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Flashback: Friday the 13th: “Playhouse” - 1989

This is a show that I remember from my childhood. It was just so weird that it stuck in my memory after all these decades. Took me a while to find it (30plus year old vague memories), but finally have on YouTube. I remember being super young when I saw it, but I thought it was around 1992, but it turns out that it aired in 1989, when I was 5. And was from a tv series called “Friday the the 13th” which ran from 1987-1990. The story is about these two neglected kids, who keep sacrificing other neighborhood kids to the playhouse in order to play in it and escape their abusive reality. I am currently watching it for the first time in decades. First thing that I noticed was that the kids were able to go play around the neighborhood by themselves.  This is pretty much what we all did back in the day: just ran around outside all day. Nowadays kids are overly sheltered, which is sad. Here is the video, it’s old so very low resolution and quality, but still watchable and it may bring back some memories for others who remember it as well:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkEn2KJoNa8
Josh

Trick: Play Red Dead Online in a solo/private session

Disclaimer: This is an alteration of the files, you may get a ban. use at own risk! Read More Below! edit: This only works on the PC version. This is a trick that was accidentally discovered, that allows you to play Red Dead Online in private/solo sessions, or even with friends. The trick was found using the Legal Screen Skip mod, which pretty much just removes all the legal warning screens after you launch Red Dead Redemption 2. It turns out, that if you edit one of the files and add random characters or spaces to the ending, it messes with the md5 hash, which leads the game to thinking you have a different version, and will only match you with people who have that same version. You will only be able to play with friends if they have the SAME EXACT text, spaces, line breaks in the file, even one tiny space will change the md5 hash, and tell the game its a different version. I've been using this method for around a month now to play the game, and it works perfectly. I didn't want to write about it until now, because I wanted to see if a ban would happen, so far, no ban. There are people who have been playing using this method for 5+ months, and they have not been banned. This could be because all it does is alter what loads when the game is launched, in this case, the legal screen trigger, it doesn't load anything else, and even itself doesn't actually get loaded, It's not a real mod, but simply just a tiny file edit. But again, use at your own risk. Here is a video someone made that will explain to you how to apply the mod. This is not my video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_lPsAj5irM How to apply: Download from Nexus Mods. Use Manual Download, and then select free download. Only takes a few seconds. https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/28 Extract files, go into x64 folder, then data, open 'startup.meta' in notepad, or your preferred text editor. Add whatever you want to the bottom of the file after the '</CDataFileMgr__ContentsOfDataFileXml>'. This is will be what generates the new md5 hash, tricking the game into thinking you have a different version. Save the file.Mine looks like: Remember, if you wish to play with friends, you'll have to have the EXACT same file edits. Copy and paste the x64 folder into your Red Dead Redemption 2 folder. You can find out where this is by opening Rockstar launcher, go to settings, then click on Red Dead Redemption 2 on the left side, and then select OPEN on "view installation folder. It'll will pop up "replace folder" check yes. This mod doesn't replace any files, but the folder names are the same. That's it! If you done it right, you should be all alone in Red Dead Online. No hackers, no greifers, just you, and whoever you wish to play with. The game will also work as intended, as you might remember, a few months ago Rockstar purposely limited players in a session, and the game worked so much better, random missions and events actually spawned, and so on. This restores that. I am constantly getting random missions again, and I pretty much just ignore them because I'm sick of doing them over and over again. Being able to play without Chinese hackers is great though. To remove this edit, just simply delete the two files, and you'll be able to join regular servers filled with players, and cheaters. [caption id="attachment_10001618" align="aligncenter" width="768"] I'm a loner, and a loners gotta be alone![/caption]
Josh

Free Game: STAR WARS Battlefront II: Celebration Edition (expired)

Epic games is having another free game giveaway, this time its actually a very good game: Star Wars Battlefront 2. The free giveaway ends on 1/21/2021, so make you at least log in on Epic games and claim it. This game does require EA Play client, which is lame, you'll be having to run both Epic Launcher and it, but its free. https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/star-wars-battlefront-2/home
Josh

How to add websites to iPhone home screen to fight app censorship

Currently the tech giants are purging alot of speech from their platforms, which includes both users and apps. Apple has threatened to remove the Parler app from it's App store unless it takes unreasonable, unfair, and silly measures to stunt Free Speech on it's network, which Parler's CEO says they'll never do. If the current censorship trend continues, Parler will be banned as soon as tomorrow. But there is great news! Even without the actual App, You can still access and use Parler, or any other app that has an equivalently functioning website by simply adding the website to your Home Screen. Here's how to do it: Launch Safari (Web Browser). Navigate to Parler.com Click the share icon in the bottom toolbar Scroll down to "Add To Home Screen" Walla! Now goto your Home Screen, and you should see the Parler icon, click it, and it'll open the website just as if it was an APP. If you're using a Google Android device, you should be able to download the app directly from the website and install it, if not, I'm sure they have a similar working method.
Josh

