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I'll probably cover other unused ghosts later since we are getting to the end of the game.
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Nov 4, 2017 02:25
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PoptartsNinja posted:That's an interesting solution. I just possessed the observer with Black Crow. I remember the third solution being to just keep interrupting the summoning by knocking over the skull, either with wind or a quake outside the windmill - you need to chain several of these though so the timing was tricky. Calm/possesion seem way easier than what I ended up doing here. Avalerion fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Nov 4, 2017 |
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Nov 4, 2017 08:04
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Avalerion posted:I remember the third solution being to just keep interrupting the summoning by knocking over the skull, either with wind or a quake outside the windmill - you need to chain several of these though so the timing was tricky. Calm/possesion seem way easier than what I ended up doing here. Yeah, this is one of the better solutions, and may be the first time an inexperienced player actually notices that possessed people never have their terror increase (at least not counting the unknown loophole Arclight seems to use to continue ticking up small amounts of fear).
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Nov 4, 2017 09:31
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Is...is Earl dressed like a jockey? That's commitment to the gimmick.
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Nov 4, 2017 12:35
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Learning about the cut content certainly has me looking at this game with a new perspective. Instead of just being handed ghosts after each act, there would have been levels to unlock them in like other restless spirits, and that makes SO MUCH sense. And having another 4 or 5 levels that fleshed out the game and gave more opportunities to explore mechanics would have gone a long way toward the overall experience. It sucks that they couldn't implement all that stuff.Robindaybird posted:It's kind of hilarious in my observation playing that Nausea bar done is the best room/floor clearing power - the mortals seem to be more terrified about getting sick than being set on fire, shocked, or puppeted. As someone who is currently sick, I am confirm this is very realistic. There is no greater terror known to man than an upset tummy.  Avalerion posted:I remember the third solution being to just keep interrupting the summoning by knocking over the skull, either with wind or a quake outside the windmill - you need to chain several of these though so the timing was tricky. Calm/possesion seem way easier than what I ended up doing here. EclecticTastes posted:Yeah, this is one of the better solutions, and may be the first time an inexperienced player actually notices that possessed people never have their terror increase (at least not counting the unknown loophole Arclight seems to use to continue ticking up small amounts of fear). Yeah, if you are fast enough you can interrupt the summoning again. Possession is also another possibility. And yet another possibility is to just do nothing, and the NPC might go into the house through the back door, thus keeping them off the path. I mentioned CrossKnights in a previous video, and I really need to keep giving him credit for his videos giving me inspiration to try different things. He also used the Unearthly Calm method, and I found that to be the most effective for the video. I've been trying not to copy everything he did in his playthrough though, but there certainly are some methods I never would have considered if not for him.
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Nov 4, 2017 23:31
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Is it just me, or does Scarecrow sound a lot like Gir from Invader Zim? I kept expecting him to say "IT'S ME! I was the turkey all aloooooong!"
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Nov 5, 2017 20:27
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BioEnchanted posted:Is it just me, or does Scarecrow sound a lot like Gir from Invader Zim? I kept expecting him to say "IT'S ME! I was the turkey all aloooooong!" I haven't been able to find voice credits online but I'm hoping they will be present in the end credits. I swore Fingers was voiced by someone I recognized in another game, but I couldn't find any way to confirm it.  
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Nov 5, 2017 22:47
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And now with Windwalker, we have the last type of Vapour:
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Nov 6, 2017 02:20
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Alright, only one entry for this mission, but it's an interesting one. Wendigos: Again, another one-off class of ghost, and another unique type of Vapor. Wendigos can only be bound to outdoor fetters. Where Thunder Spirits mix elements of Banshees and Gremlins, Wendigos are more a mix of Banshees and Apparitions, with both cold and sound powers. Windwalker: The game's sole Wendigo, Windwalker bears a special distinction, in that he can be used in any mission in the game, because if you had pre-ordered Ghost Master, he would have been unlocked from the beginning. This is a big point in his favor, as his presence can spice up older missions if you want to use him. Of course, most of those missions are either focused on indoor areas or don't involve scaring people away, which limits his usefulness in replays. He has a number of cold powers available, able to freeze people in ice better than any other ghost (but don't take Bitter Cold if you train him, Frostbite does the same job, but far better, turning the map into its "cold weather" version all by itself), and able to take both Paralyze and Numb, as well, giving him more options than anyone when it comes to keeping mortals from moving. He also has access to a number of noise-based powers, and if you want to take him down a more madness-focused route, he can even learn Delusion and Mania (in which case you should forgo Cacophony, the usual better choice for the ninth band, and instead take Voice on the Wind). You can skip learning the more thematic Frozen Stiff in order to take Scared to Death, by the way, in case you want more ways to get your Sandmen into the field. Windwalker isn't the easiest ghost to deploy effectively, but if you've got mortals wandering around outside and want to scare them but good, Windwalker is a powerful choice.
