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 What's this, then? Miasmata is an exploration heavy adventure game. Action is near nonexistent, being a slower more thoughtful experience. You are Robert Hughes; A medical man made meager by the proverbial plague polluting the population. Hughes will die if he does nothing, but fortunately he knows of the research outpost on Eden Island! There he will travel to find adventure, cartography, medicines, and murder. Wow, that sounds pretty bad rear end! Who made this? The Brothers Johnson, Joe and Bob. Joe wrote the MILO engine for the game from the ground up, and... Yeah. It shows. The game took them about 4 years. Even though Miasmata has its problems, I find the details and ambiance shows the love they put in. Eden is HUGE and varied. There are at least five kinds of biomes on the island and plenty of ruins, trails, and encampments to keep a person busy. I can honestly say, after playing it a couple of times, I know there are things I haven't seen. What's the plan, man? I will lead your through the island, showing off the many medicines, but focusing on the Ephesis drugs, which improve your performance, and the three parts of the cure. Then I'll show you where to escape. The process will take a while. There's no need to rush. Along the way we'll uncover a mystery by piecing together notes, journal entries, and photographs of the previous inhabitants. I may not get all the notes, but I'll drat well try. Those notes will be linked to in the thread. Update scheduled should be about two or three times a week, with exception of the middle of March, when me and my wife will head south for a short vacation. Enough text. Lets get in the saddle and skedadle. Everyone to the boat! We're heading to Eden! 
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Mar 3, 2015 02:24
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Well color me interested.
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Mar 3, 2015 06:13
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When I first got it, I hated it, but the premise was interesting and I ended up loving the game. I haven't seen everything, but it was so much fun. Got a little annoying at the end, but otherwise great
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Mar 3, 2015 09:51
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Kinda reminds me of a cross between Far Cry 2 and Pathologic. Disappointed by the lack of pisswizards thus far though. Is there any combat or action in the game, or is it entirely wandering around, exploring and stealing plants? I noticed you saying that you can't do anything to the wildlife, so I'm guessing animal attacks aren't a thing?
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Mar 3, 2015 10:18
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I REALLY wanted to like this game, but I have horrible sense of direction and always got lost as soon as I had to travel inland. Wandering around at night for half an hour is not fun. 
Fat Samurai fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 12:55
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Kaboom Dragoon posted:Kinda reminds me of a cross between Far Cry 2 and Pathologic. Disappointed by the lack of pisswizards thus far though. I'll tell you up front, you have see almost all the mechanics of the game. There is no real combat. And I apologize for the lack of piss.
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Mar 3, 2015 13:08
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You have an amazing documentary-like voice. I actually own this game on gog but never got around to playing it so this works out great haha.
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Mar 4, 2015 18:28
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coleman francis posted:You have an amazing documentary-like voice. Thanks for saying so. I've always felt the need for a speech therapist, personally. I have a nasty habit of slurring my words and verbal type-o's. Onwards, to the swamps!  Page 14: Mental Stimulant Page 15: Clarity Tonic Page 16: Pearl-Blue Shelf Fungus Page 17: Outpost Vega Page 18: White Spiked Prairie Flower Page 19: White Bundle Prairie Flower Page 20: Herbert Gouhs' Fear Page 21: Kallas is Nationalistic Page 22: How to Create Medicines Page 23: How to Research a Plant or Fungus Here's what much of the Let's Play will actually consist of. Walking, Talking, finding plants. There's a lot of terrain to cover. Literally. Grimwit fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Mar 4, 2015 |
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Mar 4, 2015 21:09
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One of my absolute favorite games of the last few years. I keep getting the urge to replay it and end up buying it for someone else instead. I had forgotten my Pavlovian reaction of relief to the little "doo-doo-doot" when you save. I should make it my phone notification sound. The sound design in general for this game is probably one of its strongest suits, as you've observed.
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Mar 5, 2015 00:37
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Robert definitely seems the type to be sequestered in a safe warm lab to do experiments. Outside is too dangerous, though I'd love it if you access 3rd person view and he's covered in foam padding.
