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Episode 10 - Tessie   It's time to meet Tessie! Tessie gets very little screen time in this game but that doesn't stop him from earning a huge place in my heart. I just love his happy face and the way he slowly emerges from the lake. We also encounter the infamous Mad Duck  who is amazing.
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Feb 17, 2016 03:32
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You missed two photo ops that I'm fairly sure are available only when Jeff/Alex is on his own. One is at the center of Stonehenge, and the other is just a little bit north of the peninsula where the Bubble Monkey summons Tessie. I guess the photo ops are the closest thing this game has to 100% completion, but they're just fun little things. You'll see what they're used for at the end of the game. I can't say I've ever gotten the "you've been playing too long" phone call at this point of the game, though. Those Cave Boys always drop a Picnic Lunch if you beat them, and I think they have a much higher chance of missing with their attacks than a normal enemy when you encounter them here (obviously you will be returning to Stonehenge to get the shining spot). You just got unlucky. The player's guide has a unique way of warning you about the point where you lose Bubble Monkey. Something like, "On your travels, you may encounter monkeys of the opposite sex. Travelers who don't have their pet monkeys on a leash may lose them." I'm glad they included a digital version of the guide with the Virtual Console re-release.There are a lot of funny little touches like that in it.
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Feb 17, 2016 05:46
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Episode 11 - Zombie Haircut Once again we see an instance of the enemy design in this game being absolutely wonderful. Instead of making typical grotesque zombies they give them hot pink shorts and a crazy hairdo. Now that Jeff joins the crew it's time to show these zombies what for! Can I just say that I love the fact that we stop the zombies by luring them into a tent and getting them stuck to the floor? This game is amazing.
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Feb 18, 2016 03:45
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Just wanted to chime in to say that I will be following this LP with interest.   Goddamn, lookit that sassy robot. What a cool dude - travelin' back in time to murder some psychic preteens like it ain't no thing. Ghost of Starman fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Feb 18, 2016 |
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Feb 18, 2016 19:17
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Goddamn backspace outside of the text box backed me up multiple pages and ate my entire post and I'm not gonna type all that up again. The Hand-Aid is a full heal, but it's useless. Lifeup does the job just as well. Defense Sprays are too, in my view, but they sell for $250 a pop. Also, give the Backstage Pass and Bad Key Machine to Escargo Express. You won't be needing them anymore. The frogs and crocodiles have high defense and attack, respectively, and they're best handled with Freeze. Losing Paula was really bad luck, because outside of mice enemies, the Annoying Old Party Man, and its palette-swapped upgrade (must be the booze for those other two), enemy SMAAAAAASH attacks are quite rare. Those ghosts possess you, and you can be ambushed by them when you walk through doors in the underground tunnel, so you were right to not fight them. Being possessed creates a Tiny Lil Ghost in your party, and that deals minor damage to your party members or solidifies one member for a turn. More often than not, I end up having one possessed party member in the tunnel.
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Feb 19, 2016 04:12
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Episode 12 - Saturn Valley I know I've been saying this like every episode but I love Saturn Valley. These little guys are just so silly and adorable, what's not to love? I can't help but think the designers had a lot of fun with this place.
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Feb 20, 2016 01:46
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I fell a bit behind due to recent events, but the way fixing broken things works is that there's a minimum IQ requirement to fix any given item, and if Jeff/Alex's IQ is high enough, there's a chance he'll fix it any time you rest for the night. I don't know whether that chance improves with increased IQ or Luck, but sometimes, you can just rest several times in a row and he'll eventually repair something.
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Feb 20, 2016 05:41
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Jeff most certainly is not the worst character in combat. He can fix an item that's better than any weapon he can equip because it's an infinite supply of Super Bombs, and there's a third Bottle Rocket item that's insanely powerful. You get them much later on, but once you get to that point, he's a force to be reckoned with. That empty room you walk in is a Magic Butterfly room. Very handy if you want to keep squishing Foppies for experience. get that OUT of my face fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Feb 20, 2016 |
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Feb 20, 2016 06:49
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Y-Hat posted:Jeff most certainly is not the worst character in combat. He can fix an item that's better than any weapon he can equip because it's an infinite supply of Super Bombs, and there's a third Bottle Rocket item that's insanely powerful. You get them much later on, but once you get to that point, he's a force to be reckoned with. Yeah, I remember the bazooka being pretty pro-tier.
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Feb 20, 2016 07:25
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Yep. its why I'm dump all my IQ capsules on Jeff.
