Errant Signal
Errant Signal - Spec Ops: The Line
updated
The TL;DR is that I've been playing a lot of *really* cool indie games lately, but you wouldn't know it from looking at this channel. So I've been looking for a means of getting smaller, shorter, quicker to produce videos out the door, and this is experiment #1 with that. I managed to put the post and video together basically over a weekend, which is really really fast for me considering *gestures to recent videos*. So if the response is positive I'd like to keep doing it for other neat games I've played - but I have no idea how short five-to-ten minute videos are gonna play on the modern YouTube scene, so I have the Medium post as a fallback outlet.
Anyways, Artic Eggs is pretty rad! As is Venba and Umurangi Generation which both get shout outs in this video. Check them out!
store.steampowered.com/app/2763670/Arctic_Eggs
store.steampowered.com/app/1223500/Umurangi_Generation
store.steampowered.com/app/1491670/Venba
00:00 System Shock 2
36:13 Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament
44:56 Kingpin
52:07 Requiem: Avenging Angel
58:10 Medal of Honor
1:02:53 SWAT 3
1:09:37 Alien vs Predator
1:13:49 Wheel of Time
1:19:56 Outro
00:00 Intro
00:54 Lethal Company
08:13 Learning about Zeekerss
09:47 It Steals
14:49 Dead Seater
19:46 The Upturned
24:45 Conclusion
It's weird to have watched this series change: what started as a time filler in between "bigger" essays has itself become one of the biggest projects in scope I've ever done. And what started as talking about one game each year has slowly become more and more about looking about each year in context and cross-comparing what was going on. I think this is more useful and interesting, but it is also undeniably more resource and time intensive to produce. Hopefully the results continue to bear fruit, though.
Sources:
gamedeveloper.com/design/the-cabal-valve-s-design-process-for-creating-i-half-life-i-
valvearchive.com/archive/Other%20Files/Publications/The%20Final%20Hours%20%28Geoff%20Keighley%29/The%20Final%20Hours%20Of%20Half-Life/The%20Final%20Hours%20of%20Half-Life.pdf
youtube.com/watch?v=s9aCwCKgkLo
cartoonbrew.com/stop-motion/the-shadow-king-selick-lasseter-pixar-222390.html
medium.com/counterarts/pixars-first-woman-director-c0fdb600e531
vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/pixar-john-lasseter-boys-club
00:00 Half-Life
22:38 Unreal
30:35 SiN
38:16 Thief
41:12 Tribes
45:16 Jurassic Park: Trespasser
53:06 Klingon Honor Guard
57:11 Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
1:00:32 Blood 2: The Chosen
1:04:09 Xtreme Paintbrawl & Nam
1:07:36 Delta Force & Rainbow Six
1:11:34 Outro
Card Shark is available on Steam/Epic/GOG: store.steampowered.com/app/1371720/Card_Shark
And the Switch: nintendo.com/store/products/card-shark-switch
http://store.steampowered.com/app/1629520/A_Little_to_the_Left
A Little to the Left is also available on the Switch!
This is the less scary one! It's about Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams, and some of the cool spooky scenes there in!
Check out Soda Raptor's stuff: sodaraptor.itch.io
Hank Green's video: youtube.com/watch?v=jAZapFzpP64
Sarah Z's video: youtube.com/watch?v=EeCi4CSqtzw
00:00 Intro
03:00 What the heckin' heck is TikTok
08:25 Life on the Algorithm
19:04 Content One TikTok At A Time
31:04 Immoderate Moderation
35:59 Monetization
39:42 Warhol's Curse
47:41 Why Should We Care?
Letters to a Friend: Farewell: chrstphfr.itch.io/letters-to-a-friend-farewell
Letter to a Friend: chrstphfr.itch.io/letter-to-a-friend-asylumjam-2015-entry
codeparade.itch.io/hyperbolica
store.steampowered.com/app/1256230/Hyperbolica
I wanted to do an experiment in short form/rapid production video making. Still not sure of the results~~
Also it's a video essay.
About GoldenEye 007. And, I guess, game inputs. And James Bond. And 1997. It's about a lot of things. Because again, I am a man in desperate need of someone to edit him.
-- Sources --
Dr. David Doak's Norwich Games Festival Talk: youtube.com/watch?v=t6wLh1hGZkU
Martin Hollis' GDC Postmortem: youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Fx18cppZk
Graslu00's Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCGInMxYIVrl23nLjDAIMknw
00:00 GoldenEye
04:12 GoldenEye 007
37:18 Elsewhere in 1997...
