The Dennis

I loved this game, start to finish. I also played the heck out of it, and did a of a no-damage New Game+ run! It might come in handy if you're looking for a strategy of some of the tougher encounters

On the history of early social culture within the video game community: So essentially the idea was for the community to piece together the hints and secrets as an exercise in information exchange. You know, before GameFAQs and Nintendo Power, etc.

It's only been about 310 pages since I visited this thread! I picked up the game again recently, and play on a survival server with a bunch of dudes. I decided I wanted to make a big old tree to live in (I didn't know the idea was so popular!), and it became a project. Here's a shot of the tree (the rest of the pictures will be linked): Pre-game planning minutia, because I'm too OCD to freestyle a big tree. The trick was filling the tree with stuff, but I decided to make it a tavern for people to hang out in instead! But I started with a basement. Basement: Eden The Garden of Eden, food aplenty for all Another shot from the corner, for scope The idea was to make a safe, easy, renewable source of food for new players and people who had a rough break with enemies. -30 diamonds and 10 pairs of shears were used in the hollowing of the space and collection of materials. -Two creepers made it into the room, on separate occasions. Both were safely dispatched. Eden is now monster-proof. -No less than 10 monster spawners gave their mossy cobblestone for the decoration of Eden (my entire supply!). -Eden is lit by 207 torches. Ground Floor: Dining Area Feast on the finest in shit you farmed yourself in the basement! Second Floor: Lounge Read the minecraft wiki in peace and safety! Third Floor: Sleeping Quarters I could fit a total of three rooms for patrons in the tree. Beds are for sleeping! Fourth Floor: Boring Tavern Storage Everything above the storage area is the tavernkeep's quarters. Not that that really means anything, but. Fifth Floor: Breakfast Room A cheery room for enjoying the most important meal of the day, with a view of greenery as far as the eye can see (not far). Sixth Floor: Main Area The Meditation Room (yo dawg) A workshop for the rugged outdoorsman, with a beautiful view of tainted industrial civilization Personal library, inspired by (and poorly imitating) the Duke's Archives in Dark Souls The library also has a storage attic for excess books but what is thOH MY GOD A more current shot of the tree, with the workshop and library sticking out Now all I have to do is finish the master bedroom and 'bathroom' and then it'll be complete! This is about the only worthwhile thing I've done in Minecraft.

Compliments of Zdzisław Beksiński. http://i.imgur.com/FGQHF.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FcyJ8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TbjIe.jpg http://i.imgur.com/yymxZ.jpg

Epicenter was in, what, Mineral VA? That's less than 100 miles from Arlington. I bet John F. Kennedy was rolling in his grave. We felt it pretty good in Landover, MD. I stared up for 30 seconds and made sure nothing was coming down on my head, and that was about it. Far more entertaining to me than the baby's-first-earthquake stories of people running out of buildings were first timers who were -already- outside, and thought they were suffering from a stroke/seizure.

Popping in briefly to haunt your dreams: http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8422/whod.png

Thanks for the tip! Thanks to you I wasn't afraid to commit myself to a little more involved sprite! So, Here's one more I did before bed! Here's the side-by-side comparison: (Anyone notice my desktop image? Eh? eh?)

I haven't played much outside of Survival mode, that's the first time I messed with any other modes since it has colored cloth. Is there a way to make your own password-protected server or something? I would love to make a bunch of sprites without worrying about griefers coming in and messing everything up.

I'm proud of my first attempt at sprite art! Hopefully they'll put colored cloth in survival soon so I can do this stuff in singleplayer! Then I'll be able to start taking requests!

A bunch of us on a forum I frequent are getting together to boatmurder a Minecraft savegame. It'll be interesting to see if anything really good comes out of it or if we just completely ravage a square mile of land.

Whoa whoa whoa, slow your roll there, champ. Where did I claim that was mine? My stuff is waaaaay less awesome. I was just showing (what is probably) my favorite Minecraft picture! I'm currently trying to make a small village in a snow valley right now, but a lot of trees are dying for the log cabins.

I love Minecraft

Well, it is certainly a matter of opinion whether or not it is still 'easy' to play with a classic 360 D-Pad. However, from a strictly design/implementation standpoint, it is inferior to a classic D-Pad, in that it requires more precision in the button press. The 360 D-Pad is a solid disc, as opposed to separate buttons or a strict shape cross shape. What this means is that for the pressure points for the u/d/l/r inputs under the disc, if you want to input a 'diagonal', you would just press a different part of the disc, as opposed to two different buttons at once. The question becomes, at what point is the pressure on the disc going to affect more than one input? One article ('study'?) I read years ago on the subject found that, at the minimum force to register an input, only an estimated 12-15 degree deviation in either direction will hit a second input. In other words, 2/3 of the D-pad disc registers a diagonal, meaning it's 'harder' to hit a single direction than a diagonal. More force on the disc results in a smaller deviation required to register the second input, which explains why it's tougher to play fighter games or action platformers like Super Metroid in the heat of the moment! Add to that my own personal theory that the disc shape itself allows for inadvertent slight rolling of the pad, and you've got a tough situation, and an unforgiving 'D'-pad. Of course, you're welcome to call the article's exact findings bullshit (or maybe call me a bullshitter, since I can't find the article ), but the principle makes sense. When you have separate buttons for a D-Pad, or a stiff cross shape, accidentally hitting two directions at once becomes much less a problem.

Also, if you don't get a controller with built-in turbo, and you have problems getting the integrated turbo to work within an emulator (I have), might I remind you that xpadder xpadder xpadders the xpadder's xpadder. Basically, it's a bind-any-key-to-controller program with built-in turbo, toggle, multi-input functions. Great for binding those save/load states to the controller. Sorry, I'm not on the OCR scene as much as I used to, so forgive me if that program's common knowledge. It used to be free. Now it's 'not free'. ahem.

If you can get your hands on one of these, this is it for any emulation needs. It has the tight, comfortable analog sticks of the 360 controllers combined with a D-Pad that doesn't suck complete and utter ass like the classic 360 controllers; it also has built-in turbo. It only wouldn't be very good for Saturn emulation(?), but yeah. You get the idea. Nice pad. I recommend against getting a classic 360 pad if you're emulating NES/SNES. Better to get an adapter for a SNES controller or a PS2 controller instead.

Came here to say exactly this. I lost 50 obsidian last night and I'm still sore about it Still. Sandbox game is Actual Sandbox. Also I'm playing 3D Dot Game Heroes again, doing a and made a sample video while I learn my way around each of the dungeons!Next will be Demon's Souls again.

Love love love this game. It is, literally, the sole reason I bought a PS3. It isn't a story-driven game. What's there is pretty clear-cut though, it's not hard to understand. The music only exists in town and during boss fights. I find that to the game's credit; it creates a unique tension within levels when you're fighting difficult battles and there's no music. Think the LotR trilogy: thematic music as the hordes of troops charge at each other, right up until the point they collide, then the music stops. It also makes the music for the boss fights more meaningful and dramatic. Each boss also has their own music, seemingly crafted with the specific fight in mind. There is no stupid dialogue, except maybe a line or two by the Maiden in Black in town. Any dialogue at all, and any cutscene (with the exception of one) is skippable, in case you've played through it before. I will be posting some gameplay videos to my youtube channel soon, featuring some pvp, a new game+ speedrun, and all the boss fights done at level 1!

EPILOGUE: Assume it would take average 60 seconds per suicide/level completion, and 4 seconds per slot machine roll. At the given rates, it would take 2,777,841,450,626,986,826,572 seconds to reach the max. That's about 88,026,363,867,855 years and 5 months. Trillion years, with a T. If you wanted to get the maximum number of lives, and then blow them all at 1 life per second, it would take over 102 trillion years.

The game doesn't wrap the lives around. I remember hearing that SMB1 does that but haven't checked... I have, however, checked SMB2, and it just stays at 255 until you lose a life. Extra lives do nothing.

Yeah, I did mention the 255/256 thing early on there before the math assault commenced! Uh, I have no idea how long it would take. I could calculate it, but it would all rest on estimates of time spent doing things (say, average one minute per death/run through level, four seconds per slot machine roll, etc). Maybe I'll get back to you on that. It absolutely is! You can actually cheese the slot machine by timing it correctly, although it takes some practice. The game only has two 'digits' to display the number of lives you have as well, but it doesn't use hex digits to display your lives. So it counts 00-99, then it goes A0-A9, B0-B9, etc. The 'number' it maxxes out on is P4, or 255.

I know the numbers are big but it was just a little bit of basic calculator work and some critical thinking, it wasn't a month-long project or anything But no, no summer classes. Done with college.

