Minecraft Server: Bad News From The Phoenix Realms

So...Did some testing with the server, tried different things like giving more RAM to the server, closing everything else (even the antivirus), doing extended cleaning of my pc...nothing works. The server is still a lag-fest, even for me.

So I then decide to re-install everything. Maybe there is a corrupted file, says I. I start the server again while forgeting to specify the good world name, so the server generates a new world entirely.

*Meh, might as well try it, we never know*. Guess what! It works perfectly! Not a single lag spike or whatever else. Even better, the game runs at 60 fps, full screen. So I go check just how heavy the Phoenix Realms really is.

A whooping 500 mb (and some dust)...

Holy muffin. Someone went exploring XD

So our fear is alive, The Phoenix Realms is simply too big of a world to run on my PC which is sad. It still runs fine in singleplayer, which is at least convenient, but it is completely dead on multiplayer, which leaves us two options:

We can either start a new server entirely, which could be nice. We wouldn't have to explore miles away to see all the new stuff, that's a plus. On the other hand we *lose* everything we already did. Which is a bummer.

Or, I can try to host the server on a site. The bad news is that this is costly, and I do not have that kind of money with me. The more memory you want to give it, the more it will cost ya. Also, I have no idea if the size of a world plays in the balance. I guess I could try it for a few days (most sites give a free demo) and tell you guys how it went.

Well, that's it for now. If you do not mind a new game, then I guess we could start a new server once the adventure update launch (and I mean all of it DX). Leave some comments saying if you're up for a new game or not and I'll see what I can do.

See ya next time!

I expected More Pyro Gameplay From You, Anza...

I know right? People keep making this remark and I guess it would make sense, with me being assimilated by Fire-Birdy and all. Well, to be honest, I do not really appreciate the Pyro that much. He may be one of the most dangerous class to play against, the best anti-spy there is and may have one of the best tauntkill, but I sure wish I could hear some maniac-imbued domination quotes. That is pretty much the sole reason. The Heavy (and the Sniper, but that is something else) is the real crazy maniac in there. I mean, COME ON JUST LISTEN TO THAT!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2qrn1O6RDg&feature=BFa&list=WL1B61093428A383F8&lf=mh_lolz


Now, two things interesting about the Heavy:
First, he is a god damn monster. No regrets nor remorse. He actually enjoy it a lot (more than others imo, except maybe the Engi). When he shouts *RUN! RUN! I'M COMING FOR YOU!*, it would easily scare anyone, Chuck Norris included!

Two, the majority of his domination quotes aren't aimed at a specific classes. That's right, The Heavy kills everyone equally. If a Heavy pops in front of you, you know you're done for and it has nothing to do with your class. And that is the kind of fear the Fire-Birdy loves. Certain Doom...


And you may think the Heavy is really simple to play. Not that much. Being the biggest and slowest class there is means there will be a lot of threats aiming for you, constantly. You will never rest easy with that big painted target on your forehead (and I swear to GOD his face stretches upward when he screams in delight, making it even easier for snipers DX). He is pretty much the class with the most weaknesses to fight with, medic assisted or not. Here is a list of what already got me out there:

-Demomans just poppin nades and stickies. It hurts.
-Soldiers. No escape from them either, so you better deal with them fast or die (or strategical retreat!).
-Engi Sentries. Sure, the Heavy ain't bad at dealing with them, but if you turn a corner without reeling your minigun first when a sentry is there, bye bye Heavy (they actually gib you faster than Pyros).
-Heavies. Biggest contest of FIRST! ever.

-Scouts. I am not kidding, they have an effective way of dealing with you. Their Bonk! drink can be really annoying as you see them go past you and your medic, if any, forcing you to go back to deal with them. Also, they can kill you with their Sandman Tauntkill if they plan ahead. Shame burns more than fire. (oh, and that baseball which stuns you is also a problem)

-Medic ubersaw trains. Fire-Birdy thinks it is against nature, and so do I!
-Spies. Derp.
-Snipers. Re-derp.
-Any kind of uber on anyone on the entire enemy team. SHORT LEGS CANNOT ESCAPE!
(True story, a ubered scout whack't me with a fish...)
-Any tauntkil. Guessing where a Heavy will be is easy.

....I may be missing some, but yeah...Painful indeed. Thankfully, I understand the concept of being sneaky with a Heavy, and I use this concept very well. Backstabbing with a Minigun is painful indeed and is well worth the trouble.

ilCannibal did it again

Name is ringing a bell? It should! IlCannibal is the maker of Dead City, a mod map we already went through (and we loved every bit of it!).

Well, he did it again in Left Behind, a L4D2 mod map filled  with action, chaos and fire. It is a 3 map campaign MADE for versus, and it is screaming to be played. I obviously had to test it (alone) and I am not disappoint at all. So...why am I writing this? Could this means I am gonna showcase this map in versus with many players while we die over and over again for your simple pleasure? Who knows!

