Let's Play SH4: a video series

[White Owl]

Hi there. I thought some of you might be interested in a series of videos I recently started posting on Youtube. This is a "Let's Play", in which I record my screen while playing the game, and also record a vocal commentary over the game's audio. I started watching Let's Plays several months ago, and have now found it an entertaining hobby; a good way to share good games with other gamers out there in internetland.

Here's the beginning of the series:

Caution: sometimes I cuss like a sailor. Probably not safe for work, or any other place where people get upset about cussin'.

[Daniel Prates]

I'll report you to youtube webmasters, on account of all this "cursing".

Ha! Just kidding. Good effort. Videos are a bit too long, that scares away people from watching them. I would suggest editing them or, at least, pointing out the time where the most interesting things happen.

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by White Owl

Hi there. I thought some of you might be interested in a series of videos I recently started posting on Youtube. This is a "Let's Play", in which I record my screen while playing the game, and also record a vocal commentary over the game's audio. I started watching Let's Plays several months ago, and have now found it an entertaining hobby; a good way to share good games with other gamers out there in internetland.

Here's the beginning of the series:

Caution: sometimes I cuss like a sailor. Probably not safe for work, or any other place where people get upset about cussin'.

Ran across these on my own a few weeks back and just damned near put them on Fleetboatsim.com. May yet, if you permit.

[Soviet Creeper]

Sweet.Ive been looking around for new LPers of SH 4, ive watched all the other ones.

Also, its nice to see someone with RFB. Best of luck with not getting ran over by a carrier!

[White Owl]

Originally Posted by Daniel Prates

I'll report you to youtube webmasters, on account of all this "cursing".

Ha! Just kidding. Good effort. Videos are a bit too long, that scares away people from watching them. I would suggest editing them or, at least, pointing out the time where the most interesting things happen.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I know what you mean about the long format scaring people away. These are already edited down so much that well over half of what I recorded has been cut away. Part of the problem is my own long-winded nature... and part of the problem is the timing in this particular game. SH4 has a lot of things happen that are essential to understanding what's going on, but most of those things happen gradually and several minutes apart. I spent 3 hours playing and recording the game, then about 6 hours deciding what to keep and what to cut, for a final product of about 80 minutes of material. I'll think some more about how to tell the story in less time.

Your suggestion about pointing out where the interesting parts happen is a good one. I need to put some thought into how to present some kind of highlights without spoilers.

Originally Posted by Arlo

Ran across these on my own a few weeks back and just damned near put them on Fleetboatsim.com. May yet, if you permit.

I'm honored! I'm totally okay with you putting these videos up on your site, if you think they fit in with your content. Although I imagine you might want to wait and see if the rest of the series is any good before deciding.

Originally Posted by Soviet Creeper

Sweet.Ive been looking around for new LPers of SH 4, ive watched all the other ones.

Also, its nice to see someone with RFB. Best of luck with not getting ran over by a carrier!

I'll admit that jefmajor's SH4 LP is the only one I've actually watched all the way through. I took a look at a couple others... maybe I'm some kind of snob or something, but I just can't get past the poor audio issues.

Let's Playing is fun! I think I'm gradually growing more comfortable with my own narrative style, and not being quite so concerned about how some other LPers would do it. Still have a lot to learn about this hobby. Last weekend was largely dedicated to troubleshooting various technical glitches and figuring out how to streamline the whole process.

[Daniel Prates]

Originally Posted by White Owl

Your suggestion about pointing out where the interesting parts happen is a good one. I need to put some thought into how to present some kind of highlights without spoilers.

Yeah, in the youtube video description field.

[Elder-Pirate]

A lot of work went down the drain. 1.5 stock with a few boat mods is a lot better than that.
That poem is horrible and I Push "Esc." each play, why would you even want to comment on it in the first place. You are right I'm not a poem lover and neither is the guy whom wrote it as the way it sounds.

Get off your drugs, maybe you'll do better.

Sorry but that is my opinion.

[Armistead]

Most of us delete the start up movie so we never have to deal with it. I think TMO does it by default. After watching it once....who cares.

[White Owl]

Originally Posted by Elder-Pirate

A lot of work went down the drain. 1.5 stock with a few boat mods is a lot better than that.
That poem is horrible and I Push "Esc." each play, why would you even want to comment on it in the first place. You are right I'm not a poem lover and neither is the guy whom wrote it as the way it sounds.

Get off your drugs, maybe you'll do better.

Sorry but that is my opinion.

Nobody else has my particular recipe for mod soup, so I don't expect anybody else to like the flavor as much as I do. No worries. Which particular mods do you especially object to? Maybe there are some better options I've overlooked.

I wanted to comment on the poem intro because I'm excessively opinionated and long-winded, and commenting on things is the whole point of a Let's Play. I get unhappy when I go too long without sharing my opinions with anybody who'll listen.

Getting off the drugs to do better, hmm... I think I see where you're coming from with this comment. At first glance it appears almost like a personal attack, but I very much realize if I share that kind of personal information with the world this way then I'm actively inviting comment on it. So again, no worries. For many many years I was extremely resistant to any idea of drugging myself for any reason. I'm a lifelong teetotaler, even. No alcohol, no tobacco, nothing like that at all. I've always considered alcohol addicts to be the most reprehensible, idiotic junkies around, precisely because I see that addiction as so preventable. It's the worst kind of mental weakness. Believe me, it was no trivial decision to deliberately seek a drug dependency. Not least because it meant giving up on a lifetime dream of flying airplanes.

But... I was badly broken and unable to fix the problem myself. I could no longer tell the difference between friends, enemies, acquaintances, and strangers. I was losing the ability to feel any emotions other than anger and rage. I was starting to occasionally think about different ways I could kill myself. The dilemma was: I must either become suicidally insane, or become a drug addict. There was no third option. So I let the doctor decide on the particulars of my fix, and I became a junkie. It was the correct decision. Now I enjoy life, and wish I'd done this years ago. No, I would not do better without the drugs. Thanks for the concern.

