Showing posts with label learning by having fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning by having fun. Show all posts

Monday, 3 November 2014

So I have been playing... (36). A new dose of Zone



Once again my post-round-up schedule is somewhat behind the actual video availability schedule. (Blame ChaosNova!) Anyway - after a looooong pause, I've picked up my Zone trail once again. (For recap and such, check out the previous playlists here, here, here, and here.)


The first footage round still comes in 15-minute segments because by the time of uploading I had yet to sort out the account validation situation I'd ran into.


Here are the two halves of the first episode.




Wednesday, 24 September 2014

How I learned to disregard the canon and enjoy the game; Neverwinter edition (V)



[copy-paste intro]
It is no secret that I am not that into Dungeons and Dragons. So much so, that I considered it quite an achievement when I was able to let go some of my biases and thoroughly enjoy a game set in  D&D-verse. (Watching some webseries that feature paper-and-pen-folk in action has also somewhat softened my cold, joyless heart. Notable culprits include "Tales from The Table" and "Dorkness Rising".) And now, Neverwinter Nights 2. 

The whole load of playthrough notes turned out too voluminous to wrestle all at once, so I'm dividing it into a series of shorter posts instead. This was Part Four.


Now, shall we?

(Clicking the images should display them in full glory.)

Friday, 12 September 2014

How I learned to disregard the canon and enjoy the game; Neverwinter edition (IV)



[copy-paste intro]
It is no secret that I am not that into Dungeons and Dragons. So much so, that I considered it quite an achievement when I was able to let go some of my biases and thoroughly enjoy a game set in  D&D-verse. (Watching some webseries that feature paper-and-pen-folk in action has also somewhat softened my cold, joyless heart. Notable culprits include "Tales from The Table" and "Dorkness Rising".) And now, Neverwinter Nights 2. 

The whole load of playthrough notes turned out too voluminous to wrestle all at once, so I'm dividing it into a series of shorter posts instead. This was Part Three.


Now, shall we?


(Clicking the images should display them in full glory.)


Saturday, 30 August 2014

How I learned to disregard the canon and enjoy the game; Neverwinter edition (III)


[copy-paste intro]
It is no secret that I am not that into Dungeons and Dragons. So much so, that I considered it quite an achievement when I was able to let go some of my biases and thoroughly enjoy a game set in  D&D-verse. (Watching some webseries that feature paper-and-pen-folk in action has also somewhat softened my cold, joyless heart. Notable culprits include "Tales from The Table" and "Dorkness Rising".) And now, Neverwinter Nights 2. 

The whole load of playthrough notes turned out too voluminous to wrestle all at once, so I'm dividing it into a series of shorter posts instead. This was Part Two.


Now, shall we?


(Clicking the images should display them in full glory.)


Friday, 22 August 2014

How I learned to disregard the canon and enjoy the game; Neverwinter edition (II)



[copy-paste intro]
It is no secret that I am not that into Dungeons and Dragons. So much so, that I considered it quite an achievement when I was able to let go some of my biases and thoroughly enjoy a game set in  D&D-verse. (Watching some webseries that feature paper-and-pen-folk in action has also somewhat softened my cold, joyless heart. Notable culprits include "Tales from The Table" and "Dorkness Rising".) And now, Neverwinter Nights 2. 

The whole load of playthrough notes turned out too voluminous to wrestle all at once, so I'm dividing it into a series of shorter posts instead. This was Part One.


Now, shall we?

(Clicking the images should display them in full glory.)


Sunday, 17 August 2014

How I learned to disregard the canon and enjoy the game; Neverwinter edition (I)


Special thanks to R-6 for being along for the ride via screenshots, 
hearing out my lamentations on the way, and inadvertently 
inspiring this write-up. 





It is no secret that I am not that into Dungeons and Dragons. So much so, that I considered it quite an achievement when I was able to ignore some of my biases and thoroughly enjoy a game set in  D&D-verse. (Watching some webseries that feature paper-and-pen-folk in action has also somewhat softened my cold, joyless heart. Notable culprits include "Tales from The Table" and "Dorkness Rising".) And now, Neverwinter Nights 2.