Now, of course, it isn't perfect. Nothing is. I already talked to ilcannibal about some problems, as did many players, and he update his new campaign as often as he can. None of the problems are dramatic enough to worry about them, but there is some balancing issues and story nit-picking. All things considered, I give Left Behind a whooping 9 out of 10, bugs and problems included, just because it kicks ass. Now, I didn't finished it (only played part one, I do not wanna spoil the ending), but the first map is quite incredible. It contains two panic events and both of them gave me a *oh snap* moment. It also had a detailed environment with numerous obstacles and corners, meaning the infected team will have plenty of time and space to plan ahead. Also includes treacherous areas and deadly dead-ends, but also multiple paths to take, and I felt rewarded for exploring despite these spitters just waiting for me to go in these GOD DAMN DEAD ENDS!!!

In short, another mod map with friends coming soon, filled with fails and ownage and insanely satisfying moments. Thanks for the read, subscribe (I told you I was gonna use that Blogger more often) and see you soon!

Minecraft Vs Terraria, The ULTIMATE Non-Rage review!

A little note before we start! I started writing this review months ago, but never posted it. Iono why, other stuff happened and I never finished it. Well, I did now. I know both games changes (Terraria in particular) however I will talk about core elements of both games, so it will make sense even for someone who never played neither of these games. Now go enjoy that review!


I'm gonna be honest with you: Nerd wars are both hilarious and annoying. On EVERYTHING!

May it be video games, books  comics, movies, their characters or whatever, people always made war instead of love. And really, I never understood that. Even when I was younger, the Nintendo Vs. Sega war was raging, nerds vaillantly battling in schools. Personally, I had both a Super Nintendo and a Genesis, and I loved both Mario and Sonic (and a lot more characters, for that matter).

Such wars still rages on everyday, but the one that affected me the most recently is the conflict between Terraria and Minecraft. Now, being older, not exclusively french and having an internet connection sure helps understanding this battle, but I still find it useless. As a veteran nerd (and I am very proud of this term), I love both games. Sure, there is similarities but it never stopped me from enjoying both games and the experience they gave me. So, to stop this mad war that leads nowhere (or trying....rofl), I shall compare the game's similarities and differences and state how I "experienced" them.


First game I played is Minecraft, obviously. Kinjry told me to  BUY THE FKIN GAME RIGHT NAOH!! So I did, and I was really satisfied. I loved the exploration, the mine spelunking and the fact that you could build things with the stuff you mine. Really simple, but really enjoyable.


Then, terraria launched. I saw the trailer, got hyped, bought the game and thoroughly enjoyed it a lot for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the internet got nuked. Rage plagues everywhere, no place to hide!

There was a lot of claims that the game completely plagiated Minecraft, which I think is wrong! It is inspired from it, obviously, but I don't see no creepers anywhere at all! I mean, sure, you can move blocks around, and you can craft tools, there is caves and there's monsters, but the way these gimmicks are placed into the game works differently! It's like saying that Metroid is EXACTLY like Zelda because you need upgrades to progress further into the game. It's nonsense! (Also, Samus has a gun)

So, first point, moving blocks. Do I really have to talk about Minecraft stealing ideas from Lego blocks? Really? I mean, making houses, starships, boats and bad guys, Lego did all of that first :D
They also have pirates...
Furthermore, and more seriously, Minecraft is a 3D game, and Terraria a 2D game. No awesome mage tower and colosseums for you, Terraria XD

Next, the crafting of tools and stuff. All right, let's answer this question with another question: why do you craft in Minecraft? To get better tools, of course, but why? Obviously, the only difference between the tools (except for the picks) is that better tools with do the job faster. That's about it! Once you hit Diamond, you just beat the game, good work! Now go build some crap to kill boredom, and that's Minecraft for you!

On the other hand, Crafting in Terraria is more like a progression path in Metroid and Zelda.
You start with copper, then iron, then silver, then gold( and you need a lot of veins to make only one pick). Then, once you have enough upgraded gear, multiple options will be available to you. Either try to kill an Eye of Cthulhu or go hunt meteors (by crushing the orbs), which will give you materials for even better gear. Then, do the thing you didn't do at first, THEN either killing the last boss OR dig straight to hell to get yourself the best gear. If you're lucky, you may hit the jungle or some floating islands.

Also, most of the items you can craft in terraria are super helpful not only to kill shit faster but to navigate around faster and more effectively. Platforms will let you bridge through gaps, allowing you to pass through them. The grappling hook helps you with these gigantic holes and can save your life on multiple occasions. Getting yourself better equipment is not only convenient, it is essential to explore the game further. Also, your gear in Terraria never breaks and you keep everything when you die, except money. As a tradeoff, it is harder to create, which reinforce the exploration aspect of the game. In this way, getting better equipment is a lot more like unlocking something new in an adventure game. Getting the gold pick means you can go accomplish something you couldn't do before, and it goes on like this until you technically "beat" the game (by exploring the dungeon guarded by Skeletron)

I think THIS is the big difference between both games. However that is my personal opinion.

