The Sandcastle - Let's Play Discussion and Drama (Archive info in OP!)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Sandcastle - Let's Play Discussion and Drama (Archive info in OP!)

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Danaru: Jun 5, 2012; 何 ??

JordanKai posted:

[*]Don't post an interest check. If you don't know what that is, read this whole post.

# ? May 7, 2021 13:50

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# ? Jun 2, 2024 08:30

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

Thanks, I read the wrong OP. Fwiw, the rules post has a suggestion (from 4 years ago now but hey) to run stuff by the sandcastle to see if there�s interest.

# ? May 7, 2021 14:26

Rigged Death Trap: Feb 13, 2012; BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

If you dont think it deserves its own thread you can go to the Romhack Thread.

But In general the advice for LPs is :justpost:

, else use a megathread like romhacks/casual.

Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 15:15 on May 7, 2021

# ? May 7, 2021 14:56

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

Cant Ride A Bus posted:

Thanks, I read the wrong OP. Fwiw, the rules post has a suggestion (from 4 years ago now but hey) to run stuff by the sandcastle to see if there�s interest.

In retrospect, I can see how you might think that on a quick read, but that's not what we mean by that. What we mean is to post a test post (a typical update or video) for feedback on style, presentation, or other non-technical aspects, not to ask if people are interested.

I did notice the Sandcastle OP links an old version of the LP Rules. We should probably amend that.

# ? May 7, 2021 15:32

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

Fedule posted:

In retrospect, I can see how you might think that on a quick read, but that's not what we mean by that. What we mean is to post a test post (a typical update or video) for feedback on style, presentation, or other non-technical aspects, not to ask if people are interested.

I did notice the Sandcastle OP links an old version of the LP Rules. We should probably amend that.

That make a lot of sense, now that I've read the sandcastle OP. Thanks!

Rigged Death Trap posted:

If you dont think it deserves its own thread you can go to the Romhack Thread.

But In general the advice for LPs is , else use a megathread like romhacks/casual.

I'll definitely check that thread out and see if it would be a better fit there. It's all going to be phoneposting so I'm not sure how much of a nightmare Thread management would be with that.

# ? May 7, 2021 15:43

Quackles: Aug 11, 2018; Pixels of Light.

Part of the purpose of making a test post is that it's as much a test to your process of episode creation and presentation as anything else. If there are any obvious pitfalls to LPing your game, you'll probably realize them while putting the test update together.

# ? May 7, 2021 18:27

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

I think I figured out how to do a test post, and how I'll overcome the hurdles of playing on my phone & uploading images in a size that's not horrible for readers.
Let's Play Pokemon Pyrite! (A harder Crystal romhack)

Thanks for all your help, everyone!
E: Any constructive criticism is very welcome, I haven't done anything like this before and want to make this as good as possible for anyone who decides to read it.

# ? May 7, 2021 20:08

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

All the images in the test post seem to be "timg" except for the last one. That last one looks like a fine image size to me, no need to "timg" the rest of the images.

e: Looking into it, all your screenshots seem to have the same width but slightly different heights. How are you capturing the footage and taking the screenshots? Even stuck on a phone I'd guess there's ways to get consistent image sizes. There's probably an easier process to do what you're currently doing, so if you can elaborate your process then we can help streamline it and thus make things easier for you hopefully.

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 20:29 on May 7, 2021

# ? May 7, 2021 20:23

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

Mega64 posted:

All the images in the test post seem to be "timg" except for the last one. That last one looks like a fine image size to me, no need to "timg" the rest of the images.

They are, I wasn�t sure how large the images were going to translate to from my phone to the forums but if it isn�t too large I can definitely get rid of the timg

# ? May 7, 2021 20:28

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Cant Ride A Bus posted:

They are, I wasn�t sure how large the images were going to translate to from my phone to the forums but if it isn�t too large I can definitely get rid of the timg

That size seems fine for me, and the width is short enough to fit the archive, so I'd go with regular img tags (timg are generally a pain in the rear end to deal with in LP's anyway). Also I updated my previous post to try to help your process a bit.

