The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => LBT Projects => Topic started by: pokeplayer984 on September 13, 2010, 12:34:09 PM
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I've been thinking about doing some Let's Play Videos for The Land Before Time Games. I've been wanting to do it for a while and have thought hard about how best to approach doing these games. After all my thinking, here's what I have decided on.
The main thing is, of course, the handheld and console games. Recording from a handheld or console has always been a tricky concept. (i.e. Some consoles have been known to have video recording problems and handhelds have practically NO recording device, period.) After some thought, I have decided to use emulators and ROM Games for this. It is my best bet in the end.
Now, I know there are some out there who are against using emulators and ROM Games for various reasons. However, many Game Reviewers actually recommend them, especially for those that are on a budget of sorts and still want to do reviews and commentaries. To be honest, there's nothing really wrong with them, (biggest issue is probably lag.) it's just that some prefer a more honest way of doing things. (AVGN actually does things the honest way.) Some, however, just find it easier to do it with an emulator and prefer doing it that way. (Aqualung did state in one FAQ video that he does use an emulator because he didn't have a video recording device handy.)
Now, I could indeed use a camera. However, I know that I am prone to moving around while I play on a handheld device. It's just not worth it. As for the consoles. Well, they are on Playstation. However, I don't want to buy one just for these few games. To be honest, I wasn't much of a fan of Playstation to begin with.
I'll be recording this with FRAPS for the video and Goldwave for recording my own voice.
So, what's the first game I plan to do for this?
First up, The Land Before Time on Gameboy Color.
I'll be starting this tomorrow. For now, I have stuff to do.
See ya later! :)
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Yo I'll be waiting for that.
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Cool! I love Let's Plays! And you always make great videos. :yes
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The LBT games are in need of a good let's play. Bring it on :smile
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I agree it will be interesting watching a Let's Play for LBT games. I've actually played the GB Color one on an emulator. It had a cool idea of being able to switch characters as you find them and each one has an unique characteristic (ie Ducky can fit through small areas).
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Apparently there's a lot I need to learn about this game. I'll ask a few things that completely confuse me and I hope you guys can help me out here.
Okay, first question.
1. What is the story of this game anyways? Seriously, I'm just confused here. Why do I have to save all of my friends? What happened? How did we get separated?
2. When exactly was this game made? I've been trying to figure that out.
3. I've actually played the GB Color one on an emulator. It had a cool idea of being able to switch characters as you find them and each one has an unique characteristic (ie Ducky can fit through small areas).
And how do you switch characters exactly? I can't figure this one out.
Help me out here, guys! I would really like to know what's going on here.
In the meantime, I have done a video of this game nearly blind and am now setting it up. It might take me a few days to get ready, considering the size of the 28 minute video is 4 GB and I need to compress it within 2 GB in order to show it to you guys. So yeah, it won't look as good.
Until I have it done, see ya guys later!
And please, answer my questions. I could really use the help. :)
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Dang it! Ugh! I can't believe this!
I'm not sure what in the world happened. For one reason or another, the video file got corrupted to the point where I can't edit it. I even tried converting the file to an FLV and so that I could reconvert it back to a workable format. That only ended up shutting down my computer.
So, I'll have to do this all over again. I hate it when this happens. :(
Well, see ya guys later! :cry
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What format is the video file in?
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I have never played the game, but I found this information online:
1. What is the story of this game anyways? Seriously, I'm just confused here. Why do I have to save all of my friends? What happened? How did we get separated?
From watching one of Mumbling's videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqaphOpFHMk) on youtube, I read the following backstory: "While exploring a dark cave, Littlefoot and friends find themselves trapped. / Oh no! It's a sharptooth! / Where has everyone gone? / Cera is lost in the bone desert. / Spike is stuck in the swamp. / The Great Valley is over those mountains! / Let's find our friends and go home!"
So they apparently got out of the cave somehow, and ran in wildly different directions from one sharptooth, and now nobody but Littlefoot is capable of moving around and locating the others. Not the most well-thought out plot, but better than nothing.
2. When exactly was this game made? I've been trying to figure that out.
According to GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/gbc/action/landbeforetimethe/index.html), it was released Jul 14, 2001.
3.And how do you switch characters exactly? I can't figure this one out.
According to the controls posted on GameFly (http://www.gamefly.com/game/game-boy-advance/Land-Before-Time-Collection/112560/GameplayControls/), to switch characters you pause, hit "select", and then you can change characters.
