A new week begins

 Good afternoon everyone,

Yesterday was mostly a chill day, as I spent a lot of time thinking about how overwhelmed I feel.

Last night's stream of Overwatch 2 saw us having a lot of fun with BangBangBang and PandaSweet being apart of the action. There was a number of times I questioned the mental capacity of a lot of the random teammates we got saddle with, like who would play Widowmaker on attack after they realize the opposing team also as a Windowmaker and an Ana that can focus their fire on you. There is also an unusual tendency for players to over extend, which ends up making defense harder than it needs to be.

Picked up one play of the game last night as Moira, other characters used were Reinhardt, Ana, Brigitte, Tracers, Bastion and several others.

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal during their birthday stream of Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal

The plan for tonight's stream is resume Alice: Madness Returns, picking up in the middle of Chapter 3. If things go right we could try and knock out

Finished the Star Trek story as an exclusive for my subscribestar followers, now I ponder what will be the next story I write on the side. Did pick up another commission request, based on the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, I think I'll keep it mostly generic.

Threw together an odd combination of items for dinner last night involving beats, corn and tuna fish. It was serviceable.  

Picked up a fresh box of contractor bags, because while a good portion of things were already dealt with there is still more stuff I need to make decisions on either keeping or throwing out. 

I am curious over how many play through of Hades I'm going to need to do to get the final two achievements since they are tied to character relationship progression.  

Recorded another video going through DVDs, the eighth in that series of videos for my YouTube channel, it features a lot of wrestling DVDs as well as a quite a few movies

I have been contemplating figuring out some sort of Karaoke gimmick to do on stream, and I've seen some limited options. Question is if there are USB microphones that work with consoles.

Watched Highlander following last night's stream, because I wanted to watch something, and it was the best option available without me thinking too hard! .Plus some of the Amazon Prime suggestions I was getting were very suspect.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Pizza, Elder Scrolls and Breakers

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday.... because I didn't want to dirty any dishes after washing them, I ordered from Papa Johns for what was basically lunch and dinner... needless to say I felt very stuffed by the time the stream started. I've gotten so use to eating small meals that when I have something heavy it really wears me down.

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online was a lot of fun as Striker joined in and we continued our focus on the main story of High Isle involving the conspiracy to disrupt a peace conference. We each picked up the same companion character which helps makes the combat a lot easier, since it's a mage... which means two of it are unleashing some major magic on enemies.

Now I do wish the wikis for ESO were a bit more coherent in terms of listing main story quests and side quests to give me a better idea of the story pacing to make things flow a lot better.

For the raid we dropped in on tokushoutsu during the marathon of GoGoFive which was adapted to Power Rangers: Light SPeed Rescue. You can check out their channel at twitch.tv/tokushoutsu

It's Sunday, which means Overwatch 2 is on the agenda for tonight! As always voice chat will be handled through discord! 

Now in an attempt to blatantly extend my Xbox Achievement streak another day, I started messing around with the Breakers Collection, which contains two fighting games, Breakers (released in 1996) and Breakers Revenge (released in 1998), a pair of games released on Neo Geo hardware. Now Obviously I was expecting them to be difficult, so to get use to the in-game controls, I started on the easy setting just to see how responsive the controls are and to see if it's something I want to stream.

Needless to say my experience was fairly positive for the most part, and I was thinking I could end up knocking out a fair amount of arcade runs. Then I ran into the final boss Bai-Hu who I feel is personally one of the cheapest, input reading A.I. controlled opponents I have ever faced in any fighting game, and I'm saying this as someone who has been the arcade version Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the hardest difficulty as Sakura! It took me over two hours to beat Bai-Hu. 

If I'm going to stream this game, it would certainly under some unique settings to try and go for multiple achievements at once.

