Brought to you by Subway - Eat fresh!
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Table of Contents
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Thread Rules & Guidelines -- this post
PA Forumer Let's Plays -- this post
Let's Plays from the Internet --
next post
Making a Let's Play --
next post
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Thread Rules & Guidelines
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(newly registered users read this first)**I will remind people now to keep in mind the rules of our forum.**
What this thread is for:
- Asking for co-commentary help
- Sadly, my experiment on this did not go well, so you guys are on your own in seeking out co-commentary.
- Asking for technical help or feedback on test videos / test posts (for screenshot LPs)
- I've bumped this up to the top of this list as people have seemed unsure about this being okay in this thread. It is! We're here to help in all sorts of manner!
- Getting forumer LP's added to the list, old or new, and updating as needed
- To make my life easier, provide me the full game name, URL, format, status, and forum author
- This isn't just for G&T; SE++ stuff has a home here too. This is for the PA Forum as a whole.
- Discussing LPs from other sources on the web
- While I don't necessarily care how anyone acts in regard to outside works, I'm going to ask that you try to be as polite as possible about it, mostly for the sake of it.
- Providing feedback and information about resources for making an LP
What this thread is NOT for:
- Discussing any of the LPs in our list; they have their own threads for a reason
- I'm going to make the point here that nobody here has to like every LP our community produces. However, because we are indeed a community, I expect criticism to be a step above the normal "it sucks" or "it's shit" attitudes. If you're providing negative feedback about someone's LP, be constructive about it and do not argue with the maker. If it starts to come to that, be the bigger person and simply step away. Seek out a mediator (another reader) to handle things in private. Help your community improve on things, don't just shit all over it.
- Side-stepping talking shit about a forumer's LP or a forumer outside their thread
- I never expected this rule to be violated but it fucking was, and I'm not very damn happy about it. Again, I personally cannot enforce these rules, but all of these rules are made with the general rule of not being a dick in mind, which is a general rule the Penny Arcade Forum follows as a whole. Future events are going to lead to mods being PM'd about stupid bullshit drama, which is going to annoy me and whichever mod has to step in.
- Newly registered users pimpin' their LP's or accounts
- This isn't to cut you out completely, but this thread is for people who take time with our community; if you want in, you have to be a member of the community, to be determined by me (the list keeper).
Topics Not Permitted:
The following list is in regard to topics that have been settled or just have no purpose here other than to be repeated.
- Retsupurae being too "mean." They're not, but if you don't like 'em, then just don't watch. The rest of us will have a good time watching stuff.
- Asking for a subforum for Let's Plays on Penny Arcade. After some demand I went to Tube myself and made the case for having a subforum. He returned to me with an answer of no, but he digs the idea of this thread.
- Darksydephil. Just don't bother asking.
Newest Additions / Changes
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PA Forumer Let's Plays
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LETS PLAY A DINOSAURAdventures of Batman & Robin
by Sollah -- video --
in progressAerobiz: Supersonic
by ASimPerson -- video --
completedAfraid of Monsters: Director's Cut
by Cyrus106 -- video --
in progressAliens vs. Predator
by UltimaGecko -- video --
completedAlien vs. Predator 2
by Helloween -- video --
completedAlien vs. Predator 3
by Helloween -- video --
completedAmerican McGee's Alice
by Helloween -- video --
completedBart vs. The Space Mutants
by atat23 -- video --
completedBlood
by Blain -- video --
completedBlood on the Sand
by Kaseius -- video --
abandoned, hate this man!Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth
by Helloween -- video --
completedCaesar III
by Khavall -- screenshot --
canceled due to rock-stardomCheetahman
by Gilder -- video --
completedChronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
by Donhonk -- video --
completedChrono Trigger
by Katrinonous -- video --
in progressCivilization 4
by enlightenedbum -- screenshot --
completedClive Barker's Undying
by Skutskut -- video --
completedColonization
by enlightenedbum -- screenshot --
in progressCommand Ops: Battle from the Bulge
by bamjo -- screenshot --
in progressCryostasis
by Helloween -- video --
completedDark Messiah of Might and Magic
by Mifio -- video --
abandonedDark Sector
by Klyka -- video --
completedDaikatana (Demo)
by Einhander -- screenshot --
completedDead Space
by Helloween -- video --
completedDemon's Souls
by Trynant -- video --
in progressDeus Ex
by Italax -- video --
completedDiablo
by Henroid -- screenshot --
completedDirge of Cerberus
by KZX -- video --
completedDisaster Report
by Kaseius -- video --
completedDonkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3
by Gilder -- video --
completedDororo/Blood Will Tell
by Kaseius -- video --
completedDragon Force
by cj iwakura -- screenshot --
completedDragon Force
by Hematophillia -- screenshot --
unknownDwarf Fortress
by Ferrus and various forumers -- screenshot --
in progressThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
by DE?AD -- video --
in progressThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
by Moriveth -- video --
abandoned (game crashin')Etrian Odyssey 2
by Henroid -- screenshot --
canceled (damn economy)Fallout 3
by atat23 -- video --
in progressFallout Tactics
by Themocaw -- screenshot --
abandonedFantasy General
Kayne Red Robe -- screenshot --
in progressF.E.A.R.