Rockstar making Red Dead Online Standalone, and Changing Daily Challenges

I know I know, another Red Dead Online post, but it's my favorite game, and not much else is going on other than political stuff and Coronavirus. Rockstar has announced some changes in the past week or two, which could be bad, or good, and i'm not overly optimistic of them, due to Rockstar's past. The first change Rockstar announced is that Red Dead Online is going to become a standalone game, which will become available December 1st (tomorrow) for the very low introductory price of $4.99, until February 15th, 2021, then it'll be priced at $20 thereafter, an obvious change to increase the player base in RDO. You can read more about the announcement on the Official Red Dead Online Newswire. This is worrisome to me, because my main problem with this game, especially on PC, are the cheaters/modders/hackers, which Rockstar apparently doesn't care about. The modders/cheaters have been horrible on Grand Theft Auto: Online, which is why I quit playing it years ago, and still today Rockstar hasn't implemented any proper anti-cheat. The low price of $5 seems like it'd be worth it for some to risk cheating and getting banned (if they ever even do get banned in the first place). So that's scary. To be optimistic, we'd have to assume this change means Rockstar is going to finally put some attention into the game, and perhaps finally implement a proper anti-cheat, or even allow us to have private/solo sessions as we can in GTA:O, which might happen, if you remember a month or two ago, we had small/private like sessions which lasted for a couple of months. [caption id="attachment_10001359" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Loading Screen Announcement Regarding Changes to Daily Challenges[/caption] The other change Rockstar announced involves Daily Challenges. Currently, you get more gold based on the time of your daily challenge streak, for example: starters you'll earn .20 gold per daily challenge completed, after 7 days you'll get .3, .4 after 14 days, and .50 after 21 days, which will continue until you miss a day, so if you complete 14 challenges a day, that's 7 gold earned in just that one day, which can add up pretty quickly. The new change will end the streak at day 28, and reset back to 0, so you'll be earning .20 gold again. It's obvious why Rockstar is making this change, right now the ingame economy is wrecked, I am already up to 299 gold, which 100 of it was made just in the past month or so, there are some die hard players who have thousands of gold, which is a problem for Rockstar because gold is the premium currency and is how Rockstar intends to make money off Red Dead Online. All the premium items and content such as roles cost gold, which Rockstar wants to sell to you for real cash, so players easily making hundreds of gold bars off of simple daily tasks is an issue for Rockstar. Rockstar is wanting to make money off all the new players who are going to be joining the game after the $5 standalone change, which does make sense. The problem is, most of us players who have been playing constantly for the last year (or two for those on console), have only been logging in every day to do the dailies. Whenever I got home from work, I told everyone that I had to do my chores real quick, which were a few dailies on Red Dead Online. I think my biggest streak was almost 200 days, but then I got drunk and forgot to do one, so it reset back to 0. Second time I had a huge streak going, it was ruined by Daylight Savings Time. I used to have until 1am to get a daily done, but Daylight Savings Time moved that time to 12am, so I missed it. Due to lack of any new in game content, doing dailies became the game to us, and our streak was our high score. Many RDO veterans are upset, and Rockstar is risking losing these players. [caption id="attachment_10001361" align="aligncenter" width="595"] 10 Daily Challenges done! 5 gold![/caption] So the change sucks for us who do dailies, but maybe it'll be better for the whole game from here on out. GTA:O gets a lot of new content because it makes money for Rockstar via Sharkcards (It's premium currency). It's obvious that Rockstar is wanting to start making money from Red Dead Online, and to do that they'd have to add a lot of content. [caption id="attachment_10001378" align="aligncenter" width="712"] Rockstar selling gold on their website[/caption] Once again, all the content in the world won't matter, if we can't play it due to cheaters/hackers/modders because of a lack of a proper anti cheat, or private/solo lobbies. I do like and feel relief from the idea of not caring to have to log in to do a daily, or else lose my daily streak! FREEDOM! These changes take effect tomorrow, December 1st.
Josh

Red Dead Online - Full Sessions back, Nothing really fixed!

I posted an article a little over a month ago about how Rockstar may finally be attempting to fix Red Dead Online, and the major clue on this were the sudden super small almost solo sessions. Now that appears to not be the case, starting last week just ahead of the Halloween Pass, the sessions were suddenly full again. Immediately cheaters were back in the game, I was immediately teleported to one several times, and also random missions and legendary animals were no longer spawning. I played for a full week without a single random mission spawning, while they were constantly and almost annoying spawning during the small sessions. Also, not a single legendary animal spawned during this time, however after a week, starting last night, I did have several random Revenue Agent missions spawn, 1 treasure map, and a legendary, so maybe they're resolving some bugs after a week? The cheaters are still there, while not as prevalent as before, and I'm not sure if this is because they haven't returned to the game, or maybe Rockstar fixed something? The weather and time hasn't been altered by the cheaters as it was before the small sessions, but I have been teleported to a cheater several times. I'm not sure if Rockstar actually fixed anything, or what the couple months of solo/small sessions were about since they've never publicly addressed it. Any improvement at all is small, and i'm not even sure if they improved anything or these were just random moments when they game decided to actually work properly, because over all, it's pretty much the same as it was before. I'm still keeping some hope in that they're still working on it, and only made the sessions full again in time for the Halloween event since the Halloween game mode needs other players, and after this event we'll get smaller sessions while they fix things. It is nice to see other players in the game before, but i'm not sure if the trade offs are worth it. The Halloween Pass was a pretty big snooze, which isn't really even worth writing about, but I do love the Bar decor! [caption id="attachment_10001303" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Rdo Halloween Bar Decor[/caption]
Josh

Free Game: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (expired)

Epic games is giving away another great game, and this week its RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition. I wrote a review about this game back in 2011, which you can read here: https://www.grunch.com/rollercoaster-tycoon-3-is-awesome/ It's a bit of an older game, but still looks nice, and super fun to play. The game is free for only a limited amount of time, which ends October 1st. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition
Your Park. Your Way
Whatever you want to create, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 gives you the tools and freedom to build the amusement park of your dreams. Manage like a tycoon and make your way to the top
Control park finances, shops, services and staff to succeed in dozens of scenarios. Become a true tycoon and embark on your promising new career, or create your ideal park without money woes in sandbox mode. Satisfy your guests’ needs and keep your park running smoothly to succeed. Get ready to get ‘Soaked!’ and venture into the ‘Wild!’
This complete edition includes all content from both Soaked! and Wild! expansion packs. Relish the added challenge of creating and managing exhilarating waterparks and spectacular animal habitats. Enhanced for PC
Play RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 in widescreen for the first time with full 1080p resolution and increased compatibility for new PC hardware. Ride the Rides
Ride your creations with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3’s signature coaster cam. Packed full of content
You’re free to fill your bustling park with more than 300 coasters and rides, 500 scenery pieces, 60 shops and services, and 20 animals to rear and raise. Peep Designer
Create your own guests and experience your creations through their eyes. MixMaster
Wow your visitors with custom laser light and firework displays to delight and dazzle. Grab you copy here (ends october 1st): https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/rollercoaster-tycoon-3-complete-edition/home
Josh

