Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Ode to a Street Race....

Video Summary
"Let's Play The Simpsons Hit and Run #16: The Magic School Bus OF DESTRUCTION"


"Surely that street race wasn't as bad as SlimKirby made it out be, right?"

I've given my fair share of excuses in the past, and whether or not my viewers want to believe them or not is completely up to them, not me. But what exactly about that street race today made it so hard?

Ralph's races are perhaps the most straight-forward street races in the game, in that they usually involve a simple drive to the finish line. The only things that get closed off are usually ridiculous shortcuts that make the race very one-sided (they just so happened to close off the biggest one in this race (you'll see what I mean when I get to tomorrow's video)). However, they are made extremely difficult by the computer players. The CPUs usually consist of two dumb-dumbs (the random cars that start out in 3rd and 2nd, and one really intelligent CPU who starts out in front (who, if you haven't seen the trend by now, is usually the character you play as in the next level). One of the main things you want to look out for are the stupid computers. Although they are quite easy to pass, one of their ways of countering this is ramming into you or driving against you, and with a car like the Malibu Stacey Car, that's easily a recipe for forcing you to spin out or turn straight into a wall. That happened numerous times in.......easily 15 minutes of taken out footage.

When the computer players weren't screwing me over, the biggest challenge of this race reared its ugly head.....that freaking boardwalk/pier. The smart computer, Marge in this case, always raced on the boardwalk perfectly, and it is hard to race perfectly when you have 90 degree turns that turn into more 90 degree turns. Also, the boardwalk is so narrow that your turns have to be exactly right, because if you hit the sides, you are pretty much screwed.

In one of my cut-outs, I actually did manage to get ahead of everybody coming out of the pier, but then I decided to do something incredibly stupid, and I tried taking that shortcut behind the cones again. Yeah....that is a big mistake...never try taking that shortcut, especially if you are in the lead. The rest of the race is really simple, after all, and even if you are behind by a little bit, you should have the advantage over with acceleration, and acceleration is key on those hills.

Ironically in the successful attempt, Marge actually crashed really early on, so I was ahead for the majority of the race. It's all about finding that groove on those boardwalk turns, which I agree I hard. If you struggle with that race, just keep at it. You should get a lucky break eventually.

The rest of the video went pretty smoothly....almost too smoothly with the way I kicked those sedan's asses. That 2nd sedan is never even given a chance given it's position at the bottom of a hill next to a deadly shortcut obstacle. I wish I would have used the 90 seconds I had left to get one of the level cards though, because I probably could have accomplished that, but what done is done.

Video Quotes of the Day:

"Daddy says I should stay here until I learn to control myself at the Hardware Store! VROOOM VROOOOOOOOOM!"
- Ralph

"I think my baby teeth are growing back! That's why I had to punch that nurse!"
- Grandpa

Bizarre Video Happening:
- What exactly did I hit after making the jump over the dam?

(I'll have a "Video Quote of the Day" and/or a "Bizarre Video Happening" in each entry. I'll try to have one of each for each video, but if I don't have something of one, I'll rely on the other. Since this is the first installment, and since there were some funny moments in this video, I gave a bonus! =D)


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SlimKirby Shoutout!

Every now and then, in one of these blog entries, I'll give a shout out to a friend of mine or an acquaintance of mine, or if you are lucky, maybe someone new and random! :O However, please do not ask me for shout-outs....please. I get enough of that at Youtube as it is. Also, this segment will not be in every entry. I'll try to make one random, short ending special for every blog, but it can range from shout-outs, future plans, confessions of mine, interesting facts or tidbits, opinions, etc., so expect some extra content in addition to these daily summaries.

I haven't been making a lot of shout-outs in my most recent videos...mainly because there always seems to be something happening in Hit and Run, that I just lose track. This is a shame because so many of my subscriptions and friends have finished projects, started new projects (some of which have been short projects that are already finished by this point), and of course reached some landmark numbers in subcribers, video #s, and view counts.

Today I am going to be acknowledging a very familiar name. If you are an avid watcher of my videos, you should be quite familiar with this name, or at least the number associated with him. Well, yesterday he started a brand new LP project and it looks like it is going to be a very exciting one.