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Feb 20, 2016 13:35
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The various status healing items are equivalent to the Healing ability at various levels. I believe Refreshing Herb is the same as Healing Beta, Secret Herb is Healing Gamma, and Cup of Lifenoodles and Horn of Life are both identical to Healing Omega. I never bother with Refreshing Herb because you get Healing Beta right around where most of the statuses it cures first show up (i.e. right here), and crying only lasts for one battle anyway.
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Feb 20, 2016 18:43
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Episode 13 - Milky Well The first order of business is taking out Master Belch, who is a total pushover if you have the Jar of Fly Honey. We also get to the hot springs in Saturn Valley, where a kindly Mr. Saturn will offer you some "coffee". If you accept you get a little cutscene that exemplifies everything I love about this game. In short, it tells you not to take life too seriously and to stop and smell the roses. You can take it as an allegory for life, but it also applies to how you play the game. There are tons of hidden jokes, pop culture references, and extra items you can pick up if you take the time to explore the world and take it all in. We tackle two bosses in today's episode, and we also see how devastating the mushroom status can be. The worst part about mushroom is how difficult it is to get rid of. Off camera we had to run back to the hot springs several times while on the way before we finally got to the boss with only one party member mushroomed.
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Feb 23, 2016 19:09
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The coffee break also has really good music, as does much of Earthbound. It's definitely a top 5 SNES soundtrack, in my opinion. For future reference, when you shoot an enemy with a shield (as opposed to bashing one), it deals full damage as well as decreasing the shield's strength by one. A SMAAAAAASH attack will eliminate a shield entirely no matter how many layers a shield has. And I've always pronounced "Trillionage" like "trillion age," as in, it's a really old plant. It's a good thing that the eerie eye glare didn't work, because if it hits, it diamondizes a party member, which is as good as being KO'd. I think Jeff has the IQ to fix the Broken Laser, so by all means, give it to him. And the Coin of Slumber is also equippable, but it's not as good as the Mr. Saturn Coin. Still solid, as it increases Luck (which increases the chance of enemy attacks missing you).
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Feb 24, 2016 07:04
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Episode 14 - Fourside It's time to bid farewell to Threed as we take the bus to Fourside... and get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic along the way. This game just got a little too real. We pass through the desert quickly, but we'll be back soon enough. For now it's time to head to the big city! I like how you literally look at Fourside from a different perspective, after all you're just a know nothing country kid (suburbanite?). Of course as soon as we get to Fourside we find out it is essentially controlled by the mafia. I wonder how that could have happened...
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Feb 25, 2016 00:58
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Saturn rye sounds like it would gently caress you up real fast.
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Feb 26, 2016 03:48
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Magic Butterflies aren't worth chasing around in the desert, since you'll very likely run into nasty enemies while you catch it, including the dreaded Smiling Sphere. That enemy uses Fire Alpha and also explodes when you kill it. The Criminal Caterpillars, though, are always worth going for, since they're weak enough to instantly win if you sneak up on them with your entire party and give you lots of exp. Luckily you didn't have to chase it far. The black sesame seed gives you a photo op when you talk to it. There are a lot of good items scattered around the desert, but you'll have to risk enemy encounters and sunstroke to get them. And I believe the Dusty Dunes Desert population is 5 people in the guide. After Onett and its gimp suit gang, Peaceful Rest Valley and its blue KKK-esque cult, and Threed and its zombie army led by a sentient pile of puke, Fourside's problem is pretty mundane. Corrupt mayors in cahoots with police, lawyers, and monied interests are a dime a dozen. The hospital in Fourside is home to one of my favorite bits of NPC dialog- there's an old woman who asks if you, a 13 year old boy, have grandchildren. You can say yes and she says, "At your age? The youth of today shock me."
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Feb 26, 2016 05:00
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Mooseontheloose posted:Saturn rye sounds like it would gently caress you up real fast. Why do you think no one in that town speaks in complete sentences? Y-Hat posted:Magic Butterflies aren't worth chasing around in the desert, since you'll very likely run into nasty enemies while you catch it, including the dreaded Smiling Sphere. That enemy uses Fire Alpha and also explodes when you kill it. The Criminal Caterpillars, though, are always worth going for, since they're weak enough to instantly win if you sneak up on them with your entire party and give you lots of exp. Luckily you didn't have to chase it far. The black sesame seed gives you a photo op when you talk to it. There are a lot of good items scattered around the desert, but you'll have to risk enemy encounters and sunstroke to get them. And I believe the Dusty Dunes Desert population is 5 people in the guide. I kinda want to go and track down that black sesame seed now... Also you are totally right, but at this point we've been through so much wacky stuff that something as believable as corrupt politicians running a city almost becomes out of place. I remember the old lady you're talking about and I have to say I enjoyed her dialogue quite a bit.
