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Right?! Now I'm itching to play again!

COMPLETED: Riptide GP: Renegade

Done! I got a little addicted there. It doesn't just invoke the nostalgia of Jet Moto and Hydro Thunder: it was also a lot of fun! Though the final challenges were...cheap.

So the game is fun. I really enjoyed it. I even like how they handled tricks, with which I have become more comfortable. You basically have to do tricks to maintain your boost to even have a fighting chance by the end of the game. But Imma complain a bit:

Not Enough Levels

This game feels inspired, in part, by Jet Moto (especially the ruins level, which is my favorite for that reason), and Jet Moto 1 only had 10 levels (one more than Riptide's 9). But that was a 1996 game. I think we've come to expect more of our entertainment.

I think lacking more than number of levels is level variety. Jet Moto 1 had four biomes: tropical island, rural swamp, snowy, and met track in the sky. Jet Moto 2 upped it to include even more variety: including a roller coaster and mine-shaft.

Riptide's levels mostly look the same. There's a military base, air base, and power plant that all look the same. Even typing this, I'm not quite sure I'm thinking of three different levels. In design, the levels do have their own personality, but they don't have enough character (for me).

15 would have been a good number of tracks ;)

Bullshit difficulty

For the most part, I was able to beat the challenges fairly easily. Sometimes I needed vehicular upgrades or more practice with boost-building tricks. But by the time you get to the final challenges--the BS reveals itself.

Firstly, the AI racers are immovable. They can bump me out of the way, or pressure me out of my racing line. But I can't seem to do anything to them. That's not a horrible thing until you get to the later racers where victory often comes at fractions of a second, and most of the racers are in a pack. So fighting to get ahead, I felt bullied by a computer.

What's worse, many of the tracks feature police riders. Their speeds are seemingly unlimited: as they can catch up to me no matter. They also seemed dead set on only attacking the player. So not only am I fighting 7 racers, but I've got 2 other bullies bashing me around and no matter how fast I go or how well I race, they're always wife me: bumping me off course, reducing me speed, pushing me away from ramps to perform tricks.

I've lost hours of my life dealing with bullshit cop bots fucking with me.

Because the cop-bots disrupt one's ability to win: it removes skill and player agency to win, replacing it with random chance. Maybe I get lucky and the cop doesn't cut me off and slam on it's brakes. Maybe I get lucky and I don't miss that ramp I need to boost into first place cause a cop rams me. Maybe I get lucky and I'm able to hold a good racing line because the cops aren't bashing me from all sides.

It felt cheap.

Then there's also the AI. There's some rubber-banding happening, which often keeps games interesting: opponents never get too far ahead so that there's no hope, but also the player is never able to completely wipe the floor with other racers. I don't really like rubber banding, as it also disrupts the player's skill.

It was particularly apparent in a few "boss battles" on the highest difficulty. I would see AI racers pull away from me despite me being at full boost. But then at another part of the track the racer appeared to slam on their brakes and come to a near stop for no reason. It just looked like program behavior. Maybe it was meant to provide an exciting experience--but it mostly just pissed me off in the final stages.

I still like it though

The bullshit difficulty didn't really become an issue till the end of the game (where strangely most of the vehicles are unlocked but don't provide advantage of one another...). I could have stopped playing sooner. Who cares if I get every star in the career mode? I do. That's who (unfortunately). So I was addicted by the accessible gameplay and charming experience, but driven mad by the cheap difficulty. I still really like the game. But I need some space before I play it again.

I still need to try online mode though...

Candles Update 27: Rock Band (not really)

I took some time this past week or so to enjoy playing video games. But now I’m back on the case.

Given that we can “pick up” the guitar, it’s time to play it. Using Garage Band on my MacBook, I was able to collect 25 (24) notes from a guitar instrument. These notes represent 5 frets across six strings on the guitar (frets 1-5), and excludes playing any string “open”. I say 25(24) because of the way guitars are tuned, the fifth fret on the G string is the same as the first fret on the B string…so I got confused…and it may all be ruined. I’ll check on that later.

Not the most exciting script–but it gets the job done. Using OnMouseOver and OnMouseExit, I was able to make “highlights” on the guitar appear. I thought about using rectangles on the fret board, but that didn’t feel right. This doesn’t look great either–but it’s more of a proof of concept. And now each fret plays a note.

I was really excited by how easily this came together and how well it functioned.

Inner Life is a beautiful and touching adventure where a healer go inside a dying titan whose body is turning against itself.

Read More & Play The Full Game, Free (Windows)

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“Protect” kids from drag but not child labor! The GOP in 2023

Why are we remaking every Resident Evil, and yet this great series lies dormant?

Breath of Fire series (Capcom)

Breath of Fire (1993) Breath of Fire 2 (1994) Breath of Fire 3 (1997) Breath of Fire 4 (2000) Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (2002) *I refuse to acknowledge BOF 6

Streamer Spotlight: MunchkinDoom ( @munchkindoom​)

Candice Renee Townsend, aka MunchkinDoom, is a partnered content creator from Brooklyn, New York. She advocates for inclusion within the gaming industry while daring gamers to be their true, authentic selves. “I like muffins, too!”

Are there any particular moments on your stream that stand out to you?

I’ve had so many moments! From finding out I was partnered with Mixer, to crushing charity donation goals for Feeding America, to being able to stream full-time and donate to others that helped me along the way. Picking one moment would be a disservice to my journey, and those that have helped me. This journey has been nothing short of amazing. Speaking of help, there’s a video of me crying in happiness because another streamer helped fund the very chair I stream in now (Hi, @thePreacherLive)!

What advice would you give to someone wanting to join the space? 

You have to know your “why.” Why do you want to do this? Is this “why” strong enough to keep you pushing through the tough times? My “why” is to expose the gaming world to women who look like me, and to encourage more of them to step into the light and embrace themselves. If I just give up now, I may not inspire the first world-known Black female eSports player…or the next ten. I want that to happen, whether it’s me or someone inspired by me.

How do you see #BlackExcellence365 being celebrated in your streaming experience?

I see #BlackExcellence365 as us defying the odds, pushing boundaries, and no longer accepting seats at certain tables because WE are creating our own tables with tons of seating! We have to commit to uplifting those who are paving the way so that others can drive along the road of success, or we all fail. Personally, I’m always on the lookout to see how I can help other creators of color, and even mentor many within my community with my #realtalks. We have tons of value to add to this industry, and together we can show the world that value.

How can we disrupt the gaming industry so that there is an increase in women of color being celebrated?

Social media is one of the most powerful tools we have known to man. Anyone can become an overnight success, and we have the power to make that happen. If we can help some of our ladies go viral for their accomplishments and success within the streaming industry, we will be one step closer due to the increased exposure. An excellent way to disrupt the gaming industry in a positive way is going viral for all the RIGHT reasons (which I have kind of done twice…once with Missy Elliot’s help).

If you could live in any video game universe, what would it be?

No-brainer! Final Fantasy VII. I would be Tifa, ride chocobos, gamble at the Gold Saucer, beat Sephiroth, and live happily ever after with Cloud. It’s my favorite game of all time! I think it would be pretty cool to summon giant entities to help me in battle with shiny globes of materia; it gets no better than that!

Thanks, @munchkindoom​! You can pop in and say hello in her streams here, or show love to her Tumblr!