Today’s game is Minecraft. Specifically Attack of The B-Team. Growing up I had a specific fondness for this mod-pack after seeing a YouTuber I liked play a whole series of it. If I had to pick 3 mods/mod-packs that caught my attention before I owned Minecraft this would probably be at the top, followed by Digimobs, and then Pixelmon (for a while I also had a soft spot for Hexxit too).

I actually set this up as a server for me and my friends. It took a little more work since it’s Minecraft 1.6.4, but I got there. The first issue I ran into is Java 8 wouldn’t work. Then the server wasn’t loading the right world type. I ended up figuring out I was launching the wrong jar file. I was launching Forge, while I needed to be launching BTeam.jar.

After that though I got it all setup. It’s nice to be playing this again. This is my ideal “classic mod-pack” and playing it’s like a rush of nostalgia.

I didn’t play long, as setting up the server ate up most of my free time but once I did get it set up I made a bee line for somewhere and started building a house too live in. Once I get back on, just having somewhere safe to live will be nice.

Today's game is Halo. Mostly Halo 3. Me and some friends got together too play again today and i just took a bunch of screenshots. I'm gonna have too ask too be excused from the unusual aspect ratio. My friends have gotten really into using my pictures as wallpapers and stuff for some reason, and so i've started shooting at the same resolution and aspect ratio as my DLSR too make it a little more familiar. I try to avoid editing the photos outside of what the game can do, so this is like the most pushing it i think i'll do.

During our campaign we kept killing eachother (as is tradition for Halo at this point). Here's Chief eating the curb after i sticky grenaded my friend playing Arbiter and he hit me with a grav hammer.

I spent a while trying to hook up OBS and mix it with some pipewire stuff too. My goal was too split the clips i was taking into 3 tracks: Game Audio, my mic, my friend's mic. That way when i share clips i just trim off tracks 3-6 and don't have too worry about my friend's voices.

I bring this up because it kept me idle for a bit. But when i came back, the first thing that caught my attention was this can on the ground. I spent way too long looking at it trying too figure out if it's a can or a torn up bag. I only concluded can after realizing it said "cola" on the side. That's how you can really tell i'm addicted too the game. I've played it so many times i'm looking at trash on the ground.

I also got this screenshot i really like (and this is where the aspect ratio gets weird because they wanted some for their phones). The picture of Arbiter floating dead in a pond like this is really funny too me for some reason. I have too imagine he said something too the wrong person.

In reality this is the result of the friend playing Arbiter stickying me and me retaliating with the Grav Hammer. I may have died but i sent him flying into the canal and got a picture i like. So really i won.

The final screenshot i wanted too share for the night was this one of my Spartan getting absolutely folded in half during a PvP match. It's something Halo always feels too get right. Something about the players dying in the most absurd ways has been a constant source of humor in the games. From CE's dramatic twirl too Reach's Spartan's falling like a snake it's great too see.

Today’s game is some more Ghost of Tsushima. I finished up the last of the side quests in the first area of the game, and now I’m gonna try and clear out the second one and work on its story a little. By doing that I’m hoping to have some fast mobility while doing whatever of the story is after.

That brings me to the screenshot. I was on my way to recover Jin’s armor when a storm followed me. I don’t know if it’s intentional but with the whole Storm and Wind motif going on it’s cool as fuck nonetheless.

While back in Azamo too I found this Samurai who’s been pinned to the wall with arrows. I took back Azamo already which raises the question of if this is new or if they’ve just left a corpse there for an ungodly amount of time. Nonetheless, it’s made a pretty cool shot (pun not intended).

One of the last things I did before returning to Jin’s home was go track down the Long Bow. This quest was a bit eh for me. The duel was definitely the best part but the actual hunt part I didn’t care for. To be honest there was one section where I had to circle around a bay to get down and it just felt very tedious.

Besides that though the duel was pretty cool and the bow is super handy. Makes shooting hats off enemies from great distance a cinch. After getting the bow.

I stopped outside a village that needed saved so I guess that’s what I’m doing first thing when I turns on the game again.

Today's game is some more Ghost of Tsushima. I've been going around cleaning up the side activities of the first region today. I have too say, i'm enjoying it more than i thought it would. Usually 100%ing open world games feels like a drag but this wasn't too bad.

I was doing the farms when i got the screenshot. I managed to freeze at just the right time that it looked like the guy got stabbed between his legs.

I also went exploring the ocean (ignore the weird corruption at the top. Pixelfed was weird when i uploaded it). I hadn't been by the coast yet by that point so i wanted too see what was up. It was pretty. I really enjoyed just looking at it and chilling for a bit.

I followed it up too this fort that i tried too break into. I wasn't able too so i have too assume it's a story mission and i'll come back later. I still circled the perimeter though to see if i could get in. I came really close by climbing the rocks and trying too jump the gap though.

