September 1, 2010

A Crystalline Prophecy

Picking back up with the mini-expansions released last year, A Crystalline Prophecy brings the lore of Memoria de la Ŝtona full circle, re-uniting Aldo with his long lost sister when Vana'diel is faced with an other-worldly threat.

This video includes all the missions from the mini-expansion, including:

  • The Echo Awakens
  • Gatherer of Light
  • Those Who Lurk in Shadows
  • Remember Me in Your Dreams
  • Born of Her Nightmares
  • Banishing the Echo
  • Ode of Life Bestowing

 

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The final fight of this add-on was a real bitch for me, requiring numerous attempts with many different setups over the course of about a year. In the end, I think we won with only one person left alive at a couple hundred HP left. Many thanks to my comrades at Got Jugs for bringing these missions to a close.

Of course, even though I finished and recorded the cutscenes a couple of months ago, Veoh continues to be tempermental about accepting my large divx files. I finally lucked out with a random attempt to upload this week, so here you are.

As for the overall project and my playtime, I had a couple of months this summer where I got back in the swing of WotG, but my schedule caught up with me again, especially given the new job I started recently. My future play time is therefore in limbo, and my highest job is still only 76, but I am at least planning on spending some time this holiday weekend editing part three of the missions (#16-26) and trying to record parts three and four of the nation quests through Q11, which have all been completed except Bastok - What Price Loyalty. As for Shantotto, the final fight is every bit as annoying as ACP and I'm 0/3.

Oh, and in case ya'll are wondering, while I did reserve a blog space for FFXIV, I'm really not sure if that's gonna happen or not, especially with FFXI not even done, but you never know.

June 18, 2010

Wings of the Goddess - Part 2

These videos were recorded and prepared several months ago, but due to technical issues, I was unable to get them uploaded to Veoh. After some recent software updates, I am finally able to bring them to you. 

For full details on the cutscenes contained in these videos, please consult my original WotG post, which has been updated to reflect the new material. 





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As I've mentioned in several comment responses, the future of this project is currently in limbo due to ongoing real life issues over the past several months. Simply put, I'm not a kid with endless amounts of time to sink into MMORPGs. While I have recently reactivated my content IDs and have returned to FFXI, my schedule is more unpredictable than ever and I cannot make any definite commitments on future installments at this time. With new updates and level cap increases, there is so much happening in game that it's often difficult to simply try to find people willing to help me through the fights. My only request from my fans is that if you play on the Shiva server, or know others that do, {Help me out!}. The faster I can actually get through the missions, the quicker I get the scenes recorded and edited. I appreciate everyone's enthusiastic support for this project over the years and certainly hope I'll be able to bring you more in the months ahead.

January 24, 2010

A Moogle Kupo d'Etat

One of the new experiments Square-Enix launched in 2009 was the release of three "add-on scenarios". Each one provides a compact story which offers a unique reward with customizable augments.

While released as the second of the three, the first one I've been able to complete is A Moogle Kupo d'Etat - Evil in Small Doses. While certainly nothing as epic as the true expansions, these missions feature a light-hearted take on our sometimes overlooked mog house pals.

This video includes all the missions from the mini-expansion, including:

  • Drenched! It Began with a Raindrop
  • Hasten! In a Jam in Jeuno?
  • Welcome! To My Decrepit Domicile
  • Curses! A Horrifically Harrowing Hex
  • An Errand! The Professor's Price
  • Shock! Arrant Abuse of Authority
  • Lender Beware! Read the Fine Print
  • Rescue! A Moogle's Labor of Love
  • Roar! A Cat Burglar Bares Her Fangs
  • Relief! A Triumphant Return
  • Joy! Summoned to a Fabulous Fete
  • A Challenge! You Could Be a Winner
  • Smash! A Malevolent Menace

 

A note about this video: this is my first using the new hardware and software. I'm still trying to find the best balance between quality and file-size, so I'm especially interested in feedback along these lines.

Also, FYI, I haven't been able to finish the other two add-ons yet, so I don't know when I'll be able to post those.

January 18, 2010

Videos now on Veoh

All right, it took a month, but all of my videos are finally fully uploaded on Veoh now. A couple of notes about the new host:

1. For videos longer than 30 minutes, if you want to watch the full video rather than just a 5 minute preview, you need download/install the Veoh Web Player. There is a link over on the right side of my blog, or you can let the website prompt you.

2. Full-screen viewing using Veoh's built-in viewers will display in lower quality than the original movies. For best results, I recommend downloading the entire videos using the Web Player, then opening up the downloaded file using Windows Media Player, DivX Player, or some other viewer. Since the videos are all .divx files, you'll need the DivX codec. There is a link on the right of this page to download the codec if you don't already have it.

3. If you are trying to view the videos using the embedded viewer on this blog, and it won't work, there is a link directly below each video for where you can go to view/download directly on the Veoh website. I am not sure why the embedded viewers seem to work on some computers / browsers and not on others.

4. In the future (no definite ETA on this yet), I may be adding additional host sites where you can go to download the videos. I'll add these locations directly below the embedded players.

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As for new installments of the videos, I did start recording some new cutscenes. Unfortunately, I've discovered that my current editing software, DivX Author, will not work correctly on a 64-bit operating system. This means I will either have to use an older, less powerful machine to do my encoding/publishing, or I'm going to need to find a new program. Since part of the reason I just invested so much in my new computer (i7 processor, 6 GB RAM, GeForce GTS 250 gpu) was to speed up the editing/publishing of my videos, I don't want to resort to the first option. Right now I'm in the process of evaluating Pinnacle Studio 14, and I'm hopeful that will be the right solution. If anyone would like to suggest some other software that's not terribly expensive (preferably around $50, definitely not more than $100), please feel free to comment. As an FYI, Windows Movie maker severely restricts the output quality so that's not an option. Also, I tried using VirtualDub in the past and could never really figure it out :/

Until then, thank you everyone for your support. I'm hoping to bring you some new material soon.