1307 Whipping.

Man, I have got nothing interesting to say tonight. It’s just been art and catching up on The Walking Dead up in this. With a little bit of State Of Decay: Breakdown and some Smash Brothers.

I’m up to level 4 in Breakdown and the increased difficulty is beginning to get noticeable. Of course I found a bunch of large backpacks, rescued several powerhouse survivors, and have a ton of items in storage, so that undercuts things somewhat. I pretty much cleared the entire third map of resources before moving on, but I’m still finding new locations in level 4. Places that I just never wandered across before. I’ve been to most of the edge areas, now it’s random places in the vast middle section I keep running across. I have so much back stock now that I can’t store anything new without removing something old. I’ve been taking loads of weaker items and distributing them to unrecruited enclaves. I don’t know if the actually return them to you when you bring them in or if you get a few general items instead. I know they never appear to make use of anything you give them though. The practical advantage of doing this, compared to destroying the items, is that you get back the fame bonus for each thing you distribute. Fame is your action currency, so you need it. Just throwing it away seems wasteful. I spawned just outside of Marshal in level 4, just north of Snyder trucking. For those of you who don’t play, that’s generally considered the best base in the game. It’s kind of a toss up between there and the fairgrounds, but I like Snyder’s because the area is more dense. You don’t have to go as far to get a foothold there. The fairgrounds actually has better places for outposts, but the downside is you have to drive much farther to collect resources. Also, the back of the fairgrounds is less secure. Zombies wander in much more frequently, including special infected. I’ve come back several times to find screamers milling around the back door.
Anyway, there’s a case to be made for both areas. Snyders comes with a machine shop, some storage, and a small sleeping area. I like to add a tower, a garden, a dojo, a medical tent, a library, and a bunkhouse. Sometimes I whittle the residents down to about 10 people and switch the bunkhouse for extra storage, or a munitions shop. With a tower and a dojo you can gain ammo from training outsiders. Since it seems to be the hardest resource to find I like having that perk. The greenhouse, fully upgraded, can take care of a lot of your food needs if you keep your population under control. You can also make fuel if you have one. Which makes finding it less important. That leaves construction material your only real problem. Once you have your upgrades sorted out that’s not as much of a concern though. Of course getting to that point gets more difficult the higher you go.
Another problem I’m having is getting the wrong guns and ammo. I have piles of guns that I have no bullets for. I’ve been giving them away, since pretty much everyone has the best gun I’m ever going to find for them. I don’t keep anything that can’t fit a silencer. Especially now the more noise you make the lower your chances of survival are. Revolvers and shotguns are like dinner bells to zombies. One shot without a silencer and you suddenly see a circle of monsters advancing toward your position. I need to kill 50 zed with a revolver though to unlock a hero. That’s probably a late game mission for this level, since whoever gets sent to do it will be in real danger of not coming back. There’s also the matter of actually having 50 bullets to use. Guns really are the worst choice in this version of the game. Unless you need to take out a bloater there are better ways to dispatch a zombie that don’t call in all their friends. That said, a really good gun with a silencer and a scope is quite useful, but equally rare. So far the scoped guns I’ve found have been very weak, which undercuts their menace significantly. I have 2 really good rifles that can attach silencers though. My favorite characters have them even though their specializations are heavy weapons.
Finding top level heavy weapons has also been a problem. I have 5 powerhouses and have barely found that many sturdy heavy weapons. I’ve also lost a couple from getting trapped in situations I’ve had to fight my way out of. Being miles from home, with no weapon and no vehicle, is a scary situation indeed. I risked searching a new location without my melee weapon hoping to find anything to replace it, after accidentally setting my truck on fire. Then I had to fight my way to an abandoned car with a table leg and a cane. Still, I came back alive, so not a total loss that time. It just left me scrounging for a decent replacement. A microphone stand is just not an ideal weapon for long missions. I can see lack of suitable weapons becoming an issue in later levels.
You might be saying “why not just use something else?” Well, you see, heavy weapons allow you to learn a multi kill attack. It’s saved me more times than I can count. The recovery time is offset by the powerhouse trait, which makes them the best types of player characters, in my opinion. Of course a nimble character can learn comparable skills, but you end up having to run away more often. Powerhouses can also learn the best defensive skill; pro wrestling. It allows you to flip a zombie over your back, which takes time for it to recover from. In a bad situation you can do this over and over until a whole stampede is on their backs. Alternately, if you have nimble fingers, you can end the move by slamming them back onto the ground after you pick them up. This is a finishing move. It’s possible for a powerhouse to take on at least 2 hordes at a time, and walk away at half damage, using one snack item. I know this because I wanted to see what would happen… XD
Anyway, my fictional adventures are much more interesting than my actual ones. X3

Between Failures presents: Teen Corner.