Shall we?

(Clicking the images should display them in full glory.)

Oh, and the whole load of playthrough notes turned out too voluminous to wrestle all at once. I'm dividing it into a series of shorter posts instead.  So, uh... shall we?

Friday, 28 March 2014

So I have been playing ... (28). Getting started with Deus Ex.



Among other recent things, I started with a new gameplay recording series. I'd been long brewing the vague idea that at some point I'd probably-sorta-maybe want to share'n'show the process of figuring out DeusEx - and finally the elements aligned for just that. As it often happens, I launched the new series with new & shiny fuck-up (hint: it's the audio); still some practise needed when it comes to using Fraps. Anyway, here's the very first episode ... 



And here's the first episode of second session where I go into lengthy explanation regarding Fraps and settings and fuckups.





The whole playlist is over here.


Friday, 14 March 2014

So I have been playing ... (27) Old flames and pretty colours


Grannysitting by day, playtesting by night, fretting over geopolitical rape culture non-stop all the time, I have still somehow managed to sneak in some playsession recording... sessions. (Whether I record or not, I usually play in very long sessions - and when I am recording, that means I could easily be popping out several-to-dozen episodes in one breath. At the same time I've now learned the art of delayed sharing - upload it all in one breath too, then release singe episodes at somewhat regular intervals.)

So here I am, returning to the universes left on standby:

old-school Fallout ... 




... and Void/ Turgor.





The whole playlists-from-start (embedded!) for both are featured in this post. By now I'm also running out of pre-recorded, pre-uploaded episodes for both, so there might be another update somewhat soon.



Sunday, 24 November 2013

So I have been playing ... (26). More pieces of Oblivion Lost.



A lot has been going on lately and I forgot to publish the latest Oblivion Lost sessions - the start of  this round is shown over here.

Here are all the episodes recorded during my latest session - sneaking around Pripyat and finally sneaking in.






With this session wrapped up, I'm going to put The Oblivion Lost recording (and playing) on hold for a while again. Because I try to keep some distance between the different versions of the Zone, lest the two experiences cross-contaminate each other and mess with my perspective.
That's right - IT'S TESTING TIME AGAIN :)

P.S.:
That railroad screenshot is my doing :)))


Thursday, 15 August 2013

Summer Spam Harvest (from my bookmark folders)



While still working on the posts that would feature my current setting and adventures, I found my bookmark folders flooded with bits and pieces saved with the earnest intention to add a witty (of course!) comment or two on my part, linking them into some proverbial bigger picture I'm presumably piling together around a bunch of  Weirdo Attractors. Oh well, at least I managed to line them up into somewhat neat-looking stacks.



On information processing and figuring shit out 


mindhacks.com/2013/01/24/a-retrospective-editing-of-consciousness/
io9.com/5961737/no-children-are-not-natural-born-scientists
www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-you-dont-realize-movies-are-controlling-your-brain/
io9.com/5883554/metaphors-actually-trigger-the-sensory-parts-of-our-brains
www.cracked.com/blog/5-easy-ways-to-spot-b.s.-news-story-internet/
www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-to-spot-b.s.-political-story-in-under-10-seconds/
io9.com/why-we-study-duck-penises-458735174
io9.com/how-bayes-rule-can-make-you-a-better-thinker-471233405
io9.com/design-a-terrible-study-this-weekend-472608054
io9.com/the-centipedes-dilemma-why-you-forget-how-to-do-the-m-475673410
io9.com/the-glass-is-a-liquid-myth-has-finally-been-destroyed-496190894
martinrue.com/posts/12/understand-how-it-works
io9.com/why-randomness-may-not-mean-what-you-think-it-means-658318167
io9.com/a-test-to-measure-how-rational-you-really-are-609412488
io9.com/the-cow-that-proves-you-cant-be-right-accidentally-817993766