Or maybe by "do better" you meant play the game better! Yeah, I obviously fell apart in that convoy attack. I had never set up a shot using only the periscope and TDC before that. I always had either map contacts or functioning sonar or both. So I didn't handle the unfamiliar situation very well at all. At least I got a lucky hit, though!

Originally Posted by Armistead

Most of us delete the start up movie so we never have to deal with it. I think TMO does it by default. After watching it once....who cares.

And I only intend to post it and comment on it once.

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by White Owl

Nobody else has my particular recipe for mod soup, so I don't expect anybody else to like the flavor as much as I do. No worries. Which particular mods do you especially object to? Maybe there are some better options I've overlooked.

I wanted to comment on the poem intro because I'm excessively opinionated and long-winded, and commenting on things is the whole point of a Let's Play. I get unhappy when I go too long without sharing my opinions with anybody who'll listen.

Getting off the drugs to do better, hmm... I think I see where you're coming from with this comment. At first glance it appears almost like a personal attack, but I very much realize if I share that kind of personal information with the world this way then I'm actively inviting comment on it. So again, no worries. For many many years I was extremely resistant to any idea of drugging myself for any reason. I'm a lifelong teetotaler, even. No alcohol, no tobacco, nothing like that at all. I've always considered alcohol addicts to be the most reprehensible, idiotic junkies around, precisely because I see that addiction as so preventable. It's the worst kind of mental weakness. Believe me, it was no trivial decision to deliberately seek a drug dependency. Not least because it meant giving up on a lifetime dream of flying airplanes.

But... I was badly broken and unable to fix the problem myself. I could no longer tell the difference between friends, enemies, acquaintances, and strangers. I was losing the ability to feel any emotions other than anger and rage. I was starting to occasionally think about different ways I could kill myself. The dilemma was: I must either become suicidally insane, or become a drug addict. There was no third option. So I let the doctor decide on the particulars of my fix, and I became a junkie. It was the correct decision. Now I enjoy life, and wish I'd done this years ago. No, I would not do better without the drugs. Thanks for the concern.

Or maybe by "do better" you meant play the game better! Yeah, I obviously fell apart in that convoy attack. I had never set up a shot using only the periscope and TDC before that. I always had either map contacts or functioning sonar or both. So I didn't handle the unfamiliar situation very well at all. At least I got a lucky hit, though!

And I only intend to post it and comment on it once.

W.O. ... I admire the way you take criticism. You're a good Joe.

[WernherVonTrapp]

I rather enjoy the poem "On Time" by John Milton. I also happen to like the narrator's rendition of it. I've never been quite as adept as I would've liked at reading poetry but the narrator (in my opinion) show aptitude in his presentation. I believe poetry, if properly read, should reflect the context of the era in which it was written (17th century England in this instance), hence the "flowery" nature of the narrator's presentation.
I agree that it adds/suggests a level of class that is not found in today's games or sims. I also agree with Daniel Prates and think you should eliminate the profanities. It detracts from the presentation and class that you would want to project to the general public (if that is your intention). Don't forget, many people of varying age levels play this sim and may view your tutorial. Though they most certainly may have heard this type of language before, you don't want to imply that you condone it by using it yourself. I certainly don't use it around my children. I also would omit the personal medical references since they are nobody's business but your own and add nothing to the validity of the presentation.

Other than that, I think it's pretty good. There you have it, my honest and sincere opinion.

[Daniel Prates]

Originally Posted by WernherVonTrapp

I rather enjoy the poem "On Time" by John Milton.

Yeah.... I once saw a mod that had an un-jumpable intro video with a complete narration of 'paradise lost'. Not a very popular mod.

[White Owl]

WernherVonTrapp, I'll have to agree to disagree with you about the poetry reading. Your opinion certainly reflects the majority view, though, since so many people recite like that. Maybe the problem is I'm not so much a fan of poetry as I am of good storytelling.

I am most definitely not attempting to project any kind of class toward the general public. I'm only attempting to just be myself.

The point about excessive cussing is taken, though. I've been around so much cussing for so long that I often forget how many people are genuinely offended by what seems perfectly normal to me. Even other Let's Players... really, I'm practically refined by contrast with some of the most popular LPers.

Nope, not going to edit out the medical story. The traditional attitude that mental health problems shouldn't be talked about does far more harm than good. I can't change the world, but I can influence my own little corner here for the better.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by White Owl

Nope, not going to edit out the medical story. The traditional attitude that mental health problems shouldn't be talked about does far more harm than good. I can't change the world, but I can influence my own little corner here for the better.

There's a big difference between advocating a cause (like mental health issues) and announcing it abruptly, outside the boundary of the context. I never suggested that you suppress Mental Health Awareness, an issue close to my own heart. I was speaking generally about medical issues, especially when it's not pertinent to, or not in context with the subject matter. For example, I would never open a lecture on Automotive Mechanics by first announcing that I have hemorrhoids, or a lecture on bird watching by announcing that I've had knee surgery. Unless of course, there was some way to tie it all together.
That's why I made the suggestion about omitting your medical history. Not because I thought you should suppress Mental Health Awareness.

I just thought I should clarify that.

[Pisces]

White Owl,

I think you should reduce your time compression levels when in dangerous territory. High TC levels (like your 2048) reduces the number of steps in which the game does proximity checks. So, if you encounter the enemy (air and surface) it sort of jumps into your rendering area and immediately comes in guns blazing. Leaving you very little or no time to react. It's better to take that patience to the extra level (lower TC numbers) and give yourself some room to respond.