hey people the teen is back! I enjoyed writing Jackie’s blog last time so he has granted me power of the keyboard once again for all the grammar Nazis out there ill make sure to leave plenty of mistakes for you to complain about. recently I watched a documentary called paradise lost,maybe some of you are familiar with it. my brother recommended I watch it so I sat down and watched all 3 parts on Sunday. I found it very irritating yet very interesting,three teenage boys who were considered out cast for listening to heavy metal and wearing black were in my opinion wrongly convicted of the murder of three little boys, because of their music interests and the fact that they wore black they were found to be Satanists which in my opinion is ridiculous. they wasted over ten years of their lives in prison for something they had nothing to do with. in the end they were set free but still had to plea guilty after this the case was closed so the real killer was never found which is mind blowing to me. if you haven’t seen it you should look into it its pretty good. anyways lately I have been practicing for my school play which is in 15 days,im incredibly nervous and I’ve been drawing a lot. lately I’ve been obsessed with day of the dead sugar skulls, I’m also working on a charcoal drawing for my art class and in my opinion charcoal is the worst! other than that its been school, sleeping and more school. today was long and tiring, there has been a bit of teen drama sadly. a girl who use to be my friend is running her mouth off about me and cant seem to stop but I am attempting to be the bigger person and ignore her. im currently crushing on a green eyed cutie, im hoping maybe ive found a prince. I haven’t currently added to my short story “the ruiner” yet but im hoping to get more written soon so I can let you guys read and criticize it. I haven’t bugged Jackie much lately either, mainly because he’s no fun or im to tired lol. hmmmm what else to talk about…teen life is pretty boring lately. im excited for Halloween though, im having a horror movie marathon with some friends. any suggestions on what to watch? im looking for super scary or good classics. I don’t think there’s much more to say except have a great night! sincerely the teen

49 Comments

Horror movie suggestions:
The Exorcist- Not really scary imo but still a very well told story and worth seeing.
Psycho- Can’t go wrong with Hitchcock. Its got great atmosphere and can be very unnerving at times.
The Birds- Another Hitchcock classic. You really can’t go wrong with him.
Birdemic- If I’m going to suggest the best film about killer birds then I might as well also suggest the worst. Its a really stupid movie, but its fun to get together with people and mock it.
Alien/Aliens- Alien is scifi horror done right. Good mood, great setting, and an awesome monster. Its sequel pretty much improves on everything. Though it trades in some of the suspense for more action.
Poltergeist- This is the best haunted house movie ever imo. It has good build up and some very well timed scares.
John Carpenters The Thing- This movie has some of, if not the, best practical effects ever put on film. Its gory, its distrubing, its just great.
Halloween/Halloween 2- The original ones, not the remakes. Gotta love Micheal Myers.

Suggestions for horror films:
For Scary—
The Descent (2005 film) – claustrophobia in a cave combined with unknown predators
The Ring (2002 film) – a remake of a Japanese classic. Anyone who watches the tape gets a mysterious phone call and then dies seven days later – unless… (you have to watch the film to see the alternative, and it’s not a good one)
Dawn of the Dead (or The Evil Dead or Night of the Living Dead) – defined the current zombie genre
Hellraiser (1987) – a puzzlebox opens the door to the hellish realm of the Cenobites – who cannot differentiate between extreme pain and extreme pleasure – gross, creepy, and scary
Salem’s Lot (1979) – kind of old, but a Stephen King classic
Phantasm (1979) – creepy mortician and a lethal flying stabby ball
Alien – great mixture of horror and suspense – lots of “jump” moments. The sequel (Aliens) has more action and horror, but less suspense

For classic —
The Thing (the original with Chuck Connors – less gory than the remake, but more suspenseful)
Dracula – with Bela Lugosi
The Mummy (1939) – with Boris Karloff
Frankenstein (1931) – with Boris Karloff
The Wolfman (1941) – with Lon Cheny Jr.
Phantom of the Opera (1925) – silent film with Lon Cheny Sr. – pretty creepy
Nosferatu (1922) – available for free on-line – the original vampire movie
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) – one of best old “creature features”
House on Haunted Hill (1959) – with Vincent Price. Much better than the remake

For classic comedy/horror, try Abbott and Costello Meet the Wolfman. It’s more of a parody/sendup of the classic Universal monster movies.

I think you may mean Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In that movie the meet Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, and (right at the end – voiced by Vincent Price) the Invisible man. Bela Lugosi reprises his role as Dracula as does Lon Cheney Jr. as the Wolfman. Strange is actually reprising his role as the Frankenstein’s monster from House of Frankenstein (1944), although Boris Karloff played the monster in the original 1931 Frankenstein.

You probably would also enjoy Abbot and Costello meet the Mummy.

Just to add to the list of worst but still very popcorn worth inclusions, in descending order.
– Them [1954]
– Plan 9 from outer space [1959]
– Night of the Lepus [1972] showing that a film doesn’t have to be old to be schlocky bad/fun

On the flip side just collect whatever you can get you hands on that stars Vincent Price and is listed as horror. be warned he also did a large number of more dramatical and classical tales.
– House of Wax
– The Mad Magician
– The Fly
– House on Haunted Hill
– The Tingler [okay, maybe not THAT scary]

Then there are the Poe inspired films
– The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
– Tales of Terror (1962)
– The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
– The Raven (1963)
– The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
– The Tomb of Ligeia (1965)

One of my favorite quotes: “Vincent Price: The only guy who can make you wet your pants just by reading the phone book.”

