The Energon Pub

[1337W422102]

His is a name whispered in respect among his peers, and in fear among his foes. One day, we'll explore Pandora together and make it our bitch.

I'm building up my Mordecai for that day. From the sound of things, I'm not that far behind you. Just a few more side quests, and all I have left is Headstone Mine.

Crap. I'm using my Level 19 Lilith just for singleplayer as I haven't finished the game yet and I want to experience it myself. I have a Roland we can use, but he's only level 7 so far.

Also, the other day, I was outside barbecuing, in real life. Making some hot dogs and burgers. All I could think of was Scooter's mom's busted girly parts. Hot dog down a Skag den, know-what-I'm-saying?

[Shadowman]

I have a Roland we can use, but he's only level 7 so far.

Good thing I have that level 5 Brick.

Shadowman: More contingency plans that Batman could ever think of.

Also, the other day, I was outside barbecuing, in real life. Making some hot dogs and burgers. All I could think of was Scooter's mom's busted girly parts. Hot dog down a Skag den, know-what-I'm-saying?

What worries me, though, is how the hell Scooter would know that. When the conversation steers towards their mother's girl parts, most people clasp their hands over their ears and start screaming "I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA."

Chances are he's just lying to keep us away from her since he hates it when people sleep with his mom. Which is an uphill battle considering his mom is Mad Moxxi.

[1337W422102]

I have a Roland we can use, but he's only level 7 so far.

Good thing I have that level 5 Brick.

Shadowman: More contingency plans that Batman could ever think of.

Just don't let him hear you say that!
My next semester unfortunately begins tomorrow, so I won't have as much gaming time free, but we should definitely get some Borderlanding in.

What worries me, though, is how the hell Scooter would know that. When the conversation steers towards their mother's girl parts, most people clasp their hands over their ears and start screaming "I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA."

I'm guessing word spreads fast (crap, pun NOT intended) on Pandora. I mean, Fyrestone has a population of 24, right? Besides, I'm sure Lucky's been bragging about that.

Chances are he's just lying to keep us away from her since he hates it when people sleep with his mom. Which is an uphill battle considering his mom is Mad Moxxi.

I said it before and I'll say it again, if she wasn't his mom, he'd probably hit it, too. Delicious Moxxi.

[Shadowman]

Borderlands:
Beat the main game, again, but I'm still only level 54. I'm going to do Zombie Island of Dr. ZedNed, and if I'm still not maxed out, I'll do Secret Armory. (Mad Moxxi doesn't have nearly enough of a payoff (That is, it doesn't have a payoff) for me to do that again) Right now I have 55 achievements, including one for paying $8 million for a tour of the World's Largest Bullet. Sure, the tour consisted entirely of me turning to the left and looking at it, but it was so huge I could hardly believe my eyes!

[The Happy Locust]

Saboteur
Spent most of this play session just blowing stuff up and trying to earn the level 3 explosives perk. But did manage to learn how to snipe from a defrocked priest. Good times...

A boy and his blob
Cleared world 3. only 21 more levels to go.

[Shadowman]

Didn't I post in here? Like, just a could hours ago? That's weird.

Borderlands:
Got Lilith capped at level 61. Hooray for me! All that's left is Crawmerax.

Good news, I found a point in his little arena where, if you stand there, the AI basically turns off, so you can easily shoot at Crawmerax's weak spots. (The only way to hurt it) The problem: one of his weak spots is on his back, and the only way to get him to turn around is to leave my hiding spot, and then I risk not being able to use that spot anymore.

Yes, it's a bug. I'd feel bad, but he's three levels above the cap. Once the game starts breaking it's own rules, I stop feeling bad about breaking them as well.

[1337W422102]

Could you possibly lure him away so his back is to the hiding spot, then Phase and haul that sweet ass back to said hiding spot without him seeing you?

Also, are there hidden/secret Steam Achievements? I know I don't have them yet, but some aren't showing up on my greyed-out list of not-unlocked-yet ones, like the Sucker Born Every Minute and You're On A Boat.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men [PC]:
Found it in a bargain bin, picked it up without knowing much about the game nor the PC port, but figured I'd have fun with it, shooting things and getting Achievements.

I spent about 6 hours trying to get the game to stop crashing in the first freaking level. I eventually managed to by tweaking the compatibility mode settings (WinXP SP3 FTW) and disabling some visual themes, desktop composition, and display scaling on high DPI settings. At least it's working now, and I got an Achievement for my trouble.

[Shadowman]

Could you possibly lure him away so his back is to the hiding spot, then Phase and haul that sweet ass back to said hiding spot without him seeing you?

I haven't written that off as impossible, but I'm still trying to get that to work.

Also, are there hidden/secret Steam Achievements? I know I don't have them yet, but some aren't showing up on my greyed-out list of not-unlocked-yet ones, like the Sucker Born Every Minute and You're On A Boat.