Breakers Collection Achievements

• Basic Moves: Won a Round without using a Super Special Move (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• The Pledge: Won a Round with a Special Move Finisher (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• I don't need it!: Won a Match without using a Super Special Move (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• The Turn: Won a Round with a Super Special Move Finisher (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Take it easy: Finished Arcade Mode on EASY (Difficulty Level 1-3)
• Path of Tia: Finished Arcade Mode with Tia (Any Difficulty Setting)
• Can't Touch This!: Won a Round without taking any damage (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Hammer Time!: Won a Match without taking any damage (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Freshman: Used Training Mode for the First Time
• Graduated: Used Training Mode with ALL CHARACTERS 
• Victory is Mine!: Won 10 Versus Matches (Either Online or Offline)
• Don't Remember...: Won 10 consecutive Versus Matches (Either Online or Offline)
• Not that Hard: Finished Arcade Mode on HARD (Difficulty Level 7-8)
• Path of Bai-Hu: Finished Arcade Mode with Bai-Hu (Any Difficulty Setting)
  

Oh and my achievement streak is up to 21 days.

Finished the 26th entry in the series of Mass Effect commissioned stories yesterday, and got some work done on a Star Trek story I'm working on as an exclusive for my SubscribeStar followers.

I've had no issues with my main shower drain since I cleared out the clog earlier in the week, just thought I'd share an update on that!.

The City of Camden Water Bill has been paid, I don't have to worry about that again until July!

Recorded part 2 of my building a playlist based on vinyl records I own, and it features a lot of Commander Cody and Carpenters. That video will go live on my YouTube channel first on the first Monday in May.

My YouTube channel is gradually getting more attention ever since I started doing the shorts. Helps that I finally know how to make those in the right aspect ratio!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

Closing in on the end of Spider-Man

Good afternoon everyone

Work yesterday was an hour shorter than anticipated but was productive as I got two interviews done and set up several for next week. 

I did have a rough start to today, as I basically woke up several hours ago, but just laid in bed and kept thinking about how much I'm failing at trying to do things the way mom would've done them.

Last night's stream of Spider-Man finally saw us finish Act 2 of the story, because I did so much side-content all I had were the last side-missions before doing a series of main story quests. Was rather surprised on the twist that Doctor Octavious was the one who orchestrated the big break out of Rykers Island and The Raft, which turns the in-game world into Saints Row The Third when all hell breaks loose.

Potentially I could finish Spider-Man next week, based on how quickly I find and deal with all the remaining Sable and Prisoner Crimes and Camps (already completed them in three sectors already), and then there's there is basically a blitz of the main story and doing everything associated with it.

The entire quarantine situation that happens in Act 3 does remind me of Tom Clancy's The Division and of course the real world parallel with Covid. Wonder how many other games that came out before 2020 involved more mass quarantine plot-lines.

Now there is no chance in hell I'm going to Platinum Spider-Man, because getting all the costumes is going to be too much of a pain in the ass to deal with, and it's not worth it. I'll be glad to get every other achievement however.

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Tombstone Takedown: Defeat Tombstone
• Schooled: Complete all of the Corrupted Student missions
• A Bit of a Fixer-Upper: Complete all optional projects in the lab
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Complete all Side Missions
• The Six Assemble: Complete Act 2
• Overdrive: Complete 10 Vehicle Takedowns

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood during their stream when they were playing Mega Man Battle Network over at twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

The plan for tonight's stream is of course, Elder Scrolls Online, continuing our adventures with Striker! 

For the first time I watched Duck Soup, one of the legendary films starring the Marx Brothers... it is as good as I always heard it was.

Did a few runs of Hades following last night's stream, and managed to successfully get the Thorn of Thanatos achievement, using the spear and building around Poseidon and Zeus. So with this achievement unlocked, I have only two left to get!

Hades Achievements

• Thorn of Thanatos: Get 30% bonus damage with the Pierced Butterfly

Here are this week's Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star Stats

• Punches Thrown: 7560
  
• Estimated Calories Burned 2958.24 kcal
  
• Fitness Age: 18
  
• Achievements Unlocked: 66%

And so on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

It's a day indeed

Good morning everyone,

Work yesterday was solid, got two complete interviews done... one by appealing the person's tenure in their industry. Turns out a lot of companies switching to automation is losing them business with retailers selling their product.

Last night's stream of Alice Madness Returns saw us doing the second half of Chapter Two and the first half of Chapter Three (if my estimation was correct). A huge part of why it's taking me so long to get through chapters is that I'm trying to find everything, and I'm constantly checking every area I can find. Good thing we're moving A:MR to Mondays & Tuesdays. 

