#Soulephant dabbles live

[soulephant]

Game: MaGMML3 (Make a Good Mega Man Level contest 3) Date and time: Weekend of 6th/7th of July, 2:00PM (EDT) or 20:00 (CEST) on either or both days

Stream link here!

Previously, I made a huge miscalculation in regards to Make a Good Mega Man Level 3. Stream all levels bottom to top, I said. That wasn't happening, but I have been beelining for Tier 11 offscreen. And I expect to be there come next weekend, with little to no cut corners.

Actually, I am in tier 11. As in, that's where I placed. So, !!DEV COMMENTARY ALERT!! once I get to my level.

And other levels. Because I know from what few levels I played before release there's some other really neat levels in there. My plan is (after knocking on wood) that I knock out all of tier 11 this Saturday! Then, probably plushies! Because there's 555 of those to collect in this game and there is one I'm after in particular.

From here on, I do intend to play all the levels that I can. Even if it's still over 60 of them. Also, chances are I'll also stream on Sunday, depending. No promises though, and the weekend after I have other commitments, just so you know!

See you then, but stay tuned for more potential streams!

[goblin-basement-dwellers]

Remember when I talked about Shandalar 2015 and my intention to stream it? Probably not.

I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that, while I did not expect Shandalar 2015 to record right, it did better than expected. I actually got pretty close to setting everything up. I had to capture every little window, and managed it for a lot of those. Monitor capturing isn’t an option because fullscreen.

Anyway, the bad news is that there’s screens that I fail to capture, some of them are crucial. Therefore, my attempt to get Shandalar 2015 to work as a streaming project failed. Unless I can capture full screen or put the thing into a virtual machine, Shandalar 2015 is off-limits. A shame really, because I wanted to stream it somewhat close to the Kaladesh prerelease.

[soulephant]

Make a Great Miscalculation

Expectation: Knock out over a single tier in a single stream, and have energy to stream the day after. Reality: Barely make it through tier 1 in three hours, lacking the energy to stream the day after meaning slogging through the lower tiers across months and also lacking vocal cords because you wanted to voice an old man rambling so badly.

As MaGMML3's release and my stream approached, I figured I could try streaming the entire thing bottom to top. Flash forward to after the stream, and this turned out to be an obvious miscalculation.

The thing I did with MaGMML2? Where I started higher up and went back eventually? Not a bad idea, as it happens! Not perfect, but a lot better than trying to stream the biggest ever fangame as an average adult in his 30s!

For a starters, this means MaGMML3 as a streaming project is essentially on a hiatus for now. And while I considered doing more chill things like Balatro in the meantime, my streaming in general will as well. Another given is that I will play most of the tiers off-stream, at least the first 9.

Beyond that, things are not set in stone. My current idea is to alternate one of the higher tiers with a select few levels in the lower ones I've marked to stream. I will either return to streaming at tier 11 or maybe 10. That's still around 60 levels plus everything else, but it's a lot better than the 200+ past-week-me was planning to do!

In the meantime, maybe expect Wildchalice? Either way, stay tuned for news on when I return, because honestly I can't tell when I'm ready, nor do I want to make hard promises lest I overtax myself.

See you sometime later!

[soulephant]

Game: MaGMML3 (Make a Good Mega Man Level contest 3) Date and time: Weekend of 15th/16th of June, 2:00PM (EDT) or 20:00 (CEST) on either or both days

Stream link here!

So, turns out MaGMML3 is due for release on June 9th. It's been a wait to be sure. For those who are not aware, it's the third edition of the Make a Good Mega Man Level contest. And it is huge. Almost 180 entries submitted to the contest portion, plus a whole bunch of more content. So yeah, it is huge.

And I feel obligated to stream it. Also because I submitted a thing as well.

Unlike MaGMML2 (where I started from tier 8 out of 10), I am actually gonna try and stream bottom to top, with some exceptions among the skippable levels. Then I will cover as much of the other content as I possibly can. Hopefully all, but again, I would be playing like 180+ levels.

Now there is an additional caveat: This marks my return to streaming, 4 whole years and a new laptop later. So there may be technical difficulties as I try to figure this out again on an entirely new device. Please bear with me. For this reason, I also planned these streams for Saturday and/or Sunday, in case things go wrong.

See you then, but stay tuned for more potential streams!

[soulephant]

Okay, I think it’s time for another update!

First of all, the exposition from Gaspar’s Diary for my C3 WIP has definitely run dry at the moment. However, another type of thing I can write is currently considered. It isn’t exactly being written yet, but I have ideas how to continue avoiding writing the actual stories.