Actually, yes. But I don't know if they're supposed to be hidden or not. Here's a full list.

At least it's working now, and I got an Achievement for my trouble.

It's kind of sad when you get an Achievement just for making the game work.

[1337W422102]

I haven't written that off as impossible, but I'm still trying to get that to work.

Good luck. Give him hell for me, eh?

Actually, yes. But I don't know if they're supposed to be hidden or not. Here's a full list.

Thanks! It says this at the bottom:

The Steam global achievements list has 70 available achievements, although on the 'view stats' page for players only 61 are present. The other 9 are hidden achievements and will unlock and show on Steam profiles when acquired (Please note that some hidden achievements are from the DLC).

Cool, I figured as much.

It's kind of sad when you get an Achievement just for making the game work.

Well, it was for making the game stay running long enough for me to clear the first mission without any serious issues. But, yeah, you're pretty much right. I'm just glad I was able to get it working.

[Shadowman]

Borderlands:
I...AM...A...GOD!! Crawmerax is dead, let all who oppose me know that I killed him solo!!

First I sat in my little no-AI zone (Again, if he can break the level cap, then I can use a bug) and shot out his eye, making it harder for him to track me. he'll follow the sound of my gun, though, which makes things harder, but not impossible. I'd phasewalk behind one of the stone pillars, fire a few SMG rounds into the weak spot on his back, then begin playing keep-away with him and his cronies until phasewalk recharged (I reallocated skill points so my Phasewalk had the lowest possible cooldown rate and the longest possible duration, among other things) Once his back was gone, I took a phasewalk back to the no-AI zone, and picked off what was left of him.

And hoo-boy did he drop a ton of loot. No Pearlescents, which was what I was hoping to get, but I actually had to make trips to pick up all the loot and sell it off. As a result, I don't think I ever have to worry about money ever again. (The counter caps at $9,999,999 but you can have way more money than that)

[8 bit]

Castlevania 3 [NES]

This is a great game that I picked up about a week ago. Made it to Dracula's castle with Grant. However, I just discovered that if I had taken a different route at the beginning of the game, I could have acquired Alucard as my helper instead. Oh well, you have to defeat him first and he's really tough; so I'll just press on.

[1337W422102]

Borderlands:
I...AM...A...GOD!! Crawmerax is dead, let all who oppose me know that I killed him solo!!

First I sat in my little no-AI zone (Again, if he can break the level cap, then I can use a bug) and shot out his eye, making it harder for him to track me. he'll follow the sound of my gun, though, which makes things harder, but not impossible. I'd phasewalk behind one of the stone pillars, fire a few SMG rounds into the weak spot on his back, then begin playing keep-away with him and his cronies until phasewalk recharged (I reallocated skill points so my Phasewalk had the lowest possible cooldown rate and the longest possible duration, among other things) Once his back was gone, I took a phasewalk back to the no-AI zone, and picked off what was left of him.

And hoo-boy did he drop a ton of loot. No Pearlescents, which was what I was hoping to get, but I actually had to make trips to pick up all the loot and sell it off. As a result, I don't think I ever have to worry about money ever again. (The counter caps at $9,999,999 but you can have way more money than that)

Dude...

[The Happy Locust]

[b]A Boy and His blob[/wii]
Working through world 4. Cleared the first 5 stages and the first 4 challenge levels. Approximately 6 levels more to go to victory.

[Shadowman]

Borderlands:
Took down Crawmerax again, partly because I wanted to prove to myself I didn't win by a fluke or dumb luck, and partly because I wanted more free stuff. Now I'm coming to the realization that, until the next DLC comes out, I'm out of stuff to do.

Incidentally, this is interesting news. The new level increase, plus the free skill points in DLC2 and 4, means you can have a total of 76 skill points. You could max out 15 different skills with that.

Dead Space:
Fixed the comm array, getting out an SOS to a rescue ship. They claimed to have picked up our escape pod, but that's weird because only one pod was launched, and we launched it to get rid of a nasty necromorph we had stashed on board and...oops. Well, it seems we'll have to rescue ourselves.

[8 bit]

Castlevania 3 [NES]

Ok, so Alucard really isn't that hard once you figure out his pattern; but making it back out of the swamp alive with him is another thing! Sure, he has his signature 3 fireball spread shot just like his dad, but it doesn't seem to do a whole lot of damage. At least he can fly around as a bat.

I've also started going through the game with Sypha; her magic attack is actually pretty powerful and very useful against bosses! So now I'm not sure who I'll beat the game with.

[Shadowman]

Dead Space:
BEATEN! Killed the gigantic tentacle monster, and escaped from the planet just before the giant piece that was blown off for strip mining crashed back down. But Issac's girlfriend is dead and--OH CRAP NECROMORPH ON THE ESCAPE SHIP.

