On Ninjas

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Blaugust Post #2

N++ was announced before the PS4 came out, and released this past week on PS4. It’s the sequel of sorts to N+, which was on the PSP, DS, and 360, which was itself the successor to the flash game N. (Note: I don’t think the original holds up terribly well.) The basic concept remains as it did from the beginning: You are a ninja, get through the levels with as much time left on the clock as possible. Levels contain gold, and each piece picked up adds two seconds. For the 360 version of N+ and for N++, the game tracks your time against other players automatically. Levels are simple, single-screen affairs but there are a very large number of them, ranging in difficulty from 1-1 to Super Meat Boy.

n++

Newton’s First Law

One of the key concepts in the N series is one that was in the kind of Sonic games Sega doesn’t make anymore: Momentum is key. Standard movement speed is pretty fast, but use of ramps and wall jumps can speed things up dramatically, or let you get to jump higher than you can from level ground. N++ in particular begins with levels attempting to teach this, and I’d say it does a pretty good job. I’m not the best judge, because I played a lot of N+. I will say that the level “Intro to accepting your limitations?” is a bit of a dirty trick, because it’s the third level in the tutorial but requires you to grasp the concepts from later tutorial levels to 100% it.

Profanity, Usage by Cause:

One of the areas where N+ really shined was in multiplayer. You could play in the single player levels, but there were also special co-op levels that require at least two people. I’ve referred to the New Super Mario Series as “divorce mode” multiplayer, but this is almost as bad. (Almost, because at least you don’t have collision with your partners.) You will likely have moments of stress where someone is leading a rocket around and you are a little too close, or when someone hits the bounce block you were aiming at causing you to fall into a minefield. It happens. Restarting a level is always only a button press away. If you’re going into it with the intent to break up your friendships, there’s also a race mode.

N++ is one of those sequels that is “the same, but more”, and I’m okay with that. More levels, more obstacles, more colors, and more features make this a worthwhile pickup, and I really like what I’ve played of it so far. I recommend this game if you like relatively difficult platformers and/or games that are better when you add people.

On Lessons not Learned

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Blaugust Post #1

It’s August 1, which means it’s the 2nd Annual Blaugust. I participated in this last year in order to get more practice writing in general. I did a pretty good job of it, and then I moved halfway across the country and didn’t keep up nearly as well. This Blaugust post is the first one in over a month, after all.

What Changed

I feel I have gotten a bit better at actually hitting publish on random thoughts I type up. I have fewer half-completed posts just sitting around since August of last year, compared to before I did Blaugust.In addition, writing a post isn’t really an ordeal. Some of my posts get a bit rambly, but I try not to evaluate the quality of a post purely based on its length. As long as a post contains something that might be considered interesting or informative to someone, I’m pretty happy.

Louisoix

What Needs Work

I’m still lacking in “make post time” since the move. I might have to borrow a note from Bel here and write a post in the morning. I get up early enough for this, but it would mean a bit of a change in schedule. I do get a bit self-conscious about what I’ve been playing, as it’s just been “Final Fantasy” for a while now, and I feel like it’s a bit boring saying the same thing over and over (although I haven’t been doing the same thing constantly, so it’s kind of a silly concern). We’ve got another month to work these things out. Maybe I’ll even play something that Isn’t Final Fantasy 5 or 14.

The Job Fiesta is still going on, though…



Source: Ashs Adventures
On Lessons not Learned

Blaugust Begins!

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Blaugust 2015, Day 1

blaugust_2015_logo

What the hell is a Blaugust? It’s a challenge to write one blog post for every day of the month of August! Check out this post by Belghast, the evil mastermind behind Blaugust, to get the details. Since I’m officially part of the Aggrochat collective now, I figured I had little choice but to at least make a solid effort at this Blaugust thing.

The first day of Blaugust marks a change for this blog as well. If I’m going to make it through a whole month of daily posts I need a little more flexibility in what I write. So as a trial, for the next month Moonshine Mansion is unofficially a general gaming blog. If it works out and encourages me to write more then it might become permanent. Otherwise I reserve the right to go back to “mostly WildStar” at the end of the month.

Bel’s prompt for the first day was “What are you hoping to get out of Blaugust this year?” For me the answer to that is just to get in the habit of posting more frequently. I know I will never post every day, that’s just way too much for my schedule to handle all year long, but I’d like to make sure I post something at least once or twice a week once Blaugust is over. Getting in the habit of having something to say every day should help with that. I’m also looking forward to just being a part of the community of bloggers that are going through this weird ritual together. I have some fun things planned for this month to help prepare some content in advance and save my sanity a bit. The one thing I’m most excited about is a series of Shiphand guides, which will debut on Monday.

Will I be able to post every single day? Will I give up and run screaming into the night? The only way to find out is to come back and visit me each Blaugust day! Wish me luck, friends!



Source: Moonshine Mansion
Blaugust Begins!

Blaugust Returns, Day 1

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I originally started this blog on the first day of Blaugust last year, so I suppose it's somewhat fitting that I return to it on the first day of Blaugust.  I'm not really certain why, but I just haven't felt much inspiration to write in recent months.  Time for a fresh start though, and to see if I can keep things going this time around.  We shall see.

What are you hoping to get out of Blaugust this year?
 Belghast posted that question as a writing prompt for the first day of Blaugust, and it seems like a good question for me to answer.  What am I hoping to get out of this?  I'm certainly not it for the phat stacks of blog cash.  I have a day job that works just fine for me; this will only ever be a hobby.  I think I mostly want to blog as a way to think about my ideas and get them out into a more concrete form.

That's why I blog (when I do), but why Blaugust in particular?  I've found that I tend to work best with concrete goals.  That's one of the reasons that I'm a big fan of in-game achievements; they provide me suggested goals to work towards which give me sufficient structure that I'm not just flailing around wondering what to do.  Blaugust serves a similar purpose, setting a goal of one blog per day for a month.  I've done it once, but this time I'd also like to try and use that month to come up with some ongoing structure to keep me going.  One of my friends had a few suggestions for ongoing features I could write each of which could run for a year or more if done on a weekly basis.  I may try to do one or more of those and see how that goes.

In any case, Blaugust has come and the challenge has begun.  Let's do this.