The Energon Pub

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle

I've done it! I've survived the Dopefish! Cleared the Well of Wishes and freed another Gnosticene. The irony is there were no locks or anything involved, just Dopefish, so he could have escaped on his own if he could swim fast enough... O well.

Off to the Isle of Tar and the Isle of Fire.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle

*Comes back burnt and covered in tar*. What?! I'm glad I finished both the Isle of Tar and the Isle of Fire, those were pretty tough. Saved yet another Gnosticene, only 2 more to go. Off to the Pyramids and the Secret Level.

[1337W422102]

duke Nukem: Manhattan Project [PC]:
The boss of Episode 4 was the easiest one yet. On the third level of episode 5. Got all the Nukes in the game so far.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle
GAME OVER FINISHED! Freed the final two Gnosticenes, after skipping the Secret Level for a while. You know where this is going, so I'm not gonna bother telling. Off to play Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine and destroy the Omegamatic!

[Shadowman]

Monkey Island 2: Special Edition:
BEATEN! Crazy-ass ending. The downside is, apparently there's no plans for a Special Edition for Curse of Monkey Island. Apparently it's held up well enough not to need one. Phooey.

Final Fantasy XII:
Started up a new game so I could get things I missed, as well as to use tricks I didn't learn until later, much earlier. It's suddenly become easier. I didn't figure get anyone's Quickenings until I got on Shiva (Which would be a Giggity moment until you realize Shiva is an airship in this...I mean...not saying she--she's got an attractive weight, I mean, but...crap...) but I trained Vaan up early and got his second Quickening just before the Mimic Queen battle. last time, it was a pain, this time, it was a small Quickening chain, an Ether, a slightly larger Quickening chain, then victory. Also, I'm planning on getting the Zodiac Spear this time.

Just got Basch in my party for real, now we have to go talk to Balthier in a scene that is blatantly a near-perfect replica of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from Star Wars.

EDIT: Leviathan, not Shiva. And what do I care about that fat ass fish's feelings?

[The Happy Locust]

Crysis 2
Bought game, undid shrinkrap, installed, started... What? It's progress.
Started the game on a submarine, which ironically became full of water. Oops. Made it out but a flying enemy took out my crew and I was saved by a guy in a funky suit. Said guy put me in the suit, recorded a goodbye, and shot himself, thus making me the owner of the suit. Sweet!
Getting messages from another guy who thinks I'm the first guy and is ordering me around. having nothing better to do, decided to follow orders, meaning get the tutorial. So far learned movement, basic shooting, high-jumping, cloaking, shield mode, and nanovision.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine
Just started on this game. Got through the first part without any major hiccups. For the Keen-fans: the Ion Ventilation System and the Security Center. Now I'm at a major crossroad: I have four levels to choose from, with a key level behind each. What I could do is:

A) Finish the 4 Defense Tunnels first, then tackle the levels behind them
B) Finish a Defense Tunnel along with the level behind it, then tackle another set.

Again, decisions, decisions...

[The Happy Locust]

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Have reached the Djinn city and sanctuary after failing to save Malik the easy way. Earned the power to 'bring memories to life' which means to make things that used to exist reappear.

One gripe about this power is that there's no indication that a currently solid platform will disappear when you activate the next one. Many's the time I've fallen to my death by not realizing my current platform came into existence at the same time as the last one.

[Shadowman]

Final Fantasy IV:
BEATEN! I had a save right in the final dungeon, so I figured it was high time I finished it and added another Final Fantasy win to my list of Final Fantasy Wins. That's 9 out of 14 games in the main series beaten, and two of them are MMOs so who the hell cares? Meaning...what, 9 out of 12? I'm 75% done with the main franchise! That's better than you, Abraham Lincoln!

[1337W422102]

Minecraft [PC]:
There goes my life. My friend's hosting a server for a bunch of our friends to use. And use it we do. Right now a friend and I have built a large underground base we call Vault 1337, each with our own pimp-decorated rooms, a common vault filled with chests of items, a stairway leading down to a mine, a built-in farm, skylights to see if it's day or night, an integrated boatyard (dubbed Dock 16), a waterfall, a watchtower, and more. Across the bay is "Tree Mile Island," our friends' mutual forest/wood farm, and further is a large mountain we're hollowing out and trying to make look like the Citadel from Half-Life 2. Yes, we like our gaming references.

On the to-do and/or in-progress list, zen garden, wheat cultivator, underwater glass tunnels (Rapture-style), some giant robots, a battleship, and Jace Hall's blimp, for 1337 flying skillz and laughing at people on the ground.

