What a messed up week (weak week) folks.
I'm not gonna just complain over here as...alas while I am a contributor over here, I feel its not really my place to do so.
MY video game productivity has come crashing down.
So, I spent all sorts of time up until Monday studying for my History of War exam (Yes, this class is just about as cool as you can imagine...that having been said it is also.....a Trireme load of work) which went quite well I'm glad to say. And because of this on Monday evening after I finished the exam I decided that I aught to reward myself with a little video game time.
It being largely theme appropriate I decided to play Civilization IV for a few hours. As you may well know the Civilization serries of games, Pioneered by Cid Meier are basically the pinnacle of strategy gaming. Its amazing stuff and while Civ V has recently been release I have not allowed myself to purchase it. This is for two reasons. One, I feel I have yet to exhaust myself on Civ IV, especially given how much better my new computer makes it. And Two, I am fully aware that if it is anywhere near as incredible as I anticipate it to be (Civilization games, while the seem to change number to number, there is always an improvement, basically never a downgrade....which is saying something) I would promptly fail all of my classes.
But so I decided to play civ IV for a bit...and stayed up till 3:30 in the morning, thus derailing my entire week (weak).
But so after recovering from myselfimpossed sleep deprivation...and playing some more civ, I was ready to power through the rest of the week. However...
I HAVE BEEN POISONED! (...by food)
Wednesday night I did not sleep as I was up all night throwing up...I slept in the hallway of the apartment as to be closer to the bathroom. I do not know what it was I ate...and for a while I thought it might just be the flu....but as I am feeling much better today!I Feel it is safe to say.
TTHAT I WAS POISONED!
AND SURVIVED.
During these last few days, I've wanted nothing more than to be able to play video games, as I could scarcely get out of bed. But I couldn't even so much as watch a movie...I could lay there and be miserable...and that was about it. And while I am not perfectly out of the woods, I am happy to report much better feelings overall...AND! I'm off to go play a game of some sort!
-E
Soundtrack of the moment: Ratatat - Spanish Armada
Friday, November 5, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Life Lessons & the Stupid Forest Temple
Long weekend. Played as much as I could. Spent Friday night drinking and enjoying different video games at Dave & Buster's for a birthday party.
******************
News: Erik decided, after much deliberation, that the due date for this quest will be extended to next Tuesday, October 19th (still at 5:30). I'm very grateful for this, considering the fact that, although I have played through a lot of the game and watched even more, I don't remember where everything is.
*******************
Life lessons learned from Ocarina of Time so far:
-- If you don't do certain things right as a kid, it can come back and bite you in the ass as an adult.
-- Large life tasks (a.k.a dungeons) are adventures to you as a child and puzzles to you as an adult.
-- The world is bright and cheery when you're a child, even though there are some scary things every once in a while. The world seems darker as an adult, but you can find the beauty and bright side if you look well enough.
-- Good friends always stay friends, and will help you out for your entire life.
-- When you do good things for people, they remember it, and will return the favor someday.
-- There are some things that are just as scary as they were when you were a kid, but as an adult, you're better equipped to handle them.
*******************
Game Update:
-- Went to the graveyard, got the hookshot, thanks to Dampe's ghost.
-- Eventually beat the Forest Temple, after dealing with ALL sorts of crazy monsters (i.e. The creepy fucker known as a wallmaster, as well as the tricky Poe Sisters) and puzzles (This Temple sucked out some of my soul in the process.). Also, GANONDORF's Phantom was the boss there... Made my heart almost punch its way through my rib cage once again. (He has quite the evil laugh)
-- Also, in the Forest Temple, I got the Fairy Bow! which allows me to shoot things further away (It's also how I killed Phantom Ganondorf. MUah ha ha ha!)
-- Tried about six times to get Epona.. I guess I just haven't figured out the trick to beating Ingo, yet.
-- After that, Navi mentioned that the clouds over Death Mountain look funny, and that we should probably go check it out.