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What format is the video file in?
It saves it in uncompressed AVI, which would normally be compatible with all 3 of my video editors, (WMM 2.26, Windows Movie Maker Live and Videospin.) but due to a bug of sorts, it's not.
I don't get why since I did do a test run before it and I was able to edit that one.
Anyways, I was able to convert it into an FLV and it was unable to convert all of it. So, here's what I'll do from now on.
First off, I'll record the levels one at a time and I'll stop the recording after I beat the level and see if it's working. If not, I'll start the level over.
Second, to accomplish this, I'll be using Save States at certain times. I'll only save after I'm sure the recording worked.
So, here's hoping for the best.
And thanks for the help, LB&T. It'll be a good thing to know.
Well, let's hope things go well this time.
See ya later! :)
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Okay, here is the first part. Sorry, but I ran into downloading problems. The site supporting the video shut down for maintenance when I first tried to download it. However, after that, everything went pretty well.
There are some audio-sync problems. This has more to do with the emulator than anything else. It's not easy to fix, trust me.
Other than that, enjoy the first part of it.
http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Be...meboy-Color.php (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time---Gameboy-Color.php)
Please give feedback.
See ya later!
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I got a couple of things I'd like to note about the video.
First of all the audio. Not so much the sync bothers me but the fact that the games' music is louder than your voice. Also your voice is cracking a bit, which can be blamed on the mic. This combined makes it hard to understand what you're saying, which is one of the main parts of let's plays, so that's too bad.
There's not much else I can say about it! :) You could try making the parts shorter, say 10-15 minutes... People have a very short timespan for concentration sometimes :p
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I got a couple of things I'd like to note about the video.
First of all the audio. Not so much the sync bothers me but the fact that the games' music is louder than your voice. Also your voice is cracking a bit, which can be blamed on the mic. This combined makes it hard to understand what you're saying, which is one of the main parts of let's plays, so that's too bad.
There's not much else I can say about it! :) You could try making the parts shorter, say 10-15 minutes... People have a very short timespan for concentration sometimes :p
I'll try to make the music quieter with the next part.
Also, I did record my voice when I was still getting over a cold, so sorry about that.
As for the smaller parts thing, I'll pretty much split it more when I post it on YouTube in about one to two months. Plus with games, I do lose track of time when I'm into them, so sorry about that.
So far, this game is better than expected. It deserves more credit than it's given. It's a little hard, but not too hard to handle. That level with the plants that spit acid I really hate. You can't kill them, I've tried.
I still don't get how the enemies disappear sometimes. That really eludes me. I blame a glitch in the game. :P: (If it is a glitch, it's rather random.)
Still, this is a good game so far. To be honest, I'm surprised. :)
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No worries! Just a little critique so you know what you can work on :)
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And now, the YouTube promotional video for my first Let's Play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySYxwbCy4sk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySYxwbCy4sk)
Not much, but it's only meant to promote the first part. Also, the description will show when it'll be posted on YouTube.
See ya later! :)
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OK I've only watched 4 minutes and I can say that you need to talk more. Your voice blends a lot with the game noise. I can't tell you how your LP's should be, but there should be some personality in there other than just talking about the game.
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Okay, I finally got the chance to get it underway and am now in the process of editing Part 2. If things go well, I'll have it ready by tomorrow. Sorry, but it's been difficult to get some quiet time so you guys can at least hear me.
So, I'll see ya guys later! :)
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Okay, part 2 is now ready. It's on the same page as part 1, you just need to scroll down to see part 2.
Now, something I will tell you. The game gets progressively harder. In fact, I get my butt kicked in the first few minutes of the game. I at least make it to the next password, so... *shrugs* yeah, not much to say on it.
I did at least fiddle with the volume setting on my voice for this. So that should at least be louder than the music.
Again, there are audio sync problems, but what are ya gonna do?
Here's the link.
http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Be...meboy-Color.php (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time---Gameboy-Color.php)
Enjoy and I'll see ya later! :)
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Haha sorry to be nitpicking again but this time I did not hear the background music at all in the lets play. Still not quite the right level. Your voice is a lot clearer now though, so that's good :)
No worries about talking about the game, that is just what you should do... Along with other comments of course :) Most let's players talk about the game, as well as refer to things they see in the game and start talking about other stuff.
It might be on my end, but the video plays really laggy :p At a certain moment I had to refresh the website so that I could watch it again. And that's while playing on 240p!