That said, one thing I love about the third chapter is the overal change in theme is present to reflect the fact it's influence of the Victorian mythos China, and the fact that it's mostly bright and colorful, as opposed to the dark and dreary first and second chapters that were more industrial and underwater.

Next time we'll be placing A:MR of course will be on Monday!

Alice: Madness Returns Achievements

• Cold Arms, Cold Heart: Defeat the Drowned Sailor without taking any damage
• Shooting the Moon: Collect 4 Jars of Rose Paint
• Grim Folly: Complete Wonderland Chapter 2
• Death by Darjeeling: Acquire the Teapot Cannon

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal during their stream of Final Fantasy XIV at twitch.tv/kalenal!  

The plan for tonight is to continue Spider-Man, and I know we're nearing the half way point of the main campaign, since we've covered a lot of the side content that would be association with Mr. Negative's thugs. Actually, from what I can a large part of what's left in the game will me main story outside of a handful of side-missions and tracking down all the major thug events.

Completed the requirements for the Epilogue in Hades last night, so now my main goal is to deal with the Achilles and Megara story arcs which would result in two more achievements, but the grind for both will take a good while.

Hades Achievements

• Friends Forever: Max-rank each standard Keepsake
• One for the Ages: Reach the epilogue of the story

Trying to keep track of bills is easy... making sure they actually take the money when I pay them, that is oddly difficulty in some cases!

Nearly finished writing the latest Mass Effect short story commission, just need to wrap up the finishing details.

The Phillies have once again regressed to a sometimes all and mostly nothing team based on their performance this week. 

So on that note we'll see everyone later on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Yahoo and Fall Guys Having Issues, Progress in RE5

Good morning everyone,

Work yesterday was pretty solid on all front, getting a few interviews done. I will not understand why the higher ups think this one assignment should be doing better than it does when historically it's always been hit or miss depending on the day.

Yahoo had a fuck ton of problems last night, being unable to log in or check my e-mail, which considering some of the things I work on requires email communication! 

Speaking of problems, as much as I enjoy Fall Guys, I really hate it when matches are started with teams in duos or squads being given an unfair disadvantage. About five times last night I was either solo in duos, or on a team of three in squads, We did win a show, so we have a streak of managing to win or be apart of winning teams in Fall Guys.

We were joined by Iceman for more fun in Resident Evil 5, clearing Chapters 3-3, 4-1 & 4-2. I certainly had a rough go of it, getting downed quite a few times during the adventure. Ammo certainly became an issue at times, as was health items. I didn't take any chances as I looked up the solution to the game's infamous mirror puzzles in 4-2. Oddly enough, the achievement for completing 4-2 didn't pop, but next time we play it we'll be starting chapter 5-1. Who knows maybe, the missing achievement will pop next week.

Resident Evil 5 Achievements

• Completed Chapter 3 - 3: Complete Chapter 3 - 3 on any difficulty setting.
• Completed Chapter 4 - 1: Complete Chapter 4 - 1 on any difficulty setting.

For the raid we dropped in on PradoxGamerAU right as their stream of X4: Foundations began over at twitch.tv/pradoxgamerau

The plan for tonight is to resume Alice: Madness Returns, picking up somewhere in the second chapter, hopefully we can knock out a fair pit of during tonight's broadcast.

Watched a few episodes of the Super Mario Bros Super Show... but you know what's funny? All of the episodes that featured the Legend of Zelda cartoon from the 80s are not listed on any digital platform!  

I did see clips from this week's episode of Star Trek: Picard and how it basically resurrects the Enterprise-D, which is nice and everything, but tying everything back in with the Borg does seem a little redundant to me without full context of the entire episode.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Zorro, Ghostbusters and Unclogged Drains

 Good morning yesterday,

Well work completely sucked yesterday, didn't get a single interview done, one due to the respondent constantly swearing and drawing out their answers, and the other due to a bad connection. Here's hoping for a better day today.

My own plumbing adventures turned out to be a success, as my preferred shower drained rather smoother after I was done with no water coming up from the pipe. I have to remember to hot-link the plumber's snake I ordered, because it was very helpful

Last night's stream of Zorro: The Chronicles saw us finishing the game and surprisingly, the last few stages were massive in terms of getting from one place to another to take care of main objectives. I did play as Ines a few times, and the only real difference between her and Diego is that she has her own Super-KO and has more health, while he can take out up to six enemies at once. Now we did get all the achievements that one could get in a single normal play through.