After that i went back to doing quests. All in all it was a pretty chill day. I didn't expect 100%ing it to be so chill. It feels a lot less like a soulless grind and more like riding around doing stuff for fun.

Today’s game is Team Fortress 2. I had some friends asking me to play, and I love this game (despite its many problems), so I said sure and joined them for a game of 2fort that lasted nearly 30-40 minutes because we wouldn’t capture.

Despite the length that’s actually something I love about the game. The community itself takes itself so completely unseriously that it turns the game from something competitive to a social playground with a secondary objective. Granted, that playground is occupied by some weird ass people (to put it politely).

That social playground was my home though growing up in middle school and high school. I wouldn’t say I was lonely. But it did give me a sense of community I hadn’t felt at the time. In a way I suppose it’s responsible for me finding my way here as it taught me what having a community is like.

Enough of the sentiments though. How was the game doing? Well. I saw no bots this go around. Which is good. People were still being people though. I saw a guy create a slur for people who are green. Like straight up the color green.

I had fun with the escape plan and grenade taunting people who would round the corner to get me. At one point there were some guys with our Intel just chilling in the room and I blew myself up just to mess with them.

With my friend all being new though I saw they were struggling. So after 2 fort we spend a bit playing private servers with Bots. It really I think helped give them a chance to test the waters. I just wish it was easier to set up private games.

Those private games were what we got up too for the rest of the evening, and despite playing against bots I still had a boat load of fun with my friends.

Today’s game is Ghost of Tsushima.

I think photography as a hobby has started to take over my gaming. When I unlocked roaming the castle my first thought was “wow. Lots of cool elements to play with for photos”. It’s funny in a way. I’m started sharing screenshots I took for fun and now look at me. I’m here scouting out locations in games like a photographer. I even tried to spoof cameras in Halo.

I don’t have a lot to add to my progress. But lastly I wanted to share this flower I took a picture of at the fortress grounds. They stood out to me because they were all alone in that section of the pond. I wish I had found a way to capture the feeling of serene loneliness it had. But I had to settle just for the flower itself.

Today's game is some more Ghost of Tsushima. I spent all day today just enjoying the world and exploring. I was reading through my Photography text book and read people's eyes are drawn to brighter colors in pictures, so anyways here's a bright picture (and a not so bright subject matter).

This brings me too my first point. The early stealth kill animations are really brutal. Like, i have a pretty high tolerance too stuff like that but hearing the crunch as Jin stabs the guy is a whole other level.

While i was doing the mission where you save the Blacksmiths too i had this one guy die with his leg up in the air. I hadn't seen something like this in the game so i thought it was funny.

That brings me to my next point about this mission though. I thought it was a bit too long for being in such a small area. It felt like just running around the small space back and forth. It really dragged it out.

I had wanted too finish off the night by getting too the end of Chapter 1, but i hadn't realized it went on so long. I'll have to continue tomorrow because i genuinely ran out of time with how much there seems left to do.

One final subject i wanted too touch on is that this game makes me wish for a Robin Hood game. A lot of the "Tales of Tsushima" Remind me of some of the Robin Hood stories and really make me wish there was a video game version.

Today’s game is some more Ghost of Tsushima. Finally managed to figure out why my screenshots weren’t uploading. One of them was just barely over the limit for what Pixelfed could handle. I compressed them and I’m working a compression algorithm into my bash script for uploading so we’ll see if that helps prevent the issue from happening again.

I went and freed Azamo Bay today. I don’t think I did this when I played when I was younger so it’s a new experience. I kind of like the sandboxy stealth missions. Throw me into an enclosed area any day and I’ll have fun doing stealth.

I also realized I like these duels the game throws at you. I only remember the one when you storm the castle but I’m really liking these other ones. Especially when you have a form to use against them. It’s satisfying to tear through them like butter.

I also did one of the shrines. When I first played I actually did all of these, so doing these again was a bit nostalgic. Puzzle solving to figure out how to get up was refreshing in a way. I need more platforming like that in my life.

I ended the night by literally riding off into the sunset. I ended up waiting around to capture this photo. It feels a little more authentic than if I used the time adjustment feature. Plus I try to avoid editing as much as possible (though I do like to show the odd few artsy projects I’ve done).

Today’s game is Halo. Specifically Halo 2. I originally had Ghost of Tsushima planned but for whatever reason my Bash script didn’t upload the pictures. Luckily I actually took these during an experiment with ReShade and Gamescope to take pictures that mimicked a DLSR. These are the “unedited” versions. Though for anyone curious this is the edited version of the other ones.

Speaking of Halo 2 Anniversary Multiplayer, this is the first major brush we’ve had. One of our players hasn’t been able to play it due to crashing for some reason. Recently he upgraded though and we’re good. Now I can finally offer my opinion on this.