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Nov 6, 2017 02:39
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   There have been some... complications with the final level, but I think I will be able to make something work that everyone will be happy with. SHOULD be wrapping this up this week.
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Nov 12, 2017 21:52
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In many ways Father Mulcahy is probably the most dangerous opponent in the game. He's great at spotting ghosts that are using powers and he can actually banish several types of weaker ghosts instantly, leaving you no time to save them. Fortunately, the size of the map pretty much kills any effectiveness he has. When he spots a ghost, he's usually so far away that he'll get distracted by something else before getting there or you'll have moved the ghost on by the time he arrives.
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Nov 12, 2017 23:38
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Wisakejak is a coyote actually, more specifically he's based on Wile E. Coyote. He is an apparently famous Trickster in terms of lore however as stories of him have purportedly been told for as long as storytelling has existed with one such story being of him selling an ocean to a vain prince, including a three year warranty against fire and theft. Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 00:05
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I actually found you could possess Father Mulcahy, which completely nullifies him as a threat - which while it's a hilarious and neat touch, it completely eliminates any challenge beyond herding all the mortals to scare them.
Robindaybird fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 00:11
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Nero Angelo posted:In many ways Father Mulcahy is probably the most dangerous opponent in the game. He's great at spotting ghosts that are using powers and he can actually banish several types of weaker ghosts instantly, leaving you no time to save them. Honestly, the only time I've ever had to be concerned about losing my ghosts has been when I was experimenting with levels. I can count the number of ghosts I've lost in this playthrough on one hand. I certainly don't mind not having to worry about the so-called opponents, but if you're trying to introduce new challenges that require more strategic thinking, "Just ignore them" is kind of a disappointing solution.
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Nov 13, 2017 00:15
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Father Mulcahy isn't too hard to scare, and some of the ghosts best-suited to the mission can trip his fears very easily, though unlike the Ghostbreakers, you don't get a chance to learn those fears earlier in the game (they're Hunted and Darkness, making your Blackout ghosts and Dragoon even more useful than usual). I also bring Scarecrow into the mission and bind him to the gate area, to get rid of the guards, so they can't prevent people from fleeing the map (I didn't see it mentioned in the video, but the soldiers by the gate, if left there, will prevent people from leaving the map and significantly reduce their fear as part of that, but a bundle of crows to the face is a pretty good way to get rid of them). Also, do note that Arclight will work just as well as the Fire Elementals when it comes to burning stuff, and he's less expensive. So, on to the final new ghost of the game! Wisakejak: Where Harriet's abilities point to a more benign, manipulation-focused set of powers, this guy leans more towards scares and Trickery. As mentioned in Harriet's overview, since he has Fool's Errand, I like to give him Wild Geese, as well, so where Harriet draws mortals in, Wisakejak sends them away. He's also got more access to real scares in general, though you need to drop gold plasm to unlock Abhorrent Aspect, without which any Trickster is just going to be second-rate at scaring. Not exactly the most exciting ghost to end on, technically you still need to unlock the Darkling for real, but I already covered him back in Blair Wisp. Since this is the final ghost overview, I guess I'll toss out a few recommendations of ghosts that are just always good to have around, if you can find a fetter for them ("best" is a tricky term in a game with variable objectives like this, but these guys are as close as you'll get to ghosts that are almost always useful): Hogwash: From the moment you unlock him, Hogwash is useful in nearly every mission for the rest of the game. Blackout is a phenomenal power, and his other electric abilities, as well as his low cost, make him one of the most useful ghosts in the game. Arclight: He's very inexpensive (as a Disturbance, he has the second-lowest plasm costs), but can produce a ton of fear, as well as possess people to get around the map. If you can find some way to get him deployed into a mission and your goal is to scare people, he's one of the best ghosts you can choose. Clatterclaws/Scarecrow: Depending on whether the mission is more