On information presenting, patterns and storytelling


io9.com/5980476/the-years-best-visualizations-of-scientific-concepts
scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2010/08/07/skeptical-about-skeptics/
io9.com/5982964/what-would-the-chemical-elements-look-like-as-cartoon-characters


On game design, instructional design and other gamesy-learnsy stuff


penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/balancing-for-skill
penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/intrinsic-or-extrinsic
www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/10192-Whats-in-a-Game
www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_203/6089-Ivory-Tower-Defense
kotaku.com/a-love-of-learning-is-the-guide-to-life-and-video-games-501855002
www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-video-games-do-better-than-any-other-forms-art/
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7710-Fun-Priorities
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/when-difficult-is-fun



zenpencils.com/comic/123-erica-goldson-graduation-speech/





All else that I want to keep spamming and don't know how to categorize


io9.com/5987567/brain+to+brain-interfaces-have-arrived-and-they-are-absolutely-mindblowing
www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/this-month-in-whore
www.cracked.com/blog/4-difficult-ways-to-simplify-your-life-that-are-worth-it/
io9.com/how-to-recognize-the-plastics-that-are-hazardous-to-you-461587850
positivesharing.com/2006/08/top-5-business-maxims-that-need-to-go/
positivesharing.com/2006/08/more-bad-business-advice-that-needs-to-go/
mannafesto.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-seven-stages-of-waking-up.html
www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/pseudo/fibonacc.htm



And finally, an old favourite for punctuation.





Saturday, 25 May 2013

So I have been playing... (20). Aperture Science Reunion.



With my Planescape endeavours successfully in the can and my gametesting responsibilities on standby in the wake of an update, I have ventured to some unfamiliar grounds and returned with fresh footage. Take Portal 2, for instance. Here's the whole playlist.

Here's the first episode.



Here's the second.



And, heck, here's one more. (I've only got these three so far, might as well show them off all at once.)






Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Monday, 28 January 2013

Play-learn-work



When I wrote the other day how this winter has seen my do-anything-at-all-capacity shrinking to the size of a scrawny mouse turd, I left out some parts. Namely, how (besides the task to keep some basic mundane routines going) I was also able to maintain the desire to play and see my cognitive abilities gradually recover in the process. I might take the time to write about the games involved in that process as well, but there's something even more exciting going on.

For nearly a month now, I have had the joy and privilege to contribute to the Stalker: The Lost Alpha project as a tester. In the eyes of the world this may not seem as much, but for me personally, it is an immensely valuable step in the path of my long-term objective/ dream of creating games. While unleashing my wilde learning-by-doing urge and trying to hunt down the most exotic and elusive errors, I have also had the chance to harness my instructional and/ or copywriting expertise to bug others with unsolicited advice.



Wednesday, 26 December 2012

So I have been playing ... (15): Farewell, Mojave Wasteland.



Tonight I finally completed my Fallout: New Vegas game. I took my time to explore and discover, to seek and to accomplish. With some time off the game inbetween "thorough play" I spent a good seven-eight months figuring out my first game. Halfway through, I started keeping record, especially when it came to the add-on scenarios. (The posts about earlier recordings are here, here, here, here, here and here.)

And now it's time for this game's final chapter. The whole playlist is over here.

This is where the endgame preparations start:



And this is the endgame recording itself (including the ending cutscenes and credits).




P.S.:
Now I can finally check out  all those Wild Wasteland winks & references that I didn't quite get during the game but didn't want to look up back then.


Thursday, 15 November 2012

The power of pimples (well explained).



TED-Ed delivers another good one.


My personal favourite is 1:53-2:06 showing one hormone triggering the next and so on. I wish I'd written that!

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

So I have been playing ... (12). Old Zone, new tricks.



