Nothing Is Ever Easy, Is It?

Sorry for the shitty stock image but that's really how I feel about my new goddamn computer, at least until today.

You may have noticed that I've not made any posts for the last couple of days.  It's not because I've been busy with work or social stuff or because I don't have anything to talk about or anything like that.  It's because I got this new computer and it's spent all this time being a complete fucking asshole.

I just wanted to unbox it, plug it in and fucking play same damn games but no, of course it's not that fucking easy.  Everything (with the exception of DotA2) ran like total and complete garbage and it only got worse if I tried to stream.  This didn't make any sense to me because the damn thing is faster than my last one AND has a better graphics card in it so I was totally stumped.

Then, with a little help from a friend of mine, we managed to figure out what the fuck was going on.  This fucking machine has 2 graphics cards in it or something.  One is the Intel HD integrated card and the other is my NVidea thing.  The idea is that the computer will automatically decide when to use the HD crap and when to use the NVidea card.

This explains why I was able to run DotA2 no problem and have it look all nice and shiny.  Except when it came to running Hotline Miami or They Bleed Pixels it was using the fucking integrated shit and not switching over to the NVidea, or at least I think that's what was going on.  The result was that the games ran like total shit and streaming would only make the problem worse.  However after fucking about with some options I've managed to make everything use the NVidea stuff so now it all runs nice and fast.

.....Or at least I think that is what was going on.  I like to think I'm OK with computers but I'm absolutely no expert.  Long story short is that I fixed my shit, I'll be able to start writing/recording/streaming a lot more often now and everything should be grand.

Personal Best Double Bill

My speed running skills have been getting better and better over the last few days!

Yesterday I streamed some speed runs of Hotline Miami live and ended up getting a new personal best time and then this morning I streamed some They Bleed Pixels and got a new personal best time in that as well! 

So right now, I'm sharing the runs with you for your viewing pleasure.  They don't come anywhere near any records but I'm quite proud of them, so even if you only watch a few minutes of it I'll be happy

Glitches and Cheating: A Short Speed Run Rant

Never would I have thought in my life that idiots on the internet would get to me as much as they have with this one, here we go!

Speed Running is a thing I have enjoyed watching for a pretty long time, but only very recently have I got into trying to do them myself.  If you look a few posts down from this one you'll be able to see the first full run I've put on They Bleed Pixels.

Anyway, no matter if you're into speed running or not, as long as you're into games like Half Life and stuff, chances are you have seen the insane runs from a group of people going under the banner of Sourceruns on YouTube.  Their Half Life 2 and Portal speed runs are insanely good and between them they have managed to produce some really good times.

Now if you hop on YouTube and watch these runs, you may noticed that they are glitched to shit.  Lot's of accelerated jumping round levels, going out of bounds and all sorts of funky stuff that allows them to beat the game as fast as they do, but this is where the problem lies. 

It's not just these Half Life runs, it's basically ever speed run that involves glitches ever but there is always some moron in a comments section complaining about how "the run isn't legit! they used so many glitches!  They are just cheating!"  This is complete horseshit and I'm going to explain to you people why.

First of all, what's the point of a Speed Run?  Well it's to get to the end of the game as fast as you possibly can without cheating or modifying the game in any way.  This has of course evolved over time so generally speaking, what's known as "any%" runs will be extremely glitched out in a lot of cases while "100%" may not be as glitchy, or glitches will be used to make certain goals faster rather than skipping huge chunks of the game.  This is not the same as cheating, such as using codes or other tools like game shark to give yourself an advantage in order to beat the game.

A good example of this difference really, is with Sonic speed runs.  If you've ever watched a Sonic run you'll see the runner zipping his way through the walls of the levels to reach the end of the stage as fast as possible.  This is NOT the same as using a level select code or level skip code or a no clip in a game genie password or some shit because you still have to actually PLAY the level.  There is a degree of skill required to shove yourself inside a wall at just the right pixel and at just the right speed in order to make the zip happen, and the only thing making is happen is you and the controller.  THAT'S the difference between cheating and glitching.

So bottom line really is if you're going to pass judgements on people's Speed Runs, clue yourself in on how fucking Speed Running works before you start slamming the keyboard with your stupid hands.  A lot of work goes into these runs and its infuriating to see people dismiss them for such a stupid fucking reason.  If you don't like Speed Running, then fine, but don't shit on other people just because people are enjoying games in a way that you couldn't even begin to understand.

Goddamnit

I streamed a Speed Run! and filmed it!

Well I just finished streaming a run of They Bleed Pixels.  I managed to do the whole game in 43 minutes 21 seconds.  Doesn't quite match my personal best time but I'm glad to finally have a speed run up on YouTube. 

You can view it here

Enjoy!

They Bleed Pixels Part 6 [Final]

That's another playthrough finished!

If you enjoyed it please consider a donation to the Alzheimers Society

www.justgiving.com/identitygaming

Thanks! Enjoy the video!