This was a fun bit of math/theory that I worked through on another forum. Figured it may be relevant to your interests. Super Mario Brothers 2 had an interesting extra lives system. There were a few one-ups scattered throughout the levels, that you could only collect once per game. The MAIN way for getting extra lives was in the shadow world system. There were hidden potions that made a door to take you to the shadow world for a few seconds; you could put them near leaves, and the leaves in the shadow world, when pulled up, yielded coins that could be used in a slot machine at the end of each level. One coin = one slot pull, and you could get a 1-up (match 3 in a row or get a cherry in the first slot), a 2-up (get 2 cherries in the first 2 slots), or a 5-up (get 3 cherries in a row). As it turns out, the game itself limits your lives at 255, where gaining any more lives doesn't affect the counter. But the question was asked: if there was no limit to the amount of coins or lives you could collect, how many lives could you get in a playthrough? The answer was a bit larger than expected. Some information to help understand the computations: -The shadow world is shaped exactly the same as the regular world, except flipped horizontally. The screen is fixed where you enter the shadow world, and doesn't scroll. -You get two visits to the shadow world per level, with a short time limit each time. After the second visit, the leaves in the shadow world no longer give coins. -If you manage to suicide while in the shadow world, it doesn't count as one of the two visits. No enemies in the shadow world, so you have to find a hole. -Each coin has a potential for 5 lives (matching 3 cherries at the end of the level). Alright, here comes the new games theory. (Click each level number for a map!) 1-1 start: 3 lives, Play as Toad -Grab 1-up: 4 lives -Grab first potion, run to section A -(3x)Drop potion at top of section A, grab 4 coins, suicide: 1 life, 12 coins -Grab first potion, run to section B -High-jump off hopping enemy at peak of its jump -Drop potion, grab 8 coins: 1 life, 20 coins -Go in door to left of section B and come back out -Grab first potion, run to section B -High-jump off hopping enemy at peak of its jump -Drop potion, grab 8 coins: 1 life, 28 coins Complete level: 141 lives (1 base, + 28 coins x 5up) 1-2 start: 141 lives, Play as Toad -Grab 1-up: 142 lives -Run to section A -(141x) Grab potion left of section A, drop directly above exit door, grab s7 coins, suicide: 1 life, 980 coins NOTE: If the potion is dropped any further to the right, you can't suicide. -Grab potion left of section A, drop between leaves, grab 9 coins: 1 life, 989 coins -Go in exit door and come back out -Grab potion left of section A, drop between leaves, grab 9 coins: 1 life, 998 coins Complete level: 4,991 lives (1 base, + 998 coins x 5up) 1-3 start: 4,991 lives, Play as Toad -Grab first potion, run to section A -(4,990x)Drop potion next to leaves, grab 5 coins, suicide: 1 life, 24,950 coins -Grab first potion, run to section A, drop potion next to leaves, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 24,955 coins -Run to entrance door to right of section A and come back out -Grab section potion, run to section A, drop potion next to leaves, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 24,960 coins Complete level: 124,801 lives (1 base, + 24,960 coins x 5up) 2-1 start: 124,801 lives, Play as Toad -Grab potion, drop next to leaves, grab 3 coins: 124,801 lives, 3 coins -Go down pipe and come back up -Grab potion, drop next to leaves, grab 3 coins: 124,801 lives, 6 coins Complete level: 124,831 lives (124,801 base, + 6 coins x 5up) 2-2 start: 124,831 lives, Play as Toad -Grab 1-up: 124,832 lives -Head left of 1-up to section A -(124,831x) Grab and drop potion, grab four coins, suicide: 1 life, 499,324 coins -Head to section A, grab and drop potion, grab four coins: 1 life, 499,328 coins -Leave through door and come back in -Head to section A, grab and drop potion, grab four coins: 1 life, 499,332 coins Complete level: 2,496,661 lives (1 base, + 499,332 coins x 5up) 2-3 start: 2,496,661 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A, grab potion -(2,496,660x) Drop potion two steps left of leftmost leaf, grab 3 coins, climb to bottom of ladder and fall off left to suicide: 1 life, 7,489,980 coins NOTE: it is impossible to collect the 4th coin in this section. If potion is dropped any further right, you can't climb down