Games Featured:
Nuclear Blaze:
Itch: deepnight.itch.io/nuclear-blaze
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1662480/Nuclear_Blaze
Rayze: store.steampowered.com/app/1689190/RAYZE
Silicon Dreams:
Itch: clockwork-bird.itch.io/silicon-dreams
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1272070/Silicon_Dreams____cyberpunk_interrogation
Demon Turf: store.steampowered.com/app/1325900/Demon_Turf
Subway Midnight: store.steampowered.com/app/1750570/Subway_Midnight
The original SpookWare: papercookies.itch.io/spookware
SpookWare Watch Party (Contains the original jam game + SpookWare @ The Video Store + a demo of the main game): papercookies.itch.io/spookware-watch-party
The Two Minute Horror Jam: itch.io/jam/two-minute-horror-jam
There Are Ghosts In These Stalls: wrlck.itch.io/there-are-ghosts-in-these-stalls
The Gramsby Summoning: leafthief.itch.io/gramsby
Dread X Collection III: store.steampowered.com/app/1437500/Dread_X_Collection_3
SpookWare's retail release: store.steampowered.com/app/1574250/SPOOKWARE
Videos cited:
Freeplay Parallels 2020: youtu.be/ZgVhQVTxXQg?t=332
Amazon Heroes Ad: youtube.com/watch?v=_Z7PY4bOvvo
End Clip: twitter.com/kelseyrettino/status/1211851713461682176
I also listened to but did not directly cite (though previous versions of the script did) the Dad and Sons podcast episode featuring Veselekov: https://nebula.app/dad-and-sons/dad-sons-168-apolitical-podcast-power-fantasy-feat-veselekov-umurangi-generation
If you wanna play some of the games in this video, here are some links!
Umurangi Generation: store.steampowered.com/app/1223500/Umurangi_Generation (also on Switch)
Penko Park: store.steampowered.com/app/852090/Penko_Park
Shutter Stroll: jannikboysen.itch.io/shutterstroll
Toripon: theladyvictoria.itch.io/toripon
Alba: store.steampowered.com/app/1337010/Alba_A_Wildlife_Adventure
Eastshade: eastshadestudios.itch.io/eastshade , store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade
And yes, I used "Spartan" instead of "Sparse" at one point in this video. It wouldn't be an Errant Signal video without a ridiculous vocabulary screwup.
I decided to try to be funny, which is always, always, always a mistake. But also it isn't me talking about a video game, which is really what this is about.
Ian's video about FPS arsenals: youtube.com/watch?v=iyAjp-NkzBQ
Chapters:
0:00 An Intro
1:17 A Brief Look Back At Quake
11:10 A Too Long Look Back At Duke Nukem 3D
27:09 Elsewhere in 1996(ish)...
Channel: youtube.com/channel/UCRmZM0WpKzSu_27unPuyEZA
Video on The Sublime: youtube.com/watch?v=rlj0JK-CDuQ
Venineth:
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/976500/Venineth
A Hand With Many Fingers:
Itch: colestia.itch.io/a-hand-with-many-fingers
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1229030/A_Hand_With_Many_Fingers
Lucifer Within Us:
Itch: kitfoxgames.itch.io/lucifer-within-us
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/717560/Lucifer_Within_Us
Going Under:
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1154810/Going_Under
As always, you can support the show on Patreon:
http://patreon.com/errantsignal
Cited Sources:
archive.org/details/GDM_JuneJuly_1995/page/n39/mode/2up
pcgamer.com/volition-would-commit-murder-to-make-freespace-3
store.steampowered.com/app/854570/Pamali_Indonesian_Folklore_Horror
Jumpscare times for people looking to avoid them (thanks Skulduggery Peasant!):
10:54-10:59 has the Pocong fly into the camera suddenly, but has no audio sting.
13:48-13:52 has Pocong appear suddenly with an audio sting.
17:39 - 17:42 Ghost pop up while the presenter is talking, but with no audio accompaniment due to aforementioned talking.
19:18-19:27 has some creepy sounds followed by the toyol jumping at the screen with an audio sting.