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Feb 26, 2016 07:39
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I never bother with Wet Towels because Healing Alpha is cheap and cures sunstroke just fine.
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Feb 27, 2016 01:26
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Episode 15 - Mole Cave It's time to bail the Runaway Five out of another mess, but this time we need to go gold digging! It can be a little hard to figure out where to go as there's nothing that indicates that you can go back to the mines now. A phone call would have been nice at this point in the game, but they're still pretty obvious about the fact that you need to find some gold. Along the way we fight the third strongest Guardian Digger and... also the the third strongest Guardian Digger? I think one of these guys is a little confused.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:51
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You're so much better off using Freeze against the snakes and ants. Paula has more PP to spare than Ness.
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Feb 27, 2016 05:19
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Be careful fuckin' with the third strongest guardian. He's the third strongest, you know.
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Feb 27, 2016 05:55
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Question: do you mind if anyone in the thread goes kind of nuts about the mechanics and what's going on under the hood?
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Feb 28, 2016 03:31
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Magic Fanatic posted:Question: do you mind if anyone in the thread goes kind of nuts about the mechanics and what's going on under the hood? I do not mind! I love learning about what makes games tick.
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Feb 28, 2016 22:11
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Episode 16 - The Third Strongest It's time to face down the rest of the Guardian Diggers! It turns out they all think they're the third strongest, as explained by this image: (click to reveal the spoiler)  We also get Paula / Jacky's third level of Freeze, which does a number on these Guardian Diggers (and everything else for that matter). We've gotten quite a few levels while in these caves and I really appreciate that we keep levelling up at a decent pace. I was totally expecting the levels to slow down considerably by this point in the game but the exp gain from battle scales really well.
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Mar 1, 2016 01:21
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Well, here's what I have for what's typed up as is, but feel free to let me know if you have any other questions to how things work. Offense: While this stat is mostly obvious, the formula for damage with your physical varies a little bit. For PCs, it's a fairly standard Offense*2-(Target Defense), but some enemies can use different multipliers for that, example being the Goat in Winters with Jeff - Ram and Trample looked like 2x, while the Tear into you looked like 4x. Defense: Straight substractive. Every point of defense reduces physical damage taken by 1. Offense and Defense bases max out at 255. Speed: This stat actually pulls double duty. What it does is: 1) Determines accuracy and evasion. The overall evasion chance is ((Target's Speed)*2 - (Attacker's Speed))/5. The same formula also applies to Ness's PSI Rockin and mostly to Jeff's Bottle Rockets, with the exception being that Jeff doesn't have that "/5" at the end. Of course, this applies per hit, with the basic Bottle Rockets being 1 hit and the Big Bottle Rockets being 5 hits. Guts: Another stat that pulls double duty, though it uses the same formula for both things: Enduring mortal damage with 1 HP, and your SMAAAAASH! Hit Rate. The formula is Guts/500, but if you have less than 25 Guts, then this formula is ignored for a straight 5% chance. Vitality: This stat does one thing, and one thing only - the game attempts to make a character's HP close to 15 times this value. If your Vitality goes over 67, it's entirely possible that you can get 1000+ HP. IQ: This stat does two things - for most of the game, it'll attempt to make PSI users PP around five times this value (there'll be an exception later in the game where this'll be ten times instead of just five times). It's also important for Jeff's repair ability, where he needs to pass certain benchmarks to have a chance to repair items. Broken Machine: 1 -Counter PSI Unit: Attempts to make an enemy unable to concentrate. Fails on a chance of (Target's Luck)/40% Broken Spray Can: 1 -Defense Spray: One time use item that increases a single ally's defense by 1/16 for one battle. Better for selling. Broken Iron: 10 -Slime Generator: Multiple-use item (I don't think there's a limit) that will attempt to freeze an enemy for a turn. Fails on a chance of (Target's Luck)/80. If he's not using Bottle Rockets, this is actually a really good item for Jeff to use on his turns, since enemy luck typically isn't higher than 20-35, even at the end of the game. Broken Air Gun: 12 -Magnum Air Gun: Jeff's fourth weapon. If you get his IQ to 12 before leaving the top half of Winters (this takes a LOT of grinding), you can sell the Pop Gun for $50, and put this towards getting the T-Rex Bat for Ness, which trivializes a good part of the game afterwards. Broken Laser: 24 -Laser Gun: another weapon for Jeff Broken Pipe: 30 -Shield Killer: Multiple-use item that targets a single enemy and attempts to remove their physical or PSI shield. Fails on a chance of (Target's Luck)/80, or uselessly if the enemy doesn't have a shield to remove. Broken Gadget: 34 -Double Beam: yet another weapon for Jeff There's more items, but it's probably spoilers to go into them at this point. Luck: A debateably useful stat. The only real thing it's useful for is avoiding *some* status effects, but it doesn't work across the board. If you have more than 40 Luck, you'll be immune to enemy attempts to make you unable to concentrate, though what Luck actually applies to throughout the game is pretty arbitrary. These stats (I believe) cap out HP: Obvious what it does, but less obvious for the caps. I would suspect that the actual cap for HP is right around PP: Also obvious what it does, but the cap to this is more like Magic Fanatic fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Mar 1, 2016 |