# ? May 7, 2021 20:34

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

I'm screenshotting on my phone and then cropping the image down to just the game screen, which is easier when it's all one color but occasionally when there's a black background on the screen it's harder to crop to the same size. After I crop everything I just upload it to imgur and get the links from there. I can probably get it all the same size if I take a little more time with each one.

# ? May 7, 2021 20:40

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

I wouldn't worry about getting exact sizes that much, most people won't notice and I only noticed because I was checking random screenshots to see what's going on.

I'm not familiar with doing SSLPs via phone so other people may have good ideas on how to streamline things to make it easier on you (I don't know of a good phone equivalent of Irfanview for instance) but otherwise I think screenshot-wise you're fine once you lose the "timg" tags. They don't have to be perfect, especially if most people won't notice, as long as they're easy to see.

# ? May 7, 2021 20:47

Cant Ride A Bus: Apr 9, 2012; "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"

Mega64 posted:

I wouldn't worry about getting exact sizes that much, most people won't notice and I only noticed because I was checking random screenshots to see what's going on.

I'm not familiar with doing SSLPs via phone so other people may have good ideas on how to streamline things to make it easier on you (I don't know of a good phone equivalent of Irfanview for instance) but otherwise I think screenshot-wise you're fine once you lose the "timg" tags. They don't have to be perfect, especially if most people won't notice, as long as they're easy to see.

Awesome, thank you!

# ? May 7, 2021 20:52

Falconier111: Jul 18, 2012; S T A R M E T A L C A S T E

Rigged Death Trap posted:

If you dont think it deserves its own thread you can go to the Romhack Thread.

But In general the advice for LPs is , else use a megathread like romhacks/casual.

On that note, is there a casual megathread active right now? I didn�t see one, but my eyes might just be skipping over it.

# ? May 9, 2021 00:11

Artix: Apr 26, 2010; He's finally back, to kick some tail! And this time, he's goin' to jail!

Casual thread is here.

# ? May 9, 2021 00:13

limeicebreakers: May 1, 2017

Hey guys, I made the intro post + first two posts for my Higurashi LP here. Let me know what you think. Are the images too hard to read/hard on the eyes in any way?

I'll make a better banner for story chapters later.

# ? May 19, 2021 22:20

Psycho Knight: Jan 19, 2017; "Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

limeicebreakers posted:

Hey guys, I made the intro post + first two posts for my Higurashi LP here. Let me know what you think. Are the images too hard to read/hard on the eyes in any way?

I'll make a better banner for story chapters later.

I think it looks fine. Are you resizing the images by any chance? I noticed that the width is 898. Does the game run in any resolution sizes that already have the width below 900? Something like 640x480 or 800x600? I find that it can save you some work if the game is able to just run at sub 900 resolutions. I don't think the quality would take much of a hit no matter how you do it (since it looks like very clear and sharp anime art), but it could cut out a step if you can set it up properly. That said, if you run it through batch processing to compress the file sizes already, then it wouldn't really lighten your workload at all.

Other than that (and this is a personal nitpick), I don't think your personal comments stand out enough in comparison to narration. I'm fond of using Bold for my personal interjections, just as an example. I find it pops more.

P.S. You are a brave person for deciding to use emotion portraits. I'm very close to swearing off of them for good.

Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 22:42 on May 19, 2021

# ? May 19, 2021 22:36

limeicebreakers: May 1, 2017

Psycho Knight posted:

I think it looks fine. Are you resizing the images by any chance? I noticed that the width is 898. Does the game run in any resolution sizes that already have the width below 900? Something like 640x480 or 800x600? I find that it can save you some work if the game is able to just run at sub 900 resolutions. I don't think the quality would take much of a hit no matter how you do it (since it looks like very clear and sharp anime art), but it could cut out a step if you can set it up properly. That said, if you run it through batch processing to compress the file sizes already, then it wouldn't really lighten your workload at all.