Free Game: Watch Dogs 2 (Expired)

Epic games is currently offering Watch Dogs 2 for free. You have until September 24th, to claim it, and you can do so here: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/watch-dogs-2/home#editions. I haven't played Watch Dogs 2, but I've played a bit of the first one, and it was pretty good. Only downside to this offer is that you have to use Epic Game's Launcher, but that's not really a huge problem. You can also currently get the Gold, Deluxe and other higher up versions at a major discount. Watch Dogs® 2
Play as Marcus Holloway, a brilliant young hacker living in the birthplace of the tech revolution, the San Francisco Bay Area. Team up with Dedsec, a notorious group of hackers, to execute the biggest hack in history; take down ctOS 2.0, an invasive operating system being used by criminal masterminds to monitor and manipulate citizens on a massive scale. Explore the dynamic open-world, full of gameplay possibilities Hack into every connected device and take control of the city infrastructure. Develop different skills to suit your playstyle, and upgrade your hacker tools – RC cars, Quadcopter drone, 3D printed weapons and much more. Stay seamlessly connected to your friends with a brand new co-op and adversarial multiplayer Watch Dogs experience.
Josh

Rockstar finally fixing Red Dead Online?

Let's face it, Red Dead Online has been a buggy, yet fun mess since it was released last November on PC. I can't speak for the console versions, but from what I've read, they had and still have the same problems as the PC version. Problems range from disconnections, missions not appearing/starting/spawning, camps vanishing, etc, and worst of all: hackers. Hackers have been a major problem in Grand Theft Auto Online, which is why I stopped playing it years ago. Sad thing is, Rockstar has never resolved the hacker problem, and don't really seem to care about it, because the game still doesn't have proper anti-cheat measures, and hackers are still running wild in the game, ruining it for all the legit players. [caption id="attachment_10001209" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Random Hacker Sky Explosions[/caption] I was sad to see that RDO was going to apparently suffer the same fate, until this this past week. Rockstar seems to have silently changed some things on the servers. I started to notice that I wasn't seeing very many people in the game, especially in the larger towns. Also the time and weather in the game were no longer instantly changing from cloud to sunny, and night to noon in the game. (hackers had been constantly and freely changing time and weather in game). And best of all, random free roam missions were spawning, something I've haven't seen in in the game for months. Video of a modder/hacker spamming time and weather change: [video width="2560" height="1080" mp4="https://www.grunch.com/legacy/uploads/2020/09/Red-Dead-Redemption-2-2020.08.05-01.22.53.02.mp4"][/video] The timing is weird, because just a couple weeks ago a friend I used to play RDO with was complaining that the game is so boring, "there are no random missions like Far Cry, no out posts to attack, etc, just ride around, hunt, do bounties, etc, zzz", but now ever since Rockstar changed whatever they did, I am constantly running into free roam random missions. Last night I encountered several missions just riding from my Camp by Emerald Ranch in The Heartlands to my moonshine shack in the swamp in Bayou NWA swamp, which aren't very far apart. I encountered two Moonshine missions, one was attacking another bootleg moonshine camp, and the other was clearing out Revenue Agents. Then, after those, I ran into some Hillbillies who had someone hog tied. I'd say the missions are a spawning a bit TOO much, but i'd rather have this then not have them at all. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="10001203,10001202,10001201"] Seems that the random Treasure Hunter guy still spawns rarely, I've only ran into one of those, sadly.   [caption id="attachment_10001198" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Low Player Population in RDR2[/caption] The low population is a bit boring though, hardly ever run into another player to interact with. Most of the time the servers/sessions only seem to have 3 other people in them, and a lot of times it's just myself, while before, nearly all sessions were maxed out player count, which I think was over 20. The low population is good in a way because it seems to make the attention seeking hacker/modders get bored since they have no one to troll/grief and get attention from, but it kinda makes the world seem dead without player to player interactions. I have yet to see anything about this change announced officially by Rockstar. There are many Reddit Threads about it, like this one, which consists of most players just guessing what's going on. I'm just happy to see Rockstar finally doing something, and this change, while isn't perfect, is allowing alot of us to be able to play the game properly and enjoy it. If you are looking for other players to play with, I suggest using the Official Red Dead Redemption 2 Discord. They have special channels to find other players to play with and do missions/deliveries in the game, so you'll always be able to find some people to play with. [caption id="attachment_10001190" align="aligncenter" width="768"] use RDR2 Discord to find and meet players to play with.[/caption] I'm a bit sad that it took Rockstar this long to finally start trying to resolve some of the major issues in the game, but I am glad that are. I really love this amazing game, and the world is so beautiful, it deserves to work as Rockstar intended. I just reached my 500 hour mark, which is alot in a game for me, especially within less than a single year! [caption id="attachment_10001204" align="aligncenter" width="768"] 500 hours ! Sad but fun![/caption]  
Josh

Dust Devils!