It seems like the video goes slower both than the original sound as well as your own voice. If you want I can help you editing so that they would match up :)
If I missed something.. I stopped watching at around 11:00 because it lagged too much :p
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Ugh! I am struggling to get this and I would love to finish it before Tuesday. I have my reasons, which I'll explain in another topic.
Anyways, it's not that the level is hard, but is actually really, really cheap. Level 12 can die for all I care. I only get through the level due to dumb luck. Why is it so cheap? It's got plenty of those plants that spit acid upward, and where that stuff lands is random. Lately though, it seems to be a magnet to me. I SO hope I beat it without dying. -_-
Seriously, I'm losing hope at actually beating this game. :(
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Seriously, I'm losing hope at actually beating this game. :(
Just keep playing the game, when I first got to the Tar Pit level in Ice Age 3, it took me over a month to get through it with out dying. After playing the level six times I finally got the hang of it.
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When I said "other than just talking about the game" I meant that literally. Talk about the story, talk about the level, talk about the quality, talk about the difficulty, talk about the enemies, talk about the graphics, talk about the interface, talk about the hud, talk about ANYTHING related to the game, not just how you're playing it and what's going on 'on screen'. There are long periods of silence and just you walking across the screen and waiting for things to happen, than making small comments about them. You didn't make any comment about littlefoot when you changed to him, but rather responded to comments.
I know what Lets Plays are about. Sometimes I prefer text ones to video ones. Case in point:
http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Half-Life/Up...%201/index.html (http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Half-Life/Update%201/index.html)
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Okay, here's what I'm doing for the final video. In this one, I am simply going to record my footage of me playing and then do the commentary later. I know that's probably not the best way to go, but I'm sick of this and I just want to get it done.
I was able to save Spike and Petrie before losing all my continues. Spike is only useful when you need to make something heavy drop. Yes, the game designers used his bulk as his ability. Lazy developers! <_<
As for Petrie, he's unplayable and his game sprite just looks awful! It's worse than Petrie's infamous "bat version". I know that's hard to believe, but I won't be surprised if certain Petrie fans start cursing when they see it. (Or at least start bad mouthing the developers on it.)
And yes, despite the fact that you save them all, there's still levels left to beat. At this point, I'm not sure if I was on the final level by the time I used all my continues.
And now, I have to go through saving Petrie again. A part of me thinks his game sprite is too ugly to try to save again.
Unfortunately, for the fans, I have to push through. -_-
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Sorry about that John. I guess the difficulty they thought of is once again 'too hard' much like the lion king Gameboy game, almost undoable.
good luck!
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Well, I have finally made it to level 20, thus getting a new password, and OMG this level is just impossible!
If this is the final level, they definitely saved the hardest for last. Because of these tiny pools of lava that spit acid, (Not kidding here!) it's just impossible to beat this level without getting hit. On top of this, we now have fast moving acid-spitting ticks. (Geez! The developers must have had a fetish for acid spitting enemies, especially with dragonflies that can do it too! Sheesh!) Add on cheap placement, and you can understand why this is so hard. Not to mention near impossible to get treestars. (Again, not kidding here.)
Speaking from experience, I'll be lucky to pull off this one.
Considering the difficulty, I can only pray for a miracle. -_-
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Okay, I actually was able to figure out level 20. I have indeed concluded that it's impossible to beat without getting hit, but the trick to it is learning the flow of everything. Once you get it down, you can beat it with only taking 3 hits.
However, I quickly found out that there's MORE levels. They aren't like 20, but they are in the range of difficulty I have now come to expect with the final levels of the game.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's 24 levels, with one final password to come.
At this point though, I cannot do all the levels and make the video and narrative needed before I leave for my vacation. So, I'll give up to level 19, the password and show off 20. Trust me, the level is a nightmare.
Sorry guys, but the last and final levels will have to wait. -_-
So, expect Part 3 tomorrow.
See ya later! :)
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Okay guys, before I leave, here it is. Just click on the link and scroll down to Part 3.
http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Be...meboy-Color.php (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time---Gameboy-Color.php)
Enjoy and I'll see ya later!
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I... I did it! I can't believe I actually did it! I actually beat the game! :) And I sadly don't feel like I accomplished much. -_-
Thanks to that, I'll be doing the commentary tomorrow and post it on my site Sunday.
I'll even include a Full Gameplay Video that shows how I did each level. That's going to be quite big in size, (considering there's 23 levels here and requires over an hour of gameplay to pull off.) so expect that one to be a while.