Other than that (and this is a personal nitpick), I don't think your personal comments stand out enough in comparison to narration. I'm fond of using Bold for my personal interjections, just as an example. I find it pops more.

P.S. You are a brave person for deciding to use emotion portraits. I'm very close to swearing off of them for good.

Thanks for the feedback! Yep, the wonky image size is because I was resizing a larger resolution. When I started taking screens I was really worried that if I used a smaller resolution that people wouldn't be able to read the text, so I started with 1920x1080 and batch resized/compressed them. The screens look kind of 'fuzzy' due to that IMO so it's been bugging me.

It's true, the italics don't stand out very much. I feel like bold stands out too much, though, especially since I won't be writing that much commentary in the first place (and pretty much none of it is very important). Maybe I can try underlining?

The emotion portraits are unfortunately necessary in this game, unless I want my characters screaming bloody murder while looking like

There's a program to expedite it linked in the OP, at least.

limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 23:15 on May 19, 2021

# ? May 19, 2021 23:11

Psycho Knight: Jan 19, 2017; "Being a fangame and not bound to a rating, Pokemon Reborn is able to expand more on topics such as death and the extreme dangers Pokemon could pose. These topics...are treated with the respect such a subject deserves."

Let's throw a Medicham into a volcano and make it give the T2 thumbs up!

limeicebreakers posted:

Thanks for the feedback! Yep, the wonky image size is because I was resizing a larger resolution. When I started taking screens I was really worried that if I used a smaller resolution that people wouldn't be able to read the text, so I started with 1920x1080 and batch resized/compressed them. The screens look kind of 'fuzzy' due to that IMO so it's been bugging me.

It's true, the italics don't stand out very much. I feel like bold stands out too much, though, especially since I won't be writing that much commentary in the first place (and pretty much none of it is very important). Maybe I can try underlining?

The emotion portraits are unfortunately necessary in this game, unless I want my characters screaming bloody murder while looking like , There's a program to expedite it linked in the OP, at least.

If you are compressing them anyway, then resizing doesn't really involve any extra effort. I just threw it out as a suggestion because I've dealt with that issue before and it can really ruin image quality on 3D stuff. I find good quality artwork tends to suffer less from it, though.

Like I said, it's a personal thing. I'm just giving some input, but ultimately it will be up to you and the people following your LP to let you know how well or poorly it's working. I've gotten a complaint or two about using bold before, but I also have a habit of interjecting a lot in LPs.

Oh, it definitely looks really nice when you have the ability to implement. No arguments there. I just find from personal experience that it's a nightmare to set up and keep track of.

# ? May 19, 2021 23:23

Admiral H. Curtiss: May 11, 2010; I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.

I am very disappointed you went with the PS3 art instead of the original one, especially after you correctly identified it as superior, but I understand.

A few things that might be worth including/changing in the OP:
- You use 'Mangagamer' and 'original' somewhat interchangeably, which is not really correct. Ignoring the fact that Mangagamer is still the publisher for the Steam/GOG version, the first officially published English version of the game already had significant audio changes compared to the Japanese original, so they should be treated as two different things. (The music you're using in the video is the JP original, for the record.)
- It should be noted that playing the game with original art and audio is less daunting than you make it appear. When the first six arcs were released on Steam and GOG they did feature the original audio (...mostly, but it's good enough if you want to avoid modding stuff), which was eventually patched out due to what I assume were licensing problems. They also to this day have an option in the settings to use the original art. If you buy these on GOG you can use GOG Galaxy to 'downgrade' the updated version to the original one quite easily. This does not apply to the last two arcs, but the Answer Arcs don't have a lot of audio changes anyway so it's not a huge deal.
- You probably should increase the prominence of the spoiler warning and put it right at the top. It may also be prudent to provide a read-along discord channel or similar for people who are familiar (like Umineko did), though I suppose you may want to determine if you'll even have a big enough audience for that.
- You may want to run a search-replace for � -> ', the smart quote looks unusual, at least on the test poster.