I've always been fascinated by Tornadoes, which some would think is great since I live in Kansas, so tornadoes are everywhere, but tornadoes are actually rare. We actually haven't even had a super bad storm in several years. I'm also, if not more, fascinated by dust devils, which are like toy tornadoes, just not usually dangerous, although I've seen footage online of very powerful ones that are able to pickup objects and toss them. They're basically just updrafts of hot air. Usually not powerful at all. I've always wanted to play with them, run inside the, etc, but I always only seem them while driving on super hot days, and am unable to stop. The other day I was randomly driving around on a hot day, and I saw several in one field. There were at least 3 big ones and one was actually made up of several tiny ones, which was super cool. I must've drove by at the perfect time, because I drove around the area and came back to record more videos and photos, but there were none. You can't tell by the video, but these had columns of dirt that went up at least 100ft into the air. Here are two videos I was able to get: [video width="1080" height="1920" mp4="https://www.grunch.com/legacy/uploads/2020/08/IMG_9331.mp4"][/video] [video width="1080" height="1920" mp4="https://www.grunch.com/legacy/uploads/2020/08/IMG_9333.mp4"][/video]
Josh

Gas Explosion in India

A gas explosion at a cell phone shop in Taj Bagh, India has left 3 injured. The amazing explosion can be seen on the shops security cam footage, which shows one of the men triggering the explosion by lighting a cigarette. You can clearly see the flame start, which ignites the entire room, and eventually knocks out the camera. The explosion was part of a gas leak which also caused several other explosions which left 11 injured in India. The current condition of the 3 men, all in their 20s, is unknown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5IB-eHTEWo
Josh

Hilarious late 1950s Commercial

I miss the olden days when people weren’t total pussies. Back when Looney Tunes could kill each other day and night, and no mangals would start crying about the violence. There were a series of commercials in the late 50s and early 60s for Wilkins Coffee. In each of the commercials a character named Wonkins. What's even more hilarious is that these commercials were made by Jim Henson, who also made the Muppets and Sesame Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmhIizQQol0
Josh

Free Game! Shadow Warrior: Special Edition (expired)

EXPIRED! Humble is offering another free game for PC. This time its: Shadow Warrior: Special Edition I haven't played this game, but I've viewed the screenshots, and some videos and it seems decent. Either way, its free!   Shadow Warrior: Special Edition is provided via Steam key for Linux, Mac, and Windows. For key redemption, a free Steam account is required. DESCRIPTION
Shadow Warrior: Special Edition includes the following bonus content: Shadow Warrior is a bold reimagining of the classic 3D Realms' shooter from independent developer Flying Wild Hog (Hard Reset) starring the legendary and quick-witted warrior Lo Wang. Combine the brute force of overwhelming firepower with the elegant precision of a katana to annihilate the merciless armies of the shadow realm in an exhilarating and visually stunning transformation of the classic first-person shooter. Story Shadow Warrior tells the offbeat tale of Zilla Enterprise's corporate shogun Lo Wang as he is ordered to acquire a legendary blade of limitless power by his deceitful employer. Betrayed and left for dead, Lo Wang learns of the blade's connection to ancient gods from another realm preparing to push our world to the brink of destruction. Now the reluctant hero must become legend through a masterful combination of gun, blade, magic and wit to uncover the truth behind the demonic invasion and banish evil back into the darkness. Features Shadow Warrior Reborn - A bold new vision of Shadow Warrior elegantly blends classic first-person shooter gameplay with thrilling action, inventive combat, and a contemporary retelling of the hilarious legend of Lo Wang. Elegant Swordplay - Unsheathe your legendary katana to slice enemies apart with precisely targeted swings or unleash fluid combos and special attacks to cut down hordes of enemies with one swift pass through the enraged hordes. Upgradeable Arsenal - Utilize every gun in your formidable armory - from stylish revolvers and quad barrel shotguns to explosive-tipped crossbow bolts and laser-guided rocket launchers. Each weapon offers several unique upgrades to increase power, speed, and add devastating alternative firing options. Mystical Powers - Call upon mystical powers to protect yourself and paralyze your enemies or use their own severed heads and still-beating hearts to bring them to their knees. Only available for nearly two more days! Get it! https://www.humblebundle.com/store/shadow-warrior-special-edition
Josh

