The XWA One Year Thread III: Revenge of the Sh*t - Page 3

***Ikhnaton*** · 01-07-2008, 07:03 PM

i find that going from playing a pinky note (e.g. blue) to a middle finger note (e.g. red) is the toughest transition for me thus far.

Crack, did you play easy mode or just go for the gusto? I like your idea of "choking up" on the neck so that the index finger gets more work. Do you think it would be worth my time to play on easy mode in that manner so I get used to playing two buttons with one finger?

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-07-2008, 10:52 PM

That would help. Practice mode is built into the game for a reason. What I did was jump straight at Medium and Hard when I first started. Medium to get used to using all 4 fingers, then Hard to get used to using the Orange button and sliding.

Above all else, ABUSE PRACTICE MODE. And learn to down/up strum (Alt Strumming). It will save you alot of hassle if you learn to do it NOW rather than wait until the third installment of the series. Like me.

If you wanna use Easy to get used to sliding up the index to Green, I see no harm, but you won't have the muscle memory from playng on Hard to coordinate you pinky to do stuff.

ALSO! Hammer-ons and Pull offs: Very importantto master those. Play Impulse by Endless Sporadic (Bonus song bought in the store in game) to learn those. It's fun, makes songs easier, and the ONLY WAY to really do the intro to Through the Fire and Flames on Expert.

Easy songs on Hard/Expert are as follows....

Slow Ride
Mississippi Queen (some wierd patterns here though)
Closer
Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Chord changing practice)
Sunshine of Your Love

If you have the Xbox 360 Version, All My Life is fairly easy. Good for learning alt strumming triplets.

The Hardest Songs are...

Through the Fire and Flames
The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Xbox 360 DLC)
Raining Blood
One

If your on Xbox, Ike, I can attempt to help you learn some stuff via the kinda ****ty Online Play.

And yes, it helps a bit to play the real thing.

***Ikhnaton*** · 01-08-2008, 01:11 AM

i have the wii version. what are hammer-ons and pull-offs? is this info in the practice mode, tutorials, whatever?

edlib · 01-08-2008, 05:09 AM

Oof.

Got home from work yesterday at about 6:30. I was exhausted for some reason, and went straight to bed. Thought I'd nap for an hour or two...

Just woke up.

Huh. Guess I needed the rest. Well, that's good, I guess. I was waste-product all day yesterday. Couldn't get out of my own way. Didn't think I missed that much sleep over the weekend, but apparently my body thought otherwise.

Slow day at work,.. fortunately. The big highlight was rounding up all the staff and crew who were around, grabbing a couple of cars, and making a re-supply trip to Home Depot, to put a little burn on the boss's corporate card.

Other than that, the only thing I remember about the day was lunch.

Oh... and now I am apparently the only person on the planet without Guitar Hero. Everybody I work with who has a game console owns it now.

*Sigh*

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-08-2008, 08:14 AM

The info is in the tutorial. But here's the skinney.

Say you have a string of 16th notes coming up, Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Yellow, Red, Green. You notice the very first Red note is the only one out of the bunch with a Black Circle around the white core, the rest of the notes do not have the Black Circle around the white core. That means you strum the first note, and you can simply tap the rest of it.

Again, mess around with Impulse in Practice.

Zargon · 01-08-2008, 10:51 AM

what is portal?

***Ikhnaton*** · 01-08-2008, 12:09 PM

crack, i think i found that out by accident. i was wondering if that was the case.

edlib · 01-08-2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zargon

what is portal?

A very cool puzzle game set in the Half-Life universe, and included in the Orange Box.

Summary: you have a gun that allows you to open a wormhole between almost any 2 points by firing a blue beam at one wall... and then an orange beam at a different spot. Then a pair of portals open in those spots, and you can travel instantly between them.
You start each level locked in a room with only way out... usually in some impossibly inaccessible place, and involving a number of steps to unlock it even if you figure out how to get there.

It's trippy, the puzzles are complicated, and it's super addictive.

Perhaps the most fun I've had with a non shoot-'em-up game since Grim Fandango.

Highly recommended.

My biggest complaint is how short it is. But then: It could have been 2 or 3 times as long, and still seemed short though. A lot of fun.

Keyan Farlander · 01-08-2008, 04:23 PM

Ike, what are your favorite games for the Wii? I've thought about getting one, but really only Mario Galaxy and maybe Metroid Prime 3 look interesting to me. I'm not sure that's enough to warrant a purchase.

edlib · 01-08-2008, 07:14 PM

I still haven't decided if I'm keeping my Cube or not. I'm kinda thinking I'd like to... but I have people clamoring for it if I decide not to.

I originally bought it for entertainment if I ever had little kids over. It could still serve that purpose... better than the 360 anyway.