Otherwise, looks good to me. I hope you realize what you're getting into here, but godspeed to you nontheless.

# ? May 20, 2021 04:32

limeicebreakers: May 1, 2017

Admiral H. Curtiss posted:

I am very disappointed you went with the PS3 art instead of the original one, especially after you correctly identified it as superior, but I understand.

A few things that might be worth including/changing in the OP:
- You use 'Mangagamer' and 'original' somewhat interchangeably, which is not really correct. Ignoring the fact that Mangagamer is still the publisher for the Steam/GOG version, the first officially published English version of the game already had significant audio changes compared to the Japanese original, so they should be treated as two different things. (The music you're using in the video is the JP original, for the record.)
- It should be noted that playing the game with original art and audio is less daunting than you make it appear. When the first six arcs were released on Steam and GOG they did feature the original audio (...mostly, but it's good enough if you want to avoid modding stuff), which was eventually patched out due to what I assume were licensing problems. They also to this day have an option in the settings to use the original art. If you buy these on GOG you can use GOG Galaxy to 'downgrade' the updated version to the original one quite easily. This does not apply to the last two arcs, but the Answer Arcs don't have a lot of audio changes anyway so it's not a huge deal.
- You probably should increase the prominence of the spoiler warning and put it right at the top. It may also be prudent to provide a read-along discord channel or similar for people who are familiar (like Umineko did), though I suppose you may want to determine if you'll even have a big enough audience for that.
- You may want to run a search-replace for ’ -> ', the smart quote looks unusual, at least on the test poster.

Otherwise, looks good to me. I hope you realize what you're getting into here, but godspeed to you nontheless.

I had no idea about GOG at all somehow, thanks for the info! I found the original sprite toggle in Steam a bit after the OP and forgot to include it. I'll also edit in the corrections, and move up the spoiler warning. I doubt the audience will be large enough to warrant a Discord server, but in any case that's a bridge we can cross when we get there.

# ? May 20, 2021 18:45

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

I meant to do this yesterday on the anniversary but forgot, so, one day late;

Since not only has LP not collapsed because of allowing LPers to mention they take donations, but in fact we have not received a single complaint or had to intervene a single time because of donations, we're calling this trial a success and this will now just be how things work.

We also figured LP hasn't done a mod feedback thread yet (outside of occasionally talking about stuff in this here Sandcastle) so we opened one up for any and all to avail of.

# ? May 20, 2021 21:40

DKII: Oct 21, 2010

I'm going to try and suffer through Famicom Wars for everyone.

Famicom Wars - OP / Intro

Famicom Wars - Partial First Update

# ? May 25, 2021 03:50

vilkacis: Feb 16, 2011

DKII posted:

I'm going to try and suffer through Famicom Wars for everyone.

Looks good! Properly sized images, gifs for moving bits, informative commentary. I'd say you're good to :justpost:

# ? May 25, 2021 10:05

FeyerbrandX: Oct 9, 2012

Maybe a flashing lights warning at the very top of the OP.

# ? May 26, 2021 01:54

my dad: Oct 17, 2012; this shall be humorous

So, uh, who permitted Katawa Shoujo to be lets played on Something Awful?

# ? May 29, 2021 00:26

Fedule: Mar 27, 2010; No one left uncured.
I got you.

my dad posted:

So, uh, who permitted Katawa Shoujo to be lets played on Something Awful?

Having previously known nothing about this game except its infamous origin story, I had a similar reaction on first seeing that thread, but after reading the thread OP and some of the updates, and especially considering the perspective the LPer is providing on the game's handling of disability, we're inclined to let it run. The thread has run without incident so far.

# ? May 29, 2021 02:44

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

IT'S NOT POKEMON, MOM! GAWD! - Let's Play Nexomon: Extinction posted:

Pokemon. A franchise aimed at children that focuses on collecting, battling, and trading fictional monsters.

Pokemon released on September of 1998, five years after I was born. The video game launched a multimillionaire dollar franchise that expanded and maintained a presence in video games, toys, TV, movies, and other miscellaneous items. Borrowing mechanics from the practically unknown-at-the-time Shin Megami Tensei series, Pokemon managed to turn the "Demon Collecting" system of SMT into a kid friendly format that started, what your mother's news reporter called, "Poke-mania" worldwide. Despite its titanic success, there were few imitators. There were always games that occasionally used "monster collecting mechanics" but they were rarely ever "Pokemon's style" of mechanics." While Pokemon's closest and biggest two contemporaries in the niche genre - Shin Megami Tensei and Digimon - played with mimicking the exact nature of Pokemon's mechanics, these competing franchises either did so in spin-offs or dropped the idea entirely after a single entry, soon returning to their normal style of monster battling mechanics. Pokemon, for much of its 23 year existence, was the only place to play Pokemon-style games.

23 years is a long time. That's long enough for, say, a pre-school boy to become a depressed woman with a poo poo career. Uh, don't ask why I used that example. Anyway, Pokemon had a dilemma. Would they grow with their audience or would they continue to cater to children, hoping that their old fans would stick around for the ride? Gamefreak, Pokemon's creator, decided on the later. The games not only continued to cater to children, but even further eased some of the difficulty of the earlier titles. Pokemon fans grew discontent and sought to soothe their sorrows with the plethora of Pokemon fan games. However, Gamefreak eventually went after many prominent fan games using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, in the United States, and similar laws abroad. While the internet preserved the games, the action left a sour taste in the mouths of many fan creators. After the release of the controversial "Pokemon: Sword & Shield," many of these fan creators turned their attention away from Pokemon and to their own projects.

There were many titles released and still set to be released in the now expansive "Monster Taming" or, if you're the Nintendo Switch, "Creature Collecting" genre. Some notable ones are "Monster's Crown," "Kindred Fates," "Monster Sanctuary," "Micromon," "Coramon," "TemTem", "Cassette Beasts", and more.

Today, we will be taken an extensive look at Nexomon: Extinction.

Of the many creature collection games on the market, Nexomon is one that rides closest to mimicking Pokemon's mechanics. The game focuses on:

Collecting 381 Nexomon using Nexotraps

Using your tamed Nexomon to battle other Nexomon

Training Nexomon so they evolve down their set-evolutionary lines

Teaching them new moves, while being limited to a strict "4 Move Limit"
In many ways, the DNA of Pokemon's gameplay is alive and well in Nexomon. Then, you may ask: why would you play it over Pokemon? Well, there in lies what Nexomon does with those mechanics. Unlike Pokemon, Nexomon has a fun, engaging main plot that deviates greatly from the "wanna be the very best" plot of your typical Pokemon game. Furthermore, Nexomon: Extinction, in particular, focuses on expanding some of Pokemon's dynamics with a vibrant open world, some non-linearity to exploration, an interesting "level scaling mechanic" which helps keep the game challenging throughout, and some other tweaks that we will explore. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of multiplayer. I, personally, almost never played Pokemon multiplayer because I was a lonely loser, but this is a sorely lacked omission to many gamers. It does, however, make up for it with Custom Mode, a mechanic that should honestly be a standard in the genre. Custom Mode comes with a built-in Nuzzlocke, Randomizer, and other ways to tweak the game for replayability.

For this Let's Play, my Friend and I will be delving into the world of Nexomon: Extinction. My friend knows nothing about Nexomon and is essentially coming in on my recommendation. I, however, have beaten the game and toyed around in Custom Mode.

There are some things to discuss:

No spoilers: Nexomon actually has a plot so spoilers will matter.

Nexomon: Extinction is a sequel and does have spoilers for the original game. I've played a bit of the original and I have to agree with the creator's words when he told me to "lower my expectations" when I mentioned I might go back and play it. The original isn't bad, but it really isn't great either and I don't feel like Let's Playing it. Heck, I didn't even complete it.

My friend uses they/them and I use she/her. Please be mindful of that.

My schedule is opening up, but my friend's might be closing down so there might be some room for guest commentators.

All grinding and such will likely be cut out or done off-screen.

Even though we do have it unlocked, we will not be using Custom Mode. That will be saved for a bonus video. Custom Mode, in my experience, doesn't show the game in its intended manner and tends to either be too easy or too hard.
This will be a video let's play with voice. We will look into subtitles, but currently are unsure how to get that set up.

How does this look for an intro? I was supposed to have a test video recorded last night but issues came up so I thought I'd show this off for now to see if it's good.

Covok fucked around with this message at 21:40 on May 29, 2021

# ? May 29, 2021 15:49

Zyxyz: Mar 30, 2010; Buglord

Covok posted:

How does this look for an intro? I was supposed to have a test video recorded last night but issues came up so I thought I'd show this off for now to see if it's good.

JordanKai posted:

[*]Don't post an interest check. If you don't know what that is, read this whole post.

# ? May 29, 2021 16:16

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

An OP is not an interest check.

It looks fine, but OPs very rarely have major issues.

# ? May 29, 2021 16:17

TooMuchAbstraction: Oct 14, 2012; I spent four years making
Waves of Steel
Hell yes I'm going to turn my avatar into an ad for it.; Fun Shoe

Yeah, ideally you post a first update. Not only will this let us comment on the actual LP, it'll give you a chance to practice your workflow and performance.

# ? May 29, 2021 16:46

Danaru: Jun 5, 2012; 何 ??

I'd recommend recording ten minutes or so using the workflow you'll use for the LP/commentary, just so people can point out any pitfalls or improvements you can make. It doesn't have to be from the beginning, you can record from anywhere and just leave it unlisted as an episode 0 or something. Without a test video, we won't be able to help much

# ? May 29, 2021 17:07

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Danaru posted:

I'd recommend recording ten minutes or so using the workflow you'll use for the LP/commentary, just so people can point out any pitfalls or improvements you can make. It doesn't have to be from the beginning, you can record from anywhere and just leave it unlisted as an episode 0 or something. Without a test video, we won't be able to help much

We will see. We were supposed to have that last night, but my friend's life went to poo poo. Decided to post the OP for now. They should be available today. Hopefully. And we can show off what we got so far.

Edit: First episode recorded. I'll post it once its done rendering and uploaded.

Covok fucked around with this message at 22:01 on May 29, 2021

# ? May 29, 2021 17:16

Sally: Jan 9, 2007; Don't post Small Dash!

ultrafilter posted:

An OP is not an interest check.

It looks fine, but OPs very rarely have major issues.

True, but there's not much to give feedback on without a test update. As you say, OPs rarely have major issues. I echo Danaru's suggestion, Covok. If you are able to find time to post an update, you could get some proper feedback.

# ? May 29, 2021 18:28

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

IT'S NOT POKEMON, MOM! GAWD! - Let's Play Nexomon: Extinction posted:

Pokemon. A franchise aimed at children that focuses on collecting, battling, and trading fictional monsters.

Pokemon released on September of 1998, five years after I was born. The video game launched a multimillionaire dollar franchise that expanded and maintained a presence in video games, toys, TV, movies, and other miscellaneous items. Borrowing mechanics from the practically unknown-at-the-time Shin Megami Tensei series, Pokemon managed to turn the "Demon Collecting" system of SMT into a kid friendly format that started, what your mother's news reporter called, "Poke-mania" worldwide. Despite its titanic success, there were few imitators. There were always games that occasionally used "monster collecting mechanics" but they were rarely ever "Pokemon's style" of mechanics." While Pokemon's closest and biggest two contemporaries in the niche genre - Shin Megami Tensei and Digimon - played with mimicking the exact nature of Pokemon's mechanics, these competing franchises either did so in spin-offs or dropped the idea entirely after a single entry, soon returning to their normal style of monster battling mechanics. Pokemon, for much of its 23 year existence, was the only place to play Pokemon-style games.