Duke Nukem 3D [PC]:
Duke Atomic Edition from GOG.com + eDuke32 + Duke3D HighRes Pack + DukePlus =


This is beyond awesome. I played through Duke3D back on my Pentium 1 under Win95, I played through it again with the HighRes pack under WinXP, and now I'm playing it on Win7 with the DukePlus extras. Each time, it's like playing a different game. And it feels good, man.

Also, I got balls of steel-- on pre-order. Going to get Manhattan Project and the Atomic Edition finished before Duke Forever comes out. It feels SO weird saying that.

EDIT:
Forgot my progress update. Got to Episode 1 Level 4, the toxic dump.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine
OK, went with the second strategy: Clear a Defense Tunnel and then the machine behind it. I started off with the left/west one: Defense Tunnel Vlook and the Energy Flow Systems. Thanks so losing many a life, and the Big Keg O'Vitalin (aka 1-Up) I was able to stockpile. Should come in handy for the other 3 Tunnels and machines.

[The Happy Locust]

Minecraft [PC]:
There goes my life. My friend's hosting a server for a bunch of our friends to use. And use it we do. Right now a friend and I have built a large underground base we call Vault 1337, each with our own pimp-decorated rooms, a common vault filled with chests of items, a stairway leading down to a mine, a built-in farm, skylights to see if it's day or night, an integrated boatyard (dubbed Dock 16), a waterfall, a watchtower, and more. Across the bay is "Tree Mile Island," our friends' mutual forest/wood farm, and further is a large mountain we're hollowing out and trying to make look like the Citadel from Half-Life 2. Yes, we like our gaming references.

On the to-do and/or in-progress list, zen garden, wheat cultivator, underwater glass tunnels (Rapture-style), some giant robots, a battleship, and Jace Hall's blimp, for 1337 flying skillz and laughing at people on the ground.

And all I've done is build a wooden tower and furnish it with a rooftop sugarcane and wheat farm.

Crysis 2
Met Gould, worked my way to a secure facility, got captured while my suit was depowered, but was rescued by aliens. rescued meaning they attacked but luckily blew up my captors.

[Shadowman]

Final Fantasy:
BEATEN! I had a save that I'd been meaning to finish and I was bored. Odd thing, though, is that unlike FF4 from the other day, this save was just after beating Lich and relighting the Earth Crystal. So...I beat nearly the entire game in less than a day. Go me. I attribute it to my obsession with grinding; most of the Fiends were chump change, and only Chaos managed to put up a decent fight.

Well, now it's time to focus on 3, 9, and/or 12. Decisions decisions.

[1337W422102]

Minecraft [PC]:
There goes my life. My friend's hosting a server for a bunch of our friends to use. And use it we do. Right now a friend and I have built a large underground base we call Vault 1337, each with our own pimp-decorated rooms, a common vault filled with chests of items, a stairway leading down to a mine, a built-in farm, skylights to see if it's day or night, an integrated boatyard (dubbed Dock 16), a waterfall, a watchtower, and more. Across the bay is "Tree Mile Island," our friends' mutual forest/wood farm, and further is a large mountain we're hollowing out and trying to make look like the Citadel from Half-Life 2. Yes, we like our gaming references.

On the to-do and/or in-progress list, zen garden, wheat cultivator, underwater glass tunnels (Rapture-style), some giant robots, a battleship, and Jace Hall's blimp, for 1337 flying skillz and laughing at people on the ground.

And all I've done is build a wooden tower and furnish it with a rooftop sugarcane and wheat farm.

Gotta start somewhere.

Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition [PC]:
Finished Episode 1. Time to go to the space station to kick some more alien ass. Before I do that, I think I'll play the bonus level of Episode 1. I don't think I've ever tried it before.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine
Blasted through the Bottom/South Node this time: Defense Tunnel Burrh and the Regulation Control Center. Two more nodes to go, Top/North and Right/East.

[Shadowman]

I've said bad things about Final Fantasy XIII. And I don't apologize for it, because screw it. But let's jump back exactly ten iterations:

Final Fantasy III:
This game makes me hate things. It is plagued with a complete absence of save points during dungeons. So, while I am at the Crystal Tower, the second-to-last dungeon in the game, I have to bust my hump for an hour minimum,, and sit through a lengthy cutscene, only to get reamed by Xande (I was doing really good until he decided spamming his most powerful attacks was a good idea) and forced to do it all again. Even worse, is that, should I have beaten him, I would have to do entire entire final dungeon, with no break. No way back to the world map to save; it's endgame or bust.