They Bleed Pixels Part 5

I've been doing a lot of writing, time to chillax with a They Bleed Pixels double bill! Starting today with part 5 and ending tomorrow with the grand finale!  Enjoy

Speed Running: The Greatest and Most Depressing Hobby

Right, I'm quite busy today so instead of talking about a specific title or ranting on industry bullshit I'm going to say something quick about my new love with speed running.

Recently I've been trying to get into this whole thing and the game I chose to break myself in was They Bleed Pixels on Steam, if you have been watching the play through you've probably heard me mention it a few times.

The thing is though, Speed Running is both a greatly satisfying and greatly depressing little past time and I'll explain why.  What's great about getting into speed running is that you get a lot of replayability out of your game.  Ironically, do to the game really fast you have to play it over and over for hours and hours so you can get quite a lot of length out of quite a short game if you start trying to speed run it.  Also the feeling of setting a new personal best time is amazing, when you come to the end of a run and you see that you were faster than you were a few days ago, it's a great feeling.

On the flip side though, for They Bleed Pixels at least, most runs can end up dead before you even hit the halfway point in the game.  A small mistake can cost you a lot of time and if you're losing lots of time then you may as well just start over.  What's even worse is if you get quite far and you're having a good time then suddenly you screw up and all your effort goes right down the drain.  It's one of those things that just makes you want punch a hole through your computer monitor and rip your controller in half.

Luckily there have been no hardware casualties yet during my efforts but I'm going to assume as I take up a couple more games, something will get broken at some point whether through constant use or extreme frustration.  Still, if you find that the games you're dropping your hard earned cash on are a bit on the short side and leaving you disappointed, take up speed running, it's a great way to extend the life of a title and you may even make a few friends with the friendly communities that are out there.

Once I finish the playthrough I'll upload a They Bleed Pixels speed run attempt of my own, so keep an eye out.

They Bleed Pixels Part 4

Right, I said the proper posts were coming, so let's kick it off with a new play through episode!

I'll be polishing off the last few levels real soon, stay tuned!

Opt out of the Steam Beta!

Story time!

A long long time ago I opted into the Steam beta through my options menu.  I don't know what this changes exactly or why I even did it, because after opting out and reverting back a version everything still seems exactly the same.

Anyway, today I'm coming to you with a warning.  Do NOT opt in to this beta unless you don't mind the possibility of your games going funny.  Obviously I don't want 100% of people to opt out, because if it wasn't for people reporting these errors then they would never get fixed, but for your every day person that can't be arsed with shit not working, just opt out.

The reason I say this is because a steam beta update basically fucked my copy of They Bleed Pixels to the point where it wouldn't even run.  I ended up trying all sorts of various shit and it all culminated in me deleting my save game by accident before a friend of mine told me what to do.

So if you're the kind of person who doesn't mind bugs, opt in for that shit and help out the community (duh) but if you're like me and you just want to play some damn games opt out.  The beta updates aren't as new and shiny as you might think.

Tau Plays They Bleed Pixels Part 3!

Well I've been sick with a cold for the last week or so and that's why there has been no YouTube stuff for the last few days.  But now I'm recovered and I got some more stuff out, so go check it out!

They Bleed Pixels Part 2!

Well, I uploaded part 2 of the They Bleed Pixels playthrough to YouTube.  Not really a lot more to say than that, but this will be the last long parts as I intend to do the last 4 levels as their own separate parts.

ENJOY!

I'm Going to Italy!

Right! For reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with video games, on Saturday I shall be leaving my home in Sweden to go and spend a few days in Italy.  The only reason I thought I'd make this post is so that people don't FREAK OUT if I can't get the time or connecting to update the blog with while I'm there.

So tomorrow I'll be uploading another episode of They Bleed Pixels and we are still on for our 24 hour stream of Final Fantasy games on the 20th, so get your donation wallets ready and prepare for that one.

Also my speed run times are getting smaller by the day, so once I start getting times under an hour, I'll start streaming that too.

If we're lucky the Steam Sale might have started by the time I get back....

NEW PLAYTHROUGH! They Bleed Pixels Part 1!

Well I was going to do Bioshock but my recording software crashed and I lost all my footage, so have a casual playthrough of my current speed run project instead!

VIDEO!

An article on Speed Running....On another website!

Today I'm posting an article I wrote about my experiences getting into the world of Speed Running with They Bleed Pixels but this time I'm not posting it on the blog, I'm posting it on a website called Kinda Awesome.

While not primarily a gaming site, there is a lot of gaming stuff on there but their writers cover all sorts of topics.  Recently they have very kindly invited me to do some guest writing for me, so this little article on Speed Running is my first post for them.

I don't want anyone to worry that I'm giving up on Identity Gaming because they have very kindly said that they have no problem with me doing my own thing and writing for them on the side.  So once you've read my article, go and have a click around their site, they are cool people who write some good stuff so give it a look.

So here begins a hopefully long and healthy partnership with the guys at Kinda Awesome! Here are the links to their site and my article

THE SITE!
http://kindawesome.com/

MY ARTICLE!
http://kindawesome.com/?p=1524