Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a safe break (or a sane run, if you were working).
2025 is starting hot, there's a lot of catching up to do. The Stalker 2 video is up next. I've explored most regions of the Zone but still have a few to go. Play time is currently 270+ hours, though a portion of that is the longplay on the Blondefire channel.
There's a tonne to see. Each point of interest is bespoke and tells stories of desperation, murder, despondency, and betrayal. It's fair to state that by the time I'm finished, I'll have seen more than 99.99% of the people who finished the game, let alone those who played it. This is the reason I don't regularly analyse RPG's, folks, I like to explore EVERYTHING and that takes a lot of time.
The Stalker 2 video won't be a deep dive so much as answering the question: was Stalker 2 worth the wait, even in its current condition? Was it? You can probably guess, but there's a lot of nuance to the answer, hence the video.
After Stalker 2, instead of doing an indie preview, I may do a short video on the Dead Man's Promise DLC for Blood West. It's release came when I was neck deep in Stalker 2, so it'll be a nice fun one to follow up the Stalker video. It rated well, so my expectation is high.
Beyond Dead Man's Promise is Marathon 2. I had hoped to get to it last year but longer projects ate up a lot of time. There's also the mystery subject I hinted at last year but which I also didn't have time for. It's gonna be a busy year.
What's Blondie Playin'?
Stalker 2, no surprise. I've had my eye on the new Indiana Jones game but will wait for a sale. $120 AUD is a tad steep, even if the game is solid. And Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is just around the corner. I'm excited for this one, and it may even nudge Marathon 2 down for an earlier video. I loved KCD1 so this'll be a must-play.
New Years Resolutions
If you know me, you know I don't wait for arbitrary dates to do stuff. That said, here's what I'm working towards this year:
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5min/kilometre runs
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Greater food portion control (smaller portions)
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A bowl of broccoli with every lunch and dinner
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Less snacks/better nutritional quality snacks
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Re-integrate weights work into my exercise plan
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Improve sleep quality (get last year's plan back on the rails)
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Produce shorter, quicker videos
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Streamline initial post production setup
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Document useful Davinci Resolve techniques so that I don't have to look them up again every time I use them :P
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Improve writing speed, efficiency, and clarity (vague, I know, but it's involved)
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Relax the grammar and punctation and be more like 'me'
There's more, but we'd be here all day. There's always something to improve.
What are you all hoping to achieve this year? Whatever it is, make a plan, lock in a schedule, and get to it. Today will always be the best day to start. And be kind to yourselves. There are plenty of assholes out there who would love to tear you down, don't do their job for them.
Until next month, parders.
Compared to the rollercoaster of last month, September was productive and far more chill. I went on a holiday and damn did I need it. I didn't realise how far down the hole I was until being away from home forced me to step back, slow down, and relax. I still did some research and writing for the next video, but when I got home I decided that - while the topic was good - I wasn't feeling it right now. I shelved that project and started a new one.
This next video - unlike previous videos - zooms out for an industry-level look. The target: AAA games, and how the AAA moniker means something different to me now. Unlike other videos which body-slam AAA using player data and sales as weapons, this video will be a personal review of what AAA means to ME. It's a deliberately deeper look into my mindset when I consider AAA games, development studios, and publishers, through the lens of a gamer and paying customer who has become disillusioned with the AAA industry and who explains, in detail, why.
The script for this ...
Hey Folks, the video is finally done. Apologies for the late release, a few things came up near the end of the month which delayed release. I hope you enjoy it!
G'day, chaps and chapettes. July down, progress made.
The Doom/Quake horror video is now at 1hr 36mins. I had hoped to be closer to the 2hr mark by now but stumbled across more supporting material, and viewing/cutting it has taken longer than expected. I'm also making an effort to use footage which supports talking points, and because the script is loaded with talking points (and because the Doom 3 playthrough spans 18 long video files), finding footage to support even a single paragraph of the script has sometimes taken 30mins or longer. There was also another body of work I needed to complete for the Blondefire channel which was delayed by last month's IRL work, so July was very much a catch-up month all around.
The good news is that July was free of IRL distractions so I've made big progress on the video. I normally add the backing track after the footage and voice over is laid, but this time I've added it as I go. This means that the next (and final) pass only requires QA checks and audio ...