the ladder. -Go to section B -Grab and drop potion, grab 8 coins: 1 life, 7,489,988 coins -Go out exit door and come back in -Grab and drop potion, grab 8 coins: 1 life, 7,489,996 coins Complete level: 37,449,981 lives (1 base, + 7,489,996 coins x 5up) 3-1 start: 37,449,981 lives, Play as Toad -Grab first potion, go to section A -(37,449,980x) Drop potion 3 steps left of the leaf next to the top of the ladder, grab 3 coins, suicide: 1 life, 112,349,940 coins NOTE: almost impossible to do. Dropping potion any further to the right and you can't suicide. Success requires sliding off left side of ladder to freefall, getting bottom-left coin immediately (it can be finicky), and walljumping back up the ladder precisely. -Go to section B -Grab potion, drop one step to the left, grab 12 coins: 1 life, 112,349,952 coins NOTE: even with Toad, it is impossible to grab more than 12 coins within the time limit. -Exit the left door and go back in -Grab potion, drop one step to the left, grab 12 coins: 1 life, 112,349,964 coins Complete level: 561,749,821 lives (1 base, + 112,349,964 coins x 5up) 3-2 start: 561,749,821 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A, Grab and drop potion, grab 4 coins: 561,749,821 lives, 4 coins -Die to enemies: 561,749,820 lives, 4 coins -Go to section A, Grab and drop potion, grab 4 coins: 561,749,820 lives, 8 coins Complete level: 561,749,860 lives (561,749,820 base + 8 coins x 5up) NOTE: while it looks like you may be able to get the second potion to a cliff, you can't climb or drop down the ladder, so you are blocked in. 3-3 start: 561,749,860 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A, Grab and drop potion, grab 3 coins: 561,749,860 lives, 3 coins -Go through left door and come back out -Go to section A, Grab and drop potion, grab 3 coins: 561,749,860 lives, 6 coins Complete level: 561,749,890 lives (561,749,860 base + 6 coins x 5up) 4-1 start: 561,749,890 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section B, grab potion -Go to section A -(561,749,889x) Drop to left of leaves, grab 6 coins, suicide: 1 life, 3,370,499,334 coins NOTE: tough, but possible -Go to section B, grab potion -Go to section A -Drop to left of leaves, grab 6 coins: 1 life, 3,370,499,340 coins -Grab and drop other potion, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 3,370,499,345 coins Complete level: 16,852,496,726 lives (1 base, + 3,370,499,345 coins x 5up) 4-2 start: 16,852,496,726 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A, grab potion -Go to section B -(16,852,496,725x) Drop potion on middle platform on the rightmost leaf, grab 7 coins, suicide: 1 life, 117,967,477,075 coins NOTE: tough, but possible -Go to section A, grab potion -Go to section B -Drop potion on middle platform, grab 7 coins: 1 life, 117,967,477,082 coins -Go left to door next to section A, enter and come back -Go to section A, grab potion -Go to section B -Drop potion on middle platform, grab 7 coins: 1 life, 117,967,477,089 coins Complete level: 589,837,385,446 lives (1 base, + 117,967,477,089 coins x 5up) 4-3 start: 589,837,385,446 lives, Play as Toad -Grab potion, ride egg to section A -(589,837,385,445x) Drop potion on topleft ledge, grab 6 coins, suicide: 1 life, 3,539,024,312,670 coins -Grab and drop potion, grab 2 coins: 1 life, 3,539,024,312,672 coins -Go in door and back out -Grab potion, ride egg to section A, drop and grab 6 coins: 1 life, 3,539,024,312,678 coins Complete level: 17,695,121,563,391 lives (1 base, + 3,539,024,312,678 coins x 5up) 5-1 start: 17,695,121,563,391 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section B, grab 1-up, grab potion: 17,695,121,563,392 lives -Go to section A NOTE: yes, it's possible. -(17,695,121,563,391x) Drop potion, grab 7 coins, suicide: 1 life, 123,865,850,943,737 coins -Go to section B, grab potion, go to section A -Drop potion, grab 7 coins: 1 life, 123,865,850,943,744 coins -Go through door to left and come back in -Go to section B, grab potion, go to section A -Drop potion, grab 7 coins: 1 life, 123,865,850,943,751 coins Complete level: 619,329,254,718,756 lives (1 base, + 123,865,850,943,751 coins x 5up) 5-2 start: 619,329,254,718,756 lives, Play as Luigi -Go to section A -(619,329,254,718,755x) Grab potion, drop on top of pipe, grab 4 coins, suicide: 1 life, 2,477,317,018,875,020 coins -Go to section A, grab potion -Go to section B, drop potion, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 2,477,317,018,875,025 coins -Go to