Second, I alluded to something holding me up a bit earlier into the Gaspar’s Diary process, but never specified. Make a Good Mega Man Level 3 just had its results revealed little over a month ago. I submitted in the contest and got 56th place! Out of 181 that’s not bad, but circumstances kind of got in the way. That’s a whole story, but in brief, I had to retry graduating on the side (as I anticipated, still stressful though), I procrastinated on an important gimmick for 2 weeks, and all this left me with 2 weeks to design the entire level rather than the planned 8. So yeah, the end product could definitely be better!

Which is exactly why I’ve been working on a fixed post-contest version for a bit already, and after a bit of a break I have just continued work on more drastic changes. I would very much like to have this finished before MaGMML3 releases, so I can tell any youtubers or streamers that come across my skippable entry that I have a less brutal version of it ready to go. Aside from creative drought, this is why the C3 wip is on the backburner currently. Also the arrival of my Steam Deck and me knocking out both spoilers and low-levels hell in Splatoon 3 doesn’t help.

On a slightly related note, I know my streaming has been dead pretty much since my previous move, but I will definitely be streaming MaGMML3 when it releases. I just need to make a thumbnail for that game. Also, at some point I’ll be looking into how to stream from the Steam Deck, as it seems a more powerful device than my laptop. However, the Deck does run Linux, which I not only know fuckall about, but is also only modestly supported so I may run into issues with OBSS, any non-Deck game or even my mic.

So fixing up old work, testing out the Steam Deck, also sneaking in some Splatoon 3, and also tennis competition to manage… there’s a lot going on. Doing fine though!

That’s the latest. See you whenever!

[soulephant]

Game: Sonic Classic, Sonic CD Date and time: Saturday 11th, 2:00PM (EDT) or 20:00 (CEST)  

Stream link here!

...Wait, I have a channel and a blog? I suppose I do!

A lot happened since I started living on my own and gradually dropped off the internet (in part thanks to Three Houses). I looked for a job sitting at home, found a job elsewhere, and then come spring 2020 I find myself home anyway. And that’s the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, I’ve been considering streaming again several times this year, but only today have I found the motivation to prep one. So that’s good, I guess.

As for what I’m streaming, it’s an easy nostalgic double dip for me, consisting of Sonic Classic and Sonic CD. The former was the first thing I ever recorded back when I was on... Livestream, and also the first thing I brought to Youtube, and the latter is possibly the first game I ever played, and one I hold unusually strong nostalgia for.

Let’s see if we can have a good time, because boy are good times necessary.

Stay tuned like last year! I may be a bit fickle from exhaustion but I’ll keep you posted.

[soulephant]

Game: WarioWare: Mega Microgame$ Date and time: Sunday 26th, 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CEST)

Stream link here!

Don’t worry guys, I’m alive!

So WarioWare Gold released somewhat recently, and it's good! Put WarioWare back on my map, in no small part thanks to the wonders of full voice acting (and Wario’s peculiar artistic skills). Of course, I'm a small-time fellow with limited options, so I'll go with a WarioWare game I never played instead: The very first one, Mega Microgame$! Should give me some time to talk about the many, many things that happened...

As always though: Stay tuned, and see you then!

[soulephant]

Game: Hard Hat 1 (aka Hard Hat - the Rebellion) Date and time: Saturday 19th, 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CEST)

Stream link here!

Here's a tidbit about the man behind the streamer: I was fan of the megaman franchise long before I touched an official game or was aware of its existence!

It all started with the Hard Hat series of fangames, and while the second game was the beginning of this nostalgic road, let's start at the beginning of the series instead. I've gotten a critical eye since then, so let's see how well (or not) Hard Hat holds up!

I have by far the least memories from this game, as its the only one I haven't completed. But I do know that Hard Hat 1 in particular did NOT age well whatsoever, even when compared to fangames that fall short of excellence.

Stay tuned as always!

See you then!

[soulephant]

Game: Duck Game Date and time: Sunday 11th, around 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CET)

Stream link here!

I haven’t been big on valentine’s day for years. Cupid just... leaves me out of the loop, so there isn’t much of a point to celebrating that. Thankfully, Finland celebrates it as friend’s day instead, and friends I have! Last year I streamed Overwatch, but that game isn’t much on my mind anymore for reasons.

Thankfully, I have another game in mind... Just don’t ask me how I got it.

So I’m streaming Duck Game this time around, with several (kinds of) friends. Between it being more of a party game, crazy weapons and the simple yet effective quacking taunt, you simply can’t be mad at this game!

However, stay tuned, because I’m very much dependant on friends for this! Time may change. Date, not so likely.

See you this sunday!

[soulephant]

Game: Mega Man Maker Date and time: Sunday 12th, around 3:45PM (EST) or 21:45 (CET)

Stream link here!

While MaGMML2 was going on, Mega Maker decided it needed to update to version 1.1.x, and respect another Mega Maker that has nothing to do with Megaman in the process. So it’s Mega Man Maker now and it’s dumb. Regardless, Mega Man Maker is still a fangame where you can make your own levels much like Super Mario Maker. I personally even think it has a leg up on SMM. And, it being a maker, I’ve dicked around with it.