Which leads to the question: Will I attempt to play the game on hard to go for completion... and the answer is maybe. I already know how to play the game, but I do wonder on if everything I unlocked carries over, or if it's a fresh play through and everything has to be earned all over again.

Now we did do some bonus game, bringing back Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, playing three games, two as a Ghostbuster and one as a ghost. We were successful in our matches as Ghostbuster, even getting the final trap to win a match!

What will replace Zorro: The Chronicles in the lineup next week will be Alice: Madness Returns as we're moving it from Thursdays to Mondays & Tuesdays..Think of it as promoting the game, and as a way for me to finish it faster! Now I ponder what will be the next Thursday night game.

Zorro: The Chronicles Achievements

• Partner In Crime: As Ines, dance with an enemy as part of a super-KO.
• Multi-Tasking: Defeat 6 enemies with one multi-KO as Diego.
• Justice Served: Complete the game.
• Top of the World: Reach the highest point in Monterey's Heist.
• Master Vigilante: Purchase all skills.

For the raid we dropped in on TracyDoll during their stream of Friday the 13th: The Game at twitch.tv/tracydoll

The plan for tonight's stream is to play Fall Guys in the first half and then to continue Resident Evil 5 with Iceman picking up in chapter 3-3.

Talked with my Aunt Rosa yesterday, and she's planning a breakfast brunch for later in the month. That shall be cool to go to... hey I like food, it's why I weigh so much

Did some writing last night, and the latest Mass Effect short story commission is about 50% complete.

I tried new Overwatch 2 character 'Lifeweaver', and I'm not a fan at all of his kit... it's too gimmick-heavy for my taste, which is a shame because he does look like a cool character.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Zorro: The Chronicles is not a bad little game

 Good morning everyone,

So the drain snake arrived a day earlier than anticipated and I roughly figured out how to use it. Only was able to extra a small amount of hair, so the question what is the cause of the clog. I want to try everything reasonable before I reach out to my brother for help. Now I do think I got the matter under control, but I need to clean all the gunk that came out of the shower out before trying it again. Maybe send the snake down one more time.

Last night we started up Zorro: The Chronicles, and it's not a bad game, you can play as Diego or Ines, an you generally have two ways to play, either focus on stealth or combat. Every stage has optional objectives to accomplish (most of which are combat related) in addition to finding Wanted Posters. There are 18 stages, (and we knocked out 12 of them last night). Sound wise, it's decent in terms of sound and music, there are very limited voice lines (only a handful). The controls are pretty responsive and you get enough of an indicator of when to dodge or parry. It's achievements list is rather short with probably the most difficult achievements being completing the game on Hard and unlocking all of the skills.

Now we're obviously going to finish it tonight, as my rough idea when announcing it for this week's lineup, which means we'll be pairing it with another game, and it may be Hades as I continue to work towards getting as many of the final achievements in that as possible. 

Speaking of Hades, I did get another achievement in it yesterday, leaving only five for me to get (and only four of those five that I think are possible)

Hades Achievements

•  Night and Darkness: Fulfill the 'Night and Darkness' Prophecy

Zorro: The Chronicles Achievements

• Never Knew What Hit Them: Perform 30 stealthy KOs from above or behind.
• Cleaning the Streets: Defeat 200 enemies.
• On Your Marks...: Mark any combination of 30 enemies and objectives.
• Do You Want Fries With That?: Achieve a 30x hit combo.
• Superpowered: Defeat 50 enemies through super-KO or multi-KO moves.
• Adept Vigilante: Purchase half of Zorro's skills.

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz during their stream of Daymare 1998 at twitch.tv/powerthumbz

Not sure what is on the agenda for work today as the clogged shower issue held my attention yesterday. 

As I ponder how I want the living room to look like as I get things in order, I did made one change, taking down the make shift curtain mom had up on the screen door. It was part of a plastic table cloth... so maybe I can find something that will not look as... tattered?  

Has anyone noticed that all of the Friday episodes of the Super Mario Bros Super Show (aka the ones that featured The Legend of Zelda cartoon) are never included in the digital version.

Now on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden