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.
Can't believe September is behind us already, the month has flown by.
As you probably saw, the Marathon 2 video dropped a few days ago. Not my highest performing video by any stretch, but it signals the end of the longer-form videos and a new focused and considered approach.
The indie previews will still be a part of the channel, and the next video will cover a cool Western-inspired shooter called Wanted 3D Dead or Alive. Beyond that is a tough choice. I'd really like to cover a specific topic, but I also don't want it to send a false impression about the changes happening to the channel. It's 100% related to gaming, but I can see some thinking the channel has become rage-bait, which is not the case. It's a topic I feel frustrated by, have felt frustrated by for some time, but it may have to wait while I set the channel trajectory with a video more in line with future videos. And that video I'll keep as a surprise!
After the Marathon 2 video released, I watched a course on my post production software - Davinci...
Folks, the Marathon 2 video has dropped for early-bird supporters. It'll be private for at least 24 hours, after which it goes public.
Hot damn, another month bites the dust. Straight into it.
There's 1/4 of the Marathon 2 script left to record voice for, and I've already begun composing the video. We're close to done.
I've been brainstorming ideas for the shorter length videos and already have a sizeable list to work through. The different projects I mentioned some time ago have been transferred to this list. I'll likely still preview early access indie games because there are many great projects out there, but I haven't decided what the next one will be. I also haven't decided what the next mainline video will be on; it'll be a surprise for all, me included.
What's Blondie playin'?
I've been smashing Abiotic Factor pretty hard this month since I'm now longplaying it on my Blondefire channel. Can't get enough, such a well-designed and fun game to work through. The Half-Life theme is the icing on the cake.
Ambitions
Completion of the Marathon 2 video is going to act as kind of a reset; I'll do all the stuff in this list to clear it away and ...