indoor or outdoor, you'll almost always want to bring a Horde along. A quick blast of Legion, Creepers, or Scattered/Dense Swarm in a crowded room will build up a nice chunk of plasm and is generally a strong way to start any mission (hit the western patient room in Phantom with Legion and one patient will instantly bail, raising the minimum plasm right off the bat  ), and Hordes are very good at making mortals reconsider their decision to enter a given room or hallway. Being dirt-cheap means you can always afford to use them, and most of their scares are fairly weak without fears multiplying them, letting you build plasm without losing any mission-critical mortals.Stormtalon: As I mentioned, there is literally one mission in the game after recruiting Stormtalon in which he is not phenomenal, and even there, he's not bad. Given the indoor focus of earlier missions, using the all ghosts mod doesn't expand his usefulness too much in past replays, but he's easily the best addition to the team you get in Act 3.
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Nov 13, 2017 01:31
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Heh, every single victim in this mission is a reference to M.A.S.H.
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Nov 13, 2017 02:09
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Couple more things on Wisakejak since he's the last spirit we're going to get other than the aforementioned Darkling as well as Tricksters in general: Wisakejak's name is derived from the benevolent culture hero of the Cree tribe, somewhat ironic given that our Trickster friend in the game isn't particularly benign toward mortals compared to Harriet. Hilariously enough though, the hero in question doesn't really have a concrete spelling for his name thanks to the fact that Cree was originally being an unwritten language thus English speakers just spelled it however it sounded to them at the time and because the Cree language is spoken across a huge geographical range in both Canada and the US, resulting in it having many different dialects. I don't wanna go into the actual stories about the namesake himself since I'm not as well read on these stories though I did find a site for those interested in reading them: http://www.native-languages.org/wisakejak.htm Onto to the class itself, tricksters are a fairly common character archetype. The basic idea is that tricksters cross and often break both physical and societal rules, promoting chaos and unrest, while simultaneously bringing new knowledge and wisdom even when it takes the form of the trickster themselves being punished. As Paul Mattick said in Hotfoots of the Gods, Tricksters "...violate principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis." Both coyotes and rabbits/hares are famous for being tricksters with other famous ones being Raven, crows, foxes, Anansi the spider, Sun Wukong, and Puck. The fact that Tricksters in Ghost Master have a cartoonish appearance is actually rather appropriate given that many cartoon characters are themselves tricksters, most notably Bug Bunny whom Wile E. Coyote had the distinct misfortune of crossing paths with in at least five Looney Tunes shorts: peration: Rabbit (1952), To Hare is Human (1956), Rabbit's Feat (1960), Compressed Hare (1960), Hare-Breadth Hirry (1963) where Bugs stands in for the Road Runner whom is more famous as Coyote's comedic foil. The first four shorts are also notable for being the Coyote's only speaking major role though a character who shares his character design, Ralph Wolf, is much more talkative as a character. However while Wile E. Coyote speaks with a refined accent and is decidedly egotistical, Ralph is a working wolf who speaks with a more down-to-earth tone and is far less of a fanatic about pursuing his prey than the Coyote is, treating his efforts to steal sheep from a flock being guarded by Sam Sheepdog as a job and even exchanging pleasantries with Sam when the work shift is over. Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 03:36
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PlasticAutomaton posted:Heh, every single victim in this mission is a reference to M.A.S.H. Most of them are, but not all. Private Goldie Benjamin and Private Mary Glass are both references to the film 'Private Benjamin'. Sergeant Major Windsor Williams is a reference to the bombastic Windsor Davies who played Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the old sitcom 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'. There are a few other names in the list that I don't recognise from M.A.S.H., but I'm afraid that I'm far too lazy to go hunting to see where they're from. Edit: Not that lazy, apparently. Gunnery Sergeant Ermey is a reference to Ronald Lee Ermey, who played Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in 'Full Metal Jacket'. Nero Angelo fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Nov 13, 2017 |
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Nov 13, 2017 16:37
