Intrepid & Enterprise Part 3

Continuing my week as a NYC tourist, I went to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for the first time. I had a good view of the Enterprise flyby earlier in the year and then again when it was tugged over to the Intrepid. So I wanted to see the shuttle up close.

For its size and number of items to see, the Intrepid entry is not cheap... $30 for a combination of general admission + the separate Shuttle Pavillion entry. Other options include the concorde and guided tours. However, it is a unique experience and an important part of US history. So I think everyone should do it at least once. There's just no reason to be a repeat visitor like the other museums, unless there's something big... like the space shuttle retirement.

High Line

Last year, my first visit to the High Line was a spontaneous one, so I didn't have my real camera with me. Since then, I've been trying to find some time to get out there again and I finally did it today. It's probably not as nice as in the middle of the Summer, but a Sunday morning makes it easier to get some quality humanless shots.

Since my previous visit, the section after 20th street opened up and the path now goes up to 30th. All of the good stuff is still at the downtown end though. 20th - 30th is mostly just repetition. I'll go again when they expand further. To be continued!

9/11

YouTube Cleanup

I decided to cleanup my YouTube channel a little bit this week. My Batman vs. Bane video was getting too many views and comments that I couldn't keep up. So I decided to hide all of my non-RPG videos. I started the channel for Kingdoms of Amalur bugs, so I want to concentrate on the RPG genre which tends to have an older audience anyway. I also want to keep the content original, so my Kingdoms of Amalur videos won't cover walkthroughs or loot locations. Other people have already done that and done a great job.

If you want to watch some of my non-RPG videos, you can still get to them from this blog. Just click on "Video Games" in the right navigation. They're still up, just unindexed by YouTube's search engine.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Fatality Ed.

This is a pretty common bug, but no one has posted a video about it, so I went for it. I don't want to do walkthroughs since everyone already does that and I'm usually too slow. So I always check my subjects before planning the video to make sure it's unique enough. This one features a bugged weapon that causes all attacks in the game to draw blood... hence "Fatality Ed."

Batman Reckoning Crossover

As I transition back to Kingdoms of Amalur from the recent Batman, GT5 and Transformers videos, I decided to do a little Batman tribute from inside the game. The first part of the video displays some Batman-like armor sets. Then I go on to talk about my search for an RPG/MMO post-Amalur.

Mad Libs: Bears

Original Dates: 1987?

From:
Mad Libs: Vacation Fun
By Roger Price & Leonard Stern

If you go to some red place like Yellowstone National Cat, you must know how to deal with the wild animals such as bears and wolves and butts. The most important of these is the bear. There are three kinds of bears, the grizzly bear, the rough bear and the smooth bear. Bears spend most of their time mooning or dancing. They look very blue, but if you make them stupid, they may bite your ass. Bears will come up to your car and beg for broccoli. They will stand on their hind legs and clap their book bags together and pretend to be dumb. But do not get out of your limo or offer the bears pizza or hot dogs. The same advice applies to other wild creatures such as flowers and asses. Remember all of these rules and you will spend your vacation stupidly and not get eaten by a balloon.

Fall of Cybertron (Intro)

Check out this cool intro. animation for Transformers: The Fall of Cybertron:

Additionally, surfing around for more videos of this revealed that Grimlock is one of the main characters and on his level, the game shifts from a 3rd person shooter into a melee combat format... my kind of game. I wish I could use Grimlock for the whole game! The way this will probably work is the whole thing is a fixed story. Each level will feature a different Transformer. So you play the game as a different character each time, even switching sides for some levels.

"Vigilance is the foundation on which victories are built."
-Metroplex

How cool is Metroplex in this video!? That would be too sick if he was a playable character. If you watch the video, you have to wonder how the Autobots lost this battle.

Vortex Reloaded

I recorded a new playthrough of the Vortex level of the Transformers: Fall of Cybertron DEMO because I'm much better at it now. I made too many mistakes before that resulted in an 18 min video! This time around, it was 12 min... the way it was probably meant to be.

Demos are typically short unless they mention a specific fixed time. The first time I went through the Batman: Arkham Asylum DEMO, it took me 25 min because I wasn't used to the predator scene. Now the whole thing takes me 5 min. So if a demo is taking a long time, it usually means your doing something wrong.

I still left the old Vortex video up because it's not bad for a first time and it also has a better intro/voiceover for the game. I still have the cue cards, but the shorter playthrough wouldn't have matched up with the other script.

GT5: 1969 Camaro SS

In stock form, the '69 Camaro SS is tuned for short drag races and has a lot of low end power. But heavy tuning turned this into a good touring car with power and dexterity. Besides maxxing out on parts, the settings for the customizable transmission and suspension are changed slightly depending on the race.