by Helloween -- video --
completedF.E.A.R. 2 + Reborn
by Klyka -- video --
completedF.E.A.R. Extraction Point
by Helloween -- video --
completedFear Effect
by cj iwakura -- hybrid --
abandonedFire Emblem 4
by Frosteey -- hybrid --
completedFinal Fantasy 2 (NA)
by Owenashi -- screenshot --
in progressFinal Fantasy VII
by Adus -- screenshot --
completedFort Zombie
by Mifio -- video --
in progressGrand Theft Auto IV
by Adus -- video --
abandoned due to scheduling complicationsGhost Master
by Xtarath -- screenshot --
abandonedGunman Chronicles
by Blain -- video --
completedGunman Chronicles
by Cyrus106 -- video --
in progressHalf-Life
by ArcSyn -- screenshot --
completedHalf-Life
by MMAN -- video --
completedHalf-Life: Opposing Force
by Cyrus106 -- video --
in progressHalf-Life 2
by Nappucino and Jaramr -- video --
in progressHalf-Life 2 (Synergy)
by AlexPHott -- video --
in progressHeart of Evil
by Blain -- video --
completedIndigo Prophecy
by Xtarath -- video --
restarted?Infernal
by Klyka -- video --
completedI Wanna Be The Guy
by joshofalltrades -- video --
youtube is retardedJaws Unleashed
by Kaseius -- video --
completedKatamari Damacy
by Kaseius -- video --
completedKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
by Dragonatrix -- screenshot --
completedKlonoa: Empire of Dreams
by Dragonatrix -- video --
in progressLa-Mulana
by Gennenalyse Rueben -- video --
unknownLegend of Zelda, like, all of them
by various forumers -- video --
unknownLone Wolf
by Kelor -- text --
completedMagic Knight Rayearth
by cj iwakura -- screenshot --
in progressMass Effect 2
by Bethryn -- video --
in progressMaster of Magic
by 2868 -- screenshot --
in progressMaster of Magic
by Kayne Red Robe -- screenshot --
completedMaster of Orion
by Xenogears of Bore -- screenshot --
completedMaster of Orion 2
by Salvation 122 -- screenshot --
unknownMegaman, like all of them?
by various -- video --
completedMega Man 9
by Kayne Red Robe -- video --
in progressMega Man X2
by Blackbeard7 -- video --
completedMetro 2033
by Helloween -- video --
in progressMirror's Edge
by Bethryn -- video --
completedMystic Ninja 2
by Gilder -- video --
completedThe Neverhood
by AlexPHott -- video --
completedNoby Noby Boy
by Kaseius -- video --
completedOverlord 2
by Klyka -- video --
completedPenumbra Overture Black Plague
by Helloween -- video --
completedPink Goes to Hollywood
by Gilder -- video --
completedPlok
by Gilder -- video --
completedRaw Danger
by Kaseius -- video --
completedRed Faction
by surrealitycheck -- video --
tech. difficultiesRed Faction
by SkutSkut -- hybrid --
completedResident Evil 3: Nemesis
by DarkChaosRenamon -- video --
in progressRevelations: Persona
by Blackjack -- hybrid --
in progressRule of Rose
by Katrinonous -- video --
completedSamurai Western
by Kaseius -- video --
completedShattered Steel
by Blain -- video --
completedShin Megami Tensei
by cj iwakura -- screenshot --
completedShin Megami Tensei 2
by cj iwakura -- screenshot --
completedShining Force 2
by Henroid -- screenshot --
in progressSilent Hill: Homecoming
by Helloween -- video --
completedSilent Hunter 3
by President Rex -- hybrid --
in progressSilent Storm
by VeritasVR -- video --
completedThe Sims 3
by Moriveth -- screenshot --
abandonedSpace Empires V
by Khavall -- screenshot --
canceled due to rock-stardomSpider-Man: Web of Shadows
by Klyka -- video --
completedS.T.A.L.K.E.R.