Or maybe I invest in the Wii hardware at some point, and just keep all the games...

Something to think about...

Today at work was surprisingly productive: Did some good, ol' fashioned carpentry for a change.

Built a little platform for in front of the mixing board to counter the 10-degree or so grade of the floor where it is that always makes the chair roll around.
Set up the sawhorses outside the stage door and just went to work. It was very nice, considering it was in the low-60s today! The perfect day to do this job. We couldn't have timed it better!

Came out nice, too... despite the fact that it's been like decades since I've operated power tools to this degree. It all came back to me once we started.

Couldn't actually set it up in place when we finished it, however... since there was a crew sandblasting the years and years of layers of paint and patching off the floor in the hall.

Oh well... we'll see how it looks tomorrow. If we can get back in there by then.

Took a nice relaxed lunch (I felt we had earned it by then...) and then left a bit early for me. Schweet.

Not sure what I plan on doing tonight. Play some Halo 2 after dinner maybe. Haven't changed the strings on my Strat yet. Want to finish that Tolkien book I started before Xmas.

I guess if I plan it all right, I should be able to do all 3 of those things.

We'll see...

Rogue15 · 01-08-2008, 07:37 PM

work was slow today. easy day though. got home, played the Turok demo for about an hour, followed by an hour of call of duty 4, now i'm playing big game hunter trying to beat the career and get some achievements, then i'll probably rock out on guitar hero 3 a bit.

edlib · 01-08-2008, 08:52 PM

Arrrgh!

Just found a flea on my leg! Grrr...

[Insert the very worst string of profanity you can imagine here...]

***Ikhnaton*** · 01-08-2008, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyan Farlander

Ike, what are your favorite games for the Wii? I've thought about getting one, but really only Mario Galaxy and maybe Metroid Prime 3 look interesting to me. I'm not sure that's enough to warrant a purchase.

Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, WarioWare Smooth Moves, GH3, Tiger Woods PGA tour, Wii sports, Zelda: Twilight Princess.

I also enjoy some of the old Virtual Console games like Punch-out, Mario 3, etc.

The wii is a wonderful gaming system, especially if you're not an elitist gamer snob who thinks that a good game has to have cutting edge graphics. I recommend it to everyone.

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-08-2008, 10:41 PM

The Wii definatley has it's merits. I like it, it's innovative.

Ike: Good! work on it, and it wil definatley make the harder difficulties easier.

Work was good, went out with the Home Theater Installer. Was fun.

edlib · 01-09-2008, 05:04 AM

Too much sleep the other night. Not enough last night.

I'll get it right one of these days...

Been awake since about 2 am. Finally got fed up and got out of bed at 4.
And it's not like I went to bed exceptionally early, either. I was up until 11-ish.

I think it had something to do with how warm it was last night... I couldn't find the proper combination of covers to regulate the temperature. I was either way too hot... or just chilly enough to not sleep well.

Bah.

Rogue15 · 01-09-2008, 10:09 AM

ugh. woke up this morning at 12:15, late for work, double checked the clock. good thing. it was only 9:45, the wind must have knocked the power out earlier. scared me.

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-09-2008, 10:55 AM

Same here... I saw 2 something and I was like... *#(%#@*&u%#(

But my watch said 10:00AM. Yay!

Rogue15 · 01-09-2008, 11:26 AM

going to get direct deposit set up today. this way i don't have to go to walmart or the bank at all tomorrow. set up my gamertag picture in my sig, the score is off quite a bit though.

Zargon · 01-09-2008, 01:19 PM

oh portal is a flash based game on the internet as well, guess I know where it came from now!

**Wildstar** · 01-09-2008, 03:36 PM

Ike or Niner

"bertijones" posted some I-Phone spam in the "Hardware Center" section of the "Classic Gaming" forums. Can you please take care of it? I'd do it myself, but I'm not a mod there. :|

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-09-2008, 04:32 PM

They make a Weighted Companion Cube plushie.

I want one for my car.

So that way my Weighted Companion Cube can always be with me.

edlib · 01-09-2008, 04:39 PM

I miss my Weighted Companion Cube.

Rogue15 · 01-09-2008, 04:45 PM

got my direct deposit set up!!! I can't believe i've been working at walmart since june 22 2005. i need out. maybe i should apply at circuit city or best buy see if i can get a few more $$ an hour and full-time. hmmm. that's if the military doesn't want me. looks like to pass bct i gotta run 2 miles in at least 17:36ish. that's definitely doable for me...least the temp is warming up a bit, need to get out there and push myself.