This isn’t specific to Halo 2 but i really like how CTF doesn’t have a timer in the older games. It really lets you live in the level and feels like it’s almost its own space. It can drag out for a while and I love that.

What is specific to halo 2 is the vehicle selection for bloodline. Hornets are here now so a teammate can swoop in, grab you, airdrop you in and pick you up again. Is it broken? Probably. Fun as hell? Definitely. It made me feel like a spec-ops or something as I dropped in, took the flag and took off.

Ultimately this match lasted around 40 minutes of us just fucking around and making peace and war and everything in between. Now that this is really an option it makes me want to look at forge game modes. See what the community has come up with. That’s more of a tomorrow thing though I think.

Today’s game is Mario Kart 64. I got my Steam Deck back after loaning it out too a family member in need, and the first thing I did too get it back too my usual “loadout” was install Mario Kart 64 (And Halo). Specifically Spaghetti Kart (as usual).

The first goal was to find a balance between performance and battery, as is standard for the Steam Deck. That is at least until i remembered “oh yeah. This is an N64 Game” and just cranked it down to the default.

While playing it, it got me thinking about my childhood. Especially how psyched I’d be as a child to see me playing Mario Kart 64 on a handheld device. Growing up I’d always seen those “portable N64” or “Portable Wiis” (my favorite had to be the Kill Mii by Shank Mods. Younger me thought a Wii in an altoids tin was the coolest thing ever).

And here I am, years older and I’ve got a fucking computer I can shove in my school bag now that can play not only retro games but also newer releases. It’s just interesting to think about in a way how things have changed.

I don’t have much to add because today has been busy, but I figured why not end with more retrospective today? When I started doing these screenshots it was just to share some screenshots I had taken over the years. And now it’s blossomed into a whole slew of things. It’s gone from 1 Screenshot, to 1 screenshot and a write up, and now Multiple Screenshots and a write up. And not only that but it’s led to me getting into photography as a hobby. Like DLSR and everything. Doing these has led me to new hobbies I don’t know if I’d gotten into without all the support. So in a way I just kind of wanted to say thank you.

Today’s game is House Flipper. It’s free to keep on steam apparently (no idea why but I assume it has to do with the sequel or remaster or whatever it is they’re doing). I’ve always wanted to dabble in this game but could never justify the price. It always felt like something I could dick around in for an evening and have fun but not sink a serious number of hours into.

Anyways. I painted the starting house. It was a chill experience. The painting is maddening though. Super tedious and slow. I ended up putting on some music and later got my partner in call with me and we chatted while I flipped houses. It was all worth it though in the end for that lovely purple wall.

I did end up putting the door on backwards by accident though. So that was a mistake. I’m too lazy to fix it so I hope I live in a good neighborhood and no one tries to rob me.

Today’s screenshots will be a bit short, which I think ties perfectly back to my introduction. Do I think this game met my expectations? Yes. After I completed what I wanted to do to the starting house I felt kind of aimless. Like. What else could I do? Go do another job? I know some people adore the kind of game where you do the same thing over and over again and I respect that. But I don’t think I’m that kind of person. I think ultimately this is a game where I dick around for a few hours and have fun for an evening before doing something else.

Today’s game is Ghost of Tsushima again. I thought I’d get burnt out in this game, I rarely go back in for a second playthrough of any game. I usually just play through a game once and then move on. Ghost of Tsushima (GoTs) though weirdly drew me back in. Which I think is interesting.

On reflection there’s nothing outstanding about its story. This isn’t to be a jab at it. I still really enjoy it. But there’s not much that i remember fondly and going “Wow. That was such a cool section”. For sake of avoiding spoilers, I’ll say there were 3 sections like that. Despite that it is a well constructed story and I love it for that.

I think what really draws me in is the world. The natural environment just feels very alive and I think there’s something wonderful about that. I feel like a lot of game worlds you start to see the seams quickly. And as of late I really have started to notice a sense of scale with them. I’ll go “hey. Wait. If this was realistic there’d be a lot more space between these two regions”. With this I don’t get that a lot. There was maybe one example, and even then I’m not too sure on it.

That example is the quest where you’re helping the widow. In the background of the house where you start the quest I’m like half convinced I saw the fortress where your uncle is held in the opening.

Moving on from sentimental talk and instead talking just what I did, I saw this bird flying around and followed it after doing the mission where you help the widow. I didn’t think it’d lead me anywhere, I just wanted to see where it goes. The answer seems to be really nowhere. It just flies aimlessly it seems. I stopped and snapped a picture of it I liked.

Bird watching really took it out of me, along with the widow mission (I got stuck on the inn fight for too long) so I stopped there. I have stack of Geology work that’s built up, so this game feels like I’m slowly chipping away at it. Anyways. Puns aside. I’m not getting a lot of time to play it I feel. Hopefully soon I’ll get to sit down and binge it.