by Ninja Snarl P -- video --
completedS.T.A.L.K.E.R.
by Stolls -- screenshot --
completedS.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
by Ninja Snarl P -- video --
completedS.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky
by Ninja Snarl P -- video --
completedS.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
by AlexPHot -- video --
completedStar Wars Republic Commando
by Blain -- video --
completedThe Suffering
by Helloween -- video --
completedSuikoden
by Schide -- screenshot --
completedSuper Mario All-Stars+World
by Gilder -- video --
completedSuper Robot Wars W
by Pata -- screenshot --
unknownSystem Shock 2
by Helloween -- video --
completedTimeshift
by Klyka -- video --
completedTomb Raider Legend
by surrealitycheck -- video --
completedTomb Raider Underworld
by surrealitycheck -- video --
tech. difficultiesVampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
by Aistan -- screenshot --
completedVelvet Assassin
by Klyka -- video --
completedThe Way
by Page- -- video --
on holdWay of the Samurai
by Kaseius -- video --
completedThe Witcher
by Blain -- video --
in progressThe World Ends With You
by AK85 -- video --
in progressVictoria: An Empire Under the Sun
by Mr. Povondra -- video --
in progressVVVVVV
by joshofalltrades -- video --
completed
X-Com (thread
#1,
#2,
#3)
by Fishman -- screenshot --
in progressZone of the Enders
by Kaseius -- video --
completed
Posts
(part two!)
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Let's Plays from the Internet
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Notable YouTube Channels and Websites
Freeman's Mind -- Hear the thoughts of Freeman in Half-Life. It's actually better than you'd think.
ChipCheezum -- An SA member dabbling in some LPs in some form or another.
Retsupurae -- Not a Lets Play channel necessarily. This is run by slowbeef and Diabetus of Something Awful and offers up commentary on bad LPs out there on the net.
Freelance Astronauts -- The Freelance Astronauts hail from Something Awful, but are branching out with their very own site. The games range from classics like Lemmings, to newer hits like Resident Evil 4, and even horrible homebrew games such as the infamous Ballion.
Recommended from the SomethingAwful Lets Play Archive
Sonic Unleashed by pokecapn
Princess Maker 2 by SynthYellow
Battletoads by Diabetus
Dwarf Fortress (Boatmurdered) by various members of the SA community
Jurassic Park: Trespasser by Research Indicates
Animal Crossing by Chewbot
X-Com by GuavaMoment
Knights of the Old Republic 2 by Scorchy
Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 3 by Oyster (if only for the contests)
Dead to Rights by Diabetus and slowbeef
Ultima 4, 5, and 6, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Serpent Isle, and Martian Dream by Nakar
Other Lets Play Links
Let's Play Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines -- Owenashi says, "Based on a female Toreador gunslinger run. Somewhat thorough and it includes a video showcasing the other endings he didn't pursue as well as a video that runs down the playable Clans and the Disciplines in the game."
Making a Let's Play
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Reference: SomethingAwful has relevant information to read.
"JUST EXPORT TO H.264/AAC IN MP4 WITH MEDIACODER YOU FUCKS"
Before you make a Let's Play, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Do I have the time to see this through to completion, to put in the effort required to make this watchable?
Am I funny? Am I knowledgeable about the content? Am I good at the game?
If I'm bad at the game, can I take it in stride and make it a comedic experience?
Community Involvement:
Don't ask for a Retsupurae treatment to your LPs. First of all, it looks tacky. Second, leave the shtick to the Retsupurae guys. It's their thing. If you want a gag track on your LP, have people there from the start to help you with post commentary, as long as it isn't manufactured. And you know some people do that shit. They don't have a home in this thread, by God.
Picking a Game:
When you pick a game to do an LP, tell us about it. Tell us why you picked it, tell us about the game. The more obscure the game, the more inclination you should have to introduce it to people. This isn't a rule to doing LPs here, but it's a suggestion that only nets positive results.