-- Did that. Turns out, that the Gorons have disappeared. All except for Darunia's son, who was named after me(Pretty legendary, huh?)! (Oh, they also left the shopkeeper behind to keep the economy going.) He (Darunia's son, not the shopkeeper) told me that they've been captured and brought into the Fire Temple.
-- I entered the Death Mountain Crater in an attempt to get into the temple. It was a no-go. No place for me to go... I guess I'll have to figure it out tomorrow.
Alrighty. Later.
******************
News: Erik decided, after much deliberation, that the due date for this quest will be extended to next Tuesday, October 19th (still at 5:30). I'm very grateful for this, considering the fact that, although I have played through a lot of the game and watched even more, I don't remember where everything is.
*******************
Life lessons learned from Ocarina of Time so far:
-- If you don't do certain things right as a kid, it can come back and bite you in the ass as an adult.
-- Large life tasks (a.k.a dungeons) are adventures to you as a child and puzzles to you as an adult.
-- The world is bright and cheery when you're a child, even though there are some scary things every once in a while. The world seems darker as an adult, but you can find the beauty and bright side if you look well enough.
-- Good friends always stay friends, and will help you out for your entire life.
-- When you do good things for people, they remember it, and will return the favor someday.
-- There are some things that are just as scary as they were when you were a kid, but as an adult, you're better equipped to handle them.
*******************
Game Update:
-- Went to the graveyard, got the hookshot, thanks to Dampe's ghost.
-- Eventually beat the Forest Temple, after dealing with ALL sorts of crazy monsters (i.e. The creepy fucker known as a wallmaster, as well as the tricky Poe Sisters) and puzzles (This Temple sucked out some of my soul in the process.). Also, GANONDORF's Phantom was the boss there... Made my heart almost punch its way through my rib cage once again. (He has quite the evil laugh)
-- Also, in the Forest Temple, I got the Fairy Bow! which allows me to shoot things further away (It's also how I killed Phantom Ganondorf. MUah ha ha ha!)
-- Tried about six times to get Epona.. I guess I just haven't figured out the trick to beating Ingo, yet.
-- After that, Navi mentioned that the clouds over Death Mountain look funny, and that we should probably go check it out.
-- Did that. Turns out, that the Gorons have disappeared. All except for Darunia's son, who was named after me(Pretty legendary, huh?)! (Oh, they also left the shopkeeper behind to keep the economy going.) He (Darunia's son, not the shopkeeper) told me that they've been captured and brought into the Fire Temple.
-- I entered the Death Mountain Crater in an attempt to get into the temple. It was a no-go. No place for me to go... I guess I'll have to figure it out tomorrow.
Alrighty. Later.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Getting set for winter, with bikes and videogames.
So. For those of you who don't know (as jenna has dubbed me..."Navi" here by the way) I'm really into biking. So, as winter creeps around....and by that I mean late fallish time, I will prepare a winter bike...but more to the point, I have placed my touring bike upon my bike training stand (so that I can workout indoors as well)...and proceeded to work out for an hour and a half today...Video game fans take a peek at my new cockpit...
I "installed" a little addition...can you tell?
I "installed" a little addition...can you tell?-E
Soundtrack of the moment: The Bad Plus, "Never Stop"
Soundtrack of the moment: The Bad Plus, "Never Stop"
At least I had a fairy in a bottle...
Today was kind of a day of failing at life, so when I came home from work, I expected the same from my continuation of attempting to beat Ocarina of Time/Quest One.
I was sort of right.
"When we last left our hero, he (she) had attempted to beat Dodongo's Cavern, but had not yet been victorious." Luckily, the tricks for slaying King Dodongo were as fresh in my mind as they could be. I destroyed that giant fire lizard with hardly a mark on me.
Darunia rewarded me with the Goron's Ruby, and then one of the Great Fairies gave me Din's Fire, which will probably be pretty useful down the line.
From there, things. went. really. slowly.
I couldn't remember for the life of me what to do next.
I decided to check out Lon Lon Ranch, since I hadn't visited yet. Got Epona's Song. I kind of figured this was not where I needed to go next... so I left.
