becker and i take a trip down a river in a raft in gateway. this means that he sails and i bail. water, that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9oZGcY7-d4

building buildings in the building simulator build. i mean spore.

well, we get all the buildings done, at least, so i won't have to tinker with /most/ of them, again.

there's also a bit of gameplay and an attempt [and failure] at trying to convert someone to our way of thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBxrEbjIggY

as promised, we comb through becker's personal log in gateway. it proves to be quite interesting and sheds some light on the man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QILTPwxikr0

today the continent!
next week, the world!

that's kind of how taking over things works in spore. [actually, it would probably go faster, but...the way i've set up my schedule means we're picking up the game in a week, again ;)]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xJ8g7nMqcw

deleted

this is why i'm not doing an extensive playthrough of space. besides. my one experience of space was that it had...issues. my home planet kept getting attacked over and over and over again pre-patch a billion years ago. so my game effectively "stopped" there.

i'm going to do three or so episodes in space just to show it off, but it's the kind of thing that - i think - will get pretty samey very quickly - i've actually mentioned this before. part of the problem with spore is that it is /somewhat/ wide, but not very deep. by which i mean that there's a lot of different play dynamics and a lot of different "stuff to do" [after a fashion. most of the stuff is the same over and over again] but that all of it is basically shallow. in the "civilization phase" i basically build a dump truck of guys and flatten my opponents, because there's zero subtlety to the game.

my take on spore has always been: maxis should have released the builders. they're kind of fun to tinker around with, but they really should have spent a lot more time fleshing out the creature stage. that should really have been it's very own game.

it's not a great game. it's not the worst game, either.

belatedly: i very much appreciate you taking the time to check out my videos. thank you so much.

that moment in gateway where the savant isn't kidding and he suggests that there's more you need to do.

then doesn't tell you how.

oh dear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqBVVn0LqF8

another tavern brawl.

another lazy blizzard effort.

ah well. in this one, you throw a raven idol up in the air and pick whatever strikes your fancy out of the three cards it then provides.

a showcase for hearthstone's extreme randomness, at very least:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzJD_vxzhxU

it's time for a final hearthstone pack opening.

this one's twenty packs.

but we listen to some awesome music and i make another legendary. so that's good :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9uNCa6Pnho

we finish off the civilization stage in spore by basically religioning everyone to death.

it's great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7AR6i5N6xc

we're in space!

it's so endless!

and samey!

witness spore's space stage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ7_93zABkE

and with a last fly around the galaxy.

and a last quest or two done...

...we end our galactic spore journey.

thank you to everyone who watched alongside this playthrough, it was fun :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOsWCY7oxI

channel update, may 2016:

new games!
goodbye, blizzard!
an excellent king's quest [2015] review!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpwA6D8wbY8

and that's gateway done.

this particular episode is nearly an hour long because i couldn't find any good way to split it all up.

however, there's a lot of action [for gateway, anyhow] so it's a case of "never a dull moment."

enjoy :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVcz_oGm_ok

blog post:

i read all the terrible books, so you don't have to.

here's my "do not buy" review of "endgame" - a novel so formulaic, you might go to sleep reading it:

http://greywolfe.co.za/blog/endgame-review-the-hunger-games-now-with-more-transmedia-synergy/