23 years is a long time. That's long enough for, say, a pre-school boy to become a depressed woman with a poo poo career. Uh, don't ask why I used that example. Anyway, Pokemon had a dilemma. Would they grow with their audience or would they continue to cater to children, hoping that their old fans would stick around for the ride? Gamefreak, Pokemon's creator, decided on the later. The games not only continued to cater to children, but even further eased some of the difficulty of the earlier titles. Pokemon fans grew discontent and sought to soothe their sorrows with the plethora of Pokemon fan games. However, Gamefreak eventually went after many prominent fan games using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, in the United States, and similar laws abroad. While the internet preserved the games, the action left a sour taste in the mouths of many fan creators. After the release of the controversial "Pokemon: Sword & Shield," many of these fan creators turned their attention away from Pokemon and to their own projects.

There were many titles released and still set to be released in the now expansive "Monster Taming" or, if you're the Nintendo Switch, "Creature Collecting" genre. Some notable ones are "Monster's Crown," "Kindred Fates," "Monster Sanctuary," "Micromon," "Coromon," "TemTem", "Cassette Beasts", and more.

Today, we will be taken an extensive look at Nexomon: Extinction.

Of the many creature collection games on the market, Nexomon is one that rides closest to mimicking Pokemon's mechanics. The game focuses on:

Collecting 381 Nexomon using Nexotraps

Using your tamed Nexomon to battle other Nexomon

Training Nexomon so they evolve down their set-evolutionary lines

Teaching them new moves, while being limited to a strict "4 Move Limit"
In many ways, the DNA of Pokemon's gameplay is alive and well in Nexomon. Then, you may ask: why would you play it over Pokemon? Well, there in lies what Nexomon does with those mechanics. Unlike Pokemon, Nexomon has a fun, engaging main plot that deviates greatly from the "wanna be the very best" plot of your typical Pokemon game. Furthermore, Nexomon: Extinction, in particular, focuses on expanding some of Pokemon's dynamics with a vibrant open world, some non-linearity to exploration, an interesting "level scaling mechanic" which helps keep the game challenging throughout, and some other tweaks that we will explore. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of multiplayer. I, personally, almost never played Pokemon multiplayer because I was a lonely loser, but this is a sorely lacked omission to many gamers. It does, however, make up for it with Custom Mode, a mechanic that should honestly be a standard in the genre. Custom Mode comes with a built-in Nuzzlocke, Randomizer, and other ways to tweak the game for replayability.

For this Let's Play, my Friend and I will be delving into the world of Nexomon: Extinction. My friend knows nothing about Nexomon and is essentially coming in on my recommendation. I, however, have beaten the game and toyed around in Custom Mode.

There are some things to discuss:

No spoilers: Nexomon actually has a plot so spoilers will matter.

Nexomon: Extinction is a sequel and does have spoilers for the original game. I've played a bit of the original and I have to agree with the creator's words when he told me to "lower my expectations" when I mentioned I might go back and play it. The original isn't bad, but it really isn't great either and I don't feel like Let's Playing it. Heck, I didn't even complete it.

My friend uses they/them and I use she/her. Please be mindful of that.

My schedule is opening up, but my friend's might be closing down so there might be some room for guest commentators.

All grinding and such will likely be cut out or done off-screen.

Even though we do have it unlocked, we will not be using Custom Mode. That will be saved for a bonus video. Custom Mode, in my experience, doesn't show the game in its intended manner and tends to either be too easy or too hard.
This will be a video let's play with voice. We will look into subtitles, but currently are unsure how to get that set up.

Episode 1: "I Live Vicariously Through My Pets"

Update 01: "I Live Vicariously Through My Pets" posted:

We start off Nexomon with a series of cutscenes. Unfortunately, this will mean that the game will start off a tad slow. It's a JRPG, after all, so there is a lot of setup before we can get into the meat of the gameplay. We go over some basic mechanics and see a bit of the battle system. Unfortunately, I did get some things wrong, which I blame on my drunken state.