Then Navi suggested I talk to Saria, since Saria, of course, knows everything I'm up to and what I should do next. This, in the past, implied that I should go back to Kokiri Forest. So I went back to the Forest, and made my way through the Lost Woods. Having to re-enter twice after picking the wrong log to walk through, I eventually made it to the Sacred Forest Meadow (a.k.a. Saria's "Secret Place"). I found that girl-next-door, and she doesn't tell me anything. No-thing. I started leaving, and then Navi bugged me again to talk to Saria. Then I played Saria's Song. Saria tells me to go to get the third Spiritual Stone from the Zoras, down at Zora's Domain. She couldn't have told me that while I was standing right next to her and after I had ran through the pain-in-the-ass Lost Woods? Fine. I guess I'll just call you on my ocarina when I want to talk to you since you just got all awkward face-to-face. Then, I went to get the last spiritual stone from the Zoras.
I made it to Zora's Domain. I even met King Zora himself. However, he seemed as if he didn't even notice I was there. He just said something about the princess going missing. I tried everything to get his attention. Nothing. I wandered around the Domain. Nothing. Some guy asked if I wanted to play a diving game. Like I have time?!? Kept wandering around. Left. Came back. Left. Visited Lake Hylia (It's quite pretty this time of year). Noticed something on the bottom that I couldn't quite reach. Wandered around. Came back. Tried talking to the King again. Thought about offering him a fish. Then I realized that he kind of is a fish. This time I decided to take that diving game guy up on his offer since I obviously didn't know what to do. He took my rupees and threw them off the cliff. "Go get them and you will get a prize." Oh, really? Like a biscuit? Okay, fine. I dove the most beautiful swan dive, and then collected the rupees in the 20-something seconds. Went back up to get my prize.
Turns out it was a pretty cool (and completely necessary) prize: a Silver Scale. It let me dive more deeply. It also turns out the Zoras have a shortcut between their Domain and Lake Hylia. I snuck back, and got that thing in the water. Letter from Princess Ruto. Great, now the King will pay attention to me and I can just get that third Spiritual Stone. I show it to him, and he implores me to go get Princess Ruto out from Jabu-Jabu's belly. Fuck. What? [Side note: Jabu-Jabu is the furthest I have ever gotten in the game. I've watched some people get further, but that's it.]
Speeding up the story:
-- Got through Jabu-Jabu's belly by beating a merry-go-round of jellyfish death.
-- Got the third Spiritual Stone: Zora's Sapphire (by getting engaged to Ruto).
-- Went to the castle to meet up with Zelda
-- Watched Zelda & Impa get chased out of Hyrule by none other than GANONDORF
-- Zelda tossed the Ocarina of Time (!) in the moat before He-Who-I-Call-GANONDORF could see
-- GANONDORF made fun of me because I tried to be the hero that everyone's been telling me I am
-- I picked up that new Ocarina, listened to Zelda talk to me (apparently ocarinas were used instead of phones back then), then headed to the Temple of Time
-- A lot of crazy shit happened, and I woke up seven (7!) years later. With the worst hangover ever. And then this dude with an amazing mustache tells me that GANONDORF has taken over as an evil king and has the Triforce. Dude. Can I at least get some coffee here? Isn't now the time to give up? No, I guess not. He talks me into saving the world now that I'm all grown up.
-- I get a hint from somewhere that I should head to Kakariko Village. So I do.
-- Someone tells me that Impa's in the graveyard dealing with some ghosts...
That's when I decided I should stop. This was a good place to decide that today was not a complete waste. Afterall, I completed my original goal (spiritual stones) and then some (dealing with that fucking Jabu-Jabu's belly), and then some more (7 years later...).
Later.
I was sort of right.
"When we last left our hero, he (she) had attempted to beat Dodongo's Cavern, but had not yet been victorious." Luckily, the tricks for slaying King Dodongo were as fresh in my mind as they could be. I destroyed that giant fire lizard with hardly a mark on me.
Darunia rewarded me with the Goron's Ruby, and then one of the Great Fairies gave me Din's Fire, which will probably be pretty useful down the line.
From there, things. went. really. slowly.
I couldn't remember for the life of me what to do next.