Quick Look: The Forest

I was originally going to write a quick look article about a game I recently picked up called "Subsistence", which I will soon, but I've been side tracked by this amazing game called "The Forest". The Forest isn't a new game, it's another "early access" title that's been out for a while, and one that I had followed the progress on for a while, but have long stop paying attention to it, until recently. Like most Early Access titles anymore, The Forest is an open world sandbox survival game, but instead of the usual threat of zombies, it has tribes of cannibals called "Bestiary", which are human like, but not really. Who will randomly spy on you, and even attack. [caption id="attachment_5070" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Oh no, the bestiary found my base, one watching me.[/caption] Unlike most Sand Box Survival games, The Forest has a story, which still isn't complete, but eventually you'll be able to complete the story and which then also completes the game. I'm not too caught up on the story since, I don't really care about that, but from what I picked up from other players is the story is your plane crashed on a remote random island, everyone is dead but you, and you're looking for a boy named Timmy. You'll find clues from pictures and his drawling along the way such as in caves and other areas. It seems that the story isn't complete yet, so if you're into that sort of thing, you'll have to wait a bit longer. I care more about the survival aspects of this genre, and I've been forever hoping and awaiting a game that does it right, such as keeping it realistic, with alot of depth, and not make loot and supply gathering such a grind fest. I'm not sure how you can remove the grindy aspect of these games, but the game I was going to write about -- Subsistence has it way wrong, basically running around open randomly spawning boxes, and smacking trees over and over again for a small amount of loot, which is a very boring method. I'd rather have missions I can go on to get loot, AI that I can steal from, and other things. The Forest does a very good job at loot gathering. Basically nearly everything you need can be found in the wild, such as from plants, and also you can find rarer items in caves, and also items in suitcases that have falling off the original plane crash. Gathering wood is also more satisfying than simply smacking a tree over and over, since the actual tree visually gets chopped down. It's actually bit relaxing to chop down the trees, ha. [caption id="attachment_5058" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Satisfying Visual feedback of cutting down trees.[/caption] Also surviving in The Forest isn't as annoying as in many other games such as DayZ Standalone, where you are annoyingly and unrealistically constantly thirsty, sick, and hungry. The Forest does require you to stay well hydrated, and fed, but it allows you to that realistically by hunting for food, and catching fresh rain water. Your energy levels stay up, unless you run around and work alot. Also harvesting wood by cutting down trees creates a feeling of progress because after a while you're in open clear field where once a thick forest existed, which is satisfying, but slowly over time I think these forest regenerates, and not by plunking down a big fully grown tree. I haven't played enough to know for sure, but trees seem to be regrowing, which start off as a little shrub, then a stick tree. **Update - Turns out trees to not normally regrow, but there is a "regrow mode" that you can activate, which you can read about here: http://theforest.gamepedia.com/Regrowmode [caption id="attachment_5064" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Forest Regeneration[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5063" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Hanging Cannibal legs, ready to be roasted[/caption] Food is easy to find. You can find blueberries, but also you can hunt and trap animals such as rabbits, squirrels, deer, birds, fish, etc. But what I prefer to do is just to eat the cannibals, yes that's right, You can cut off their arms, legs, heads, and cook them in a camp fire, and consume them. I'm not sure if this too makes you a cannibal, I'm not too sure that they're human, but its a great way to get food, and an arm will satisfy you for a day. You can catch fresh drinking water from rain by harvesting the shells from large sea turtles that swim and climb onto the beach. [caption id="attachment_5061" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Working hard as a team to gather wood and build a base before night fall.[/caption] Crafting is really great. There are some premade templates, but you can also custom build. You can craft weapons, armor, etc. You can even craft log sleds, which help you carry like 10 logs instead of 2, which really helps out. There is a survival handbook that you spawn with which gives you tips on which wild plants to consume, which are dangerous, and recipes for crafting things, but its not very in depth, and it doesn't tell you how to craft weapons, and many other things. Basebuilding is pretty simple as well. Everything you build you first layout in a blueprint or whatever that shows as white translucent parts, which then tells you how much wood, string, etc, that you need. Works well. [caption id="attachment_5065" align="aligncenter" width="768"] One of the pages from the in game Survival handbook[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5078" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Basebuilding - Parts show up as white until you place the wood and other parts.[/caption] One thing I don't like is the inventory system. The inventory screen is basally all your gear/loot laid out on a sheet. It seems the only way to dispose of something is to equip and drop it, which is time consuming, especially when you want to get rid of many bones that  you accidentally picked up from a camp fire when trying to cook and eat food. I could be doing it wrong though, but if I am, its not very intuitive. Also its very annoying to switch between tools and weapons. You can't simply cycle between them, you have to go into the inventory screen, and select the weapon, which is stupid and deadly. There have been many times where I'm cutting down trees, and a group of cannibals sneak up behind me and start attacking. I have to push "i" to go into the inventory to select my sword. This is stupid, and wastes time. I thought maybe I was pushing the wrong buttons that usual games use to cycle weapons (1,2,3 keys, or mouse scroll wheel), but did a quick search on the forums, and this is a problem that people have been complaining about for years, and the devs seem to want it to stay the stupid way it is for whatever reason. [caption id="attachment_5060" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Not so great inventory system[/caption] The atmosphere in the game is amazing. The graphics are beautiful (for some reason they dont translate well to the screenshots, but in game they are wonderful), and the sounds are great as well. Combining them really immerse you into the world. Sometimes a wind storm can hit while you run through a forest, and the trees are blowing around, and the sound of the wind cutting between them is awesome. The Forest has daytime/nighttime and weather cycles. There doesn't seem to be a larger threat from the cannibals during the nighttime, other than being hard to see, which I do like. The weather system is nice, and sometimes can get intense, and also every time it rains, you're able to collect fresh water for drinking. [caption id="attachment_5059" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Encountering a Bestiary at night time in the forest cant be very scary.[/caption] I've actually been very impressed by the AI in this game. While the cannibals aren't human, they still seem to show emotion, and I keep getting surprised by new AI types and behaviors. Many times the AI will just stalk and watch you, other times it'll attack. If  you hurt one of the cannibals, another will sometimes try to drag the injured away. I encountered a group of cannibals which then attacked me, and one of the females actually became very scared and was crouched down crying, which made me actually feel bad for her, and I was going to let her run off, but one of the guys I was playing with came up and cut her head off, which is bests since she'd only of came back and attacked and possibly killed me or one of my friends. I haven't had that happen again in the game, just that once. Many times,  you can scare one of the cannibals off and they'll come back later usually with many others. [caption id="attachment_5056" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Scared crying female cannibal[/caption] All the cannibals seem to be adults, so you don't have to deal with little cannibals running around. I kinda hope they add this in the future for feels. I've spent about 10+ hours in the game now, and I thought I knew all the AI types, but nope. A new type just showed up that started throwing Molotov cocktails at me, catching me on fire. There are also several boss types, I don't know the names, but I assumed they stayed in the caves, but one with many arms recently visited by base. Which I ran from, and it seems saving and reloading the game removes them. I don't like how the boss types can free roam and come attack your base, it makes more sense for them to stay in the caves so add some more intensity to the cave exploration. [caption id="attachment_5062" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Cave Exploration - one of the lighter areas. Friend using walkie talkie.[/caption] I actually hate exploring the caves. All you get is a lousy bic lighter to light your way, and i dunno, its just not fun for me. Maybe this intensifies the danger, I don't know. I think the caves weren't meant to be enjoyed so it makes sense. I'm not 100% aware of how deaths work in the game. I try to not die, which is the point. But I'm not even sure if you can die. It seems most of the time when the cannibals kill you, they really just knock you out and take you to cave, and hang you until they are able to eat you, which im not even sure ever happens. You simply just have to cut yourself down and escape. But I think you actually die in online co-op mode. Which still isn't a huge problem because your body stays for a while and you can go back and gather your gear. Update: Turns out the first time you die, you wake up in the cave. Second time is an actual death. Online play could be improved. There aren't any servers, but instead a player can host a 2-8 player game, which can be made public where anyone can join, or made private invite only. This seems to work okay, and there is a co-op game browser, but this system isn't ideal. For example, if the host leaves, crashes, or gets disconnected, the game is over, since the save was hosted on their machine. But, It does work, and I've had alot of fun with it. [caption id="attachment_5073" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Co-op game browser[/caption] One thing I like about the co-op is the built in voice system, which is activated by pressing Q, and visually shows the players holding a walkie talkie to their faces. Seems to work very well, and adds to the immersion. Over all, this game is simply incredibly, really fun and immersive. I haven't had this much fun in a game since I first discovered DayZmod, and I'd say The Forest is even more fun since there is much more to do. I just started playing it yesterday, and already got my moneys worth, (the game is only $14.90, on sale right ow for $10.09). My first real game was a co-op game which I joined up with two guys I met on The Forest's Steam forums, and 8 hours passed before we knew it, we were having so much fun. The developers seem to be constantly updating and adding to the game, with regular updates. They also seem to listen to the community. Like I said, the game is only $10.09 right now during the Steam winter sale, but its well worth the normal $15 price tag, heck I've had more fun out of this game than I have with the $130 I spent on Battlefield 1. This game will surely keep me busy til Survive The Nights is out :) Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/242760/ Official Website: https://survivetheforest.com/
Josh