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    I have decided that this weekend (Saturday at 8pm EST), I will start streaming a blind playthrough of the point-and-click adventure game Deponia on Twitch. I really hope you guys can make it. https://www.twitch.tv/jpg_live 
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Nov 16, 2017 01:29
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We may be haven our last usable spirit with the Darkling, there are still some ghosts I can talk about. I already mentioned the cut Headless Horseman Azrael when I talked about the class in general but he's not the only ghost that was sadly cut from the game. So without further ado:
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Nov 16, 2017 06:15
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I finally got caught up, and we're already almost at the end. The game looks like it's pretty lacking, but I've been having fun watching you play it. Not going to be able to catch the deponia stream.  I've heard that series is kinda on the skeevy side, so good luck with it
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Nov 16, 2017 08:45
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Overall, I'd say this is fun but flawed game that would've benefited from more polish. The mortal AI I think needs some tweaks for missions that doesn't require scaring them off so herding them isn't such an exercise in frustration - I could NOT get them to cross the lake in Blair Wisp Project despite doing the exact same thing as Jamesman did - and getting them to bring items to specific areas is largely luck based. The other issue is the way cutscenes are handled, I had a ghost get exorcised due to a cutscene of someone picking up a present for X time played during a bad time, and if multiple events that'd create a cutscene happen, one gets overridden, so you can end up missing critical information. However, I think the biggest downside is the sheer cost of upgrading ghosts and the limit they placed on bringing ghosts back in replays without a mod, which encourages the player to stick with a core group of ghosts they've been playing with only bringing out other ghosts to fulfill specific puzzles, instead of experimenting. The Class of Spook'em High is an interesting puzzle, but I'm honestly not a fan of how it's set up.
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Nov 17, 2017 01:33
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Robindaybird posted:The Class of Spook'em High is an interesting puzzle, but I'm honestly not a fan of how it's set up. To be fair, it wasn't the planned final level as I mentioned in my own post and originally there wasn't a true final level for a long time.
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Nov 17, 2017 01:58
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Chimera-gui posted:To be fair, it wasn't the planned final level as I mentioned in my own post and originally there wasn't a true final level for a long time. yeah, I'm glad they did try to give the game a proper closure, as the original ending as is just leaves it hanging.
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Nov 17, 2017 02:05
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Robindaybird posted:Overall, I'd say this is fun but flawed game that would've benefited from more polish. The mortal AI I think needs some tweaks for missions that doesn't require scaring them off so herding them isn't such an exercise in frustration - I could NOT get them to cross the lake in Blair Wisp Project despite doing the exact same thing as Jamesman did - and getting them to bring items to specific areas is largely luck based. I think the game could have benefitted from having more influence on AI, or just straight-up having scripted events. As it stands, using skills that have random chance of causing certain actions to be taken makes you feel pretty helpless in a game that scores you on how fast you complete a mission (and ties score in to upgrading ghosts). The only thing that makes it frustrating and not super-frustrating, is that things usually go right after only a couple attempts, and since there is usually no hard time limit on levels, a little bit of patience is usually all you need. Sure, this makes for a game that isn't overly challenging or anything, which kinda goes against the puzzle aspects and having hostile NPCs, but like I said before, having a chill game where you can just relax and wreak havoc on hapless fools isn't too bad of an experience. For how it's the ultimate final climax to close out the game, Class of Spook'em High is ridiculously easy.
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Nov 17, 2017 02:10
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It's definitely a tough balance between making puzzles too easy and making it seem roughly too luck-oriented, especially when you're graded on time, and sometimes - the AI is just absolutely not cooperative, I feel like tying the Plasma gain to all the ways you can scare/disturb/madden mortals is better than time - which also encourages either the players to go completely hogwild on the mortals, or reward a more methodical 'pick 'em off one by one and drive them insane' gameplay.