I decided to check out Lon Lon Ranch, since I hadn't visited yet. Got Epona's Song. I kind of figured this was not where I needed to go next... so I left.
Then Navi suggested I talk to Saria, since Saria, of course, knows everything I'm up to and what I should do next. This, in the past, implied that I should go back to Kokiri Forest. So I went back to the Forest, and made my way through the Lost Woods. Having to re-enter twice after picking the wrong log to walk through, I eventually made it to the Sacred Forest Meadow (a.k.a. Saria's "Secret Place"). I found that girl-next-door, and she doesn't tell me anything. No-thing. I started leaving, and then Navi bugged me again to talk to Saria. Then I played Saria's Song. Saria tells me to go to get the third Spiritual Stone from the Zoras, down at Zora's Domain. She couldn't have told me that while I was standing right next to her and after I had ran through the pain-in-the-ass Lost Woods? Fine. I guess I'll just call you on my ocarina when I want to talk to you since you just got all awkward face-to-face. Then, I went to get the last spiritual stone from the Zoras.
I made it to Zora's Domain. I even met King Zora himself. However, he seemed as if he didn't even notice I was there. He just said something about the princess going missing. I tried everything to get his attention. Nothing. I wandered around the Domain. Nothing. Some guy asked if I wanted to play a diving game. Like I have time?!? Kept wandering around. Left. Came back. Left. Visited Lake Hylia (It's quite pretty this time of year). Noticed something on the bottom that I couldn't quite reach. Wandered around. Came back. Tried talking to the King again. Thought about offering him a fish. Then I realized that he kind of is a fish. This time I decided to take that diving game guy up on his offer since I obviously didn't know what to do. He took my rupees and threw them off the cliff. "Go get them and you will get a prize." Oh, really? Like a biscuit? Okay, fine. I dove the most beautiful swan dive, and then collected the rupees in the 20-something seconds. Went back up to get my prize.
Turns out it was a pretty cool (and completely necessary) prize: a Silver Scale. It let me dive more deeply. It also turns out the Zoras have a shortcut between their Domain and Lake Hylia. I snuck back, and got that thing in the water. Letter from Princess Ruto. Great, now the King will pay attention to me and I can just get that third Spiritual Stone. I show it to him, and he implores me to go get Princess Ruto out from Jabu-Jabu's belly. Fuck. What? [Side note: Jabu-Jabu is the furthest I have ever gotten in the game. I've watched some people get further, but that's it.]
Speeding up the story:
-- Got through Jabu-Jabu's belly by beating a merry-go-round of jellyfish death.
-- Got the third Spiritual Stone: Zora's Sapphire (by getting engaged to Ruto).
-- Went to the castle to meet up with Zelda
-- Watched Zelda & Impa get chased out of Hyrule by none other than GANONDORF
-- Zelda tossed the Ocarina of Time (!) in the moat before He-Who-I-Call-GANONDORF could see
-- GANONDORF made fun of me because I tried to be the hero that everyone's been telling me I am
-- I picked up that new Ocarina, listened to Zelda talk to me (apparently ocarinas were used instead of phones back then), then headed to the Temple of Time
-- A lot of crazy shit happened, and I woke up seven (7!) years later. With the worst hangover ever. And then this dude with an amazing mustache tells me that GANONDORF has taken over as an evil king and has the Triforce. Dude. Can I at least get some coffee here? Isn't now the time to give up? No, I guess not. He talks me into saving the world now that I'm all grown up.
-- I get a hint from somewhere that I should head to Kakariko Village. So I do.
-- Someone tells me that Impa's in the graveyard dealing with some ghosts...
That's when I decided I should stop. This was a good place to decide that today was not a complete waste. Afterall, I completed my original goal (spiritual stones) and then some (dealing with that fucking Jabu-Jabu's belly), and then some more (7 years later...).
Later.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Goddamnit, Navi!!
I did end up spending about 45 more minutes on the game last night. Got through Sir Great Deku. And then he **spoiler alert??** died. And we were sad. But. We (I guess "we" means Link ("me") and Navi) did get the first Spiritual Stone! The Kokiri's Emerald. Beautiful.
