In early December 2022, I noticed how my ratio of playing games vs buying them was much more in camp "buy" than in camp "play". Completely unrelated I came across this dude on youtube with the same problem, who promptly made a spreadsheet with his unplayed games. He made a list of games that he wanted to finally get around to, and used howlongtobeat.com to figure out how long it'd take him.

I immediately thought I should do the same.

But then I didn't.

For Christmas, I got 4 more games from my Steam wishlist; Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3 and 6 Pixel Remasters.

That settled it. I had to play them. For more reasons than having not completed most of them, but also because my Steam library alone is 262 games, most I haven't even played, as they've been from the odd Humble Bundle, crazy sales, gifts etc. Games that are "nice to have if you need to play them", in the multiplayer category, and games that are "games you should have played" in the single player category.
As such, I figured enough is enough.

I went ahead and made my own spreadsheet. I used howlongtobeat.com to figure out play times, vs completion times(100% completion), and combined it all to find out a complete play of all the games would take me 507 hours of playtime. 1140 hours of completion time.
Alright. I can do that. Aiming for the prior, obviously, and if I play 2 hours per day, I'd have that done by sometime in June. Faster, obviously, if I play more hours per day.

The first title seemed natural. Final Fantasy I. Never did complete that game. I first played it in the EU version of Final Fantasy Origins, a remastered version of the NES classic for PSOne, bundled with FFII. It was redone graphics, had a bestiary, cinematics, and a remastered soundtrack. All the makings of a perfect experience for me at the time. I even got Final Fantasy Anthology at the same time, to play through FFIV and FFV too. Hell, at the time the shop even had FFVI bundled with a demo for FFX, with the same treatment as the former 4 games.

Never did complete the first 2. IV I completed back then. Must've been almost 20 years ago now. V sat a little different, and I was more tempted by VI, which to this date is tied with VII as being my favorite FF game. III Never came in any bundle. It was released in Japan only at the time of release, and never made a europe/NA release, until a 2006 Nintendo DS, 3D remake came around. At the time, I didn't own a DS, and I never got around to playing it either.

Cut to:

January 4th, 2023.

FINAL FANTASY I PIXEL REMASTER

Let's do this.

Right off the bat, I know Final Fantasy. The mechanics are always more or less the same. Fire, Ice, Lightning, etc. Potions to heal, phoenix down to revive, ether to refill magic points. Bla bla bla. All the same. The thing that differentiates the titles are the stories, settings and plots. The first games, albeit barebones compared to some later titles, is no different. Except, of course, that it is. You start the game with a simple prelude; The world is in peril. Something has happened to the governing crystals. Wind, Fire, Ice and Air, respectively. They've gone out, so to speak. So it falls to you, the four heroes of light to restore balance etc. Classic stuff. Your heroes in this first outing are nameless. You can name them, or you can select 4 of 8 or so premade names. I did the latter, and although I've completed the game, I can only remember my main damage dealer Andii.
In this title, our heroes are mute, dumb, silent protagonists, whatever you want to call it. They never utter a word, and being a Legend of Zelda fan, I can respect that. The story starts. You visit a town, and a castle, to learn that the swordsman Garland has betrayed the kingdom and kidnapped the princess. You, being the heroes, are tasked to deal with it. You jump to the overworld to grind some levels, and immediately I start noticing the similarities with the source material that inspired these games; Dungeons & Dragons. There are levels, of course, but having set the classes before playing, namely a warrior, a thief, a white mage(healer, support) and a red mage(offensive AND defensive magic), they have x amount of uses for each magic levels. Healing is level 1, but healing+ (cure, cura, respecticely) is a level 2 spell, and I have less uses before I need to rest. Ok, gotcha. Different from the later series, where you have hit points and magic points.  But magic isn't that important in this game. Only versus a few foes, and if you're not using a guide/walkthrough, you'll soon find out which ones, as physical attacks do no damage. Fair game.
So, we set out to defeat Garland. Job's done. Garland disappears, you return the princess, all is well. Then, it's assumed, as you are the heroes of light, you will also, since you posess some orbs, heal the aforementioned crystals. Fine. Let's do that. We have to visit 4 shrines, kill 4 fiends that protect the corruption, and then return to finish the job against the big bad behind the curtain. No problem, I got my guide. I also pay attention to Steam Achievements, as according to howlongtobeat.com, FFI is about 17 hours to beat, 20ish to complete. Fine. We slay the 4 fiends. We return triumphant. We actiave the main shrine, only to be sent 2000 years into the past, where Garland(SHOCK AND AWE) is waiting for us. He survived our first fight, back at xp level, what, 10? and now that we're all level 50(4 heroes at level 50 achievement? CHECK) we meet again. He explains, like you do, that when we beat him, he went back in time 2000 years to heal and improve, and send 4 fiends to the future to ruin the world. We beat him, which makes sense. As 2000 years from now, he'll still be alive to go back. It's a time loop. The heroes never existed. But they did. And they didn't. It's nice.
For 1987, this is pretty badass. Starting the Final Fantasy franchise. The seeds have been planted. There's Tiamat, Garland, Bahamut, Fire, potions, phoenix downs, etc. The foundations have been laid.