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Nov 17, 2017 02:26
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How long after the fact was this final level added? Surely if long enough a time had passed they would collect old feedback people had about the game to give them a challenge? At least that's what i would do in the devs place in a time like this.
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Nov 17, 2017 02:29
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HOOLY BOOLY posted:How long after the fact was this final level added? Surely if long enough a time had passed they would collect old feedback people had about the game to give them a challenge? At least that's what i would do in the devs place in a time like this. The best info I can find is that the game came out in May 2003, and the company was disbanded in April 2004. A special edition of the game was apparently released in October 2003 that contained the extra level, so anywhere between May and October of that year is the best I can narrow it down. Jamesman fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Nov 17, 2017 |
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Nov 17, 2017 04:53
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Well, you'll all be glad to know that Clatterclaws is still getting work.  
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Nov 17, 2017 22:06
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It's been a day and nobody has said anything about the best reference in the game. https://youtu.be/kW_wLhYErR8 YOU PRRRRRICKS!
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Nov 17, 2017 22:38
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The biggest barrier to entry to this game is honestly just getting it running the first place, i bought it on sale on Steam years and years ago and while i don't know if it's any different now of if you had bought it through different means, but it seems like you need 2 or 3 different patches just to get the thing to run on modern machines. I enjoyed this let's play though, because i finally got to experience the game at least in part by watching!
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Nov 18, 2017 10:31
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HOOLY BOOLY posted:The biggest barrier to entry to this game is honestly just getting it running the first place, i bought it on sale on Steam years and years ago and while i don't know if it's any different now of if you had bought it through different means, but it seems like you need 2 or 3 different patches just to get the thing to run on modern machines. It really depends on operating system, I didn't have any trouble getting it to run on Windows 7, but it seems that 10 breaks a lot of older games.
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Nov 18, 2017 11:44
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I remember having to do a bit of fiddling to get it up and running on Windows 7 myself, but it wasn't that much of a hassle. Anyway, thanks for doing this Let's Play. Ghost Master has its problems, but it's a fun game and I really enjoyed watching you terrorise your way through Gravenville.
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Nov 18, 2017 12:27
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EclecticTastes posted:It really depends on operating system, I didn't have any trouble getting it to run on Windows 7, but it seems that 10 breaks a lot of older games. while I had little issue running it on 10, but I can't get it to run in Windowed mode no matter what I try, but I was a bit worried that I couldn't run it.
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Nov 18, 2017 16:33
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  And with that, we are done with the game. I hope I did this justice and created some interest in the game (and any future I might have). Remember that I'm gonna stream Deponia tonight, and hope that at least a few folks can make it there. Puzzle solving is more fun together!
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Nov 18, 2017 21:13
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As an aside, this is the mission where Black Crow's Buried Alive shines, drop him near Ramis and it will instantly eliminate her. I find it good to know how to quickly whittle down the number of Opponents. Also, the final cutscene crashing the game is just a thing that happens. I've never seen end of it, either.
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Nov 18, 2017 23:52
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EclecticTastes posted:As an aside, this is the mission where Black Crow's Buried Alive shines, drop him near Ramis and it will instantly eliminate her. I find it good to know how to quickly whittle down the number of Opponents. After finishing up this video, I loaded up GOG Galaxy to install a couple new games, and there was an update for Ghost Master. It fixed the issue for me. I thought about re-cutting the video, but like I said in the video, there isn't really anything to see. Plus, I liked my ending better.
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Nov 19, 2017 00:04
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Jamesman posted:After finishing up this video, I loaded up GOG Galaxy to install a couple new games, and there was an update for Ghost Master. It fixed the issue for me. Well, our ghosts had other matters to attend to.
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Nov 19, 2017 00:22
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Edit
Jamesman fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Nov 19, 2017 |
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Nov 19, 2017 01:28
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 02:45 |
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I'm just glad to finally have an LP of this game that didn't die after the first three levels, thanks for this my man. I was happy to provide insight on the game's lore and cut content.
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Nov 19, 2017 03:21
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