Deal: Grid - Free For A Limited Time - HumbleBundle - PC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MQkrRaj27g HumbleBundle is once again giving a way what appears to be a decent racing game for the PC. I don't really bother with racing games, but I need to check some of these out. Anyways, its free. The game is usually $14.99 on Steam, (currently on sale on the Winter Sale for $2.69). Grid also has a "Very Positive" community rating: GRID is provided via Steam key for Windows. For key redemption, a free Steam account is required. Discover a stunning world of motor sport brought to life, from racing muscle cars through the iconic streets of San Francisco and competing in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans to drifting around the docks of Yokohama. Jump behind the wheel of exhilarating racing cars in the most aggressive, spectacular wheel-to-wheel races you've ever experienced. Incredible persistent world of racing encompassing Muscle car racing, Drift racing, and Circuit racing in Detroit, San Francisco, Milan, Tokyo, Yokohama, Spa, Le Mans and many more Mind-blowing soft-body damage to vehicles and environments to the most aspirational and incredible vehicles and tracks all fully licensed Stunning visual treatment and accessible handling system Evolution of the physics system used in Colin McRae™ DiRT™ EGO surpasses all previous engines in terms of AI, effects and packed grids The game is free for the next day, Get it while you can! https://www.humblebundle.com/store/grid-free-game?hmb_campaign=grid_free_2016 **This is not an affiliated link, nor is HumbleBundle promoting their FREE Game on Grunch, it's just a sweet free deal, we wanted to pass along.
Josh

Playstation Vue is now useless... 'Directv Now' Hopeful?

Sony has recently announced some changes to its PlayStation Vue Live TV Streaming service, in which they informed us that they were dropping all Viacom channels, which include Spike, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central,  MTV, BET, VH1, and others. This change pretty much renders the service useless and not now worth of the asking prices for each package, because even with their smallest $30 Access Package, you only get a handful of channels, none of which are really that exciting. I really only watched Spike, Fox News, and Nikelodeon (who doesn't love SpongeBob Marathons at 3am?), and now with only one of those channels still available, It doesn't seem worthy of the $30 asking price. You still get on demand content from ABC, Fox, and NBC, but Vue's DVR and on demand content has always been buggy and unwatchable, for example, the playback video will always constantly skip around so you'll end up watching the same scene multiple, which is very confusing. This happens alot when watching Fox News replays. So, it's not worth it for on Demand content either, but Vue does give you GO access to many of these networks, which allows you to download their GO apps and login as you could from any other cable/satelite provider -- something Sling doesn't offer, and I've found many of those apps to work flawlessly playing back content. I can't really justify continuing to pay the $30 monthly fee, and even upgrading to Vue's $70 package doesn't offer much value It is really sad though because the service did seem so promising. I was actually planning on canceling my Sling service, and just using Vue, although i'd lose the A&E Networks channels, which Vue has never offered. But, now due to this change, its a no brainer: ditch Vue and keep Sling.   [caption id="attachment_4955" align="aligncenter" width="768"] The few channels you now get on the access package.[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_4956" align="aligncenter" width="768"] You really don't get too much now even with the $70 Ultra Package[/caption] Sling offers an addon for $5, which provides Spike, which I subscribed to, but it still doesn't offer Fox News. But there might some good news on the horizon. Directv announced their new Streaming Service: Directv Now, which ATT's CEO says will consists of a bundle of 100 channels, for only $35 a month, which sounds like a sweet deal. Bad news is that he didn't, and so far ATT hasn't provided any info of what channels will be available. Hopefully they wont consist of only useless channels that hardly anyone would ever want to watch, which Vue currently offers. My dream bundle is to have the A&E Networks (History channel), Fox News, and Viacom channels all in one affordable package package. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Directv now should be announced and available on November 28th, which is about a week away. Meanwhile, you can sign up for updates on ATT's Directv Now site: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/directv-now For now, Sling is the way to go if you want live Streaming TV. I haven't had any issues with Sling in a super long time, and their current channel bundles provide alot of entertainment with top brand channels, and for a few bucks you can add more channels, such as the 'Comedy Plus Extra" package, that comes with Spike, MTV, and some other channels for only $5.
Josh

Donald Trump Elected 45th President - Look At That Red!