All in all, I spent 12,5 hours on the game. Missed 4 achievements. Might go back later. howlongtobeat said 17 hours. So I've already saved 5 hours of the total 507 hours. Nice. Job well done.

So. Let's say I have to give every game I play a score. Scores are hard to do. Do you do 10, 6, 100 as the top? Who's to say. Let's say I switch it up. I give it a base score out of 10, because it's a nice, round number, and a little "should you play it" at the end.

So, for Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster, I would give a score of 5/10. Is it bad? no. Is it great? No. But I had fun nonetheless.

Should you play it?
Different beast altogether with this title. It's not a long game. It's not a hard game(unlike the original, which is much harder), and it sets the bar for future titles in the series. I say YES. Play this game. It won't take you long. With a walkthrough(of which there are many, but I recommend "lylat" on Steam's walkthrough. Not spoilery, will take you through all of it, no bullshit.
And, not to forget, although the original doesn't have many different music tracks, what it does have, is downright amazing stuff.

1 game down, 21 to go.

Will post again after the next game, which, unsurprisingly is Final Fantasy II.

For educational purposes, here's a list of all the games I plan to play, in no particular order. Green means completed, Yellow means started.

Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy XIII-3
GRIS
Milkmaid of the Milky Way
Outer Wilds
A Plague Tale - Innocence
The Legend of Zelda - Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda - A Link Between Worlds
Sable
To the Moon
Undertale
The Ascent
Day of the Tentacle
The Secret of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2 - LeChucks Revenge
The Curse of Monkey Island
Escape from monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island
Return to Monkey Island
Röki
Chrono Trigger
IMMORTALITY
Ratchet and Clank - Rift Apart
Life is Strange
Life is Strange - Before the Storm

EDIT:
If you're finding yourself re-reading this topic and noting there's more games on the list than the last time you read it; there is.
Initially this list was compiled of Steam games I didn't get around to, or wanted to play again, but that list expanded due to several reasons, like my brother recommending me games that happened to be on PS+, or games I own on Nintendo Consoles that I didn't get around to.
It's a work in progress, and sure to keep growing, but as long as my I keep my focus on playing older titles rather than new, there shouldn't be any problems.
As of May 20th 2023, I've completed 8 more titles than when I set out, and some of them were long. Jedi Survivor and Tears of the Kingdom were always in the time equation, as well as Final Fantasy 16. But apart from those(unless Rockstar decides to release GTA6 this year), I'm still well on schedule.

As you were.

-Tom out.

But before I get all wild-eyed about it, I want to survey you'uns:
How much would you pay to live in space?

My idea involves bootstrapping the Star Trek future with today's technology.
The buy-in (how much the average somebody'd be willing to pay) is critical to getting the thing started, for obvious reasons (seed capital). Basically I'm selling tickets to a thing that will only exist if a huge number of people believe enough in it to pledge a good portion of their personal net-worth to it.

For purposes of discussion:
"Live in space" means at least, but not limited to, an Earth orbit station with centrifugal gravity a la '2001: A Space Odyssey.'
"Pay" buys you a 2 way ticket with an unlimited stay, or limited only by the resources brought up with you (food, water, air, etc.)
"How much would you" means what price do you think the market would bear, in terms of a fraction of a 1st-world median annual salary?

We'll get to the technical details as I imagine them, for now let's just talk money, please.

<edit> Polls don't work again, eh?

1. Less than 2 months salary
2. 2 to 6 months
3. 6-12 months
4. 1-2 years
5. Way more?

Part 1: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aGm3o8
Part 2: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3qzn12

I'm doing Inktober again this year!

Not sure how I want to go about it yet, but last year brought me so much, I really want to try it again.

I'm opening this thread right now, because I want to motivate people in joining me! Doodle something, write a short, do photography, make music, knit a sweater, anything! The Inktober format has found its way into many different fields, and there's a reason for that: it's an amazing exercise for your creativity muscle, and it can lead to many things.

I gave it a try last year, unsure where it would lead me, if anywhere. What happened was I slowly found a visual style I didn't know I had in me, and I discovered a whole new way of expressing strong personal ideas, which I now give attention to as much as I do to photography. Even printed some of them, which are now displayed in an exhibition! I haven't done new digital art during the year but guess what, October is getting nearer, so I'll have motivation again to paint some stuff!

Can't recommend enough you guys give it a try. This place is as good as any to share it, and doing it as a group will be a great motivational help. Do one everyday, every other day, every week, whenever, just do it!

Prompts will be posted on September 1st, but if you go to inktober.com and subscribe to the newsletter, you'll get them by August 25th. I discovered them two days before the beginning of October last year, and I... don't recommend it.

Who's in?

PS: a discord channel dedicated to it could also be neat, just sayin'

The good news: everything is fine.