Like before, I’ll be playing some levels found on Sprites Inc, as well as others brought to my attention. Since 1.1.x is a pretty substantial update, however, I’ll go check it’s stuff out if I can. It’s still going to be a pretty short stream though,so no guarantees.

See you this sunday!

[soulephant]

Game: MaGMML2 (Make a Good Mega Man Level contest 2) Date and time: Saturday 25th, 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CET)

Stream link here!

Last stream, I finished my selection of tier 6, and followed it up with the randomization cheat, as shown here and here. The latter wasn’t quite the best idea to keep doing during long streams (though it will continue). However, I still have one last unstreamed tier to go, that being tier 7.

My selection there is a big one. It includes an non-submission level (that I therefore haven’t played). Unfortunately, it also includes my other least favorite level, as well as the biggest arse among tier bosses! So aggravation will be a thing. Still, it’s tier 7! Stuff is also good! And maybe I’ll squeeze some more stuff in. I dunno.

As always, stay tuned!

See you this saturday or friday!

[soulephant]

Game: Mega Maker Date and time: Sunday 8th, 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CET)

Stream link here!

Yes, I know Make a Good Mega Man Level 2 has released. But no, I’m not streaming all 70+ non-skippable levels blind. So meanwhile, here’s more Mega Maker! It’s a fangame where you can make your own levels much like Super Mario Maker. I personally even think it has a leg up on SMM. And, it being a maker, I’ve dicked around with it.

Like before, I’ll be playing some levels found on Sprites Inc, as well as others brought to my attention. I’m also showcasing the finished “History Channel”, my latest level with a very misleading name! Nothing else this time, due to plans later today.

See you this sunday!

[soulephant]

Phew... I’m back. And it’s finally time to announce something! Actually, it’s a bit of a surprise to to me as well.

So The One Guardian over at Lazy Sunday Splats brought to our attention a Humble Bundle with all sorts of small Steam games on it, including some that I want. He wanted to try them out and I volunteered. Thus, I was gifted the bundle, and now I am in possession of gems... such as “Oh... Sir! The Insult Simulator!”. Yeah.

So that is what I’m going to stream Sunday 13th, at the usual time of 2PM (EST) or 20:00 (CET)! And TOG is joining me for a good ol’ verbal slaughterfest in which it’s insult or be insulted!

Stream link here!

See you there, you right pain in yer rear! :P

[soulephant]

Saturday’s stream is about villainy. Sunday’s is equally messed up, though more plain weird. Then again, weird is what I’ve adopted as my shtick. Randomizing Pokémon Black down to its foundations certainly qualifies as weird, and as it’s been a success every time I did it, why not continue where I left?

Once again, I’ve dicked around with types of moves, Pokémon, evolutions, locations of Pokémon and trainers in general. Need an example? Water/Fighting Skitty that has clearly been bred off a Wailord, or a Tynamo that rends space before it even hits level 10. Or a thing. You will see a thing.

The time and date, by the way, is the 20th of August, at the usual time of 20:00 (CET) or 2PM (EST). Here’s the stream link!

See you there!

[soulephant]

If you recall, I have unfinished business with Nefarious. Last time I got only one of two endings, and “there is another way“. I unlocked the other off-screen, putting myself through some suffering.

Here’s what I will do on the 19th of August, at the usual time of 20:00 (CET) or 2PM (EST): I will play through most of the game again, going over its admittedly unexceptional design, and I’ll do it in a much shorter time for those who missed either of my streams. I’ll go over the secret I missed before, and then over the true and very awesome ending! Princesses will of course still be... “escorted“.

Stream link here!

See you there! Or at the next day’s stream, because I’m planning one. Stay tuned!

[soulephant]

Game: Hard Hat 3 Date and time: Sunday 31st, 2:30PM (EDT) or 20:30 (CEST)

Stream link here!

Quick update: I’m living on my own now and currently not quite busy. Except with newfound household chores. So if I’m streaming, I’m most likely streaming later than usual from now on.

Anyway, me being a fan of the megaman franchise started with the Hard Hat series of fangames. It’s been quite a rocky ride for the last 6 months since I tried playing the second game, the game that started it all. It sure went better than the absolute aged trainwreck that was Hard Hat 1, but I still couldn’t finish it. Hard Hat 3 is the best of the four games in my memory though, so let’s see if third game’s the charm!

I may of course be wrong, in which case I have to stop streaming this game prematurely. Just so you know.

Stay tuned as always! I’m looking into when I can pick up streaming again.

I’d say “See you then!”, but let me also drop something new in there:

Here’s Soulephant Dabbles Soon, which also highlights my plans for soon, in this case april and may (due to going on vacation in mid april)! This is in no particular order, and as per usual may change along the line.