Don't LP a game that is new. Give new games a couple months past the initial launch before you LP it. This isn't a hard set rule (neither would it be enforceable), it's more of a guideline. It sounds silly, but at the same time there's some reasoning behind it. Just trust me on it. If you do LP a brand spankin' new game, as long as you're taking care with your presentation it is less offensive. Just remember though, there is no fucking race to glory with LP'ing games. If you want to be the first to holyfuckingshitlpthisgame something is wrong with you.
Don't fucking LP I Wanna Be The Guy. It has been beaten to death and most people who play it fucking suck. If you want to be the guy, be the bigger guy and not LP it.
Picking a Format:
::Video::
::Screenshot::
Picking a Commentary Format:
::Text::
::Audio::
Resources for Making a Let's Play:
Imageshack -- Image hosting service ; can be fussy or buggy
Photobucket -- Image hosting service ; lean on bandwidth per account
YouTube -- Video hosting service ; most popular and therefore most abused
Viddler -- Video hosting service
Windows Movie Maker -- Video editing software ; not the best but free
MediaCoder -- Encoding software
Screenshot Captor -- Image capturing / saving software ; fairly convenient after setting preferences
IrfanView -- Image editing software
GIMPshop -- Image editing software
Rightload -- Image uploading software
Skype -- Voice communication software
Blip -- Video hosting service ; caption-only LPs not allowed ; voice commentary must run throughout
Hmm, making a list? Shall I dig out my LP thread links for this?
Youtube Channel!
Klyka's channel
Helloween's channel
kaseius' channel
Non-PA
(TGWTG.com) Let's Play King's Quest V (completed)
This is one of my favourites, as Paw tackles a game infamous for unwinnable situations, BS deaths and awful voice-acting. Part 20 and 21, the finale is on his channel but not the playlist for whatever reason, but I highly reccomend watching them on the playlist then finding the last parts, as the ending is fantastic.
EDIT: Oops, there's 21 parts, my bad.
http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/
I think most of them are from the Something Awful forums, but it's still a nice, condensed collection.
EDIT: I should pay more attention. Walrus Pete already linked it.
If you're going to do an LP, make sure you finish it. Plan ahead and think of your time investment from start to finish. Don't do an LP that takes months or ones that require constant updating unless you can actually complete it.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
This.
This is my personal pet hate with some LP's. Finish the fucking things for godssake. Some of them broke my heart
Youtube Channel!
Needs extra emphasis. Also, my lack of reading comprehension ITT. :?
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Because it was incredible
*applause after the fact*
Jackofalltrades I think
edit: Beated like the red headed step child.
Youtube Channel!
(Damn has it been that long already?)
This too makes me depressed. Keep in mind that just because nobody posts in it often or it gets a little neglected it doesn't mean that theres nobody reading/watching it. I don't post a whole lot but I'm a LP junkie so I try to read/watch them whenever I can.
I really do appreciate the time and effort people put into making Lets Plays.
I like the whole setup I had too...
Hell, maybe I'll restart it again... But i've got a backlog to clear and Brutal Legand and Uncharted 2 coming down the pike...
Edit: the general problem I had when doing a SS LP was remembering to take pictures and keeping a logbook of sorts while playing. And saving in case something happened. I basically would write my post in advance (since it was a more narrative style) immedately after or during my playing and edit in the urls for the screencaps after the copy-paste.
Just linking to youtube channels kinda sucks. It doesn't exactly tell people what's in there. I suggest linking to the threads themselves. Some people like to see the discussion that goes on about the videos.
Anyway, my personal contribution:
Name: Final Fantasy VII
LPer: Adus
Format: Screenshot
Style: Satire and Plot Summary. Minimal Gameplay/completion focus.
Status: Complete
I added in there a style category, since some people might want to know beforehand if the LP they're clicking on is intended to be humorous or simply informative. Obviously some can be both, but well, you know what I mean.
Non-PA contribution:
The Freelance Astronauts
I'm just going to copy paste what I wrote on TVtropes:
The Freelance Astronauts hail from Something Awful, but are branching out with their very own site. The Astronauts consist of four commentators by the names of Maxwell Adams, Ferr, Evek and Pipes! each with their own unique opinion and voice on the various games played. Each week, at the Maxwell residence, most or all of the guys get together in person or via voice chat to play games while streaming to the Internet as well. The games range from classics like Lemmings, to newer hits like Resident Evil 4, and even horrible homebrew games such as the infamous Ballion. With true wit, occasional guest commentary and Maxwell's strange encyclopedic knowledge of old game trivia, nearly every video has entertainment value, even if the game is poor.