Today: spent about 2 1/2 hours working through it. It's so hard to not get distracted by side quests...
Then the whole tense event of sneaking by all the palace guards. I kept getting impatient and tried rushing through, ultimately having to restart the section FIVE times. Whoops. But we did meet the adorable Princess Zelda where, after meeting me, immediately told me that I need to go save the world. So I said, "Okay." She also taught me Zelda's Lullaby, which I guess has some crazy powers.
Next was a little visit to go see my old friend Saria because I felt bad for thinking Zelda was adorable. And poor Saria's just the girl next door/childhood friend. Right? Oh, also, she taught me my second song: Saria's Song, and told me I could talk to her anytime I played it. How sweet of her!
I made it up Death Mountain to get the second Spiritual Stone: the Goron's Ruby, but King Darunia was pissed off about something. So I played him a song that cheers me up: Saria's Song! And it worked! That big, crazy guy danced all over the place! However, he said I had to go kill a bunch of fire lizards (a.k.a. dodongos) to give him good reason to give it to me. The Gorons also wanted their tasty rocks back, which I guess are all in Dodongo's Cavern. So I said, "Okay."
I got through most of it before having to leave for dance tonight, but I'm going to have to run through all of those stupid rooms that I worked through already. And, of course, whenever I would enter a room that I got the heebie-jeebies about, I would creep in slowly, look around, and then Navi shouts at me: "HEY! LISTEN!" and my heart would almost stop. Then I shouted back, "Goddamnit, Navi!" I know she was just trying to help me out, but the shouting? Really?
Anyhow, that's how far I am. And I know tomorrow I'll have even more time to play, and see how much further I get.
*save*
*quit*
Today: spent about 2 1/2 hours working through it. It's so hard to not get distracted by side quests...
Then the whole tense event of sneaking by all the palace guards. I kept getting impatient and tried rushing through, ultimately having to restart the section FIVE times. Whoops. But we did meet the adorable Princess Zelda where, after meeting me, immediately told me that I need to go save the world. So I said, "Okay." She also taught me Zelda's Lullaby, which I guess has some crazy powers.
Next was a little visit to go see my old friend Saria because I felt bad for thinking Zelda was adorable. And poor Saria's just the girl next door/childhood friend. Right? Oh, also, she taught me my second song: Saria's Song, and told me I could talk to her anytime I played it. How sweet of her!
I made it up Death Mountain to get the second Spiritual Stone: the Goron's Ruby, but King Darunia was pissed off about something. So I played him a song that cheers me up: Saria's Song! And it worked! That big, crazy guy danced all over the place! However, he said I had to go kill a bunch of fire lizards (a.k.a. dodongos) to give him good reason to give it to me. The Gorons also wanted their tasty rocks back, which I guess are all in Dodongo's Cavern. So I said, "Okay."
I got through most of it before having to leave for dance tonight, but I'm going to have to run through all of those stupid rooms that I worked through already. And, of course, whenever I would enter a room that I got the heebie-jeebies about, I would creep in slowly, look around, and then Navi shouts at me: "HEY! LISTEN!" and my heart would almost stop. Then I shouted back, "Goddamnit, Navi!" I know she was just trying to help me out, but the shouting? Really?
Anyhow, that's how far I am. And I know tomorrow I'll have even more time to play, and see how much further I get.
*save*
*quit*
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Just an hour in...
Obstacle that I've already realized:
"Seven days" is sooo far from really being seven days. I am gone for work from about 7:15 in the morning until about 5:00/5:30 at night. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings I have community ed classes that run for about two hours starting at 7:00 and 7:30, respectively. This weekend, I actually have things to attend on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Because of this, I was able to play for an hour today. And I'm already stuck. I'm in the Great Deku Tree, and I can't remember what the fuck to do next. It really doesn't matter that I've watched countless people play through this part. And the ticking of all the skulltulas, gold skulltulas, and deku babas is destroying my nerves, as I try to rush through the whole thing.
I also forgot about my game anxiety. Yes, game anxiety. I get so into these games that, when I hear the music pick up or build tension, my heart starts pounding. Not just pounding. It feels like it's trying to rhythmically punch its way out of my chest. I think this is part of the reason why I've never finished a game. I get too tense about the whole thing, stop playing, and then pick it up when I'm ready for another round of anxiety.
Well, now I am winding down because I have to sleep. Maybe I will play for another half hour. I'm never going to be able to sleep if I haven't been able to figure out the next step.
"Seven days" is sooo far from really being seven days. I am gone for work from about 7:15 in the morning until about 5:00/5:30 at night. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings I have community ed classes that run for about two hours starting at 7:00 and 7:30, respectively. This weekend, I actually have things to attend on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Because of this, I was able to play for an hour today. And I'm already stuck. I'm in the Great Deku Tree, and I can't remember what the fuck to do next. It really doesn't matter that I've watched countless people play through this part. And the ticking of all the skulltulas, gold skulltulas, and deku babas is destroying my nerves, as I try to rush through the whole thing.
I also forgot about my game anxiety. Yes, game anxiety. I get so into these games that, when I hear the music pick up or build tension, my heart starts pounding. Not just pounding. It feels like it's trying to rhythmically punch its way out of my chest. I think this is part of the reason why I've never finished a game. I get too tense about the whole thing, stop playing, and then pick it up when I'm ready for another round of anxiety.
Well, now I am winding down because I have to sleep. Maybe I will play for another half hour. I'm never going to be able to sleep if I haven't been able to figure out the next step.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Hey! Listen!
I love video games. I love playing them, and I love watching them. However, I have never officially completed a single video game in my life... (*gasp*) beyond the original Super Mario Bros. (in which I used every shortcut possible). I know. Ridiculous. To remedy this, Erik/Navi has decided that he/she/it will come up with regular missions [entitled "Hey!"] for me to complete. This is to at least get the ball rolling on this whole thing.
There will be rules & regulations with every mission [entitled "Listen!"].
[By the way, if you are confused by the titles, I assume you have never played/watched Ocarina of Time. Otherwise, you would be familiar with Navi's method of getting your attention. Or you're just slower than I assumed...]
The goal of the blog: To receive missions and instructions from Navi (the mystical fairy) for video game completions.
****************************************************
Quest One
Hey!: Complete The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time start to finish in seven days, beginning Tuesday, October 5th at 5:30pm (that's Central - we're running on Central here in the Midwest), and ending Tuesday, October 12th at 5:30pm.
I know this quest doesn't sound too crazy if you know some of the records. But I am not an amazing gamer. I'm not really even a gamer. I'm a lady (a classy one at that) who loves video games and needs to beat a lot of them.
Listen!: Walkthroughs are not allowed (Most likely a rule for every mission/quest). Avoid as many side quests as wanted. [No requirements as far as collecting Skulltulas, Poes, glass bottles, masks, etc.]
Navi's going easy on me for this first one. "Easy." Ya.
Yikes.
Wish me luck.
There will be rules & regulations with every mission [entitled "Listen!"].
[By the way, if you are confused by the titles, I assume you have never played/watched Ocarina of Time. Otherwise, you would be familiar with Navi's method of getting your attention. Or you're just slower than I assumed...]
The goal of the blog: To receive missions and instructions from Navi (the mystical fairy) for video game completions.
****************************************************
Quest One
Hey!: Complete The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time start to finish in seven days, beginning Tuesday, October 5th at 5:30pm (that's Central - we're running on Central here in the Midwest), and ending Tuesday, October 12th at 5:30pm.
I know this quest doesn't sound too crazy if you know some of the records. But I am not an amazing gamer. I'm not really even a gamer. I'm a lady (a classy one at that) who loves video games and needs to beat a lot of them.
Listen!: Walkthroughs are not allowed (Most likely a rule for every mission/quest). Avoid as many side quests as wanted. [No requirements as far as collecting Skulltulas, Poes, glass bottles, masks, etc.]
Navi's going easy on me for this first one. "Easy." Ya.
Yikes.
Wish me luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)