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Mar 1, 2016 03:37
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The Mad Taxi isn't an enemy in Smash Run, the Devil Car is. That's from Earthbound Beginnings. In that game, the exhaust fumes give Ninten asthma, but here, it just makes a party member cry. I never gave the "third strongest mole" thing any thought, besides the fact that it's a silly joke in a silly game. Also, after you beat all of them, the enemies clear out and you can raid the mine of its considerable loot without any worries. I hope that Jackie isn't asleep for the next update, also for "reasons" related to giving Jeff the Platinum Band. Magic Fanatic posted:These stats (I believe) cap out at 99, with exception of Guts to 255, but you have to be careful, since there's no overflow error protection, and will make these stats roll around to 1 if you level up and increase those stats. get that OUT of my face fucked around with this message at 10:17 on Mar 1, 2016 |
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Mar 1, 2016 10:09
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Y-Hat posted:All of them go to 255 and go back to 1 if you level up or increase the stat another way after that. My earlier post is worth editing a bit due to personal misinformation - testing this is very, very slow. The game seems to have no problem with you increasing your stats with items, but if you attempt to use an outside program to increase your stats to a number - and then that stat is increased again, it seems to check for the original base, modify it down to that, and THEN apply the increase. It's brilliant and frustrating at the same time.
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Mar 1, 2016 11:10
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Thanks for posting that info! Wrap around numbers are always very scary, though I'm sure we won't be grinding enough to actually make it an issue. I'm really glad I don't have to worry about stuff like that anymore, seeing as how the maximum value for an int in C is 2147483647. I'm assuming this happens because they used a single byte to store each stat, so does that mean that if we managed to get our defense down to 1, go into a battle, and have an enemy use a defense lowering ability it would wrap back up to 255?
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Mar 1, 2016 18:55
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I'm not actually sure a defense down effect would work if you got it that low - Offense Up and Defense Down each affect the stat by 1/16 per cast, to a maximum of a 5/4 change from the stat. Less than 4, and I'm not sure there'd be any change whatsoever. Speaking of rollovers, you'd have to be grinding with a specific item and the involved bug for a *long* time before you'd have anything to fear from the rollover issue. The highest a character's base stat gets to at level 99 is Jeff's IQ at 90, with a tangentially related number of someone else's Guts stat 212 with an endgame weapon.
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Mar 1, 2016 19:38
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Magic Fanatic posted:My earlier post is worth editing a bit due to personal misinformation - testing this is very, very slow. Earthbound also has one of the greatest anti-piracy measures ever. Before you start phase 2 of the final fight, it checks to see if your copy of Earthbound isn't pirated. If it is, the game freezes, and when you restart or turn the SNES on or off, it erases all of your save data. It doesn't work on ROMs, though. End-of-game spoilers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmyoV1bkXNI get that OUT of my face fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 2, 2016 |
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Mar 2, 2016 04:25
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Y-Hat posted:Does that include level increases as well? Seems so. One level where I'd set Vitality to 200 gave me close to 3000 HP when the Vitality gain was skipped, but a further level where I *did* gain a point of Vitality reset it down to the value it should've been.
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Mar 2, 2016 12:17
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I love, love, this game, this and many other great SNES games was my childhood. I was super pissed when I came back from college and discovered they sold my SNES collection, which included this game, in a garage sale. Lesson of the story here is: Don't leave your game consoles in the care of clueless family members, they'll likely to just pawn it all off. Rebuilding an SNES collection these days is not cheap, let me tell you.  
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Mar 2, 2016 16:14
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Starhawk64 posted:I love, love, this game, this and many other great SNES games was my childhood. I was super pissed when I came back from college and discovered they sold my SNES collection, which included this game, in a garage sale. Lesson of the story here is: Don't leave your game consoles in the care of clueless family members, they'll likely to just pawn it all off. Seriously, I had a very similar experience with my NES and my collection of Mega Man games. I had to drop a couple hundred in an eBay auction to build it back up.