Zargon · 01-09-2008, 05:38 PM

dude if you can't get down to back to back 8 minute miles I think you will end up as a desk jockey in whatever service you get into, no offense, imho, but I could do that when I was 10 years old and 3 1/2 feet tall................

if you have health issues and bad joints already it may not be the route you want to take.........something less strenous like firefighter may be more up your alley, last thing you wanna do is put in 2.5-6 years and get medically discharged and left on your ass

edlib · 01-09-2008, 07:44 PM

Man! Am I tired tonight!

Gonna try to stay up a bit longer though... don't want to wake up in the middle of the night again.

Slightly less productive day at work this time... didn't get a whole lot of anything done, now that I look back on it.

Didn't help that the air was totally toxic thanks to the sand-blasting guys stripping away 30+ years of floor paint right down to bare concrete.

Got out of the building ASAP and headed over to a different one for the day. Didn't do anything there either... but at least I wasn't coughing the whole time.

Lunch was OK.

Gonna eat now, and see if I can't stay up until 9 or 10 at least.

I have my doubts...

K_Kinnison · 01-09-2008, 08:54 PM

Fuel pump is going on my car.. that means no Xbox 360 for a while

Really tired of mooching off of people for rides when my car goes kaput.. and the dramatically appropriate time when I want to go home.

Walked the 1.5 miles home from work, and even biked 2 miles to the Curling club from home at OMG in the morning to get my car.

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-09-2008, 09:08 PM

That sucks.

Had the day off, did some random stuff, played some Halo, did some GH3 co-op with some friends. Not much goin'.

Not tired, but not real interested in doing much right now.

Rogue15 · 01-09-2008, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zargon

dude if you can't get down to back to back 8 minute miles I think you will end up as a desk jockey in whatever service you get into, no offense, imho, but I could do that when I was 10 years old and 3 1/2 feet tall................

if you have health issues and bad joints already it may not be the route you want to take.........something less strenous like firefighter may be more up your alley, last thing you wanna do is put in 2.5-6 years and get medically discharged and left on your ass

doable as in, i can at LEAST pass that even with bronchitis. (that's one reason why i failed the run part of pt was freakin upper respiratory snot coming out my throat and nose while 1/2 way through the run, slowed me down a bunch) i wanna go in as 25b, information technology specialist. working on computers and tech stuff. i want to be able to pass the pt stuff before i even go to basic, this way i can improve upon it while i'm there. i can pass the pushup part right now.

edit:

just watched hamburger hill on tv, first time watching that movie. pretty messy. then played call of duty 4 til i got tired. 2am. time for bed.

edlib · 01-10-2008, 04:44 AM

Actually got a normal night's sleep. Just about 8 hours. w00t.

Of course, that means I'm now up at 4-in-the-am... but whatever...
At least I'm not rushing to get ready for work. Hopefully I can manage to stay up a bit after work tonight to do some stuff... I was in bed before 9 last night.

It's kinda sucking that I have this whole month with nights and weekends off... and have yet to be able to really take advantage of that fact thanks to my ultra-crappy sleep schedule.

**Cmdr. Cracken** · 01-10-2008, 10:16 PM

Work was ok, didn't have alot to do. Again, slow season for retail until next fall. *sigh*

Gotta work in the AM. Payday tomorrow though, thank god.

Not much else. Probably need a vacation soon though.

edlib · 01-10-2008, 10:29 PM

Survived work. Pretty dull. Highlight of the entire day was backing up my entire iTunes library onto a co-worker's drive... so if anything goes wrong with mine (again...) I won't have to rip my entire CD library again.

Plus: he gets to bask in my superb taste in music.

Been playing XBox pretty much since I got home... but haven't really been doing too well. Still pretty tired. Been sucking through a lot of levels of things I imagine I'm only going to have to go back and do again at some point.

I might go back and try a round of Halo 2 before I call it a night, though.

Maybe...

I'd probably be much better off doing some reading and crashing as early as possible.

But we'll see...

Rogue15 · 01-10-2008, 10:45 PM

been tired most of today. went and got my check, deposited to the bank. last time i'll have to do that since i got my direct deposit set up.

went out to restaurant w/my mom for breakfast, then out bowling, bowled 3 games, i did terrible, my strategy didn't work. under 100 every game. o well. watched 8 episodes of 24 season 1 with my dad, then came home. now i'm tired as ever and bored and the apartment is a complete mess and i have no idea where my sister is so i wrote her a email via myspace...

looks like tomorrow is going to be a ****ty day. rain+friday=shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. but still am going bowling tomorrow night.

gotta go feed the cats, then i think i'm gonna put some AMC on and just crash on the futon. so much for playing video games. think i'll clean up the kitchen and the living room tomorrow morning. hopefully i'll wake up early enough.