My "mission statement" for the latest Zone videos reads like this:
Primary objective: work my way into the PSI-emission areas and survive - one step at the time.
Secondary objectives:
- avoid the main quest related actions as much as possible
- find alternatives or workarounds to avoid my brain bleeding out near PSI-emitters
- make and loot the modificate artifacts
- gather more and more sweet recipes
The Ultimate Objective: re-learn the essential skills for making it in the Zone.
The amount of trial-and-error, figuring out new things, searching for information that isn't immediately accessible has been immensely satisfying lately. The thing with "avoiding the main quest"  is that it's not so much a goal as it is an anti-goal - and it still leaves the "so what do I wish to achieve here" question hanging in the air. There have been a few moments in this game when I've felt that I didn't really have my sight set to anything and didn't quite know where I wanted to go with the whole thing. And now the artifact modifications feature (introduced by the Oblivion Lost mod) has given me a desirable goal to pursue. I'm learning, I'm finding ways to conquer challenges and move beyond obstacles - and enjoying every bit of it.



Here's the first video of that venture (continues the playlist introduced over here).




ED: And here's the rocky road towards home stretch ... 



... and finally a milestone I've been attempting to reach for quite a while in this game.  






Thursday, 27 September 2012

So I have been playing ... (7). Back to New Vegas main map



I've been playing Fallout:New Vegas quite a lot lately and recorded most of it. After picking the game up after a few months of hiatus, I soon dived into the add-on scenarios and completed two of them. (Here's the post leading to Old World Blues playlist, and here's the one to Honest Hearts.)

Now, all powered up and wizened (yeah, right...) I am once again poking around at the main map, discovering places that would normally be discovered within the first few hours of play. Completing simple quests that were probably meant to encourage a novice courier to expand her reach. Finding choices hard to make and getting caught by surprise aplenty.

Here's the first episode of this round. And here's the whole playlist.



ED: 
Here's the second part of that playlist, captured after a pause in recording. And here's the video that kicks it off. 




Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Building a habit ... (Vol.2)



The other day I wrote about the concept of Morning Coffee Walk - a habit I'm trying to pick up in order to get myself going and moving before starting any other daily activities. (Did I mention that the area I live in is bloody-near-perfect for that kind of experiments?) Yesterday I cheated, only strolling a half-assed loop around the house. (But later in the day I walked to town and back, so I didn't really feel bad about it.)

Anyway. Here are some highlights from today's walk.






Sunday, 16 September 2012

Building a habit - one steaming mug at the time



As I'm working mostly from home these days, my habits and schedule logic are transforming. The first fundamental change was the time I take to work. The minute my old contract ran out, I booked the late evenings and early night hours for my writing duties. Even though somewhat active at the daytime, I now managed to pick my most efficient hours when it came to creating content. (The results were more than pleasant: I was now able to focus on my stuff at those hours when I'm actually productive and complete the materials within that time frame. As opposed to channelling all my effort into being able to produce something, anything at all during the "proper" office hours, only to discover that by the time my own internal creative hour kicked in, I had depleted my strength for the day and was falling hopelessly behind with my works.)

The ability to have my mornings to myself, without the obligation to run somewhere at someone else's clock is truly priceless. However, while the having-to-run-somewhere-regularly-on-someone-else's-clock arrangement provided its regular dose of misery, it also provided a regular dose of moving my ass. I soon discovered that while I don't generally work at mornings (unless I'm still working), the bed-coffee-computer routine was starting to set in more comfortably than I liked.

Insert the Morning Coffee Walk. (And by "morning" I mean "those couple of hours right after waking up regardless of the numbers shown on a chronometrical device".) I've set myself a few simple rules: get dressed according to weather; fill the mug with something hot; head out house and don't return until the mug is empty.
At this point I have been able to keep this up nearly a week. Sometimes "cheating" with just a round in the garden, other times taking it beyond the mental landmarks of the "home district". Here are some highlights from the latter.








Sunday, 9 September 2012

So I have been playing ... (5) Even more New Vegas Add-ons



As the marathon/ streak featuring the Old World Blues scenario came to a conclusion, I switched my full attention to the real-world tasks for a while. With those tasks completed in flying colours, I found that I had some extra free time as well as the motivation for another "thorough play" endeavour. And so I set my foot to Zion and kept recording most of it.
Here's a fine sample of the experience. (The whole playlist is over here.)