Vincent Price’s delivery of horror material is so classic that he’s the one Quincy Jones, who produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” sought out to do the narration for the song..

The microphone stand might not be the most effective weapon, but imagine if you could play back all the beat-downs you administered with it.

Best. Mixtape. Ever.

I could get used to teen corner.

I second the motion. It’s fun to hear Jackie write about the teen, but it makes it even better to hear the teen’s side of the story as well.
Don’t despair teen. High school will be over too soon and then you have to deal with the horrors of “life after school”. Look for the small pleasures you have right now – like doing the school play. I wish that you could look forward to everyone becoming more mature and never having friends back-stab you in the future, but experience speaks otherwise. I, for one, am pleased to hear you “attempting to be the bigger person and ignore her”. That way lies personal peace and maturity. One nice thing about that is that other mature people gravitate to you and your circle of friends becomes populated by better people as those who refuse to improve fall by the wayside, imploding on their own immaturity. Growing up is sometimes painful, but the effort is well worth it. In the meantime – have fun with the zombies… :-)

“The Ruiner and The Bugger”.

For the record I’m not in the grammar Nazi camp. My house is made of entirely too thin glass to be throwing those stones. I was referring to the youthful manner of speech/typing and it wasn’t really meant to be all that negative.

Reggie’s cool has been tested and found wanting. He must ascend the mountain and talk to his guru again.

It was a joke and I realize that also I’m not fond of being called the bugger -the teen

KK. Sorry, I thought it had developed a rather cutesy meaning in recent times but I have been voted down (actually some of the most early replies I’ve received here… all just to say NO TT )

I’m not big on horror films and nothing on film is all that scary these days. “The Cabin in the Woods” is pretty good and might be helpful to an up and coming writer because it manages to discuss the various components of the horror genre while molding this conversation into a lovely example of that same genre. I thought that was a neat trick. To entertain and educate with a horror flick.

I once wrote a paper on how making a facade is the first step to being the person you want to be and I get how Reggie is upset that he is faced with resistance on this endeavor. I hope he can prove himself and at least get some respect. He certainly has earned some.

I dunno… “Fake it ’til you make it” is a viable philosphy, and a lot of people go by it. But it just seems to me that real change needs to come from the inside out.

IMHO

Please say Teen Corner is going to be a regular thing! It’s just so fantastic!

As far as classics go, you can’t go wrong with any of the Alfred Hitchcocks. But I’m not sure how those would play with a younger crowd.

Check out 1408 (starring John Cusack). It was pretty suspenseful horror, in the vein of Hitchcock.

I’m glad to hear you people are enjoying my writing. Jackie is considering making it a regular thing :) and thank you for the movie suggestions -the teen

The Thing – Make sure you get the one with Kurt Russell and not the re-make.

Friday 13th – Original or re-make, to be honest, it doesn’t really matter.

Nightmare on Elm St. – Ditto.

Rob Zombie’s ‘Hallowe’en’ – I actually prefer this to the original

House of 1,000 Corpses/Devil’s Rejects – Either or both.

I give them 10 strips before they’re banging each other at the unmarked cemetery. Just a hunch. With the twins eating popcorn in the background.

Hello, The Teen! I recommend watching The Selling (of Scarry Manor). This movie suggestion isn’t super scary nor an old classic; it’s a very funny SLIGHTLY scary comedy that would be good as a palate cleanser in case y’all get TOO scared. It’s not a goofy parody of scary films the way the Scary Movie series is, by the way.

Throwing my classic film of the lot into the ring for you The Teen…. Predator (1987). Don’t really need to explain it because it’s such a campy thing.

Our family tradition for Halloween is to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show, while yelling all the commentary at the TV.

I forgot, we also used to do Godzilla movie marathons, we would watch several of the original old ones, not the remakes, and heckle the movies, ala MSTK 3000.

I am deeply saddened that nobody suggested that the Teen watch my three favorite horror movies. Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, they are truly classics:

Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness

Excellent suggestion — not only are they mildly scary (Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness was on last night when I got home), but they’re pretty funny, too! I’ll watch anything with Bruce Campbell in it — including Brisco County Jr. and seven seasons of Burn Notice.

I’d suggest Arsenic and Old Lace, it’s not horror, but it fits well with the season, it has Cary Grant and Peter Lorre, as the actors I recognize. Well worth your time, I think.

Good luck with school and life and especially the play.

Although I agree that the original “The Thing” with James Arness is full of suspenseful ambiance, for sheer creepy factor, John Carpenter’s “The Thing” takes it to the MAX!

I wonder… By “the old Reggie”, does Jo mean the Reggie from way before? I mean, like when he first started working there, and not when we came into the story, ’cause that’s the “second” Reggie. This “cool” one is the “third” Reggie.

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