much backtracking I have to do I may do a bonus video showing off the different results for the major decisions in the game, and the other ending. I got Last Light with a GFX card, installed it to give said card a test ride and ended up loving it. The game is more accessible, stealth is easier (a lot easier, bordering on cheap if you abuse it), and it looks and sounds amazing. So grab a drink, dim the lights, put on your headphones, and come explore post-nuclear Moscow with Artyom.  Why are you playing this and not Redux? Metro Redux is a remake of both 2033 and LL in a slightly modified LL engine. As such, there really isn't much difference between the base game and Redux; if you never played either game you'll want Redux, but if you already have a copy of LL you're set. 2033 gains the most from this remake, so if you tried 2033 and found it a bit janky or too difficult you may want to give 2033 Redux a try. Update Schedule? I'll try and update once a week, probably on Mondays. I'm planning on doing one video per chapter, so depending on their length I may do 2 in the same video. Jesus H. Christ you suck at FPSs. That's not a question. Also, yes. Spoilers? Discussing 2033's events is ok, but let's keep the thread spoiler-free regarding not only the story but setpieces and locations as well. Yes, that means not even in spoiler tags.    (Both link to the same video for now). Edmond Dantes fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Sep 15, 2016 |
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Sep 15, 2016 00:14
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Fish Noise posted:I recently mentioned to Sethur that I like to think that the relaxation on repeat LPs was at least partially the result of his Psychonauts LP causing three, possibly more, subsequent attempts to get crushed in the Sandcastle. To be fair, that would have been a difficult act to follow and I pity anyone who tried. I think the old "reservation/one LP per game" thing was from before LP was a subforum, when the LP threads were just posted in the main Games forum. As it became more popular, the forum started getting saturated with LP threads, which is why they eventually broke off into a subforum. There's also a general "one thread per topic" rule across the forums that's excepted in LP specifically because multiple LPs of the same game are allowed, so it was either "one LP per game" or "everyone posts their LP in one thread and nobody can follow any of them". Admittedly, I wasn't a member back then and could only read when the paywall was down, so I'm hardly an insider. But it's neat to look back and see how LP has evolved on the forum while it grew in popularity elsewhere.
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Sep 15, 2016 00:49
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Edmond Dantes posted::russia: The video quality is pretty good, although I would probably increase the size of your subtitles quite a bit. They are very small compared to the size of the rest of the video.
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Sep 15, 2016 01:47
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DreamShipWrecked posted:The video quality is pretty good, although I would probably increase the size of your subtitles quite a bit. They are very small compared to the size of the rest of the video. Yeah, noticed that when I stepped back from the monitor for a bit; they're currently at 36 points size, I made a mockup with 48 and 52 points: 36 (current)  48  52 
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Sep 15, 2016 03:06
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36 is pretty difficult to read, while 48 is the best choice in readability vs. not filling up the entire screen.
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Sep 15, 2016 03:14
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I wouldn't turn my nose up at the 52 or even bigger, personally. The easier your subtitles are to glance at and quickly read the less time they need to be on the screen, and Metro isn't a visually noisy game anyways
CuddleCryptid fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Sep 15, 2016 |
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Sep 15, 2016 03:33
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Edmond Dantes posted:Glukhovsky'ws Proofread in general, you have a lot of stuff like "waaaaaaaay lethal" (omitting the "more") in there.
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Sep 15, 2016 06:38
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Xander77 posted:Huh. Serious question - how do you copy-paste wikipedia text in a way that introduces spelling errors? Thanks. I have no idea how the 'ws got there to be honest. The rest can be explained by me being bad at English (second language), or at least not practising enough writing lately. I corrected the most glaring errors (at least the ones I found). Here's a new version of the video with the bigger font size and (hopefully) somewhat better video quality, I've been experimenting with encoders. I also updated the test post to correct those mistakes and try out a new header image. http://polsy.org.uk/play/yt/?vurl=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FteaUhnntHP0
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Sep 15, 2016 23:10
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nine-gear crow posted:Now that there's a new thread up, might I suggest editing the OP to include links to the sticked threads that have gone up in the time since the last Sandcastle thread was posted, like the New LP Announcement thread, the Stream thread, and the Co-Commentary catalog thread? Sure! I'll take care of that in a bit.
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Sep 16, 2016 08:20
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