Last year I made the comment on Grunch that Donald Trump was going to be elected 45th President of the United States, and he has been. But my oh my, look at that red: [caption id="attachment_4932" align="alignnone" width="768"] Look at that red![/caption] I would write a more in depth article, but we all know what happened tonight, so there is no need. Time to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! I know this isn't a professional article, but man I am so excited. I plan to write a real one soon. I just couldn't let tonight go on without writing something, even if it is GIBBERISH.
Josh

Donald Trump Rushed Off Stage By Security Scare

Republican Nominee for President Donald Trump was giving a speech at a packed arena of at least 6,500 attendees in Reno, Nevada, when he was quickly rushed off stage by Secret Service after rally goers were yelling that a protester appeared to "had a gun". Which later turned out later to be a false claim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eemJPPb8Otw Trump quickly returned to the stage minutes after the disruptor was carried out of the venue by Police, and resumed his speech with the following line: "Nobody said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never be stopped. We will never be stopped. I want to thank the Secret Service. These guys are fantastic". Later on, Police released the disruprtor, with no charges were filed.  
Josh

Picasa Image Viewer Replacement: NexusImage

Ever since Google announced it was killing off the Picasa App for Windows, I've been searching for a replacement program. It seems I need to find at least two programs to replace Picasa since Picasa was multiple programs built into one. One was a quick lightweight image viewer that was very similar to a lightbox that you'll see on any modern website, and the other was a photo organizer. [caption id="attachment_4873" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Picasa Photo Viewer - So sexy[/caption] I covered the Organizer in another post a few months ago (still haven't really found a decent replacement), which you can read here. I thought I could get away with using the Picasa Photo Viewer a bit longer, but for a few months now the arrow keys and navigating doesn't seem to work, and many times the viewer gets frozen in memory, which causes it to refuse to reopen. So, its time to move on. Now I need to find a quick light weight image viewer. Nearly all photo software comes with a viewer, for example all of ACDsee's software comes with a image viewer, but like many other programs including the one built into windows 10, the image viewer is built on the core of the organizer itself, so its very heavy/bulky, doesn't load fast, and they arent in a sleek lightbox preview box. So these are no good. Finally, tonight I found a free portable (doesn't need to be installed, just opened) software that works perfectly, and looks nearly as sexy as Picasa's Image Viewer called "NexusImage". [caption id="attachment_4876" align="aligncenter" width="768"] NexusImage[/caption] The software is extremely lightweight, probably more so than Picasa Photo Viewer, and it functions much like Picasa Photo Viewer, in the sense that you can click the escape key and the program will totally exit and close, so no need to mess with any title menus or anything --just close, and also you and use the arrow keys on the keyboard or middle mouse scroll wheel to navigate through other pictures in the folder. I did notice that there was a panel on the right side that displays thumbnails for other images in the folder, at first I didn't like this, Picasa Photo Viewer does have the same feature, but its located at the bottom of the screen. [caption id="attachment_4877" align="aligncenter" width="768"] NexusImage without Side Panel[/caption] Something I like about NexusImage is that there is a thumbnail panel on the right that shows all thumbnails in the same folder, which you can easily navigate (Picasa Photo Viewer shows it underneath the image), but NexusImage allows you to close it completely so you have just the image on the screen. Sometimes it seems this side panel can slow NexusImage down a bit, but you can easily close it and all is fast again. One thing NexusImage has that Picasa Photo Viewer doesn't is search functionality. I'm not sure if it's even needed, but its there. There are also other customize features such as the opacity of the light box, you can make dimming darker or lighter, which can be access by right clicking on any image. [caption id="attachment_4878" align="aligncenter" width="446"] NexusImage Context Menu and options[/caption] I did run into an issue where the desktop dimming didn't go away after I exited the program. I had to reboot to restore my desktop wallpaper to the normal brightness. Over all, I'm really glad I found NexusImage, I plan on using it as my main image viewer. You can download it for FREE from http://www.xiles.net/, and its a small 2.02MB download.
Josh