20:46-20:50 has an audio sting, but nothing visibly scary
22:11-22:45 has the Leyak pop up a few times visually as the presenter is talking, but without any audio accompaniment due to aforementioned talking.t
Necrobarista ( store.steampowered.com/app/725270/Necrobarista )
Cloud Gardens ( store.steampowered.com/app/1372320/Cloud_Gardens )
Post Void ( store.steampowered.com/app/1285670/Post_Void )
Spirits Abyss ( store.steampowered.com/app/1078200/Spirits_Abyss )
Skelly Selest ( store.steampowered.com/app/685400/Skelly_Selest )
Straimium Immortaly ( store.steampowered.com/app/515650/Straimium_Immortaly )
Fatum Betula ( bryce-bucher.itch.io/fatum-betula , store.steampowered.com/app/1281270/Fatum_Betula )
PS1 Haunted Demo Disk ( hauntedps1.itch.io/demodisc2020 )
Referenced videos/articles:
First Five: youtube.com/watch?v=IW5Dtowk9xQ
Rock Paper Shotgun: rockpapershotgun.com/2020/08/12/trippy-fps-post-void-is-like-devil-daggers-having-a-fever-dream-of-hotline-miami
Kotaku: youtube.com/watch?v=UmzC8-hPuZo
0:00 Intro
0:06 Necrobarista
7:50 Cloud Gardens
12:36 Post Void
16:28 Spirits Abyss
21:31 Fatum Betula
Aleph One ports of Marathon, Durandal, and Infinity: alephone.lhowon.org
Also, for the love of god, please let us not get into a debate about how to pronounce "Durandal."
Support the show! patreon.com/errantsignal
Watch me make regretful statements in real time! http://twitter.com/campster
Cited Works And Stuff:
It's Not Coming Back: tevisthompson.com/its-not-coming-back
Manufactured Discontent: youtube.com/watch?v=dPHPNgIihR0
GDC Vault: Game Design Challenge: The Love Story: gdcvault.com/play/1014860/Game-Design-Challenge-The-Love
Support! www.patreon.com/errantsignal
Cited videos:
Ellaguro: youtube.com/watch?v=1i-H8UvujkA
JP LeBreton: youtube.com/watch?v=cMfoGvOCnfU
Lazy Game Reviews: youtube.com/watch?v=7gCZZkBATSc
Children of DOOM finally reaches... well, DOOM. From here on out, we'll *actually* be talking about the games impacted by this one! Cool, huh?
Anyways, this one's a little different. It's hard to cover a game that's been covered to death. So I kind of go all subjective on this one, much to the chagrin of... pretty much everyone, including me.
Is the President a Traitor?: store.steampowered.com/app/1170210/Is_the_President_a_Traitor
For the Warp: massivegalaxy.itch.io/for-the-warp , store.steampowered.com/app/1201830/For_The_Warp
Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy: store.steampowered.com/app/824760/Deathtrap_Dungeon_Trilogy , nintendo.com/games/detail/deathtrap-dungeon-trilogy-switch
Deathtrap Dungeon Interactive Video Adventure: store.steampowered.com/app/1191940/Deathtrap_Dungeon_The_Interactive_Video_Adventure
Support the show! http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
Anyways, support the show on Patreon because I'm sure the imagery in this video will get it demonetized soon enough! www.patreon.com/errantsignal
Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/errantsignal
Fit for a King: kitfoxgames.itch.io/fit-for-a-king | store.steampowered.com/app/1110380/Fit_For_a_King
MiniLaw: lassogames.itch.io/minilaw | store.steampowered.com/app/503180/miniLAW_Ministry_of_Law
Dujanah: jackspinoza.itch.io/dujanah | store.steampowered.com/app/681240/Dujanah
Peak Star Wars: youtube.com/watch?v=omfP303IL7w
Star Wars Minus Star Wars: youtube.com/watch?v=-gUKYBs6T8c
Tim Tracker: youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SsitO6P1o
Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/errantsignal
GlobeSweeper: store.steampowered.com/app/982220/Globesweeper
Radical Dungeon Sweeper: benjamin-soul.itch.io/rds , store.steampowered.com/app/761170/Radical_Dungeon_Sweeper
DemonCrawl: store.steampowered.com/app/1141220/DemonCrawl
Some Distant Memory: store.steampowered.com/app/824850/Some_Distant_Memory
Football Drama: open-lab-games.itch.io/football-drama , store.steampowered.com/app/876190/Football_Drama
The Space Between: chrstphfr.itch.io/the-space-between
The Games of Christoph Frey: chrstphfr.itch.io
Catherine Brinegar's Three Part Piece on The Space Between:
rebind.io/tearing-down-the-house-an-exploration-of-the-space-between-part-1-1467
rebind.io/burning-down-the-house-delving-deeper-into-the-space-between-part-2-1480
rebind.io/cleaning-up-the-house-deconstructing-the-space-between-part-3-1495
Games:
Faith: airdorf.itch.io/faith
Faith: Chapter 2: airdorf.itch.io/faith2
Nun Massacre: puppetcombo.itch.io/nun-massacre
Anatomy: kittyhorrorshow.itch.io/anatomy
Tamashii: vikintor.itch.io/tamashii
SEPTEMBER 1999: 98demake.itch.io/september1999
Scanline: The Power of VHS: youtube.com/watch?v=xbZMqS-fW-8
Riverbond: store.steampowered.com/app/459370/Riverbond
Overpass: store.steampowered.com/app/773740/Overpass
Neon Struct: minorkeygames.itch.io/neon-struct / store.steampowered.com/app/310740/NEON_STRUCT
Acid Spy: store.steampowered.com/app/817230/Acid_Spy
Eliza: zachtronics.itch.io/eliza / store.steampowered.com/app/716500/Eliza
Dark Data: store.steampowered.com/app/996000/Dark_Data
Nauticrawl: 20,000 Atmospheres: andrea-intg.itch.io/20000atm / store.steampowered.com/app/922100/Nauticrawl
As always, if you liked this (or want to get access to the next one a few days early!), please consider supporting the show on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
Let's talk about The Outer Wilds in detail!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
RAGE 2 is a really great shooter! But maybe there's more to playing games than being really, really, ridiculously good to play?
VoidRun: benjamin-soul.itch.io/voidrun / store.steampowered.com/app/1048560/Voidrun
Smile for Me: gabelane.itch.io/smileforme / store.steampowered.com/app/1018850/Smile_For_Me
Sophie's Dice: sophieh.itch.io/sophies-dice / store.steampowered.com/app/1067350/Sophies_Dice
DanCop: Daniela on Duty: scrubbysquirrel.itch.io/actionrex-dancop / store.steampowered.com/app/1060820/DanCop__Daniela_on_Duty
Riverbond: store.steampowered.com/app/459370/Riverbond
As always, if you liked this, please consider supporting the show on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
The Outer Wilds is a game that is difficult to talk about, because it's a game about discovering itself. Which means the more I talk about it, the more I take the game away from you. And that's a difficult position to be in when this game makes me want to talk about it *so badly!*
Anyways I was halfway through a script that tried to navigated this issue by having a front half that was largely spoiler free and a back half that was spoiler city, and I realized it made the whole thing lumpy and awkward (and also required most people to drop off halfway through the video). So I figured I'd cut it in half, release a spoiler free version (or as spoiler free as you can when talking about this game), and then next time we'll *really* dig in to what's going on here.
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
It's here! The first attempt to look at some maybe less-than-well-known indie games! Let's see if it is bad or not!
OVERWHELM: store.steampowered.com/app/785880/OVERWHELM
DriftForce: store.steampowered.com/app/674170/DriftForce
Tamashii: store.steampowered.com/app/1026400/TAMASHII
Art Sqool: store.steampowered.com/app/953300/ART_SQOOL
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
If you've followed this channel for any amount of time you know that I like small, weird, quirky games. And there are so many out there! And you would think that would mean we'd have coverage of small games for days, but... we don't. And so I wanted to take some time to talk about why!
Here's the list of all the small games from the video! It's... long! Remember, these aren't really endorsements - there's a mishmash of stuff in here at various price points/levels of fidelity and polish/amount of stuff going on thematically, and not all of it is gonna resonate with everyone. But hopefully *some* of it will resonate with you. Check them out!
Space Captain McCallery: store.steampowered.com/app/852900/Space_Captain_McCallery__Episode_1_Crash_Landing
Dandara: store.steampowered.com/app/612390/Dandara
The Space Between: chrstphfr.itch.io/the-space-between
Devotion... cannot be bought anymore.