K_Kinnison · 01-10-2008, 11:37 PM

My thursday league Curling team placed first in it's shift. (8 shifts) Which means we are going to the interclub mens league playdowns at the end of march. Last year and the year before, I was on the winning championship team.

Out of over 100 teams that is not a small feat.

Good thing my Skip is the defending Senior national champ.

edlib · 01-11-2008, 06:58 AM

Somebody was watching this in the office yesterday... (probably totally ancient in Net-years... but made me LOL!)

*BEEP*

Rogue15 · 01-11-2008, 09:53 AM

got the kitchen cleaned up. took me only 45 minutes to do the dishes and clean up the trash. not bad. I checked some of my bills and found that i don't owe last month's insurance, i thought for sure i did but i must have paid it. This makes me happy. lol so i'm off to go pay the cable bill. tonight going bowling w/some of my coworkers. work starts at 12 and ends at 9 tonight. trying to stay in a good mood mood.

Zargon · 01-11-2008, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogue15

doable as in, i can at LEAST pass that even with bronchitis. (that's one reason why i failed the run part of pt was freakin upper respiratory snot coming out my throat and nose while 1/2 way through the run, slowed me down a bunch) i wanna go in as 25b, information technology specialist. working on computers and tech stuff. i want to be able to pass the pt stuff before i even go to basic, this way i can improve upon it while i'm there. i can pass the pushup part right now.

edit:

just watched hamburger hill on tv, first time watching that movie. pretty messy. then played call of duty 4 til i got tired. 2am. time for bed.

goootcha gotcha..

yeah lung crap makes it hard to run

before I had some legal trouble(done in a month so I can get clearance again) I was 90% done with my paperwork......and my mom couldnt understand why I didnt want to do 25b stuff cuz thats what I do now. I just figure, if I have a job that lets me carry a gun, I might as well go for the one where I know I get to use it, 11 bang bang!

Zargon · 01-11-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_Kinnison

Fuel pump is going on my car.. that means no Xbox 360 for a while

Really tired of mooching off of people for rides when my car goes kaput.. and the dramatically appropriate time when I want to go home.

Walked the 1.5 miles home from work, and even biked 2 miles to the Curling club from home at OMG in the morning to get my car.

you order it yet K?

Going retail from teh dealer or what?

rockauto is dirt cheap! or ebay sometimes....save you alot of dough

Rogue15 · 01-11-2008, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zargon

goootcha gotcha..

yeah lung crap makes it hard to run

before I had some legal trouble(done in a month so I can get clearance again) I was 90% done with my paperwork......and my mom couldnt understand why I didnt want to do 25b stuff cuz thats what I do now. I just figure, if I have a job that lets me carry a gun, I might as well go for the one where I know I get to use it, 11 bang bang!

nice, i was considering 11b or 31b (military police), but figured that 25b is where i would fit in the best and i'd get all the certificates and stuff, that way at the end of my enlistment if i didn't want to reenlist, i'd have something other than walmart or pizza hut to fall back on.

you're going in the marines, right or are you going army?

my main thing with enlisting is, i'm considered 'prior service' with a reenlist code of 3 (uncharacterized), meaning i will need a waiver to get in. this is why i kinda need to be able to pass the PT stuff before going, better chance to get the waiver.

Zargon · 01-11-2008, 05:03 PM

I was going to go Army.

Now....probably not. They had issues with getting me a medical waivor since I had surgery on my femur, and I dont want to do something 'normal' if I go.

Plus.....the fiance is not keen on the idea of me going to basic, coming back to get married and going off to training again. She really would be upset if I went infantry as well.

I have a very possible promotion coming in the next few weeks(so I was told) as well and taking a pay cut and leaving the new wife at home to play army sounds like a bad idea now. I think my recruiter is going to be annoyed...

edlib · 01-11-2008, 08:54 PM

Probably right about that. Oh well; he'll have to get over it... it's still a volunteer army, after all.

Work was slow, but steady. Worked on cleaning up wire runs in the back of the monitor amp racks.

Took a long, late lunch. (Very good, by the way...)

Ahh... another week of worky goodness and fun behind us.

Need to tackle de-fleaing the house tomorrow, if I do nothing else.
Plus, I want to do some long, LONG overdue computer maintenance and rebuilds the next couple of days... so I might actually be offline most of the weekend.

I have family who wants one of my spare PCs for the kids to use as a homework/ web surfing machine. So I need to clean that up; re-OS it; and get it ready for travel.

Plus my main PC needs an OS refresh itself. Now that I have the XBox, I may not reinstall any games on this one... which means I can go back to the good soundcard I had that conflicted with my vid card durning 3D graphics-intensive games.
Make it a multimedia machine more than a gaming box (which it's really too old to do well, anyway.)