Following the third point is the caves (and generated maps). Again, same concept, different interpretation. Yes, both games have randomly generated maps, and both contains natural caves, but the way you explore them is different. In minecraft, the minimal depth is minus 64 blocks which can be sort of deep. Sometimes, you find caves so gigantic you literally lose your north, and then you're officially lost. There's also the 3D element, which adds to the confusion. Still, caves are the best ways of finding materials (or magma, for that matter) and it's always a joy to pierce through the darkness.

As for Terraria...it is actually pretty much the same. Randomly generated caves, you explore them, you get the booty. However, the depth of this game is INSANE! getting to the bottom is a very long adventure that takes a lot of preparations, and having good equipment is a must. I actually made a video where I simply go to the bottom through a already explored cave, and it took me about 8 minutes.
IT'S HUGE!
In addition, there's about three vertical levels in Terraria: Close to the surface, deep underground, and Freakin' Hell! A sudden change in the background will happen when you reach the next level of....deepness? Point is, starting at level two you better find that grappling hook or the game will punish you as soon as it can. One missed jump and you'll end up like a pretty stain. Nah, I'm lying.
You actually explode.

And I didn't talked about all the treasures in here. Going deeper means you'll get better loot. Goes from health extention, double jump bottle and flippers to bombs, magic items and boomerangs, and there's a lot more. Some items only increases your stats, but most of them adds a new aspect to the game. As such, you have a pretty good reason to explore the deep caves of Terraria, unlike Minecraft.

Briefly getting back to the first point, you can place outposts deep underground, as long as you have a bed and walls. Sure, you can do that in Minecraft, but it's usually not worth it(at least, not underground)

Finally, the monsters. Well, for a change, there is daylight monsters in Terraria, the slimes. Sure, they're as annoying as they are in Minecraft, but they're also the most useful monster around. You need their goo to make torches. Other than that, different biomes will spawn different monsters. There's about 20 different creatures to fight against, but even if there was 300 of them it wouldn't matter. Minecraft monsters each have their roles to play, and they play it really well. Whiiiiiich is not the same for Terraria. Sure, you have slimes and bees and devil eyes and zombies and eater of souls, but all of these monsters play pretty much the same role. Ram into the player, inflict damage, rinse and repeat. And sure, some monsters are annoying, like the worms and the fire imps, but none of them ever pose a serious threat. Their main strategy is pretty much to mass spawn and slowly grind my health, and when I die because of them it's always because my stock of potions was grinded to nothing.

In Minecraft, a single well placed creeper can be your end. And trust me, it happens a lot. Skeletons and zombies will easily halt your progress for several minutes and since you die really fast, taking risks is often a bad idea. In terraria, you can simply tear through them or completely ignore them. And that's without stacks of 30x potions. This actually reminds me of some of the recent castlevania games. Having problems getting through a certain point of the game? Then simply grind your way through it until you become strong enough.

*(However, this was *fixed* in a recent update, making the game more difficult. It essentially removes the cheap tactics, like potion grinding. I'm keeping this part in the review because...well, it WAS like that for a long time)

But, there's bosses in Terraria. Three of them. And each encounter can be satisfying when you're not spoiling yourself in Multiplayer. Sure, at a certain point you'll be so strong that you can rape them. Really fast. But the first encounter is always nice enough.



So. I think I made my points. Of course, all of this is a matter of personal opinion. I love the adventure aspect of Terraria, and I love my Super Awesome Mage Tower in Minecraft. I love both games for the "different" experience they give me, and that goes for multiplayer too!
If you have anything to add or think I missed a very obvious point, then simply leave a comment (even if I should have posted this reviews months ago. I blame google and my lazyness alltogether). I read all of them anyway, so might as well tell me I'm stupid because I missed this or that or whatever.

See ya next time XD,
Anzariel

First Part of Dead Island LP Blocked by X Media Digital

Oh boy...

This stuff happened to my LP of Bioshock. My old viewers (really old viewers) remember what happened. Part 2, 25 and another part were entirely blocked for a little segment of two seconds featured in a trailer, or in the case of the second part, the music was blocked. In the end I had to remove these parts alltogether without being able to fight back.

So...This is happening with Dead Island all over again. However this time it's happening with a company that doesn't have anything to do with the development or publishing of the game (or not that I know of). The way I see it after some personal research, X Media Digital is blocking a lot of youtubers for a whole lot of different games, most notably dead island but also Call of Juarez and some more games. Apparently, this company make trailers. What happens is that if your let's play contains a part that is in their trailer, it will be taken down.

As ridiculous as it seems, I have no power against that. I possess no rights over Dead Island and even under the law of fair use, if they do not agree with my fair use of their content I'm screwed.

Now...don't go hating on their game yet. There is some ways to fix that. I could place an annotation in the following parts (for example, if part 1 is blocked, I'll place one at the beginning of part 2). It could explain what happened in the previous part. I could also keep all the parts of the let's play and, if something like this happens again, make a *short version* of the video. Probably 5 minutes long. Would be hard to do because we keep a good pace, but I'll see what I can do.

Thanks to the people warning me about this block and thank you for your patience and your time. I really appreciate it. The rest of our let's play is still available (for how long?) so go enjoy these parts instead. See you next time for hopefully better news.