Catching Up

Lately, I've been doing a lot of YouTube uploading with no matching blog posts, so I thought this morning would be a good time for a status update, blog style!

But of course, no blog post would be complete without a few pretty pictures... and what better place to get some than a previous attempt at a status update!

In the days before our second baby boy was born, I was trying to record a video status update while playing a fast 1 vs. Hard AI game, shooting for around 5 minutes in real time.

After several failed attempts, I decided to take screenshots from one of the attempts with the thought I could start a draft post from a PC at the hotel and finish the status update on my iPhone later. I did start a draft and uploaded the pics, but the iPhone-authored post never became a reality, and as you know, much later, I actually did a video status update - using another replay.

But now those screenshots get a 2nd chance!

Game Time 9:03 - PvP on an old map I learned to play SC2 on, Agria Valley - my terrible attempt at a 4-gate. These zealots are actually my 2nd wave of attackers, trying to draw attention away from the probe that's building pylons elsewhere in the base.

Uploading Season 7 and 8

After being distracted by X-COM for more than a week, I have returned to this task and have uploaded the 3rd of these 5 games. I was quite pleased to upload my 1v1 qualifier for Season 7 - I had promised Morphius I would cast it, and it was great to be able to tell him in Battle.net that it was done (after 3 months of waiting!). I am also very excited to start playing again (as the Season 9 ladder locks next week!) and casting more recent games!

Game Time 9:27 - A pylon is finished and I warp in a set of 4 stalkers who start harassing the mineral line, drawing the attention of the forces who dealt with my zealots. I send the probe to the other side of the mineral line.

Ladder Aspirations

I have had some encouragement that I might actually make it out of Silver League! My Platinum League opponent during my 1v1 qualifier for Season 8 said I could get into Gold with a week of playing. And after watching the replay, if he's a typical Platinum player, then yes, with some more confidence in applying pressure and practice knowing when to build drones, I think it's possible - at this level, our mechanics are so inconsistent that careful decision-making could make the difference.

More recently, I was listening to an interview with Sasquatch, a player in the Complexity Academy (the B-team for the Complexity professional team), and he said that if you're in Bronze, if you play 2 hours a day, you'll make it to Masters. Really? Is that all it takes?

His general advice for lower league players - play a lot more and pick just one strategy per match-up. If you play infrequently and try to do something different each game, you'll never get better.

Surprisingly, I've been thinking along the same lines. My intention with mouse-only play with baby is to focus on a single build. I really want to work on my map awareness, and using only one build should allow me to focus more attention around the map instead of in my base!

Game Time 9:39 - My stalkers hold on just long enough for a second batch of fresh troops to get warped in and the scale tips in my favor.

A New Game, An Old Game & X-Split

After reading about "Let's Play" videos (videos of people playing through a game with commentary), I've decided to do a "blind" Let's Play of X-COM: Enemy Unknown. Since my intention is to capture my first impressions, it may not end up being a Let's Play in the strictest sense - in that I likely won't finish the game! But I thought playing as far as I can on a first try might be fun.

As part of this, I'm hoping to do a "context" video of the original X-COM, and since it doesn't use Direct3D, I'm going to use X-Split to capture the video and audio (Fraps only captures Direct3D video). Now the cool part is that X-Split is very popular with streamers and live casters - its main strength is live streaming - that it can record as well is a secondary feature.

So my diversion into XCOM may play a part in me using some more advanced tools for casting SC2 - and perhaps a step towards some low resolution streaming?

Game Time 9:44 - In the split-second chaos, the Hard AI focuses on the fresh stalkers, allowing my damaged ones to survive, giving me a numbers advantage. Soon after, his offensive forces return from attacking my base, but I warp in stalkers at another pylon in the base, and with some kiting, stave off the zealot portion of the force while sustaining minimal damage, and the Hard AI surrenders.

Bandwidth

With all these plans, I'm trying to keep aware of my limited bandwidth - both in regards to my free time and my Internet bandwidth!

With my current schedule, I typically get 1-2 hours of time in the early morning with baby and about 3-4 hours of uploading time - with my DSL connection, that results in being able to upload about 15-20 minutes of 1080p video.

At first glance, that length limit may seem terribly short, but I think it fits my current life stage well. I'm in no rush with any of this, and want to keep the balance on the fun side and away from the second job side...

My original premise with the blog and casting was that with just a bit more time, I could take something I already do (play games and watch replays) and turn it into content. And with my tendency to expand scope (as I've already done), it helps to remind myself of this original intention.

Speakimg of such, wow, this post sort of exploded size-wise! Perhaps I should focus on shorter, more frequent posting as well? ;-)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Unboxing!

It took me some time, but I've finally uploaded my first unboxing video!

It's a bit delayed, but such is the life of a gamer dad with a newborn baby :)

I bought the game with my wife and 2 older kids the day after release (Wednesday Oct 10), recorded the unboxing Friday night (Oct 12), installed the game early Saturday morning (Oct 13), and edited and produced the video in the early morning yesterday (Wednesday Oct 17).

Besides my older son's birthday and party last Sunday (Oct 14), much of the delay has been due to playing MANY hours of the original game, X-COM: UFO Defense, with my baby boy - ok, and a some sleeping too :) He is quickly becoming my X-COM buddy, more than following in the SC2 footsteps of his older brother!