And I've heard things like "The original NES version didn't have save points mid-dungeon!" Except screw off, I'm playing the DS version! Even the remakes of 1 and 2 were gracious enough to let you save as often as you wanted mid-dungeon. So my success was based on my actual fighting abilities, not just my ability to last in what amounts to an extended do-or-die endurance round.

And worse yet, this is really the only problem in the game! Sure, I don't like how they're not using MP, and instead using the system from the first game. And I really don't care for the disturbing lack to Phoenix Downs. And I can't say I'm a fan of a lack of magic-replenishing items. But those problems wouldn't break this game for me. It's a really, really good game. Completely crippled by the inability to save mid-dungeon.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine
BAM! Cleared the other two nodes: Defense Tunnel Teln with the Brownian Motion Inducer, and finally Defense Tunnel Sorra with the Neutrino Burst Injector. Who made up the names anyway?

I'm on the home stretch now, only two more levels... and they'll be insane.

[Shadowman]

Magicka:
BEAT--eehhhh...Sort of. I killed the final boss, Assatur, the King in Yellow. One Wizard, alone, betrayed by the country he loves, now, it's last hope in their hour of need. All alone, just me and my wits. And my sweet Wizard Hat. Also a crap-ton of deadly laser beams. And an M60 machine gun. But that's beside the point.

I beat the final boss, fair and square, and it made me feel good about myself. I even have the achievement for it. The problem, though, is that immediately after getting the achievement, I suffered from a bug wherein the game crashes upon killing the Final Boss. The common theory is that it's a bug related to the magick called Vortex, which you're given upon beating Assatur, for New Game +. Something about it causes the game to crash for a lot of people. And so far, there's no fix, though they believe it will be fixed when the Vietnam DLC is released next week.

Oh well, I still count this as a win, and despite not getting the proper rewards, I still feel good about it. Assatur's death cry was hilarious. "Nooooo! This...is...improbable! DO NOT WANT!"

[SlyTF1]

Getting my games back:

YES! I got all my stuff back like 2 weeks early, because I finally set up a new shelf that I've had for almost a year! Mass Effect 2, Arrical, here I come!

[FanimusMaximus]

I just beat Mass Effect 2 for the 3rd time, and I got that Achivement where everyone lives throught the last level.

Also I am going back to Halo Reach.

[1337W422102]

Duke Nukem 3D [PC]:
Cleared the Star Trek level, found the secret and the secret in the secret, will put up a video later. I'm currently at the level where-- okay, you know the Episode 2 level with the 3 Battlelords at the end? I'm at the one after that.

Minecraft [PC]:
Playing on the server a buddy runs and our friends use. Because I'm a massive troll, I spent a few hours tonight making this in the highest area reachable. Problem?

[Shadowman]

Magicka:
BEATEN! For real this time! The problem is activated when you gain the very last Magick you can learn that counts towards the "I Put On My Robe and Wizard Hat" achievement. In particular, if this last Magick is learned through a scripted event, vs. learning it from one of the spellbooks scattered throughout the place. One of the devs suggested using the save editor to remove a book-learned Magick, beat the game, then regain that Magick on New Game +. It works, too. And since the devs suggested it, I don't feel like I cheated! Everyone wins! Except Assatur!

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy!
Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine
ENDGAME! Cleared the Gravity Damping Hub and with a bit of cheating via GameFAQs found the Secret Level: the Korath III Base. Basically two towers which were a bitch to climb, but I made it. Next up, the final level: the Quantum Explosion Dynamo. If I fail, the Galaxy will be toast!

One level stands in the way of me and Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (sounds like Sci-Fi B-Movie if you ask me...)

[The Happy Locust]

Minecraft [PC]:
Playing on the server a buddy runs and our friends use. Because I'm a massive troll, I spent a few hours tonight making this in the highest area reachable. Problem?

Any chance I can commission a "down with pants" message in the sky?

Any openings on the server? Looking for a place to build that isn't locked to my PC.

[1337W422102]

Minecraft [PC]:
Playing on the server a buddy runs and our friends use. Because I'm a massive troll, I spent a few hours tonight making this in the highest area reachable. Problem?

Any chance I can commission a "down with pants" message in the sky?

Any openings on the server? Looking for a place to build that isn't locked to my PC.

I don't think I'll be doing any skybuilding for a while. Even when crouching, I still fell to my death a bunch of times and lost a lot of stuff, including a diamond freakin' pickaxe. All of my rage. I want to build a blimp, but I'll probably do that over water to avoid all the deaths.

Sorry, bud, but the server's just for friends of ours from the Montreal area, people we hang out with in real life. No hard feelings?