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Mar 3, 2016 01:47
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Episode 17 - Moonside A lot of stuff goes down in today's episode but it's kiiiiinda spoilery to talk about here, but I do want to touch on Moonside. Just when you've started to get acclimated to all the weird stuff Earthbound throws at you they go and toss you into Moonside, where everything is made out of neon outlines and it's opposite day every day! It makes for a good reality check to remind you that just when you think you're at 10/10 on the weirdometer, they can always turn it up to 11. I love the aesthetic in Moonside and I actually used it as inspiration in this year's Global Game Jam.
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Mar 3, 2016 01:49
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This was always the most annoying section of the game for me, but Moonside definitely makes up for it. EDIT: Yeah, I always load up on Big Bottle Rockets and Super Bombs. gently caress those dept store enemies. v wafflemoose fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Mar 3, 2016 |
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Mar 3, 2016 02:57
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I've never used Super Bombs in the blacked-out department store before. Maybe I should, because the enemies there are brutal. Musica's sleeping melody is especially unfair against Mystical Records. Their charge takes off nearly 100 HP. Not all of the alcohol references have been scrubbed from Earthbound. The track that plays in Jackie's Cafe is called "Boris's Cocktail." I guess the bartender is named Boris? Oh those Enraged Fire Plugs can do plenty of damage. You just got lucky. The Robo-Pump is one of two enemies in the game that follows a set pattern in its attacks. After it counts down, it throws a Bomb. If it stays alive for one more turn, it fully heals itself, then repeats its pattern. And I don't think the Dali's Clock is breaking any copyrights, unless that painting and Salvador Dali's name is trademarked. Moonside is Earthbound's weirdness in its most concentrated form. The Dinosaur Museum has one of my favorite lines in the game.
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Mar 3, 2016 05:50
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Episode 18 - Too Many Monkeys It's time to finish up our brief stint in Moonside, unfortunately it looks like we missed the dialogue in the dinosaur museum that Y-Hat was talking about. Now it's time to fix the mistakes of Escargo Express' Neglected Glass (can I also just say how much I love the idea of a shipment company offering a neglected glass?) by trading a lot of items to a lot of monkeys. If you don't have a guide I can imagine this section being very annoying. For our troubles, though, we not only get the yogurt machine, but we also learn how to teleport! Ceraph fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Mar 5, 2016 |
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Mar 5, 2016 03:28
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Ceraph posted:It's time to finish up our brief stint in Moonside, unfortunately it looks like we missed the dialogue in the dinosaur museum that Y-Hat was talking about. I recently figured out that the NPCs who warp you around Moonside only take you to the sailor looking for the unibrow gold tooth guy until you talk to him. After that, it triggers the warp men sending you to the doorless room. You got very lucky with the Evil Mani-Mani fight. It has Paralysis, which causes numbness. This can only be cured by a Secret Herb, Cup of Lifenoodles, or Healing Gamma. It prevents a character from attacking or using items, but they can still use PSI abilities. It also sticks around after battle (the healer's "restore feeling" cures numbness). So it's not a good thing to have. Mani-Mani can also emit a glorious light, which I think is equivalent to Flash Gamma. Any character without a Night Pendant will get a high chance of numbness or even a one-shot KO. I never get the Broken Pipe in Dr. Andonut's lab. Jeff fixes it around this point in the game, but Neutralizer nukes shields at a 100% rate while the Shield Killer doesn't.
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Mar 5, 2016 07:24
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Episode 19 - Runaway Choppers With our trusty Trout Flavored Yogurt Dispenser in tow it’s time to head back to the Monotoli Building and save Jacky/Paula! Waiting for us at the top floor is the Clumsy Robot, who has a very erratic behavior. He will often waste turns, and his move to eat a bologne sandwich does not actually restore any HP. When he does attack, though, he hits for a ton of damage, easily dealing mortal damage to Alex/Jeff in one hit. Despite the unconventional way this fight ends it is triggered by doing a certain amount of damage (962 according to the wiki) so in that regard it is just a standard boss fight. I do love the fact that it ends with The Runaway Five bursting in and just flipping his off switch. On a side note, I unfortunately have to take a bit of a break posting updates. I ran out of footage but I’m getting together with Alden, Alex, and Jackie this weekend to record more so it shouldn’t be long. I expect to be able to post episode 20 by Monday the 21st.
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Mar 9, 2016 19:28
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You can actually walk all the way from the Winters drugstore to Dr. Andonuts' lab. There are some pretty tough enemies in one area, but it's doable. I recommend having the Pencil Eraser, though.
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Mar 10, 2016 02:01
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