Now the funny thing is, I've yet to actually play the new game! But I'm hoping to record my first impressions live with my baby boy. I think it'll be a fun time, especially since our experience with the original game is very fresh in our minds!

Although I hope to do some more posts about the trip to Best Buy with the kids, my reflections on the original game, etc., I am still very much a StarCrafter!

X-COM is a really fun game, and I'm guessing XCOM will be too - but SC2 is a competitive sport! And as such, it has an appeal that a single-player game just can't capture.

I have produced the videos of the first 2 games of Season 7, and would have uploaded them, but I wanted to get the unboxing video up as soon as it was done. (There is a timeliness to the appeal of an unboxing video!)

I've some thoughts on my approach to my ladder games and competitive play - but that'll have to wait for the next blog post - time for me to sneak in some sleep while baby is sleeping and before everyone else in the house wakes up!

First Video Status Update!

As promised in my last post introducing baby Caleb, here is an update on where things are at on this blog and my YouTube channel and my plans for the next few months - especially given my new nighttime schedule!

And for those of you that would rather read than watch, here's the summary:

• I have cast both showmatches, Ethereal511's 2v2 submission, and all 10 games played in Season 6 of the Blizzard 1v1 Ladder (2012 Season 1). (Special blog note: I do plan on doing blog posts for each of these. If you can't wait, check out the YouTube channel - otherwise, be assured they will trickle in!)
• I have also cast all 4 games from Season 7 and my single game from Season 8. These games haven't been produced/encoded yet, but I hope to upload them in the next week.
• For the next 4-6 weeks, I'll be playing SC2 with baby Caleb in the very early morning with only the mouse - and will be trying 1v1 in addition to 4v4!
• I might do some videos of a game I just bought with the kids - X-COM Enemy Unknown!
• After Caleb starts sleeping longer and I get time in the evening to cast, I still hope to cast all of the games played by the Colorado School of Mines in Season 5 of the Collegiate StarLeague (CSL). (I'll actually cast less than the 66 mentioned in the video - not all the replays were available.)
• Season 6 of the CSL will start in November, but it's not clear yet what opportunities community casters like me will have... now that they have a big, international sponsor!

Well, it's past my bedtime - see you guys in the next blog post!

New Baby Boy!

Yes, as you might have guessed, I have someone new to the StarCraft scene to introduce to you!

Please give a warm welcome to my new son Caleb! He was born on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 1:33pm! He weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces and was 21 inches long!

[Sept 29] Baby Caleb warming up under a heat lamp thingy after getting cleaned up.

The delivery went very well, and he and his mom are doing great - we've been home since Sunday and are settling into our newborn baby lifestyle!

[Sept 30] A very proud StarCraft dad with his new baby boy. Caleb and I got to show our Zerg pride the evening after his birth and the next day. I got lots of smiles from the maternity staff - guessing it was due to my beaming grin rather than my choice of t-shirt :)

When my first son, Isaac, was born, I brought a netbook which somehow happened to have the StarCraft 1 BattleChest installed - I have no idea how that happened... ;-) So we actually played our first StarCraft game together at the hospital (I picked random race and got Zerg!).

This time, I didn't have a netbook, but I did have an iPhone! So I found a StarCraft 2 memory game in the iOS AppStore, and Caleb and I played a bit of that and read about some Zerg build orders on TeamLiquid.net. (We also played some Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies which I bought while at the hospital.)

[Sept 30] Yes, I know Anakin's creepy later on - but in Episode I, he was a cute, innocent kid.

Caleb also got his first Star Wars action figure at the hospital, just like his older brother - who got a Luke Skywalker in Endor camouflage!

Admittedly, for Isaac, it was hopeful thinking on my part as we didn't know whether he was going to be a boy or girl - so it was different this time knowing that a boy would be coming.

And yes, I know there are cooler Star Wars characters than kid padawan Anakin - but I had already decided to give Isaac Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi for his upcoming birthday (I forgot to get him an action figure on his 1st birthday!) - and thought little Anakin was a good fit for the occasion.

[Sept 30] Isn't this adorable? He's my little guy! (I'm referring to the baby, not the space marine - although he's kinda cute too.)

Of course, no newborn photo-taking would be complete without some StarCraft product placement ;-) That's a StarCraft 2 space marine bottle cap figurine I got from the BlizzCon 2011 online sale. I thought about bringing my Hydralisk figurine, but felt it was too scary-looking for a baby boy - I hadn't taken a good look at it until now. A space marine seemed more appropriate! But don't worry - I will still be playing Zerg on the online ladder with Caleb!

As you might suspect, we have a lot more uber-cute pictures of baby Caleb - but I'll save those for the family blog :)

For those of you dying for more StarCraft on this blog, I will be posting an update about the state of this blog and the channel soon - where it's going and what's coming up.

I do have a new night life now (I have the graveyard shift, so lots of late night time with Caleb), so it'll be interesting to see what content I can produce with him on the blog and channel!

(And yes, for those of you long-time blog readers, this is the first time I've shown my face on this blog - it was such a nice photo and a special father-son event, I couldn't resist!)