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Mar 5, 2015 01:12
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I must watch this LP if only for the title. Also for a good game. But also the title.
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Mar 5, 2015 14:46
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I really enjoyed this game and I urge you to play it instead of watching it or reading about it.
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Mar 5, 2015 15:07
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Buck Turgidson posted:I really enjoyed this game and I urge you to play it instead of watching it or reading about it. I did try to play it a few times but I quickly discovered that I am terrible at orienteering and would quickly become completely lost after taking maybe 30 steps off a trail, especially if that trail isn't well kept. Walk forward instead of turning with the trail, notice 20 seconds later, try to turn around 180 degrees but instead turn slightly over or slightly under, walk another 20 seconds and not find the trail, try to turn 180 degrees again, fail, repeat. I was fine for these beginning areas at least, and did find the mapping system to be pretty neat and something that other games should consider adopting in some fashion. If nothing else it made me appreciate just how serious "Stay on the trail!" warnings actually are.
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Mar 5, 2015 19:56
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I loved this game. I really would encourage anyone who likes this so far to play it for themselves. I just love the way movement sounds and feels right on the varied terrain (odd downhill motion notwithstanding). The music, minimal as it is, is beautiful. And luckily we didn't get the wrong Brothers Johnson doing the soundtrack. I considered LPing this once, but my machine can barely show it as is, let alone record it in a watchable manner. I think among the problems of doing an engine yourself is the lack of tweaking that extensive testing and a dedicated team can add. Apparently performance was even worse when the game was first released.
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Mar 6, 2015 04:01
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Grimwit posted:And I apologize for the lack of piss. Will we at least get burgs?
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Mar 6, 2015 07:06
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Buck Turgidson posted:I really enjoyed this game and I urge you to play it instead of watching it or reading about it. Me too, bad sense of direction not withstanding. Getting lost is one of the feelings I love, especially in these situations where the terrain is veried enough that I could conceivably recognize where I am. Kangra posted:Apparently performance was even worse when the game was first released. Oh man, I believe it. The programing is certainly... "customized." Not that I wish to devalue the Brothers Johnson their achievement. This is far beyond what I was capable of programing even in my prime. New Update, this time is Head Puns. it was only a mater of time  Journal Entries... Page 24: Endurance Emphasis Drug Page 25: Medicine List Page 26: Location of Algae Page 27: Notes on Basic Medicine Page 28: Tropical Buttercup Page 29: Anti-Hallucination Medicine Page 30: Blue-Capped Toadstool Page 31: Herbert's Crazy Letter to Ozwalt Page 32: Journal May 13th, 16th Page 33: Sponge-Like Fungus P.S. Me and hte wife are headed south for the next week. New video will have to wait until Next Friday? Maybe Monday? You know how it is.
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Mar 7, 2015 04:11
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I hesitate to call this game beautiful, but it is beautifully realistic. And it is realistic enough for me to say that no, this is not a tropical island. All this time you've been trekking through a recognizable temperate decidious forest biome. Is the upper third of the screen constantly turning grey part of preformance problems, or is it an intented effect that shows our hero's sight dimming?
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Mar 7, 2015 13:06
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gently caress this next part. This is where I gave up on the game, because I would always end up irremediably lost. There were never enough reference points to triangulate my position, which led to no new known reference points. Add total darkness, and you have a recipe for frustration. Watching the videos, it seems that you do a lot more wandering around and pixel hunt than I did, so I assume it was mostly my own fault.
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Mar 7, 2015 16:13
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Lokapala posted:Is the upper third of the screen constantly turning grey part of preformance problems, or is it an intented effect that shows our hero's sight dimming? Seems to happen more after recording than during gameplay, especially when it rains. Something having trouble rendering. Fat Samurai posted:gently caress this next part. This is where I gave up on the game, because I would always end up irremediably lost. There were never enough reference points to triangulate my position, which led to no new known reference points. Add total darkness, and you have a recipe for frustration. Now that there's no map to follow, I'm going to end up using the Mental Tonic more. It shows your possition on the map if you've mapped it or not. I think that was the Bros. Johnson answer to that problem, but it doesn't always help.