For example, you can get 100% exp share with four "Synergy Core (III)" Cores or how the max each tracker can effect your catch chances is 25%, not 20%. Not to mention that VEWO Interactive is a Canadian company, not an American one. I will correct these and a few other issues at the start of the next video.

Without further ado, here is episode one:

Episode 1: "I Live Vicariously Through My Pets"

Okay, so the same as last time but with a video now. Also, I got a few things wrong in this video about the mechanics that I will correct next time.

Covok fucked around with this message at 19:49 on May 30, 2021

# ? May 30, 2021 18:34

Admiral Joeslop: Jul 8, 2010

Been thinking about a micro-LP idea. One thread, with LPs of retro games that only need 1-5 updates, kind of a random exploration of the history of games.

Current idea for voting for games: everyone votes for a console from my provided list, and a letter or numbers. Then I'll pick a game that starts with that letter from the winning console. Asking everyone to just name a game might be absolute chaos and some games wouldn't be viable, like long RPGs.

The first update will be a game I've already chosen. I did see the "Casual LP" thread linked above and my thread would be similar, just concentrated on retro stuff, with anyone able to chime in as they please.

Long rambling aside, I have two questions:

1 - Does this step on anyone's toes or go against the subforum's spirit? The Just Post spirit says no but I want to be sure.

2 - Does the voting idea sound fun or tedious? I'm fully open to other ideas and tweaks.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 20:20

Danaru: Jun 5, 2012; 何 ??

I've done a variety thread myself where we just pulled random snes roms out of a pack and stuffed them into an emulator, so while I might be biased I'm gonna go with :justpost:

on that front :v:

The voting idea sounds fun, odds are you'll wind up tweaking and improving your method as the thread goes on, so I wouldn't worry too much from the start

# ? Jun 7, 2021 20:36

IGgy IGsen: Apr 11, 2013; "If I lose I will set myself on fire."

Admiral Joeslop posted:

Been thinking about a micro-LP idea. One thread, with LPs of retro games that only need 1-5 updates, kind of a random exploration of the history of games.

Current idea for voting for games: everyone votes for a console from my provided list, and a letter or numbers. Then I'll pick a game that starts with that letter from the winning console. Asking everyone to just name a game might be absolute chaos and some games wouldn't be viable, like long RPGs.

The first update will be a game I've already chosen. I did see the "Casual LP" thread linked above and my thread would be similar, just concentrated on retro stuff, with anyone able to chime in as they please.

Long rambling aside, I have two questions:

1 - Does this step on anyone's toes or go against the subforum's spirit? The Just Post spirit says no but I want to be sure.

2 - Does the voting idea sound fun or tedious? I'm fully open to other ideas and tweaks.

1 - Nah, people have done this in the past, and in fact right now too. Most threads that did it kind of have a theme the goes beyond simply Retro Games but you shouldn't worry about stepping on anyone's toes. These days are long over, thankfully.

2 - It does not sound tedious at all and involving the crowd is always a good idea. It's hard to say ahead of time, how much engagement you'll get, though. But I'm not too worried tbh.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 20:37

Admiral Joeslop: Jul 8, 2010

Sweet, thanks. My general anxiety about it has settled so now it's time to set it up.

# ? Jun 7, 2021 20:47

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# ? Jun 2, 2024 08:30

SalTheBard: Jan 26, 2005; I forgot to post my food for USPOL Thanksgiving but that's okay too!; Fallen Rib

I'm going to do a LP of Biomutant. I did a little test run video (roughly 15 minutes or so). When I do things, I want to do them well. I would appreciate any feedback. I have already been told not to do facecam, so I will nix that going forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p80KhdME8E

# ? Jun 9, 2021 04:35

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Sandcastle - Let's Play Discussion and Drama (Archive info in OP!)

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