I'll be doing Let's Play for LBT Games

[pokeplayer984]

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!

[Campion1]

Yo I'll be waiting for that.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Cool! I love Let's Plays! And you always make great videos.

[JitteryDragon]

The LBT games are in need of a good let's play. Bring it on

[Flathead770]

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).

[pokeplayer984]

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.

[pokeplayer984]

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!

[DarkHououmon]

What format is the video file in?

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

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 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, 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, to switch characters you pause, hit "select", and then you can change characters.

[pokeplayer984]

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!

[pokeplayer984]

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

Please give feedback.

See ya later!

[Mumbling]

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

[pokeplayer984]

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

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. : (If it is a glitch, it's rather random.)

Still, this is a good game so far.  To be honest, I'm surprised.

[Mumbling]

No worries! Just a little critique so you know what you can work on

[pokeplayer984]

And now, the YouTube promotional video for my first Let's Play.


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!

[Campion1]

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.

[pokeplayer984]

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!

[pokeplayer984]

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

Enjoy and I'll see ya later!

[Mumbling]

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 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

[pokeplayer984]

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.