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Mar 7, 2015 21:09
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I bought this game a while ago, and seeing this thread got me to actually install it and give it a try. So far I have 2 crashes to desktop in 23 minutes of playing. Now, my PC may be getting a little on the old side by now, but it can run plenty of modern mainstream games just fine, so something is terribly amiss.
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Mar 8, 2015 01:07
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This game seems pretty cool. The engine is really something else too. It reminds me of Trespasser, what with the wonkiness and only ever seeing your character's arms. It still seems to handle a whole island with many particular details and no loading screens pretty well. I just love it when we analyze something and we just cut a piece of a cylindrical chunk of plant matter. Also, being a chemist, the lab descriptions just slay me. "Yeah, sure, here're my good ole' bottles of H3O+Cl- and C5H2N7O1" The game really does the whole exploration theme very well. I mean, I could never play it since my sense of orientation is awful. I guess that's what that tonic that reveals your position on the map is there for? We've yet to see you use any of the medicines. Do the plants respawn? Can you reuse the save spots and water jugs? PS: Telluric just means anything related to earth (the planet and just ground in general). So yeah, it's just a made up name for the scientists' homeland.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:56
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Lokapala posted:Is the upper third of the screen constantly turning grey part of preformance problems, or is it an intented effect that shows our hero's sight dimming? The slight 'vignetting' effect is a sign of fatigue, if that's what you're referring to. It shows up at the corners and usually goes away when you drink, unless you need to sleep.
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Mar 8, 2015 04:11
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I Just have to say. This Robert guy is the best journal keeper in all of video games.
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Mar 8, 2015 04:54
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This reminds me of my time hiking in Scotland and using a compass for the first time. We got horribly lost and ended up staring down two ravines and a huge deerfence. I really like your LP. It's a very relaxing experience that works well with your voice.
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Mar 8, 2015 10:45
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My experience with this LP is much like my experience with the game; I keep falling asleep. Not that you're doing a bad job of presenting the game or being boring or what have you, this game is just really good at lulling me to sleep. Or compels me to make Robert run headlong off a cliff. No idea why, but I've never had a play session of this game not end with me stumbling around, half asleep, until I fall to Roberts death. I look forward to seeing the part of this game that I will never make it to (basically all of it).
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Mar 9, 2015 04:51
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This game seems like one of those games I like to watch, rather than play. I am, like others in this thread, rubbish at cartography, so I'd get lost immediately. I'd also fall off a cliff and break my everything, because my spatial awareness when playing a video game isn't very good, either. This is kind of an Elder Scrolls game, too: exploration-heavy, first-person, lore-based storytelling, open-world, weird physics. No combat though, so far; I think that makes it better, somehow. I'll have to say, as an aside, the "drinking-water-from-a-bottle" animation is just so adorably janky.
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Mar 9, 2015 09:49
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I really enjoyed the Crypt Worlds LP and I'm glad you're doing this game. I got about halfway through this game but never finished it, and when I tried to go back to it after a couple weeks I was hopelessly lost. I'm interested to see how the rest turns out.
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Mar 14, 2015 09:02
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zerosix posted:I Just have to say. This Robert guy is the best journal keeper in all of video games. I think The Nameless One from Planescape:Torment might have him beat, but he's in the competition.
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Mar 15, 2015 15:44
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Sorry about the delay. I did try and warn that I'd be on vacation with the wife last week. But I'm back and ready to work! Markovnikov posted:We've yet to see you use any of the medicines. Most of the medicines are for when we screw up (and eventually I do later) or for when I need to see... Let's call him our friend. I don't know if plants respawn. I don't think they do, but I'll have to try and mess with that. Every pitcher is one of those "Bag-of-holding" water pitchers that just have endless amounts of liquid. Reminds me of a Norse myth where Odin is just drinking and drinking from a horn, then later realizes he's been drinking from the ocean the whole time. RickVoid posted:My experience with this LP is much like my experience with the game; I keep falling asleep. HA HA HA HA! This seriously made me laugh. When I first played Miasmata, after every session I just retired to my recliner and passed out. Okee-dokee. Let's head back to Eden. Small warning: Darkness ahead.  Journal Entries Page 34: Bio-Luminescent Algae Page 35: Trumpet Mushroom Page 36: Brain Emphasis
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Mar 16, 2015 18:23
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THAT was the bioluminiscent algae? I must have spent an hour wandering around that swamp in the dark. Once again, thanks for playing this. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to finish it.