They do video LPs, and the commentary usually is humorous observations on the game, bad (or awesome, depending on who you are) puns, and random podcast like chat. This is my favorite site for LPs. So hard to pick my favorites. The QWOP video is pretty awesome though.
Don't know if the videos still work, but these are some fun LP's organized by my favorite PA lp'r Gilder. You'll have to see if he has his Mario videos somewhere as that was his inspired work.
pleasepaypreacher.net
American McGee's Alice - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=52999
Call of Cthulhu: Dark corners of the Earth - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=66111
F.E.A.R. - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=70711
The Suffering - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=73716
Dead Space - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=78983
Penumbra Overture/Black Plague - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=84395
Silent Hill Homecoming - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=87520
Aliens Versus Predator 2 - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=96568
System Shock 2 - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=102356
LPer: Helloween
Format: Video
Style: Horror focus, British, first run throughs, non serious
Status: 8/9 Complete
I also seem to have my own tv trope... :S (I wont link the site though, too risky...too many hours lost.)
'Helloween4545 is an excellent L Per who specializes in horror-survival games which he often plays completely blind leading to hilarious moments of freaking out and when hes not freaking out making generally amusing remarks on the game world-when he isn't interacting with it in random ways (Ex. "May I have this dance Mr. Satan?")- he also has a tendency to name any enemy he comes across something random and fun to say '
Youtube Channel!
Dark Sector - http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=90276
F.E.A.R. 2 + Reborn: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=97537
Infernal: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=100879
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=94891
Velvet Assassin: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=92321
LPer: Klyka
Format: Video
Style: First playthroughs, German accent, non serious, music video outros
Status: 4/5 complete
Yeah do bother. This is a fantastic idea and I'm glad you thought of it!
Youtube Channel!
Klyka I'll get your threads linked to momentarily.
Looking at the formatting, I might ditch the YouTube channel linking afterall. I'm thinking it might be better to just link each game, who it is by, and the completion status. Might include format and update count. This is only pertaining to PA'er made Let's Plays though. Because of how the LP Archive is designed you can't exactly link to each LP individually and that'd be bypassing the whole idea of seeing the list of games there and exploring it. Even I haven't seen everything on that site yet.
I'm more drawn to video LPs. It's mostly an issue of how I like to hear people talking. I'm strange, yes.
Might be an idea to keep it PA only anyway. Keeps it cleaner. Besides, everyone knows where the LP archive is if they want to see stuff there.
Speaking of which, a PA version of that site would be glourious.
Youtube Channel!
Er, shit, I was working on the non-PA stuff and took the Freelance link and just kinda kept going down.
Caesar III(ongoing)
LPer: Khavall
Format: Screenshot
Style: Analysis of game mechanics, specifically strategy games.
Status: SE:V on indefinite hold(I swear some day I'll finish it), Caesar III currently active.
Dragon Force, Tristan Empire campaign
Format: Screenshot
Style: Mostly humorous
Status: Complete
Fear Effect
Format: Screenscot
Style: Mostly narrative
Status: Sort of on hiatus, considering a change in format to video
Others:
Aistan's LP of Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines - from the perspective of one crazy Malkavian, essential reading. (Screenshot)
Hematophila's (ongoing) LP of Dragon Force, Bozack campaign (Screenshot)
Format: Video
Style: Informative, Extreme English, Trivia
Status: 0/1 complete
Edit: Although the next set will be going up this evening/tomorrow...
You're too kind!
This is a great idea. I have missed some of these and it will be good to have them all in one place.
One suggestion I have regards editing. I spent twice as much time editing as I did playing because a lot of my LP was repeated due to something like 600 deaths. If your LP has a lot of repetition, consider editing it out so instead of a 30-minute video with interesting parts every 5 minutes, you'll have a 10-minute video that's consistently entertaining.
My LP thread is linked below, if I may humbly submit it.
Also you should include the in progress Half Life 2 LP by me and Nappuccino.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=92462
For the record, how many goddamn I Wanna Be The Guy LPs are there?