"Let's Play Soul Caliber II" by ShadowMarioXLI


The dorky, shadowed plumber with a paintbrush, and the mark of evil ("41") has started yet another project, and this one looks to be a bit more long term. After finishing his Mario vs. Donkey Kong LP back in the starting days of August 2009, SMXLI managed to start and complete a Let's Play of The Lion King (SNES), a playthrough of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour's Ring Attack (with Shadow Mario (Star Character)), and two Let's Tries. Now he is attacking Soul Caliber II (GameCube version) and will be joined by the hero of Hyrule, Link (a character exclusive to the GCN version of the game). He will be attempting to go through Weapon Master and the normal Arcade mode. Any other features of the game will be covered by him to an extent of his choosing.

Keep up the great work buddy! =)

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So that is my first, official entry for the blog. As you can see, the way I plan to set each entry up is to have a main section for the video summary where I talk about the video, and then follow it with a small section. The small section will not always be shout-outs, and will alternate between different features of my choosing.

Now my viewers.....I have a small job for you now, if you wish to embark on it. When you are leaving a comment (if you choose to leave a comment), I would like your opinion on the format of my this blog entry. Tell me whether you like it or not, and if you are one who chose "not," please tell me something I could do to make it better. Keep in mind, these will be "DAILY" updates, so i don't what too much content. I have other duties as well. I don't want to spend all day writing one blog entry! :P Also, if you have some other ideas for the small section (besides shout-outs and other things I listed), feel free to give me some ideas as well. I have quite a few ideas myself already, but I'd like to see if I can find some new ones (or if you give me one I already have or thought about, I can spend more time developing it).

That's about it folks, hope you enjoyed the entry for today, and the video itself! See you guys tomorrow!

7 comments:

  1. I think the current format is good, as it's organized and seems to get all you want to say done. Maybe if you have any other things to say that don't fit in any of those catagories, just make a miscalenous catogory (did I spell that right?)

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  2. I think you should keep the once a day thing, it will probably be more interesting that way.

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  3. I do like how you're incorporating your lp into your blog posts, though I was hoping to see a little bit more of you and you're own writing rather than just another place for you to dump off your lp vids. I'm not suggesting you stop doing daily updates like these, I'm merely suggesting you do some posts unrelated to your lp that are just interesting on their own.

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  4. Crash, bang, boom!

    Just be glad that we can type ginormous posts instead of those restricting Youtube commenting limitations.

    Well, I have to say, I do like the format...even if SM41 was your shoutout/extra special announcement. =P

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  5. Sorry, doubled up on posting.

    I have a couple ideas that you yourself have mentioned...but not specific to the blog:

    1. Contests. You want to have user-LP-related contests on your channel. YouTube's description is enough...but a specialty contest for the bloggers might be a nice touch.

    2. Fan mail. Oh boy...why did I trespass this topic? I have some semblance of a thought that you get fan mail from your viewers. Maybe showcase a question or constructive comment someone gave you that really "stood out" among the 3100+ people who watch you? Just an idea.

    Good luck in the future, Slim! =D

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  6. I quite like your format. It's easy to read, and appealing to the eye.

    Whatever way works for you, I think will work for us the viewers (or readers as it may be now =P). Don't go stressing out that you have to post daily if you can't find the time. I'd rather have a quality post than a rushed poorly written one.

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  7. Hi, new fan here.
    I just got into your videos a couple weeks ago when I saw your Pikmin Let's Play.
    I'm now watching your Simpson Hit&Run Let's Play, which is actually one of the only games I still regularly play. Since watching your LP, I've been playing the game and trying to complete missions I had skipped.
    Anyway, I think I have an explanation for what you mysteriously hit when making the jump.
    You didn't really hit anything, but it's just the way the Malibu Stacy Car will sometimes react when it makes jumps.
    Certain other vehicles (e.g. Marge's SUV) will "bounce" and threaten to flip, but the MSC has a tendency to fishtail, as seen when taking turns in the boardwalk section.

    I like this blog format, too. :)

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