Battlefield 1: First Impressions

I admit that I wasn't very interested in the next Battlefield game after DICE last year announced that It was going to take place in World War 1. Mainly because I couldn't think of anything interesting about WW1, and I've played many other WW1 games, where you just sit in a trench all the time, and as soon as you pop your head out,  you're dead. I wasn't too sure how they were going mix WW1 warfare with a slightly fast paced game, such as what the BF series has become. I was excited though that the next release wasn't going to be another same-o Modern release, or another futuristic combat game like the last couple Call Of  Duty titles have been. Since I wasn't too interested, I didn't follow along with updates or anything with the game, but Origin did popup last month and tell me the beta was currently underway, which I didn't notice til it was nearly over. I decided to give it a go, why not? and I really wasn't that impressed. To me it felt just like a reskinned Battlefront game, which isn't that bad visually... battlefront is sexy visually, but the in game world in BF1 had nearly zero atmosphere, and controls felt odd to me. Didn't feel like a battlefield game at all. It wasn't very impressed. But at the same time, I knew the Battlefield betas are usually crap, only there to produce hype, and the actual game is far more polished and developed. Last week DICE announced a trial for Origin Access members starting on the 13th I believe, which lasted until release day, but for only a total of 10 hours. Although I didn't like the game they had during the "beta",  once again knew the final game should be much better, so I downloaded the trial, and wow, It was certainly much much better than the game, just as I predicted. First thing I noticed in Battlefield 1 is that the in-game server browser is back, so no more website browser as we had with battlefield 3 and 4, which is great. [caption id="attachment_4836" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Battlefield 1 Server Browser[/caption] The graphics in Battlefield 1 are amazingly beautiful, and very polished in the final release. The world was no longer dead, there was wind, dust, debris, destruction, everything you'd expect from a Battlefield game. Also the controls were now smooth. Also DICE did a great job incorporating WW1 warfare into a modern FPS game, there is no trench camping, but the sniping is ridiculous, and is one of my only real complaints in the game, as I'll get to later. It seems DICE returned to earlier BF titles such as Bad Company 2, where nearly every building was destructible, which was instantly aware to me as I was driving a tank into nearly any and everything I could find. No problems smashing through buildings,  walls, fences, everything. Also it became even more clearer when I was standing on the second floor of a structure only to have a bomb hit the structure and I ended up on the first floor. The atmosphere is nice, but it seems every map has one theme: Start clear, then maps get dusty, smokey, or misty.  For example, there is a map that takes place in a rain forest (looks very similar to the forest map on Battlefront), which catches on fire and then becomes smokey. Another map that takes place in a sandy desert starts clear then  a sand storm hits. Another by a beach, starts clear and then the mist sets in. Kinda boring, no amazing hurricane like storms that we had in Battlefield 4. It's cool, but its the same-o on repeat. I suppose the dust gives us a break from all the snipers. [caption id="attachment_4843" align="aligncenter" width="768"] What happens on nearly every map - Dust, Smoke, etc.[/caption] The game performs well for me on my EVGA Geforce 980TI FTW,  I play the game on high settings at 2560x1080 res, and it rarely dips below 60fps (vsync enabled). There are several times I've noticed where it'd stutter and dip sometimes, but it rarely happens, goes away, and doesn't really interfere with the game. The classes in Battlefield 1 are the usual ones. Assault, Support, Medic, and Scout. They changed things up for some of the classes, for example, Support now is the repair guy.  Assault has better guns, Medic heals and revives, and scouts are pussy snipers. I always usually only play as Support due to my shitty aim, so I need alot of ammo, and support drops ammo crates. No idea why DICE doesn't have a system set up where you can go back to the main spawn point to reload. My major issue that ruins the game for me at the moment is how easy it is to snipe, so nearly everyone plays sniper. I didn't realize how easy it was until I spawned as a sniper with the default gear and was getting kills after kills, and I was a horrible sniper in all other Battlefield games.  This is annoying because when you're actually trying to play the game as a normal soldier, you constantly get one shot snipped and killed. The snipers seriously need balancing. Seems most snipers can easily get shots from one objectives to the other. [caption id="attachment_4852" align="aligncenter" width="768"] pussy Sniper[/caption] I haven't tried playing the campaign yet, so I can't really comment on that. I mostly get Battlefield games for the multiplayer. One thing I really liked about this release of Battlefield is they allowed you to buy Premium Pass from the start. For some reason EA/DICE always waited a few months after release to offer it, and then have a discounted BaseGame+Premium edition on sale. With Battlefield 1, they had a Game+Premium "Ultimate" from the start. Along with two other editions: Standard and Deluxe. [caption id="attachment_4853" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Heading into battle, so beautiful.[/caption] Standard just comes with the base game, Deluxe comes with some some skins and and battlepacks, nothing worth actually buying. But Ultimate comes with everything the Deluxe comes with, and more. If you're going to end up buying premium (which you will), just get the Ultimate edition, save time and a few dollars. You can compare each edition, and buy here: https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/battlefield/battlefield-1/deluxe-edition#comparetable Overall, It's hard for me to enjoy the game due to the sniper issue, but the game itself is REALLY REALLY fun, perhaps even the best Battlefield game i've played and the graphics are amazing, and definitely worth the money. Hopefully they balance the sniper/scout class soon.  
Josh

Bill Clinton Interrupted by Protesters Shouting "Rapist!"

https://youtu.be/bJW4tO_JkkA Former Bill Clinton was giving a speech at a Pro Hillary rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today, when multiple hecklers interrupted him. "Nobody can dispute the fact" , said Clinton, before a heckler interrupted and finished his sentence with "THAT YOU'RE A RAPIST!". (Video at top of Article) Soon after another heckler joined in before both being escorted out, but not before rally goers violent stole a hat off of one of the protesters heads. This is the second time this week that Clinton was interrupted by a protester shouting "Bill Clinton is a Rapist". All the protests are related to Bill Clinton's long history of rape allegations directed at him from multiple women. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvDQGZeHG4  
Josh

SSL - Secure Encryption Layer enabled on Grunch

I tried to deploy SSL a few weeks ago, but had major issues with a "too many redirects" issue, and I couldn't figure out why at the time, so I removed it from the site. What is SSL? well its: "SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral." and you can read more here: https://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10241 And lately Google is ranking sites that are secure higher than those that aren't, so while we don't really save or even ask for any visitors real info, I felt it was time to just get SSL working on the site, and I've done a bit of work to make sure it's working. I'm not 100% happy with having SSL on a non commercial site because it does hurt the speed points a bit, but meh. You can tell SSL is working on the site, and that your connection to it is secure via the icon indicator in the address bar of your web browser. In Chrome it should appear as:  and it shouldn't look much different in other browsers. On some pages you might see an info icon instead of the secure lock icon, but this is only because the page has mixed content--some secure, some not, its a linkage issue, but not something to be concerned about. Hopefully all will continue to work well. If you come across any issues, please report them to me at [email protected].  
Josh

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