Now, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to rest and think about the next game I'll be doing.
See ya! :)
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Here it is, and PLEASE tell me what you think. Again, audio-sync problems plague it. :(
One last point of warning. The ending screen for the game is UGLY! I've never been so disappointed with game design.
Anyways, click on the link and scroll down to the bottom to watch it.
http://www.thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Lan...meboy-Color.php (http://www.thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time---Gameboy-Color.php)
Enjoy and I'll see ya later! :)
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Okay, I really want to talk about my progress for the next Let's Play. The next one I'm doing is The Land Before Time Activity Center.
In order to record this, I had to download a program that records my screen. The one I chose is called CamStudio. It's completely free, and with it you can record any size amount of your screen you wish.
This really came in handy because The Land Before Time Activity Center was made specifically for computers up to 480p. So, when you play it on a computer with a higher number of pixels, you get some BIG black bars around the video. They really take up a lot of space and just make it look terrible when the video plays back.
However, I quickly found that the audiosync for the saved video was still bad. However, I did figure out how to edit it. Goldwave has the function to change the pitch and when you change that, you actually make the sound go longer or shorter, basically changing the length of the audio. Put that in it's place in a video editing program, and you're good to go. Of course, it is tricky to figure out how much you need to change it because the more you do the more off-sync it tends to get, and I made the mistake of doing 90 minutes at one time. Oops! -_-
So yeah, I'm doing my best to fix the audio right now. This could take a while.
Also, I found that The Land Before Time Activity Center runs at an astonishing 2000 frames per second. Most video editors bring it down to 30 frames per second, so when it's done, expect a lack on video quality.
With that said, I should expect this to be done sometime this week.
So yeah, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up on how I'm doing and I'll see ya later! :)
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You're gonna play activity center ? :D I always played that as a kid, in dutch. I'd love to see it in english :)
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Is LBT activity center the game that, among other stuff, included a game where Cera navigated a maze collecting things? I've been trying to find the name of that game cause I used to play it all the time when I was little. I only know it's not LBT Math Adventure since I still have that CD.
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Yeah it is! :) With the scary sound when you're in the T-rex part :o
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Speaking of the Maze Part of the Game, W0R$7! (0N7R0L$! 3V@R!
And yes, it does deserve to be mocked with that 1337 Speak. It's that bad!
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Believe me when I say this John: The controls were perfect on Win 98 (even my mom played the game sometimes, she remember them being good as well)... When I played it on XP they sucked though.
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Believe me when I say this John: The controls were perfect on Win 98 (even my mom played the game sometimes, she remember them being good as well)... When I played it on XP they sucked though.
Well, in Windows 7, it's SO bad, you can't even finish it on the easiest level. It's like there's invisible walls or something. I just can't pick up all the items.
Okay, I'm halfway done with fixing the audio. It's been a struggle. I've had to change it bit by bit to get the syncing just right. Worst part is, after each change, I have to save it under a new file or I won't be able to access it so I can test it. This ends up giving me an extra 20 minutes of waiting just to test the dang thing and find out that there's another part off.
I'm going to come up with something to prevent this from future Let's Plays. This is really tedious to try to fix.
Hopefully, it can be completely fixed this week. Sorry for further delays on this.
See ya guys later! :)
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I had a demo version of this game years ago. The only games I could really play were the coloring book section or the maze. I played the maze more often and liked it.
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Hey guys! I finally got done with fixing the audio. Man, was that EVER a real chore to fix. Seriously, it was SO tedious. It took me nearly 75 editing sessions with Goldwave to fix it, but I finally pulled it off. This means that I'll be doing the commentary soon, hopefully tomorrow.
If things go well, you can expect this to be on my site by Saturday at the latest.
So, I'll see ya guys later! :)
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I'll be doing the commentary later today, so expect it to be done by tonight. I finally have a free chance and I'm using it.
On top of that, my Gameboy Color Let's Play is now on YouTube. Here is the first video, split up into two parts.
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7V-LcjSAvY)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_FXkhVfAS0)
Enjoy!
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Hey guys! Um, slight delay, sadly. -_-
Unfortunately, I had made the STUPID mistake of not muting the old audio, so it made the video sound like there were two voices playing at once. I'll get it fixed as soon as possible.
Again, sorry! :bang :bang :bang
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Looks like the game is hard and frustrating at times.
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Officially, it'll be ready on the site by tomorrow. Right now, I'm currently encoding it into the proper FLV file so I can embed it.