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Mar 16, 2015 20:18
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Wow, more gameplay elements. I can't wait to see you play hide-and-seek with the creature some more. Does it always come out at night, or can you encounter it during the day as well?
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Mar 17, 2015 08:42
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Wait wait wait There are two doctors in this game named Dagless and Sanchez? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0qGq7P3lM
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Mar 18, 2015 01:06
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Wait wait wait If only Robert Hughes could be as handsome and brilliant as Rick Daglass. Also, I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dagless and Sanchez were based off of Dark Place. LoonShia posted:Wow, more gameplay elements. I can't wait to see you play hide-and-seek with the creature some more. Does it always come out at night, or can you encounter it during the day as well? You'll see more of the Creature as we go, but he only seems to show up in specific places. Near as I know, time was only a factor in the mini-swamp outside Ruin Site-B. I fully intend to get a good look at him next time, even if it kills me.
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Mar 18, 2015 04:26
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Grimwit posted:You'll see more of the Creature as we go, but he only seems to show up in specific places. Near as I know, time was only a factor in the mini-swamp outside Ruin Site-B. There's some randomness; in one game I actually got attacked by him right outside that cabin you said was your favorite, for example. But yeah, mainly he seems to hang around a few places.
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Mar 18, 2015 07:25
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Bremen posted:There's some randomness; in one game I actually got attacked by him right outside that cabin you said was your favorite, for example. But yeah, mainly he seems to hang around a few places. Yeah, my first sighting was on the road south from Vega. I was walking down the path, checking out the cliff to see if I could find a spot to climb up when I hear the heartbeat. I look forward and there it is, smack in the middle of the path. I just turned around and booked it all the way back to the cabins. I wasn't even aware the icon would show up before the heartbeat starts. I just thought the creature spawning was totally random, since it seems to totally de-spawns once it decides to run off.
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Mar 18, 2015 08:00
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Informally the Creature sometimes gets the name 'Milo', because its movement was modeled on the pet cat of one of the brothers. I once managed to get the Creature stuck in an infinite loop chasing its own tail. Because it won't attack you when you're inside and I entered a tent just as it approached, it managed to get trapped on a patch of ground right by the shore, unable to escape into the water, and also apparently unable to go past in the other direction. It just kept going round for hours.
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Mar 18, 2015 08:21
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Kangra posted:Informally the Creature sometimes gets the name 'Milo', because its movement was modeled on the pet cat of one of the brothers. I read about that and, if true, Milo must have been a pretty derpy cat. I know, I know. Just the Creature's movements were based on the cat, not the AI. Still, there are times when the creature switches from a serious threat to... silly. Alright, new episode time.  Journal Entries Page 37: Potency Enhancers Page 38: Chancellor Kallas Page 39: Giant Bloom Maps Page 40: Pawn-Shaped Mushroom Page 41: Red-Green Tree Fungus Page 42: Giant Bloom Page 43: Endurance Emphasis Drug
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Mar 18, 2015 21:29
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Really been enjoying this LP so far. I remember when this game first came out I was kinda interested in it, but a lot of the talk about it was centered around the creature, which gave me the impression that it would be this constant threat that could appear at any point meaning you gotta be very careful, which looking at this LP is only partly true. Like, I expected it to appear on video one, maybe two, but up to now we only had that one encounter. Kinda wondering if I should pick this up after all. Seems like a pretty relaxing game to play. Maybe I will wait until the next encounter with the creature, just so I can get a better idea of how it acts.
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Mar 18, 2015 22:44
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I think someone spend half his work on this game by animating and designing squirrels and other animals. The wildlife looks oddly detailed compared to everything else.
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Mar 18, 2015 23:44
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