Videochat November 2017

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November videochat with fans after a 2 month hiatus. I'm mostly just rambling again, you're not missing anything too important. Besides the game session with fans this month, I'll also be appearing on a 24 hour livestream Tom White from the channel Weird Video Games will be having for a charity drive. I'll be appearing at 2AM EST on November 18th on twitch.tv/heisanevilgenius. You can see promotional video on that

COMMENTS

It's a shame that most people would prefer Freeman above everything else. It's still quality work, but I hope it doesn't go the way of contemporary AVGN, where James I just phones it in for the anchor fans.

Still, RLM managed to diversify, and Ross and just as resourceful. He'll probably avoid slow death.

I don't like the new naming convention, but I get why you're doing it. Please do switch from parentheses to a hyphen or pipe. Ross's Game Dungeon is not some kind of (by the way).

For the dam jump, it really doesn’t look any worse than the elevator shaft jump in the first one. But if you need some ideas to justify it:

-Freeman finds a medkit lying around and decides to “be a hero” again.

-Debris from the helicopter crashing down knocks him in the head, and the concussion temporarily affects his judgment.

-Assuming its the drop off from the dam that would make him not want to do it, have him not notice it because he’s preoccupied with one of his thoughts.

-Have him refuse to do the jump and say there must be another way; cut to a “one day later” title card; Freeman still refuses to do the jump, but he starting to get hungry and delirious; another title card; he decides to do it lest he starve.

-Mod the game somehow so the jump just becomes a ramp.

-End the episode with him refusing to do the jump; begin the next episode with him already in the next level, complementing himself on his brilliance at getting the boat down from that dam without making the suicidal jump, not explaining how he did it.

-In the warehouse by the dam, Freeman overhears familiar Combine officer (Mike) over the video phone thing saying there’s no need to worry about Freeman because even if he takes out the chopper, he is probably too much of a pussy to make that jump; so of course Freeman has to do it now,

I've got some more ideas on the dam jump scene as well.

For pretty much all of the first game, Freeman is searching for a vehicle so he can finally get out of Black Mesa. Finally, in HL2, he has one (and it's got a stylish machine gun on it too!). And since he's just taken down a chopper, he should be totally in love with the airboat by now, and should be very unhappy to give it up.

From his perspective, the airboat is the only way out of here. If more choppers show up, there's no way he can outrun them, and climbing and swimming through marshes like he's been going though is very slow going on foot, the combine would have plenty of time to catch him. His best chance to get away is to try and get the airboat into some open river or even out to the sea so he can try and get out of the country (he doesn't know they've taken over the world). In this case, jumping over a dam doesn't seem like such a crazy idea. The dam isn't very tall, and he's done some jumps before. The water is pretty deep, so it probably won't kill him if he screws it up. I can see him going for it.

And then raging like crazy when a whole 1000 ft away is another block he can't get around and he has to get off on foot

Just a thought, is there any absolute reason he needs to jump the dam at all? I don't recall how tall it was, or what the surrounding were like, but maybe he could just climb down and leave the boat. Maybe find a "rope" or something.

Now we just need justification for him to go through all that effort...

Freeman starts feeling terrible motion sickness. (Which that hateful damn airboat caused me plenty of.) He finds some pills labeled "Dramamine" in secret compartment. He is wants to get one working as fast as possible in case he needs to aim at something and crushes it. Feels rush of euphoria and experiences feelings of invincibility.

End the episode with him refusing to do the jump; begin the next episode with him already in the next level, complementing himself on his brilliance at getting the boat down from that dam without making the suicidal jump, not explaining how he did it.

This is not Ross's style, more like Krim's.

In the warehouse by the dam, Freeman overhears familiar Combine officer (Mike) over the video phone thing saying there’s no need to worry about Freeman because even if he takes out the chopper, he is probably too much of a pussy to make that jump; so of course Freeman has to do it now,

Now this is actually a great idea.

Besides, it's not like Freeman didn't do some

I have an idea for the dam jump. Freeman ends up near the dam opening after bringing down the hunter chopper. The hunter chopper lands on one of the explosive barrels, creating an explosion that throws the airboat through the dam opening and through the loading screen. Perhaps the explosion could cut the screen to white and end the episode mid-sentence. "YES! It's down! I am a god amongst men! Oh, shit, I hope it doesn't land on that barrel. Oh shit, oh shit, OH SHI--"*BOOM!* Episode ends.

Next episode, Freeman wakes up floating in the airboat, on the other side of the dam near Black Mesa East, extremely angry at what just happened.

Just an idea.