The bad news: GoDaddy didn't even bother to check the server and just spun up a new one, breaking everything, and hijacking our domain. It took me about ~10 minutes to get everything figured out. We'll get friendsinyourhead pointed back here eventually. Use http://downinfront.net for now.

Server daddy breaks stuff, but server daddy fixes it.

Probably the best movie I've seen since mid/post pandemic times - what ever the current state is now with that. Tenet and Bond included. I'm kinda a little blown away by it. Not that its the best movie ever made, but one I don't know how will be beaten for it's rad-ness. 2 Tom 2 Cruises' Top Gun 2 is... TOP FUN.

F18 no green screen is...I dont know how Tom Cruise would top that for bad-ass-ery -  stunt-wise. Maybe in space...

Y'know that old chestnut film makers throw about 'we had to endure and overcome some difficult technical challenges making this movie'? This might be the apex of that.

Yes, it's sort of reboot-y/sequal-y laden with 'member berries and a touch sentimental, but it didn't feel cash-grabby or ingenuine. I mean, even the 80's motorbike reprised it's role which made me laugh a little. Back then, it was at the pinacle of bikes, but now, it's a dinosaur. But if the idyll of riding into the sunset in aviators and an airforce jacket with a lady on the back hugging my waiste isn't every bikers dream... (it tracks that I'd focus in on motorbikes in a movie about supersonic jets). I want to be this cool but the reality is a lot of kevlar lined textiles, leather and certified face squishing head safety.

My only hope is they filmed some killer behind the scenes.

So, while I felt that setting up a huge race diorama was unfeasible - at least, to do it well - I did get a small set, and made a story out of it.

Thank you to Tom, who can be heard among the background voices, and of course to everyone else who helped out.

Check out the guy who did the customs on Instagram at Custom Diecast Garage.

Episode One is done, Episode Two is done — so, what's left to say? Let's dive in!

Playlist of Episode 1
Playlist of Episode 2
Playlist of Episode 3

Lucy gets picked on by the other transforming robots for not being a race car or fighter jet but a lowly sofa bed.

This is a piece of Flash fiction I wrote which has nothing to do with any fighting robot franchise you may be familiar with. I've never actually seen one, although I half remember seeing a cartoon during the actual eighties.

Five years ago I had a three week break between jobs and naturally rather than relax I decided to make an unscripted feature in a foreign country, with only about two days of planning.  *nervous chuckle*.  SOMEHOW it turned out mostly coherent and now it's nearing release next week on VOD across the US & Canada.  It's not a perfect film by any stretch, but it was a super fun experiment (and experience).  An actor friend of mine and I caught a flight to Melbourne from LA and set out on the road across the country to Perth, stopping at awesome spots along the way.  I was the only crew member - acting as DP, sound guy (I had to paint myself out of 60% of the shots, because I boomed most static shots) - and yeah.  It was nuts.  Along the way we met up with a few local actors and plotted out the story as we lived it, basically.  I highly suggest giving it a try.

Anyway.  "Road to Perth" is now available for pre-sale on iTunes (Flash sale right now for $6.99).  Any presales before 1/18 help us get ranked in the iTunes algorithm, so please - I'll buy you a beer.  PRESALE LINK: https://apple.co/3ynmwbY

It'll be available on blu-ray and DVD as of 1/18/2022.  Other details, all at: https://www.roadtoperthmovie.com

Thanks for letting me shamelessly whore out this wacky movie.

And while of course a large part of Fett's coolness was his lack of backstory, I certainly don't mind this show exploring the interim years. Him having the opportunity to learn and grow as a character both post-sarlacc and as a (somewhat inept) crime-boss is a great framing. And it's neat that some of the Tusken lore from Knights of the Old Republic is being explored.

Also, his personal gaffi stick is BADASS. I hope he starts carrying it again. In fact, it's a theory of mine that he's going to have to re-embrace his Tusken trappings and meld them with his reclaimed armor/identity to forge his new life. I think they fore-shadowed that with his statement that the tuskens shouldn't have to hide in the (horrifying) lizard trip scene. They're gonna join him in Jabba's palace and be more established.

On that note, "I thought that was part of the dream." was a golden line

and also that wookie was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Not so good:
From the first notes of The Mandalorian music, it was iconic. Perfect for the character and story. So far, absolutely nothing about Fett's soundtrack is catching me. Which is fine, I guess. Music doesn't have to call attention to itself. But so far it feels really generic.

And Mos Espa is way too clean. Very little about the town sections of the show feel like they've got that Tattooine grittiness.

I'm also not quite buying Fett's sudden concern for the downtrodden moisture farmers he exhibits in a few scenes. His relationship with the tuskens I get, and maybe his near-death experience shifted his thinking, but I really want to see him just SHOOT someone who looks at him wrong. Maybe even someone who doesn't QUITE deserve it lol.

So whatcha think?

The particular intro/framestory/whaaaatever you call the 'beginning' in a movie like this that Lana Wachowski landed on here was, um... scary in the way that it mirrors some events in my life recently, so gonna hafta sort that out sometime too...

This one was a blast to do. Thanks to Jim for the idea and Teague for wrangling!