Well, can't be too much of a problem if Isaac is the main character in the second game. For now, New Game + gives me a bitchin' new suit.

[The Happy Locust]

A boy and his blob (wii)
Cleared world 4 and defeated the evil emperor of Blobonia. The defeat wasn't final though and he fled back to Earth, unlocking additional levels. Currently working to finish the final levels.

[8 bit]

Castlevania 3 [NES]

Aye! This game is tough! Made it through the first stage of Dracula's castle with one mark left on my life bar and only 6 seconds left on the timer! Phew! My thumbs were sweating!

Now I'm on the second stage of Dracula's castle, which is an updated representation of the first stage from the original Castlevania! It's a nice touch that even features a new version of the original music. Only problem is, the boss is the Grim Reaper; and just like the first game, he's next to impossible :/

[Shadowman]

Borderlands:
While I wait for Claptrap's New Robot Revolution (And the level cap that comes after that) I decided to build up Mordecai. Turns out, if you maximize Bloodwing's damage and maximum targets, he becomes a little winged God of Death. Bloodwing is to killing as Phasewalk is to mobility, basically. (Though I don't know how I'd include Scorpion Turret and Berserker to that)

Also, I found out I could turn up the graphics with only minimal loss to frame rate. It barely looks like the same game. I mean, the defaults looked good and ran good even on my crappy rig. But with dynamic shadows and bloom and depth of field and whatever flare outs is (Kind of looks like more bloom actually) it looks really nice. Although it makes some areas (Rust Commons in particular) suffer from Real is Brown.

[The Happy Locust]

A boy and his blob (Wii)
GAME.OVER!
Tracked the emperor back to Earth, lost the blob but revived it and gained the all-powerful Mecha-blob transformation. Defeated the emperor and let the blob return home.

Metroid: Other M
Started the game, headed towards the station and met the Galactic federation team. Agreed to help but the commander ruled that I could only join if under his command. MOst of my weapons are currently locked but that's par for the course. Brought power back to the station and currently exploring sector 1.

[Shadowman]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game:
This game kicks enough ass to blow a hole in the moon. Twice. It's an old school beat-'em-up with RPG elements.

Currently on level 3. So I'll have to fight Todd Ingram. I look forward to headbutting him so hard he explodes.

[8 bit]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game:
This game kicks enough ass to blow a hole in the moon. Twice. It's an old school beat-'em-up with RPG elements.

Currently on level 3. So I'll have to fight Todd Ingram. I look forward to headbutting him so hard he explodes.

This game does look incredible; my jaw dropped when I first saw the previews!

[The Happy Locust]

Metroid: other M
About 3 hours into the game. Left sector 1 and moved on to sector 3, which included a lava level. Was authorized to use the ice beam. Reached a volcano-top boss and was authorized to use the Varia suit. Regrouped with my crew in a nearby lab complex, only to get attacked by a strange creature. Defeated it but at the cost of one of my teammates. Moving on to the next sector.

Saboteur
Still spending most of my time randomly blowing stuff up. Met with an old girlfriend who slipped me a micky, introduced me to her group of resistance fightsers, and let me join. As our first mission, stole a box with unidentified contents from a German controlled Mausoleum.

[The Happy Locust]

Wow. a full week with no posts.

Metroid: Other M
GAME.OVER! sort of...
Cleared the main story, finding and defeating MB only after defeating a surprise appearance of a final boss from another game. Post-credits, going back in for some more goodies and secrets.

Saboteur
Only done 3 more missions but wreaked havoc on the nazis in my spare time. There are huge blank areas on my map where I've simply demolished all Nazi structures.

[8 bit]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [Xbox]
Ok, this game is awesome! It's basically everything a retro gaming fan could possibly ask for! Besides being an updated version of one of the best NES fighting games, River City Ransom, it has a bunch of other NES references that you can spot as you play through.

Case in point: "The Clash at Demonhead" band in stage 3. I thought maybe the band name was just a coincidence, until I saw the Tom Guycot masks some of the enemies wear in the Halloween stage; then I knew the developers of this game are definitely retro-gamers! If you're not sure what I'm talking about, Clash at Demonhead is an NES game that has cult-classic status much like River City Ransom has. Anyway, even K.I.T.T. makes a quick cameo.

I've made it as far as The Twin's giant robot; which is a spoof of a boss battle in Contra: Hard Corps for the Sega Genesis.

The Legend of Zelda [NES]
Made my way to Level 6 after acquiring enough hearts to obtain the Magical Sword. I was pretty happy when I realized I only have 3 Heart spots left to fill; which means I remembered where to find all of the Heart containers in the overworld. Unfortunately, I had my Magical Shield eaten by a Like Like, so I'll have to shell out 90 rupees for another one.