Pamali: store.steampowered.com/app/854570/Pamali_Indonesian_Folklore_Horror
Lost City of Vampires: store.steampowered.com/app/993810/Lost_City_of_Vampires
Terror in the Atomic Desert: store.steampowered.com/app/955490/Terror_In_The_Atomic_Desert
FanaticBlader: store.steampowered.com/app/1013400/FanaticBlader
APE OUT: store.steampowered.com/app/447150/APE_OUT
Vignettes: store.steampowered.com/app/944340/Vignettes
Memoirs of Magic: strawberryoctii.itch.io/memoirs-of-magic
Art Sqool: store.steampowered.com/app/953300/ART_SQOOL
Hypnospace Outlaw: store.steampowered.com/app/844590/Hypnospace_Outlaw
Talk to Strangers: store.steampowered.com/app/963280/Talk_to_Strangers
Feather: store.steampowered.com/app/545040/Feather
Tech Support: Error Unknown: store.steampowered.com/app/781480/Tech_Support_Error_Unknown
Marvin the Hatter: store.steampowered.com/app/1036820/Marvin_The_Hatter
Drift Force: store.steampowered.com/app/674170/DriftForce
_________ (What Even Is That Thing?): sumaleth.itch.io/9underscores
Risk of Rain 2: store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2
Celestial Hacker Girl Jessica: store.steampowered.com/app/873390/Celestial_Hacker_Girl_Jessica
Objects in Space: store.steampowered.com/app/824070/Objects_in_Space
Bound Up & Squirming!: store.steampowered.com/app/959050/Bound_Up__Squirming
Tamashii: store.steampowered.com/app/1026400/TAMASHII
Return of the Obra Dinn: store.steampowered.com/app/653530/Return_of_the_Obra_Dinn
We Know the Devil: store.steampowered.com/app/435300/We_Know_the_Devil
Not Tonight: store.steampowered.com/app/733790/Not_Tonight
Night in the Woods: store.steampowered.com/app/481510/Night_in_the_Woods
Marble It Up!: store.steampowered.com/app/864060/Marble_It_Up
1001stHyperTower: store.steampowered.com/app/958050/1001st_Hyper_Tower
Broken Reality: store.steampowered.com/app/757480/Broken_Reality
Secret Little Haven: store.steampowered.com/app/827290/Secret_Little_Haven
Everything: store.steampowered.com/app/582270/Everything
Creepy Vision: store.steampowered.com/app/1014560/Creepy_Vision
MultiTaskMaster: store.steampowered.com/app/879290/MultiTaskMaster
God's Trigger: store.steampowered.com/app/488730/Gods_Trigger
Type Dreams: hofmeier.itch.io/type-dreams
I was trying to ape the Best of the Worst format but without the comradery and spontaneity of that show nor the meaningful discussions that are more my wheelhouse. The result is mostly a boring, awkward mush. There are parts that really should have been scripted that were improvised, and parts that should have been improvised that were scripted. The purely random game selection is good for getting a wide swath of titles, but it leads to a lot of boring duds, phone ports, and also possibly some accidentally some super offensive stuff (that first game is *sucks in air through teeth*). It was a shot in the dark to break from the constrained format of video essays, and it was clear as soon as it was finished that it wasn't the way forward.
Additionally, as discussed in the other video I released today, I don't know if this is even the right approach to take? I think a personal curation effort that espouses the positives would probably be more beneficial.
I still think there's value in lovingly riffing on bad games, and I still advocate for the birth of a "videogame shlock" discourse that's sorely missing. Like, Blowy Fish is terrible, but there's also something undeniably charming and absurd about its inept aping of phone monetization strategies without remotely understanding them and ridiculous fish outfit unlockables. Bad games can be fun! And in their own, z-grade movie way, good!
But this format? This wasn't really working either as a way to champion small games or to push for a canon of videogame schlock. It's mostly just a snooze that neither promotes nor lovingly mocks, so it doesn't achieve any of my goals. Still, I'm happy I took the jump and tried something new, and I intend to explore other new ways of covering this material going forward. And if you want to help fund those attempts:
This episode was made possible by generous support through Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
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This episode was made possible by generous support through Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
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It's also deeply tied up in the vaporwave subculture for good and for ill, and we talk a bit (as much as I can bear to, anyways) about what that means and how it impacts the game.
Game link: store.steampowered.com/app/757480/Broken_Reality
Sources, As Per My Statement I Would Include Sources:
The Music Theory of V A P O R W A V E : youtube.com/watch?v=QdVEez20X_s
What Happened To Vaporwave? esquire.com/entertainment/music/a47793/what-happened-to-vaporwave
Adam Harper's Comment: Vaporwave and the pop-art of the virtual plaza: dummymag.com/news/adam-harper-vaporwave
Dan Bell's YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCjU-Cwjfqbo2hMRItlXwnnQ
Dan Bell's TEDX Talk: youtube.com/watch?v=AYzA2uyd9_s
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This episode was made possible by generous support through Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
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This episode was made possible by generous support through Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
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This episode was made possible by generous support through Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/errantsignal
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