Just a warning, it's a big one! Over 1 GB in size and over 90 minutes long.
Find a point where you can set aside some time. Me posting it near the weekend should help. :)
See ya guys later! :)
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Hey guys! I finally have it put up on the site! :)
I took an extra day and so that I could make a three-part download for those who end up having streaming problems. After all, this is quite the video. I mean, seriously, 90 minutes? What was I thinking?
Anyways, click on the link below to check it out. Just a warning, it's bad! Probably the worst I've ever done. (And no, I'm not doing it over. It was too much work to begin with.)
The Land Before Time Activity Center (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time-Activity-Center.php)
I've also got extra videos in mind. They'll just consist of content I didn't cover.
See ya guys later! :)
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The extra content is now ready! It mainly consists of the videos I didn't cover and the other Coloring Book Pages that I didn't show.
Click on the link below and scroll to the bottom to check it out. (My Sunglasses wearing Jirachi marks it.)
http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Be...vity-Center.php (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time-Activity-Center.php)
Enjoy!
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I got LBT Math Adventure done with! I have done the commentary and now I just need to properly edit it.
The Land Before Time Math Adventure is just terrible! Boring Games, Bad Character Design, Bad Voices, Audio Sync Problems (Fault of the game, not mine!) and the "Reward Center Scenes" are too short to be enjoyable.
It's one of the worst games I've ever played, and the absolute worst of The Land Before Time Games, period!
I'm just glad I don't ever have to play it again.
Anyways, expect the Let's Play soon!
See ya guys later! :)
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There's something wrong with the Activity Center video. When I try to play it, at first there's no video, then when I try again there is video but the pointer thing in the video is all the way at the end, making it impossible for me to tell how long the video is. If I try moving it back, it just goes back to the end like before.
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There's something wrong with the Activity Center video. When I try to play it, at first there's no video, then when I try again there is video but the pointer thing in the video is all the way at the end, making it impossible for me to tell how long the video is. If I try moving it back, it just goes back to the end like before.
I'm not sure if it's a fault on MediaFire's end or if it's a fault on the embeddable player's end. I'm going to try to fix it.
In the meantime, why don't you just download the 3 parts right below the video? It'll save you a lot of trouble at this point.
And for future reference, it's over 90 minutes long. Making this my longest Let's Play Video to date.
See ya guys later!
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Okay everyone! The Land Before Time Activity Center page has been updated. There are now 4 videos on there. (3 of the main game and one containing extra footage.)
So, here you go, the updated page!
The Land Before Time Activity Center (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time-Activity-Center.php)
Thanks to Blip, I'm sure it'll be better. (Though they are updating certain parts as of this post. If it's not working, please be patient.)
As for Math Adventure? That one is officially done. I just need to upload the two parts. It shouldn't be too much longer.
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I did have Windows 95 when I played the demo of Land Before Time Activity Center and I used to play the maze game a lot. I can confirm that it did function better than how it did for you. The movements were a lot smoother and it was easier to navigate.
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I did have Windows 95 when I played the demo of Land Before Time Activity Center and I used to play the maze game a lot. I can confirm that it did function better than how it did for you. The movements were a lot smoother and it was easier to navigate.
It was terrible for me! You saw it! I was right in front of that stinking flower and I could not EVER pick it up, no matter where I was!
Lesson learned: NEVER play the Bramble Maze of The Land Before Time Activity Center on Windows 7. It's just not worth it.
Also, I know one Let's Player that it'll drive crazy because of how much he HATES mazes. Seriously, he would freak.
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It was terrible for me! You saw it! I was right in front of that stinking flower and I could not EVER pick it up, no matter where I was!
In the Windows 95 version, from what I recall, you could pick up that flower. I'm not sure why it's impossible in Windows 7. Very strange. If you ever get a chance to try the Windows 95 version I'm sure you'll enjoy the maze game more since you should have better controls.
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It's a game SO terrible, MediaFire won't let me upload it. Yes, it's that bad.
For those who can only watch it through streaming. Here it is!
Let's Play The Land Before Time Math Adventure (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time-Math-Adventure.php)
You have been warned.
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It's a game SO terrible, MediaFire won't let me upload it. Yes, it's that bad.
For those who can only watch it through streaming. Here it is!
Let's Play The Land Before Time Math Adventure (http://thelandbeforetimewd.com/The-Land-Before-Time-Math-Adventure.php)
You have been warned.
...and it isn't even High school level math! :o