section A, grab potion -Go to section B, drop potion, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 2,477,317,018,875,030 coins Complete level: 12,386,585,094,375,151 lives (1 base, + 2,477,317,018,875,030 coins x 5up) 5-3 start: 12,386,585,094,375,151 lives, Play as Luigi -Go to section B, grab potion -High-jump to section A -(12,386,585,094,375,150x) Drop potion on pipe, grab 3 coins, suicide: 1 life, 37,159,755,283,125,450 coins -Go to section B, grab potion -Go to section C, drop potion, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 37,159,755,283,125,455 coins -Go to section A, go down ladder and back up -Go to section B, grab potion -Go to section C, drop potion, grab 5 coins: 1 life, 37,159,755,283,125,460 coins Complete level: 185,798,776,415,627,301 lives (1 base, + 37,159,755,283,125,460 coins x 5up) 6-1 start: 185,798,776,415,627,301 lives, Play as Toad -Grab potion, go to section A -Drop potion, grab 4 coins: 185,798,776,415,627,301 lives, 4 coins -Grab potion, go to section A -Drop potion, grab 4 coins: 185,798,776,415,627,301 lives, 8 coins -Grab 1-up: 185,798,776,415,627,302 lives, 8 coins Complete level: 185,798,776,415,627,342 lives (185,798,776,415,627,302 base, + 8 coins x 5up) 6-2 start: 185,798,776,415,627,342 lives -Grab potion -(185,798,776,415,627,341x) Drop potion, grab 1 coin, suicide: 1 life, 185,798,776,415,627,341 coins -Grab and drop potion, grab 1 coin: 1 life, 185,798,776,415,627,342 coins -Go back to beginning door, go in and come back out -Grab and drop potion, grab 1 coin: 1 life, 185,798,776,415,627,343 coins Complete level: 928,993,882,078,136,716 lives (1 base, + 195,798,776,415,627,343 coins x 5up) 6-3 start: 928,993,882,078,136,716 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A -Bomb-clear a path from the top so that there is a path between the two leaves and the six leaves -(928,993,882,078,136,715x) Grab potion, drop at bottom between leaves, grab 8 coins (and mushroom first time), suicide: 1 life, 7,431,951,056,625,093,720 coins -Bomb-clear a path from the top so that there is a path between the two leaves and the six leaves -Grab potion, drop one step left from the lone, topmost leaf, grab 9 coins: 1 life, 7,431,951,056,625,093,729 coins NOTE: There is barely enough time to get all 9 coins, with only a few frames to spare. If you didn't grab the mushroom, it gets in the way of the 9th coin. -Go to the vine on the right, climb up and back down -Bomb-clear a path from the top so that there is a path between the two leaves and the six leaves -Grab potion, drop one step left from the lone, topmost leaf, grab 9 coins: 1 life, 7,431,951,056,625,093,738 coins Complete level: 37,159,755,283,125,468,691 lives (1 base, + 7,431,951,056,625,093,738 coins x 5up) 7-1 start: 37,159,755,283,125,468,691 lives, Play as Toad -Go to section A -(37,159,755,283,125,468,690x) Grab potion, drop in middle of leaves, grab 3 coins, suicide: 1 life, 111,479,265,849,376,406,073 coins -Go to section B -Grab and drop potion, grab 6 coins: 1 life, 111,479,265,849,376,406,079 coins -Go out the door and back in -Grab and drop potion, grab 6 coins: 1 life, 111,479,265,849,376,406,085 coins Complete level: 557,396,329,246,882,030,426 lives (1 base, + 111,479,265,849,376,406,085 coins x 5up) 7-2: No extra lives, no bonus round at end of level Total possible lives: 557,396,329,246,882,030,426 Put in perspective, if you got to 7-2 with this many lives, and then lost a life every second since the Big Bang, as of today you would be just shy of 1/1,000th the way to a game over.

Funny you should mention that, because on Schnab's video 'Boom Skiggy', Ronald Jenkees actually stumbled upon it himself and commented on it. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKOsBM_P5dY

I do remember this the last time it came around on the forums. It's really neat. I bet the whispering woman has a great ass. I couldn't find anything else on the technology, only some old talk about hearing aids. So, I don't know of the possibility for widespread applications. It'll probably stay pretty unknown for the time being, since we haven't heard about it in a year and a half. On a side note, that guy's page has a lot of cool shit on it. Here's a video about some guy creating a piece of hardware that lets you interact digitally in the real world: http://www.sajithmr.me/augmented-reality-6th-sense-amazing-video/

Given the inclusion of roughly 1/3 of that list, you almost have to include Ergheiz. *shudder*