Ross Scott

April 2021 videochat with fans. Apologies for the huge delays on videos, should break the streak soon! Relatively normal chat, made me aware I apparently should document all the videogame worlds I've seen better. Also, help Curtis from Phantasmagoria 2 get seen! More info in the Youtube description. This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Ask questions or topics to discuss here for the next videochat with fans at 5:00pm UTC on April 3rd at twitch.tv/rossbroadcast. Sorry again about the delays, though it's not as bad as it looks. Due to more people helping, some of the videos are taking longer to make, but I'm moving ahead anyway. As of right now, there are currently four videos underway. It should all work itself out in time! Expect something in April! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

March videochat with fans. This one was less of a screwup than the last few, also that damn clicking sound seems to be fixed. Videos are running behind, but being worked on! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Ask questions or topics to discuss here for the next videochat with fans at 6:00pm UTC on March 6th at twitch.tv/rossbroadcast. Both new Freeman's Mind and Game Dungeon episodes are partially completed! There are longer than usual delays since I've been revamping my process and working with more people, but I think it will lead to more total videos happening this year. Also I think I've solved the damn clicking sound from past videochats! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Guys, I haven't been reading this thread, but I'm getting a lot of reports from it lately. I made rules back in the mid-2000s and they still apply. In general, just act like adults and be civil, even if you have disagreements. Also, I advise treading carefully on topics that are often associated with what the Supreme Court would consider hate speech. I'm not seeking to censor people, but I don't want that sort of discussion dominating the forums either. I'll take the blame if that cramps peoples' style. I don't monitor the forums very much, I'm too busy working on the videos. I'm sure some people have been causing more trouble than others, but just try to be mature about it if so. I consider the protagonist from the movie Road House as a great role model for how to conduct yourself. I suggest people watch this scene: The movie Road House kicks ass in general. Really, I recommend everyone just watch Road House. That is all. Ross

February 2021 videochat with fans. This one might be the worst one again. I lost my voice at one point and that damn clicking sound came back. My thought process was more jumbled than usual too, I felt legitimately insane after recording this. You probably shouldn't watch this. This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Ask questions or topics to discuss here for the next videochat with fans on 6:00pm UTC on February 7th at twitch.tv/rossbroadcast. More Freeman's Mind and Game Dungeon coming! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

The scope of what I'm looking for is too large for me to be pushing it in any one direction beyond tool development. What you're talking about would be best if I wanted a specific game world converted, not hundreds / thousands. My video is intentionally more broad, to try and ignite interest in this, so that as advancements are made on this front in software, people who saw the video can keep this kind of application in mind in the future and get incentivized to make it happen for games they might be interested and hopefully leading to more worlds being explorable. Additionally, I wouldn't rely on the transformative work defense for distributing these. While it's possible that could hold up in court, most people wouldn't have the resources to defend against that sort of thing, so it would likely have to be semi-underground. I think you're underestimating the lengths fans are willing to go to in order to "survey" the game world. I personally would go through some games to get them converted, or at least some levels (I'd love to have Blood Omen 2 converted for example). Additionally, if someone went through, but missed a few nooks and crannies, if the information was public, someone else could fill those in. That was kind of the point of the articles I mentioned, people have spent 10 years recreating middle earth, I think others might be willing to really do the legwork on converting the games if they had the right tools and it was well known what to do. For something like an enormous driving game, you would need smarter tools so only SOME areas need to be gone through at fine detail, then have an additional AI to look for pattern recognition. If you have a game with a hundred miles of road, the road texture is going to be repeated an immense amount of times, you would need an AI anticipating that. Same goes for other props like trees, houses, powerlines, etc. that are all being re-used. You would need the AI aggressively guessing what is a duplicate of existing assets.

This one is on me though, I explained this part poorly. I left a pinned comment to clear it up. Basically, he would be right if that's what I was advocating, but I'm not, but i could easily see where people thought that. I generally just assumed this method would be a never-ending hell with standards changing all the time, encrypted files, and only the most popular games getting support. Even games that use the same engine can have massive compatibility differences. A ripping-solution from the output would be something that would only get refined over time and not have to keep reinventing the wheel, but I'm happy for whatever gets us more worlds.

Yeah, this is NOT going to do much for purists, that's why I added the "v. nothing" example in the video. As for every vehicle, you almost just need a driving games that highly open to modding that a lot of fans coalesce around. No publisher is going to get the rights to show all vehicles, but you could have fans creating mods for tons of different ones.

This sounds like one of those comments someone makes before they finish the video.

Here's my dream software video! This is an idea that's been rattling around in my head a long time. This is territory where science-fiction could be bleeding into reality, so I want to give it a push in slipping through. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this eventually leads to something, but I at least have some closure from making this. Returning to normal videos after I have a short break! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Yes, don't even worry about that. Everything ELSE would be at risk before the movie would be. I'd be making the movie even if I didn't have a Youtube career. Accounting is basically my least favorite topic in the world, so here are some quick adjustments: -I'm set for more than a few months, but I have an ongoing concern the longer a lull there is, the harder it would be for me to bounce BACK after a few months with low output. Think of it like going uphill on ice. If you're moving forward, you're fine. If you're slowing down too much, you're in trouble. Seeing my income cut in half TWICE on Youtube in the span of a couple months in the past has definitely left an impression, plus I've heard lots of stories of people not being able to bounce back if they slow down for a while, though I probably have more resilience for that sort of thing. It's like playing a game in hardcore mode; you can be more cautious than you need to, since you don't know exactly how close you can cut it. -It's only this year that number has been so high, and even then, it scaled more towards the end of year as I was crunching. In other words, if I work non-stop, things tend to be great financially. If I slow down to a comfortable pace, it can make me concerned. There hasn't been a lot of in-between! -The $2 CPM is also very recent and can vary a lot, for most past years it's been more like $1, but it's definitely been higher this year. I still operate with a "Youtube giveth, Youtube taketh away" mentality and don't assume the higher CPM is permanent. -I support my wife in addition to myself, she hasn't been able to work for a while now due to her anxieties. -We have a 3 bedroom apartment actually since I work from home. One room for me, one for her, and a bedroom. Rental prices went through the roof in the past couple years, we're talking 20-30% increases year after year prior to the pandemic, it's been insane. It's still coming out cheaper than USA due to food prices and healthcare coverage, but there are less popular cities in USA that have about the same rent as I do. I don't know how the hell Polish people make it on average wages. Finding a place with enough noise isolation for recording can be hell too, I got very lucky with this place, even if it is above average pricing compared to the past.

January 2021 videochat with fans. This turned into a wreck, my brain was mush, OBS dropped a bunch of frames for some reason, I accidentally cropped the chat, and twitch broke by the end. We had some interesting questions though. New video coming in a few days! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »

Have some SiN! This is the last Game Dungeon for the year, there's a high chance of it mutating after this, but I think probably in a good way. This is a game I definitely like, but it's one with a bunch of qualifiers too. Video contains a bonus! New video coming soon! This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »